List of ten things that I have saved in my email

June 9, 2015 - Mel

Inbox Zero is the name of the game in my gmail world. I have to mark everything as read, even if I didn’t read it, with intention of returning to the email at a later date if it’s a) important or b) interesting. Anything else is filed away into specific folders or deleted immediately.

If you thought my blog post drafts were random, check this list out:

1. “Unwrap your NARS birthday gift” from Sephora: Need to order something stat.
2. Tweet by PBSAmerMasters, emailed to myself: A reminder to watch the American Ballet Theater film that is available online.
3. “Beginner’s Yoga for Relaxation #4” from a YouTube “latest videos” email from JANUARY: Still haven’t watched it; I’m sure I can bookmark this in a better manner.
4. Oh, and a “Relaxation or Bedtime Yoga Routine” from February.
5. “Notification of Federal Loan Servicer Agreement” from you-know-who. *sigh*
6. “Your Fabletics return label” for a package to return (for Matthew in LA) that I received. My printer at home is broken right now, so…
7. “Music Performance Anxiety Assessments” from my Div47 listserv: Thought it might be useful for a later class, given our use of assessments and my interest in performance psychology. Filed to the right folder now.
8. Oh, yay! My POPSUGAR MustHave box is on its way!
9. Also, so are my replacement running shoes, per this email from Zappos.com Customer Service.
10. Private Coaching/Weekly Program email response that I’m sitting on, regarding my marathon training plan.

List of Ten Intentions for June

June 6, 2015 - Mel

1. It only took four months at my new job before I was dipping into our joint account again. I need to get my (new) budget under control, especially to be prepared financially for that six months after graduation when my student loans come due.

2. Starting training for my first full marathon this weekend, and just the thought of it right now is giving me a lot of anxiety and analysis paralysis. I need to explore those feelings. I haven’t yet figured out what plan I’m using either, so that’s likely part of the problem.

3. Enjoying a more relaxed state: being more relaxed about stuff happening/needing fixed in the house, not stressing about homework deadlines every week, not putting more pressure on the boyfriend, and generally more time in the hammock reading books. And wine.

4. Cross 5 books off my list for my 52 books in 52 weeks goal. I’m really eager to cross two items off my 30s Life List with this goal too — I have The Lion in the Bedroom, well, in my bedroom just begging to be read.

5. Random intention, but I plan to wear a dress or skirt at least once a week to work every week this summer — especially since recently tailoring a few skirts and dresses to fit.

6. Keep a blog schedule! That Blogger, May I? format really helped stoke the blogging fire again, and I’ve already bought a planner to help me. I won’t be posting every day, but it is definitely my intention to write more consistently.

7. So I have this bad habit of overwhelming myself with activities and fun things. Last month, I didn’t attend two events that I paid for in advance (one of the events was $50). So, I’ll either pay at the door on the day of interesting events or risk not RSVP’ing and getting sold out. No FOMO here.

8. My main goal is getting through this last semester, and with that intent comes a lot more pressure until August when I’m done with classes. A bad case of senioritis aside, and keeping in mind #3 on this list, I need to focus on a strong finish. By the end of this month, I’ll be changing over to my last two classes and ZOMG SO CLOSE. I promise, I’ll be more fun when it’s over.

9. Yoga. Kthxbai.

10. Now post-yard sale and basement/attic clean-out, I have an almost-empty, open-lofted, air-conditioned room to start setting up my office and yoga space. First up, find someone to replace drywall from when we purchased the house. I’ve decided to wait to paint until those things are complete because why do it twice? My intent here is to find someone to do the work, since unfortunately, this is out of my skill level.

10 Things: List of ten posts that I have saved in drafts

June 4, 2015 - Mel

This post idea came from a Blogger, May I? prompt for List of Ten Things (of 10 Things). Guys, I have three PAGES of drafts in my wordpress dashboard — 51 total unfinished or unpublishable posts.

Some notable randoms as I scroll through — with comments about each added (without even reading the drafts themselves):

Where did I put my glasses? — well isn’t this just the epitome of random. Is this an actual post or should it have been a google search? Either really perplexes me. Perhaps it’s a metaphorical reference to memory complications that start as you get older? Hilariously, this scenario played out in a HomeGoods store just a couple weeks ago when I left my sunglasses somewhere in the store. If you know HomeGoods, you know what a crap-shoot it is to find anything in that place, let alone personal belongings left behind. I found my glasses on a stack of towels in the linens section, by the way.

About Vitamin D — a few years ago, before a diet elimination proved an intolerance or sensitivity to gluten, my Vitamin D levels continued to drop, despite prescription supplements. Because of my previous skin cancer diagnosis, my sun worshipping days were numbered, but I continued in an every-six-months cycle of high dosages of D3 and more blood work to increase by numbers. When both of my D levels fell into single digits, I found myself at the office of a naturopath, trying to find answers to a myriad of troubles. That morning, over a year-and-a-half ago, I hadn’t yet eaten breakfast and have been gluten-free ever since. And six months later, my Vitamin D levels were FINALLY measured in healthy levels.

Have you ever read the symptoms and risks for Vitamin D deficiency? Scary.

Loss of self and reliance on other people — Oof. That’s heavy, right? Before I found this job a few months ago, I was really struggling with feelings of self-worth and the various dependencies that I had on the boyfriend (I mean, he’s basically the reason why I eat a balanced dinner every night and not nachos and cereal). I’m actually really interested in reading this one, given my distance from those feelings and the return of my self-esteem.

Holiday Hate: A lesson in loving Christmas — As a child of divorce, I hate Christmas. In recent years, and with much warmth and thankfulness to my boyfriend and his family, my black heart has grown to love the season. I mean, I already LOVE winter, how can I hate Christmas? Well, that feeling was so deep-seated, and it’s taken me some soul-searching (and some couples therapy) to get past some of my anger and disappointment. I’m sure this post was about why I hated the holidays so much, and how this past Christmas was something really special.

A plan to reduce stress and increase relaxation — I remember exactly what this post was about, and I really need to finish to publish. What started out as a project in one of my Psych courses, actually was a powerful tool for my personal development.

An interview with yourself — What’s ironic is that I’m working on a behavioral 360 assessment/group project in another Psych course… but that’s present tense, so this can’t be it. I have issues with interviewing, specifically with behavioral interviews, and this class has been an eye-opening experience. Hey, maybe it will help me to interview better! Still though, this post… I’m not really sure I like its tone.

My first APA Convention — Oh man, I’m so mad that I didn’t post this, especially as I’ll be soon attending my second APA Convention this summer — and there was SO MUCH good info gleaned from attending. Also, I was selected for a second time to the APA Twitter Team. Randomly, I’ll be connecting with a former high school classmate who is studying in my same field of interest while I’m in Toronto.

Finding Therapy: A Weekend in Nemacolin — This draft is from my birthday LAST YEAR. Again, really disappointed in myself that I didn’t capture and post how amazing (and how necessary) this weekend was. If I could buy a timeshare at Falling Rock, I would basically live there.

Word of the year: Identity — Yep, I have some resolutions for the year, and identity was the word that I pulled out of a lot of goals and intentions. It’s been something on my mind a lot recently, so I’ve got a post (yes, another draft) for next week that talks about this very thing.

Pittsburgh Half Marathon Training: By the Numbers — #weaksauce I didn’t even do a half marathon training wrap-up? Embarrassing mileage or not, I need to get this posted so that I can better assess my plan for my second half and my first full (training starts this weekend… ACK!).

SUNDAY LATELY: Doing, Appreciating, Designing, Humming, Expecting

May 31, 2015 - Mel

Doing:
Now that I’m home from my yoga retreat, I am swiftly transitioning into homework mode. I have a pretty intense assignment due tonight at midnight, which if I didn’t have 18 other assignments due by Thursday last week, I probably would have already had a head-start on it. Trying to stay relaxed, but my last assignment I missed points for something that wasn’t detailed in the instructions.

Appreciating:
Today’s the last day of Blogger, May I? and I kept my intent of posting every day, following all the prompts and really finding a new appreciation for blogging in general — and finding some new bloggers to follow in the process.

Designing:
I’m designing a job competency model for my partner in this class and all… zzzzzzzz.

Humming:
During one of our yoga sessions this weekend, the instructor blasted “Feel Me Flow” by Naughty by Nature, and basically I’m stuck back in 1996 all over again. (Totally appropriate considering that I was in Geneva-on-the-Lake this weekend too.) It was awesome.

Expecting:
To be honest, I have low expectations for today. I’ll get my paper done, naturally, but I have little energy for much of anything else. One of my lasting take-aways from this weekend was “nearly perfect is good enough.” I have a problem with high expectations, bordering on an insane level of perfectionism. And sometimes I transfer this ideal onto others. I need to be OK with not being “perfect.” I need to be OK with others not being perfect. We can’t all be expected to be perfect from the beginning — the practice is just as important. I expect this mantra to take me to good places.

If I Had a Super Power…

May 30, 2015 - Mel

I wish I could talk to and understand my cats. Or maybe all animals. But seriously, what the hell is he screaming about at 4:30 in the morning?

#Hashtag #Happy: Hashtag, #StopIt.

May 28, 2015 - Mel

The headline of this post for Blogger, May I? has my max supported hashtags. Any more than three and you lose my attention and you are probably the worst (kidding. kinda). This is coming from a social marketer (me) and a whole supporter and a frequent user of all things social media. I started to find myself annoyed by their abundant over-use in twitter and then Instagram happened — that’s basically where all hashtags go to die in a miserable, un-followable paragraph of hashtag death. Because people feel it necessary to use 80 on one picture to attract as many followers as possible. And these aren’t even sponsored posts! AND this isn’t the purpose of social networking. It’s supposed to be about growing a community and connecting with those people within it.

You cannot do that with 10 billion followers, #sorrynotsorry. If you think this is the intended purpose of social online, then we come from two very opposite schools of thought.

So, my public service message to you is just #STAHP. Your overuse of hashtags is hashtag #dumb (my favorite hashtag to use, for those playing along at home).

30-Something Summer Plans

May 26, 2015 - Mel

I’ll be honest, summer is not one of my favorite seasons. While it’s awesome to be outdoors a lot more often than other times of the year, the above-80 heat makes me miserable. Great time to be training for a fall full marathon, eh? As with a lot of my life focus recently, I’m facing all the things I hate to be more at peace with things, like: humidity and sunburns within 7 minutes and OMG CAN’T STOP SWEATING.

I’m a little jealous at the boyfriend that he has a lot more free time and flex time (and vacation time) than I do, so it’s not really at all like my last few summers have been (now that I have a full-time job AND attending school full-time) where we can jet away wherever and whenever. We have a couple weekend trips planned for back home. We’re going to Toronto in August. School ends in August. But otherwise, I’m looking at a number of fun weekends in Pittsburgh. Alas, here are some of my plans:

I plan to use my courtyard A LOT. More coffees outside in the morning. Feeding the birds when I feed the cats in the AM. Maybe I’ll allow the cats some patio time with me. LOTS of hammock time to unwind from work. And probably a LOT of Claritin, if yesterday’s pollen index is representative of how summer will be.

I plan to do much outdoor yoga this summer too. Starting this weekend, I’m going to a yoga retreat on the lake, and then I’ll be looking for weekly weekend sessions in the city, in the park, on the mount, in a barrel house, by myself, with instructors, with friends. Wherever.

I’m probably going to eat a lot of ice cream. Just saying.

I plan to make good use of our membership at the club too. I will probably take some golf lessons. I will definitely be in that pool on the warmest days of the year. Above all, I’m looking forward to the time I can hang out together with the boyfriend on those days. I truly think there’s much to be said — and gained — about doing active things together.

Blogger, May I? pals: what’s on your summer schedule?

SUNDAY LATELY: Planning, Loving, Reading, Wishing, Feeling

May 24, 2015 - Mel

I’m joining in today’s Sunday Lately as part Blogger, May I? month of prompts.

Planning:
Oh, I’m planning to be outdoors for most of today and tomorrow. The weather here in Pittsburgh has been downright beautiful, and what a way to start the summer season. See also: POOL TIME!

Loving:
We spent a good bit of time out in our courtyard yesterday cleaning. I also had a gift card to spend at HomeGoods, so I picked up a few decor items for outside — candles, lanterns, some new seat cushions for our bistro chairs. Sadly, could not find the right size, right color free-standing umbrella. I even spray-painted an old IKEA iron table that’s been hanging out in our basement for a couple years. I absolutely adore our courtyard and love that we can have this type of outdoor space while living in the city.

A photo posted by Melinda (@melliesmel) on May 23, 2015 at 6:09pm PDT

Reading:
I’ve loaded up a few books to my iPad’s Kindle app to enjoy poolside today. I’m only 4 books behind pace to finish 52 books this year, so I plan to catch up by at least 1. By tomorrow, I’d really like to be up to only 2 behind. I know that I’ll be able to catch up completely once my semester is over in August. Anyways, lazy days of reading really make me feel happy.

Wishing:
I haven’t golfed in a couple years, so I’m wishing for a moderately-painless game today (I’m pretty bad). I never devoted enough time to get my golf game up to par (HAR!), but since the boyfriend started going more regularly I’ll be out a lot more this summer practicing. He’s the complete opposite golfer than me and so relaxed, where I am incredibly frustrated. Hoping some of that will rub off on me.

Feeling:
So, this is a bit embarrassing to admit, but we recently joined a country club and my first time visiting is today. I’m feeling really anxious about “fitting in” and making sure I “follow” appropriately all the social cues of being a member. Again, I realize how ridiculous this sounds, but I am terribly awkward at these sorts of social functions and at making small talk and feel a little out of my element. I’m trying to focus on that pool and pretending that I’m on vacation.

Heartland Transplant

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