Last week, the kids buried their beloved betta fish, Matthew (that’s pronounced Matt-hue, thank you very much, M will kindly remind you). Today, just a week later, I buried their 5 year old carnival prize Goldfish, lovingly dubbed “fish.”  Kids can be so creative. The hopeless romantic in me would like to think Fish and Matt-hew had some kind of Romeo and Juliet-esque unrequited love story and Fish died of a broken heart, unable to live without his beloved.  Having to break the news to the kids was the worst part. M lost a friend last April, and some family members passed in prior Aprils, too. So she has this feeling that April is jinxed. But, I had to be honest and tell her. Ah, the joys of parenting.

Also along the lines of endings last week, I said farewell to my job, boss, and coworkers of more than three years. I posted about this previously, so I won’t go into it too much. On Thursday, the crew threw an awesome happy hour for me in which many tears were shed, laughs were laughed, and two-for-one beverages were consumed. It was terribly bittersweet.  On Friday, I had an awesome day to myself and got to sleep in, got a mani-pedi and went shopping.

Today, I began my new job! I’m not sure whether it was learning a whole new electronic medical records system, meeting all the new people, having to smile and be on my best behavior all day, all the HR forms and insurance minutia, but afterwards I was exhausted. Like, my-eyes-were-heavy-driving-home-exhausted . Fortunately, we got through everything earlier than expected, so they let me go a little early, and I came home and NAPPED. In the freaking m i d d l e  of the day!! ( I never do that.) Also fortunately, I meal prepped yesterday so I didn’t have to cook dinner, and got to go to the gym! My commute is now cut in half and is against traffic, which frees up some much appreciated time in my day and is an overall very welcome and refreshing change.

With all the transition and stress that’s going on– I know myself well enough to know this is exactly when I could slip. I start to mindlessly eat, fall out of my workout routine, drink too much, etc. NOPE NOPE NOPE. Not. this. time. I am determined to remain healthy and optimistic throughout this change. So, I got to thinking about self care. How do I take care of myself? One of the best ways I can encourage my clients/family/friends to take care of themselves, is by modeling that attitude myself. Practice what I preach, if you will.

Exercise and cooking are definitely my go to- relaxation skills, tried and true! BUT, in my opinion, you can never have too many hobbies, and this weekend I was lucky enough to pick up a new and promising one. One of my closest girlfriends had a few people over and somehow successfully taught us all how to knit! She picked up knitting in the fall and was hooked from the beginning. Since then, I’ve lusted after her creations. They are drop dead gorgeous, and how special is it to wear something or gift something you’ve made with your own hands and precious time? I’ve always wanted to learn how to knit, but I tried to teach myself a few winters ago, epicly failed, and had all but given up. Turns out, I’m not a lost cause after all– I knit most of a “snood”, basically a small scarf, over the weekend. Also, it’s just really fun to say. Snood. Snooooood. Ok, I’ll stop now.

So, now I can add knitting to my list of self care strategies. Admittedly, I have A LOT more to learn, but I’m so glad to have picked up something new–especially something I thought I couldn’t do. Mega Rewarding.

B being gone so often has also allowed me to revisit some old hobbies. I’ve been scrapbooking, have tackled some cleaning and organization projects  (you know, those ones you never seem to get to), and I’ve started reading again nightly. I’m proud of myself for picking up these healthy habits.

Nothing makes me feel better and more productive than listening to my body and attending to what it wants and needs.

 

What are your self care strategies? In the worst of times, what’s your go-to trick to shake the funk? I’m always looking to add to my list.

xo,

J