Feel Good Friday - My Self Care

 

I've been trying to be better about self-care lately.  I've been trying to forgive myself when I don't get things done, rejoice in what I do, and be grateful for every minute I can.  So I thought that I would take this Feel Good Friday to share a few of the things that help bolster me when I'm having a tough time.

Insight Timer on the Google Play Store is something that's been topping my "feeling better" list lately.  I have the free version, so no courses for me, but there are still thousands of free meditations that I can access.  Often, I'll use it to help me fall asleep.  Lately, I'm been trying to get some meditation in outside of that daily.  The meditations last anywhere from one minute to over an hour, so I can find something no matter what kind of time I have for meditation.  I'm not "good" at it, but I am getting better at letting the thoughts pass by and staying focused on the now.

I recently started using Tusk Task Manager.  I've tried a lot of different task managers over the years and usually I'll use them for a couple days then stop.  This one, I think I'll stick with.  It's very customizable, letting me put in tasks that only happen once to ones that recur with whatever frequency (for example, I have my exercising happening every other day).  It also gives me the option to keep a task on the daily page until I actually do it and then restart the count from there.  It has a widget (only available in the paid version, but it's very reasonable at $14/yr) that allows me to mark things done without having to open the app.  And then there are the achievements that give me a little glow when I get it.

The outside of my Today I... Book

A sample page of my Today I...

A long time ago, I used to have a blog here that was just a list of things that I got done  on any particular day.  I liked the thought of having a place where I could look back and see that I wasn't a failure.  Of course, I gave that blog up after several years of not updating.  In January 2020, I decided to start it back up again.  It was very sporadic that year, but during 2021, I've managed to write down what I did far more regularly.  I write down a lot of different things - taking my meds, cleaning a particular room, board games played and books read, just to name a few.  And since it's in an undated notebook, I can just continue on directly after the previous date.  I'm about half way through this book, so I expect that I may need to look for another book that's similar some time next year.

One List a Day over 3 years

A quick glance inside

I love lists.  I love finding different things to list because it's interesting to look back whenever I find them and see what's changed.  One year, my dad even bought me the whole collection (at the time) of Listography books.  I grab one off the shelf every few months and fill out a bit more with dates when I've written them.  Then one day, early last January, I was checking for other listy-things to pick up.  I came across One List a Day, a three year journal where you just write a list of three items in relation to the prompt every day.  It gives me a chance to think about things, whatever the prompt brings up.  Sometimes, I come up with the answers in a flash.  Others have taken a lot of thought.  On even months, you are able to create your own list in between the months.  And the first list of every month gives me a chance to think about a couple things I want to do.  So far, every list is filled out.  I'm looking forward to the beginning of next year when I ccan start looking at what I wrote the year before.

Just me

Finally, I love taking my picture when I'm feeling good.  I can take a look at myself and say, "This isn't a perfect me, but it is still a good me."  And days like the picture above, I can be proud of my braid.  Sometimes I'll take a picture when I'm wearing a new shirt or a new mask, just to show it off.  Sometimes I'll take a picture just because I like the way that  I look that particular day.

So these are some of the things that I use for self-care, things that just make me feel good.  What do you have on your list of things on your self-care list?

Feel Good Friday - Board Games

 

For this week's Feel Good Friday, I'm going to share some of my favorite board games with you.  I love board games.  I grew up on Monopoly, Sorry!, Clue, Chutes and Ladders, Candy Land.... you know, the usual games.  Thanks to the explosion of the board game industry over the last 20 years or so, I have so many other choices.  Some of the games we've found on Kickstarter.  Some we've found through friends.  Some of them have been thanks to YouTube videos and BoardGameGeek.  Regardless of how they were found, the games below are all ones that I love to pull out to play whenever we get the chance.

7 Wonders is one of the first games I remember playing when we started gaming hardcore.  You play one of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World (though, as expansions have come out, there are more choices for Wonders).  It's a card drafting game for 3-7 players, played over three Ages (rounds).  You are trying to build your Wonder by using various material cards, as well as build an army, generate science, build enhancements to your region and create Guilds that will all give you points at the end of the game.  Once you learn the game, it goes fairly quickly - usually 30 to 40 minutes for a 3 or 4 player game.  But the first time, when trying to figure out what various icons mean, it will take longer to learn.  I love it because it's quick, it's fun and it is something I know so well I can play without having to overthink things.  (Note: The picture link above is for the second edition.  I have not played this edition, so my review is based on the original.)

As a general rule, I don't like horror.  My imagination is too vivid and I end up being convinced that Jack the Ripper is going to come down from the roof and enter my 9th floor apartment (seriously, that thought kept me up when we lived on the 9th floor in Philly).  Arkham Horror, however, doesn't trigger that.  I don't know why, but I'm glad because it's one of my favorite games.  We have both the 2nd and 3rd editions of the game (the picture link is for the 3rd edition) and I will happily play either one of them, or any of their variants like Eldritch Horror or Final Hour.  We own most, if not all, of the expansions for the third edition and a few of the expansions for the second.  What I like is the fact that this is a cooperative game.  Instead of trying to beat your fellow players, you are trying to keep an ancient evil from awakening by working together.  You get to play one of many characters, each with special abilities.  You have a character card with your stats and abilities in front of you and you can enhance those stats as play goes on, giving you a better chance to defeat any monsters you come across. The second edition is one (fairly large) board, with expansions sometimes adding more boards.  If you have a relatively small table that you game on, this one isn't the better choice.  The third edition made the board modular and streamlined the rules a bit.  Which one I play is determined by whatever mood I'm in at the time.

I'm a DC girl.  I like Marvel, but there's something about the DC characters that just resonate with me more.  So when I found out that Cryptozoic created a card game based on the DC Universe, I had to have it.  They have several versions out there (the original, Teen Titans, Forever Evil, Dark Knights Metal, the above mentioned Rebirth, as well as a slew of card packs you can add to your game).  You can actually combine some of the games to play mega games, though we haven't tried it yet (and probably won't... there are a lot of cards in each game as it is.)  And each iteration has streamlined and perfected the game a little more while adding new elements that add more to the game.  My favorite is Rebirth because, unlike the others, it has a cooperative campaign version.  As I'm getting older, I'm finding that I prefer cooperative games over competitive because there's less likely to be hurt feelings that way.  The goal of the games are all to defeat heavy hitter supervillains (in Forever Evil, it's superheroes), while using points on buy more cards, attacking the villain or your fellow players, and defending yourself when you (inevitably) get attacked.  If you like DC and like deck builder games, I highly recommend it.

Clank! was the game that introduced me to deck builders and it's still one of my favorites out there.  You are competing against your fellow players to make your way underground to a dragon's lair, grab a treasure and make your way back to the exit before said dragon kills you.  Along the way, you have the chance to pick up other bits of treasure that help your overall score at the end of the game.  There is also a sci-fi version, Clank! in Space, as well as various expansion boards for both versions.  It's one that can be played fairly well as a two player game as well as playing it as a four player game.  The original Clank! and it's expansions are all single boards, whereas Clank! in Space is modular.  The best part of all of it, though, is the various fantasy and sci-fi nods that the games give in terms of their cards.  That and the flavor text.  It's just fantastic!

The last game I'm going to share today is one that started out as a Kickstarter game.  Call to Adventure tells a story in the cards that you choose.  Rather than using points to purchase cards, you cast runes based on the cards you have to see if you succeed in gaining a card that catches your attention.  Each one adds a little more to your story, and if you've a writing bent, can give you some wonderful ideas of a character's story arc.  At the end of the game, you score your cards based on what are on them (as well as experience points that you can gain during the game).  For me, it's more about the art and the story being told than it is about winning the game.  Like the others games on this list, there are some expansions: Name of the Wind (which Amazon has as a bundle with the base game) and The Stormlight Archive, which I have yet to either play or purchase but will probably be one of the next games I pick up.

So those are some of the (many) games that make me feel good when I play them.  Please share some of your favorites in the comments.  They may be something I already play, or they could be something I'll have to put on my ever-growing "To Buy" list. 

* All links above, except for the link to BoardGameGeek, are affiliate links on Amazon.  I will earn money from any purchases you make directly from the links.

Feel Good Friday - YouTube Videos

 

When I'm in a down mood, I have a few self-care ways to fix it.  I'll pick up an old favorite to read.  I'll stream an old favorite TV Show or movie.  I'll write in my journal or my BuJo.  I'll play video games.  But sometimes I'm in the middle of something else and just need an auditory pick me up.  So I'll grab one of my playlists and start listening.

"Real Fight" by HalaCG is one of the best pick-me-up listens for me.  It's a song created as if from the point of view of Toph from The Last Airbender.  I've never really watched the show (though it's on my list), but this song is just an ultimate in girl-power and a kick in the ass of anyone who thinks someone like Toph - young, female and blind - can't keep up or even surpass those who are older, male and sighted.  It just pulls me back to knowing my own strengths.

I don't remember if it was Rich or Tedd that introduced me to The Stupendium, but I've been eternally grateful that they did.  This song ("Why Did I Say Okie Dokie?") was, if I remember correctly, one of his first big ones.  And the original of the song is awesome, but this orchestral version just hits me in the feels every time.  

This is another of The Stupendium's songs that I love to listen to. It's very different than most of his others. Most of his music videos are game-related raps. But this one is a love letter to the Mars Rover Opportunity. It is so full of hope for the future, so thankful to what the little Rover has done for us. It lifts me up because of that hope.

   

 I'm fairly late to the geek rap scene and hadn't heard of rap cyphers.  There are a lot of great ones out there including many of my favorite geek rappers.  But this one being all the ladies is just fantastic!  There are so many great lady geek rappers out there and a bunch of them are pulled together.  Plus it gives me a lot of anime that I need to check out one of these days.

Who would win in a rap battle between various people? That's what Epic Rap Battles of History asks with every video they put out.  What I love about Alexander the Great vs Ivan the Terrible is the turn deftness of the rappers, as well as the pull-ins that they do (watch the video and you'll understand).  I listen to this one so much that I can almost rap along with them.

Natewantstobattle has long been a favorite of mine.  He's such a talented musician, not only with parody songs but also with many of his original pieces.  I started listening to his Pokemon parodies, like this one.  "Kanto" (a parody of Back Home) shows off just how many things he can do - singing, playing different instruments, mixing himself singing the different parts.  And this so just feels like I'm coming back home.

I'll end this one of my favorites from the now defunct (I think) Screen Team.  This is an original that showed me that I'm not alone in my geekiness and that I should never apologize for who I am.  It's a great way to bolster me out of whatever has gotten me down.

There are (and probably will continue to be) more songs on my playlist  if you're interested to see what else helps bring me out of the doldrums.

* Actually, I was wrong.  I am instead ending this on one that I shot 9 years ago, with my adorable Pete singing the Mayonnaise song.  This is one that never fails to cheer me up no matter how low I'm feeling.

Feel Good Friday

Today has been a pretty great day, all things being equal.  I managed to get up this morning  at 6 and get a mile (at home) walk done.  Then a shower and life was good.  Rather than reaching for coffee and a toaster pastry, I had yogurt and a G2 (low cal Gatorade).  I managed to get my e-mail cleaned out and reorganized a few things on my Reader feed.

A friend and her three kids (including her new baby) came over to play for awhile before we did some school shopping.  I got a chance to hold the baby a lot.  There's still a part of me that's wanting another child, but at the moment, I can scratch that itch by holding the new baby.

Rather than buying food out, I got the boys sandwiches at home.  We have pork that's been simmering in BBQ sauce in the crock-pot all day, so my house smells delicious.

I've read through my reading list (and it's pretty long) and have several pages up, waiting for me to write several meme-ish blog posts.  I'm feeling pretty productive today.

Plus, I know that I'm raising a pretty good kid.  We stopped Teddy's naps this week, since he won't be getting them in kindergarten.  But Pete is still definitely in need of naps.  But Teddy likes to help with nap time.  Today, even though Peter wanted me to read him his story, he wanted Teddy to cover him up.  So Teddy asked him if he wanted one or two blankets and, when Peter said two, he handed me one of them to hold while he got Peter comfortable.  Then he gave Peter a very large hug and kiss and said a very sweet "Have good sleep, Peter!  I love you!"  He's a good big brother.

What has made you feel good about this Friday?

Feel Good Friday (On Saturday)

So, this week's "Feel Good Friday" is a bit different than most other weeks.  Usually, I share things that I hope will get a chuckle out of you, my readers.  Instead, I'm going to tell you what I did that made me feel good yesterday.  I hope you'll share your own stories on what made you feel good!

The biggest "Feel Good" thing of yesterday was getting out and walking.  I'm horribly behind when it comes to exercise.  I keep making excuses of why I can't do this or why I can't do that.  But yesterday, I got together with a friend and we went for a walk at one of Nashville's Greenways. We went to Mills Creek and walked the loop around Antioch Middle School.  It was a nice, 30 minute walk for .82 miles.  It felt good to be out in the sunshine.  My only regret was that I didn't have my camera because it's really pretty out there.  I'm hoping to get out another day soon.

Today, we're going to Bicentennial Mall to walk for the Walk 100 Miles with the Mayor challenge.  It's a mile and a half walk with plenty of things to get pictures of while we're walking.  The kids should have a great time too.

So that's my Feel Good Friday.  I went out to walk and it makes me feel so much better!

Feel Good Friday

Rather than tell a joke or a cute story about my boys (though I do have plenty of those), I'm going to pose a question to my readers at large. What are YOU going to do to make yourself feel good this weekend?

Me? I'm going to the library to pick up a few books and DVDs that have been waiting for me. I'm ready to dive into Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning and settle in to watch disc 2 of the 4th season of Dexter.  We're going to get some of recycling done and I'm going to get my dining room back into presentable shape (if I'm lucky, I'm going to do the same with the living room, while Rich does so with the kitchen and pantry).  I feel so much less stress when I'm not surrounded by clutter and chaos.  On Sunday, Rich and the boys will be going to church and I'm going to get some Mommy alone time to work on some of my swaps.

Getting these things done will make me feel great.  And maybe, just maybe, I'll take a bath and have a glass of wine while I'm reading Shadowfever.  That sounds like a great way to feel good to me.

Feel Good Friday (On Sunday)

Yep, I'm a couple days behind on my daily posts.  But, considering that it's been my birthday weekend, I'm cutting myself a little slack.  Still, I have some things I wanted to post about each of these days so I'm going to go ahead with it anyway.

For this Feel Good Friday, I'm going to post a few things that both myself and a few friends of mine never thought we'd say before having kids.  Please feel free to share your own in the comments.

One of the first that comes to mind was my something I had to say to Teddy a few months back. "We don't hit people with crucifixes."  He had taken a heavyish wooden one of Rick's and started hitting Pete with it.  He wasn't hitting hard, thinking he was just playing.  And before I thought about it, the above words came out of my mouth.

The other day, I was at my friend's house.  Her almost 3 year old had dunked his stuffed vampire into strawberry yogurt.  From her lips came the immortal, "Vampires aren't supposed to smell like strawberries."

Right after Teddy was born, he was flailing around and kicked himself in his most sensitive area.  Of course, it had him crying even more.  My husband told him (somewhat paraphrased).  "You've learned your first lesson.  If you keep flailing around like that, you'll hit yourself in the nuts."

Teddy is a huge lover of broccoli.  He'd eat it for every meal of he could.  But sometimes he eats all his broccoli and ignores everything else.  So I actually had to tell him one day, "Teddy, stop eating your broccoli and eat some of those fries!"

To Pete, I regularly have to say, "No, you DON'T need to jump on your brother."  He's my little scrapper.

Or else, "Sweetheart, you've got to take your clothes off before you get into the bath."  And, of course, "Bubbie, please don't eat your friends."  Sometimes he has a habit of putting his toys in his mouth.

I'm going to end with one of my favorite Teddy stories.  I don't have exact quotes, but it brings to mind the silliness of my kids and why I love them.  One day, when we were watching TV, Teddy's peepee was hanging out.  When I told him to put it back, that peepees shouldn't be out of pants while watching TV, he informed me that his peepee liked X-Men and so did his butt.  His peepee's favorite show, however, was Phineas and Ferb.  He was 4 at the time, and the whole conversation cracked me up.  My boy definitely has an imagination.

So come on, parents out there!  Give!  What are some of the doozies that you've had to say to your kids or that your kids have come up with on their own?

Feel Good Friday, Part Deux - Feeling Good About My Week

This week hasn't been perfect.  Far from it, actually.  Teddy has been on his worst behavior more often than not, I had pulled a muscle in my leg that made me unable to do ANYTHING yesterday, and I had the kids home again today thanks to snow.  Still, I'm feeling really good about myself this week, which is an unusual occurrence of late.

Because for all the bad, there was still good.  A lot of good.  I finally took the step to get back into therapy.  I'd waited for over a month for the therapy location nearest me to call and set up an appointment for me.  I have a very serious phone phobia that keeps me from doing things that I should.  I kept promising myself that I would call if I didn't hear the next day.  And I couldn't force myself to do it.  Until this week.  Wednesday was the day that my motivation hit hard.  And while riding on the wave of that motivation, I picked up the phone and I called. I now have an appointment for therapy next Tuesday and a psych eval for Wednesday.  Apparently, I'd had an appointment on the 18th, but no one let me know.  The important thing is that I've got an appointment now that I DO know about.

I worked out on Wednesday and I cleaned on Wednesday.  I'm completely up to date on all my swaps.  I have some that I won't get my partners for until Sunday or so, but those can be done over the weekend.  I called my dad and talked to him about borrowing his stud finder so I can get things put up on the wall.  I'm taking Teddy to a study at Vanderbilt next week.  I went out with the kids to Wal-Mart today and had fun wandering around.  I took of the picture of the snow outside today so I can use it for the 2011 scrapbook that I'm creating.  I'm almost finished reading Moon Sworn.  I've been keeping track of my food and exercise on SparkPeople.  I started two groups on Swap-Bot.  I'm being productive. And I still have the rest of the weekend to be more productive and have more fun.

I hope to have more weeks like this.  More weeks of being productive and silly and having all kinds of fun.  Because, really, that's what the week should be about, shouldn't it?

Now I'm off to watch Mr Magorium's Wonder Emporium.  I've been wanting to see it for awhile and now's my chance to share it with my kids.  I suspect this could be one that I'll want to own someday, just based on what I've seen so far.

Feel Good Friday - Time for a good chuckle

Today has been a pretty good day, even though the ids were home from school for another snow day (at this rate, the kids will be in school until mid-July!)  I almost forgot that today was Feel Good Friday, but thankfully, I didn't.  So for those who didn't have the best week and need a laugh, I present you with today's Feel Good website.

I don't even remember where I found this site, but it's in my Google Reader, so I get to check it out regularly.  The website is called (The Customer's) Not Always Right and it shares humorous customer stories from those on the front lines - the people behind the counter or on the other end of the phone.  Since much of my working life was Customer Service related, I can relate to a lot of these stories. And I could probably tell a few myself.

What I like best about it is that not all the stories are "Look at the dumb customer!", though there are a few of those in there.  There's a great mix of customers who realize just what they said a little too late, stories of things overheard while doing their jobs and just complete and utter head shakers.  Having been both the customer and the CSR, I get amusement with every entry I read.  I hope you will as well.  And just to give you a taste, I'm going to share my favorite story to date:

Smoke Your Veggies

Smoke Your Veggies

RESTAURANT | ST. LOUIS, MO, USA

(I’m a waitress taking the order of a little girl and her mother.)
Young Daughter: “I’ll get the mac’n’cheese. Extra cheesy!”
Mother: “No, you certainly will not. It’s your third day eating mac n’ cheese, missy! You’re going to get chicken and broccoli.”
Young Daughter: “But mommy! Eddie said that broccoli is bad for you!”
Mother: “Your brother most certainly did not!”
Young Daughter: “Yeah! The other day I saw him smoking his broccoli and when I asked if I could he looked at me and said that it’s very bad for little girls like me. His eyes were all red and everything!”
Mother: “When was this?!”
Young Daughter: “Yesterday! But his friend brought over more broccoli today. They’re weird.”
Me: *feeling very awkward* “Ma’am, I can get the check for you if you’d like to leave?”
Mother: “That’d be great. And could you box up an order of mac’n’cheese please? Oh, and some really good smelling stuff? I figure they’ll have the munchies and I want to torture them.”