Work-life balance week.

{it is hard not to find very corny images when you Google "work-life balance"- lots of rocks, signs, and elephants balancing on rubber balls...I picked this one because it's pretty, NOT because I hate my office}

Now, I don't claim to be an expert in work-life balance. In point of fact, I'm pretty terrible at it. At my last job, I'd get home in the evening and be too tired to do much of anything beyond plop myself in front of the couch. It seemed to take a lot of effort to engage in any of my previous hobbies or pastimes. I don't like how lazy I became during that time of my life.

Due to my new, longer commute, almost 12 hours of each weekday are dedicated to my job. When I get home, there are so many things to accomplish and too few hours left to do them all: spending time with my husband, working out, catching up on my Google Reader, meditating, spending time with friends, cooking, playing with my cats, gaming, and planning for the following day. Top it all off with attempting to get a good nights' sleep and you have a recipe for a very frazzled Meg. 

This weekend, I've been spending time looking around the internet in an effort to find things to help me transition into a more balanced lifestyle. I'm going to talk about two things that are high on my list to improve: wardrobe planning and commuting. Hopefully the resources I have to share will help me, and you guys out there too! Stay tuned.

Resolution inspiration.

Happy 2012, everybody! I had a great holiday season: I got to spend time with family and friends, play cards into the wee hours of the morning, drink wine, open presents, eat delicious food, go thrifting with my mum, finish my wedding thank you notes (FINALLY), watch trashy shows on TLC (Extreme Couponing, anyone?), check out the Boxing Day sales, and receive THE most fabulous coat (thanks, Mum!). My husband and I capped off 2011 last night with a small get-together with a too-large menu. We watched "Trading Places" and played cards, again. It was a wonderful time.

Now, it's a new year, and I feel a need to make resolutions, as I often do. This year, I decided to link my resolutions to amazing people I've read about as inspiration and motivation.

First off, I want to stay healthy: continue on the Diet, drink more water, take care of my skin, get enough sleep, and take up exercise, especially yoga and/or meditation to reduce stress. If people in their 80s and 90s can do it, so can I!

Next, I want to give a Spending Fast (or at least a Spending Diet) a shot. Anna's story is so inspiring, and this year people are pledging to join her. Having a group of people with this shared goal will be a great motivation. Now I just need to figure out my parameters...

Of course, I want to improve my creative side: writing this blog, getting back into making art, and possibly start posting outfit photos again (like these fantastic ladies!). I need to focus more on this and less on just noodling about on the internet.

Lastly, I want to focus on all the wonderful people in my life: my husband, our families, our friends, our cats (they're people too!), and all the lovely folks out there I have yet to meet. Watch out world - you're getting a hug!

Tired...

{I could use a nap, like these guys...}

I had an incredible weekend - on Friday I ran errands, got a birthday haircut, and stayed up way late cleaning the apartment (too excited to sleep). On Saturday, my uncle Dale paid us a surprise visit and took us out for a birthday lunch (complete with a dessert mimosa, yum!). When we got home, we cooked and cleaned some more until a record number of guests arrived and got the party started. At the end of night, new friendships had been born, plans had been hatched, there was a friend sleeping on our couch, and a pile of stuff needed to be cleaned up and put away.

Sunday was spent recovering and hanging out with said friend - playing video games, manicures, a bang trim, eating birthday cake, and a loooooooong chat on the couch. Then there were phone calls and a Skype session and cuddle time with my husband.

In the whirlwind, I took an insufficient number of fort photos, so I'm fixing that tonight and doing a post tomorrow. Today I've got a pile of chores and dishes to plough through... wish me luck!

Wingsgiving.

I have a lot to be thankful for, especially this week. I've had two job interviews (fingers crossed!), cuddles with my husband, and a lot of time spent with wonderful friends.

I also celebrated one year on the Specific Carbohydrate Diet, perhaps my most significant achievement this week. It has been challenging at times, but it's so rewarding to be proactively fighting my illness every single day. To celebrate, John made me a lovely dinner of steak, onions and bacon, mushrooms in red wine sauce, meadow beans, and peppermint hot chocolate ice cream. We also tried out our first loaf of almond flour bread, since I've missed bread so much. It was better than coconut flour bread, but it was a bit too sweet and didn't rise as well as I would have liked. It was wonderful to eat a grilled cheese again, though.

We're having our "real" Thanksgiving meal tomorrow, complete with turkey and all the fixins, but tonight we came home after running some errands and made dinner to share with our pals who graciously drove us and all our groceries home. We sat around watching Adventure Time while chowing down on honey-garlic and buffalo chicken wings with carrot sticks and ranch dressing. We laughed and snuggled and I drew a pile of fanart.

What a wonderful night we had, and what a wonderful life I've been blessed with. I hope everyone is having as great of a time as I had today. Love.

SUMMER.

After FIVE WEEKS of fog, rain, and general gloom, we have finally (finally!) had two days in a row of beautiful, warm, sunny weather, and it has made me violently happy. So much so that...

- I smiled to the very edges of my face every time I saw a dog, a cute child, or even a little old lady.

- The only colour left in my favorite headphones was pink, and I detest pink, but it didn't even faze me, and I bought them anyway.

- Even though I saw gorgeous manicures and pedicures everywhere, while my own fingers are toes are naked, all I could think was, "I'd rather be out here in the sun than cooped up inside doing my nails!"

- At the peak of my happiness, I saw a cute little Asian girl sporting an "I Love Yoshi" t-shirt, and found myself so delighted by it that I nearly swallowed her in a hug while shrieking, "I love Yoshi too!", even though that is a lie (I prefer Birdo).


P.S. Please note that it took a great amount of restraint not to type this entirely in caps. So fervent is my happiness that it practically demands shouting.

day 13.

Update: Crohn's is still a little iffy - I'm waiting for my meds to kick in.

However, we had some friends over for fresh-baked bread and roast chicken tonight, which was lovely. It feels good to spend time with people who don't mind that you haven't finished your laundry when you arrive or your sudden urge to reorganise your DVD collection, and get their own drinks.

Maybe this makes us terrible hosts...? Or at least me. My husband was the one slaving away in the kitchen.

...Oops?

cheers,
Meg

P.S.: 30 for 30 challenge? It is so, so very ON. It might be a stressful way to start fashion blogging, but it might be just what I needed.

When I told my husband about it (and informed him that he had just been voluntold into doing my photography), he asked incredulously, "That's a challenge?". Then he counted the number of different clothing items he'd worn in the last month that fit into the challenge parameters (so excluding jackets, undergarments, and workout gear), and his total was ten items. TEN. They say opposites attract...

My list of items will be posted tomorrow.

day 10.

So, this project is not getting off to a good start, blogging-wise. I haven't written here since day 1, though I've written two and a half posts. I may just go back and post them anyway*.

This past week has been crazy: busy all day at work, and at home, my husband is sick, and my Crohn's is flaring. Thank goodness I get my meds tomorrow.

However, it's been wonderful to have my husband home, and we've been making strides in the right direction. We've started working out and are doing a good job of keeping the house clean. We've been spending quality time together and with our cats.

Next on my agenda: blog more regularly, do my darn laundry, and perhaps, if I'm feeling brave, I'll try out Kendi Everyday's 30 for 30 challenge. This blog might as well be a creative outlet too, right?

cheers,
Meg

*Yeah, so I did. I am a cheater-pants.

day 3.

I've decided to start a very, very small side project. I'm not even sure it deserves to be called a project. A strategy, maybe. Anyway.

Semantics aside, I have a problem, and I'm going to try and solve it. I get really attached to my clothes. A lot of my favorite items go through a process where I wear them for a while, and then, when I'm bored with them or they're out of season, I send them to my parents' house (ah, the joys of parents with a large house who live nearby). Sometimes, I'll wear these items when I come home and they'll come back to my place at the end of the visit. Other times, they'll languish in my parents' drawers for a few years until I do a big wardrobe purge there and donate my old stuff. Since these clothes haven't been worn in a long time, it's usually pretty easy to let them go.

The same can't be said for my own closet. Clothes don't get worn for months and yet there they remain, taking up prime closet real estate. I've been getting better - I recently filled a large shopping bag to the brim with clothes to be donated, and I've become a lot more discriminating with my thrifting - but my closet is still full. The other day, I realised that all my hangers were full, and a good portion of my clothes were in laundry baskets. Yeah. I need less clothes.

I decided that it was time to keep track of what I actually wear. That day was October 24. On January 24th, whatever hasn't been worn in the past 3 months and is not a special item (i.e. my bikini or my 2 fancy special occasion dresses) must go. I'll start keeping track of which clothing items in my closet are actually worn.

day 2.

Today:
1. I did some art.
Fashion art, even.
This outfit, in real life, is not only pretty but indecently comfy. I might as well be going to work in my pajamas.
Worn two Fridays in a row.

2. Tired at work. Instead of buying a coffee, which is:
A) expensive
B) sometimes nauseating +
C) bad for my stomach,
I had chocolate in small quantities: in some pumpkin muffins, and two little dark chocolates that my boss gave me, spread out throughout the day.

3. Plan for tonight:
-> homemade food (because my husband is sick of road food)
-> cuddles with said husband and cats
-> go to bed early. Too many yawns today.

Not sure if I'm being too gentle on myself with "the project", but am in the midst of a mini-flare. I think rest wins out this time, plus it's a good mental break and will reharge my batteries. Keepin' positive, yo.

Day 1 of "The Project"

It may seem like a strange first step, but today I'm cleaning the house. Doesn't sound like the way to go into remission, necessarily, but consider this: Having a messy house stresses me out. My husband has been away helping my uncle with a long-distance move, and I want him to feel welcome and relaxed when he gets back. I've been a bit of a slob when left here alone to my own devices, and things weren't the cleanest before that, either.

I also read in this month's Men's Health that a study showed that people with clean houses tend to be healthier, probably because they get exercise from maintaining order in their homes.

Anyway, it's back to the brooms for me!

Cheers,
Meg

P.S.: Motivation while cleaning is a problem of mine. I tend to get distracted by phone calls, my laptop, and my cats. A few things that help keep me going: breaks (like the one I'm taking right now) as a reward for a completed task (I just finished cleaning up in the kitchen) and music I love, blared as loud as I want, and dancing along when the urge strikes.

Something important.

It is 4:30am and I can't sleep.

On the plus side, however, as I was laying in bed tossing and turning, I had a bit of a revelation that is going to change my life majorly and for the better. I don't think anything this important and positive has happened since my wedding day. Granted, that was less than two months ago, but still.

The other day at work, I had some time to kill and I found myself wandering from a blog about professional blogging to a site called "Man Vs. Debt". I'm not terribly interested in personal finance as a hobby, but I have significant student loan debt and I was curious to see what this fellow had to say.

It was about more, much more, than debt. It was about changing your life for the better, whether it be in a small way like de-cluttering your garage, or in a large way, like living free of credit cards. It's about aspirations, ambitions, and life goals.

It mobilised me. I started writing lists of things I wanted to achieve, and the words just poured out of me onto the paper. I felt powerful. I felt confident. I felt... trepidation.

It took me until tonight to figure out why. The cogs had been turning in my head for the past two days. I have two life goals, and I've known what they are for a long time, though not how to put them into action. I want to (1) help people and (2) to travel.

In university, I studied International Development Studies. My intent was to go to Africa or somewhere and feed starving children. I knew I wasn't cut out for the medical professions, so I figured that this would be the most concrete way to help people. However, once I got to school, I soon learned that my way of thinking was imperialistic - very "white man's burden". Also, in my third year of school, a very unfortunate housing situation lead to a relapse of my Crohn's disease, which had gone into remission around the time I started university.

After the return of the Crohn's, I suffered a flare-up so severe that it put me a year behind in my studies. My disease had worsened, and it continued to adversely affect my life, and shattered my dreams of travelling internationally to work for non-profits.

What I need to do is get back into remission permanently. The drugs I'm on now are so new that the long-term effects aren't known yet. It would make so much sense for me to shape up and get myself out of this mess.

This is not an easy proposition. Beating Crohn's is going to take lifestyle changes galore. I am a worrier, and stress is my biggest trigger when it comes to Crohn's. I need to remove stress from my life wherever possible and learn to cope with the problems that I can't get rid of. It could mean creative outlets*, meditation, volunteering, research, diets, strict budgeting, or yoga. My goal for right now will be to come here, every day, and tackle this, and write about my results and discoveries for the day. It may take time, but I read somewhere that it's the dull, plodding types who get things done, otherwise the world would be full of serial novelists and Olympic athletes.

I feel like this idea needs a catchy name of some mind. Something that ends in "Project". I'll get back to you on that.

And so my adventure begins.

Cheers,
Meg

*And all this time, I thought I wanted to write a fashion blog? ...well, who knows. Maybe that's a creative outlet right there. :)

On blogging.

I am a terrible blogger.

Over the years, I have started countless blogs... a livejournal (still updated once every couple of months), a dating blog (don't ask - it's long deleted), a food blog (that one lasted a little while, actually), a photography blog (flash in the pan), a Wordpress blog (had maybe one post on it), and now this one.

I also have a neglected librarything account, a goodreads account I check up on from time to time, a Facebook accounts that I use mainly to send messages to friends and occasionally share photos, and a Twitter that I got on a whim to use a food diary but hasn't been updated since the day I made it. There are more that I can't even remember, I'm sure, on xanga, perhaps, and an old poetry website.

The only online thing I've done consistently online is write songs for 50/90 and FAWM, two annual songwriting challenges that have taught me loads about music, made me friends all over the world, and helped me meet the man who will be my husband (!!!) in less than a month.

I mean, in a way blogging is very narcissistic (thought not as much as Twitter, I think), but it's also a really helpful way to chronicle your life, like a virtual diary (even if sometimes it's through the lens of what you ate, what you wore, where you went and who you went with). In my teens, I'd record all the happenings of my travels, even if it was just to visit my cousins one province over.

I love reading other peoples' blogs. Food, music, style, photography, home design, and even day-to-day stuff are all fascinating to me. Reading about peoples' thought and feelings appeals to me a great deal. So many bloggers that I read would make awesome friends, I'm sure, were I to meet them. I don't comment very often, but I do try to visit most of my favorites every day.

Seeing Elaine like (and wear!) my flower-necklace-as-belt suggestion and watching Kendi wear 30 outfits made of 30 items for 30 days makes me want to try my hand at this fashion blogging stuff, too. Watching Meg and her community create beautiful, insightful words about marriage and life makes me want to inspire and uplift others, too.

So, part of me really wants to try it. But do I have the cojones to just go for it? Should I just dive right in and commit to it, or just keep playing around with things until I decide one way or the other?

Date with myself on Saturday morning?

I'm thinking "yes".
source.

Still writing...

I have Conroy curled up on one side of me. He was purring like a motor earlier, but now he is fast asleep. I hope his legs don't twitch too much if he starts dreaming.
Guinnie was grooming herself, but is now also sleeping. She's a bit further away, and I want to pull her little warm furry body closer. I'm afraid to, though, because it would wake her up and last time I tried, she bit me. Not hard, mind you, but she made her point.
There's also the added bonus of my handsome fiance sitting near me on the other futon. All in all, it's a pretty cosy set-up. Now I'm thinking that I'd rather study here than go to the coffee shop...

The Anglo-Maratha Wars were important because...

Writing a paper right now feels downright wrong. I don't remember the last time that I ended up doing homework on a Saturday night. Saturday afternoon, yes. But not Saturday night. Here's hoping that I get most of it done tonight but still can squeeze at least a little bit of lounging into my evening...

ingredients for a lovely evening

One mug of celestial seasonings lemon zinger tea, sweetened with a bit of sugar.

Paint fingernails a dainty shade of pale yellow.

Add two cats, one fiance, and episodes upon episodes of Naruto.

Sit back, smile, and enjoy.