Getting My Fix

Ok, so this is something new that is not at all like me....
NOT
AT
ALL!!

I decided to join a box subscription.  You know, you pay them once a month or so and they send you a box of whatever it is.  They have gluten free food boxes, runners boxes, makeup boxes, etc...

Now, my love language is definitely gift giving so this whole idea appeals to me on many levels.  It's like giving myself a surprise gift every few months.

However, if you know me well you know that my closet is filled with jeans, t-shirts and sweatshirts and not a whole lot more than that.  It's like my mom uniform.  Actually...I can't even say that because it's pretty much how I have always dressed.  I like comfort...I just do.

So, I got out of my "BOX"and I subscribed to a clothing box delivery called Stitch Fix.  I gave them my measurements and preferences (surprisingly they had no box to check for the style preference of "jeans and sweatshirts".)  

And here it is...my box of clothes.  

Now, let me say one other thing.  This is out of my comfort zone on a few levels.  One because, as I mentioned, I really prefer jeans and sweatshirts.  And TWO because I also prefer the clearance rack at Goodwill.  Yes, the CLEARANCE rack at GOODWILL.  There I buy my jeans for $5 and my shirts for $2.  I am sure you can imagine that these clothes will not be costing me $5.   However, you do get to choose what you will keep and not keep so it seemed reasonable to me to at least try it.  Maybe it will help me step out of my comfort zone with clothing as well.  Maybe it will challenge me to try something that I normally would not even try on.  

This is the shirt that greeted me as I opened the box.  A color that I like but I am not sure I have ever owned anything flowered.  I tried it on and I actually wanted to like it.  But it was a no go.  And for the price...NOT HAPPENING.  I was willing to pay more than my normal $2 for it...I really was...but only  if I really loved it.  

I did not love it! 

However, these other three I DID LOVE.  They all fit and they were all comfortable AND they all looked nice.  So, it became a balance of is the cost worth it or not.  In the end the the Goodwill Hunter in me won out mostly but I did make one purchase.  It was a bit cheaper than the others and I had not seen one like it at Goodwill lately so I took the plunge.

Can you guess what one it was????

So, here is the introspection...the thoughts my brain had.

It was fun to get the box.  I LOVE gifts...even when they are from myself.  And I do think that it is good to stretch myself in the area of clothes.  I could definately spend more time thinking about what to wear in the morning...taking a few more minutes to take care of myself and concentrate on me.  To choose something that I feel like I look really nice in.  If I start doing that more than one day a week I think that will be a positive step for me.

However, I don't think forcing myself to spend more money on clothes is something I will do.  I mean, I might step it up to Target now and then or maybe even the clearance rack of Stein Mart if I am feeling "spendy".  But I doubt you will see me sporting many "stitch fix" outfits any time soon.  

But for this once...it was fun & a new adventure for me. 

Chalk that up as a new experience! 

Mrs. Fix It

Ok, so this will be a quick post because I am way behind on posting this stuff.  I have two more posts to go to get caught up...eeeekkkkk! 

The short of it is this: 

A couple of weeks ago I fixed my own dryer.  I have been without a dryer for 4 months and before that it was taking two cycles to dry.  Then it started making such a horrible noise that it was useless. 

We called a repairman who failed us miserably but who we are trying to show grace to for personal things in his life.  But, that stuck me without a dryer for 4 months...there are NO WORDS!! 

 So, inspired by my friend Lorena (who fixed her dryer herself a while back) I decided I would look it up and see if I could fix it.  I stumbled upon an incredible website that helps you diagnose what's wrong and then gives you links to order the parts you need and has videos showing how to fix the problem. 

I went to open up our dryer and investigate the issue but I could not even get into it.  I didn't have the right tool.  That made me want to quit from the start.  But I didn't...I got myself this handy dandy screwdriver with lots of ends and got to work.  

I opened it up, compared my dryer to the video & identified the parts I needed.  

After the parts (it needed 6 new parts) came in it was truly a simple fix that took about 30 minutes. 

And now my dryer works like a charm! 

And I have to say that so far this is the thing I'm proudest of.  I can't believe I actually did it.  This is something I normally would rely on Stan for.  I might look it up and decide what was wrong but then I would add it to his to do list.  But I did it...and I did it myself.  I figured it out. 

And it felt good...to feel pride in MYSELF.  

I'm use to feeling proud of my kids. 

I'm use to feeling proud of my husband.

It's a much more rare feeling to be proud of myself.  The week I fixed my own dryer all by myself...I felt pride.  And that felt good.  

Go tackle something in your own life this week that feels too big or just out of reach.  

You can do it! 

Relaxing is HARD!

Well, I am late with this post but let me explain...I really, really, really, typed this up like days after I did the hammock challenge.  BUT something in Blogger went terribly wrong (ok, maybe just a little bit wrong but it sounds better to say TERRIBLY so go with me on this one).  I could not get my post to publish and then it was gone...and then it was there but horribly unedited so I had to go back and redo this thing...so if there are lots of mistakes then you have to just blow past them and pretend they are not there cause I have another post to redo AND I have another post to write and I am going to try and crank them out in just a few days.  AND, let's not forget that I am the mom of 5 kids who will be home in less than and hour.  AHHHHHHHHHHHH......

 So, I actually did it.  I spent the entire day in my hammock on Relaxation Day.

It was...well...It was HARD.  For real, it was bothersome for me.

So, here is how it went:

My plan was from 12:00 AM to 11:59 PM I would stay in the hammock.  The exception being that I would get up to go to the bathroom when needed.

Can I tell you, it actually takes a decent amount of planning to be able to pull off a day in the hammock.  If my kids were little again this would have taken twice as long to get ready for...and likely would not have happened. Luckily for me they are older now and can take care of most of their own needs.
So, I got it all ready.  I donned my bug spray because somehow mosquitoes seem to find me delicious.  FOR REAL...I have a bite on my eyelid from one that found me IN MY OWN BEDROOM last night.

Then I headed out to the hammock with my sleeping bag and a sheet to pull over my head so I was fully mosquito proof.  I lit my citronella candle...meant to keep away as many mosquitoes as possible but also to illuminate the area incase any critters or mischievous neighbors decided to join the party and scare the socks off me.

Admittedly, I was quite cozy and happy laying there in my hubby's hammock.  

It got down to about 40 degrees that night which I was fine with because I LOVE sleeping in the cold.  My family will attest to that.  I typically would rather not have the air conditioning on during the fall and spring except at night when I want it to be below 70 all night.  They are all asking for extra blankets and I am waking up happy and refreshed.  So, YEP...I was loving it.

I did wake up one time early in the morning because I heard something in the yard.  I laid there all zipped up in my mummy sleeping bag until I realized that if that something walking thru the yard was a creepy dude looking to steal a 40 year old woman I would be a pretty easy target all zipped up in there.  So, I unzipped quickly and sat up...  Thankfully the neighbor's dog was not at all prepared to carry me anywhere.

The next time I woke was when my son (M) delivered toast to me in my hammock 

and told me he was getting ready to head to school....LOVELY SON!!!

Ok, so here is where the introspection began for me.

The house grew quiet as the kids left and then I was there alone...left to RELAX.  I knew that was going to be hard for me but I never really realized how hard it was.  I don't relax that much other than sleeping.  Really, if I am relaxing I'm often asleep.

Just to get myself to relax all day I had to make it a challenge.  I had to bet myself I could not do something and then prove I could.  That was just the beginning.  From the moment the house grew quiet and I was left alone to relax I fought it.  I knew I would stay in the hammock all day and I had brought out a tub of things to do to keep me from being bored.

I brought out food and as I ate my food I realized that I could probably count up the calories of what I was going to eat that day and then challenge myself not to eat more than I would burn.  See what I did there...I turned relaxing into a job...a challenge.

I realized what I was doing and made myself put it out of my mind.  I decided it was time for a book so I pulled out a book I had in my tub of things to do.  I made sure it was a relaxing book and not a self help book or "how to" book so it was not adding to my to do list in any way.  I started reading and as I got into the book I realized I might be able to finish a book in a day...something I have not done since I was a kid.

Do you hear that...do you see what I did AGAIN?? 

 I tried to challenge myself to another contest. 

 I was making reading a book into a challenge.

So.......   I STOPPED!  

I continued reading but I did not let myself make it a challenge or something to do. 

 I just read.

And that is how my day went...I kept finding things to do and I would simply enjoy it for a little bit and then my brain tried to make it into something I had to do.

After the school day was over I had several visitors to my back yard.  I had made a deal with my kids and some of the neighborhood kids that if they would help me and my friends celebrate Relaxation day that I would help them celebrate National Creamsicle Day.  See what I did there....I gained myself some servants for the price of a couple of boxes of Creamsicles.  (Feel free to put me on a parenting pedestal for that one...Yes, it was BRILLIANT...it happens about once every 3.7 years that I get a brilliant parenting idea).

The rest of the day was spent hanging out with my friends who joined me in the backyard in hammocks or swings.  One of my friends brought chocolate and wine and another one sat and chatted.  Another friend called and kept me company while she herself lay in her own hammock in her yard and another still sent a photo of her in her hammock.  All these things made me so happy as I laid there (or sat there, or hung there, or stood there...YES, I STOOD in my hammock...cause laying gets old pretty quickly)

One friend spend a while in a hammock beside me and forced me to really look inside and think about what I was doing here.  While I laid there wishing to get out of the hammock and be done with this thing I was calling relaxation but was really making into a to do list, she laid there and you will never believe what she did...  SHE RELAXED.  She chatted with me and she RELAXED. She looked at the shooting stars in the sky and saw 20-30 of them.  There was an actual meteor shower going on and I was so busy being ready to be done that I missed most of it.  I saw 3...count them...THREE.  She is much better at relaxing than I am.  She said it like it was a joke but the truth is that I learned from her.  (I learn a lot from her in life)  But, for real, it's something I wish I knew how to do...REALX...just sit there and BE. I wish I could have laid there and taken it in.  There was a meteor shower happening and I wish I had embraced that.  I wish I had embraced the relaxation of the day....

Maybe if I had relized that watching a meteor shower was actually on my list of new things to do this year I would have...because that would have turned it into something TO DO.

Over and Out...