Friday, July 30, 2010

Friday Frags and Tryin' to Feel Good

Mommy's Idea

Mrs4444 has been getting her vacation on as she preps for school to start back. The Girl has continued her Blogcation another week- but found a lovely hostess in 29 and Holding for this week's Feel Good Friday! I have to admit that I am kinda struggling with the Feel Good aspect for this week. It's been a stressful week so bear with me.

First, my Frustrating Fragments:

- Had a work situation that got raised to crazy higher up corporate levels and had to explain processes and defend a supplier and then it turend out that I ended up finding the solution on my own with the help of Google. I saved the day, tried to save face since I'd been defending my supplier, and there is still going to be fallout because people aren't happy with how it was handled by the manufacturer our supplier works with. But having my boss and her boss and his boss and other bosses sending snarky and strongly worded e-mails around was NOT a fun way to spend my week.

- My kitchen is a mess. Our lives are so busy and one thing I really hate about cooking is that it means I have to clean it up, too. Worst of all, we did pasta night the other night and didn't clean up immediately so the kitchen stinks of tomato sauce and garlic. Plus the trash needs to go out. I'm betting it takes 2 loads in the dishwasher to get everything done, too. I can handle a messy house but a messy kitchen hurts me and I truly haven't had the time to take care of it myself.

- Jeff is going to be gone next week. He's just going downtown but he will be pretty much unavailable to us unless there is a true emergency. There is a huge gaming convention that comes to Indy every summer- GenCon. Jeff works with a company that runs a game called True Dungeon. He's a Dungeon Director. I'm not making it up- stop laughing. I'm serious! Anyway, the game is like a real life Dungeons and Dragons. Teams go room to room in a timed sequence and have to "fight battles" and solve puzzles and so on. The Con opens Thurs. Jeff has to go down Monday with the behind the scenes crew and start the dungeon building and setting up special effects and all that jazz. It's a really cool thing he does and he's passionate about it and he spends a week with his friends doing their version of guy stuff- but I do miss him while he's gone.

- Teagan's behavior is getting better. But we aren't out of this yet. I'm concerned about upcoming changes and the impact they will have- could go positive, could go negative. First change is that Zach starts going to Little Explorers next week. Second change is Kindergarten starting 2 weeks later. It seems like at least once each day- either at school or at home- there has to be at least one big meltdown or confrontation. And the later in the day it happens, the worse it is.

- Zach is starting to act out more. I don't know if this is his natural path or if he's modeling his big sister. It isn't anywhere near what she's doing. But I don't want my sweet, laid back boy to think he is supposed to act like Teagan when he doesn't get his way. We're trying to give him tons of positive attention and affirmation when he's making good choices.

- I wasn't sure I was going to admit this but... I've gained 4 pounds in the last month. I knew it was going to happen. I knew I wasn't making my best choices. I think my running plan (meaning that I've only been running once a week and not with the same amount of calorie burn as a month ago) is part of it. I know my food choices is part of it. I need to get refocused, recommited. I do some things exceptionally well but I am identifying some serious weaknesses that need work.

Now, let's take those Frustrating Fragments, drain them out and fill up with some Feel Good Friday, shall we?

- Tomorrow is date day for Jeff and I. We wanted to find a time for a date prior to his being gone for GenCon. However, Christy was booked up pretty solid. By chance, his parents mentioned that they now have more flexibility on Saturdays that they didn't have before. So we jumped on it! Saturday date day! Jeff will take the kids over just before lunch and then he and I are heading to the art museum for lunch and then some hand holding and quiet chatting and art gazing. I'm soooo ready for it.

- I get to go to a Zumba class tomorrow morning! It's free at the Lifestyle Family Fitness Center. They are celebrating National Dance Day by offering free group dance fitness classes all day!

- That situation with my supplier... while stressful... I get a little bit of a high as the frustration leaves and the fix that I FOUND settles in. I won't feel fully confident until the product has arrived and been used in our production and proven to be valuable- but I do feel good that I was able to "fix" the crisis.

- My friend Christy is an awesome person and deserves some support. She's been my running buddy and workout buddy since the word go when we joined the gym together. She's been my friend for a decade. She commits herself to her passions- theatre being a big one. She donates blood (platelettes) regularly. She cares about her circle of friends in a very real and genuine way. She's funny- and she laughs at y jokes (especially my stupid ones). Plus, she not only shares my love of wine, chocolate, sushi and cheese but she helps me expand the field and try new things. She's going to Paris, France for 2 weeks in September and, while part of my is jealous, I'm going to really miss her.

- I love my mom. I'm glad she's my friend.

- I love my church family. It's mind boggling to me how much my faith has expanded by locking in to this family. My faith in God hasn't ever waivered but I've been unsure about the church thing. In the past few years, I've really plugged in to my church and it's simply amazing.

Alright- I'm feeling better now. How about you- any frustrations that need to be replaced with feel goods? Photobucket

13 comments:

kbiermom said...

Frustrations? Yes. Loads. At one point this week, I went outside just wishing there was a place to go where a good, long, loud, primal scream was allowed. Nuff said.

Feel goods? Plenty of those, too. First, my partner, my husband, the person I can and do share anything and everything with... It's always a blessing to talk with him over coffee in the morning.

My kids. I admire them for so many things.

My family and friends who love me enough to let me know they will always be there for me... I need them more than they can possibly know.

The fridge. Thanks consolidating most of our household dirt in one place. Cleaning there this week was pretty gratifying.

Momza said...

I'm just gonna say how excited I am for you to go to ZUMBA! It just makes my day!
And one more thing, be gentle with yourself.

Unknown said...

Frustrations...I've got a few, but I don't have time to type them all out here!

Feel Good...well, the shorts that I bought at Eddie Bauer on vacation in June (that were really a little too tight, but I bought 'em anyway) not only fit, but they're a little loose now. Progress...it's all progress in the process.

Another Feel Good...people reading and commenting on my blog (like YOU)...and the "stopping to pee" comment...well, that one made me laugh out loud!

Regarding T...maybe it's just the upcoming changes that have her a bit off...seriously...Drake totally freaks out on us the week or two before Gen Con. He knows we're going to be gone, and he knows he's going to be in good hands, but he gets a bit wonkers before we hit the road.

Have fun on your date! I am jealous...we are loading semis, and doing laundry to make sure we have clean clothes to take to Indy! Oh, and one more thing I'm jealous of...my word verification is "calit"...nothing cool like what you got! Is calit even a word? ....stumbles over to dictionary.com to see...

Jackie said...

All the bad things come and go, the good memories last forever so keep making more of those and it all evens out eventually in life. At least so far it has. I thought the worst thing that could happen was when June of 09 my Dad passed away on Father's Day and so far that prediction is the truth, nothing has come close to that devastating feeling of having to let my Daddy go! The bright side of the coin, the part that allows me to be able to tell stories about the man and laugh instead of cry is the fact that he is waiting for my wonderful Mom and me because just like you my faith allows me to have joy in life whereas without it life would be just one long bad day when everything goes wrong!

Have a better week Liz!
I got the coolest word verification off this UNREAD, an actual real word!

jackie ^_^

My FGF

RN Mama said...

Ugh, that does sound like a frustrating week!

I'm glad that you were able to find some things to feel good about, and that you have a date tomorrow! Awesome!

I've gained weight in the past month too...for the same reasons...not making good food choices, and not exercising enough:( Here's to recommittment!

Thanks for linking up today!

Garret said...

I liked your way of handling this post. All the bad and then all the good.

Shell said...

Have fun on your date and at zumba!

Joanna Jenkins said...

So much going on... Glad you get a date night to recharge your battery.
Hang in there, jj

tracey.becker1@gmail.com said...

Right now, I just want to go to sleep. But I'm glad that you got so much off of your chest and found some silver linings...

noexcuses said...

Glad you got rid of so much stress! Writing does some amazing things for us, doesn't it?

Enjoy your date today! It sounds like fun!

mimbles said...

*Hugs* for all the stresses and *big grin* for date day and Zumba and all the other good stuff in life!

I've been struggling this week too and it culminated in a truly hideous Saturday. I didn't blog it because it was basically a big whinge about Adam but I did post it in a thread on a group blog I read:

I’ve had pretty crap day so far. Woke up with a thumping headache, dragged myself out of bed, yelled at grumpy uncooperative kids who were refusing to get ready to go to the Opera House to see “Just Macbeth” because it “was dumb” and we’d forgotten to prime them to expect to leave the house. Ended up pissed off with myself for being even grumpier than the grumpy kids.

Adam announced he couldn’t find the confirmation email for our tickets and that he must have accidentally deleted it. I quashed my pessimism and off we went. Got to the Box Office – no tickets waiting for us.

Adam explains to me half a dozen times over how he’s sure the money went out of the account. Can’t get the ANZ netbanking page to load on either of our mobiles. Can’t afford to buy tickets (and wouldn’t be able to sit together anyway). Give up and come home. Adam eventually works out that the transaction he thought was him buying “Just Macbeth” tickets was actually me buying ArtsNorth Choral concert tickets (it being on my card number should have been dead give-away) and when I finally crack and ask how he would feel if it had been me that had been responsible for this debacle, says he’s sorry and goes back to bed.

Which brings us to the next little stress in my life. He had the snip on Wednesday and he’s been completely shattered ever since. Falling asleep at the drop of a hat, grouchy, not himself at all. I can’t decide if I’m more worried about his physical or his mental health.


Fortunately Sunday has been muuuuch better. Adam woke up apparently feeling just fine this morning and we've had a very productive day the results of which I have blogged :-)

Mrs4444 said...

You're blessed to have good to even out the not-so-good, but even more blessed to recognize it. Good luck this week! (oh, and I remember Jeff going on that thing last year. We've been friends for a long time now, and that makes me very happy :)

mimbles said...

I just saw Wil Wheaton tweet that he slayed the dragon in True Dungeon and had a moment of envy that Jeff is there, possibly right this moment. :-)