Thin Slices of Joy
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Good to have puppy help!
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She's my personal trainer!
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Two days ago I accidentally dropped my smartphone in the parking lot (when picking up a Tamoxifen refill). It's in a case to prevent cracks, so that part worked. Problem was that it fell in melted snow. The mic got wet and wasn't working well. I pried the back off the phone and let it dry for 2 days. Mic is good!
The better part is that work pays for my phone. Since my phone is out of contract, I'm eligible for a new phone! They're working on a replacement. My phone is OK now, but it fell in salty, greasy water. Since I wasn't able to clean it well, problems could develop later. I wanted a new phone anyway. When I get the new one, I'll try to clean my old one and give it to one of the kids.
I'm thankful for my work. They've been patient and have replaced my old laptop with a lighter one. The heavy laptop was making my sciatic pain worse.
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My husband brought this to my attention. He seems to recognize it in me.
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I had forgotten about my bone scan from last week. Earlier today I sent an email to my MO about the results. Just saw his response that it was all clear as expected.
Joy for clear results and for forgetting!
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Here's a good read...
https://mobile.twitter.com/Cmdr_Hadfield/status/81...
And this one is my goal.
Staying in as usual. Keeping warm with family and pup.
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Lots of cuddling with pup today. I like watching her sleeping face. Used to do that with the kids, but doing so now would be creepy.
I haven't been taking my usual dose of Flexeril for the past few days. It was just a 1/2 tablet at bedtime. I haven't noticed a difference. Think my exercises and hanging are working.
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I love that my kids have a break from school, but it may be time for them to start back up. While my pup was sleeping soundly on my legs, my older daughter took pictures of her not-quite-drooling, lips-askew face. They were not flattering. I will not post them. But we all laughed.
Now that I'm in less pain (Yes!), I need to work on my lost flexibility. I found these stretches yesterday. I worked them in today. Highly recommend.
https://experiencelife.com/article/smart-stretchin...
They incorporate the proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation (PNF) method — a physical therapy procedure that tricks tight, resistant muscles into relaxing, thus enabling a deeper stretch.
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Love these pictures! There are 4 pages of kids and big dogs.
http://www.boredpanda.com/little-kids-big-dogs-pho...
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Except no breaking my new coffee mug. Spent lots of time searching.
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Pup is needing cuddle time. She gently rammed me while I was hanging and mouthed my arms. She looks much bigger when my head is below hers! When I didn't go right with her, she waited under me until I finished. The moment I went on the floor to do other exercises, she was on top of me. She is so spoiled. I'm easily swayed from my exercises.
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I had a Thai yoga massage at the wellness centre. It was awesome. It was like the Thai & Myofascial Bodywork I had a few weeks ago. I stayed a little after my appointment to enjoy the peace and warmth. The centre feels like a sanctuary. I got scheduled for Thai Reflexology tomorrow. Someone had cancelled.
Oh, today was my first time going without a hat in public. I did bring a hat. I put it on for the drive home. I'm in Montreal. It's damp and cold.
Cuddling with pup for more peace and warmth.
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I had Thai Reflexology this morning. Before cancer I never liked having my feet touched, but now, it's all good! My sphere of personal space has shrunk. My ankle flexibility on the right is improved. Almost fell asleep.
Got home and did my bat hang, postural alignment exercises, and new stretch routine. I was able to resist pup interruptions even when she decided she liked the lotion on my feet. She gave up and is still sleeping on her bed.
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Was she licking your feet for the lotion? So cute.
Serenity, I have found an aqua class at my gym, that focuses on strength & balance & posture. She throws out words like proprioceptors! Explains how poor posture can affect the neck and upper back muscles, exactly where I have problems. So really hoping this class helps me out.
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She's right on the effect of poor posture on our muscles. Hope that class helps you. How often do you go?
The postural alignment exercises have been working for me. I just started the new stretches, and I can feel a difference before and after. My sciatica has been with me for 3 years now, so it will take some time, but I have noticeable improvement. Need to celebrate the small changes.
Yeah, my pup was licking my feet.
She loves lotions and oils. I have to put it on behind closed doors or cover it right away. If she sees me applying anything, I have to put her in a stay to stop her from lunging at me. Then she stares at me until I release her. During chemo I was applying vitamin E oil on my nails several times a day. I would raise my hands in the air while it absorbed to keep her from licking it all off. She has a very glossy coat! 0 -
Your pup is so funny.
My goal is to get to the class twice a week for now. I work 330-midnight, so it is difficult to get to the 7am and 8am classes. T/Th there is 930 and on Weds it is at 10. Those times work with my schedule. But they are changing the class schedule in 2 weeks, so I'll see if there are any more classes at a good time for me.
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I hope you get more classes to fit your schedule. The postural exercises I do aren't strenuous so I try to do them almost every day.
My pup is 5 years old, but she still looks and acts like a pup. It's as if she stopped aging at 9 months.
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I've been in the water with wild dolphins, but this sounds really fun. I love otters! We've described our dog as a land otter. Look at its wee hands/paws(?).
Where Swimming With Otters Brings Peace and Healing to Kids (and Adults)
For the fourth time in an hour, I reached into the back of my bathing suit and pulled out a small worn-down rock. The Asian small-clawed otter named Rocket who had deposited it there watched me, waiting, as I held out the rock to look at it. In a flash, the aptly named Rocket swam up and snatched it from my hand. This time he neatly deposited the rock down the front of my bathing suit. Almost immediately he decided he wanted it back, so he went after it, right down the front of my bathing suit, sparking a wave of giggles from me and the other swimmers.
The staff at Nurtured by Nature in Valley Center, California, told me it's a sign of friendliness when the otters shove rocks into your swimsuit. They've developed a game based on the habit: When you get out of the pool, whoever has the most rocks hiding in their suit wins. My total in and out of water was about six. By this metric, I think I made a new otter best friend that day. Thanks, Rocket.
Jennifer Billock
More: http://mentalfloss.com/article/86305/where-swimmin...
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LOVE the otters!
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Awwwwwwwwww. The otters!
Here is my slice today: mom is recovering after a very scary double pnemonia and is actually looking and sounding like herself again. And is off steroids, which made her tell me some really crazy stories about the hospital nurses.....I hope we laugh about them soon.
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reflect - What a big relief! I hated having to take steroids. Glad your mom is doing better. Show her the otter story!
Qi Gong and Meditation today. Really like both, but I'm so not good at quieting my mind. While waiting for Meditation to start, I formatted the new spreadsheet they started using this week. It's a simple one for date, first name, time in, and time out. It's on a new tablet, and people were having trouble using it today. There were times entered using different formats or no format at all. We decided on the 24-hr clock. I corrected all the ones that weren't using the colon. Good thing it only had 3 days of entries. That was satisfying, and the receptionist wrote down the steps to make it easier for people to enter their times.
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My sciatica is improving! I feel less pain, and my flexibility is still limited. I started recording Classical Stretch on PBS again. I had tried it long ago, but it was too painful to do. Yesterday and today I followed the program. It made me feel graceful though I'm certain I didn't look graceful! I kicked the pup only once. I followed it with pieces of the postural alignment exercises. I will try to do the bat hang in the evenings.
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This is not me, but there may be a resemblance.
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hello,ladies
Slices of joy
Being a grandmother this year
Almost 35 years of marriage. Coming up next week. We will enjoy a massage and a dinner out
Resting today with my 15 year old dog
Everyday we are blessed. Just need to slow down to recognize those moments :
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Our son came out this weekend. He's two years clean and sober, working and taking college classes. My daughter, husband and son singing harmonies together. Perfect moment.
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susan - Congratulations! Massage and dinner are my kind of celebration. Nothing like resting with a dog. We took a nap.
reflect - Beautiful!
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Looks like I've been making some of these tweaks. Need to do more.
https://qz.com/683886/the-small-tweaks-that-%e2%80...
The small tweaks that turn an OK life into a great life
For those lucky enough to live in peaceful, plentiful societies, life should be great. But because we're all human, and everything—every hardship, annoyance, and problem—is relative, we often go through days beset by feelings of sadness, worry, and stress.
We each have our own ways of bringing joy into life. The daily ritual that can't be compromised; the tweak that makes a massive difference to how you feel. Here at Quartz, we crowdsourced ours, to bring you our guide to a day that's much, much better than just OK.
(And here's a promise: none of this advice will require you to move house, spend a lot of money, or wake up really early.)
Morning
- Wake without an alarm
The dark of a January morning; a piercing wail that shocks you out of too-short sleep; the insistent, tyrannical "snooze" function. Every morning for most of my life I used an alarm to wake, thinking there was no other option. But then I met my partner, and found he rejected that moment of morning pain, brief and forgettable though it is. Training yourself to wake without an alarm isn't difficult. It requires routine, and not being exhausted. The pay-off: waking every morning with no sense of panic or shock. Highly recommended.
- Start the day with something hot and truly delicious
From Australia's flat white to India's chai, there are coffee and tea drinking traditions in cultures across the world. Culturally and spiritually, these drinks are important. A well-made cup of coffee is so far removed from a watery, lukewarm, or otherwise bad one that it makes the difference between your spirit lifting, or staying right where it is. Don't compromise.
And as my colleague Jenni Avins notes, use the right cup. A mug should be big enough for a satisfying brew, and ideally made of china or porcelain, which keeps the drink hotter. An espresso is inexpressibly better in an espresso cup.
- Put on comfortable shoes
We've talked a lot recently about shoes. They're political, especially if you're a woman. And they're the most important things we wear when it comes to the way we move and feel. Painful shoes are a misery, and comfortable ones a joy.
- Mitigate your commute
Commuting can make us very unhappy. For many, though, it's unavoidable. So how can you tweak it? Walking or cycling can make the necessity a pleasure, and for some it's worth factoring in extra time to make that possible. We're also increasingly demanding flexibility from our workplaces, and that can mean shifting work hours so we start from home and then travel in when the rush hour is over. If you have to take a train or bus, read something that also transports you: A great book came up as an important happiness factor for us at Quartz.
Afternoon
- Don't be uncomfortable at your desk
Pain at work should not be a normal state of affairs, though for many of us it is. There's a lot of advice out there about how to optimize your work station but at the minimum: Screens, desktops and chairs need to be at the right height and distance for your body. Other tweaks (footrests, the ability to stand, ergonomic equipment) might be necessary. Experiment until you find what works.
- Move
This can be a challenge, but for lots of us it's also the difference between feeling great and feeling terrible. It doesn't have to be hours at the gym. A short walk is much, much better than no walk. One trip to the pool a week gives swimming addicts an important fix.
Evening
- Put your speakers in the right place. Arrange books so that you can find them easily. Keep floors clean, so that walking barefoot is a pleasure.
- Use good-quality cotton sheets
So, if you don't have great sheets, buying them an expense. Not a sky-high one, though, and an investment: good sheets last. Some also emphasized the importance of a good mattress. That's expensive, for sure, but for somewhere you spend a third of your life, perhaps worth it.
Any time of day
- Designate a time each day to not worry
Or, even, a time to worry. Designating time when you can process those thoughts—or escape them—can help manage feelings of being overwhelmed.
- Eat good bread
Bread goes in and out of fashion. But if you're eating it, that experience can be one of simple glory. Hipster-beloved sourdough. A baguette with butter. Dark Polish rye. Spongy, sour injera. Eat what you love. Just don't eat bad bread. Don't do it. That's all.
- Seek out quality food
We're straying away from "tweaks" into the realm of farmers markets and locavores. This isn't a shopping list, but good olive oil, truly fresh seasonal fruit, good Scotch (in the right glass), tomatoes that haven't been refrigerated, full-fat dairy products, and "capers in your tuna salad" all came up as things that make life better for us here at Quartz. And an airtight lunchbox can give you the ability to take delicious home-cooked food to work.
Finally…
Having a sense of agency in one's own life is, unsurprisingly, a key to happiness. So is opportunity: the belief that you can achieve goals. Those are big things, but maybe that's why small tweaks make a lot of difference to how we feel. They remind us we have choice: between a good cup of coffee and a poor one; between a synthetic sheet and one made of cotton.
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