Clean Living, Day Five: Setbacks

So the things I ate today were pretty standard good cleansey things. Yay. I had a pretty good day at work and am making some headway into my new job tasks. There's still a lot to be learned. Like, a LOT. But I made a nice little start.

Then I went to the acupuncture clinic where I volunteer and had a nice time, and had a wonderful acupuncture treatment. It was great, and I was feeling great.

Then I got home and Collin and I got into a fight and now I'm just tired again. So I've watched 3 or more episodes of Fringe, put apple cinnamon oatmeal in the slow cooker for the morning, and looked unsuccessfully for the six packs of floss I ordered from Amazon several months ago. Collin is playing video games and the cats are looking to me for Third Dinner.

But, I'm going to bed. Tomorrow will be new, and maybe I will finally do yoga.

We'll see.

Oh HI BLOG

Oh HI everyone!




Yeah, I've just been thinking. Sorry about the delay. I can't believe it's been over a month since I've written. Like, almost two months! But, you know, better late than never, right? You still want to hear my stories, right?

Otherwise:


[VIDEO REMOVED BY YOUTOOB AND I DON'T REMEMBER WHAT IT WAS -charity]

No, but seriously. Here's a quick recap of what has happened since July 31st.

1) I got another job: HOORAY! I'm so excited. It's going to be awesome. It's full-time, more responsibilities, more pay, more opportunities for professional development, etc. Plus I don't even have to quit working at my current place of employment, which I love! So blessed.

2) I went home to North Carolina to go to the beach in August and had an absolutely phenomenal time. Feel free to visit my Tumblr blog for photos, although you'll have to scroll through pictures of...

3) My birthday trip to Santa Cruz, which was also wonderful! Collin and I had a party for my birthday which was awesomely sweet, and then headed down to Santa Cruz, where we spent a lovely time at the Boardwalk (with tickets to spare, meaning we'll have to go back - score) and then stopped by the Winchester Mystery House on the way back, which has been a dream of mine since I was a girl! Totally worth it. Totally.

4) So obviously, I had a birthday. BIG 36! Literally (see #6, and next entry on cleanse for more details).

5) I went to a yoga workshop at the Iyengar Yoga Institute of San Francisco, and now I really want to go take a few classes there. I'm excited about that possibility.

6) I started seeing another acupuncturist (in addition to volunteering at the Yerba Buena Community Acupuncture clinic, which I will continue to do and love every minute thereof) who is helping me with herbs and such. She recommended an elimination diet for me and Collin so I'm starting that TODAY! I'm actually going to write an entry just on that, so I'll end this one here.

Overall things have been super swell. I can't complain, nor would I want to.  Life is good. Majorly.

Charity :-)

But Seriously, Though

Today I volunteer at the Conservatory of Flowers, one of my favorite places in San Francisco. I shall spend all afternoon telling tourists how to find the butterflies and urging them not to miss the aquatic plants. The fact that I'm not paid, interestingly, makes me not mind dealing with the tourists. I find that aspect of volunteering fascinating and refreshing. It's like, knowing that I don't have to be there makes it feel like a gift I'm giving the organization, and the people, too. And there are so many wonderful people there that I always leave feeling about 10 pounds lighter and 6 months younger. Although that could also be all the extra oxygen I'm getting from standing in front of a wall of plants. LOVELY!

Another fun thing about Conservatory day is that Collin walks with me and we get a hot dog in the park. These days are always good for reminding me of how lucky I am to live in the best city on earth. Sorry if you're not here, but it really is.

A few weeks ago, there were some Morris Dancers just doing their thing(s). It was super. I thought, maybe that would be a fun way to meet people. Why not, right? At least it's a good excuse to be there "with bells on" (that's probably where the saying came from, actually)! I could learn more about my heritage, make friends, and get some exercise. Why not?

It's nice to know I have options. One problem is that relying on public transportation causes everything to take twice as long, and driving directly home from something at 10 pm is a way different experience than taking a one-hour public transportation adventure involving trains, buses, and walks down dark streets with SF crazies in the middle of the night. Seriously. Not awesome.

What it feels like:


What it is actually like:

But, yeah. It's an option.

xoxo,
Charity :-)

Two Years is a Long Time...

Well, ok then.

You know, I've had this nagging feeling in the back of my ... back ... urging me to write again.  I keep thinking I'll do it some more. Actually I've started a few blogs only to leave them languishing, worrying about what I should put in them, whether I should have one general one, specific ones tailored to different goals in my life, ones for travel, ones I will keep private and ones I will share, and finally it has just gotten to the point where I can't care anymore. I just need to write. So here I go.

I looked back and realized it's been two years since I blogged regularly.


Well to be honest, a lot has happened; and at the same time, nothing much has happened. I got back together with Collin, I moved to San Francisco, I got married to Collin, I lost my job (as anticipated), I was unemployed for several months, I got a job in a grocery store and worked there for a year and a half, I got promoted, I got demoted, I quit my job and got another job, and I got another job. In the meantime I've grown accustomed to life in San Francisco and am sad to say that I can't see ever moving back to the East Coast (especially and most sadly to NC, with the naughtiness being conducted currently by the NC General Assembly and its cronies). I've had an extremely stressful first year of marriage and come out on the other side, possibly (and bafflingly) even more in love with Collin than I was before.

Most sadly though, I've really been struggling with being socially isolated. I knew this was possible (likely) for me, due to my personality quirks (yes, let's call them personality quirks). However, I didn't realize how strongly it would hit me. I don't really have anyone to talk to anymore, except Collin. I love Collin and love talking to him but I know that it's not great to rely on one person for all my social needs. As an introvert, I don't really have many such needs, which made it easy to let those relationships slide. However, I realize now that it was not the best course of action.

So where does that leave me now? I have a few goals, and I'm excited to pursue them:

1) Get a job that is inspiring, satisfying, fulfilling, and challenging.
2) Lose fifteen pounds.
3) Get to the point where I'm doing yoga every day.
4) Cut down on video game playing to less than ten hours a week.
5) Write regularly: 2-3 times a week or more.
6) Make some new friends.
7) Start playing the piano again and learn to play the guitar (two-in-one big value special).
8) Have a cleaner apartment.
9) Have a baby. (Big one, lots of work to do before then, but why not dream big?)

To be fair, I've also completed a few goals that I want to brag about:

1) I've quit smoking. (This was kind of a freebie because I never really started again but I'm feeling generous so I'm including it.)
2) I got a real job, and then another real job on top of that one, and am doing pretty well in both (although feeling rather annoyed by both and itching for more).
3) I've lost 5-10 pounds, depending on the day.
4) I've quit drinking.
5) I've started doing yoga again.
6) I've started volunteering.
7) I've started getting acupuncture regularly.
8) I've survived the first year of marriage and come out happier than before.
9) I've started this blog. :-)

Right now I feel optimistic, enthusiastic, excited, and confident (mostly). Actually, that might just be the coffee. I should probably cut down on coffee but I'm trying not to be unreasonable (goals must be SMART, after all)!

I look forward to this new chapter of my life. There are so many things I want to write about; I'm very relieved to have the opportunity again. I might not write regularly, and I might not write frequently, but I'm going to try to just relax about it, and let this be a space where I can write when I need to, or when I want to. I don't need another thing to feel bad about so I'm going to try to just have this as a resource for myself. At the same time, I'm getting older, and my memory is getting less than sparkly, so I'm happy to have this as a place to record my memories for later (I'm definitely feeling the Memoir Bug).

Feel free to contact me and tell me how much you love me or want to talk. I need it. Otherwise, I'll just continue to talk here.

xoxo,
Charity