NST AUGUST 2024

apple_muncher

Today I am grateful for the sunshine, for fresh rasps, for starting to have a plan to sort out downstairs, for getting the paddling pool set up.

Thrifty_Taylor

Thank you for today's great quotes @grandmanerd & well done on all your achievements. Sorry to hear about your fish @lcc86.

NSD#4
Went for a rainy walk with DH after breakfast. Did 2 lots of sewing this afternoon, then collected DS3. Looked out & listed hand grips for a climbing wall, as we'd never used them. They sold quickly. Listed another item & did some filing. Trying to declutter our bedroom...

Grateful for the lovely descriptive text in my book, slowly clearing space, a surprise message from my sister in law

weenancyinAmerica

@Icc86 - sorry to hear about your fish. My roommate G used to have fish but he got so upset when they died, he had to give it up. Best of luck in getting your aquarium up and running again.

thriftylass

Good  morning,

I missed a few posts and will catch up over lunch. Finally back to normality with the kids starting school tomorrow. Did the last bits of clothes shopping over the weekend and some fun activities. Need to sort through my finances and assess the damage today. Back in work now full time and will check in more regularly.

See you later

mothernerd

Monday 12th August 2024

I found this article and I really like it but it's rather long so I'll spread it out over several days'
How To Start a Slow Living Lifestyle Simply
The article advocates doing things a little at a time rather than making radical changes and expecting instant results. Even if you have no aspirations for a slow life I think we need to question a culture that makes a virtue out of overworking and burn out. It's also a useful reminder that we all have times (serious or debilitating illness or too many events happening close together) when these ideas could be helpful.

1   LET GO
a     Declutter your life Ditch don't delegate. Gently declutter. Start living debt free. Stop buying things you don't use
b     Embrace the Familiar Stop reinventing the wheel, if it works don't tweak it. Allow yourself to love what you have
c     Detox gently For at least 6 weeks a year (2 week segments) detox from coffee, sugar, alcohol, screens

2   REST PROPERLY
a     Sleep Cherish sleep Learn to sleep better...and stop sabotaging it. Take care of your circadian rhythm 
b     Real Rest Have a day of rest weekly....and whenever you need one
c     Re-energise your way Introverts need time alone. Extroverts need time to talk

3   RECOVERY TIME
a    Give yourself time to recover from Illness   Grief   Heartache. We come back stronger when we convalesce properly and let ourselves retreat from the world when we need to.

4   UNBUSY
a    Practice saying No Having no time is not a virtue. Write a not doing list - acknowledge all the things whirring round in your head that you are not going to do. Say NO politely, but directly and honestly when you need to
b   Time block responses Only reply to emails and messages in your designated time block
c    Value Slack Build slack into each day. Stop over-scheduling kids. Learn to do more in less time and don't fill the saved time with more work. Keep plenty of weekends free. Clear your calendar by half ...and then half again
d   TRAVEL SLOWLY
    We don't have to race from A to B in the shortest possible time Walk more daily. Give children the time to transition between places (after school). Travel by train and watch the world go by.
Learning to enjoy being un-busy breaks our addiction to the adrenalin of always being on the go.
(sloely.com)

 As always, this is not an integral part of the challenge, take from it anything that's useful and ignore the rest. Might be worth saving for when the winter flu bugs hit - enjoy being 'too ill' to do anything but rest.

laura_lau

Good afternoon and Happy Monday turtles! 
Had a tiring but very productive weekend. I dedicated most of Saturday and the whole on Sunday to organise my mum's wardrobe and we achieved a lot. I emptied the entire wardrobe (which is big) - I found out my mum has way more trousers than I have dresses (and I have quite a few dresses) - had a moment of overwhelmed desperation yesterday afternoon but everything fell back into place before bedtime, so it was a success. I would have liked to do it more slowly but I don't have any time off for now and I will be going back home this Wednesday morning very early, so it was either now or never. Happy to report results:

• we freed up 2 whole shelves of space and 2 storage boxes
• all clothes are now organised with the current season most accessible and other seasons to be rotated from the upper part when needed later in the year (where she has to use a stick to take the hangers down, but she is now too weak to do it) 
• only clothes that fit her well and she likes and knows she will wear are now in the wardrobe. We have made a box of "doesn't quite fit" which might fit if she recovers a bit more muscle mass in the future
• we have sorted a few good pieces (coats and jumpers) which might fit family members (me included - happy to report I have inherited a few beautiful pieces)
• we filled a whole box to donate to charity with anything else - apart from a couple of trousers and one handbag which were really end of life and not fixable, so those will have to go to landfill, but I am pleased it's a very small amount)

In the meantime the house has sold and they have signed a preliminary agreement to complete at the end of October, with private agreement that the house will be left free next April. This has added considerably to my anxiety for various reasons, but this also mean that the end of year holidays will mean another busy and tiring time packing (i will not be back here until then). I will think about it in due time, it was not my decision so ultimately it's not my problem, but still I am struggling to not let it sit at the back of my mind.

Good news is, because I was so deeply buried in boxes and clothes, I had absolutely no time to spend anything this weekend, so I added 3 more NSD's, which brings me to 10 NSD's so far.

One thing I wanted to do today was to enquire with local libraries if they accept book donations as I have quite a lot which are not worth to be moved because I know I will not read again. We do not really have charity shops here in Italy, so it's either the library or hoping some school accepts it, but it might be tricky. Fingers crossed.

lcc86

@KajiKita I'm 99% sure I know what the problem is, complete mistake on my part unfortunately, lesson learned. 

Today I donated to two colleagues' leaving gifts so a spend day there. Busy but very productive day at work. Found out that my leaving date may be sooner than I thought so things are getting a bit real now. 

mothernerd

2 small bags of rubbish out, 1 large OOD bag of 'easy rice', about 12 boxes of gravy granules/ stuffing/ cocoa/ breadcrumbs (some pre-pandemic), 2 rusty tools (from bathroom leaks), 5 dirty paper bags and pieces of card (used to mop up spills), 2 more bags of books packed. Yesterday's washing out on the line and another load in the machine. Found 2 more carrier bags for more cs donations.

Grateful for my wellies (and turtle socks) not hurting my feet, getting bits done, giving in to the need to rest (when there was still lots more to do).

abundant1972

Good evening 🌓

Hugs re the fish icc86
Hugs laura_lau - life sounds full on. Take some time out for yourself and recharge your batteries. 

Thanks for the article grandmanerd. Since my cancer diagnosis it has brought a lot of things up for examining - what is important, questioning my own behaviours... and things are definitely shifting. It feels like I'm doing a deep re-evaluation but don't have the finished 'me' quite yet. I do know I am looking after myself better, and taking the time out when I need it. 

Had a productive day, although ended up buying in some essentials and filling up the car. Got a few bargains and some cashback and freebies through my shopping apps. 

Today I am grateful for: 

1) My car and the freedom it gives me to travel all over
2) The gym and the support it gives me, even if I don't really talk to anyone
3) Streaming TV. Have enjoyed watching some old re-runs this evening

Today = NSD number 6 (still!)

Have a chilled evening everyone x 

apple_muncher

Today I am grateful for scoring a liddle f+v box, for dh and I getting the kitchen half of the back all painted (and cleaned up cos we're rather messy painters!), for Pip enjoying time out and about on his own, for having no school prep to do (I know I had none last year, but last summer was so very different from this year), for discovering eucalyptus tissues in Australia so I'm now keeping an eye out for them over here.