The trip that wasn't

 Time to document this before I forget so that I have it for posterity.  Last Wednesday, June 9th, we rented an RV and left on an epic 10 day road trip. I was so, so excited. I had planned the trip for about 6 months and we were going to stop at places I've wanted to see for ages. It was going to be completely epic and memory making. We left here and drove to Holbrook, AZ. It was a 3 1/2 hour drive and we got stuck in traffic for about 30 minutes. We left here around 3pm and arrived in Holbrook at almost 9pm. When we got the RV we just kind of threw everything in there and took off. We wanted to get going. When we got to Holbrook, it was impossible to find anything and get the dog food and make us something to eat. It was rough. We also had a really rough night. The campground was right by a freeway and people were coming and going all night. The dogs didn't sleep much, we didn't sleep much, and we were up at 4am. We took our time getting moving, coffee, shower, organizing, etc. We fed the dogs and they hardly ate but did lounge around in front of the RV. Around 7am we packed everything up and headed out to the Petrified Forest and Painted Desert. They were pretty cool. The Painted Desert was beautiful. The Petrified Forest was weird. I don't know what I exactly expected but all that we saw were logs laying on the ground. Most of them had been cut up at some point in time. It was just strange. From there we began to head towards our next destination - St. George Utah. The plan was to spend 2 days there and see Bryce and Zion National Parks - epic. We drove for a while and then stopped to get gas and let the dogs out. That's where things went bad. Bella couldn't walk. At. All. I got her out of the RV but she really couldn't stand. She'd get up- with my help - and then take a step or two and fall down again. She could not use her legs at all. WTF!!! What were we going to do? I tried to call her vet and couldn't get through. So after talking about it we decided that the only thing to do was to go home. We could not keep her out like that, we had to figure out what was wrong. So, on day 2 of the epic adventure, we headed home. Luckily we were right outside Flagstaff which means we were only about 2 hours from home. We got home and see was a little better but still not walking well. We got her into the house, gave her some water, and proceeded to unpack the van. I called internal medicine vet and she said that we should take her to the ER right away. I called her primary vet and they said the same thing. But they had me check her gums by pressing on them to turn them white and then seeing how long it took to turn pink again. It took a long time. They said that meant she was dehydrated and would probably need fluids. I gave her some more water and she laid down and slept on the cold tile. I decided to wait before taking her to the ER. That night was rough. Bella could not get up on her own and she walked like a drunken sailor. She really did nothing but sleep. Lola slept soundly through the night also. The next morning, Bella was a little bit better but not much. She could not get up by herself and definitely had trouble walking. Lola did not get up in the morning. She slept and slept and slept and slept. It was odd how late she slept. Bella laid around most of the day. She was getting up on her own a bit and was definitely walking better. She still just laid around most of the day but was definitely improving. Then this morning she was almost back to her old self. She could get up on her own and was walking normally again. It was good to see. She is still sleeping a lot but she is definitely moving better. 

As for the trip, I managed to cancel all but 2 of the campsite reservations that I had made. So I got over $200 back. We returned the RV yesterday and they only charged us for 3 days. We got all the rest back, a little over $2,000. So it was a bust but at least we got most of our money back. Initially I was sad, very sad that we were not going to do the trip and I was really worried that we may have pushed Bella too far and we may lose her. But I got over the trip and Bella is on the mend so it's all good. 

Rough weekend

 It was Memorial weekend and wow oh wow. Sunday a friend had a party - a yearly thing - and Hubby was there pretty late at night. I didn't go because sitting around drinking with a bunch of people I don't really know is not my cup of tea. But I did stay home and get some of my room organized, so that's cool. I also got my plan for the summer worked out. I have a to-do list for every week that will have me all ready by the time school starts. Yesterday we did go over to some friends and hung out in the pool for a couple of hours. That was great except they were making pina coladas and I might have had more than necessary. I caved on ice cream on the way home and woke feeling a bit hung-over. Mavy got a short walk this morning. But I'm not going to beat myself up, it is what it is. Today I ate well, drank a lot of water, and generally feel considerably better now. I did not get much movement in though because I worked on my lessons most of the day and then hung out in the pool. Oh well. 

Schedule vs to-do list

School Schedule

 

To-Do List

I've always had issues with scheduling versus to-do lists. To me, scheduling is when things are done at a specific time, like my classes at school. At home that would look like, walking Mavy at 6am, going to the gym at 9am, etc. Whereas to-do lists are just lists of things that need to be accomplished during the day/week/month. When they get done are not important only the fact that they do get done, sometimes before a certain date or time. I do really well with schedules during the school year but not so well during the summer. Which kind of makes sense since the summer hours are not near as structured and unless I have an appointment or something things can be done at any time. But I struggle with both. If I try to schedule things inevitably something will come up and throw my schedule off. Then perfectionism raises it's ugly head and I throw the whole plan out the window. I have been working on my perfectionist tendencies but that is a post for another day. So scheduling is difficult during the summer. To-do lists on the other hand seem to be so opened ended that I will procrastinate doing them. So I need to find a happy balance. Some sort of list that will keep me motivated to do things but at the same time allow the flexibility of summer. As I was typing this out I had an idea. What if I set goal dates for all the things I want to get done this summer and then build my to-do lists around the goal dates? Hmmmm....that might work. So first I need a master list of all the things I want to accomplish this summer. Then I need to decide when those things should get done, but they all have to be done by the beginning of school. And then work on them one at a time. I like that. I like that a lot. Gives me something to focus on each week and that is what I will work on when I do work on that. Also, I'm thinking of setting time limits on things. So if I decide that I'm going to work on my notebooks, I will set a time limit like an hour or two, to do that. Once that time is up I can put them away if I want to or continue working for another period of time. I like this. Going to sit and decide all the things I want to do and then figure out which order they need to be done in. This might actually have been a school post, but I'm going to leave it here. 

A little retail therapy always helps apathy

 After my post this morning, I set out what I was going to do today in my planner - yay!!!  And I tackled it. One of the things on my list is get this office straightened away and that is proving to be a job that may take a longer time than anticipated. I did run out to the gym and did my abs workout - yay!!! Then I went to Target to look for some thing for my office. Found them. Then, I've been toying with getting a new computer. I work on my computer a lot and have since last March. I was working on a 13" laptop with a 2nd monitor. It was okay but I was really starting to crave a regular computer. So I went to Best Buy to 'look' and ended up buying an all in one with a touch screen. I actually love it and now I have 2 huge monitors to work on. It is really nice and I have the whole desk free for papers. It is really, really awesome. But I did spend more than I wanted to. Oh well, I'll deal with it. It's such a nice work area now, I almost want to start working on something. So, it's a done deal and I'll have to work it out. 

A little apathy setting in

 

I found that once I stopped beating myself up I developed apathy. I was okay. Everything was okay. But doing things for self-care could easily be pushed aside because I was no longer beating myself up over things. Gradually I came out of the apathy and was really happy with my life in general. Now that school has ended and I have no structure to my days, I find apathy creeping in again and I need to stop it. 

Yes, I'm not under pressure to do things within a certain time frame because I'm not working but that doesn't give me license to not get things done. I have things I want to do during this summer and I've been working on them slowly. I think I need to kick it up a notch. Not sure exactly how I will do that. I'm thinking of setting specific times for things. I have a specific time for meditation, why not for other things. Also, maybe a checklist that I work off of each day to get things done in a timely manner. What I don't want is for it to be July and my to-do list is still a mile long. I have all this time to get things done and I want to do that. But apathy......Maybe just a goal each day to complete certain things. That's an idea. That should also keep me motivated to get things done. I like that. I will write the goals in my planner for the day, maybe for every day of the upcoming week. Maybe I'll even allot times too so I don't spend 5 hours working on one thing and nothing else gets done. Yeah, I'm already feeling the lighting of the apathy just thinking about that. I'm in. I just need a plan each day to get things done and also for some R&R. That way I don't let apathy take over my life. 

So today's goals: 

• fold the laundry
• wash the towels
• wash the sheets
• 2 Units in Google 
• work on this room (I can save the shredding for TV time)
• get some sort of file system to keep current things handy

That's a good goal. I'll set it out in my planner later, after I walk Mr. Mavy. That just feels better already. 

Gratitude Day 6

 I am liking this journaling thing. Well, I always liked it, that's why I kept a blog for however many years. Need to check that. Edit: I just checked and I've been blogging since 2004. That's 17 years. Wow!!!! Need to go back and read some of them this summer. 

Today I'm grateful for being able to go to the gym. I love to have a place to go to workout and get stronger. Love that. 

I'm grateful for the fact that they are lifting the mask wearing guidelines which I hope means we are on the downside of this pandemic. While I understand and agree with wearing a mask, I'm kind of over it. 

I'm grateful for being able to go to lunch on a Friday afternoon. Not only being able to afford going to lunch, but living in a place that provides so many options for lunch. 

What else..... seems like I'm not getting very deep on these. Maybe it's the fact that I only have 3 minutes. It's hard to go deep in such a short amount of time. Maybe today I will keep going and see what happens. Or maybe I'll do that tomorrow since I am really tired tonight. 

Gratitude Day 5

 Today is Thursday, the last day of my work week. That makes me extremely grateful for 4 day work weeks. I don't know how or why that idea came up exactly, but I am all in and so, so thankful for it. 

I'm also grateful that I became a teacher. I believe that I was heading there my entire life, but I am grateful that I finally took the plunge and did it. I love working with the kids and seeing them grow and change. 

I've probably said this before, but I'm incredibly grateful that this sh*tshow of year is finally almost over. 

I'm grateful for the people I work with. The are quirky and funny and I just really enjoy my job and going there every day. If you have to work, you really should enjoy it. 

I'm grateful for my health. In spite of the fact that I am getting older and I'm out of shape and every thing hurts, I really am rather healthy and I am extremely grateful for that. 

Gratitude Day 4

 Today I am super grateful for technology. I had nothing really exciting to do with the students for review until I read about a website last night. I spent the morning setting it up and it was a huge, huge hit. I used it in 2 classes and both of them were crazy for it. They asked to play the game over and over again because they had so much fun. So technology leads the list today. 

I am incredibly grateful that I didn't get sick the other day like I thought I was. I really kind of felt like crap and didn't want to get sick so close to the end of the year. Thankfully I didn't yay!!!

I am grateful for my pool. My favorite thing to do is come home from work, jump in the pool, and float around for half an hour or so. That is hands down the best way to relax and unwind from the stress of the day. I love it and I miss it during the winter