I am Still Sane!

I just wrapped up my tough month of work that I wrote about early last month. In that blog post I detailed some of the things I planned to do to stay sane. I am happy to report I finished the month without pulling out my hair, losing my cool or having any type of breakdown. But I didn’t do it alone! I had lots of help to stay sane while working a lot of hours in an environment that doesn’t nourish my soul.

I didn’t do anything crazy

I used the crock pot several times to ensure a few easy nights of cooking! I made a yummy red sauce that included capers and black olives and served it over spaghetti squash. I served this for dinner 2 nights and it provided me lunch for another meal. I also roasted a chicken in the crock pot 1 day and that provided 2 dinners plus lunch. Then I made chicken soup another day in the crock pot! Gosh I love my crock pot!

Whenever I write about my crock pot, people ask me for recipes. I can rarely provide one as I like to wing it and can never exactly recreate my yummy meals! This is a big bummer when I make something that turns out awesome but then I can’t remember the ingredients much less what I did to create it!

Looks yummy

Eating healthy meals that don’t take a lot of time to cook is a good strategy to get through stressful times.

My sister and her honey helped me stay sane over the last month by inviting us over for dinner once a week. They always provide delicious meals, good company and fun times. My honey always keeps me sane by letting me download, giving good hugs and putting up with my crankiness.

The best thing about this crazy month was I still managed to get some things accomplished and got to do things I enjoy!

I said good-bye to hot chocolate, my 2009 Mini Cooper and bought a 2015 Hyundai Veloster. I debated naming it a few things including “Orange Crush” and  “Burnt Orange”. I have settled on calling my car “Sun Burst”. The name fits as  I  worship the sun and even have a sun tattoo.

The color of my car!

I spent some of my weekend time at the lake with my brother (Number 9), his wife and my honey. I kayaked quite a bit, played some dice games and hung out with people I love. The lake is beautiful this time of year with the fall colors and so few people around. Life is good! Oh and of course Fenway was there too! Spending time with people who bring out the best in you is a happiness booster.

During my quiet time one morning it dawned on me that if I wanted to visit Mom as planned in December I better start doing my research. So I planned my trip to Florida to visit Mother Fran and Child #7. My sister works crazy hours before the holidays and I want to hang out with Mother Fran to keep her company.

We will play cards, go shopping, do puzzles and maybe do some exploring. Overall it should be a relaxing time in sunny Florida. Day dreaming about vacation is a good way to get through a rough week.

A day at the beach sounds good…

Over the last few weeks I also managed to take a few steps to ensure I reach some of my 2017 goals! This year is winding down quickly and if I want to accomplish what I set out to do, I better get cracking!  So I chose health by getting my blood work done and scheduling my physical exam. I chose wealth by opening a new Vanguard account and making a deposit.

I was kind of dreading this month because I had over committed at work and was scared I would lose my cool at some point. Luckily that didn’t happen and I managed to find a balance between work, fun, staying on top of some important tasks.

Thanks Child #1, #9 and our honey’s- I guess it takes a village to get Lake Girl through tough times.

Lake Girl

Leave a Reply