Not Throwing Away Food
It has been determined that since I am lacking the ability to smell and a large decapitated rat was found in our yard last weekend, I cannot have a compost pile in the back yard. D feels this combination of issues will inevitably spell disaster, and he's probably not wrong.
Since I can't compost, I have upped my efforts to not waste any food if it's at all possible. We eat every bite of leftovers. I buy smaller amounts of perishable items at one time, and we just go back to the store often so we don't let them rot. I have gotten crazy creative at disguising leftovers as "new food" when everyone is over it in order to keep from throwing it away.
This is hard and ongoing, and I am still constantly surprised at how much we waste. Still, we're trying.
Resilience Building in the Midst of Chaos
If you had to make it through September watching a bunch of people not give a shit about sexual assault victims, I am so sorry. If you are a victim of rape or assault like I am, I am especially sorry for the hell this has been.
The minute the "Well even if he did it, does it matter?" questions started flowing, I flashbacked to all the things that were said when Trump openly admitted to violating women and certain voters did not care. I knew it was going to be this way and I still was not prepared for the flashbacks, the anger, or the anxiety that shadowed me this month as I wondered what I would do if I was Dr. Ford. Would I be as brave as she was, coming forward knowing I would receive death threats and my family would have to go into hiding? Would I recall my rape publicly in a room of people ready to rip me apart and question my integrity? Since it took me 13 years to tell anyone I had been raped, would that be the only question I received? Why didn't you come forward? Look around, folks, is it that hard to figure out?
In the midst of this I did not want to spiral down to a bad place, so I practiced radical resilience building, also known as self-care. When I call it resilience building, I sometimes take it more seriously.
I ran. I rested. I had coffee with girlfriends. I talked it out when I needed to. I got outside everyday for hours under the green canopy of trees. I unfriended people on social media. I counted the Beto signs going up all over my town. I meditated. I took stock of where my emotions were headed daily. I read poetry. I lit candles. I wrote. I gave thanks for Prozac. I parented calmly while rage at this world bubbled right under the surface. I made it. It was hard.
Self-care needs to be practiced regularly, not just when everything hits the fan. Having the habits already in place helped me stick to them when I really just wanted to unravel. Yes, I did consume a few alcoholic beverages and partake in too many baked goods, which was self-comfort over self-care. But I definitely chose wisely more times than not, despite feeling like a piñata that the GOP enjoyed beating the shit out of daily.
Following the Perfect Curriculum for Us
We have found our happy place with Oak Meadow homeschool curriculum. It fits perfectly into our lives and values, and the kids love it. We are on a pretty consistent schedule, though we move around what time of day we school based on book club, Lego club, or park playdates. That's the beauty of homeschooling.
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No one will ever be as cool as Eowyn hacking into the
library's computers in her beanie.
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Continuing the Writer Life
The creative life is weird. After not submitting often and simply trying to consistently write, I ventured back into the world of seeking publication. I had a solid week in September, with two pieces accepted and an assignment offer from a Dallas magazine six months after submitting my resume. The horizon will probably be dead for the next seven or eight months, but I am happy for the abundant periods.
And for October, I leave you with the wisdom of Pooh and Piglet. Happy October!
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| Photo courtesy of Pinterest |
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