Thriving or Surviving

Yesterday, I had stated that today I'd be sharing a 0-10 alternative pain scale with you. That has been taking longer to design than I had anticipated. Hopefully I'll be able to share it this weekend or early next week! Instead, let's talk about yesterday afternoon and evening and this morning.  I felt horrible. I was so nauseous! I ordered some homeopathic nausea treatment items that were supposed to be delivered same day and they DID NOT ARRIVE within the time frame promised. They were supposed to be here by 11am yesterday. By the time 11am rolled around, the shipper was promising to deliver by 10pm. 10pm came and went with a notification that my items had been returned to the processing center. As the day progressed, I'd become increasing nauseous to the point that if I moved at all I wanted to gag. Without solutions, there was no way I'd be able to go to my day job today. My regular medications have seemed to stop working and other medications have such strong s...

Usually by day four of a challenge, I'm bored and ready to quit. Often I'll squeeze out another day or two and then start forgetting or avoiding the challenge and ultimately will just let the challenge fizzle out. This morning, I woke up eager to keep going. I may come back to analyzing why at a future date; for right now, I just plan to keep going! Yesterday, I promised myself that I would floss my entire mouth, but I had major reservations (see yesterday's post about dental trauma HERE ). I waited until fairly late in the morning to floss the first fourth of my dentition and waited until quite late in the afternoon to floss the second fourth. I almost went to bed without flossing the top half of my mouth.  A.L.M.O.S.T. I spent half a minute rationalizing why it would be ok to just skip finishing the flossing job before getting my butt to the bathroom to just do it. And, I'm glad I didn't skip this task.  I didn't feel much different after flossing--my mouth st...

Yesterday, I wrote about needing to reset my health and well-being and that I was going to seek to improve my health by 10% over the next 30 days.  Today is day 2 of 30. Everyone in my house has officially tested positive for Covid-19 and we are all symptomatic. I don't feel great, physically, but this is far less severe than every prior Covid infection I've experienced, thank goodness! I do have a fever, however, so I will not be going to work tomorrow (fingers crossed that I can go to work on Friday!).  I attribute part of my not feeling as awful as my last few Covid experiences to simply how the virus has evolved over the last several years, but also because I've been consciously paying attention to my energy levels, hydration, vitamins, supplements, and medication needs.  Before I go on, I do need to remind you, my dear reader, that anything I write here is NOT medical advice. If you feel ill or have concerns or questions about your well being or anything discussed i...

Please note: Links in this post may include affiliate links which could result in small commissions to me at no cost to you if you purchase through these links. Thank you in advance! My health has never been great. As a child, I frequently had ear and respiratory infections and other ailments.  As an adult? I'm also still sick often--more in the last two years than usual. As I write this, I am on my sixth (or seventh?) round of having Covid-19 right on the heels of a non-Covid respiratory infection that triggered some asthma symptoms. On top of that, I've also got a hip injury to contend with and mystery tummy ailments that are getting worse.  Over the past two years, I've also experienced a worsening of my vertigo and balance issues, had numerous random falls, and an episode of low enough iron reserves to warrant an iron infusion. I'm currently on more meds and supplements than I ever have been in my life as well, and they all feel essential.  That said, I am a lot hea...

This past weekend, I wrote THIS post and THIS post about getting a lot done and invited you to work on your own tasks as well. Sometimes, I'm able to be extremely productive over a couple of days with minimal negative impact on the days that follow. Other times, not so much. This is one of those other times.  Today, I had a list of tasks I wanted to accomplish before work, during my breaks and lunch, and after work. Instead of doing any of them, I just barely managed to take care of my dog and a dog that I was babysitting today. And, I just barely got through my day regular work day.  I woke up feeling absolutely drained--possibly from excessive bad dreams driven by the current news cycle mixed with warmer than usual weather--and slept in until I absolutely had to get up in order to take my dog to go potty and to be back at my desk on time for work. I didn't do anything on either of my breaks or my lunch other than the bare minimum which included taking my dog and her doggie...

This post contains affiliate links towards the end. Any purchase made through such links may result in a commission to me, but at NO COST to you. Thank you in advance! My mental health has been suffering lately. I received a layoff notice at work on June 27th and my job was officially eliminated on August 27th. Throughout the two months in between, and the month and a half since then and when I am drafting this post, I've been stressed out, anxious, and depressed. I very quickly started to binge more social media content than is normal for me, but I also realized that even before these events, I was spending a lot more time on social media than is ideal.  You can learn more about my lay off journey on YouTube HERE . Early in September, I was scrolling on Instagram, mindlessly, and realized how dissatisfied I was with my time on social media, primarily Instagram and Facebook. I really don't use much else -- I dabble in YouTube and go to Pinterest for inspiration and recipes, but...

I do not have a 190 step skincare process.  I don't even have a 19 step skincare process. Yet, looking at social media and YouTube skin-fluencers, it feels like I should.  A few months ago, I watched a YouTube video of a food vlogger who shared her mom's skincare routine after viewers commented that both she and her mom look so young. I found myself looking up the multiple products and preparing to buy them, but then stopped. Did I really need or even want any of these items?  Would I actually follow this routine? Could I afford the time or money this routine would require? No. No. And, no. The fact is, I receive compliments on my skin numerous times per week when I'm doing a good job of following my very simple and much more affordable routine. Even when I'm not doing a great job with my skin, I still receive occasional compliments. Some of my youthfulness is likely genetic and thus I can't share tips in that regard.  Some of my youthfulness is also due to past cho...