life appreciation post

You know, sometimes I have to stop and take a deep breath and re-center myself. Been feeling a little off lately.

I have been traveling a lot, which inherently creates a need to adapt, and I've also been navigating the shifts that come with perimenopause. Yes, I saw the doctor and they said that I basically have 2 options. Either get my levels tested and take hormone therapy, or deal with the natural process and take good care of myself in the meantime. Of course I chose the crunchier option.

This week, when I left for the airport for the second Monday in a row, I really didn't want to. But since there was nothing I could do to change the situation, I had to change my mindset. I could be sad that I have to leave home, or I could re-frame my point of view and be excited for the adventure and the opportunity to see a new city. Why spend the time being upset when I can choose to change my mood? 

Fortunately, I've had practice with shifting my focus to appreciate the present. And I'm so glad. Because even though my days were filled with layovers and work, it really is cool to visit a new city. I didn't have time to do much, but in the last couple of weeks I was able to do some recon and see if these cities were worth visiting again. And, they were.

How lucky am I that I get paid to travel? I've been to some really cool places and met some cool people. My company pays for my snacks. I get to keep my airline, hotel, rental car, and parking points, which enables us to travel for fun on a budget. I get to come home to a house in paradise with a wonderful husband who carries my luggage upstairs, makes sure the toilet is clean (LOL I'm not mad at it) and fresh flowers are ALWAYS on the table. I get to sleep in a comfortable bed next to him and wake up to scratchy beard kisses and drink my coffee in the morning with views like this.

So yeah, life gets busy and I get tired, but when I stop to take it all in, it's all pretty damn good. I am SO lucky.

more healthish

Continuing the health kick.

A few weeks ago, FH and I made the decision to cut back on carbs. (and he also cut out dairy)

 
At that point we had been working out for a few months without noticing much difference in our bodies, so that was the next step. I've done it before and I know it works, having done a few Whole 30s, but it SUCKS making that transition. Those first couple of days are a TEST of will power. You have to really want to do it. 

Over time, it actually gets easier for me to maintain. I think it's related to building new habits and also I tend to feel better when I'm not drinking wine every night and eating lots of carbs. 

It's a good reset.

We decided to take the weekends off, to keep things realistic and long-term maintainable. I've never tried that, but I found that it gives me extra motivation to stay on track during the week, knowing that I have that freedom coming up. But like I said, the longer I do it, the easier it is to keep doing, so on the weekends I don't even go nuts. I still want to choose healthier options, but mix in a little wine and chips for a treat.

After a few weeks, I'm noticing a difference. I feel more lean, less puffy, more muscular. Nothing crazy- I don't suddenly have tons of energy or have a six pack, but my shorts fit better now. I'll take it.

The biggest challenge for me was not having my nightly glass(es) of wine. I really, really enjoy my wine. It really helps me wind down and I have trouble falling asleep when I don't drink. So this decision to cut back was probably good for me.

I tried taking magnesium and it does help me feel relaxed and I don't have that much trouble falling asleep, but it's not as good as wine.

cosmic chickens

Something really weird happened with the chicken decision. 

First, a little backstory.

Late last year, I convinced FH to get chickens. Then I did a TON of research to design a custom coop & run to fit our unique space. 

Then I started second-guessing if I wanted chickens. I mean, I DO want chickens, but the past several years we've talked about how once Pumpkin & Rosco died, we were going to stay pet-free so that we'd have the freedom to travel without those responsibilities. And I'm over here talking about getting chickens, which directly contradicts that idea.

Eventually I reasoned that since the dog refuses to die, we still have pet responsibilities, so I might as well get chickens.

Fast-forward to today, when we started building everything. About 2 hours in, I got overwhelmed and changed my mind about the whole thing.  Yes, we had bought supplies, but I was ready to return everything and abort the whole project. It was too much time, money, energy, effort, and stress. I made a mistake deciding to get chickens, and I didn't want to do it anymore.

FH disagreed and tried to talk me into moving forward, but I was 100% DONE. He continued building the coop and several times I tried to explain that he was wasting his time- we had a nice long disagreement about how I did not want chickens anymore but he was committed to the project. For someone who initially didn't want chickens, he was stubborn.

After some time, he seemed happy working on his project and I wandered over to the porch, where I decided to enjoy the afternoon. At some point, I noticed a clover patch in the yard. I really like to look for 4-leaf clovers, but despite spending lots of time looking in the last few years, I haven't found any in this area yet.

I told myself that I'd go look, and if I found a 4-leaf clover, it was a sign from the universe to change my mind about chickens.

So I walked down to the patch, and immediately spotted one. Then another one. Then ANOTHER one. Then TWO MORE. I found FIVE 4-leaf clovers within 30 seconds of walking down there. Which is how many chickens I want. Taken aback, I told myself that if the universe really wanted me to have chickens, that I'd find another one.

Well, I did. So I walked back up, showed FH the handful of clovers, put my shoes back on, and was all-in on chickens once again.

I'm hungry now

Yesterday I left the house to drive to Ft. Worth and had stomach troubles so bad that I had to turn around and go back home. Which is saying a LOT because over the years I have rallied through some pretty bad stuff.

Not sure why it happened. Ate something funky? Picked up a bug? Flare for no good reason? Hard to say for sure. 

I managed to rally this morning even though I felt crappy. At around 1:00 this afternoon, about 4 hours into my drive, the clouds started to part and I started to feel better. I've said it before and it's still true. Traveling with a stomachache is the WORST.

Even though I started to feel better, I was afraid to eat until I was done seeing the customer and safely back in my hotel room. Even a few bites of food made my stomach hurt.

At this point, I have minimal pain and I'm ready for food. I feel like I haven't eaten in days. 

Not sure where I'm going with this, except to say that I had 2 little dinners and there's a 3rd one in the freezer but I think it's a bad idea to go for that.

financial wellness

Continuing the theme of how I've gotten my shit together lately, here are some steps I've taken financially.

First, I decided to focus on retirement. Specifically, early retirement. Marrying a man 15 years older than you is pretty motivating. I want to retire at 55. Maybe even 50, if I can swing it. In order to do that, I have to start taking steps now. 

What am I doing?

1. Maxing out my 401k.

2. Maxing out my HSA. The idea is that I can use this to pay for health insurance until I'm 65 and am eligible for Medicare. In addition to maxing it out, there is an option to invest HSA funds further into mutual funds once you reach a certain point. Which I'm doing.

3. Opening and maxing out a Roth IRA. The money will earn more this way than sitting in a savings account.

4. Speaking of, I also transferred the majority of my savings into a high-interest account. Earning 4% interest on something that's sitting there anyway is just smart.

5. Miscellaneous investment strategies: I have 2 and they're kinda silly. 

The first one is, if I splurge on something, I have to put that same amount into stocks or mutual funds. I have an Acorns account for this.

The second is, if I buy something off of Amazon (vs supporting a local or small business), I have to put that same amount into cryptocurrency. Diversification, baby. I use a Coinbase account for this. Same goes for gambling money. Equal amounts go into crypto. And honestly, I get a better return from crypto than I do in casinos. Of course.

Our monthly expenses are fairly low right now, and we're pretty frugal so it works. I thought it would hurt to max out all those retirement accounts, but if the money comes out before I see it, I don't miss it.

Long term, we plan to sell the river house and use that money to buy some acreage/build a tiny home, so that once we retire our monthly expenses are even lower. The goal is no mortgage by that time. Plus we will have lots of space and freedom to live a little more off the grid. Getting crunchier by the minute over here. Plus I would LOVE to not have to set an alarm clock anymore... only 10ish more years!

6. In addition to the financial preparations, I've been really motivated to start working out/ seeing the doctor/taking better care of myself. Because what's the good of retiring early if I'm too tired or sick to enjoy it?

chickies

Been researching chicken coops and have started drafting the ideal space-saving coop + run configurations to fit our space. Simple, right?

I've looked at a LOT of pre-fab chicken coops but they're very expensive and none have had the exact configuration I want.

You know what that means. Project time.

Unfortunately, that means, "Add it to the List."

Which means I'll be getting chickens next year because if I'm weighing them against the outdoor shower/bathtub, I'm choosing that. Mostly because we already have all the stuff for that and I miss baths.

But when we're ready for chickens, we'll have a solid plan!

physical and mental

Since I turned 40, I decided it was time to get serious about a few things. Mostly health-related.

I found a new doctor. Got a checkup, complete with bloodwork. Got a mammogram. Found a dermatologist. Still need to find a gyno, especially because I think I'm heading into perimenopause. Healthcare provider options are not plentiful out here.

In addition to adopting a new workout routine (that includes lifting weights bc bone density), I wanted to find a way to exercise my brain. The simplest option was to take an educational course, and it was easy to decide what topic- plants. The best way to maintain enthusiasm is to pick a topic that already interests me, right? I looked into taking a class at the local community college, but that doesn't fit into my schedule and they don't really have any botany-related paths.

So I found a course on Coursera. Since I'm doing it for fun right now and not looking for any documentation, I opted to choose the free option. Online learning is not my favorite, but the flexibility works for me right now. And honestly, it's fascinating.

I'm taking steps to maintain both physical and mental health, but one of my main complaints right now is fatigue. According to my recent bloodwork, there's no major deficiencies or anemia, and I'm taking a few supplements to boost those borderline levels. But I'm still struggling to get through the day. It's not a fatigue like I've experienced before. I'm wondering if it's related to the hormone fluctuations. Exercise has improved it a bit, but it's still noticeable. It's to the point where if I can't get an afternoon nap, I need an afternoon coffee to get through the day. Which is probably not helping with my sleep quality. And the cycle continues. Once I get to the gyno I might get answers, but with my health history, I'm not optimistic.