In Sink

I haven't been very good about keeping up to date with my exploits. Part of it has been because I haven't had much interesting to say and part of it has been because I have been in a bit of a slump with respect to doing one thing a day.

Yesterday was a good day. I did something that I had been continuously putting off for probably the better part of a year. It wasn't anything earth shattering, but somewhere in the back of my mind it has been giving me grief. I suppose that really was the point of finally doing it, to get that thing, however trivial, off my mind.

One of the faucets in the bathroom has been broken, probably since I first moved into this house. It still worked, but the handle would always fall. Part of why it was never replaced was because any replacement I liked was expensive and since there are two sinks, you can't really just replace one. The other part was that despite the inconvenience and irritation of a handle always falling off, it was still basically functional.

About a year ago, we bought new faucets. I kept putting it off because I am not a particularly adept handyman and home improvement projects leave me easily frustrated. Well, yesterday I finally got the faucets replaced with the help of my Dad. His help was much appreciated, not only because it saved me a lot of frustration, but also because I am no longer carrying that one thing around in my head.

Just Do It

My one thing today may not sound particularly exciting or even particularly noteworthy to some people. All I did is send an e-mail.

I finally sent an e-mail to Habitat for Humanity to inquire about volunteering. For whatever reason, this is outside of my comfort zone. I have been very resistant to even inquiring about it. Some sort of fear has been blocking me from doing it.

Anyway, I sucked it up and did it. They have a meeting on Friday at 9 a.m. for more information. I actually feel positive about it and hopefully won't bail on Friday because of some fear or anxiety.

The time to do it just feels right.

O, Christmas Tree

Okay, today's one thing is rather embarrassing given that it is January 22nd. Today, I finally took down the Christmas tree. I know, I know. It should have been down two weeks ago. I could say that it was complete laziness, but that would not be entirely true.

Part of why I didn't take it down was because nobody was really offering to help me. In fact, I got a couple of "When are YOU going to take the tree down." I admit that it bugged me. Back in college it bugged me that my roommate never took out the trash. At some point it time, I stopped taking the trash out to make a point. It meant that the trash was overflowing for quite some time, but my roommate eventually took it out. That was good enough for me and I went back to taking it out again.

This didn't quite work that way, but I eventually got sick and tired of looking at the stupid tree and was tired of it taking up half the living room. So, I took it down for myself.

Stressing and Slowing Down

Part of the reason that I haven't been posting daily is that I have developed a bit of a stress reaction that has made it difficult to type. While I have had eyelid twitches before when under stress, this time has been difficult. I seem to have developed some involuntary muscle jerks in my left arm and hand. It has made typing difficult as my hand will suddenly skitter across the keyboard creating a bizarre spelling of words or it just won't cooperate in staying still.

I have been under a lot of stress, but this latest development has given me ample opportunities to try to do one thing. I have found that when I am calmer, quiet, and more at ease the twitches and jerks diminish greatly. If I am just sitting and watching television or doing something else and I start to feel the twitches, I have to stop and try to calm myself down and get back to a point of relaxation. When I have been at the keyboard or texting on the phone, I have to slow way down to get a clear message written. Even as I type this, I am going slower than I am normally able to type, but I have gotten through this whole thing without having one twitch or jerk.

At first, the twitching was causing me worry. The worst case scenario was running through my mind like Multiple Sclerosis, a stroke, or a tumor. The last one also provided me with a laugh during this stressful time. Arnold Schwartzenegger's voice from Kindergarten Cop was saying "It's not a too-muh." That moment provided me a laugh and the realization that I was overreacting. So, this involuntary muscle jerking, which has been supremely irritating and stressful in and of itself has allowed me to practice slowing down, breathing more, and allowing myself to relax.

Touching Base

This post really just serves as a quick update. I have been feeling a little under the weather and out of sorts lately, so that has been affecting my mood lately. I really haven't had any earth shattering one things over the last couple of days.

I just wanted to touch base and let everyone know that I am still committed to doing my one thing a day. I didn't really see the point of posting about trivial stuff just for the point of posting.

Taking Care of Number One

Sometimes, taking care of yourself is the one thing that you can do that most improves your life.av After all, if you don't look out for number one, who will?

I woke up this morning feeling off and out of sorts. I actually woke up earlier than normal this morning. I felt twitchy and like I was going to jump out of my skin. I have felt this way the entire day.

Normally, I try to push through things. I regularly have days where I have pain or fatigue, but often you have to suck it up and still do things. Today, I decided not to suck it up.

I was very gentle with myself, tried to stay relaxed and calm, and even took a long and satisfying nap. I still feel a bit off, but I am definitely better than I was. I think that if I hadn't taken care of myself, I may have been headed for feeling worse.

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow

Today was the first real snow of the season. It has been snowing steadily since about 10 a.m. I am not a big fan of snow, especially when out driving in it. It is pretty to look at when you are comfortably ensconced in your nice, warm house, but going out in it is a completely different story. This is of course not the case where children are involved.

At the time, I didn't even realize that I was doing my one thing for the day when I did it. My 12-year-old son came home from school and immediately wanted to go outside and be in the snow. I told him that he could do just that after he took the dogs outside, which he did, and then he went out in the snow. At first it was a little irritating when he threw a couple of snowballs at the window, because my one dog is hyper-vigilant and will bark at a leaf rolling down the street if he thinks that it is a danger to his family. The snowballs were just to much.

A few minutes after I told him to knock it off, he came into the house and asked if he could use the snowblower, which he has never used before, to clear the driveway. At first, I didn't want to let him because that meant that I would have had to go down to the garage, show him how to operate it, and tell him a few other do's and don'ts. But, I stopped myself from being my impatient self and went down to the garage. He really didn't need much instruction on how to operate it. He had difficulty using the ripcord to start it, so we used the electric starter and off he went.

Periodically, I checked on him to see how he was doing. First time I checked, he was doing a great job on the driveway. The second time I checked on him, he was clearing the sidewalks up and down our side of the street. The third time I checked, he was clearing the neighbor's driveway.

After he came inside, I told him how proud I was of him for taking the initiative to clear the driveway and for doing such a good job. He told me that he did the neighbor's driveway just to be nice and the neighbor gave him $6 for it. He was proud of what he called his first paying job.

So, my one thing today was ignoring my impatience and letting my son take some initiative and responsibility. I definitely bettered my life, now that I potentially do not ever have to clear the driveway again and allowed my son to have a sense of pride and accomplishment.