I like this week’s pictures. With the exception of the picture in the middle, they all have that moody/glum quality I seem to find compelling. I’m so emo and artsy and hip. Nope.
The bottom picture of the jade in bloom had to happen. I pass this house nearly everyday and am always too enthralled with it’s cute shutters and tumbled brick and twinkle lights to pay attention to plants near the driveway, but for some reason my eyes went left on Tuesday and there she was, The Jade to Shame All Jades. It’s enormous and in bloom. Living in the area of southern California I do, I see plenty of ginormous jade, but I don’t recall ever seeing one in bloom.
:: alights from Plant Nerd platform ::
This week Zachary sent me a link to what looks like an interesting book. It’s Hands Free Mama: A guide to putting down the phone, burning the To-Do list, and letting go of perfection to grasp what really matters! by Rachel Macy Stafford. I requested it from NetGalley to see if I can get it for free, but I’m sure those of you with libraries that don’t suck can go that route. Mine sucks, and it pains me…mostly in my wallet.
My walks haven’t been as long as I would like them to be. They’ve been late, and I hate walking at night. Zombies, serial killers, coyotes and heartless neighbors: all sorts of tragedies wait for me after 6:0pm. This is another reason organizing my life has reached priority status. With me being at the library as often as I am (the school one, not the city one because that one sucks) I don’t have time to mess around. The way I see it, the only way I can get my walks in earlier is to wake up earlier. To do that, I need to go to bed earlier. I’m normally a midnight girl, but I’m going to train myself to become a 10:00 girl. I would like to get 8 hours of sleep per night since it seems to make everything better. I’m laughing at the idea of me getting 8 hours of sleep per night, but I’m making it a goal.
How funny, perspective is everything. I understand why you say your photos this week have a moody/glum feel to them, but after walking from my car to the office here in below freezing weather I was thinking how wonderful and warm they were :)
I agree Katie — I haven’t seen grass for over 2 months up here in snowy Wisconsin. Those photos look anything but GLUM to me! It will be at least April before I see anything like that around here…..
I had no idea jade flowered, or even had the potential to grow beyond small tabletop size. You just blew my mind!
I would have guessed you lived in Arizona by the look of the landscaping in some of those pictures but from what you are describing, but alas I was wrong. I love the title to the book you mentioned. I hope you will share your thoughts about it.
About a year ago I started getting up earlier to walk and it has made all the difference. I’ve never, ever been a morning person, but I find if I get up earlier stuff gets done. I altered my schedule fifteen minutes for a month or so, then another fifteen earlier. That worked for me…and I find at night I drop into bed ready to sleep! Good luck!
I’m a night person (I fight going to bed like a toddler – just one more episode, just one more chapter, just one drink of water, etc…) but I made a commitment to myself to get more sleep because life is just SO MUCH easier with more sleep. 10:00 is too early for me; I just couldn’t do it and would feel like i was setting myself up for failure. My goal is to be in bed by 10:30 and asleep by 11:00. I don’ t always make it, but I get up at 7am so with the built-in cushion I am guaranteed 7 hours at least.
I would encourage you not to change your bedtime too drastically. Try going to bed 15 minutes earlier the first week, then moving it back 15 minutes the next week. Going from midnight to 10:00PM seems like a self-hatred trap :-)
I was sick of my 12:00, 12:30 or even 1:00 bedtime so when Christmas break was just about over I made myself get into bed and go to bed at 10. For the first few nights I tossed and turned a bit and looked at the clock but my body adjusted rather quickly and for the past 2 weeks I have been waking up right around 6:30 am (I used to wake up around 7:30/7:45…daughter starts school at 8:45) It has allowed me to get downstairs before the kiddos and have coffee, read emails and start my day in quiet which I love. I know going cold turkey may not be for everyone but I felt it was what I needed. Our mornings have been so much nicer and I have been excited to get out of bed for my morning ritual. I’m going to try and roll my wake-up time to 5:30/6:00 but I don’t want to get too crazy! Best of luck with figuring out your schedule and getting more sleep!
I too am bad about staying up late – I love those hours. I like the suggestion of changing 15 minutes at a time and might try it.
Love the suggestion of moving back bedtime bit by bit, probably more realistic than one big change. I had never ever in my wildest imagination thought that I would give up going to bed at midnight or 1am (my mom said even as a baby I was a night owl) and my hardcore snooze habit in the mornings (even though I have had to be up between 5:30-5:45 my entire life for school/work) that I had perfected for almost 20yrs. Several things happened in short sequence to change my life.
I had a child (need to function in the morning & not just barely operate) and then we moved to a different home where I was forced to place my nightstand across the bedroom. The alarm was across the bedroom & not right next to me to slap at in my haze of sleep.
You know what they say about that hardcore snooze alarm habit? Yeah. Well for the first 35yrs of my life I did not believe ‘Them’. Once I was forced to get out of bed on the first ring and start my day, my bedtime started moving back naturally. Within a couple of weeks I was starting most days far more refreshed than I had ever been. I still don’t get 8 hrs of sleep, but my days start out much more smoothly and I’m able to get a lot done and still have a nice morning with my daughter rather than feeling harried & crazy (I get up at 5:10am and try to be asleep by around 10pm. My child has an early school start time & I have to be to work shortly after). Guess what I realized? I’m not missing anything at midnight ! HA! Who Knew? I don’t know why I fought it so many years * I can stay up late on weekends if we’re actually going out or doing something special, but otherwise I keep the same routine throughout the week.
book: I read the blog posts from time to time and she has some wonderful things to say. That being said (and I mentioned on FB), after reading her posts I sometimes feel as though I’m not spending enough time with dear daughter or I’m being selfish because I am not putting aside daily duties (not just electronics. I’m pretty good about THAT part) to spend time with her noticing how fabulous our life is. I will be interested to hear your thoughts (still sorry your library sucks. thumbs down- good luck with NetGalley)
OH, and I forgot to mention that my migraines got MUCH better when I started using better ‘sleep hygiene’ and going to bed a bit earlier and sticking with the same daily hours for the most part. Again, who knew?!! (and, again, why did I fight that advice for so many years?! )
My life (and headaches!) are dramatically better when I get 7 hours of sleep a night. And I don’t change the hours much over the weekend. I have to get up between 5:00-5:30 on weekdays, so it does mean being asleep between 10:00-10:30. I’ve learned it’s worth it.
Do you have a Fitbit? Or a Jawbone? I just got a fitbit for Christmas and I am in love with it. I’m sure you’ve seen them, but if not, it is a pedometer/sleep tracker, and it is motivating me to walk more, and go to bed earlier. I set my goal at 12,000 steps a day, and it shows how/when I’m asleep. I usually get a big solid blue chunk in my sleep chart from 10 to 3, then the kids start coming in to my bed, and my graph is alternating bars of red and blue/asleep/awake/asleep/awake. I”ve learned that if I go to bed at 9 I feel awesome, and anything after 9:45 I have a headache upon waking up.
Its not the cheapest thing, but it seems like something your detail-oriented self would really like.
I thought to myself this morning how much better I feel after a full nights sleep. I need a consistent seven hours and I’m pretty good about it. My bed is my favorite place to be!! I’ve been reading Hands-free Mama blog for a while now. I think she’s fantastic, I wear her bracelet to remind me to stay calm (I’m a yeller) in stressful moments and enjoy my children instead of getting caught up in those little things I think I NEED to do so I don’t go insane. I also have the Kindle version of her book. She may not be for everyone but those of us who can relate to her can only benefit.
I have a jade in my front planter that I’m pretty sure is original to the house (1950). It is enormous and flowers beautifully. Love it so much.
All the jade in our neighborhood is in bloom right now and at first I didn’t even recognize it as jade! Must be something in the air.