It's 5:30am.
My chores are done - well, as soon as it's light enough to feed the chickens - they will be.
I may leave and get groceries now - seems weird to go grocery shopping when it's still dark out.
This is quite a promising sign that I've returned.
I'm embarrassed to say that I've been lounging in bed til 7 for the last six months, getting a solid nine hours of sleep a night.
I'm sorry.
I know this news disappoints many of you.
Can we just talk about that for a minute?
Why in the Sam hill do I (do you?) feel guilty for sleeping?
Sleep is surely a priority to me - I do make sure I get at least 7 hours a night - those of you with little ones are green with envy aren't you?
I'll be 50 in three months.
What I've learned is that sleep must be a priority - long gone are the days of staying up way late in the night - and I do mean past 10pm.
Things that make old people like me happy are a good night's sleep, regular bowels, dry weather, and good blood pressure and blood sugar readings.
I'm afraid it's come to that.
Another sign that I've returned is that I'm having hankerings.
I've really had no hankerings for quite some time.
No hankerings to create, no hankerings to cook, no hankerings to garden, or do much of anything.
Not good.
I'm keenly aware that this is not the time to start anything for me - but it's the time to finish.
I'm not a good finisher, it's never been my forte.
Unless we are talking about finishing the pie off, the carton of ice cream or box of cookies.
I rock at finishing those.
I'm glad that winter's on it's way.
I'm welcoming it with open arms and an open mind.
I'm welcoming it with open arms and an open mind.
What better time to finish things than when the northerly winds are howling and life isn't pulling you in forty-two directions?
I'm feeling really great about life right now.
I've really grown on the inside as I've shrunk on the outside.
You just watch and see.
Now, tell me this -
What one thing do you really need to finish this winter?
What's stoppin' ya?
Nothing wrong with sleeping until 7:00 - I'd do it if I could. :-) During the week I get up because of work and on the weekends the dogs make sure I'm up by 6:30. I've tried to ignore them, but it's kind of hard when they are sitting next to your side of the bed whining. ;-)
ReplyDeleteI'm ready for the cooler weather, too. It always slows things down for us and I do enjoy and need that.
Good luck with your job at Pier One!!
yeah... Pier One?!?!?!? that's awesome and a little cause for "jealousy" around here. Not that I am. I'm just sayin'...that's awesome. Wait, I just said that, didn't I?
ReplyDeleteI love your house all covered in it's snow blanket. It's true...it's coming ready or not.
We have EARNED the right to sleep as late as we want!! And Not feel guilty!! Or we can stay up as late as we want....let's just say, who's going to tell us we can't! I'm to work every day at 7:30 am. So if on Saturday I sleep in late...well that's just fine! I don't know if I'm that anxious for winter....even though you've shown me a good way to look at it! Heck! I don't have to weed the garden!! Maybe I'm feeling just a little bit better about those cold Wisconsin winters. What am I going to finish this winter? I'm going to TRY to finish a lot of my crafts that I DIDN'T FINISH!!! (Sound familiar here?!) And some of those include things in my camper. Good motivational speach, there Jayme....thanks! I needed it! Oh....good luck at Pier One... you lucky duckling!!
ReplyDeleteThis new business of going to work is whipping my sleeping habits into shape. I just can not hang with the young folks like I used to. I'm 37. Law. That can not be good.
ReplyDeleteI have a heaping pile of scrapbooks and loose pictures, memories trapped on digital cards, and loads and loads of precious souvenirs that need to make it into my childrens' memory books this Winter.
I have always been a Summer girl, but this year I am so ready for a cozy Winter I can taste it.
xxoo
Girl, I'm gonna give some advice here... so sit down and just listen to what I've learned in 59 years. It mostly comes out as Mom's words, they are stuck in my brain from all the times I heard her say, "You can't burn the candle at both ends!" She was right, you have to have down time, me time or you end up kattywhompus. Even with enough sleep we get all out of sorts if we have "too many irons in the fire," there I go again with Mom's words coming out. The thing that makes you so dang fun is that you are off the wall out there, up for anything, ready to party with LIFE. But it's really got to be a balance of RUN and CHARGE, just like your phone or your laptop... you can't be on all the time. So go plug yourself in and sit for at least 30 minutes a day, an hour would be better. The sleeping thing is your reward for living this long, don't feel guilty just enjoy!
ReplyDeleteWe should start a club, because I'm also a world champion project starter. The finishing part is just work (and not interesting work, at that). 'Starting' is exciting, and the excitement fuels more 'starting', and the snowball of unfinished projects gets bigger and bigger. My challenge to myself is to finish at least every other project I start ... I can't promise to finish every project, that would be unrealistic at this stage.
ReplyDeleteTo answer your question ... I must finish our daughter's bathroom. It was leaking before we moved here, and we gutted the space and repaired the plumbing and it sat like that forever. Last year, we made it look pretty, with a working toilet, but the sink wasn't hooked up and the shower was tiled but not grouted. Now the sink works, the shower is half grouted (I hurt my shoulder and was out of the grouting business for a while). My shoulder is healed, thank goodness, but unfinished outdoor work is pulling me. Once winter comes, and outdoor work is no longer an obligation, I can shutter myself in that bathroom and get it finished ... I hope.
Honey, you got to have sleep. Our bodies were made for it. If I don't sleep it affects every area of my life.
ReplyDeleteI have to admit that I am looking forward to winter too. Can't believe I said that! It was so hot this summer, I have enjoyed the winding down of the weather. From now till Christmas it is all pure joy. My winter project is sorting through a lot of boxes of things that have accumulated in my basement storeroom and get those things out of the house.
ReplyDeleteLOVE,LOVE,LOVE your blog.
This describes me to a "T". Have you been hiding out in my home? I'm figuring on quitting work in Jan. and they keep asking me "what am I gonna do" and "why do I wanna quit work?" All the usual stupid questions. And, you hit it on the nose. I just wanna do what I wanna do when I wanna do it. If that means staying in bed til noon, so be it. If it means not cooking a thing, so be it. If it means not talking to anyone, so be it. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteHave a great day.
I'm so ready to hunker the heck down. I'd like to finish reading several books and writing my own. Oh, and it would be nice to START potty-training, but that may just wait til Spring...
ReplyDeleteI have just started on this weight loss journey...down 20 pounds...and I find that my body just needs more sleep right now. All that hard work losing weight can make a person tired! I spent a long time yesterday reading through your weight loss posts. THANK you so much for your honesty and motivation!!
ReplyDeleteAs far as finishing something, all the piles of photos I have need to be organized and all those digital pictures need to be safely saved!
LOTS of things but mostly a quilt that I started a couple years ago. Determined to make it all *by hand*. I need to get that basket out and set it next to my chair :)
ReplyDeleteBTW, I recently turned 51 and sleep is a total priority for me these days :)
Blessings!
Gail
Haha! I'll dedicate my next 3:30 am baby feeding to you...NOT!
ReplyDeleteFinish ~ a diet, usually somewhere between 5 & 20 I get off track. AND since babies that #'s jumped!
I dang near fell plum off the wagon after stupidly mindlessly eating m&m's at saturdays wedding...and then finding wedding cake in my mouth cause she sent it home with me. ;) But today I'm hanging on by my fingernails & clawing my way back on!
Oh yeah AND I'd like to finish 2 silly hour long projects so I can post my kitchen on my blog. How's that for procrastinaton. ;)
I started my blog in part to kick procrastinations butt....as you can see it's working quite well! Ha!
Okay...I've done gone & gotten all wordy on ya' & I'm not sure why? Must be Jayme withdrawal! :)
It' weird how people can be so different. I'm a finisher. What I start - I MUST finish. It's getting started that's the hard part. And I guess I should get started on a new Christmas Stocking - just in case - I happen to get a new daughter in law, soon. I fnished the stockings for the new babies (Brilyn & Olivia) last winter. They were born in Jan & Feb and this will be their first Christmas - but their stocking are ready. :-) See: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.246308378647.135874.783018647&type=3#!/photo.php?fbid=10150094606248648&set=a.246308378647.135874.783018647&type=3&theater
ReplyDeleteEven God rested on the seventh day and He commanded that we rest, too. Sleep is really important. I think your down time has been because you have been focusing on dieting and your body can only do so much. I'm glad to have you back blogging more...I missed you.
ReplyDeleteI plan to finish copying all my photos onto the computer and Flickr. I got about half finished and then put it away while we moved and settled in. This winter will be a good time to get back to it. Thanks for the motivation.
I could use some motivation on my lifestyle change (diet). I lost 15 pounds, but stalled and then got demotivated. I love hearing and seeing how well you have done. Keep up the good work.
Jayme, I woke up this morning at 8:30 when the phone rang!!! Granted, that's a little later than usual, but so be it. I've earned the privilege and I've never been an early riser. Takes something I really like to do to get me up before the chickens. Now, I've been known to be just going to bed when the chickens are getting up, but that was in my younger days!!
ReplyDeleteCool nights, flannel sheets, sleeping late--oh the sweet things!
ReplyDeleteI am doing a photo book with information about my mom's side of the family for Kyle. Finshed my Dad's side last year. That way when I am gone he will have an idea of who was who and what they did for a living, marriage, and died from. Part of my OCD. He may never care but I feel better.
Happy day!
I LOVE SLEEP and never get enough! How I envy you! I'm ready for winter, too...to cozy in by the fire. Ready to get Natalie's baby book done...well, the photos that I have thus far...they aren't all in, yet.
ReplyDeletelove ya! Cheryl
I ALWAYS get about 8+ hours of sleep a night. Obviously, I am an empty nester but I know what my body needs and I do not feel guilty...well, every once in awhile when my husband gets up at 4:30 a.m. to get ready for work. I laughed out loud when you wrote "regular bowels." I hear ya. ;) I need to finish ALOT but here's to another winter to work on them! :)
ReplyDeleteGlad that you're back. I have to say I have been trying to make sleep more of a priority myself lately. On the note of finishing, I am a champion starter too but not such a good finisher. I would love to finish painting the guest bathroom before Thanksgiving. It took me three years to get a new faucet on the sink. Now I have three paint samples painted on the walls. Surely I can get it done soon.
ReplyDeleteOne thing? Are you kidding? I wish I could narrow it down to one thing. I understand about sleep making you feel guilty. I live alone, well except for two dogs. I woke this morning and saw by the clock that it was after 7:30. I flew out of bed--well, if you can call sitting up slowly, putting one leg at a time off the bed, standing halfway up, and hobbling to the bathroom flying. But I have all kinds of things that cause guilt. Not sure if it's my upbringing or if this is just a woman thing.
ReplyDeleteIt's sad to say, but I need at least 8 hours, preferably 9 to feel really good. Rarely do I get that, but it's where I turn out best!!!!
ReplyDeleteI have a Christmas quilt that I've been working on for 3 (yes, 3) years now and I'd really like to get that done. I used to do a Christmas quilt every year, but now, well, I don't know why I don't!! Sometimes I think my fabrics too pretty to use!!!!
So I guess I'm stopping myself!! Maybe if I got more sleep...
I just turned 55 last Sunday and I can still sleep like a baby with a full stomach for at least 9 hours a night. I thank God for that talent. During the winter months I don't usually finish projects. Winter is a time for me to go deep and explore my inner psyche either through writing, painting, or cross country skiing. Winter is my souls hibernation or incubation time. I generally start/finish projects during the summer months.
ReplyDeleteLove the winter photo of your house. It has such an sedate quality.
Bridgemor
Oh Jayme! I'm so smitten with your weaving!!!! And your chickens! Oh and I really, really have to clear out some of the accumulated stuff around here! I made quite an effort when I was newly diagnosed but as time went on...well...back to ingrained habits, I think. But winter is wonderful for new beginnings (or finishing up old ones!!)!
ReplyDeleteNice to see you back and in full force Jayme! I think you needed to focus on other things! You look amazing by the way. You deeply inspire me. So what do I need to finish this winter? Losing 15lbs and getting my creativity back. What's stopping me? Me! As usual.
ReplyDeleteWish i could sleep!! With 50 came insomnia!!! jan
ReplyDeleteI blogged about you today, come over for a visit!
ReplyDeleteAt 62 sleep seems harder to come by. So I just get up and read or sew on the wool pillows as I listen to Coast to Coast. Now that's getting something done and being entertained at the same time. When I get too tired it's back to bed and hubby doesn't even realize know. Must say that you look and sound so happy and youthful.
ReplyDeleteI'm gonna finish purging my house and get ready to move to the country. I'm soon to be where I have longed to be for years. Love this post and love the photo of your home. Tell me, did you make those fabulous cup-cakes? I want one. Hugs, Deb=^..^=x4
ReplyDeleteWell, I need/want to paint my fire place downstairs, it would feel good to get that off of my list. It has been on the list for three years now... I guess it is about time that I get serious and git'er done. :-)
ReplyDeleteOne thing I have to, have to, have to! finish this winter is a hat I've been knitting for my mother-in-law. What's keeping me from finishing it? I'm afraid it won't fit and I'll have to rip it out and start over.
ReplyDeleteHey Jayme, I found you site awhile ago (already a follower) what's stopping me?? I wish I knew...last year I was eating clean (not that I called it that) I knew the foods that effected me poorly (anything processed)...and quit eating them...lost 41 lbs...quickly and it was the easiest thing I had ever done...I felt great other than the loose skin (I'm 53) then something happened and I fell into my old ways...and in the last year have gained about 15-20 back...and just can not get to a point where I feel cleansed out and the cravings are gone...(I love that feeling)..do you have any suggestions?? Last year I thought I finally had my eating issues licked...so why can't I get to that point again?
ReplyDeleteSharon