Baby It’s Cold Outside!

 We have had a very warm winter thus far.  That ended yesterday.  It was sunny and dry but it was cold and the cedar pollen is alive and well. None of that bodes well with me.  However, it is winter after all so I guess it is to be expected.  Sigh.

At the beginning of 2024, in an effort to handle my raging anxiety, I decided to start an anxiety journal — to document the things that set my anxiety off. As part of the exercise I developed a morning routine and an evening routine.  These routines weren’t complicated — in fact — they were quite basic.  For instance, my morning routine went something like this —

1.  Wash face

2.  Brush teeth

3.  Morning skincare

4. Make bed

5. Tend dog

Yada yada yada.  I know that sounds ridiculous to lay down a routine that is actually second nature but it was grounding to be able to check off the things that I accomplished because some days, in the throes of anxiety, just doing the simple things was difficult.

In the end I just became complacent and abandoned the practice without meaning to.  A couple of hospital visits sort of broke the routine and my little pink anxiety journal set idle.  Did it help the anxiety?  Yes, it did but what really helped the anxiety was a cardiac ablation and medications — that is what has just about wiped away my anxiety completely.  However, I am finding that I need the structure of the day to day routine — if I just do the things on the list regardless of how basic they are then I feel like I have accomplished something, see what I mean?  So, I have a place in my new journal that I can do just that and today is the day that I start.  

As I said earlier, we have had a very mild winter — it was 80F the other day — and it has been lovely.  however that is all about to change.  It got cold yesterday and it supposed to get colder.  Somebody even said the dreaded “S” word — just slightly less scary than the “I” word.  We don’t do well here in Texas with either of those two things so we just need to not have that happen.  Especially since the kids go back to school next week! Never fails!

I have the Bean for a couple of days while her mom is off on a small vacation with two of her teacher friends.  They are going to visit some historical sites which is my daughter’s favorite thing to do.  I hope it is warmer for them than it is going to be here.  This is going to require a trip to the grocery store which is my LEAST favorite thing to do — but I am not prepared for a teenager in regards to eating.  So, a grocery run it is.  

It will be fun to have her to myself for a couple of days — since she has been in high school and busy being a teenager she has left us old folks in her dust! I am sure I will spend hours watching her scroll on her phone or re-re-re-watching Harry Potter.  It’s gonna be great!

So I will close with this lovely pic I found — it just makes me cold to look at it!

Have a wonderful day all! Stay warm!