Have you ever found yourself wondering if you actually have money or if you’ve simply forgotten a bunch of bills? That’s the situation I’ve been in lately. It doesn’t help that I’m horrifically bad at math so calculations are always a bit iffy. But I finally realized that between not needing a week of food last month due to being on a family vacation plus getting paid for several months worth of cat sitting, I actually did have some money to play around with. Woo hoo!!! This doesn’t happen often!
I’ve already bought 99% of my presents so those purchases were out of the way plus my kitchen is well stocked. So I looked at my life and what lies ahead to figure out what was crucial. I spend every single day in a state of exhaustion so the first and biggest need obviously was sleep. Sleep problems walk hand in hand with mental illness. Nightmares don’t help and getting up to pee 3+ times a night doesn’t help either. The latter wouldn’t be much of an issue except for the whole nightmare thing. It’s hard to go back to sleep when you’ve just drempt that a massive tornado plowed through your childhood home and you’re the only one who made it to the basement. But I’m already on medication for the nightmares; I needed to sort what else I could do. Everyone and their cousin talk about screen time and blue light ad nauseam. We all have to reduce screen time before bed. That’s thrilling. No seriously. My biggest hobby is scrapbooking… digital scrapbooking that is. So am I supposed to give up a soothing and relaxing hobby? Then they suggest reading. I love to read! I have two different apps on my phone and have a bunch of books ready to read between the two of them. Except that’s screen time too. And finally there’s Mah Jong. I found a great app and, well, yeah.
I tried the blue light filter on my phone once and it made my photos look like I’d taken them in the bowels of hell, so that wasn’t an option. But there are anti blue light glasses available. They’re also mega dorky so I don’t have a picture of me wearing them… anywhere. I’ve realized my room is quite bright and I wasn’t able to dim it with any success so I picked up a cute and soft sleep mask from Dollarama. It’s definitely dark while wearing it so that’s one issue dealt with. I’m not sure if either the glasses or the mask are working but I haven’t been trying that long. At the very least they’re doing no harm. Unless I wake up at 3am and attempt to walk to the bathroom with the mask on.
I got covid-19 back in March/April 2020 and it was awful! I couldn’t walk from my bedroom to the living room without stopping to take a break in the kitchen. My apartment is tiny plus all my rooms open into the kitchen so this wasn’t a long walk. I had to sit in the shower as well because I couldn’t stand that long. Energy and balance were definitely in short supply. Finally it was over and done with, or so I thought. Soon balance issues became noticeable. I fall easier now and I struggle with walking downhill. Winter was a nightmare last year. I can’t climb up or down snowbanks. Every sidewalk has a snowbank at the end and there’s a snowbank for the first day or two after a snow storm at every bus stop. I couldn’t go for walks anymore, at least not safely, and I couldn’t use the rebounder (aka mini trampoline) I’d bought several years earlier, I didn’t have the balance and it didn’t have the handlebar. But there was a nice one on sale through Amazon last week and it had a handle. It’s now set up in my room and my old one is going to Colin.
This winter I’m going to walk the hallways in my building, doing a loop down the south stairwell then along the hall to the north stairwell then up and and back down my hall. I’ll need some music, which I have on my iPhone, and headphones (also bought), and now the armband to hold my phone is on it’s way and should arrive by Christmas.
The last thing I wanted was a fitness band. I had a Fit-bit when I moved here but the company was having issues with their new band material. It was creating raw, sore burn-like marks on quite a few people’s wrists and I was one of them. My phone counted steps but I wasn’t always holding it so it wasn’t accurate. Then I found the bling-i-est smart watch imaginable. We’re talking glitter, silver, rhinestones, and mother of pearl. It arrived this morning and looks so pretty! Now to get it sized small enough. Luckily Cat Dad is going to help in the morning.
Tomorrow’s a new day and I’m looking forward to making a fresh and fit start!
Because I'm Fabulous 