Thursday, October 15, 2015

Different things

Little things
  • I just submitted a grant. Whoo! I have something on this side of town so I planned to work late, but once I submitted the grant I was DONE and I'm just frittering time away now.
  • I like writing grants but there are really annoying parts, most of which involve administrative stuff and administrative people that are so stressful!
  • I wanted to plan stuff to do this weekend but its already thursday night and I've planned nothing. 
  • Our house is a disaster. I need to organize and purge. We can't FIND things we need and keep stepping on stuff. I hate that. I'm OK with mess until I'm suddenly NOT and it has to GO
Bigger things

Part A: So the reason I set my allowance so low was 1) I am on a year long clothes shopping ban so I didn't budget for clothes/shoes at all and 2) I wanted to feel a bit of scarcity and to have to think and rethink each purchase and maybe even "save up" for it. The point was not to just buy what I wanted because I could "afford it". And...it WORKS. All those things I wrote about wanting? I don't want most of them anymore. The wanting of things often comes from some other want/need in my life, and buying the things does not usually fulfill that need. When I start researching planners, it means I feel overwhelmed and unproductive. Some little part of my brain thinks the answer to that is a new planner. Its not. The answer to that is getting my ass in gear and getting stuff done. Now that I've gotten a ton of stuff done over the past few weeks, I realize I don't NEED a new planner. I can wait and get one later or skip it altogether.

Wanting clothes also comes from some other feeling. Today I felt like going shopping. To celebrate being done. Buying something is an easy way to celebrate. Its not like I can just "go out" with friends, or that the kids are going to necessarily behave and let me have a fun evening. But of course, buying something doesn't REALLY fulfill the urge to do something special. Other reasons for wanting to shop: lack of confidence at work=need professional attire and body image issues. And also just being bored with life. Nothing fun coming up, no vacations or activities or anything planned=buy new clothes for the thrill of fun shiny packages arriving.

This holds true for lots of other areas in life. Where I subconsciously want to buy something to fix some underlying issue. Activities for the kids because I have this picture in my head of warm nurturing times  vs. the chaotic yelling that is going on now. A kitchen tool that'll motivate me to want to cook again. The workout gear or equipment to increase exercise. Etc...

Its totally stupid, but it happens. So having that brake on the spending with the super-low budget makes me stop and think and actually SEE what my brain is doing. And then if I still want it (THOSE BOOTS) I will buy them in January.

Part B: Sarah wrote about how unstructured time isn't always what its cracked up to be. I felt that last weekend, in a big way. As much as my kids are content to stay at home and play legos and puzzles and watch movies. I am NOT. Not when they still actually need me every 5 seconds (and those are the seconds they aren't hitting/fighting/shouting) its not relaxing, nor is it fun. On top of that, it was a weekend where I felt exhausted and unmotivated to actually get stuff done, so I couldn't even use that time in the house to knock off some long overdue tasks. Hence why I wanted to plan more for this weekend. I'm also just hoping that I have more energy (this energy thing is elusive to me. Some days-weeks-months I have plenty and then I crash for weeks at a time, going to bed super early and still able to sleep in, just wanting to SIT instead of my usual on-the-go self).

7 comments:

  1. Congratulations on getting that grant submitted! Writing the science part is fun, but the administrative part -- i.e. the part where you practically have to beg people to do their damn jobs pretty please just so you can get the thing out on time -- is definitely not my cup of tea. Will I ever get to a point in my life where I don't have to schmooze and kiss butt to get the most mundane things done for me? I doubt it. I wonder if this is a woman thing, or if my natural state is "shrew" and I really do have to work *that hard* to be nice enough for people to help me.

    I can also relate to buying things to solve problems that really would get better if I actually addressed them. Residency has been good for that too -- less time to get on the computer to go to amazon to impulsively click on things I don't really need.

    As for unstructured time, I've been finding that I really REALLY need time to decompress on the weekends. This can be really difficult when the offspring is constantly clamoring for my attention, though fortunately I don't have to deal with sibling rivalry (I might actually go nuts). God when she self entertains though, it is so glorious. My husband has a tendency to just disappear. I do not get to do that (since he has usually already done it). OR, I disappear and Dyl finds me doing work and I get distracted, then give her the kindle (parenting fail). Not sure what the solution is. I really don't think I can stand the Aquarium, zoo, please touch, or academy one more time. And park season is almost over. OMG what am I going to do?????

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    1. Yes, absolutely, the begging people to do their jobs drives me nuts. And I am a naturally "nice" but also somewhat introverted/quiet type, and it never stops being annoying. I feel like I'm begging and pleading and profusely thanking for the littlest do-your-job type things. I think it says more about the quality of people being hired do to the admin stuff. lazy lazy non-self-motivated types
      Yes residency is good for not having time to do a lot of the bad habits!
      Oh man, I don't want to think too hard about winter. The pool is a good winter activity---the Y pool is heated. The husband disappearing is exactly what happened last weekend. I have successfully disappeared for 30-40 minutes before...it was stressful because I felt guilty. And this was when I was actually feeling sick.

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  2. Sounds like your plan is to organize and purge this weekend.

    Glad that your budget thing is working for you.

    I don't have anything planned for this weekend, but this is MY LAST WEEK OF TRAVEL until January. So I'm hoping to do fun stuff in Paradise very soon!

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    1. oh no, the organize and purge is not a weekend plan. Its so maddening to try to do this while the kids are re-doing everything I've done! Then they find things and they want to play. WITH ME. So...no. Exercise in frustration. not sure when I can do it, little bits and pieces in the evenings & mornings mostly.

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    2. Can't put your kids to work cleaning their rooms? Last Monday when both kids were out of school DH had a cleaning game. They put their toys away and swept and vacuumed and put away laundry etc. Even the three year old!

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    3. Maybe that's the best plan-- go AWOL and DH and the kids can clean and organize while you're gone. ;)

      Of course, I owe DH for taking Monday off so I could work.

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  3. This post is motivating me to look @ my YNAB at the end of the year and see what i actually bought with my allowance money. I actually don't think I'll regret most of it. I will do a post with a list, perhaps, if it isn't too embarrassing!!

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