Fall Challenge

[Yppej]

1. Lose another 10 pounds. I have lost 10 each of the last two quarters, so this seems to be my pace. I will then be within the normal range for my height.
2. Get my petition to make my Board of Health elected heard by the City Council. This has been a major battle and supposedly now that I have a Councilor sponsor it will happen but I will not believe it until I see it on the agenda. It was pulled from the agenda just before it was published last time.
3. Reduce my screen time - should be easier as my tablet broke.
4. Get caught up on housecleaning.
5. Stay within budget despite rising energy costs.
6. Go the the open houses portion of Free State Project weekend in October to get a better sense of the market there.
7. Do birthday and holiday shopping and celebrate birthdays with family. All family in the area have birthdays in the fall.
8. Find a primary care physician who does not require masks.
9. Burn papers with personal information on them.
10. Get another book of 300 crossword puzzles to help avoid the temptation to play games online (see #3 above).

[hana]

Going to put this into before, during, and after trip

Before
Vote
Ask Office Manager about the Basement work/if the 30 days notice to clear the storage unit arrives while we're out of town
Get winter gear out of storage and decide what to pack if anything
Confirm itinerary with husband so I can pack accordingly
Text social worker to see if she's ready for this year's hats, mittens, and scarves and hopefully deliver them

During
Start Knitting socks for holiday gifts
Drop off box of books for husband's friend's students
Buy thank you gifts for parents and neighbor for looking out for the condo
Volunteer project I'm doing for a friend
Buy a winter coat
No screen day October

After
Catch up on laundry
3 boxes or rearrange stuff from storage unit temporarily taking up space in my living room.
Put away summer stuff
Victory dance while looking at the once again clear guest room bed
Think about how to organize the bookshelves
No screen day November and possibly December

[rosarugosa]

I've tried to be a bit more thoughtful about my list this time. I think I put things on the summer list without enough thought as to how I really wished to prioritize my time during those short and precious summer months. Some of the items below are carried over from summer and are really more appropriate for the months when I spend more time inside.

• Finish decluttering Mom's second floor
• Hang the last of the window shades at Mom's house
• Repair dripping kitchen faucet
• List on eBay: raincoat, denim jacket, shoes
• Slow and thoughtful room by room review and cull of my own house (will probably stretch beyond fall, haha, seems to be a lifelong endeavor)
• Semi-annual closet cleanout
• Leaf cleanup and shredding
• Seasonal miscellaneous: clean and store fans, put in storm door panels, change bedding, dump annual container plants, put away hoses and turn off outdoor water supply, put away hammock ( a lot of this stuff shouldn't get done right away, but will need to be done as the season progresses, e.g. annual container plants are perfectly lovely right now)

[Yppej]

Petition should be heard this week. It's on the agenda but who knows, they could pull it at the last minute. They like doing shady stuff like that.

[hana]

Before
Vote done
Ask Office Manager about the Basement work/if the 30 days notice to clear the storage unit arrives while we're out of town done see below
Get winter gear out of storage and decide what to pack if anything not yet
Confirm itinerary with husband so I can pack accordingly in progress
Text social worker to see if she's ready for this year's hats, mittens, and scarves and hopefully deliver them done

Emailed the office manager and was told that she has a family emergency and will be out this week and the head of maintenance is acting manager until she returns. I emailed him and asked if we will receive the 30 notice in the next while we're gone. He said he will email me the answer before COB on Wednesday. Texted social worker and gave her the latest dates and times for me to drop off and for her to pick up, and our availability in November. No response, hoping to deliver them before we leave. Husband is confirming dress codes for different events so we can dress accordingly. Busy work day so haven't had time to grab winter gear, it's tomorrow's after work project.

[Yppej]

Got my petition through hurdle 1. It is now assigned to a committee but it is unknown when the committee will meet. The chair of it strongly opposes reform efforts.

[Portuguese John Here]

I've never done these, I always tell people I don't make plans, and they think I'm kidding, it's a huge downside in the wrong places, for instance, the company I worked for went bankrupt, and I had a bunch of job interviews. In those, they always ask about your current and future aspirations, your plans and goals, and dreams, and I always told the truth, like I often do, I don't make plans, I have things that I once asked for, or thought about, and often they come to me without even realizing, only after I think: Wait, I once asked for this. It's like a star alignment that originates something else, in my case is an alignment of opportunities and situations and open a door to something I thought about before. I'm on a job right now, got it by lying on that question, by the way. But let's see:

• Spend more time outside when I'm not working. I found a cool park near the place I work, now I go there every lunch and spend an hour eating my sandwich. It has a granitic table, five or six old trees in front, under those trees someone planted orchids, it's a nice refuge from work, where I can be alone, hearing the birds.
• I started following the Mediterranean diet, it's the diet every dietician recommends in Portugal. I've been fasting my whole life, eating twice a day, I lose weight if I eat small portions throughout the day. I plan on keeping it going and eventually lose weight, my health is okay according to the doctors, but being overweight it's a huge stigma, on finding relationships, on many levels.
• Get the Cuban cigars out of my head. I have a tendency to smoke a cigar every Friday, it's so relaxing. My grandfather used to smoke Monte Cristo's, he'd offer everyone a cigar when he went somewhere, dinners, when someone went by his house, I liked to see him smoking, he looked so much like those Italian mobsters from the 50s and 60s.

[rosarugosa]

I've never done these, I always tell people I don't make plans, and they think I'm kidding, it's a huge downside in the wrong places, for instance, the company I worked for went bankrupt, and I had a bunch of job interviews. In those, they always ask about your current and future aspirations, your plans and goals, and dreams, and I always told the truth, like I often do, I don't make plans, I have things that I once asked for, or thought about, and often they come to me without even realizing, only after I think: Wait, I once asked for this. It's like a star alignment that originates something else, in my case is an alignment of opportunities and situations and open a door to something I thought about before. I'm on a job right now, got it by lying on that question, by the way. But let's see:

• Spend more time outside when I'm not working. I found a cool park near the place I work, now I go there every lunch and spend an hour eating my sandwich. It has a granitic table, five or six old trees in front, under those trees someone planted orchids, it's a nice refuge from work, where I can be alone, hearing the birds.
• I started following the Mediterranean diet, it's the diet every dietician recommends in Portugal. I've been fasting my whole life, eating twice a day, I lose weight if I eat small portions throughout the day. I plan on keeping it going and eventually lose weight, my health is okay according to the doctors, but being overweight it's a huge stigma, on finding relationships, on many levels.
• Get the Cuban cigars out of my head. I have a tendency to smoke a cigar every Friday, it's so relaxing. My grandfather used to smoke Monte Cristo's, he'd offer everyone a cigar when he went somewhere, dinners, when someone went by his house, I liked to see him smoking, he looked so much like those Italian mobsters from the 50s and 60s.

John: During my last couple of years working, one of the best things in my world was discovering how therapeutic it was for me to take a lunchtime walk in the Boston Public Garden. It was like a mini-vacation in the middle of my workday, and it had the added benefit of keeping me out of the stores.

[Portuguese John Here]

John: During my last couple of years working, one of the best things in my world was discovering how therapeutic it was for me to take a lunchtime walk in the Boston Public Garden. It was like a mini-vacation in the middle of my workday, and it had the added benefit of keeping me out of the stores.

People that strictly separate the working week from the weekend often find working unbearable, they dislike the job, they dislike everything and experience sadness and anguish on Sunday's afternoons, times such as these.

I believe the secret is either:

1. Loving what you do, and that is often difficult because most people just don't have a special interest
2. Learning to make the best out of everything, make a play out of work, don't take it seriously, don't think too much
3. Find little escapes in the beginning and throughout the working day. In the morning before going to work, it can be a walk when everyone is sleeping in a city and see the sun rising, I heard a story of a man that sat in a park bench every single morning and people went there just to talk with him. If you live in the countryside it can be a walk and hearing the first birds chirping, and also throughout the working day, and the best ones are often at lunchtime, finding a spot where you can be by yourself for a full hour and then finish the work and go home, and before going home, also do something, the day has 24 hours, eight you are sleeping, eight you are working, and there's eight missing, those eight are often neglected with the burden of the those yet to come.

[Yppej]

Have lost 2.5 of the 10 pounds so far.