It’s a chilly, rainy Saturday morning on the 45th parallel. We have had above warm and sunny days for weeks now that were above average temps. I even complained about the hot 85-degree days! Very unusual but today I wake up to a proper fall morning. Furnace on, Halloween quilts out and in use while I prepare for my weekend. It is only 45 degrees outside this morning.

I am not going to spend as much time watching football as I have over the past couple of weeks. I have a few things I want to do like check out a fabric store that has some sales going on. I need to get some background fabrics. I have been trying to get motivated to do the final push on Sew Scrappy Spools. I am putting a couple of projects in time out and I found the next couple of projects I want to do. I just haven’t been able to sit behind my sewing machine this week because I need a break from it. I don’t know why I just have.

I have been spending much of my creative time cross stitching. It’s really appealing to me, and I like that I can sit in my chair to stitch after a long day of work. I can watch shows and chat with my husband in the evenings. I have the next several projects for cross stitch picked out too.

The theme this week is low energy. I have never had this problem before I had Long Covid. I am one month past another Covid infection, and it has worsened some of the long Covid symptoms again. I was very frustrated with my lack of energy for sewing or long arming. I tried to make some lemonade out of the lemons. I needed the rest and healing time.

I am trying to find ways to build up my strength after a flare up of symptoms and I found this. It is perfect for me, and I can only do half the reps right now. I am building myself up to get back to more activity and exercise tolerance. I like this because it engages the whole body, works on balance and is way harder than it looks! I can do as many as I can in the house or in our garage gym. Give it a try and let me know how hard or easy this little exercise was for you!

@jewelllzzzz

Will you give it a try? What are some of your routines? Repost @caligraphyhealth on IG. An easy movement for weight loss. If you perform 200 repetitions every day (100 on each side) you will see real results. You will not only lose excessive weight but also open up your body – shoulders, neck, and hips. It’s a great exercise for people who sit a lot. When performing the movement, try to also engage your organs – as your arms lift up, try lifting up the internal organs inside your belly. Keep it easy. When the hands go to the side then internal organs naturally drop down. Be gentle with yourself and don’t force your body. If you have any physical issues then do it slowly and focus on engaging your internal organs. Give your body time to learn and progress in this movement. If 200 times is too much for the beginning, start with a smaller number and gradually work your way up to 200 repetitions. Be patient and loving towards your body. Don’t push yourself, try to keep it fun and enjoyable 🙂 like dancing 💃🕺 #calligraphyhealthtips #calligraphyhealth #healthtips #weightlossjourney #shoulderstretch #neckstretch #hipflexibility #sedentarylifestyle #organengagement #TCM #meridians

♬ original sound – Jewel Johnson

I am pretty happy with how good the house looks. Fly Lady has been great to follow the suggested cleaning in the app on the phone. I have no decisions to make! I have been getting Hello Fresh meals three times a week. No guess work and very few decisions to make. I have a plan for my creating and social posting. I am finding that I am in a routine which helps me tremendously. Decision fatigue is a real problem, and I am working on having things streamlined so I don’t have to be stressed out making so many decisions and wasting time. Here is a great article about decision fatigue and some ways to cope: https://health.clevelandclinic.org/decision-fatigue/

I am finding that the suggestion of having less decisions to make each day helpful and by the time the evening rolls around I can sit and stitch. No decisions on making little x’s and following the pattern with floss pack. I like following routines where I don’t have to think about decisions and it is done almost on autopilot. I get more sleep to help for the next day’s work/decision/energy. I have been simplifying my life for a long time and it has really helped. I try not to get over scheduled or have overly complicated scheduling where I am literally running around all day keeping tight deadlines and schedules. It has helped so much, and I can be more present, mindful and relaxed all day. Being at the age I am, I don’t have to do all the air traffic controlling of the kid’s schedules, shuffling from place to place and juggle so much. I started to scale back on that when they were in high school and college.

I am going to spend my weekend doing slow living, having a simple rest from the work week. I have my hygge things out and I am settling in for a comfy, cozy day.

Off to get some coffee,

Vicki