Category Archives: Taking the day off

Monday Gets Taken Away by Calgon

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“Calgon Take Me Away”  is an old commercial slogan that has been “on the air” and repeated over and over since the early 1980s and it still rings true today for me!  I’m Ready for a little R&R!!  How about you?  I’m not sure just having a bathtub filled with bubbles is going to do it for me.  I’m just a bit tired today and need something special to happen.

I can’t imagine what it might be like for some of you who have several kids or maybe you’re juggling a couple of jobs AND a single parent. Add furry, four-legged pets to the equation and your chore list just doubled.  Having older parents who you care for can also add to a drain on your energy.  Maintaining a house you creates a constant list of things to do.  And just cooking three meals a day and other mundane daily chores can create multiple hours of things we need to day EVERY DAY!  No wonder we’re tired.  We need a break!

We push ourselves beyond a normal limit sometimes.  We don’t take time for ourselves to rest.  We keep saying we’re going to take a break, but fail to “put ourselves on the calendar” and schedule it.  We keep doing for others and neglect our own needs.  We say we’ll do it next week…next month…..and THEN Holy Cow!  It’s already next year!!  Yikes!  What happens to the time?!

Are you ready?  I’m giving you a “get out of jail free” card today.  Admit it….you need a break.  So today……

MONDAY GETS TAKEN AWAY BY CALGON

We have to take care of ourselves, if nothing else, so we can keep taking care of others.  We always seem to put ourselves last in line for nurturing and allowing ourselves to feel that “We Matter”.  It seems easy to do nice things for others, but we can’t seem to stop the process of being last on the list.  If we would start taking care of “Me”, then we could likely do a lot more for others.  Would that motivate you to take the time to be taken away by Calgon today?

Okay.  Here’s the fun part….if you could do anything you wanted to do today, what would it be?  Maybe stay in bed ALL day.  Or perhaps, read a book you started months ago.  What about having a super duper spa day?!!  Wow!  What an amazing thought!  Maybe just find a nice shady spot, bring a picnic lunch and stare into space for several hours would be a relaxing day for you.  I think I would like to go somewhere to look at the water.  I love the smell of the ocean breeze and the sound of the waves hitting the shoreline.  Maybe I’ll stop for a nice icy smoothie afterwards and then take a long afternoon nap.  That sure sounds like a relaxing day.

I don’t want to hold you up any longer…..you’ve got some planning to do.  If you can’t make today a Calgon kind of day, then at least take the time today to make plans for what you will do within the next week.

Make it something fun and just about you.

Remember to whisper to yourself throughout the day….

I Matter!  I Matter!  I Matter!

If we don’t take care of ourselves, then we limit

ourselves every day in what we can accomplish.

Make today a super, super day

Got to run…..the ocean breeze is calling my name.

Smiles,

Nancy

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Monday Gets Bogged Down

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Okay….last week, Monday Got Lazy and now it seems I am ‘bogged down’ in so many things to do that my head is spinning and my List is a mile long.  I guess I should admit, however, there might have been another day or so along the way this week that I felt I needed to pull out my lazy card!!…..Oh the price we pay sometimes for doing things that seem to come so natural and easy!!

Wouldn’t it be nice if we could just post our lists on a community bulletin board somewhere and have help in completing the tasks that we are not very good at being able to complete.  Kind of a barter system….you do the laundry and I’ll fold it and put it away.  I’ll do the dishes….if you’ll do the cooking today.  Guess that’s the way it use to be when multiple generations lived together all in the same house.  Of course, I’m sure Woody Allen would be able to create a pretty authentic picture of what the real scene might be when that happens!  Be careful what you ask for, right?  Let’s address the issue….

Monday Gets Bogged Down

I wonder how some people are able to get so much accomplished in a very short time without procrastinating along the way.  I can’t even make a list without running off the edge of the paper and continuing to add to it before I even get a few items checked off AND actually losing the list several times before it’s completed.  I know I’m not considered to be a lazy person and most people think I’m above average in the organizational skill set.  Perhaps, I need to learn to delegate…….Hmmmm. Just asked Tramp to take out the trash and he looked at me and ran to the kitchen.  I was sure he was headed to get the garbage, but instead he just checked his food bowl to see if there were any scraps or extra dog biscuits!!  Guess I need to rethink this delegating thing….Choose your Delegate wisely, right?

I think this happens not only in just daily grind stuff, but just in life in general.  Even the fun stuff gets either over-completed OR gets pushed to the bottom of the list.  Life needs to be a balance, right?  Unfortunately, I think we often struggle to determine where the line gets drawn.  So, how do we get out of the ‘mess’ we’re in right now.  Let’s figure this out, so that perhaps we can work on this phenomenon together.

Are you in this space too?  Too much to do and too little time to do it.  What happened along the way?  For me, I think it is a cross between procrastination and distractions.  I might start cleaning the kitchen, but then take out the garbage and find myself out picking tomatoes off my plants in my garden.  Next thing I know, I am researching a good recipe to make with the tomatoes which leads somehow unexplainable to restaurants that I might want to dine at soon.  By the time I re-enter the kitchen, hours have passed, the kitchen is only half completed AND now I’m hungry (from ooo-ing over the recipes I’ve discovered) and struggle to find a clean spot to make some lunch.

Is anyone relating here??!!!  Please tell me that I’m not alone or unique in this horrible syndrome!!   Do you think there are any research studies going that I can join to find my cause and cure?  Perhaps, there might be a support group that will help me feel there is hope.

 Help!  Help!  Help!

Well, this is the point in my Blog post that I usual offer some suggestions or support to get beyond the current issue…..I’ve got nothing!!    Here’s what I thought I would do.  After you read this, post in the comment section at the top of the post, a description of a recent situation of your Bogged Down-itis.  Don’t be shy.  Even life’s problems can make us smile sometimes. Let’s see who could qualify for King/Queen of Bogged Down Monday.

Hopefully, what we’ll find is that we’re really not alone in this world and when we feel we are the ONLY human being dealing with something difficult, that we just need to open our eyes and look around us.

When life seems the most difficult, I’m sure there is always someone dealing with a worst situation.

And maybe too…..that we’ll understand that we need to reach out to others in time of need and get the support we need and offer the same to them.  We really don’t have to carry the whole burden alone.  Sometimes, the opportunity to make a difference is right in front of our face.

Have a Great Monday.

Make it a great day.  Reach out to others.

You Matter!

Smiles,

Nancy

Monday Gets Lazy

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Some days, no matter how hard we push ourselves, it seems that our body is just not willing to go any faster or work to its fullest and most efficient capacity.  We question the cause….are we getting older?  did we eat or drink the wrong thing?  do we need more sleep? are we getting sick?  Are we overly stressed?  Sometimes the question is ‘yes’ to at least one of the questions; but sometimes, there just isn’t any clue to what might solve the puzzle.  My Dad was a very wise man and I think he had the best diagnosis for this un-studied disease …. “The Can’t HelpIts”  ….You just can’t help feeling like you do….no cause and only one known cure.  By the way, I doubt if you will find the disease OR the cure listed in the Merck Manual; but it is definitely something real and the directions for curing it always works.  Today, I have the “Can’t HelpIts” and I am going to work on curing my illness!!  If you are experiencing the same disease today, please join me in the race to feel better—So, here’s the cure that has been passed down through the generations….

Monday Gets Lazy

That’s right…sometimes, it’s okay to just be lazy.  We push ourselves every day to get things done.  We race against the clock to try to finish everything within  our daily schedule parameters.  Gotta check off the items on our lists!!  We eat, drink and exercise within the guidelines of the medical communities insistence of what is good for us.  And, with an abundance of confusion, often what was good for us yesterday is today declared to be laden with carcinogens and the worst possible thing to be doing.  We search for some kind of medically approved and consistent balance in the path we follow to wellness.  Doctors don’t often prescribe “Do nothing today”.  I wonder if they’re afraid they would be sued for malpractice and the insurance companies would be obligated to cover the cost of us enjoying a day off.  Wouldn’t that be great to submit costs of what we did on our day of playing “hooky” from our normal crazy and stressful day?  However…..It would, in fact,  probably be far less expensive than the medicines or therapies our doctor prescribes!!

So, here’s your list of today’s activities:

  • Do nothing.
  • Do nothing.
  • Do nothing.
  • Take a nap.
  • Do more nothing.

Think you can handle it??!!  I bet you have a new love for my Monday mandatory list again, right?

And since, I’m always encouraging you to make a difference for others, why not drag a friend or family member along for this journey.  Being lazy is fun; but having someone else along on your journey makes it even better.  Probably gives you that verification that we sometimes need to be okay with something out of the norm.  Drag along a friend and suddenly everything is acceptable.

So, are you ready to start?

Won’t take you much to get revved up for THIS journey!  I’d like to leave you with a few words from my favorite author.  In the immortal words of Winnie the Pooh, when asked what Lazy means:

“It means just going along, listening to all the things you can’t hear….and not bothering!”

 Hope you have a great day.

I know I will.

Let's go see what they caught!

You Matter!

Smiles, Nancy

Disclaimer:  If your place of employment is not real happy about your choice of being lazy today, please save this ‘lazy card’ for a day that better suits your needs….just promise me that you won’t let it expire!