misophonia

May 28: Caving for a craving

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Another beautiful sunny day meant more outdoor work, and outdoor work without breakfast or lunch meant one hungry beast come dinner time.

Rene went to hospital this afternoon for a scheduled visit – he’s having an operation on his neck tomorrow afternoon. This is his sixth hospital visit/operation since I’ve lived here (three and a half years). The first four were for his hip – what a debacle that was. This operation will hopefully alleviate some headache problems he’s been having.

So before he left, there were things to do. (Hopefully he’ll be back by the middle of next week, touch wood). I spent four hours with the jet hose cleaning the stone tiles around the pool. Four hours – on one ‘small’ job! But it was needed to get rid of three years worth of grime. I’ll do our terrace and the back of the big farmhouse on Saturday.

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You can see where I’ve cleaned – the two and a half rows on the right

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And this is what it looks like now. Cream stones rather than green

I was soaked and covered in black grot by the end. I had little stones up my nose and in my ears and my glasses were smeared grey. My arms are also slightly sunburnt. Slightly …

That’s not the only thing hurting my arms. Have you ever used a Kärcher jet spray machine? Those things pump out some serious water and the nozzle weighs quite a bit when in action. My arms were still sore from scooping and snipping yesterday so they are going to weigh a tonne tomorrow! How will I get over that? By cleaning Liliane’s house, of course!

And now to caving for a craving … I called Leo at about 5pm and asked if we could drive straight to McDonald’s when he got home from work. He was shocked – that’s not part of the fitfor15in15 plan! This is the first time I’ve had McDonald’s this year. It could possibly be the first time I’ve had fast hamburger food for an entire year. But he didn’t put up a fight and boy did we enjoy those babies! I was so hungry, I could have eaten my arm (if it wasn’t so burnt! 🙂 )

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Hello Alps! You’ve been hiding behind the clouds for too long! Taken by Leo at 6.30pm

Leo cracked me up when he took the photo, above, for me. My substitute iPhone4 is very, very, very slow and we’re still waiting to hear what’s happening with my iPhone5, which was sent for repairs last week following the black screen of death. Leo asked why I wanted him to take photos with his phone, and I explained the quality would be better. He then said, “You’re suffering from a bad case of missyourphoneia!” I told him that joke, in a language that is still sometimes foreign to him, deserved a hug (I suffer from misophonia). Very clever boy!

Wishing you a wonderful day.

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Missyourphoneia! Burgers! Yeah baby!

February 13: Plenty of luck on a 4km run in the forest

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I’m not overly superstitious, but occasionally I touch wood and avoid walking under ladders and so on. This morning, I joked with Leo that I wouldn’t leave the house for fear of something going wrong. Strange things can happen on Friday the 13th, or on any other day to be honest …

Throwing caution to the wind, I DID leave the house – to christen my new jogging/shuffling sneakers. A big risk, considering I took a tumble on my last run, and still have the scars to prove it!

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Out with the old …

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… and in with the new!

The white ones had served me well for the past six years, not that they were flogged to death or anything, but running – sorry, shuffling – in the forest over the past few years had taken its toll.

So when I saw these new ones also 50% cheaper (in a continuation of the sale where I bought my indoor sneakers), I couldn’t resist. It was time for replacements and at half price, resistance was useless.

The track through the forest was still very icy and covered in snow, despite so much of it melting in all the glorious sunshine over the past few days. Dripping water was such a comforting sound today – it means spring is coming! Normally dripping water makes me want to race to the toilet and if it’s a dripping tap, well that’s another story completely – that noise drives me mental! Ahh, misophonia … the gift that keeps on giving.

At first, I was unsure if these new shoes would provide enough support for that problem with my left foot, which has been diagnosed by a podiatrist as Metatarsalgia. New orthotic inserts/innersoles have helped a lot. The pain was crazy there for a while, and that’s another reason why I haven’t been jogging since January 10.

After testing them out on my usual 4km lollipop loop, which involved some springing from non-muddy patch to non-muddy patch, there was no pain. Happy camper. I didn’t struggle with the slow incline as much as I have in the past, and may have stretched my legs a little longer and held my head a little higher as I ran past the loggers cutting down some trees on the homeward stretch. Such an idiot! All up, the run took me 26 minutes, which included walking as a warm-up for two minutes. I’m getting fitter!

Buying the two new pairs of shoes goes against my minimalistic grain, but the foot problem made it a no-brainer. I know you’re supposed to replace sneakers quite regularly too, so six years was a good stint. And it was so nice to see that flash of colour, especially running through the snow!

Fancy going for a shuffle/jog/run? Even round the block is better than nothing. Start on a flat path and then maybe build up to an incline or two when you feel ready for another challenge. I’m not quite ready to run any further just yet (this being only my second jog – sorry, shuffle – of the year), but with these new shoes I’m looking forward to doing more.

Wishing you a great day.

P.S I cleaned my desk today too.

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Space, at last!

There’s no before photo – WAAAAY too embarrassing. It was littered with German books and German magazines and pieces of paper and dust and notebooks and, let’s face it, too much crap to go on like that. Now along with all things computer, I just have a candle and lighter (for my morning routine, done on the floor), the lamp, a little bottle of nice smellies topped with the tiny knitted hat I love, a print of an artwork by Hans Schärer called Madonna 2 (my highlight from an exhibition in Bern in 2012) and a box of tissues.

Surely, with all this space, prize-winning writing will ensue?!

Do you love your creative space? Does it inspire you?

Starting a new habit – morning meditation and stretching

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The sunrise this morning, from our bedroom window

The sunrise this morning, from our bedroom window

It’s been a while coming, but I didn’t want to start doing everything at once and feel overwhelmed. So a series of new habits are being introduced over time.

Two new habits (I’ve planned for about six) will start today. Morning meditation and stretching, and study (more on the second one in a future post).

If you need meditation or general health apps for your phone, you could have a look at this story from Sarah Wilson’s “I Quit Sugar” website. Body and Soul is also a great source of information too.

I already have a couple of free meditation apps on my phone, from previous attempts to be mentally fit. (Are you seeing a recurring theme here? I am! I’ve sourced so many things – apps, gear, blogs, books etc – in order to get fit, in all meanings of the word, but have been too slack to act on them long enough to form a habit.) There are loads of meditation apps around – see which one or ones work for you.

I’m pretty fussy when it comes to listening to other people talk, especially when they’re trying to make you relaxed. I suffer from Misophonia – literally meaning a hatred of noise (more on that in a future post too, promise) and suffer extreme reactions if people make ‘unnecessary’ noises such as lip smacking, loud inhalations of breath, or you can hear saliva in their mouth.

But my most severe reactions come when people speak with a very trill, high pitched, sickly sweet, exaggerated ‘s’. I’ve noticed when these relaxation/meditation voices want to make you feel relaxxxxxxxed, often they make the ‘s’ sound last longer than normal (for example “let go of your thoughtsssssssssssssss, think of peacccccccccccccccce, close your eyessssssssssss”) and when that s sound is very high and hissy like a snake, my immediate reaction is to want to smash the phone and then punch the perpetrator in the face. Ten deep breaths (not breathssssss) and relax (not relaxxxxxxxxx) … Ha ha, yeah, I can make a joke about it here, but for me, honestly, it’s not a bloody joke!

Anyway … back to the task at hand …

Meditation. It’s hard! The mind wanders but that’s all part of the plan – to bring your thinking back to focusing on your breath. I try to focus on my nose and top lip, where I can feel my breaths going in and out.

The meditation app timer was set for 10 minutes (normally the apps give you options of say five, 10, 15, 20 minutes etc), the music or natural sound options were pleasant and I chose a track, the guide voice was turned off, I got into a comfortable position on the floor (which quickly became uncomfortable) and off I went.

A few minutes in, I started thinking about my friends in Adelaide, then I noticed my hair was tickling my neck. Focus, focus … After six minutes, I couldn’t cope with my hair any more and tied it back with the band on my wrist. Much better. Made it to the end! Then I switched to the five minute meditation and did leg stretches on the floor. Wow, my hammies are tight!

Doing this 15-minute routine really got me into ‘wake up’ mode and hopefully will set the scene for a productive day. Well, it’s worked so far – it’s 8.46am and I’ve already written a post.

Do you think you could set your alarm 15 minutes earlier tomorrow for some meditation and stretching, before you have a shower? You don’t even need an app or music – set a timer for 10 minutes and sit still. Then set the timer for five minutes and try to touch your toes with straight and spread legs. No fast movements, it’s all very calm, and hopefully you’ll be feeling abuzz with added energy and clarity.

I’m really looking forward to making this part of my morning routine. Want to join me?

Wishing you a great day.