weekly retro #42: sick of the cold and my phone
i closed my retro last week with "i have a bit of a cold right now that i hope goes the fuck away after a good night's rest. i just need to work on the good night's rest part." well, she did not get a good night's rest and the cold did not go the fuck away. in fact, it knocked me off my ass to the point that i missed all my aerial and ceramics classes and couldn't visit my dad.
it wasn't the worst week ever, but the inconveniences definitely piled up: my period started as the cold was plateauing, a shipment of beeswax pellets arrived with the bag open inside the box, police activity at my destination station lead to me having to go all the way home to do therapy over phone like i was in quarantine...i wasn't feeling my best and the world wasn't giving me its best. life is a highway!
i took advantage of this part of my life where i've got flexibility to really double down on rest, whereas in corporate i would have been working from home and taking calls preceded by apologies for something i didn't do wrong. actually now as i'm typing this i remember that i did, in fact, take a zoom call job interview that i probably started by apologizing for my cold lmao i am a big, beautiful, intelligent dumbass. i happened to come across a really interesting job listing and reached out, so i guess that's technically working while sick but a lighter version. for the most part i was on the couch with my heated blanket, pumagreg, though!
on friday night, jamie and i had our final nyc robot karaoke gig of the year. it was our third time hosting for tech unlimited, a great organization that is a tech education-focused third place for neurodivergent students. it's always a highlight of my month when we get to host there. imagine the nyc classroom above filled with lots of dancing and singing, ok!
thanksgiving is in just a few days - very few days for all the mopping and cleaning and cooking i've got to do for our small gathering. i did hit a rare win by finally (after failing 3 years in a row) getting a tofurkey roast in time for thanksgiving. of course the day after my order, the store reached out saying that they oversold by 3 units - lucky me! fortunately they had an alternative that worked out even better in the end, so shouts out to vegan essentials for their customer support making things right and for the hilarious ups notification.
things i enjoyed this week
- edibles and nyquil gel tabs, not on the same nights!
- i started and finished (and learned a lot from) everything is tuberculosis, and made a reading list page on here to track books i've read.
- i missed this when it happened, but this daily show interview of my friend kevin nguyen came up in my youtube algorithm this week and it's such a good interview! loved his book btw.
- casey johnston wrote about the pelvic floor for wired, a part of the body that i only ever really hear about in the context of core work in aerial yoga which is crazy because everyone has it and not being mindful of it can cause so many problems.
- i haven't hung it up on my wall yet, but i got this css color names poster from everyone's pal potch. a lovely gift for you or any css and/or color enthusiast.
as november is coming to a close, i was thinking about my lack of routine the past few months and how that gets me so anxious about what i may be forgetting and who i may be letting down. the answer is always nothing and no one, but that's how my anxiety works - especially when i'm on my period. add on top of that family stuff and the cold keeping me inactive and inside, i did a whole lot of nothing but Be On My Phone, and it made me feel REALLY bad - like eating too much candy makes me feel bad. so, i started making it a point this weekend to intentionally Be Off My Phone. it's been hard but i've been doing a good job these past 48 hours. today, i spent most of the day actually melting wax for the first time in awhile, reading books, and writing this retro. through working on kicking this phone habit, getting a haircut on tuesday, and breaking bread fake meats with friends, i hope to feel more myself in december than i have the last few months.
xoxo jenn