weekly retro #45: stress is free and yet expensive
this week i worked on being intentional with my routine and fitting in movement and rest in healthy doses, while also managing consequences of the last few months of chaos.
most days this week started with me packing bugs rock orders, walking them to the ups drop-off point, and then going to the gym to walk and read. i finished connie chung's memoir, reading most of it during the slow intervals on the treadmill. it should come as no surprise how inspiring and fun to read her words and life are.
after wrapping up the final orders of the year, i did a deep clean and re-organization of my home office and candle-making space. in the process, i found my t-square and saw it as a sign to start a new pixel art painting. it's probably my most ambitious one yet and while i have the grid and guides all drawn out, i'm still wondering what color(s) i want to go with. it would be nice to finish this before the new year.
we have one more ceramics class of the semester this week and i'm not sad, only because i am taking another class next semester. i love the community here, and i'm learning so much. in this week's class, i started feeling like my face was on fire and it started drying and flaking really bad. i was having an allergic reaction to an spf stick i applied after the gym the prior day. turns out "caprylate" is often coconut oil based. i had used this stick before, but i am currently in a hashimotos flareup, so my allergies are clearly heightened in their power.
with my face still on fire, i took andy to a workshop on making ceramic clocks! we made slabs, cut out the faces, painted them in underglaze, and started the waiting process for them to be go in the kiln - the techs there will fire and clear glaze it, and we'll get to pick them up and put on the clock mechanism in just a couple of weeks. i may even get to sneak a peek during class next week!
i've had a good couple of years with no hair loss, but unfortunately i discovered a new spot this week. i really shouldn't be surprised, this is my cost of being stressed: autoimmune flareups. how unhealthy it would be for me to say i dare envy those who can push themselves to the brink and go unscathed, because there is no such scenario - everyone pays for it somehow, some of us are just blessed to find out sooner.
how fortunate it was for me to find this bald spot 2 days before my quarterly endocrinologist appointment! i'm going back on a gluten free diet and taking the next couple of weeks of the holiday season to relax and rethink how i'm going to go into the new year with as many follicles unscathed. i really don't want to go through steroid injections, so i'll just have to monitor and see how things progress - if they do - in the next few weeks before i make my next move.
overnight we had our first significant snowfall. i don't have photos i can share because i stayed indoors and watched neighbors scrape and shovel their cars out from the comfort of my freshly organized office. we put colorful stringed lights around the apartment, i cooked a nice sunday dinner of braised tofu, and now i am writing this.
things i enjoyed this week
- besides an allergy pill and drinking a lot of water, i have to give a lot of credit to the ordinary's "natural moisturizing factors + HA" for healing my face so quickly after my allergic reaction. if you're looking for a daily moisturizer for your face that actually helps, has no fragrance and is affordable, consider this one.
- i enjoyed this browser rendering mystery that was impacting this blog and shouts out to dan for the tip on how to fix it. bugs rock, but so do easy fixes.
- i reread animal farm this morning, just as a reminder for how absurd and historical all this capitalist and authoritarian bullshit is.
- i am not a big scrambled eggs person, but i watch every techniquely with lan lam video because i always learn something. when it comes to her scrambled eggs, the fact that the butter is meant as a tool vs flavor and why was so helpful.
my face has healed, perhaps a part of my brain has too, and i'm looking forward to a week of just focusing on art and keeping my body moving.
xoxo jenn