This past month, I realized that my long hair took about an hour and a half to air-dry. Blow-dryers are terribly noisy and uncomfortable, but the air-drying was becoming onerous--one shower, and suddenly I was "grounded" in this lovely wintry weather.
Of course, the next thought I had was, "Maybe it's time to go short again." The difficulty with really short hair is that when you are overweight, it highlights lovely things like a mini-roll of fat on the back of the neck. So...I needed comfort, simplicity (to air dry, perchance to avoid hair products!!), and volume. Google was the answer.
Google Search Term: "Short hairstyles for fat faces."
Results: Soooooooooooo many results!
I even found a lovely website where you could upload your chubby visage and superimpose different hairstyles on top of your particular face. That was wicked amounts of fun, because the highs were high, and the lows were...well...disturbingly Trump-like (hilarious).
I took the best results to Sarah Tebo. Sarah, the best hairstylist I've found in Potsdam to date, executed a lovely cut that is part bob, and part pixie. It's a bixie!
All I have to do is wash, towel-dry, and get moving. The more tousled it gets, the more voluminous (and pretty) the style gets. This is particularly wonderful at the gym, where I used to cuss quietly at the little bobby-pins that fell out while I used the elliptical. For fancy occasions, a headband, perhaps with a flower on the side.
This movement towards simplicity is something I've attempted in the name of keeping my sanity during a time of extreme transitions. My mentor has retired after a long, illustrious career. I have reached the sandwich generation (in which you worry about the kiddos AND your parents). I'm using reading glasses (dubbed "cheaters" if you're unfamiliar with the lingo). Simplification allows for fewer worries and a faster morning routine...which enables me to have wonderful Introvert Time with my books and my kitties before hitting the road.
Be well, fellow Introverts.
Monday, January 9, 2017
Monday, November 28, 2016
A Brief Love Note for Alli
Those who know me best realize that I am very skeptical about new medications, no matter the intent of the drug. This is a result of over a decade of my youth spent in an iatrogenic fog of side effects from various treatments for a very serious neurological disorder.
Those who have worked with me over the past decade or so know that I'm also very passionate about reading the fine print for new agreements and projects. "Read before you sign" is my mantra. The extra time now is worth it to avoid pain later. ("Measure twice, cut once.")
It is with these principles in mind that I began a cautiously optimistic relationship with the diet drug Alli. Having read through the fine print and having deemed the potential gastrointestinal side-effects as nothing to worry about (how could I possibly tell--I have issues with my digestive system anyway!), I embarked on this new diet adventure.
It has been a week and a half.
So far, I've gotten through the holidays, not quite glutting myself on holiday fare as the fine print clearly mentions that it is very important to limit fat intake if you want to avoid major gastrointestinal distress. I'm "down" 0.3 lbs, which is nothing for a week and a half. But if you take into account my "normal" ingestion of food (not glutting, but also not "dieting"), and my "normal" activity levels (nothing above a ~350 calorie elliptical workout daily with several days of rest interspersed therein), the progress is great.
The pros: Alli is FDA-approved. Alli is not speed.
The cons: When I do experience the side effects (when I've had too much fat and Alli is clearly meant to handle a certain level of fat intake), they are pretty disturbing. Thankfully, this only happened once.
The trick now is to self-regulate. There's a happy medium somewhere here, and I mean to find it. Happy Holidays, Introverts.
Those who have worked with me over the past decade or so know that I'm also very passionate about reading the fine print for new agreements and projects. "Read before you sign" is my mantra. The extra time now is worth it to avoid pain later. ("Measure twice, cut once.")
It is with these principles in mind that I began a cautiously optimistic relationship with the diet drug Alli. Having read through the fine print and having deemed the potential gastrointestinal side-effects as nothing to worry about (how could I possibly tell--I have issues with my digestive system anyway!), I embarked on this new diet adventure.
It has been a week and a half.
So far, I've gotten through the holidays, not quite glutting myself on holiday fare as the fine print clearly mentions that it is very important to limit fat intake if you want to avoid major gastrointestinal distress. I'm "down" 0.3 lbs, which is nothing for a week and a half. But if you take into account my "normal" ingestion of food (not glutting, but also not "dieting"), and my "normal" activity levels (nothing above a ~350 calorie elliptical workout daily with several days of rest interspersed therein), the progress is great.
The pros: Alli is FDA-approved. Alli is not speed.
The cons: When I do experience the side effects (when I've had too much fat and Alli is clearly meant to handle a certain level of fat intake), they are pretty disturbing. Thankfully, this only happened once.
The trick now is to self-regulate. There's a happy medium somewhere here, and I mean to find it. Happy Holidays, Introverts.
Friday, September 30, 2016
Juggling (One-Handed) While Riding a Unicycle, Barefoot
Setting limits is incredibly important for all Introverts.
Setting reasonable limits is crucial for pretty much everyone's health
(both physical and mental!).
Limit #1: I decided to cancel my enrollment in a Meditation class this semester. It was going to meet on Tuesdays each week, and as a Potsdam Lions Club member, that didn't make a lot of sense...Lions Club and Lions Board Meetings are all on Tuesdays...leaving approximately 1-2 Tuesdays of the class per month.
Limit #2: I've made an executive decision to disagree with one of the specialist referrals I've been given by my primary care provider. Currently, let's see, I've got three active specialists on my medical case in the immediate Potsdam area, one in Canton, and one way out in Malone. I seriously do not need to add one in Watertown, and certainly not for the reasons given by my care provider. The Watertown specialist would be nearly the same specialty as the one in Canton. No. My bucks stop here (ha, ha). Seriously, who has the time to do all of this stuff?
Limit #3: I've been very clear with my service club that I am Vice President this year with an eye on being President of the club next year so long as I can get assistance with (and eventually discontinue running) my major fundraisers with the club. Service to my community is awesome! Service to my community at the expense of my mental health is not awesome.
Limit #4: Crafts will happen weekly, if not daily. Crafting is awesome, crafting is everywhere! And crafting does not have to take much time at all.
Be well, fellow Introverts!
Limit #1: I decided to cancel my enrollment in a Meditation class this semester. It was going to meet on Tuesdays each week, and as a Potsdam Lions Club member, that didn't make a lot of sense...Lions Club and Lions Board Meetings are all on Tuesdays...leaving approximately 1-2 Tuesdays of the class per month.
Limit #2: I've made an executive decision to disagree with one of the specialist referrals I've been given by my primary care provider. Currently, let's see, I've got three active specialists on my medical case in the immediate Potsdam area, one in Canton, and one way out in Malone. I seriously do not need to add one in Watertown, and certainly not for the reasons given by my care provider. The Watertown specialist would be nearly the same specialty as the one in Canton. No. My bucks stop here (ha, ha). Seriously, who has the time to do all of this stuff?
Limit #3: I've been very clear with my service club that I am Vice President this year with an eye on being President of the club next year so long as I can get assistance with (and eventually discontinue running) my major fundraisers with the club. Service to my community is awesome! Service to my community at the expense of my mental health is not awesome.
Limit #4: Crafts will happen weekly, if not daily. Crafting is awesome, crafting is everywhere! And crafting does not have to take much time at all.
Be well, fellow Introverts!
Friday, September 9, 2016
Nine-Eleven
I have not been able to bring myself to go to Ground Zero or to monuments erected for nine-eleven. It's been fifteen years, but the pain is still tender. Shortly after the actual date, I did light candles in New York City at one of the picture-walls. Very shortly after the actual date is when I moved away, and I wasn't certain whether I'd ever move back.
Nine-eleven is the first and only time I've ever heard my father cry. Nine-eleven was THE reason that I stopped talking about moving out west to make my own way and did it (2001-2007, Seattle area of Washington State). Nine-eleven galvanized the nation. Some of the responses to 9/11 scared the living heck out of me. Some of the responses made me super-proud that we can all act like human beings and help each other in times of crisis.
In a box in our attic, I still have a copy of the first and only "EXTRA" edition of any newspaper that I have ever gotten in my life. I've memorized the picture and the caption, and most of the story. Living in Westchester in September of 2001, I was a secretary in a White Plains branch of MetLife Small Business. My father thought that I was in one of the buildings. Because phones weren't working in the tristate-area for a long time after the actual events of that morning, my dad didn't reach me or my sister until much later. I wasn't able to reach my friends until much later. We all just worried for the longest time. And waited. And prayed.
Stories are important. Even if (and sometimes, specifically because) they are uncomfortable to discuss, it is crucial that we continue to talk about them.
Nine-eleven is the first and only time I've ever heard my father cry. Nine-eleven was THE reason that I stopped talking about moving out west to make my own way and did it (2001-2007, Seattle area of Washington State). Nine-eleven galvanized the nation. Some of the responses to 9/11 scared the living heck out of me. Some of the responses made me super-proud that we can all act like human beings and help each other in times of crisis.
In a box in our attic, I still have a copy of the first and only "EXTRA" edition of any newspaper that I have ever gotten in my life. I've memorized the picture and the caption, and most of the story. Living in Westchester in September of 2001, I was a secretary in a White Plains branch of MetLife Small Business. My father thought that I was in one of the buildings. Because phones weren't working in the tristate-area for a long time after the actual events of that morning, my dad didn't reach me or my sister until much later. I wasn't able to reach my friends until much later. We all just worried for the longest time. And waited. And prayed.
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| A Service for 9/11 Had to Be Held in St. Pat's Cathedral |
Stories are important. Even if (and sometimes, specifically because) they are uncomfortable to discuss, it is crucial that we continue to talk about them.
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| Sometimes All You Can Do is Hold a Vigil |
Tuesday, August 23, 2016
The Final Countdown
One of the hardest moments of my co-parenting/step-parenting life is coming up this Friday. As hard as it was to let Brady go grow up and move on with his life as a collegiate adult, I'm now looking at an empty nest at the age of 38.
Letting Kyle go grow up and move on with his life as a collegiate adult is really, really hard because it marks The End of the one-week-on-one-week-off regularly scheduled family time. No longer will we hold Mondays and Wednesdays sacrosanct in the name of family dinners. The only remaining vestige of that time will be the occasional glimpse of Quintin (my boys' brother through their mum).
Everyone tells me that this should be easier because Kyle is going to SUNY Potsdam, but I disagree. When Brady went to SUNY Potsdam, we didn't constantly hear from him. We heard from him about the same amount that you'd hear from a child going to school across the state. This is normal, expected, and healthy. Brady is also an Extrovert. Kyle, on the other hand, is an Introvert. I worry that we won't hear from him much at all in comparison to Brady. I worry about the transition to college for him, since it was so difficult for me (his fellow Introvert and Stepmother). I simply worry.
Romeyn and I have planned a trip to see my mom this weekend. The trip serves two purposes: 1. Since we'll be moving Kyle into college on Friday, it'll be nice to be out of town and not in our Empty Nest for the first night; and 2. We'll spend some time playing Scrabble with Mom (and perhaps Jess and Bryce if they're free and wish to do so!).
There will also be ample time to play at Art and other forms of parallel play (very Introvert friendly stuff, that).
Be well, fellow Introverts.
Letting Kyle go grow up and move on with his life as a collegiate adult is really, really hard because it marks The End of the one-week-on-one-week-off regularly scheduled family time. No longer will we hold Mondays and Wednesdays sacrosanct in the name of family dinners. The only remaining vestige of that time will be the occasional glimpse of Quintin (my boys' brother through their mum).
Everyone tells me that this should be easier because Kyle is going to SUNY Potsdam, but I disagree. When Brady went to SUNY Potsdam, we didn't constantly hear from him. We heard from him about the same amount that you'd hear from a child going to school across the state. This is normal, expected, and healthy. Brady is also an Extrovert. Kyle, on the other hand, is an Introvert. I worry that we won't hear from him much at all in comparison to Brady. I worry about the transition to college for him, since it was so difficult for me (his fellow Introvert and Stepmother). I simply worry.
Romeyn and I have planned a trip to see my mom this weekend. The trip serves two purposes: 1. Since we'll be moving Kyle into college on Friday, it'll be nice to be out of town and not in our Empty Nest for the first night; and 2. We'll spend some time playing Scrabble with Mom (and perhaps Jess and Bryce if they're free and wish to do so!).
There will also be ample time to play at Art and other forms of parallel play (very Introvert friendly stuff, that).
Be well, fellow Introverts.
Tuesday, August 16, 2016
The Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (TRBBT)
I've recently been burned rather severely by the bureaucratic machinations of health insurance. Several appointments, once made, could not be kept.
Coverage for some types of providers seems to be dynamic--ever changing, unstable, volatile, and untrustworthy. The metaphor that springs to mind every time that I receive a new and interesting Explanation of Benefits (EOB) is a monster--a giant bureaucratic beast, all hairy arms and big teeth. Rather than beating my breast or playing supplicant to the beast in a suitably melodramatic "hair shirt," I've chosen to arm myself with knowledge and humor.
Knowledge is perfect armor and a wonderful lance to lob at the beast. My care provider refers me to a doctor and I double check the data. Everyone wins. Even the health insurance company is happy to be a part of this cycle of information, because it does push my specialist appointments out further, meaning that costs to my health insurance company get billed at a later date.
Humor is essential, because without it I would quite literally scream and shout. I have decided that Health Insurance Bureaucracy is a beast. Specifically, it is the bureaucratically-referenced beast from Douglas Adams's "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." In short, it is The Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal. If we turn this into an acronym, it is TRBBT. If we pronounce the acronym as a word and not as the names of its individual letters, the beast is named "Tribbit."
I am off to do further battle with Tribbit. Join me, my fellow Introverts, as we silently scour the internet for further knowledge to lob at the fearsome beast...
Coverage for some types of providers seems to be dynamic--ever changing, unstable, volatile, and untrustworthy. The metaphor that springs to mind every time that I receive a new and interesting Explanation of Benefits (EOB) is a monster--a giant bureaucratic beast, all hairy arms and big teeth. Rather than beating my breast or playing supplicant to the beast in a suitably melodramatic "hair shirt," I've chosen to arm myself with knowledge and humor.
Knowledge is perfect armor and a wonderful lance to lob at the beast. My care provider refers me to a doctor and I double check the data. Everyone wins. Even the health insurance company is happy to be a part of this cycle of information, because it does push my specialist appointments out further, meaning that costs to my health insurance company get billed at a later date.
Humor is essential, because without it I would quite literally scream and shout. I have decided that Health Insurance Bureaucracy is a beast. Specifically, it is the bureaucratically-referenced beast from Douglas Adams's "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." In short, it is The Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal. If we turn this into an acronym, it is TRBBT. If we pronounce the acronym as a word and not as the names of its individual letters, the beast is named "Tribbit."
I am off to do further battle with Tribbit. Join me, my fellow Introverts, as we silently scour the internet for further knowledge to lob at the fearsome beast...
Wednesday, August 3, 2016
Remember to Breathe
Cats are fantastic instructors in the art of Self-Care. Here are a few lessons from Trouble and Pumpkin:
1. Yawn like you mean it---breathe unabashedly and mightily.
2. Take the time to stretch, and take your time while stretching. There is no use in relaxation if you do not make the time to enjoy it.
3. Take frequent naps.
4. Run like the wind, for absolutely no reason at all.
5. Don't stay in the same position all day. True relaxation takes work, and re-positioning.
6. Take pride in your appearance. A well-groomed kitty is appreciated by all!
7. When you make a mistake, move on. Don't obsess.
8. Be observant, but not hyper-vigilant. After all, it's not every moment of the day that you hear a sudden noise and perk up your ears.
9. Play every day.
10. Take the opportunities when they arise. Doors don't always open, but when they do, you can get a great new view of the world!
1. Yawn like you mean it---breathe unabashedly and mightily.
2. Take the time to stretch, and take your time while stretching. There is no use in relaxation if you do not make the time to enjoy it.
3. Take frequent naps.
4. Run like the wind, for absolutely no reason at all.
5. Don't stay in the same position all day. True relaxation takes work, and re-positioning.
6. Take pride in your appearance. A well-groomed kitty is appreciated by all!
7. When you make a mistake, move on. Don't obsess.
8. Be observant, but not hyper-vigilant. After all, it's not every moment of the day that you hear a sudden noise and perk up your ears.
9. Play every day.
10. Take the opportunities when they arise. Doors don't always open, but when they do, you can get a great new view of the world!
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| Trouble: "Put the laptop down and pet me." |
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| Pumpkin: "I was sitting on your lap. Don't get up!" |
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