Rewriting a Nightmare

Well I guess I've failed at #NaNoWriMo.  I haven't blogged every day like I intended.  I've had a lot of really hard days lately, and I pretty much come home and cry for a while and then go to bed.  But Thursdays are almost always good days, so I am writing tonight.

I go through spells sometimes where I have nightmares about Kevin for several nights in a row.  Then I won't have any for a few weeks, and then the cycle repeats.  It must be a pretty common thing, because GriefShare devoted an entire session to dealing with nightmares, flashbacks, and trauma.

The suggestion for handling nightmares was to write down your nightmare in as much detail as you can remember.  Then rewrite it, only this time change it and give it a happier better ending.  Since I had a nightmare last night for the first time since receiving this advice, I'm going to try it out here.  Some elements of this dream seem pretty funny now, especially to my family who knows all about my recurring dreams, but none of it was funny while I was dreaming it.

Blog Survey

Teresa, are you surprised ? Doing the survey day 1!  Here goes;

How has blogging impacted your life?
I honestly havent done it enough to make an impact...yet.  I'm planning on doing more blogging with the hopes of being an official blogger for the Blue Ridge Marathon in 2017.
This year reading my sisters blogs have touched my heart deeply.

What's the favorite post you've written?
My blog after the Savannah marathon.  One of my friends that ran it too said it gave her chills.  I need to read again.

How do you find time to do it all, blogging,  working and having a social life?
I never have enough time.  I work a lot and workout/run almost as much. Ha.  My social life is races and gym functions.

What is something special you do to treat yourself?
Hot epsom salt baths where I also read almost nightly.  Feels great, and reading would be my second love after running.

Do you take spontaneous trips or are you more of a planner?
To those who know me that's hilarious, planner.

Where was your last trip to?
Oak Island, NC  our annual anniversary trip.

Where is your dream vacation destination?
In the US - somewhere like Colorado or Utah, for the running of course.  Over seas-hmmm, so many.  Italy or England.

Weirdest fact about you?
I remember useless details, like what you were wearing when we met 20 years ago...stupid dates that arent important, etc

Knowing what you know now,  what advice would you give your 18 year old self?
That it gets better.

Are you a light packer or a take everything just in case kind of gal?
Again, hilarious if you know me.  Take everything plus more.  It was to my benefit last race though.  I kept trying to pack light, then went back last minute to get another sports bra, you know, in case I needed 4 in one race, when I reached for my laundry on the guest bed I found everything wet.  My overpacking caught a leak in the roof right when we were leavingfor a weekend in which it poured rain all weekend.  That unworn sportsbra saved us

Blog Survey! Sisterhood of the World Blogging Award

I know I missed blogging a couple of days.  So much for my #NaNoWriMo pledge.  Some days you just really wouldn't like the words that would come out of me, so I keep those between me & God.  But I'm back today, with a fun blog survey I saw on Julie Wunder's blog Running In a Skirt.  

1. How has blogging impacted you and your life?

I think it's started some conversations I might never have had.  Friends I know casually will remark on something I've written, and next thing you know we are really connecting.

I've also gotten to do some races free, so that's pretty cool too.  

2. What's the favorite post you've written?

This is actually a really recent one: You've Got To Fight For Your Right.... Or Do You?  That post is about a huge turning point for me in this unwanted journey I'm on.  I'm pretty sure I could recite it from memory.

3. How do you find time to juggle it all, blogging, working, having a social life?

I blog at work on my lunch hour sometimes.  And what social life?  My social life pretty much revolves around running.

4. What is something special you do to treat yourself?

Having my hair cut every four weeks at the salon.  My inner cheapskate wants to tell me $13 at Great Clips is plenty, but Shelby is so talented and especially with my really thick hair and a super-short cut like this, it is worth it to me to pay for a really good haircut.

Indy-area ladies, if you are looking for a great hair stylist, check out Domu Salon and ask for Shelby. 

5. Do you take spontaneous trips, or are you more of a planner?

I'm a little of both.  I like to be spontaneous and don't really stick to a schedule, but I also like to have a basic idea of what I might want to do so that I don't waste time and miss something cool.

6. Where was your last trip to?

I went to Philadelphia for work back in August.

7. Where is your dream vacation destination?

Oh I want to go everywhere.  If I could only take one more trip and had to narrow it down, though, I would say the Pacific Northwest.  

8. Weirdest fact about you?

I taught myself to read when I was 2.

9. Knowing what you know now, what advice would you give to your 18-year-old self?

Of course the first answer that pops into my head is to make Kevin go to the doctor.  Sigh.  Although I didn't meet Kevin until I was in my 30s, so that would make no sense to me at 18.  

10. Are you a light packer or a take-everything-just-in-case kind of gal?

Take everything just in case.  No question.  I do try to find things that do double-duty, but yeah, if you need it I've probably got it.

Thanks for reading, and now it's your turn!  Rules are I nominate some other bloggers.  Well of course I'm nominating Laura and Cindy.  They owe us some blog posts now anyway.  I'm also nominating:

Trena at 591 Miles

 LeeAnn at She's At It Again

 Keira at The Blonde and the Beardiful

 Darcy at Chunky Wonder Woman

And Tasha, who said she wants to get her blog going again 

And if you aren't a blogger, answer a question or questions in the comments!

My Social Media Fast

Blame it all on Run Bum.  On Sunday 10/24 he posted on his Facebook page a challenge to give up something until Friday afternoon and write about how it made us feel.  He suggested soft drinks or TV, but I rarely ever drink soft drinks and I don't watch TV every day, so I didn't think either of those would be too challenging.  I could give up coffee with more notice (I have to do it gradually or the caffeine withdrawal will trigger a migraine), but that won't work for spur of the moment.  Then I thought "Well, what about Facebook?"  So I immediately closed it.  Then I thought I should include all social media or it wouldn't really be that hard.  This was shortly after 4pm Sunday, so I decided to go till 4pm Friday with my social media fast.

Sunday Afternoon/Evening

 I didn't really miss it too much that afternoon.  Sunday afternoons are often my time to do chores around the house, and I usually leave my phone sitting in my room anyway, so I kept busy and didn't really think about it until I watched The Walking Dead.  Glenn!  Oh no!  And I can't get on Twitter to chat about it.  What to do with these feelings?  Luckily Josh and his friends were downstairs getting bored with the Colts-Patriots game.  They decided to watch TWD not too long afterwards, so I went down and watched the end again with them and then we discussed.  Well that's better than live-Tweeting anyway.

We're All Hardcore To Someone

One day when I was leaving work to go to Bourbon Street Running Club, I chatted with the ladies at our front desk on my way out.  Felecia was telling me how she'd been walking and working out regularly at the Legacy Center.  I asked her if she was feeling good and enjoying working out, and she replied "Yes, but I'm not hardcore like you."  I kind of laughed at that, and headed on to run club.

While we were running, I told Kathy about the conversation and she said she'd had similar conversations with friends.  It kind of got me thinking.  I certainly don't think of myself as hardcore.  I run three or four days a week, depending on what I'm training for.  I do a weekly boot camp at church and try to get to the Legacy Center to lift weights a couple of times a week if I can.  But hardcore?  I've only been running for a little over three years.

NaNoWriMo Begins!

November is National Novel Writing Month, where professionals and amateurs alike try to write a novel in one month.  I've always been fascinated with the creative process, I've been a voracious reader my entire life, and I have even tried to have a few sci-fi short stories published (no luck yet), so I have followed #NaNoWriMo online for several years.  Last year I noticed that some bloggers I follow were using NaNoWriMo to blog every day, because some writers are going more for word count than completed project during November.  So, I have decided to do the same: I have challenged Laura & Cindy to each blog at least twice during November, and I will write a post for all the other days.  We may not be writing the next great novel, but sometimes all it takes is one good idea to spark something.  I hope you will enjoy what we come up with!  We don't have a particular plan or schedule, we are "pantsing it", in NaNoWriMo terms.