No, it's not a private island in the Pacific or an exclusive mountain retreat. It's just home. Fall has become winter somehow as I sat inside and missed most of the fall season color. We do get color in our part of California but you have to be outside to see it.
I have learned a lot since early August when I began to spend far more time than I should working in front of a computer.
Here are some of the bigger lessons:
1) There is a big difference between "a little bit" and "none."
Here I am talking about exercise unfortunately. Through most of the summer and a good part of the year prior, I would put my amount of exercise in the category of "a little bit." I knew I should do better. It would help with my efficiency and muscle-building. (I am not supposed to write that other word.) What I did not fully appreciate is that I could do worse.
Who knew that walking across the property to check a garden hose counts as movement. It does.
I suppose you cannot fully appreciate that fact until you hit that "none" category. Older folks and bedridden folks tell me about this but I figured I was pretty close to the "none" category as it was. I was not. And even in this period of "none" I did manage to work outside clearing the hillside a number of times, but that's a whole other story (as you will see).
In any case, my food intake was healthy and reasonable and then, sometime in month three, I gained about three tons in two days. I expect to solve this particular problem with an elliptical trainer promised by my in-laws as a Christmas gift for my husband and I and a weight set.
2) Don't mess with poison oak.
You know, you really should question your mental state if you go outside to work, find yourself in so much poison oak that you need a lawn mower, and work anyway. And then if you work for three hours among the dormant red sticks, in shorts and a t-shirt, until all of the branches around you have cut up your arms and your legs, you could well end up with a very bad case of poison oak.
If you ever find yourself with a "screw you, poison oak" attitude, you might need an attitude adjustment. We were talking about poison oak remedies on another post and perhaps I was just feeling a little overly confident (perhaps I should say "arrogant").
Nature can teach us some hard lessons.
3) Cut back on everything when you're up against it.
I wrote a few weeks ago about my "do the opposite" philosophy. That is also called mania or perhaps "hypomania" in my particular case. I followed the philosophy for three months from August through October and kept upping the ante when I thought I couldn't get something done. That's about like working in a field of poison oak.
My friend Galina was here last night nursing me through my sore throat and cough. I have a big conference to attend this week in San Diego to exhibit and promote a data product we've developed.
Galina said, "Maybe if you promise your body that you'll take better care of it in a week, that it will get well enough for this conference."
We have planned since August to take our children to Santa Cruz. She told my husband "I will tie Amanda to the car." Of course, she said it with a Russian accent that made it pretty funny.
4) Listen to Friends
Galina's visit does give me pause. She offered me a hot foot bath as a home remedy for my throat and head and said "Even when you're sick, your mind is going. It's time to relax."
My friends Joe and Jan who diagnosed my with hypomania before the raw milk press conference challenged me to go home and take it easy. I actually did do that. In the past three weeks, I cut my work to three to four hours a day. (Now you know why the poor blog is neglected.)
My "hypomanic" mom insists it's a great condition, so I have asked her to post on the blog regularly while I go to Santa Cruz with Galina.
5) Hire a big guy
Actually, a tough gal will do too. I have learned why people hire out clearing their property. The poison oak alone can set you back for at least two weeks and then, when you're immune system is fighting the poison oak, you might end up with something else. The folks I plan to hire tend to work a little bit smarter than I do. I am hiring out the production of my mom's videos too so that they aren't hanging over us like an old dead goose (in the words of Willy Wonka).
Rest and Exercise
Those are the words of my new season. I tend to do well with one at a time but have a difficult time doing both at the same time. It's my new priority. Of course, that's after this cold or flu passes, after I do an interview tomorrow for our area public television, and after I return from this conference.
Rest and exercise.
The more I say it, the more likely it is to happen.
