Tara

Here We Go – 2024!

 Going Mental  No Responses »
Jan 152024
 

Well, it is exactly halfway through the first month of the year and I feel good still about the last bit of last year along with the start of this one, so far. Unlike some years, I do not feel a sense of starting slow or that I need to rush forward. In a way, I feel for once I am perfectly placed and in the prime state of life on every aspect of my life.

Health

Usually, around this time of year, I feel far too overweight and slightly depressed about the state of my body. This year, I feel fabulously 47.5 and fairly fit. That’s not to say I don’t have some health goals this year, but it’s so nice to have a sense of starting off ahead rather than catching up.

So, in terms of physical health, I have a couple more kilos to drop for my target weight which is going to take a little bit of tweaking since we have been unsustainably been eating one meal a day around 2 or 3pm. When we are home and antisocial this is a fine way to be, but living in a Mediterranean culture means late dinners and social drinking. Therefore, finding a balance or rather counter-weight to the lateness of eating and drinking is necessary. This will probably be more of a trial and error method for a few months to see what works and what is sustainable.

Along with the eating habits, I’ll be focusing on getting in my steps, time in the gym for maintaining muscle mass – rather than bulking up -, and, of course, stretching through yoga for flexibility and movement.

Plus, I’ll be staying on top of our doctor checkups and all that good stuff. I plan to be able to say “Don’t hate at 48” with my healthy next winter bikini-bod! hahahaha

Relationships

Constantly, I am reflecting on my relationships and the nature of humans when it comes to connections. While I cherish all of my interactions with others, whether good or bad, I do not need to maintain or force the ones that are not purposeful or positively contributing to my life. Therefore, this year, I have decided to only make an effort great or small with those who fit the bill exactly.

This means that those who do not reach out to me or do not reciprocate invites, conversations, interactions will not be on my list at all to contact. Obviously, if they do make an effort I shall return the effort, but I don’t want to expend any energy considering my schedule, time, and the like. I imagine most people are already like this, but I have a tendency to expect, wait, and accommodate. No more, no sir.

A benefit of this is that I feel as if I have a lot more time and space now to organize and prioritize being with those whom I truly sense are “worth” it.

This includes time with family and dear close friends.

Work/Writing

This year, I have very big plans for my writing pursuits.

Publishing/Personal Writing

So, soon I will be working on advertising that I finished and published Volume 2: Healthcare of the Umbria On A Whim series. It is available on Amazon, but I will be upping my social media and online information with this. It is not meant to take over my life or other writing, but a slow and steady build into something sustainable and passive. Plus, I’ll begin working on Volume 3 and possibly 4 on Housing.

Also, I will finish my fiction novel this year. If all goes well, I hope to have a first draft finished by May to then have beta reads for edits/feedback, and then go on from there. I want to have a completed final submission draft by the end of November so I am ready to submit to some fellowships/grants for 2025.

Plus, in other personal writing areas, I hope to start publishing some articles about travels, writing, adoption, life or whatever in some online spaces. So, stay tuned!

Work

Work is defined as anything that makes money. So, technically, my personal published books are now considered “work” since they are making money, albeit small amounts. Still, I do actually work for other paying entities. I plan to maintain the level of work I am doing for one online company since it is easy enough and gives me enough to pad a trip here and there. The other “job” has always been organically developed, so I shall continue with that as it seems that my role might be growing and work will come in as and when.

So, basically, I plan to prioritize my days with writing first and work second. I am aiming to treat my writing as a kind of job and starting out my days on those tasks before the “paid” ones. We shall see how I get on with that.

Well, that about wraps up my 2024 goals 💪🏽. We have quite a bit of travel planned or to plan this year so it has been important to align my personal goals with a more nomadic lifestyle. I’m really looking forward to our travels! Everything feels aligned this year so far. Maybe there is something to it being the Asian calendar “Year of the Dragon 🐉”, which is my zodiac animal – though they say that Dragons should be cautious this year, so who knows?! 🤷🏽‍♀️

~T 🔥🐉♋️

Bits & Bobs

 Going Mental  No Responses »
Jan 122024
 

Well, it’s already been nearly a week since returning home – how the time flies. Somehow, or not really a mystery, I seem to have caught a cold. Just when I was nearly better from catching whatever it was during holidays. So, I am hoping it doesn’t linger long but it has put a little kibosh on my exercise progress…. On the plus side, though, I have already dropped about 2 kg or almost 4.5 lbs thanks to eating less, healthier, and doing a few short gym sessions. I had planned on going to yoga this morning, but a headache and this stuffy nose put me off. Anyway, it’s all good.

In other areas, things have been good. I’ve stayed on track with my “tasks”, which have included my writing. Volume 2 of Umbria on a Whim is just about all out in the world, so that has motivated me to think about Volume 3. Yesterday, I spent about two hours looking at the first 30 pages of my fiction novel again, so that is also motivating me keep up the focus on getting that book done. Thus, the writing area is going well overall.

Everything else is still playing a bit of catch up. While the house is back together as we like it, laundry is done, and all that, we are spent the last couple of days speaking to people about painting, renovating the bathrooms, and updating the outsider areas. Most importantly, I want to clear out a space to get my office outside as well, so… more on that things develop. Lots to do and try to stay on top of.

Plus, I’m off to France for a few days on Sunday, so my next post will be from there and perhaps with a bit more thoughts as my mind can quiet a bit. 😀

Have a great weekend!

~T 🔥🐉♋️

Home At Last!

 Going Mental  No Responses »
Jan 082024
 

Home after about 26 hours of travel door to door. No complaints here – it was just a long day.

It’s good to be home with the animals and our things. Now, it’s all about catching up on laundry, reorganizing after having house/petsitters, and settling back into the routine.

Anyway, got some things brewing that I will attempt to organize into comprehensible words and thoughts once I have a couple more days to catch up on things.

With that – until next time!

~T 🔥🐉♋️

One more day of vacay…

 Going Mental  No Responses »
Jan 052024
 

Well, it’s hard to believe it, but we are just over 24 hours away from the end of our month-long holiday away. Our reasoning for taking time away was initially to escape the winter rains and greys that we had experienced the previous couple of years in Orvieto.

Ironically, this year had a rather late summer; thus, resulting in a rather warm, sunny, and gentle winter – so far. Instead, we experienced rain and grey in London in early December, the same in Nassau (Bahamas) mid-December, a little of it in Oregon over Christmas, and a few early days in Exuma (Bahamas). However, we are now in full sun with no complaints of the previous weather as we had such a great time in all locations.

Last night at dinner, M asked me what was the best part of the holiday. To which I could not pinpoint one part since each was really lovely in itself. New Year’s Eve was a blast as I danced non-stop for about three hours enjoying the music, liquids, and ambience. Spending time with my family was amazing and the time flew by. All the rest has just been chilled and luxurious.

What I have discovered over the past month, though, is that somehow I have relaxed enough to let go of whatever energies I was holding on to that were keeping me stressed or pressured.

Things have been somewhat of a roller coaster ride since meeting M and quitting my full-time work life. Of course, they were my decisions and felt right in those moments. Still, I have felt that I should hold on to that professional person since I had spent so many years, money, and energy on building her up. While I have every confidence that if I had stayed on that path, I could have moved into important roles and done good work. However, none of it felt meaningful.

When I moved into yoga, I felt that I was going in the right direction. A bit of self-growth with the intention of helping others as well seemed like a good fit. Yet, there were frustrations in that work too, but again I believe that if I had continued I would have built a good business out of it.

Then, the years straddling both of these fields never really proved to convince me that it was where I wanted to spend all of my energy. Proof of that was my continual irritations with people, myself, and a feeling of exhaustion.

Eventually, I allowed myself to move into the world of writing. It is daunting to enter a new area at a later age when confidence in my knowledge and expertise in the field is basically non-existent. Yet, I have been writing since I was eight-years-old.

So, after spending what is now almost three years dabbling in the writing industry while also hanging on to the threads of English language teaching or yoga teaching and learning, and trying out other ventures (TUA), I have come to the decision that it is in writing I want to commit 100 percent.

The truth is that people frustrate me. With the teaching element, it is people-centered. Although I want to help them, support them, and encourage them, I also want them to learn to be self-sufficient whether in language learning or doing yoga and mindfulness/meditation. When they cannot, do not, or want not, I get frustrated and my energy gets drained for what feels like no purpose. Sure, I can be idealistic that I am planting seeds or that somehow someday fruit will come of my labors. However, it is not satisfying enough to me anymore to hang on to the hope.

With writing, I can achieve the ideal of helping, supporting, and encouraging without the negative feedback. Although I could try to delve into the writing world, I do not really need to aside from learning how to pitch for articles or the admin aspects for editors to potentially publish with a traditional publishing house. So, I’m not naive enough to think I do not need to know anything or that it will be an easier road than any other field. Yet, I feel as if it is most definitely the right path. The one that fits best. The one that satisfies who I am now and becoming. The one that suits me, our lifestyle, and my preferences.

Thanks to a month of doing very little, I feel more like myself than I have in a very long time – if ever. So, here’s to 2024 already starting off in the right direction.

Right, off to enjoy the sunshine while I can!

~T 🔥🐉♋️

Happy New Year to 2024!

 Going Mental  1 Response »
Jan 022024
 

It was a beautiful start to 2024 and we are looking forward to how the year unfolds after having a rather amazing 2023!

We’ve started our goal-writing as a couple and are working on our individual ones, though I had already started mine back in September, but as with all things they change. So, I’m narrowing down a bit more on some things and letting others go.

Since we are still on vacation in the Bahamas – Exuma -, I’ll save a full post on our goals/plans until we are back.

In the meantime, I wish all you readers of this crazy blog of mine a most wonderful 2024 that is filled with health, wealth, fun, sun, and most of all – love. ❤️

~T 🔥🐉♋️

Merry 2023 Christmas Season

 Going Mental  No Responses »
Dec 282023
 

Sometimes unexpected changes in plans brings about an even better experience than the one anticipated.

Although we would have had a lovely time spending the holidays with my parents in the Bahamas, we would have missed out on family time with my brother, catching up with a few family and friends, and enjoying just a quiet chilled time.

The past ten days have really flown by without any tension or stress that can often be felt when five people, who are all rather different and rarely see each other, spend time in close quarters together. Yet, it felt pretty easy peasy to me.

Since it was not so much a time to visit and catch up with everyone possible, we kept a pretty low profile. The main purpose was to hang with my parents and brother, which we achieved. ✅

Christmas 🎄 was quiet, but ever so lovely. Plus, Santa 🎅 was very very good to me. I mean, I was a rather good girl this year. 😜😂

Now, we are awaiting our flight back to the sun and sand to ring in the near year beachside. 🏝️ More on that once we get settled in.

Reminders to Appreciate Life…

 Going Mental  No Responses »
Dec 152023
 

I’m still coughing…😩 fits of it make me feel as if my entire body is shaking to pieces like an earthquake. Luckily, the body is well put together that, so far, everything seems to be staying in place. Still, my head hurts 😵‍💫 on occasion and the inability to laugh or sometimes move too much without an outburst of spittle flying through the air (TMI?) is frustrating at times.

Still, I’m writing this from a soft top king-size mattress bed looking out the window as the 60+km per hour gusts of wind blow the palm trees 🏝️ and creates white tops on the crest of the waves in the sea. Our room is warm and cozy. It’s big enough for us to have separate spaces for working and a luxurious style bathroom for trying to steam out the mucus in my chest. So, there are worse places to be a little under the weather.

Also, our holiday (part 1) has not seen much sun in the sky. However, as you may have noted, I did say “Holiday Part 1” and so we know we will be back soon when the weather is meant to return to the island paradise style. By then, I hope to also be in full health again! Besides that, we are looking forward to a family visit home for the holidays 🎄 where we/I can appreciate the health and presence of my loved ones.

So, lest we forget and get caught up in the spoils of our richness – monetarily and figuratively – we remind ourselves to appreciate everything we have in this life fully. We have worked hard for it, we have manifested it, we have embraced it, and we now appreciate it. 🙏🏽😎

Poolside on a cloudy day that was the calm before the storm

~T 🔥🐉♋️

Hello from Paradise

 Going Mental, Meanderings Abroad  No Responses »
Dec 132023
 

My happy place has always been by the ocean. When I started to travel, I learned that there were warm beaches unlike the chillier one of the Oregon Coast, which I still love in many ways.

Still, when given a choice, I would prefer a warm beach, blue sea, and golden sand.

I’ve seen a number of beaches over the years that have come close to this ideal. But, this…this is something else.

We are spending 8 nights in the Bahamas on Paradise Island. Although the island is man-made, the name is appropriate for the water and sand that is all natural.

Although I am still sick, we are slightly jet lagged and the weather is as temperamental as my partner’s moods sometimes 😅, it is rather amazing to see the blue of the water and the glow of the sand when the sun ☀️ shines.

With that, time to get back to enjoying paradise. More to come.

~T 🔥🐉♋️

Traveling….

 Going Mental  No Responses »
Dec 062023
 

I’m still alive – a cough lingers in the chest even after almost two weeks, but not suffering. Nothing that a bit of time in the sun can’t cure in a few days.

In the meantime, we are in London for a few days. Will try to update on this part of our winter travels in a few days.

Until then, stay warm and healthy!

~T 🔥🐉♋️

Seasonal/Annual Illness

 Going Mental  1 Response »
Nov 272023
 

Well, it has happened despite my best efforts to Jedi mind-trick or deny its existence. I am sick.

I tried my best to positive energy it away and perhaps it is not as bad as past illnesses have been because of this, but there’s no denying it. I. am. sick.

I hate being sick.

I hate feeling less than 100 percent.

I hate having limitations on my energy, activities, capacities.

I hate being sick.

Yet, I am sick.

So, nothing to do but to acknowledge and roll with it. I went to Florence anyway with hubby and friends. I walked around the beautiful city as my fever raged helping me to endure the falling winter temperatures.

The plus is that I didn’t drink much to create a different kind of reason for feeling less than 100 percent or having limitations on my energy, activities, capacities.

Still. I hate being sick.

Today, I had things planned. A yoga class. A dinner out with friends.

Nope, I am sick. I am tired. I am still busy working on my lesson planning for the final two online yoga lessons I have left in a course I have done for the past three months. I am still busy having just sent off my second book manuscript for my Umbria on a Whim series. I am still busy taking care of admin and preparations before we head to sunny skies and warm temperatures for a while.

With the help of my chef’s chicken noodle soup, lots of warm tea, and pet snuggles, I’ll soon not be sick.

Until then…

~T 🔥🐉♋️

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