Weekly Mileage # 194 and Business Stress

 

Monday we got a skiff of snow that melted pretty quickly.

snowflakes on a cobweb!

I went for a trail run with Max. She didn't seem to notice the snow since it wasn't on the ground- just on the leaves and tree trunks.

I worked on some small leather projects. I'll add them to my online shop and I'll be using some of them in the course I'm writing.

Tuesday I went for a hike with Max before music lessons.

I also finished the small leather projects. Small things go so quickly! A couple more tweaks and they'll be ready for pictures, shop listings, and tutorials.

I also worked some more on my course outline. I'm just about ready to start practicing my videos.

My doc called while I was finishing my hike. All my blood work is normal, which is good, except there's still no cut-and-dried explanation for why I'm having the issues I'm having. For now, we're operating on them being caused by my PCOS and will be working to treat that (I've been ignoring my PCOS for years) to see if that helps. She could refer me to an endocrinologist, but we're going to try this first. We're going to hold off on doing hormone testing until/if I go to the endocrinologist, since they'll be better able to interpret and treat any issues there and insurance may not cover getting them tested twice (which would inevitably happen). 

Wednesday I skipped my trail run with Max because I went in to get more blood drawn to test my cortisol levels, and it took way longer than I anticipated (the lab people were not in a hurry). Long enough that the pharmacy was open and I was able to pick up the prescription for the meds we're trying out. 

Benefits of smart phones and apps and all that: I received my blood work results on Saturday and Sunday and my doc messaged me about them on Sunday. My cortisol test results were available by mid-afternoon. They're fine, surprisingly enough. I was sure they'd be elevated since I get such crappy sleep and have midsection weight I can't lose (supposedly indicative of cortisol issues). So, good that I don't have cortisol issues, but frustrating since we still don't know for sure why I have such a hard time losing weight. PCOS can definitely cause weight issues, which is why we're focusing on it for now.

After my accountability call, my order of bamboo magnifying glasses arrived from China, so I finished assembling a bucket and took pictures of my nature journaling bundle. I also edited pics and got the listing written and IG posts up. Then I edited my original bucket listings to try to eliminate some potential sources of confusion. 

one of the pics I added to my listings

Thursday I went for a below-freezing trail run with Max.

When I got home, I checked my Instagram and torpedoed my day reading a direct message. The writer accused me of ripping off her product sources and research with my nature journaling bundle. Now, I did ask her where she got the watercolor set she has in hers (just an art supply site that I could easily find with a google search), but I sourced everything else myself. Yes, they are similar, but they're not the same. She has a kid-size messenger bag and binoculars. I have my waxed canvas bag and a magnifying glass and an eraser. We both have colored pencils (different brands), watercolors (same brand), and a small canning jar for water. I'd had friends suggest an art or nature bundle in my buckets before I ever found her on IG. Was there some inspiration from her? yes. Was it copied? no.

I read the message then had to head out and run some errands, and all I could think about the whole time was her accusation. I'm a non-confrontational person and hate dealing with this kind of thing. I got a message written finally- trying to balance explanation, denial of ripping off, while not being totally on the offense. I managed it, but only appeased her because I also deleted my IG posts sharing my nature journaling kits (my choice, because I didn't want this to explode into something messy). 

This is someone who I've exchanged several messages about leatherworking-related topics, she's got a much, much larger following than I do, and I didn't want her burning me on her account. I can't afford that kind of bad publicity at this stage in building my business. 

My take-away from this? There are a lot of creators who tout the "community, not competition" line, but she is clearly not one of them. She obviously feels threatened by my product (which is much better quality all around, IMO) and can't handle the competition, despite the fact that there is more than enough space for both of us to market our products. It's rather sad, actually. But you have to choose your battles and this isn't one I'm willing to impale myself on. It's not worth it at this stage in the game. 

So, I won't post about them on IG, but I still have them on my site and Etsy and I'll see if the consignment shop is interested in carrying them, as well. I only bought enough pencils and watercolors (the most expensive parts) for three bundles, so I'm not too worried about it. Just frustrated.

It doesn't help that I'm feeling off because of the new meds I'm on. Not horrible, just a bit off (which is why I hate taking meds- most I've tried over the years make me feel not myself to some degree or another, and I hate it), and it's making me more tired. When you're already always tired, more tired isn't a good thing. Supposedly it will help with energy, concentration, hormone issues, and so on, but it can take awhile to get there. But when combined with all the stress of this situation, it jacked up my anxiety levels and I was just a bundle of nerves and emotions.

In the artist/maker world there's really no such thing as an original idea. Everything is always inspired by something else, and has been for centuries. My waxed canvas and leather buckets were loosely inspired by a canvas tool bucket I saw at Harbor Freight. I'm sure at some point someone will replicate/copy/adapt my design. It's a fact of life when you're a creator. Am I going to tell them to stop? No. there's enough room for all of us, and it's not worth the hassle. I'd rather direct my energies towards creating things, not tilting after wind mills. So while she's sitting there claiming this is her idea that she's been developing for several years, that's just not the case. I talked to a friend about this and she said she gets sent similar things all the time to review and promote (she's an Instagram influencer in my target market <outdoorsy, interest led homeschoolers> who I know in real life and work with in YW).

I finally managed to calm myself down enough to focus on fixing my Facebook pixel (so everything integrates properly between my shop, instagram, and facebook). I found the issue a couple weeks ago, and tried to figure it out then, but ran out of time and brain power. I've been putting it off, but it had to be done sooner, rather than later, so it was past time to take care of it. Unfortunately, I still can't figure it out, so I'm going to have to hire someone to do it.

That evening, I had a Stake youth planning meeting for Stake Standards Night in February, followed by ward council. Both meetings were online, and by the time everything was said and done, I was just exhausted.

Friday I walked with Max while my sister and I vented to each other about our issues. We had park day in our back yard, which was less stressful than going somewhere, and just what I needed.

Thankfully, I was also feeling better and the side effects weren't nearly as bad. One thing about the nausea and lack of appetite from the meds is that it's made it a lot easier to get back on the low carb train. So one positive from dealing with this mess.

In the late afternoon, we all headed into the big city for a virtual Tacky Light Run we'd signed up for. There was 5 or 6 different courses this year so people could spread out, and we chose the shortest course, which also happened to be the closest one. Unfortunately, when we got there, we found that the neighborhood we were supposed to be walking through had no sidewalks (and no roads were closed, but I knew that part). We'd brought lights, but not enough for walking down the street in the dark. So we just drove the course, looking at the cool lights, then went to get dinner and the stuff for Sunshine's trail snack.

Saturday morning Sunshine and I helped man the Scout Christmas tree lot. It was much nicer than last year, when we did it in the dark. It was still cold, but there were others to talk to and we actually sold some trees.

After our shift was done, we went home to change and grab stuff, then headed back out for a Scout hike. Sunshine needed to prepare a trail snack for her cooking merit badge, otherwise we probably wouldn't have gone. But it turned out to be a really nice day for a hike (it warmed up to the mid-60s, and sunny) and we hiked 6 or 7 miles around a local reservoir. My Garmin said about 6 miles, the trail map claims about 7 miles.

There were a couple chain saw statues along the trail. I got a picture with this owl one since I'm in the owl patrol at Wood Badge.

I've realized I don't actually like hiking in groups that include non-family members. It's super awkward when you get stuck at the back of the group and those in front of you are going so slow. Thankfully, that only happened for a bit, then we were back out in front. Sunshine surprised me by being one of the scouts to lead out- she set a good, consistent pace and was able to keep it up pretty much the entire time.

Sunday I walked Max before virtual YW class, in-person church, and virtual ward youth council.

I worked on catching up on previous posts that were started, and even had the photos uploaded, but never received their final polish/edit so they could be published. I need to upload photos to another group of posts before I'll be truly caught up. I like to do it on Sundays (since it's my version of journaling), but Sundays are so busy with all the meetings that I don't always have time or energy to do it, which puts me further and further behind.

Weekly Mileage

Monday- 2.53 miles run and hiked

Tuesday- 1.88 miles hiked

Thursday- 2.05 miles run and hiked

Friday- 1.27 miles hiked

Saturday- 6.11 miles hiked

Sunday- 1.52 miles hiked

total- 15.36 miles

2020 totals

65 hikes towards #52hikechallenge
0 kayak miles towards #365milechallenge

261.06 outdoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
22.50 indoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
310.0 bike miles towards #365milechallenge
593.56 miles total

Weekly Mileage #193 and a Scout Campout

River playing in the rain in the woods

Monday I skipped my run with Max. It was cold and very rainy, and neither of us were up for it. I did manage to do the grocery shopping, though. 

I had planned on stopping by the shop to pick up the business card holder I forgot last week when I dropped off buckets. But that batch already sold out, so I'll go in on Thursday, when I've had time to sew a few more. We're also renegotiating terms so I get to keep a higher percentage, and they want to try stocking one of my totes! Super exciting.

I've also been talking to the homeschool co-op we've attended about doing a leatherwork class there. I wanted to do it in the spring, when classes can hopefully be held in person. Initially they wanted me to do it virtually this winter, but I wasn't keen on the idea of lending out my tools, and it could have been problematic if tools were lost. The co-op realized that as well, so we're looking at the spring term. It would have been a great opportunity to make sure my teaching techniques and lesson plans are up to snuff, but it also would have added a lot of stress right when I'm trying to launch my course. If it could have been held in person, I would have definitely moved forward with doing the co-op class in the winter.

Tuesday we walked on the paved path since the trails were still muddy from Monday's rain.

After music lessons I drove Jeremy to the VA hospital for his shot in his back. The last one was before the shutdown, and while he had one scheduled a month or so ago, it had to be pushed back because of some medication he took when he tweaked his back.

While I waited for him, I sewed notebook pages. Some for orders, some for another project.

When we got home, I finished the notebooks, then started assembling some buckets.

Wednesday Sunshine had an orthodontist appointment, and she had me take a picture of Jack Sparrow. He used to just wear a mask, but apparently he's been feeling rather festive lately. 

A rare, non-blurry photo of Max.

Wednesday I had my accountability meeting in person after a trail run with Max. Afterwords I worked on more buckets.

That evening was a youth dive club planning meeting. I'm getting roped into helping set things up. I think I'm in charge of finances/fundraising (at least it's not planning and organizing outings, which was one of the available positions). I have mixed feelings about this. I'm already so busy, but this is something Sunshine is interested in. There's not actually a lot of things she is interested in, so I want to support her as much as possible. They only meet once or twice a month, so it will hopefully be manageable.

I almost finished some more buckets to take in to the shop, but it was late and I needed to get to bed.

We moved park day to Thursday since the weather was supposed to be crummy on Friday. I brought the buckets along to sew on the handles. We also walked the trails near the playground. I knew they were there, but we've never walked them.

pretty sure he only sat there for a minute :)

they were fishing with sticks

After our hike, we hurried home for Ocean's speech therapy appointment. Then I had a chiropractor appointment. On my way home, I stopped by the shop to drop off more buckets and a tote and pick up the business card holder I'd forgotten last time.

When I got home, I worked on the listings for my online shop.

Just before dusk, Max got out and ranged further than she has yet (every time she gets out, she goes further). She almost got hit running across the busy road with cars that speed, then ran through the woods  behind the houses the next street over. Sunshine and I finally cornered her when she went up on someone's fenced-in deck. We totally freaked out the homeowners, who came to see what was going on. I clocked at least two miles chasing after her.

After that Sunshine and I went to a youth activity: socially distant parking lot caroling. It was more fun than I thought it might be :)

Sunshine likes wearing my jackets- this is my Patagonia fleece that I bought my freshman year of college. She's trying to claim it as hers, but I'm not giving it up.

Friday I went for a trail run with Max. The bad weather held off till evening, but it was chillier than Thursday had been, so moving our park day was a good choice.

Jeremy and I went to Tractor Supply and Lowes looking for gates for the porch stairs to keep Max from running. We ended up with an extra wide baby gate for the front porch that we hoped would work for the kitchen porch, but it didn't. The livestock gate we'd considered getting for the kitchen porch was out of stock at the Tractor Supply closest to us, so we didn't have a solution for it.

Ocean had speech therapy makeup since we missed it on Tuesday. Then Sunshine cleaned the car so I could set mouse traps. Once again, we have at least one mouse in the car. It happens almost every winter, and it's so gross to find mouse poop everywhere.

That afternoon I had a doctor appointment, so on the way there, I stopped by the Tractor Supply on the other side of town and got the gate we wanted. As I expected, the doctor appointment was inconclusive. We did some blood work which will hopefully point us in the right direction. I have some hormonal imbalances, I'm pretty sure. Whether they're causing my heat intolerance is unknown at this point. I also got a referral to a cardiologist to make sure the sporadic tachycardia isn't an issue to be worried about. My sleep doc was concerned about POTS, but the closest POTS specialist is two and a half hours away, so we're going to eliminate as much as we can now. I don't have all the POTS symptoms, so it's not worth just sending me there.

That evening, Sunshine and I did prep work for a Scout campout on Saturday.

Saturday we were up bright and early. We'd caught a mouse in one of the mouse traps and hopefully that's the only one that was in there. Then we headed out to the Scout camp for a campout, though we just stayed the day and drove home that night.

It was pretty low-key. The girls worked on knots and lashing and then did some of the requirements for the pioneering merit badge. The pictures below show Sunshine using ropes and pulleys in different configurations to move logs.

They also built a monkey bridge. Nobody (including the adults) had ever built one before, so it was a learning experience for everyone. FYI, it should not be this high off the ground.

One adult tried it out, but none of the girls were allowed to, for safety purposes.

Sunshine cooked two meals and a dessert for her cooking merit badge.

It was cold, but not rainy. If we'd been a bit more active, it would have been easier to stay warm, but we weren't moving around a lot, so I got chilled and had a hard time warming up once we got home.

Sunday we had virtual stake conference and I had a class presidency meeting. It's been so hard to get the girls together and plan things.

We usually put our shoes by the door, but this year is different. Max would chew on them, so we put them on the top of her crate. She could still reach them, but at least we didn't forget about them and open her crate with them still on the floor.

I forgot to record my mileage from my Garmin before it disappeared (it only hangs around for two weeks), so I had to guess on some of this week's mileage. I'm probably a little under, but not by much.

Weekly Mileage

Tuesday- 1.50 miles walked

Wednesday- 1.50 miles run and hiked

Thursday- 1.00 miles hiked

                    2.00 miles run and walked

Friday- 1.45 miles run and hiked

total- 5.50 miles

2020 totals

59 hikes towards #52hikechallenge
0 kayak miles towards #365milechallenge

245.70 outdoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
22.50 indoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
310.0 bike miles towards #365milechallenge
578.20 miles total

Weekly Mileage #185 and Our First Scout Campout in Months

sad, lonely, fallen marshmallow

Over the weekend I ate way too many carbs. This happened last General Conference weekend too. Clearly I need to plan better so I don't give in and eat things that make me feel crummy. And I do feel crummy. Not the worst ever, but I'm tired and my anxiety levels are higher than I'd like. Between that and my period I'm not coping with stress as well as I'd like- I've got a lot of moving parts to juggle with business stuff, homeschool stuff, YW stuff, Jeremy tweaked his back again (just looking at the water heater) and has been flat in bed since Saturday evening, and River's birthday.

After grocery shopping I signed my contract with the lawyer to get my liability waiver written. It won't be cheap, but the alternative would be a lot more expensive.

I also sent out requests to friends to talk to me about the course and get feedback, which will make sure I'm on track.

I made River's birthday dinner while Jeremy and the two older kids took Max to the vet. She'd pulled a cast iron frying pan off the stove onto her foot last week and while at first it seemed to heal ok, over  the weekend she stopped putting pressure on her foot. X-rays showed nothing was broken, but the toenail area that the pan had landed on got infected and started de-sheathing. They cleaned it up, gave her some antibiotics and a cone of shame and sent her home. Jeremy was shell-shocked by the bill. I reminded him that this is why I'd resisted getting a dog for so long. It may have been 20 years ago, but I did work in a vet clinic. I know how fast things can add up.

still coming out of the anesthesia and not yet resenting the cone of shame

Ocean tried hard not to help open River's presents, but he was super excited about them too.

Sunshine made River's cake, which ended up being a Halloweenish-birthday cake. :)

the bandaid is covering his scar to keep the salve on it and the scar moisturized

Tuesday after music lessons I was supposed to take Jeremy to the VA hospital for a shot in his back, but because he tweaked it over the weekend and had to take meds for it, we had to reschedule. We'd planned on stopping by an RV dealership for a bit on our way there, and decided to go ahead and do that anyway. We're thinking of upgrading to a toy hauler before we travel full time, but we've never really been in one and we wanted to get a feel for them. We didn't love any of the models they had on the lot, but they definitely gave us a better baseline to work from. 

We're balancing as short as possible while still having enough space for our family, and there's not a ton of options. If we didn't mind going big, we could easily find a 44 foot fifth wheel monster that would fit everything we need. But those are a lot harder to get into small national park campground sites, parking lots, and just about anywhere. 

I did a little more research when we got home and we now have a couple floorplans that should work well. The front runners right now are just under 37 feet long, which is a lot more manageable than 44+ feet long. Our current Class C is 27' long, plus the tow dolly and Camry. The fifth wheel setup knocks about 3' off the length, since it's over the truck bed, but we'll also have the length of the truck added in. It shouldn't be too much longer overall, but it will be taller.

looking at the trash bins from the kitchen door

The bear came back again, but was frustrated in his efforts to get into our trash cans. He still managed to pull the trash bin over, though. However, there's no trash scattered all over the woods and driveway, so mission accomplished.

and the view from the driveway

Max hates the cone of shame and keeps knocking into everything. She has definitely done some sulking since coming home from the vet.

Wednesday Sunshine had an orthodontist visit. Max's toenail was looking a lot better and she was back to her usual energy level and inquisitiveness.

After my weekly accountability call I had my first course feedback call with my friend K. 

I moved the presses off my worktable and into this space at the foot of the stairs. I still need to finish reorganizing the fabric and school books that were in that space, but it's much better having them out of the way, yet still close at hand.

I bought a sheet of fake brick from Lowes to use as a photography background. The red is too dark, so I dry brushed white paint on it, but forgot to take a picture before I started painting.

I haven't felt great all week (that time of the month + too many carbs = worse cramps than usual), but I did finally manage to go for a short trail run Thursday morning. Max didn't get to come since her toe is still healing, and she was not super happy about that. 

She's grown since we brought her home and I can't help but wonder if she's part greyhound instead of part whippet. I always understood whippets to be the smaller cousins of greyhounds, and I'm pretty sure she's now taller than a whippet. German shorthairs are taller, so that could be giving her her height, but her neck is thickening, which is much more indicative of a blue heeler/Australian cattle dog. If she really is part blue heeler, then I'd bet the other part is greyhound.

Thursday evening I was supposed to do s'mores with my YW class, but only my advisor showed up. My one usual attendee was out of town, and the rest: who knows? It's so frustrating. Even visiting the girls in person and inviting them to attend isn't working. 

I had to run out and find a tent for the campout this weekend. Sunshine needed our small tent and I realized I needed one as well. Walmart only had an 8 person and a 10 person tent, but I found a 4 person tent at Target. It's not great quality, and it's bigger than I'd really like, but it wasn't super expensive and I didn't have to drive anywhere else to find one. Can't ask for much more on such short notice.

We hosted park day at our house Friday morning and let the kiddos eat the s'mores from Thursday night.

During that time I interviewed a Pinterest VA, which is why we had park day at our house. It was the only time that worked for both of us. I want to hire her, but she charges a bit more than I'd really planned on. On the other hand, she'll bring in more customers to my shop and my course, so I'll be able to afford her fees. It's just the initial month or two of fees while we build that customer base. Since I also have the costs of materials and tool kits for my course, we're looking at significant chunks of money, which stresses me out. I hate spending large chunks of money. But you have to spend money to make money.

That afternoon I had a course feedback call with a local homeschool friend, but we had to cut it short because Max got out. We'll finish the call on Monday. I also had a course call with my sister in law. While not something I would do normally, the calls have been helpful and I'm glad I stepped out of my comfort zone to do them.

the paw! so funny :)

In between all the calls I finished packing and prepping for our first Scout campout in months. We camped at our council scout camp in the site adopted by our troops. It's a large site and had room for the adults in one area, the boys in another area, the girls in another area, and some visiting Webelos in a fourth spot. Everyone wore masks the whole weekend and slept in their own tents- no sharing (which is why Sunshine and I each needed a tent). Masks with glasses and damp cold weather meant my glasses were constantly fogging up, which was a pain.

It rained Friday night and most of Saturday, but I was dressed in layers and stayed warm and relatively dry. Sunshine didn't fare so well. She said she was cold the whole day. I slept ok- I'd layered up and didn't get cold, but I did wake up multiple times: rain on the tent, acorns and sticks falling, other people unzipping tents and tromping to the bathroom... Nighttime noise is always an issue for me. I might need to start wearing earplugs to bed, to see if that helps. Poor sleep quality and sleeping on the ground meant I had a headache in the morning and I felt fuzzy and tired. I spent the morning basically counting down till I could drink an energy drink, which did make a huge difference. I felt a lot better in the afternoon.

There were lots of fun activities that kept everyone pretty busy. I got a one mile hike in doing a scavenger hunt around camp, Sunshine did some more hiking while hiding some geocaches, then finding some hidden by the other group. There was also Nerf archery, wood chopping, knots, first aid skills, knife sharpening, fire starting, and so on. 

One of the scouts was cooking for the Fossil patrol instead of us just eating what looked good like usual. It was an experience. The initial bar was set pretty low: bacon, fried potatoes and cereal for breakfast. Apples and grilled cheese sandwiches and chips for lunch. Then came dinner. Two whole dutch-oven roasted chickens, baked potatoes, brussels sprouts cooked in bacon, and cookies. Very ambitious. The chicken did eventually cook through and was quite good, but required several adults to monitor the briquettes, get more started, and add more- she was off keeping her eye on her baked potatoes (which still burned and were inedible) and doing the brussels sprouts and bacon, which also burned. I felt bad, because she put in a lot of effort, and it didn't turn out like she wanted. We were worried about the chicken cooking properly, but she'd brought a digital thermometer to check that it was cooked through. That went a long way to alleviating our concerns. Definitely more effort than I'd put into a campout meal- I'm all for doing as much meal prep beforehand as possible and just reheating at the campout.

We drove home Saturday night with R, who frequently rides with us to or from campouts and her sister A, who is now old enough to join the troop. It was a pain to wear masks in the car while driving, but at least we can do things like go camping again. 

Sunday was the last of the small group sacrament meetings. We have the ok to start meeting in larger groups for sacrament meeting, but second hour classes will be virtual. Priesthood and Relief Society have been having virtual lessons once or twice a month, but Sunday School and the youth haven't been meeting. Primary won't be meeting virtually.

Weekly Mileage
Monday- 5.00 miles biked

Thursday- 1.35 miles run and hiked

Saturday- 1.00 miles hiked

total- 7.35 miles

2020 totals

34 hikes towards #52hikechallenge
0 kayak miles towards #365milechallenge

178.80 outdoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
22.50 indoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
280.0 bike miles towards #365milechallenge
481.30 miles total