May was a very up and down month for me and, unfortunately, it ended on a bad note. The downward slide started on May 21st when Scout had to go in for her eye operation. All in all, it was a very stressful day, and one I don’t wish to repeat. Thankfully, the surgery seems to have been a success so we’re crossing our fingers that that’s an end to it. (If not, we’ve 2 more surgeries in our near future). It was an incredibly difficult experience, and it opened my eyes to the unpleasant practicalities of spending the day in a hospital. On foot of that, I wrote a post on what to pack in your hospital bag. Hopefully you’ll never need it but, if you do, the list should prove helpful.
Quite soon thereafter I was doubled over in pain and ended up at my doctor. Turns out, all the stress has aggravated an ulcer. Ugh. I’m currently awaiting the results of several tests, and am taking medication to ease the symptoms and hopefully get rid of the ulcer. There’ll be a post on the site tomorrow about the dangers of stress so I won’t say too much here, but suffice it to say that your health is so important, and if your mental health takes a bashing, it can affect you physically too.
In better news, I’m now 31. (Wait, is that really better news?) I spent the first half of my birthday working, but afterwards was whisked off for afternoon tea at a very swanky hotel by my husband and daughter. And, amongst the presents I received, there was a camcorder and tripod to use to record more videos for the site. So expect lots of iffy zooming soon!
And a few days after that, I took some MUCH needed me-time and spent the day at a spa. It cost me a solid fortune but, y’know, you can’t put a price on utter rest and relaxation. (Except I actually can, and it’s €450. Ouch.) Still, I definitely needed and enjoyed it.
In blog news, the YouTube channel hit 100 subscribers and I was suitably chuffed. A massive thank you to everyone who’s subscribed so far. If you haven’t and you’re interested, or you love an Irish accent 😉 , the channel is here: www.youtube.com/c/HowToGYST
My three most recent videos are all about my KonMari progress (read the intro post here if you’ve no idea what I’m talking about) and there’s a fourth in the works! The accompanying posts are here:
I’ve taken a temporary break from it to actually get stuff out of my house before I start purging again, but I’m itching to get back into it.
The ulcer, coupled with the general stresses and strains of married life and motherhood, have made it even more important that I remove the clutter and chaos from my home. I need as many relaxing and comforting things in my life as possible right now, and a calm, clear environment will go a long way to making that happen. I wrote at the beginning of the month about finding your “why” to boost your motivation, and saving myself added stress by generally improving my health is now mine!
One thing that adds to my stress, and I know it does for a lot of others too, is trying to live up to other people’s expectations, or trying hard to be something you’re not. Very often, the person we fight against most is ourselves. We beat ourselves up for not being attractive enough, funny enough, rich enough, organised enough, trendy enough, intelligent enough… It’s exhausting and damaging and it needs to stop. You ARE enough. Your struggles make you strong, and your quirks make you cute. Accept and love yourself for who you are. I know I could definitely use a dose of that right now.
And, what with my splurge on the spa day and holidays coming up, I’m going to be keeping a close eye on my budget in June. It’s also looking likely that mortgage interest rates in Ireland will be cut in the coming weeks, so I intend on making even more extra payments off my mortgage this year. If your finances could use a shake-up too, here’s a handy guide to how to make your budget more accurate and effective.
Hopefully June will be a better month for me, and a great one for all of you. I plan on continuing my KonMari journey to clear my house of clutter, and to beat the stress by focusing on my physical and mental wellbeing. (Reading is my preferred method of relaxation, so feel free to shoot some recommendations my way.)
