All of the things lately

Society6
Upgrading my “everyday carry” - Wikipedia defines everyday carry as “a small collection of tools, equipment and supplies that are carried on a daily basis to assist in tackling situations ranging from the mundane to the disastrous.”  As an fully-functional (okay maybe semi-functional) adult, I’m not quite sure why its taken me so long to realize that there is no reason for me to lug around all the extra cards, coins, and four different types of lip balm.  Is it really necessary to carry enough painkillers to knock out a baby elephant?  I’ve never been a big purse girl and I’m going to challenge myself to see how much I can downsize in what I carry.  So far my list of essentials has been pared down to include some credit cards / ID / cash, phone, a journal, a pen, a stick of chapstick, and a knife.  What do y’all think?  Anything I’m leaving out?

The simple life - With what seemed like the first nice day of spring, I ditched work early-ish and walked around outdoors on Monday evening for around two hours before the sun went down.  It felt so good to be outside without layering up.  Of course, after a long, bright afternoon trail ride this weekend, I’m now baked in true lobster fashion with an awkward sunburn on my chest and face.  Par for the course for the summertime in Texas.  Ryon and I were surrounded by clouds of mosquitoes in the middle of the afternoon so there’s also that pleasant seasonal plague.  Can’t win them all..

Low carbing it - On week two, I’ve modified the cleanse somewhat because honestly, no one needs to deal with two weeks of unpleasant Rooth.  This past week, I added in complex carbs like sweet potatoes and oats with some cheat bittersweet chocolate thrown in the mix in the evenings.  I’ve also been surviving off of jars (upon jars) of almond butter.  Dipped in celery, I think I could subsist off of that alone.  Mid-week, I had a momentary lapse of judgment and ate a single slice of whole wheat bread which my stomach proceeded to thrash around violently for the next few hours.  It could have been the bread or perhaps the four cups of coffee I drank that morning, I mean who’s to say.  I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t excited about getting back to a more “normal” diet next week.  It’s been a fun experiment and made me more in tune with what my body tells me about what it wants.  I do need to add more protein to my diet and perhaps it isn’t the worst thing in the world to listen to my body when it asks for bread and fruit under stressful conditions.  

Permission to live life - And write about it later.  There’s a whole lot of life going on right now and my blog posting has petered down to one pitiful post per week.  I know I’m not the only blogger struggling with balancing “real life” with keeping this space updated and refreshed.  I also feel a twinge of guilt / regret when I receive emails from people who are checking in to see if I’m still in the land of the living.  Rest assured that I’m still here and I’ll be updating y’all as often as I can manage.  I’ll figure it all out eventually and it’ll be a work in progress until then.  Thank you for your patience and permission.

Comments

  1. Take your time - I of all people understand life getting in the way. I´m finding the joy in blogging now though, a distraction from the tough things happening. Take care!

    http://tinajoathome.com/

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  2. Considering all the things life can interfere with, blogging is not such a bad thing to slow down. Live! :)

    PS - health insurance card?

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  3. It's true--living life is so much more important! And we'll find our groove, surely . . . :)

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  4. This is really nice to read. Little snippets of your (cranky!) days. It's sleeting here today, by the way. Just thought you might want to know. ;) I'm thinking about a new bag. I have a Madewell tote that I love, and I got it to put my camera in, but it's HUGE. It's almost birthday month, so even though I already have my present (sigh... maybe they forgot they got it for me already, right?), and even though I want all the cameras, maybe a new bag is in order.

    You take your time. I'm glad to hear from you, but I get it. You know I do.

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  5. What a thorough status update! I don't begrudge you for posting when it feels right (by the same token, not posting when it doesn't feel right just for the sake of posting). "Permission to live life - And write about it later" is something I've been grappling with recently, too. Did we talk about this? I feel like we did, that we're all going through it in some way recently. I think it will be a good thing for all of us to shed the, "But if I don't blog about it, did it really happen??" social media crutch. Good luck finding your balance (with bread and fruit, too, of course). xo

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  6. One pitiful post a week... There's nothing pitiful about that. Of course, I may be slightly biased posting one pitiful post a week. Right now I'd kill for an awkward sunburn on my chest and face. Don't care much for the bugs though.

    Why is it that women carry around so much in that tiny bag of theirs? All I need is my wallet and my keys. Okay, maybe my phone, but that's about it.

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  7. I need to pare down my everyday carry too. It's weird that I am still holding on to the notion of "let me bring everything on the train just in case" and letting it go!

    go you for keep on keepin' on the low carb train!

    AMEN to that last paragraph!

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  8. Ugh. Mondays. I should have stopped at my first sentence because the second one ^ doesn't make any sense. The "and letting go" should probably read "instead of letting go". *shame*

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  9. Thanks for the update, Rooth:) Yay on doing so well with that detox. And I hear yah...I'm down to two blog posts a week. I remember blogging everyday when I started, and there's no way I can do that now!

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  10. I know how you feel, I really need to update my blog more often. I feel so bad about it right now and I hope I can change that soon. I love blogging and I definitely want to post more than twice a month. I feel ashamed.
    I definitely carry too much stuff with me, that is for sure. I should probably clean out my purse. I am not sure if I really need all the stuff in there.

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  11. Glad to hear the cleanse is going well. I've been struggling with keeping up with posting, too, but I think it's a good sign for what's going on in the rest of life. You're actually living it, and being present in the moment, rather than thinking about how it'll be written/photographed/memorialized as a blog post. At least, that's how I've felt recently.

    Also, I love that you carry a knife.

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  12. posting once a week feels pretty doable for me right now too. truthfully i'd love to increase it a bit but sometimes something has to give somewhere. and it's better to slow down than just get burnt out i say.

    hmmmm . . . that wheat bread. maybe it just doesn't agree with you. xo

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  13. It's a brilliant idea to downsize the contents of the purse. I noticed that since we moved, I have been going around carrying nothing but a single bill in my pocket. My mobile phone is not needed since this stop over is not worth a new sim card. Haha Just downed 2 sweet potatoes for breakfast.

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  14. I don't even carry my ID with me most of the time. that said, you are sorely missed. don't forget us blogging people xoxo

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  15. Lucky you, to be sunburnt because we're still in the 30s in the morning! Agh! Just kidding. Sorry about the sunburn but yes, it's still 30s here. Bah. And of course you should live life and not have to feel guilty about not blogging as regularly. I certainly am down to non-regular posting. And you carry around a knife? For what? My purse is huge but I carry little. Even downsized to a smaller wallet a year ago, instead of those long zip-around wallets from before. My essentials are chapstick, lotion, keys, phone, acetaminophen, and usb stick.

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  16. hey ruth!! remember me, haha :) :) i know what you mean about life vs. blogging as you can tell with my blog. its been a lonnnnng year but i guess nothing ever stays the same, so who knows maybe i'm back for real now! hope you are doing well though

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  17. Hooray for outdoors! I spent some time outside over the weekend {outside the city} and it was nice but chilly. We're down to sporadic two foot snow piles only now. :) I'm sorry about your sunburn, it's crazy to think it's even possible to get one now. Totally agree on the less in your bag thing. I'm embarrassed to tell you what I've recently removed, and what's still in, my bag!

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  18. Ah, that guilt! Don't we all know about that!

    On another note, we folks in Mumbai crave cold weather like you crave warmth. We have eight months of pathetic, soul-drying heat, and four months of dirty water laden rains, with clogged drains, broken roads and traffic rage. So yeah, cold weather is welcome.

    I need to re-look my own bag. I think I have some old bills and stuff in there from the time I was still in diapers. So much needs to go!

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  19. I would like to put 10 stars next to "Permission to live life". Sometimes a break from blogging is needed to maintain your sanity :-)

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  20. Eh, I also took a long break from blogging, and it felt good! I'm back though :) Blogging will always be there! Just live your life.

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