Thriving in October

Ocean Waves

My goal this year is to thrive each month.  To that end, here's my review of October 

Spiritual:

In October, my spirituality included daily prayers and meditations, practicing non-attachment by letting go of certain items to which I was attached, and participation in the kathina ceremonies, which observe the end of the traditional three months long rainy season retreats observed by the monks, at the temples.  I consider the spiritual part of my life to be thriving.

Daughter:

In October, daughter helped me with the virtual house inspection required by the insurance company, not only getting the place tidied, but, also downloading the links to set up the virtual inspection and taking the pictures that were needed.  

In addition, she has accompanied me to various dental appointments for moral support and as an extra pair of ears and to advocate for me if needed.  

I am so thankful that she is living at home with me and I can honestly say that my relationship with my daughter is thriving.

Health & Well Being:

In October I had a follow up appointment with the prosthodontist and an initial consultation with the oral surgeon.  My daughter accompanied me to both and asked several questions on my behalf as I've a tendency not to ask questions at these consultations.  

I also took my Covid vaccination at the end of October and that went quite well without any side-effects other than a bit of soreness in my arm.  

My weight has been fluctuating a couple of pounds this way and that, but, on the whole, I feel that I made some progress where my health is concerned, in October. 

Family, Friends, & Community:

In October, I observed my mother's birthday by making donations to the temples in her memory. 

Social interactions in October consisted mostly of phone calls, emails, and texts with family and friends.  They included a call to my sister to check on her and a chat with my aunt C.

In person visits included Neighbor S coming over to borrow my recycling bin and bringing us some food. friend R visiting to pick up a package that had been delivered to my address, and a visit to neighbor E's to give him a moringa plant (he always comments on my moringa plant) and to ask him if he wanted a kitten as he had asked me if there were any kittens, earlier (his wife said no to the offer of a kitten).

Plus, of course, the twice weekly visits with M, my gardener friend, who tends to my garden; we always chat a bit before he starts watering the garden and we share treats with each other.  This month, he shared some fruits and homemade bread that another client of his had shared with him and today, he treated us to some Halloween candy.

We also supported a small business in my local community by ordering a meal from a local restaurant.  

I'm pleased with the amount of interaction with my family, friends, and community, in October.

Finances:

I was able to keep my finances maintained in October.  I stayed under budget when it came to regular groceries and kept to my budget for gas for the car.  

There were other expenses, too, including all the dental work, which are eye-wateringly high since I am using out-of-network dentists and my dental insurance will not cover all the costs, only a tiny percentage of it.  I am thankful that I have savings in place and will not have to go into debt to pay for such expenses.

I think I am managing well where finances are concerned.  

Time Management:

I am still procrastinating when it comes to doing certain things and often, they are fun things, too, such as crafting - I need to make time for crafting!  Time management continues to be a work in progress and there is definitely room for improvement!  I can't honestly say I'm thriving where managing my time is concerned.  

Leisure/Hobbies/Crafting:

In October leisure/hobbies/crafting activities consisted of a visit to the beach at the beginning of the month which was wonderful, doing a crafting project with my daughter, and doing a bit of sewing, in addition to the usual blogging, reading, gardening, watching videos and playing games online.  I also participated in October's monthly photo challenge, which I enjoy.  I am glad I was able to go on that outing to the ocean (something I had been longing to do) and get some crafting done this month.  I am going to say that I thrived in this area of my life.

House:

In October daughter and I (mostly daughter) continued with decluttering our possessions.  There were two lots of donations picked up in October with 30 bags/boxes of items donated for the month.  The second lot was mostly my items.  The only items that were declined were three decorative cookie tins, which were recycled.

There was a virtual home inspection conducted in October for insurance renewal purposes.  Daughter helped me to get the house tidied prior to the inspection- she does the putting away of stuff and I do the cleaning; it works well for us!  I was very nervous about the inspection and wondered if the house would pass inspection, if I would receive an offer of insurance renewal, and how much would the premiums increase.  Well, I just received the insurance renewal offer in the mail today!  Premiums have increased by 20%, which is a big increase, but, I was expecting that.  In fact, I was afraid that the premiums would have increased even more.   I am thankful that my house would be insured for the coming year.  Now, I am waiting to receive my earthquake insurance renewal offer and bill; I expect that premium to increase, too.  

Later, we decorated the house for Halloween, using decorations and items we already had, many of which have memories and stories attached to them.

In general, we are still working on merging our belongings, but, the house is being maintained.  I think I'm making good progress in this area of my life.

Garden:

The garden continued to thrive in October.  I continued to harvest moringa and okra, although they are coming to an end.  M continues to tend to the garden and he and my daughter set up her raised garden and planted arugula, kale, and most recently, some chard seeds in it.  We had a much needed shower of rain over a couple of days which revived the garden; the next shower is forecast to take place in mid-November.  We have ended the month with a mini heatwave, but, I am not complaining.  

Over all, October has been a good month.  There is room for improvement, as always, but, for the most part, I can say that I thrived in October.

I'm looking forward to thriving in November, too.

I hope you had a good month in October.