Thriving in September

 

Rain Lilies (Zephyranthes candida)

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

Spiritual:

In September, my spirituality included daily prayers and meditations.  I consider this part of my life to be thriving.

Daughter:

In September, we found out that daughter will continue to have a job; she has been reassigned to a different project that is funded with non-federal grants.  We are very thankful as it means she will be able to receive employer paid health insurance and other benefits.  

Daughter has been decluttering, not only her room, but, also, the spare bedroom which contains some of her stuff that I have stored for her as well as some of my stuff (paperwork/files, fabric and craft supplies) plus some household items (extra rolls of paper towels and toilet paper, etc.)  She says the kitchen will be next.  We are still in the process of merging our household items.  

I can honestly say that my relationship with my daughter is thriving.

Health & Well Being:

In September, I had an appointment with a dermatologist and was diagnosed with stress-induced psoriasis and prescribed some ointments/creams and shampoo, which have been working very well.  I also had an appointment with the prosthodontist that my dentist referred me to.  It was mostly an initial consultation and I have a follow up appointment scheduled for mid-October.  

My sleep schedule is still completely turned around and I seem to tire really quickly, but, I feel that I made some progress where my health was concerned, in September. 

Family, Friends, & Community:

Social interactions in September consisted mostly of phone calls, emails, and texts with family and friends.  I did receive a visit from my friend S who returned the Sri Lankan decorative items I had lent her for her friend's display and brought me some delicious food for dinner.  In return, I gave her a bag of freshly picked moringa pods and leaves and curry leaves.

Plus, of course, the twice weekly visits with M, my gardener friend, who has been tending to my garden for over 32 years.  We always chat a bit before he starts watering the garden, and I often share some treats with him.

We also ordered food to go from several local restaurants and shopped at a few local shops and I am counting that as supporting my local community.  

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

Finances:

I was able to keep my finances maintained in September.  I stayed under budget when it came to regular groceries and then, I spent the rest of the grocery budget, and more, at the Sri Lankan store where I stocked up on my favorite tea, bought a couple of items for the almsgiving, ingredients for Love Cake to be made at Christmas, some groceries, condiments, spices, and treats.  Everything had increased in price due to tariffs, but, I was grateful that the items were available.  Some people go on vacations and cruises; I go to the Sri Lankan store and the restaurant!  LOL.  

There were other expenses, too, but, I budget carefully in order to meet those expenses when they occur.

I think I am managing well where finances are concerned.  

Time Management:

I felt that I was not making much progress with my time management in September.  I still got things done, but, I procrastinated getting started on them.  As a result, I often felt I was behind and stressed because I didn't have time to do everything I wanted to do and let some things fall by the wayside as a result.  Time management is definitely a work in progress and I don't think I thrived as much as I could have where managing my time was concerned.  

Leisure/Hobbies/Crafting:

In September, leisure/hobbies/crafting activities consisted of blogging, reading, gardening, watching videos and playing games online, some sewing (mostly mending, but, it is something I enjoy doing), and participating in September's monthly photo challenge.  I would have liked to have done more crafting, this month (I really didn't do any), but, I did have plenty of leisure time and I am going to say that I thrived in this area of my life.

House:

In September, daughter and I (mostly daughter) continued with decluttering our possessions.   She decluttered a lot of her old clothes, dance and Halloween costumes, books and plush toys, and I decluttered a few household items and some clothes.  I called and scheduled a donations pick up and 15 large trash bags of donations (the maximum they would pick up at one time) were collected in the 3rd week of September.  Since then, daughter has decluttered more and I need to call and schedule another pick up of donations.

I had received a letter from my home insurance company stating that they needed to do an inspection of my house prior to renewing my home insurance.  It took me some time to schedule that due to the fact that the phone numbers I had been given to call and schedule the inspection were no longer valid and the agent who had sent me the letter with his contact information was no longer working there and his voicemail didn't indicate that.  Eventually, I managed to call and schedule an inspection, which will take place next week.  Hopefully, that inspection (a virtual one) will go well.  

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 September.  I picked the last of the Asian pears and some of the butternut squash.  The okra plants and the moringa tree are still producing well.  M continues to tend to the garden and now, my daughter is eager to start growing some vegetables of her own.  We are making plans for the cool weather plants, such as chard and peas, we want to grow, next.

Over all, September was a good month.  There is room for improvement, as always, but, for the most part, I can say that I thrived to the extent that I could.

I'm looking forward to thriving in October.