Weekly + weekend + February update

Good afternoon 😃

Happy hump day!

(I just hate this expression. It sounds like something naughty. It’s like Spanish. It’s a beautiful, sexy language, so when I hear someone speak Spanish I immediately think about adult activities. It’s me, right? I’m troubled. I know.)

Enough of my dirty, crazy mind.

I haven’t posted since Friday and I totally owe you an update on my weekend, my to-do list, this half week and February in general. Here we go. I’ll start by telling you what I was up to last weekend.

Saturday – 24.02

I went to bed pretty late on Friday. We had dinner with friends and it was really nice. We had a lot of fun as usual and spent a long time throwing boy name suggestions at my pregnant friend. They have a name picked out for a girl but no name for a boy so we had fun sharing and hating each other’s ideas. By the way, they have just announced publicly so I can disclose more. One of my besties Patrícia is 13 weeks pregnant. She’s the first one to get pregnant in our group of friends and we’re just so excited. We keep referring to the baby as she but they have no idea if it’s boy or girl, which is really funny. Here’s the little cutie:

We’ve been friends for a very long time and are very, very close so our kids will be calling us auntie. I’m so happy and excited. You know how much I love a pregnant lady and how obsessed I am with babies. Congratulations mama! I love you and I love your baby already. ❤️

Anyway, I’m talking about Saturday, not Friday. But I do have a point. Because of dinner I went to bed late which means I took my pills pretty late and that plus being very tired resulted in me waking up at almost 3 p.m the next day. Oh yeah. We wanted to go out but I wasn’t feeling well (side effects from no longer taking some of my medication, which I don’t mind at all) so we decided we would only go out to buy dinner. We went to Aldi but there was nothing we wanted and it was almost closing so the security guard was giving us dirty looks. Feeling pressured, we decided to try a different store. I was about to pass out because of said side effects and hunger so I just picked my usual carbonara pizza. Rui picked something else. We tried a new drink and a new dessert (a new weekend challenge) and we weren’t impressed by either. Remember, when I say “drink” I mean “non-alcoholic beverage”. I don’t drink AND I take medication. We wanted to watch a movie but I was too sleepy, so we just went to bed.

Sunday: 25.02

We woke up earlier on Sunday and decided we definitely had to go out and get a few things. Rui needed new running gear (my man runs 12 km, 3 times a week, I’m so proud of him!), I needed some new underwear and socks and we definitely needed some groceries. My mom happened to call while we were having a very late breakfast. We bugged her so much to come with us that she eventually accepted her defeat and said she would come, after endlessly complains about “why am I going shopping with you? It’s boring enough to do my own grocery shopping.” I think it might have been the promise of ice cream. We picked her up an hour later and off we went. We do have lots of fun together, the three of us. I was too lazy to wash my hair so I wore a hat.

It was not cold at all and my mother said I looked very silly with mah beanie. She said I had tricked her because I mentioned I was going to take a shower when I hung up the phone earlier. I told her I hadn’t lied at all. I did, in fact, take a shower. I never said anything about washing my hair.

First, we went to this huge sports store where Rui got new running shoes, socks, shorts and a t-shirt. I got a new swimsuit and mom got bored. We stopped by H&M to see if they had the panties I like but they didn’t so I had to buy this jeans:

I mean, they’re pink and 9,99€. I had to have them. Does anyone like colored jeans? Not even this really nice pastel pink? Okay. Well, they do match about 50% of my closet, so.

Mom was way too bored at this point so we finally took her to McDonald’s. We chatted for a while and then we took poor Isabel home. My favorite grocery store is near my moms house and so I convinced Rui we HAD to shop there instead of going to a supermarket close to home. I found a few nice, cheap packs of panties (yes, I do buy my everyday panties in boring packs) and got about 10 pairs for 10€. I got a few pairs of socks too. We got 2 cute mugs but I forgot to take a picture of Rui’s. This is mine:

It says free but I totally had to pay for it. I promised I didn’t tell that stupid joke to the cashier. But only because I forgot. We got many things for a cheap price. That’s why I love this store so much – great variety and awesome prices. I thought I would take a picture of my shopping cart. Not that you can actually see much.

And then I got home and decided to take pictures of my kitchen shelves:

Two of them, anyway. I promise I have more food. Here’s our breakfast/coffee station:

And really bad picture of a lovely sign:

We made a big pot of rice and veggies for dinner, with some fish fingers. Easy and I could eat it every single day. Then, bed.

Monday: 26.02

I didn’t sleep well so I woke up late on Monday and didn’t do anything of what I intended to do. I worked from 5-7, got home and deep cleaned/de-cluttered the bathroom, while I made dinner. We had leftover rice with sautéed black beans, onions, peppers, green beans, sweet corn, mushrooms, olives and cherry tomatoes. It was yummy and healthy and no-meat which is always a win in my house.

Tuesday: 27.02

Again, I slept nothing.

I woke up way too late and had to take a taxi to work. It was raining so the kids were literally wet and wild. There were so many of them and they were crazy. It was a madhouse and there was nowhere to sit for 3 hours. I forgot we had this dinner with friends and to tell Rui I was off at 8 and not 7. But we made it to dinner on time. We met with his friends at this nice little restaurant and had a great time and a lovely meal. We got home late and I decided “Fuck no, I’m not going to wake up late again” so I didn’t take my sleeping pills. I didn’t sleep at all, obviously, so I spent all night listening to podcasts.

Wednesday – Today: 28.02

I got up at 7 a.m for coffee and breakfast and got ready to go to the pool for some hydro gymnastics class. While having coffee, I realized my pink and white pajamas kind of matched my pink and white mug:

Such is life. I might have issues. Either that or I own too much pink. So yeah, that’s it. I’m currently writing this post before work. It will be pretty crazy again. So excited.

---

About my weekend to-do list:

• Deep clean/organized the bathroom; – Done on Monday!
• Deep clean one of our bedroom walls that is getting moldy (there’s this perfect detergent that cleans any trace of mold or humidity marks without any damage to the surface); – Done on Sunday.
• Deep clean/purge our kitchen;
• Laundry, always; – Some, obviously.
• Make a dental appointment; – I did, but then I had to miss it for work.
• Schedule a vet appointment;
• Force Rui to schedule an eye doctor appointment;
• Meal plan and prep for next week; – I have the plan on my head. It counts for something.
• Charge my power bank;
• Work on my freelance project;
• Clean living room;
• Clean bedroom; – Hoping to do this today. I hate cleaning during the week but it really needs to be cleaned and organized.
• Change bed sheets;
• Get two gym bags ready in advance;
• Get my clothes ready for the week;
• Do a little grocery shopping; – Done.
• Do some gardening;
• Watch a movie or two;
• Try making homemade granola/cereal bars;
• Get my eyebrows done;
• Write a few letters;
• Sell a few things online;
• Get something for my dry ends; – Done on Sunday.

---

About February:

• Finish my big freelance work project and get maybe one more. Extra income is always welcome.
• Go to the pool 5 times a week. I’m really enjoying it. – No. I’ve been going twice or 3 times, which is weird for someone who has never actually done any regular exercise. I would really love to go every weekday. I love it, I sleep better, my back doesn’t hurt, my day runs smoothly, I’m in a better mood, etc. So many benefits.
• Keep on leaving my nails alone (not biting them) – Done!!!
• Keep on drinking 1.5 l of water every day. – Yes!!
• Blog every single day. – I don’t think so. But I’ve definitely got my groove on. I had lost in somewhere in August and am now getting back to my normal rhythm. 
• Read 3 books. – No, but I’ve been listening to so many podcasts. That counts for something? No?
• Read as many blog posts as I can every day. – Yes. I’ve been better at this.
• See/talk to family and friends as much as possible. – Yes, yes, yes!!
• Keep my de-cluttering/rearranging/reorganizing process. – Going!
• Remember my year 26 challenges. – Yes!

Well, I must confess I did/am doing better than I thought. Not such a bad month after all.

---

Random photo dump:

See you, guys!!

Advertisement

Plans and Goals for March

Good afternoon and happy Thursday! I’m sure you’re all happy it’s almost Friday, aren’t you? So am I. I’m kind of tired.

Although I love to make plans and to set goals, I’m not as keen on it as I have been before. Why? Well, only because I don’t want or feel the need to push myself to do too much at this time of my life. I do push myself a little every day, of course. I make sure I drink water, I try to read more, to be organized, to blog and so on, but only because life is so busy and fast-paced these days and we’d never get anything done if we didn’t make sure to make it happen. However, I think I’ve lost the my lifelong tendency to be mean to myself, so I make sure not to push too hard or expect too much, which is huge for the girl who once asked her doctor what’s the absolute minimum you need to sleep to function, so I could fit more into my day.

All of this to say I do make plans and have goals, I just don’t care too much if I don’t accomplish them. I try and like to be productive and crazy busy is my favorite mode, I mean, I’m still the same person, but I understand that’s not always the best for me.

If you are one of those people who like to keep adding to their plate and pushing themselves too hard, I strongly advise you to take a step back and take it slow a little. I’m speaking from experience here, trust me. You could be seriously damaging both your physical and mental health. Be kind to yourself.

• Celebrate our 5th anniversary. We’re planning on maybe taking a little trip to a city I’ve never been to, here in Portugal. We have friends there too so we’re probably going to visit them.
• Plan a little getaway trip.
• Paint our house. We really wanted to have done this last Summer but ended up not doing it. I think we’ll do it this month instead of waiting for the Summer. We really need to paint all of our inside walls and our patio walls too.
• Spend Easter with Rui’s family. Although they’re catholic my family don’t celebrate Easter so we always spend this holiday with Rui’s side of the family, traveling to his hometown and spending the long weekend.
• Get little Easter treats for everyone, on a budget. I hate this time of year because we always spend so much on chocolate. I hate giving presents that people are just going to eat and be done with 😂
• Have my sister over for a few days.
• Watch the Oscars.
• Make sure the kids finish this term with good grades. Please, God! Put some sense into their little heads. They can be so lazy and careless. I try to do my part but I cannot study for them or force them to work.
• Finish my freelance work project until the 15th.
• Blog every day. There are a few things I really want to post this month:

1. Guest Post Sunday
2. Freelance Work and how I make money online
3. How we save money part II
4. Question of the day
5. The loveliest quotes

• Get our garden ready for Spring.
• Lose 10 pounds.
• Go to the pool at least 3x a week.
• Keep on decluttering.

What are your plans for March?

❤️

Bloggers Talk About Mental Health Support Group on Facebook – Will you join us?

Bloggers Talk About Mental Health Support Group

Hello Fellow Bloggers,

I have been talking about my struggles with anxiety, depression and ,possibly, Bipolar Disorder Type II since I started this blog a year ago. I was never ashamed to put it out there. I mean, I’m lying. I was NO LONGER ashamed to put it out there. There was a lot of shame once.

There was also loneliness.

That is why I decided to start this Facebook group where we can all talk, support each other, vent, complain, share experiences and frustrations, all with people who DO understand.

I know many of you struggle with mental health issues as well, so I thought we could all be together in this. Will you be my shoulder to cry on? I will be very happy to be yours.

Look for the group, share with your friends who needed us as well.

Love you all.

Chey.

I have Great News!!

Everyone,

I just wanted to stop by and tell you that I had an appointment with my psychiatrist yesterday and she said I looked like a different person. She said I’m so much better and that she was very happy to see me. She reduced my medication and so I’m no longer on Bupropion and Mexazolam, which I have been taking for the longest time.

I’m just so happy about this.

It’s the first time I’ve seen a real improvement and reduction on my medication, after years of increasing it, changing it, trial and error. I’ve been dealing with anxiety and depression since I was 18. I was diagnosed and first medicated at 22. I’ve been through 2 psychiatrists, 5 therapists and I know 75% of antidepressants, mood stabilizers and anti anxiety pills on the market.

I wish I didn’t have so much information. But since I do, I need to make sure I share it with others. And I promise you I’ll do that. For those of you who are still struggling, I’ll share my detailed experience and do my best to help.

Today, I just want to tell you it’s possible to get better. I’m not cured and I don’t know when/if I’ll ever be, but I’m finally so much better.

Trust me, I have seen the darkest side of life. I’ve felt it. I’ve lived with a huge cloud over my head for years. I’ve been through life carrying a backpack full of rocks for way too long. I’ve hated myself, everyone else, life itself. Everything has seemed pointless. Everyone has looked like an enemy. Death has been a wish.

I know it’s difficult and sometimes unfair/hard to compare, but I can tell you I had one of the most serious and difficult cases of clinical depression. I know quite a few people who have suffered from depression and they all got better so much easily, faster, sooner. That was frustrating and I would get angry because I seemed to have it worse than everyone else. I actually did. Years of extreme stress, heartbreak, responsibilities, growing up too fast, taking care of others, being strong for them, a bad childhood, among other things had collapsed on me, so I was dealing with 20 something years worth of trauma, damage, exhaustion. I wasn’t having an episode of depression. I was having THE episode of depression I had been holding inside me forever. It hit me hard, with no mercy.

God knows how much I’ve been through because of my mental health.

God knows how much Rui has been through because of it.

That guy is a saint.

I don’t say this because I love him, I say this because I know him. He is a rock. He’ll take care of you, provide you with whatever you need, comfort you, be there for you emotionally, know how to handle an anxiety attack, do extensive research on all of your medications, make sure you take care of yourself, cook for you, clean for you, understand when you simply cannot get out of bed, cuddle you, give you hope, say you’re beautiful when you’ve put on 60 pounds, make you laugh when you really want to cry, protect you, tell you you’ll find the best possible doctor and care, no matter how much you’ll have to spend or how you’re going to find the money for, do his best to make you smile, be your shoulder to cry on, defend you, tell people who think “depression is in your head” they’re fucking idiots and ignorants who should go and get some information, be your mother’s best friend, your sister’s big brother, be there for your appointments, get you the things you like because they’ll make you a little happy, get really angry at you because you don’t eat properly, be your absolute best friend, caretaker, boyfriend, husband, lover, confidant, partner, fan, the one who makes up for whatever is missing.

I think everyone should have someone like Rui in their lives.

We’ve been through thick and thin and we’re still together. We’ve really been through some real “grown up” problems for the past 5 years we’ve been together. There was never cheating, jealousy, cellphone checking, lying, issues with exes. We’ve been dealing with real, hard, old married couple problems since we were about 22 and 22, up until now. I guess we’ve passed the test.

What I really want to say is, I’m not cured. I may never be. I don’t mind really, as long as I have the proper care. But today, finally, I can say that I am far BETTER. Better is a beautiful word. So I’m happy about better. Better is more than enough.

Thank you for everything, guys.

If you’re going through a similar journey, we’re together. Talk to me. Let me be there for you.

Daily Planner and Journal – 05.02.2018: Trying to bring it back (about 8 hours late) + weekend

Good afternoon guys,

How are you facing Monday?

It’s a hard one right?

• Hangover from drinking while watching Super Bowl?
• Depressed because of THAT This is Us episode?
• Shocked/ecstatic because Kylie Jenner has given birth?
• All of the above?

Right.

May your coffee be strong and your chocolate be plenty.

I’m actually fine. I don’t care for the Super Bowl, I haven’t watched THAT episode yet (Lord help me) and I’ve been googling “Kylie Jenner pregnant” every day since September, waiting for news so I’m pretty satisfied. I’m not joking about the google part.

I really want to go back to my early morning planning and before bed journaling and update on how my day went and how I tackled my to-do list. I know you guys enjoy it and I feel more organized when I do so.

I would like the planning to be published at about 8 a.m and the update to go up at about 8 p.m. it would be nice to have somewhat of a schedule. I hope I can pull it off.

About the weekend: I did nothing. I was expecting it so I am fine with it. I needed a break. For real.

I have this huge freelance writing project to finish until the end of the week so I’m working on that.

I’m so much better than last week, thankfully.

See you soon, guys.

❤️

Sort of Health Update – Anxiety and Depression

Hey everyone,

I have an hour and a half before I need to work so I thought I might drop a few updates in the form of random paragraphs, I guess. I haven’t really talked about my life, which I used to do every single day for many months. Speaking about months, this month my blog turns 1. What? How did that happen? I clearly remember the day I sat down an wrote my very first post, thinking no one would ever read it. How has it been a year already? My blog’s anniversary is on the 24th. What do you think I should do?

• Blog party?
• Massive giveaway?
• Re-post my favorite posts from this first year?

I just have no idea. I’ve done all of those in the past, to celebrate months and followers and all kinds of milestones and happy occasions. For my blog’s first anniversary I’m out of ideas so I could use a little help.

Anyway,

My anxiety and depression have had ups and downs. I’ve been doing well, most of the time and I do feel better. There were some moments when I had to deal with very complicated situations which caused some minor relapses.

Christmas was very hard. As you know, some of my family members are batshit crazy and that can be a problem. I think you may also know that my grandmother has dementia and, on Christmas eve, she didn’t remember who I was for the first time and was acting very confused in general, which left us heartbroken.

I take those things pretty hard and I’ve yet to go back to my “before Christmas” self. What does this mean for me? I’ve been sad, off-balance, nervous, stopped writing, reading and watching movies and shows. I prefer to listen to podcasts, they’re just easier.

Just before Christmas, when I was feeling really well, my doctor decided to increase my medication for some reason, which was a very bad idea. I was suddenly taking twice the dosage of Bupropion (300 mg), some crazy pill that was supposed to stop my hands from shaking (which I didn’t want to take because if I start taking medication to control my side effects from my other medication I’ll be eating pills instead of food pretty soon) but didn’t (I can’t remember the name) and this Topiromate to decrease my appetite.

Pretty soon I was feeling extremely weak, dizzy, nauseous and sleepy all the time, but especially after I took my medication. I was feeling very sick and kept waiting (too long) for it to go away. When it didn’t, I scheduled a doctor’s appointment and she decided some of them were lowering my blood pressure and causing my symptoms. I went back to taking only 150 g of Bupropion and I’m free of the one for the tremors. It took me just a few days to feel so much better.

I have no idea why she decided to increase my medication when I was feeling so well.

I’m trying to get back to where I was before all of this crap. Going to water aerobics classes, swimming, trying to establish a routine, trying not to care about stupid shit (very difficult for me) and such. I think I’m getting back on track and will be feeling like myself soon.

I guess that’s pretty much it, the short version.

How about you?

Any health issues lately? You can share, even if it’s just a nasty cold or a backache.

Talk to you soon, hopefully.

Daily Planner and Journal – 17.10.17

Good morning everyone!! (It’s 10.33 a.m here)

How are you? I hope you are having a good, stress-free week.

As I’ve told you, I’m trying to get into the habit of writing every day and sharing my to-do lists. I just miss blogging and my fellow bloggers so much.

I feel like I should first update you on the fire situation. We are living a nightmare.

Thankfully, by 5 a.m today, all fires were put out. It finally rained last night (we were expecting it, according to the weather forecast but it wasn’t raining at all and we were getting desperate) as we had prayed for, which helped immensely with the fires, as the drop in the temperature did.

I’m lucky to say that, thank God, all of my family and friends are safe and that we didn’t personally experience any consequences of the fire (there was some fire in Rui’s hometown but it was not threatening the houses or our family). It is still very sad to see so many people struggling. It breaks my heart, honestly. I couldn’t help but cry when they were playing a conversation between a fireman and the fire central on TV. He was pretty desperate and explaining they needed another fire truck and more water because everything was burning. The lady on the radio answered, very sadly: “But we don’t have any”. It broke my heart.

So far, there are 36 reported deaths, 63 wounded and 7 people missing. God knows how many have lost their homes.

It looks like there was some Photoshop involved in this picture, does it not? Unfortunately, it is a real photo of a very scary scenario in a Portuguese city. I wish it were fake.

Let’s hope we’re done with fires for the year. Today is the first of three days of national mourning. Some people are not happy at all with the way our government has handled this catastrophe and there might be some manifestations, which is also a bit scary.

We’re hoping for the best and feeling so sad and defeated because of what so many of us are going through. God help those who have lost family members, their lives and their homes or businesses.

---

For me and my family and friends, life goes on as usual.

I work from 4 p.m – 8 p.m today. I’m currently at the public library writing this post and tackling some of my online work tasks. This library is very small and very peaceful and I really like coming here to work.

I have a dentist’s appointment at 3.20 p.m for a much-needed cleaning. I’m not afraid of the dentist, I don’t mind blood tests or IV’s. My phobia is the gynecologist. It’s so invasive and I’m not comfortable with being there, legs spread, while someone looks at my lady bits and inserts various objects to check on everything. I went last week and it was not as bad as I remembered, but it was still very uncomfortable. I got a pap smear, and an ultrasound. The ultrasound is not mandatory but you SHOULD ask for it. Why am I talking about this? Well, I have no taboos, I’m talking about a medical appointment and we should talk about it and remind women to schedule their annual appointment. So girls, if you haven’t had your lady parts checked in a while, please take care of it. You will feel so relieved once it’s done.

I felt so grateful for my health insurance. I paid 35€ for the appointment, smear and ultrasound which would cost me over 100€ if I didn’t have insurance.

Beautiful Autumn

---

It’s time to check my to-do list from yesterday and see what I have accomplished.

I’ve noticed that my days are going by so fast, which is very frustrating. I sit at my computer before 10 a.m and, before I know it, it’s 5 p.m and I must go to work, having done about half of what I was supposed to. Then, very soon, it’s 7 or 8 p.m and class is over, and I feel like I haven’t done all of the work I wanted to do with the kids.

Beautiful Autumn

TO-DO LIST – 16/10/2017

 

• Review and send my book to the publisher. It isn’t really my book, it’s more of a book order. I is a cannabis dessert/candy recipe book. No, I didn’t taste any of the recipes. I do drugs, but only if they are prescribed to me lol; – Done. Finally.
• Talk to a few of my clients, check in on tasks and deadlines; – Not all of what I expected, but I managed to take care of some things.
• Finish an article for a website (on passive income); – Haven’t touched it and my client will probably kill me. 
• Talk to Amazon customer service, motherfuckers are slow and inefficient; – I have, about 3 times, they still haven’t fixed my problems. I am very close to filing a complaint.
• Change my dental appointment from tomorrow to next week; – I was going to, because I have spent quite a bit of money on check-ups and medication last with (Dermatologist, Psychiatrist, Gynecologist, medicine and skin care) but we decided it would be fine because a cleaning is not expensive at all. 
• Schedule my orthopedic’s appointment, my back are KILLING me. Every single day. – I didn’t and I might wait until after our paydays. Just to spread expenses a bit.
• Check on my orders (I sell a few things on Facebook); – Checked.
• Maybe answer some comments and read a few posts (please, please!); – I wish.
• Watch Outlander with Mr.R. (It’s honestly so good right now); – I was deceived. They had this amazing episode which ended before a very important event and I found out the next episode was not available yesterday but on the 22nd. Bastards.
• Check my grocery budget and to see if I’ve been naughty or nice this month; – I asked Mr.R for it, as I’m responsible for the shopping and the grocery budget but he is the one who gets all the receipts together and into an app. He said he needed to check it. I have asked again today. Men.
• Check who’s coming to my birthday party on the 28th (my birthday is on the 23rd); – Sadly, I know who’s not coming and it breaks my heart, even though she thinks I’m a bitch who hates her. 
• Work from 5-7; – Obviously done.

Beautiful Autumn

TO-DO LIST – 17/10/2017

 

• Write the damn article and apologize to my client because I’m late;
• Tell my sister she’s getting all of my skin care products I was using before. Her skin is dry and sensitive so they will work for her;
• Make a few work decisions;
• Talk to Amazon customer service AGAIN;
• Check our grocery budget;
• Plan a trip to Starbucks to try the famous pumpkin spice latter;
• Continue to read Dragonfly in Amber, book 3 from the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon;
• See if IT is already available to watch online;
• Pick up book number 2 of two series I started in the last few weeks;
• Read a few posts and comment;
• Work from 4 p.m to 8 p.m;
• Find reviewers for a book;

And… that’s it.

*You het fall pictures because it is my favorite season and I love them.

My after vacation to-do list – August 16th to August 31st (Part I)

Hey there,

Happy Saturday everyone!!

I hope you’re having a fun weekend.

I’m very happy because I’ve been able to get Rui hooked up on Outlander and to watch the first episode of The Handmaids Tale. He is really hooked up on the show and has watched about 8 episodes without me, the bastard. Now he’s annoying because he remembers all the little details that I have forgotten because I’ve watched the first season in 2015 or something like that. The stupid thing is, I’ve been telling him he would love the show for years. So he’s been missing out.

The Mister is making dinner while I blog.

We’ll technically be on vacation until the 16th (I say technically because we’re not doing anything special. We want to go to the beach but the wind has been absolutely crazy. Only today we’ve had about four seasons in one day. It rained, there was a little cold a fog, and now it’s sunny but still so damn windy. I love where we live, but we have this sort of micro-climate, always different from the rest of the country and unexpected. I don’t really mind if it’s humid or raining or suddenly super hot, but the wind (the strong wind) really gets on my nerves. My poor plants have to shake it off all day long and they don’t even know Taylor Swift.

We have a few things to get done before our vacation is over. They’re mostly things that Rui can do and I probably can’t. Our outside (patio) walls need some work and a few coats of paint. Our fences need to be changed and our gate needs to be fixed. We’re also probably power washing the outside walls, windows and shutters with the pressure washer we have just bought. Some trees need trimming as well and I need to move some plants. We have washed our living room rug but the one we have in our bedroom (which is bigger and heavier) is yet to be cleaned. These are things we usually take care of together, every Summer.

After he goes back to work, I have my own big to-do list to tackle before my the school year begins at September 1st. Actually, school doesn’t officially start between the 8th and the 13th of September, but I go back to work on the 1st.

Yesterday, I’ve bought the books I’ll need for my 8th and 9th grade tutoring. I might occasionally need to deal with older students (10th-12th) but I’ve got tonnes of material for those grades, as I’ve worked with them more often.

I’ve got my work schedule, which is great because I like to be prepared in advance. My hours will be:

• Monday, Thursday and Friday – 5 p.m to 7 p.m;
• Tuesday – 5 p.m – 8 p.m;
• Wednesday – 2.30 p.m – 7 p.m;
• When the kids are on school break: Monday – Friday from  10 a.m to 1 p.m;

I’m really lucky because this schedule really works for me.

I also have two birthdays coming up. Two of my best friends have their birthdays in August. Alison on the 15th and Catarina on the 20th.

My to-do list –  From August 16th to August 31st:

School and work

• Study for the 3 exams I need to take in September to finish my degree in Languages, Literature and Cultures with a Major in North American Studies and a Minor in English. Sadly, I’m not able to take the 4 exams I need to take my second minor in History. The exams will be between September 5th and 7th and they are: Business English (I can do this one with my eyes closed, two broken arms and in a coma), Italian A 2 (I might be able to do this one with just one good eye and two broken arms, while juggling glasses) and North American Cinema (for this one I need to study my ass of because I have about 200, 475, 973 pages to read). I need to remember the sign up date which is from August 28th to August 31st.
• Do some revisions and prepare material for my 8th and 9th grade kids. I haven’t taught Portuguese grammar since last year and I always need some revision. Sadly (or proudly) I know every single English grammar rule by heart but I can’t say the same about my own language.
• Get the works of fiction and poetry they kids will be studying (Hello, Camões) because I don’t have all of them. I may need to borrow some from my sister and find others online.
• Make a list on all the books I have lent to old students and ask them to return them to me. There’s a bunch of people out there with my books.
• Return all of the ficking books I have from about 4 ficking libraries. I’m late and the old librarians will kick my butt.
• Buy a pencil-case!! (exciting)
• Maybe wash my work bag? Maybe.
• Get Rui to format my PC and then organize it.
• Take care of some social security/tax documents.
• I should probably get a school year planner instead of my yearly one.

So, this is part one. I might have forgotten something but I’ll remember it at some point.

What else is new?

• I’m almost finished with Upstairs, Downstairs.
• I stopped taking my birth control pill (not trying to get pregnant) because I realized it was responsible for some weight gain and liquid retention.
• I’ve been doing some extra online work.
• I’ve been working on our magazine “Bumblebee Magazine”.

That’s it for now, dearest friends.

We’ll talk tomorrow, pinky promise.

What do you really must get done before September?

Love, Chey.

My after vacation to-do list – August 16th to August 31st (Part III)

What’s up friends?

How was/is Monday?

I’ve actually spent my day taking naps. I’m just so lazy!!

I’m getting ready to spend my evening watching Poldark (season 3, episode 9), Married at First Sight (season 5, episode 16), Upstairs, Downstairs (season 2, episode 6 – series finale) and I plan on starting Mr. Selfridge. Have any of you watched this show? It was recommended to me and it’s recommended in many websites, along with having a relatively good rating on IMDB (7,7). I’ll give it a try because I’m running out of period shows to watch.

The wind is absolutely crazy strong here and I’m so sick of it. I know I complain about it every day but really, I want to get outside, go to the bitch, without being surrounded by a freaking tornado 24/7. We’re even in yellow alert now, for strong winds that can go up to 75 km/hour. The trees dance and dance and it’s kind of scary.

Well, ranting again. I’m here to give you part III of my to-do list.

My to-do list –  From August 16th to August 31st:

Blog, social media and online work

• Update my about page. I have written it 6 months ago when I started this blog and haven’t looked at it since. It’s been half a year so I’m changed, my life has changed, so I need to update it.
• I feel like I want to change some things about my blog. About its appearance, theme, maybe some features and widgets, categories, etc. It needs a bit of attention and organization. And nope, I’m not going self-hosted. It’s a personal choice that I still maintain.
• Take a look at my contact list on my phone. I’m sure there are people there I haven’t spoken to in about 20 years and will not speak again this century. Same for Skype.
• I do some work as a virtual assistant and I have about 2 deadlines to meet and expect to get more work this month.
• I need to pay some more attention to Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Bloglovin and Pinterest.
• I’m now part of a Portuguese bloggers Facebook group and I want to be active there.
• I’m also part of a Portuguese bloggers website and I need to explore it.
• I need to come up with a good, solid, blog schedule. 
• I need to film my “Anxiety and depression” related videos.
• I need to go back to publishing more than once a day. My views used to be between 400 and 600 and now can barely reach 200 daily. No way I’m okay with that.
• I’m currently at 1,853 followers, so I think I can expect to be at 2000 by the end of August? Maybe.
• I need to read about a month’s worth of blog posts from my favorite blogs.
• I have about a million comments to answer too.
• I have a bunch of links left by readers that I definitely want to check.
• I have about 30 awards posts to do. Not sure how I’ll go about them.
• I’ll continue to work with my fellow blogger friends on our magazine.
• I want to update my Goodreads account.
• I have to publish my H&M haul.

Well, I think that’s mostly it. A big but doable list.

What are your blog related tasks that you absolutely need to get done?

xx

Cheila

My after vacation to-do list – August 16th to August 31st (Part II)

Hey there dear friends,

Is it me or a bunch of people are taking a break from blogging?

Maybe because it’s Summer? Or because everyone is a little tired?

I told you I would come back today with part II of my list of things I need to take care of before September. Yesterday was School and Work (Academics in general too) and today I’ll talk about personal and health related tasks. Some of them I’ve been putting off for a long time, you’ll be surprised to know I haven’t done some things I’ve been talking about for the last six months yet. Welcome to my procrastination side.

My to-do list –  From August 16th to August 31st:

Personal and health

• I need to get on a sleep schedule. Right now my sleep is all over the place. I might sleep for 12 hours, if no one is there to wake me up. What are alarms for? Well, they’re useless if I can’t hear them at all and sleep through them. I need my sleep, I’m not one of those people who is happy and satisfied with 6-7 hours. I’ve done that and I can’t function properly. I need to be in bed with enough time to sleep 8-9 hours. I know that is too much for an adult, but it’s what I need. I might not sleep the 8 or 9 hours, but I need to be in bed for that long. I need to talk to my doctor and find a way to fall asleep faster, when I get to bed. I takes me 3 hours, sometimes. Other times, I need to get up and take an extra pill (prescribed by her, of course) or I can’t sleep at all. Problem is, the emergency pill is powerful. I take it at about 4 a.m if I’m not asleep by then, and then I sleep till 2 p.m, which is very bad. My doctor and I need to find a good balance and cocktail of pills so I can get in a good, healthy sleep routine. 
• Schedule a dental appointment. I haven’t been to the dentist for about 3 years? Shame on me, I know.
• You know that gynaecology appointment I’ve been talking about since I’ve started the blog? It hasn’t happen yet. I REALLY need to take care of that as soon as possible.
• I need to go and do my blood tests and then schedule and appointment to show the results to my doctor. 
• Schedule an appointment to check on my back.
• Find a meal plan that works for me. I need to eat every meal at the same time.
• Make sure my clothes and shoes are ready and in good condition for work. Also, make sure they’re in the right place and organized. Look at my fall wardrobe (Although it only starts on September 21st) and see what’s good and what I need to buy. Go to a thrift store for whatever I need. They’re great for sweaters and cardigans. 
• Let my nails look half-decent. Which means stop biting them. Very hard.
• Create a beauty routine schedule, example: Monday – hair mask; Saturday – shave legs;
• Finish the two books I’m reading now and create and TBR list for the next few months.
• Go and spend one afternoon with my grandmother.
• Take my sister to the beach.
• Maybe get my eyes checked.
• Choose a back pain yoga video to alternate with my yoga for relaxation video.

Well, I think that is mostly it. Meaning, I need to organize my things before I go back to work, so I won’t struggle with stress and over doing.

What’s something personal or health related you should have been taken care by now but are procrastinating? 

See you tomorrow for part III.

xx

Chey