Tuesday, February 28, 2012

What I've enjoyed this month: February 2012

Another month is over and 2012 is now two-twelfths of the way through. Eek.

February is actually quite a hard month for me to review. It has been one of the busiest, most hectic months of my working life, and I have found myself feeling more than a little overwhelmed on more than a few occasions. Without boring you with the details of my work life, there are impending deadlines that have quite a bit of importance, and I suspect that full relaxation will continue to elude me for a little while longer. A preliminary deadline passed on the 22nd February and things have been somewhat calmer since then, but the final, conclusive deadline is the 14th March. I'm certainly looking forward to our trip up north to Exmouth over Easter!

Although there are some obvious downsides to this work-related busy-ness, there are upsides too. The main one is that is that I'm still intact. I have been a bit distracted, a bit (anxiety-driven) sleep deprived, and had semi-amusing memory lapses (names, mostly, and things like getting in the shower before I am fully undressed - something I really thought I had mastered by now), but I am in one piece. I am quite proud of this.

Putting work aside, there have also been other good things this month. Here are some of them.

This view...
Cottesloe Beach, Western Australia

...taken the evening of my brother's birthday dinner, this photo reminds me that I am lucky to live near the coast and makes me think that I should make an effort to visit the beach more regularly.

This picture isn't bad either.

Cottesloe Beach, Western Australia, again

Fixing (hopefully) my plantar fasciitis

This might sound like an odd thing to list. And, granted, it is a bit of an odd thing to list. But I started February with a right heel that was incredibly painful to walk on when I walked bare foot or in non-supportive shoes - which in summer, was most of my shoes. The verdict was plantar fasciitis, most likely as a result of my over-pronating (rolling in) feet and the lack of shoe support, outside of my running shoes, over the last few warmer months.



Just for fun, my right hip and upper back also joined the party, which meant that I was finding routine movements surprising hard 4 weeks ago. I've now used almost all of my annual physiotherapy health fund rebates, which with 10 months of the year still to go isn't exactly great, but the plus side is that my heel is now fine, my back is back to normal, and my hip is improving.


My new work bag

This isn't actually new any more, as I bought it in the post-Christmas sales. The zips on my previous, black work bag gradually lost all zipping ability, so it was with some relief that I found and bought this replacement. It usually takes me a while to find the 'right' bag but this one appeared within a few hours of arriving at the shops.

Although I bought this in January, it's only after two months of use that the bag is starting to prove its worth (and it is worthy!). I can fit A4 documents in it (just, if sideways, or sticking out the top, if upright), it has usefully located and sized pockets, and the zips are still going strong.






Finding kale, using besan flour, and returning to smoothies

All worthwhile discoveries / re-discoveries.

My enjoyment of homemade ice cream and frozen banana soft serve deserves a mention here too, as I have really become quite obsessed.







Picross 3D

Another slightly random entry to this list, but Mr Bite's Nintendo DS Picross 3D game has been one of the few things to quickly and effectively distract and relax me this month. This game requires all of my mental energy, which means there is no energy left for niggling doubts or anxieties. Perfect. It's also rather fun, and I'm on a private mission to catch up to Mr Bite (he's on the Hard level, I'm on Easy...).

As an interesting aside to this point, did you know that researchers in England are trialing Tetris in emergency departments, for individuals who experience traumatic events or injuries? Playing Tetris and other visuospatial games in the aftermath of trauma has been shown to reduce the intensity of later trauma-related flashbacks and intrusive memories. The theory is that trauma-related information can't be encoded in detail when the brain is using its visuospatial resources to play Tetris. This reduces the risk of post-traumatic stress disorder and related symptoms. From my experience with these sorts of games as an anxiety reduction tool, I can see how this could work!

How has your February been? And how do you reduce anxiety when you're in the midst of a busy patch?

20 comments:

  1. what an interesting month february has been. glad your aches and pains have been dealt with. was interested in the information about Tetris - I used to love playing it until I changed computers (many years back) - I have found it online more recently but try and keep away because it is very addictive. I do love sudoku too but don't have so much time to play that these days either. Never heard of Pincross 3D but if I had a bit more time I would love to explore it

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    1. Those puzzles are addictive aren't they? One of the good things about Picross is that the individual puzzles are at least quite short (at least, they are on the easy level...). It's a good way to stop it getting out of control!

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    1. Thanks Lisa - it is up there in the W.A. beach stakes I think!

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  3. Sounds like a busy month! I'm sorry to hear about your injuries but am happy to hear that you are recovering now. It's always fun to experiment in the kitchen -kale, besan and smoothies is a great achievement of new and old discoveries for the month. Love your photos of Cottesloe too, the man is always ranting about how much nicer the Perth beaches are in comparison to Melbourne.

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    1. Soon you'll get to see them! I will admit that Perth beats Melbourne in beaches, but I think you have enough other things to win out overall :)

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  4. I know all about those random memory lapses! I was working a massive project, average 12 hour days a few years ago. One morning I couldn't find my keys anywhere. A thought slowly dawned on me, and yes, there they were, stuck in the front door where I had forgotten them when I came home at 10pm the night before!

    I've got a massive 4-6 months ahead of me at work, the key to surviving it I find is being able to draw a line between work and home. I get home, have a shower and wash the day away, it really helps. The other thing is making sure I still eat right, good food really seems to suffer when you are busy. It certainly looks like you are doing that.

    BTW I love your new bag!

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    1. Oh goodness! I hope your next few months manage to stay one step back from the keys-in-the-door level (that must be a new definition of over-worked and frazzled). I also like post-work showers, so much so that some days I end up having 3 (morning post exercise, post work, and then occasionally again before bed!).

      And thanks!

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  5. I like that bag! I'm always running around in my Chrome messenger back that carries 452 books and notebooks for school, coffee, and lunch. That or no bag and stuff stuck in my pockets (a good reason to not want summer to come.. goodbye coat!)

    PF (from what I've heard) is one of the hardest running injuries to get rid of! I had a random pain in my heel once and freaked out that it might be PF (It wasn't.) When a friend on mine had it, she was icing her foot 6-8 times per day for 6 months, and then she was able to run 1/4 mile at a time and build up!
    But despite that depressing story, you will heal up and move on (and hopefully prevent it from coming back with proper stretching and maintenance!)

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    1. Eeek, goodness. I will say that when I first went to the physio with it he was unusually solemn - he said sometimes it just doesn't respond to treatment and can take a good year to heal! I was not happy. I'm feeling really really lucky to have had improvement but you've reminded me that I really should be sticking with all the things that helped and not getting complacent about it...

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    2. Absolutely.. even though it's really tempting to be like, "Well I feel better! Glad that's over with!"
      I had a stress fracture in my foot that was really painful, but after 3-4 days of wearing an air boot, it felt perfectly normal. I had to wear the boot for 8 weeks and knew that I would mess it up if I didn't, even though it felt fine!

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    3. Oh gosh, that would have been horrible. I was definitely leaning towards the "glad that's over with!" perspective but you have made me see the error of my ways!

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  6. Oh man~overpronating feet truly sounds painful~! May you heal up quickly, and make sure to ice your feet very often Kari! :) Also, I suggest you use a tennis/golf ball to roll your foot on to massage it and get rid of tension...or a foam roller even! I think that helped my foot a lot b/c of my over-supination. (opposite of pronating) Oh! And also, Ibuprofen if you haven't taken any yet. And what a beautiful coast! Ahhh....

    When I go through rough patches, I just fall on my knees and cling onto God and prayer/Bible, b/c it's truly all the strength I need :) Have a gorgeous day!

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    1. I love foam rollers! And thanks so much for the tennis ball idea, that is a great suggestion. I will definitely try it! And keep up the ice :p Thank you :)

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  7. Oh god I need those tips about anxiety. After all my talk to you about "the world won't collapse if work doesn't go perfectly la la la"... I've been making myself sick with stress and exhaustion and crying in work bathrooms. Thank heavens you've been able to focus on the bright things as well! And as someone who also (of course ;) ) has had serious feet/hip issues/pain preventing me from running or even walking properly.... HUGS.

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    1. I have been noting with a certain amount of alarm your comments about work bathroom tears and 6pm bedtimes (although I would be all in favour of 6pm bedtimes if they allowed one to catch up on sleep...). I hope things improve soon Hannah :/ Lots of hugs to you too xo (and thanks for the feet/hip/pain etc empathy!)

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  8. Great view, but I especially like the bag. I've been meaning to get a bag big enough for A4 things, and I started looking before we went overseas, but I ended up getting a wide A5-sized bag. It felt big to me at the time, but then I saw so many people travelling with huge bags. But, travel aside, a big bag would be handy for work. Could bring all my things to lectures!

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    1. I think my problem is that I carry around far more than I actually need :p But because I do carry it around, a big bag is essential for weekdays!

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