When Your Job Is Making You Sick

I've been very fortunate this year to have found a job I am really enjoying (alongside building my own photography business).
Sure it's been stressful and a little wacky and often filled with thoughts that if I could give that kid a smack piece of my mind, my day would be much smoother.  Although it probably wouldn't be and I'd more than likely get fired, I do daydream about it from time to time. ;)

I've done many things in my life (jobwise) and whenever I get the niggling feeling that I'm not enjoying things or it's too stressful that I'm crying everyday after work (I've had a job like that), or I've felt bullied by my boss  (yes, this happened too)... my body always tells on me. Big time.

My eczema flares up (badly, to the point where my hands are cracking and bleeding...this year I attribute it to the over abundant use of hand sanitizer and frequent hand washing), I can't sleep, my back constantly hurts, I get frustrated more often and depressive feelings (which thankfully I am pretty immune to) sink in.  One of the biggest indicators however is that my hair will start to fall out. That's how I've known in the past that it was time to move on.

It's not pretty, sexy or particularly interesting.  But it is an indicator that things aren't right.  Maybe you don't have enough money to quit, maybe you've always considered this job to be in your field..especially when there's not much going.  I get it.  I really do.  I've been there.

If you find your job is making you sick, you really need to seek out other opportunities.

• Seek out what really fuels your passion and investigate steps you need to take to do that. (Go to school, part time work, volunteering, anything that helps you stay involved)
• Switch up your routine at work.. possibly different shifts or offices may even help!  Relocation can be an even bigger change.
• Go part time.  Look for alternative work elsewhere.  Know your budget, but your health is paramount..don't stay in a job that's making you sick.
• Know your budget..know your needs vs your wants.  You don't HAVE to keep up with the Jones', despite what everyone else is doing. 

• Bottom line... if your job is making you sick (or if your home/man/woman is)...you need to change something.  Often, that change is you and your approach.

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A Rare Moment of Inactivity...And a Burst of "Have To"

Every time I have good intentions about blogging on a fairly regular basis, I dragged back into the melee of life.  The laundry, the incredible mundane actions of television watching, everyday work and then of course the consequences of burning the candle at both ends.  Ill.

I've been sick for about a month and a half before I noticed a lump on my neck and decided I had finally do something about it.  Yep.  Strep throat.  I knew I was sick, but I kept putting it off and taking over the counter medications in the hope that it would go away.  It was the bump that sent me off to the walk in clinic.  Strep.

10 days of penicillin later and I'm sure I'll be fine (I'm on day 2) and the lump has pretty much disappeared.

I have some time off this week. I'm not overly pleased about it (it means my day job work is slowing down), but I am excited to work on my own projects and finally get myself organised and together (both the business and my personal goals).

I've ordered some items for packaging gift certificates and seeking out possible clients.  I'll be excited to see them arrive :).  I've paid my bills and socked some cash away for savings.  I worry about the bills, but I do have some other projects coming up which should help me take care of that as well.  It's just the uncertainty of it all.  It's scary.

I have so many plans and goals built up in my head and that I am frantically working towards, but somedays, all I want to do is pack a bag, my camera and head to Iceland.  But I suppose even that would have its downfalls.

Today I created a workflow board for the business, so that was exciting.  It'll be nice to have a visual board of what I need to do with each client.  I have a maternity session in May, a baby session, a 4 month old session, a wedding, an event.  I am working on a referral program, a revision of my website (eventually) and all the supporting documents I need to send out to clients. 

In short...get my shizznit together.  Budgeting, exercise, spare time...it all will be under scrutiny. (Again)

GOALS (This Week)
** clean out fridge
** clean out external harddrive
** organise all my paperwork!! (this is a toughie)
** laundry / change sheets / dust / sweep
** make props for Rotary event
** create business supporting documents
** blog about mother's day sessions that I'll be booking
** create advertisement for Peel Police
** create advertisement for Mother's day sessions and post.
** create Pass event for Rotary party and cards with Pass address
** create scratch tickets for referrals
** clean out my car
** list some prints on Etsy
** List some items on Ebay
** oil change
** nails
** 3 blog posts
** drop off Goodwill items
** plan possible vacation stopovers
** make some new jewelry
** organise business notebooks
** record all passwords, etc
** brainstorm personal project ideas
** book rental car for May

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February Shopping Recap...

1.  Ikea Fur Mini rug/throw ($12)
2.  New glasses! (a steal at $39)
3.  TESOL course (bought with a Groupon)
4.  Grey sweatshirt ($12) to make into my DIY heart hoodie
5.  Skull & Crown Scarf ($3)
6.  Betsey Johnson skull earrings ($6)
7.  Basic black yoga pants ($10)
8.  Quo by Orly - Paint the Town Red ($5)
9.  Quo by Orly - An Affair to Remember ($5)
10. Rialto Bonito Mary Jane shoes ($28)
11. Vinyl Banner - Vistaprint ($23)
11a. Company logo!
12. Curtain rod, finials, curtain, towel racks, etc from Ikea(a few not shown) (under $60)
13. Betsey Johnson Union Jack locket ($6)
(Other items not shown:  David's Tea in Bamboozled($7.95),  Pineapple Oolong($5), Dark and Stormy ($5), Photography Easter props ($9.75), Tablet cover ($3)-will be used in a DIY soon!)

My purchases were pretty reasonable.  I don't mention any food related items though, which I buy on a weekly basis (and make dinner for the 'rents at least once a week with whatever I've bought)
I also gave a birthday gift ($25) and part of a wedding gift ($160) this month.

I'm a little shorter on cash than I would like, but I've not been a crazy spender either. 
I did my taxes though and it would appear I will be paying this year...to the tune of $1300. Ugh.
There are 31 days in March and I'm going to see if I can have 20 no spend days and try to make an additional $300.  Wish me luck!

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Sunday Suppers :: Roasted Tomatoes

Oh. Em. Gee.

I came across some grape tomatoes lately while shopping for $0.99 a pint!  Total veg score!
I am a big advocate of buying reduced veggies and turning them into something great.  I picked up 2 pints of these (I should have picked up more) with the intention of taking them to work as snacks.
However, I was looking for some additional veggies to add to my dinner and these tomatoes were waiting to be used.


Ingredients

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 pints of grape/cherry tomatoes
5 cloves of garlic (split in half)
2 generous pinches of sea salt (I used a red Hawaiian salt)
generous sprinkling of black pepper

Combine all in a roasting pan (making sure that there is only one layer of tomatoes) and stir with a spoon so that the olive oil coats all tomatoes.
Set your oven to 375 deg & roast for 50 minutes.  Stir them up at abotu 25 minutes.
If tomatoes appear dry, add 2 tbsp of water to the pan.


Use on top of a grilled chicken breast, as a side dish or toss in some shrimp and use it as a pasta sauce on top of some spaghetti squash.  Simple. Easy. Delicious!

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Going Primal

Okay, so I'm gonna tell you about how I've gone primal.  Or rather how I've been eating primal and trying to follow the paleolithic way of eating.

Essentially the notion behind the plan is that in the past people did not eat modified or processed foods.  They didn't have issues with weight and their health levels were better than those of people today.  Steve over at NerdFitness.com describes it really well.

Basically you are avoiding grains, dairy, processed foods and sugar and consuming all the veggies and meats, fruits and good fats you can.  You're eating as cleanly and as naturally as you can.

Surprisingly, it hasn't been hard.  Once I started avoiding all those foods, I've found my taste for them has changed too.  Rather than craving a chocolate bar...I actually crave pineapple.  Yes.  I realise that sounds totally fucked up. (I make exceptions for very good cupcakes though!)

I started taking it all seriously when I bought the Nutribullet back in early January.  It really kickstarted my desire to make some serious changes that started with food.

I'd flirted with the 100 mile diet one summer as part of an educational challenge really as to find out what was produced locally and if I could do it, but I also really started paying attention to where our food comes from and how to support farms on a more personal level.  We visit the local farmstand, shop for seasonal produce 'grown in Ontario' in the grocery stores and have grown our own veggies and herbs.

This summer, I've bought into a farmshare or CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) and we're trying out buying grass-fed local meat from Beretta Farms.  I'm excited for the changes ahead.

So I told you that it started with the Nutribullet.  Entirely true.  I started having smoothies every morning.  (I was always just a coffee sort of girl for breakfast, but this change was something I had coming.)  Sometimes the smoothies are super green.  Sometimes, heavy on the almond milk.  Just depends on what fruits/berries/veggies I have bought that week at the grocery store and what was on sale.  Because I eat so many fruits and veggies..finding them on sale is key!

Most of my smoothies start with a healthy dose of veggie.  Usually spinach, sometimes beets, once it was kale (and only once..that combo was gross)  Then I add 2 fruits.  Fresh mango/frozen peach..banana/strawberries...blueberries/tart cherries...grapefruit/pineapple.  The possibilities are endless.
I add maca powder, chia seeds, hemp hearts depending on what the fruit combo is.  I rarely add agave (we've cut out white sugar of course) or honey..but you can if you need it sweeter.  Sometimes I add almond butter or macadamia butter as a thickener or added protein.  I usually top it up with a cup of water, sometimes juice, sometimes almond milk... or chocolate almond milk for variety.

I'm not gonna lie.  I love my new breakfast routine.  It also led the way into eating primal on a daily basis.  I've started eating sardines and veggies as a quick lunch, chicken breast and cauliflower rice.  It's paving the way to healthier snacks (don't get me wrong, I have cheated a few times..but I'm less inclined to because I don't really want or crave those foods anymore).

Prep for me is key & variety and taste.  The foods I've been eating have been full of flavours, fresh and varied.
My next step is actively participating in an exercise program.  Damn. I HATE those.  So, I'm trying to incorporate more activity into my life rather than hunting down a gym. 

I've lost 13 pounds since January 6th.  I've eaten well and going to continue down this path.  We shall see what the year brings.  I know I could be doing better weightwise, but at the moment I'm setting plans in action and building my life. I'm happy with how things are going, but my goal is to be down 30 pounds by May...17 more to go.

Sundays I'll be sharing recipes and what I've been loving lately in terms of paleo and food...and maybe even getting my exercise crap sorted. 

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DIY :: Bold Heart Sweater- Slouchy Style

 Alright! So for Valentine's Day this year, I didn't have any plans(besides work), but wanted to make something fun (and warm) to wear in the style of J.Crew's Tippi heart sweater, which all the celebs seem to be wearing.

Even Old Navy has a knock off for about $30.
I figured I could make one even bigger (I love huge sweatshirts) to just wear around the house and eventually off the shoulder in the spring weather or as a workout coverup

I made mine for under $17. ;)

XL mens grey sweatshirt cost me $12 and a metallic rose paint for $2.33 (I had the paintbrush already) and I paired the shirt with legwarmers that I bought at Dollarama for $1.50 and then wore as armwarmers! (which is awesome because I didn't want a huge mass of grey sweatshirt, the thing is big enough!

So first things first.  I used a pair of scissors and cut the arms off just below the elbow.

Then I also cut off the neck (making it a little more 'Flashdance-y' than it was originally)

Then I cut out a heart from a piece of paper to use as a template for the design.

I taped down the outside of the template to the sweatshirt and began to paint in the space(making sure to pull paint in from the outside of the heart towards the middle, so as to ensure the paint did not bleed under the design).

I 'should' have added a fabric medium to the acrylic paint(so it won't crack in the future), but I wasn't too concerned as I'll likely wash it by hand anyway!

Voila!  (And it looked cute with my Valentine's day manicure)

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Feminine Wiles & Valentine's Day

The big "love" day of the year when all the restaurants are booked, the price of fresh cut flowers skyrockets and the amount of chocolate to be found is purely diabetic!

Valentine's Day.  As a kid, I gave out cards to all my classmates being very careful as to what message I wanted the boy of my elementary school affections to receive on the card.  Often, I'd slip in a secret admirer card in there too for good measure.  It's nice to know you have a secret admirer, even if you didn't know who they were! (Less stalkerish when you are 5.)

As I got older, I still sent cards and received cards (some from boys I wasn't too thrilled about, but still appreciated).  I attended school dances, wore red and tried my hand at flirting with the notion that Valentine's day was the most romantic day in the world.  I embraced and gave love in words and deeds to all friends (and that cute boyish grade 11 guy from Portugal who didn't speak English very well, but could kiss like a man). *swoon*

Out in the workplace I also had secret admirer crushes (don't we all?) and even though nothing serious came from any of it, I was happy that they were let in on the notion that someone found them completely adorable. 

I've had my share of unromantic boyfriends.  Most of them were, sadly. Meh. It happens.  I've always been the hardcore romantic and I suppose I've even adapted to dating men who aren't.  Unfortunately.
I promise I will date the next romantic man I find and leave the rest behind.

But just because I am without a lover for this holiday does not mean I have soured.  No.  In fact, I plan on celebrating my own way (or rather my employer's way) and I will be working, wearing red lipstick and making every effort to really love myself this year, not just the one day.  That's the best gift I can give myself.  Hey, I've been doing a great job so far.

Speaking of love and the all encompassing confusion surrounding it, Girls was unbelieveable this week.  Completely raw and beautiful.   I hope you are watching it.  HBO on Sunday nights at 9pm. (Eeeeeek...and Patrick Wilson!!)




Are you Valentine-less this Valentine's day?  How are you celebrating?  Are you celebrating?

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