The Perennial Sam

The last couple of days have gone pretty well as far as getting outside and being more active.  Both days I have gotten some natural light, being out in the sun to Read and Weed. 

There are three garden plots in front of my parents’ house and they hadn’t been weeded yet this year, so I set out to do that this week.  Last night after supper I went out and got the new rock situated (to mark our cat’s grave), then weeded around it.  I figured there was no need to kill myself doing all three gardens at once, so I left the other two for today.  We tend to get sun until around 9pm now, so there’s lots of time after dinner to go out and putt around.  This also keeps my parents and I from irritating each other.  Meanwhile, I get my light, as suggested by the Therapeutic Lifestyle Change.  I have never felt that my depression has been seasonal but I do spend too much time indoors.  This is why I’ve chosen to focus on getting some light as one of my first TLC changes, along with getting regular exercise. 

I did not get 35 minutes of cardio during the last few days, but I got a lot of anaerobic exercise - hauling watering cans, digging, lifting cats… (joking).  Aerobic workouts (cardiovascular type stuff) are supposedly what assists most with elevating mood.  In the last five months I really haven’t been active at all; in fact, I’m starting to get winded going up and down stairs.  I’m going to work on being more active gradually - for this week I’m satisfied that I did something rather than nothing.  This relates to the work I did with my Learning Strategist at school and setting reasonable goals, so as not to discourage oneself.  This doesn’t mean at some point I won’t push myself.

I also got some outdoor reading in today.  I had borrowed the car to go to school and had some time before I needed to pick my mother up from work.  My grandma’s house was sort of on the way from one place to the other, so I stopped in to see if she was home.  She wasn’t, but at that point it would have been a waste of time to go home before retrieving my mom - so I borrowed her porch.  While at school I had gone to the library and found some books on illustration and its history.  I checked one of these out for a good hour or so.  It was pretty interesting.  Then I wrote my grandmother a note with pebbles that said, “Hi Grandma - [Heart] S.”  I actually used gravel from her driveway and I hope it isn’t too hard for her to pick up, although I suppose she could sweep it off the little table I put them on.  The driveway is about 18 inches from the step.  Sweep hard, Grandma! 

Overall the last couple of days have gone well.  Tomorrow I’m back to the apartment, where there’s no yard to muck around in and no grandmother’s porch.  I’ll visit the balcony…maybe I can make it more habitable. 

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