Waiting for the Plumber and Starting a New Journal

Okay. This is going to be a strange blog post because I am feeling pretty fragile and not at all happy about things
going on in my life. I find that writing about things like this helps me to navigate those feelings and figure out ways to move forward. My Dad used to be the person who helped with that more than anyone else, and his counsel is something I really miss at times like this. So, I am sitting here, waiting for the plumber to call me (30-45 minutes before they arrive) to fix a leaky faucet, and trying to keep myself together.

I got the results of my allergy testing yesterday. It showed that I was only allergic to one thing that they tested for - a mold that grows on indoor plants. I don't have any indoor plants. I am not allergic to anything else - according to this test. This doesn't answer the main question in my life right now - why can't I breathe?? At least I can consider getting some kitties now - my blood did not respond to cat dander even though my eyes swell shut and I can't stop sneezing when I am around long-haired cats - this happens when I am unaware that someone has a long-haired cat, so it can't be psychosomatic. Yet, my blood does not react to that situation. Why am I having to take allergy medications if I am not allergic to things??

Thinking about all of this sends me into an anxiety spiral. I just keep ruminating on this topic over and over again, and it doesn't seem to be something that I can fix. I do not like feeling out of control of my circumstances. It probably doesn't help that I am tapering off a steroid to help me breathe - withdrawal can include anxiety and depression. That knowledge helps me a bit to understand that I probably am feeling these things more strongly right now because of the tapering.

It is almost July, so that means that it is time to start the new contract year at work - that means a new bullet journal for me! This past year, my journal was Star Wars themed. I did pretty well with taking notes and learning things about random characters - until March when I just stopped most of the design function and learning stuff. I still use the book, but I have decreased my creativity in that book. I am still going to do something like this in my new journal, but I want to figure out a way to make it more interesting for me.

I love starting a new journal.

I am kinda picky about what type of book I like for my personal journals. While I like making junk journals and other books for people, I prefer a bound book with consistent page sizes for myself. This book (minus the sticker) came from Michaels craft store. I bought several when there was a buy one, get one deal AND I had a 40% off coupon! The color isn't true in the picture here, but it is a very light sage green and is a bit more vibrant. The sticker came from a collection of Star Wars vinyl stickers that I got from Etsy. I selected this sticker for the front of the book because I am going to continue with my exploration into the Star Wars universe, and it is all women!

I have been setting up this journal for some time now. Since it is my home journal, I don't really have much about my full-time job in here, but there is lots of other stuff in the books that I use. I am not always consistent about using the book, but I find that my mind can settle a bit more when I do use it. So, I use it when I can.

Each time I set up a new journal, I spend some time thinking about what worked in the last one and what didn't work. This time around, I am not bothering to put in monthly calendars. I didn't use those very much, so it seems to be a waste of paper to put them in. Instead, I developed a future log for the school year. I incorporated my school schedule calendar and made it look all pastel and pretty (something I don't always bother to do). You can see an example of my 2024 calendar page in the picture. I used stickers, markers, and my calendars to decorate things. This is where I will keep track of all of my appointments for the year.

I also changed up some other things during my journal design. I have decided to use up as many stickers as possible in this journal, so I have lots of design elements that have nothing to do with my theme, but that's okay. The best thing about a created planner is that I can do what I want! I have already drawn out the next quarter - all of the weekly spreads are done. Each week uses two pages. I draw seven boxes across the top of the two pages - one box for each day. I put in the dates covered by the page, and then I have a to-do sticker that I use to coordinate what I have to do during that week - mostly chores. This format works for me. I have tried other ways of arranging my information, and it just doesn't work as well as this format. So, I keep with it.

My theme for this year is Star Wars: The Clone Wars. 

If you aren't as much of Star Wars womp rat as I am, then you might not know what The Clone Wars is - that's okay. It is a Disney Channel program that added to the Star Wars story taking place in between the second movie, Attack of the Clones, and the third movie, Revenge of the Sith. It is a fast-paced cartoon that is jam-packed with all sorts of stuff happening. I've watched the entire series (there are about 150 episodes, I think) a couple of times, but I am wanting to purposefully watch them to track what is going on. So, the plan is to watch two episodes per week this year and take notes on those episodes. My assignment for this week was to watch the first Clone Wars movie - which I have done. I need to watch it one more time before Sunday and take notes about things that happened in the show. My main goal in using this as a direction is to figure out more information about something that I love, so I am hoping that all of this will keep being interesting for the entire year. 

It is time to get the bathroom cleaned up enough for the plumber to do his/her thing. Some last pictures of my new journal...