Finding Comfort

If you read my post on Friday about Florida, by the end of the post it was pretty evident that I am going through a difficult time.  All the stress is just piling up and while I will be OK in the long run, in the short run I am pretty really down.  I just hate that I am 33 years old and have no idea where I will be living 2-3 months from now.  I feel far too old for this.  I hope I am home by June, but I might not be.  And that uncertainty?  Is eating away at me.  The good news is that I was able to negotiate with my apartment management company and and my rent will increase by $100 instead of $500.  Which is MUCH better.  That's one less thing to stress about.

Anyways, the only way out of this is through it, and I know I will get through it but dang it's hard.  So in the mean time, I am trying to find comfort in the little things.  Being able to run again is a huge help, but there are other little things I am trying to include in my weekends to help.

 First up - reading.  It's probably my number one way to escape my reality. 

Secondly - knitting.  The repetitive nature of knitting is so calming for me.  I recently started a shawl pattern which is kind of complicated but the level of focus required takes my mind off things.It's hard to tell in this photo but it has a pretty diagonal pattern to it.

Lastly - comfort food.  I made a chicken and rice dish in my crockpot on Sunday. It probably looks unappealing as it's a mush of rice, chicken, carrots, and celery, but it was really good and easy to make.

Besides this other things that bring me comfort are running, my morning coffee ritual, and phone and video chat dates with friends.

What are some things that bring you comfort when you are struggling?

Creatures & Comforts

Yesterday was just not my best day.

I haven't been feeling well since Saturday night. I thought maybe the stomach issues were from the stress of Saturday night. But then I started getting such terrible headaches. Headaches so bad my teeth and jaw bone hurt. The pressure was so bad, I was almost wishing my very own Dr. McDreamy would come along and drill a hole in my head.

I kept waiting to feel better, but towards the end of the day yesterday, I resigned to the fact that I most likely have a sinus infection and made a doctor's appointment for this morning.

After getting off the phone with the doctor's office, I kind of wanted to just lay my head on my desk, but instead, I just sort of let my head hang to stretch out my neck muscles and at that moment, I saw a mouse run across the floor of my cube.

Ahem. Did you catch that? A mouse ran across the floor of my cube.

I screamed. And not quietly. It was probably reminiscent of the time I screamed when a mouse ran across my room in high school. I screamed so loud that time, my dad thought there was an intruder in the room.

I know it is irrational, but I am petrified of mice and other little creepy crawly creatures. No thanks. I like my work space vermin free. I hope they get this little problem under control soon.

Luckily this all happened at the end of the day, so I was able to leave immediately after the mouse-capade.

I got in my car and realized it would be foolish to go to this running event. Yes, it would be a great way to meet some other local runners, but between my upset stomach and the ridiculous headache, I knew I'd be in no position to be a chatty Kathy.

But it was National Running Day, so gosh darn it, I was getting a run in. So as much as I wanted to crawl into bed, I laced up my shoes and pounded out a quick 3 miles.

When I got home last night, I was in need of some comfort food. Going gluten free has been the best change for me, but I still don't quite have 'go to' comfort foods. My old stand-bys like saltine crackers and chicken noodle soup are off-limits. I've slowly found some replacements over the last year, but they still don't quite do the trick like saltines or chicken noodle soup.

My new comfort foods/drinks are:

• mashed potatoes
• baked potatoes
• plain white rice
• elbow -shaped quinoa pasta
• regular Coke

Last night I had a baked potato and it seemed to hit the spot. What I should really do is make some chicken stock and freeze it - then I can just add some quinoa pasta and make my own chicken noodle soup on the days when I am needing some comfort food!

Here's hoping the doctor prescribes me some strong drugs today so I can be back to my normal self soon.

What are your favorite comfort foods?