This Week’s Happenings – Caring for Yourself, Others & Being Adventurous

I still can’t believe it’s mid July already. This year has flown by! Here’s a recap of my week and some discoveries I made. It’s based on caring for yourself and others-

• Take Care of Yourself
• Be Kind
• Pick Up the Phone
• Try New Veggies

Take Care of Yourself

On Thursday, I felt some pain in my left wrist. This was a new feeling for me. After talking to my husband about it, he suspected it might be from typing. He recommended that I get a keyboard wrist rest, which I ordered on Etsy. I didn’t even know those things existed. I’d seen one before in the computer lab at school but didn’t realize their purpose. Now, I get it.

Why am I sharing this with you?  Take preventive measures to ensure proper health of your wrist, a body part we don’t give frequent attention to.

Which body part do you need to show some tender loving care (TLC) to?

Be Kind

What a nice feeling to be a recipient of a kind deed! On Sunday, my friend Shane and I were talking about my goal of learning how to give more constructive feedback to my work colleagues. We talked about a book recommended at the Toastmasters 2020 Summer Institute, The Magic of Speech Evaluations and how that could help me. I told him I would put it on my wish list.

Before I knew it, Shane had texted me that he had purchased it for me. This was so sweet of him. The lesson here, “do nice things for others.” The best part is to do them when they least expect it.

Not all kind things need to involve spending money. You can send a college friend a nice inspirational message or remind them of some great memories you had way back then. Can you text that family friend you spent your summers with on their birthday?

Who will you be kind to this week?

Pick Up the Phone

Have you become so comfortable with texting friends and family that you never pick up the phone to call them? It’s true that the awkward silence in the middle of the conversation can be uncomfortable, but just let it be.

I know conversations with some people are just better in person than on the phone. Regardless, pick up the phone to call grandma or your friend who you haven’t seen since the March lock down.

This week, I decided to text my dear friend MJ who I haven’t seen since February. We’ve texted a few times since COVID hit but I didn’t see a response from her the last time I texted her.

On Tuesday, I decided to text her again. She responded. Yay! I noticed she responded with very few phrases and short sentences. It was then that I decided to just call her. Surprise. She picked up. It felt so good to hear her voice. I also found out she was really slow at her texting game (that explained a lot of things lol).

MJ has a very contagious laughter and I enjoyed hearing it again after so long. We spoke for about 30 minutes and had deep conversations, in a way that our text messages couldn’t capture.

Don’t overthink it! Sometimes, we want to call others but wonder if it’s a good time for them. If you’re like me, you sometimes schedule a time to talk with your friends but never get to it. Just pick up the phone and call. If they don’t pick up, it means it’s an inconvenient time for them. Leave a voicemail or text them to let them know.

Which friend or family member are you going to text this week?

Try New Veggies

Photo by Laura Seidlitz on Unsplash

In May, I finally decided to sign up for Fresh Picks, an aggregate farm delivery service. I wanted access to farm fresh fruits and veggies as well as organic eggs.

 

Last week, I decided to try their $20 mini fruit and veggie box out. The nice thing was I knew what the box was going to contain.

The only problem- the box included radishes. I’ve tried raw radishes before but it was peppery and I disliked the taste. My conclusion was that I didn’t like radishes.

I wondered if I should contact Fresh Picks and have them substitute the radishes for something else but the adult in me decided not to.

I was going to be adventurous and research more about radishes. My first stop was Pinterest. From my mini research, I discovered that when you roast radishes, it looses its peppery taste and some people said it was even a good substitute for potatoes.

On Tuesday when I received my Fresh Picks box, I wasted no time at all. For dinner that evening, my husband and I enjoyed some roasted potatoes with Italian chicken sausage and some veggies. Drum roll!!! For veggies, I roasted some carrots and radishes. My seasoning? Good ol’ salt and pepper with a drizzle of olive oil. The veggies tasted delicious. I decided to use the radish leaves to make pesto as well so there was no waste.

I’m glad I decided to give radishes another try. It’s normal to not like the taste of veggies you didn’t grow up with. The question is can you cook it in a different way? That might alter the taste and make you enjoy it.

What fruit or vegetable are you going to try for the first time or give another chance?

If you can’t go shopping for some new fruits and veggies, can you cook what you have in a different way?

That’s all I have for you today. Enjoy the rest of the weekend and have great expectations for the upcoming week! Remember, whatever you feed grows and what you starve dies.