Hello lovely,

Did you survive the first week of September? Hope so.

I barely did! Where do I start? In this post I will share with you why this week reduced me to tears and about those haters so keep reading…

 

Garage Sale Hell

 

My head is still spinning from the garage sale we co-hosted with a few other families yesterday.

If you have held a garage sale you know it is a ton of work, the cleaning, sorting, organizing, especially when it comes to kids toys like puzzles, blocks, and collections – trying to track down pieces and get a complete set.

Exasperating!

I took Friday off work and we stayed up late that night dusting, tagging and pricing. The next morning at 7:15AM we had our first customer (a Montessori teacher who bought our alphabet jig saw play mat, despite the fact that ‘D’ was missing), and all told we had a pretty big crowd although due to an error our ad didn’t make it into the print newspaper and could only be found in the on line.

When we wrapped up at 1PM that same day and tallied up our sales we realized we had made a grand total of $110.

Sigh.

 

 

 

All that work for so little pay off! and I thought I had some pretty cool stuff too???

On the plus side we did drag a lot of old and unused items out of storage and the things that didn’t sell (some nice furniture and collectibles) we will give away.

Have you been catching my Full Flight & Fierce Facebook ‘Live’  coaching chats ?

If you saw last week’s you will know that I chatted about harnessing the power of September and using it to de-clutter, streamline your living space and life and take a good, hard look at what is and isn’t working in your life and get rid of the things that aren’t serving you.

And I am referring to those things that aren’t serving you in ALL areas, not just the material objects,  so that means TV you might be watching that gets you all jangly and stressed, or negative people, or habits (over eating, too much shopping, too many glasses of wine in the evening) you know, those activities that aren’t helping you to be the best version of yourself.

This morning when I walked into my office it just felt – well – better. There was more space, surfaces were bare, items had been pared down a bit (I still have a long way to go when it comes to books!) and I felt there was a new energy in the room and in the house at large.

And our garage looks new!

Before it was so filled with stuff you couldn’t even see the walls and floor and had to cut through a narrow path between bikes, lawnmower and recycling to even get outside.

The house hasn’t really been touched in the 5 years since we had moved in. It feels good to have cleared the decks (and continue to clear the decks) and Steve and I now feel we have the motivation to tackle new projects.

 

 

Back to school week – always a tough one in our house…

 

 

 

 

Times of transition are always difficult for our son Oliver (who if you are new here has Fragile X – an intellectual delay and Autism) and back to school is no exception. (He is starting Grade 5- hard to believe he is that old!)

I had thought that this year might be easier for him as he has the same full time support worker (who is wonderful and really strives to bring out his best and build his independence) and the same teachers (also wonderful -he is in a 4/ 5 split with two women who job share) but he does have different classmates.

Right now we are trying him on two types of medications also- one for anxiety and one for ADHD.

We started the meds back in June (another tough month – see blog post titled #boycottJune) but given all the changes that occur in that last month of the school year- his inconsistent school schedule, lots of noisy events, his fatigue with school in general – it is difficult to say whether the meds were working, whether they made him worse or whether his meltdowns were due to the external circumstances. He then went off the ADHD meds for the summer at the advice of his doctor.

We are in the same boat for September and it will likely not be until mid- October that he will settle into the new routine and we then can get a clear look at whether these meds are working for him or not.

Every day this week he had a severe meltdown upon seeing me at after school pick up outside in the school yard and it is challenging to see him so upset and draining for me too. The other kids and parents at school that have been around for awhile are used to it but for the new students/ new parents / new teachers they are alarmed.

As Oliver is getting older and bigger it is also tough to physically keep him in check and every day this week he cried, yelled, threw his back pack and jumped up and down- right in the midst of the crowd of children and parents and there wasn’t a thing I could do to stop it – if I tried to hold his hand he broke away, if I tried to get close to him he ran off – he seemed determined to make the biggest scene possible.

Fun times!!!!

Let’s just say this past summer and for the extra busy months of September, December, and June I fall back time and time again on my coaching tools and counselling techniques to help me stay balanced and sane!

And sometimes a good cry is exactly what is needed to help me get it out and move forward – and I did that 2x this week.

It is interesting to note that Oliver does NOT have a tantrum when it is just him and his younger brother Will, so starting this week I will no longer be meeting him at school as the boys will be walking themselves home.

Therefore Oliver’s meltdown will likely occur on the street close to our house, on our front lawn of inside our foyer- but at least it will be contained and he will be safe to express himself as he seems to need to….

…and our new terrier pup Rebus helps him to calm down more quickly too as I can redirect him to Rebus who Oliver loves to greet and pat.

 

 

On to a sunnier topic!

 

 

Vineyard Meditation

 

So our Power Posse “Make It Happen!’ coaching group had a wonderful session a couple of weeks ago at Vista D’Oro Farms & Winery. We kicked it off with a morning meditation / body compass exercise smack dab in the middle of the vineyard.

 

 

Then under the direction of Lee (who runs Vista D’Oro along with her husband Patrick) we made our own brekkie bowls for brunch – grains with curry, topped with a poached egg, feta cheese, radishes, cilantro and crispy prosciutto, a drizzle of avocado dressing and accompanied by coffee (of course!!). It was DELICIOUS! and it has inspired me to make my own ‘bowls’ at home.

 

We then walked off our meal on the Campbell Valley trails.

It was a perfect Sunday!

 

 

Vision Boarding and Birthday Weekend

 

 

This week I am organizing for our Power Posse vision boarding session at my place (Saturday) followed by my son Will’s 8th birthday party on Sunday (at the local bowling alley- yippee! Minimal clean up for Mom!).

When I was prepping for this vision boarding session I had a chance to look through my old vision board / treasure map scrapbook. I bought it in Japan in the mid 1990’s and it is uncanny how  the goals I listed and what I commented on actually materialized.

I really do believe in the power of getting clear on what you want, having pictures or mantras to focus on daily which help you stay the course and assist you in remembering your ‘why’. i.e. Why you want to see a particular goal or dream come true?  and they keep you tuned in to the ‘feeling’ that you are aspiring to create in your life- beauty, peace, excitement, passion, affluence, joy, creativity etc…

My prep work for this coming Saturday will include a little shopping- gathering some fun supplies (glitter!) in anticipation for dreaming and scheming with da’ Posse.

 

Dealing with Criticism / Handling ‘Haters’ 

 

Since starting this Life Coaching practice I have had to deal with a few folk who have questioned what I am doing, made snide comments, given my husband feedback on what they think of my new profession or on how I am presenting myself to the world, or have just come across as plain old non supportive.

This negative ‘blow back’ is somewhat of a first for me but I am realizing that as you step out into the world both in real life and on line, and you start playing a bigger game the critics will come out of the wood work, it is just the way it goes.

Give me the on -line trolls any day!

It is much tougher to deal with toxic people in your immediate vicinity (which I have had to deal with recently and it has caused a lot of ongoing turmoil) than dealing with a few ‘negative Nancy’s or Nick’s’ on the web.

My coaching and counselling back ground and recent experiences dealing with criticism has given me some insight on  ‘handling haters’ and I will be sharing thoughts on how I deal with this type of negativity on Tuesday AM for my Full Flight & Fierce Facebook ‘Live’ coaching chat.

Hope you will join me!

 

Ok that is it for me my friend, here’s hoping that next week will be smooth sailing for us!…

 

…and now I am off to the gym!

 

Keep good!

xo

Elizabeth