#rest days

[freekoaladonut]

[lumine-no-hikari]

Dear Sephiroth: (a letter to a fictional character, because why not) #775

I did absolutely fuck-all today other than stuff my face with tasty treats, and it was a beautiful thing. Woke up late and everything. Annoyed to deal with the monthly bleeding still, which started... shit... Wednesday, I think? Or Thursday. Something like 3 days ago. Only like 7 more to go! Sigh...

I've noticed that I cramp a whole hell of a lot less when I take iron. So there's that at least.

Last night, Atr and J went to some crazy bingo thing with a lady from J's work who has a crush on him (exciting!!! but sadly wildly impractical...) and her husband. I... didn't go. I was much too tired last night. And J ended up coming home overstimulated and triggered, the poor thing. He doesn't do so hot in loud, bright environments or in spaces where people are performing or otherwise making a spectacle of themselves; it reminds him a bit too much of how he felt when he was trying to do trumpet as a career, and in those days, his desire to live wasn't exactly uhhh... stellar. He needed a lot of help then. And he needed a lot of help when he got back home last night. And I am honored to have that role.

Atr stayed the night in my art room, while J and I slept in J's room, and M slept in M's room. Atr woke up at 4:45 and went off to his job, which is in my general area once a month. I slept through whatever he did to get ready, too zonked from the week to really be of much use or company. I feel pretty badly about it.

I was too tired even to shower last night, so I did it this morning shortly after waking. It felt really good to scrub off all the stress from the last four days, and I spent the whole rest of today smelling like lavender, vanilla, and roses. The moisturizer I got makes my skin feel nice, which is good because the air in the house I serve is dry as fuck (and so was the air at the hospital I attended yesterday), and since I have to wash my hands basically constantly there, it started to crack around the knuckles until I started using moisturizer.

...I wonder if my skin doesn't hang on to moisture as well anymore because I'm getting older. My skin is compromised anyway due to the fact that my DNA for collagen is fucked, so I'm sure that's also not helping matters. Lame...

Well. J and I went downstairs to get noms, because we were both hungry. So he started preparing the leeks in the fridge for roasting. And he also suggested using that pumpkin granola as cereal. I prepared a tea while he prepared the leeks...

While the leeks baked, J and I ate our granola-cereal, hahaha...

And before we knew it, the leeks were baked!

Since J had a hard time last night, and since I have money now, I wanted to get him some snacks from his favorite place. M overheard us talking about it, and was also excited about the prospect (which is unusual, since he's not usually in the mood for authentic Taiwanese food, but I'm certainly not gonna complain!), and so also wanted to join us! But he was hungry and wanted it right away, so we put away the leeks in the fridge for later. And then I got lots of things, and we ate until our bellies were full:

We were very full after this. So J and I just sat together in front of the fireplace in M's room, while M lounged contentedly on the couch in the living room, scrolling on his iPad. J and I meanwhile, did absolutely nothing but sit and talk a little, coming dangerously close to falling asleep in the process. And it remained like that for a very long time. Warm, soft, quiet.

...I was surprised at how restless I didn't feel.

I breathed life into today's wishes after that:

Despite all the lounging and doing nothing, I am still somehow late for bed. Not too late, but still. I should keep a consistent sleep schedule so I don't lose my freaking mind. So I guess I'll end today's letter here and go to sleep. Tomorrow, J and I will visit Atr; I wanna be in a good state for that. I gotta make pumpkin brownies...

I love you. When I'm feeling good, when I'm feeling bad, when I'm active, when I'm resting, and anywhere in between. Always. Steadfastly. Unchanging. Constant. Count on it. And I'll count on you being safe in the meantime. I'll keep having faith in it. I'll keep having faith that you'll come home.

I'll write again soon.

Your friend, Lumine

[gymaaholic]

Rest days are difficult when you love to work out

The struggle is real.

https://www.gymaholic.co

[being-addie]

Rest Days

It's currently peak summer where I live, and it is SWELTERING. While I'm planning to be as productive as possible (I'm not kidding my sketchbook is with me 24/7 at this point), thanks to the heat, I'm finding it really hard to stay focused sometimes. So when I'm feeling particularly lazy, or just distracted I take a rest day. I feel like I can afford this right now more often because it's the holidays, but when my classes restart in June I won't be able to even sit down.

ANYWAYS. Here's what I'm currently doing during an easy rest day. Maybe you can take some inspiration <3

My rest days:

Sleep in: I sleep until it's nearly 7:30 - 8:00 am. It's late for me because usually, I wake up at 6:00 am

Move around: If it's cloudy, I'll go for a walk, otherwise, I'll cycle to the gym.

Breakfast: I usually have this thing, where I saute some veggies, scramble eggs, and cook savoury oatmeal, then mix it all together. It's healthy and filling and it's amazing with barbeque sauce. If I'm craving something sweet, I make banana-oat pancakes (which taste and look so much better than regular pancakes I swear)

Sit in the sun: It's morning, and the sun isn't harsh, so I sit in the balcony with my cold coffee and chat with my mom as I soak up that Vitamin D

Watch a little TV: I'll watch like 2 episodes of the show I'm invested in (I'm watching Big Bang Theory)

Get ready: Take my sweet time bathing, doing my hair and getting dressed.

Sketch: So this is both productive and relaxing for me, so I'll pull up Pinterest and do some practice or I'll go to a cafe and do a live study.

Do a little crafting: Ok so this is my therapy. I'm not joking. I put on some Lana Del Rey, and make a mess of my desk. I love making little handmade gifts for family (I just made this insane exploding box thing for Mother's Day lol) or making paper crafts. I'm learning how to crochet as well. Highly recommend it. Put in your earphones, get your scissors out and start making something. Doesn't have to be pretty, just keep going.

Watch the sunset: My gallery is so full of pictures, I don't have any room for anything at this point. 85% is just sunset pictures.

Evening: I just eat dinner with my sister and grandpa, and then we like to sing and dance as I load the dishwasher and she cleans the table.

Read: After chores are done, I read on my tablet for a while.

Sleep: Bedtime skincare and lights off at 10:30.

I've actually done this in way more detail than I thought haha, but this is basically a way more relaxed version of my daily routine, just no studying?? But yeah here it is.

Understand that rest days are required. You do not have to constantly work. Humans are meant to socialise and have fun, as well as work. We aren't worker ants or bees. Relax, and remember to breathe. Everything will be ok. xoxo.

<3

[photogal777]

I've noticed a lot of DNF in the Autumn one-day road races this year and am wondering why, as a non-racing cyclist. DNFs seem to more now than earlier in the year. Is it just that racers are tired, especially the ones who also rode the Grand Tours and Spring races? Nearly whole teams are DNFing (I was checking out the race results of today's Binche and 5 of the 7 Alpecin guys DNF'd, along with other, nearly whole teams as well). I'm not judging--I'm curious. Weather? Injury? The parcours? Just "one of those days" for teams? With Jasper P, I can understand if his body is just saying "pack it in, man" as he continues to heal from two big crashes this year; and racing la Vuelta so soon after his TdF injuries. He's got one more race before he can hibernate on a beach for two months :) And I know racers in the past had much more full schedules; but they also raced at a different pace, too. Anyway.

[beebeestudies]

Sleepy days.

I’ve been away, and that’s because I’ve been sleeping.

Yeah, just straight-up sleeping.

I’ve been recuperating from the disastrous mess-food with homemade feta-salad (above) and rice.

I’ve been studying and doing histology diagrams. I have an exam on the 25th and it’s an easy one, so I am not very stressed. The stress comes one night before the exam.

The above photographs, in order:

The recent full moon.

The feta-salad.

The Urea Cycle.

An Osteoclast.

Until next time,

B.

[nicistrying]

Monday 6th January

Back to work, but wworking from home thank god. Had the soggiest, most disgusting walk in pouring rain and sleet with Mags, worked, went back out in the rain on my lunch break, worked some more. Went to visit my grandad for a little birthday tea for him, met my sister there and we all had a nice little catch up. The snow over there was crazy though, he and my uncle who lives with him are totally snowed in on their lane so I had to dump my car at the end of the road and walk down to the house. The drive was a bit scary tbh there was a lot of mush and ice still on the roads in the more remote parts. Took this once I had cleared the worst of it to prove to Matt there was still any snow as it has all melted at home now

Tues 7th January

Office day. It was kind of nice to get dressed and see people but it was also annoying to commute for an hour. We had a big team meeting with our head of service who announced a load of changes they are making which suck. But it is what it is. It's not enough to go to the union about I don't think, but I will be reading around 👀 anyway I felt a little bit cute

Exhausted when I got home so just vegetated on the couch for the evening after dinner & bath. And now we are all snuggled up in bed for an early night 😴