So when I said I was ending the Three On Thursday link up . . . I didn’t mean I was ending Three On Thursday all together. This week I’m sharing three random things . . .

1. Do you do hair math? That thing where you figure out which days you need your hair to look it’s best and then decide which days you will be washing it based on that? When I was younger, I washed my hair every day but I haven’t done that for years now. Between aging, having longer hair (and no bangs), and dry shampoo, I only need to wash my hair 2-3 times/week. Sometimes the hair math works in my favor and sometimes . . . not so much. I clearly spend way too much time thinking about this.
2. I’ve told you before that I write in a gratitude journal every morning, right after I brush my teeth but before I’ve had my coffee. Because I use a habit tracker, I can tell you that I have done this for 1,243 days in a row. I’ve started thinking of it as more of a good things list rather than a gratitude list, however. I’m grateful for all the good things that happen to me so it feels perfectly appropriate and it makes it easier to track. I really enjoy flipping back through my gratitude journal and reading what I’ve written, those lists spark great memories.
3. I’m heading to Boston tomorrow for a conference this weekend. I know it will be fun and informative and it still stresses me out. I have anticipatory anxiety about traveling to get there (I’ve preordered my Uber and allowed for plenty of time but still . . . ), eating alone at lunch, finding my way around, basically all of my junior high social anxiety reaches a peak when it comes to this stuff. And yet I do it anyway. Go figure.

And that’s all I have for you this Thursday. Make it a great day!

I’m short on time and long on tasks so I’m popping in with 3 cartoons that are seasonally appropriate and I hope they will make you laugh.

Also, the announcement no one cares about but I still feel the need to make: this will be the last Three On Thursday that includes a link up. I’ll still be using this topic myself but I’m going to suspend my InLinkz account (and payment) at the end of the year.

It’s your last chance to include a link if you’ve got one!

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This week I’m still reflecting on the year and the things I’ve done. Specifically, the sort-of-minor-but-still-important-to-me things I’m proud of. Even more specifically (you see where this is headed, right?) three sort-of-minor-but-still-important-to-me things I’ve done in 2022 that I’m proud of.

1. I stuck with my One Little Word journal. I didn’t let my aversion to October’s interview prompt derail me permanently and got back in the groove. I still have December to do, of course, but the month is young. Well. Young-ish.
2. I completed my reading challenge of finishing 75 books. I think I’m actually at 76 now. This is a comfortable pace for me. I can read a mix of long and short books and don’t feel any pressure to rush.
3. I started making TikTok videos. I only have a little over 300 followers but that’s okay with me. It’s silly and fun and I enjoy it much more than I thought I would.

And that’s it for this Thursday. If you wrote a three things post please include your link below.

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I’ve been reflecting back on the year, the things that have gone well and the things that . . . well . . . haven’t gone so well. I’ve mostly had positive growth with my mental health and self improvement and want to share 3 things that have really been great for that.

1. Talk therapy. January will mark 3 years since I started working with my current therapist. The catalyst was Randy’s death, but therapy is something I have done off and on since I was in college. I will say that this is the longest I have ever worked with one therapist and I’m truly seeing the benefit of a long term commitment to this work. All of the getting-to-know-you stuff is out of the way and we can quickly drill down to the root causes of so many of the things that try to trip me up. I’m incredibly grateful for this relationship and the myriad ways it has improved my life.
2. Intuitive Eating & Body Image Coaching. I started working on this back in June and it’s been another life changing thing for me. I am D-O-N-E with diets and diet culture and the false promises of that industry. It robbed me of time and money and did some pretty significant damage to how I eat and what I think about how I look. It’s taken a lot of effort, and I’m not done yet, but I’ve learned that food is morally neutral; I’m not good if I eat a salad and bad if I eat ice cream. I’ve also learned that I don’t have to earn my food by exercising. That’s not to say that exercise or movement isn’t important, because I know it is. Rather, it’s to say that exercise is not punishment for the food I eat. And I don’t have to exercise to burn off the calories I take in.
3. Style School. This is not something I ever saw myself doing or even needing but I’m so glad Kym suggested it and I took the leap. While I can’t always say that I love the way I look in clothes, I can say that I put a lot more effort into the clothes I choose each day. I am always seeking congruency, to have my outward appearance reflect my inner feelings. That photo I included in yesterday’s post? It was one of the first times I actually hit gold (as in, I looked as good as I felt) and I think you can see pretty clearly how chuffed I was with that outfit. This, much like therapy and intuitive eating and body acceptance, is the work of a lifetime and I am here for it.

All of those things built on each other. I never would have been ready for Style School if I hadn’t done the intuitive eating and body image work. And I never would have been ready for those things if I hadn’t committed to therapy. I am continuously growing and changing and learning about who I am and my place in the world and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

As always, if you wrote a post for today please include your link below.

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How about some photo journalism this week? As in, I’m sharing 3 recent pictures of Fred and George.

Snuggled together on the couch. I love how their little paws are intertwined.

Snuggled together yet again, this time on a chair. That’s George’s leg thrown over Fred. So stinking cute.

And then there’s this. Wreaking havoc on the Christmas decorations in the kitchen. The good news is that they are cute and snuggly 2/3 of the time and naughty only 1/3 of the time.

If you wrote a post for today, feel free to add your link below.

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