Tuesday Ten

Once again pulling an old one from Carole's list prompts, this week...

Ten things I do to calm myself down

1. Gin and a nap. Always the number one activity. Suitable for almost any occasion.

2. Knit. If I'm feeling frayed then the act of having to concentrate on something fairly menial is always helpful. Knitting comes with me to all places I find remotely stressful - the dentist, blood donors, job interviews....sometimes work. I used to knit a lot at lunchtime at work.

3. Yoga. I am as amazed as the next person that I have become one of those people, but all that focus-on-your-breath stuff really works for me. I'm astonished.

4. Watch episodes of the Closer. There are 109 episodes of the Closer. To date, I have 101 episodes saved on my TiVo. I like to think that Brenda Leigh and I have quite a lot in common (though sadly not wardrobe or accent).

5. Mill around on the internet. Current favourite place: Instagram. Endless pictures of skiers, videos of impossible bendy yoga people, awesome shots of places I want to go/go back to...

6. Plan holidays. I have probably planned more holidays than I could ever take.

7. Linked to both 5 and 6, look at pictures of blue things. When I was a kid and wrestling with teenage angst, sitting in front of the sea was the ultimate wind-down and it's sort of impossible in my current location; so I have to assume that this is the next best thing.

8. Clean. If you could see the state of my house you might think that I was the least stressed person in the world, though. Tidying and throwing things away has become a go-to activity when I have a massive to do list. I realise this is similar for many people. Presumably it's because, in the midst of chaos, at least something can be controlled without too much effort.

9. Reminisce. Sometimes I get out my old photo albums and trawl through them which can swallow up hours and always leaves me feeling quite pleased with how my life has gone to this point.

10. Bake. In the run up to my wedding I made all the desserts for the buffet we catered. Once again, the methodical nature and relatively easy success made order of the chaos.