Life

How I like to unwind after a chaotic week

October 14, 2022 Deby Ciui (Chewy)Leave a comment

If the lack of posts says anything about this week, it should explain just how chaotic and crazy this week has been. Busy enough that I really haven’t had much time for a little piece of quiet. If I haven’t mentioned it before, I am a mom that wears many hats: wife, mother, engineer, teacher, student, etc. This week we finished the first quarter of the preschool curriculum (A-Z, A is for Adam. Curriculum is from Masterbooks) next week we get to start over, as in starting from letter A again. Apart from the joys of homeschooling, work has been notoriously busy and on more than one occasion have had the whole house asleep before I sign off for the night, hazards of working the second shift. Finally, the icing on the cake, I am behind on my own school work, Operations and Supply Chain management class (which is so unbelievable dry), which means even later nights ahead.

To summarize the above self-pity session, it has been a busy week. When life gets so busy that it feels like the remote control is stuck on fast forward, this is when I desperately need to take some time and unwind and rejuvenate.

Coffee, coffee, coffee

First stop, COFFEE more specifically, coffee shops. Working from home is fantastic but I love it when I can take a moment of alone time to myself. I love small coffee shops, especially when I get to try a new ones and I like to take the time and actually sit there. For starters, I get to savor my coffee, read, write in my journal, or sometimes just people watch. One of the cons (or pros if you’re antisocial) is lack of human interaction. Sometimes you just need a moment to interact with other people who are not your husband or kids. Then of course, Coffee in and of itself, is soothing and while I don’t handle the caffeine the way that used too I still enjoy my cup of coffee every day, sometimes two.

Rub a dub, dub, soakin’ in the tub

Floating candle bath bomb. Awesome, pretty, slightly hazardous if you have long legs.

Option two, is my most used option and is my go to for after those tough days at work. Late night bath soakin’ in the tub. There is nothing more relaxing to me than taking a hot (or boiling if you ask my husband) bath. Sometimes I read, books, webtoons or webnovels. Sometimes I watch a show, and other times I just pop in some headphones and just enjoy blocking out the sounds around me. The experience exponentially improves when I have candles and bath salts/bombs.

If you feel “burnout” setting in, if you feel demoralized and exhausted, it is best, for the sake of everyone, to withdraw and restore yourself.
Dalai Lama

Life

Quiet and Coffee

September 22, 2022September 22, 2022 Deby Ciui (Chewy)Leave a comment

Breaking bad habits and changing tactics…

In early 2019 I moved to the second shift because that was the only way I was able to get permission to work 100% remote.

Then a month later the quarantine started and they moved everyone to work remote (I’m not salty about it or anything). But it worked for us, I was able to spend more time with my two girls and was able to work and not have the 1hr commute eat up my time. Now the girls are older, Anastasia is 4 and Emily is soon to be 3 and life just gets busier and busier. They’re no longer the little babies I could put in the play pen in order to get a few moments to myself, instead its a flurry of arts and craft, toys, mess, and fun.

Now my days run in this never ending cycle: wake up, wake the girls, cook, clean, eat, teach the preschool lesson of the day, work on my own school work, work until 10PM sign off and then I get an hour or two that I actually get to enjoy some time with Josh before we have to go to sleep and then wake up and repeat it all again.

It had gotten to the point where despite the utter exhaustion I’d feel at the end of the day I would purposely stay up late doing whatever, knowing that I would be even more exhausted in the morning, just to have some hours to myself. Sure I got a few hours to myself, the girls were asleep, Josh was asleep, but then come the next day I was just not the same. I would be cranky, tired, and overall unpleasant and then I’d have to go through all the things that needed to get done all over again. I realized that what I was doing was doing more harm than good and have tried to change this bad habit. I try to sleep earlier and instead of taking those hours at night I’ve been working on waking up before my husband leaves for work, while the girls are still asleep, and using that time instead.

I use this time to do things that are a benefit to me, reading my Bible and doing school work. I also go for a walk in the neighborhood and take some quiet me-time while getting some fresh air or even spending some time gardening. I am very new at, but it is very rewarding when successful.

But lets not forget, one of the best things about waking up before the girls are awake, is being able to take a seat in a quiet house and enjoy savoring a cup of coffee. I never understood why my mom would just “want some quiet” when I was younger or why I’d find a cup of forgotten coffee in the microwave, but I do now.

It doesn’t matter where you’re from – or how you feel… There’s always peace in a strong cup of coffee.
Gabriel Bá

Photography

Coffee Lovers Anonymous

October 23, 2015October 23, 2015 Deby Ciui (Chewy)Leave a comment

Any coffee lovers out there?

What about coffee addicts?

Well, I’m not afraid to admit that I absolutely LOVE coffee. But because of all the caffeine I try not to drink too much of it. My hands shake enough as it is I don’t need caffeine to add to it. But I am such an oddball that Decaf just doesn’t sit right with me. I just don’t know. I mean I will drink decaf every once in a while but I just don’t like it as much as regular wonderful coffee.

I don’t know what it is about coffee that makes me like it so much. Sure there is different flavors and all but it is more than that. Some people like to drink hot cocoa, especially during the winter. When it starts to get cold out they call it Hot Cocoa weather. For me, it’s coffee, different seasons make me want different types of coffee.

You have the Peppermint lattes during the winter, cinnamon, or pumpkin spice in the fall, iced and frozen coffee during the summer. There’s always a time to have coffee.

But here’s the kicker right? You see I LOVE coffee… but I do NOT like Starbucks, in fact the only time I ever go to Starbucks is when I get a gift card or for my Free birthday drink. So where do I go?

It’s easy, I go to those little hole in the wall places that sometimes you don’t even know exist. You go to Starbucks and there is always someone new there, there’s really very little personalization there. But at my favorite coffee shop Crema Coffee, when I found it for the first time they were actually closing for the day, but when they saw me outside they opened the door and made me a drink anyways. And then because certain things going on and life getting in the way I didn’t have a chance to go there for almost an entire year. But get this, a year later I go back for the second time and the same person is there and they REMEMBER me. A YEAR LATER!!! How can you not like that kind of atmosphere? So I started going there as much as possible. When I had a horrible day at work I’d forfeit my lunch hour just to drive there get a drink and drive back. They say chocolate makes you happy, maybe coffee does the same. I go to coffee shops all the time and I am always looking for a new one to try out. If anyone knows of any great coffee shops please let me know, doesn’t matter what state it is in, I travel as much as I can anyways.

I also love the places that make the little designs in the coffee too. I want to apologize for the picture quality because it was taken with my phone but here’s some of the different coffee I have had this past year.