Her Favorite Color is Chrome

This week I worked on polishing the chrome on my car. One thing I've realized about newer model cars is that most of the chrome has been replaced with plastic so I had to search for some chrome. The only place I found it was the rims of my tires. 

 I used Mother's California Gold All Chrome Polish and some shop towels. We all know the drill now, spray and polish. I had a helper this week that made my car detailing a co-occupation. 

Before

After

The rims turned out great! As with most of the projects I've done, the rims weren't terribly dirty so it was an easy job that will stay a small time investment if I'm consistent with completing this project on occasion. 

I'm happy with the fact that I found some new projects to work on for my car the last two weeks as I was running out of ideas and getting bored with the list I had made at the outset of this assignment. I have one more idea for the last blog that I'm excited to do. I've definitely noticed ebbs and flows with my motivation to spend extra time on taking care of the cleanliness of my vehicle based on my kid's responsibility in helping to keep it clean, the weeks I've had especially intense work loads for school, or a lack of energy due to the flu hitting our house. I can tell that I've established great habits for keeping my car cleaned out and have appreciated comments made about how clean it is over the last few months. I know I won't repeat every task I have tried on the blog but have found many that are worth the time investment for the result, that I will continue to do. Overall I'm content with the new occupation I chose and feel like it has been a good fit for the amount of time I had hoped to spend and I've derived a lot of satisfaction from my participation. 

De-Grease Lightning

This week I got re-engaged in my occupation and did a task that I've been looking forward to. I cleaned my engine compartment with Zep: Heavy-Duty Citrus Degreaser, which can be purchased at any home improvement store. 

 I diluted the degreasing agent to 1/2 solution and 1/2 water in a spray bottle and coated everything in the engine compartment except the battery terminals. My son and father-in-law helped me clean all the dust and grease from the surfaces. 

Before 

During

After 

While the engine compartment wasn't caked in grease or dust before hand I like how clean it is now and it makes it feel like my car is brand new. This was a quick project that, if I do consistently, will stay a manageable task. 

"Time use is sometimes seen as a reflection of occupational balance, in terms of a balance between occupational categories such as work, rest and play measured in time" (Eklund, M. et al., 2010). I think the last time I can say I truly had occupational balance was when I was in high school. I worked hard at getting good grades and was able to accomplish that. In addition to my school work I had a close relationship with my family, spent quality time with my friends, and participated in sports and clubs at school that I enjoyed. If there was one area I could have worked on to be more balanced it would have been prioritizing sleep. Throughout that period of my life I felt like I had enough time to accomplish all the things I needed and wanted to do. 

I have not been doing well with occupational balance during grad school. I find that I have weeks that I do a great job at a few aspects of my life and realize the areas I slipped in. When I try to prioritize the areas that have been neglected, items that I was doing great with begin to get left undone. I found that I need to have non-negotiable tasks that get done every week and be reasonable about how often I do "extra" right now. I have found that it's important to be consistent and make lists so I am reminded what I have chosen to give my attention to for the day, week, and month. Preparation whether that's food, calendars, homework schedules or laundry helps me to stay out of situations that take longer or need to be fixed. Participation in my new occupation has fit into this concept as I have needed to schedule times and prepare with my father in law to work on some of the detailing projects I have done. 

Mona Eklund , Lena‐Karin Erlandsson & Christel Leufstadius (2010) Time use in relation to valued and satisfying occupations among people with persistent mental illness: Exploring occupational balance, Journal of Occupational Science, 17:4, 231-238, DOI: 10.1080/14427591.2010.9686700