Days of the Week
On last week’s Happier podcast, Gretchen and Elizabeth talked about finding a “delight” for each day. In other words, identifying something little that you always enjoy on a Monday, a Tuesday, etc. I love this idea, but had a little trouble applying it to my own week. There are a couple things that always happen, but there are also a lot of variables. Does my daughter have school? Am I doing a long run? Is there a high school football game, or concert? So this list won’t apply to every week, but here are my “delights” for each day this week: Monday– I’ll go to the gym before work. Full disclosure- this is NOT a delight. I would much rather run, but I go to the gym to lift weights because I know I have to. The delight is, on gym days I go to Starbucks before work. I sit there with my Earl Grey tea, happily reading blogs for a while. This is my reward for getting myself to the gym! Tuesday- My daughter has no school! This means I can sleep a little later, woohoo. Wednesday- This is an “always” delight- I don’t work on Wednesdays. Last Wednesday I had the dentist, the week before I had a doctor’s appointment, and the week before that I had to have blood drawn. This Wednesday I have NOTHING! How will I spend my day? The possibilities are (almost) endless! Thursday- Typically my least favorite day of the week. This Thursday, there’s a high school football game. It’s our last game of the regular season, and so far we’re undefeated. I’m looking forward to it. Friday- Another “always.” We have takeout for dinner on Fridays! After the week of dinner battles, this is a tremendous relief. Saturday- My favorite day of the week! I work, but only from 9-1. On the way home from work, I stop at Starbucks- I get my daughter some sort of fancy drink and I get myself an Earl Grey tea. When I get home I sip my tea while reading Modern Mrs. Darcy. I don’t read her posts during the week- I save them all up for Saturdays after work. This is a routine that rarely varies… EXCEPT FOR THIS SATURDAY! Instead of going to work I’ll be running a race! It’s a trail race in a park about an hour away from me. Because of an annoying injury over the summer, I’m not as prepared for this race as I would like, but it’s a timed event- you run a 4.3 mile loop as many times as you can/want for 12 hours. I’ll just run as many loops as I’m able to and call it a day. It’s not exactly how I wanted to run this race, but I’m still looking forward to it. Sunday- This Sunday I’ll be sleeping in, for sure. I expect to be sore and tired after my race, so this will feel extra good. I think the occasion will also call for waffles. Obviously! Do you have any specific “delights” for certain days of the week? Top photo by Toa Heftiba on Unsplash
Weekly Rundown- No-Sleep October
OOF. This was a rough week, due to some epic sleep issues. But it was also the start of NABLOPOMO! And of course there were still workouts. Thanks as always to Kim and Deborah for hosting the Weekly Rundown. Here are the gritty details… Monday Hmm. I didn’t sleep great on Sunday night, due to a weird, achy right hip. It doesn’t bother me at any other time, but I cannot find a comfortable position for sleeping. Well, I’m sure it will go away soon. (Ahem.) Anyway, I started the day with a 3 mile run… …followed by this MadFit standing core workout.. Tuesday Another poor night of sleep. I’m wakeful because of my hip, which is then leading to anxious thoughts (the middle of the night is not a great time to be awake ruminating!) Knowing that I had a big workout the next day, I kept this day simple. I did my favorite core workout, Caroline Girvan’s deadbugs,, followed by my hip stability exercises. After work I got a massage! I should sleep GREAT tonight! Wednesday Hahahahaha. I’m not kidding when I say I think I got about one hour of sleep. My hip was terrible! But the minute I got out of bed, it was fine. Today was my last planned long run before my race next weekend, and I decided to go ahead with it. 15 mile trail run!!! Against all odds, this run actually went really well. The weather was nice and I felt strong for the most part. Who needs sleep, anyway? Just kidding- I DO. I don’t usually do this, but before I went to bed I took two Advils. I just HAD TO SLEEP. Had to. Thursday Hooray! I slept! 7 and 1/2 hours straight- I did get up to use the bathroom once, but fell right back asleep. Phew. I felt so, so, so much better. 2 mile run… I followed this run with a Madfit Standing Arms and Abs workout. At night, Halloween! I stayed home to give out candy to the few trick-or-treaters who came by, and my daughter went to a party. I had to pick her up later than I would have liked, but oh well. It’s a holiday. Friday In the absence of my magic Advil, I had another rough night (can I take Advil every night? No? Darn.) My sleeping injury, the incredible aching hip, seems to be cured, but I still couldn’t sleep. In the morning when I got up I was so exhausted I felt dizzy. It was supposed to be a gym day, but I finally listened to that nagging voice telling me “this is not a good idea.” Instead I stayed home and did Caroline Girvan’s deadbug workout, hip stability exercises, and some squats with lighter dumbbells. Nothing TOO strenuous, but just enough to keep my body from falling apart. At night there was a high school football game. Did I want to go? ABSOLUTELY NOT. But I also didn’t want to miss it. I took a nap after work and got to the game in time for halftime, which, if your kid is in the band, is obviously the most important part. I’m so glad I went. Our team won, and we’re now one game away from having a perfect season. So exciting! Saturday I don’t even want to talk about sleep anymore. I got in a 4 mile run before work… …and after work I had a lovely nap. I had to rest up for the Baylor game at night, and it’s a good thing I did- we FINALLY beat TCU!!! Baylor is on a three-game winning streak now and looking great. Sunday On tap for today: SLEEPING IN. We turn the clocks back, OH YES, and nothing can stop me from sleeping late. Well, except for my hip, anxious thoughts, and the cats. Other than THAT, nothing can stop me. I’ll also be watching the NYC Marathon (go Darlene!) Good thing we turn the clocks back, because I can sleep till “feels like” 9:00 and still see the beginning of the race. How was your week? Do you have trouble sleeping? Any suggestions for a natural sleep aid?
Highs and Lows
Oh hi! For day 2 of NaBloPoMo I have a few highs and lows of the week. Let’s start with a couple (minor) lows so I can end on a high note. LOW #1: I had a terrible week of sleep. Part of it was anxiety about the… er… “E” word, part was anxiety about another issue (coming up below) and part of it was due to a bizarre sleeping “injury”, which I’ll describe in greater detail in tomorrow’s Weekly Rundown. Not sleeping well is NOT fun. LOW #2: Well, Halloween was a little bit of a bummer. We hardly got any trick-or-treaters! Every year we have less and less. It makes me a little sad, and we have WAY too much candy left over. Sigh. Okay, but let’s talk about the highs, because those outweigh the lows by far. HIGH #1: All-state audition results are out! For kids who are total band nerds, this is a big deal. All-state music comes out in June; my daughter practiced it every single day, worked on it with her teacher, ran through mock auditions with me; then, in September everyone auditions; the auditions are recorded and sent to a central location to be judged. Results always come out November 1st, and I think this was one of the reasons I had trouble sleeping. My daughter works so hard- it would be heartbreaking for her not to make it. I know it’s good for them to fail sometimes, I know it builds character. But I’m very glad to report that there will be no character-building this year- my daughter made the all-state band! PHEW. (Fun fact- this also means I get my annual mini-break to Tampa in January, as I’ll be going with her. I’m looking forward to it!) HIGH #2: In spite of my sleep issues, I had a great trail run on Wednesday. It was the last long run before my race on the 9th, and I guess I’m… ready? HIGH #3: I was also very tired tonight (are you sensing a theme here?) but rallied and went to the high school football game. I did take a nap after work and got to the game just in time for the halftime show. My high school years weren’t the happiest, but all the good memories I do have come from being in the band. I still get a thrill of excitement when I see the band lining up to go on the field. Did you have any important highs or lows this week?
NABLOPOMO!!! (And… an Ultimate Coffee Date)
For the FOURTH (gasp!) year in a row, I’m joining San and an intrepid group of bloggers for National Blog Posting Month- 30 posts in 30 days. LET’S DO THIS! This year November 1st coincides with the Ultimate Coffee Date, hosted by Coco and Deborah. Pour yourself a delicious holiday beverage and let’s chat about the month. Last year I had a theme for NaBloPoMo (which then became my theme for 2024)- “Every Day Counts.” The older I get, the more I’m aware that every single one of us has a finite number of days. I don’t want to throw or wish any of them away. We really don’t know what will happen tomorrow- all we have, truly, is this day, right now. Let’s make the most of it! This year I want to continue the theme. What makes each day special, and distinct from the others? A blog post every day is the perfect way to explore that question. But, isn’t it a lot of work? Well… yes, it is. It’s not just writing the blog posts, but reading and commenting on all the other posts by NaBloPoMo participants. This is a time consuming, but very valuable, part of NaBloPoMo for me. It’s all about connection with the community. Every November, I’ve given up reading books for the month in order to keep up the blogging schedule. (This is truly a bummer, and this year I’m going to try and read AT LEAST ONE BOOK in November.) So, the days will be full. Sometimes it’s hard to fit it all in, but in the end it’s rewarding. What if all we did was go to work, and didn’t work out, blog, read, or do any of our favorite hobbies? What if we didn’t have kids or pets? Think how much free time we’d have! But think how empty and sad our lives would be. Full days= a full life. In addition to NaBloPoMo, here are some things I’m looking forward to in November: Turning the FRICKIN CLOCKS BACK. I’m sure you’re looking forward to this as well, just so you don’t have to hear me talk about it anymore. Watching the NYC marathon on TV! Good luck Darlene! A trail race on November 9th. More about this coming up soon! Our high school football team is- hopefully- heading to the playoffs. We’ll have games every Friday night until we lose (or, win state!) My son will be home for a week at Thanksgiving!!! He goes to school in Texas, and it’s too far away for us to go visit him or for him to come home, other than holidays. August-Thanksgiving is our longest stretch without seeing him. What are you looking forward to this month?