So last week was probably one of the most exhausting weeks of my life. I started my new job on Tuesday. I work as a Para (which is code for Special Ed Aide) for an autistic 6th grade boy. He is awesome. He has his quirks, but so far we get along, and he isn't any harder for me to manage than any of my own kids. I'm at school with him every day from 10:45 to 2:45, which leaves me enough time to exercise, get ready, maybe run a quick errand and still be home before Brayden gets home from school. It's the PERFECT arrangement. But it exhausts me. I haven't been this "scheduled" in years... like since I left Valley Title 16 years ago? Even going to school in the spring was less commitment than this. But I really love it, and I'm sure I will adjust. I've been falling into bed each night, and dragging my sorry butt out of bed each morning. To my credit, I did work out every day last week before going to work, which I was proud of. Thank goodness for Jillian Michaels... I've been doing her 30 day shred, and it's a great workout in 25 minutes or less. Perfect for days when you don't have a lot of time to exercise!
But here I sit on a Sunday night, no... Monday morning at 1:30 a.m. I haven't slept yet tonight... and I don't even feel that tired at the moment... and I blame it all on yesterday. The Saturday from H3LL. Taylor had a cross country meet in the morning... which I gracefully bowed out of going to watch so I could clean my house before 20+ women showed up for a baby shower at noon. I managed to pull it all off, and it wouldn't have been that bad, if we hadn't had an Elders Quorum dinner that same night. And since Elder Neil L. Anderson of the 12 was in town, Eric got invited to a special meeting with him from 1-5 on Saturday afternoon. I was excited that Eric got this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but not so excited that all the EQ social prep work fell into my lap. I managed to pawn some of it off to friends, but by the time the dinner came, I was on the verge of a complete breakdown. I made it through the dinner without any snarky remarks (to which I am proud of myself), came home, let the kids put themselves to bed, and slept for 10 straight hours. After church, I was still super tired, so I laid down for a quick Sunday afternoon nap. Well, you know how that goes... not so quick, not so restful, and you don't feel that much better when you wake up. I begged Eric to make dinner, so I could clean up the kitchen... I knew I didn't have the energy to do both... we watched a video with the kids, watched another movie while I attempted (and failed) to fold laundry, then went to bed. And then the insomnia began.... I laid in bed and read blogs on my phone, thinking that it would help me fall asleep, but no... that trick didn't work tonight. So I finally decided to get up and take a Melatonin... why didn't I do this 2 hours ago? And now, I'm doing a quick blog update while I wait for it to work it's magic. Of course, this blog post is turning into more of a rant than anything, but they say when you have insomnia, the last thing you should do is lay in bed and stare at the ceiling. I wonder if any of the experts who write these articles have really ever had real insomnia.....
I'm trying really hard not to panic about this... since I actually have a job to go to in the morning. I know panicking will not help me get what little sleep I can salvage for the night at this point. I just know how badly I will feel tomorrow on no sleep. I know how much Diet Coke it's going to take to get me through the day tomorrow. Wait... not tomorrow... today. I promise my next blog post will be more positive and include at least one picture... I haven't given up photography completely... quite the contrary... just haven't had time to edit photos I've been taking at swimming, cross country, etc. And I promise it won't take me 3 weeks to blog again... but it's time to hit the pillow again for another attempt at sleep. Heaven knows I really need it...........................
