Week 1

It is the end of week one of my energy portion of the happiness project. I decided that the first week of every month is going to be about observing to really see my behavior and then the following 3 weeks will be about trying to modify things.

I'm happy to say I napped twice. I'm sorry to say that the naps were more necessary than I wished due to not having a single night of uninterrupted sleep during the week. Last night was the best night when I got to sleep from about 10:15pm-5am AND I napped from 12-1 in the afternoon today. I have energy tonight in a way I don't usually. Really, I need about 8 hours of sleep and even on one of the Shorty's good nights I end up about an hour short. I did really pay attention to how I felt and am more convinced than ever of the effect not enough sleep has on me = go to very dark, yucky emotional place when undercooked sleep-wise.

I haven't had a book to read this week, but I did put one down that I started and didn't like which was not what I would have done in the past. I have a request from the library to pick up and will also get a few books to take on vacation with me.

In terms of getting out of the house, Friday was staring me down like a wide open sink hole. I was exhausted but knew hanging around inside would just suck me down further so we piled in the car and went to NH to visit my mom. It was the perfect way to spend the day. It was even nice enough to walk outside - two wins!

Eating. Ah, eating. I can really see now how in the habit I am of grabbing crackers as a snack. I've worked at getting fruit out of the plastic grocery bags and keeping the refrigerator somewhat organized so things are reachable. I also bought Greek style yogurt which is loaded with protein and will hopefully keep me full a little longer. I've also found some possible solutions to the dinner/tantrum dilemma and at the top of the list is to leave the little bugger at daycare longer so I can get dinner prepared without someone scream crying at my feet. I still ate sugary things, but less so and definitely felt better. There's work to be done on the water consumption but it was better this week.

For exercise, I was able to walk outside several days with the kiddo and went to the gym on Tuesday morning. Thursday night I was so tired that I didn't go to yoga (was also feeling horrible from getting my period - more on that in a bit), but did do some small home practice during the week. The thought of nicer weather makes me happy. Getting in a half hour walk is enough for me. I'm not training for anything or even holding onto aspirations of being über fit at this point.

Act like I have more energy...that's a tough one. I remember my mom saying to me once "well, Sarah, one always knows where they stand with you." I'm sure that wasn't meant in an entirely nice way, but it is true. I have a hard time faking an emotion I don't feel. I did attempt cheer a few times when there was wailing in the home, but a few times I gave in and allowed my frustration to show. In general I'm trying to turn up the positive talk to silence the negativity that starts to shout when I am overtired.

One of my commandments is to identify a problem as you have a better chance of finding a solution. After having the Shorty I got an IUD. It seemed like the perfect thing. My intention was to leave it in until I wanted to get pregnant again, or not, but either way I was covered for up to 10 years. Score. Except, it has made my periods unbearable emotionally and physically. So, after suffering through this week, I realized I didn't need to keep suffering and I could just get the sucker removed. Scheduled for March 22. Done.

Another problem I identified is the child's poor sleep and the relation to frequent bouts with middle of the night starvation We eat a pretty low fat diet in this house and so does the child. So, I decided to see about incorporating some more fat into her diet, particularly at night to try and keep her little tummy a little fuller overnight. It is hard to come up with non-sugary fat heavy treats, but butter on the bread, salmon with lemon dill sauce and chocolate pudding were all added in this weekend and she slept better than she has all week.

The bed was made most days, but not every one. I did do better with doing tasks that take less than a minute - putting clothes away at night, taking the recycling out on my way to pick up, etc.

All in all it was an interesting week. On to week two.