Taking myself off the back burner now...

I have to admit. I haven't been taking as good care of myself as I had once originally hoped for at the beginning of the year. My efforts have slipped. Especially this month. I have been stressed out to the max these past couple of weeks. My oldest son has been driving me through Crazy Town on a regular basis. You know, Crazy Town? Where he is the mayor? It's not a pretty place to visit. And let's not forget to add an honorable mention here. My middle son was needing a medication change and those are always fun. Switching up medications over a weekend is like as much fun as pulling out your own teeth.

Oh! I can't forget that a very important occasion needed to be observed. My four year old boy had a birthday! He is now my FIVE year old boy. That was a party that--alike his brothers' birthday parties during this deployment--was thrown together at the last minute. I baked a quick cake and invited a small group of friends to McDonald's to share in the once in a life time event. I bought him a birthday gift. Wrapping it wasn't skipped on purpose, I honestly ran out of time and couldn't find the wrapping paper. Nevertheless, he turned another year older and had a great time blowing out his candles.

Also, I have just recently had a seriously scary financial crisis.  I don't plan to explain this one at this time but please know it has been...uh...resolved? Pretty much. So again let me repeat: The situation has been taken care of. We are going to be fine. At the time that this crap happened though, I was really freaked out. Anxiety and stress and the whole nine yards. THANK GOD it's over with. Well sorta, but thank God I kept it together. I just had to remember where I kept the shovel so I could start digging us out when the poop started to fall. Jeeze, if anything could go wrong during this deployment, it has. Talk about a learning experience. I feel as if I have aged beyond my actual years. I will be so happy when this is all over with.

Oh yeah, and about this same time I also had a tooth ache. Not just any toothache. I'm talking a tooth ACHE! It was of incredible magnitude. It came at the most perfect moment, wouldn't you say? Here I am up to my eyeballs in financial poop and new meds and stubborn kids when all of a sudden, BAM! The left side of my face was stricken with such a pain that I fantasized breaking out my lower jaw just to find relief. I had to swing over to my local dentist...((shudder)) to get some pain killers and antibiotics. The pain is no longer there but it still twinges a bit when I chew on the left side. I am just going to have to bite the bullet (so to speak) and go to the dentist to have this taken care of properly. It's going to involve drills and the reclining chair of doom so I'm not in too much a hurry to get it done. I hate dentists.
Let's not forget that somewhere in all this I had to make breakfasts, and dinners and wash loads of laundry and get the dishes done. Life doesn't stop even though sometimes you would give anything to have the remote control in your hands. Just one more hour of sleep would be outstanding sometimes, you know?

Needless to say, it's been a crazy month and like I have said before, I haven't been taking care of myself like I had once intended to do. I have been distracted. I haven't been meditating too much and I need to, and I know it. I haven't been keeping up with my yoga so much and I need to, and I know it. I have been getting a workout in the mornings to ready myself for the Susan G. Komen Race For The Cure coming up in May but it hasn't stopped the four pounds I have put on. Those lovely little pounds have stress-eating written all over them.
It's time to get myself back on track. Time to meditate more. I have been including a prayer everyday because that's what I have decided to do for this season of Lent, but it's time to get back to doing what's good for my spirit and my soul and sooth my anxiety and stress.
I sat for 15 minuets today and meditated. Yes, that's all I did. But hey something is better than nothing, right? I plan to hit the hay early tonight because I didn't get a lot of sleep last night and neither did my oldest son who also suffers from insomnia. So guess who is a grouchy brat today? Me! That's who. My oldest boy is quite the grumbling old meanie too. We could all use a good night's sleep. I think meditating again before I lay my head down tonight may help my restless brain.
Periodically making time for one's sanity and serenity, even if it's something as simple as quiet meditation, is still productivity. This month so far has been full of busyness and stress. This is Jayme making a vow to slow down now for her own good.
It may not be a bad idea if somebody could check in on me though just to be sure I'm following through for myself. I have a tendency to put myself off.
Here is to a better 12 more days of March. Good luck to us all.