Why is January always so crappy? I wish I knew. Actually, this January was slightly better than January was last year. Last year the weather was much colder and Little Dude had a broken foot. At least this year the temperatures were closer to normal winter weather, though we've had very little snow and way too many days of nasty, hazy inversion. If I'm going to live in a state with winter, I'd like some decent winter weather.
About two weeks ago P. Bibby got sick with a fever and a cough. I knew a virus was going around and thought that she'd be sick for a few days and then get better. She had a fever Monday and was still sick on Tuesday. Then, on Wednesday when I got home from work she looked much worse, rather than much better like I had hoped. I took her temperature and watched the thermometer climb up to nearly 104! I was able to get her in to see the after-hours doctor and was actually relieved when he looked in her ears and diagnosed them as both infected. In my mind I had been picturing hospitalization and pneumonia or other flu complications. I took the next day off from work and we rested and hung out, and by Saturday of that week she was already doing a lot better. Thankfully antibiotics worked well for clearing up her ears and getting her health back on track quickly. I got a bit sick with a runny nose and sore throat after that and Little Dude had a bit of yucky nose too, but we mostly came through relatively unscathed.
I had the kids for the Monday holiday and we decided to go out for bowling and ice cream. It was a lot of fun even though we are all terrible at bowling. Even with the bumpers up I still managed to lose both times. P. Bibby beat us all; I think that was due to her use of the special ball ramp. Maybe I should try it next time.
Work has been busy and even a bit stressful. It's the beginning of the year and so things are changing. I also had one of my students quit because she graduated, and I miss her because she was a hard worker and had been in the job for three years so she was very reliable. I have another student who is much newer and still learning how to do things, and I'm still learning how to do things, so I'm feeling a bit discombobulated. I've also been asked to take on a few new projects and responsibilities, which is the sort of thing that is simultaneously flattering and stressful.
School started up again a week ago and I'm already a bit scared about my workload. Last semester I only took one class and it turned out to be a fairly easy one. This semester I have two classes and they both have a lot of readings and other assignments. I'm hoping that once I get back in the groove of school and feel more settled into the class routine I will feel less scared and more able to get stuff done. Hopefully I won't just die of school-related stress.
With the new year I have also been reading a few things about change, habits, and goal-setting. I know there are plenty of things I could do to improve my mental and physical health. Change is so hard! I signed up for the employee wellness program but don't think I'm going to make my points goal this time (it goes in two-month increments). For a while my goal has been to exercise at least 3 times a week, but too often it ends up just being once a week. This week is pretty typical. Monday night I rode the exercise bike after the kids went to bed. I also got to bed at a decent time. Tuesday, however, I felt terrible because I woke up at 5 AM with bad cramps. Then, I was going to go to bed early but my friend that hasn't spoken to me for over a month started chatting with me on Facebook (I know--I should have gone to bed anyways). Wednesday I didn't exercise because I spent too much time watching recorded video lectures while ironing. Thursday night I was doing more homework and thought I'd get up early on Friday morning to exercise instead because the kids weren't here. Unfortunately, I woke up with a headache at 1 AM and didn't sleep well for the rest of the night even after getting up to take pain medicine. Sigh. Sadly, this is a typical week.
But--the bright side. A few months ago I wasn't exercising at all or even trying to exercise. At least I'm slowly working my way up to doing it. When I do ride the exercise bike, I really love the way it makes me feel and even though I'm not actually doing it as much as I'd like, I've started looking forward to exercising. I also set a goal to read a bit in the Book of Mormon every night and I have been doing it consistently for two months now. That was a good goal to set because I can still do it even if I go to bed late and I just have to read something (I didn't set a specific chapter or time amount, but I would like to finish before my birthday in a few months).
To sum up--January was moderately crappy but really could have been worse. I always like February and hope it will be fun. At least it is shorter. My goal is to get to bed on time more often and to exercise at least two days a week. We'll see how things go.
source : http://pinterest.com, http://google.com, http://foxyj.blogspot.com
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