Mostly Productive

Things have been going well. I'm all set to get my new floors installed the week of May 23rd. It does require some juggling of the animals to make sure the dogs won't be in their way, but it's all planned out and super easy!

Mornings haven't been perfect, but they've been much easier than ever. I've been to work on time every day and haven't been stressed out at all. It's been a little slow at work lately, so that's nice. Today was busier and I was feeling pretty tired, but I got through it, thankfully due to my lunch break.

Priorities

The last week and half has been hectic, dealing with the new pups and everything that goes along with that. During that time, I stopped putting myself first and went back to old habits - eating crappy food, not sleeping enough, not taking the time to put on makeup, etc.

So, I'm trying to find a balance. How do I deal with taking care of others but still make sure to take care of myself and the things I need to do, like go grocery shopping and doing my laundry?

Losing Momentum

This week I feel like I'm starting to lose ground, that I'm walking in stilettos on a cobblestone road. I'm still upright, but things are shaky.

I haven't been as productive as I was last week. Maybe I wore myself out? I've still been pretty good at getting home and taking the dogs for a walk, but I've spent a little more time in front of the TV than I'd like, and I haven't touched the bathroom project again.

There was one day where I could not get going. I didn't follow any of my back-up plans - reading my letter, or jumping in the shower and then deciding what to do with my day. Instead, I hit snooze and ignored life.

I feel like I had a month of sobriety and then I just took a drink; I'm back to square one.

Living Alone

It's been years since I've had my house all to myself. After my divorce, I was alone for a while but then brought on a roommate who mostly kept to his bedroom. He ended up moving out of state and then a bit later my then-boyfriend moved in. While we were together, we got a third roommate, who then left after graduating college. When we broke up, he still needed a place to live, so he stayed on but with his own bedroom. A year or so ago, a friend of ours needed a new place to stay, so he rented one of the bedrooms. This past fall, though, I asked him to move out so that my girlfriend could move in.

So, if you couldn't follow all of that back and forth, suffice it to say I haven't lived alone for more than a year, and it wasn't all in one continuous stretch.

Morning Challenges

I've started getting a routine down now that I'm home. I work until around 5pm and then on my way home I'll stop off if I need anything from the store. Once I'm home, I change out of my work clothes and take the dogs for a walk. We've been exploring different sections of a trail near the home. Once our walk is over, I make myself something for dinner and watch one show off the DVR. I try to keep active for the rest of the evening, cleaning the house, doing projects or whatever. Then I'll feed the animals and head up to bed, do a few crosswords and maybe read a little before heading to bed.

My ideal morning routine would be to get up, walk the dogs, feed the animals, shower and then get to work, however that's not how it's been going. Instead, I just keep hitting that snooze button until I end up having to rush to shower, dress, put on makeup, get the pets fed and get to work on time.