Me, unplugged

Taking time for me is the toughest thing to do. I have work waiting, children to be cared for, a house needing to be scrubbed and a marriage to nurture. But me? It's the last thing on the list.

It's been nearly a month since I really posted on this site, a few prewritten posts not withstanding. While work was the primary reason, our project wrapped up a bit earlier than planned. But it wasn't until the work wound down that I saw the damage that had been done.

I was cranky - that I knew. But there was more.

I hadn't worked out in two months, between a bout of bronchitis and too many work hours late in the night. My house looked like a tornado blew through it. My blood sugars were through the roof from the chocolate I was mindlessly munching. Sleep came with difficulty, the result of too much stress and Diet Cokes.

By week two of the project, coupled with the realities of the family scheduling shift caused by my husband's new job (praise God!) and how my children were affected, I was on the verge of tears more than once.

And so I shut it off. I did the unthinkable. I took time for me.

I slept, even if it meant lying down at 8 o'clock with my kids to make it happen. I cooked some of my first regular meals in three years - and not something that came from the frozen food aisle or Papa Murphy's. And I unplugged.

My reader? Glanced at once or twice in the last month. Facebook? Accessed it only when I was managing it for work. Other blogs? Just said no. My photos? Still stuck on my camera.

I read books from the library. Took a bath and walks with my kids. Dug in the dirt a bit. And slowly, I've eased back into my world. Hopefully I'll spend a little more time there and a little less in the virtual world of work.

Thanks to all of you who waited for me!