Finding Balance #6 - Taking Care of Me

If you haven't noticed lately I've been out of sorts. First it started with my sleep that led to brain chemicals then med changes and irrability and now we are into medicine that is impacting my day to day anxiety and more brain chemicals and voila' its a big ole mess! Okay deep breath! I can do this right? I've been through worse, but this has been a rough bought for a few reasons 1) I wasn't expecting it 2) there was no trigger to start this and 3) it happened at the most unopportuned time (but when does anything happen on the right time!)

Here are some things I've noticed since this bout of depression and increased anxiety has hit me:

1. My brain either wants to eat or doesn't want to eat ... which is impacting my tummy
2. I've allowed myself to eat what I want some days "just to make me feel better"
3. I haven't exercised much due to the medicine restrictions and falling asleep standing up on a treadmill or in the pool just didn't seem safe

So what have I been doing? - Shocker alert, I've been taking care of me for the last week and I can tell you I feel tons better. I know I'm feeling better when 1) I get up and clean 2) I baked, cooked, and planned for the week and 3) I'm able to read and enjoy it. So this past week I soked in both the Divergent and Insurgent books. Phenomenal - have to wait to book 3 till next September, but voila' 2 books off the 31 books to read list. I also took some time and with the help of the hubby we hung curtains, put together a book case, unloaded 6 huge tubs that have been stored since TN, and put some of my cute stuff on the walls this weekend. We also through out a ton of stuff in the process because lets face it - we hoard stuff both my husband and I and I have to say after this move, we have gotten rid of a ton of stuff :-) It is so nice to know we are only keeping things that mean something to us.

I also checked in to see how my health was doing with my cholesterol. I decided to get put on cholesterol meds at my last doctor's appt due to genetics, but I agreed to it only if I was on a low dose because I also wanted to keep doing the work on my own. I'm very proud to say that my cholesterol is in the normal zone! My LDL was 99 and my Tryglicerides were 111. My HDL which was below 40 a few months ago is not sitting at 50 which isn't optimal, but it has come a long way since 29 at the beginning of 2012! I know that it is a combination of eating well, exercise, and medicine, but I'm so happy we don't have to up my simvistatin and that I'm able to contribute to my overall health. It is definitely a plus in the battle of the bulge.

Taking care of me also means that I parted ways with Walden University and am stopping taking classes towards my Ed.D in Higher Education. I need a break. I need some time. I need to be rejuvinated and I wasn't getting that at all with Walden especially after this medicinal episode of not so much fun. I have enrolled at TCU to take some classes for fun and I'm really excited to explore, learn, and enjoy classes. There is no "real ending" and I'm hoping to take it all in and enjoy it. Now I just need to get into a community college and start to teach!

By switching colleges I've also been able to rejuvinate myself in student affairs. It is no secret that after leaving housing I was plum exhausted. I was not looking forward to work an the workload I had was not for me any longer. It hurt me in the long run, though I loved my students. Well after a 6 month hiatus of me time I got involved with Frog Camp this summer and it was awesome. From meeting some awesome people that run Frog Camp I was recruited to help with the Freshman Connections program and I got to go to a meeting with that today. I'm so pumped to be a mentor! Overall I think this is the first summer in over 5 years that I haven't dreaded school starting because with housing your worn out before school starts! So this year I'm happily waiting for school to start ON MY BIRTHDAY! I'm going to sit back and enjoy it...because this is why I do what I do!