Easing back in

[Teacher Terry]

Thankfully even when depressed I can get things done but I have lots of empathy for those that can’t.

[merince]

Chicken Lady, I've found that dishes are quite often an almost impossible task for me, too. What I usually do is instead of thinking "do the dishes", I'll think "just do the cups" or just "do the silverware." This helps me get going.

[JaneV2.0]

Chicken Lady, I've found that dishes are quite often an almost impossible task for me, too. What I usually do is instead of thinking "do the dishes", I'll think "just do the cups" or just "do the silverware." This helps me get going.

I have a five minutes or five items bogey. Wash five dishes, spend five minutes hacking away at the yard, and so on.

[Chicken lady]

Slept late this morning. I wrote a long post about how the plan was going and it disappeared. I am going to try again. End of week 1 of the 8 week plan:

work - good. On time every day, classroom coming together, blood pressure down, lesson plans partly done for next week. Need to do some work in my studio to gather some things for my classroom. Need to turn in payroll paperwork by the 18th.one student who may pose difficulty, but his mom seems cooperative.

class - forgot tools this week (at school) and just took notes. didn’t mind too much because I was tired, but now have extra “homework”. I can skip a project if I decide to.

keep trying to make progress on the house/barn/yard - house is a mess. Papers and materials all over surfaces including the floor. Many items left at point of last use. Dirty dishes in sink, clean dishes in dishwasher. Kept up with doing laundry, but it is all clean in baskets. Dd’s discards are still piled on the guest bed. The compost is full and the recycling needs to go to the drop.

barn is a little messy and stalls need work again, but not bad. Low on feed but got in hay this week. Lost another chicken to a predator.

nothing attempted on the yard this week - it has been hot and humid.

Volunteer at the food bank 3 weeks a month (skipping the Monday my parents visit, the September Monday I have a doctor’s appointment, and maybe one more Monday in October) - food bank was closed. 2 weeks in September.

2 concerts - still on schedule

a visit with my parents - still on schedule. Dh has added a visit from his parents in September which raises the pressure to clean the guest room and ruins a weekend.

pottery - haven’t found/made time for any personal work this week.

applesauce - still too early, but losing a weekend to dh parents complicates this.

in addition to this I am attempting to add a structured exercise routine in which I do yoga at home with dh two mornings a week and swim after school two nights a week. The nights I swim, I will not make dinner. - did yoga once. It was good. Dh wants to make it 3 mornings a week. Haven’t started swimming yet. Dinners have been fine.

It is raining today and Dh wants to drive up to a nearby town and get new stools for the kitchen. Once I get in a car and leave home with dh, I never know how the day will unfold, but the time I am home I need to try to return the house to ground zero.

[Chicken lady]

So, it was a very rough weekend due to the weather, but dh got donuts and I soothed myself with sugar and caffeine from an extra half pot of coffee.

we got stools, the addition space has been cleaned up and vacuumed (but we cooked dinner together and there are dishes that did not fit in the dishwasher - which is running) I put away the clean laundry and washed another load which is in the dryer.

we also watched a movie and I finished a book.

tomorrow:
regular morning routine with added yoga
food bank
feed store
groceries?
ditch (drainage has become the most important barn/yard issue)
Shower (which I will definitely need after the ditch)
prep for Tuesday class
work on my pottery
dinner?
put laundry away?
catch up with dishes?

[Chicken lady]

Yesterday I broke.

3 days with no sunlight.

I did did not get groceries. I made progress on the ditch, but it isn’t done. I was tired and discouraged, and my elbow hurt, so I quit and took a shower. And then I just couldn’t seem to get started on anything.

dh didn’t get home for dinner until 8, even though he called me three times to say he was leaving “...ok, actually I didn’t manage to leave, but i’m leaving now...” (it takes him 35-45 minutes to get home)

by the time he got home, I was in tears.

but today is another day. And I get to spend time with my class.

[Teacher Terry]

Have you tried one of those sun lamps? I have heard that they help with SAD.

[Chicken lady]

I haven’t tried the official, expensive light box. I do have pretty good lighting, which actually helps somewhat, if I remember to turn it on. One of the problems with depression is trying to use a broken tool to fix itself.

today is a very full morning routine and a full school day and I don’t know about dinner.

[Chicken lady]

Yesterday was very full. I’m still working on the “ extra” sryff at work. Having to start the year without having a chance to get my classroom set up has been difficult.

i ended up making dinner, but dropped the ball on some of the homework for my class (which is today)
dishes are better, but not caught up, laundry is falling behind. So are stalls.

Picked a bunch of giant squash for the chickens yesterday and found two rotten cantaloupes in the garden. I’m trying to remind myself that this is simply a biological fact and not a personal moral failing.

my body is sore in lots of new places from yoga and I am planning to swim after school today. I went to bed half an hour earlier last night. Dh is making dinner tonight. There was some sun yesterday afternoon.

today -
regular morning routine (i’d Like to squeeze in some progress, but I am tired and moving slowly) plus pack swim bag.
go to class
teach class
swim
prep for classes tomorrow
evening chores.

hopefully some dishes/laundry at some point.

[beckyliz]

Chicken lady - I just want to applaud you on all that you do accomplish. I realize the list is long, but you make a lot of progress chipping away.