Mental Health

I am a big believer in the tenet that if your mind is not well, you are not well. Over the past few weeks I have been stressing. It's just life, and I realize this. It's my first rejection from film school, it's not knowing about the others schools, it's the realization that I am indeed moving to Los Angeles, in just a few months. It's work which is getting busier and exponentially more stressful - kids with drugs, pregnancy scares, black eyes, claims of harassment and bullying, kids running away, parents pulling kids out to home school them, etc. Add in the fact that I was sick for over a month and just now finally feel better and you've got the makings of a good, old-fashioned breakdown. Oh, and add in the fact that I can't seem to lose any weight and even with spinning 3 days a week and weight classes, nothing seemed to work. Not Weight Watchers, not anything.

So I took today off. I was feeling exhausted and beat down. I have been going to bed by 9pm most nights, physically exhausted after 10 and 12-hour workdays. Report cards were done Wednesday, we start AIMS prep with the kids Monday, golf is going well, so I knew today was the day. Luckily my trusty sub accepted the job and I got to stay home (of course it took me 2 hours after school yesterday to prepare for my day off but that's beside the point).

And I feel better. I feel as if my mind has cleared some. I got up and cleaned out my inbox, cleaned some of the house, emptied the dishwasher, walked 4 miles with my VHS friends, did laundry, rested, watched 15 minutes of a really dumb reality TV show, downloaded Sense and Sensibility on audio book, and began to write.

I am working on Molly's story, for those of you following the (slow) process of my novel's creation. And I feel like I've been at a standstill for a while with her but I think I'm getting through it which is awesome. For those of you who want something to read, let me know and maybe it'll provide me with the peer pressure I need to get going and finish it already!!!

This will be another busy week, I am not naive. And I know one day off won't take away all the stress in my life. But I feel better, happy, and I am glad for that. We have conferences next Wed., Thurs., and Friday so those will be very long days (12 hours for a few). And then we're going to drive to Texas to spend Easter and a week with Jamee and her family which I am so excited about. I know it will be just what I need to relax and enjoy life for a while.

Some other things I figured out today:
- I think I need to quit the YMCA. I've loved going there, and loved spin but my back has been bothering me a lot lately and I know I need to focus on other types of activity. So I am going to save my shekels (the Y's not cheap) and use my walking tapes and try to get to yoga class at the yoga studio once in a while. I wish there were more aerobic classes at the Y, I could take but they are mostly during the day when I'm at school. So we'll see what happens.
- I have changed my eating habits and I am thankful for that. While I ate mini eggs and jelly beans this week, and enjoyed pizza last night, I'm also eating fruit and vegetables and maintaining my weight (but not losing, we'll focus on the positive for today I guess).
- There are free audio books on iTunes if you go to iTunes University and don't mind that it's not a celebrity reader.
- I miss the people at my job when I'm not there, but not really the job.
- Diet Coke gives me headaches. I've been drinking a lot of it lately (it was really cheap a month ago and Ang and I stocked up) and I finally realized today that that's the cause. I've been working on it for a while. So no more Diet Coke, at least not in vast quantities, and not for a while.
- I miss having people over to my house so I am going to fix that tomorrow by having 3 girls for work over for dinner!
-That I need to forget about the bill and turn the AC on when it gets to be 92 degrees outside.
- That I miss golfing. Coaching has reminded me of the sport I used to love to play. The kids were great Wednesday, we had only 24 come back (I had to kick several off the team that afternoon at school for grade and behavior issues - and yes, there were tears, and yes, they came from boys). We sent 10 out to play the course and they came back with awesome scores. And we kept the 14 in and did driving range, chipping, and putting practice and they did so great. We had one girl's 7 year old brother join us too and we just had fun. We're off for 3 weeks (conferences and spring break) but I really can't wait for our next outing!!!

So this turned into a really long blog, thanks for listening:-)