How to Have One of THOSE Days

There are so many reasons why I have an hour or a day where I want to just check out.  I let the laundry wait even further than usual.  If we don't have easy food ready to go (and we haven't ordered in a while), I fall back to Thai or Indian delivery.  The dishes become (compostable) paper.  We watch a little television.  We play a 'game' where the boys put me to sleep.  Oh, how I love that game! 

What I need on these days can vary- sometimes, I put off my shower.  Other times, I put as many distractions together for the boys so I am certain to get a shower.   Sometimes I minimize effort.  Other times, I try to do something that helps us feel less cluttered.  Getting all of the hats, coats, and jackets into the coat closet is one of the fastest, most rewarding activities I have found.  Know what can slide.  Figure out which things are secretly (surprisingly!) energizing.

I have found that by doing as much as I can on the days where I feel normal, it is a lot easier to have a day where I don't quite hit that mark.  We will all survive.  The laundry will always, always be waiting, but my boys are only getting bigger.

Happiness Can Be a Habit

One year ago this week, we moved from Albuquerque, New Mexico to Boulder, Colorado so my husband could pursue his dream job.  The job has been everything he imagined, and he could not be happier at work.  Also just as expected, it has also been difficult for me, a complete homebody, to meet people and find a community as a stay at home mom. 

I have recently started a local happiness project group based on the work of Gretchen Rubin, author of the book and blog, The Happiness Project.  As part of this group, I will read and explore happiness research (I LOVE that organizations spend money to research this!), and fit it into my life to explore what makes a difference and what doesn't.  I will be trying new things, creating good habits, overriding bad habits, and leaving my comfort zone.  Most importantly, I have already started increasing my happiness by organizing the local group.  I was nervous I would (will!) do something wrong, or no one would show up or be interested, but I did it.  One month later, I have already met some great people who are happy I got the ball rolling.  In fact, now that I've done one proactive thing, it is affecting my day-to-day motivation in many ways- now that I see good things happening, I'm willing to work harder in more ways.

Routine Troubleshooting

As my Jason nears his third birthday, I've spent a lot of time thinking about those last few months before we became parents.  I already knew I would take a year off of work, and I knew I would most likely not return to my engineering career very soon, but I had no idea what to expect from stay-at-home-motherhood.  Oh, the assumptions I made!

Sitting at my desk at work, I'd daydream about being able to cook the healthy dinners that my work schedule didn't allow.  I imagined all the cleaning and organizing I would finally tackle.  I imagined getting outside every day to take walks and water the garden.  Nice ideas, but far from my reality.