Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Ignoring the obvious

I took the week off. It wasn’t scheduled – just necessary. Normally the week between Christmas and New Years is my time to decompress, take care of unfinished business and prepare for next year. It’s time to go through the drawers and closets and either reorganize or de-clutter. It’s quiet time.

Because of all the traveling I did in November and December I didn’t feel comfortable taking that week off this year, though most of the traveling was for business. I even dragged myself to work while I was sick.

I called in sick on Monday, but I wasn’t really sick. I was tired. I needed my quiet time. So I e-mailed my 2 bosses and asked for the rest of the week off and they both told me to relax and enjoy the time off. Yes, I’m lucky.

So I’m home this week – cleaning, organizing, de-cluttering and relaxing. I’m catching up with my life. Belle loves it. We go for long walks every day and she hasn’t had any accidents in several days. She needed some attention to get over Rosie’s death, so this has been really good for her.

My garage, closets, office and kitchen all look better with less clutter. Goodwill has lots of new stuff to sell and the garbage men hauled away very full cans this week. It’s not done but I already feel calmer. As the stress melts away my health is much improved and I feel my creativity returning. Things don’t seem so overwhelming anymore.

The signals were all there but I didn’t pay attention. How often do you ignore the obvious?

8 comments:

cindy said...

so glad you have this week off to do your thing. i like to clean and organize, too.

i usually know when i'm feeling stressed, if i have the time to do anything about it is another thing. i do take saturday mornings for myself to go to writing meetings or the gym and then a nice lunch alone with a book.

that always helps!

The Anti-Wife said...

Cyn,
Time to take care of ourselves is so important. It just can't be overrated and yet it's the one thing some many people neglect.

Jaye Wells said...

My husband has been out of the country for work for two weeks. I missed him of course, but it was a nice break. I've used the alone time to organize my kitchen and do projects I've been putting off. It's been great for my mental clarity. A great way to start off the new year.

The Anti-Wife said...

Jaye,
Mental clarity. What a perfect way to describe it and it is a great way to start the year.

Chris Eldin said...

All the time.
And paying attention to those signals requires constant vigilance.
Glad you're getting much-needed lifestuff done.

I am catching up on blogging.
I need to go through your button posts. They crack me up!!!
:-)

Tyhitia Green said...

I pay close attention to how I feel. I work for the state, and when I am sick or tired, I take a day. I may just do some well-deserved shopping. :*) Always take care of yourself!

The Anti-Wife said...

Chris,
Constant vigilance is a real downfall of mine. It's the constant part that's the problem. Have you arrived in WTF land yet?

Demon,
It's so important to take care of yourself. Good for you for making it a priority.

Mary Witzl said...

I ignore the obvious all the time. As I write this, my closet is stuffed full of items I'm hoping to get back into: all I need to do is lose 15 pounds! In fact what I REALLY need to do is throw out 75% of the stuff, but I cannot make myself do it.

Now I'm thinking I really ought to...