the most exhausting week

We survived the week in one (or three, as the case may be) pieces...but with not an ounce of time or energy to spare, as is evidenced by my lack of blogging until Saturday morning...the day widely agreed upon to be the worst possible time and day for blogging. But oh well. Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead and all that. [Probably uninteresting side note: I just Googled to see where that expression even came from...apparently the Civil War! I had no idea. I'm not sure where I thought it came from, but not that. You learn something every day, I guess.]

I feel like this week really kicked my butt, and I've been reflecting to figure out why. I prefer to arrive at Friday afternoon feeling like I conquered the week, not like I just barely escaped alive. I can do the occasional just-barely-survive week, but I have no desire for it to become the norm, so when I have one of those weeks...I find it helpful to assess so that I can see what changes need to be made. Here's what I came up with.

1. Exercise. Honestly, I think one of the biggest reasons I feel so run-down is that I am physically exhausted from starting T25. Although I've been a very regular exerciser and gym-goer in general for the last 7 years or so, I've been WAY off track since Millie was born...so this 25 minutes a day of intense exercise is a big adjustment for the ol' body (that is carrying a few more pounds around than it used to). T25 doesn't have any off days (except that Sunday's exercise is way less intense, supposedly- some kind of active stretching thing, although I haven't actually done it yet), so every evening it's like I take my achy, sore bones and throw them through the paces again to add NEW soreness on top of the old. So anyway. All of that to say- I am happy and pretty proud of myself for doing T25 every single day this week, but I think it can definitely account for why I feel extra exhausted.

In addition to actually EXERCISING every day this week, I'm still trying to get to 10,000 steps every day on my Fitbit. Since it's been too cold to go on walks around the neighborhood or downtown at lunch, this means that most nights at about the time I'd really like to go to bed, I'm stuck speed-walking laps around my living room, kitchen, and dining room to get in those last 2,000 steps. It's the most ridiculous thing ever, but whatever. That's another 30 minutes I'm not sleeping, though.

2. Work. It was just a crazy hectic week at work. In some ways, I prefer that- the time passes much more quickly and I don't end up sitting around missing my baby all day. But on the flip side, it's just mentally exhausting...and I get to 5:00 feeling like I got hit by a train. Plus, when I'm slammed-busy, I don't have time to make extra-long walks around the building, which means my steps aren't accumulating. Wah wah. Anyway. Although I will probably stay busier in general at work in the future (I got a promotion January 1, yay!), I do think this week was probably just a little more hectic than normal and things will probably level out a bit next week. Coming back off several weeks of vacation schedule just meant things had piled up.

3. The daycare transition. I already lamented the no-swaddle-can't-nap thing, and so far that has been the only problem we've encountered. And I think she's getting better/more used to it. I mean, she's still only sleeping for about half the time she used to sleep during the day, but her naps are getting progressively longer, so...I think by another week or two, she'll have mastered the art of sleeping unswaddled in a crib in a room with other people. Her teachers are really sweet, the other babies are cute (which REALLY matters, obviously!), and whenever I come in (in the mornings, to pick her up in the afternoons, and one day Matt and I just randomly showed up at lunch to play for a little while), the babies are always happy, peaceful, and being talked to and played with. Also, there are about 10 different exersaucers in her classroom...and since those are one of her greatest passions right now, it's like she's living at Disney World or something. I think it will be a great situation, ultimately. However, since she's been on a nap strike this week, she's a lot sleepier and more zombie-like in the evenings. We spend a little extra time looking like this:

Snuggles and cuddles are alright by me. She's still sleeping great at night, so I'm glad her overtiredness isn't manifesting itself by disrupting her nighttime sleep so far. I think that all in all I actually have slightly more time with her during the days now than we did previously, but for some reason I have less pictures (basically NO pictures except ones I already shared on Tuesday), which is tragic. Next week I'll do better. (Also, for the record- despite the fact that she refused to take morning naps any day this week at daycare, she's been asleep for an hour already here at home...proving that despite what she thinks, she does still need naps!! Oh, the glory of the swaddle...)

4. Personal time. Uhhhh...there has been almost none, unless you count the fact that much of the work day I'm technically alone in my office...but it's not like I'm just doing whatever I want. I think this definitely contributes to feeling exhausted. I'm an introvert- I need time to myself! I normally get that at night after Millie is in bed and Matt and I have some time to just do whatever we want. That time got cut this week because of adding in exercise, which bumped back our schedule of Getting Things Done...so now we have more to get done after Millie is asleep, which means less time to lay on the couch and decompress. I'm not sure how to change this- I guess when it comes down to it, I prioritize getting things done and being prepared for the next day more than my personal relaxation time. I'd much rather know that all the bottles are made and the clothes and diapers are clean and the diaper bag is packed and our lunch is ready. Soo...I don't know. Since we plan to keep working out and I'm not going to Get Things Done while Millie is awake and I can be playing or cuddling with her, this is just how it's going to have to be. I have Saturday mornings for me, I guess...and so here I am.

And now my sweet girl is awake and wiggling in her crib. This is probably the most boring blog ever (which works well, since no one reads them on Saturday anyway!), but I like keeping track of even the boring stuff sometimes...and writing helps me process. So...sorry, but not that sorry. Oh, but sorry that along with 'me time,' blog reading and commenting and responding to emails also fell WAY off the schedule this week, and I do feel bad about that. I promise to try to catch up eventually. Maybe after I finish playing with this sweet happy baby.

Have a wonderful weekend!!