Days Seven Through Nineteen: ENERGY!

Okay, I have not been ignoring this blog! What I really have been doing instead of blogging is enjoying this strange newfound energy that I have not experienced in a long time. I tell you, it's like someone upstairs finally saw that my batteries needed changing. And change them they did! I can't really recall exactly what I did most of the days, but I do have some fun pictures that I will be posting. All I know is that I did a lot of things, many of which would have killed me, and yet somehow, they didn't! Only those who deal with chronic fatigue and have to choose only one thing they can do a day know what I am talking about, and I tell you it was miraculous!

First, I got pretty busy with my music studio again, revamped some business cards, and gave them to my old band director to pass to kids looking for a teacher. I also began preparing for a recital, and prepping my students for that recital too.

At one point during the last two weeks, I ran out of underwear. My sister caught me in a swimming suit and wrap with a towel still on my head, waiting for the washing machine to finish cleaning my whites. And then for some crazy reason I asked her to take a picture! I thought that it was probably the ultimate mommy moment. And since I am determined to enjoy all of my moments, no matter how embarrassing (and since this was a little comical) I needed to record this event somehow.

The big thing that happened recently was the recital. I have a very small studio at the moment and so a whole month of preparation turned into about a fifteen minute recital. But it was so worth it to see those kids work hard to work up a piece to play, and then to see them perform in front of their families and afterwards feel that great sense of achievement! It was the highlight of my whole month, I would say. Even little Cuddlebug wanted to play the piano!

We held the recital on Valentine's Day. That made it easy to decorate for the recital. We held it in my old high school choir room where they had a newer baby grand piano. Oh, it was fun to see how my students were so excited to get to play on that kind of a piano. It made the event more special, I thought.

My old band teacher saw my little studio and said that it was good for my students (no matter how small the event) to have an event where they have to perform. It's highly motivating, and keeps them from "slacking off" he said, although I haven't seen any slacking off in my students. But I agree with him. Music is a performing art, and was meant to be shared with an audience. Recitals are certainly good things for the up and coming artist!

 But yes, it has been a crazy few weeks, but I was so glad that I had the chance to have a recital, and I have been exercising like crazy, and I am starting to love the way I feel after coming home from the gym--I never thought that would be possible! The energy I have had has been my own personal miracle, and I thank my loving Heavenly Father for that blessing. I has enabled me to do many wonderful things.

And, it's something that I can fully take advantage of without distractions this month!

Day Six: Grand Day of Recuperation for All

Day Six: I exercised! I did so with my lovely mother. And I am posting my sweaty picture! One day down, eleven more days of exercising to go to hit my goal of twelve days exercised this month.

And I celebrated my strength of will by having a super early bedtime! What a fabulous reward.

Also, I took Bug to the doctor. He seemed to have an earache, but it was just fluid, due to having a cold. Poor baby. He's still a bit grumpy, but he's doing better.

It was a day of rest and recuperation. Little Bug has a cold to recoup from, and I always have to recoup from an exercise day. One day, I won't feel killed when I exercise. But sadly, today is not that day.

Regrettably, I can't really find much to report, really, except that I did indeed resist my temptations.

And that I am getting dangerously close to the end of my book. I fear the withdrawal...

Day Two, Three, Four, and Five: Pressure Washing, Guitar Playing, Mommying, and then Near Death

It's been getting harder not to gravitate toward the TV/Netflix again, and it's only been a few days! I'm starting to remember why I got sucked into them in the first place. I'll describe it to you like this:

Friday, day two, I had an energy level that to me felt like I had a nuclear explosion occur in my body. So I turned into a crazy woman and decided that I was going to pressure-wash our driveway, sidewalks, garbage cans (as per Dad's suggestion), back patio, and brickwork. I had the sense to try and divide the work into two days. As I'm blasting sediment off of the concrete, the OCD side of me cheering with pom-poms in the background, a small voice in the back of my head starts singing Feelin' Groovy by Simon and Garfunkel : "Slow down, you're goin' too fast..."

I never listen to that voice when I'm a nuclear reactor.

And on a side-note, just so everyone knows: if your Dad tells you to put the end of your pressure washer wand into the yard debris can, and you have a dog, DON'T DO IT! Just say NO! And if there is no getting around it, wear a darn mask! In fact, get a hazmat suit! Because, as any physicist will tell you, anything that gets shot into a parabola will be SHOT BACK AT YOU. With the pressure washer, that means that it comes at you at a HIGH VELOCITY. And in this case, I had forgotten that that's where they put Duke's dookie when they mow the yard! It was not a pleasant experience.

I'm not in very good shape, and even worse after having had a baby. So, by the end of the day I was recalling that little voice cheerily singing "slow down, you're goin' too fast." Meh, I'm not hurting too badly, all things considered. Although, I did take a few ibuprofen to ease my aching muscles that night.

Day three, I was at it again. I had a little less energy, but I decided to make the attempt. And luckily I had no more garbage cans to do, so no more mishaps with dog poo flying at my face. But only a third of the time went by before I realized that my body was screaming at me to stop. Cue ibuprofen once more, and add valarian root. And I really do feel pretty wiped out. But I still manage to do everything without resorting to Shows! (Yay, go me!)

And in the morning on day four I wake up with a migraine such that I am unable to make it to church. Splendid. Yet, after having a long siesta while people are at church, it dissipates into a dull roaring headache, and I am able to move around again. Although I feel tempted to anesthetize myself with movies, I resist, and I have a GREAT time teaching little Cuddlebug to love the guitar and music. I was moving a little slow that day, but hey, it all worked out in the end.

Or... so I thought.

That night, Bug hardly slept, which means I didn't sleep either. Poor baby, he was so congested that he could hardly breathe enough to even eat at all. He woke up five times that night.

That's when death ensued. Well, not really, but I sure FELT like dying.

Day five was me basically going comatose while my angel of a mother watched the baby for a few hours.

Moral of the story: I'm ridiculous. When I have it good energy-wise, I WAY overdo it, and then I feel like dying. Then all I feel like doing is melting my brain with tv shows, because I hardly feel like I have any energy for anything else.

So I have been very tempted recently. But I can already feel benefits from my little media fast. I am noticing that from out of nowhere I feel like I have way more time. It's so easy to lose track of time when engrossed in a film. And also, I feel my brain bulking up again now that I exercise it more often. And I exercise more often! Yeah, I totally lost three pounds last week... probably due to the fact that I killed myself pressure washing. But hey, I'll take my victories where I can get them!