The Massage

Our house always gets unbelievably uncontrollable clutter-wise after the holidays. Between two kid birthdays AND Christmas.....yikes. I had zero time to deal with it before my school term started, which meant everything piled up. Literally. I just could not deal. I was getting frustrated with everything, I wasn't sleeping well, and my asthma and migraines increased from the stress. At Christmas, I pulled a muscle in my neck and shoulder that did not heal, which meant I was in horrible pain every day. Something had to happen.

So I got a massage. I know, weird thing to decide to do when everything is overwhelming. A massage isn't going to do my homework or clean my house. But that's what I did. I got a deep tissue massage to work the pulled muscle out of my neck and shoulder. One hour later and the pain I'd dealt with for almost two months was gone. And then the motivation hit me.

I cleaned out my closet and filled a bag with things to donate. I cleaned out my oldest son's room and filled another bag with things to donate. I gave the kid clothes that were too small to friends with younger kids. I gave the baby swing to a friend who'd just had twins. I called a junk removal service and had them remove the old nasty couch and ALL of the recycling that had piled up from Christmas and birthdays from our garage. I dusted my bedroom. I bought an air purifier to ease my asthma symptoms at night. I stopped stressing out about my homework and I created a schedule. And - here's the awesome thing - I've started exercising again.

This all stemmed from one deep tissue massage. So what's my message here? I'm not saying getting a massage is going to solve all of your problems. What I am saying is that when you reach the point where you just absolutely cannot take it anymore (the "it would be easier to burn the house down and start all over" feeling), take a step back. A huge step. Disconnect. Find a release. Do something that can fully clear your mind for an hour or so. Then you can approach everything with a refreshed outlook. And if shelling out the cash for a one hour deep tissue massage is how it can happen, then so be it.

I get overwhelmed....and that's ok

Hi. It's me again. I have a confession to make:

I get overwhelmed.

But guess what? Everyone does at some point. I realized today as I completely flipped out at the chaos of my upstairs that I get frustrated and overwhelmed and defeated, but that it's ok. It's what motivates me to change something that isn't working. It's the sign that I'm not ok with just sitting back and letting life trample all over me. It's ok. As long as it doesn't happen too much.

So here I am again. Months after my last post. No, life isn't simple yet. But some changes have been made and I can't wait to get back on the blogging train. Let's start again, shall we? Take a deep breath.....and begin again. 

Here's what I want you to do. Choose ONE thing that you can do tomorrow that will make you feel better about your home or life. Set a timer for 20 minutes and clean out under the bathroom sink. Choose five items of clothing that you don't wear anymore and toss them in a bag for donating. One thing. One very manageable thing. I promise you, it will feel amazing.

Meal Planning

Ugh, I am not sailing into this school year smoothly. I feel the weight of the impending schedule that is taking effect this week and it's causing some massive anxiety. Which means I try to ignore the fact that it's happening and procrastinate. I am not feeling very prepared, even though I know I am probably more prepared than I think I am. But I wanted the house perfectly clean and organized before the school year began. That didn't happen. Oh well. Let it go.

My days are going to be a little more complicated this school term since I am taking classes on campus (far, far away) and also doing internship #1 of 2. Even though I'm not feeling super prepared, I decided to take one thing out of the equation for myself. I'm giving the meal planning duties to someone else. Meaning, there will actually BE a meal plan every week because I'm paying for it.

I signed up for eMeals today on the Gluten Free Family plan. The best deal is a 12-month subscription at $5 per month (paid all at once), but I wanted a shorter term commitment in case it just didn't work for us. So I went with the 3-month plan at $7 per month (also paid all at once). That will get us through this fall school term and we can see where we stand from there. If it makes things super easy and we're trying new meal ideas that we love, then we'll continue. If it doesn't make a huge difference in things, we'll probably give it up.

Now, I normally don't do anything like this. I'm of the opinion that there are many, MANY resources for recipes out there and you can just make your own darn meal plan each week. Except if you're like me, it will take you two hours for one stinking meal plan because you can't decide what you want to make/eat, and then you'll "forget" to meal plan one week and spend every night eating pasta and sandwiches - which doesn't really work when you have a family member allergic to gluten. Note to self: Hungry husbands are not happy husbands.

So why did I choose to sign up for eMeals? One: It's recommended by Dave Ramsey. I like him and I like his financial ideas. Two: I spoke to many people who had actually used it, and heard nothing but good things. Three: Based upon everything I've read and heard, it should simplify not only our meal planning, but also our grocery budget. From the people I've spoken to about it, everyone raved about saving at least $200 per month on groceries. That.Is.Awesome.

Here's hoping it works the way I need it to. And maybe my kids will learn to love something other than grilled cheese sandwiches.