Mental Health Days

Boy am I a believer in mental health days.

I've been a bit stressed out lately. There's just a lot going on in the next 3 weeks and while I feel great and have regained most of my energy, I'm still pretty tired and just don't have my usual go-getter attitude. As a result, I've been less productive at work (meaning the to-do list is getting longer and longer), I've not been studying as much as I should be for my certification exam (which is now a mere 3 weeks away - and I'll be in Boston next week for 6 days of that precious study time!) and I feel behind on household chores. Oh yeah, and I'm having a baby in less than 6 months. I'm no longer panicky about having a difficult pregnancy, but there are so many decisions that are never far from my mind...when should we get on waiting lists for daycare, how are we going to pay for said daycare, we need to get additional life insurance, we need to figure out who's health insurance to add baby to, I need to talk to my HR staff about FMLA, we need to start researching baby gear (car seats, etc.). I'll stop there, but this list seems endless. It's no wonder I've been getting killer stress headaches all week.

This morning was no exception. I woke up with a headache and a burning desire to roll over and go back to sleep. After contemplating my schedule at work today, and with a little encouragement from Drew, I decided to do just that. So I called my boss, rolled back over (Ruby was a great snuggle partner) and didn't wake up again until 9:30 am.

It's amazing what one day can do for you. After waking up only when my body wanted to, I proceeded to have breakfast and pick-up a little around the house. I sorted laundry, showered and put on comfy clothes. I spent the next hour or so getting my study materials organized and I also checked in with the office. I wasn't missing much. Drew came home for lunch so we ate together and then I spent the entire afternoon studying. At 5:00 I headed to yoga class. Turned out I was the only one there so I got an entire hour of one-on-one yoga time with my instructor. It was awesome! I caught up with my Mom on the drive home, heated up leftovers for dinner and then spent a little time reviewing the flashcards I made earlier today - which brings me to now.

I can't tell you how much more relaxed and in control I feel after this mental health day. They should be a requirement! Now I'm going to go eat an ice cream bar (baby's been wanting those lately), watch the news and go to bed knowing that tomorrow will be a stress-free and productive day!