"me" time

i have decided that being a full-time graduate student, a 20-hour/week university employee (i.e. grad assistant), a spouse, a sister of a 19-year-old who lives upstairs (with all the extra cleanup & such that entails), a puppy-mom, & a very full-time tidier of a house of three people & two dogs is... a little tiring some days. add to that the prospect of more grad school applications & the necessary test-taking required by that process, & i think it's time i selfishly made time for me. a little time each week, if not every day, to be kind to my brain & to cling to my sanity while not attempting to cling to 35 other things simultaneously.


to be clear, i am not intending for this to be a complainy blog. i am very fortunate to be pursuing what i love as a poorly-paid sort of job, & i wouldn't trade it for anything. i wouldn't trade the rest of it (most days, ha), either. but everybody needs a break, right?


so i've decided to embark on a few adventures.

first, i'm going to attempt to learn to meditate. i don't want to make a very definite claim to that one yet, because i don't know if i can learn to meditate. but i'm going to attempt it. i ordered a couple of books (which arrived today, thanks to free two-day shipping!) recommended by a friend who's educated on this sort of thing, so my journey begins starting tomorrow.


second, i need to exercise. i know i've made promises to myself on that score many times before, but i know it's bad & my body's crying out for help when i actually think lifting weights sounds like fun. i'm hoping to tag along to yoga with a friend tomorrow. i've never tried it but have always been curious -- i figure it might be a nice way for me to ease back into the world of physical activity without breaking a hip.


third, i want to establish a once-a-week date night with that guy who lives with me (tyler, not my brother, although i love spending time with andrew too). we could cook together or watch a movie or just sit in the same room, i'm not too demanding. but i need to give myself permission to take a break & enjoy his company every once in a while, instead of finding ways to make my time less efficient that involve me feeling guilty later & having even less "real" free time (stupid facebook comes to mind...).


fourth, i want to take a nap. that has little to do with the goals theme i had going, but that's what's on my overworked mind. so if ina garten (of my favorite food network show, "barefoot contessa") could give me the pleasure of watching her cook while she writes my paper for me between dishes, i'll be eternally grateful.

oh, television personalities can't step out of that box of colors in my living room & do my bidding? strange, i thought tv was moving in the direction of increased interactivity. i guess we're not quite there yet.


and the above digression should indeed be proof that i'm in no state to be writing an "academic" paper. but back to that paper i go... before i doze off like this little guy (so cute i can hardly STAND it): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTUz1UVzgLY