Running on empty

After four days in a row of playing hostess to 100 people at Vacation Bible School – not to mention rushing about constantly taking pictures and making sure everyone was safe and happy AND an evening event with kids and parents that was exhausting-er than those four days put together…

You can stick a fork in me. I’m done.

Today is recovery day. I hung around in bed until 8:30. “Ambition” is not in my vocabulary today. I’m having lunch out with our two younger darlings, throwing something on the grill for dinner, and that’s it. Well, I may work up enough energy later in the day to watch another episode of “Horatio Hornblower” (a movie series made in the late 90’s and early 2000’s that is absolutely a delight). But parking myself on the couch and watching attractive sailors dash about on screen is about the extent of my energy for the day.

I learned a long time ago to build in down time for myself, lest I turn into a fire-breathing, angst-y dragon. For example, next Friday evening would have been the ideal day for the extended family gathering I was trying to pull off in a fit of pie-in-the sky dreaming. But I’ll be at a conference all day Friday, which means I’ll be brain-dead by evening. Even though I’ll be spending the day with co-workers I truly love and respect, I know that being around people from 9:00-4:00 will be totally draining. And so, even though a Saturday gathering will leave out one important member of the family, that is the appointed day for the cook-out.

I don’t know if this “down time” policy is purely a result of wisdom gained through hard experience, or if it’s just as much to do with middle age exhaustion and crankiness.

Either way, it’s a healthy thing to remember to be kind to myself. What tricks have you learned for keeping yourself together?

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