HOORAY - a great day!!!

Finally - today was a great day.

Yesterday was another really rough, depressed day; and I was starting to wonder if it would ever end. I told Tim that maybe it was time for me to try using St John's Wort again, or something else to try to help me even out these horrible ups and downs. mostly downs recently. (I took St John's Wort about 9 years ago and felt like it really helped even me out, but I had to stop taking it once we decided to start our family since it has abortive side effects. So there I was, sitting there last night planning to go buy the herbs today, and I realized that before I start trying to find an external fix to my problems... I'd better stop, REPENT, and do any internal fixing that I could first. (I've been staying up later and later, getting up later and later, no exercise, junk food, etc... I couldn't find the will to make myself clean the kitchen/house, yet looking at and being in the mess made things seem SO much more insurmountable. It's really a Vicious cycle! I went to bed last night determined to give today my best effort and SURPRISE!!! It worked! (I think all the scriptures about people being quick to forget, and slow to remember their God - were written about me!)

SO - this morning I was up and dressed by 7:30, spent some time talking to Aaron and praising him for getting himself up and totally ready to go to school quickly and without being asked or prodded (aka nagged). Ate a healthy breakfast. Read my scriptures. (something I've been slacking in) cleaned up the kitchen. read scriptures to Katrina and Bryan. cleaned up kids rooms (they helped). made bread. I made the conscious effort to notice and comment about all the positive things my children did throughout the day. Katrina was very helpful throughout most of the day, and was focusing on practicing using good manners. It was really darling, because she was "teaching" Bryan how to do the same. ("Bryan, say may I have a drink of water please?") Very cute.

When I picked Aaron up from school I asked how his day had been. His reply was "great!" (this was a pleasant change, and I asked why it was so great. His reply, "I learned something today. I learned that school is more fun when you do your work instead of talk." Wow! what a great revelation. He proceeded to tell me that he was talking (of course) during literacy time, and his teacher reminded him that he is trying to earn his shark by not talking to others during class time - an working hard to complete his work. (it's a baby shark preserved in a jar that he has been trying to earn.) He said that when his teacher reminded him, he stopped talking, and he was totally amazed to find that once he stopped talking, and I quote, "I finished my work in like 3 minutes!"

All in all, it was a really great day. My dear friend Holly and i used to go walking every morning at 6:20. When Holly went back to work (at 6 in the morning) at the first of November our walking came to an abrupt halt. Since then, I have done ZERO exercise. (is it any wonder I've been in a slump?) We have decided that since we can't go in the mornings anymore, we will go at at night, after the kids are supposed to be in bed. Hopefully we will be able to get the kids into a solid routine so that Tim won't resent me leaving every night and leaving the kids for him to get off to bed. Tonight was our first night walking, and we are trying out walking at an indoor track rather than walking outside in the COLD and DARK! While I don't like that we have to DRIVE to get there, and I know that Jasmine really enjoys getting out and walking with us, it was really nice to walk at the track tonight. We found that we walked a lot faster and at a more steady speed than we do when we walk outside. We went just over 2 miles tonight in under an hour. (it was about 45 minutes I think.) Our goal is to walk for the rest of December, and then in January introduce a bit of jogging into the mix, a little at a time. We both really don't like the whole running thing at all, but figure we need to raise the bar a bit since right now we are mostly just "maintaining." (the "we" in that last sentence means ME mostly, she's actually down a pant size... GO HOLLY!) Anyway, it felt really great to be walking (and talking) again. I have really missed our morning visits. I know that it is better for the body to exercise in the morning , so that my metabolism can be fired up for the day, but hey, this is WAY better than the whole month of NOTHING that I have been doing.

Anyway, it is PAST bedtime again (11:45 right now) - but I just didn't want to go to bed without being thankful for such a great day!