My Schedule-- Where do I find the time?

 I have been... lectured lately on my "priorities".  My husband asked me to pick three things in my life that I have to consider my "priorities", things that I should work on to make my life more fulfilling.

These are the three that I came up with:

1. My job

2. My health

3. Writing

I feel bad that he's not in there, but he asked me to pick three. 

I try to reflect this on the way I spend my time...

I wake up at 5am.

After morning human time, I should compress from 5:30-6:30. Compression involves putting on a huge pair of blue space bants, hooking myself up to a machine and sitting still for an hour while my legs are pumped to move around fluids that have built up due to illness and heart problems.

I said should. I usually end up journalling and eating breakfast.

• 6:30-7:00 I get ready for work. Dress myself and all of that fun stuff.
• 7 to 7:30, maybe pick up breakfast or make myself something fast that I can eat in the car and get to work. Otherwise, just drive to work.
• 7:30-8:30- Prep for my day.
• 8:30-11:45- Teach
• 11:45-2- Lunch and Prep, which is mostly grading and making handouts and meetings and other fun teacher stuff.
• 2-3:35- Teach some more.
• 3:35-4ish- Clean up my classroom and sometimes talk to other teachers who stop by. (less of this since they moved me away from the other teachers).
• 4-5, run errands.
• 5-6:30: Make and eat dinner. If it's not my turn, I'll do some reading.
• 6:30-7:30 Write or crochet, whatever creative endeavors my brain is working on.
• 7:30-8:30- Compress... again. More sitting still. Mostly I read or watch TV. My current watch is Mythic Quest or Reboot. Both cute shows.
• 8:30-9:30- Get ready for bed, shower, self care.
• 9:30- bed. 

My doctor and my husband want me to find at least 30-60 minutes a day for cardio activity and some time for strength training.

Where?

Teacher Sick (Warning: Naughty words rant)

 We started Thanksgiving Break on Friday afternoon. I spent Thursday night, some of Friday, some of Saturday and ALL DAY SUNDAY in SO MUCH PAIN! My period, which shows up now about once every three months, showed up with the fucking cavalry, and I want to curl up into a tiny ball and make all of the world just fuck off right now. It's gross, it's painful, I don't like it. One of my good friends is - unfortunately - having a hysterectomy because of reasons, and right now I am so fucking envious of her.

On top of that, and the reason for today's post, I have something akin to a cold, or something. It started Friday night. Now, this is something I'm used to. Nearly every break, I spend the first few days sick. (Yes, I am wishing that Thanksgiving Break was longer.) I'll be fine after a few days, but it almost always happens. 

According to WebMD, I have what is called "leisure sickness."  It's where you have a job that is so stressful that you build up this strange immunity and "put off" being sick until your body can handle being sick, which is when you're "not stressed".  I guess it's like if I am going to have a cold, or the flu or something like that (or, I guess, my period) my body realizes that I am too stressed out to deal with that illness right now and instead files it away for "later" when I'm not as stressed out.  And later comes during holiday breaks. 

Apparently this can happen for emotional distress too, I think. I can deal with emotional stress and not get emotional about it.. until I'm on break. So I not only spend my first few days of nearly every vacation in a ball of pain and phlegm (pretty picture, I know), but I'm also a crying, emotionally wrecked ball of phlegm. So much fun.

Fortunately, Thanksgiving isn't until Thursday. I should be done with all of this (hopefully) by tomorrow and be able to make wonderful pies for my family for Thanksgiving as well as some broccoli in brown butter with cotija (because I can't find mizithra cheese anywhere). 

I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. I'm going to go drink a Monster, write five thousand words and crochet until all the stress leaves my body.

Yay!