Friday afternoon's doings

~and the hair continues to grow

So looking forward to the next few days. Counting the time until Joseph comes home, next Thursday to be exact.  Shivers. Maybe my shoulders will finally relax, do you think?  And with school ended, and the Memorial Day weekend, then cleaning the house for his homecoming, what more could a mom possibly want?   Sounds pretty blissful to me.

Gary and I were sitting on the front porch the other evening and he was saying how tired he was.  I reminded him that he'd been sick the previous week...some virus, I guess, and while that's gone, the fatigue has hung on a bit.  Also, I said we had to recognize how stressful the past year has been.  One of our children had some serious issues, my mom and I weren't getting along, we all had words, Joseph joined the Guard, my mom had her stroke, she's been in lengthy recovery, Joseph's been gone since January, mom's back home alone, and I think Gary and I are both sort of shell-shocked at all that's been going on.  He just doesn't like to allow things to take over---to admit that they affect his physical well-being.  He's tough.  He'll be exhausted, but with his personality, will keep going on and going on, and going on.  Can't do that.  Things hit the fan eventually, and maybe his getting sick was part of that.

Now I'm trying to be kinder to myself, to slow my pace, to allow rest and recovery, and not look at life as a race to finish.  It's harder than you think. To say no when yes is easier said, but has more repercussions.  To put limits on what I allow myself to do in a given day is a plus.  I've talked about this before, but haven't ever seriously applied it.  Talk is cheap.

So, while the younger kids have cleaned my mom's house and cut her backyard, I've been at the library with my laptop.  Different setting and noises, and no children to ask me for help.  Just needed alone time.  Now just need to make it a habit.