Survival

Our first fundraising event, a big yard sale, was last weekend. We spent several weeks preparing and last week became solely dedicated to the big sale. The week started out fine and actually somewhat relaxed, but our family was quickly thrown into survival mode. Between running around like crazy people while still trying to be available for our kids, all priorities not having to do with the sale flew out the window. Sleep schedules, exercise, food, tv limitations... It all went. It started innocently. Monday passed with no run, so I thought I'd fit it in Tuesday. But before I knew it, we were already at Thursday and there was no way I had the energy to run. So no running at all last week. And my diet. First there was eating out. Then we didn't have time to cook and we didn't have time to go out, so fast food snuck in. I have been almost fast food free since last August, but I ate it not once, not twice, but three times last week. With fast food comes soda, another thing I gave up last August. Then the early mornings brought sugary coffee drinks. I could go on and confess all my unhealthy sins, but I'll spare you.

The yard sale went wonderfully, and I intend to post about it another time. But the point of this post is to say that we're getting back on track this week. Surviving is ok when necessary, but I think it's better to actually live. The way I survived- on little amounts of sleep, on junky, poor food choices, with no exercise, allowing my children to watch copious amounts of Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood and Handy Manny- was not fun. I felt guilty and I felt bad. My body feels sluggish and tired. My mommy heart misses my babies.

This is all a learning process. I'm not going to sit and wallow in guilt over poor eating choices and an extra episode of television. There will be times when we just must to what we need to do to survive. But hopefully this time has given me some insight on how to be a little better prepared for next time. So that next time this house is crazy town, because I know it will be again, I may not be able to fit a run in, but maybe I can plan ahead and have some healthy meals in the freezer, and if I really can't sit down and read to the kids, maybe I can have some activity bags prepared to keep the kids busy without tv. We'll see. But it's nice to be slightly wiser, slightly richer, with a brand new, yard sale free week stretched out ahead of me. :)