Daily Five

I've been keeping the postpartum depression at bay this time around and here are a few of the reasons why. 

1. Exercise.  I had this idea at the beginning of September.  I was going to exercise every single day for the whole month.  Beginning to end.  I figured it would be a good way to get back on track and start feeling like myself again.  I think I made it through the first four days.  Then I fell off the wagon.  And now we're back to the usual 4-6 days a week, not bad but not 30 days straight.  I run (very slowly), I lift weights (little bitty tiny ones) and I've started practicing yoga again (sort of).  It makes me feel good and keeps me happy and gives me the illusion that someday I will have abs of steel.
2. Read my scriptures and pray.  I'm working on the Book of Mormon these days.  I'm also praying for more patience.  Of course every one knows that when you pray for patience God laughs and makes your kids dance on your last nerve.  Maybe I should leave the P word out of things.
3. One meaningful project.  You know how you clean your house and then the kids get home from school and it looks like a bomb went off?  At least mine does, so meaningful project does not mean the regularly scheduled shoveling out.  The definition of meaningful project is A: must be completed start to finish in under 10 minutes and 2: it has to be something above and beyond regular home maintenance.  For example: organizing my shoes, cleaning the top of the fridge, dusting the dryer.  You can see how high the bar is set around here but organize your shoes and then tell me you don't get a little thrill every time you see them nicely in a row.  No really, someone back me up on this so I don't feel like such a weirdo.
4. Eat healthy.  Cookies for lunch, bad.  Soup and a sandwich, good.  Cheese nachos for a morning snack, very bad.  Hummus and veggies, very good.  You get the idea.  Eat healthy you feel good.  Opposite, feel bad.
5. Get enough sleep.  That means not too much and not too little.  My baby laughs at this.  She thinks it's hilarious when I tell her that people actually sleep all through the night without any milk refills.  But I remember that when I used to get enough sleep I felt much better.  I also remember that if I took a super long nap then I'd feel kinda worthless for the rest of the day. Someday I'll give too much sleep another shot just to see if I'm remembering it correctly but for now I can testify that not getting enough sleep makes it hard to function.

So to review.  Exercise: check.  Reading my scriptures and praying: 75% check.  One meaningful project: check.  Eating healthy: 50/50 check.  Sleep: not even but a girl can hope.