Right. And there goes January.
As is the norm for me, even down here in the sunny south, January brought on a case of the Winter Blahs. It’s dark and cold (relatively-speaking) and I don’t feel like doing anything other than sitting on my butt and reading while simultaneously stuffing my face with something high in sugar or flour. Both, if possible. I’ve been kind of hoping that this year would be the year that I Figure Stuff Out and Get Stuff Done. Last year felt like a lost year where things didn’t change much and the year ended much like it started, without many significant changes in between. But so far this year has been the year of Sitting Still and Reading Books. I’ve seriously read at least a dozen books, probably. This would be impressive if it wasn’t a sign of me sitting still WAY too much. (Okay, it’s not quite 12 books. It’s closer to 8.)
I was talking with Tracie, my massage therapist, about it on Friday and she had some recommendations on adding colorful fruits and veggies to my diet and making sure I got outside into the sunlight for at least a couple minutes a day and it sort of kicked me in the butt with the realization that “Oh, yeah! I can actually do something about that.”
It’s crazy how it starts to feel like that’s just the way the world is going to be and I can’t do anything about it. That I’m just stuck to live in a house that’s not quite clean and the laundry is always not folded and food just isn’t quite satisfying and I’m just going to sit here and be BLAH. But it’s not true. I CAN actually do something about it.
Starting with using the sun lamp in the morning. And then taking 20 minutes to go outside at my lunch. (Also holy cow it was almost 80 degrees outside here today. What is up with this absurd weather? That’s almost a 50 degree shift in a week.) And eating a lunch heavy in carrots and green peppers. And then when I got home this afternoon, Justin and I went out for a walk for the first time in about a month. Maybe a little more, actually. Yeah. I mentioned Sitting On My Butt, right?
Over the weekend we got the house more tidied and worked on the laundry. It got pretty piled up, but everything washed and dried got folded and put away. There’s still a little left, but it’s nearly finished. Next weekend, if the weather is good, I’m planning to do yardwork. The pampas grass and the crepe myrtle trees need to get trimmed and there’s sticks all over the yard and the Christmas tree stand is leaning up against the house next to the cooler.
And my minor twinges of OCD are starting to look at the floorboards around the house and think that they could really do for a scrubbing….
I think February will end a lot better than it started. By the end of the month, spring will actually be starting. And I’m sorry for all of you who will deal with snow for another couple months after that, but THIS is why I moved down here. Because I can’t handle the cold and the dark without just shutting down and feeling miserable. I need the sunlight.
So I think February will be my month to get back on my feet and get moving. I’ve got to get caught up on housework and get back into walking (or something) every day. I’m not aiming for anything groundbreaking. Just to get back up again. Because this winter has knocked me on my butt and I’m tired of being tired.