…And Keeping My Sanity Outside of Work

Being the CEO of a household isn’t easy. Throw in a husband, three teenage boys, two senior dogs, a career, track/golf/football, some booster clubs, a side hustle or two and you can start to feel your Botox wear off and your hair start to gray. There are days where so feel like I’m on the move from the time my eyes open ‘til the time my eyes shut. It wasn’t until recently that I started shaking up my routine to avoid burnout. 

• Date night: Sometimes you have to escape and drag your partner with you. Adult, uncensored conversation over something as simple as a stroll through Target or over a good meal. Del Fresco’s or Taco Bell. It doesn’t matter. Just go and spend time outside of the house with your person. Trust me, though the teenage boys question where we are headed, they also enjoy a few hours of time without us. 
• (Prepares for the scolding about skin health) Tanning: Kind of like flying, there isn’t shit you can do except exist while in a tanning bed. No phone calls, minimal interaction with people even though there are others in the tanning salon, just peace and quiet. 
• Creating lists on Amazon: This is my 2023 version of window shopping. I started Christmas shopping in August last year thanks to my “Gift Ideas For Other People” list – this one kept me from buying stupid stuff for myself while fulfilling gift giving obligations. Okay, I might have also bought myself stupid stuff but don’t judge me. 
• Reading everything: Books, magazines, and even articles on the history of pancakes. I am an on and off avid reader but lately the squirrels that are in charge of operating my brain won’t allow me to finish anything lengthy. It’s nice to see weird stories pop up on my homepage of my work computer. Gives my brain 3 minutes to turn off while giving me a random topic to discuss with friends and family later. 
• Being outside: It could be a walk around the park (which I started playing PokemonGo for the first time since 2016 so that I have an activity to encourage me to wander and connect with friends and my youngest stepson at the same time) or just sitting out on the patio waiting for the pollen to whisk me away to sinus ridden Hell, vitamin D makes my life better.
• Hot tub: I think this one is fairly self-explanatory.
• Writing: …And here we are.

Bernice and I are big fans of sun bathing.