When's the Last Time You REALLY Took a Day OFF?

I evidently struck a chord or a nerve with my Facebook post about a while back.  It's not an eloquent post nor grammatically correct but my fb friends caught my drift and even commented that I was on the right track or they too struggle with this.

I'll share it with you in a second, but I just wanted to ask you, "When is the last time you really took a day OFF?".  Off, meaning, not driving to the office, working on your side hustle, running errands you don't necessarily have the time and energy for on the weekdays, or scraping the endurance to meet obligations.  When is the last time you said, "no."

Or is this just my life?

We now have an empty nest.  But we paid our dues of juggling the job, kid's activities, volunteering, church committees, squeezing in quality time with the family and God, socializing, etc.  I've found that although my actual commitments have decreased, the demands on my time have not.  Whose fault is that?  Well... it's my fault!  

I actually have more time available to pursue, well, stuff that I want to.  But somehow I don't have the energy to do it!  I've also put my dreams and "stuff" on hold for so long, I don't even remember what I wanted to do.

Well time is precious my friends and my time is precious as well.  Not only that, my time is MY TIME, not anyone else's.  The same goes for you friends!  Your time is just that... YOURS!

So what does this mean moving forward?  You guessed it, BOUNDARIES!  Healthy ones at that.  Along with boundaries, I need to set my priorities.  God, Family, Me, Career, pursuit of my dreams, fun, then friends or anything else.  I also need to realize that priorities will change, as I change and grow.  Some things in my life might not come along for that journey and that's okay.  God is the only thing unchanging.  I Can say, "no" and I don't have to offer the reason.  Neither do you!

I don't skip a beat and I try not to complain but I finally crashed and I am now in the have been in a  period of digging my way out of burnout.  This day OFF was just what I needed and after a small taste, I'm craving more!

So here is my post: 

I'd love to hear some comments on this.  Have you found yourself in burnout because you can't say "no" and needing a real day OFF?    

Life Balance. Is it Even Possible?

But HOW???

Y'all life has just gotten a bit out of control busy for me lately.

It's my own fault.  After all, I control my day right? (insert little snicker here for the non independently wealthy rebel in me)

I'm weary but I'm not sure where to cut corners any more than I already have.

Do you ever feel like the things that you are busy with are non negotiable but yet you are drowning?

I mean like... I HAVE to work and I also have to work a few extra jobs right now.  My work includes a side business that I hope one day will replace one of my existing jobs so I only need to work at one job.    I struggle with letting go because I love my part time stuff and I enjoy what I'm doing so they don't always feel like work, but they do chip away at time.  Regardless, I like to eat and being a paycheck to paycheck couple, the extra work helps us eat!  =)

I get it, we all have the same 24 hours a day, but a few hours of sleep is just not enough anymore.  When I was in my late teens and early 20's, I could go to school in the morning, work in the afternoon, go back to night classes, stay up late studying, go to bed at 2 or 3am, get up at 6 or 7am and do it all over again... then work double shifts on weekends.    I also managed life working full time, as a single mom, with a busy dancing daughter (I was very involved in her dance company and booster club at school) and I came through only a little weary.  Now at almost 50, I'm just tired!  Ha ha.

Just to kinda keep it real on the budgeting time thing... I started writing this post on 1/29/19.  Today is 5/2/19!

Being a bit contrary to what I'm writing about, I'm happy to report that I squeezed into the schedule a much needed item.  Exercise.  Since November, I started getting up about 30 minutes earlier to make time for fitness of some sort.  I was trying to do this after work but my workload and workday changed a bit and I don't get home until after 6pm, sometimes closer to 7 now.  After we eat, it's about an hour and half shy of bed time or I need to work one of my extra jobs.  Fitness after work isn't an option right now.  BUT, I was shocked at how different exercise first thing in the morning changed my attitude toward exercise.  I was getting on the treadmill for like 50 minutes after work.  I'd get off the treadmill starving and even more exhausted than ever.  With doing shorter fitness time in the morning (20 minutes pilates, 20 minutes elliptical, 30 minutes treadmill, or 30 minutes callanetics), I found that yes, I'm still ready for breakfast almost immediately, but I'm not getting that super tired feeling anymore after exercising.  I still haven't discovered the (exercise makes me so happy) feeling but I might get there!  This was a necessity that I have fit in and isn't really a smart option to remove from the schedule.

So I really need to "tidy" up the schedule.  Hubby has since started a part time job at a state park.  This is great because we'll have a little extra income coming in the summer when the substitute teaching well is dry.  But it's one more thing on the schedule and he only gets those weekly... so planning ahead may be a challenge.

I KNOW I'm not the only one in this boat.   Not only am I physically tired, I'm tired of being too tired to enjoy things in most of my spare time or being too tired to even thing of what might be enjoyable in our spare time.

I miss being creative in the kitchen.  I love to cook and create new recipes and share them here, but the desire to get through the week in one pieces has overridden that creative spark in me.  The other issue I have faced which grieves me the most, is that although my almost 3 hours of the day, spent in the car to drive to work, are spent with Christian sermons, leadership podcasts, and only positive stuff... I miss having quiet time with the Lord.  How did I get THAT out of balance.  I mean, I'm with Him, and stop to pray often during my drive, but I've got to focus on the road too.  I do pray throughout the day, but I used to be a faithful journaler.  I'd get up every morning, sit in my prayer chair, read some scripture, then journal.

This is not a post that gives you the tips on how I've arrived at a perfect balance with life like everyone around me seems to have done.  This is actually a post that is asking for YOUR tips.    Maybe I'll get some good ideas from y'all and we can create a help post for other folks out there struggling with balance!

Things I've considered and tried

Using a Planner:
I need to actually utilize the planner that I purchase every year.  I was off to a good start, but April got lost.  I mean really lost!    Hubby and I plan to sit down this month and look at our schedules to make sure EVERYTHING is on there. (white space so we can be quiet and sit with the Lord, together time with no distractions, my spare jobs times, his time to work on his woodworking, my time to work on my business, his time to speak with his family, rest -(is it sad we need to put rest on our calendars?).  My problem.  I'm spontaneous and the planner has always seemed so stifling.  (reality... I'm not that organized).

Meal Planning:
Ordering ready made delivery meals for 1 or 2 days a week.  I think Freshly is one of the overpriced services that it's ready to pop in the microwave.  I don't want a meal kit.  I can prepare stuff on my own on days I have time.  Any recommendations here?  I do normally plan our meals ahead and cook larger meals to plan leftovers, but sometimes the week can run you more than you run it and that big meal gets delayed a day or two.  My ego is hard on this one too because I feel like it's a cop out since I do really enjoy cooking and I could take more of my 1 day off a week to work in the kitchen, but choose not to.  Although pricey, I think taking my 1 day off for a DAY OFF is a smarter use of that time.

Accountability:
Really sitting down with someone to find some order in the chaos and finding out what exactly my priorities and goals are.  If I drill down with someone, maybe I can find out what am I spinning my wheels on and what needs to be a keeper.  Right now everything seems like keepers.  I'm just finding I'm not physically capable of keeping it all without order.

Changing errand day:
I am blessed to work from home 1 day a week.  We've started disciplining ourselves to make that grocery shopping and errand night since once I finish work... I'm home and we have a few hours before supper to get some stuff done.  This has freed up our "off work" time so we aren't so worn out after Sunday to start the week.

That's all I've got!

YOUR turn!

Please help by commenting or emailing me.  

Maybe I should be taking my own advice!

Easy Taco Lentils

These go hand-in-hand in the EASY category with Easy Lentil Sloppy Joes (which has been a pretty big Pinterest hit and even got shared on someone else's blog!)

I'm all about the easy.  I've been working my normal job, I started a 2nd stay at home job for another ministry, I have a home based health and wellness business, and I help my hubby with his handmade business.  So easy and leftovers are a must at the moment.  But we still like tasty and try to stay on as healthy a track as possible.  I'll admit these aren't the super healthiest b/c the seasoning is a mix, but we do use the lower sodium in a pinch.  I haven't had the ambition to make my own taco seasoning... but feel free to sub your own preference of taco seasoning.

I love lentils.  They are super easy to cook (I hear you can buy them canned in a bigger city!), they taste great, and are so versatile!  They are a great substitute for ground meat but so far I've only used them, instead of meat, for sloppy joes, tacos, and in chili.


Easy Taco Lentils 
Ingredients:
Cooked Lentils
1 Packet Old El Paso low sodium Taco Seasoning
2/3 cup water

If you need to cook your lentils.  I cook about 1 cup of lentils in 2 cups of water.  This is about the equivalent of 1 lb and a half of ground meat.  (I always make too much for 2 people with left overs)

Instructions to cook lentils: 

• Sort 1 cup of lentils in a strainer to remove any stones or bad pieces
• rinse the lentils
• Add the lentils to 2 cups of water and bring to gentle boil on medium heat.  Lower heat to a simmer for 20 minutes or until desired texture.  If adding salt, wait until about 5 minutes left and lightly salt lentils.  
• When they are done, put back in strainer to drain excess water

Taco Lentils

• Put the cooked lentils to a frying pan
• Add the seasoning mix and 2/3 cup of water
• Follow the instructions on the seasoning packet.  (gently mix ingredients, bring to a boil, then turn temperature down to simmer for 3-5 minutes)
• Serve however you normally would with taco meat.

We can't stand store bought taco shells.  So last night, I put tortillas on a cookie sheet, added shredded cheese to half of the tortilla and melted the cheese in a 350 degree oven for about 5 minutes.  This put a light crunch on the tortilla to make it more solid for holding the fillings... (i.e. shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, onions, salsa, roasted pepper slices, sour cream).  I don't have pictures of our tacos from last night because we were starving and just dug in!  

I serve with either spanish rice or chips and salsa

Leftovers always make a great taco salad or nachos (pictured above)!

Husband approved!

My 2015 Year in Review

This was a pretty eventful year for our family!

• January - Started the for real house hunt with a phenomenal realtor (David Blanton of Real Estate Wise) - Let me know if you need his number (north of Atlanta area)
• February - Found a house we liked and started praying!
• March - Inspections, mortgage, moving planning and then our precious 18 year old, chocolate lab Moose, went to doggie heaven
• April - we moved stuff to storage, closed on the house, moved stuff out to the house
• May - we were settling in to the house and our new 70 mile (one way) commute
• June - Bj did a 2 week workshop out of town and I suffered a week long migraine while he was gone
• July - we had "vacation".  I use that term lightly as we worked out in the yard and on the house
• August - Bj started back to his busy schedule
• September - we hosted my mother-in-law for a week and started ministering to my brother-in-law as his marriage crumbled
• October - continued ministry to my brother-in-law
• November - Nutcracker rehearsals started and we no longer had any weekend breaks other than Sunday afternoon.  Thanksgiving was some serious hard work as we hosted my mother-in-law and brother-in-law...
• December - Nutcracker blur for 3 weeks of December then finally... Christmas Eve and vacation!

Where did this year go?  It went by so fast!  I feel like I missed a lot, particularly in December with Nutcracker taking up so much time and energy.

• I want to make 2016 count more.  
• I want to be really present more... not just drifting through the week longing for the weekend.  
• I want to pursue better health and more energy.  
• I want to be a better Tracy in every way that I can.  
• I want to seek the Lord more and really, really practice his presence.  
• I want to be more adventurous and less fearful.  
• I want to assure those around me that I really do care for them.  
• I want to give more.  
• I want to be an encouragement to my husband and daughter in all that they pursue.  
• I want to be the prayer warrior that God has called me to be.

Happy New Year's Eve!

God bless!

Positive Thinking

I'm not generally a negative person, but I worry a lot!  Maybe that does make me negative... =(

This morning, while driving into work, I caught myself worrying about my busy day at work and really dreading going in more than normal.  As I caught myself, I tried to consciously change that thought to... "it will be fine, just relax, enjoy your day, life is good, and for goodness sake... PRAY ABOUT IT instead of worrying and dreading it.  So.... here I am, smiling.  We've got one chance to enjoy this life.  I'm wasting it with worry about the future, our finances, my weight and health, work, the drive, our kids, etc.  

Sigh... this is going to be hard, but I really, really want to change my thought patterns and be healed of this fear and worry for good!  

God is sovereign!

I pray that you have a wonderful day.  If you struggle with worry, fear and anxiety, I feel you.  I'm praying for you too.