Friday, yeay!

I finally got some decent sleep last night and I am amazed at how much better I feel today! The past week, I've averaged about 3-4 hours of sleep a night and just felt so drained. I was seriously worried that I was clinically depressed - nope, just utterly exhausted. Last night the kids woke up a couple times, but it was manageable, they were easily re-settled and I actually dreamed! It has made all the difference today. Of course, I need about 6 or 7 more nights like that one to really recover!

This weekend Emmelia has a violin recital. She had a lesson last night and was *really* into it - I think because of the Natalie MacMaster concert. Then when we got home, she had a package which turned out to be an autographed photo of Natalie MacMaster with a note wishing her a happy birthday (which I happen to know is from Natalie's mother because I might've sent an e-mail....). She was so very excited to get that photo and hung it up over her bed. We talked about how if she keeps practicing then someday she can play like Natalie MacMaster. All in all, it's nice for her to have a role model in that regard.

So, anyway, we have rehearsal tomorrow for the recital and then Emmelia has a birthday party for her friend who lives across the street. Then church on Sunday and the recital Sunday afternoon. That's our plan. I'm also hoping to get a little housework done and maybe hit the Veteren's Day sale at the fabric store. I just finished knitting my 3rd scarf and I think I'm ready to learn something new - maybe a sweater or hat would be fun.

I've been asked to design a brochure for the kid's daycare in the Gimp so I've been working a bit on that, but also put together this layout today. It was a lot of fun and I like how the swirl connects her mouth and the "wish" so it looks like the breath from her mouth. I used a free digital kit from 2Peas. If you haven't checked out their freebies yet, you are really missing something. I really love this photo and the fact that I caught her in the act of blowing out her candles. Too bad we can't really see her face, though. I'm also going to do a birthday layout showing off more photos, but couldn't resist using this particular photo this way:

Last night I took the kids to Chipotle for dinner after violin. I had a coupon for a free burrito and I ordered my new "healthy" burrito bol... no rice, small amount of black beans, chicken, fajita veggies, mild salsa (& a little corn salsa), cheese and lettuce. This comes out to about 500-600 calories, only 28 grams carbs and 44 grams of protein. And, it is *really* good. And small kid-sized quesadillas are only 75 cents! I'm really digging Chipotle lately. So last night's dinner cost me a little over $3 for all 3 of us. Can't beat that!

This week I've had horrible PMS. That's interesting news in a way, since I didn't expect to maintain any sort of cycle regularity after I went off the hormone treatment. My doctor once told me my "body has no rules" and he's right. It's always an adventure waiting to see what it will do. Anyway, raging PMS (which has probably contributed a lot to the exhaustion)... I decided to research some good ways of dealing with the symptoms. I've already made better nutrition choices and cut out (for the most part) caffeine, so I needed some other ideas to help. First off, Pamprin. I've never used it before but a co-worker highly recommended it and it rocks. Secondly, Omega 3 oils. I've been using (for the past month or so) Udo's Choice Omega 3,6,9 oil every day. I missed Sunday and Monday this week, and let me tell you, I saw a huge difference! Thirdly, dark chocolate. I found these amazing dark chocolate sticks at the grocery store - only 60 calories each and all the goodness of chocolate for those hormonal cravings. The other thing that is supposed to help is exercise. I'm sure it does, but I've been too tired to give it a try this week. I just thought I'd share because I know I'm not alone in my suffering.