stress relievers

Although it’s summer - we’re still super busy! 

It’s pretty hard for my kiddos to understand that even though they are out of school - and living the life of Summertime Luxury - some of us still have to go to work and pay for their summer camps and activities. (Secretly, I’m pretty happy that they don’t understand this yet, means they’re still pretty young and don’t feel the weight of our adult responsibilities - but that’s a different topic for another day.)

Whatever - I’m in the middle of a pretty heavy production schedule and budget planning. I have two main ways to deal with work stress:

• downloading all details of my workday to my husband on the drive home (handsfree bluetooth is a beautiful thing!)
• working out (bootcamp class is my favorite!)

There’s not much to reveal about my daily download to my husband - other than it begins with a call to let him know that I’ve left the office. If he’s in town, he first lets me know just how LATE I’m running to wherever I’m going, then he does a nice job of settling in for a nice chat which last for most (if not all) of my commute home. I don’t always have that much to say, but when I do - he’s a great listener and supporter. By the time I arrive wherever I’m going - I’m done with the workday and can focus on whatever is next on the agenda. It’s been this way since before we were married. 

When he’s out of town and we can’t connect - well, that’s generally when the kiddos say, “Mommy came home cranky tonight.”

My bootcamp class is my other MAJOR source of stress relief. When I first started going to this workout - on the advice of a personal trainer that I had just started seeing - I DREADED it. Literally lost sleep over the thought of going. It was a new class that began in the month of May a couple of years ago. We were outside running in this parking lot that has a swift slope to it - and she took FULL advantage of what that slope could do to us. We had to do LOTS of “up downs” on the curb, push ups (I was horrible at those!) off the curb, lunges, sprints and just about everything that I didn’t enjoy doing. Just knowing that I had this class would make me tense and cranky and I would toss and turn the night before - waking several times full of dread. (read: PATHETIC.)

One of my friends in the class, who is almost 20 years (gosh! I just realized that!!) younger than me, told me to stop dreading it - because I was making it much worse and to just GET INTO IT. 

I tried. I really did - and you know - the more of the workouts I did, the more I started feeling a little more comfortable. The more I realized that I wasn’t going to DIE doing all of the hard stuff - the more that I started really TRYING to be a tad bit competitive with some of my fellow bootcampers. 

Now, I love it. I make playlists for our teacher to play while we give her a million jumps with a jump rope or jumping jacks or push ups or . . . well, you get the idea. I feel a real difference in how having a tough workout affects me for my workday. It makes me get to work a little later, but I’ve already physically accomplished so much that I feel ready to take on all of the challenges the office has in store for me. 

Also, the class has held together really well over the past few years. Some members have come and gone (or in the case of my friend - have gone away to college and returned for summer break), but a lot of us are from the original core group that started when the class began. We’re all there for each other - sweating out our stresses and gaining physical strength. This may sound gross, but it feels great and puts me in a very nice state of mind. 

Right about now, my trainer is seriously laughing . . . and scheming what my next workout will be . . . . heehee (nervous laughter).