Monday, November 17, 2008

It's okay

I tell myself it's okay to slow down, but really I don't believe it. I'm smarter than that.

If I slow down, everything else seems to speed up: laundry, dishes, dust bunnies and yes, even homework. I've had a few times when slowing down was not optional, it was mandatory, but that didn't make it any easier.

I am one who needs to constantly be in motion. I even take handiwork to meetings (I think best when my hands are busy) and waiting rooms. I multitask in my sleep completing crosswords or sudoku with one eye open. But today, I slowed down, wayyyy down. Sometimes the extra laundry, dishes, dust bunnies, science fair projects, and even quilting have to take a back seat to a recuperating mind and body.

This time of year I am usually undergoing prep for a thyroid scan which means no thyroid meds for approximately 6 weeks (3 while you're getting levels elevated and 3 while you're waiting for them to come back down to normal after the scan). It affects everyone differently, but I become very cold, lose more hair than I can spare, and my brain pretty well quits on me (btw, that is not a good thing to have happen just in time for parent/teacher conferences).

I decided not to get my scan this winter but to do it next summer - you know, when I would most like to be cold, bald and brainless. I figure that since my family thinks of it as normal - me being useless through the holidays, they won't notice if I take this week off and let the dishes and laundry pile up.

Maybe if I pop in the Number Factory videos and Ellie learns to count, I won't have to feel all that guilty about it, either.