September 15, 2024

Sunday Update: Sleep, Reading, Sport

This week was my last week of maternity leave before starting work on Tuesday.  I had tried to plan a lot of nice things, but somehow many of them just turned a little... off.  But in very non-complainable ways.  For instance I really really wanted to see my Pilates teacher from when I did pilates when the babies were 3-6 months old and so I signed up for her class and then when I got there it was a different instructor.  The other instructor was fine... but it wasn't my super strong lady trainer I really wanted to see one more time.

I'm just going to go straight into 

Sleep:
I have been averaging 7.5 hours of sleep a night but I am waking up so grumpy because I am straight into grumpy babies.  The babies are on a 5:15am grumpy wake up, which is soooo tiring.   I feel tired. The big kids are usually asleep by 7:15pm, the house is ready for another day by 7:45pm, and so I have 9 hours to do whatever I want, including sleep.  

The evenings do just disappear because 1.5 hours of personal time is a bit tricky to really utilize, considering that I need about a 30 minute wind-down for bed.  So from about 7:45-9:00 I am free to do...

I guess that's the issue.  Sometimes I hang out with Andy.  Sometimes house stuff takes a bit longer.  I guess, if I just have 1 hour of leisure time a day, I should use it as such.  Laura Vanderkam would argue that 7 hours a week is a lot of leisure.  Perhaps this week I'll aim for 8pm yoga? Reading is also leisure and I do that for 30 minutes before bed, so I'm not completely blank for leisure, but I it does feel is short supply.

Also, if I'm going to be woken up at 5:20am every morning by babies, they could at least do me the curtously of not being pissed off about being awake at 5:20am every morning.  

Mornings have not been good.  I like mornings.  I don't like extended grumpy baby mornings. I am happier when I wake up before the babies, but I am not sure I want to chop my 1 hour of evening leisure into 30 minutes evening leisure and 30 minutes morning leisure by trying for a 8pm bedtime and sleeping until 5am.  I know this will pass... but it sure is taking a while.

Reading
I started reading Summer Romance but I mostly read while babies complain and it's not a great time to read.  It's better than Olga Dies Dreaming, which I have abandoned at 50%.  I got my copy of You Only Die Once from the library but my brain is currently so unfocused that I'm barely holding the pieces of Summer Romance together... and it's not a very complicated book.

Sport

Tuesday: Not as good reformer pilates class

Wednesday: Rode bike to local bike shop (up a mountain! 600ft of climbing!) then ran back down.  It took 40 minutes to ride 3.5 miles there and 50 minutes to run the 3.5 miles back.  It was an awesome adventure.  I listened to a 45 minute Peloton training run on the way back which was good fun.

Thursday: Arm workout with gym buddy.  New gym is great.  I realized old gym had big photos of people "working out and having fun!" on the wall.  All the people in these photos were very pretty.  New gym just has slogans like "Lift like no one is watching" and "you got this" and it's way more inclusive than old gym.  I like new gym

Today (Sunday) I am doing an all day ladies mountain biking day at a local trail center.  I am a bit scared because I basically haven't been biking in 18 months.  Right before I found out I was pregnant with twins I went on a biking and camping weekend trip. I intended to do so much riding during this pregnancy, and the last ride I did was to the doctor at 25 weeks pregnant.  I remember I ached for 3 days after that 2 mile ride. 

The good news about this trail center is that I get driven up hill with my bike in a van so I just have to ride down hill.  It's still going to be hard, but it will also hopefully be fun, and I will also get to hang out with my biking lady friends, and hopefully make MORE biking lady friends, and hopefully remember that I actually really do love mountain biking. 

3 comments:

  1. Waking up to grumpy babies (toddlers, or teens - we in the latter stage now) is just plain awful. So you're sick and tired of it because it's awful. No mother out there is going to leap out of bed with a smile on her face if her twin babies are grumpy in the morning. Sigh. The only way through is through, but it's okay to not like the getting through part.
    On the flip side, I'm so glad you're liking your new gym. It doesn't make the horrible experience worth it, but it's nice that being "forced" to make a shift has ended up being a net positive decision. And love that you biked to the shop and ran back!
    All the best with the transition back to work. I'm thinking of you and Andy and the nanny and the older two and the babies! It will be a hectic time, no doubt, but good for everyone to settle back into a routine. And hopefully your coworkers will be a lot less grumpy in the mornings?!

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  2. So many good things, Rachel. They bring you up the mountain and you just ride down?? That's amazing. I only like down, I do not like up lol I remember your situation at the old gym (infuriating) and glad you are liking the new gym. I also have been following your room move - well done!! Must feel so good to be finished with that project.

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  3. How did the mountain biking day go? That sounds like such a fun event and I am glad you're taking this time for yourself. More big changes ahead with your return to work!

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