Schedules

I was posting some doctor appointments on my calendar today and noticed how full it is. Seems like there is something constantly going on. Doctor appointments, meetings, craft shows, just a steady flow of dates and times to keep up with. Then, add in birthdays, anniversaries and such and the calendar is a mess! I can hardly find the actual dates! I thought that once the kids were grown up and on their own, I would actually have some time to myself. There are so many things that I enjoy doing (ceramics, cross-stitch, painting, reading, gardening) and I thought I would have plenty of time to do these things. I still did most of them while the kids were at home but just not as often or much as I would have liked to. But is seems like now, I have even less time to do them than before. What's going on?

I have decided that I am going to start taking 'me days'. I would like to take one each week but I am going to start with one every other week and see how that goes. That day is going to be just for me. I'm not going to do laundry, or clean house or go grocery shopping or any other kind of job or chore. I am simply going to do whatever I want to do that day. Things that I enjoy doing. Fun, creative things, reading, take time to learn how to do something new or just rest and chill out. I need some time for myself. I have spent most of my life worrying about and/or taking care of others and somewhere along the line I stopped thinking about what I need or want. I know this sounds selfish of me to take 'me days' but if I don't do it this way, I won't do it at all. I keep thinking I will work an hour here or an afternoon there into my schedule but it always seems that something else comes up and it never happens so I am just going to take the whole day as 'me day'. My first one is scheduled for next Wednesday, October 19th! I'll let you know how it works out.