For those of you who know me, you’ll recognize that this is just the tip of the iceberg on a typical week for me. But this is my place to share. So while none of this is earth shattering, I do believe that, like the rest of my posts, there may be one or two little nuggets that helps you see we’re all in this together and none of us is ever really alone in our experiences.
So, it’s not that I haven’t been writing, it’s that none of it is making it to this blog. One piece that started out as a post has morphed into more of a short story, so you may or may not see that at some point. It was originally about how the cats that live with me are not mine, they belong to my 2 children, but it took on a life of its own as I thought about how the cats have personalities similar to their respective owners, how my “children” aren’t “children” anymore, how the cats are very close the way my kids are, and that’s where it went awry. That’s because, right now, my daughter is off at NYU Tisch working hard to become a screen writer and my son is 15 going on 20, seeming to have gone from a boy to a man practically over night. They went from being each other’s best friend and very close to hardly connecting at all. I can go on, and I will, but not here, not now.
I’m investigating purchasing a decorating franchise to run in addition to my current business. I’ve been working on a test project. It doesn’t seem right to say I’ve been working on it--it’s too much fun to call it work. I really love using the other side of my brain like this and it will be interesting to see where this all goes.
What else have I been doing? Well, this isn’t where I’m going to talk about DBE but I will say that that business is growing too, knock wood. But that’s all told on the DBE website.
I haven’t taken a vacation in 2 years. The day trips with the kids last year didn’t count. This year I’m taking 3. Rachel and I are going to France in the spring; Wil and I are going on a cruise to Bermuda in the summer; and Marc and I are going on a cruise with my brother, sister, and their spouses in the fall. I’m looking forward to all 3 for different reasons.
I always wanted to take Rachel to Europe and she’s always wanted to go, it’s just never never never worked out in these last 10 years.
And the best vacation I ever had was when WIl and I went to Universal together when he was 11, so while this will be very different, I’m really looking forward to the 1:1 time with him, just him and me for 5 days.
And then a cruise with Marc and my family will be great too. The last time I went on vacation with my siblings was after my mother’s estate was settled and we thought it would be a good, recuperative and bonding experience. I went with my then-husband. Short story: I have never been on vacation with my brother and sister since. They are with the same spouses; I am divorced. Marc and I have been together for 10 years (working together for the last 5 or 6). This is our first vacation with my family. I am nothing but positive we’ll have a great time.
Stay tuned for updates after all 3 vacations. If my life is any indication, there will be insights and stories to share.
Oh, and here’s the most interesting thing that’s happened in the last week: first the backstory. I haven’t slept well for more than 10 years. It’s gotten increasingly worse. A sleep study five years ago revealed mild apnea, mild as in “not worth doing anything about.” This time, after two sleep studies, the report was the similar: mild apnea, but clearly there was something else going on. A CPAP (air flow machine) was ordered as a first step but oh what a failure that was. Not only did it not help, but I’ve been so exhausted by the lack of restorative sleep for the past 6 months that even a minute less than usual was intolerable. (Yes, moving, Rachel going off to school and driving new business development for DBE were definitely stressors--all positive, but apparently our bodies don’t differentiate well between good and not-so-good stress, or, at least, mine doesn’t.) But guess what? My sleep doctor said that perhaps if I just didn’t roll over on my back, I wouldn’t get apnea for any reason and maybe I’d sleep better.
Enter the shark fin.
Actually, it looks nothing like a shark fin. It is a 3-bubble device that is attached to a wide black belt that Velcros onto me (this is not me, I wish I looked like this):
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| Rematee.com |
The hard bubbles keep me from rolling over in my sleep. While I do wake up, I’m not waking up frantic (pulling out of REM from lack of breathing). I can easily fall back to sleep. So for 7 out of the last 8 nights, I’ve slept better. This is by no means a 100% fix, but its at least a 40% improvement over where I was and it’s making me feel much more positive and energized. I think as I get accustomed to it I’ll continue to sleep better, and being more rested makes me want to exercise and focus on eating right. Who knew the shark fin would be the answer? So if you’re one who suffers from apnea, you might want to try it too: Rematee.com. Look in products for the bumper bubble belt that’s right for you. Yes, they call it a bumper belt, but to me it’s my shark fin (remember Land Shark from SNL?).
Well, that’s probably enough for now. I’ve got to go finish my decorating project and the marcom plan for DBE. And there’s more, so so so much more. But this is a blog not an epic novel so I’ll save it for next time and again and again.
Enjoy the day!
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