Maintenance

For very valid and worthwhile reasons I have been in Phoenix for the last three weekends. First to comfort my sister, second to see Tim and Faith and this weekend we have had the chance to go to two D-backs games with old friends (Aaron Mertz) and new (some friends from work). What great opportunities for fun! But at the same time I am growing weary. There is something about not being in my house on the weekends and not being in my house during the week that causes a great deal of stress. I've decided what is lacking is maintenance.

The things that we do on a day to day basis that allow us to maintain our lives are super important, but we don't really realize their importance until we don't have the time to do those things anymore. For example, every Saturday I like to take the bills that have come throughout the week and file them away. Because I haven't seen my house on a Saturday recently my basket full of bills is overflowing. I haven't been able to upkeep my house in the manner which I've come accustomed. Not that my house would be perfect or clean, but I might be able to see the pattern on my tablecloth.

I also haven't been able to maintain my sleep pattern. If you know anything about me, you know I love sleep. In fact, I consider it one of my greatest joys to climb into bed every night, I can't stay awake past midnight to save my life, and if I don't get enough sleep I don't cope with everyday life very well. Usually I aim for eight hours on a week night and then I catch up on the weekends, but as of late I haven't had my catch up hours and my ability to cope is waning. So it's time to get back onto a sleep maintenance schedule, tending to my body (and thereby my soul) to help me deal better with everyday life.

School Katie has suffered as well. I like to do some upkeep activities on the weekends, enter in spare grades, make sure I have lesson pieces assembled, and keep up with my readings for class. As a result of being absent from my apartment, I have had hectic weeks trying to catch up on these maintenance activities while also trying to accomplish my weekly tasks as well. I need some time to maintain my school life so as to keep my sanity during the work week.

But I think the hardest for me to not maintain is my relationship with Herb. I try to use the weekends to recharge and reconnect with him. We like to spend Saturday mornings relaxing and connecting, and we haven't had that opportunity. We've also been trying to play catch up during the week, but with Herb's return to school it's going to be more challenging. So that increases the importance of maintenance in our relationship.

All of this to say, it's time to stay home for a while (at least for a weekend) and work on maintaining my life. It's time to get ahead instead of play catch up. And maybe, just maybe it'll give me space to blog more. (Sorry for slacking.) Who would've known that maintenance was so important? Without it the structure begins to deteriorate and fall apart, but with it the structure continues to stand strong. So here's to maintaining and standing strong.