Hack Life and Howie Mandel

Mark and Angel Hack Life

I've been a follower of Mark and Angel Hack Life's blog for years. While, like any blog, we can all get a little preachy from time to time, they have some marvelous reminders of what it takes dig deep and, well, hack life.

So when I saw this quote on their Facebook page, I had to smile. It has everything to do with handling stressful situations in a healthy fashion. Too often I hear that depression is a symptom of someone trying to be too 'strong' for too long. It took me a long time to understand that there is strength in being vulnerable. That it's certainly okay (and more human) to shed a few tears (under the right circumstances) than NOT to. It's what we do after it's time to mop them up, that proves our character.

This weekend has been a great insight into that.

I actually took an entire weekend off work. This is pretty rare. My schedule is usually 6 days a week.  But lately I've realized that I need time to do other things, so that I can be more focused and productive in my day job, as well as my home and social life.

And lately, I've been needing to be a bit of a hermit. I've licked my wounds, and now we move on.

Saturday, Sunshine and I palled around the mall, where we picked up a few goodies, a few necessities (new soccer socks, curtains for the bedroom) did a little wine tasting, and spent a good while enjoying some good company. Sunday was jam packed. It started at 6:30 am when I rolled out of bed to meet up with the Lady in Grey for a group fitness class with Trainer Guy, Sunshine, and a few other people. Breakfast followed. Then I went home, cleaned up, did a few chores around the house, and showed up in time for soccer. There were only 3 players and a goalie on the other time, and my team was short players as well. So instead of forfeiting, we talked the ref into letting us play 3 on 3! It was exhausting, but SO much fun, AND I SCORED A GOAL and assisted at least 1 other. It's not likely to happen again but it was a lot of fun - as exhausted as I am.
After the game, I went home, cleaned up (again) and headed over to a friend's house to pick her up, head out to dinner, and check out Howie Mandel doing his stand up comedy act. It was really much funnier than I thought it would be, even though the crowd heckled him a bit. He's obviously a professional and took it like a champ.

So all in all, a pretty awesome day.

One problem... I'm EXHAUSTED. I only got 2 meals in today, and I'm still downing water to make up for the dehydration of the day. It's after midnight now, and I can't wait to close my eyes.

My shoulders and quads feel like someone beat them with a cane....

Here's to hoping I have some energy back for a session with Trainer Guy tomorrow! I am starting to wonder if I need a Monday to recover from my Sunday!