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7.14.2009

The Blahs

I am just feeling... blah.

I wandered around the mall today. That guy who always asks me if he can straight-iron my hair, what is that? That always makes me feel really bad, like I am a failure at hair. And then I returned a pair of pants at Old Navy.

Blah.

It's hard living in somebody else's house, eating somebody else's food. It's hard to keep a toy room that you sleep in clean. It's hard to remember that you're a wife and have wifely duties when you're in another housewife's house. It's hard to remember to make your boy feel special when you're trying to come up with new and inventive ways of keeping yourself entertained all day. It's very easy to get selfish, and when you're being selfish, things usually start to feel a little blah.

I'm on a mission to beat the blahs.
Let's do this thing.

8 comments:

  1. Well I don't know the back story of why you are not at home, but when my husband and I lived in our home in Wyoming (the owners were my in-laws, although they lived in another home a block away) it was very difficult to feel like the home was really ours when we were critiqued on our decoration choices down to how warm or cold we kept the house. I remember one time my MIL broke into our home while we were out and changed the thermostat. I found out b/c her friend told me what she had done. What made things worse is that my husband and I had just finished arguing over who messed with the thermostat (I was sure he did).

    I don't really know if there is a solution to your situation. I think when you live with someone else, even if you section off certain areas of the home, the home is really not yours and your husband's to fully enjoy.

    So I am going to leave you with a big "Go Get a Massage Now" and then "Go Eat the Biggest Fatest Sugaryest Dessert You Can Possibly Find."

    Do I still get extra points?

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  2. AnonymousJuly 14, 2009

    When I get the blah's I usually take a nice hot bath, or I buy myself a new book and spend the afternoon eating grapes and reading. Going to the gym also helps me, or at least helps take my mind off things. Have you thought about going back to Portland and spending a week with your parents? I know it's hard leaving the hubby, but maybe you just need to put yourself into a space that really feels like 'home' for a few days. Is there a local youth group you can volunteer at, like a YWCA or something? That would keep your days busy for the rest of the summer! Perhaps you can babysit for some folks at your church? Or you could...get a massage AND get a mani/pedi...AND get your hair done. A total girl day :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Do you like honey? If so, then you should come visit and we can eat warm honey cinnamon pretzels (I am SO obsessed) from a local pizza chain. We'll each eat like 5. Then we'll be so full that there will be nothing else to do besides lay by the pool.

    Now that that's settled. In the meantime ... book the massage!!!

    Also - have you checked out the library or book stores? When I was feeling the same way as you, I would go to one of those and just wander for hours. Esp if you're at a bookstore and can get some sort of specialty coffee (or non-coffee) drink. I mean you can spend a million hours just in the bargain books section contemplating if you REALLY need that $6 book on hairstyles.

    And when I'm super bummed out, I take a nap because that usually improves my mood.

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  4. My vote- read "The Geography of Bliss" by Eric Weiner ... its a book about happiness and traveling and adventure- three good things. When I read about other people's adventure I tend to be in the right mindset to make my days more adventurous.
    Try to find somewhere to volunteer or someone's kids to watch regularly or something. If you have concrete plans that you have to be at every so often, it sets you up to be more motivated and structured with the rest of your time.
    Also, set an alarm in the morning for 8:30 and vow to be out of the house by 9:30... even if it's just to a coffee shop with a journal.
    Go to the library and pick out some "best poems by..." books, and then really read them and try and get something from them. I recommend Garrison Keillor. Then try and write a poem. Don't erase anything the first couple times.

    Maybe find some u-pick fields of whatever they grow out there (do they grow anything out there?) and go dressed for the activity and pretty pictures, then make a pie with it! Or if it's flowers, litter the house with bouquets.
    It will feel good to be outside for a day and then have a lovely end product to show for it.

    Go to a fabric store and pick out fabrics that remind you of people and then make them customized aprons!

    find a public pool and swim laps. haha, that's a really funny thought.....it would shake up your day a little at least!

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  5. In the summer, I get rid of the blahs by swimming until my fingers are wrinkly, showering, and watching kids movies under a blanket on the couch--think Muppets or Alvin and the Chipmunks. If you're in a pinch and can't get to Blockbuster, back-to-back episodes of That's So Raven will do.

    I really think Mrs. Snow White is onto something with the apron suggestion. Especially if you made frilly ones--you'd be the ultimate one-stop gift shop. Shopping for vintage fabrics is always a mood lifter....

    You could fly to Charlotte for a weekend with strangers who already like you! While here, you could get a massage.

    ReplyDelete
  6. In the summer, I get rid of the blahs by swimming until my fingers are wrinkly, showering, and watching kids movies under a blanket on the couch--think Muppets or Alvin and the Chipmunks. If you're in a pinch and can't get to Blockbuster, back-to-back episodes of That's So Raven will do.

    I really think Mrs. Snow White is onto something with the apron suggestion. Especially if you made frilly ones--you'd be the ultimate one-stop gift shop. Shopping for vintage fabrics is always a mood lifter....

    You could fly to Charlotte for a weekend with strangers who already like you! While here, you could get a massage.

    ReplyDelete
  7. When I got the blahs the first six months of living in NEBRASKA after the glory, laud and honor of working on Capitol Hill in DC... I decided to set out on a mission. A SECRET mission. I was watching like three seasons of Alias at the time and I was all...I could soooo do that. So...I started my switching the ribbon magnets on random cars in the target or grocery lots. You know, the ribbon magnets that are yellow and say support the troops or are pink and support breast cancer awareness? Well, in order for my mission to be successful, I had to find two ribbons that seemed to either go together or oppose one another. Then I would slyly switch them. My best one was switching a gay pride rainbow with a Jesus fish. I also switched support our troops with anti war and breast cancer with heart disease. This will fer sure get you out of the blahs and might just cause some gun totin' red neck to give peace a chance man. Good luck!

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  8. You go to Utah and hang out with your incredibly cool family. That's what you do when you have the BLAHS! That's how I'm going to get rid of my BLAHS!

    P.S. I can't wait to see you!

    ReplyDelete

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