I will survive!

Or should I say, I DID survive?

That's right - my babysitter, Leticia (who comes every afternoon from 1-5pm so that I can get in a good nap, send a few emails, and write a couple of blog posts) returned from her 3-month long summer trip to Honduras safe and sound. The political climate in Honduras wasn't pretty, so I'm so happy she's back. Of course, it's also been nice to have a little free time again.

I wasn't on my own for the whole summer - as I was able to fill most of June and July with a couple of different babysitters (one, in particular, that Deirdre and I just came to love!), but I went most of the month of August solo. That's right. Just me and the big D. And did we have fun! It was the greatest month, complete with a trip to see my parents...but a bit tricky to work in a guaranteed 1 1/2 hour chunk of time to rest. If you've been reading along on my blog, you know that this nap isn't just a need for a little "down time." It's an all out, eyes shut, blinds closed, under the covers kind of dead sleep. I need it, I know it, so I do it.

So how did I do it? Well, I just started sleeping when she did, regardless of whether or not I was particularly tired. Deirdre is an A+ sleeper, so it's not as though I didn't have an opportunity - but it came down to two things: a) was I willing to rearrange my schedule to adapt to her nap times and b) was I willing to forgo all of the other things I wanted to accomplish in order to accommodate my illness? Oh man. What a test of my will!

Turns out, I have what it takes to live well with lupus. Not only can I alter my 5-years-and-running 3pm nap time to 12pm, but I can also convince myself that the best thing I can accomplish on any given day is a good rest. All in the name of health and wellness.

So here's how it worked - when Deirdre went down for a nap at 11:30am, I went down for a nap by 12pm (instead of waiting until my normal 3pmish afternoon siesta.) I'd sleep for almost an hour and 1/2, sometimes a little less, sometimes a little more. Then Deirdre and I would eat lunch, slip over to the pool for a bit, savor a nice tall bottle mid-afternoon, and return home in time to take another snooze around 4pm. Trick was that this 2nd nap of hers was a little iffy. Since I couldn't count on the fact that she'd rest, I couldn't guarantee that I'd be able to rest. Thus, I'd get all of my rest in at noon, and if she rested again at 4pm, I'd tack on a bonus 30 or 45 minutes of rest. Oh boy - did I feel great! I'd never gotten so much sleep.

Problem now, is that since Leticia has returned, I'm having trouble readjusting to one nap. My body's used to taking a nap around 12pm...AND an intermittent late-afternoon nap. Right now, I'm just giving into it...but long term, I'd like to get back to napping once a day. I'll keep you posted!

By the way - thanks for bearing with me and my sporadic postings over the last few weeks. Now you know why I might have missed a day here and a day there. Hanging out with Deirdre is a full-time job! (I know, I know - all you moms out there are saying, "uh, duh!!!!")

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