Overwhelmed!

Oh. My. Word.  *shew*  I am SOOOO tired today.  Christmas night is the night retail stores convert from a "Christmas" theme to "back to normal".  In my store, there was a crew of many people all doing cleanup, and changing things, moving things, etc.  For all those people working, they bring back many many things that can't be sold any longer -- which comes to me.  And so many of them were pulling the recalled things overnight too.  And vendors pulling their seasonal things off the floor to be sent back.  Of course, that doesn't include all the things customers were still bringing back late into Christmas Eve night.  -- WTF?  They opened gifts early perhaps? What a mess it was this morning!  I worked. and worked. and worked. and worked some more to get it all organized up and processed as much as I could.  And probably could have done more -- if I wasn't interrupted all day long with unnecessary questions. 

Lets just say "Overwhelmed" was the word of the day!!

One of the frustrations in what I do is that everyone assumes that I'm the "clean up act" and anything needing to be cleaned up falls under me.  A case of bathroom cleaner with bleach broke open, bottles leaking everywhere -- and what do they do?  put it in a plastic bag and leave it for claims. Bleach, being a corrosive, didn't stay contained in the plastic bag, of course.  So it was all over the floor -- waiting for me to clean up at 6am.

Some of the things brought to me are not returnable to vendors, so it ends up in the trash.  Someone overnight decided to toss out some pieces of wood - that were much to big for the compactor to handle, so they wedged in sideways.  And people who tossed in garbage after that, it just sat there, all blocked up and no where to go.  So .... yep... you guessed it, I was "workin' the garbage" for a good chunk of my day.

An MOD - (manager of the day) - now they're supposed to have an idea what to do with stuff, and give employees correct directions, directed a fast food restaurant employee to bring the empty CO2 soda carbonators from the restaurant to me.  Um, nu uhh, that's a hazardous container, empty or not, it cannot be tossed in the trash.  I told him to take it back up front, he should get "swap out credit" from his vendor.  But why did the MOD tell him to bring it to me in the first place?  Sheesh -- get a clue, pal!

I have a mountain of work waiting for me -- and much more will be added tonight, I'm sure.  But my priority tonight was to leave promptly at 3, and come home to Sadie, who'd been cooped up inside all day.  She makes me smile, coming home to her is a joy!  I took her to the park for a long walk, and just finished up dinner.  (I didn't share my glass of wine with her, though. hehehe) 

I'm hoping for a better day tomorrow :) :)

Quick Fix-It

Depressed?  Out of Sorts? 
Has your Get-up-and-go got up and went?
Yeah, I know the feeling.

I have been in the midst of fighting this for a while now.  Sometimes I'm more successful than others.  We all have those kinds of days.  Saturday was the worst day for me in a long, long time.  And while I don't have answers for everyone, I can only share what helps me.  Not wanting to let another day pass me by without getting anything accomplished, I took little steps.  The one thing I knew needed to be done was my laundry.  After vacation, its easy to get behind in that, especially when you come home on a Monday and have to work the entire week.  So I set that as a very small goal:  2 loads of laundry; and I got it done.  Having one small accomplishment makes it easier to take the next step.

The one thing that's really clear when you do any kind of research about depression is that most of us forget to take care of ourselves.  We find ourselves so overwhelmed with life and the details of getting through a day, or taking care of others, that we forget that we are important too. 

One of the things I read about mild depression is that eating is a part of it.  Well, I did my share;  with no regard to calories, I let myself indulge in whatever struck my fancy when it came to foods.  I also read that flax seed can help, because of the essential oils in it that helps the brain.  I  might consider looking at that when I shop.

What's my antidote for today?  A shower.  The long kind where you take extra pains with our care.  I shaved, then used a puffyscrub with my fav smelly soap and lathered up all over, head to toe.  Just the smell of something familiar adds a few feel-good vibes.  Washing your hair can feel good too.  Take a few extra minutes to massage your scalp.  Run the water just a little hotter than usual.  When you're done and toweled off, slather on some lotion.  Your skin will thank you.  And its funny, your brain knows you're doing things to take care of YOU and that goes a long way.  But don't stop there.  Fix your hair.  Blow it dry.  Curl it if you're so inclined.  and DO NOT climb into that favorite sweatpants/tshirt outfit.  Put on real clothes. 

I slid into my jeans, one of my new shirts (that isn't navy, and part of my daily "uniform" for work); I even went so far as to put on shoes and socks.  Doing something that's part of your daily routine when you "have to" can change your mindset about getting up and about, off the bed, out of your chair. 

Yes, I know this is no cure for depression. 
It won't make your troubles disappear. 
But maybe it will help them seem a little more manageable. 

And don't forget to smile, even when you don't feel like it.

PS:  Later, I'll probably write in my journal, because that is my personal 'go-to' solution to help make sense of nonsensical thoughts.