work, eat, sleep. lather, rinse, repeat.

it's one of those weeks where all i seem to be doing is working a long day... eating a quick bite... spacing out for a few minutes... and then crawling into bed only to do it all over again. no time to do fun social things, no time to go for the long run my body seems to be craving, no time to break open new books for lengthy reading sessions, no time to cook delicious and healthy dinners. just... work. eat. sleep.

the problem, too, is that when i get into this cycle i usually have trouble falling asleep and subsequently have trouble getting up in the morning. perfect and recent illustration: me lying in bed last night at 1 a.m., staring up at the ceiling and willing myself to fall asleep (FYI that the counting sheep really doesn't work. what a crock)... and then me starting awake @ 9 a.m. realizing the sun is streaming in through the curtains and MAYBE I SHOULD GET UP AND GO TO WORK ALREADY, geeeeez.

i truly believe that exercise and social activity (whether that means a low-key dinner with friends or a night out at the bars that ends in broken teeth) are the key factors to helping you regulate stress, maintain normal energy levels and have a healthy sleep cycle. when my schedule becomes such that those key factors are incredibly difficult to factor in, my overall well-being seems to suffer.

that, and i'm leaving this friday for a week-long business trip that is going to be either extremely stressful or extremely fun, followed by one week here in austin to plan the next week-long business trip (which will hopefully be more fun than stressful that time around), followed by another week in austin to get ready to go home and eat turkey for a week.

mm... turkey and stuffing and pumpkin pie... i feel better already.