Mindfulness Project Update

Even though it's almost the end of September, I never gave an official update on how my August 'mindfulness' activities went. I was focused on time. Mostly I thought about how I spend and organize my time.

I'm sure most of you know that I'm a pretty organized person but I also tend to over commit myself. I see that I'm free one night so I make plans - rather than looking at the big picture of the entire week and realizing that was my one night free. While I love being busy and social, I equally love having some alone time and down time - when I can just be.

August was a great month to try out some of these new strategies since I was around most of the month. There was one entire week that I did nothing social after work, which is rare for me. Instead I tried to focus on getting things done around the house, which I'm not always great at during the week. I tend to save my chores and errands for weekends, when I have more time. I'm also so tired when I get home from work after a typical 10 hour work day that I just don't want to do anything. I may take a look at my never ending to-do list but immediately feel overwhelmed with how much there is to do and too tired to do any of it.

My friend, Jess, suggested that I just set up realistic goals for myself. That I pick one item on the list and just do that. Then I'll feel both accomplished and slowly chip at my to-do list so my weekend isn't busy with all that I need to get done.

In many ways, this goes against the sort of person I am. Not that I'm all or nothing but I do like to maximize my time and pride myself on being efficient. So, typically, if I'm not going to get 'a lot' done then I'll just put it off to when I can get 'a lot' done. Crazy, huh?

But I was willing to try it and I found that it was just as rewarding! I could get one thing done in a given night (laundry, iron, pay bills, blog) and then it was one less thing I 'had' to do over the weekend. I'm still trying to employ this strategy on a regular basis.

I also created a family calendar for Carl, me and Buster (yes, even Buster has things on the calendar). I use my work (Outlook) calendar for pretty much everything but I've also maintained a paper based calendar for largely just social events. But with a new addition to my family (Carl), who also happens to travel so much I wanted to find a way to put all of the social and travel items in one place.

So I created a Google calendar that we can both access and update. To be honest, I know I'll primarily update it but I'm ok with that as long as he uses it and references it when making plans - and he does! The first time he told me he looked at the calendar to make a plan, I was so happy! It's win-win. I still get to plan and he gets to reap those benefits. But we also have an easy way that references where we are and when. So far, I'm still using this and loving it.

So, while it wasn't as busy of a goal as my July financial month had been, I feel good about what I accomplished.

I'll report back on September soon. Sadly, I'm not too pleased with myself but there is still a week left. Wish me luck!

Sonoma

My stretch of vacations and birthday celebrations has come to an end. While I'm sad to see them end, I'm also happy to get back to a normal life, with semi-regular work hours, not drinking every day and exercising regularly.

Sonoma was my final big trip for the year. It was planned months (maybe even years) ago with Jess to celebrate our respective birthdays. Not only was the trip amazing and beautiful, but it was so great to spend 4 days with Jess - something we've never done before!

After an early flight and a beautiful drive up the coast to West Sonoma where we were staying, we spent the next few days eating good food, drinking good wine, enjoying cool mornings, sitting by the pool, drinking more good wine and going to bed very early.

In many ways, the wine country was everything I thought it would be - beautiful, great temps and relaxing. We treated ourselves to massages one day and a driver one day so we could partake in all the wine tastings we want. Turns out, 5 in one day is more than enough for us. By the fifth place you can't really discern if you're drinking good wine anymore.

With over 300 wineries in the area we stayed in, we decided to focus on some of the smaller, more boutique-like wineries and vineyards. Big estate ones aren't really our speed and since we had a limited time, you just need to choose.

Luckily, Jess and I travel well together and had similar ideas of how to spend our days and nights - going to bed by 10 most nights, up around 7 and then a full day of activities. While I really hope I go back one day, I'll always remember this trip fondly. Now time for a detox......

Note: I'm having trouble uploading pictures but will try again later.

Continued Celebrations

I'm lucky enough that I had multiple birthday celebrations. After the yummy dinner with Jen and Sue some friends and I got together for a happy hour on my birthday proper. After some failed attempts at bars (either closed or had private events going on), we ended up at Takoba, a local Mexican place. The drinks were tasty and the company was even better.

After drinks and apps, Carl and I went out to dinner, just the two of us to Green Pastures. It's a historic restaurant in Austin that I'd never been to before. They're mostly known for hosting weddings and for the peacocks that roam their land. The food was really good, too!

I then left the next morning for the next 11 days. First, I had some work travel, where Carl flew to meet me. We then drove to Corolla, NC to meet my family for a week's vacation. I wish I had taken more pictures but these were the only ones worthy of posting. It was a relaxing time with my family and great for Carl to get to know them better. Despite the fact that I worked more than I'd like on on vacation, I got in plenty of pool and some beach time, ate great seafood and enjoyed loving on my nieces.

Later this week, for my final birthday celebration (now this just sounds silly), Jess and I are going to Sonoma, CA for 4 days. While I'm very excited to be home now, I'm equally as excited for that trip!