Work/Life Balance

I've always been a hard worker and don't like to see projects incomplete or a to-do list with empty check boxes (my signature to-do list style). But over the past year I've been busier and busier at work and have started to accomodate my expectations of myself. I don't want to say I've lowered them b/c I'm certainly working as hard as ever but I've come to accept what's realistic in a given work day, even if I'm there for 10 or more hours.

Last week, LIVESTRONG hosted a recognition dinner for those of us who have been there for 5 or more years. It was such a nice event with tons of personal touches and kind words. It was nice to be honored and even nicer to be reminded that I, too, feel honored to work there.

But I still want to make sure that work isn't my life.

One thing that's helped with that in the past month is that I'm dating someone and pretty excited about it. I got his permission to out him on my blog but since my parents and co-workers read this, it'll keep it pretty tame.

Suffice it to say that Carl has certainly given me even more reasons to not let work become my life. Sadly, I think that it's easy when you're single to put yourself aside for work and/or be asked to do so. It's not something I'm proud to admit but I also know I may have been given some of the chances I have/had at work b/c I don't have some of the time constraints others do. But that doesn't mean I want that pattern to stay that way.

Carl is such a balanced person that it's infectious to want to follow those same habits. And, of course, when you first meet someone you want to spend a lot of time with him. Luckily, for me, he feels the same way.

So I think many people are grateful that Carl came into my life but most of all, I am.

On a less sappy note, I'm on day 16 of my 21 day food challenge. It's been amazing! While I miss wine the most I've gotten past my sugar cravings and have really enjoyed experimenting with new foods. My sleep has improved and overall I feel great all day long. So while I'm sure I'll make some changes when Day 22 roles around, for now I'm pretty happy with the results!

Holidaze

How are the holidays already over? This happens every year so I shouldn't be surprised.....

I didn't travel this year to see my family. While I've stayed in Austin for Christmas before, this was the first time I wasn't with family. While of course I missed them, I also really appreciated not traveling and having over a week of time in Austin to get caught up on some things and just enjoy the life I have here.

I may not have been as productive as I wanted over the break but I ran a lot, saw a lot of friends, a few movies and hosted some people at my house on Christmas Eve. Christmas day was spent with Jess, Ken, Kelsey and Jim at Jess and Ken's house. Buster also got to join in this year's festivities, which was extra great for me.

I feel pretty great about how 2010 ended (really about how the whole year went for me) and even better about how 2011 has started so far. I'm not one for superstition (I'm just a 'little stitious') but I did manage to eat some black eyed peas on New Year's Day. There's no need to tempt fate or push my luck.

Now it's (almost) back to work. I decided after the Thanksgiving holiday that the best day to take off work is the day where everyone else is returning. So, I've got one more day at home. My big goals today are to walk Buster (poor little guy is quite neglected during training season) and get my car's oil changed. Besides that I've got some cooking to do.....

I signed up for a 21 day food challenge. To clarify - this is not a diet! I am not interested in losing weight but I am interested in feeling better overall and seeing if the food I put into my body impacts my energy levels.

Two of my friends, Devon and Kelsey, did this program in November and had great results! After their discussion of how well they were sleeping, I was sold! I haven't been a great sleeper since I was a child. I fall asleep just fine but wake up a lot throughout the night.

The 21 days to food freedom focuses on eating vegetables, proteins and fats and eliminating the unnecessary things - like dairy, processed foods and alcohol - for 21 days to see how you feel.

Everyone's goals are different but mine is to really see how what I eat impacts how I feel. I'll certainly keep you all posted. While it may be difficult to not drink for 21 days I know I can do it. After the holiday craziness of eating and drinking a lot, I'm ready for a break.

Remembering

The first Lucy in my life (besides the Peanut's character) was Lucy Sather, Jess's dog. She was an adorable creature that I fell in love with shortly after I met Jess in 2004 when I moved to Austin.

Sadly, last week, Lucy suddenly got sick and after many tests it was determined she had suffered from some strokes and had bleeding on her brain.

Jess and Ken got to bring her home for a few days but eventually made the tough decision to say goodbye, knowing her quality of life wasn't the same.

I know how hard the loss of a pet is. It's one of the hardest things I've been through but it's also a true reflection of the impact they have on your life. The pain and sadness is all worth it (although believe me it doesn't feel that way at the time) because it just means you loved them so much.

I am aware that Buster's little life will be over before mine and it brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it. But it also makes me aware of how much I should take advantage of every moment we have together.

I'm honored that I got to be such a big part of Lucy's life. I will always remember what a great singer she was, her licking mine and Jess's legs after long runs (mmmm....salt) and her beautiful eyes. Lucy also inspired me to get my own dog. After knowing her for a year I decided to get Max. I am forever grateful that she led me to that path.

I already miss Lucy and wish I could take the sadness away from Jess and Ken's life. But I do know it will get easier and that we're all lucky to have known her.

Updates

I've had a lot going on but not much time to catch everyone up so this is just going to be one of those blog posts where I try to catch you all up. So I apologize for the lack of humor and creativity - I'm just sticking to the facts.

It's that time of year when life gets busy and stressful but I have to admit, I love it. I love the temperature change, the smells, the music and food and the overall sense of festiveness.

So let's begin in Mexico. One of my 2010 goals was to take an actual vacation. Sure, I've taken time off from work this year and in year's past but it's usually for an event for one of my beloved friends or when I tag on extra days of a work trip to travel or see friends.

So Devon and I decided to book a trip to Mexico and invite our friends. Turns out they all (well, almost all) wanted to go. There were 6 of us, divided into two rooms (hence the pictures). My room was known as 'Team Half Marathon' as we're all in training mode right now. But we quickly coined ourselves as 'Team Sensitive' b/c we are also the girls who cry easily and get hurt feelings. But it's only b/c we care so much! The other room was 'Team Sorority Girl' b/c they were all in sororities in college.

It was the most relaxing 5 days I've had in years. I turned my blackberry off and didn't read emails for the entire trip - it was so worth it to completely disconnect. Suffice it to say, I'd like to make this a regular occurrence.

Next up was Thanksgiving and Door Busting. My dad came in town for Thanksgiving and despite a nasty stomach bug that he (and many others) caught, we had a great week together and he got to meet Audrey for the first time. I then went with Devon and Kelsey for our second annual 'Door Busting' black Friday experience. We shopped from 1 - 5am and had some good successes. It was the coldest night of the year thus far, though, as you can see in the pics (note: if I'm ever lost, you can return me to LIVESTRONG).

I then got to enjoy a 'fancy' night with co workers at our annual holiday party. This year it was at the club level of the Austonian - the tallest building in downtown Austin. The view was amazing - you literally forget you're in Austin. It was tons of fun but I'm not cut out for 2am nights anymore. It takes me all day to recover. Here I am with the rest of the 'Navigation' Team:

But what better way is there to recover from a late night by eating delicious food and watching holiday movies. Haley hosted our third annual 'Love Actually' viewing party and potluck. As you can see, we love to eat. And the company was great, too:

I woke up refreshed and ready to spend the next day with Lucie. We walked to a park near Chris and Missy's house (after Lance passed us on his bike) and checked out the peacocks and peahens. Lucie could have stayed for hours. But we decided to go to lunch and met Jen, Larkin and Layne at Phil's Ice House, where she promptly wanted to sit on a cow:

Last but certainly not least. I got a new TV. I have officially entered the 21st century and have a flat screen HDTV. I don't know how I went this long without one. No picture for this but suffice it to say it's pretty magical.

Happy Home-iversary To Me!

One year ago today I closed on my house.

It's been a great year and hard to believe how quickly it's gone by. This blog also started about a year ago (as you may recall after a few drinks by Devon and Haley) to chronicle my home ownership. It's certainly turned into a chronicle of other aspects of my life but I still try to share all the details of home ownership. Something excited that happened this past weekend is that I fixed my back door that was had a sticky lock. Guess how? Good old WD-40. Oh sure, I've learned that WD-40 and duct tape can work wonders.

I still love coming home everyday, especially this time of year now that I have a Christmas tree up. Thanks to my Dad for helping me decorate it last night. I'm still a bit in denial that it's my first 'non-real' tree but I'll get used to it.

I know I'm way behind on blogs and I promise to catch up but I had to post on this special 1 year day.

Party Success

Last year, Jess and I co-hosted a clothing swap at her house. It was such a huge success, we decided to do it again this year and it was my turn to host at my house!

I've had a few events at my house in the year I've lived here (can you believe it's almost been 1 year!) but I always get excited to have people over. Not only is it a good excuse to clean it's fun to share my house love with others.

For those of you who don't know what a clothing swap is, essentially we invite all of our girlfriends to clean out their closets. Whatever you find that you don't want, need or doesn't fit anymore, you bring to the swap. This could include clothes, shoes, purses, jewelry and scarves. Among the group of women, there are most likely 1 or 2 people who are similar sized to you and then it's a free for all! We organize the items in categories and then you just take what you want.

After we're all done taking what we want, we show each other what we picked out and discuss the items. Then we bag up the leftovers (of which there are usually a lot). This year we donated items to Dress For Success and Goodwill. Despite the fact that many of us got a lot of items, there were still 7 bags of items left to donate.

I've found that I'm more likely to bring an item to a swap than just donate to Goodwill directly (even though it may end up there eventually). Somethings that I may be reluctant to let go of, I like the idea of knowing that they may go to someone else's home. Truly, one person's junk is another person's treasure.

Best of all, it's like going shopping without spending any money!

While the clothing swap part if fun, it was also nice to have people over. I really enjoy entertaining and I think last night was a big success.

So same time next year, back to Jess's house? I hope so!

Family Bonding

Last night I babysat Lucie and Audrey (as well as a 15 month old baby of Chris and Missy's friend). The 'older' kids were asleep by 7:30 and that left Audrey and me.

It was the first time I felt like I was really starting to bond with her. I fed her a couple of times, changed her diaper and overall just enjoyed snuggling with her. At four weeks old, she's pretty alert and quite adorable - making all the cute baby noises, stretching in odd positions and nuzzling into my arms - and it made my heart swell for her.

I was also relieved.

I hadn't felt that bond with Audrey yet. Most of the four weeks of her life, when I've been with Chris and Missy, it's to help with Lucie. So tonight it was much more about Audrey and I was so happy.

I give my friend, Jen, a hard time on behalf of second/younger children around the world. While I'm largely joking, it is different. Your first child and everything they do is special and exciting and scary (I imagine) at times. As a second child, I felt it was my duty to make sure parents (especially those who were older children) understand that we're just as important.

But of course we are. And of course it's different. It can't possibly be the same. But it doesn't mean it's better or worse.

I know that Lucie will always be my first niece and hold a special place in my heart. But holding Audrey last night and getting some time with just her is exactly what I needed to know I will also hold a special (but different) place in my heart for her.

Meanwhile, Lucie woke up several times while I was there and needed some extra nurturing to fall back asleep. It made me feel good to know I could do that for her, while still love on Audrey. As always, I continue to be in awe of all mothers and how they do it.