Vacation

My office has something called a 'shutdown week' two times a year...a very appreciated perk at this organization...we have quite a few , which makes the irregular crazy long hours worth the exhaustion and stress.  For the past two years I've chosen to work through most of this week they give us in order to gain back hours in flex time that I could use later in the year for either maternity leave or other scheduled vacation, but this year I have just about enough flex/PTO time to justify taking this week for myself.  And I'm making the absolute most of it.

I scheduled my three days before the kids have off of daycare (they're also closed Thursday and Friday) down to the minute.  I'm not kidding.  I created a Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday note in Evernote and planned my agenda to make sure I make the best use of every hour.  So today I took the kids to daycare at their regular time, then made myself breakfast and got started on making jewelry.

I'm watching Dexter this summer, since I'm caught up on all the other shows I've been watching while making jewelry.  I'm obsessed with Dexter...again...and it's even more addictive this time around because the first time I watched the series was with Steve and I had to wait to start every episode until we were together and both had about an hour to spare.  This time I can watch it on my phone at the gym, on my computer while I work on jewelry, or whenever else I feel like.  I think I started Season 3 today, which is a bummer because I'm going through them way too fast.  I'll be done before August at this rate.

 Back to the schedule...so after jewelry and Dexter, I threw my gym clothes on (15 minutes behind schedule) and sped to the gym for about 20 minutes of lifting before yoga started at 11 AM.  Today was Yin Restorative yoga and it felt like a massage for my joints.  I felt numb walking back through the gym to get into my bathing suit.  Since I was running late, I decided to combine my pool time with cardio and swam laps for about 20 minutes before relaxing on the pool chair for another 20.  It doesn't feel like a true vacation without a pool and the sun.

A little obsessed with bracelets...and with the new sandals in the background!

Got back home around 1:30, showered, ate lunch, then got back to making jewelry for about another hour...another episode and a half of Dexter.  Then I came down to Target, bought a pair of cute sandals, and now I'm in Barnes n Noble enjoying the cafe and iced coffee.  Tomorrow I'll wake up early for a run, then yoga after I take the girls to daycare.  A more vigorous yoga...can't remember what it's called.  Then home to make more jewelry, then lunch, Barnes N Noble, and back to the pool.
And maybe tonight I'll make some bracelets while I watch TV with Steve.  The writing has been paused due to an uncomfortable reaction to feedback I got about a month ago.  It's fine...I'll get back into it soon.  I think my creative urges shift depending on the season.  Fall and winter turn me into an introvert and I dedicate time to writing, while spring and summer seem to motivate the jewelry cravings.  Kind of a bummer considering my busiest season for jewelry sales is November and December.

So I was called away from Barnes N Noble a little earlier than I'd hoped for because the battery in Steve's truck died and he needed me to meet him at the house so he could use the tiny bit of juice it had left to go get it replaced.  I was gonna stop at Sprouts on my drive home to get gummy worms and had to skip it...sucks.  That's becoming a dangerous addiction anyway, I guess.

This is becoming a very long blog post.  Guess that was true a few paragraphs ago, actually.  It's 7 pm and I've got my first round of firing going in the kiln, a glass of wine, and a pop tart to satisfy my sugar craving.  We're about to turn on the TV...let's see if I make any bracelets.

Believe it or not, these pieces will be silver copper when they get all polished up.
I love white copper clay.

How I Loathe the End of a Weekend

There is so much going on at my job right now that even the shimmer of a glimpse of the workload has me holding my breath and feeling the panic rise.  Then I back away from the glimpse and remember to take it all one day at a time and I feel better.  Even writing those sentences was a little scary.  I'm losing sleep over it, which is annoying.

In the writing area of my life, I couldn't be happier.  If only I had more time, that is.  I've got a dozen writing goals and aspirations laid out in front of me and I'm thoroughly enjoying the idea of picking and choosing which of these enjoyable tasks I'd like to tackle each day and night.  I'm rereading the manuscript I finished for NaNoWriMo and tonight I got through an exceptionally well written chapter (obviously, this is my opinion, which could be complete crap along with the writing quality, but I've read a lot of books and I personally feel as though it has a lot of potential).  So my mood in the writing area of my life is very positive at the moment.

Unfortunately, my family life is on the verge of some kind of virus or bug.  My poor birthday girl (who turned one yesterday!  Can't get over the 'last year at this time' moments I've been having the past week) is sick.  She had a pretty yucky fever and was coughing a lot this evening, and I have a bad feeling that this is only the brink of the thing.  And who knows if the rest of us are doomed.  They say the flu vaccine is only 50% effective this year.  I sure hope that little girl feels better soon. It sucks to be a worrying mom...the shimmers of glimpses of worst case scenarios when my kids are sick or hurt give me shudders.

So I ran 4 miles today...I wanted to do more but my body wouldn't let me (I lie...it was really my brain convincing me that my body was the culprit).  Then tonight I did about 20 minutes worth of yoga.  Not much, but I feel much less achy, so it's a win.

Now on to some kind of writing?  Maybe not...I'm so exhausted.  If there is a bug in my system, brewing until its incubation period is all good and gone, I'm going to appreciate myself more if I got a good night sleep tonight.

So never mind, writing part of my day (I'm so sorry).  Good night.