schedules

What’s The Date Again?

Everyday Adventures

It’s one of those weeks, you know? The calendar says it’s Thursday, but it feels like a Wednesday, even though today is my Friday–and yes, I realize how confusing that sounds!

I had a full 4-day weekend thanks to the fact that we don’t work on Fridays anymore (a perk? of the business being in shut-down mode). But having Monday off means this was only a 3 day work week, so I’m completely discombobulated.

I know, I know, cry me a river, right?

The Fridays off thing sounds fabulous, and it is, but I admit I had a hard time adjusting to it this past month. I’m so used to taking a day off for a certain purpose–travel, appointments, party prep, etc.) that having a weekday off for no reason threw me for a bit of a loop. The first week I believe Duncan and I chilled on the couch for a few hours catching up on NCIS New Orleans before finally heading into the Abyss to be semi-productive. The weeks after that were a little better to the point that I’ve gotten into a bit of a rhythm for my Fridays.

  • Catch up on the RSS feeds
  • Check Craigslist and Indeed for new job listings, apply if anything promising appears (it’s been slim, lately)
  • Edit videos and/or film a new video
  • Blog if I’ve got a post in mind

So that’s my new normal, though it still feels very weird.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want to sound like I’m complaining–far from it! I’m acutely aware how lucky I am to a) still be employed, b) have a rather flexible schedule, and c) have extra time off during the week to work on my own projects. Being a creature of habit, though, it’s a little tough sometimes to be so go with the flow. And next week? Next week we might not even work at all! (I’ll find out later today if that’s the case or not.)

Again, I hear you, don’t complain over an impromptu 10-day staycation, right? Right! Half of me is overjoyed at the prospect, half of me is frantically trying to come up with a plan so as not to waste said week of opportunity, and a sliver of me is dreading being at home, alone with just the dog for company, for a solid week. I may have to take an afternoon down at Grassroots or something just to keep my sanity in check.

Duncan’s doing pretty good, by the way, but the barking is still a bit out of control. At night he’s down to maybe a 5 minute token protest before settling down to sleep, but when we crate him to leave the house, or even to leave the room (crated or not), the barking is large and wanting to be in charge. The trainer is coming back on Sunday for our follow-up and we’ll discuss options then. Duncan also has his first vet visit on Friday–wish us luck on that!

Oh, but at least as of yesterday I’m once again insured–we had a month gap in health insurance thanks to being misinformed about deadlines, but I managed to avoid calamity for the month of May and I have a shiny new insurance card just in time for my next prescription pick-up. I’ll be very happy NOT to have to pay the $72 (for 3 months of bc pills) the reminder email listed as due. Whew!

That’s been our scrambled week so far, how’s yours been?

Remembering…

Everyday Adventures

I’ve been feeling a little overwhelmed lately–with all the things I want to do, with everything go on around me, with the desire to chuck it all and just sleep for a week–and while I’m not giving into any urges that would being permanently damaging I am trying to be a bit more conscious of a few things that I tend to forget from time to time:

It’s a Marathon, Not a Sprint

It’s true, I’m a bit impatient at times. I love projects and endeavors that provide instant gratification. And while I won’t go so far as to claim that the wait is always worth it, some things are worth waiting for or taking my time on. (Let me repeat that a few times to myself again.)

In the case of the house, we’re still not finished unpacking but we’re getting there. Where we’re no longer in a hurry is on the renovation front. For a couple of reasons (looming holidays, taxes, etc.) we’re putting off any real renovation until 2015 and we’re okay with that. After all, we’re planning to be in this house for a long time, so why not live in the space for a bit before we start making decisions about how to change it.

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We did decorate for Halloween, though, and that was fun. So far it’s just the outside (and having a bigger outside to dress up means I definitely need more items, but it’s coming along) but the inside is high on the priority list.

Have Fun Without Guilt

All work, no play, you know the rest. But it’s less about becoming “dull” and more about being happy. Even though I have a mountain of things I want to accomplish, if all I ever do is work on whittling that list down what will I have to show for it? Where will the memories of a happy life lived come from?

So I’ve been playing a bit, lately. Last night I was feeling super rundown so I changed into pajamas right after supper and dug out my copy of Practical Magic and just chilled. the fuck. out. I’m not saying that watching the antics on-screen completely restored me (neither did going to bed a bit early) but it helped. And reminding myself that I deserve a little downtime helped assuage the guilt coming from the unchecked items in my planner.

We Make Our Own Rules

Aside from the whole ‘death and taxes’ bit, the only rules that are important are the ones we make ourselves. We agree to certain rules as part of a lawful/moral society, but beyond that we retain autonomy over our own lives. Just because ‘they’ do it that way doesn’t mean I have to; especially if their way is dragging me down.

I’ve been examining some of these ‘rules’ and finding out (like the pirate code) that they’re really more just guidelines. And some of those guidelines are going on the shelf for a bit (if not forever) while I create new rules and structures that suit my purposes better.

So, yes, I’ve been spending a bit of time in my own head these past few days as well as spending some time thinking about very little at all, and just coasting for a bit. It’s important to note that, from a creative standpoint, I’m not blocked or frozen. The ideas keep coming and the hows keep getting answered and I’m still planning and plotting my next phases. I’m just not so much on the action at the moment.

And that’s okay.