Re-blog

I decided it was time to start re-blogging. I'll be loading up some pictures from the past months, and maybe jotting down some thoughts about experiences that took place then too. I've missed blogging, but it's always a bit of a struggle to distill snapshots of thoughts and moments onto this site, like a theme to a life that is mostly work, eat, sleep, grow. I guess the grow part is something fun to focus on.

These past few months - eating: Has been fun! After the kidney surgery, I didn't have appetite much. Being a classic perpetual snacker, this felt so sad to me! There I was, especially right after surgery, being literal catered to, and my tummy was like, "nuh-uh," and I could only manage about a meal a day. Once I got my hungry back, it's been all about saying money and eating in, or celebrating and eating out. At home, I eat tons of eggs, and have, as of this last shopping trip, become especially partial to cold, raw tofu with bbq sauce. It sounds disgusting, but it's like eating leftover KFC, I swear. I was sharp enough to buy nearly a year's supply of instant coffee with my Christmas money at the beginning of this year, so this allows me to make Starbuck's or Dunkin' Donuts a once-weekly treat, and for the work coffee machine to be my friend during the week. Otherwise, I could easily be whittling my savings away from caffeine. I know there is going to come a day when I want to quit caffeine, and I am trying to figure out when I will be ready for that. New Year's doesn't seem right - It's too cold and coffee is too warm and fuzzy. For now, it is delicious and I'm trying to stay moderate.

The past few months - sleeping: At first, it was hard to wake up even more so than normal. I have had the luxury of choosing me own work hours (the boss man knows I'll work overtime this way), and so I generally, as I was recovering, got to sleep into 9 or 10, and would stay at work until 6, 7, or 8. Nowadays, I vary my start times/i.e. - my mandatory wake up times, trying to get in one or two days of early work, which allows me to actually get stuff done like writing or program development done at the office, and one or two days of coming in a bit later, when H gets into the office from NH, so I can meet with others more at these times. Ideally, I'd like to set a normal working schedule for myself to start at 8:30 or so, but knowing that somedays I'll be workinh 10+ hours like this, I give myself the freedom to call it on a week-by-week basis. One the weekends, I'm still sleeping in, but trying to change that. In order to think of my life is just as full outside of work as inside work, this is the only option. To live more on the weekends for me and S and fun.

The past few months - growing: I've been first dealing with my body re-learning itself a bit, figuring out what not to do work out wise, and when it's okay to push myself. I've been reading more fiction than in awhile, and it's been inspiring just to dive into an imaginary world and think through my own relationship to creativity in this way too. I've been trying to balance work and S, really, trying to never get home too late, to work as much as more as I'm cooked for, to do my part with other chores and to plan fun activities during our free time. We've been going to the library a lot too. He likes modern war history, and I like religious history, and we both like nature documentaries, so we've been watching a lot of videos on WW2, old testament archeology, and seas creatures. I keep exploring my faith from the inside out and from the outside in. I'm going to try a new church this weekend, and I am scared it won't be a good fit, but that's why it's a "TRY." It's all exciting stuff.

I can't wait for it to be summer. Like colleges and schools, since my organization works so much with schools, we are nearing the end of our spring "semester" and will be able to focus more on brainstorming for the next year and less on the day-to-day at work. I am so ready to be innovative instead of reactive to everything happening at work. I am hoping this will de-stress us all a little too. We are all really committed people, and we are such a small organization, our lightened load this summer should really help us relax.

So that's my first re-blog of the year! I'll be pictorially editing some in the near future. Hope everyone has a nice weekend ahead of them to enjoy!!