As I mentioned in my last post, I took the week before last off, which actually meant that I worked about 4-6 hours per day instead of the usual. The week of reduced pressure followed by Thanksgiving week which is typically not very busy at work, really helped me catch up on a few things and catch my breath. There’s something about having the “out of office” message on that makes me feel less harried. When I get an email I can picture the person on the other end of the internet staring at their screen waiting for me. Maybe I should keep my out-of-office on all the time.
I didn’t clean and purge as much as I had hoped, but I did organize the year’s photos and start working on the annual photo book. The 50% off coupon ends on November 30th, so that’s a must-do. I also sent a thousand old photos to ScanMyPhotos.com because I had a Groupon that was expiring. I even took a 2-hour photography class last Sunday. I’ve still got a lot to learn, but we spent the whole class in manual mode so that was empowering.
I got one giant pain out of the way, which was taking the kids to Portrait Simple for the annual photo shoot. Oy, that is my own little version of hell. The clothes, the hair, the accessories, the whining, the fake smiles, the grimaces…at least now I know why the school pictures always look so bad. By the way, if you were planning to use the black fabric background for your family photos, you can blame my kids for pulling it down. Sorry about that.
In the two-week period I went out to lunch 3 times with people who are important to me. We also had a great Thanksgiving with the Pearce Crew, Ben’s sister, and 3 of Ben’s coworkers who are here from the Costa Rica office for a few months. Good food, great company, and just enough wine to give me that warm, happy feeling and no hangover. While I was in Happyland, Norah used Aliya’s glitter squirt bottle to decorate the entire second floor, so if you see any glitter on me, don’t bother mentioning it. I will likely have glitter somewhere on my body for the rest of my life.
I am back in my 3x/week Zumba routine now that soccer is over. I also went to the chiropractor twice, the acupuncturist twice, and had a cupping treatment. If you aren’t familiar with cupping, it’s a bunch of little suction cups stuck onto whatever ails you (my upper back). The suction releases the tension and is supposed to also release toxins. It’s pretty intense but I always feel better afterward, even though my back is covered with big hickeys. I also got my mammogram out of the way, made an appointment for Adlani to see if he really does have ADHD, and did some research on ways that we can help him be more focused in the classroom.
We had visits from 3/5 of the Libby family, as well as Poppi…all had their fill of soccer at the last games of the season, along with a trip with the Libby’s to the MFA where I got to see all of the hardware I specified in action, and a great dinner at Scampo. Speaking of soccer, Ben’s team won the final game to become the Over the Hill League champs in their division.
I started working on Christmas, including finalizing the plans for our trip to a secret location, finishing some gifts, a little shopping, and getting organized for the Pathways Family Shelter holiday gift drive. We have over 50 kids to shop for this year, and luckily I have scores of generous friends, family members, and coworkers who all pitch in to make it happen.
I even read most of a book – Discovery of Witches, and watched some trashy TV while crocheting. I worked on the drama club website and helped at rehearsal without guilt. I’m sure there were other things, but that’s all I can think of. I’m starting to understand why I’m a nutcase all the time. Now the question is, how to fix it. How do I do all that I want to do, and also take care of the world’s hardware needs and keep food on the table? I’ll have to continue working on that in 2012.
I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!