I've been writing in a little European booklet that was given to me by a coworker who'd been to Germany. It says, at the top, Schreiben ist nur eine Art des Sprechens, bei der man nicht unterbrochen wird." Which means, I think: Writing is just the art of speaking, without being interrupted.
Amen. Interruptions are for the birds. So I have been starting my workday mornings there, with bulleted gratitude and pleasantness. Counting blessings, without being interrupted. I start MY day -- my day belongs to ME, I've discovered, not to Am03na (or any other office), even as difficult as that sometimes is to believe. It's MY day, to begin with gratitude and whatever (coffee, stretching, meditation/prayer sometimes) makes it a GOOD day for me. It took me 41.5 years to learn this.
I haven't been writing much here, as a result. Something about that book feels a tiny bit more sacred to me. Maybe it's because the lights in the office aren't turned on yet, usually, when I write there. All's quiet so it feels more like mine.
The best thing I'm learning lately is that everything is so, so good -- that my life is the awesome big things, Family, Faith, HOME, peace, hope, and not the dumb little things like the workday to-do list or the associated drama. Sure, I have to DO those things, and function alongside them, but they're not my calling. Some big stuff. I've known it, but not been able to tap into it on a daily basis, because it takes work, to keep truth at the forefront of your mind. Especially today with falsehoods and untruths (and drama) coming at us from all directions in the palms of our hands and the Tweets of our feeds. But also because Jobs like to be loud and distracting, and if we don't fight against them, they'll dictate our lives. I'm fighting against that and thankful mine is a job that stays put in its box, in the office, after I leave. I pray never to have a job that WON'T stay in its box.
However, last Friday I had a small taste of what it might be like to work for myself as a freelance writer, at home. MAN, it was nice. I had some work to do -- I had played hooky from work, actually, much to my conscience's dismay -- so I did 30 full minutes of yoga and a lonnnnng savasana (because of the conscience, I was trying to calm myself down), then I sat down to work for an hour or so. I wrote and edited. I turned off the computer. Then I left the house with a bunch of errands to complete before spending the afternoon at school, volunteering until 5:00pm. And YEP, that is definitely how I would like to spend my days if I could. I love being at school, I've discovered, and would like to find more ways to be there, more often.
Wednesday, April 27
Monday, April 11
Post-Break: Feeling Relaxed, Planning Dinners
It's my first day back to work after Spring Break 2016, and it's nearly noon, so I'm just finishing my "Ease Back In" program, which consists of reading my emails, then reading my blogs and goofing around a bit while also checking various things like the company Facebook page and my calendars/to-do lists. I figure half a day is a good time limit, and allows me some hours to remember what it's like to sit here all day 5 days a week.
And to write down my FEELINGS about it. ;) Thusly:
I do really need a refresher, honestly, about work, because I took the week OFF. And I do mean, off, from ANY and ALL responsibilities. I didn't cook much, I didn't clean much, I didn't ever ONCE sit down at the computer or look at a Google calendar, and I certainly let go of my work stuff for the week. It was nice. I needed a break. I'm unsure if the kids really had fun, but they say they did. I felt a little social-media-inspired guilt, seeing everyone away at this or that beach, or London or California or a Caribbean cruise, like some of our acquaintances. WTH, everyone? Does no one value the STAYCATION? I do. I valued it a lot. Like I said, we didn't make a lot of plans. We hiked the mountain and picnicked, which has become our Spring Break Staycation Tradition (I didn't even feel sore the next day, I'll have you know), and we ordered Chinese food one night and played Table Tennis and 100-pin bowling on the Wii, which was fun. We saw a movie (Zootopia, CUTE), Kate had a long playdate, Alex went to a sleepover, and that's really about it. The kids stayed up 'til about 10 every night, as they are doing lately on the weekends, but that was fine I suppose. We used the excuse of "Daddy has to work tomorrow" to send them to bed at 10. It was too bad he didn't have the week off like the rest of us, but having that limit was a good thing.
I slept "in" every morning until about 7:30 -- Kate until about 8:00 (Alex still woke up early as is his norm). I read two whole books, both awesome. (Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain, and then Falling Angels by Tracy Chevalier.) We had a few lunches out (Subway, McDonald's) and several of leftovers or sandwiches. We got ice cream one afternoon. I went out for Mexican food and margaritas with some mom friends. We just took it easy. I had joked with a coworker that I was going to nap every day; unfortunately, that didn't quite happen, but still, the days felt luxuriously lazy.
I'm so grateful that I had enough vacation days this year to cover the week. I'm so grateful my kids were okay with doing basically nothing. I'm so sad it's over. But, sigh. It's time to come back to the real world, and be engaged and Do Things. ;)
I'm trying to rev back up to "normal routine" standards. Getting a cold late last week didn't help for motivation but I'm feeling better today than I did Friday/Saturday. Made a big list at work this morning. LOTS of big tasks that need breaking up into smaller tasks, this afternoon. Checked the family G-cal today and remembered a couple of events, like I'm responsible for snack for the Girl Scouts this Wednesday, whoops! Shawn has to chaperone a Drama Club rehearsal, AND take the kids to their dentist appointments this afternoon! Teamwork, it's how we roll.
AND I tried to put together a decent dinner menu for the week. I said over on Lagliv.blogspot.com, that I've been wholly uninspired lately, and really, really bored with trying to come up with dinners every night. Her blog is full of suggestions, so I'm excited to think about and plan a few new things. First, my menus for this week:
S - (last night) Maple-glazed salmon, buttered broccoli and wild rice [SO YUM. Everyone ate it, no leftovers.]
M - Pizza Casserole with sausage and pepperoni (if I can get it done quickly when we get home tonight), garlic toast
T - Frozen chicken tenders w/BBQ sauce, mashed potatoes and corn, and Stouffers Harvest apples
W - Burgers and tater tots! Everyone's favorite!
Th - "Whatever" night -- with gymnastics at 6:30 and then me leaving for choir, I do Spaghetti-Ohs or corn dogs or mac and cheese for the kids usually, and Shawn heats up a bachelorhood-nostalgia favorite like SOS or Salisbury Steak when he gets home. Lame, but it's working for us for now.
F - (Shake n Bake) Crispy Baked Chicken Breasts, green beans and maybe salad, crescent rolls
Bookmarking some of the things I think look interesting that LL has mentioned (she's a working mom slash weekday dinner inspiration!):
http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/soups/cheeseburger-soup/
http://www.thegardengrazer.com/2012/03/black-bean-spinach-enchiladas.html
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/13983/mexican-vegetable-rice/
And to write down my FEELINGS about it. ;) Thusly:
I do really need a refresher, honestly, about work, because I took the week OFF. And I do mean, off, from ANY and ALL responsibilities. I didn't cook much, I didn't clean much, I didn't ever ONCE sit down at the computer or look at a Google calendar, and I certainly let go of my work stuff for the week. It was nice. I needed a break. I'm unsure if the kids really had fun, but they say they did. I felt a little social-media-inspired guilt, seeing everyone away at this or that beach, or London or California or a Caribbean cruise, like some of our acquaintances. WTH, everyone? Does no one value the STAYCATION? I do. I valued it a lot. Like I said, we didn't make a lot of plans. We hiked the mountain and picnicked, which has become our Spring Break Staycation Tradition (I didn't even feel sore the next day, I'll have you know), and we ordered Chinese food one night and played Table Tennis and 100-pin bowling on the Wii, which was fun. We saw a movie (Zootopia, CUTE), Kate had a long playdate, Alex went to a sleepover, and that's really about it. The kids stayed up 'til about 10 every night, as they are doing lately on the weekends, but that was fine I suppose. We used the excuse of "Daddy has to work tomorrow" to send them to bed at 10. It was too bad he didn't have the week off like the rest of us, but having that limit was a good thing.
I slept "in" every morning until about 7:30 -- Kate until about 8:00 (Alex still woke up early as is his norm). I read two whole books, both awesome. (Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain, and then Falling Angels by Tracy Chevalier.) We had a few lunches out (Subway, McDonald's) and several of leftovers or sandwiches. We got ice cream one afternoon. I went out for Mexican food and margaritas with some mom friends. We just took it easy. I had joked with a coworker that I was going to nap every day; unfortunately, that didn't quite happen, but still, the days felt luxuriously lazy.
I'm so grateful that I had enough vacation days this year to cover the week. I'm so grateful my kids were okay with doing basically nothing. I'm so sad it's over. But, sigh. It's time to come back to the real world, and be engaged and Do Things. ;)
I'm trying to rev back up to "normal routine" standards. Getting a cold late last week didn't help for motivation but I'm feeling better today than I did Friday/Saturday. Made a big list at work this morning. LOTS of big tasks that need breaking up into smaller tasks, this afternoon. Checked the family G-cal today and remembered a couple of events, like I'm responsible for snack for the Girl Scouts this Wednesday, whoops! Shawn has to chaperone a Drama Club rehearsal, AND take the kids to their dentist appointments this afternoon! Teamwork, it's how we roll.
AND I tried to put together a decent dinner menu for the week. I said over on Lagliv.blogspot.com, that I've been wholly uninspired lately, and really, really bored with trying to come up with dinners every night. Her blog is full of suggestions, so I'm excited to think about and plan a few new things. First, my menus for this week:
S - (last night) Maple-glazed salmon, buttered broccoli and wild rice [SO YUM. Everyone ate it, no leftovers.]
M - Pizza Casserole with sausage and pepperoni (if I can get it done quickly when we get home tonight), garlic toast
T - Frozen chicken tenders w/BBQ sauce, mashed potatoes and corn, and Stouffers Harvest apples
W - Burgers and tater tots! Everyone's favorite!
Th - "Whatever" night -- with gymnastics at 6:30 and then me leaving for choir, I do Spaghetti-Ohs or corn dogs or mac and cheese for the kids usually, and Shawn heats up a bachelorhood-nostalgia favorite like SOS or Salisbury Steak when he gets home. Lame, but it's working for us for now.
F - (Shake n Bake) Crispy Baked Chicken Breasts, green beans and maybe salad, crescent rolls
Bookmarking some of the things I think look interesting that LL has mentioned (she's a working mom slash weekday dinner inspiration!):
http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/soups/cheeseburger-soup/
http://www.thegardengrazer.com/2012/03/black-bean-spinach-enchiladas.html
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/13983/mexican-vegetable-rice/
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