Just Say No to Meetings (Yes to Parties)

There is a sales meeting happening in my company this week and for the first time in a really long time, I am NOT attending! Woot! I have so much work to do here. I am not in sales, but marketing does indeed crossover with sales, so typically I am required to go, when it is held here in our U.S. headquarters city. However, this year they decided to travel to Orlando, and to keep the office staff travelers to a minimum, and that is FINE by ME. 

I also just declined a January meeting of the global marketing team, which will be held in Germany. WHY would I do that, you ask? I mean, free trip to Germany! I'll tell you why: the meeting is scheduled for the day of my Dear Husband's 50th birthday. And I am a loving wife. (It also happens to be a company holiday and who wants to work on a free day off??)

It's not that Shawn cares, actually -- he's told me several times that "it's just another day." But I care. Last time I went to Germany, I left town on Alex's birthday -- what is it with this company and my family's special days?! I hated leaving that day (although I feel like we might have had cake the night before, and he opened presents that morning before I left), but husband's 50th, I mean... that's a significant milestone. A few years back, he planned a very sweet surprise 40th birthday party for me, and I want to plan a party for him this year. I haven't done that since he turned 35 (!), because kids. Yes, we always celebrate adult birthdays as a family, but I'm setting a goal this year to host more dinners at our house anyway, so this is going to be the first one of Q1, 2019. 

Does Shawn even want a party? He says he doesn't need one, but if it were me, I think I'd want someone to have a to-do for me on my 50th. And besides, I know he ENJOYS a good party, if it isn't too much trouble to get there (check) and he has people to talk to (check, it will only be people he likes)! So I say it's a go.

I'm thinking about the Saturday before his Monday birthday, maybe late afternoon until ? -- and an all-appetizers, all-party-foods kind of menu. I'm very excited about that, and one of the things I've put into my new planner is a list of food ideas. Jalepeno poppers, chips and dips, wings, shrimp if I'm going "fancy." 

Here's where input would be helpful: 

• Should I do a cake, or cupcakes? Cupcakes would be infinitely easier if I could get them (make them?) fancy enough... (aaaaand I just opened another tab and clicked on Pinterest. I see a new Board in my future) 
• Should we have one special drink, or perhaps a vodka bar (his favorite spirit) with mixer options? Is that even a thing? I've seen bourbon bars, but not vodka.
• Do I have the right serving space for a vodka bar? 
• What will we do about kids? Should other people's kids be invited? Maybe not? But will their parents be offended if our kids are there? 
• I suppose I should take Christmas down before this party on Jan 19th... will we be able to manage that and clean the house?! Ha!

Well, I have a while, yet. A short while, and a busy one, with Christmas -- and guests at our house, yay! -- in the mix. Wish me luck.

Letting some thoughts flow

I probably have nothing to say but I feel like writing something, writing, writing, writing. To get it all out of my system. Get what out? I don't know. Cobwebs.

Yesterday was a really great day, for simple reasons. I:

• Had a 7:00 am global meeting -- am always allowed to do those from home -- but then it had technical difficulties so I didn't even end up attending it.
• Had a 9:15 am orthodontist appointment for Alex, so I hung out at home after the non-meeting. I rearranged one shelf in my dishes cabinet for easier access, and I petted my kittehs.
• Didn't have to do a single thing at the orthodontist, not even pay (we paid our full amount already and this was just a retainer check); I read magazines and Twitter.
• Voted! With Alex in tow, I went right after the orthodontist to the polls, waiting in line about 45 minutes with kind people, hopefully imparted to Alex the importance of his future votes, and voted without the usual internal struggle of choosing the lesser of 2 evils. 
• Put dinner in the crock pot (pork butt, for pulled pork later) and made my delicious lunch (a turkey/salami roll-up with lettuce and pepperocinis, yum).
• Finally, after essentially the entire morning off, went to the office. Half-days are the best days. :) 
• Had lots of proofreading work to do (my favorite kind - it's low-stress and high-result).
• Showed the CEO, who happens to be in town, a letter I wrote for her -- i.e., it will have her signature under it -- and she approved. Was very kind, in fact, and complimentary. And she gave me a hug. 
• Served the slow-cooked pork on slider buns with tater tots and salad. *Angels sang.*
• Watched "Manifest" with the family. It's fairly cheesy, but the kids like it. 
• Fell asleep while the election results started rolling in. 

It was nice, noticing throughout the day what a pleasant day I was having.

Today I have more proofreading to do, which will allow me to keep looking at election results most of the day since our GA races aren't fully decided yet. Plus, it's Wednesday, which is Shan and my regular lunch day. What will we eat? Mexican food? Sushi? Salads? There's so much possibility. ;) Tonight is a leftovers night at home, and then choir practice, which I want to skip but probably won't, because I'm reliable like that. We're starting Advent music, and singing Lo, How a Rose E're Blooming, one of my favorites. 

If you asked me "How are you?" today, I would say, "I can't complain," and really mean it. 

Planner planner planner! Excitement!

After reading all of SHU's careful reviews, and getting more and more curious about what setting goals would actually look like (what are ...goals?...) I have just clicked "Place Order" on a 2019 Golden Coil planner that I customized. I am so excited!

Really, what I like about SHU (Sarah Hart-Unger)'s goal-setting is the reflection afterwards. She sets yearly, monthly, quarterly (or quintile, this past year) goals, and then looks back to see how she did. Somehow she does this without judging herself as harshly as I usually do. That's why I stepped away from setting goals, years ago. I got too discouraged if they weren't met. But she's got me hoping maybe I could do it again, more gently. 

I've long used a notebook at work, for note-taking during meetings; for years, it was also my weekly to-do list. This year I switched to Outlook Tasks for work to-dos. I like it. And I think I've said that Shawn and I use shared Google calendars very successfully to plan our parenting lives -- I'll still use both of those online tools.

But I do love a paper planner. In fact, I was a Franklin-Covey user when that system was popular. I remember the actual store in Lenox Mall. Also, my Mom has forever used a desk planner/calendar and I loved it so much I used the same system in college (At-a-Glance Weekly). So this will be fun.

Maybe I'll do some planning/goal-setting during my first hour of work, when I'm typically doing stuff like that anyway. Maybe I'll carry it around with me in my purse and it will become my go-to. Maybe it will inspire me to work on improving my penmanship (one of my first Goals, actually)! (It has gotten even worse as the years have gone by. Sorry, Sister Anne-Mary. I also legitimately blame carpal tunnel.)

I think I'm also excited because it was a little gift to myself. I'm not always good at buying THINGS that are just for me. I see them as extravagances that I don't need. So this feels nice. It feels like self-care. Kindness.