SAHW for 1.5 Days

It's a bit of a long story, but I took yesterday and today off from work. Since we're not going out of town until this afternoon that has equaled a lot of free time around the house, which I have really loved. Yesterday I began my day by making us breakfast (which is how I usually begin my day, but since I knew I didn't have to rush off to work it was quite lovely). Then I laid around for a bit watching tv and reading and surfing online (do people still say surf when referring to the internet?).

Then the day got interesting. Or, interesting to me, rather. I roasted a butternut squash. I swept the floors. I did a load of laundry (just towels, pillow cases, and undies). I made butternut squash, goat cheese, and black bean quesadillas for lunch. I showered. I went to CVS. I took a walk and got a cup of tea at Satellite where I read "Paris to the Moon" for an hour before heading to my acupuncture appointment. Then I walked home and proceeded to drive to Target to stock up on Coke Zero for Liz (and myself...I drink them too. I just refer to it as Liz's thing). Then I went to therapy and came home to make black bean soup and watch 30 Rock with Liz and Law and Order by myself. Love.

While it sounds like I did a lot, I actually had a ton of time for breaks in between all that doing. It's amazing what you can accomplish when you don't have to go to your 9-5.

Now I'm home again today. Liz is at school taking exams and will be home between 1 and 2. I'm gonna head to yoga at 10. And I need to grab some 1 quart plastic baggies to hold my liquids since we're flying to Boston.

My point is that I think I'd be pretty bored for the rest of the day if we weren't heading to Boston. If we had a baby working less and staying home more would be helpful, but just being at home to take care of the house and Liz would get boring. Our apartment is pretty small, and once I'm caught up with cleaning there's not a ton to do. I can only watch so much Law and Order and 30 Rock is only on once a week. As much as I find that my job is sometimes boring, I need it. I need the stability and order it provides for me. I'm writing that here so I remember.

Power Vinyasa Yoga

There's a Baron Baptiste affiliated Yoga studio near me that I've been going to off and on for over 2 years now. Off and on because I would try out different studios from time to time, too. But I've decided I love Baptiste yoga. It's just for me. I mean, I've always known vinyasa (a style of yoga that focuses on breath and connecting each different yoga pose) is definitely my thing, but Baptiste vinyasa is without a doubt my thing. I took a class last night, and I think I'm going to start making it a more regular thing. I just felt so clear and awake afterward.

The studio near me is doing a six week intensive yoga/meditation program right now, but I don't want to impulsively commit myself to anything (since I tend to do that...) so I'm going to do my own version of it. I'm going to try to go 2-3 times/week and see how that feels. Perhaps the next time they offer the six week program I'll do it.

I'm also going to focus on continuing my meditation practice each day and continuing to make sure I have good food packed to eat at work (which is a goal I set earlier). I'll make sure and post my thoughts again after my next class.

What I've Learned

Esquire does this "What I've Learned" segment fairly regularly. It's pretty much always with people who are much more aged than me. However, I thought it would be interesting if I do it around this time every year. It's amusing, insightful and I figured my answers will probably change each year and it will be interesting to look back on.

I had no idea where life would take me. When I was 12 I couldn't imagine living anywhere except Arkansas.
My father always said, "It's a man's world TC." In many ways he was right, but I wish he hadn't said it so often.
Marriage requires patience and continued re-commitment to respecting your partner. Marriage is a work in progress. If you say it's not, you're lying.
The world is often confusing, beautiful, and sad all at the same time. I'm still working on dealing with all these emotions at once.
Whenver I die I will be dead, but perhaps I will come back as something better, something more enlightened. I wouldn't mind coming back as an animal. I'd like to try something different.
The best friend I ever had is still my best friend, has always been my best friend. We met in pre-school.
For a kid there is nothing more important than your parent's love and listening.
I didn't think anything could be harder than being a teenager. And so far I've been right.
Dolce is a mischievous little devil. Just tonight she stole half of a chicken breast from the kitchen while we were eating dinner. I wouldn't change her for the world.
There is no escape from the present moment. You gotta live in the now.

Revising My Goals

So, the big goal, the baby goal is going to have to be revised. Liz and I had a super special family summit last night at a BYOB near our apartment. Okay, it wasn't really that crazy. It's just we decided to talk about this touchy issue in public so we would stay on topic and neither of us would storm off.

And we came to some great concessions over Tofu with a Mushroom Ragout (me, which is odd because I don't usually think tofu is a good idea) and whole fish with dolmades, chick peas and feta (Liz, which wasn't really an odd choice at all), and caramel banana pie. The food was great, and, hello irony, there was a SUPER cute baby at the next table. Like, super duper cute and well-behaved. Sigh.

Anyway, the terms of our agreement are this:
-We can start trying in January of 2013 if Liz does SUPER well on her USMLE's
-We can start trying after match day (around April 2013)
-If either of us comes into a lot of money, we can have a baby whenever! (oh, money.)

Needless to say, this arrangement is not perfect for me, but it was more important to me that we reach a consensus that we both agree on so we can get along and not bicker whenever the baby issue comes up.

Reflecting on VISTA

I'm sitting on the couch drinking some coffee before getting ready for my last day as a VISTA. It's been a wonderful, wonderful experience. I have learned and grown so much during this past year (err, 11 1/4 months). Seriously, I feel like a took a huge leap of faith when I became a VISTA. I wasn't sure at all how it would work out. I just knew that it felt right to me, and my previous place of employment didn't feel right at all.

I didn't just jump into it though. I did a lot of soul-searching before deciding to be a VISTA. Even after being offerred the position I didn't accept right away. Instead I said I had to think it over and talk it out with Liz before giving my answer. We went over our budget a couple times to make sure it was okay. It was so good to think things out and to confirm with myself (and Liz) that this was really the right thing to do for me. And in doing this right thing for myself, I feel like I've really been able to be a better partner for Liz and a kinder person to everyone with whom I come into contact. I really believe that if you take the best care of yourself that you can, you are that much better equipped to serve others and be kind and compassionate towards others. It's kinda a win-win situation--I just love those!

Keep Your Goals Away from the Trolls*

I did go to yoga at lululemon this morning. It was fabulous! I left feeling absolutely amazing, and everyone there was very nice. So, a win-win, definitely.

Lululemon has a tab on their website called "education." Under "education" there is a link entitled "goal setting." I did not really learn about goal setting until mid-way through my senior year of college when I read a book by Jack Canfield. Perhaps you're laughing now because you find him to be a little hokey, but he really did help to convince me that I'm worthy enough to set goals, worthy enough to have preferences. Sure, I had heard reference to goal-setting when I played different sports, but nothing very detailed. In short, I did not understand how to do it or what it was or how big of an impact it can make. I was just sort of floating through life, and was pretty unsure of where I was going.

So, I sat out to set some goals. I think number one was just figuring out exactly what it was that I wanted, and learning that it's okay to want. The second, but equally important, goal was to become more friendly with my friends. I know, second semester senior year is not the most logical time to do that, but it was what I had. The third goal I set for myself was to stay on the East Coast after college and live with Liz. I also wanted to get a "real" job. Funny enough, I did not specify to myself what this real job would entail so I ended up taking pretty much anything I could get to fulfill that goal. Lobbying. Yep, I was a lobbyist.

So, fast forward about two years later, and turns out lobbying was not my cup of tea. I did not like working for the highest bidder. I did not like not having any say in what issues I would be supporting. It was time to set new goal. I decided that I needed to pay less rent in order to be able to work in the field I wanted to work in (social work) and still have a roof over my head. We moved, and we're still in that apartment. It's awesome (even if it is small)! I ended up taking an AmeriCorps* VISTA position to help me change career paths. Now my VISTA year is almost over, and I'm about to start my dream job. Goal setting, it's where it's at.

*Inside joke