Paying for Xmas

My day began at 600am instead of the usual 530am. The cause was a desire to sleep a bit longer than normal which was probably brought on by staying up later than usual watching the National Championship football game the night prior. Despite the later than usual start, I still took time to “smell the proverbial roses”. The weather forecasted or the day promised temperatures in the mid 30’s all day long with mostly cloudy skies. Pretty much a repeat of the past week or more. We are, however, expecting temps to dip below freezing over the next day for the first time since before Christmas. But looking beyond Friday, the temperatures are headed back up again over the weekend and predicted ot stay that way for the foreseeable future. After exercising, walking Ykraps, and sucking down some coffee, I settled down for my morning meditation. It was peaceful. After a quick email to Mindy, I went about packing my lunch and cooking my breakfast. And even though I got up a little late, I still made it to work before 8am without compromising my passion. The workday was busier than it’s been in a while but still very manageable. Come 1230pm I headed to gym to dress for my run. I bundled in my two layer design and kept the gloves and ear covers on since the temperature was hovering around 35 degrees. While still moderate, it was the chilliest day since the day after Xmas. But I was comfortable. Upon my return I hit the dumbbells. Today I increased the weight of each set by 5lbs each. The afternoon was much like the morning only slightly busier. The end of my workday didn’t come until 530pm due to a challenging issue. This allowed this to add a little stress to my otherwise happy evening since I felt compressed up against personal deadlines. I wasn’t certain, because Josh and I never confirmed, but I thought I might have a guitar lesson at 6pm, so I felt rushed and had many tedious tasks I felt needed done before he’d arrive. I hurried home and got right on them. Come 605pm, it began looking like Josh wasn’t coming. This didn’t bother me and served really as a blessing. I had two other “big rocks” I wanted to accomplish this night. Number one being pay some bills, and number two, starting my painting project. While paying bills, I couldn’t help but sink into momentary despair over my holiday spending. As usual, I spent more than I had planned and what’s worse, more than I had thought. More than anything, it’s those holiday incidentals that really added up quick. I have become quite adept at spending money over the past year or so! After the fiscal despair had somewhat faded I launched myself wholly into my new painting project, As with any painting, it seems so tedious at the outset but once immersed in the job it becomes almost fun. And if nothing else, it certainly provides an opportunity to think about the other million issues whirling away hopelessly in my mind while working away. Two and a half hours later, I completed the first coat of the base color. Looks good! My mind was tired as I wrapped up the painting for the night. What I needed was some R&R. No. Not rest and relaxation, at least not directly. Instead, R-eading and R-uitar! The old me would’ve kept painting right up until sleep time. The new me allows time not only for clean-up but also for unwind time. Wiser with age I suppose. A whole new topic … creating transition time between the roles we play in life. I believe this is a key element towards living a happier, more fluid existence. More on this later… After some popcorn, reading, and a call to my honey, I headed to bed. It must have been somewhere in the neighborhood of 1107pm. :)