December 1st

Well hello there poor neglected blog.

I looked up, and somehow, it is December 1!

The last months have been full of activity – some fun and energizing – some not so much. And the real only reason I haven’t written is because I simply didn’t feel like it.

Of course there were a few blogs I wrote in my head, but didn’t sit down to commit to paper. Or blog. Whatever.

But now I’m back! I’m excited it is December 1st. Maybe because there is a shorter Christmas season than usual this year, but I’m committing to make the absolute most of December. Not just for the holidays. But for life. In general.

So what have I been doing? Here is where my focus has been the past few months:

• I started a new job at Microsoft in July and it really ramped up in August and over the last months. Any new job is a great opportunity for growth and learning. The cost is extra effort to build new networks and relationships, learn new group norms, understand priorities, assess how to maximize resources, and of course, make a great first impression. I have been hustling the past few months, but in a really good way. I love being energized by my job and I’ve met some great new people. I’m also learning a ton, which is a big bonus.
• We had a major life moment this year as my son entered high school, joining his older sister, and my youngest started middle school. Because she has extensive special needs, this was nerve-wracking and required a lot of time and energy to help her settle into her new environment and for her new team to get to know her. Everything has gone far better than we had hoped, so I’m grateful to be in a groove on the school front. A wise friend once told me you are only as happy as your most unhappy kid – I believe this is true. So far this year, I’m grateful for happy kids.
• We bought a mountain house! We had looked at the neighboring community of Suncadia, about 90 minutes from Seattle, for years and rented homes there for family vacations. On the classic “we’re just going to look” trip, we bought the third house we saw. My husband did not want the hassle of new construction and wanted a turn-key house fully furnished, so of course, we bought a new construction home completely empty. Because we want to host the holidays, I spent hours and hours completely furnishing a new home – down to every utensil, towel, bed and pillows – 30 pillows, to be exact. It was fun and creatively fulfilling, but on the heels of our massive remodel last year – an unexpected amount of work.
• I ran a half marathon in October. It was meant to be a full marathon in Portland. I had done the full training leg for the full – fighting little injuries the entire time – but I was ready to go until my last 20 miler. I irritated my IT band and hamstring leading to three weeks of solid physical therapy, deep tissue massage, acupuncture and more. Unfortunately, I had to pull the plug at the half-way mark. I had promised myself once I started limping for longer than half a mile, I would be done. So I was. It was disappointing. I hate not accomplishing a goal. While my training had been interrupted, I had committed to finishing – strong, not perfect.
• Oh, and, I can’t believe I forgot this one. I literally had the next few paragraphs written and now adding this one. My youngest went through a disruption in sleep pattern which lasted about six weeks. It was awful. She is twelve now, but started waking up every day between 4-5am. Because of her special needs, one of us needs to get up with her. Now, I am not a natural morning person on a good day and it’s been years since I saw those hours consistently (back to the infant days). It was brutal. My husband and I took turns getting up with her, so not every day was early, but it was super disruptive and exhausting. I am so grateful for a good night’s sleep. If anything killed my creative energy, it was pure exhaustion.

Add in our crazy, normal life, and I just didn’t sit down to write. But I have missed it.

This morning during hot yoga (when I was supposed to be concentrating), my mind wandered as it almost always does.

I realized I want this December to be more than making memories for my family, hosting, celebrating, and keeping our life moving. I want to slow down. Enjoy. And take time for myself. So here is my crazy commitment – each day this month I’m going to do two things I love. Work out and Write. The work out part is tricky because my leg is still hurt and I can’t run, which means I’m going to need to be creative doing work-outs I don’t love as much. The writing part is tricky as inevitably things will get nutty and I won’t have any motivation or energy.

But I’m committing. It’s a fun little experiment. Making time for me and embracing that work-outs can come in many forms and not all writing needs to be amazing to still be fulfilling.

It won’t be easy. As I write this, trying to relax with a hot cup of coffee and my favorite Spotify playlist playing, I have 13 other things I need to do to complete my mom-ing this week-end. Including gathering the troops to decorate the Christmas tree we chose today at the Christmas tree lot.

But I’m trying. I stole away, created a moment for myself, and here we are – first blog of the month complete.

Here’s to December 1st – I think I’m going to love this month.