I Didn't Know I Had It In Me

After spending some long hours in Phoenix last week for the conference I attended, I was very much looking forward to my trip to the east coast. As with all trips, I knew that it'd be very much jam-packed with visits to all of my family, running around here, running around there, blah blah blah. But I also recognized how much I needed the time away from work. So Friday before I left, I disabled my work email from coming through to my iPhone. I can't even begin to express how much of a huge relief it's been to actually take my time off and be off.

What a concept, I know. But ever since I joined the world of Blackberry's and iPhones and other ways to get email in a second, I'm very rarely disconnected. With a quick swipe on my touch screen, all work email has been disabled from getting through to my phone and it's been fantastic.

I'll write more about my trip later, but although I have no doubt that I have a ton of emails and other work-related things waiting for me tomorrow morning, I feel so relaxed and prepared to deal with it after truly being off for four days.

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Hello Yoga

I did a yoga workout in my hotel room and it's one more illustration of just how out of shape I am. It's also a really good example of how I can't wait to learn how to meditate and quiet my thoughts.

I'm sitting here doing an hour yoga workout, and almost all I can think about is how much easier this would be if I was not overweight. In a sense, I kept beating myself up for a multitude of reasons. When in reality, I really should have cut myself some slack. I didn't shirk the workout entirely (even though that would have been very very easy to do). I didn't skimp through the session (even though I obviously could have- I mean who was watching? No one, thankfully!). I did a really good job considering I truly don't even know when the last time I did yoga.

Next week a good friend of mine is coming into town who is a spiritual guru (among other things). She's all about kharma, and good energy, sending along positive vibes, meditating, sweat lodges...basically a lot of stuff I'd like to be better at (minus the sweat lodges) but just don't feel like I have in me. I told her a few weeks ago that I wanted her to teach me how to meditate. Part of me feels like if I could just learn to quiet myself down, my life would be sooooo much better.

I've had trouble sleeping for the past couple of weeks and a huge part of it is because there is so much running through my brain. I want to shut it off and have some peace and quiet. The yoga earlier helped a little bit, but it did two things:
1. Highlighted just how noisy all the crazy, negative thoughts about myself are rolling around in my head.
2. Reminded me that I'll likely be sore in the morning (or sooner).
Regardless, it felt great to move my body that way.

I leave tomorrow to have a very very short stint at home. I'm not even there for 10 hours before I leave again and go to NYC where I get to meet my new niece Lila Brady! I'm very excited to meet Lila and to spend time with the rest of my family there. Probably the best decision I made was to not work on Friday or Monday. I'm usually really bad about that- trying to cram EVERYTHING in with family and friends and work. And I've just decided to not do it. So not only am I taking Friday & Monday off from work, but I will also be leaving my computer behind in Santa Monica and I can't wait. I'm really looking forward to the break.

After NYC, I have one more work trip and then it's a three-week traveling hiatus to spend time with Steve and Clancy and then I'm off to IRELAND AND ITALY! I'm craving that trip like nothing else. I'm so looking forward to just being away and disconnected (well as disconnected as I want to be). I've never taken a vacation for three weeks and I know it's going to be an amazing experience. Yikes! It's going to creep up on me so quickly.

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Wow...I Actually Worked Out!

I got up this morning and before I started my day at the Phoenix Convention Center, I made it to the gym where I squeezed in a tiny workout. 20-minutes on the bike and I was feelin' it big time! I'm out of shape, but just happy that I got myself out there to get this workout ball rolling. There's no question about it, I'll be getting up tomorrow morning and spending some time at the gym again. Must keep this up!

My work trip is still going well. Either I've adjusted to the weather a bit more or I'm just not spending enough time outside (I think it's the latter), but I don't have too many complaints about the weather. It is weirdly nice for the air to be so warm at night.

One perk of being in Phoenix is that I get to catch up with my good friend Jess who lives here. We've had two great dinners together and spent a lot of quality time just talking and getting up to speed on what the heck has been going on in our lives. It's been a really great change of pace for me to just kick back and really talk while eating. It's nice to not rush through the meal to get back on the computer or do something else. Steve should be happy to read this, as it's something I should try and do more of when I'm with him! I'm such a rusher through my meals and would love to actively work on having it be a more enjoyable experience and use it as an opportunity to talk talk talk :) Anyway, tonight after sushi in Scottsdale, we hit up a super cute old fashioned ice cream shop- the Sugarbowl. The place has been featured in the Family Circle comic strip. Check it out for yourself here



As soon as I stepped inside I loved it! Besides the obvious (the menu is mostly made up of shakes/malts and sundaes) it was super cute- pink everywhere! Meghan- you'd love this place and one day we'll have to swing by.

Anyway, I've liked the fact that I'm actually getting out and doing things while I'm here instead of just attending the conference, coming back to the hotel room, doing more work, eating crappy hotel food, doing more work, and going to bed. I knew that traveling so much was going to be a challenge this month. But it's nice to know I can balance it somewhat and not make all crappy choices.

Hooray for me.

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Working in Phoenix

I'm working in Phoenix for the week attending a call center conference. I realize this may sound extremely boring to most of the world, but I'm really excited for the opportunity. And after Day One, I've already learned so much that I know this is going to be four days jam-packed with a ton of ideas for work improvements.

Even though the heat is stifling and despite the fact that I for real almost passed out yesterday when I stepped out the doors of the airport and took a very brief walk to the rental car shuttle bus, I can see that this week is going to be endlessly valuable for me from a work perspective. I'm also trying to have it be valuable for me from a personal perspective. I'd like to get back into working out (there's a great gym here at the hotel I'm staying at), writing here and in my personal journal and catch up on sleep. So far, I'm not doing the best job with that as I spent the whole day at the conference, got a bite to eat on the drive home and have been working since I walked into the hotel over three hours ago. But tomorrow's a new day and I have faith that I will accomplish one of those things with the new day.

Overall I'm doing well. I just need a little swift kick in the ass to get my eating, sleeping and activity level back to a normal level. In the meantime, I'm just trying to stay sane and keep plugging along. For now, I'm just happy that I actually blogged. I've missed it.

Here's hoping for a better update tomorrow.

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