whirlwind

May 13, 2010

our apartment is kind of a mess
hey, remember how i tried to clean up? there were definitely some improvements wrought by those efforts, but this place is definitely backsliding. i started to think about when i would have a chance to really hunker down and finish going through everything, and the best time i could come up with was june 5-6 after we get back from our tropical interlude in st. maarten.

it’s either hold out until then, or spend a chunk of my birthday (in 7 days now! woo!) scrubbing the toilet and cleaning out the closet. although honestly, that doesn’t sound so bad from this vantage point . . .

the next 3 weeks: a summary
today: overnight call (one of THREE left, ever!)
tomorrow: post-call fly to NYC for wedding (!). try not to fall asleep at rehearsal dinner.
saturday + sunday: wedding weekend with family
monday 5.17: call. oh, lord help me.
thursday 5.20: my bday! a little breath of fresh air . . . complete with massage, mani/pedi, and even time to clean if i so choose . . .
friday 5.21: last. call. EVER!
sunday 5.23: regular ol’ work day
monday 5.24: last day to cover the wards
tuesday 5.25 – friday 5.28: GI clinics
saturday 5.29: fly to cincinnati – wedding weekend #2!
monday 5.31: fly to st. maarten. time to recharge and BREATHE.
friday 6.4: fly back to RDU
saturday 6.5: (possibly) throw belated bday party?
sunday 6.6: at long last – a day at home with nothing planned.

so many fun things on the horizon! but a bit of an imbalance between crazy and calm. life just feels hectic right now. i was talking on the phone with my sister yesterday about time management when she declared, “if i had your life, i would hate it.” she was not referring to call (she knows i am not a fan of that part, either!) but just my continual need to keep my calendar full and to-do lists long. she prefers a simpler existence, with fewer engagements and projects.

that SOUNDS good to me, but whenever i see empty space in my planner i seem to find something essential to fill it. the life-is-too-short mentality, you know? but what gets skimped on is time to recharge, reorganize, relax.

back to the mind
so maybe i won’t be able to carve out large empty spaces to sit around and meditate in a freshly cleaned apartment. but that doesn’t mean that this time has to feel as hectic as it looks! after all, even with a packed schedule, there is solace in the fact that truly, you can only do one thing at a time.

with a mindful attitude and a purposeful and honest triage of each day’s to-do list, i am going to aim to enjoy this block of time. busy as it may seem, i will try to remember that there is still peace and relaxation to be found in the everyday.

for example, yesterday i arrived home from an 11 hour work day and was exhausted. the thought of shelling what seemed like a million english peas seemed like an insurmountable task. but then i reframed it and thought — hey, what could be more therapeutic?

i turned on glee (maybe not the most mindful approach, but it totally made me happy) and shelled steadily as the tension from a full clinic melted away.


not only was it enjoyable, but these fresh peas made a mundane dinner into something much tastier. a metaphor for something larger? perhaps.

off to call #5.

——————————————————————

5.12.10

workout: 4 miles outside, 9:01/mi pace. my hip started complaining by the end — i think i really need to get back to better strength/cross-training.

fresh pea pasta: this impromptu creation reminds me of something kath would whip up!


whole wheat rigatoni, canned salmon, fresh shelled peas, arugula, olive oil, and a sprinkling of romano.

3 Comments

  • Reply atilla March 10, 2019 at 7:25 pm

    In NY can&#39t waiT to see u

  • Reply Bridgette March 10, 2019 at 7:25 pm

    Random, but I saw this on yahoo finance and thought about how you had mentioned the quantified self recently. It&#39s more finance oriented, but still kind of related to what you are talking about. The joys of being a planner!:
    http://finance.yahoo.com/retirement/article/109540/fast-track-to-financial-success

  • Reply Kristina March 10, 2019 at 7:25 pm

    After really &#39crazy-busy&#39 moments (weeks or months), I tend to crash and need a major break to relax, rejuvenate and reconnect. That said, I also like a certain amount of busy-ness.
    I think everyone is different in terms of their tolerance of downtime and craziness, but if the craziness involves some fun, or quite a bit of it, then maybe that also shifts the balance?

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