One day in the office this week. I could EASILY get used to that!!

Monday was recovery day from working 13 hours Saturday and 13 hours Sunday. I slept in and lounged around. It was a nice lazy day. Late afternoon I got to pick up my friend from the airport/train station in town. She had just run the Chicago marathon for the first time. I am amazed at her.

Yesterday was spent working around the house. I got up relatively early for a day off - 9 I think. I kept the tv off and the computer off to have fewer distractions. And I worked my butt off. I wore a pedometer, and did about 12,000 steps. Today after sitting on my butt back in the office, I'm at 6,000, and that included 2 walks in the afternoon!

I LOVED working at home yesterday. 3 huge loads of laundry, lots of folding and hanging up, kitchen cleaning and rearranging, doing dishes, changing the sheets on my bed and the guest bed, straightening up the guest bedroom, sorting thru a bunch of old junk mail and files... I decided I'd be happy working at home. Now I just need to learn how to cook and grocery shop well. Then I'm all set. Sign me up to be a stay at home mom, I mean wife, I mean, darnit. A stay at home woman. Yah... With no income...sounds great...

Today was back in the office, starting to play catch up from the last few weeks when this tour started taking over my life and still taking care of plenty of tour related things.

Tomorrow I have to leave my place by 6:40 AM (grrrr...) to carpool to Bloomington. I'll be in conferences through Saturday.

Last year's conference was in Richmond, and I had a good time (in spite of my credit card # being stolen and trying to deal with that from my hotel). This year I lose my autonomy and ability to explore the area since I will be carpooling, so I'm sad about that. I've never been to Bloomington, and I hope to still be able to see some cool things, even though I'll be stuck on the campus most of the time. Hmmm, not likely...

It's an off week for Notre Dame. Then Sunday I plan to go on a local home tour. Fun times! Busy times! I'll already ready for more downtime. Too bad next weekend I'll be on the go away from home again! Sigh...

This is the question that came to mind a few minutes ago while I was sitting outside enjoying a well earned day off with sunshine, a light breeze, and temperatures in the mid 70's. I was sitting in my back yard in a comfortable chair (courtesy of my neighbors) sipping my favorite coffee and perusing my 2009 Ikea catalogue.

Wikipedia (our generation's go-to for any and all information) says that quality of life is an intangible degree of well-being felt by a person.

You can research it further if you like, but tell me please: What comes to mind when you think of quality of life? No need to write a complete essay; just brief thoughts or bullet points are fine. I suppose if you truly feel the need to respond with an essay, by all means, feel free. Maybe that contributes to your quality of life.

Please share your thoughts, and as always, if you prefer to remain anonymous, that is certainly an option. Thanks!

For the last 2 days I was working a home tour. It was a great time, but exhausting. Working as a "house hostess", I got to stay in the same house for the whole time. It is by far my favorite home of this block. But I think the reason it's my favorite is because of the people who live there. I adore them.

A married couple probably in their 50's. 2 grown kids, 2 grandkids. They've been together since she was 14!

I spent last year's home tour at their house too. I love being around them because I learn so much from them. I'm not talking about home decor or historic preservation or those of things. I learn about relationships and marriage and what I want in my potential marriage of the future.

Every time I am around these two, it is plainly obvious how much he adores her. You can just see it.

Over the last 14 months as I have battled and struggled to try to figure out my now past relationship, I often thought back to this couple and his obvious adoration for her. I realized I didn't want to be with someone who put up with me. I wanted to be with someone who adored me.

I think it goes the other way too. I should be with someone whom I adore.

On the drive home today in a quiet car in the dark, I again thought of these things. I thought about feelings, about love, about adoration. Remembering how I felt and realizing how I feel now. And this thought occurred to me:


I know I've heard that and thought that before. But it was suddenly so obvious - and in a personal way.

I'm still learning a lot. This series of break-ups have taken quite a toll on me, to be honest. In fact, this morning I arrived pretty early at the house, so the wife and I were lounging in the sun room chatting. And she said, after having met the boyfriend last year and not seeing me since, "I looked for a ring. I'm surprised you're not married yet."

Our conversing look a whole new level then as I talked about her husband's adoration for her and what a model it is for what I want. I couldn't stop the tears.

I say all this because these are my thoughts. Thoughts from a very sleepy girl, right? I'm not trying to be rude or scornful in any way. Believe me, I've seen enough of horribly rude public behavior over the internet after a breakup, and it's beyond appalling. I'm really trying hard to take the higher road and not do that.

I just wanted to share my honest thoughts with you and hopefully encourage you with whatever situation you happen to be going through. Maybe you need the reminder to love. Maybe you need the reminder to adore. Maybe you need the reminder that you deserve better. Maybe you needed to be reminded that love is a choice. Choose to love.

I choose to see the positive rather than the negative!!! For at least this moment...

I love...

• lemon slices in my Diet Pepsi
• 90210 (my current guilty pleasure TV show)
• having something to look forward to
• a man in uniform
• finding great things on clearance at Target
• laughing
• writing & journaling
• new jewelry
• life's milestones
• warm beverages for fall
• connecting with people
• planning a trip to Wisconsin
• sunny days
• waking up refreshed
• cinnamon raisin bagels with peanut butter
  

I've been faced with some challenging circumstances lately which skew my thinking towards negativity. However, all of the sudden all of these blessings came to mind, and I wanted to share with you things I am grateful for, in no particular order:

• homemade puppy chow (AKA muddy buddies)
• talking with friends
• bonding with friends
• praying with friends
• a common faith and common goals
  
• learning
• growing
• quiet time
• down time
• sleep
  
• reading
• writing
• getting organized
  
• meeting friends' families
• a clean apartment
• scented candles
• the amazing generous, helpful spirit of my friends and family
• random conversations with strangers
  
• my education - high school and college
• my experiences and learning from them
• learning from others' experiences
  
• God's protection and provision over me
• being reminded to forgive, even when it's not asked for
• brunch
  
• trying new things
• my abilities and talents
• out of town friends from far far away suddenly here in my town for a few days
• a kitchen full of fresh fruit
  
• freedom
• beauty
• second (and third) chances
• new purses and necklaces
  
• a beautiful day
• the weekend
• new fun underwear
• pumpkin pancakes and pumpkin donuts
  
• the fact that I received a raise
• good conversations
• advice from friends
• knowing the difference between "advice" and "advise"
  
• all the last minutes details finally getting worked out
• relief and weight lifted off my shoulders
• vacationing in New England
• reminiscing about Europe
• looking forward to Texas
• spending time at Target
• singing
  
• laughter
• confidence
• knowledge
  
• moving on
• looking ahead
• the best is yet to come