Business Trip

I'm not sure how much I'll be able to post this week.  I'm at a conference in San Francisco and when I'm not in sessions, I'm working, or out on the town with my co-worker.  Tonight we had dinner at a wonderful little French restaurant and walked down Lombard Street.

The walk was actually rather aerobic due to the hills here; they really are something.

Also, there are still flowers here!

Flowers outside of the Moscone Center

View from my hotel room this evening

At the top of Lombard Street

Flowers on Lombard Street

More flowers on Lombard Street

Traditional San Francisco architecture with the moon in the background

Looking out over the bay

More flowers on our walk tonight

Weekly Progress Report #13

I did manage to lose a little weight this week, though not as much as I could have had I tried harder.  I just can't seem to care as much as I should when I'm making my food choices.  We'll see how things go this week; I'll be in San Francisco at a conference, and they always have pretty good options for a healthy breakfast, lunch, and snack.  I'll be eating dinner out with the coworker who I recently traveled with to Chicago, so that's where I'll have to be careful.  Although right now I'm feeling pretty crummy, so I may not even feel much like eating out this week.

Weight:  138.1

We had a beautiful evening here today.  The light was golden and lovely so I had to share a few of the shots.

Happy Halloween!

Have a spooky and happy Halloween!

Jack-O-Lanterns

My kiddos got their pumpkins carved tonight, so we're all set for All Hallow's Eve tomorrow!

The daughter 

 

The son

The pair

Contrast

This has been a somewhat challenging week at work.  My boss is out of town for meetings, and we've got a board meeting coming up so she needs to keep having several meetings with all of us here to make sure that the board materials are finalized.  She was in California for the beginning of the week, then New York, so she's been in multiple time zones that we've had to work with.  She's pretty bad about calendar management when she's here in the office, so being out of the office it's been even worse.  She keeps scheduling meetings, then changing meetings at the last minute, then expecting us to drop everything else and meet immediately, and also double-scheduling meetings with outside vendors which I have to clean up.   I'm going to have a serious conversation with her the next time we're both in the office (which won't be next week since I'll be traveling).  I don't have time to do my job, which requires focused time, and manage her calendar.  I realize that this is an area where I'm not particularly strong, but I'm a bit OCD and I'm a planner, and these moving-target meetings are not the way I in which I work best.

Yesterday afternoon I was on one of the calls while I was driving my kids to their piano lessons.  The call continued for the entirety of my son's lesson, so I didn't get my normal 1:1 time with my daughter which was disappointing.  Thankfully, it was over when my daughter went in for her lesson, so I got to go with my son to the park.  It was the perfect salve for a work day like that one.  We walked together and visited.  We swung together, even though my hips are a bit wide for the swing these days.  We watched hundreds of seagulls circling overhead.  We played in fallen leaves.  The contrast between the hectic day and the calming evening was very pronounced yesterday.  I could feel the tension and stress draining away from my mind and my body as I spent some time with my kiddo.  My son also had a good night, so for now the new plan with him seems to be working.

This pictures are all from my camera phone, so they're not quite as crisp, but they still captured the walk.

Cottonwood tree in the afternoon sunlight.

A Flock of Seagulls (the actual birds, not the band!) ;)

Making it rain...leaves.

The park bench in all its autumnal splendor.

This little flower is still going strong, even though it's almost the end of October.

Tonight after my son's gymnastics class we're going to turn the Halloween music on and carve our pumpkins.  So no matter what happens at work today, I know that I'll have that to look forward to!  I hope all of my readers have a great day too.

Crazy!

I didn't get a post up last night because the last couple of nights have been exceptionally difficult in our house.  My son is going through another really rough patch right now.  I know that last night I got so upset because I didn't manage my expectations.  After a really bad night on Monday, I thought we had worked a few things out and that it wouldn't happen again, and we don't normally see these types of behaviors two nights in a row.  So it really threw me for a loop when we had to deal with the same thing a second night in a row when I wasn't expecting it (and didn't really have the energy for it).  We have developed a new plan though, so I'm hopeful that tonight will be better, and prepared in case it isn't.

Last night I was so upset and nauseous, that there was no point in trying to go to sleep.  So instead I drew a hot bath, turned off the lights, and lit a candle.  I used calming lavender and rosemary soap.  After the bath I used a full-body relaxation technique I learned as a teenager.  At that point I was ready to go to sleep, and actually slept really well last night, only awakening one time when I needed another blanket.  Of course I still only got about 6 hours of sleep, but for the first time in a long time it was restful sleep.  I might need to try a bath, yoga, and/or meditation every night before bed as that always seems to be when I sleep the best.  Although it can be hard to find the time to fit it in.

As I was lying in the bath, I did some thinking.  Things are only as bad as I allow them to be with my reactions and responses.  We still have so much to be grateful for.  We have our health, our home, and our family.  I can still choose to do better.  That is if I don't totally lose it because work is beyond crazy right now.  Sigh...

A Quintessential Autumn Day

The sound of the leaves rattling against each other in the breeze and crunching under foot.

An owl hooting from the treetops.

A distant train whistle blowing mournfully.

A crisp walk in the cool evening air.

A new moon behind the nearly barren trees.

It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown on the television.