April 8, 2015

Learning to Catch Curveballs

As I mentioned on Friday, things have been really crazy busy for me lately… which meant that I headed out to Phoenix for Easter this past weekend stressed beyond belief. I was really worried that my stress wouldn’t subside and that I would spend the whole weekend being a Debbie Downer. Luckily, Adam came through like a champ and made my visit really fantastic and fun; it wasn’t until the plane ride home that I even remembered all the things that had been getting me down. Just what I needed!

On Friday, I had mentioned wanting the weekend to be a relaxing respite from all the busy tasks filling my to-do list, and a chance to reset that so I actually go back to using my to-do list in a productive, helpful way. It turned out to be just that! Not only did I have an amazing time, but my productivity has been really high ever since I got home, mostly because I’m actually sticking to my to-do list and not turning it into a pie-in-the-sky wish list of things I hope to get done. Last night, there were still a few things on my list that I hadn’t gotten to check off (like writing this blog post!)… but that was more because of last minute things that got in the way and took up time, rather than by me putting an unrealistic amount of things on my to-do list to begin with. Progress!

And as far as the actual weekend itself went, it was phenomenal and just so much fun. I got into Phoenix on Friday late afternoon, and Adam took me to House of Tricks, a really amazing restaurant in Tempe. We got to sit on the patio, which was really fun for people watching, and I soon learned why it’s one of Adam’s favorite restaurants… the food and drinks were incredible! I kind of went a little crazy over the caramel bread pudding, which was basically a huge gooey tower of deliciousness.

Adam and Laura + Tower of Bread Pudding
I promise that we split this giant stack of deliciousness. Okay, fine, more like I let Adam have a bite or two.

Of course, one dessert wasn’t enough – the night was capped off with some insanely delicious frozen yogurt from a self-serve place down the street, and I was really excited to see that they had watermelon sherbet in one of the machines. That used to be my favorite ice cream as a kid, but I haven’t had it in years – I forgot how good it was! I need to get more of that soon 🙂

Although Friday night was a big night out, the rest of the weekend was incredibly low-key… and that made it just absolutely amazing. On Saturday, we headed to meet Adam’s running buddies for coffee at 6:30am (yup, even though we didn’t run ourselves…. #Lazy), then got to go to his son’s soccer game at noon, and then spent the rest of the day running errands, grocery shopping, and putting together Easter baskets.

Easter Baskets
Fine, I know that Adam’s Thomas the Tank Engine basket LOOKS cooler than my mason jar, but aren’t we supposed to be teaching kids that it’s what’s on the inside that counts? Candy > toys.

One of the highlights of the weekend, though, was going to dinner on Saturday night at Adam’s friend Ryan’s house. Ryan’s wife made an amazingly delicious dinner, and Ryan is really into craft beer so we got to try some incredible stuff, like Dogfish Head’s 120 Minute IPA. But way more than the food, I was thrilled with the company and just how fun and relaxing it all was. I really love hosting people at my house, and hanging out at someone else’s house is just as great – much better than always going out to bars and restaurants. In reflecting on the weekend, I’m so glad to be at a stage in life where staying in with family and friends is more the norm than the exception… unlike the many nights in NYC where I suffered from FOMO anytime I didn’t go to a bar on a Friday or Saturday night. Quieter gatherings with a few friends are much more my thing!

We wrapped up Easter weekend with church, chicken + waffles brunch at Lolo’s, an egg hunt for Adam’s son, and finally a great Sunday night cooking spaghetti and meatballs, sipping wine, and watching Ratatouille. Before I headed home on Monday night, we also got to enjoy lunch at a yummy local taco place, Joyride Tacos. But even though that was a low-key place, I honestly preferred all the time we spent at home.

I'm Never Drinking Again... Oh Look, Tequila!
Speaking of Mexican: I didn’t actually have any tequila on our nights out, but this sign was too great not to take a picture of it. #FakeItTillYouMakeIt

As I alluded to in the beginning of this post, though, I kind of found myself stressing out when I was heading back to Denver on Monday… despite the perfect weekend. This week, I knew that I was only going to be home Tuesday and Wednesday nights before traveling again, so I originally tried to keep those nights free to get house stuff done. But oops: that didn’t happen at all! I think what I may need to do is just declare a moratorium next week on social activities so that I can get everything done that I keep putting off.

Although I’m mostly working on clients that are local to Denver, I have a lot of business travel coming up in the next month or so, and basically there won’t be a week that goes by without me getting on at least a few planes. While that used to be my normal schedule for work, I haven’t really traveled much for work since August, and I’ve gotten really spoiled by getting to sleep in my own bed most nights. Now that I’ve moved into my very own house, it feels extra special to be home; however, I’ve only spent about eight waking hours there in my first week since moving, and I’m scheduled to fly out at noon tomorrow for another trip. It’s kind of crazy how that is all working out, though I’m trying to look on the bright side that at least I’m missing out on lots of noisy construction while the workers are upgrading my furnace and water heater and finishing my basement.

Some of the travel I’m doing now is for business and some is personal, but all of it is stuff I really want to be doing and am excited about… so it frustrates me when I feel so torn between multiple places. (And torn between the many activities I want to do and how there is never enough time in the day for all of them!) Clearly, I still have a lot of work ahead of me in terms of finding a balance of activities, work, people, and places. Just goes to show you that even when you think you have everything all figured out and that life is coming together, a curveball can easily come your way and force you to rebalance and reprioritize.

With all that said, I just keep reminding myself that curveballs can be wonderful, and how important it is for me to be flexible enough to catch them without worrying about what’s going to happen next. Living in the moment vs planning (like a crazy person) for the future is something that’s never come easily to me, but I’m trying my best to work on that and improve.

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7 thoughts on “Learning to Catch Curveballs”

  1. the struggle is real– but you are definitely handling it well! 🙂 I’m glad you had such a great weekend. And I hear ya about being torn when you really love your home and just wanna spend time there. I love my new place but that makes me always wanna hunker down at home and not pack for Tim’s house as much anymore 😉

  2. Sounds like it was a great Easter weekend. Little kid soccer games are always so fun to watch. The finding balance with everything is a struggle I think most every one deals with daily or one time or another. But you seem to be doing a very good job of it and still finding time to go do fun trips to see friends and unplug from the work stresses.

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