Thank You, Santa

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Dear Santa,

You were here last night! I know, because the cookies I made for you are all gone, there are reindeer droppings in the hall (okay, that may have been the cats) and also because of all the presents you left behind! Thank you so much, Santa. I can't believe you gave me everything I asked for on my list! 

The number one thing I wanted, as you know, was a life filled with people I love and who care about me in return. You hit that one out of the park, Santa! I was hoping for even just the small version of this gift and you got me the monster size. WOW!!

Then there was the wish for warm furry creatures to share my home, preferably in the form of felines. I love the two you picked out for me, Santa. They're a purr-fect fit!

I also really, really wanted a healthy body so I could spend time running with friends. I don't even mind that the one you got me is an older model!

I also asked for a warm home, work that's meaningful and important to me, food on the table, laughter, joy, and a sense of humor to carry me through life. I don't know how you managed to fit all of those in my stocking this year but boy oh boy--was I excited when I opened everything! 

I almost didn't include that last item on my list, Santa, because it seems selfish to ask for it when I already have so much. But THANK YOU SO MUCH for the gift of Blair. It is absolutely the best gift I've ever received, and I will treasure it always. 

I don't know that I've been such a good girl this year to deserve all these gifts, Santa, but I want you to know I appreciate and love each and every one and will take very good care of them. I will try not to take them for granted. Also, I will share my gifts with people who maybe don't have as many gifts of their own. 

Thank you, Santa, for everything. And if you don't hear from me next year, it's not because I don't love you or I'm not appreiciative.

It just means I've already got everything I could ever want. 

Merry Christmas!! 

Oh Yeah, I Forgot What That's Like

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I may occasionally get on my high horse about exercise, specifically, the lack of it in people's lives. If something is important to you, like health, I believe you'll find a way to fit it into your life and hey here's a thought, why not turn the TV off and take a walk? 

See? High horse. 

This week ought to put me in my place. I'm on full day assignment for some stories for the Greensboro News & Record. Today, for example, I meet "the crew" at 9 am and we ride around in a van together until close to 6 pm, interviewing and photographing people. At 6, I have almost an hour's drive home with traffic, mail, dinner, etc. waiting for me. Only then will it be time to exercise. 

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Right On Schedule

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What's right on schedule? Why, my annual fall resolution to focus on book writing to the exclusion of all else.

If you're a client of mine reading this, not to worry. It's a phase. It will pass. It's just that every November, like clockwork, I decide that client work is a distraction from what I really want to be doing and I can't possibly be expected to work and write a novel. (And train for marathons, and have coffee with friends, and pet the cats, and cook whole, natural foods, and become a P90-X badass, and everything else I make time for in life. Of all those, the only thing that makes sense to dump is anything income-producing.)

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Less Time Online

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I've been experimenting with trying to spend less time online. Checking e-mail only 10 times a day versus 40 (seriously), not going online after 8 PM, choosing to get up and walk away if I don't have a purpose for being online (versus hanging out on Facebook, seeing if anyone has updated their blog, or googling random topics). 

It's been... okay. I have a serious addiction to e-mail and find I'm nervous if I go over 30 minutes without checking it. Shockingly, it does not appear I am so important in the grand scheme of life that anyone can't wait the extra hour or two for me to get back to them. 

I really enjoy walking away from the computer at night and on weekends. I'm able to more fully relax. I breath deeper on Saturdays knowing it's a "no computer" day.

It's a matter of establishing new habits and getting other people accostomed to those habits. Since people are so used to me responding instantly to e-mails, I've gotten a few "Are you there? Did you get my last e-mail?" follow-ups. But my friend Laine is a good role model. I know Laine checks her e-mail around 11 am and again in the late afternoon, so I don't expect to hear from her until one of those two times. Now, the chance of me checking e-mail only two times a day is non-existent. But that's okay. Baby steps. 

It's not even the being online that I mind. It's the mindlessness of so much that I do online. I'm trying to take a more active role in how I choose to spend my time. Tonight, for example, I could pick away at a few projects but I know I don't work well at night so, instead, I went to the library and am going to spend the night losing myself in a novel. 

Starting right now. 

Cheers,

Dena