Ending Thoughts of 2016

As I predicted with my last daily post in November, it's been weeks before I wanted to write here again. Well, that's not quite true, as I'm always thinking about writing here, but finding time to coincide with my thoughts is harder. It's better for me to take time to edit those thoughts too, to not just share every impulse. Especially this past month.

I have to admit that I've been drowning a bit in planning Hannah's bat mitzvah, which is now about two weeks away. I am not a last minute person, and an awful lot of this has been or felt last minute to me. There are still things to be done in these last two weeks, and I am confident it will all come together, but there were a few weeks where I was incredibly anxious about all of it (I think I'm doing a little better now). Of course, those weeks were the same weeks where I was wrapping up the year at work, doing my self-evaluation and crafting new goals, cramming in last minute client meetings and a day trip to New York. The kids (and Marc) had concerts and school deadlines and math homework continues to be difficult and there were presents to buy (this is least inspired Hanukkah our family has ever had). Max missed three days of school just before break with a stomach bug, which then took down Hannah and Marc just as vacation was getting started. Somehow, finalizing Hannah's speech, filling out forms for the temple and the DJ, and a myriad of other bat mitzvah-related things also got done, but not without compromising my sanity a bit.

I know that all sounds like privileged whining, and it definitely is. We are very fortunate to have these problems. But knowing that didn't stop my eyelid from twitching. What did help was a four time repeat of a new song obsession, which I belted out from the kitchen one night while doing the dishes. That helped a lot.

So, 2016 is almost over. I recently read an article that went on to examine the past year in the financial sphere I work with, but first it decried our "fetish" with the end of December and choosing the end of these 12 months as some big marker in time, and then trying to reduce the entire period into one compact theme. Which, I have to admit, is really useful in finance. It's helpful to have a kind of shorthand, to say 2008 or 2015 and know what you mean. I think 2016 is unexpectedly going to be that way for pop culture, if not for the financial markets (except to refer to it in connection with 2015).

My word of the year for 2016 was "nachos." Yes, it was a little ridiculous. And yes, if you go back and read that post, I have to admit that I'm shocked to still be project-less a year later. But "nachos" did serve its purpose fairly well. I did have nachos more often than ever before in a 12 month period - maybe 8 or 10 times. I had sad desk nachos on a bad day at work, and nachos from room service on a business trip in LA. I ordered them as an appetizer once in a while. "Nachos" was a good reminder to lighten up a bit, in a year that felt mostly like just moving along, not moving so far forward. My word for 2017 will be amplifying this same theme behind "nachos," so check back here in a week or so for more on that.

I can't really say that 2016 was such a bad year. Everyone I love is still alive and relatively healthy, and so even if some beloved celebrities are not and political uncertainty abounds, I'll still take it. Life moves on. It'll all be okay.

See you in 2017.

Productivity and Procrastination

On this last day of NaBloPoMo, I share with you my insight today that there is no better way to get me to be productive than to put something I *really* don't want to do in front of me. Which sounds crazy, but trust me, it's not.

Today I *really* didn't want to read a 10 page memo about how Trump might or might not affect the economy, written by our chief economist at work. He's a brilliant guy, and I knew I'd be happy once I'd read his thoughts, but I just didn't want to do it. Mostly because I'm still trying to hide from the fact that is Trump. And because it's pure speculation, as we really can't know what he's going to do. It's informed and intelligent speculation, but can't I just stay over here with the blankets pulled up to my eyeballs and still pretend Trump isn't happening?

Sidebar: I actually had a dream last week where I relived the entire election night all over again. This better not become a recurring nightmare.

Anyway, I knew I had to read the memo, but I got SO MANY other little things done first. Recycled stacks of unread newspapers and took the bin outside. Filed a few things in the filing cabinet. Scheduled my annual eye exam. Registered Max for day camp. Activated a credit card. Took care of every other email I could in my inbox. And then I finally settled in and read the memo.

Sigh.

At least I got some things done before I was forced to contemplate an economy without immigrants. #immigrantswegetthejobdone

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And that concludes NaBloPoMo 2016. I'm happy to be done. I only missed one post, but I did my best to stick with it. Now you probably won't hear from me again here for weeks. :)

Out of Steam

It's day 29 on 30 for "post on your damn blog every damn day" month (#PoYoDaBloEvDaDa for short!) and I am out of steam. It was a long weekend followed by a long day and a long night and another long day and I've got nothing left for here. But we just got a large trade closed at work so that's some good news to end the day on.

I'm going to try to go watch some Sister Wives, if I'm allowed to control the TV. No judging. G'nite.

A New Era: Leaving the Kids at Home Alone

I can't recall if I've posted about this here before, but we have entered a new era in our family life, one in which we can leave the kids home alone. It's still relatively new for us, and not employed all that often, but it's been helpful. Like the hour tonight after I picked up both kids from school, and Hannah had a lot of homework, so she asked if she could skip the much-needed grocery run, and then I realized she could keep Max home with her too.

Not having to take both kids for an unplanned grocery run with no list after a long day of work, school, commuting, aftercare and play rehearsal? You don't have to ask me twice.

Well, that's not 100% true. I did miss their input and talking to them in the store. I *like* being around my kids, and they can be fairly helpful with shopping. But they needed the quiet time at home more than I needed them there with me.

I'm definitely not used to this new era. It didn't even occur to me that they would want to stay home, or that they even could. I'm sure there will be more and more times that they request to be left at home, and I'll be begging them to come run errands with me. But for now it just seems like a marked difference from a few short years ago, when leaving them home alone was out of the question, and so you'd think long and hard about whether a shopping trip was possible after a day like this one.

It seems that the one true constant in life is change.

Know Thyself

We left Ohio after dinner last night and stayed in Buffalo, which meant we were able to get back to Newton around 6 pm today. That worked well for me, as I was able to dive back in to all the things I'd ignored over the last few days, and catch up on some work before heading back to the office tomorrow morning too. I've been feeling stressed out about what I wasn't getting done, which is frankly ridiculous. I wanted to relax - knew I needed to relax - but instead felt anxious about what I wasn't getting done. I should probably just give in and get some things done every day instead of putting it off in the name of relaxation if it just leads me to anxiety instead. Know thyself, right?

I think I've also been anxious because Thanksgiving is the last "big thing" before the next "big thing," being Hannah's bat mitzvah. Okay, yes, the holidays are coming too, and both kids' birthdays, but I expect to be in full bat mitzvah prep mode during those weeks. It's scary to think about all of the things I'll be doing over the next seven weeks or so. Exciting things, but there are also lots of work deadlines to be met, and lots of regular life stuff that will need to keep happening.

So, it's Sunday night and I fully expect to be lying awake in a couple hours, staring at my ceiling and listing everything in my head. Because I really do know myself, after all.

Mocha

This is Mocha. She is making my resistance to getting a dog very low. 

Gobble Gobble