Enjoy the Time

Well, the turkey is done and the real countdown to Christmas and the holidays has begun. BUT, first let me tell you how last Tuesday went. FLAWLESSLY. The meeting tested fine on Monday and Tuesday morning – don’t you usually want a bad dress rehearsal for a good show?? On Tuesday morning at 9AM we tested again and all went fine – then we finally connected at 12 noon and were staying up for the full program. The audio, the webcast and the video tape of our CEO all were transmitted and received well. We received many accolades from our Executives and the Board of Trustees – now it was easy to enjoy Thanksgiving.

I know the calendar always fills up quickly for this season – I already have a holiday party with family and friends, the work holiday party and Breakfast with Santa for the boys on my calendar. I also want to take a Saturday and just walk around the city and look at the decorated store windows and stop at the craft booths in Bryant Park and Grand Central Station. I know I have already completed my Christmas shopping; but, there are always birthdays and next year’s Christmas (yes, I can hear you all hissing at me)!!!

It was great to have Wednesday to relax although I did go to the lab to have my blood drawn; we (my obgyn and I) are trying to figure out when I will be totally finished with menopause given that last year I was only 10% into it. Yes, I am 56 – so why isn’t this over yet??? And I got my workout in with Jennifer – so I didn’t feel too guilty about Thanksgiving dinner.

On Friday I began decorating the house for Christmas – I do one room at a time and I aim to get the upstairs bathrooms and bedrooms done in a half a day. That usually isn’t too difficult. Next are the powder room downstairs and the kitchen as that can go fairly quickly. Oh and I took Liz’s “kick butt” Zumba class which is dancing with high aerobics intertwined – I always feel as if I have done an outstanding workout when I finish her class. Since it is on Friday at 10:15 – it isn’t very often I am able to take it since I workout with Jennifer at 8AM on Fridays; but, this Friday Jennifer couldn’t meet with me so it was an opportunity to take this class. And then I high tailed it home as I did not want to be out on the road with all those Black Friday shoppers. Do you realize that it has been determined that you really do not get that great a deal on Black Friday??!!

I decided that Saturday I would focus on the living and dining rooms as that required putting lights on both windows – but, first it was to Abby’s aqua aerobics class. I can tell you that Abby’s class is always difficult if she is looking to lose a few pounds or to reduce the jiggling of her arms - I don’t mind as I am always focused on parts of my body too. I want to feel as if I have earned the pain I feel the next day.

So Saturday afternoon I went through the lights and the various decorations and got them all set up. I had Christmas shows on television. Yes, I went through the TV Guide and am DVRing all those sappy Christmas movies and listening to HOLLY on SiriusXM in my car. I am the woman driving next to you singing at the top of her lungs and bobbing her head around as I zoom in and out of traffic.

Saturday evening I had the lights down low as the Christmas lights in my windows clicked on with the timer – it gives the house such a nice warm glow. I also have the Slatkin balsam candles which makes it smell like Christmas throughout the house. But, I have to admit that it is a little difficult to be decorating for Christmas when the temperature outside is over 60 degrees and people are running around with light jackets on.

There are lights in each of the upstairs bedroom windows which go on automatically at dusk and then turn off when the sun rises – it just makes everything warm and inviting; no there are no apple or pumpkin pies baking; but, I do indulge in a small glass of eggnog.

It is only during this time of the year that eggnog is available and I have always enjoyed drinking it. And being Puerto Rican we drink something called “coquito” which is Puerto Rican eggnog made with rum. Unfortunately, I cannot find it here in New York so I usually buy various types of eggnogs at the liquor store and take them to my cousin’s house to try them out. At home alone I only drink the non-alcoholic type. Can you believe that today I found one that is low fat – YEAH!!!

I enjoyed this weekend because after Thanksgiving Day the rest of the weekend was mine to do with as I wished. I was able to get three (3) good workouts in, decorate the house and pull out the Christmas cards to write next week.

I hope that each of you enjoyed your holiday with your family and friends. Find some time for yourself and enjoy the spirit of the season.

Waiting for Wednesday!!!!

Have you ever looked forward to a particular day because you knew it meant that things would slow down and you could rest a little? That is the way I feel right now and my target day is: Wednesday, November 23rd.

How did I come up with that random date – well first this past week has been quite hectic. I originally was going to work from home on Monday since I only had one conference call on my calendar. Well that didn’t work out as on Sunday evening I received a calendar invite from my boss for the presentation of our Unified Communications Strategy to our SVP and CIO for Monday at 2:30. Good thing I had already picked my clothes out for the week – I just had to pull out jewelry and shoes and I was set.

Without a doubt I had to be in on Tuesday as I had a few meetings and we had an “All Hands” open house that we needed to attend. No problem there – it was good to have met other individuals in the organization.

Wednesday – Hallelujah. I worked from home and caught up on some projects (aka laundry, post office), had a workout session with my trainer and was able to sleep an hour later than I normally do. It was a slow day with only two (2) meetings on my calendar so there was plenty of time for me to review projects and do updates.

Thank goodness because on Thursday I was up at 4AM as I had a meeting that began at 6:15 at the hospital to go over the audio visual requirements for the new West Wing. Thankfully, these meetings are few and far between; BUT, would it kill them to serve coffee and bagels? I don’t usually stop at Starbuck’s at that hour as I am too concerned about finding a parking spot and making it to the meeting on time; but I did this time. What a day – I was in meetings from 6:15AM until 3:00PM driving between the hospital and my office. The worst is trying to find parking spots – UGH – I sometimes lose up to 15 minutes looking for a place to park. Usually on days like this when I get home I am a blithering idiot and can not even stay awake through Jeopardy – it is one of those when I say, “Oh, it is 8:30 and I have been asleep on the couch for over 2 hours – I guess I should go up to bed.” Then of course I am awake at 11PM ready to start the day anew – raring to go. Not this time – I was wide awake until a little after 10; have no idea what I am doing to my body or how it is reacting.

Friday, Friday!!! Working from home again; although I did do my 8AM workout with Jennifer. I had to stop by the grocery store on my way home as I hosted a Cutco party that evening at my house to help my niece, Siobhan make her $6,000 goal so she can get her promotion. We made appetizers for those individuals who stopped by and then “anal retentive” me cleaned up before going to bed.

Saturday was jam packed with going to the gym in the morning – need to establish those routines again and stick to it. That is the only way that I can ensure that I do not gain weight with the holidays and the various birthday celebrations that began this weekend. Saturday I was off to my cousin’s to celebrate his son’s birthday; however, we were also celebrating his and he just didn’t know it. Before heading to their house I stopped by the bakery to pick up the cake and to place our pie order for Thanksgiving.

Although Sunday is a day of rest – it isn’t for me. I was off to Zumba this morning at 8:45, then to the cleaners, the salon for a manicure/pedicure and to the grocery store. Today I will put out my clothes for Monday and Tuesday and then try to relax watching the football games and screaming at the teams if they don’t make the point spread.

Monday and Tuesday of this coming week will be my first Executive event that I will have responsibility for delivering. There will be close to 100 people either in person, on the telephone, via video or watching the webcast and I need to make sure it works flawlessly.

So you can see how I approach this coming week with some trepidation and waiting to take the proverbial sigh when it is all over.

After having written this I need to relax – as you can see it was a whirlwind – but it was fun.

I want to wish each of you and your families a “Happy Thanksgiving”.

Getting Things Done

How do you keep track of everything you need to do; OR, more importantly everything that you did do in a day?

Given our lives it is very easy to think that we have accomplished NOTHING in an entire day. We can go around moaning and groaning that the day got by us, that we had too many interruptions and that “something came up” as it always does.

I hate the feeling of not having accomplished anything in an entire day and to counteract that feeling I make a list. Every evening or first thing in the morning I will make a list in my journal of all things I need to accomplish whether it is work related or personal. My list may read something like:

1. Update boss on web ex, bridging and shared tech
2. Message to Pat re: Saturday
3. Review Conference Room proposal
4. Get gas
5. Fold laundry
6. Call Dr. Haas for November appt
7. Message to Bart & Kim re: November Finance Meeting

And throughout the day I will update it as more things come to mind that I need to do.

Why do I make the lists? Well, for one thing I am 56 and with that age comes a certain amount of forgetfulness. We have all gone into another room to get something and then not remembered what it was we went in for. Making a list enables me to capture those things I need to do or inform others of that day and not have that feeling of “what did I forget”. Also, at the end of the day I want to feel that I finished something - my job can be very nebulous because it is project based and those things take time to come to fruition – so the one way I can feel that I have finished something is to document the small steps.

This may be childish but upon having completed something I then give it a red check mark – at the end of the day I can see if I have finished everything or if I need to carry it over to my list for the next day. Believe me there are days when it appears the whole list is being carried over – that is okay – they are few and far between and there are reasons for the grand interruption in what I consider to be either my very “anal” or “OCD” life.

I also will put time aside on my calendar to complete things – whether it is a project or message that I need to get done and would prefer to do without interruptions. I find that if I put aside time on my calendar to do something I am more likely to focus on it and do it. For example, my entire yearly workouts are in my calendar and propagated onto my Blackberry.

Now, those other things – even my weekends have a sense of purpose. I am one of those individuals who hates to go out again once I am home from completing errands. So Friday mornings once I am done at the gym, I will generally stop by the cleaners, bank and grocery store before coming home. Likewise, if I need to do errands on my way home I will do them all before heading home – on Wednesday, on my way home I got gas, went to the Post Office and stopped by the grocery store.

This past Sunday I blocked out time in my calendar to go to the gym for my Zumba class, and then to stop by the Mall to visit Hallmark’s to buy individual family Christmas cards. From there I will stopped by the Cleaners to pick up my clothes and to drop off some others, then to Barnes & Noble to buy calendars for Christmas gifts to the family and friends – and now home. I will be out of the house at 8AM and not back until about noon; but, everything will have been done and now I can relax for the remainder of the day.

Red check marks will appear on my journal and on my Christmas list as I mark off the calendars I have bought for individuals. Tonight as I send this out to you I am reviewing the tasks that I wanted to accomplish this weekend and I can feel a sense of peace that I got them all done.

Remember: Take Pride in Completing the Small Things.

Resurrect Things You Like

The other day I realized that I have stopped doing a lot of things that I enjoy. I don’t think that I ever consciously decided to do it – it just kind of happened.

This past weekend I went to a Broadway show (Priscilla, Queen of the Desert) with my best friend, Pat. We decided that instead of giving each other presents for our respective birthdays that we would start a new tradition of getting together for a meal and seeing a Broadway show. This will be the first time I see a show in 11 months.

That is unheard of – I was an individual who would see a show every month. I could run my finger down a Playbill and list all the shows I had seen – the ones I had not were by choice. It was easy to do as I also belonged to the Roundabout Theatre and through them I would see seven (7) shows a year. This year I will only see one (1) of the Roundabout productions, it is “Anything Goes” with Sutton Foster and Joel Grey. Why did I not see the others? They were plays – most of them were a little depressing and I have to admit that when I go to the theatre I want to be entertained and to walk out happy. That is not to say that I am not interested in social commentary I am – but, I chose to determine what I want to hear people’s opinions of.

I have decided that I will begin to go to the theatre again. There are a list of shows I want to see: Sister Act, Billy Elliot, Follies How to Succeed In Business and I wouldn’t mind seeing Wicked for the fifth time as it has been several years since I have seen it. As you can see it isn’t necessarily a lot as this has been a pretty weak fall Broadway season. I know that they are looking to bring in quite a few shows at the beginning of the new year so that they are eligible for the Tony Awards. I can’t wait to see what they offer.

One (1) Saturday a month I will go into the City – head to the TKTS booth and buy a ticket for a show that I have not seen. I won’t feel guilty about the costs for a few reasons: (1) on the weekends I park for free at the train station, (2) train tickets are off peak pricing; and (3) I am buying the ticket for half price by going to the TKTS booth. Also, I believe in the Arts and our need to support them – so I will indulge myself once a month, support the Arts and get a little bit of culture all at the same time.

The other thing I haven’t done in a while is have a really great vacation. For many years I would take a week vacation with my family and we would go to either the North Carolina Outer Banks and then we started going to the Delaware shore; and, I would also then take a week alone and go some place I enjoyed for some sun like the Bahamas or to Cancun.

I have not done that in years – nor have I taken a tour of a European country in years. It is time to start taking that once a year vacation that I enjoy. For 2012 I am considering an Alaskan cruise. I have always wanted to go to Alaska to see the whales, glaciers and our 50th State. I know that a cruise will take me to the various parts of Alaska that I am interested in – so I have begun to investigate various cruise lines and the excursions they offer; and, into leaving from Seattle. I have never been to Seattle and I would like to be able to be there for a couple of days and just experience it.

I have 27 days each year that I can take as vacation, sick or personal days. Since we do not get the day after Thanksgiving off I will always use a vacation day for that (you don’t think I am going to get on the road on Black Friday)!!!! Then I will take some days off between Christmas and New Year’s just because that is a time when things are slow and it is nice to spend with the family. But, I am one who normally doesn’t get sick (0 sick days in over 10 years) and I am able to work my job around the personal things I need to do: doctor appointments, car servicing, etc. so I could say that as for being able to enjoy some travel I have 20 days a year to do so.

I will still look for some time with the family whether we reinstate going down to Delaware for a week or we do long weekends to the Jersey Shore, I will look to do something fun with the boys; but, I don’t want to regret not having gone somewhere.

So once more I am opening myself up and determining where I would like to travel, explore and become more familiar with in culture, food and countries. As I have been thinking this through I would like to go to Buenos Aires in Argentina – they have great beef, wine and the Tango. I have always loved Italy and would like to see the Sistine Chapel with no scaffolding (in 1984 when I was there it was being cleaned). Then there are places like Hungary, Prague which are supposed to be beautiful and full of great architecture and art that I would like to see.

The possibilities are endless – I am not getting any younger, I am in good health and physically fit, I am financially comfortable and as they always say, “there is no time like the present”. So perhaps subconsciously there were many reasons I put the things I enjoyed to the side; but, all is good now and it is time to resurrect them.

Are there things that you need to resurrect and bring back into your life? Ponder why you stopped doing them – decide to start them again; and, take the steps to incorporate them into your lifestyle again.

Remember: Don’t put off until tomorrow what you can do today.