Sunday, January 30, 2011

Rest Less

I think I finally managed to identify the source of the out of sorts mood I have been in for the last little bit. At this time last year I was in Vancouver, getting set up for the Olympics. It's sort of hard for life not to feel a bit anti-climactic when my brain is constantly reminding me "today was the day the trucks arrived, today was the day the Long Track team arrived, today was Opening Ceremonies." My regular life can't stand up to the comparison.

Anyone who knows me is aware that I am sort of an intense little person. So it's no wonder I love jobs where I get these concentrated bursts of life on fast forward. I came home from the Games with my head sort of spinning-you experience so much in such a short amount of time and then spend the next six months trying to figure out how to settle it all into your normal routine. I absolutely love it and couldn't be more grateful to be back in a job where I get to do this over and over.

However! A personality like this means that I get restless really easily. Which is why I like cross country moves every few years and first kisses and making new friends, and dropping a major/hobby/goal in favor of something that looks like more fun, and constantly getting on planes. It's not that I'm not pleased with my life or that I can't appreciate the stage I'm in. I just always want something to be happening.

So this week I have been going a little crazy-should I rethink signing the lease and look for a new place? should I book some trips? Should I take a class? Should I find a race to train for? Should I ask a friend to set me up? Is this really the right job?

It gets exhausting.

All of those things are good and frankly-I DID book a trip and I AM looking for a race and I'm ALWAYS evaluating if this is the right job-but I also feel like it's not a bad idea to learn how to be happy and satisfied with life between the intensity. Something tells me that will come in handy when a husb and kidlets arrive on the scene.

It was while I was making dinner for a friend this afternoon that I realized I had an immensely satisfying few days this past week-days that might not stand up to the comparison of THE OLYMPICS but a whole long string of lovely experiences that should make me calm. the heck. down.

Here's a rundown of highlights:

-The show Thursday night was SUCH a treat. If I had had too much time to think about it I'm sure I would have thought of a dozen reasons that it would be dumb to go all the way to Boulder on a week night, but since my coworker caught me off guard and then pretty much dared me to do it, adventurousness won out over practicality and we were thisclose to a band I have loved for about ten years.



-My dear friend Traci was in Denver all week at a ski and snowboard tradeshow. She works for a headphone company that is exploding like crazy right now so I went up to grab dinner with her. It turned out I got there early and she still had some work to finish up so I got to wander around the trade show a bit. I am a product nerd so it was fun to see lots of apparel and accessory lines and hello-a hall full of cute snow boys who have grown up jobs was just a bit like heaven. It turns out what Traci had to hang around for was a little DJ session with Mix Master Mike.
So when she apologized that dinner would probably have to wait I mentioned that I could probably entertain myself watching a legendary DJ while she finished up. And then in a move that I think shows that neither of us are in ANY danger of getting too caught up in the glamour of our industries-we blew off the VIP passes she got to a big party in favor of fish tacos at Wahoos, some much needed girl talk and a guilty pleasure Ashton Kutcher movie viewing. Traci and I became close when we were both sort of miserable on the East Coast and she always has a way of putting things into good perspective for me.

-Saturday I didn't set my alarm and just slept until I woke up. And then I stayed in my bed for another hour looking out the window and listening to music. Specifically this Damien Jurado song probably ten times in a row. My friend Mundi played it for me Thursday night as we were driving back from Boulder and it's weaseled it's way right into my top 10. There is something about the way he says the line "I'm tired an unwilling to be the only one who was wrong," that makes me well up every single time I hear it. I felt so spoiled when I finally got up that cleaning my house didn't even feel like a chore.



-I went and did the Incline for the first time this year. I've been trying to push my workouts a little harder this year and that thing continues to kick my butt. I feel good physically every time I go but it has the added bonus of making me extra grateful for this beautiful state I get to live in.

-I got home with just enough time to shower and go pick up my friend Ari who had tickets to the Colorado College hockey game and invited me to tag along. In a rare twist of ticket luck, two really cute guys ended up sitting next to us. One of them had played hockey growing up and was thrilled that we didn't know much about it and spent the entire game explaining rules and strategy. It was kind of adorable.

-After the game I came home and stayed up way, way too late which is pretty much one of my all time favorite activities.

-I slept in again today, had a GREAT hair day for church, caught up with my new favorite couple after sacrament meeting and then came home and baked pretty much all afternoon. My friend Darius came over for dinner, raved about my cooking and now I'm sitting here feeling not writer's blocked enjoying a nice cup of tea and my pal the internet.

See? Four really solid days and lots of really terrific moments.

Every day doesn't need to be Bobsled day at Team Processing : )

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