Lunch at La Paloma

A productive and enjoyable day is winding to an end with a bit of DVR before I crawl into bed and curl up with a book.  Had a great conversation with TR, which was the capstone on a nice day. 

I had a lot of meetings at work, but they were actually mostly productive - which is rare, but great when it happens. In the middle of that productive day we had a nice Christmas luncheon at La Paloma on El Camino Real in Santa Clara. 

Dinner was an excellent salad. 

I am looking forward to a good night of sleep. I seem to have gotten over the cranky inducing day I had on Sunday, where I swirled around and around over issues of time and timing. 

I think, in the coming year, one of the things I need to focus on is being more authentically present.  It is not easy but it is worth the struggle that it takes.  The year seems to be ending well and I am looking forward to the new year, even though it is a couple of weeks out.

In Which I Struggle With Time

It is rare that I edit an entire entry.  But, every now and then, I write something that, on reflection, I am simply not satisfied with.  When that happens, I take advantage of the ability to delete or edit that entry.  This entry was originally about my struggles with time - but my thoughts around those struggles were not complete, so I decided to declare a do over and hit the delete button. 

Let me simply start out by saying today, I struggled with time. There are days when I get harried. Basically, what happens, is that my expectation of the timing of the day does not line up with the actual timing of the day and it frustrates me.  It is one of my major stress triggers, at home and at work. Consequently, inside of me, I feel a great urge to get better control of my timing as I go through the day.

In order to do this I need to simplify, I need to de-clutter the days.  I think I am approaching a time for another wave of simplification, perhaps a semi-drastic wave of simplification.  I need to get things trimmed down to what matters to me, and then let myself focus on what matters.

Now, those three paragraphs are next to nothing like what I originally wrote, but they are closer in spirit to what I was trying to say, minus the pointless complaining and vaguely talking around the subject.  I like this entry better, it is tighter, it gets to the point, and it is a good starting point for the further conversations around time.

Popping over onto a completely different subject - I saw and enjoyed "The Hobbit: Desolation of Smaug" today.  I would recommend it - a solid addition to The Hobbit series of movies.  Then, in the evening, I've watched two episodes of "Almost Human" from the DVR, which I enjoy immensely as well.

A Very Nice and Easy Day

It's been a long time since I had an easy day like today.  I slept fairly well last night, waking at about my normal time (around five a.m.).  I stayed in bed, reading "White Fire", until close to seven a.m..  Then, I took a shower, shaved, made a bowl of cereal and a cup of coffee and started the day.  I spent the entire day relaxed, easy going, centered and whole. I watched a handful of sitcom's and other shows off the DVR.  I had a work meeting scheduled for 12:30 p,m,, but, ultimately, it was cancelled.  I had a lunch of homemade chicken and rice soup, with grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches. Then, I curled back up on the bed with my novel and spent the entire afternoon reading and napping, napping and reading. About four I rolled out, exchanged texts with T.R. (who was going out for the evening), and then met Tony at Chevy's in Westgate for dinner.  From there, I went over to the Hallmark store across Prospect for a walk-through. I didn't pick anything up, but there were a couple of things that caught my eye, so I might swing back there tomorrow and pick them up.  From there, I took a leisurely walk, then came home.  At home, I settled into my easy chair and watched an episode of Elementary and now, an episode of Ancient Aliens.  It was an amazingly low key and easy day.  I haven't have a day like this in a long time.  It was very nice.

Open The Window And Let The Monkeys Out

Let's start the day with a dream. I went to sleep early last night, around 8:00 PM, and slept fairly soundly through the night.  I woke up this morning from a dream. In the dream TR and I were sharing a house somewhere.  In the garage was a classic wooden speed boat, a beautiful piece of work.  I was in the garage and I could smell something shorting out, so I was investigating and discovered that some of the wires in the boat were shorting out because the ignition was turned on.  Apparently, it had been turned on by the monkey that lived in the garage.  It was a little monkey, maybe slightly larger then a spider monkey, so I don't know what the actual breed was. I turned the ignition off and pulled the burning wires.  The monkey got very upset at me, ran madly around the garage, and then found a way out and took off.  Of course, I instantly knew that I was in a dream - TR has a no wild animals in the house rule, so I knew, even as I was in the midst of the dream, that there was no way she would have a monkey in the garage.  Now, when I have a strange dream like that I really wonder - what the heck is my subconscious trying to tell me?  Open the window and let the monkeys out?  That would actually be a good, strange, thing to put on a t-shirt.

Such A Simple Sunday

I had a very simple Sunday.  I started the day with a shower and a cup of coffee, then a small raft of family calls.  From there, I went and met Tony over at the Hickory Pit, then on to AMC 14 to see Judi Dench's new movie "Philomena".  An excellent and heartfelt drama that deals with some very complicated subjects with humor, grace, and compassion.  I would highly recommend it.

Once the movie was finished I came home and settled into an afternoon of laundry. A lot of laundry.  Because of my work and travel schedule over November, I had stacked up a lot of laundry. I did it at the apartment complex, which means I did it in a set of two - three sets for a total of six loads.  I'll usually head out to the laundry, but as cool/cold as it was today, I was contented to do it hear at the apartment.

I still have another two loads to do, but they are less important things and they'll wait until one of the week nights, or perhaps next weekend.  It's a four day work week ahead of me, so I am looking forward to it. Things at work were pretty reasonable last week, so I am hoping they will be reasonable again this week.  The business rhythm usually slows down during the month of December, which is always nice.

I spoke to the folks out on the ranch tonight - they are poised to try and move into the apartment complex in town tomorrow.  They wanted to make the move last week, but that wicked ice storm that moved through the Midwest kept the temperatures down at a very cold level and they just held off.  One of the things I learned growing up in winter country was you can't fight the weather.  The weather is what the weather is and the best way to deal with it is to just hunker down and let it run its course.

This evening, my laundry done, I had pizza for dinner and then got my Christmas tree set up. I set it up near one of the patio windows so that when I turn it on, it can be seen from outside.  During the week I will get the rest of my decorations out and set up, including the lights on the balcony. A few of the apartments already have their lights up and running, so it looks like Christmas outside.  That is always pretty nice.  I sure love this time of year.

After keeping TR up late the last couple of nights, tonight she went to sleep early (after The Amazing Race finale), so we didn't get a chance to talk.  I will look forward to talking to her tomorrow. Tonight, I am going to curl up with the book I have been reading and crawl into bed early.

This Day In The Zen Cold

It has been a nice day.  I slept very well last night, then woke and dove into the day by starting the process of cleaning the bathroom.  I would clean, watch some DVR, clean, listen to some music, clean...and well, you get the picture.

I chased that with breakfast at the Hickory Pit (a waffle and eggs), with Bob and Tony.  From there, we headed over to AMC 14 and saw "Into The Furnace" with Christian Bale, Casey Affleck, Woody Harrelson and Zoe Saldana.  It was an excellent little tale of dissolution, murder, and revenge.  I would recommend it.

From there, Bob and I ran a couple of errands (medical supply store, Home Depot, Target and the Post Office).  Then, I dropped him off and headed over to Orchard Supply Hardware to pick something up that I couldn't find at Home Depot.  I stopped for a bleu cheese burger on the way home and then spent a quiet evening watching the DVR and cleaning.

I was definitely in a zen mood while I was cleaning and embracing my inner OCD.  I think I am going to do some more cleaning in the bathroom in the morning as well.  That is one of the things about OCD - once you start cleaning you have a tough time stopping.  It is never quite clean enough!  You think - just one more go over...

My plan tonight is pretty simple.  I am hoping to talk with TR before too long (she is having a movie night there), and then I am going to watch a bit more off my DVR.  I have a tall stack of laundry to do tomorrow, so that is going to have to fit into the plan somewhere.  Other than that, the plan is to have an easy morning and repeat the breakfast and movie cycle, except with a comedy.

Later tonight I am going to curl up and read myself to sleep.

Invictus - RIP Nelson Mandela

Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate:

I am the captain of my soul.

~ Invictus, by William Ernest Henley.

 

The Return

It was my intention, while on vacation, to continue to write every day.  That intention was not realized.  As I traveled I found that I had slipped into a very “in the moment” approach to the whole vacation.  I cannot say I was authentically present in each moment, but I can say that I tried to not let myself be distracted by external things. During the course of the vacation I logged on once to send an email to TR.  (I also used my email on my iPhone to email text out, since there is still no cell phone connectivity at the ranch.

All in all it was a good trip.  The traveling portion of it, on both ends, was very smooth.  I travelled as light as I could - one change of clothes and incidental toiletries in Maximus, plus my iPhone and Kindle Fire HD table as my only electronics.  I will have to say that it worked well and I am sure the whole process of traveling light contributed to the ease of traveling. (I’ve now got a full weeks worth of clothes at the ranch, so that makes the traveling light more convenient.)

The stay at the ranch was nice, if busy.  I spent each day there, with the exception of Thanksgiving day, running errands with my folks.  They are full steam ahead on moving into the assisted living apartment complex in Winner, SD - the Golden Prairie Manor.  It is a nice facility and one of the errands was a visit there to complete some paperwork.  Most of the other errands were medical related.  The folks were getting vaccinations and copies of records compiled, sent, and reviewed. I think they have one outstanding medical errand left, which I believe they are running today - they need to go get general physicals from their doctor.  From there on out, it is just a question of moving in, which they seem to have lined up.

As smooth as the whole vacation went, it was very nice to get back to California.  The weather on Sunday was simply beautiful and I spent most of the day out wandering from place to place, doing all the assorted errands that I needed to do to start the month of December.  I had breakfast at the Hickory Pit, then stopped and got the Saturn detailed, then went on a rambling park walk at San Tomas Aquino River Park, then off to Cupertino Square to see “Homefront” with Jason Stratham, James Franco and Winona Ryder - an very little good little action movie by the way. Then a stop to get new work shirts (ten of them, with ten older ones destined either to be donated or to hit the trash bin), then a stop at the market to stock up on groceries - followed by a return to trip to the market since I forgot the most important thing - coffee! Then, home for a quiet evening, a great little call with TR, and finally “The Walking Dead”, which closed with an awesome episode.

All of which brings me here, to work, on Monday morning.  I am hammering my way through the email that stacked up while I was on vacation.  The good news is that they should be wrapped up in by later today.  The load wasn’t too bad, in part because it was a short week, but it was actually nice to come back to 100 or so email.

 

Vacation - Day One

Today was the first day of my vacation.  It went pretty smoothly.  I met Tony, Bob, Brandy, Jobn, Cyrus and Tony at the Hickory Pit for breakfast.  Following breakfast Tony, Bob and I went to see The Hunger Games: Catching Fire over at AMC 14.  A very enjoyable movie.  From there, I ran Bob home, them met Tony for pizza at Patxi's.  After Patxi's, I swung by Westgate and picked up a small duffle bag (Eagle Creek) - I've been meaning to get one for a while and today and the forthcoming trip seemed like a perfect excuse.  Then home, an easy evening, settled in and watching sitcoms off the DVR and now the latest episode of the Agents of SHIELD. My plan is to get a good night sleep and then just go as easy as I can through the day tomorrow.  Tomorrow is a traveling day and I am hoping it is going to go very smoothly.

Planning A Light Trip

I have three things left that I am trying to accomplish prior to leaving on vacation.  I started the day with four, but I managed to get one off my plate a little bit earlier in the day.  Each of them represents between three and four hours of work, so it will be interesting to see if I make it or not.  Of course, if I don’t make it nothing happens. Since next week is the Thanksgiving week, traditionally, by the rhythm of the business, we will accomplish nothing during that week since most of leadership will simply be gone.  Since we are in a top down environment right now that means everything will come to a grinding halt.  It will all patiently wait for me to return from vacation.

Speaking of vacation, I am looking forward to the trip, though it is going to be a relatively fast turnaround one.  That is fine - I spent two weeks in South Dakota earlier this year, so a far week at the holiday season will be enough of a visit for me.  I am sure my parents will wish that I was there longer - but in reality, from many prior visits, four or five days is about the proper length of time.  Much longer and you start to run out of things to talk about.  I am going to travel as lightly as I can, just to see if I can.  My intention is to travel only with Maximus, my backpack - a change of clothes, a small toilet kit, and I should be good.