End of Sabatical

Well, I keep waiting for it to be official before I post anything. I have my first day of orientation this coming Monday which means less than a week to wrap up everything I wanted to get done before going back to work. I haven't gotten the final offer letter but figure everything is moving forward. 

First things first, I'm more conscious of the public world we live in so don't want to post the details here, but I'm happy to report that my new position is similar to my last and builds on the work I've done to date but at the same time provides a platform to really effect change in my industry. That was one thing I figured out with my time off, that I had hard time following a greater purpose and an ability to leave a legacy at my last position. And as I read recently in an article, the people happy in their jobs find the overlap between their passion and purpose in the work. I'm excited about the position.  Of course I have all the first day nerves like how the transition will be with the staff and colleagues and even what to wear and how long the commute will be. It's a bit closer to my house but still not a straight shoot with public transportation so think it might be about the same time commuting. 

But before I jump into this new endeavor, I want to close out all that I've been working on. Not really the regular projects like painting my sunroom, etc. those things get done eventually. What I want to capture quickly is all that I've learned. From eating better, to exercise to all the things I've figured out with stress and time management. I've been trying to figure out how to quickly capture my lessons learned and aha moments for my future self. It's amazing how far I've come... I think - the true test will be when I'm in the thick of things again. But if anything, my real take away is to keep focused on what's important. What gives me purpose, health and peace. It's so easy to get caught up in the noise of the day to day. And to help with this, develop play books for everything. I'm working up a meal plan playbook of what to make for different meals so I'm not faced with "what should I eat" when I'm tired and worn out and end up falling back into old eating habits (Mac and cheese is easy when you're tired and hungry).  Same goes with other simple things like outfits, so I can look my best without spending any decisions in the morning. It's all about reducing decision fatigue. Well, enough of that now, more later. 

Oh, and can I add - I've learned a valuable lesson on the gardening front: don't let the weeds go to seed. I let the wild onions/garlic go to seed last fall since the bees loved them. But now they are everywhere, including my miss beds I so tirelessly weeded last year. And there's another weed that took over my front bed over night. Until I can fill the empty spaces with more plants (expensive), I'm trying an organic weed barrier using newspaper and cardboard under the mulch. I got the first batch down yesterday and it feels so satisfying seeing the before and after pictures right next to each other. Off to do some more weeding before the next batch of mulching.