Some Thoughts (Vacation)

Well, my vacation (oh, sweet vacation, how I've loved you) is almost over. I'm actually really sad. It's been so very nice to not have to do anything, not have to drive all over creation for jobs #2 and #3, not have to keep track of too many things and too many worries. I know my life is pretty easy compared to lots of people, but it's been a rough go for a bit and I really needed the break.

Mostly what I've done the past week or so, is rest. A little bit of exercise, a little bit of creativity, a little bit of cooking. Lots of sleeping in, as long as I possibly can. Lots of reading, but not even a very concentrated effort there -- lots of magazine flipping and newspaper browsing. Lots of half-hearted movie-watching as I flipped through catalogs.

We've taken lots of around-town drives. A couple drives up to Berkeley. Some shop-browsing. Terri's held up pretty well, actually. We've taken it easy and just concentrated on having low-key fun.

I've been wondering how to keep this nice state of relaxation. I think it boils down to three things:

1. Enough sleep

2. Not worrying

3. Enjoying myself

Let's see if I can keep it up for the rest of the year.

We also talked a lot about the next two years. I keep wondering if I should go back to school (my perpetual question). Since I really, really, really can't make up my mind, I think I will take that as a "not yet" and instead focus on art some more. I really want to have my own show next fall. I'd like to get involved some kind of creative community. And we want to find a spiritual community.

I've decided on a theme for my art efforts for the next year, sort of an "enchanted forest" sort of thing. Owls included. I'd like to have 12 paintings to shop around to coffeeshops, community shows, etc. I'm working on #4 right now. I suppose my black-and-yellow tree painting also fits, so maybe I'm up to #5.

I have no idea where to look for a creative community. I have this idea that I'd like to work on a group project of some kind. So I'm going to look around and see what I can come up with. Lots of art stuff happening in the East Bay these days so I should come up with something.

And we've found four churches we'd like to scope out. A Unitarian, a Congregational, an Episcopal, and a Catholic. I think we're going to try the Unitarian church next week since their second worship starts at 11:30 (Terri absolutely needs to sleep as much as possible, so a late start is kind of a plus). I think I'm kind of a Unitarian kind of a gal, but we'll see how we like it.

We've also decided to wait a bit longer before deciding one way or another about bringing kids into the picture. There are still a couple of things that need to get settled before we know what's what. 40 is the new 30, right? Right. We should have things figured out within a year and a half. so for now, I'm going to use all this 'free' time I have to focus on these other things. Luckily we're right on-trend to be older parents (if that's what we decide). We're very trendy, you know.

I think this vacation helped me put some things in perspective. I'm going to try to hold onto this and really enjoy the next few months, since it's my favorite time of year. Things are fine, life is good, I've got lots of good work to focus on.