More on what you love

I've been having issues with my skin breaking out lately. Probably partly due to hormones, but I find it really frustrating. I saw a new aesthetician recently and described to her what I felt my skin issues were and basically said, "Fix it." She was very zen and soothing and not patronizing or condescending in her advice, which was essentially, "Sometimes when we think we have a skin issue that we have to 'deal' with, what we really need to deal with are the underlying emotional issues and stress that we may be feeling." She may as well smacked me on the head with a stick. Hello? Emotional issues? Anxiety? I'm no stranger to that. She then said, "It's good to try to do things that relax you (read: DO WHAT YOU LOVE -- EVERYTHING ELSE IS BULLSHIT)." She went on, "I try affirmations, meditation, and exercise, which it sounds like you're doing already." How can I relax more? That's all I could think.

So, after I was able to focus my eyes and complete a thought, several hours after that facial, I thought about how I could incorporate more things that relax me into my life. I thought about maybe moving around my workout schedule so that it is more relaxing overall, have incorporated 15 minutes of meditating in on most afternoons before school pickup and have made a conscious choice to do more creative things for myself. First, a few layouts for myself and I felt so much better and reconnected with why I love to scrapbook. Not for hire, not for anyone else, but for me.

That's the trouble I always run into, the hobbies I enjoy end up becoming work when I start getting paid for them, and then, I stop doing them as hobbies. Anyway, it was nice to spend some time re-living last Fall. I'm going to finish 2010 before 2012 starts. Just watch me.

Just when I got myself nice and relaxed, it was Thanksgiving. We went to Stew & Amy's and had a formal dinner including assigned seats and 4 kinds of stuffing and potatoes. Then, the Oldings arrived at our house around 7:30. Clara came down with strep throat around 8:25pm and proceeded to have fever dreams all night. I threw Rick under the bus and he spent the night on the floor next to the couch where Clara was sleeping. She got anti-biotics the next morning and was able to rally and come to Zoo lights Friday night. Sara and I worked out with my trainer. My favorite part of that experience was when I was doing skaters on the gliding discs and sara had one foot in the TRX straps, and was attempting a pike or push up or something and the Pilates instructor walked by and said, with a laugh, "Happy Thanksgiving to YOU." We were both sore the next day. I took some family photos of the Oldings at the ZOO, the kids enjoyed zoo lights for about 10 minutes and we were all ready to go home and eat. Everyone was asleep by 9:30, except Uncle Bryan.

The next day Sara and I putzed around the neighborhood, went to Target, had coffee, conversation and finished all the shopping for the girls from my Mom. It was fun, productive and really relaxing.

Anyway, overall, it was a busy and fun weekend, relaxing but not in a relaxing way. Know what I mean?