The Balancing Act

Thanksgiving break was wonderful. So much so that I'm already counting down the days until Christmas break. Usually, during a whole week of nothing to do but the bar, I find myself wrestling with boredom. Not so this time. While I credit part of that to being sick, I can't write it all off. My lack of boredom is a bad sign which serves to emphasize my need to make some changes.

First and foremost, I need to get away from the bar more. This three nights a week stuff is silly. We got a new person for a reason, and if she can't work both weekend nights (thanks to her other job) then it's time to push the owners to hire another newbie. Come spring semester, my goal is 1-2 nights at most.

At this point in the semester, housework has piled up from neglecting it for weeks on end. Over break I made a concerted effort to clean up and put all my beads in one place (versus scattered all over the living room). Since I put up Christmas decorations at the same time, it worked pretty well. My living room and bedroom got put to rights. Next comes the kitchen, office, and bathroom (which is half-way there already). I'm not the tidiest housekeeper, but once I hit a certain degree of clutter, I start feeling it in a feng shui kind of fashion. De-cluttering is a good start to my personal balancing project, and it's a nice way to see tangible progress.

Another step is having my Christmas party. This also doubles as an incentive to do other things, like clean the house, which are on my list.

Related, though indirectly, to the balancing project is the Mystery Adventure Vacation. Last year my parents thought it'd be fun for the family to go on a trip. Casey and I even got passports. The trip fell through, though. This year, my parents have revisited that idea and have decided to send the brother and I off on a trip to a destination unknown to us.

If you suspect a bit of trepidation on my part, you're right. Somehow a vacation that's out of my control makes me a bit uneasy. Knowing it's my mother's brainchild doesn't entirely quell that. This is the same mother who once bought me glittery jeans for Christmas because she thought it'd be funny. If you haven't noticed yet, I'm not the glitter type. At least it'll be my brother and I, sans our parents. Given the similarity in our temperments (as opposed to the lack thereof with our mother), I have faith that once we get to wherever it is we're going, we'll be able to do the metaphorical driving.

Working up to this vacation, my parents have decided it'd be fun to give us clues to figure out where we're going.
Clue #1: My parents want to go here themselves.
Clue #2: It somehow involves driving a golf cart. (That one makes me nervous)
There will be twelve clues in all and they'll be given to us at random intervals. Some of these clues will be red herrings. My mom is getting such a kick out of this, it's not even funny.

Whew, there's a long post. To sum up, these first steps across the stones feel right. Progress is progress, even if it's slow.