This and That

As I was reading my blogs today, I had the guilty realization that I haven't been to stellar in updating my own blog lately. So, with my bit of extra time this morning, I'll let my vast readership know what I've been up to.

I'm very happy that I've been making some progress with getting myself focussed on my goals and values. I think I've worked out a system that's balanced and keeps the important stuff in focus. Plus, now that I have this system, I've been feeling less guilt over the things that I'm not doing. If it's important, I know it'll get done. Maybe not today, this week, or even this month, but it'll get some time and attention none-the-less.

Last weekend we visited my Step-Mom Barbara and my Dad out in Maple Ridge. I always enjoy visiting and wish I had more time for it. I think I may have to start spending a bit more time on the phone talking with people and keeping in touch with family and friends. We'll see how I fare in August with all the birthdays and things going on.

Yesterday my friend Taran got married. It was a beautiful Sikh ceremony, most of which I couldn't understand. It had a very different feel than the wedding ceremonies that I'm used to. I've got some pictures to post and I'll try to do a more coherent summary of my impressions then too.

This weekend I have another wedding to attend. This one is for my Step-Brother and his fiancee. I'm very much looking forward to it.

I'm also looking forward to an upcoming trip to Oregon to visit my grandparents! I'll get to bring along wedding pictures for them to look at. If I'm really organized, I might even have a bunch of photos on a CD for them, but we'll wait and see how much free time I've got for the extra stuff like that.

I'm amazed that it's pretty much August already! The one thing that saddens me is that it looks like I'm still a ways off from exiting one of my jobs. It just feels like it's taking too long and I really want some closure. But, with the busy summer time, I've had to deal with more administrative issues that have taken time away from my curriculum project. Hopefully I won't have too many more interruptions this month and I can make some more progress.

Finally, I've been very much enjoying reading Gretchin Rubin's blog entitled "The Happiness Project." I believe there is already a link for it on my sidebar. Her own structured way of focussing on one thing at a time is what inspired me to restructure the way I was prioritizing things in my own life. One of the things she mentioned this week was that the things you do every day are more important than the things you do once in a while. I've been really reflecting on that a lot lately and thinking about the things that I make time for everyday and what that says about my own character and values. Here are the things I do daily and the things I want to do daily. . .

Every day I . . .

• eat breakfast
• organize my to-do list
• brush and floss
• read something inspiring
• keep up on fashion trends
• kiss my husband
  

I'd like to add to that list . . .

• exercise
• keep in touch with friends and family
  
• tidy the house

There's probably more, but I think those are the top three I'll be working on. Hopefully I'll manage to keep the blog updated (one way of keeping in touch) and let everyone know about my progress.