i'm back!

I'm back at work, back to the gym, and I have my energy back. It is a chain reaction: working means we can afford the gym. Rejoining the gym means all of the benefits of exercise - stress relief, personal goals, stronger immune system, and more energy plus we have 10 hours per month of "free" childcare (additional time is $3 per hour - what a deal!). It also means more activities for me and Z - we start swimming lessons in January.

Work is completely different. Instead of 40++ hours per week, I'll be working a max of 18. Last week I worked 6.5 hours. I have new tools to play with and I don't have a backlog of email and documents that I need to organize. I'm starting with a clean slate and intending to keep it clean and organized! I have time to play without the seemingly never-ending pile of email, phone calls, and meetings. Last night, I spent 3 hours reading blogs! Today, I listened to the podcast of Bruce Sterling's keynote from the IDEA conference while Z and I played in the living room.

I used to spend energy keeping life and work separate. I was worried that working from home would mean never leaving work - and it's true, I didn't. But, that doesn't have to be a bad thing. There is a boundary that is needed, but there is also a seamless flow that needs to develop. I'm not sure if I'll figure it out this time around (will I ever truly "figure it out?"). At least I'm allowing myself more room to experiment and having more fun doing it.

Work and working out are back in my life but I am not back where I started - thankfully. It's been an amazingly beautiful and challenging year and I am thankful for the directions in which we are all growing.