Taking Inventory 2014

My how time flies. It was really only this week when I started getting in the holiday spirit, just in time for Christmas. Just a couple of days ago, I checked my blog and realized that it has been almost a month since I wrote anything. Not so good.

It’s not that I do not have anything to write: I wanted to write about my experience in my first (major) hula show and how our travel plans are evolving to accommodate my dietary needs (due to the new kidney). My schedule must just be jam packed if I had no time to write those down. Now some of my ideas may have disappeared into the ether.

It has been truly a busy year. Since I am on break this week, I thought that I should take this opportunity to pause and reflect on what I accomplished last year (in no particular order). It should give me some perspective and perhaps make adjustments.

Personal Stuff

• Celebrated 13 years with Hubby. We actually went out of town to one of our favorite places and enjoyed some window shopping and some nice dining out.

Work Stuff

• Supported three major software releases at work. The development and support work on all three were very involved and took a lot of my time.  At one point, I was working overtime every day, day after day.
• Supported several smaller projects and two special projects.

Physical Challenges

• Our First and Second Ski Day Since The Transplant. First was last season in February and the second was a couple of days before this Christmas. This has been our traditional gift to each other and I am glad we were able to enjoy it together. Hopefully there will be more in the New Year. I do have to remind myself to be careful and avoid falls especially on my right side.
• Attended Seven Aikido Seminars. This included the winter and summer divisional training, all three days of the AikiHorizons weekend retreat, and a seminar by Saotome Sensei from Japan. A lot of these were mostly local, but many were for multiple days. As I said, these have been a test of my endurance.
• Participated in my annual hula workshop. Since I joined a halau (hula school) last year, I thought it would be more appropriate to join my hula sisters in the workshop in out of town. My hula sisters and I bonded and got to know each other better. I even reconnected with some of my old friends that I would not otherwise see here locally.
• Participate in my first major hula show. Another test of endurance! It involved two all-afternoon rehearsals in November, another rehearsal the Satruday before the show and the show itself. We did two shows all day Sunday. Although we only did two dances, I was exhausted afterwards, physically, but also mentally.
• Made it to the pool. I had to stop, because winter is coming (translate: brrrrr). I plan to restart late spring.

Culinary Stuff

• Learned how to make overnight oats and that was my breakfast through the summer (and baked healthy muffins in the fall).
• Cooked a lot. Tried to try a new ingredient (or more) every month to explore new foods and flavors.
• Participated in the October Unprocessed Challenge. The challenge is to avoid processed foods (with some exceptions). It really allowed me to look at my diet and fine-tune it. It was hard though.

In addition, here’s my usual stuff:

• Walked at least 4 times a week for at least 30 minutes each time.
• Raised money for the Kidney Walk.
• Completed the Kidney Walk and the Light the Night Walk.
• Went to aikido about three times a week (I skip occasionally)
• …Hula once a week
• Went to three Giants games (and we won the World Series!).
• Oh yes, blogged (but not as much as last year).

Whew! No wonder I am tired.

I bet you that when Hubby reads this, he would greatly encourage me to slow down.

Next post: Reflections and goals.


Happy New Year everyone!