Valentine's Day, Stressful Living, and Creativity
Due to the fact that we do not own our own digital camera (yet), the pictures I took on Valentine's Day with a friend's camera have only just now made it to my computer.
Here's the story:
My wife and I have been on a diet lately, one that has helped her lose over 115 lbs and me over 70 lbs. On Valentine's Day, she was out of town and also on the diet. However, it has been a tradition every Valentine's Day that I get her a Russel Stover heart box of assorted chocolates/truffles. She expressed to me her disappointment that this year, she wouldn't get her chocolates because of the diet. I commiserated with her, but had a devious plot in my heart that she knew nothing of. On Saturday, after work (more on that in a bit), I tracked down tiny little heart-shaped candy cutters (exactly like cookie cutters but much, much smaller) (and tracking them down took some serious doing, too), bought the same box of chocolates as usual, and then went to the store and bought a bunch of different fruits, veggies, a small block of cheese, and a summer sausage (all of which were legal on this diet).
I dumped the chocolates into a plastic bag, cleaned out the box, then got to work, using the candy cutters to make heart-shaped treats for her. It took me most of the day on Sunday to do this, and I finished just shortly before I had to go to the airport to pick her up. And by "shortly", I mean, "I was about 10 minutes late picking her up".
When I busted out the box of treats, she just melted. :) One of the best Valentine's Day gifts ever!
The box
Like how I used two pieces of celery to make one heart?
OK, the rest is self-explanatory. :)
Stressful Living:
I don't think I've ever been busier in my entire life. It's certainly cut down on the amount of time I have to do fun stuff like blogging, replying to blog comments, talking on FaceBook, spending time with my family and friends, etc. But it's a good busy!
I currently have a full-time contract position with Mary Kay, Inc, as a tech support guy for all the Mary Kay ladies out in the field. Seriously, in all my years of being a techie, I have never worked with a nicer user base. Even when they are mad, sad, or frustrated, they are incredibly polite, grateful, patient, and complimentary. Lawyers of the world - pay attention! (I single lawyers out since most of my tech support experience has been in law firms.)
On top of my full-time job, I still have grad school. I don't have to go to class but maybe once every six weeks or so, thank heavens, but I do have my internship, and that is sucking down an additional 15-20 hours/week. Throw in travel time, and I leave in the mornings at 7am and typically get home at 9:30pm, then work from 8:30am-3pm on Saturdays.
I know, I know - other people are busier than this, and gone through the same kind of schedule for grad school. But *I* haven't. This is new to me, and I find myself getting worn down by the constant running. It's a very good thing I love both my jobs, or else it would be much worse. It's especially hard on Jenny because she's working full-time, but since I have to take my breakfast, lunch, and dinner with me in the mornings, she is stuck with doing most of the food prep, laundry, shopping, etc. We do try to get a lot of shopping and food prep done for the week together on Saturday evenings and Sundays, but it means running all the time.
So 70 hour weeks plus all the normal stuff that needs to get done from the beginning of January to the end of May. I love being a counselor, I love teaching my classes, I love being a techie for the Mary Kay ladies. But I will be really, really glad to graduate and have this part of my life done. I want to have time to do the things I really enjoy!
Creativity:
Just last night, I had an interesting experience. As Jenny and I were shopping and talking, I had a very strong impression that I need to plan as if I will not have a job come August. My boss at MK has told me that she knows she will be able to extend my contract through August, but with the economy the way it, she's not sure of anything beyond that.
I'm not going to claim revelation from God or anything - it could just as easily be the voice of wisdom, maturity, and common sense, but in my mind, it was most likely the combination of the two. Anyhow, I have a creative project I'm working on with a couple of friends, and I've been feeling very driven to put a lot of time and effort into it. When I had this impression, I just felt that any free time I do have over the next 5-6 months, I need to dump into this project. More on what it is exactly as I get nearer to launch time, but I think it is entirely feasible to have it up and running by September. With the plans I have in my head, I may even be making money on it the day it launches, who knows?
But I have to admit, I love being a creative person. As I write stories, meaningful stories that are also a lot of fun, I feel as if I am putting my creative gifts and energy to good use, and that makes me feel successful. It's a really neat feeling to let the flow of ideas run from my head and heart through my hands onto a screen. I haven't seen a story like this anywhere out there, and certainly not in the medium I intend on using. All very exciting.
I think I like the idea of being able to support my family using my creativity. And that's what I'm going to work towards, even though it means hardly any personal time in the short run, especially with school.
Here's the story:
My wife and I have been on a diet lately, one that has helped her lose over 115 lbs and me over 70 lbs. On Valentine's Day, she was out of town and also on the diet. However, it has been a tradition every Valentine's Day that I get her a Russel Stover heart box of assorted chocolates/truffles. She expressed to me her disappointment that this year, she wouldn't get her chocolates because of the diet. I commiserated with her, but had a devious plot in my heart that she knew nothing of. On Saturday, after work (more on that in a bit), I tracked down tiny little heart-shaped candy cutters (exactly like cookie cutters but much, much smaller) (and tracking them down took some serious doing, too), bought the same box of chocolates as usual, and then went to the store and bought a bunch of different fruits, veggies, a small block of cheese, and a summer sausage (all of which were legal on this diet).
I dumped the chocolates into a plastic bag, cleaned out the box, then got to work, using the candy cutters to make heart-shaped treats for her. It took me most of the day on Sunday to do this, and I finished just shortly before I had to go to the airport to pick her up. And by "shortly", I mean, "I was about 10 minutes late picking her up".
When I busted out the box of treats, she just melted. :) One of the best Valentine's Day gifts ever!
The box
Like how I used two pieces of celery to make one heart?
OK, the rest is self-explanatory. :)
Stressful Living:
I don't think I've ever been busier in my entire life. It's certainly cut down on the amount of time I have to do fun stuff like blogging, replying to blog comments, talking on FaceBook, spending time with my family and friends, etc. But it's a good busy!
I currently have a full-time contract position with Mary Kay, Inc, as a tech support guy for all the Mary Kay ladies out in the field. Seriously, in all my years of being a techie, I have never worked with a nicer user base. Even when they are mad, sad, or frustrated, they are incredibly polite, grateful, patient, and complimentary. Lawyers of the world - pay attention! (I single lawyers out since most of my tech support experience has been in law firms.)
On top of my full-time job, I still have grad school. I don't have to go to class but maybe once every six weeks or so, thank heavens, but I do have my internship, and that is sucking down an additional 15-20 hours/week. Throw in travel time, and I leave in the mornings at 7am and typically get home at 9:30pm, then work from 8:30am-3pm on Saturdays.
I know, I know - other people are busier than this, and gone through the same kind of schedule for grad school. But *I* haven't. This is new to me, and I find myself getting worn down by the constant running. It's a very good thing I love both my jobs, or else it would be much worse. It's especially hard on Jenny because she's working full-time, but since I have to take my breakfast, lunch, and dinner with me in the mornings, she is stuck with doing most of the food prep, laundry, shopping, etc. We do try to get a lot of shopping and food prep done for the week together on Saturday evenings and Sundays, but it means running all the time.
So 70 hour weeks plus all the normal stuff that needs to get done from the beginning of January to the end of May. I love being a counselor, I love teaching my classes, I love being a techie for the Mary Kay ladies. But I will be really, really glad to graduate and have this part of my life done. I want to have time to do the things I really enjoy!
Creativity:
Just last night, I had an interesting experience. As Jenny and I were shopping and talking, I had a very strong impression that I need to plan as if I will not have a job come August. My boss at MK has told me that she knows she will be able to extend my contract through August, but with the economy the way it, she's not sure of anything beyond that.
I'm not going to claim revelation from God or anything - it could just as easily be the voice of wisdom, maturity, and common sense, but in my mind, it was most likely the combination of the two. Anyhow, I have a creative project I'm working on with a couple of friends, and I've been feeling very driven to put a lot of time and effort into it. When I had this impression, I just felt that any free time I do have over the next 5-6 months, I need to dump into this project. More on what it is exactly as I get nearer to launch time, but I think it is entirely feasible to have it up and running by September. With the plans I have in my head, I may even be making money on it the day it launches, who knows?
But I have to admit, I love being a creative person. As I write stories, meaningful stories that are also a lot of fun, I feel as if I am putting my creative gifts and energy to good use, and that makes me feel successful. It's a really neat feeling to let the flow of ideas run from my head and heart through my hands onto a screen. I haven't seen a story like this anywhere out there, and certainly not in the medium I intend on using. All very exciting.
I think I like the idea of being able to support my family using my creativity. And that's what I'm going to work towards, even though it means hardly any personal time in the short run, especially with school.