Done for the Week: Launching My Blog Revival

At the end of every summer when I was a kid, my indulgent grandmother took my sisters and brothers and I shopping for new outfits to wear to the first day of school.  It took the sting out of the ordeal of returning to the classroom.  New school supplies helped, too.

Now that I'm grown (as I have been for awhile now), it seems I need to be responsible for my own transitions, and their easing.  I am not starting school this fall, but I am adjusting to new work schedules, and most importantly, to the waning light and warmth that signal impending winter.  

Since, like so many of my countrymen and women, I find myself a few shekels short these days, I will probably have to come up with something to get me through the first couple of weeks of September that doesn't involve pulling out a little plastic card.  One thing I can give myself that may help is the gift of renewed blog rigor.  (See last week's statement of good intentions.)

Although last week concluded a string of weeks of relative blog neglect, I did get some things done.

Done for the Week:  Aug. 29-Sept. 4, 2011

1. Continued 5K training with my youngest son, in preparation for his first race--Finished Week 1 of 9 Week program
2. Ran 2 times; walked once (babying yoga-induced hamstring strain)
3. Finished Run, by Ann Patchett
4. Continued to work my two part-time jobs 
5. Provided technical assistance to nonprofit organization
6. Published 1 blog post
7. Attended 2 yoga classes
8. Continued significant work on current clients' projects
9. Launched client's new site
10. Attended Unity Rally in response to White Supremacy gathering
11. Attended Social Justice meeting
12. Had lunch with friends
13. Went paddleboating with my kids and grandson
14. Picked up my husband at the airport, back from Kenya
15. Did laundry
16. Attended church picnic; helped with setup
17. Reapplied for vocational support for dyslexic son
18. Organized and helped cook four at-home dinners
19. Took my dog to the dog park, with both my sons

Last week's focus goal was to "come down gently, and as little as possible, from Cloud 9-3/4" after finishing the triathlon.  Despite being busy with a clump of work commitments, I did manage to maintain my unaccustomed happy mood.  With it came a bit more energy, which led to a little burst of housecleaning, which reinforced my positive feelings, which boosted my energy level, which . . . .  All good.

So, still not down.  And trying not to second-guess the lifespan of the happiness fairy's reign.

The most important thing I got done last week was getting the new blog site up for one of my clients.  A lot of work went into preparing the site, and we were all pretty excited about seeing it "go live" when his wife clicked the "Publish Post" button.  (You can see his fascinating work at http://callmeexcellency.blogspot.com/.

His is the fifth project of the small business I seem to have inadvertently started.  I am enjoying the challenges, and the opportunities to contribute to others' communication efforts.  Now I will need to learn how to incorporate this new level of activity into an already full work life, and to save some time and energy for my own writing.

My goal for the coming week:  stick to my plan of publishing three blog posts, having taken Labor Day off, and commencing my new regimen of Monday through Thursday posting.

One down, and two to go. . .