29 + 1

1 - conquer my anxiety, or at least win a few battles against it.  this month has been more of a struggle than others and i think it comes down to being rather busy and spread thinly at times.  and things not working they way they should.  my phone relocking itself and having to buy a new one, not knowing how to hook up my wireless printer, sitting on hold with call centres.  and deciding where to watch the men's gold medal hockey game!  they all cause me to get anxious, frustrated, angry.  and although i am better at recognising those feelings, i am not always great at knowing how to lessen the negative ones.

2 - be more thoughtful of others, especially around special events, days, occassions.  i think i am doing ok with this.  apart from forgetting to bring my valentines to the cabin and misplacing my sister and brother-in-law's anniversary card...  otherwise, going good, cards have been mailed, notes have been sent, calls put in.  but i really need to catch up with a few people who have recently had some milestones and i need details!

3 - continue making visiting family and friends a priority.  although i have made no concrete moves towards this, it is still a priority.  i intend on going to visit my dad on may long weekend and just need to go and book some flights.  it wasn't exactly like i had to travel to do it, but my fam and i spent the february long weekend out at the cabin.  and we laughed, oh did we laugh!  nothing like hearing your parent say 'shut the eff up' too many times to count.  and doing puzzles!  cursing and puzzles just sort of go together.  it probably doesn't sound like it here, but it was hilarious.

4 - nail down some sort of short-term career goals.  i feel this is going well.  i have done a lot of thinking, some reading, and had some insightful conversations towards nailing down goals.  i think i have my next few months nailed down and i feel good about that. 

for the first few months of this year, things felt up in the air and that something could come at any minute (an offer of a job in haiti, job interviews in jordan, work with international organisations...), which is exciting and great, but i feel a little calmer now and am plugging away at making significant progress professionally.  towards what?  well, that is still being determined!

5 - lay a nest egg to accompany my nest.  after putting those receipts into an accordian folder, i met with my accountant (at 7:30pm on a saturday, as you do) and got the first part of paying my taxes sorted.  doesn't sound like much, but it is a significant first step for me.

6 - eat more balanced, regular meals.  in the last week, i made dinner twice!  i also ordered pizza twice in the last month (and i cannot tell you the last time i have ordered pizza before these two times), so that is not ideal because a) pizza is expensive! and b) it is not very good.  oh and another, c) it makes your house smell.

living alone, i find that if i go grocery shopping and prepare meals, it get rather expensive.  i can get a sandwich at the little cafe near my office for $4 and it is delicious and full of fresh vegetables and nice bread.  if i were to buy a loaf of bread, it will become stale (not mouldy as it seems bread doesn't mould in this country...) before i could finish it and if i bought all the vegetables they include in my sandwich, it would be expensive and i'd never be able to use a WHOLE avocado without it going brown first.

the moral of my story is that i am doing better with this.  i still don't eat breakfast very often, but i am making better choices.

7 - sleep an appropriate amount.  this past week was a struggle in the sleeping department due to my habit of late-night olympics on tv and early morning meetings, but i am sleeping better than i was before christmas, when i could've slept for 12 hours and still woken up tired.  i think that kicking my running campaign up a few notches is helping me sleep better too.

i still manage to turn off my alarm in my sleep though...

8 - maintain my priorities.  this is a tough one right now.  probably the goal that i am letting slip the most out of the 9.  i have a lot of priorities this month and will for march as well.  but which come first? 

i feel overwhelmed at times, but i am trying to balance volunteer commitments, planning an event for 300-400 people to raise awareness of human trafficking, my day job that is ramping up at the moment (and i don't always enjoy the work that i have to do), requests for information or meetings with me, and trying to balanace social engagements.

i know i need to get better at is saying no, especially when people want to get together with me to pick my brain about something.  at the risk of sounding slightly arrogant, i don't have time for people who don't offer me something.  or better put, i don't have time to get together to answer people's questions when it is taking away from my other commitments.  part of the problem with having a public email address is that i get a lot of general inquiries and yet i realise how important it is for people to engage in issues they are concerned about or interested in (just don't challenge me on my views in the middle of an event planning meeting).

it is also tough to put in the unpaid, administrative work that i know will pay off in many ways in the long run, but zaps my time and energy.
one thing that i am managing well is my running schedule and i have made a point of fitting in all of my runs, which has typically been one of the first things to fall off when i become overwhelmed.

9 - keep asking for what i want (executive decision has been made to replace keep laughing).  i figure that i will be able to keep laughing without much effort (for those of you who know me in 'real life' will know this is true).

i have done a damn good job of asking for what i want lately.  ballet tickets, a job, support to attend training, more manpower to complete a project, answers to questions at conferences.  and that is just in the first month of 29!  but i know that when push comes to shove and i really do want something, it can be tough to form the words or type out the words, so i hope i can still ask when it really matters.

ps - go canada go!