Let It Go

This is a big week for the Gustin family. My management consulting days are dwindling into single digits, we celebrated our ninth wedding anniversary as well as the fall equinox, and a new moon graced the sky. What a great time to reset intentions and set goals for the next few months!

One thing I've been struggling with this summer is the ability to cross something off my list and be done with it. I have gotten really good at procrastinating - I can fabricate a valid reason to justify putting off doing anything I am not 100% inspired by. Lately it's been hitting the send button, figuratively and literally. I'm not sure if it's my internal pursuit of "perfection" that is holding me back, but there are a lot of things I have been transferring from one list onto another each week. I work on it, but it's not quite ready, or I just don't feel like it's the exact message I want to send, or I get nervous about how others are going to perceive something - so I just put it on the back burner and expect that I will have an epiphany and find the right words. I know this is slowing me down, so I am making a concerted effort to dial back my expectations and be content with "good enough."

There are only so many times I can read a press release and find ways to improve it before the editing becomes a marginal use of my time. First impressions are critically important, but if it's just an email I should find a way to keep it simple and send a clear but concise introductory message. Letting an idea marinate for another 24 hours will not provide enough additional creative content to justify putting off the phone call another day.

Any time I waver about getting something accomplished enough that I could cross it off my list, I am going to give myself another 15 minutes to agonize over it and then let it go and move on to other things. We'll see how this goes...

Autumn Leaves of Red & Gold

This week I have been reveling in the magic that October brings - and we actually have leaves of our own to enjoy this year! The grove of aspens in the back yard has turned a brilliant gold, and there is an ash peering over the neighbor's fence that is blowing bold red leaves over into our yard. Give me a few weeks and I will probably be resentful for having to rake them all up, but for today the sky is a perfect shade of blue, the grass is still green, the leaves are scattering jewel tones around the yard, and I am in awe of this jarringly beautiful shift nature is sharing with us.

Where the Bass and Back Beat Can Lock In

I haven't had a stellar year. I wouldn't even say that this past month has been very good. But this weekend was amazing!

First of all, it's the pivotal Autumn weekend when all of the leaves that turn bright amber and vivid ruby are in their full glory. To top that off we had a mini heat wave that left us three spectacular days in the 80's with perfect Colorado blue skies. Since it was my first time off and home in almost a month, there was much lounging around to appreciate!

There was no alarm set Saturday morning, and luckily Bosco decided he needed to sleep in too. We started off with pumpkin pancakes and then hit several restaurants in Cherry Creek for Brian's birthday culinary adventure, which was a lovely and relaxing indulgence. We finished the night off with games and pumpkin empanadas chez Gustin with some wonderful friends and a couple of bottles of wine. Sunday morning I accompanied the choir at church, and then got down to business on some of the household chores that haven't been done in three weeks. The terrifying tower of laundry was tackled, as well as the pile of donations that has been accumulating in the garage for a few months. Hopefully by the time snow comes we will be able to get both cars inside! I also made some progress learning music and movement for Sound Circle's Oct. 29th show, which has been heavy on my mind.

Aside from feeling relaxed and productive, I had several moments where I got to soak in everything happening around me and think, "Wow, I am so fortunate." In those moments, I find all of the things that stress me out to be trivial. I live in this breathtakingly beautiful place, with a handful of loving and loyal family and friends, in a very comfortable house that is always well-stocked. La vie est si belle!

You Look Good in Orange

A few weeks ago I noticed a crispness in the air while Bosco and I were on a morning walk. My first thought was that Fall has announced its intentions, which was followed by the thought that it is only August and we should still be in the midst of summer heat and pool days and barbecues. This thought process led me to erupt with joy at the thought that I actually get to experience Autumn this year!

After two tortuous extended triple-digit seasons in Phoenix, I will once again get to experience the joys of the Fall season. This includes crock-pot comfort foods like chili and hearty pasta sauces loaded with end-of-summer veggies, spiced cider and mulled wine, the glorious colors that the aspens and oaks bring to Colorado, Halloween decorations, and sweaters, scarves, and pea coats! I am enjoying summertime but these ideas are more appealing than usual to me, so I can't say I will be sad when the change of seasons brings cooler weather and cloudy days.

I am not excited about the early arrival of football season, however. Losing Sundays isn't something I have ever been enthusiastic about, but having all day to myself when Brian is at work just makes eliminating his company on one of the weekend days even less appealing. After six years you'd think I'd have found something to take up my time for that quarter of the year. Any suggestions for fun(affordable) things to do on Sundays in the winter?

I'm not opposed to being a fan and rooting for your team, or even attending a few games. The Bronco's used to be good, and used to be fun to watch. My main beef with pro sports is that they are strictly commercial enterprises. But there are millions of suckers out there who will pay $200+ for entrance into a stadium to be hounded by advertisements, fork out another $40+ for beer and sodium-laden stadium treats, and scream for a couple of hours at athletes who get paid ridiculous sums of money to strut around on a field wearing spandex embroidered with their biggest sponsor's logo.

OK, Back to anticipating the upcoming joys of Autumn - like getting wrapped up to go out and enjoy the fresh air and fall colors! At the rate time is flying in my world, it's literally just around the corner. I think that I might actually be ready for this change!

Stop This Train...

It is finals week for the three of our classes that are only one module of the trimester. That means we have four other classes that go through the entire tri, and on top of finals we have normal classes and assignments due.

Friday we had a three-hour class, Sat we had our accounting final, and today we had to turn in paperwork corresponding with our Career Management seminar presentations tomorrow. This is going on day #8 straight of school - and it keeps going through Thursday! There were two things that got me through the weekend: autumn has arrived in AZ, and at the end of the week I get to go home for the weekend WITH NO HOMEWORK!!!

The weather cooled down to a lovely 75 today, so I was glad to take a break and do some laundry, and wandered around campus for a bit. It is empty - everybody is burried in the library or working with a group in a student room somewhere. It's nuts - even the Pub was closed last night - on a Saturday!

Another thing that has been hard this week is that I've been sad I missed Brian's birthday. From what I hear though, he had quite a celebratory weekend! It's a lot harder than I thought it would be, giving up the little things... A few people I have talked to mentioned that CO might be getting some snow this week, so the fact that it is just now getting pleasant outside is a shock to my system. Inside I am ready for sweatshirt-and-hot chocolate days and Halloween decorations, and here I am grateful for a windows-open day. But I will get my fill, I just have to survive the week. Then we can have a belated birthday(I promised to get up with Bosco and let Brian sleep in on Sat!) and some seasonal appreciation.

Here are some pics from this afternoon. At top is the Wall of Welcome, which says "welcome" in 30-some-odd languages and has a quote from Socrates, "I am neither Athenian nor Greek, I am a citizen of the world." Middle is my mailbox, at the apartment, and the bottom is my favorite study spot(not frequented, mind you, but definitely preferred!). Hope all is well and that wherever you are the leaves are changing...