Friday, December 16, 2011

I'm dreaming of...

Remember when I talked about closing the door on work? Just 1 week ago?

I need to try harder.

I also need to try harder to put in to practice very useful and sensible points discussed in a workshop that I attended, only 3 weeks ago, on how to manage work commitments in a balanced fashion.

Points like remembering that there really are only so many hours in a week, and that saying yes to every 'great opportunity' that comes along, will mean that none of those great opportunities will be as useful as they could be.

Last week I seemed to decide that I wanted to see what would happen if I threw the door wide open and said yes to everything. It's not an experiment I would recommend.

This week I am going to try much, much harder.

In the meantime, I have started to look forward to the Christmas break with a certain amount of desperate anticipation. 10 days off! It feels almost like school holidays, but with the benefit of earning money whilst not at work.

Even though we haven't even had Christmas (and I am looking forward to that too, very much so), and even though I'm conscious that not everyone will have 10 days off at Christmas, I thought I'd ponder in written form the things I am dreaming of doing over the Christmas break.

I'm sure I won't get to all of these, but that's ok too...

1. Read 

I'm sure this one comes as no surprise. The combined benefits of a charity book sale, a birthday, and some kind people who lend me books (and a bonus public library visit) mean that my bedside book pile has had to be broken up into multiple piles. One is in the cupboard. Reading needs to happen!


2. Practice photography

One of the books in my reading pile is this one, a beautifully chosen birthday gift from Mr Bite;


I am so excited to sit down and play with my new camera with guidance for a few hours.



3. Bake

Not much more needs to be said on this one...


4. Cook (grill)

Another of my birthday presents was the Scanpan grill that I raved about when house sitting at my parents. Being able to grill means that there are so many more veggie burger and tofu options I can play with, and I'm really looking forward to having the time to do so.



5. Clean the windows and blinds

I meant to clean the windows last summer. This is rather embarrassing to admit, because it highlights that they were dirty then and now are dirty plus have a bonus year of dirt. 


6. Clean the fridge

The condiments shelf is starting to become a health hazard.


7. Clean / re-organise the pantry

Again.


8. Shopping

Tranquil, no-pressure shopping (although the chances of that in post-Christmas sales may be minimal...) with browsing the aim more than buying. 

I used to wander shopping centres or the city on a semi-regular basis, and these days I either don't have time or am tearing around with a list of urgent purchases I "have" to find in the next hour. Window shopping at leisure sounds pretty good.


9. Blogging

I keep meaning to change my header and layout, and not getting the time to do so. I'm also mindful of not knowing half of the things that Blogger could let me do. I would like to schedule in half a day on figuring it all out!


10. Getting outdoors

This can be difficult in Australian summer temperatures (or at least, it is for those who don't like extreme heat and get sunburnt in about 15 minutes) but I'm sure we will manage it.




What are you dreaming of at the moment?

25 comments:

  1. I really don't like shopping.. fretting about how much money you're spending is bad enough, but then there's crowds to deal with and clothes to try on (depending on what type of shopping) and it leaves you cranky and broke.
    Maybe that's just me.. but I don't like it!
    Good luck with your photography.. I like your pictures as is, but experimentation is always fun.

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  2. These sound great! I need to do #9, too, but probably won't any time soon. But my brief holiday respite from work will deliberately involve (1) days off work! The uni is closed and there is nothing I need to do so badly that it can't wait till 2012. (2) Reading and more reading, of novels and fun books rather than work books. (3) Swimming in creeks near Townsville.

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  3. good luck! many of those are on my hopeful list but this is a list that doesn't often come to fruition - though I do need to sort out how to use this new camera and want to spend time just playing with sylvia and maybe a visit to the bush

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  4. Sounds like a good 10 days off for you Kari... except for maybe the cleaning the blinds and windows :-)
    I have so many plans I don't know where to start. I'll start wih reading though, that sounds good...

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  5. I hope you have a wonderful holiday - I've really enjoyed reading your blog this year and looking forward to your renovations!

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  6. Yes yes yes to 'most everything here :) Having been sick for over a week now, and having been sent home from work on Friday, has had the small silver lining of forcing me to relearn how wonderful it is to just curl up with a book and do nothing else, and stress about nothing else, for a few hours. I definitely, definitely want to do a lot of reading over this break! Doing a big clean of my room is definitely in order, too... :P

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  7. I am trying to read more too at the moment! Although I keep falling asleep whenever I start to!

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  8. I had to laugh at your shopping points...I will confess that's what it feels like for me at the moment. I think that's why I want some relaxing shopping to balance it out, but perhaps that's asking for too much :P

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  9. Being in the university system definitely has some advantages :) Having the shut down makes it much easier for me to shut work down too.

    Your (3) sounds delightful - I hope you definitely get to that one :)

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  10. Yes, I suspect 10 'dreams' is ambitious! Just having the time to think about them is a benefit in itself though, in some ways. I hope you get to some of the things on your hopeful list - camera, Sylvia and the bush certainly sound lovely.

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  11. If last year is anything to go by, cleaning the blinds and windows will be some of the items that get left off :P

    I hope you get to some of your plans - starting with reading is always safe, I think.

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  12. Thank you Liz :) And ditto to you (minus the renovations aspect!).

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  13. Oh Hannah, I didn't even know you were sick. (Clearly you are not like me, who if I recall correctly announced to the blogosphere when they were sick!) I hope you're feeling better, or at least getting there. It does sound, though, like that silver lining was a significant one. I hope you get more opportunities for curling up with a book and doing nothing else over the next little while :)

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  14. I did that last night actually...although I'm worse when watching TV, that seems to send me to sleep any time from about 8.30pm on!

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  15. Oh Kari, I know just what you mean when you say throwing the door open and saying yes to every opportunity. That's been a huge part of my problem this December. And you're right, it means none of those things get done very well. Good point. I love this post!

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  16. Thanks Carolyn, although I'm sorry to hear your December has been so busy too. I hope you get a break over Christmas. Maybe we'll all be better at shutting the door in 2012!

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  17. My list is very similar to yours. Today is my second day of leave and I've spent it cleaning the house! Not the most exciting day but I'm feeling very satisfied with it! Have a super happy Christmas.

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  18. Ooh, congratulations. I love that post-cleaning feeling :) Satisfying is definitely the right word.

    Enjoy having this week off and I hope you have a wonderful Christmas too!

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  19. My "mental" list isn't quite as long as yours but I also plan to cook, get outdoors which will possibly involve a camping trip and hopefully blog more than I have been recently. I'm looking forward to finishing work on Friday and having 16 days off!

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  20. 16 days! That is wonderful - even better than 10 ;) A camping trip sounds great too; I've actually never been camping (except on school trips, which I'm going to say doesn't fully count) so it holds an air of slight magic to me. I hope you enjoy whatever you end up fitting in!

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  21. I love your list! Sounds like a relaxing break....cooking, relaxing, and going outdoors is awesome. At the moment...I am dreaming of doing the same nice things for myself over this break! I also have a huge reading list...

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  22. Those reading lists can grow exponentially can't they? I hope you get to your nice things Hannah - enjoy the time to yourself!

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  23. They sure do! My to-do lists in general tend to become pretty massive, haha :)

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  24. Ooh, congratulations. I love that post-cleaning feeling :) Satisfying is definitely the right word.

    Enjoy having this week off and I hope you have a wonderful Christmas too!

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  25. I am trying to read more too at the moment! Although I keep falling asleep whenever I start to!

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