The vacation continues. So far it's all a blur, and I have't even had a drink!
Sunday and Monday proved to me that making real changes is a long, hard process. Something like beating an addiction or losing weight and keeping it off. I've heard that if you can make it 5 yrs, you've got it... or something like that. Anyway, Sunday was the retreat for my stress management class. Sadly, it wasn't a retreat like we went to some nice place - it was the same place, just 4 hrs of silence, meditation, yoga and a vegetarian pot luck. Sounds awful, but it went fast (the instructors talk, and the meditation and exercises are guided). So, I left there feeling relaxed and at peace. As I was walking across the entrance of a parking lot, a guy driving towards the exit flipped me off and called me an a**hole for exercising my right-of-way. I was talking on my cell phone, but I was aware of what I was doing, not wandering like a zombie. And I had the right-of-way. Anyway, instead of ignoring it or laughing it off, I responded in like manner, and even escalated the yelling and gesture. To make it more embarrassing, I was on the phone with my mom! What would she have thought if that had escalated into street brawl over such a stupid incident.
I also was getting very impatient with the cats running all over my desk as I was having an epic battle with my mp3 collection. It's sad when something that's supposed to bring pleasure becomes a source of stress. I have put hours and hours into organizing and tagging music (and pictures) and I had a program pretty much mess up my entire collection and cause me to restore from backup. Besides the worry and stress I wasted a good part of 2 days of vacation! At some point, I childishly pushed a bunch of papers off my desk. Sigh.
On the upside, in both of these incidents, I caught myself, evaluated the situation, determined to do better next time, and let it go. I've thought about it a couple times to analyze it for improvement, but haven't obsessed about it or let the incidents themselves bother me further. Today at my regular class, I brought it up to amuse and enlighten others. Or at least to serve as a bad example.
I notice when I'm downtown for an evening, my W frequently texts. Tonight she seemed to be fishing to see if I was home yet. Sunday I had a nice walk around town, visited the library and had dinner out. I was going to go to a movie, but I had my backpack, and it had "contraband" food items in it and I didn't want to have an incident at the theater. So, tonight I splurged. I had my class, then spent some time at the library. Then I went to dinner. After that I had a nice coffee at the coffee shop and pondered how cool it would be to live in the apartments above the shops downtown. Then I went to the brand new theater (still has that new theater smell!). Flirted shamelessly with the lovely, friendly, talkative lady at the concession stand (yeah, I've still got it! LOL). I'm going to go over and help her organize her closets. Totally kidding. Anyway, after that I got the cats some of the very specific kind of food they want (fussy little critters!) and got myself a few things. And, of course, got a lot of walking in!
The only thing marring the experience was a growing headache. I need to make a Dr appt to sort out my migraine meds - and I forgot to take an over-the-counter pain reliever before heading out. So that got worse and worse until I got home and took some meds and tried to sleep. But, overall, a good night, anyway.
LOL). I'm going to go over and help her organize her closets. 
Totally kidding. Anyway, after that I got the cats some of the very specific kind of food they want (fussy little critters!) and got myself a few things. And, of course, got a lot of walking in!
