Sweetpea’s Garden

The cab will be here in a half hour to take me to the airport for my nine-day travel extravaganza. I’ll be in Minneapolis visiting my cousins today and tomorrow, then across the river in St. Paul at my work’s annual conference until Friday, at which time I will be heading to Las Vegas for a wedding. I think it’s going to be an exhausting but fun week-plus of travel.

It’s going to be my first time at the conference, which seems so odd, since I have worked for the same organization for going on nine years. My prior position, though, was in a department that functioned rather independently of the mother-ship, and the dates of our annual meeting always conflicted. I’ve ended up with a sweet deal for going this year, too — I am going in order to write for the new blog I mentioned a few weeks back. I’m taking tours all day (or field sessions, as they are called to make them sound less fun and more like work) and writing whenever I get the chance.

I may have a finite number of words in me, so if there’s not a lot of new stuff happening here, feel free to hit the link over on the right (under “The Job”) and see what I am up to over there.

In my everyday life, I generally pass for a reasonably sociable person, but really, I am mostly very introverted, in the sense that I get my energy from being alone rather than with others. (Is that the Myers-Briggs definition? I think so.) Because I live by myself, finding enough time to re-energize is not usually a problem. In the past couple of months, though, I have been traveling so much and had so many people-oriented activities going on that I haven’t had much time on my own. And I am now about to kick off 15 days of travel over three weeks that will include two conferences, two family visits, and one wedding — all in all, a lot of social activity. I’m already feeling kind of worn down, and I am getting even more tired just thinking about everything coming up.

(Quick disclaimer: I am not complaining about any of these activities or the folks involved. I have been having a lot of fun and am excited about seeing everyone.)

Which brings me to yesterday, when I had lunch with a friend who mentioned the vacation she took last month, a week of which was spent at home, doing not much of anything. This was a huge “lightbulb moment” for me, because I realized that it’s exactly what I need — time by myself, with no commitments. I came back to the office and scheduled a week off immediately after my last trip.

It’s amazing how much better this has made me feel. I am still stressed about getting ready to go on Sunday, but I am just keeping in mind that, from September October 22-28, I am doing nothing. Well, except for knitting and reading books. Whee!

Feeling unappreciated? Not getting enough positive feedback at home or the office? Want someone — hell, anyone — to notice how great you are?

Technology has the solution: the ComplimentBot 4000.

(Right now, the computer would kill for my good looks. Back at ya, babe.)

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Courtesy of GeekSugar, which is often too girly for me, but is rarely too geeky. This is probably a bad sign in some way.