Cleaning Up

The picture above is one of the things I've made this weekend from the Farmers Market fixings that I'm proud of - a virgin mojito. Yum! Lime juice, a little sugar, Fresh Mint, sparkling water. It's keeping me company at work this afternoon while I'm cleaning up.

This coming Friday is my last full time day at work. We're slowing down and a third of the staff has been laid off in one way or another. Some of us voluntarily, some of us not voluntarily. I was in the voluntary pool. I'm excited and I'm sad. I'm energized and I'm tired. I feel affirmed, more and more everyday, that I've made the right decision for myself and it's hard having so many goodbyes. We've been lucky, really very fortunate in the past two years to have mostly avoided the reality several other firms, businesses, families, and individuals have been dealing with for awhile.

I'm down to just over 2,000 e-mails to be filed in project folders before I go and then on to the paper piles. I heard from someone this weekend that over the course of a year we spend the equivalent of a full work week managing our inboxes and I can attest to that. It's taking a chunk of time. My butt hurts sitting here and my eyes are glazing over.

I plan and look forward to getting back to the weekly postings next week. I'll write more about what I hope for in the coming weeks and beyond.

Another thing I'm looking forward to is having/making more time for slower meals at home. It's such a rich feeling coming home from the Farmers Market and then sharing it with others - meeting Julia in the alley with a personal nectarine, blackberry, blueberry galette, testing out roasted peppers with goat cheese on R. (thumbs down from R., more for me), leaving muffins for the couple down the hall who just had a baby, feeling thankful to have the time, the neighbors, and the food.

I pray to be kind with others around here this week and mindful of where I am, who I've been fortunate to share time and good work with, and what I'd like to leave here when I go.