Dec

• I cannot believe I've been seriously entertaining the idea of squeezing in one last trip before Dec 31st.  Yes, there is no limit to the insanity.  More disturbingly, with regards to the apparent disconnect between the brain hemispheres.
• Interesting idea:  If you pursued only the things that rank 90% or higher to you, what would you be dropping?
• I cannot remember the last time I had potentially 2 weeks off to spent at home.  I'm relishing the thought.
• I've been dramatically less social this year and it still feels right.  The new people I've crossed paths with along the way have been stellar. 
• It has been 4 months with my Mentee.  He has a vastly different life agenda than the others I've worked with.  I do question his prioritizational ability with respect to managing some parts of his life and business.  His default responses don't often make sense to me.  He is a strong people pleaser with at times blurry personal boundaries and a need to provide a play by play account of what's been going on.  I've given up encouraging him to email me questions.  He prefers to talk and is surprisingly optimistic.
• D has been diligent with doing the "right" things for his back and it has paid off.  Our last trip was a great test for it.  We will be heading out west to ski late winter so that will give him plenty of time to get stronger.  Works well this year as the snow has been slow to arrive.  One thing good about this change fee.  The same cannot be said of his leg however.  A few days after our return from our recent trip, D developed swelling and hardness in his ankle area, so off to the ER he went.
• Creating my first ever Christmas letter.  Thought it would be a fun way to touch base with those I haven't seen for a while.  Not sure if it'll get sent as first draft is reading a tad serious for I've seen and done some heavy things this year. 
• From Facebook, I found my old high school counselor.  He played a pivotal role during my time there, really took me under his wing.  If I hadn't been recently asked to speak to some students at a career event, I wouldn't have thought of trying to locate him again, as the last time I did one of those talks was for him.  We chatted on the phone for a couple of hours and I was stricken by news of his disability along with the tone of his voice as to how that has impacted what his retirement was supposed to be like.   For an avid musician and traveler to not be able to see anymore is tragic.  I was saddened for quite a while after our call.  He says I sound exactly the same to him, same level of enthusiasm.  
• My brain feels less "squeezed" since deciding not to plan further than 3 months out.  
• Am loving the new vehicle.  Feels like I've driven it forever, so easy.  Maybe I'm more of a Japanese car girl after all.  Decided on rims and snow tires which have been installed.
• I have to admit that all the extra traveling this year has been hard on my body.  All that sitting is not so healthy.  And it was just starting to feel like a chore, which kind of scared me.  I'm not spending all that prep time (and money) for something to feel somewhat dreaded.  No anticipated issues of that next year as there will no longer be any points based incentive.
• I leave you with views from our recent getaway.  Wishing You and Yours a wonderful Christmas and New Years!

The Siq

 

The iconic Treasury

Wadi Rum