Finally calm.

It's no secret that I've been somewhat out of touch lately. Work has been overwhelming. I have worked every week and weekend this month. I have not gone a week without going to Houston in over 5 months. And my primary source of relaxing (training) is done for the year. So, I've been retreating. Trying to destress and relax.

My weekend did not start well. A ton of stress at work, followed by a screaming match with a co-worker, followed by skipping the gym because I didn't want anyone to see me with mascara running down my teary face. Lovely.

Thanks to happy hour (s) and a huge job from one of my accounts on Friday, the weekend was looking better. On Saturday I rode my longest bike ride since July - Scot & I headed from my house down to Buda. I'm amazed at how much fitness I've lost and how hard this ride was. But I loved every minute of it and felt stress leave my body with each mile we rode.

As for the rest of the day (and weekend, largely), Phil & I worked with our accounting consultant to get our RB books in order. This meant entering 3 years of data into quickbooks. I'm proud to say that I got it done! Luckily I am a 10-key whiz! Getting this taken care of helped relieve a lot more stress.

Today, I slept in and then went swimming at Barton Springs. Nothing hard, more just enjoying the water and the people. For the rest of the day, Phil & I headed out on our mountain bikes for Austin Museum Day. We visited the AMOA, Arthouse, Women and Their Work & Umlauf. We were ecstatic to see that Umlauf has a David Everett show going on. We're lucky to own one of his pieces, granted it is the most inexpensive thing he sells. Anyway, it was an awesome surprise and we will definitely be back for more programs there. Then we checked out the SculptFest artists, and (of course) ended up buying 2 new pieces. (I won $200 on Thursday. Though I was going to apply it to my $600 car bill, I said "what the hell" and splurged.)

So... Today was the perfect "Austin" day. Barton Springs, biking, museums, downtown Gold's Gym, the hike & bike trail, running into random people throughout the day and time with the family.

I'm afraid to say it, but for now - the stress is gone. I feel calm for the first time in weeks.

Only 2 more hours until Monday.