Challenges galore...

Last week's sleeping schedule sought its revenge last night. After tossing and turning, somehow I woke up at 5:00a surprisingly awake. Had a nice, easy Wednesday to start off my three-day work week - and some pretty snow too.

I felt slow as a turtle tonight - wasting time - just trying to research and figure some things out with my word for 2008 and another challenge I've started. Yep, I know... another, but it's something I've been doing lately anyway. While I was feeling shelled in and slow, Dan and I decided to start a puzzle together. It was just what I needed for my photo del dia (of the day) and to get me going again.

First thing: my word for 2008. After talking with Mandy this morning, and Dan this evening, I decided to give the hat pick another go-round. The two words in question were GO and BALANCE. Last night when I blindly chose out of the hat, I got GO. Tonight, I let Dan choose out of the hat and we did the best two out of three. Both times he chose BALANCE - so balance it was. The fates must be telling me something about the balance I need in my life. I'll miss GO, but it doesn't have to be my word of the year for me to use it and be motivated by it.

Balance: to bring to or hold in equilibrium; mental steadiness or emotional stability; habit of calm behavior, judgment, etc.; composition or placement of elements of design, as figures, forms, or colors, in such a manner as to produce an aesthetically pleasing or harmoniously integrated whole.

There’s no secret to balance. You just have to feel the waves. - Frank Herbert

Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony. - Thomas Merton

There are so many aspects of balance, but I chose a few that I liked. For me, I want balance to get me out of the computer chair and doing different things. Not necessarily spreading myself thin with a BUNCH of things, but doing things that are better for me and my relationships. Allowing more of a balance between Dan, family, friends, our business, and personal time. I want to find friends in our area since we'll be searching for a house here soon. Eating balanced meals. Starting a yoga routine like my 101 list tells me to do. Being collected and confident mentally and physically - and just plain ol' feel the calm of "thinking balance" in stressful times. Bring it on, balance. I'm ready.

Second thing: 365 days in photos. So many people are doing this right now, the peer pressure was MURDER. Kidding - it's also on my 101 list to take photos of myself for a year, but I'm going to extend it to the things around me. Documenting what I do all year sounds rockin'. And why not start when the new year starts? Dan's photo in the previous post was for day one, and the photo above is for day two. You can find the 365 photo posts in my categories, or see just the photos on my flickr.

Tomorrow after work: calls to make, a new blog theme to whip up, day three photo, spend some time with Dan, create a routine for fitting in yoga, blogging, and cleaning a little each night before I go to bed.

Now: it's more than past my bedtime. I need to get out of here. Go check out Mandy's new blogging home, and Sheri's 365 days in photos.