I returned from Connecticut on April 8 and proceeded to kind of flounder for about four weeks. I just could not get back into my normal groove of exercise and healthy eating. Sure, I have been walking most mornings – but not at the intensity or duration as I had been. Eating, well – one thing I know about myself is that when I find it hard to find comfort in the outside world, I am in danger of turning to food for that comfort. 

I returned from my CT visit to the beginning of a quarterly busy period at work. At the very beginning of this busy period, when we usually hit the ground running and get a lot done, we were hit with 2 and a half days of mandatory meetings. Then my boss announced he was quitting. Then a member of my team gave her two-week notice (and we had lost two more people earlier in the year that management decided to “pause” on backfilling), so we were told that we could put in some overtime hours to get the work done. Not mandatory, you understand. Just subtly encouraged.

I have a love/hate relationship with overtime. It used to bend more toward love – extra money! Now it leans more toward hate. I put in 5 hours of overtime last weekend, then worked an extra hour each day during the week. By Friday afternoon, I seriously wanted to quit. I was completely burned out. I realized that I need my entire weekend to recharge my batteries. And that one hour of overtime a day not only uses up that hour, but diminishes the quality of subsequent hours in the day. 

Life is short- I should know that more than most. I don’t know how I let myself get caught up again (again!) in things that really don’t matter at the end of the day. 

I told my supervisor on Friday that I couldn’t work any overtime this weekend. I decided today that I am not going to work any more overtime hours until our true “busy season” in December (if then).

This, my friends, is called self care.

Yesterday, I had my weekly Zoom call with Beth. I worked the soil in my flower garden. I took a nap. Today I went to the park at the end of the street. I watched and listened and waited. I heard an owl. A hawk flew and perched on a branch soooo close to me – after I had put away my camera. Two hours went by in the blink of an eye. I saw a yellow warbler, some very loud gray catbirds, a nuthatch feeding its young, a Carolina wren, a rabbit munching on dandelions.  My batteries, and my heart, are full. And I feel like I am waking up from a month-long torpor. It helps that the weather is finally spring-like, but I know that it is mostly due to remembering my priorities. 

Oh, and guess what? We spotted our first hummingbird yesterday – a tiny male who stopped at both of our feeders. He may have been on his way to his final location, as I haven’t seen him today. 

I’m so looking forward to getting back into nature, to long morning walks, to taking more photos and writing more here. 

Have a wonderful week!

Love,

Michelle xoxo

On March 10th, Chris and took a ferry from Wellington on the North Island to the port of Picton on the South Island. It was a 3 and a half hour trip that took us through the Marlborough Sounds (Wikipedia article here, and an explanation of the difference between fjords and sounds here). The ferry was enormous! I had to share some photos here, as the only ferry I’ve ever been on is the ferry to Block Island in Rhode Island. I was fascinated by the entire process of boarding with our rental car.

Upon landing in Picton, Chris drove us to Cloudy Bay, one of the many vineyards to be found on the South Island, and we had a loooooooovely charcuterie/cheese board/glass of wine lunch outside in the most perfect-summer-day weather. We then drove another two hours to our destination for the day, Mapua. Chris’ sister Clare has a house in Mapua and graciously let us stay there for a few days. I wish I had taken some photos of Mapua itself instead of just the hundreds of photos of birds that I took. It’s a sleepy beach town, and Clare’s house is within easy walking distance of a developed wharf area that has several restaurants and a coffee shop. A day or so into our stay in Mapua, Chris and I drove to Nelson airport to pick up our fellow traveler and co-conspirator for the rest of our trip, my step-daughter Chloe. To say that Chloe is fun and always up for an adventure is like saying that New York City is busy – from the moment we met her in Arrivals we knew that the Fun Dial was turned up to Eleven. 

After a couple of days exploring the area around Mapua, the three of us embarked on a road trip down the western coast and then inland to Queenstown (where Chloe lives). 

The photos here are from Split Apple Rock, Paparoa National Park, Lake Wanaka (and the Instagram-famous Lake Wanaka Tree) Lake Hawea, and Glenorchy (featuring Banjo and Yogi, Chris’ sister Clare’s sons). I know it’s a big mishmash and photo-dump, but I’ve been having such a hard time getting to this blog lately and I do so want to share these photos with you. I hope you enjoy them!

Love,

Michelle xoxo

PS – my photo-sizing is all over the place here – something I’m working on!

On March 4 I drove to Cleveland airport, left my car in long-term parking, and boarded the first of three flights that would eventually take me to Wellington, New Zealand. The first flight, Cleveland to San Francisco, was just over 5 hours long. I then had a twelve hour layover in San Francisco (one of my original flights had been cancelled) before taking the 14-hour flight between SF and Auckland, New Zealand. I amazed myself by sleeping about 10 hours of that flight (I give a lot of credit to both the agonizingly long wait in SF and this light blocking sleep mask). In Auckland, the very long customs and border control lines caused me to miss my flight to Wellington, but I was able to be booked onto another flight only two hours later. 

Wellington is the southern-most city on the north island of New Zealand. Chris and I spent half of my two weeks on the western coast of the north island, within commuting distance of Wellington. Chris had rented a snug, lovely Airbnb apartment that not only was right across the street from beach access, but came with its own visiting cat, Milo. 

We spent our days walking the beach, exploring the area, and asking ourselves the question, “Is this where we want to live the next chapter of our lives?” We spent a day on a terrifying hike (now I know that when the brief states, “This hike is not for those with vertigo” I should also bow out gracefully). We met with builders. I walked down to the beach to bird watch.

The areas surrounding Wellington reminded me so much of Northern California, both the landscape and the vibe. At one point in my life I lived in Fresno, California with Sam’s dad and we would often drive to the coast to visit my in-laws in the Monterey area for the weekend. Driving around New Zealand that first week, if someone had told me this was that part of California and I didn’t know any better, I would have believed them. 

Tomorrow I will post about the second half of my adventure!

Love,

Michelle xoxo

This is just to remind you that some days you feel simply amazing (a cup of coffee doesn’t hurt!)

You feel optimistic, you know everything will work out ok for everyone

You know that life is short and whatever troubles are encountered — this life will be over in a blink of an eye and it just does not matter

So when you are feeling awful and depressed and like everything is bad and the weight of the world is on your shoulders

Remember, it’s just a feeling. 

It will pass.

You don’t always feel this way.

The world does not always look this way to you.

Sometimes you feel amazing.

And that feeling will pass too.

But that’s OK. 

It’ll be back soon.