Evolving

Hip Belt
Originally uploaded by jenworth.

Oh man, I've been a blogging slacker. Free time seems to avoid me; I am expert at squeezing 20 more things into a day. I never seem to have enough time, there's always something I "should" do or "want" to do.

I want some down time. And the good news is, I'm about to get it!

Yep, my freelancing gig ends Friday! I am excited by the possibility of wide open hours ahead of me. Sure I'll miss the dough (especially since I am about to incur some major expenses, but more on that later.) but I am into the game of Extreme Thrift: it's fun to see just how much one can cut expenses and purchases. But even more than my being into the fun of Thrift, I am more excited by reclaiming my own time. I am always very conscious of trading dollars for my life energy.

The ad agency I've been at for the past three months is a very busy place. I've met some cool people, but in general, ad people aren't My People. I am looking forward to not having my ass be the shape of an Aeron chair. To not be in a cube, on conference calls, in meetings, negotiating, producing, and juggling. Instead, I'm about to see freedom.

So while there are some freelancers who would start getting worried about not having work, I am very much looking forward to it. It's one of the main reasons I freelance. I've been lucky as a freelancer; I'm as busy as I'd like to be. But I require a couple months off a year.

Now that I've gloated, I'll whine. Those expenses I mentioned earlier? Yeah. Check this: I need a root canal, a crown, and new tires on my car. Ka-ching! That just ate into about a month's living expenses.

When I was told today that Friday definitely would be my last day, my first thought was: "YES! This means I can go for a long bike ride before my root canal on Monday!" I'm looking forward to getting back into the physical shape I was in a few months ago (car accident + day job with long hours = 5 pounds). I'd like to even try gym climbing again to see how the shoulder is doing. What can I say? I'll probably spend 3+ hours a day exercising. Some people think I exercise too much already. (Ha! Hardly!)

I'm also going camping in a week. A trip is in the works to go up to Lake Shasta area. Being in the outdoors like that is so therapeutic for me. It's unbelievable what it does for my soul. I got me one hell of a cute camp partner who also happens to be a fabulous cook.

Jeez, I feel like a lucky girl.