Day 1: Choosing to Love Myself and Own My Life.
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Day 32. Thursday, January 7th.
This day started out like many other days… at 5:30am, getting Mira’s breakfast and lunch prepared for the day of work. Unlike most days (except recently), it was pouring outside. Like a monsoon. This was day 3 (or 4 – I don’t remember… writing the post after my trip to Death Valley) of back-to-back-to-back(-to-back?) Pacific Storms.
I had to drive Mira to work today (generally around 25 minutes of travel time) due to the fact I needed the car to run a ton of errands in preparation for our trip the following day, to Death Valley. Sunrise is somewhere around 6:50am – during our drive to her work. I can tell you that it was dark outside on this morning until at least 8:00. It was some of the hardest rain I’ve ever driven in, and I spent 33 years in Chicago and 1 in Florida. I had a call scheduled for 7am (gotta’ fit them in whenever I can on days like this) – but it was too loud in the car (rain) to talk on the phone at that point, so I had to reschedule.
First errand, Whole Foods – to buy a bunch of food for our trip. We were responsible for 3 dinners, and 3 breakfasts for ourselves, Mira’s parents, her sister, and her sister’s boyfriend. No problem, right? Factor in that we’re going to be staying in a motel in tiny Beatty, Nevada, with nothing but a mini fridge and a microwave (which we don’t use). Therefore, all meals would be cooked in a crock pot and our new(ish) Instant Pot (greatest kitchen gizmo ever). This was a bit more of a challenge.
It would generally take around 20 minutes to get from Mira’s work to Whole Foods. This time, it took an hour and fifteen minutes. As I pulled in, I remembered I had another call scheduled, at 8am. The rain had subsided just enough that I could have a functional call in the car. This ran 45 minutes – (kinda’ secret right now, so I can’t discuss who/what of the call). Whole Foods was empty-ish, for the first time ever (it’s usually a zoo). People in San Diego are allergic to rain, so the idea of going to the store in such weather was probably impossible/ridiculous to most.
I bought a whole bunch of food (See Death Valley post for details) and then traversed back into the flooded streets. Next stops: local organic co-op (for ghee, which Whole Foods was out of), bank, pet store, and laundry drop off.
Since my whole morning was shot anyways, and nothing I needed to get done work-wise was even a possibility at this point, I just said “screw it” and went down by the water to watch the incredibly aggressive surf for a few minutes. It was amazing… loud, powerful, and strangely calming.
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Angry powerful ocean![/caption]
It was nearly noon by the time I got home, just in time for our podcast recording with world-class mindset coach, James Butler. This episode is awesome – we can’t wait for everyone to hear it! (Podcast launching early February)
After the podcast recording, I ran back out to switch laundry – and then came home, wolfed down a hodgepodge of all leftovers in our fridge (it was 1:30pm by this time). Aside from some free samples of jerky at Whole Foods, I hadn’t eaten yet! I honestly don’t remember what I ate… but it was a mash-up of all leftovers in the fridge as we were trying to clear it out for our trip.
From there, I tried to get some work done (my morning errands ran several hours longer than planned, so my day was way behind). Maybe got through 1/4 of what I needed to do – then stopped around 4pm, so I could get to the doctor’s office before they closed (5:30pm). Of course, they closed early today (due to weather/floods), so I couldn’t get my prescription for blood donation (which has taken me almost 6 weeks to acquire).
Instead of spiraling into a fit of frustrated rage (which is where my mind naturally wanted to go after such a frustrating and inefficient day), I decided to head back to ocean (a few blocks away). Sunset Cliffs, to be precise. It’s called that for a reason….
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Sunset Cliffs! Beauty after the storm.[/caption]
I spent a solid 10-15 minutes there, watching, listening, breathing, and snapping a couple photos of the beautiful sunset. The storms were gone, for now. It was still pretty chilly and very windy – but this was a very literal reminder that storms always pass… and that there’s beauty somewhere underneath everything.
I ran home, took Marley for a little walk, and then went and got Mira at work. Of course, I brought the wrong car keys, so we couldn’t stop at the storage unit as planned (near her work – this created extra work for her the next morning… and was a fitting end to my day where most everything that could go wrong/take longer, did). We hastily packed, ate the rest of the leftovers, and went to bed. I was waking up extra early the next morning to try and get some work done before we left, and she had to now go to the storage unit in the morning to get our big cooler.
One more packed morning of work and then off to Death Valley (where I’d never been, Mira’s favorite place on Earth)!]]>
