Trade Offs

No early morning artistic writing but a real and true blog update entry. Heck, I don’t even know where to begin. It seems that things have become a little hectic in our lives and we are both a little more frustrated - even to the point where our stomachs are upset. Normally we handle everything very passively and just allow nature to take its course. At this moment, it seems that nature has decided to confuse us a little and make us lose focus of what is truly important.

For Greg, it is the 5-hour work meetings and unstoppable overtime. Projects in an architecture firm have a series of stages they must go through and unfortunately, the lack of agreement from architects, structural engineers, contractors, clients, etc, have forced such projects to be written over numerous times. It is up to Greg to update all these projects - mostly medical facilities and they have been flooding his desk all week. No family dinners for us this week and we may not even see each other at all this weekend because he has to work. What happened to not working anymore overtime because his health came first? What happened to his company understanding that too much overtime is bad for a post-transplant patient? We both agree that it is because he is good at what he does - so good that they only want him to do it. Guess there is a price to pay for being good at something.

As for me, well, I have a ton of work to do also but at least I am able to telecommute from home. This decreases my stress in driving to and from work but working from home is not as easy as it seems. It is a lot of work to make sure all 8 hours (or more) are done in productive work. Don’t get me wrong, I put in all work hours like I should - it just isn’t easy. Then there is my web design business and clients wanting last minute appointments, normal chores, figuring out finances (medical bills, etc), getting ready for our trip to Florida, and thinking about my future. I have been given the opportunity to apply for a part time position at a university as a professor in business. Also, my inbox and phone have been flooded with other career opportunities. The problem is that I like the place I currently work for but it lacks challenge and good use of my skills. Maybe if I could figure out what I want to do with the rest of my life, I would know the clear path. But, alas, that pleasure has escaped me.

Last, but not least is our ability to take better care of ourselves. We are currently looking into working with a trainer at a health club to get our bodies into shape. Between Greg and all his body has been through with the prior illness and lung transplant and me with losing a great deal of weight and needing to get parts of my body back to where they once were (don't ask *laugh*), we need help.

It seems that simplicity of life is escaping us and I am so trying to hold on with both hands and not let go. Where did we lose our focus? Why is it so difficult to get back? And most importantly - where do we go from here to get it back before we lose it completely and therefore lose ourselves?

~Shannon
http://www.angelcove.us
http://www.cafepress.com/dakotasden