productivity with a hint of restfulness

Someone asked me how my summer was a few weeks ago as we were contemplating the beginning of the school year.  "Productivity with a hint of restfulness is my best description," was my answer.  Which was the honest truth.  It was a summer of projects - in my home, at work, and within myself. 
At Home (a.k.a. updates and transformations)
I had two major home projects on the calendar for summer 2013 - a new hot water heater and repainting the condo.  (Neither of which I did myself!)  The hot water heater was a pretty easy deal - well, at least for me as I made sure that the hot water heater closet outside was all clean and accessible and then I asked my wonderful plumber Dave if he needed anything as he went about his business of swapping out a hot water heater that had far outlived its life expectancy with a brand new one.  Hooray!
The second project - that of choosing colors for the condo was a bit trickier.  I lived with different colors on my wall. Determined to go neutral to create a very calming atmosphere, I worried that it would be boring.  Kelly, a wonderful interior decorator who offered me some ideas, reassured me that my artwork and furniture offered enough "zip" that the walls could be neutral. So before the beginning of school my light yellow, sage green, taupe, pale green, and palladian blue walls were transformed to Nuance (for most of the walls)

and Stone Harbor Gray (for an accent wall in the dining room)

The result?  Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh...it's lovely.  And the artwork is beginning to go back on the walls.  So it's beginning to feel lived in again.  But it was nice to have a blank slate with which to work.
One final surprise project: the clearing the AC lines.  Which, thanks to YouTube videos and the advice of colleagues, I actually did myself!  (Yes, there's a bit of excitement there!)  Just a little wet-dry vac and colorful duct tape and I was good to go.  Oh, and a plumber's snake. And a bit of patience and a lot of crossing of fingers.  So far so good...although I'm not giving up my day job.
At work (a.k.a. traveling and gettin' more educated) 
I also had a bunch of work projects - a trip to PA (complete with some time at a working farm/B&B and college tours and a college conference), a summer college counseling institute here in Austin that I will be leading next year (yikes!) so this was my year to shadow, and numerous other projects around the office, and (of course, our service trip to New Mexico.  Some highlights from these trips:

Within (a.k.a. self-improvement and ETG time)
In addition to those other projects, I really wanted to spend some quiet time at home.  Reading.  Cooking.  Working on my photography.  Doing daily quiet times/meditations.  And maybe going on a roadtrip or two on a weekend since I wasn't taking a real vacation (save for a day or two in PA when the college tours wouldn't dominate what I was doing up there).  Also enjoying swims at Deep Eddy and Dick Nichols Pool.  And mid-week dinner dates.  And generally less stress.  Mission accomplished.  Even though I didn't take many days off and I had some unexpected things to deal with, I managed to return to school feeling like I'd recharged my batteries, which were sorely depleted after last year.  (More on that in another post...)  My R&R looked something like this...

More projects to come in the school year...stay tuned for those tomorrow.  For now, it feels good to be back blogging again (thank you, Taline, for the encouragement).  The summer felt like it was 'just right' although never long enough.  What would I have done more of?  Well, things that I'm working on incorporating into my school year, too...which is, I think, the universe's message to me.  That I don't have to save things up for vacations or summers.  That I can take day trips during the school year.  And read.  And cook.  And do house projects.  And see friends.  And go see fireworks.  Okay, maybe that last one is a bit far-fetched!  But you get the idea.  My challenge this year is clear:  don't work so much that it gets in the way of my soul being fed by all of the good things that happen outside of work.  (Note: this is an extra challenge when you're as lucky as I am to really love your work and to feel so fulfilled by it!  But I'm taking the challenge on!)  Here's to the 2013-2014 school year and the possibilities in it...