New Beginnings

Today was officially my first day post-residency. Yesterday was our "graduation" which was a bittersweet day to say the least. I've been working toward this transition for a couple of weeks now, taking time for other things and enjoying a few days off here and there for various activities. Still, the vast expanse of available time is a new one for me. I'm not gonna lie, it's a little bit overwhelming!

Today was planned as a day of rest. I need some time to really get myself back to "normal" or as close to normal as I can get! This week will probably be spent being domestic, particularly cleaning and doing laundry. I am looking forward to having a few days away next week of doing nothing but reading for fun, sitting in a comfy chair, and probably eating too many sweets! You can hear all about it after I return. I'm pretty much keeping this one under my hat for now. I'm not good with keeping secrets or surprises, especially when it's something I'm really excited about, so I figured I'd try to give it a shot. Sorry if it bugs you like it does me!

Starting when we get home, I will be working hot and heavy on getting all my materials finished up for board of ordained ministry stuff. It's due the middle of November, but I'd love to get it done sooner! I've got a really good start on everything, so I hope I can keep my motivation going! I'll be very relieved when everything is out of my hands for a while!

Last week I did start a new ongoing project - The Pastor as Shepherd program. Yes, I'm a little bit nuts for jumping straight from one program to the next without any real recovery time. But this is only once a month for nine months and I believe is going to be invaluably helpful to me. I am excited about the people who are in the program with me and I'm really loving the way our facilitator, Bart, teaches. I think we're going to have a great year together! Next month I will be one of the case presenters. Normally I'm really nervous about having to present stuff, especially to a new group for the first time, but I'm actually looking forward to the feedback I'll get from this one. Plus, I already have three ideas for cases to present which takes off a little of the pressure. Plus the reading is interesting. It's concepts I'm generally familiar with, but in a different context which makes it really neat. Stay tuned for more on all that!

One thing that I would like to make a part of my routine, if not every day then at least three times a week, is a walk in the park. Jeff and I finally went to explore Veteran's Park the other day and it was really nice. The walking trails are neat and it'll be good for me to get out on a regular basis. The weather right now is perfect, especially if I can get up and out early in the morning. My long-term goal is to work myself up to running, but we'll start with walks in the park for now!

I am going to get back to cooking and meal planning and would like to also incorporate some sort of cleaning schedule into my life. We'll see what that looks like for real in a few weeks when my "real" routine has kicked in.