Posted by:  YOU!

It’s back!  We love hearing how the rest of you challenge yourselves to live Life in Pencil.  It gives us ideas, and gives us inspiration.  Thanks to this week’s contributors.  And a couple bonus tidbits from Elizabeth and me; we’re here to show you no moment is too small.  Happy Friday…live your weekend in pencil.

From Anne S: On Saturday one of our neighbors asked us to go to a party with her.  She had run into an old high school classmate who invited her to the party, and she didn’t want to go alone.  The party was a block from our house, so we said why not.  We didn’t have any plans, but spur of the moment parties are not the norm for us.

Our neighbor came over and we drank some wine before heading down the street to a party that was a complete mystery to all three of us.  The host was an engineer in his mid-twenties who has turned his house into a fraternity brother’s dream!  The living room was completely filled by a pool table and bar, and the kitchen had a second refrigerator that had been turned into a keg with taps on the outside door.  We ended up having a great time getting to know the engineers, and our neighbor.  It could have ended up a disaster in many ways, but we took a chance and ended up having a fantastic Saturday night.

From Gale:

I found out a couple of months ago that I would be required to travel to Las Vegas for work this week.  Business travel used to be a very regular part of my life.  In my previous marketing job I traveled at least once a month with a few international trips each year.  When I was in sales I traveled every single week for two years.  There were things I loved about it, and things that were tiresome, but for the most part I found it invigorating.

When my son was born a year and a half ago I was blessed to take a new job that didn’t require me to travel.  My life had changed and I placed an increased premium on time spent at home, wrapped up in the daily adventures of first-time motherhood.  And so I had mixed emotions about this trip.  I’ve had two previous successful trips away from my son, which were encouraging to me.  But leaving him at the back door staring at my car pulling out of the driveway has an extra twinge when I know I won’t be back at the end of the day.

But I thought back on my previous life as a traveling, childless adult and decided to focus on the things that I love about it.  I got to the airport in time to pick up my favorite BBQ chicken salad for lunch.  I boarded the plane and promptly fell asleep for a full hour.  I woke up with two hours left to read my book and magazines, and listen to music on my fancy-pants noise-canceling headphones.

Since I arrived here on Wednesday afternoon I’ve enjoyed lots of adult conversation, a few glasses of red wine, sleeping past 6am, and a terrific workout in my hotel’s killer gym.  Perhaps surprisingly (or perhaps not) I’m finding myself invigorated and refreshed by this trip, even though it’s not what I would have planned for myself if the decision had been mine.

From Elizabeth:

Normally, I never buy hardback books, unless I feel confident I’m going to keep it.  This week, I bought a hardback book for the sheer reason that I’ve been dying to read it, I know it will bring me pleasure, and I don’t want to wait months for it to come out in paperback.  The odds are poor that I’ll hang onto it and will receive terrible buyback value at my local used bookstore, but sometimes you have to do things that don’t make logical sense but feed the soul.

From Anne:

Ice cream.  Lots of ice cream.  Maybe it’s because I want it to feel like summer so badly, and the weather remains glum and grey.  Maybe it’s because cooking tilapia with capers just begs for a sweet finish.  But I don’t think it’s either of those.  I think there’s just something “Life in Pencil” about looking at my husband after a long day and a quick dinner, and asking, “Wanna get ice cream honey?”  In truth, it’s becoming predictable.  But to me?  It still carries the sweetness of spontaneity, and the joy of a lazy early summer night.

Did you think of one?  Comment with your moments of mindfulness, flexibility, and joy.