July 24, 2014: Reading, Writing and Arithmetic

I'm back. It's been a busy few weeks, but mission accomplished. I'm now out of the weeds and up for air. I've gotten a couple of notes from friends asking where I've been. Well...after giving it some thought, it's really all been all about reading, writing and arithmetic. With arithmetic being the clear leader.

For weeks I have been doing what financial people do...numbers, numbers, and more numbers. There were days when I was swimming in numbers; diving into worksheet number forty-six of a complex Excel spreadsheet with my first consideration of taking shower at 4:00 on a Sunday afternoon. The life of an accountant.

I thought these days were behind me. Racing fast and furious to calculate the bottom line. I was wrong. Less the visor and adding machine, I have filled the bean-counter stereotype as of late. For thirty days and thirty nights, I been churning through numbers. Projections, financial assumptions, income statements, cash flows, and supporting spreadsheets. If it was financial in nature, you name it and I did it.

On Monday night I made my financial deadline. Exhausted and a bit exhilarated, I saved my Excel spreadsheet and went to bed. Tuesday I awoke to a new day and a myriad of e-mails that awaited from my many days of neglect. Still not refreshed by lunch time, it was clear that I am not wired on numbers alone. 

I was tired. I was spent. I needed some down time. Unfortunately I'm not good at downtime. I like to move and multi-task. An afternoon at home typically means catching up on projects on the list; a closet to be cleaned or a stack of papers to be organized. Massages and meditation have yet to hit my downtime schedule. But Tuesday felt different. Alone sounded good.

So I unplugged with a good book. On a hot steamy summer afternoon, I shut the blinds. With  a lazy dog by my side, I laid back and read a good book. Fiction, no less. I unplugged from my phone, computer, and iPad. With not a sound in the house (boys are with their dad) or a reminder of the humid heat from tthe outside (great shades), I relaxed and finished a great book.

Our book club selection for the month was perfect. I laughed out loud while cheering on the strange man who narrated in first person the main character in my beloved book. I spent my Tuesday afternoon in the quiet of my home. No spreadsheets. No e-mails. By the time I arose three hours later, I was completely refreshed. No massage necessary.

Today I am back to writing. Reacquainted with a long lost friend. It has been way too long. I can not run on the fuel of arithmetic alone. Reading, writing and arithmetic. Now that's a beautiful combination. At least for this girl. Now time to re-balance the proportion of each....

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(BTW...Book that I read was called "The Rosie Project" by Graeme Simsion. If you have a quirky personality and thought "Silver Lining Playbook" was a great movie, you will enjoy this read.)