College days

On my way back to work from lunch today I was pondering some of my happiest times in life. The one that stood out the most to me at that moment was college. 

Now everyone will probably say, "well of course!" But it's not for reasons that come to the immediate attention such as the partying, the friends, the naps..... Ok it's the naps! No actually, it's the time. I was in charge of my own time. For the first time in life, I was able to pick what time I wanted to go to class, go to lunch, take a nap or whatever else I wanted to do. In fact, I planned my classes around all of those things including a great soap opera that I loved at the time and is no longer aired. 

On my way back to the office I realized I had arrived at work today thirty minutes late, and I just took a hour and a half lunch break, thirty minutes longer than given. So I'd probably have to use some of the dwindling PTO that I'd been saving for my one week vacation. 

Have you ever felt that your time was not your own? Sure, I get paid greatly for my time, but at what point does the money compensate for a loss of control of your own time. Time that you could spend with family or friends. Or even time to go to the doctor or get some much needed relaxation. 

The one thing that was missing in the college days was the money. I had very little at the time. But yet somehow, I was pretty darn happy! I remember a friend saying at dinner once in college that if she won the lottery or could do anything in life that she wanted, she'd be a college student forever. It really is the good life, until the loans come due. 

Now that I've discovered how much I like to have control over my own time, I guess I have two things to think about. 

1. How much money would I sacrifice for my time and 2. How can I get my time and the money! 

:)

Pursuit of Happiest

I'm a pretty happy person. In fact, most people say I'm always smiling. I do get angry every once in a while, but it usually doesn't last very long. Sometimes, as angry as I am, I still cannot keep a straight face when unleashing my anger! So what the hey! No need for anger too long if you can't be effective in your delivery. I say this because I consider myself to be a pretty normal, content, and happy person. So I'm not on a pursuit of happiness. I have happiness. I'm on the pursuit of happiest. Lots of things make me happy; my little one, doughnuts, ice cream, new clothes to name a few. But what makes me happiest? What is it that keeps me ticking? Where do I want to be in life? What do I want to with my life? Should we settle for contentment? Or should we strive for the happiest, far exceeding the momentary content-ness of happiness? 

Lunch at the Fish Market (280)

Finally used my Fish Market 280 Groupon today for lunch with my co-workers! It's always exiting to know you are getting a full meal for half off. My deal was $7 for $15 of food during lunch, although I ended up spending an extra $2.

While I frequent the restaurant, I had a hard time deciding what I wanted to eat today. So many thoughts raced through my mind such as "you have $15! order what you want!" and "you better not order that poboy, you actually worked out last night!" After 10 minutes of convincing myself to order something "healthy" or "different", I decided to go with the grilled shrimp salad, no olives (don't like them), ranch dressing, and a side of hush puppies. I didn't know at the time the salad came with a baked potato, something I refuse to eat with only butter and sour cream. Needless to say, I didn't eat the potato. The salad however was great as expected, and I was thrilled that I decided to "splurge" on the hush puppies because they were better than a slice of cheesecake! If I had to be critical (which I can be on this blog), I would prefer less parsley on the salad. It just does something in my mouth that I'd prefer to do without.

One of my lunch mates ordered fish and chips. For some reason, they forgot two pieces of fish from her order, which already contained four large strips of fish, and brought them to the table. So she let me have them to "taste." They too were yummy! We couldn't quite distinguish the fish, but I could tell it wasn't the usual cheap tilapia, and definitely wasn't the southern staple catfish. It had a very light flavor yet meaty. So if I had to take a guess, I'd go with grouper.

In summary, today's lunch was yummy as expected. The Fish Market on 280 has yet to disappoint. If you have never been, or are afraid to go because you don't eat seafood, they have chicken too! Check it out next time you are in the area.

What would you do for free?

 Today i had the common conversation of "what am i doing with my life?" that most late 20, early 30 year-olds have on a weekly basis. If you are not having this normal conversation it's probably because you are doing something that you actually love (hopefully not puppy love). Don't get me wrong, I enjoy my job for the most part. But who really wants to have a job? Most people would like to just do what they want! Oh yea, they want to get paid to do it too. The problem I always seemed to find when thinking of my next "big idea" was that I had no passion to do anything in particular. Sure I have many skills that I could possibly put into action, but that would just be another job.

Today my friends asked the all important question "what would you do for free?" Of course the first thing that popped into my head was "eat." I mean, who wouldn't eat for free? The second thing that I enjoy almost as much as eating is traveling. Again, who wouldn't want to travel for free? OK, I happen to know a few people that don't like to go anywhere, but that's another story. Lastly I said "write." Writing is one of the few things that I enjoy doing at work and at home. Honestly, I enjoy sharing my thoughts and ideas with others, not only written but also in person. Two things that I actually enjoy about my job is writing and speaking. I'm thankful that I've been given the opportunity to do these two things as most of my life I did not even know I possessed these talents! Although my boss tells me weekly that I am a great writer and my husband has told me for several years that my words have power (too many not so lovely-letters?), I never really thought of myself as a writer.

From these answers my extremely wise friends said "travel writer!" While I have always said I would love to be Samantha Brown from the Travel Channel, I never considered writing my actual experiences. At that moment a cloud of clarity covered me saying "why didn't you think of that?" (don't you hate when that happens?)

So here's to beginning my journey as I eat, write, and travel through life on my pursuit of happiness.