Advice and A Winner!

First things first, ElleBee, you are the winner of the fabulous JLM cookbook! If you would kindly email me with your address, I will get this off to you tomorrow!

We are back from the lake and had a great time, but this week has also been crazy. Nuts actually.

The lake was nice and relaxing, but we were pretty much constantly on the go. I did get some reading done which is what I love to do at the lake, and we did get a couple of nice walks in, which I also love. Both the boat parade
and the regular parade
around the lake were a ton of fun and we didn't have a ton of drama due to the fact that the boys brother and SIL did not come up until Monday afternoon, and we had left Monday morning to head over to where my sister and her family had rented a cabin for the week and spent some time with them, so we didn't even see them. The boys nephew and the SIL's son did come up on Thursday, but they are 13 and 15 and very easy to be around, and then his niece came up on Saturday and they all left on Sunday.

We cooked up some fabulous food. Beer can chicken that was delicious, (recipe next week)
pulled BBQ beef and polska kielbasa kebobs which were a huge hit. We also did hot hoagies on the grill which was a wonderful treat. Sunday evening, after the kids left, we decided to go out for a couple of cocktails, the four of us. We had heard about Carlsonna's ice cream drinks and thought we would try one out for dessert. When I asked about them, the bartender rattled off about 8 different varieties, but she said that one was enough for 4 people. We just could not imagine, but it was a good thing that we only ordered one, they were HUGE, next time I will get a picture, I am so mad I didn't. We went with the Brandy Alexander and it was wonderful!

We had a great time with my sister and her family, the kids are always a ton of fun and it is just fun to spoile them.
My aunt, cousin and his daughter also came up for the day, I had not seen them in over 4 years so it was good to catch up with them. We didn't get back until after 11 Tuesday night, barely got unpacked.

Wednesday evening we helped T move some furniture around in order to get ready for hardwood floors to be installed. She was nice enough to provide pizza and some beers. We didn't get home until about 9 and then I was able to finally get us unpacked, but no laundry.

Last night, we saw the Cirque de Soleil performance of Kooza

in St. Paul after dinner at Pazzaluna.
Dinner was wonderful and the show was amazing. That was my 9th Cirque show, and I think it is now tied for 1st with Love as far as performances go. Cirque de Soleil tent performances are such an experience and this was the first time and the boy had been to a tent show, we had an absolute blast and amazing seats.

Tonight we are having 15 friends for a BBQ and then we are off to see Foxxy Tann and the Wham Bam Thank You M'ams

burlesque show Red, White and B**b. Our small BBQ of 6 grew to 15 and I am not even sure how. I was going to do some fancy burgers and a couple of salads, but now, it is going to be brats and pre made burgers. With 15 people I am just hoping to be able to get home and get a nice table put together at home and get the food pulled together! I am sure it will be fun though.

So. Here is where the advice comes in. I love to entertain, in fact these just came in the mail yesterday and I just love them,
and I love going up to the lake, and having plans and such. I also need at least 7 hours of sleep a night, which I have not been getting lately because I am usually in the office by at least 7:15 and then leave around 5. I know I like to stay busy, but something is lacking and I am feeling a little out of sorts. I just simply don't have enough "me" time. I love to go for a walk around the lake by my house, or just even stroll down the streets in my neighborhood, there are some amazing gardens, I love to have a pedicure, especially in the summer, and while I have been able to give myself one at least once a week,
I don't think I have had a real pedicure in almost a year. I also love to play tennis, but have not played on a team or with a league in a year. My Wii fit has fallen by the wayside and I have not even opened the Active package.
While I have been wearing a pedometer, and syncing it with the Walking program for my DSi, I have really realized how little of activity I get in a day. I think I am actually more sedentary now that I am in an office on more of a regular basis than I was when I worked from home. At least at home I would get out of the house and take my walk, now I have to squeeze it in either before I leave my house at about 6:30 am or after work when I get home around 5ish, but that is on top of somehow making dinner as well as plans at least three nights a week. I don't take lunch very often at work, I usually get to somehow eat the lunch that I packed at my desk in betweeen meetings or conference calls, so a lunch walk would be out, at least at the moment. I know I could cut back on evening activities, but I do enjoy everything that we do as well. We actually have not even seen a movie in quite a few weeks. I know it sounds like I am complaining, and I don't mean to, I just cannot figure out how to successfully balance it all, and I don't even have kids or pets, at this point, I cannot even imagine.

Right before we left on vacation for the 4th, I was given a really nice promotion, bonus and raise. I know that this actually means more work and responsibility, so, I don't see an end in sight really when it comes to work. And I do really like what I am doing (although working from home more often may be the key actually, I just know that it is not going to happen for a couple of months), but I also know that my job can be demanding. I guess I am just starting to feel like I am not doing myself any favors but can't figure out how to make time for some things that are key that would make me happier. How do you do it?