A Brief Rundown... Then Onwards!

Photo by jamie1701 on Flickr; used via Creative Commons license.

Okay, so I'll be the first to admit that I've been negligent in updating my poor little blog. To be honest, I've been mostly helping out in the online store, and as such was feeling that I had nothing of interest to say.

"People won't want to hear about it unless it's about babies!" I thought, since I'm not actually interacting with the children Little Flower Projects cares for, at least not that much. LFP is going through a transition period with their on-site volunteer program, and as such I'd most likely just get in the way at the moment.

A Good System

Not that I don't enjoy working in the store. It's actually really fun packing up orders to be shipped out! I like that I'm moving around (instead of hermiting myself away in my room in front of my computer), and the system that Serena and I have worked out--I pack orders, then she double-checks that I got the order correct. It works out pretty well.

On Focus

But I also haven't been focusing completely on my volunteer work. I'm doing a lot better what with managing my time and carrying out tasks now, but there's still room for improvement in that area. I was feeling like my attention was all over the place, what with volunteering, and wanting to do some of my own creative projects (writing, knitting, etc.), until I had a talk with a good friend of mine and she set me straight.

She helped me realize (whether she knows this or not) that I need to be focused and dedicated to the work that I came over here to do in the first place. Not to say that I can't have time for my own, but during the day when I'm working, I should actually be of the mind that, yes, I am doing work. Not just "helping out," but working.

Now, since making the decision to focus on my work, I'm really exited about it. Since I've decided to be more dedicated to it and to being an actual, helpful asset to my sister, I've gotten some ideas of how I could make better use of my time in that respect.

Your turn!

I'd love to hear from you; what have you been trying to focus on recently, in terms of work or your non-working life? How's that been going for you?

Hello from China!

Hi guys! I'm blogging at you from Beijing--I'm finally here! Surprisingly enough, jetlag hasn't been kicking me in the rear end like last time I came over here. In fact, I've been able to get by with only one hour-long nap a day... and yesterday, no nap at all. Yay!

A Beautiful Send-off
I was sent off in a beautiful way by the other women I met on the ACTS retreat I mentioned earlier. They snuck out to my house at night when I was asleep and stuck signs with wonderful send-off messages in my front yard for me to see when I woke up the next morning. If any of you are reading this, thank you thank you thank you! It made me smile so much and really warmed my heart.

Family Time!
I've been spending a lot of time with my family over here while getting over jetlag... even if I haven't been napping much, I've still been feeling the effects of it from time to time. I've been playing games with them (they have a Wii, guys), as well as playing guitar with my oldest niece and just having fun goofing around.

Working Woman
My sister Serena and I sat down yesterday and started working on some things related to Little Flower Projects and Assunta Store together. It felt really good to be able to help out. Even if I haven't quite been here a week, I was beginning to go a little stir-crazy, wondering when the jetlag was going to leave so I could start working.

I actually plan to start on a project for the store after I finish this blog post. Well, first I'm going to call home, and then I'll start the project.

I'm so happy to finally be here and starting to do some work. This is just a quick update from me--I'm signing off for now, but I'll most likely have something else to blog about soon!

Could you share a recent happy moment of yours, as well? I'd love to hear about it.