DAY 40 - Over Rover

Whew, I never thought I would be done with these 40 days. It seemed liked it was going to last indefinitely, but everything is finite. The hardest part wasn't planning things, but purposefully updating the blog daily.

Today I didn't do much as I has hoped, but I had a great rest of the week. On Friday, Day 41, I went to lunch with an old friend. We went to a new restaurant I had never tried before. On Saturday, Day 42, I went to a breakfast event with several friends. I spent half a day with all of them. It was wonderful. On Sunday, Day 43, my husband, baby, and I went to a friend's house. We hadn't seen them in well over a year. So overall, I had a great weekend of connection! Although technically, I didn't do much on Day 40. So meh. 

What I learned is that any project has its successes and failures. What I've enjoyed most about this project is that I undertook it. I have been wanting to connect more with the people who are important to me. Material possessions and work will only last for so long. It's important to realize that.  One of our greatest investments should be in other people. Our lives are a series of connections. 

NEXT PROJECT: My next project will be 40 days of connecting with my finances. I'm hoping to go 40 days without spending money on anything but essentials. I'm not sure when I'm going to start that project, but check the blog for updates.

DAY 39

I can't believe that tomorrow is day 40. Even though I wasn't always successful, writing down my activities every day has been helpful to understanding my strengths and weaknesses.

I wish I had done more today, but today was another busy work day. I did go to the gym tonight with my husband. My sister came over and watched the baby. After a busy day, I had to force myself to leave the house and go to the gym. I DIDN'T WANT TO GO!

I did have a lovely phone conversation with a friend today. She and I have not heard from a mutual friend of ours and we plotted together to have a "friend intervention" for this person! So that was fun. We're going to call her and see if we can get together. Connection will continue!

DAY 38

I'm really sad that it's day 38 in my 40 days of connection and I've been so busy that I haven't been able to connect with anyone today. An old friend sent me an email, which I will respond to. I was so busy at work today that my eyes crossed. I went straight home, bathed the baby, fed her a bottle, and went to bed. I had two egg rolls for dinner. *Sigh.

DAY 37

I didn't do much connection today, except with my dentist. I went to work as usual, but had to leave early for a dental appointment and what a dental appointment it was. Oh it was awful. I love my dentist and she's wonderful. She does a great job, so it wasn't her. My dentist had to remove an old amalgam filing from the 1980s. That filing was huge, but it really stood the test of time. It only started to decay recently. But removing a 30 year old filing and replacing it with a new one was not fun. My dentist said that I was very close to needing a crown. Which if you've ever gotten a crown, you know just how expensive they are. And now my mouth still hurts!

DAY 36

Today I went to church and had a jolly time. I also had a wonderful 2-1/2 hour lunch with a friend. We talked about everything-- family issues, decorating, movies, etc. Whenever I go to a restaurant I always try to be polite to our waiter/waitress and I tip over 20%. I don't ask for too many refills or special orders. They come to the table, take my drink order. After a few minutes they return and take the order. I give them a non-complicated order with no extras. That's it. Done. I'm an easy customer. The waitress came to our table with the drink order pretty quick, but we had to wait an unusually long time for her to return to take our food order. The restaurant wasn't busy, so I'm not sure what was going on.

Finally, we had to call someone over to take our order. Then our waitress suddenly materialized. We could all but forget about her giving us any refills. We had to beg other waiters to refill us. Other waiters would do it and then angrily glance over at our waitress as she watched the football game. Seriously, worst service in a while.

But overall, it was a great afternoon of connection! We will do it again and hope for a better waitress next time!

DAY 35

Wow, five days to go and done. I better get as much connection as I can in these next five days. Today I had a friend over who helped me organize my two closets, which is no easy task. It took us about 3 hours and lots of elbow grease, but the closet and my husband's armoire are super organized. We have two more closets to do!

DAY 34

I had a wonderful night with two of my dear friends. We went out to a lovely Italian restaurant, we had wine, bread, pasta. All the basic food groups. It was a great time among girlfriends! I was still home by 8:00 o'clock! So that was even better. 

DAY 33

Today I didn't do much. I went to stop by a friend's house tonight, but didn't get a chance to see her. We will reschedule. She even left me some wonderful baby clothes and some sweet gifts! Feeling thankful for my friends. 

DAY 32

Today my sister came over to babysit and my husband and I hit the gym. We got home late so I don't feel like I did much connecting with friends and family. Just connecting with muscles. Ouch!

DAY 31

Today I had a Women's Club meeting. I've been trying to become more actively involved in this group so I can become more engaged in community service. My only issue is that when I get home the baby is already in bed. It's hard to leave my baby in the morning and then see her at night without spending time with her. That's the most difficult aspect of doing anything social during the week.

I also think I've decided on my next project. My next project will be a spending experiment, about me connecting with money, by not spending it. If you're like me then sometimes you buy things carelessly. I want to spend 40 days on a spending freeze. Buying only essentials, such as food and supplies. I'm not sure when this project will be begin, but sometime in the near future. 

DAY 30 - 10 Days to go

Wow, I can't believe it's been 30 days already. They say that it takes 21 days to break a bad habit, so perhaps my habits have changed! Or so I hope. Today I had a nice long conversation with my sister who live in another state. We gabbed and gossiped and had a grand ole time. Tomorrow I have a women's club meeting to attend!

DAY 29 - Baby Stuff

Today I was consumed with baby stuff. The baby needed formula, diapers, baby food. I had to run to Costco before they closed today to buy some emergency supplies. I didn't do much connecting today. In honor of this, please enjoy my favorite commercial.

DAY 28 - Success!

Today, I went to lunch with family and then later tonight I met with a friend for dinner and coffee. Overall, today was a great day of connection. My friend recommended that I start attending meet up groups. She said that there are all types of meet up groups for all kinds of interests. My interest is in writing so I think I'll look for a local writing club.

DAY 27 - A little bit

Today I sent a bereavement card to a coworker. I've been meaning to send the card out for a little while now. I'm going to hang out with a friend tomorrow. Other than that it's been a pretty average day. Baby went to the doctor today. Nothing exciting to see here!

DAY 26 - Nada

I feel pretty exhausted right now, mentally drained. So all I did today was go to work, come home, take care of the baby. Today was one of those days. 

DAY 25 - Happy New Year!

2013 was a great year for me. It has been the favorite year of my life so far. The birth of my baby makes this year the most memorable. Today has been a fun day. I made my sister a birthday E-Card and sent another happy birthday email to a friend in Europe. I also went to my in-laws and spent some time with them. The baby had fun with her grandparents. When I got home I started to take Christmas decorations down. That's always fun, right? I'm still not quite finished. And for the finale, I'm watching my favorite holiday tradition, 'The Lord of the Rings' trilogy. TNT shows it every year. It's not Christmas/New Years without 'The Lord of the Rings.'