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 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 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 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 21 - Saturday, Saturday

I am still not 100%, so today I slept a bit late. I had a relatively relaxing day. I went out for a nice dinner with my family. It was nice to chat with them and spend some time together. I also plan to see my dad tomorrow. We may go to a movie! He wants to see '47 Ronin,' but it's gotten really, really bad reviews. So I'm going to try to convince him to wait and see it at the $2.00 theater. 

DAY 20 - Half Way

I'm super sick today. I don't know how I keep getting the same cold, over and over again. It just keeps happening. The baby is in daycare and she seems to bring home every germ imaginable. *Sigh. In other news, I'm at the halfway point of my connection project and it's still hard. I've been emailing folks and messaging people for future meetups. Everything is in the works, but nothing much has occurred yet. I'm looking forward to seeing some people I haven't seen in a while! 

DAY 14 - Epic Fail

Today, I really fell down on the "connection" job. I stayed home today, watched old episodes of 'Angel' and 'Buffy' on Netflix, wrapped a few presents, ate some leftover pizza and called it a day. Tomorrow will be a busy day.

DAY 13 - Christmas is coming

First order of business. One of my neighbors was taken to the hospital by ambulance. When you live in a small neighborhood, everyone notices when someone is taken by ambulance to the emergency room. This may be forward, but after a few hours passed, I called the hospital and asked for their hospital room. I told my neighbors that if there was anything I could do, like make a meal or spend time with this person in the hospital, I would be glad to do it. I'm hoping and praying that this person recovers soon.

In other news, I went to a work-related Christmas party today and exchanged a few presents. I called a good friend who I hadn't spoken to in a while. We plan to go to a tea shop for brunch after the holidays. I still have a few more presents to buy. Christmas is coming and I'm not ready. Lots of presents to wrap. Lots of connection!

DAY 12 - Christmas Cards

Oh my goodness. I never thought I would get all of these Christmas cards out. Now I know why I haven't sent cards out in a long time. The first problem were the cards themselves. The cards I bought were problematic. I bought them online so I didn't realize that the cards had a ton of glitter on each one. After sending 35 cards out, I have glitter in my hair, on my face, and on my clothes. I look like I'm going to a club for a night of dancing. And the envelopes would not stick. I had to tape each one. Negative online review here we come.

DAY 10 - Cupcakes

I brought some cupcakes for some colleagues who have December birthdays. Other than that I haven't done much today. I'm really trying to get back into the swing of things with regard to my goals of connecting. I'm looking forward to seeing some friends I haven't seen in a while this Friday!

DAY 7 - Presents

I didn't do much today in terms of connection, but I did order presents for my nieces and nephews. I ran some much needed errands: grocery store, auto store, pet store! Next week my Grandma turns 95 so I will definitely be giving her a call!

DAY 6 - Christmas is Coming

I looked online for some small gifts for friends and I am trying to prepare some Christmas cards. I plan to send Christmas cards out for the first time in a long time. It's a simple gesture, but it's nice. I just came to the realization that I probably haven't sent Christmas cards out in 10 years. Wow. I'm making a list and checking it twice!

DAY 5 - Talk the Talk

This connection thing is a lot harder than it looks. Finding a way to connect with someone every day in a different way is not as easy as it looks. Today I went to lunch with several work friends, went to visit a friend I hadn't seen in a while, and called a friend I hand't heard from in a few weeks. I also arranged for us to see a movie at the dollar theater sometime this coming week! Ok, whew!

DAY 3 - Bible Study Group

So today I went to a friend's Bible Study Group for the first time. They have the function every two weeks and I've been invited before but I have never attended their particular group. As I am trying to purposefully connect with friends and family members for the next 40 days, I decided to take some time out of my busy schedule to join them. I was glad that I did as this was the last time they were going to meet for the remainder of the year because of the holiday season.

Going to a function on a weeknight at 7:00 p.m. may seem like a simple endeavor for most people and before I had a baby it was easy. Now that I have an infant, my priorities have shifted. Going to a social function on a weeknight means that my husband is automatically on baby duty. He's a really great husband and father, so he doesn't mind. However, I do like to be home so that we can share the workload, i.e. dinner, dishes, cleaning the house, and of course our baby. But it was nice to have some spiritual time and connect with friends for a two hours.