Value In Taking Time Off

So this little thing called “finding a balance in life” has been a particular challenge for me. Something I’ve blogged about a time or 50. Why my automatic reaction to taking time off/having fun is guilt and “ay caramba, I could be doing so many more useful things with my time!’? Who knows. One thing I do know is that I’m working on it. So there we go. Go me.

So anyway, on this note…. dun dun dun dunnnn…we carved pumpkins this past weekend! And I totally did not feel guilty or stressed that I wasn’t being “more productive”. (ok, j/k that’s a lie, but at least I recognize it…that’s the first step!).

Because of the crazy Texas drought, we unfortunately don’t have the luscious pumpkins patches that can be found in the Pacific NW. Boo! On a happy note – we still have pumpkins – wooooo! Some photos of the festivities to follow.

I don’t want to think about how many other people have put that mask on their face:

Homemade potpourri: orange peels, cloves, cinnamon sticks

Pumpkins:

I chose to follow the traditional pumpkin carving practice of using a knife:

David chose to use power tools:

Tada:

 

Oh, Hello

View of downtown Austin during an early morning walk:

This dentist’s name is Eugene Chip Silvertooth. I have to assume this is his stage name:

What?

I made a delicious sandwich. I think the brown sugar balsamic vinaigrette made the ‘wich so tasty: Banana nut muffins:

Salsa dancing at Central Market:

Hillside theater put on Footloose this year. Made me miss having free time because I’d love to get back into stuff like this:

Photos From The Archives

From May, 2011:

Fairly confident it’s going to be a crazy hot summer. Not even June, and we’re already just shy of 100s:

Attended yoga this morning. It’s taught every Saturday morning at Barton Springs. Outdoor yoga is such a wonderful start to the weekend:

After yoga, went to Hill’s Cafe – what I would consider a very “Austin” place…well…a very South Austin place. Had the sweet tea and surprise surprise….a burger! This one was pretty good – the bun made it distinct…tasted almost like Hawaiian bread:

Fast foward through the rest of the day to this beautiful Texas sunset:

Made delicious hand-made gyros for dinner, followed by hand-made fruit tart (sans butter). So good:

Hot Air Balloons

The morning began at 4 am, heading out the door by 5. “Why so early on a Saturday morning?”, you might ask. Answer: The 21st Annual Lake Travis Hot Air Balloon Flight! I still haven’t put my finger on my affinity for hot air balloons…but I do love them, so I was really looking forward to this event.

On our way to Lake Travis, a beacon of light in a darkened strip mall caught my eye. The light was a neon sign and the sign read “Donut Taco Palace I”. Now let me just say, I’m really not a processed sugars, hydrogenated oil, deep-fried food type of girl. However…Sat morning rolled around & I felt an overwhelming need to stop at Donut Taco Palace I.

 Unfortunately, self control wasn’t on the menu.

Fortunately, this donut was & it was a delicious decision:

Moving on…

After a short 30 min. drive to Lake Travis, we arrived! Here’s a view of the sunrise over Lake Travis:

Mansfield dam:

Starting to fire up the balloons!

The first balloon taking flight:

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