So…I spent this weekend with most of my cousins…well…my 1st cousins. I have a lot of family. I mean I am close to my GREAT UNCLES and 2nd cousins…I am even close with my 4th and 5th cousins in GERMANY. We be TIZIGHT. Anywhoos…I spent this weekend with most of my 1st cousins…a “cousins weekend” as we call them. About 15 years ago my sister and I realized-while sitting around a bonfire- that we could make our much younger cousins do things for us and get us things if we made it seem like we were apart of exclusive club that they could ONLY join if they did what we asked and brought us things. GENIUS right? So she and I created “The Counsel” that night and only allowed our other cousins to join The Counsel if they met certain requirements and pledged their allegiance to The Counsel. We created some competition by ranking members and moving them up or down the ranks based on how well they followed our commands. If you did not bring us a beer, you got demoted. Brought us more firewood or firecrackers, you were promoted. But a few years ago they caught on to our scheme and decided that we were running a dictatorship and demanded Democracy in The Counsel. Bullshit. Of course this would not fly so some broke off and created a fringe counsel. They were of course unorganized and lacked purpose and quickly fell into shambles. So the cousins gathered this weekend to repair broken bonds, join again as a singular “Counsel” and began creating our mission statement, vision statement, bylaws and meeting procedures. We did pretty well. We were able to establish our purpose and work out the ground rules surrounding “Tap-Tap”, “No Givies Backies”,Shenanigans and the Circle of Trust. We also decided that we would follow Parliamentary Rules of Procedure during meetings and outlined how members would be given demerits and consequences for not following Counsel rules. All in all we accomplished a great deal and I am happy to report that we have a solid base for The Counsel to move into the future UNITED!

This is all real by the way…I am not making any of this up. I have a 5 page document I have to type up and distribute to the members for ratification. This was serious work. So OBVIOUSLY I had no time to blog. I do think it is pretty awesome that we can all find the time to make these get-togethers happen. We range in age from 17 to 34 but so enjoy just sitting around playing games, watching the Mariners or Hawks, swimming, and getting caught up on everyone’s dirt. My point in this post is that I really kinda checked out this weekend. I didn’t go balls to the walls with anything but I didn’t really hold back. I had a few beers Saturday night, I ate some chips and Mac n’ Cheese…I had some cookies. I just kinda checked out and enjoyed being around my family. It was RELAXING. I did 5 minutes of work the whole weekend and stayed off of social media for the most part. I visited with my grandparents and aunt and uncle…I watched the Hawks and Mariners…Grady and my boy cousins helped me figure out my fantasy draft (which is an EPIC team…I have the #1 draft spot)…and I watched the stormy weather roll up and down the canal. It felt really good. It was just what my soul needed. I don’t think it was what my addiction needed or my plan called for but it was what I needed to recharge and move on from this funk I think. I hope.  

I am back to work now. Today we have training all day…tomorrow more of the same and the kiddos show up Wednesday. Next week we have 4 days of school and the week after we are really off and running. My aunt and I were talking this weekend about schedules and how we both appreciate what they bring to our lives. Predictability, peace of mind, a plan of action, designated time for work and play. I started 30/10 at the END of the year and moved all summer without a schedule. I am excited to being on plan on a schedule. I am excited to once again yoga and walking into my daily schedule. I am excited to plan my lunches and dinners in a meaningful way. I am ready to be back to my schedule. I don’t think I am ready to be back to work but I am ready to be back on schedule…and back on plan.