Ok, so clearly I’ve fallen off the NaBloPoMo wagon… too much going on. I’m still pleased with my frequency of posting for though considering…

Martin is doing better after the second lug of subcutaneous fluids. He is eating again, but dang, that mental cognition is definitely starting to go. He’s constantly bumping into things and getting all tangled under the chairs, and then it seems like he doesn’t even know to go potty anymore! Like I have to force him outside and THEN in the process of walking in the yard, only then does he remember he has to piss or poop. Sigh. It’s frustrating and tiring dealing with his old doggie special needs, but shit, what else can be done?

I met with a sitter tonight. She was the only one of 12 sitters asked who agreed to a meet and greet. Technically, there was one other sitter who sounded totally on board via phone but then after I told her I was meeting with one other person, she like totally gave up. Was it a fear of rejection on her part that she’d rather take herself out of the running? I mean, what can I say, I need a super deep bench for this shit. Anyway, the lady from today works 20 minutes away with the hours 6:30-4, so she wouldn’t be home with him much except at night. But at this point, we’re out of options. And frankly, the last sitter was out nearly the entire day also, and he did great! I just hope the sitter confirms the booking tomorrow. The trip is still a month away, but I’ll feel better knowing someone has agreed to care for Martin.

Saturday’s magic show in Martinez was so much fun. It was a long drive 70 min each way but so totally worth it. The small venue. the California Magic Club, was super cozy and charming… just a complete labor of love for the owner and his posse of magicians. As we were served dinner, strolling magicians performed at the various guest tables. Then by dessert time, the stage show began. I realized that a lot of magic involves storytelling during the sleight of hand… and sometimes I don’t like the distraction, bc I want to keep my eyes focused on the tricks!! But I suppose it’s all part of the entertainment. There’s def some element of cheese to it, but at the end of the day, I just love the good, wholesome fun. Seriously, I’m so thrilled to have found this gem and for sure, my bucket list contains all of the other magic parlors across the country (there’s only a handful). That Southwest Companion Pass is gonna get used to death!

Related: I had the disappointing realization that magic is a craft that takes thousands of hours to master. One dude said his premier trick took him two years to master. And every single one of the five magicians was old, like over 50. In other words, there’s no chance that magic is gonna be my next hobby. I def don’t have the patience nor dedication. I’ll just have to continue as a spectator.

So speaking of hobbies, I met with the managing broker today– the  California native/surfer dude. I like him, but he was trying to talk to me about all the networks to tap… like what are your hobbies and activities?? Ummmmm. Yeah, I came across so boring and lame.

Uh, I do dog sitting on Rover. My hubby and I like to travel. We like to go to wineries. We like national parks. I used to work in nonprofit tech so I used to attend a lot of events in that arena. But man, judging by his stoical countenance as I rattled off these things, I could tell he wasn’t impressed. His advice to me though was to get involved in things that I would normally want to do and through that process, build my network. Ideally, these activities will involve a lot of people and people with steady income. Like my nonprofit crowd? That’s gonna be hard. And the dog clients… well not enough numbers. So I gotta think big, huge events… I see what he’s saying. But man did I feel like an anti-soc afterwards. My best idea at our meeting was to partner with a lender to hold a home buying/real estate education class for business and professional women at orgs and places where I used to take all my career and self discovery classes, i.e. Deborah’s Palm. Honestly, I felt deflated afterwards.

But later that night, John suggested that I have made good connections though classes in the past (like my friends W and I), so maybe now would be a good time to take up my Spanish or riding classes again. I think he’s onto something. The point is, I have to be planting seeds all the time… and since they’ll be at activities that I’m interested in anyway, it’s like a two birds, one stone deal. For a moment, I felt nostalgic for an older version of me: the one who used to have an activity booked every single night of the week. I used to do yoga and rollerblade and host game/craft nights, and ride horses and attend all kinds of classes– academic, language, community, etc. I was happy back then… and then circumstances shifted and things changed. I changed.

Admittedly, sometimes I get into such a zone about focusing on my work/career that I drop all my hobbies… and now that I see what has happened, I need to re-tap into that older version of me who is curious and fearless once again….

Tonight I emailed a ranch where three years ago I had thought about taking new classes. I do want to get back into the (literal) saddle. Meanwhile, I’m learning a lot about my new career by watching tech webinars and attending trainings. There are a ton of software programs to learn… Also today, I joined the national, state, and regional real estate associations and obtained my lockbox key so I can start scoping out properties. I will be ramping up for a long long while, but the lesson of the day is that I still need to balance learning the formal knowledge and tools with building my pipeline and with feeding my curiosity and nurturing my soul. With John and I both being at home, the hermetic way of life had really started to become the norm. Now, it’s time to get out and about again.

Hence, I joined a couple of meetup groups. I did meetup.com several times before in the past, like when we first moved to California and when I left my govvie job. Sadly, many of the groups were duds, but I’m willing to try it again. I signed up for a board games group and a couple of women professional groups. The board game group is actually meeting tomorrow night in downtown Mountain View. We’ll see how that goes. I’ve also rejoined the Palo Alto Lean in Circle whose meetings I used to attend regularly two years ago. Get busy living or get busy dying, right?