Projects, projects and more projects!

This past Monday I invited a guest speaker from China to my Foundations of Leadership class (in addition to my regular daytime job, I teach at the college level), at the end of class we chatted about our jobs, and every day life. At some point during the conversation, she asked me why I felt compelled to work two jobs and if I was happy. I was quite taken aback, interesting questions, especially coming from a stranger. This gave me pause, I gave it some thought and answered honestly- yes! Do I work a lot? Yes, but I love what I do, I feel in my own small way I'm making a positive difference. All that aside it's not just my job where I derive a lot pleasure. I enjoy restoring my house, I love cooking, entertaining and all the other stuff in between. For example, I'm working on several fun home projects/hobbies and my husband is doing the same.

I travel quite a bit and I always try to bring home something from every country or city I visit. Over the years I've collected some really neat things, but now I'm struggling to find a suitable place for them in my house. I have Mardi Gras masks from New Orleans, and Florence, terra cotta soldiers from Beijing, to name a few.  I'm also working on making sense of my favorite recipes. I liken my cooking style to that of a chemist, a little bit of this and that. Recently, I've begun measuring my ingredients and writing everything down as I go.  My husband too has found success brewing his own beer! Of course, if all this can't seem to keep me busy I also have my book club to fall back on! 

One of three masks I'm trying to find a place for.

I'm so happy I managed to bring this mask back from Florence, Italy without a single a scratch. I wrapped it in thick sweaters and placed it in the middle of my suitcase.