Mush!

Are you the dog in the front?
Tongue out and bug eyed?

Everyone is waxing philosphical lately on the merits of Thanksgiving. Don't get me wrong, I've much to be thankful for, just wishing things would slow down a BIT so that I could savor some of it. My studio brushes have been dry for months (fixing that this weekend) and some weeks I don't see my hubby until Friday. Feeling like the second in line dog, getting pulled/pushed along at top speed, but not in the drivers' seat. By Tuesday, I am swearing it's Friday already. My new archery-busting gym routine has been done once exactly in three weeks. Sad indeed.

This weekend I am spending with my hubby who has the ginormous task of keeping me sane of late (Thanks, babe!) I am not in jail, so he's doing a good job. Most of the stuff I am tackling is completely new every, single day and challenging in a way that I have not experienced before.  For the next four days I am grateful to just have fun, hang out with people I don't see often, cook and create some stuff.

Am also mucho thankful for all of you that keep reading this nonsense and stopping by on occasion. Hope you have time to enjoy things such as they are in your world today as well. Happy Thanksgiving to you all!

Be Brave

Looking forward to the "Brave" Pixar movie this week. I'm sure it will be a major hit with the 6-12 crowd, along with bringing BIG hair back. Thinking we will see lots of red haired archers around Halloween maybe.

I posted a question about a month ago on LinkedIn to find out if archery is really getting a boost because of the summer movies. The short answer is, yes.  All over and down under as well. I love LI as one of my favorite social tools, as there is a robust archery online community there.  Now I feel the need to go visit those nice folks in New Zealand and Australia to see for myself. Add one to your class, please! There is a longer article on this subject coming out July 10 in Bow Adventures (aka Bow America) with great input from a 2012 Para-Olympian, writers and coaches around the world.

Alaska trip paddle

My summer of shooting has been sort of sidelined, which has made me grumpy, but also reminded me to slow. the. hell. down. I've remembered what my husband looks like (adorable), my dog, read at least three books, learned to make cheese from scratch, opened my Etsy store and have been thinking about buying a kayak. Last summer I was shooting for two hours, 4-5 days a week. Was in better shape physically but didn't do anything else all summer.  In the last few weeks, I have been starting to pick up my compound again, shooting a little 40-50-60 with friends in the evenings, and reevaluating my archery goals in general. I really don't miss working that hard, but if you want to do recurve stuff, then it comes with the territory.

Goals. I currently have none. It's a weird place to be in my head and I feel a little lost without them honestly. At work I live and die by deadlines, they are an evil necessity. And right now I have some major ones there, so trying to figure out when I will be sleeping and having a life in the next six months. Motivation. Fear is a good one, but not sustainable. Right now, I want to just hop in a kayak and paddle somewhere out of cell reach.

I get a bit neurotic about how I am shooting, which hasn't been great for the past six months. The only summer tournament I am interested in coincides with two straight weeks of travel leading up (no practice time) and a concert that Saturday that we signed up for months ago. My general attitude regarding this whole deal is "meh".  This is not a self-pity party, so much as a "what do I want to do with this?" question. Time management is a very real part of this equation. If my brain is melted by the time I get home at night, how much energy can I realistically expect to be able to put in?

Thinking back to when things were flowing along, my mindset was different. And yes, more positive.
How do I get back there?What things do you do to get yourself out of a shooting slump and excited about it?

(PS - shot my recurve on Monday with some lighter limbs. Felt SO good. Yeahhh!)