Day 397

I spend a lot of time thinking and talking about stress. Earlier this week, someone asked me about things I do to take care of myself. For the past few years, running has been my panacea for most issues. As we talked through my daily routine, she asked what I do for lunch. Specifically, she asked if I eat lunch at my desk, and the answer was, "Yeah, most days." Since that conversation, I have been making efforts to take little breaks and breathe rather than trying to multitask everything.

Today I did extra well because I had specific lunch plans. I met a student leader for lunch at The Chimes near campus, and it was a fabulous way to end the week. Before I started my PhD program, most of my days at work included frequent conversations with students, either through scheduled meetings or informal moments when people walked by my office and stopped to chat. That does not often happen in my new role, so lunch today was particularly exciting. We spent time talking about our backgrounds, goals, and the campus culture at LSU. It was nice to get off campus for a bit and have a delicious lunch. (The bacon jalapeno cheeseburger was a winner.)
I'm looking forward to the next one.

Photo from https://www.thechimes.com/

I ended the day with the news that my car needs a significant repair, so that is less than ideal...but I am going to work through it.

Something that made today great: Catching up with Ariel and having some real talk
Time I woke up 7:15 am