I have not been indulging in much of anything, this past week.  It was the first week of the school, and while I'm very proud of the work we've done to bring things together, I'm so focused on analyzing what I could have done better, figuring out what we could have done differently as a team, and planning what to do next, that I've done very little else.  My body and spirit are making it very clear that that will have to change, and quickly.  This weekend I figured out what sort of weekly rhythm makes sense, and now it's just a question of training myself to stick to it.  No more editing work in the middle of the night, or checking work email every 15 minutes throughout the day.

Last weekend we worked to get the school space ready, and I did immense amounts of data entry and administrative work.  But then Sunday I carved out fully half the day to go down to a young friend's birthday party.  That carving out time to be with friends was an indulgence in itself, but what I'm most pleased about is that, when the conversation got stressful and triggery, I was able to take the practice I've done with mindfulness and with indulgence, and let myself sink into the simple pleasures of sitting on a sunny porch with friends, feeling the wall against my back, the floor beneath me, and the breezes on my skin.  And then, later, I indulged in a moment of connection with a friend.  We're both, I think, a little bashful about our sentimentality, and we just took a moment of mutual appreciation, just sort of blushing and glowing at each other, delighting in our friendship.  What deeply lovely pleasure. 

Oh!  And one more, small indulgence, this week.  On Friday Sarah and I went to meet Joe after work, and walked down to Ben and Jerry's, where I indulged in my one ice cream of the season (I'd had a little bit earlier this summer, savoring a spoonful of vanilla ice cream to go with the brandied cherries we'd made, but this was my one real summer ice cream indulgence, half a dozen spoonfuls or so of a kids' sized cup of chocolate ice cream).   I was nervous to try for more, because it'd already been such a sneezy sort of week, with whatever plant matter's been in the air, but I utterly indulged in those spoonfuls!