Working late at night again. It's too easy to just stay awake. Minutes and hours pass by quietly. Music in my headset.

Everything flows smoothly. I should go to bed. But I can't. I'm not tired. I can sit here for hours. I'm in the zone.

- another note from my phone

We're in a vintage store somewhere in Brooklyn. It's a Wednesday evening and we've taken the day off from work to spend it in New York.

First a late lunch (Jamaican patties and curried goat) on a park bench (in January!). Then an afternoon at the Brooklyn Museum.

Finally, we're invited to a birthday party later this evening. What a great day .. in the middle of the week. Kinda feels like skipping class!

- another note from my phone

Easy, lazy, slow morning. Strolling through Old City with D. Rummaging through the racks at a vintage clothes store. Coffee at Cafe Ole on 3rd Street.

Plans for the year. Plans for our future. So many possibilities. So many opportunities. It's the first day of the new year, and we're off to a very good start.

- another note from my phone

Last night of the year .. of the decade. Walking the dog in a small alley behind my building. It's quiet. Light drizzle. A little snow from earlier. People are still getting to their various parties.

So much to think about. So much has happened. It has been an incredible ride. Some high highs, and some very low lows. Still a few unresolved issues.

But now it feels good. I feel calm. Hopeful. Strong. Happy. Content. It's a good last night closing out a long decade.

- another note from my phone

Sitting at the airport in Philadelphia on a Saturday morning in December. Christmas muzak is blaring at me from everywhere. I'm watching fellow travelers walking, sitting, talking, waiting, reading, eating.

It's still early and the frenzied airport day has not yet begun. Soon luggage will be lost, connections will be missed, travelers will be late and even lost. But it's the weekend and there are few, if any, "road warriors" in the terminal.

People are going home, going to visit friends and relatives, going away for personal reasons. The airport is different on the weekend. There are no harried business men or women clinging to power outlets along the walls in terminals trying to recharge phones and laptops.

No last-minute tweaks to that PowerPoint presentation. No sorting of receipts for the expense report. No loud phone conversations while running to catch that flight.

It's a Saturday morning at the airport.

- another note from my phone

Sitting on the R1 train on my way to the airport again. Today I'm off to Greensboro, NC, to see my girls. It has been a few weeks since I visited them, and I feel better prepared this time around.

I guess we're settling into some form of routine. Just as the calls during the week have taken on a certain predictable format, so have these visits. In a way we're "achieving" less during each call and visit, but we're doing so with significantly less tension and stress.

Overall I think this is all slowly moving in the right direction. It seems I "achieve" more by pushing less .. hm .. a life lesson that has taken me a lifetime to learn.

- another note from my phone

Sitting at a bar in Philly nursing a Vodka Tonic. I'm a few minutes early. It was a spur-of-the-moment decision to meet for drinks after work this Wednesday evening.

Soon she'll come through those glass doors. A quick look around to find me. A smile. A kiss. A "how was your day?" and a "have you been waiting long?" She will take off her coat, sit down, and order her drink. Maybe a Mojito.

We've been together for some time now. We live together, make longterm plans, and work towards them together. Our lives are intertwined in countless ways.

But I'm still as excited to meet her for a date today, as I was in the early days of our relationship. I hope it stays this way .. I'm pretty sure it will!

- another note from my phone

Sitting on a flight to Vegas with at least another 3 hours to go. Contemplating the absurdity of this trip. Flying clear across the country for a single meeting.

As I was going to airport, the cab driver told me that he was going to San Diego this coming weekend. It'd be his first time flying in over 10 years.

Sitting here on this flight, my 5th in 7 weeks (including 2 transatlantic trips), I'm actually a bit envious of him. He was so excited of going to Sand Diego .. he was going somewhere.

I've completely lost that sense of excitement. Travel has become a painful form of long-distance commuting. I'm wasting precious hours of my life waiting in airports, airplanes, hotels, conference rooms .. wasting time going nowhere.

I have to change this somehow.

- another note from my phone