It’s been really nice out, and I’m glad for that! I can have some mornings drinking my coffee outside too. It’s been… buzzing. Everyone has an opinion and everyone has questions. So there’s a lot of back and forth trying to figure it out.

"Good point," he let out a laugh, "but it's a little disappointing to have to create it for yourself in your head without… I don't know, your subconscious I guess, guiding the way." Although the unknowns could be fairly terrifying, too, since you never really did know what your brain was going to throw at you and what it thought was and was not appropriate at any point in time. "I would say that we should make it a goal, but," he offered Sebastian a knowing smile, "I have a feeling we would both fail miserably and end up wishing we were better at relaxing. And then be so keyed up about it… that we couldn't relax."

"I'm a lawyer, it's my job," he said with a breathy laugh, nodding his head. Rafael was observant, he had to be, he could pick up on things that maybe others wouldn't notice… or wouldn't put into he picked up on things, and he wasn't afraid to say things out loud. Mostly, that worked in his favor. But every now and then… not so much. "Oh, I do," he nodded his head eagerly, "the worst is when you wake up all the way and have to lay there trying to fall back asleep, but not just that -- trying to force your brain to continue the dream. Which is pretty impossible." Although there were people out there who could make it happen; Rafael just wasn't one of them. "God, yes. I don't even remember the last time I turned off all of my alarms and just… slept."

open: to everyone @merrock where: outside of the tumbleweed bar

"Maybe you use up some much of your motivation on others that you forget to save some for yourself," which he could kind of understand. Burn out was so easy to achieve no matter which way you took it -- if you weren't careful, you were going to need someone to do the same things for you that you need to do for others. No matter what line of work you were in. That was something that Rafael had discovered the hard way, many times. "More so in winter than summer?" he asked on a soft laugh, "because I get all wrapped up in those blankets and there is nothing on this earth that could make me want to get out of there. Until that third alarm goes off." And then, game over. There was no choice after that. "It's starting already..." he warned, shooting him a look as he mentioned the stiff neck, "next thing you know, one of your knees will start cracking when you bend it."

That is so good to hear! It’s always good to keep busy but at the same time not be completely overwhelmed. I managed to spend some time outside and in the gardens, so that was fun to get to do something hands on. I have been well! Work is keeping me busy as well, but most of the focus of the paper has shifted to the building of the resort. The investigative journalists are more focused on that.

"It would be a little bit funny," he said with a grin, "you telling someone how beneficial physical activity is, but then admitting that you yourself were not the type to hit up the gym, never went on a run, hated to take long walks." But then again, there probably were a lot of people who took up the 'do as I say, not as I do,' mantra and expected people to just go along with that. Rafael just liked exercising for the sake of exercising, for feeling good and… alright, maybe trying to keep the clock turned back a little bit as he got older, too. "I've done that, too. But you have the gift of youth to work with," he shot him a teasing smile as he ran on the treadmill, "I wake up with a stiff neck and start regretting every life choice I've ever made."

How have you been lately? Catching enough on work that I hope you've gotten some time for yourself? Spring is so nice this year, especially with the warmer weather and working in the gardens.

"Understandable. I think we all reach a certain age where we just know with absolute certainty who we do and do not want in our lives," they knew what kind of people they wanted to be around and what kind of people they didn't. And it was okay to avoid the ones that made you unhappy. "Majority is good," she said with a warm laugh, "most of the people that I've met have been nice. The kind that hold doors and hand you things that you need, ask how your day is, stuff that you don't always expect, but kind of give you that feeling that you came to the right place… if that makes sense?"

"It'll come to you, something perfect," he said with a laugh, "or just call this year a wash and start over next." At that point, he could make up something new that he pretended to struggle with so that he could find a way to drop it and, well, feel better about himself when resolution time came around. "That's my issue, too. I could give up my morning runs, or give up the gym, but then when I have one of those days where I absolutely need to be able to work out, not worth it," he shook his head, looking over at Bash. "It really is. I've already gotten out of bed, grabbed my keys, and come here to work out just to knock myself out when I get back home."

"Maybe it's something in the water," she said with a smile of her own. "But I get it, I've been to a lot of bigger cities, and yeah, you run into people who are more concerned with the rushing and racing and all that goes along with it, but you also run into good people. I like to try to be optimistic, believe that there are good people everywhere." Even if they were sometimes hard to come by, they were there if you looked hard enough. "Ashleigh Narine," she took his hand and gave him a warm, firm shake. "It's good to meet you, Bash."

Xander's nose wrinkled for a moment and he let a breath go slowly. "I'm not really a gardener. I wish I were. I try to be. But it's not really my thing," he responded, even though Bash hadn't really asked. "Yeah, I get that. The in-between weather's really nice. Just warm and comfortable." He nodded and chuckled. "So long as you don't think I'm weird then."

"The trick is to resolve to do something that you already do," he said with a grin, "you know, say that you'll give up smoking, but spoiler alert, you've never smoked a day in your life. Or be the kind of person that runs every other day, and resolve to go on a run once a week. Easy goal." Cheating, though, he was pretty sure. But it was still better to do that than to make a resolution that you were in no way going to be able to keep. "It's a thought," he laughed, hopping onto his own treadmill, putting his water bottle in the holder, and adjusting the settings. "Or do what everyone tells me and get the plants that are hard to kill -- but the keyword there is hard, not impossible. I've found that out the hard way a few times."

"Beautiful," she said without hesitation, "I would have stayed there for the rest of my life if I thought that it was an option." But Ashleigh had missed working with horses, knew that eventually she would want to go back to the States, make things work there, too. And thankfully, the email from the program in Merrock had come through at just the right time. "Definitely on the bucket list, though. I can recommend some beautiful places to see if you get the chance." There were photos and brochures and postcards and a million things in boxes on her boat to show off all of the beautiful places she had been to. "Oh God," she let out a laugh at his confession, "don't disown me, but… I haven't seen that one since it did come out, I feel like." But Ashleigh had spent so much time out on the road, working in barns, she wasn't much of a media consumer. "So far, so good. My best friend actually lives here, so that's been a big help. That, and just like… everyone here is honestly so good and friendly? It surprised me."

"The countryside gets a nice blanket, doesn't it?" Alice said with a smile. "Yeah, just the driveway is something that we don't really get away with here. I guess depending on where you are or who you ask..." she hummed. "Do you have one of those big houses with very few neighbors? Neighbors that live at least two blocks away at least,"

"Yeah, no kidding," he let out a curt laugh, "sort of like all of the Black Friday shoppers decided to store up all of that pent up frustration and wild energy for their time at the gym now that the culture's changed. But, you know, the gym will mellow back out in a few weeks, now. People are still on that 'resolution' high, and it's a lot busier than it normally is," but give it until spring, and people forgot those new routines. Suddenly the treadmills were more empty. Except for those looking to get into shape for summer, he assumed, but that was a whole different thing.