Picture of the Week - 1/7/2021

 Happy 2021

Today I am focused on a few things that I thought I'd share - in no particular order.  

1) Blinders

There is continued unrest happening all around the country.  (For future me reading this many years from now, there are protests and distrust a growing push for more division in areas that I never would have expected.)  And I am pretty focused on securing my blinders and keeping my head down.  This doesn't mean I support it.  It doesn't mean I condone it.  It means I'm choosing my happiness above a need to "be in the know" and certainly above any kind of thought that I need other people to feel the way I do.  My sons' coach posted last night about how much he loves his "bubble" - of family, community, school, team.  I am with him on this.  We have it pretty damn good in our bubble and (at least for now) that's where my focus is.  The rest...  outside my blinders.

2) Pause

My word for the year is Pause.  It took me a while to get to this word.  In the last couple of years I've chosen Joy and Gratitude and - honestly - I feel that the focus I gave these words changed who I am.  Maybe I was gonna change anyway.  Maybe not.  Either way, I'm hoping the choice of this word will have a similar impact.  I want to get better at responding - not reacting.  I especially need this reminder with my boys - and at work if I'm being honest.  I want to remember to stop, to think, and to pray instead of feeling the need to immediately react.

3) My relationships

There are people who regularly pour into me and I want to get better at pouring back into these people first.  I am going to try hard this year to accept the gifts of friendship and love without questioning motivation - and to worry less about the dull relationship spots because life is too short to focus too much on people who don't love me back.  I am particularly focused on my relationships with my boys - especially that one who will be leaving us in 6 short months - and with God.  (It is not lost on me that my relationship with my spouse comes easy 95% of the time and I consider it one of the biggest blessings in my life.)

4) Mindset control 

Not like any kind of sci-fi thing, but more like the "this isn't a good thing for me to dwell on/worry about, so stop".  I've been on this mission for a while now because it is true that you have to train your brain to see positivity.  It's actually been studied many times that you can be happier just by practicing gratitude.  That's powerful.  So I will continue to be mindful of how I'm feeling and what I can do to be intentionally happier.  (This makes it sound like somehow I'm unhappy or something - which is far from true.  It's more that I don't think this is a "task" that can be called "complete" and will probably be on my list of focus areas for the rest of my life because I choose Happy.)

5) Birds

A strange one, to be sure, but something that I am having a lot of fun with - and also happens to support several of the items above.  We have a bird feeder in our backyard.  We started filling it regularly back when the pandemic hit - so we've been through 3 full seasons now.  My parents gifted me a bird bath for my birthday and that has made our backyard an even bigger target destination.  If you have ever been here, you may remember that our backyard backs up to a wetlands area.  So we have lots of nature back there - big trees and stuff to create habitat for birds of all kinds.  We have hawks, a super cool woodpecker with a bright red head, a paid of bonded morning doves, a couple of giant blue jays, and bunch of brown birds I can't identify without a Georgia bird book.  My favorite though is a big, extended family of cardinals.  We started with a few and they apparently had a REALLY productive year.  We now have about 10 males and an equal - at least - number of females.  They hang out in a big flock all together and it's so cool.  I love these birds.  I can see them from where I work and they are a huge source of conference-call distraction.  I can't tell you the number of times that I look out there and see a flurry of activity and can't help but smile.  It's really cool!  I actually just bought another, bigger feeder.  We are going to be the hot spot for birds in Forsyth County!

This picture doesn't do my birds justice at all...  but I thought it would be a nice reminder of what I spent a year looking at while working from the house.  (No talk of going back to office, so who knows... if/when that will happen.)

I'd love to hear what you are focused on this year - and if you are ever here, ask to see my birds.  :)

This weekend Spencer and Quinn are wrestling in a Duals tournament and then next week we are diving into the Region tournament.  Hard to believe the season only has 5 weeks left.  Last weekend we won another tournament, but they went "no spectators" so we didn't get to see.  I think we should be able to go watch from here on out.

Picture of the Week - 12/19/2019

Next week is Christmas!!!  Who's excited???  I can't wait!

This is the first year in a really long time that I haven't had an extended break/vacation around Christmas/New Year.  It dawns on me that I haven't shared a job-related update with the POTW since I announced that I had lost my old job.  So here's the update...  I got a new job.  :)

While I continue to be bothered (really hurt is probably a better word) about how things ended at Craneware, I really couldn't have asked for a better exit strategy from the situation there than what ended up happening.  It really was (and continues to be) an answered prayer.  

The job hunt is not fun for me.  I'm sure there are personality types out there who love the thrill of the hunt.  They do it without tying too much of the process to themselves and are probably healthier than I am (mentally) because of it.  For me, the uncertainty of not knowing what was going to happen was just awful.  I hated it.  I hated it a lot!

Looking at the situation from the outside, it's probably hard to understand why I hated going through it.  We were not in financial trouble.  The job search net I threw out was very small (and I could certainly have widened it if/when needed.)  And while every encounter didn't result in a positive outcome, the VAST majority of activities I completed during the job hunt ended in success.  I honestly really only had one result that was really disappointing to me - and in hindsight even that was exactly what needed to happen.  And during all of this, I was not working and basically doing what I wanted - during the nicest part of the Atlanta weather-year.

I ended up with the first job I applied for - which is not the way these things normally go!  A bit of background...  going into the WAY BACK machine.

When Bob and I were first starting our careers (a good 20 years ago now - ouch) Bob landed at ADP and I went to work for a small 300 person .com company.  We both grew and matured and moved up in our organizations.  We joked a lot that the personality of a .com company (fast, loose, chaotic) fit Bob more than me and the conservative, stoic nature of a 60k employee company like ADP was really more aligned to my preferences.  It sorta become obvious about 3 years in (this is 17 years ago if you don't want to work the math out...) that someday I should try to get a job at ADP.  

And ADP jobs have been on my radar ever since.  It's just never really been the right time.  

I left Optio after 7+ years and went to work for a healthcare software company which set my career direction for years to come.  In the 5+ years I was there I learned how to be a product manager and grew a huge network of people.  From there I bounced a couple of times - sticking in the healthcare software niche.  The move to Craneware in 2015 was utilizing my network of colleagues, sticking close to home from a market perspective, and something that felt like it could be a good opportunity.  All of the companies I have worked for were small and all of them have had issues.  (Aside, ALLLLLLLL companies have problems...  I know there isn't a perfect work place out there!)  Little did I realize when I joined Craneware that in addition to providing me with some amazing opportunities to travel and learn and continue to build my professional network, I was also walking into a pretty toxic environment.  In a weird combination (clash) of people who grew that company from the ground up and newbies (outsiders?) like me who were trying to come in to help it succeed, an environment of blame and fear and politics flourished.  Clearly I didn't play well there - and so they wiped me out.  

And when they did, they presented me with the right time to go after a role at ADP.  Told ya it was an answered prayer.  :)

Here's the issue that I had to deal with through this situation...  ADP is BIG.  It's SLOW - particularly in HR.  And if there were ever a company where silos of people work side by side and don't know each other - it's here.  Bob, despite working for ADP for nearly 20 years, didn't have good contacts in the Product Management organization.  He reached out to a few people, but none of them were all that helpful.  I happened to have a former colleague that is now in product management at ADP and when I reached out to her to discuss the company, people, work, etc. she was more than forthcoming - but she wasn't at all helpful in getting my resume pushed forward.  So while I applied first to ADP, I didn't hear anything for a REALLY long time.  To be honest, I lost hope that I'd be able to get a foot in the door.  (Sidebar - never lose hope.)

The very day of my final interview/presentation for a job I ended up not getting (despite making it through like 5 rounds of interviews) I had a call with a woman who is now my boss.  To be honest, I was pretty sure I was going to get that other role and didn't really prep for the ADP screening discussion.  I don't actually even remember most of it.  

Fast forward a few days and I got rejected for the job I thought I was going to get and the next day got invited back for more interviews at ADP.  Things work out.  

I am now managing ADP's Talent Management solutions as part of the National Accounts team.  I have 3 solutions under me and work with a number of different teams.  I am literally just getting my feet wet here, but when I heard that there isn't a single person on my team that has a tenure of less than 5 years, I knew without a shadow of a doubt, that I made the right choice to join this group.  Employees don't stick around if they don't feel valued and this group has stuck around for a LONG time.  

I'm excited to see what the future brings.  I'm excited to be a part of the ADP team.  And it's SUPER weird (and awesome) that Bob is in my WORK Instant Messenger system!  

So it's a pretty good trade off to have this opportunity hitting right at the end of the year - which means no PTO time for me this year.  It's a small sacrifice to get the chance to (finally) work for this company that I've had my eye on for such a long time.  And it's a huge relief to have the ordeal of the last 3 months in the rear view mirror.  

Newsy stuff

- Spencer is off to TN this weekend for an individual tournament.  He and Bob are leaving tomorrow morning.  

- Quinn is wrestling in a JV Dual tomorrow night

- Zane and Beck are also wrestling tomorrow night in an individual tournament - it's a divide-and-conquer kinda day!

Sunday we have church and then a Christmas party at the wrestling gym and Monday evening starts the Christmas festivities.  I can't wait to celebrate Christmas this year!  We have SO VERY MUCH to be thankful for!

Thank you for all the love and support you have thrown our way this year (and all the years).  

Merry Christmas to all of you!!!

Picture of the Week - 10/10/2019

No boy-news in this email.  They are all happy and healthy and wonderful...  re-read activities from last week - pretty much the same stuff this week.

This week's update is about how I've been spending my time the last few weeks and some of the things I've realized with a little bit of spare time to think...

I've been quilting!  And I've loved it!  For those of you who haven't seen my posts on Facebook or Instagram, I'm working on a Lori Holt applique pattern called Granny's Garden.  It's cute and feminine and has flowers and adorable prints - and about a zillion steps.  

I have had a lot more free time to work on this over the last few weeks than I have had to do pretty much anything crafty for the last few years and I'm only done with 3 blocks.  There are 42 blocks!  And that's not including the borders.  I thought I'd share some progress with you because I love to share pretty stuff - and also because when I stop and think about how much time I've already invested and how much more there is to do, I get a little intimidated.  Maybe more than a little.  

Each block requires the following: Rough cut fabric, cut wax paper (my chosen method of applique), trim fabric to correct shape, iron fabric to wax paper (my least favorite part), position shapes on background, sew shapes to background (stop and admire the adorable), sew background with newly bloomed flower to circle of interfacing to create a pancake, sew pancake to block background - rejoice!  One's done!

I know some people might like to do one block at a time - from start to finish.  I don't do that.  I like to have blocks in various stages so when I get bored with one step I can do something else for a while.  This also helps get blocks ready to travel - because only 2 of those steps up there lend themselves to stepping away from my work space - which is one of my very favorite parts of applique patterns.  Anyway...  I like to have stuff all over the place and in varying levels of completeness - which adds to both the mess and the mental chaos.  

I was considering all of this one day while mindlessly cutting wax paper shapes and I realized a few things.  These are my lessons and my take-aways, but since I regularly overshare with you all in these updates, I thought I'd share.  Maybe someone will find something useful in my musings...

Intimidation

This is an intimidating project.  42 blocks is a lot of blocks.  When you look at the number of shapes on each block and the number of steps required...  it's a small wonder anyone decides to tackle a project like this.  And I think that's a bit like life.  If you stop and think about all of the things that need to be done it would be paralyzingly scary.  If you think about all of the steps needed to complete just about anything successfully (or even attempt and fail) - it's terrifying.  But if you just look at one block at a time and remember to rejoice with each step, then before you know it, it's 1/5th done. then half, and then you are tidying up with the final stitches and standing back to admire.  One step at a time.  One day at a time.  And don't forget to rejoice and admire!

Imperfections

My blocks aren't perfect.  My shapes are a little wonky.  I could stand to spend a bit more time trying to get things even and centered.  I noticed one particularly bad "miss" on the block in the upper right hand corner (affectionately known as #6).  It's really off center.  And it's up in the corner - not a spot I can really hide very well.  By the time I realized how screwed up that poor, adorable flower is it was a little too late to fix it.  I had basically 3 options: 1) Cry, 2) Start over, 3) Accept it as is and move on.  I picked #3...  and here's why...  if my stitches were all perfect and all my blocks looked exactly like the pattern then how would my grandkids grandkids ever be able to tell the difference between my quilt and someone else's?  If we were all perfectly recreating someone else's vision, then the result would be a bunch of boring cookie cutter final projects*.  My imperfections are mine - and came from my hands, my interpretations, my best efforts.  

This idea of accepting imperfection is really something that is a little hard for a recovering perfectionist, but when I look around at all of the things I've had a hand helping to create - my home, my career, my marriage, or my kids - any one of you could look and find issues, problems, imperfections.  You may see the way my boys keep their rooms and think I could be doing a better job creating men who clean and a house to be proud of.  You may see the scratches in my hardwoods and take pause because I've let my dogs mess up my previously perfect floors.  You may read that I got laid off and rationalize that I surely screwed something up to find myself in this situation.  (I tried to think of something "wrong" with my marriage, but I'm a bit at a loss...  ;) )  All of these imperfections and yet here I am, happy and content.  So what would I gain by trying to make all this stuff fit some arbitrary ideal of perfect?  What would I have to give up in the process?  

I'm OK with my imperfections.  Some of them I will see, acknowledge and work to improve upon.  Some of them, I will recognize and then move on.  Some of them, I don't even notice.  Some of them I wouldn't even call imperfections - so if you do, that's on you.  I think it's a pretty healthy thing to look at the reality of the things we are working on and realize that there isn't a "perfect" that's worth chasing.  Imperfect is perfect.

Celebrate little steps

Look, this quilt (and this thing we call life - raising kids, forming relationships, growing spiritually, contributing to something, earning a living, etc.) is a long haul.  It's one block at a time.  It's bouncing from one step to another and then backtracking again.  Two steps forward, one step back.  Sometimes you hit the "chute" and end up many steps back.  Sometimes it's the "ladder".  The goal is to add stuff to the "done" pile while simultaneously lamenting the giant size of the "to do" pile.  And all along the road, we should be celebrating.  Look how cute that flower turned out!  No, really, look!  Hang it up and admire and then take it down to work on the next thing.  Life is like that too.  At the end of every day, there's something to celebrate.  I guarantee it.  Don't believe me?  Try looking for a reason to celebrate - even while acknowledging that you have to get up and do it all again tomorrow, next week, next year.  Try it!  Even on bad days, there's something to celebrate.  I mean - who doesn't celebrate finishing your taxes or tying a bow on that last wrapped Christmas present or not undercooking the hamburgers?  Go ahead - celebrate the little wins!  That's what makes this whole thing fun, fulfilling, and worthwhile.

Enjoy the process

If all I wanted was a finished, adorable quilt, I would buy it.  It would be far cheaper (really at any price) for me to buy one than it is for me to make this quilt.  If all I wanted was the end result, this whole thing is a complete waste of time and talent (albeit imperfect talent).  The truth is, you have to enjoy the process along the way.  If you can't enjoy the process, don't do it.  Find a way to find joy along the way.  Listen to your favorite music on that long drive to vacation.  Try a new recipe every week while you are working on losing some weight.  Drink wine for no reason on a Wednesday night with your best friend and then do another load of laundry.  Find a way to enjoy today because the process IS the point!  (Read that again.)

So there you have it.  Therapy through quilting.  And now I'm off to throw dinner in the instapot, prep for another interview, and feed my dogs.  It may not be a perfect Thursday, but it's a pretty good one - and I may just finish another flower along the way.

Here are a bunch of pictures (probably too many) of the progress I've made on my blocks so far.  You will notice (I hope) all the different stages these guys are in...  and that I'm not working on them in order.  LOL  Conformity be damned!  LOL

Cheers!

*You may be thinking that just by choosing a pattern instead of free form creating from my imagination I have caved to "the masses" and am attempting just to recreate someone else's vision.  You aren't wrong.  But I will be the first person to recognize my strengths and where I can use some help from someone with different talents.  

Picture of the Week - 6/6/2019

This week’s picture is to remind you to find the Beauty wherever you are - aka – find a way to be grateful every day!

I’ve just spent the better part of a week working in a foreign country, away from my family and friends, forced to walk to work and back home (in the rain) every day, working through tasks that are both difficult and highly visible, while being questioned at every turn, and being constantly behind on deliverables because my team is all out on leave this week.  It’s been a really long, emotionally and mentally exhausting week.

OR

I’ve just spent the better part of a week working for a company that has given me the opportunity to travel to places I never would have visited otherwise. 

I’ve been away from my family and friends, which has made me realize how much I love and appreciate them. 

I’ve gotten to walk to work, which has given me a really great opportunity to clear my head, think through problems, and get some exercise at the same time.  I never would have stopped to recognize the cobblestone streets from a car.  I never would have heard the birdsong along the way. 

I’ve been given the responsibility to work on problems and projects that are very important to my company.  The work I am doing is important. 

I have been presented with challenges that are forcing me to grow, both professionally and personally. 

I’m getting lots of practice at prioritization and making sure I’m using good time management practices to ensure everything that has to get done is done.  (If you want something done, give it to a busy person.)

I’ve learned that I married a man who selflessly and easily shifts into full-time management of our entire household – and does so better than I would.  He has my gratitude, respect, and love, no matter where on earth I am at any given moment.

My boys have been given a real life role model of so many things I find important – hard work pays off, but it’s hard.  Marriage is teamwork.  Division of labor has no gender.  The world is bigger than you can imagine, but smaller than you can believe.

I’ve learned that my limits, as previously defined, weren’t really limits at all – and that stretching is growing in so many ways.

I’ve learned that I can focus on the challenge or focus on the gratitude.  Guess which I prefer.

This little flower, growing out the side of an otherwise boring wall, doesn’t care that the surroundings are hard, grey, and overlooked.  He just sees the sun and enjoys the Scottish rain.  Tomorrow I head back home.  I can’t wait to get there.  I miss my people and my stuff and I need some hugs.  But I refuse to be discouraged by all the stuff that life throws this way.  There are just too many reasons to be grateful.

PS – If you wonder why I am sharing this “self-help” drivel all the time, the answer is two-fold.  1) I really believe that this stuff works.  You can change your outlook – and therefore your outcome – just by changing the way you think.  2) It’s hard and I need regular reminding…  and my hope is that I can create a whole network of people who think this way and help prop each other up when we fall off the proverbial wagon. 

Picture of the Week - 3/28/2019

Greetings from Scotland - again.  This week I have managed a couple of days of work and meetings in Edinburgh, a tour of the Scottish Highlands, and now I'm learning all about accounting.  By all accounts it's been a very full week!

Believe it or not, this week is the first time I've ever taken a vacation day in the middle of a trip to do tourist stuff.  I've gotten to see a good bit of Edinburgh and Glasgow in the evenings and weekends before visits over here, but a mid-week day off was a huge luxury.  I'm so glad we did it!  Scotland is a really beautiful place.  

As with so many other places, pictures really just don't do the scenery justice.  It's hard to describe the landscape, but take my word for it...  it's breathtaking.  I shared a few pictures up on Facebook, so I won't repeat here, but will instead leave you with this very important message.  

I'm heading home on Sunday - after going through spring time change AGAIN over here...  I mean am I lucky or what!  Can't wait to get home to see my crew.  I'm missing them BADLY today!

Picture of the Week - 2/14/2019

Happy Valentine's Day!

To celebrate this "day of romance" Bob and I gazed lovingly at each other this morning after hitting the snooze button, a white furry head between us, exchanged "HVD" greetings, and then agreed to try to find to time to have a dinner or something at a date to be determine later.  I actually make it sound much worse than it is, given we are going on an adult-only vacation that starts next Friday!  It's almost Buckeye Cruise time and I can't wait!!

So raising kids is challenging...  right!  I mean anyone who's been through this knows that there are a million things that I could talk about after an opening like that.  We survived sleepless baby nights and terrible 2/3s.  We have gotten 2 kids through the terrors of middle school.  We've watched one kid drive away alone - and are currently gearing up to tackle that task again.  We've listened to a million stories about Minecraft and now Fortnite.  We've juggled finances and schedules and fretted over day care selection and summer camp plans.  Kids are hard.  No doubt!

But to me, one of the most challenging parts of raising these humans is trying to make sure that we're seeing the forest for the trees.  I want my boys to be able to handle life someday - without (gasp) us around.  It means I refuse to pave the road for them.  It means making unpopular disciplinary choices.  It means sometimes not being a "friend" because they really need a parent.  It means sharing the ice cream...  darn it!

And for me, it means modeling behavior that I want my kids to have.  You all know the old "do as I say, not as I do" and that doesn't sit well with me.  If I want my kids to be helpful, they need to see me being helpful.  If I want them to be on time, I can't be late.  If I want them to be kind, I need to be kind.  If I want them to look across a fuzzy white head and say Happy Valentine's Day after 27 years with some other person, they have to see me love their dad.  And if I want my kids to stretch themselves and push the envelope to reach the limits of their potential, then I can not be complacent.  If I want my kids to push themselves, well...  I'm pushing myself to show them how.

And the most recent example of this means I'm starting to plan a trip to Dubai for an elective for my MBA program.  We just went through the process of selecting electives and a couple of my colleagues from the course suggested that we get out of the "comfort zone" of Glasgow Scotland and try to take one of the courses held in a different location.  (Side note - how nuts is it that I consider Glasgow in my comfort zone???)  We are going to be taking a course called "Games of Strategy" in Dubai in May.  Cra-ZY!  Crazy I tell you!  And a perfect way for me to show my boys that "Life begins at the end of your comfort zone" ~Neale Donald Walsh

Here's to stretching and growing and Living a "Do as I Do" kinda life!

Update on sports and activities and such...

- Spencer and Quinn were both eliminated from wrestling last weekend.  We are all bummed that they didn't get to go to state with the rest of the team.  Next year... 

- Pretty much immediately after getting eliminated, Spencer started eating and hasn't stopped since.  His goal is to put on about 30 pounds by August.  (Send food...)

- Also as soon as they hung up the wrestling shoes, they grabbed their lacrosse sticks and cleats and hit the field.  They had their first game on Tuesday night.  They play again on Friday and Saturday.  They are both on the JV team this year, which is kind of fun - and makes our schedule SO nice!

- Zane and Beck also started lacrosse this week and Bob is coaching them both.  We are playing Beck "up" on the U9 team for 2 reasons - one is that he's been playing for 4 years and can't go back to little shooters (he would kill someone) and two is that with them together this also drastically simplifies our schedule.  This may be the easiest spring I've had since Quinn was 5 and the easiest one I will have until Quinn graduates from high school.  I'm gonna enjoy it!

- Zane and Beck are wrestling in "novice state" this weekend.  It's their last wrestling event of the season too, but they will continue working on the mat through the spring.  They are having a blast.

Have a happy week - and go be a role model for someone!

Picture of the Week - 11/1/2018

So here's a "truth bomb" I saw on a GIGANTIC sign on the Royal Conservatory of Scotland on my walk from the hotel to class this morning.  

Life is not a dress rehearsal

Such a good reminder.  Such an important fact.  

Go live...  to the fullest.  For me, that means making the most of the time I have here working on this MBA with these fabulous fellow students and then eagerly awaiting my return home to "my people".  I may be off doing great and wonderful things (far too often), but my heart is where my boys are - and I miss them terribly when I'm away.  While it's often hard, it's part of my story - and I'm going to make the best of it.  After all, this isn't a dress rehearsal and I don't get a do-over!

Have a great week everyone!  I'm back home on Sunday after filling my brain with information about Entrepreneurial Management and Leadership!  Can't wait to see those smiling faces waiting for me at home!!

Picture of the Week - 12/22/2016

Godwink - An occurrence so odd and out of the ordinary, it had to be put in place by God. A wink from God letting you know you're in the right direction.

Do you guys believe in Godwinks?  The definition above is from the Urban Dictionary.  I have always thought that Godwinks were pretty cool.  Yesterday I had a HUGE one.  HUGE!  And it's got me ALL KINDS of inspired.

You know I've been in kind of a funk.  Nothing bad, just a bunch of little things and drama and stress.  Some of it is normal time-of-the-year stress.  Some of it is raising-kids-is-hard stress.  Some of it is I-don't-love-my-lob stress.  Some is I'm-worried-about-a-lot stress.  Some of it is I-want-my-kids-to-be-healthy stress.  The variety has ebbed and flowed, but I've had a lot of anxiety recently.  

So yesterday I was driving to the office and (if I'm being honest) feeling pretty sorry for myself for having to work and having to drive all the way to Buckhead.  Based on the lack of traffic yesterday, most people were still home tucked in their warm beds.  I was driving and listening to Christmas music and decided I needed to figure out a way out of my funk before the 2016 holiday season passed by completely without my participation.  

I considered lots of options ranging from getting a massage TO drinking a bottle of wine TO keeping a bunch of cash with me to give to anyone I thought needed it TO making a cheesecake TO doing more shopping for my boys.  I considered, and discarded, a BUNCH of ideas.  (Aside - driving in the dark without much traffic listening to Christmas music is a good time to brainstorm.)  

I settled on an idea that was shared at a conference I went to this fall.  The idea was to keep a Gratitude Journal.  The idea is simple.  Every day you write down 1 thing (or 3 things or 5 things) that you are grateful to have in your life.  No repeats.   

Clearly with the "no repeats" rule, you have to get pretty specific.  Ideally, you complete your gratitude journal entry before ever stepping foot on the floor in the morning.  What better way to start the day?  

The woman, an actress turned motivational speaker, who shared this idea (which admittedly isn't new) talked about how the simple act of recognizing there are things (lots of them) to be grateful about has a snowball effect on mood and motivation and - eventually - accomplishment.  Back in September she had sold me that it was a great thing to do!  They gave out cute pink journals as "swag" for the conference specifically for the purpose of a Gratitude Journal.  I was fired up and ready to be thankful and happy and super productive.  Then I left the conference and never opened the journal again.

I decided, however, on that lonely drive, that this Gratitude Journal was going to be IT for me.  I was going to turn this into my new habit and make a commitment to doing it daily.  It felt like the right thing to do and I was pumped up about it again.

Then I finished my drive, parked, walked, rode the elevator, got to my empty office, turned on the lights and saw a package on my desk.  It was a gift from one of the vendors we work with.  Nice.  I opened that navy blue bag and nearly fell off my chair.  

Inside that gift bag was a journal.  With a pen.

Pretty clear Godwink if you ask me.

SO here's to Gratitude Journals and being thankful.  I figure we are all going to have an awful lot to be thankful for over the next week as we celebrate Christmas and being with people we love.  I'm gonna slow down,  write in my journal, and fill myself up with love.  Pretty good way to prep for a new year.  

Merry (early) Christmas everyone!  Have a blessed and safe holiday.  And if you find yourself a little stressed, grab a pen and a cute journal.  I'll let you know how mine is going after I have some time to get into the habit.  

Cheers!

PS - picture is the gift I received on my desk with my calendar in front of it - just so you didn't think I made all this up.  :)

Picture of the Week - 6/2/2016

Changing perspective

I'm certainly not the first person who has ever - or will ever - suggest a change in the way you are looking at something to help make things feel better.  As a quote lover, there are many many quotes out there on this topic from some people much wiser than I am.  

"We can complain because rose bushes have thorns or rejoice because thorn bushes have roses." - Abraham Lincoln

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes."  - Marcel Proust

"Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened." - Dr. Seuss (and quite popular around this graduation time of year)

"It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see." - Henry David Thoreau

"Most folks will be about as happy as they make their minds up to be" - Abraham Lincoln (again...  would love to chat with that guy for a bit)

And the two that I have taped to my monitor in my office

"Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% what you do with what happens to you" - adaptation of Chuck Swindoll quote

"Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference." - Winston Churchill

So why am I spouting off a bunch of quotes?  (And there are LOTS more of them on this topic and others that I love!)  

I have recently had my perspective changed at work with a literal change of scenery.  And we are about to have a very nice change of pace and perspective as we take off for vacation next week.  And then as I was thinking about this during one my to/from work commutes, I realized something else.  These 3 things, have lead me to want to discuss how uplifting and important a change of perspective/view/scenery can be.

First of all the commute realization...  commuting isn't fun.  It's something I try to make the best of and I'm really lucky in that I'm able to work this 7-3 schedule to avoid the worst of the traffic.  Particularly in the afternoons, even at 3:30, traffic can be rough and I really want to get home.  And it's easy for me to fall into a trap, even with a good audio book going, to just get in line and stare at the car in front of me.  And it's kind of a drag.  And then for some reason, I'll look up.  (Without putting myself in danger, of course.)  And when I do I will often feel an immediate sense of increased peace.  Cheesy, but true.  There's almost always beauty in the clouds or the blue sky (or even a grey one) or the very lush green of Georgia.  It's a reminder - a free one - that there's more to life than a commute and the car in front of me.  So now I try to remind myself, whenever I'm on a road trip, to simply look up.  To look around and to recognize all the stuff around me - not just the boring cars and hot, dusty roads.  

Aside - I don't think it's an accident that it's a reminder to "look up".  

The second of these things is my new view at work.  I think I've complained about work enough recently that you are all probably sick of hearing about it.  Honestly, I actually kind of like most of my job.  It's just harder and more stressful than I've had to deal with in a very long time.  If I were miserable, truly miserable, I would move on.  The fact that I'm challenged is actually, oddly, nice.  It's kind of fun to run into difficult situations and work hard to make them better.  (For what it's worth, mean people - both colleagues and clients - still suck.  I can't come up with a positive for mean people.)  So work is work and I am thankful to have a good job.  But my seat in the office was dismal.  It's been several jobs since I've been in a cube.  And while I told everyone (including myself) that I didn't mind going back to a cube when I started here, I probably wasn't being very authentic.  I hated my cube.  Not so much, honestly, because it was a cube as the fact that it was JUST off the lobby and you couldn't even SEE a window from where I sat.  It wasn't awesome.  

And then an opportunity came up for me to move to AT LEAST a better cube.  This was so I could sit near a new engineering team that we just hired that I am working with on a new product.  It's good for me to be near them and I jumped at the chance to get out of the lobby.  This whole thing turned out WAY better than I could have expected when I scored an office.  With a door.  And a window.  And even a guest table.  It's also at the far end of our office space, so it's quiet.  It's SOOO nice.  Check out my new view.  I've been in this office for less than a week and I can't even believe how much it has improved my mood.  It's not a coincidence that I'm able to look up.  To see sky.  Life is bigger than a cubicle.

Next week we get to broaden our horizons a little more - and also those of our boys - with our summer vacation trip.  We are heading back to the beach.  And this year we've scored a great house.  It's the first time in probably 30 years that we will be right on the ocean.  And this house is fully booked 2 years in advance.  No joke.  We've had these reservations for 18 months.  I'm ridiculously excited.  We are down to 3 sleeps...  Be on the lookout for fun vacation pictures next week!

In the meantime - LOOK UP!  Change your view.  Change your perspective.  Find the beauty.