Fa La La

So much to do and soooo tired. 

Happy Birthday to Me

My 45th birthday and I'm awake super early - actually got up to take cough medicine and stayed up to do two crossword puzzles, eat some corn chips, read some of Saturday's paper.  After putting in a load of wash, tidying the kitchen, and writing the kids' tuition check I think I will go back downstairs and crop for a bit since my scrapbooking things are still spread out all over the dining room table.  I have the day off to do whatever I want and while I have something from work to check into there are no emergencies there demanding my attention today.  I may go shopping - could definitely use a manicure - will probably swing by the library to see if there are any books I haven't read by my favorite authors - the sarcastic chick lit stuff - Jane Green, Marian Keyes, Sophie Kinsella, etc.

I'm in a really good place right now and feeling really thankful about the blessings I'm fortunate to have and where I am in my life.  How's that for going from the mundane to the deep in a paragraph with no transition?

Would love to lose 20 pounds but I'll do it - maybe this will be the year that I do it.  Happy Birthday to me...I just love this quiet time when everything else is quiet and I am in touch with my own thoughts.

New Day Dawning

Feeling like my old self again at work.  Feeling better than my old self at home.  Every day there are lessons to be learned.  I'm more than hopeful; I've got my confidence back.  Thanks for the comment Risha - f*&^ 'em if they can't take a joke....and life goes on for all of us. 

The kids are having a fun end of summer/beginning of Fall.  Jackson started CCD to get a little religious education in him.  Our parish has a preK class.  Lots of coloring and crafts with some prayers and songs mixed in.  I'm a teachers' aide so I get to stay and see what he's up to in there.

I look at Kate and wonder how this amazingly charming and beautiful creature came into my life - well, duh, she's my daughter.  Can't believe how wonderful she is which is her saving grace when she's busy trying to show us how terrible the two's can be.  Where did my little Piggers go?  She's a skinny thing now!

Don't let the screen door

hit you in the backside on your way out...I'm not a fan of country music but that's got to be a song.  Just had the worst performance review ever and feel positively nauseous.  Suffice it to say that my reactions and responses to being harassed and pushed beyond my limit were duly noted, documented, and further discussed to come up with my dismal rating.  To add insult to injury I was told that at least I moved in to a new role because had I not it would have been tough going for me to turn things around perhaps not possible.  I'll go into lessons learned later when my head isn't hurting so badly.  I guess I'm supposed to feel fortunate that I wasn't asked to go. 

Two Weeks Into It

Two weeks into the new gig and I'm loving life.  There are a few things work related that I'm thinking about because they're pending and I need to get on top of them but it's nothing like the constant angst about where to find candidates for hard to fill positions and which ones to devote the necessary chunks of time to and by process of elimination which ones to ignore  - which always led me to live the big lie and think I could give everything the attention it needed.  Ah well, no need to even go down that tought path any longer.  It's someone else's responsibility now and I have new ones.

The commute into the city is about 15 mins longer than I was doing to Tysons.  Getting up at 5:30 and getting there before 7:30 is a piece of cake and I get more time to ramp up before others come in and track me down.  Leaving by 4:00 is very cool because I'm picking up the kids earlier and am not as rushed to get dinner on the table.  Not thrilled about parking on the street and having the car out there on busy Wisconsin Avenue all day PLUS it's so dang hot these past two weeks - I cannot remember getting into a car as hot as mine has been this past week though I'm sure it would be impossible if I were driving the black on black BMW still.  I think I need to give up my parking in Tysons and save the money for the duration of this project.  It will help with the additional gas from the slightly shorter commute and fewer days working from home. 

Still have the urge to pinch myself to make sure I'm awake and this is for real and the stress is really gone.  I know there will be stressful days with this but I just can't believe the pressure will get to the point it was in the past six months with recruiting.  Talk about catching a break when I needed it the most!  Someone is looking out for me!

 

Merrily Merrily Merrily Merrily

Last day of vacation.  Went to Mass, picked up some summer sales at Kohl's - clothes for 2 of 3 kids, hit Super Target for some groceries forgotten from the last list.  Printing more flowers & nature photos for my scrapbook.  This should be enough to run with and finish off the book if I keep up the momentum.  Still have clean laundry to fold and more to be washed...wish it would just disappear.  Want to keep chillin' out at least until Kate gets up and requires supervision.  Trying not to make tomorrow a bigger deal than it really is - first day at FM but not like it's a new job in a new company with all new people to get to know.  Still nervous about the new routine and getting out the door by 6:15 though.  It's going to be fine....

Some Really Good Karma Finally Reaching my House

What a nice long break this week has been, a much needed long break.  Without very little angst I managed to get my work wrapped up for year end and to hand off and my paperwork completed and submitted for starting in my new role on Monday.  Also cleared with the partner my trip to Chicago for training.  Things have been really good for us - we love our house though we talk continuously of plans for improvements.  Our kids are terrific though we talk about how nice it would be to be awakened by an alarm clock at 8 a.m. vs. them at 6:30 every morning.  I love my job and my company even though work had gotten extremely stressful of late so after talking with my coach about the plan I had mapped out and with her urging me to take a few steps farther I had some conversations leading to my new role in HR and out of recruiting as well as the opportunity to be trained to facilitate a class on coaching skills.  Coach Lynn feels as I do that getting in with the group trained to deliver the coaching skills training gets me a little closer into the department where I ultimately want to work.  Now may not be the right time for me as they are just mapping things out organizationally but it's a great sign that they're now waiting for that to be complete before rolling out the training to our managers and partners.  Can you say jazzed?  I'm a little nervous but I totally love the idea of coaching and am going to have a blast with this training.....It was a little odd at first to actually have the green light to go ahead and stop knocking my head against that brick wall that is tax recruiting.  Don't get me wrong, I love a challenge and the rewards of that role were many - especially the people I've gotten to know better after they joined us and still count among my friends there.  But I finally knew I'd had enough and needed to make a change.  What an awesome opportunity I've been given!!