Making the Right Choice Isn’t Easy

Today I got a new boss. Some might say I’m just too much to try and handle, and no, my current boss didn’t get demoted, fired or quite. The President and COO chose to take a lesser role in the Company so that he can be a dad to his 14 year old daughter.

After he made the announcement to the rest of the executive team this morning, he sent out a companywide email. Here is an excerpt from that email:

“As many of you know, I’ve been living in California this year while my family has stayed in Washington. The plan was for my family to wrap up our affairs in Washington by the end of this summer and then join me in California. After a considerable amount of soul searching we decided that a move to California is not in the best interest of either my wife or my daughter. This left me with the difficult proposition of continuing to spend most of my time in Costa Mesa and commuting back to Seattle on the weekends. This is no way to live; I can’t be an active part of my daughter’s life separated by 1,000 miles.”

Shortly after that he came into my office and we talked a little about the decision. He said it was very hard for him since it had been his career goal to be President and someday CEO and had agonized over it for weeks. He said that once he made the decision he was at peace and knew it was the right one.

Life is about choices and choices are not always easy. In the long run he will be more fulfilled by keeping his family in the right priority. In the short run it could make life interesting for me as we get used to working more closely together and adapt to our new roles.

Paralyzed by Pressure

I have been so productive today I think I have gotten more done in the last 8.5 hours than I have in the last two weeks. So what changed? I guess it is because of the moves I made yesterday ( Too Much of a Good Thing). This morning after I had cranked through two of my top task I realized I wasn’t working under a ton of pressure. My creative and cognitive juices were flowing and I was clicking on all cylinders.

What changed, I had been paralyzed by the pressure. There was just so much to get done and I had allowed myself to be overwhelmed by the magnitude of it all and was trying to do it all by myself.

So lesson learned, again: I can’t do it all.

Too Much of a Good Thing

Is there ever too much of a good thing? Yes. I have reached my point of saturation when it comes to my job. I have been working too many hours and not getting enough done. I just came from my boss’s office where I asked him to pick up a couple of my task for me. He had previously told me to let him know when it was too much and I did that.

This was not an easy task for me and I honestly thought I was over trying to do everything, but apparently not. I can remember back in the mid-80s I worked myself to the point of exhaustion where I was unable to work more than a few hours a day for a few weeks until I could recover from ‘burning the candle at both ends”. At that time I was working full time and basically doing full time ministry full time every evening. I had run at that pace for a couple of years and finally my body said enough.

Until I started this job in January I had a personal rule to not work at home at night. If I needed to work extra I would stay at the office late or go into the office on the weekends. This job being something that not only excites me and brings fulfillment has also given me an excuse to break my own rule. I could use the fact that I need to work with our development team in Russia and that happens after 8pm at night usually but that doesn’t explain why I am on the computer working at 6pm and then most nights not shutting it off until 11pm or later. I figure that I have not had a true day off in almost two months. A day where I did not look at email, answer a phone or work on a project.

So now what? All that I can say is that I made the first step this afternoon in correcting the situation by asking for help. I have a deadline that I need to finish up tonight and then it will be time to turn the computer off. Maybe I need to just start leaving the laptop at work, now that is a thought.

Z- Zephyr and Zeppelin

Zephyr – a gentle breeze – How is it that one part of our life is in a total storm and another is as if I am sitting in a sail boat and there is total calm and nothing moving? Form me there is a hurricane blowing in the area of work. The winds, the workload are roaring through and I’m just trying to hold on at this time. I love my job, but there can be too much of a good thing. The problem is that there is so much that needs to be done I just don’t have time to do a good job at any of it and that is making me nuts. And then there is a big part of my life that seems to be in limbo or on hold. I so want to have a gentle breeze blow in so that the sails fill and I start to make progress again.

Zeppelin – Do you remember when The Good Year Blimp was the only one that covered sporting events? Now there are many of them, Snoopy, Good Year, etc. I remember the 1st time I saw in person the Good Year Blimp flying over head. I was in the process of driving from Freeport, IL to Federal, In. I was an a barren road where the nearest town was 60 miles away and I pulled to the side of the road, stood outside the car on a bright May afternoon and just watched for a good 30 minutes as the thing approached and then flew over head. Watching that ‘balloon’ I wondered what it was like to fly one of those. The landings must be interesting.

Made to Feel Like a Queen

I got to spend most of yesterday with my sister and my mom. My sister was out staying with a group of friends on Camano Island. This group flew in from around the country; Michigan, Florida, Arizona, and South Carolina just to spend some time with each other. Because she was in the area she made arrangements to spend a day with us. It would have been more if my work schedule would have allowed it. We picked up mom in the morning and decided to head to Camano and visit a beach and just enjoy the beautiful weather, great scenery and each other’s company because I had commitments that required me to be back in Monroe by because I had commitments that required me to be back in Monroe by 5:30pm.

We got to Stanwood a little before noon so we decided to stop at this little Greek deli that my sister had found for lunch. We ordered Gyros and I asked them to just put it on a plate, not assemble it into a sandwich for my mom making it easier for her to eat. Soon out came our food. Now those who know me will understand how big this was, but our lunch was served on china dinner plate and they brought us real silverware. When was the last time you were served a sandwich and a salad on a real plate and not in some basket lined with wax paper?

My mom’s plate was arranged like it was prepared for a catalog photo. The meat, the lettuce topped with tomatoes, the pita bread cut into perfect rectangles and the sauce drizzled to complete the design. I almost felt a little cheated looking at my perfectly formed gyro compared to her plate. Then came the taste – AMAZING. Everything was fresh and seasoned perfectly, I didn’t even ask for Tabasco sauce.

After we have eaten everything on our plates she came out and asked us if we wanted desert. My sister ordered a piece of cherry/apple pie. So back in she went and soon she arrived back at our table with a huge piece of homemade pie, three forks and an ice cream bar on the side of the plate. I asked about the ice cream bar and she said she just wanted to give my mom a little treat. It was chocolate covered tiramisu ice cream on a stick. My mom’s face lit up like a child on Christmas morning. It was so good to see my mom so happy, that woman made my mom feel like a Queen.

If you are ever near Stanwood or just want really amazing Greek food stop into Suzie’s Place Delicatessen. It is just before you go over the bridge to Camano Island.

Y - Yttrium and Generation Y

Yttrium – What do moon rocks; LCD screens and Cancer Treatment have in common? Yttrium is an element that is found in most rare-earth minerals and Moon rocks. It is used to produce the red in Lasers and LCD screen and isotopes for radiation therapy.



Generation Y – the generation born between1980 and 1990. Here are a few facts about Generation Y according to: Connecting to the Net.Generation: What Higher Education Professionals Need to Know About Today's Students:

• 97% own a computer
• 97% have downloaded music and other media using peer-to-peer file sharing
• 94% own a cell phone
• 76% use instant messaging and social networking sites
• 75% of college students have a Facebook account
• 60% own some type of portable music and/or video device such as an iPod
• 49% regularly download music and other media using peer-to-peer file sharing
• 34% use websites as their primary source of news
• 28% author a blog and 44% read blogs
• 15% of IM users are logged on 24 hours a day/7 days a week
  

Email Overload

I can't respond to any emails today. Something has crashed on my computer and the mouse is missing. . .

X - Xylography and Xylophone

Xylography – The image is carved into the surface of the block of wood, there areas that are not part of the desired image are removed, typically with gouges. The character or image is shown a the surface level and it is cut along the grain of the wood. Once the carving is complete, ink is spread on the block and where ever the block is then placed The Masters Image is left for all to admire.

Xylophone – Wooden bars of various lengths, struck by mallets creating musical tones. Each bar is tuned to a specific pitch allowing the musician to create a melody.

Standing Room Only

Sons, sisters, nieces, interns, friends, it seems like there has been a steady parade of guest at our house these last few months. At times I think we are only visiting. When we bought this large house there was only Kyle and I and the two cats. We knew then that we would be hosting guest. At first I used one of our two extra bedrooms as an office, now I have my office either on the dining room table or at my easy chair that is next to the Bowflex .

Since we have moved in we have had a pretty full house most of the time and this coming weekend could be interesting around here, there is a potential for 7 of us staying here for a few nights. Good thing that we have lots of space, a queen size bed, a set of bunk beds, a double bed, a queen size sofa sleeper and a few other assorted couches that can sleep an adult.

So we will be a little cozy, but you know what, we really wouldn’t have it any other way. If there is one thing that Kyle and I have in common it is we love to make you feel comfortable in our home.

Just One of Those Days

Things are busy, not just busy absolutely nuts. Work, home, you name it, my life is just overloaded right now.

At about 2pm today I walked into my boss’s office to discuss some of what is going on and make sure I hadn’t lost my mind. I sat down in a chair; he walked over to the white board to draw it out so we could both get the information straight. I take off my glasses to give my eyes a change of pace. I look down and this is what I saw:

Yep, one black shoe and one brown shoe, and it’s not like they are even the same shoe. The only thing I can say is at least I have them on the right feet.

Tomorrow is a new day and I know that at least for today I have made a few of my Twitter follower’s laugh which isn’t all that bad.

W - Words and Wife

Words – “Sticks and stones my break my bones but word will never hurt me”, who hasn’t heard that phrase. We use it as a child to try and convince ourselves and others that what is said to and about us doesn’t have an effect. Too bad it just isn’t true. The power of words is amazing. It is the words spoken by a father to his pre-teen daughter, telling her that she is fat and lazy, that hurt her enough that she lashes out at the you neighbor girl telling her she is fat and that she will soon look like her mother that is at least 100lbs overweight. That young neighbor girl then stops eating. At 1st the young girls parents don’t realize it, but they soon find the food that they thought had been eaten partially chewed and hidden in various places in the house, until finally the young girl is so thin that the doctors want to insert a feeding tube to keep her alive. Words, as it says in James there is power in the tongue and it is so hard to tame. My prayer is that my words are uplifting and bring life.

Wife – a helpmate, partner, confidant, lover, homemaker, spouse, and mate, different ways to say the same thing, for every one of these terms there are thousands of definitions of what that means. Every woman is unique and in the uniqueness they bring something different to the marriage relationship. The way I am a wife to my husband may not work for anyone else but me. I don’t remember exactly why or what triggered it, but this last week I have been searching myself to see what I can do to be a better wife to my husband. I love and respect my husband; I do all that I can to be there for him, including working on his truck when his hands don’t fit. I even honestly asked my husband if there was anything he could think of that I could do for him. It is not about something I have to do, it is something I want to do. Wife, it is my goal to be the best wife I can be and the only thing I am sure of is that won’t look like any other wife.