As We Begin Our Work This Monday Morning...

This is something I needed to be reminded of this morning and maybe you did too.

I hope your Monday is productive and delightful!

Until Next Time,

Jackie

*Photo Credit - Prairie Flower Farm

"Them's Fightin' Words" and Thoughts on Work Life...

I like Friday, don't you?  This Friday is the end of another busy week...they are all busy, though, aren't they?  Where I work, it's quiet.  Veeerrrryyy Quiet!  It's an old house on campus and we don't get a lot of traffic.  It's nice.  However, today, two of my co-workers got into an argument.  It doesn't happen often here...like in other places I've worked...the arguing and the tension.  We all work pretty well together and I'm thankful for that.  There had been some misunderstandings and miscommunication and today they let it loose...2 feet from my desk...minutes after I got to work.  It's out in the open now and they've explained their sides.  Time to move on...

I think it was about 15 years ago when I worked for another department on campus.  It was a dysfunctional place...or so I thought.  There was a lot of tension and not a lot of team building within the department.  I hated every minute of that job and went home many nights in tears.  I'm thankful for that job though.  I learned a LOT.  I learned to not take things personally.  I also learned how I did and didn't want to treat the people I work with.  I was meant to have that job...I can see that now.  When I left that department to take another job, I had a little talk with myself about my work life and how I was going to move forward.  I was not going to make the same mistakes or let people treat me the way I had been treated and I certainly wasn't ever going to treat people in that way either.   The number one lesson I took away from that job was that I wasn't going to be so invested in my work life that it interfered with my home life.  I wasn't ever going to go home in tears because of anger or frustration.  What I WAS going to do was go to work with a good attitude, do my job to the best of my ability, ask for help when I needed it and serve others whenever I could.  

15 years later and on mornings like this one I'm reminded...Attitude is everything!

 

Until Next Time,

Jackie

The Haze Of Summer...

Old Chair Swallowed Up By DayLillies In My Backyard Garden

It's hot, folks!  Sure Is!  We're in the Dog Days of Summer and it's not even August yet.  It's 100 degrees today and I'm not hating it.  There is no snow, ice and frigid temperatures.  My A/C is working, flowers are blooming and we have a swimming pool down the street to jump into.  It's July and all is well. 

As I write this, I'm at The Shack in the new Student Union at the University of Missouri.  I'm floating around campus this week while our office is being remodeled.  Today, I'm working on budgets...which has proven to be difficult because I keep listening to the conversation at the table next to me. 

Here is what I now know...

...the two girls are MU cheerleaders, they are here for the summer while they are trying to get residency, they aren't 21 yet so they are counting the days until they turn 21 (in two years), there is a strange girl living with one of them and while she is their age she looks like she is 40 (gasp) (heehee)...

I need to focus...but those girls definitely make me reminisce about those carefree days of my late teens and early twenties. 

But...

Not interested in going back there, though!  Thank.You.Very.Much. 

I tell you what, getting out of my office this week has been great for my productivity.  New workspaces...new people...new views...it's all good to get the creativity flowing.   I must remember this when I'm feeling creatively blocked and not producing as much at work as I should in the next few months (because it will happen).

Slow Down Summer....Please....

Jackie   

Contemplating Change...

In a few months I will begin a new phase in my life.  My youngest will start kindergarten this fall.  The thought of this makes my sad, happy, excited and mournful all rolled into one big emotion.  Kyler is ready for kindergarten and I know he will do great.  He'll be at the same school with his big brother and he'll no longer have to go to his baby school (as he calls it).

It's sad to think that my baby will be in school full-time.  I know how fast the years fly by once the kids start school.  However, it feels a little free-ing to me in some ways.  I won't be paying several hundred dollars each month for preschool tuition, he'll be in school every day (all day) and my work options open up a bit because of this.  I've been contemplating a change.  Rolling it around.  Journaling.  Talking to people.  I don't know what the future holds, but it's exciting to think about doing something new...different.

One of my professional consultations happened in the car on the way to school the other day.  I mentioned that I might be looking to do some different work next year and asked Kobe what he thought I should do.  Immediately, he said I should be a Game Designer (this is what he wants to do).  I responded that I didn't think that would work out too well since I can barely keep Mario on the road when we're playing Mario Kart Wii.  "Any other suggestions", I asked?  Kobe said, "I think you should work in the library in my school, you would really like that".  My oldest son knows me well...this would definitely be something I'd be interested in.

Then, I turned it over to Kyler, "What kind of job do you think Mom should have"?  Kyler thought for a moment and then said, "I just want you to be a Mom".  "And...a Mom who doesn't go anywhere to work...I want you to be a full-time Mom".  Kobe piped up and said, "Kyler, she is a full-time Mom...she has a double hard job and being a full-time Mom and going to work full-time too."


Have I told you lately how much I love these boys?

Change...it's a comin'....maybe!

Practice Makes Perfect...Well Almost...

Good Morning! 

You may know that my paying job is working for a University and a major part of my job is organizing the events that our department holds each semester.  Today is the first of those events and it unofficially marks the beginning of our semester.  Classes don't actually start until next week.  Most of my job in preparing for the workshop is over now and I can take a breather while the presenters do their work with the workshop attendees.  I usually hang out for most of the workshop to ensure all the details are falling into place and if they don't it's my job to find a solution.  Event planning is the most enjoyable part of my job.  I've now organized this particular workshop 9 times in the last 4 years.  It's fairly well organized and runs smoothly.  Of course, as I write this post, a person comes in who hasn't registered ahead of time but is planning to attend.  It's okay.  I plan for this. This is where the Almost Perfect part comes in.

I bring my Portable Office (laptop and my online files...oh how I love Google Docs!) with me to the workshops and I'm able to work once the workshop gets underway.  However, it's hard to do much work during our August workshop because we're located in the center of campus and there are many orientations and other events going on at the same time.  It's fun to see students navigating their way through campus.  It's a big campus.  30,000 students. 

Organizing.  I've learned a few things in my years of doing this kind of work. I've learned to rely on a checklist for each event, my planner and my online calendar.  I've learned to revisit my organizing after each workshop and make adjustments for the next event. 

Details and Planning.  Planning and Details.  It's my life for the next 16 weeks with a short break and then it starts again the next semester.  In the next post I plan to talk about how I organize my Time and about a new Binder System I'm using for our personal files at home, the files for our Home Based Business and for all my activities at work. All simple concepts...but my life quickly gets out of control without them.

Now, back to the office to do a final check for tomorrow's session of this workshop and to finalize details for the the next workshop...only 4 days away!

Until Next Time,

Jackie

Inspiration Delayed...

There is no time to be inspired. Yet, I continue to find projects I want to tackle...topics I want to write about...great ideas for a book...gardens to plant...spring cleaning and organizing my house...meal planning...all things I really enjoy.

My bit for the federal and state government has been put off too long and now I'm paying for it. I'm searching through paperwork, printing reports, matching up receipts and re-working budgets. I hope to be finished in time to write a big check to the IRS tomorrow...sigh!

All the while I'm thinking about how I wish I was working in an inspiring office like this from Dear Daisy Cottage....





Or, how I'm inspired to be doing some Creative Journaling like this...


Or, how I'm inspired by urban gardeners and hope my suburban garden looks something like this someday...

Mostly, I'd just like to sit outside in the shade and dig into my new book...

Time for all that later, much later, I'm afraid...better get back to work!

Until Next Time,


Jackie

It's always greener on the other side...not always...

A few weeks ago at a school party one of the Mom's asked me, "Did you go back to work?" I said, "Oh, yeah, I've been back to work for 3 years now but I only work in the office from 9am - 3pm and I also work from home." Her response was, "that is GREAT, I would LOVE to get out of the house and have hours like that and see other adults"!

Really?

Oh, I forgot to mention that she is a stay at home Mom to 4 kids and has always "seemed" like that is the life she adored. Maybe not.

Why do we want what other people have?

When I was working full-time after Kobe was born, all I could think about was staying at home with him. Well, I got to do that (for 4 years) until he started Kindergarten. For the most part, I really liked being a stay at home mom except for the strapped finances and the isolation. It wasn't the leisurely, carefree life that I had envisioned by any stretch! But it was a special time with Kobe that I am thankful that I got to experience. I did get out and meet other stay-at-home Moms (mostly through Kobe's parent co-op preschool) and that helped a lot with accepting where I was in my life at that time.

If I had known about blogging and if I had been able to see what other SAHM's across the country (and the world) were doing with their time at home it would have made all the difference for me.

However, guess what? About 2-3 years into the SAHM gig I started thinking about going back to work. Now, keep in mind that finances played a big role in this but there was something else too. I needed to have something that was all my own. A start and end to a project. A place to be everyday. You see, I just wasn't content to be home all of the time. What does this say about me and my role as a mother? I don't know. I LOVE my kids and I want to spend as much time with them as possible but I needed something else too.

I heard a quote once from the t.v. show, Judging Amy. Did you ever watch that? I loved that show! Anyway, there was an episode about Mom's working vs. staying at home and Maxine (Tyne Daly) says something like, " The best thing I ever did for my kids was go to work."

This quote is totally out of context, but the conversation was something like Maxine felt that she was a better mother when she was working. I kind of feel like that too. I feel stressed out a lot because I don't have time to the homemaking tasks that I do really enjoy, but overall I'm a better mother and I actually spend more quality time with the kids when I'm working outside the home. What I mean is that after working all day, I'm really ready to see them and hear what they've been doing all day and hang out with them. We have some really great evenings.

This is a REALLY controversial topic in some circles. I'm not trying to be controversial at all. This conversation I had at the school party just made me realize that we all do sometimes want what other people have and it's NOT always greener on the other side of the fence. I've been on both sides now and I can honestly say that there are pros and cons to both.

Right now, at this point in my life I'm better off working.