Wondering.....

When I taught Sunday School to 4 & 5 year olds (oh so long ago, Elastigirl's Teen was in my class) we used a technique I call "wondering. " It is one of my favorite things to start discussions now. My mom and I often say, "I wonder what..." because she is a fan of the technique as well. You get some great answers from it.

For example, when I asked, "I wonder how the shepherds felt when they saw the angels?" I was thinking that they would say, "Happy" (about 90% of the 4 & 5 year olds gave that answer for all wondering questions, then they would come up with something else while I waited) or "Scared" (which is how I think I would feel if I saw an angel, after all, the first thing an angel usually says is, "Do not be afraid.") I remember The Teen's answer like it was yesterday. He said, "I think they said, 'Hallelujah!'" and threw his hands up in the air. Always thinking, that one.

So anyway, I have so many things that I have been wondering about lately, I thought it might be good to write them down.

• I wonder what God's plan is for me


• I wonder why it seems like that plan includes me being alone


• I wonder if I will be alone for the rest of my life


• I wonder what success means to me now


• I wonder if it was a good decision to not immediately go back into the workforce


• I wonder how my new career will shape up over the next 5 years


• I wonder if I will feel successful in 5 years


• I wonder what life will be like once I have reached my weight goal


• I wonder what it will be like to wear a size 8 (or if that is the size I will be, cause I'm just guessing here)

That's just the tip of the iceberg..... What are you wondering about right now?

I'm Thankful

I really don't understand where we got the tradition of calling Thanksgiving "Turkey Day" - I know I do it, and I know lots of others do it without any desire to demean the Thanksgiving holiday, but in preparation for this years Thanksgiving holiday, here are the top 5 things I am thankful for.

• I am learning something new, so that I can do something I love for the rest of my life.
• I have a family who loves and supports me in everything (OK, most everything) I do.
• I am healthier this year than I have been in years, and I am on the way to being the healthiest that I have been in my life.
• I still have friends who can make me laugh so hard it makes my stomach hurt.
• I have a roof over my head and a place to call my own.

So, I am starting a meme. My first ever. I tag Elastigirl, Curly Girl, Mrs. Swizzle, Jennie and Princess Mindy. What are you thankful for this year? Give me a Top 5 List.

Special Thanks to My Weight Watchers Leader!

And not for the reason you might think. For the last 3 days my neck has been hurting, and no amount of rubbing, ibuprofen or corn bags (heated) or anything else has helped me. Everytime I looked over my shoulder, pain.

So where does the Weight Watchers leader come in? A few weeks ago, we started the 12 week challenge at Weight Watchers, a creation (I believe) of my leader, Sharon. It is the final push to make it through the last 12 weeks for the year, which are filled with eating holidays (Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas - it is really an eating marathon). So each week we do something to challenge ourselves. Try new recipes, find new information, and even try new vegetables (mine were rutabaga and acorn squash). This week was do 45 minutes of activity that you don't normally do. I decided to use my DVR to record two exercise shows and follow them. One was Wai Lana Yoga. I picked it because I used to do Yoga quite regularly at QB's gym when I lived in the big state, and I have been missing it lately. I was able to do all but one pose (starts out like the picture above, then you stick your legs out sideways in either direction... I'll have to work up to that one, I think) and when I did the spine stretch, it miraculously released my neck! I feel so much better. I do love yoga.

So what 45 minutes of activity would you do if I challenged you to do it?

I'm still here....

OK, so I mentioned before I have a facebook addiction problem, and it might just have affected my postings over the last couple of weeks. I have found some long lost friends, and some not so lost friends, and it has been great fun. But I also miss the blog, so now I decided that no matter what, I am going to make sure that I post at least once a week.

Here's what I can't believe. ONLY 6 1/2 weeks until Christmas. WOW. So much to do between now and then. And I'm heading back to the Midwest for a couple of days to see family and friends. It will be nice, and I really miss everyone. That is happening before Thanksgiving. HOW will everything get done? I do not know. But I will just do my best. That's all I can do.

The First Step is Admitting You Have A Problem

I AM ADDICTED TO FACEBOOK. I just thought it would be a good idea to tell my internet friends. I have found some high school friends that I haven't seen in years. And camp friends. And family. Who knows who will be next. I don't understand all the share a cupcake and winking and other stuff, but I love finding out about people I haven't seen in ages. It's really cool. Any insight to help me kick the addiction? Maybe wean myself off slowly? HELP ME!

The Big 5-0!

No I did not turn 50 this year, nor am I contemplating life at 50 (although according to Oprah, 50 is fabulous!). This big 5-0 is about loss. A good kind of loss. 50 lbs! WOW. As part of my strategic plan I joined Weight Watchers, which I don't even know if I have talked about before here on the blog. I have joined before, but it has never stuck like it has this time, so up until recently I have been afraid to talk about it at all. But this week my cumulative total is 50 lbs, so people are starting to ask what it is I am doing. WOW. I picked up a 50 lb sack of grass seed at the big orange box this week, just so I could see how much that was. A lot, I think. And all since November 15, which means it has been less than a year.

Big thanks to Curly Girl and my mom, who have given me extra support when I needed it. My mom has struggled right along with me (and loss 30 lbs herself) and my sister is teaching me to think like a skinny person. I never have been able to do that before, but I am learning.

Moving to the Top of the List

I finally got cable installed at my new apartment, and now I have internet access again. More frequent blogging is assured. And I was looking at Elastigirl's blog and realized that her new blog list shows how long its been since the last post on your blog. So I wanted to be sure to move up on the list. I have always been driven to be #1!

I've Been Tagged

AND I've been missing for a month or so. I've got no good excuse, except I have been abstaining from cable in an effort to get settled, so I haven't done any blogging as a result. (That should be fixed in a week or two) But Elastigirl tagged me, and the book I'm reading right now (Jack Canfield's The Success Principles) says that when your mentor tells you to do something, you should do it.

What was I doing ten years ago: Working at a job that made me sad most of the time. Just meeting Elastigirl (I actually got to know her right after her second baby was born). Started meeting with my small group around that time. Made some friends that I still consider some of my closest today.

Five things on today's "to do" list: Today was Saturday, and for the first time in a while, I set all "to do's" aside, and just hung out with my sister, Curly Girl, by the pool with the kids and more kids from the neighborhood. Does work on my tan count as a "to do?"

Things I'd do if I was a billionaire: Set up a charitable foundation that focused on hunger and literacy. I figure if you can eat and read, you can figure most of the rest of the stuff out for yourself. I would not "work" another day in my life, just spend it traveling and enjoying my money working for me.

Three bad habits: Biting my nails, negative self-talk and procrastinating.

Five places I've lived: Near a beach, near the nations capitol, in a cold northern state, in the heartland and now in the desert!

Five jobs I've had: Math Tutor, Bank Vice President, Executive Staff at a YWCA, Consultant, Cashier.

And Elastigirl always takes the five bloggers I know to tag, so still, I have no one to tag.

Two weeks later!

Well, sorry that I haven't posted, but it has been a busy two weeks. I went back to the hometown, packed all of my stuff on a truck, drove it out to the southwest (with the assistance of the parents) unpacked it all off the truck (with the assistance of many) and started setting up the apartment. The parents helped Curly Girl with her last minute nesting and then just a couple of days later her new baby was born. I'm still figuring out her personality, so no nickname for her yet. Went to get the Firecracker, who couldn't wait to see her new sis. New Baby is a BIG baby - 9 lbs, 10 oz and 22 inches long! The Gift thinks she is great, and wants to keep giving her kisses. He's being very gentle with her and is awfully sweet to watch. The QB took a few days off to enjoy the new girl, so the family is resting quietly at home.

My apartment is starting to come together. I hung some things on the walls this weekend, which always makes it feel more like home. And the furniture I brought fits (with only a slight inconvenience of taking the door off it's hinges to get the desk into the office) so everything has worked out great. Of course there is always something that goes kaput in the moving process, and this time it was my DVD player. Since I'm not ready to fork over $300 for a blue-ray disc player, I've been looking at new DVD players and am quite amazed by how small and light they have become. I was a somewhat early adopter on the DVD track, and my last one was big & HEAVY compared to the ones out now.

More unpacking ahead. Here's hoping the rest goes as smoothly as it has so far.

It's All Coming Together

Well, I've sort of got most everything under control for now. Things are already going well at the big orange. My new boss seems to like me, and already asked me if I'd like to supervise - how long have I been there? We'll see. I'm not looking to climb the orange ladder, but it would mean more money and less time outside when it is 110 degrees. I'm making new friends and trading schedules already and fitting in with the new co-workers as best as I can.

Get the keys to my apartment TOMORROW, take off for my hometown the next day and get everything packed up in time to be back here by a week from today. WHEW. The only thing I haven't really changed yet that I'll be changing is my cell phone. Don't want to get a new one until I get back. The biggest pain will be switching everything to the new address. That takes so long and I always forget something.

Life in the Sunny Southwest

I moved! Well, sort of anyway. I am here staying at Curly Girl's house with the Gift (my nephew - born on Christmas Day) and QB (my BIL) so called because he played QB at his university and is still very in love with football some 20 years later.


I've spent the week looking at apartments, and I have found one that I like that is about 15-20 minutes away from my sister's house, so we are both really happy, and the one I picked is running a special where for $10 more, I get a 2 bedroom apartment. It will be nice to have an office again, plus good storage. I'll be moving my stuff out here in a couple of weeks.


Surprisingly, the hardest part of this transition is the transfer to a new big orange box store! It seems like there is nothing that facilitates. I have to make the contacts and the arrangements, and that all finally came into place this week, so that is a big load off my mind.


Big differences between my hometown and the urban southwest? Rocks are a primary landscaping tool, and there is very little if any grass in most neighborhoods. Eventually, I'm sure I'll get used to lawns that look like this








and backyards that look like this

A New Frontier

I am working on moving to Curly Girl's hometown right now. Looking at apartments and trying to manage a transfer in the Big Orange Box. Why you ask? Why not? Things here aren't moving forward, and the strategic plan I've been working on for myself has led me to make a drastic change. I know it might sound a little crazy, but I have always wanted to be a travel agent. Not really always, but at least since I was about 22 and sitting next to a lady who was a travel agent on my flight back from Hawaii. Her job sounded so cool.

I know things have changed in the travel industry, but that is OK. And I've been talking to some people in the field who say that a big trend is retiring baby boomers who are looking for someone to buy their agency. So that would be my ultimate goal. I have spent some serious time trying to figure out where I want to spend the next 20 years of my career, and I can't think of anything else I'd rather do. So I'm going to school (AGAIN) and I'm going to get certified. And Curly Girl's town has a school, while there isn't one anywhere in my whole state. So the girl who moved 8 times before she turned sixteen is moving again. Maybe it is my destiny to move around a lot. I certainly am good at packing, at any rate.

A Recipe For Me

Found this on the ElastiGirl site. What fun! I could use some lightheartedness right now.

The Recipe For Miss Smarty Pants

3 parts Style 2 parts Tease 1 part Rebellion Splash of Recklessness Finish off with whipped cream

What's the Recipe for Your Personality?

New Year, New Resolutions

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! What are your resolutions for 2008? Mine are to get my life back on track. I haven't been blogging enough for one, so I'd like to do that more. And the strategic plan is helping. I feel big changes coming in 2008, if I can just get up the nerve to face them.

I started Weight Watchers back in November, and I have lost 9.8 lbs since the week before Christmas. I want to continue that on, which always seems to be a resolution for me.

Change of career. I can do what I'm doing now and survive doing it, but I just am not where I am supposed to be anymore. I was here with a purpose, and now that the purpose isn't here anymore, I need a new one.

So here's hoping you have a fantastic 2008, and here's hoping I have one too.

Shopping Extravaganza!

OK - I admit it. I was one of the crazy people standing outside in 25 degree weather to get a really good deal yesterday morning. My dad and I have a tradition of sorts. Wherever the best deals are, that is where we go first. This year we went to Circuit City. Really the worst that I have been to since we started this - and I've been to Best Buy, CompUSA, Staples, etc.... The WORST. My dad and I had to stand in separate lines to buy our selections, one for TV's and another for Computers, and it took 2 hours. Usually we are in and out in 30 minutes. We were only buying 3 things!!

As for the Christmas shopping, I made a pact with Curly Girl that I would make all attempts to be done with shopping by her birthday, December 9th! It will make Christmas so much nicer, and maybe I'll have time to do Christmas cards this year.

How about you, what do you have to get done by Christmas? (Only 31 days left!)

Computers Make Me CRAZY

I am a fairly smart girl (thus the nickname), but nothing makes me feel more dumb than when something goes wrong with my computer. This time it is something with my wireless card. Luckily my dad was able to loan me a wireless gizmo that just plugs into a USB port. In the meantime I spent all this time uninstalling / reinstalling various software, trying to get things fixed in other ways. UGH. And it just makes me madder and madder the longer I work on it. Totally wrecks my attitude. Enough about that.

Strategery

One of the things that I help organizations with is Strategic Planning. I am actually pretty good at it. I started doing it as a voluntary thing several years ago at my last church, and then again here at my new church. And as of late organizations are actually paying me for my advice. And are happy with the result.

Ironically, though, my own life has seemed a bit out of control and misdirected lately. In the past 4 years, I left a position as VP of one of the largest banks in the world to work for a non-profit. It was less money, but I thought I could make a difference in the world. While there I learned that I had really misjudged my "mentor" and one year later I was laid off by that person. (In my own defense, I had a really good friend that I respect very much have the EXACT same thing happen this year with the EXACT same woman. Seriously. One year and out.) Anyway, after so many years of work and being good at saving money, I was in a position to not work, so I didn't. I was quite disgusted with the whole thing. I sold my house and moved back "home" - my parents were out of the country and I stayed at their place, helped take care of my grandmother and just did what I wanted. Started working part time at a place that offered benefits for part time employees (a rarity in this day and age), did some volunteer work, and until my grandmother passed, was quite sure that I was doing what I should be. I do not regret it one bit.

Another year goes by and I start looking for work in the fields I have worked in during my career life. I mean it really is time, because I'm now making one tenth of what I used to make at the big bank, and I am missing the lifestyle. Unfortunately, banks don't seem to want me because I left banking, and non-profits don't want me because I didn't work in that field long enough. And in the meantime, I find out that as much as I love the strategic work of non-profits, the day to day is often not managed well, and I haven't had much luck with some of the people I've worked with in that area. What's a girl to do?

So today I decided to make a strategic plan for ME. It will take a while, and I don't think it will be easy, but I need to get my life back into focus. And for the first time in a long time, I feel a little more at peace.

Progress or Selfishness, You Decide...

I tend to do for others more than I do for myself. I'm not sure why. Maybe it is a form of avoidance or procrastination. Putting off the things I should be doing, and getting a small high by helping out others. But today I drew the line, and even though it was hard for me, I felt a tiny bit better about saying, "No" to an acquaintance who called me to ask a favor. It was made a bit more complex by the fact that my mom recommended me... Some guilt that I wasn't willing to help out someone that I have known for 20+ years, some guilt that my mom suggested I do it and I wasn't, and some guilt that I put myself first. But I think that it is a good step for me. I'm seeking balance (as a Libra, it should be second nature, right?) in my life this year.

Happy Birthday to Me!

No countdowns or anything exciting, but today is my birthday. Birthdays always make me a little reflective, and I am now sitting here pondering the next year of my life. Hopefully it will be more exciting than the last year. I read somewhere recently about a person who resolved to do something new each month that she had never done before. Maybe I'll try that. Any suggestions?

Why Miss Smarty Pants?

A nickname that I have had off and on since I was a kid. Mostly by my mom... Then out of the blue, my favorite blogger, ElastiGirl, started calling me that again in her blog. I supposed it is in reference to the fact that I am smart enough to figure stuff out most of the time. I say most of the time, because I haven't yet figured out some important things like

• Why I haven't started working again full time in the past 3 years, after a kind of crushing layoff at a non profit organization.
• What I want to do with the rest of my life.
• How anyone can really like to eat lima beans.

For now, I am a consultant that helps organizations complete strategic plans, and I work part-time at a large orange box store. The big box gives me medical benefits for a part time job (almost unheard of in these days, but that is for another blog entry). I marvel sometimes that other people pay me (semi - big bucks) to help them strategize about their future. Maybe I should spend some more time strategizing on my own.