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.

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 15 Minute Day

One of my favorite web presences is The FlyLady. Her website is filled with great tips and a wonderful system to help get your life more organized, ALL FOR FREE. She is very encouraging, and is constantly reminding people no one is perfect. One of her slogans I have taken to heart is "I can do anything for 15 minutes" - No matter how tired I am, I can usually muster up 15 minutes to clean the house or work on a project. I say USUALLY, because there are times that I look around my house and realize that I haven't done anything for too long. Today was one of those days, so I called up Curly Girl and told her I needed some inspiration (she is also a fan of The FlyLady). She told me to do four 15-minute sessions ( I had 4 hours between church and work) and to report back what I had done. The only rule is that I have to set the timer for 15 minutes and accomplish something during that time. The timer is important, because you know the session will come to an end, and it allows you to remain focused. Curly Girl was at the pumpkin patch with the Gift & the Firecracker (her stepdaughter - born on the Fourth of July), so I texted them to her instead of calling. Here's the list of what I accomplished:

• 1st 15 min: Gathered up all my laundry, Started 1 load of laundry, Straightened up my bathroom, Wiped down the countertops, and Cleaned the mirror.


• 2nd 15 min: Cleaned up the kitchen, Switched wash to the dryer, Started 2nd load of laundry, Threw away b-day flowers, and Did a 27 fling boogie


• 3rd 15 min: Put away 1st load of laundry, Switched 2nd load to the dryer, Start 3rd load of laundry, Shredded a weeks worth of credit card offers, Straightened the living room, and Picked up no less than 10 hair doodads


• 4th 15 min: Started dishwasher, Went through the mail and tossed junk, Cleaned off the dining room table, Hung up laundry from 2nd load that was half dry, and Cleared off my desk

It never ceases to amaze me how much I can get done in 15 minutes. That is why I always set the timer. It becomes a challenge to get as much done as I can in that 15 minutes. And I spent the other 45 minutes reading, catching up on the DVR and vegging out. WOW. I feel so much better.

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.