The Week in a Nutshell

No real point to this post...just a snapshot of the weekend:

I found out yesterday our next door neighbors are getting chickens...poor birds. I think the raccoons will be trouble and it will take some time for all the pitfalls to be realized. I wonder how many chickens they will need to buy before they last through the egg laying stage. What happens in the winter? I also can't wait for the chickens to wake up Travis or Chuck...that will be funny. I pretty much sleep through anything and Trav is an early riser, but it will be amusing if they are disturbed by it to see what they do.

On Sunday Trav and I also decided to watch one of the two movies we had sent to us from Netflix, oh, about 3 months ago (can't seem to remember to cancel that membership), but the sound for the DVD wouldn't work. We messed with it, using our handy dandy headlights, courtesy of the parents at Christmas, for about 30 minutes - plug in here, plug out there, change input, switch back, yadda, yadda...we gave up. I asked Chuck to stop by before work and see if he could figure it out...he comes in kneels down, plugs in ONE plug and BINGO...SOUND!! I KNOW we plugged those cords into those ports - I KNOW IT! How embarrassing. I felt like a 90 year old Grandma getting a cell phone for the first time - don't turn it on because it might ring!!!

On Friday I decided to call my Mom because I needed a "poor baby" moment with her. She always makes me feel better. I called and got Dad...uh, oh...I don't want to make Dad feel bad by asking for Mom (I do anyway) and he tells me she is outside with some neighbors. So I did a bit of crying with him and told him what to do to make me feel better "tell me how great I am Dad" :) He did what he could and said he would have Mom call me the next day. It wasn't quite what I was looking for, but so super sweet and I do love my Dad. I actually did sort of wait for that call all weekend...never came...Trav said it was because I am the 6th favorite (ha, ha)...I told him I thought Dad may have neglected to pass along the "poor baby" message. Mom called me tonight...NAUGHTY Dad didn't give her my message until late last night...I KNEW IT!

Don't worry, nothing too crazy going on, just working a lot and feeling a tad overwhelmed at the moment...SACRIFICE IS TEMPORARY!! My office has gotten me a temp employee while we get a more permanent solution in place, so relief is on the horizon. I just wish there had been a few months to ease into our new system/a new account/implementing new processes/moving into a new space/etc. There has just been so much, so fast and I don't want to let anyone down...including my husband who I'm sure is wondering if single life isn't so bad after all!! :)

After my melt down we saw the left over carcass of a 2 ton truck that had been mashed up by a semi on I80 as we made our way to Costco to stock up on mostly unnecessary, but yummy, stuff for the next few weeks. It was CRAZY - I just cannot imagine the person who was driving the truck actually survived. If they did, they should be on a commercial about the safety benefits of that particular make and model. I have never seen a car, let a lone a big truck, look that mangled. Many thoughts went through my head on that drive - gratitude most of all that it was not someone I loved and that life is not all THAT bad, I thought about how we all forget to be present when we drive and I wondered how the Semi driver would not know he/she was mashing a car to bits and move back over into the middle lane? Then I felt swamped with guilt that I had thought of myself first, so I pushed a prayer out to the victim hoping they did survive and that their loved ones would be present for them.

Then tonight Travis made yet another AMAZING meal...it is becoming easier and easier to eat very light lunches knowing I will be in for a treat in the evening. Travis made salmon w/lemon butter  & herbs smoked on a cedar plank with the new favorite kale salad as the side dish. That salmon just melted in my mouth - I could not believe how amazing it was.  It even looked amazing - it was so pretty and he garnished it with a round slice of lemon - it looked as good as it tasted. Travis really is the light of my life these days - I am so grateful to have him in my life.

Finally, tonight I get to go up and snuggle into nice clean sheets. I changed them yesterday, but it is one of my favorite things to get into clean sheets when it is nice and crisp outside (not cold, just crisp), especially when they smell so good. Ah, relaxing.

I Am Grateful,
HB

Diva Quote: "Ninety-nine percent of people allow the quality of their life to be determined by the thoughts of strangers." Not sure who said this first...but we should all stop doing this. 

God Bless America

Yesterday morning Travis was watching the Dan Patrick show (a morning sports talk show) and, as I headed upstairs to get ready for work, I heard Dan talking about the "Star Spangled Banner" song that was sung the night before at the Boston Bruins hockey game - Dan played the sound track on his show.

After the marathon bombing this week the hockey team decided to play on in spite of the tragedy. It sounds like the stadium was full and it may have raised some controversy that the game would not be delayed or moved, so I stood upstairs in the loft listening as a lone singer started the song and the crowd almost immediately joined in. It was the most rousing experience as the voices swelled and the song was sung how it is meant to be sung; not half heartedly, but with feeling and meaning. I don't remember feeling the Spirit of America more than I did yesterday as I listened to those voices swell - I am getting choked up now just remembering it. 

Here is the video link that I found:

http://landing.newsinc.com/shared/video.html?vcid=24744140&freewheel=90051&sitesection=nydailynews

I have seen countless Face book posts talking about the spirit and inspiration of the marathoners and the Spirit of America and I appreciate that people have the ability to use these negative experiences to reconnect with what is most important in this life; to reset their priorities. I wish we could find more unity in daily life without these types of events to bring us together as one people. I suppose that is why there is opposition in all things...so we will recognize the good things in life when the bad things come out. 

God Bless America...

I Am Grateful,

HB

Diva Quote: "The significance which is in unity is an eternal wonder." Rabindranath Tagore

Family Dinner

Have I mentioned what an amazing cook Travis is? I am sure I have, but he really is an amazing cook. Lately we have had the most amazing and easy salad...

Kale (de-veined and cut into fine pieces)
Pour a few tablespoons of olive oil over the whole thing
1 whole lemon squeezed over the top
mix well (kale is best if broken up and roughly man handled)
add dried cranberries
add toasted pine nuts
shredded Parmesan cheese

Best salad ever...not kidding, soooo good.

Tonight Travis smoked a huge pork shoulder and we made an apple cider vinegar bbq sauce that was tangy and delicious with just a little kick to it. As the mixture cooked up, everyone started coughing - it was sort of funny and we had to open all the windows even though it is still pretty cold up here. We invited the whole family up and still had tons of left over meat that we sent home with everyone and even kept some for ourselves. I even made my sisters Choffy Cake last night and it was even better the 2nd night - everyone RAVED over desert.

All in all a very nice night and it was great to see everyone even though it gets crazy with so many kids running rough shod all over the place, not to mention 3 dogs and one very nervous cat; only one accident and it was my own dog being territorial...bad dog.

I have to brag that I have one of the best families on earth...how did I ever get so lucky? I did take two photos - one of the cook and one of the meat. I am back to having difficulty with photos on the new computer (wish I wasn't so ignorant of the ways of technology), but I will try to get Trav to help me with it. Probably should have taken a few photos of the family as well. I do have a good photo trapped in my phone from Easter...I'll try to get it posted soon (for M of course).

I Am Grateful,
HB

Diva Quote: “I read recipes the same way I read science fiction. I get to the end and say to myself "well, that's not going to happen”  -- Rita Rudner

What Life?

Sometimes when momentum gets going it is hard to remember the way things "used" to be. I am sneaking these next few minutes to write a bit because I haven't had a chance for several days and last night I sat here at this desk thinking about what I would normally be doing if not working and my mind just went blank. I keep reminding myself this is just temporary...within the next 30 days things will level off, my new assistant at work will be in place and processes will be completely transitioned on the new account. I have never so looked forward to the month of May like I am looking forward to it this year. All is well.

Today I actually made it to book club - I haven't gone for the last 3 weeks or so and it was a surprise to me to realize I had totally blocked book club from my mind. This is my all time favorite meeting every week, so I was pretty stunned when I realized it hadn't even floated by as a thought in my mind for several weeks...weird. Today I went and, although I haven't been reading the book (oh yeah, that is what I would normally be doing at night), I loved one part that was discussed today.

There seems to be a misconception by some people that praising others somehow diminishes ourselves OR if we share our trade secrets we will be jeopardizing our business and giving away our competitive edge. Today I was reminded of the following:

• There is plenty of business for all of us. 
• Praising others in public creates trust and encourages loyalty
• Paying attention to people is the single most productive thing we can do

I have always believed I do not need to be threatened by lack of business. Since working at my new company this past year, I can absolutely say I still believe we can all experience a high level of success doing whatever we are doing. There has only been one time in my career that I held back some information (besides the proprietary kind of course) that I felt might give my competition the edge and for some reason it has really bothered me for years. 

Once upon a time there was a commercial group that was trying to get residential leads from a client we both worked with...I felt very threatened and gave a very blunt answer when asked what we did to manage utilities on vacant residential homes. This process is not brain surgery...anyone can figure out how to put utilities in the company name and then seek reimbursement for the costs from a client, but for some reason I felt if I divulged the process to this commercial agent, I would be creating a situation where some of "my" business would be going to my competitor...talk about lack of confidence. I've always felt bad about this. Think if I had helped him and later I had a question about something in the commercial world...I could call and ask questions and he might have helped me out. I'll never know - I have never talked to him since. 

I love praising others - I love noticing amazing acts of kindness, good strong work ethics or any kind of business successes and accomplishments. I did like the reminder of how important it is to recognize others in public, not just one-on-one. 

Paying attention to people...really listening. If you are going to be stuck talking to someone for any length of time...why not pay attention while you are engaged. Lately I have felt myself drifting, thinking of all the things I need to do, instead of really focusing on the person in front of me. Just a reminder to self, "Just THINKING about something won't actually get it done...might as well focus on the moment and think about SOMETHING later". Just a thought. 

I Am Grateful,

HB

Diva Quote: “Today was good. Today was fun. Tomorrow is another one.” - Dr. Seuss