Just Another Day at the Office

I thought about all the things I wanted to do and then shortly after decided to put them on the backburner. Moving forward, I have no time to spearhead this big project, which would essentially dovetail on the back of the last one I tried to implement.

I thought about reaching out, but ended up circling back because I didn't have enough bandwidth. The problem was, nobody kept me in the loop. And, not only was I unable to get down to the granular details, but I couldn't bring anything at all to fruition. I decided to super-check all my facts about everything before taking this completely off my radar, but before I knew it I was drowning in an overload of info-share. What happened to the back-end operation? I was drowning in my own list of action items! It was time to bring all hands on deck. But I wondered, did anyone have any availability?

After initiating a very long meeting to discuss our options, we came up with a list of best practices -- a sure-fire way to delight the client. For it was only a matter of time before we would bounce back.

 
I asked a colleague to build on what he thought was a good way to strategize our plan, but he couldn't get enough buy-in from upper management.

"Try to get people on-board," I said. "That's the key to a win-win."

"I'm just sensing a real disconnect here," he said. "I can't seem to get any real leverage."

After drilling down for 45 minutes we really honed in on key areas that needed work. We developed a list of core competencies and took some time to whiteboard our ideas. After all, our drop-dead date was literally by COB.

"I can't seem to codify any of these bullet points into a real outline," he muttered.

"Well, why don't we noodle on it for a while and focus on some areas that will really bring our functionality up to speed," I quickly replied back.

"That sounds good," he said. "I have a hard stop at noon anyway."

While he was gone, I couldn't help but do my due diligence to outsource my ideas to a turnkey organization. So, I held a kickoff meeting to get everyone aligned so we could put this thing to bed. I was glad that I was going to get real face-time with key stakeholders.

I held the meeting with a group of folks who knew what my vision was. And, after I ramped them up, I advised them to draw straws so I could assess their skill sets. If I was going to have any success in Q1, this would have to be a real soup-to-nuts kind of deal. But after the assessment was over, no one would take ownership. So, we eventually had to parking lot our ideas because I was going to be out-of-pocket for the next 4 weeks. So much for taking this meeting offline!

But before the session was over, I decided to find out what everyone's number 1 takeaway was.

And then, out of nowhere, my colleague stepped back in the room and muttered, "Are you kidding me? I was supposed to be tasked with that!"

Cutting Expenses

Isaac and I have decided to cut our expenses as much as possible. With a new baby in tow, accompanying costs, and things like ever-increasing condo fees we are acutely aware of the need to strategize our living style better.

10 months ago it was not as much of an issue. Fine dining and new luxurious items for the house was our game. Though we still had a desire to be fiscally responsible we were more carefree in our spending limitations and choices. Bonefish was a frequent on our visitor’s list and Marshall’s practically knew my bank card number by heart.

I have to say I have been surprisingly more restrained than I thought I would be. I knew I wouldn’t be able to buy clothes as often, or as many, and that eating out would be limited. And we recognized that coupons, discounts, and generic brands would be a good thing to pay attention to (not that I wasn’t a clearance-item-sale-rack person to begin with!). But these things all started to take a front seat once Levi came, not to mention making ourselves become more aware of the fact that we would not be able to go as many places as easily or burden public dwellings with a crying and hungry baby.

Home, I learned, would soon become my nest, a place that I now love more than ever.

For starters, we closed our gym memberships. I can work out at home with my new P90X DVD in the winter (woo-hoo!) or use the stroller to take Levi for a run in the summer and Isaac has been going for runs around the neighborhood when I’m at home.

Cable is gone. We now use the Internet and Hulu to get access to all the shows we watched through DirecTV, including the availability to watch full series of hundreds of other dramas and sitcoms we’ve missed over the years – so many it will be hard to keep up with!

I admit it is weird, to say the least, to not have cable. I liked coming home and having on Fox News in the background while I did my thing in the evenings. But the pros outweigh the cons and sacrificing it for a little bit of extra cash to go towards a doctor bill or Levi’s monthly health insurance payment is worth it.

There are other little things I can’t think of right now that we have released into the abyss of our less worrisome past, but I can’t think of them all at once. It’s just exciting to be a part of our growing future!

All Good Things Come to an End

I love blank pages of paper. Electronic ones. They make me excited because they give opportunity to endlessly write, which I don’t do near enough as I want to or should (to develop my skills). But something about having a blank page in front of me motivates me to no end.

This week I am back at work part time and then next week full time. We have a half week because of Thanksgiving which is helpful in transition.

I long for being home. Levi and I had our routine: get up, make coffee, turn on Good Morning America and Regis and Kelly, feed, play time, sleep, repeat.

Back at work I’m already into the same old routine – helping people resolve issues with clients that have resurfaced from months ago and wondering why it is so hard for them to do the same digging I do to find the information they need. Some things never change. The office is still bare, eerie, and quiet. Offices are spread out and I never hear much chatter just as before. I guess that’s a good thing, but it’s often too strange for words.

People are being nice asking about Levi and how I’m coping. They seem genuinely concerned for my wellbeing and ever since the word came out that I was pregnant, they’ve been ultra-supportive. I do work for a good company.

It is hard leaving something you love so much, but I am grateful that we do not have to put Levi in daycare and that he is able to be with his daddy and nanny during the day.

So, back to the old northern Virginia commute I go, except with a new added label: mom.

God as Governor

This morning as I was driving in my car I prayed that God would be the Governor of my life. I’ve never prayed that before as it just slipped out when I was speaking.

 

What a powerful word to describe his Mastership over our lives: Governor.

 

With the birth of Levi we have been governors over his life. He has no understanding yet to make decisions of his own and is too little to seek guidance from Christ to do so. So we, his parents, intercede on his behalf and ask that God guide us to guide him. It is a unique job and one that I often forget about as I am living daily life.

 

I often forget that Levi looks to us for everything even though he doesn’t know it. And not just to keep him clean, feed him, or clothe him, but to guide him in the way he should go (Prov 22:6 – Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it). If I am not living my life the way I should then the filtration to my son will ultimately impact him negatively. On the other hand, if I am living the way I should, a way that is holy and pleasing to Christ, then it will ultimately (a parent always hopes) impact him positively, with the end goal in mind that he will learn to make the right decisions from our Father on his own.

 

With all the busyness and messiness and craziness that being a parent brings I realized that I sometimes get so caught up in governing Levi’s new life that I forget who is really in control of both of our lives. And for that matter, my whole family’s life. I’m constantly going here and there and trying to remember what to pack him and how to raise him and what to do when he cries and won’t sleep. But I need to remember that even though I am training him, I still need to look to Christ for guidance with his life.

 

Thanks for listening to my therapeutic ramblings… :)