Time flies!

It seems every year, every month, people are commenting on how quickly time is passing.  "This year's really flying by," or "I can't believe it's already May - wasn't it just Christmas?", are phrases that never seem to be far away.

Well not to sound cliche, but this year really IS flying by.  The last couple of weeks have been busy both at work and at home.  I knew I was in for a busy week at work when on Monday of last week I didn't get home until 11.45 pm, which is much later than the standard 5.00 or 5.30.  I knew I was in for a busy week at home when I looked at my calendar yesterday morning and saw that Zak and I have something planned every day for the next 7 days.  And it looks as if things aren't really going to slow down from here.

Only just now am I about to enter the busiest part of the year so far.  With work, next month is the last month of Q1 and I have quotas to meet.  After that it's trade show season so I'll be travelling quite a bit with that.  At home it's Zak's birthday coming up and then my sister's wedding in the first week of May.  This means that between now and then not only will there be bridal showers and hen nights to attend, but as maid of honour (or I guess matron of honour, seeing as I'm married) much time will be spent planning those things.  Factor into that all of life's daily routines and surprises, and I'm in for a busy few months. 

Luckily, I like being busy.  I'd rather have too much to do than too little.  And I like the responsibilities I have both at home and at work.  However, for all my excellent skills as a multi-tasker, this will be a bit challenging for me.  At least there will be plenty of photo opportunities to play with the new camera, right?

I've set my light at the end of the tunnel (the calm after the storm) to be Memorial Day weekend, the last weekend in May.  This should be interesting.

Tough Love

Criticism is a difficult thing for many people.  It can be hard to receive, and depending on who's on the receiving end of the criticism, it can be tough to give.

Spending the better part of my 26 years in art classes, photography courses, and even a degree in advertising, critiques have been a major part of my life.  Weekly critiques on paintings, photographs, and campaign ideas taught me to listen to other people's opinions, respect those opinions, and see what I could change or do differently next time.  The critiques weren't always easy to sit through.  One art teacher would very gently encourage me to be a bit bolder with my use of graphite pencils, one advertising professor used his Glaswegian flair by telling me an idea was "f*cking sh*te."  Charming.

So I've developed an appreciation of the critique.  Getting critiqued sits well with me.  Giving the critique doesn't.  Recently I've found myself at a particularly awkward crossroad.  I have to give someone that I'm close to, a very harsh critique.  One of my in-laws has driven Zak and myself to a state of hopelessness.  Their presence is overbearing, their attitude rude, and their manners non-existent.  Not every member of your family is going to be your favourite person, I know that.  You can choose your friends, not your family.  But after watching this person's behaviour become increasingly worse over the last few years, and a very stressful weekend with them, Zak and I have to say something.

It will be tasteful, we will let them know we're doing this out of love and not spite, but that doesn't make it any easier.  This critique will be tough, for both parties.  I just hope that in time it will produce a positive result.

Like A Kid Who Snorted A Pixie Stick

Hurrah!  BIG day!  BIG news!  I've done it!  I've closed my first sale!  I started my job 7 months ago and have been training up to this moment, learning about the industry I'm in, gaining technical knowledge, creating presentations, and now the title on my business card actually means something.

The sale was closed within my first ten minutes in the office today and as a result, the rest of the day's been a whirlwind.  This isn't just my first sale in my current position, this is my first sale ever (apart from 2 years working in retail while in college).  It's shown me that I am capable and professional, and I feel genuinely appreciated by my colleagues.  My boss (semi-jokingly) dubbed me "star of the day" and (seriously) told that I handled the client and sale very well, and I even got a congratulatory email from the CEO in Oslo.  I know I work for a small company so there aren't as many steps between me and the CEO, but I'm going to let myself feel proud of that email.

It's amazing what one achievement will do for your confidence.  I've had to stop myself from practically skipping on my way to the water cooler or colleagues offices.  Zak asked me how I felt after I told him and I blurted out "like a kid who's snorted a pixie stick!"  It was the only thing that came to mind that described how excited and buzzed I felt.  Suddenly I feel like I can achieve anything.  My mind is running a mile a minute of all the things I've been wanting to learn or get back into but haven't allowed myself the confidence to actually do it.  But now I don't feel that there's anything to hold me back.  So watch this space, big things are coming....

Winter Blues

The weather's been miserable for the last few days.  Predominantly overcast, gusty winds, dark nights, and warm temperatures.  Yep, it's winter in Texas.  On the whole, Texan winters are wonderful.  They're a healthy mix of cold days (some bordering on the freezing temps) and warm sunny days.  Both are wonderful.  You can remember how much you loved wearing your coat and your flip flops in the same week.  It's a blessing, really.

But that doesn't stop Texas residents from feeling the "winter blues."  This week I've seen more sullen looking faces than I have in the last month, from the woman at subway who looked at me as if I'd asked her to rob a bank when all I wanted was more lettuce to the tellers at the bank.  People in general just seem a bit downcast.  Maybe that's because the holidays are officially over, New Year's resolutions are starting to fail, or just the last few glum days we've been having that are giving people the "winter blues."  And unfortunately, I am one of the sufferers. 

I'm ready for something to change and I don't really care what for.  Winter Blues can be brought on by any number of things.  For me, it's been our warm and cloudy weather.  I like the two extremes of a Texan winter.  This blended weather doesn't suit me.  My requests are quite simple.  I'd like to be in a) shorts and a tank top sunbathing or working in the garden or b) in 50,000 layers of jumpers, socks, and all things cosy.  And although it's trivial, the sluggish air is just enough to make everything else about my days feel slow.  The forecast tells me the sun will come back out in a few days, so I just have to pull through the next 72 hours.  Bring on the sunshine!

A Bit of Fun

As my last post stated, a lot has changed in a very short amount of time in my life.  I feel very fortunate that things have panned out this way, but I also know that I worked very hard for these accomplishments.  I have a pretty solid routine wearing many hats:  wife, mother (although it's just to the two dogs, one of them is only a year old and takes up a LOT of my time), homeowner, professional, etc...  This is a part of life, we are never just one person playing a single role.  Some of the time these roles we're given aren't through choice.  Fortunately, I have chosen each of my roles, but that doesn't mean that I don't get overwhelmed every now and again. 

The beginning of this week was one of those overwhelming moments, where everything seemed to get too much for me.  Work was busy as usual, there was garden work piling up after having a drain installed last week, my little angel of a one year old Dachshund/Beagle decided on Monday to rip open two throw cushions and Tuesday to feast on the front end of an arm chair, bills were due, and with my usual duties, I felt that I was trapped in the movie "Groundhog Day."

But now, I have clarity and light at the end of the tunnel.  Routine was broken yesterday.  I got home a little earlier than usual, my soft furnishing-hungry mutt hadn't destroyed a thing, the Texas winter sunshine was still high enough in the sky so that our garden wasn't totally in the shade, and I did some gardening and played fetch with the dogs while blasting some guilty pleasure Kylie Minogue.  I could feel my shoulders relax every time I threw the tennis ball, my chest loosen every time I sang to a song.  Also with a friend coming over for dinner last minute, where I got to try a very delicious (and healthy!) chicken recipe, it didn't feel like your average Wednesday.  Sometimes all it takes is doing something different to make the week feel more exciting or to escape your current stresses. 

However, my excitement continues as tonight I'm doing something I haven't done since I was in college - I'm going out on a Thursday night.  Now Zak and I have regular Thursday nights out where every other week we meet up with a bunch of friends at a pub or restaurant, but they're more of a happy hour social meeting.  Tonight is to see Avicii, and I get the opportunity to get dressed up as if it were a Saturday, and the night won't end until 2.00 in the morning.  I know it will hurt tomorrow as I drag into the office at 8 a.m., but it will be my badge of honour.  I know a lot of people go out regularly on a Thursday and stay out this late, but I'm not one of those people.  Come 9 a.m. tomorrow I'll be asking my coworkers if they want to go on a Starbucks run with me as I look for a severe jolt of caffeine.  But that's tomorrow.  For now, I can't wait to do the hair and make-up, slip into my party dress, and dance in the car all the way to the club.  :)

It was taken last October, shortly after we moved into the house, but here's a picture of me with my two babies (the small one is the baby that's enjoying all the furniture.  The other one just sleeps on it).

Moving On

So it's been a while since I've shared anything....a long while.....nearly a year.  Oops!  Well to pick up where I left off, I stopped writing because for a long time there weren't things worth sharing.  But over the last 7 months, I can say that things have been getting increasingly better.

Major developments are that I am in a new job working for a Norwegian company in the oil industry, I get to travel again (one of my favourite things in the world), I managed to get 2 holidays last year (more travelling - yay!), Zak and I adopted a second dog, we celebrated our first anniversary, and we became homeowners!  Not bad, huh?

Here's a picture I took while in Oslo last August for work:

So now that the ice is broken, albeit rather bluntly, I plan on developing a few things in 2012.  No, I didn't make an New Year's Resolutions.  The main reason being that by 31 December I can never remember what I promised myself 365 days ago, so I never know if I've kept or broken my resolutions.  Instead I just want to keep evolving.  I want to keep up what I'm doing that's good and improve on what I'm doing that's....well, not as good (this blog is one of those "improve upon" items).  And I want more time for my hobbies, which as a homeowner I can now add "gardening" to that list.

So there are the basics.  I'll leave you all with that and hopefully be able to write much more in the future.

Things always happen in 3s

The last week has been tough.  I know life's always meant to throw these curveballs at you, but the last week felt like I was trapped in a batting cage with the pitching machine cranking out fast balls and me without a helmet and a bat.  (That's my American-ism for the day) 

I was brought up with the notion of "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" and the concept that you just had to take the bad things in your stride.  But when it's one thing after another, you do start to wonder...."when is this going to stop?"  I believe that all things come in sets of three.  Well believe me, I had my three last week.  And they were all totally out of character for me.  First, I dropped the ball at work.  I knew it was meant to happen at some point, but the way it all came about made me feel sick and left thinking that my reprimand wasn't entirely professional.  Then later that evening, as I dropped a 17-inch widescreen laptop on my toe, splitting the nail in half, and creating lots of blood and bruising.  I'm not a clumsy person and I'm not prone to injurying myself.  I took it as a sign that I was just exhausted after the bad day at work and opted for vodka on the rocks over Ibuprofen. 

The third bad thing was a bit of a shock.  It was two days later over the weekend.  The day before had been Zak's birthday and we had a great time going out, and then that day we'd had a very successful barbeque.  I was in the kitchen doing dishes from the party and had just poured myself a glass of wine to go in the living room and finally put my feet up.  What I didn't know was that the universe had other plans.  For some reason I had no idea that our 65 pound dog, Sheila, had laid down right beside my feet.  I turned full force ready to start walking and went flying.  I came crashing down on the tile floor, with my knee taking most of the shock.  My head also hit the floor (no concussion, but minor whip lash) and the crystal glass shattered, slitting my finger open.  I've never fallen like that before in my life, not even as a kid.  So now I'm still hobbling around with a knee twice the size of the other.

So I've had my three bad things.  Time for the cosmos to send something good my way.