Another Year??

Wow, I just realized I did not blog once last year, not once. It is crazy how quickly time passes. It was an odd year, one with 6 months of house guests.

I started the year working at Superstore and ended it working at IRD as a Project Manager. Some days it is better than others.

Ran a 1/2 marathon in Vegas in Dec.

I guess there is lots to say about where I am now and what thoughts run through the head when I'm letting my mind drift.

15 mins of CBC radio

The mornings I swim, I listen to CBC radio on the way to the pool from 5:45 to 6:00. It is always off beat.

Two days ago, they were talking about SAHM who can make money by blogging. Of course I thought all day about how I could increase our income from blogging. Well, given how long it is between my posts, I can't see how I could make enough money to even buy a weekly coffee.

I marvel at the ability of people who can be prolific on blogs. The discipline to write down and organize one's thoughts has eluded me. I enjoy writing and have ideas, but I lack the commitment to write down my ideas in any coherent fashion.

Blog writers are like radio announcers with the luxury of do-overs. They seem to have endless sources of ideas that extend beyond themselves and their own life and experiences. The ideas seem to flow from them like a river.

But the struggle to write this short post drives home how I will need to keep my day job since blogging won't be a revenue source in my near future.

what do I want to be when I grow up?

I really thought at the age of 44 I would know the answer and be settled into a career path. Looking back on my work life, there have already been 3 career changes, although all 3 had a quasi common theme of technology. I find myself at the cross roads again.

I love verification, but the prospects of finding job that keeps in this same town are small. I have set an arbitrary deadline of end of Dec and hence taken the part time job as a stop gap to allow me to wait that long.

I'm good at critical analysis, programming, system engineering, project management and general management. However, I'm sure for most of those moves to local companies, it would mean being willing to start over, possibly as a junior again. Not sure if I could do it gracefully, especially if I worked for an idiot.

I spent sometime working on my resume last few weeks and it is now in good shape, but I have not sent it out yet. Hopefully I can meet with my former boss (who I would like to consider my mentor) and talk through some stuff with him next week.

What I want to try and avoid is making a quick decision and then wanting to change my mind shortly into it. I would like to try and find something that fits that I can stay with for a long haul. I would like to only have 4 career changes in my life, not more than 4.

Jacksoul

I read about Haydain Neale (lead singer of Jacksoul) passing away yesterday from lung cancer. He was only 39 and left behind a wife and child.

I'm not normally a person to grieve the passing of an entertainer I never met, no matter how talented they are. But as I listen to his music while I type this, I grieve. His music has been the sound track to many moments in my life - my refuse through bad relationships, my strength when I was weak, my joy when filled with happiness.

I only saw them perform live once - at a jazz festival in 2006, just after my oldest was born. My husband, new son and I went to the park so we could hear them perform. When I close my eyes and bring the day/evening back to my mind, my body is filled with a light, a warmth of love. In those moments dancing with my son and husband, we were pure love and Haydain's voice provided the soundtrack to yet another special moment in my life. I will cherish that memory always.

Stuff and such

Not sure where to start. It was a fun weekend with my husband and my boys. Last swim lessons for the boys on Saturday. It is amazing how much progress both made, but I would be very surprized if either choose swimming as their thing when they grow up. In a way, I hope they don't since it is my thing and I think they deserve their own path. Not worried about it all and will just be happy if they are happy.

We also went to the museum and I let my oldest have the money for the cookies. For the first time, he got to order the cookies and pay all on his own - he was so proud of himself. It was also a baking weekend and he helped me make banana muffins - again he was very proud of himself.

Today I start a part time job - there are 4 evenings of training this week and then my first shift is on Friday. I am hopeful that it buys me the time I need to either wait for a verification job or make a considered decision about changing careers. We have been on a "spending diet" since the beginning of November which has had a side effect of doing proper meal planning and eating better so we are both starting to lose weight. It is almost time to start making a workout plan since I am now feeling fit and would like to continue to make fitness gains.

Today is the first day of the rest of my life

How often have we all heard that phrase? For me, it reminds me that today counts, not tomorrow. If I want to be in better physical condition, I need to eat better today and exercise a little today. If I want to have a clean house, I need to clean something today. If I want to accomplish my annual goals, I need to do something today to get there.

I find I allow myself to forget the phrase and then I find myself having a morning like this morning, which I essentially wasted waiting for something to happen later.

Perhaps I should look for cross stitched wall hangings with some motivational phrases and put them up all over our house. Or more accurately, have them on some sort of timer that when the tv has been on for an hour, the wall hangings slide into place to block the tv so I don't get sucked into watching something I don't care about. Or if I get lost in Bejewled Blitz, they would pop up on my screen to make me keep that promise to myself that this is my last game for today.

But now, I will get ready for my swim, buy new shoes and then go see a woman about a job.

Today is the first day of the rest of my life and I would rather look back on today as a day of activity rather than a day of waste.

Time is not on my side

I would love to write - I have things to workout and writing always helps, but it is a bit too busy right now. Hopefully I will have a good night sleep and maybe some energy tomorrow night. I don't want to let it go - I need to work it out, it just keeps coming back and my re-action is stronger everytime.

Adam has a fever, tough, so sleep may not be mine tonight - yet DH is on holidays and I am the one working and yet I will have to deal with the night waking and/or sick child tomorrow - yes, I need to write to work through how I feel.