Wordless Wednesday: These Boots

Our 360 Experience

Sometimes when my husband makes suggestions or brings home ideas from work I cringe.  He's a six sigma certified black belt.  That means that he's an expert in getting rid of variance in a process.  He is trained to break a job down to it's simplest parts and eliminate anything that adds cost or time.  He's also trained to manage the people that do the jobs so that they happily buy into the new cost and time efficient processes that result.  His training is wonderful but I've discovered that employees have more motivation for change than do family members.  I've also discovered that I don't really like to change.

After a difficult time managing a farm job yesterday afternoon we all sat down to a family dinner and he proposed that we have a family meeting when the meal was over.  As the meal progressed everyone was in good spirits.  We talked and laughed and really enjoyed each others company.  When it was time for the family meeting Rob told us that we each should share something we recognize about ourselves that could use improvement and then share something that we see in each family member that could use improvement.  The goal as I understood it was to recognize that we all fall short of perfection and that there are some very real steps we could take to improve our family.

I will admit that I was sceptical.  Sharing faults is not my strong suit.  I'm a glass half full kind of girl and this seemed like a glass totally empty kind of activity.  I was wrong.  As we moved from person to person I was blessed to see that the comments were thoughtful and caring.  We were able to share some things with each other in a safe environment that really needed to be shared. 

We laughed together and truly listened to what others  had to say.  Most of the time we all agreed.  When we didn't agree we found it possible to let go without being defensive.  Our only difficult moment came when M8 cried while I held her.  Hearing about the things others don't like about you is hard for anyone but especially for a sensitive 8 year old.  Learning that some of your behaviors aren't charming is a tough lesson but it's a timely one.

Now I won't kid you that I found the process easy or especially pleasant.  It's hard to know that my children aren't blessed by me every minute of every day.  I'd love to be perfect for them.  It is good to know that I have the ability to bless them more often than I do.  It'll be difficult to break the huffy breath, eye roll habit that I have but I'm willing to try.  I'm also going to try to ask for help before I'm at the end of my rope.  And, I'm going to try to make my expectations clear and manageable. 

I think that we were all a little more mindful of our potential for improvement today.  I pray that as we move forward our circle remains unbroken and that we continue to find strength and support in each other.

Homecoming 2012

My beautiful daughter and her boyfriend before Homecoming.

Weekly Recap: October 1-5, 2012

This week was a good one.  We got a lot done.  Everyone is progressing nicely.

We are still facing challenges with fitting everything into the time we have.  I'm not unhappy with what we are doing but there is never enough time to fit it all in to the time permitted.  I'd love to add physics and art to our schedule next week.  We'll see how that goes. 

H13 is still having difficulty managing her time well but we are working on that.  I expect that by Christmas she will have a firm grip on her time and all subjects.

We are loving our book on c.d. - The Yearling by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings.  The kids are enjoying the story so much but I'm afraid before it's over they aren't going to be very happy with me.

K16 had a big week.  Homecoming is this weekend so she's been preparing for the dance.  She has the dress, the spray tan and, today, after years of waiting, she got her braces off.

It's so good to see that straight, white smile.

Beware of the Capsaicin

Today I decided to tackle the job of processing the jalapenos from our garden.  I picked out a recipe for easy jalapeno jelly and, even though I didn't have enough sugar to do the canning, I decided to go ahead and stem, seed and vein the jalapenos.  I read through the recipe tips, got my gloves and began to carefully cut the jalapenos.

 

About halfway through the jalapeno mountain my hands started to tingle.  I switched to a new pair of gloves.  My hands began to burn.  I finished 2/3 of the jalapeno pile and cried uncle.   

My hands were on fire so I washed them with soap.  The burning continued.  I did a quick check on the internet to see if there were tips to help ease my pain.  There were several suggestions:

Vegetable oil provided relief for a few minutes and then it didn't.

Unfortunately, the advice given didn't include drinking the alcohol.  Rather, I was to pour it over my fiery hands.    While this was more successful than the oil, I couldn't see soaking my hands in alcohol every few minutes to keep the burn away.  Since alcohol was suggested and I didn't have rubbing alcohol, I tried to think of something that was high in alcohol but not liquor.  This fit the bill. 

And, it worked.  I reapplied several times and waited several hours before the burn went away completely but, hands down, the hand sanitizer was the best solution.

From my jalapeno experience I have determined that if I can't even cut them without pain there is no good reason for me to ever grow or eat these precarious peppers again.

Wordless Wednesday: Scene from the Front Porch



My autumn front porch arrangement.  Too bad I can't get the cat to stay put all the time.



A New Direction

This morning I woke up and part of my life for the last 10+ years was gone.  It was a good feeling but also a strange feeling.  Last January I made the decision to resign my leadership position with a direct sales company that I loved.  Over the last 10 years my life has changed.  I've added a child, moved twice, made major lifestyle changes, and, as a result, adjusted my priorities.  While I loved building and training my team, my life was no longer such that I felt able to be a motivated and effective leader.  Giving up my team and leadership position was a big step.  While I knew I didn't want to be active in business. I also knew that giving everything up at once was more than I was ready to tackle.

Now, nine months later, I woke up and my business was gone.  The loss, long in coming, was freeing. Financially, we haven't missed the income from my former business.  When we moved to our new home, we made changes in our diet and lifestyle.  After Rob's surgery this summer, we made even more changes especially in our eating choices.  Moving even further toward whole food choices made my previous company something that holds little appeal.  Last night when I realized that I need to place an order or deactivate, I wasn't even tempted.  It's no longer a good fit.

I've already started to find activities that will use the time and talents that I developed in my business.  I am now a volunteer for Operation Christmas Child.  My job is to build a community relations team in an area where no community relations program exists.  I'm really excited about the possibilities and I'm excited to be using my talents.  I'm also excited at how this new adventure will involve my family. 

For so long my business has been about helping others by teaching them to build a business.  I set goals that moved me forward.  I helped others to get to my ultimate goal.  By sharing my gifts, everyone could benefit.  Now my focus is on Kingdom goals, sharing Christ with the world.  OCC focuses on high impact principles, in here, and out there goals.  This organization is about prayer and spiritual development.  It's about on earth as it is in heaven.

God's plan never ceases to amaze me.  As I read through the training materials I realized that I'd spent the last 10 years building skills that I would need for this new challenge.  As the team coordinator for community relations in a new area I get to build a new team and open up community partnerships in this area.  I can do this.  I know how to make presentations.  I have training in conference presentations and community event booths.  I have experience recruiting, training, motivating and leading a team.  I am ready for this.  God has made me ready for this.  I can't wait to see where this new direction takes me.