Weekly Intention: As you read this, I’m flying to Tokyo. I will arrive pretty late Monday and spend three and half days there and come back from Friday before David gets back from his trip, hopefully. David will be Yosemite the whole week, back country backpacking with his class. He’s not thrilled but I know it will be an adventure he won’t forget. I arranged my flight so I can be back before he is. So Nathaniel and Jake will be together just the two of them this week and I will be with my new team in Tokyo. I haven’t been to Tokyo since 1999. Back then, I spent six months there working for Goldman Sachs which is in fact in the same exact building Google is in so it will be interesting to go to the exact same spot where I was and see how much I remember, see how much has changed, see how I feel this time. I am nervous and excited and honestly so tired that a little unable to feel much. I have been studying some of my Japanese (which I used to be able to speak so much better 20 years ago) and mentally preparing myself for food I know I don’t like. So, anyway, here’s my intention for this week: I want to really be present with the people I am there with. I have some work I feel like I need to do while I am there but outside of that, I want to really focus on getting closer to the teams there and have the very best time I can. I want to be kind, generous, open.
This month’s intention is: Quietly Strong: How can you bring more calm into this month? May is chaotic with lots of endings and transitions. Celebrate but also stay calm. Stay grounded. What will help here? How can I show up as my best self?
One way I will stretch this week: Being in Tokyo will stretch me plenty.
One boundary I will set this week: I will make sure to go to sleep as early as possible on each of the nights. I know I will need my rest.
This week, I will focus on pleasing: my new manager+team.
One new thing I will learn this week: still Japanese.
One area where I will go deeper this week: the work my new team is planning to discuss.
What do I need to sit with this week? the overwhelm i seem to be feeling.
I am looking forward to: alone time on the plane, seeing tokyo again.
This week’s challenges: jetlag+a lot of socializing
Top Goals:
- Work: a successful tokyo summit + get pm summit in a good place
- Personal: do tabata, journal, eat well, rest.
- Family: come home and hug the kids super tight, support jake remotely as much as i can, chat daily
I will focus on my values:
- Love: self care and self love in all the down moments this week
- Learn: japanese, more about each team member
- Peace: peace with being away again
- Service: to the new team.
- Gratitude: to getting to go to tokyo again after all these years
This week, I want to remember: that i am doing a good job, there are phases in life and this is the one i am in at this moment.
Stronger Than Before is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018 here.
This week is about Nathaniel’s birthday, take your kid to work day, concert at nathaniel’s class.
Iove these photos so much!
they had two photo booths which of course i love love love too!
and another week down.
Moments from this Week 2018 is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018 here.
       
I flew long distance this week so that meant, there was much reading.
I really enjoyed The Gunners even though it took me a while to really get into it.
Sophia of Silicon Valley maybe should have been but wasn’t all that interesting to me considering I work in the Valley and understood the not so well disguised references. It was ok but really reasonably mediocre.
Tyler Johnson Was Here was another powerful book about gun violence. I believe these books are important to write and to read.
Only Human was the final installment of the Themis files and I loved it. I loved this whole series. I hope this author writes more.
Not That Bad was another book that I read because I believe it’s important to read. It was a very tough read but I am glad I did.
It’s Not Always Depression was interesting. I skimmed parts of it but I liked the idea behind it, I’ll see if I can use in the next month and then I’ll know how powerful it really was.
Genuine Fraud was trying too hard. I felt the same way about her previous book so I am not sure why I even read this one but there we are.
My Twentieth Century Evening and Other Small Breakthroughs: The Nobel Lecture was a super fast read and I love love love Ishiguro so I knew I was going to like it and of course I did.
Still in the book rut. I am still starting and stopping so many books.
Books I Read this Week 2018 is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018 here.
I tend to lead a relatively over-scheduled and disciplined life. I have a lot of goals and I work hard to achieve most of them. In the last few years, I’ve slowly made a lot of changes that moves me more and more away from the time wasters in my life. I watch no TV anymore and I only have Instagram which I will check a few times a day.
While I really like using my time well and productively, one thing I noticed this week is that I really need to make more space for magic in my life. Those moments where I really feel connected and my soul sings and really important to me. So much so that magical is one of my Core Desired Feelings this year. During my trip to Sydney, I made sure to take a moment and go to the beach, even if just for an hour, even if it was going to cost me too much in cabfare. It was magical to sit by the water and have a few moments for myself.
On the way home, I usually read books because I feel sad if I waste my time watching movies I don’t like. But this time, I watched The Greatest Showman and it almost immediately made me happy. I watched the whole movie with so much joy that I ended up going back and rewatching some sections. I decided to double down on the joy by watching some of Call Me by Your Name for the rest of the duration. I love that movie so much.
These small moments were a reminder to me that I need to look for the magic more often. I need to go to the movies again, I need to listen to music loudly, I need to be willing to take a break from being productive 24/7 and the opposite of working hard is not vegging out, it’s looking for magic and letting it fill my soul.
So here’s to taking the time to look for the magic.
On My Mind is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018 here.
I can’t believe my little one is already nine. I don’t have any little boys any more. They are both so big now. Nathaniel spent his birthday day with me at work and then with his Dad in the afternoon. That Friday he got to celebrate it at school with all of his friends.
He got a box of lovely notes from all of his classmates.
And then on Saturday he had 3 friends over for pizza, fun and then rock climbing.
All in all it was a lovely week of celebrating this sweet, kind, funny, gentle, loving boy!! We love you so much Nathaniel and we are so so so so grateful to be your parents!!
Stories from 2018 is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018here.
Weekly Intention: This is my one week at home before I fly to Tokyo on Sunday. Early in the week, I am work heavy partly due to preparation for Google IO and partly to catch up from having been gone last week. And then Nathaniel leaves on Wednesday for a camping trip so I want to spend all my free moments with him on Monday and Tuesday since he comes back on Friday afternoon and I leave early Sunday. I have a trip to the school on Wednesday and twice on Friday. So it promises to be reasonably hectic. My intention is to spend a lot of time with the kids and Jake before I disappear again And then second intention is to seriously catch up at work so I feel like I am making tangible progress towards the work due next week and first week of June.
This month’s intention is: Quietly Strong: How can you bring more calm into this month? May is chaotic with lots of endings and transitions. Celebrate but also stay calm. Stay grounded. What will help here? I’ll say I was reasonably calm in Sydney. I hope this week goes so as well.
One way I will stretch this week: I will go a slight extra bit on work so I can feel good about where we are.
One boundary I will set this week: I will protect my time with the family and the work.
This week, I will focus on pleasing: my boys and me.
One new thing I will learn this week: Japanese. I am studying it again just to help jog some of my memory.
One area where I will go deeper this week: the summit. i will go as deep as I need to so I can make sure I feel like I have it under control.
What do I need to sit with this week? still how i am feeling i guess but honestly i don’t think it’s going to happen this week.
I am looking forward to: snuggling.
This week’s challenges: getting all the work into a solid shape.
Top Goals:
- Work: get pm summit in a good place, send homework for tokyo summit, and geist groups
- Personal: do HIIT, journal, eat well, rest, pack
- Family: help nathaniel, snuggle with nathaniel, spend time with david and jake
I will focus on my values:
- Love: lots of love to the boys this week before I disappear again
- Learn: japanese
- Peace: peace with the craziness of this week
- Service: to the boys and school.
- Gratitude: to having a full life.
This week, I want to remember: that it’s going to be okay, work will get done, everything will come together
Stronger Than Before is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018 here.
How I got Stronger this week: I’d hate to be repetitive but this, too, was a challenging week, I think I have about 5 of these coming up. I was in Australia all week and worked a bit of USA timezone as well as all of the Australia time zone. I woke up 2am one day for a meeting I wanted to make sure to dial into but otherwise it was relatively reasonable. I went to bed 7-8pm every night and woke up 4am every morning. I did HIIT two of the four days I was there and I plan to do it every day this week, too. It was hard but I am on it.
Top Goals Review: no speaker yet but still actively looking, didn’t really do very much here in general. may exercise is HIIT, journaled a total of zero times, ate so so, did rest a lot. helped nathaniel and talked to kids daily!
I celebrate: I celebrate being back home safely.
I am grateful for: the really good performance review I received this time around. super super grateful for people’s kindness.
Karen’s Points: working on HIIT for this month.
A Change I embraced: I ended up spending Saturday at work but it was worthwhile.
I let go of: worrying about time zones and what had to be done when and did as much as i could.
Core Desired Feelings Check-in:
- Fresh: started taking duolingo lessons online in preparation for my Tokyo trip.
- Magical: magical to get to snuggle with my kids. also i saw the Greatest Show on Earth on the plane which was also magical.
- Lighter: Lighter now that Sydney trip is done. Now I can fully focus on my new job.
- True: still feeling off. i was hoping to take some time in SYD but i had a lot of company on the way there and back so no moments alone and then i ended up sleeping at 7 each night so no time to work there either. Maybe I’ll get luckier with the trip to TOK.
Where I chose Joy: i chose joy for an hour on Friday when I went to go sit by the beach.
I showed up for: my old team this week by traveling to Sydney and putting together the summit.
A Mistake I made this week: i am still jumping the gun a bit more often than I’d like. I’d like to be quieter and more patient.
What I tolerated this week: exhaustion.
My mood this week was: so-so.
I forgive myself for: not getting enough done, i will catch up.
What I love right now: my family and how much i love being with them.
Weekly Reflection is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018 here.
I only took one photo this week. It’s a simple spread of just our ordinary life. I love those the most of all.
Moments from this Week 2018 is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018 here.
   
Circe was an okay read for me, I liked bits of it a lot and thought other bits dragged on longer than necessary but it was different and interesting.
Unbury Carol had such an interesting premise but the book really wasn’t a good fit for me and I didn’t connect with it at any point.
We read The Princess Bride as part of LitClub I teach in my kids’ school and I hate hate hate the movie so I was really not looking forward to reading the book but I will admit that I absolutely loved this book. It was fantastic and hilarious and just such a joy to read.
Family and Other Catastrophes was terrible. It was offensive on so many levels and I know that was on purpose but it was just over the top and I truly didn’t like it. I should have stopped reading it long long before it ended. Absolutely terrible for me.
I’m in a terrible book rut. I keep starting and stopping so many books. Which is extra depressing because I am about to get on an airplane soon again where I have a lot of time to read. So here’s to hoping I get out of the rut!
Books I Read this Week 2018 is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018 here.
This week at work, I took a class and part of what she taught us were these three concentric circles. In the innermost circle, you have your “comfort zone” which is where most of us are most of the time. And then there is the Adventure Zone which feels a bit scary but also thrilling and you can visit there and learn a lot and the more time you spend there, the wider your comfort zone grows. And then there’s the Panic Zone which doesn’t feel good and most importantly, you can’t learn anything while you’re there.
I’ve been thinking a lot about my life, my work, my choices in terms of these circles lately. I think my comfort zone is reasonably small and I often live in the Adventure zone and I really try not to go into panic zone because I hate being in a place where I can’t learn.
What’s interesting is how compelled I feel to go to the Adventure Zone. I was wondering why I might keep doing it to myself. I think one reason is because my comfort zone is smaller than average. I have very few things that really feel comfortable in my life. Maybe when I am curled up in bed reading but otherwise not often. I am anxious and scared often and I worry a lot so if I really needed to only be in my comfort zone, I’d have a pretty small life.
The other thing is that I have an almost obsessive need to learn constantly. About myself, about the world, about all things. I always want to grow, evolve, and know more. This incredible thirst for knowledge gives me the drive to go into my adventure zone and take risks because the reward of learning is so big for me. And because I live there so often the quiet times in my comfort zone are really important for my recovery.
Which is also why I feel absolutely no desire to be in the panic zone. There’s nothing good for me there. And I avoid it at all costs.
I really liked thinking about my life in these terms and I now will stop and ask myself what zone i am in at a moment in time so I can see if I need a push forward or the space to go backward into a smaller circle.
On My Mind is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018 here.
We were super lucky this year because Take Your Kids to Work Day fell right on top of Nathaniel’s birthday! I was extra lucky because my manager also has a son around Nathaniel’s age so he also had the morning with his son and thus our meetings were canceled. So Nathaniel and I had breakfast, spent the morning together and then Jake joined us for lunch and took Nathaniel home to spend the afternoon with him while I sat in meetings.
Nathaniel trying the Street View car. And exercising (below.)
This was a Google Fit challenge he had to complete to get a prize.
Our program and map.
 Photo with the Waymo car.
Nathaniel watching the VR that the Waymo car experiences.
My wonderful nine year old!!
Having some fun with the Android dude.
And making stop motion animation.
Loved the quote of course.
Photo time!
Doing map reduce with legos.
And playing some AR games. 
This one was a fishing game where the grass has a pond in it and you fish.
It was a really lovely morning and such a joy to have N at work with me!
Stories from 2018 is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018here.
Weekly Intention: I am on a plane to Sydney as you reads this. I will have four days there and will spend 3 days traveling. I will be working really long days there as all my days will begin around 6am every day so I can have decent overlap with California. I then come back home on Saturday to a reasonably busy week. So my plan in Sydney is to sleep as much as I can and to bond with people during the week and also to do job #2 as much as I can so I don’t fall behind.
This month’s intention is: Quietly Strong: How can you bring more calm into this month? May is chaotic with lots of endings and transitions. Celebrate but also stay calm. Stay grounded. What will help here? Oh this is so perfect. I don’t know how they each end up being so perfect but I love this, it’s exactly what I need this month.
One way I will stretch this week: Uhm the super crazy hours will do it.
One boundary I will set this week: I am going not feel guilty not socializing too much this week. I will be busy running around and not getting enough sleep as is, so the rest of the time I will rest.
This week, I will focus on pleasing: my old team, likely for the last time.
One new thing I will learn this week: hopefully some new plans for the upcoming summit.
One area where I will go deeper this week: no specific ideas this week.
What do I need to sit with this week? how i’m feeling, i’ve been feeling a bit off and i’d like to sit with it.
I am looking forward to: a little quiet time on the airplane.
This week’s challenges: jet lag+work+socializing+crazy hours.
Top Goals:
- Work: find speaker for pm summit, get the rest of the events organized into the schedule, go through submissions
- Personal: find may exercise, journal, eat well, rest
- Family: help nathaniel remotely, talk to kids daily
I will focus on my values:
- Love: i am going to give some love to my jaw this week, and get extra rest each time i can
- Learn: learn how i can get a speaker
- Peace: peace with being remote this week
- Service: one last service to my old group.
- Gratitude: my wonderful husband who supports me so much.
This week, I want to remember: that this is one week in the grand scheme and all will be ok.
Stronger Than Before is a year-long project for 2018. You can read more about my projects for 2018 here.
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projects for twenty twenty-five
projects for twenty twenty-four
projects for twenty twenty-three
projects for twenty twenty-two
projects for twenty twenty-one
projects for twenty nineteen
projects for twenty eighteen
projects from twenty seventeen
monthly projects from previous years
some of my previous projects
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