Week in the Life 2016 – Day 5

Friday started with a 6am meeting. I woke up just a few minutes before the meeting and quickly got breakfast ready and got right to work.

I had spent hours catching up to email the night before but still woke up to 45 new ones. And here was one. I am overdue on my vacation days.

Little boy woke up soon after and gave me a big smile.

And then it was time for my 1-1 with Jon. 

We we scheduled to go to Nathaniel’s conference at 7:45 so when my two meetings ended I took a quick shower and jumped in the car. 

We got to school right before Jake so the kids ran to greet him.

Nathaniel showed us his year’s work. It was so much fun.

A little outline of his conference which he got to run.

Apparently there will be much Harry Potter this summer.

David was able to join us too since it was before school started.

Jake then went to work and I went to Cafe Borrone to meet my friend Chris to talk to her about the middle school process.

It was sunny but really cold.

After she left, I did a bit of work there and then went to the bookstore to get David’s friend Luca a birthday present. We always get books. 

I had this awkward amount of time between then and my lunch meeting so I decided to do some more work. And then I decided to read my book club book right before I was to meet them. It was a graphic novel so I thought maybe I could pull it off.

Some tea and reading. My favorite thing to do.

Then it was book club time. Still really cold.

After that I went home to warm up and do a lot more work. Work work work and then time to pick up the boys.

David telling me a story  (which did not relate to why he was so incredibly dirty.)

On the way back home.

I did a bunch more work and then decided to take a bit of time off and warm up and watch TV while the kids showered.

Jake came home and there was much rejoicing.

Calvin and Hobbes has become popular again in the house. Love love love Calvin.

We seem to get these semi-dead yellowjackets in the kids’ bathroom a few times a year. They are really scary for the kids and not easy to kill. This one looks dead but wasn’t. We just let him outside.

David and I then left for his school because he was inducted into the graduation class. And there was an event where the current 8th graders and 12th graders came back to talk about their elementary school experiences.

Each of the 5th graders got up on stage and talked about their favorite memory of what they will miss the most.

I hadn’t had dinner (or lunch) so we grabbed some Starbucks on the way home.

Once home, I did some math with Nathaniel and then tucked him in. Jake was doing some work so David and I both read.

He then started doing some journaling in code.

And that was Friday. A few hours of reading, a bit more work, and I called it a night.

May 21, 2016 | Week in the Life 2016 | Leave a comment

Week in the Life 2016 – Day 4

Today started with a 5:30 meeting. I woke up just a few minutes before the meeting and quickly got breakfast ready and got right to work.

Little boy came down right before 6am and snuggled under the covers.

Then Daddy got up and there was much much excitement.

Time for breakfast and a bit of computer time as they wait for the oatmeal to cool off.

Jake took them to the shuttle today so I walked them to the door to give them hugs.

Love these boys so much.

I quickly showered and headed to work. More Fellside, and my favorite companion: google maps.

Not the best angle. but here we are. all serious looking.

The best part of going to work is the wonderful coffee.

and the food!

It was supposed to be overcast today but it was very sunny when i got to work.

I found a room that was free for a few hours and settled in.

Ate breakfast and got ready for my 8:30am.

Right before the meeting my mom called so we got to say a quick hi. Love my mom so much.

This is my work-mate Ernesta. She’s awesome. All the way in Zurich.

I meant to take more photos but the rest of the day is a blur. I had more meetings and then gave a presentation on Mentoring and was on a panel and then drove back home to change and head to school for pickup. Here’s the only shot I have. Not the best.

Little boy was ready for me when I got there.

He played a bit and I went to go get David.

Another shot on the way home. Kids really love it.

I wanted to take a photo of my desk for posterity. So you can see how not organized I am lately. Yes, it’s driving me mad.

Shower and dinner. Boys started doing homework while I did work.

David had to design his own money tonight.Pick important historical figures.

The kids played a game while I worked some more. They got so into it that Nathaniel ended up having to take another shower.

Then it was time for the little one to head to bed. I tucked him in and went back to doing work. I had 132 emails in my inbox and I was determined to make my way through all of them for once and all.

One more shot of the little boy.

Jake came home right then, hugged the boys, and kindly went out to get gas for my car and a quick dinner for us so I could keep working.

I finally managed to finish all my emails, my work, and gave one more hug to David. Typing this up as Jake falls asleep next to me (hello, jetlag!) and will then head to bed for another early start tomorrow.

 

May 19, 2016 | Week in the Life 2016 | Leave a comment

May 2016 – Choosing Means – 15

Today’s card says: Some choices seem inevitable but nothing is ever written in stone. just because you always did it one way does not mean you have to continue. today can be the first day you create a different story. a new way.

I feel like I’ve talked about this particular theme several times this month already. But apparently I felt I needed the reminder more than once. Because I didn’t read the previous cards when I was writing new ones.

So maybe this is a message for me to remember that I don’t have to be who I am today. I can be someone else tomorrow. I can be someone else in the next 5 minutes. I can be a different person.

I can also be the same person and have a different story about it. I can do what I’ve done and feel good about it. Or ok at least. I can choose what things mean. I can choose how I see myself. I can choose all of it.

This is hard for me to remember. That I can change me. I can change my story. I can change what I make things mean. I can change nothing and just choose to be ok with what is. I can do whatever I want. All of the options are available to me.

The hardest thing is remembering that I have choices.

And so I need the reminder.

Again and again.

And again.

Hence the multiple cards. 

Choosing Means is a Monthly Project for May 2016. You can read more about my projects for 2016 here.

May 19, 2016 | Choosing Means | Leave a comment

May 2016 – Choosing Means – 14

Today’s card says: To be able to choose you need to pay attention. you need to slow down or even stop and realize that there is a moment of choice. a moment where you get to make a decision.

If I can remember one thing about choosing, it would have to be this one. If I want to choose, I need to know that there’s a space to make a choice at a particular moment. Without that knowledge, without recognizing that space, I don’t have any chance of making the right choice. Because I can’t make any choice at all.

When I listen to meditation experts, this is the one point that is often made about meditating. That meditation helps you get better at paying attention. At noticing that millisecond of choice. Even though I know this, and I want to get better at catching that moment, I still don’t meditate. (just like i don’t exercise lately at all.)

This is also why we have the 24-hour rule in our house. It forces us to have the moment of choice stretched out to a whole day. Something happens to you -> you’re not allowed to do anything in return for 24 hours. I can feel sad, mad, i can cry but I am not allowed to take some action for a day. This means I extend my moment of choice. Which then makes it much easier not to make an emotional reaction. It makes it easier to be rational, thoughtful, and purposeful.

So I need to do this more. I need to be able to walk away. To hold back. To stay silent. Let my brain catchup with my emotions. If I make a rule to stay silent each time. To count to ten in my head before I say anything. It will make it much likely that I respond and not react. If I make a rule that I have to say something to my kids quietly 5 times before I yell, it makes it harder to react. Because I have to keep count that I did it 4 times, etc. I work much better with consistent rules. So making a rule I have to apply every single time is easier for me.

So maybe that’s the trick here. A modified version of the 24-hour rule. Maybe this will help me choose what will help me to pay attention and notice all the moments of choice that are present. Choosing to create room to choose.

Choosing Means is a Monthly Project for May 2016. You can read more about my projects for 2016 here.

May 19, 2016 | Choosing Means | Leave a comment

Week in the Life 2016 – Day 3

Today started with a 6am meeting. So I woke up early, prepped some of the lunch and breakfast. Then I had a few minutes and read my favorite email of the day. I like to start my days with theSkimm.

Then it was time for team meeting.

Today’s meeting had a demo which was fun.

Little boy was awake and dressed of course. He finished off making lunches and then woke David up.

While I went from meeting to meeting, the boys ate their food and got ready for school.

I had a total of 4 minutes between meetings to get them to the shuttle. David is getting so tall.

A quick shot on the way again.

After many more meetings, I went out for lunch again to my friend Allison’s house for our book club. It’s hosted once every 6 weeks or so and I always try to make time for it. It was super hot today so I dressed light because I knew I was going from her house to the school.

After our lunch, I went to the kids’ school to meet with the principal because I am the head of the parent association this year and I have had recurring meetings with the head of the school all year long. Today was our last one. After him, I met with another Administration member to help work some details out for next year (coordinating volunteering across the school.) And then it was almost time for school to get out so I just grabbed the kids a bit early so we could rush home for my meeting.

I had a meeting for an hour when we got home so the kids showered and did their homework during that time. Then we had plans to go get ice cream but I was tired and not in the mood to walk in the heat so we came up with a different plan instead. We ordered pizza hut which said it would take 35 minutes to get here and then left the house to go to the corner store.

We got ice cream, pears and carrots and walked back home. With 10 minutes left to spare.

Nathaniel did another round with the garden because it’s been so hot and the plants are craving water.

The pizza came right on time so we dug in. After a slice each we were totally full. The kids ate cheese and I had pepperoni and pineapple.

There was some room left for ice cream of course.

Then it was time to get into PJs and read a bit while I type this. As soon as I am done we will do a bit more math and then he’s off to bed.

David’s already in his room, and Jake is on his way back home (so thankful!) Once the kids are down, I need to write interview feedback, go through my emails, do a bit more work and then it’s sleep time for me, too, since it’s another 5am day tomorrow.

May 18, 2016 | Week in the Life 2016 | One comment

Week in the Life 2016 – Day 2

I needed to make sure I was sleeping before 10:30 last night so I decided it was ok if this came a day late 🙂

Today was a super-early start because I had a 5:30am meeting.

Nathaniel slept with me again but when I woke up, he was clearly still too tired so I asked him if he wanted to go back to sleep and that I’d wake him up at 6 when my first meeting was over. He said ok. I went downstairs and did a quick lunch prep to make it easier on Nathaniel, also prepped the oatmeal and then sat down with my tea.

I spend most of my days like this. On videoconference with my team mates. Since I work with a team in Zurich, a lot of my meetings and work is early AM. Right before this meeting, I snuck upstairs and woke up Nathaniel as I’d promised.

a

While I was in my meeting, Nathaniel prepared lunch for both him and David. He’s been doing this all year. He’s a total gem.

We took one more shot on the way to the shuttle. David didn’t forget his glasses this time.

Since I was meeting my mentee for lunch, I decided to eat a small breakfast. Small yogurt with a few berries.

Then it was time to get organized again and figure out what I had to do today.

On the way to the cafe where I met my mentee (she’s out on maternity but we still try to check in with each other) I listened to my book. I’m currently reading Imagine Me Gone by Adam Hasslett and listening to Fellside by M.R. Carey. I love listening to my books when I am in the car.

I had a lovely lunch with my mentee and then drove back home for more work and then it was time to pick up the boys. Nathaniel gets out earlier and he’s always waiting for me in this corner.

We drove straight home today and I asked David if I could get a shot, this is what he let me have. He wasn’t super thrilled.

Nathaniel watered all the plants in the front and backyard while David showered.

David did this math homework while Nathaniel showered and I prepared their dinner. We are super early today because David has a music class and then we had plans to leave right after.

While they ate I turned on CNN to see how the primaries had gone. Nothing super surprising.

Nathaniel has to read 20 minutes a day for his homework. He loves reading series and is currently reading Ellery Jake series.

David started tuning his guitar in preparation for his teacher. He usually plays the acoustic guitar but he’s preparing for a Talent Show in two weeks so he’s practicing the electric guitar these weeks. 

His teacher is here and they are practicing Superheroes by The Script.

While he is with his teacher, Nathaniel and I continue our math class from yesterday. Today’s topic is Order of Operations.

As soon as the teacher leaves, we drive to our local bookstore. Today’s the release day for my friend Evelyn’s book and several of us volunteered to help her setup.

Here she is with her awesome daughter Reese!

A wonderful pastry chef did the amazing food and she made Russian desserts (the book takes place in Imperial Russia) and look at these swans!!

More Russian desserts 🙂

Here’s Angela who organizes the events at Kepler’s bookstore and Evelyn’s good friend.

And then Evelyn and Sabaa whose book was also awesome.

I had preordered my copy so David started reading it right away.

Sabaa then interviewed Evelyn and the crowd had a lot of questions and it was a really lovely evening. I am so incredibly happy for my friend. Her book is really really awesome. Our first grade teacher and 7 of Reese’s classmates were also there to support them and it was really nice. By the time we were done it was almost 9 and well past bedtime so we drove back home and Nathaniel went right to bed. David decided he wanted to as well. I spent a few hours doing some more work and then headed to bed myself.

And here we are. Day 2.

May 18, 2016 | Week in the Life 2016 | Leave a comment

A Book a Week – Maybe in Another Life

I read Maybe in Another Life because I read about it somewhere and it sounded lovely.

And it was.

I love the Sliding Doors movie and I loved the idea behind this book.

And it did not disappoint. I read it in one sitting, I cried. I loved it.

It’s light reading, it’s sweet, it’s relatively predictable (though not 100% which was a nice surprise for me.)

Lovely summer read.

May 18, 2016 | Books Read in 2015 | 3 comments

May 2016 – Choosing Means – 13

Today’s card says: Sometimes you get to choose short term discomfort for long term gifts. some things take time and perseverance to pay off and sometimes it’s ok to choose just to rest. 

I think one of the saddest things about being in today’s world (and I think there are a lot of great things about being in this time and age) is that most of us don’t seem to have patience anymore. We want things to happen now. I am one of those people who have the ability to focus for long periods of time. I can sit and read a book from start to finish without getting up. I can work at my desk for hours on end.

Or I used to be able to.

Now I find that I have no patience. It’s not that I am distracted (though I am that too sometimes), it’s just that I have no patience. I don’t have the perseverance to stick with something, especially if I have a sense that it will take a long time to accomplish my goal. I don’t even have the patience for a 4-minute video if I don’t think it will be interesting. Or to read articles online, etc.

Let alone for the big things like exercise or learning a new skill. I just feel tired and I feel like sometimes it just all feels like too much. And I want to remind myself that sometimes it’s ok to choose the discomfort. The hard work that comes with choosing to grow, change, learn. And sometimes it’s ok to just take a time out. To rest. To relax. To just stop trying so much.

I try hard often and in many areas of my life. So, for me, the choice sometimes is about letting myself off the hook. Telling myself it’s ok to take a break and be ok with not constantly making it hard for myself.

But I also want to choose more patience. slowing down. choosing things that I know are worth the work and maybe changing the nature of the work so it doesn’t feel like work so much. Which, maybe, is a compromise.

Or maybe it’s another choice point.

Choosing Means is a Monthly Project for May 2016. You can read more about my projects for 2016 here.

May 18, 2016 | Choosing Means | Leave a comment

2016 Stories – 20 – The Crown’s Game

My sweet friend Evelyn quit her job six years ago to be come a writer. She was lawyer before but decided she wanted to write. And this year she published her first novel. It’s a Young Adult novel called The Crown’s Game. The book became a huge hit and debuted at #3 in the New York Times best seller list.

Doesn’t she make it look easy?

I know that she spent a lot of those six years writing, rewriting, throwing away, beginning again, doing a lot of putting herself out there, etc. But it’s still quite an amazing story to be able to set such an audacious goal and then to meet it. (Exceed it even!)

I am so proud of her and so very happy for her.

When her book launched, she had a big event at our local book store. Part of the event was the amazing food. She had a friend make Russian pastries that were in the theme of the book. These swans were part of the story. The entire event was magnificent and a wonderful celebration to her amazing accomplishment. I was so very grateful to get to be there to celebrate with her.

She is in the process of revising the sequel and I cannot wait to read it!

Stories from 2016 is a year-long project for 2016. You can read more about my projects for 2016 here.

May 17, 2016 | Stories of Twenty Sixteen | Leave a comment

May 2016 – Choosing Means – 12

Today’s card says:  You get to choose your past. What you choose to remember, what you choose to bring to the present moment, what you choose to still hang on to is all up to you.

When I was in 6th grade (or maybe 5th grade), we were assigned Jonathan Livingston Seagull as summer reading. I remember immediately falling in love with the story and going through a Richard Bach period where I read all of his books. Nothing measured up to JLS for me but I spent quite some time on Illusions. And there’s a quote in that book that says:

“You are led through your lifetime by the inner learning creature, the playful spiritual being that is your real self. Don’t turn away from possible futures before you’re certain you don’t have anything to learn from them. You’re always free to change your mind and choose a different future, or a different past.” -Illusions by Richard Bach

I didn’t understand this quote at all at the time. How were you free to choose a different past? But then, over the years, I’ve made my own interpretation of this and wrote about it here and here. (sidebar: How is it possible that I wrote that first post fifteen years ago!) And I find it to be a powerful reminder each time I see myself falling back into my old patterns.

Choosing the word choose was all about reminding myself that I hold the power to choose not only what to do, how to respond but also what to hang on to and what to let go of. What I make things mean. What I bring into this present moment. What I take away from this moment. What I move into the future with me. It’s about choosing what I learn and what I forgive and what I embrace. It’s about all of it. Remembering that I hold the power of how I live my life.

How I choose to interpret it.

Choosing Means is a Monthly Project for May 2016. You can read more about my projects for 2016 here.

May 17, 2016 | Choosing Means | 2 comments

Week in the Life 2016 – Day 1

As I watched Ali post her Week in the Life posts, I realized how much I enjoyed looking at them and decided I wanted to go ahead and try for this week. I have no idea whether I will be able to sustain it all week but I will try. I don’t think I’ve done one of these since 2014 and my life is quite different since then.

This morning was exceptional for several reasons. I usually wake up around 4:45 to 5:15 because I have meetings with my team in Zurich but today was a national holiday there so I got to sleep in until 6:30, which would have been a miracle except I woke up at 5am and tossed and turned. I didn’t sleep well all night because I was sad about the small car accident I got into yesterday (i am ok!) It was also an unusual morning because Jake’s back home in Boston for his uncle’s memorial. So it’s just me and the kids until later this week.

Since I didn’t have any meetings until 9am, I did what I’ve been doing a lot lately which is to turn on CNN. I’ve been obsessed with this election cycle and can’t seem to stop watching CNN. It’s to the point of an unhealthy obsession and I am sad to see that most often the news is not really fit for my kids. (Like this morning.) So I turn it off and Skype with my mom. (and then my sister too!)

Nathaniel slept with me last night and it was so nice to wake up and give him a big hug. He then got dressed and came down to make lunches for both kids.

The kids ate their oatmeal and brushed their teeth and it was time to leave for the shuttle. Since I usually have back to back meetings in the morning, they usually take the shuttle which is only 4 minutes away and allows me to leave one meeting a bit early and be a bit late to the next one.

We took a selfie on the way to the shuttle.

And there they go. On Mondays and Wednesdays, they have a good friend on the shuttle so they like riding it.

Since it was a very rare day of not having a meeting right after, I drove to Starbucks and got a Latte and the spinach foldover (which wasn’t great today) and got a moment to enjoy breakfast (with more CNN.)

I organized my June project and put a new banner on my site for it. And started thinking about what I might want to do for July. It helps to think ahead in the summer months.

This is my calendar for the week. It’s not pretty. I have a lot of meetings. Especially those back to back 30 minute ones in the early mornings are not my favorite. I was gone for a work offsite Wednesday to Friday last week so I am really behind in email and I just don’t see myself catching up super soon.

Here’s how I spend most of my day. Reading email, writing email, or in meetings.

I often work with both my computers in front of me. Meeting in one, doing work on the other.

I was waiting for one of my workmates to show up to a meeting and randomly had a need to put this temporary tattoo on me. Love these little gems.

Meeting gets canceled last minute so I take the opportunity to plan out my week and write down my todos.

More work, more meetings, and then time for lunch. I had a coaching client today over lunch so actual lunch is while I work. Crackers + goat cheese + tomato = happy place. I spend a lot of time on a presentation I will give later this week on Mentoring.

Another hour of work and then it’s time to interview a candidate. I take notes furiously as he speaks. So I can remember my feedback when I put it into the system.

As soon as the interview is done, I jump in the car because it’s time to pickup the kids. Yep, it’s so very sunny outside. Pretty much every day.

Nathaniel’s class is already out.

He’s got an art project and a card from his reading buddy.

David gets out about 15 minutes after Nathaniel so I sit at the playground for that time and chat with the other moms while Nathaniel plays. This is Adriana who is also often there.

The kids are hot and ask me if we can please get some ice cream. I tell them we can’t go to where they usually like to go because I am still shaken up from yesterday’s car thing and would like to park somewhere easy. So we decide to stay local. When I see this mirror, I can’t resist taking a shot.

The chocolaty ones are Nathaniel’s and mine, the crazy colorful one is David’s. I threw mine away because it had a lot of nuts. Way way too many nuts.

We grab a few bagels and finally make it home. David jumps into the shower and the boys get ready for swimming which is in an hour. They eat the bagels we got and Nathaniel and I spend this time doing a Udacity course that David and I did years ago: Intro to Algebra Review. The beginning is easy and he flies through the lessons. (David and I are now doing the College Algebra one, the beginning of that one is easy too, we’ll see how hard it gets.)

The kids eat dinner and then it’s time for swimming class.

After we come home from swimming, the boys do a quick video chat with Jake and his brother’s family and his parents. Then, the boys shower and David and I do some math and then Nathaniel and I do a tiny bit more so he can finish the first section. David does his homework. Then it’s time for the little boy to go to bed. He’s going to sleep with me again tonight so David and I tuck him in.

I then come down and turn CNN on again. David’s in his room, reading. I send a few more emails, work some more on my presentation, type up the “choosing means” post for tomorrow, and I will go to bed as soon as I finish typing this up. Tomorrow’s first meeting is 5:30am so I need all the sleep I can get.

 

May 16, 2016 | Week in the Life 2016 | Leave a comment

May 2016 – Choosing Means – 11

Today’s card says: You get to choose who you are at every moment of every day. nothing is set in stone, including you. who you are can change moment to moment, you get to choose.

I wrote this down because I think about this a lot. Often enough that I have created a few cards this month that say the same thing. Because I can’t remember this one often enough. The biggest reason I picked the word choose this year was to remind myself that I get to choose who I am at any moment. How I can respond and not react to events. Part of this is remembering that who I’ve been does not have to be who I will be in this moment. Or who I will be tomorrow.

As we grow up, we form parts of our identity. Good at math, not good at sports, geeky, introverted, shy, loud, bad at writing, good at music, etc. etc. And I made mine just like most others I know. I then spend my days perpetuating this identity, especially in my head. When opportunities come up to do things, it goes through the filter of how I see myself. I am not good at social events, so when I am invited I choose not to go. I love reading so when it has to do with books, I go. Hiking/running – no. Quiet conversations – yes.

But the thing is, just because it’s been true, it doesn’t have to continue to be true. As much as I believe in stepping into who we are wholly (and i really really do) I also believe in choosing to be anything you want to be. If i want to be a runner, I just have to get up and do it. Yes, I will suck at first, but I’ve had years of practice not being a runner so I have to give this new identity some time to grow. I can be a runner. Someone who’s social. Someone who can dance, drive on the freeway, play a musical instrument, or whatever else I choose to be.

The important part is the choice part. I don’t have to do any of these things for other people or for society. I don’t have to do them at all.

But I can.

The choice is up to me.

Choosing Means is a Monthly Project for May 2016. You can read more about my projects for 2016 here.

May 16, 2016 | Choosing Means | Leave a comment

« Newer Entries  
  Older Entries »