Things can change in a day

"It's true. Things can change in a day." Arundhati Roy wrote this in her beautiful and powerful novel, The God of Small Things. And though not quite as dramatic my last day at National Wildlife Federation will be one of those days. This day will mark the end of an unexpected decade (plus) long career. I have often wondered when this day would come and can only say it is time - I am professionally and personally ready. I will leave with the wisdom of mentors who have been of the highest caliber contributing to my professional growth and career advancement. I will keep with me the friends who have been there to share in the greatest days of my life notably my marriage to my husband, Josh, and the birth of my son, Dylan. In the coming decade, I look forward to finding and working with colleagues and friends who are as smart, talented, and passionate as those of National Wildlife Federation.

Amazing Juggling Finale

In my ever-present quest to entertain my baby boy, I am teaching myself to juggle (no small feat for a girl who hasn't mastered the simple catch). So, I do what we all do in the internet age, I turned to Google for help and inspiration. Well, Chris Bliss doesn't disappoint -- quite amazing. As for me, I have made one juggling rotation and am working up to a second. As for my son, even though I haven't learned to juggle, he is entertained by the process.

My Text Resolution

My resolution is to become a proficient text-er and here's where my story begins --

First, in the mall shopping during the holiday season riding the escalator behind a teenage text-er and feeling oh so irrelevant with my 60 words/minute on the keyboard.

Second, my father-in-law notes he can never reach his college bound daughter because she never answers the phone when it rings she only responds to IM. A-ha! 30 minutes later a successful text message and immediate call back from said daughter.

Third, as a new mom projecting that experience forward to my son who will have this once-hip internet-savvy mom who uses a computer to send messages (how embarrassing!)

So, I am teaching myself to be good at texting and to help me get started, learning more abbreviations than just LOL and BRB.

RSS Explained

Real Simple Syndication is not so simple to explain to the uninitiated. To that end, I recently had an opportunity to share this explanation with a client to favorable reception...

"Back in the day, one had to walk to the corner to get a newspaper until the day the newspaper came delivered right to our front door. Then, along comes the Internet where we essentially have to go to the corner again and get our newspaper, until RSS where we can now have the paper delivered to our front door once more."

For me, this also demonstrates the value of RSS when it meets a need and challenges us to define that value for our business and for our customer.

First, Break All The Rules

If you know me well, you know I LOVE this book. And, I always enjoy talking with someone who is reading for the first time. So, imagine my delight when my friend who just opened his own salon (it's fabulous, visit Jacques Dessange) told me he was reading this book.

The 12 questions stood out for my friend most:

1. Do I know what is expected of me at work?
2. Do I have the materials and equipment I need to do my work right?
3. At work, do I have the opportunity to do what I do best everyday?
4. In the last seven days, have I received recognition or praise for doing good work?
5. Does my supervisor or someone at work seem to care about me as a person?
6. Is there someone at work who encourages my development?
7. At work, do my opinions seem to count?
8. Does the mission/purpose of my company make me feel my job is important?
9. Are my co-workers committed to doing quality work?
10. Do I have a best friend at work?
11. In the last six months, has someone at work talked to me about my progress?
12. This last year, have I had the opportunity at work to learn and grow?

The best managers strive for employees to answer yes to each of these twelve questions, and among the most important is the best friend question which was most surprising to my friend, Claude.

One of my favorites from this book, "hire for attitude, train for skill."

Finding Comfort in Opposite Resolutions

On ALLPM is this resolution, "I will not let the little things slide." When I read this resolution and decided to adopt it for my very own, I was in a project management state of mind. Later, as my husband and I negotiated our night routine complete with screaming baby, I realized in love the big things are what matter. Here, I resolved to let the little things slide.

Getting Blog Attention

It's all the rage. I know I have posted something similar in the past, though you can never have too much of a good thing (or can you?)

http://www.gettingattention.org/my_weblog/2006/10/5_steps_to_buil.html

Treehugger

Though no longer working directly for the cause, the environment remain my passion. The ways in which we can save the environment sometimes seem unusual, perhaps even radical as displayed in the vide, though they are simple and I think this video does a nice job demonstrating the thought.

Proper Education and directly on YouTube

Unboxing! Seriously?

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