Category Archives: working mom

Ripping of the Band-Aid and Scary Things

“Today is the day” I thought to myself. I’ll just go ahead and get it out of the way first thing in the morning. Then I proceeded to spend the entire rest of the day waiting for the “perfect moment” while simultaneously feeling like I was going to puke and completely tense from the anxiety coursing through my veins.

I kept repeating the line I’d just read from Lean In the day before, “What would you do if you weren’t afraid…” hoping it would make it better.

I knew this was going to be one of the hardest conversations I’d ever had.

I ate my feelings…they tasted like biscuits & gravy for breakfast and nachos for lunch.

By the end of the day I was pacing my office.

The perfect moment never came. I knew I just needed to rip off the band-aid and at 4:55 PM yesterday afternoon, I had both of my bosses in my office with the door closed.

“I was offered a job last week and I’ve decided to take it…”

I blurted it out as fast as I could without making eye contact with either of them.

I was thisclose to ugly crying right in front of them. Yes, there were even actual real tears. We talked some more and while shocked, they are ultimately supportive.

So there you have it. I am leaving the team {more like family} I’ve worked with for the last 7 years for a new opportunity. I am beyond excited and beyond scared. I’m leaving everything comfortable and taking a risk. I’m sure I’ll talk more about it here in the future, but for now, I’m focusing on helping out my current company prepare for an upcoming product launch and tradeshow (and hiring my replacement) for the remainder of the year.

Since the initial offer, while talking to family and close friends about the opportunity I get pumped. Then when left alone with my thoughts, I start freaking out. Of course, now that it’s out in the open it’s gotten better. Though to be 100% honest, I’m still kind of going back and forth.

But then I think of that question again “What would you do if you weren’t afraid…” and I know I’m doing it.

Now the question is I wonder if I’ll be able to incorporate my deer head into my new office space…

Lean In {to our Virtual Book Club}

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What started out for me as a late night texting conversation with TheThread about work and life, poured over into the same type of conversation with Lindsey the next day as we headed up to Portland for the PNWBlogger Holiday Party. From both conversations, I drew the same conclusion for myself: I need some inspiration.

When the book Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg first came out I was more than skeptical of the hoopla that surrounded it. But during that Saturday evening texting session, Alicia who is currently reading the book, was telling us how much she is enjoying it. Beth Anne recently raved about how much she enjoyed the book. Considering those two reviews from two working moms that I have a lot of respect for, I figured there must be something to it. I decided that Saturday night I wanted to read the book.

The next day, when Lindsey and I were chatting about it we decided that we’d read the book together. Then on Monday, thanks to Twitter, a virtual book club was born.

On one hand I think I’m crazy for taking on one.more.thing. On the other hand I am totally excited about it.

I love being a working mom…I’m wired for it but that doesn’t mean it comes without struggles…at home and in the office. Lately I’ve felt…meh about things. I’m ready to reignite the flame and passion. I’m ready to start kicking ass and taking names again, instead of just checking things off of my to-do list because that’s what needs to be done.

So yep, I’ve co-started a virtual book club…

******

Want to join us?

The Ladies Who Book Club Details:

Lindsey and I have started a “closed group” on facebook. Between now and Monday November 18, book club members will have time to join the group and introduce themselves then get the book and read the first chapter. On Monday November 18 we will open things up for discussion on Chapter 1. We’ll tackle one chapter a week and use the group wall to open up discussions, inviting other members to join in by either commenting on a thread started by Lindsey or myself or start their own discussion point. Each week following we will begin discussion on a new chapter.

Our plan is to keep things pretty free form. Everyone will likely have a different take on what they’re reading based on where they are in their careers. More than anything we just want to provide a place we can freely discuss the book and how we can apply the principles in our lives.

Sound like something you need in your life right now? If you want to join us in reading Lean In, just click the link and request to join!

Life can be messy.

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When I started this blog, it was to document milestones in Rylee’s life and share them with family and friends near and far. It was meant to serve as a pseudo baby book until I got my -ish together and got a real one. Fast forward 5-ish years and one more kid and somewhere along the way something changed. Yes, I still blog for those original reasons, but I also blog for more than that now. I’ve met an amazing community through this little blog. Three of my closest and dearest friends I’ve met because of blogging. But this whole blogging this can be a double edged sword. When you put things out there in the world, you make yourself vulnerable. Open to judgement. People making assumptions about your life because of the 500 word posts you share a couple of times a week. There are so many blogs out there that continually paint a “life is rosy” picture for their life.

If you haven’t noticed, I’m not exactly one of those people.

I’m not one to go on and on about how awful my life is {mainly because it’s not}, but I’m also not afraid to put it out there that things aren’t always perfect. Like how being super pregnant isn’t always that fun. Or how having a 3 week old baby is hard. Or how new schedules and new school years are hard. Or my most recent favorite…sometimes school pictures are really bad.

Just because I share these less than perfect things and put it out there that I don’t “cherish every moment”, doesn’t automatically mean that I’m unhappy or that something is wrong.

Do I have an amazing life? Personally, I happen to think I do. An amazing husband. Sweet girls. A good job. A beautiful property.

But at the same time, life is just plain messy sometimes and it’s not always perfect and that’s ok. Sometimes work drives me crazy. Sometimes my kids drive me crazy. Other times it’s my husband or housework or the never-ending piles of crap on my kitchen island. {seriously…why is that the catch-all!?}

There are days I feel like I have my shit together and I could take over the world. Other days I feel like I’m being completely consumed by life trying to see through the fog. A good majority of days I’m just teetering on the edge.

Do I wish that I had more “conquer the world” days over the foggy days? Yup. Right about the time I think I have things figured out, life will change again. But guess what? That’s just life. Kids get older, needs change. What seems overwhelming today, I may be laughing about next month. What matters is that at the end of the day, I still go to bed and thank God for the crazy because I am blessed beyond what I ever thought possible.

The State of the State

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Within the last 20 minutes, I just finished up my first post car accident 90-minute massage. I’ve got a little bit of time before I need to go get the girls, but not enough time to head back to the office so I’ve found myself sitting in Starbucks sipping on my beloved iced coffee and water…lots and lots of water.

I’ve been somewhat slacking in the blog department lately and have plans to get back into it {broken record, I know} but I feel like we’ve missed some things along the way, so I figured I’d fill the 20-30 minutes of free time I have here with a general life overview. A “state of the state” if you will.

Reese
Whoa buddy, this girl. She is…fierce. That is the best word to describe her. She lives life…big. She has big ideas and big curiosity and big opinions and a big set of lungs. And a big stomach…homegirl is always hungry. She is in to everything she shouldn’t be. She loves to “help”. She’s starting to “talk” more and more. Her latest word is “cracker” and her latest phrase is “bless you”. She’s a little stinker, but she continues to bring so much joy to our family and I love her so.

Rylee
Kindergarten has been good to this girl so far. She’s reading more and more. She’s continually blowing my mind with things she knows and how easily she’s picking up new concepts. She’s learning to tell time. She gets “optional” homework sent home in her Tuesday folder every week. {for the record, it’s not optional in our house} Just last week her teacher included extra “challenge homework”…with things like greater than/less than as well as “which digit is in the ones place”. I thought, no way this is going to end well. Ry? NAILED IT. She is smart beyond smart. We’re talking about starting gymnastics. She’s getting into the stage of girlhood where she wants to listen to the same song over and over and over again and learn every single word. Then of course sing and dance along. Currently her song is Taylor Swift’s “I knew you were trouble”. Not gonna lie, I am totally loving this stage so far.

Andy
Ha, not much to report here. The beginning of the school year crazyness seems to be easing up a bit {knock on wood}. He’s still working on wrapping up some of the big outside projects on the property in time for winter. Last weekend he and my dad did their first wood cutting trip of the season.

Katherine
Yep…I’m still plugging away. Work is work. My back/neck have been jacked since the car accident so the massage I just had was heavenly. I’m apparently at a point in my life where playdates at Target are totally my idea of fun…and I’m 1 million percent ok with that. I’m also at a point in my life where I’ve come to terms with the fact that I don’t have time for everything. I didn’t can a single thing this year. Didn’t even pick a single pear off of our pear tree. On one hand, I hate the fact that I’m not making the time for those things, but on the other hand, I have my sanity about me and I’m not trying to squeeze in a bajillion things into two days off while wrangling a couple of kids. Life is life and my priorities have been set and I’m not wasting energy on peripheral things.

The Blog
I wish it wasn’t so neglected, it’s true, but there are so many other things that need to take priority these days. I’ve recently stopped blogging over at Liberating Working Moms. It was a bittersweet decision, but definitely the right one for me. I’ve also taken the blog off of the “Top Baby Blogs” directory. I don’t know that I ever thought this blog would “make it big” {whatever that means} but I’m super happy with where it’s at, I don’t know the last time I checked my stats. I do love blogging, I do it for fun and I do it for my kids to look back at someday and don’t see myself stopping anytime soon.

Fall is always a funny time of year for me. It starts out hectic with the beginning of a new school year then always seems to settle nicely into a season of evenings spent by the fire and reflection and relaxation.

Life is life. Kids are kids. Work is work. Love is love.

And that, my friends, is the state of the state.

Stuff & Things in the first week of October

Somewhere In The Middle

Mostly Average Accounts of the World's Okayest Mom.