The next chapter

14 Monday May 2012

Posted by in life, thoughts

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I turned 49 last week. I have officially lived longer than both of my parents. Thinking about that is pretty surreal because in my head they will always be the age they were when I last saw them.

Moving into this next chapter of my life will mean many things. The most important of which is that I need to get off the sidelines and become a more active participant in my own life. Playing it safe and going for the comfortable just isn’t working for me anymore. It’s time to take some risks, and that leap of faith to try a new approach to how I work, what I focus on and how I spend my time.

After all, isn’t it more of  a risk NOT to try?

Tough lessons

28 Thursday Jul 2011

Posted by in Being Thankful, I need to vent, inspiration, life, work

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My professional life has been a bit rocky lately and was really starting to let it get the best of me. I fell off the consistent exercise wagon, I have not been the fun mom I usually am, and I have isolated myself from most social activities. BAD Susan.

I am old enough to understand that I cannot be brilliant all the time – but being in this position is not fun and I certainly don’t like it. After a particularly bad day  week month quarter year at work, a friend sent me an email that said “sometimes you have to let things just suck. Sometimes you just have to go through it.”

She was right. The minute I stopped fighting it I started releasing the anger and frustration and just let it go, I was liberated.

I am thankful for the wisdom of friends, and for knowing such inspiring people.

My most un-favorite things (updated from previous list)

26 Friday Feb 2010

Posted by in I need to vent, life, thoughts

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I was reviewing past blog posts and came upon this list from 2008 of my most un-favorite things (part one). I guess this is part two.

Being inspired by this post from Jen on the Edge, I decided to update the list to reflect my current sentiment. Items in green are 2010 additions.

  • More than 3 inches of snow (we have had 58 inches so far this winter). I used to love snow. This past December I had the nerve to complain about how here in Northern Virginia we never get “real” snow storms. Well, be careful what you wish for!
  • Mean, negative people. Really no reason for this. Ever.
  • Air travel, airports, airplanes. Air travel is so very stressful and unhealthy.
  • Big, honkin’ SUV’s. No better way to ‘flip the bird’ to the polar bears.
  • When the temperature is above 80 degrees farenheit. I prefer more moderate temperatures.
  • Pantyhose. ‘Nuff said
  • Flavored coffee. yuk.
  • Cigarettes/smoking. more yuk.
  • Aggressive drivers. Like mean people, there is really no reason for this. Ever.
  • Business suits. Even ‘back in the day’ when I was fly – I hated these.
  • Wegmans. It’s just too much – of everything.
  • Websites that are called portals. What the heck is a portal anyway?
  • McMansions. I am going to insult people with this one, I just know it. Including some of my friends!

Things I removed from the 2008 list (I don’t have a strong feeling either way):

  • wal-mart
  • websites that won’t let you leave
  • escargot

Why I threw out my easy button

03 Wednesday Feb 2010

Posted by in Being Thankful, Children, life, Quotations, Random Ramblings, Taking Action, thoughts, work

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The Easy ButtonI once had an easy button on my desk. It was given to me by a former employee who turned out to be a few sandwiches short of a picnic, if you know what I mean.

At first it was cute, and at the end of every meeting or discussion, inevitably someone would push the button and we would all be entertained by the very polished voice of the “That Was Easy” man.

Over time, this button began getting on my nerves, to the point that I wanted to throw it at the next person who pushed it, because I realized that most of the time when the button was pressed it was not an easy situation – so it became more of a tool for sarcasm than anything else.

Fast forward a few months. My 8 year-old daughter was at work with me one day and she was busy setting up her space in an empty cubicle nearby. I was giving her items from my office for use on her desk, and one of them was the Easy Button. I handed it to her and looking a little annoyed she said,

Mom, haven’t I told you before that NOTHING is easy?

What could I say? She was right. So we threw it in the trash. And that was the end of my easy button.

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