More change

I am getting a new boss. This is the forth time I say this in two years. My boss is getting promoted. YAY for him. It is bitter sweet for me. While I like the idea of having a supporter so high up the chain, I am sad that the supporter won't be my direct supervisor. Probably pretty selfish of me to think that. I am sure that I will gain another supporter in my new boss. It seems like the organization is bringing people in from the outside and merging them with the best of what we had and making the team look a lot better. At least that is how it looks from my perspective. There is lots of opportunity now during my industry downturn to change things and make it look "better". I say better because that is in the eyes of the new leaders. I wasn't ready for this change but I saw it coming miles away.  Lots of change.

I am also kicking myself for not standing up for what I think in a meeting yesterday. Of all the sales directors, I am the least experienced. I think that is why I clammed up. We were all stating opinions. I should have stressed mine bigger and now I am sick because I didn't. UGH! I can't do this any more. I need to open my mouth with my well thought out ideas and opinions. I will never learn or grow if I don't.

I am actually rooting for the Rockets. My normal NBA team is the Spurs. I still root for them too. It is kind of nice for the whole family to root for the same sports team. It is unusual. Won't happen again. Football season is house divided almost every weekend. Tonight is game 5 of the Rockets v Mavs.  We are missing all our free throws. Another thing that is irritating me is people want to change the rules for fouls away from the basket. NO! These are professionals. They need to practice their free throws MORE than dunks. Period. (I can hear my son downstairs watching the game. Jones just hit a clutch 3. My son is yelling "Yes! Spank their booty!" What?)

I am trying to get back to better eating habits. I have been eating like a teenager lately and it needs to stop. I can feel my body rejecting all of this and I just flat out don't feel good. I felt much better when I was eating better. Enough is enough. No more excuses. For example, I am DYING for a Dr Pepper right now. I shall drink this water instead.

I got a MacBook Air this weekend! Good change! This is my first post from my new laptop. I love it. I may never use my iPad again.

Something else is going on inside and I can't figure out what it is. I have not been my super cheerful self lately. People are starting to notice it and I can't put my finger on what it is. I wish I could so I could correct it. I think it is a lot of things. I hope I have an answer soon. It comes and goes. Monday night before I taught my class, one of the members asked me what was wrong. I wanted to tell her but I didn't even know! I always know. Even when it is selfish and ugly, I know what is bugging me. Right now, I don't know. Maybe it is the slow and steady climb of changes that have happened in 2015. I wish I knew. I am on a quest to find out. Wish me luck!

Themes

I know I said I wanted to use this blog as a way to vent. Now I have shifted my focus. There are several things I want to do with this blog.

Challenges as a working mother

I was washing the dishes today when I realized it had been a while since I used a colander. That got me to thinking...when was the last time I cooked a meal for the whole family? It has been a while. I think that when school winds down, I will be able to do this at least twice a week. Right now, we typically don’t get home before 7:30 pm. It is just our lives. The kids are very active after school and I teach 2 nights a week. Next week, my daughter is performing but I have a leadership meeting at work that conflicts. I know I can get out of attending the meeting, but I also want to be at this meeting. I know I will go to the school but I want to be present to my company as a leader, which brings me to my next thought...

Leadership

I have mentioned YODA a couple of times here. I want to be Yoda to my readers. I want to inspire others as well as have them learn from my experiences. I recently attended a leadership seminar where the speaker talked about “claim and grant”. I tried this during my yearly review with my boss. I told him I wanted to take on managing a large section of the business. I told him why I was the right person to do it. He nodded and said it sounded like I had thought about it and he was willing to do it. I didn’t think about this all on my own. I have been in many interviews and yearly reviews where I talked about the past and tried to explain why I was worthy. I don’t do this any more. I talk about vision, strategy and the future in these meetings now. This is a small example of what I want to pass on to anyone who decides to read this blog.

Sharing my life for real

I love my family. I love the life we continue to build together and I am so proud of them. But I want to share the “realness” of what it means to get to the top of the mountain. There are so many irritations, tough times, and sadness that have gotten us here. I am done with platitudes. I want to be real with everyone I meet and share my reasons. You might laugh, but the Bruce Jenner interview that I watched last night gave me that idea. I have lived long enough to stop hiding and start working on the person I want to be. I can’t do that without being real. I have many faults. I embrace them because they make me who I am, but I won’t let them rule my life or define me. I will find ways to overcome them or things to do for myself when I feel them coming on strong. I would like to share those struggles. 

GEAR

I often get asked where I get my clothes or how I put them together. I am happy to share my thoughts on this with my readers. I still think of myself and a t-shirt and jeans kind of girl, but no one  I work with would EVER think that. I try to look “the part” every day and before I walk out of my room, I ask, “is this the best version of me that I want to present today?” Sometimes that sends me back to the closet! HA! I am all about looking like a leader, no matter if it is in the office or at the gym.

Thoughts? Suggestions? Ideas?

Gym Gear

Here is another outfit I picked up at Athlete.

I could not be more comfortable. Loved the tank and LOVED the capris. It is hard to tell but I have on a purple sports bra. Best bra I own, besides the Lulu Tata Tamer. I had just finished completing GRIT Strength 10 when I took this pic and I was waiting on my Friday Grit warriors to come in.

I have a lot of work to do before I go to Hawaii this summer but most of the work I need to do is in the kitchen. I have been on a downward spiral all week. I just need to flip the switch and get back to the better eating habits. It is really bumming me out. I say this as I just had a piece of pizza for lunch. I SUCK!!! This is why I push myself to the limits at the gym...but it is all for nothing when I eat pizza.

It’s over. I’m done. I had the pizza and now I don’t need any for the next 6 months.
Keep me accountable PEOPLE!

13 years

Today is our 13th wedding anniversary. People say that it feels like it was yesterday but it really does. I keep telling my husband that we are just getting started! I strongly believe that. In the grand scheme of things, 13 years is not that long. It feels long because we have been together since 1996. That is almost 20 years together. Still feels like we just started.

We didn’t do much to celebrate now. We went to Monday burger night and I ate WAY too much. I swear I can’t walk out of that place without gaining 20 pounds. Saturday night, we went to the Rockets’ playoff game. They won! We had fun. We actually rooted for the same team. Lord help us if the Spurs and Rockets play each other in the next round.

Tomorrow, we head to NOLA for Uncle Steve’s funeral. Torrey is speaking at the service. He’s been thinking about what he would say for days now. My daughter wants to speak too, which means my son will feel obligated to speak. HA! He has to do what his sister does. Torrey was close to his uncle and aunt so he is being very thoughtful about what he will say. Our kids loved him. There is already slight drama but doesn’t that happen with every funeral? I told TA that I have been through enough funerals with my family to know that it is always better to rise above and take the high road. You will never feel better when you get on the lower level that some people go to during these times. It is not right. You won’t like yourself later and think of the people that you will possibly hurt in the process. Take the high road. It is better up there. I have seen family members take a swing at each other on the day of the service. It is crazy! Is this just my family? I never talk about this but I assume the crazy is usually contained in my family. Let’s hope it is not spreading.

TA is a really thoughtful person. One of the things I love about him the most is his forward thinking. When I am stuck on something, he is able to help me reason out of it in to a solution. He is the only person I know I have to bring my “A” game to when I debate/argue. He always pulls out something unexpected and smart. What a PITA! I know people say this about their spouses but he is a natural leader. He is someone people want to follow. He has worked on developing that skill and he is getting better and better all the time. He is a leader in every arena of his life. He is a YODA! (I think I am going to start a label and any time I talk about a leader I admire, I will tag it “Yoda”.) Anyone who knows me knows I would never choose to spend my life with a dud. He is far from it. He’s the best man I know. Maybe he’s the best person I know. He challenges me mentally and always pushes me to be better. I can’t say enough great things about him. He frustrates me weekly *coughdailycough* but there is no one else I would rather be with every day of my life. Everyone has a light, and he makes mine shine brighter. I know I do the same for him.

Here are some pics from our time together. I love my big lug!

Our Wedding day, right after we said “I DO"

House divided college edition. Game day! This was the game Johnny Football was suspended for half the game.
We won. They lost. :)

Our couple shower a month before we got married

We were dating in this pic. This was in Seattle when we went to visit Travis in college. This is TA with hair!

Alexis took this picture and used a photo editor. She was about 5 at the time. Her take on her parents.

House divided, NFL edition, at Jerry World. Cowboys won this one. YAY!

Date night at Tasting Room. Fun night for us.

Joaquin’s First Communion

Here are some photos of our fantastic day... the day Joaquin received his first communion.

Funny stories of how we got his outfit to come. For now, here are some of my faves.

Right before mass

J and my aunt Rachel, his Godmother

Lex got to alter serve that day

Anna Clair Gaal and Trent Joaquin Andrews - our dear friends’ youngest daughter

J and his Godfather Travis, TA’s brother

Notice his face after tasting the wine. :)

After mass with Fr Victor. Lex and I wore blue, J’s fave color.

Our friends The Gaals and their two youngest girls

Happy Easter and other thoughts

We went to Alice, TX for Easter. The weather did not cooperate but we had a great time...until J got sick. Saturday night was not good for him. He had a high fever and threw up a couple of time. Poor baby! He just laid around and watch the Bugs Bunny marathon on TV. He loved it! He watched old school Bugs and laughed his head off. Those cartoons are timeless. Not like the ones on TV now. A few times he asked me to watch with him. I happily obliged. That stuff is hilarious.

He felt better Sunday and went with us to church that morning. During the homily, the priest asked that we reach out to those that could not be with us that day and wish them a happy day. I really enjoy this priest. He is so charismatic and authentic. He is a true leader. He's a YODA. You can tell because the service was packed. A few years ago, that church was empty on Easter and Christmas. When I look at leaders, I try to see if they have the "yoda factor". Do they have the quality, when they speak, that inspires you to get up and do something? We don't need another Luke. We need more Yodas. (If you don't understand these references, you are dead to me.) I have three key words that come to mind when I think of my leadership style: Passionate, Courageous, Authentic. I interchange the word courageous sometimes with inspiring. I try to be a yoda both at home and at work. I have a young female leader at home. I am doing my best to guide and inspire her to develop those inherent leadership skills. She really is a leader and already very charismatic. She is held back a little in being who she really is (the price of attending a small school) but I try to re-enforce her uniqueness and all the beauty in who she really is at home. She is going to be a great leader at whatever she chooses to do.

I am a day late but I would like to wish all those who read this a Happy and Joyful Easter! Whatever your beliefs, this is a great time to celebrate life and celebrate your family.

And also...GO BLUE DEVILS!