Thursday 13

Once upon a time there was a girl who blogged. Recently she was reminded how cathartic it can be. For starters, I've been thinking a lot about personal perspective lately. Perspective encompasses so much and here is mine on a specific topic.

Here is a list of why I love my job;

1. I am surrounded by crazy talented people.
2. I work with people around the world.
3. I contribute to the greater whole.
4. I have opportunity to train formally.
5. I have opportunity to travel.
6. I work with many different lines of business.
7. I work remotely from home (in my jammies!)
8. I get to run really cool projects.
9. The work is constantly changing.
10. I really like my boss and extended team.
11. I can track my efforts and see personal and professional progress.
12. I earn an honest paycheck.
The very most important reason;
13. I am learning every day!

On the B Side: It matters very little what I do. The point is that I LOVE WHAT I DO. For starters, I have a job and I choose to love it! It doesn't matter who you are or where you work, there will always be positive aspects of the work if you choose to recognize them. I love my job and being able to progress. I love moving forward and contributing to the greater good of a company. Everyday I become a little more talented and a little more skilled. Some times that comes by being in the heart of the fire and some times that comes by nature of those around me and yet other times that comes from the sheer experience of just doing it. Any way you look at it, I am well aware just how lucky I am to have not only a job but this job!

MAC is Back!

Oh yes. It's true. MAC is back! My amazing make up and myself are reunited and it feels so good! Lingy, I love you and I am sorry. I started back to the office on Monday and must confess that I worked myself up in vain. I sat in my chair first the first time in two months and thought about everything that has changed and it's sheer craziness. The best part? I LOVE IT!

Despite my complete and total sleep deprivation I feel energized. I feel alive and I feel happy. Things always work out and the fear of moving forward and stepping into that darkness is overwhelming. The uncertainty and the unknown can be all consuming. Once you are able to look back you know that you were safe all along and that hope was always shining brightly. THE PASSWORD IS COURAGE.

Adi is beautiful, amazing and loved by all! Mark's ex wife's Mother tends her. I know, weird right? BUT it works and it works well! So far, so good. She is smiling voluntarily and has the prettiest and petitest little features! She only cries when she is hungry and she doesn't mess around in that circumstance. She finally hit 9 lbs and is healthy...such a huge, huge blessing!

Dayton is a little 1st grade rock star! He reads like a mo fo and plays soccer like he was born to ball! Ah, that boy warms my heart and soon his ski season will be upon us. Snow Basin with Grandma Mikey is his gig and I am as excited for him as he is excited to ski! He's stuck with the CPAP despite the fact that he hates it. He is a smart little dude with a heart of gold. ROCK ON.

Ellie has started private all day Kindergarten. Her uniform eliminates MANY battles and she's as cute as ever! She is gearing up for her 5th birthday party at Sweet and Sassy and is all kinds of stoked! She's like a little mini teenager. She does hug and kiss DD every morning before my Mom picks him up and always waves goodbye as they drive off! Sooooo dang PRECIOUS! She's full of fire and has a personality the size of Texas!

McKayla is in Kindergarten with Beans. She has adjusted suburbly to her teacher and her new classmates! She is a great listener and is now with us every morning. It is so crazy good to see her daily and be a bigger part of her little life! This also allows her to see the baby more and keeps her feeling more connected with us. She's finished swimming and is back in Dance and Baton. She is such a good, good girl and always make sure everyone is okay, included and feel important and loved.

On the B Side: It feels good to feel so happy. My life is so far from perfect but is so incredibly blessed!!!

From Clancy's Wednesday Jar pull...

What is your principle occupation and what circumstances led to it?
*Please refer to Clancy's blog and feel free to join in on the fun!

Currently I am on maternity leave enjoying my real job as a Mom! It's by far the most challenging and easily the most rewarding! I am very much enjoying my time away from the office but will admit that I am still logging in and checking on things at the office daily from my laptop. The bottom line is that I would be a stay at home Mom in a heart beat but it just hasn't ever been in my cards so I've always tried to make the best of it, make the most of it and enjoy (notice I did not say I was good at this!).

When I was 17 my brother and I were obsessed with AOL Online and had a blast with it. The internet was pretty new to us in 1994 so it was quite a novely that consumed a crazy amount of time and money. I made a friendonline named Akbar from Pakistan. "Apple Jacks" and I remained friends across space and time. He's an amazing person with an incredible series of stories that make up his life. He's one of those special friends in my life that I will always cherish and carry with me. I love these kind of friendships!

In 2005 I quit my job working in the IT Department at St. Mark's Hospital. I was on call and it was too much for me as a newly single Mom with a 1 and a 2 year old. My Apple Jacks made me aware of some openings at his company. He lives in CA but there was/is an office in the SLC area. I applied, was offered a position and officially began work at Siebel. Siebel was acquired by Oracle shortly there after and hence I currently work for Oracle in the OnDemand Customer Care org for their Customer Relationship Management application as the Solutions Release Manager on the Advanced Resolution team. Say that three times fast and then know that it doesn't make me important!

I started out supporting the application and have evolved into various postions given my performance/advancements (Support Engineer Level I and then II, Queue Manger, Aging SR Analyst, Escalations Manager). I now manage all of the knowledge objects on our internal Knowledge Base and also our customer interfacing resource as well. I liason with various groups around the world (Tech Support, Product Marketing, Hosting, Operations, Training, Customer Advocacy, etc) and also work with our off shore support groups in Romania, China and India.

For me this involves technical writing, analyzing, updating and publishing content. Initially this was a little overwhelming as it was literally starting from ground zero but I have absolutely loved figuring things out, asking questions, defining/documenting processes, working through bugs and providing accurate information to both our internal and external customers. I love that I can measure my progress and have really enjoyed kicking the crap out of deadlines!

I have had the benefit of working from home and the flexability has been invalueable. My boss is in Cali and I really enjoy working under him as he is extremely knowledgeable and very much a perfectionist. I love my work, the people that I work with and the challenges that it presents. In that respect it is extremely satisfying (as satisfying as life gets outside of being with your family).

I will be honest and tell you that I miss the crud out of my kids and as much as I love my job it never gets any easier to be away from my them. Dayton starts 1st grade next week and Ellie starts full day Kindergarten after Labor Day. That puts them both in full time school BUT the very thought of leaving my new baby girl puts me in instant tears :(

On the B Side: I am so grateful that I had the opportunity to pursue a formal education after HS. While it wasn't easy it was definitely worth it (and I could have never done it without Amanda and Krystal!). I love knowing that I am able to support my family and am thankful to be gainfully employed and find it so rewarding. I am determined that if I must be away from my children that I am going to bust my butt and make it count!

I'm also really grateful for precious friends such as my Apple Jacks!