Thursday, July 18, 2013

Happy Birthday To My Big Thinker


My husband is what I call a “big thinker.”  He is always full of out-of-the-box ideas.  The risks and adventures that we have taken in our lives are because of him.  Looking back at many years spent together, the vast majority of my husband’s ideas have led to some amazing things that we would never have experienced otherwise; people we would never have met, places we would never have gone and things we would never have seen.

I am much more detail-oriented and I often can’t see the forest for all the trees in my way.  It takes my high flying husband to see that vision and point the way.   We are opposites in many ways, and that’s a good thing.  He makes me more outgoing and social, pushes me to make changes and try new things.

After all these years, he is still the one person that I most enjoy being with.  He is the yin to my yang, the Westley to my Princess Buttercup, my blue lobster.

I am amazed by his talent, his intellect, his quick wit and sense of humor. We have been through a great deal lately; the good, the bad and the very very ugly, you might say. So, I appreciate, more than ever, the effort he goes to every day to let me know how much he loves me. 

So, on this day, my husband’s birthday, I just wanted to take a moment to let him know how much I love him and his big thinking. Happy Birthday @moehlert! I can’t wait to see what our next adventure is going to bring!   

Sunday, July 7, 2013

The Quiet Cafe



I had an amazing dream the other night.  I went to a Quiet Café. It was so real and so blissful, that when I woke up, it took a few minutes for me realize that it was just a dream.  I’m afraid as I try to write this that it will probably just sound silly, and I really wish that I could do it justice in writing.  But, in my dream state, in my imagination, it was perfect and blissful.  I am the type of person who rarely remembers my dreams beyond those first hazy moments of waking up.  But, the Quiet Café is a dream that I know I will not forget, and in not forgetting it exists for me.

The Quiet Café is like a spa.  You check in at the front desk by signing your name to the guest book and being assigned a little room of your own, somewhat like a cabana.  Plush robes are provided.  There are massage and regular spa services, a pool, a library, and a little restaurant.  You change into your slippers and robe and can either take a nap in your cabana, watch a favorite movie (with headphones) or venture to the pool or spa areas or the library.  There are waiters who bring around tea or cocktails and a little restaurant with beautiful tapas-like foods and snacks.  The only rule – you got it – is No Talking, none; not even whispering.  There are little note pads for communicating when necessary.  It is pure bliss.

The reason why I am revisiting the Quiet Café this Sunday after a long holiday weekend is that I find myself dreading going back to work tomorrow.  I know that end-of-weekend (especially long holiday weekend) blues are pretty universal.  However, I’m finding the prospect of the full work week ahead of me particularly daunting right now.  My company is in the middle of the busiest selling season that anyone I work with can remember.  In addition, within the division I work, this is the busiest season of the year, with probably 90% of my deadlines occurring between June and July every year.

Also, like most office workers these days, I work in a cubicle environment.  To be fair, I have as private a cubicle as I could probably ask for.  The walls are high and I am in the corner against a window wall with a nice view of the mountains in the distance; not bad at all.  However, it is still a cubicle.  It is still an environment where co-workers can shout at each other over the walls and carry on conversations several cubicles away, that you would swear you are a part of, simply by virtue of being in hearing distance.  When I spend long hours every day pouring over contract details in an effort to provide concise and coherent advice on any liability or financial ramifications in provisions written by lawyers and  government agencies (in 8 point Times New Roman type, no less) I have to admit, the extraneous noise sometimes makes me want to pull my hair out.

I worry that I am getting burned out.  I have learned through past seasons’ experience, that both for the sake of my professional life and my personal life, I need to take particular care of myself during this season.  I spent my first few years with this company trying my hardest just to keep up.  There was a significant learning curve. My personal and family life suffered dearly.  I learned my lesson.  I no longer take work home with me.  If I need to put in extra hours, I make the effort to get into the office early or stay a little later at night; whatever it takes to keep it at the office.  When I get home, I relax, period.  I make the most out of my weekends with family trips and outings and dates with the hubby.  We focus on each other completely when at home together.  Life at home is good.  Maybe that is a little of why it is so hard these days to go back to work on Mondays.

Whatever the reason, I am sure I am not alone in my post-holiday weekend blues.  Couldn't we all use a little Quiet Café?