Sorry I have been missing

Life has gone from quiet and predictable to crazy busy for me.  I started a new job in the middle of May.  I am working for the same employer but in a totally different department and capacity.  For the last two weeks I have been trying to figure out what I should be doing and learning new things.  Most days I just go home and night and just crash from exhaustion.  I had no energy to write anything. 

Then I went to Tennessee to spend time with my Grandson while my son was touring with a different country act (for him).  He had been with one performer for quite a while but took some time off from touring to take care of business at home and to finalize the purchase of his house.

So I got to spend time with my grandson on my own. We had a great time playing games, cooking and just hanging out.  He discovered YouTube on my tablet and spent time watching these silly toy infomercials.  Then we found movie clips and had a great time watching those.  We also spent time playing a version of Frisbee/soccer/volleyball where he made up the rules as we went along.  It was great until we got the Frisbee caught in the tree in the front yard. 

Sunday morning cooking was great, we made breakfast.

We also tried flying a kite, that did not work because there was no wind that day.  So he ran around the yard trying to make the kite fly.

It was fun to spend time with him, just the two of us.  Of course we also had to hit the grocery store because he had a "list" of things he wanted. 

So I am adjusting to a new level of activity in my life between work and family.  It is a great thing, I have hit over 10,000 steps most days now. 

So life moves on.  My grandson started pre-k last week.  He was so excited to be starting school.  I am settling into my job and don't experience panic every time someone asks me something.  We will both move on to the new adventures in our lives. 

We also have our memories of time together.  Those  are priceless.

Just toss me in the deep end of the pool

This week I started my new job.  It is totally different from what I have done for the last four years.  I am at the same employer but now I am in the facilities operations area, not in anything to do with academics.  It was a switch I wanted and looked forward to happening.  I am working for the same employer so I understand the systems, the people and the culture.

That is where it ends.  There have been a steady stream of people stopping by my door to say hello and then to give me their opinion about how things are working in my new area.  I have had suggestions about staff and how they are working (some well, some not so well).  One person has turned in their resignation this week and another is on an extended medical leave. 

I told my boss I have a running list of items I need to review with him and find out how he wants me to work with him and the department I supervise.  Yikes, this is fun and exhilarating and scary and overwhelming. 

I know I am up to the task and soon I will find my "new normal" but right now I am just treading water as I am working my way around the deep end of pool.  It will get better and soon I will feel like I know what I am doing. 

Wish me luck.  How have you managed taking on the tasks of a new job?  Do you have any tips for me? 

Our Pack has lost a member

This week ended with the loss of a member of our pack.  The Princess, who had been with us over 16 years, came to the end of her life.  My husband and I made the painful decision to have her euthanized.  She had a long, wonderful life but in the last few weeks had gone downhill quickly. 

The Princess was an exceptional dog.  She was not easy, being part chow and part lab, she had the best and the worst attributes of both breeds.  She was very strong willed and wanted things her way.  Variations in her schedule were not handled well.  Yet she took her job as the head of security for our house very seriously.  No one, either human or animal, crossed our yard without her knowing about it and letting us know that our perimeters had been breached.

She did tolerate grand dog and The Beagle, our latest pack addition.

The Princess allowed hockey players who lived with us for many years to be part of her pack.  She loved the snow and I would often take her for long walks on winter afternoons.  She would bury her head in the snow and then jump out of it with her face all covered with the icy stuff.

I will miss her so much.  She was my faithful companion and, like many chows, picked me as her favorite person.  She would tolerate my husband (he said she considered him "better than nothing").
I know we made the right choice, allowing her to leave us in a way that was painless and peaceful.

Sleep well my Princess.  I know you crossed the Rainbow Bridge yesterday.  I will see you when it is my time to make the same journey.   

A Walk of Faith - Update

Several weeks ago I posted about the fact my position at my employer was being eliminated at the end of May.  The notice of my job disappearing was frightening and threw me totally off course.  I had everything planned for the next few years but life sent me elsewhere.

So I wrote about my journey to a new job as a walk of faith.  It is so hard to rest in God's promises that He has a plan and will take care of us.  I had to remind myself daily that this transition was in God's hands.  I did many things that took me out of my comfort zone as part of this transition.  I talked to friends and co-workers.  I asked for help and guidance from others.  There was lots of prayer, both on my part and from a group of prayer warriors who offered to help me.

It was starting to look pretty bleak, I had done all the right things and had applied and interviewed for several positions, both with my current employer and with others.  My husband was my rock and we planned how we would handle things if I did not get a job.  It included a call to our son saying, "If this does not work out we will sell everything and move in with you!"  He welcomed us and and told us that would not totally suck if it happened.

In my prayers this week I told God that no matter what happened I knew He had a plan and it was perfect.  On Wednesday I got a call that changed my life.  I was offered another position at the employer where I work.  It is a total change from what I have been doing yet not really that different from my previous position.

Here is how God works, at least from my perspective.  The position I was offered was originally opened and advertised.   I had thought about applying for it but doubted my qualifications.   I was asked to be on the interview committee for the first posting of this position.  After the interviews there was a candidate who seemed perfect for the position.  He was offered the job and accepted.  I told the supervisor that I had thought about applying for the position but did not.  Then a few weeks later the supervisor contacted me and told me that the candidate had withdrawn his acceptance of the position.  How often does that happen?  I applied for the position as soon as it was re-posted.  That is the position I was offered this week.  How can I doubt that this was not the working of God when a job I wanted was offered to someone else and then it ended up being offered to me. 

So where I was expecting an ending now I am looking forward to a new beginning.  I will be changing departments and supervisors.  This looks so exciting for me and as always God's plan is perfect.

Trust that all things will work out for the best.  God is truly good. 

Advice from a pro

Recently I attended a conference sponsored by my local chapter of the Romance Writers of America(RWA).  The speaker was Kristen Lamb, blogger and author.  She did a presentation on how to use a blog to promote yourself as a author.

Her advice included posting a blog about three times a week at a minimum.  I am lucky to get one post a week in.  She also had us go through an exercise of a word cloud to list things which described us or in which we had an interest.  From our word clouds she suggested topics we could use to blog about.

Since that time I have been noticing which of my favorite authors blog, or use social media, or link their blogs to their social media.  One of my favorite authors is J.T. Ellison.  She does three blogs a week and links them to her social media (at least Facebook). I look forward to those postings every week.  They cover a wide variety of topics, not just writing, and allow me to get a glimpse of her as a writer and a person.

As a result of the presentation I learned new ways of presenting myself as an author.  I know that I need to work regularly on promoting myself also.  I also need to find what works for me.

Previously I wrote about how writing fiction is hard.  Being an author is hard work also.   

What do you think?  Would you follow a blog or would it be better to stick with social media?  Should I focus on both and post the blog to Facebook and Twitter?  

Writing Fiction is Hard

This week I met with a group of writers for lunch and a session to talk about the craft of writing.  It is a mixed group of women, some of whom are published authors.  There is one other woman who has finished a book but has not published it yet.  Then there is me, the aspiring romance novelist who has not finished a book yet.

I was so honored to be asked to be part of this group because these are women who I admire very much. Also, they know their craft as writers yet aspire to improve their skills.  We spend our time eating, talking, gossiping and then digging into the skills it takes to be a writer.  Everyone has to submit something for critique by the group.  We also talk about our current works in progress(WIP) and talk through the story lines with which we may be struggling. 

It was my turn to be critiqued.  I sent my chapter with much trepidation.  One of the women, who is also a copy editor, asked if she could edit my work.  "Edit away" I replied.  What she returned looked like she had bled virtual red ink all over the virtual paper.  She encouraged me not to be too overwhelmed by her work.  I have done extensive writing - first within a business environment and later an academic one.  I am used to working with editors and people who critique my work.  I told her that her edits were not nearly as frightening as the first draft of my dissertation, when it was returned from my doctoral adviser. 

We talked about my chapter.  My heroine was not likeable enough.  I did not have enough conflict in my first chapter.  I needed more drama and action.  My dialogue was stilted and not realistic.  I went into this group with much fear.  I came out having survived my baptism by fire and encouraged to do a much better job at my WIP. 

I learned that, yes I am a great writer, yet writing fiction is a whole different animal than writing for work or school.  I have to lose myself in my characters and make them alive for the reader of my books.  They have to be likeable - there is nothing more frustrating to me than a great story with an unlikable heroine or hero.  I need to incorporate conflict into the story to keep the reader engaged. 

So I am persisting in finishing this book and moving on to others.  My current WIP is a series of books I call the Hockey Mom's Trilogy.  There is much work to be done.  I will succeed. 

What's Next?

This week I am returning to my theme of our digital life.   Last Friday I attended a higher education conference as I mentioned in my previous post.  One of the presenters was from GE (what was previously General Electric).  He was talking about how his company almost always hires new employees from students who have internships at GE or sometimes other companies.  To him the critical factor was the real world experience of a meaningful internship.

In the course of the presentation he mentioned that the generation following the Millennials or Generation Y (1980 - 2000) is Generation Z (2001 - present).  This generation, according to this presenter, is referred to as Digital Innate (as opposed to my generation which is considered digital immigrants).  Generation Z is the first generation which has had access to technology from birth.  They are considered very tech savvy yet say that they value personal relationships.  Many want to start businesses so they are very entrepreneurial. They are tied to their technology yet they value privacy.  Within the higher education community where I work we are trying to better understand this generation which will soon fill our college classrooms. 

The other thing the presenter mentioned was wanting their prospective employees to possess digital DNA.  During the question and answer period I asked what that was and he replied that they want employees who can go beyond use of technology to a deeper level including knowledge about software development and digital analytics.

Wow, how much will life, work and business be changing in the near future?   Will our connectivity through technology and social media result in us spending more time online or will there come a point of diminishing returns where people decide they want to disconnect and have closer personal relationships?  What do you think?  Are you excited about what is coming?

Let me finish this week's post with a story: 

My family room has large windows that overlook a busy road behind our house.  One evening I noticed that traffic was backing up so I walked over the the window to look outside thinking there had been an accident.  I saw three young men who had been traveling in an SUV.  It looked like they had purchased a new mattress and they were taking it home tied to the roof of the SUV.  The mattress had blown off the car and was sitting by the side of the road.  The SUV and the young men were on the other side of the road.  Traffic was backing up as people were slowing down to see what had happened.  The three young men were all on their phones, not talking but texting/searching or doing something.   Maybe they were contacting friends or more likely Googling "How to transport a mattress on the top of an SUV"  After much texting, typing and discussion they somehow got the mattress on the top of the SUV, tied it down and went on their way.  I am guessing Google told them how to solve their problem.

An earlier generation might have used the phones to call parents, or possibly friends, for help.  These young men seemed to solve the problem using their phones.  Thank goodness for good old Google(or possibly Siri depending on their phone choice).