Merry Christmas 2012

Merry Christmas!  We have been extremely blessed with an abundance of love, laughter, family, and friends (and tech gadgets!).  Today was the perfect Christmas morning with a light dusting of snow that starting falling late on Christmas Eve.  I hope every one's Christmas is as blessed and special as ours has been!

Choosing to Laugh

I posted pictures yesterday of the spring flowers in the snow.  What I didn't post about was the crazy line at the bus station, partly because I was otherwise occupied and hardly noticed.  I read several blogs by women who are in situations similar to mine:  Trying to balance the demands of being a wife, mother, and employee at the same time.  One of those blogs was making me laugh out loud while I was standing in that line at the bus station waiting to come home to my family.  So obviously I highly recommend checking it out here at the Planting Dandelions blog.

I have been thinking some about regret.  What I really regret in my life is not appreciating and enjoying enough when things have been going well in the past.  So I truly believe it's time to put more effort into doing just that with the good things I have right now.  There are things that I wish were different in my life.  I would like to work part time.  I would like to live in a more rural area.  I would like to sleep better and feel more rested.  But none of those things preclude enjoying all of the wonderful things that I do have in my life.  I have a devoted husband and two wonderful children.  We have everything we need and much of what we want.  We live in a place and time where we know we're safe, secure, and free.  I'm allowed to post anything I want here.  Although I like to remind people that freedom of speech doesn't mean freedom from the consequences of that speech.  It's a good life, and I'm choosing to enjoy it and laugh out loud as much as possible.

Springtime in Colorado

Sunday's official high temperature in Denver was 84 degrees Fahrenheit.  Today it's snowing.  I love living in a state that keeps me on my toes!

Choosing to Take Control of My Reactions and Emotions

It's been nearly a year since my last post.  I must humbly admit that I've made very poor choices during that time.  My work load got heavier and heavier, and I abdicated my responsibility for my own reactions.  I indulged my baser emotions and allowed stress to rule my life.  It affected my health and my family relationships.

I finally decided it was time for a new job.  My thinking went that if I started over with a new company, people wouldn't come to me with questions outside of my area because I wouldn't have been there long enough or worked in enough areas to answer all those questions.  Well...I was mistaken.  If people know you've done something in the past (and of course they know because you put those things on your resume); they're going to ask.  Four weeks in to my new job and I'm working more hours than I ever did at my old job.  I also gave up a lot of intrinsic benefits like location and proximity to my house thinking that it would be worth it for fewer hours and less stress.

So I've come to the conclusion that I am responsible for the way I react.  I am responsible for controlling my stress.  Even though I am busy, if I make the time to write a post, even a small one, it may help me to be more accountable to my readers and myself and to take responsibility for my reactions and emotions.  There is the potential of things improving at my new job.  I am hopeful that this will happen.  If it doesn't happen, then I will have some additional choices to make.  I will need to decide where my priorities really lie and what I'm willing to give up to have the time that I need with my family while my kids are still young.  I will share my decision-making process with you if it comes to that.

In the meantime, I will calmly handle my workload and put it away when I'm at home so that I can focus on quality time with my family.