Tag Archives: laughter

The Next Trapeze Bar

03 Sunday Mar 2013

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And I’m off…flying…with no idea which bar I’ll grab next!  Wow, this is a kooky, exhilarating feeling. 

My work assignment wrapped up on 2/28.  And what an incredible sendoff from my co-workers.  A nice card, cupcakes to share and a very generous gift certificate to Bellevue Square.  I was moved beyond words and got a little choked up reading the card.  Definitely not a typical way to finish up a consultant’s assignment [I’m not an employee of the company where I was working]!  But these past 19 months have been anything BUT typical.  And, at risk of sounding like a broken record, they’ll be a hard act to follow.  Sometimes you strike it lucky and land with a team where everyone resonates…the ensemble sings in harmony.  The chemistry works – the right mix of personality types is there.  People respect each other’s differences, as much as we can drive each other crazy sometimes.  The unexpected bursts of laughter ringing through the common office wall I shared with our Senior Director.  Whenever I felt burdened or stressed at my desk and would hear that infectious laugh I couldn’t help but smile. 

Now I’m in that giddy and sometimes scary limbo-land.  Whatever I land next is going to be completely different – a paradigm shift of culture, energy, expectations and work style.  And this is typical when you do short-term consulting engagements as I have for the past nearly 7 (!) years – mostly.  There are huge shifts to make to zoom into a new environment.  And it requires a strong mix of enthusiasm and self-confidence that comes with experience, and an open mind like a sponge.  The ability to listen and make connections quickly.  To introduce yourself to people on your own if whomever is bringing you onboard doesn’t have the time to do it.

Right now I’m very pleased with the volume of leads out there and the amount of networking and interviewing I’ve squeezed in since January.  And while I don’t like to get into specifics here as many of you know, I feel good that something new is going to materialize soon.  I just don’t know what it is!  But I have faith that whatever it is, it’s the right next thing for me.

And as the calendar flips to Monday tomorrow, I’ll be on pins and needles waiting for a phone call with feedback on my frontrunner job opening…on whether it’s a go or not.  It’s so tempting to just stop and catch my breath and wait, but I know myself too well.  Sitting around waiting for an uber-anticipated email or phone call just makes time grind to a halt!

What to do?  I remember the advice I’ve given to others in this same position – STAY BUSY!  Keep networking!  If you’re in between jobs, keep busy by getting in the gym to blow off stress, get outside for some fresh air, get out of the house and meet colleagues/contacts for lunch and continue to interview elsewhere! 

Nothing is a done deal until it’s a done deal!

Martinis Make Me Snore…

23 Sunday Dec 2012

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edgewaterLeave it to my dear friend D to turn FIFTY – THE BIG 5-0 – on the “end of the world” (December 21)!  And to pull together a fabulous celebration with friends in style!

And how fabulous was it to shut off the laptop, wrap up the work conference call (while on the road heading into Seattle) and just focus on FUN.  Normally this time of year is super quiet at work.  Most people are on vacation or working from home, checking messages very infrequently.  That’s not how it’s been for us at ALL.  We’ve got a big product launch next month and we’ve been on an intense schedule since mid November.  Man, it’s been crazy like this for over a month!  As much as I love my team and what we’re doing, I’m ready for a break!

I woke up Friday morning with a huge smile on my face.  It’s the end of the world…and we’re still here!  One weird thing:  I have a small clock in my master vanity with a swinging pendulum.  The pendulum had completely stopped swinging overnight.  But the clock was still ticking and keeping time perfectly.  Hmmm!!  I know it’s the energy of the Solstice.  It’s that solid, THUD-like energy you can feel on that day if you breathe really deeply. Breathe through the darkness.  The stillness.  I felt it for sure.  It’s those deep rhythms of the changing seasons.  And it almost feels like a slightly heavier gravity pull.

It could not have been a more glorious solstice. As I was heading over the bridge into Seattle, I saw the beautiful colors of the early sunset and the sky was glowing.  THIS is the promise…the promise of more light ahead – brighter days.  And what a bonus it wasn’t raining!

First stop:  the famous Edgewater Hotel.  Right smack on Elliott Bay.  Yep, the one where you can fish right out of your window.  Where the Beatles stayed back in the day.  This is THE only waterfront hotel in Seattle…and it’s a must-visit the next time you are here.  It’s very lodge-y feeling and cozy. River rock decor everywhere.  Warm, luxurious and unpretentious.  Did you know this hotel was built in 1962 in anticipation of the Worlds Fair? Hey, the same year D was born, ha.

We checked into our rooms, had a cocktail toast and the 10 of us got whisked off to Cuoco for dinner.  Any Tom Douglas restaurant is a major hit in my book, and I couldn’t wait to try this one!  It’s delicious northern Italian cuisine.  The mezzaluna pasta with butternut squash is heaven on a plate.  Savory but light.  And this is where the Ketel One martinis started flowing.

cakeOne of D’s friends made her birthday cake from scratch.  4-layer red velvet decorated with fresh roses.  Exquisite!  And the shiny thing next to it?  That’s the Long Lei….a chain of 44 chocolate kisses and 6 condoms.  I think everyone got to wear the Long Lei at some point throughout the evening.  It was long enough for two people to wear it at the same time!

We headed back to the Edgewater and up to the Six Seven lounge.  This is another part of your must-do-in-Seattle list.  The views of the water, the ferry boats and looking back at the city are stunning.  So is the food and service.  A few more friends joined us, and I vaguely remember heading back to the room a couple of times for a Veuve Clicquot toast, loudly cheering as we popped the champagne corks right out the window.  By the time the evening was over it was 3:00am and we were all back in D’s room laughing so hard. 

Most of this group goes back to high school years or earlier.  So you can imagine the hilarious stories and memories flying around.  I loved it.  I feel very blessed and fortunate to know D and to get to know her friends in the process as well.   I’m the new kid to this circle, having only known her a little over a year! 

The Motrin worked!  I crawled out of bed the next morning with no hangover.  Just no voice.  Although while we were eating breakfast back in D’s room, I casually asked my roommate P if I snored.  She said I sure did and she had to put in her earplugs!  Oh my God!  I laughed but felt a little mortified too.  Do I really snore all the time?  No, it couldn’t be…it’s gotta be the martinis and champagne.

Right?

Cabin Fever Week

22 Sunday Jan 2012

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How quickly things changed in 24 hours.  I came home from work last Friday (the 13th, which was a good day save for saying good bye to a co-worker who is relocating overseas), relaxed at home and slept in gloriously late into Saturday.  Know that feeling when you wake up and it just ‘feels’ different?  In my bleary just-out-of-bed attempt to wake up I couldn’t quite figure out what it was…other than it was super quiet outside.  No dull drone of street noise.

Aha!  It SNOWED!  Where did I miss this on the TV weather forecasts?  I suppose I should not have been too shocked – it is January, after all. I don’t even know where to start with this one.  Other than Snow + Seattle area is a very bad combination.  For getting around, that is.  Otherwise, it’s gorgeous.  Exhibit A – the view off my back deck. 

We got around 6 inches or so in my area – by the time it was done the faint line markings from the deck in that picture were completely covered over.  After hearing news reports and reading countless local-area Facebook posts we had anywhere from around 3 inches to over a foot depending on where you were.

The power stayed on here and my furnace is working.  Everything else after that truly is all gravy.  Check out my Cold Where It’s Supposed to be Cold post from (*gulp* wow time flies) November 2010.  Two furnace repairs and a crapped out fridge just a couple months prior to that made it an expensive end of that year…after just starting to get some decent income again following a long unemployed streak.  So anyway, here we are in 2012 and I relished my warm townhouse, hot showers and the beautiful snow falling outside.

After a couple of days it got old.  Driving in the snow in the Seattle area is a hot topic for sure.  In general, it’s not a good idea.  Seriously…a few inches of snow will literally bring us to our knees.  We’re hilly.  We don’t have a ton of snow removal equipment.  We’re not like other parts of the country who deal with this routinely and life goes on.  Around here, it just doesn’t.  Hell, when a UPS truck gets stuck in your driveway, you know it’s bad.

What is it about snow?  It brings a huge Hush Hug over everything in its embrace.  I stay in my jammies all day and take naps.  At noon. 

But soon it was time to get back to work.  Thankfully this team is all about playing it safe and not trying to be heroes getting into the office.  We can all work remotely, although in the type of work we do it’s not ideal for long periods of time as I learned.

There was one small problem.  The power cord for my work laptop was still in my office!  I never bring it home because I never work from home.  It still reminds me too much of when I was unemployed, and frankly I’d rather get out of the house and be around people during the day.  In my last work assignment my work laptop was the same brand as my home one, so it was easy to just swap out the power cords between the two if I ever did work from home on rare occasion.  Not this time, however.

On Monday I was able to squeak by with doing email either from my phone or through my home laptop.  But I didn’t have full access to the internal resources I depend on to get work done.  And I attempted a few times to get the work laptop connected with my home cable modem, but the modem is new and I was unfamiliar with the steps to switch connectivity (I don’t use a router).  And I watched the battery power indicator slowly sink southward as I chatted with our corporate Helpdesk and all to troubleshoot.  No luck. 

So I knew Tuesday I needed to get into work somehow to get that power cord.  They were predicting heavy snow Tuesday into Wednesday.  Turns out the main roads were pretty clear.  It’s the side streets, sidewalks and driveways that are the problem. 

I got into work just fine and was pleasantly surprised to see my officemate there already.  Ahhh, human interaction!  We had both planned to stay for a few hours, but then got a phone call from her husband around lunch time that it was really starting to snow hard and we better get home. I’m so glad he called, because our office does not have a window and it was snowing much harder up near where my officemate and I live compared to work.

When you’re stuck at home snowbound, the cabin fever grips tight.  The novelty wears off quickly.  So to fight it off, I vowed to get out of the house at least once a day for a walk.  And it really helps – and is pretty good exercise too stomping through heavy, wet snow.

Thankfully by Friday the snow turned to rain and everything turned into a big slushfest.  Relief was coming!  Freedom! 

And what a great way to blast back into the routine of life with a wonderful Saturday.  My friend L ventured out this way to the suburbs (I joke that he’s mentally allergic to them but that’s another story).  With iPad in hand, he and I walked through the townhouse here and talked about tons of ideas to update my place.  I know my place needs work, and I know I need to keep an open mind.  We jumped around all over the place with ideas and chitchat.  And we agreed on a general plan to start work upstairs here where the bedrooms are and then slowly work our way downstairs.  

Oh boy.  That means my 3rd bedroom – the Room of Crap – is in the hotseat first.  And that’s actually a great idea as it is very underutilized space save for a large bookcase and random stuff on the floor that needs to get boxed up into storage or thrown out.  And I get to think about paint colors too, for it’s still Insane Asylum White like the rest of this place was when I first bought it.  Oh, the possibilities!  L wants to convert it to my home office and have the home office where I am now become a guest bedroom, as this room is larger and can hold a queen-sized bed. Interesting idea!

Later I headed out (Out! After not driving for 5 days!) to meet friends for our annual Chinese New Year dinner at China Clipper in Woodinville.  They have wonderful, pretty close to authentic Northern Chinese cuisine.  We had a blast at dinner and then headed over to J’s house for board games and laughter.  Know when you laugh so hard that tears stream down your face? 

Fantastic.