What do I want to do next, they asked.....

Had lunch with two dear friends who I see far too little of, mainly when one of us has a professional excuse. Both were eager to ask me "What do you want to do next?" I didn't have an answer and that is becauuuuuse......I'm doing it. In other words I want to be doing what I'm currently doing which is whatever I want! 'nuff said, right?

So in answer to the question "what happens when you've sewn new covers for all of your porch pillows," I'll have to guess that there will be more classes to teach, more kids' field trips to chaparone, more yoga to practice (heyyyyyyy to Olga @ http://www.aligningwithgrace.com/ ), more books to be read, pictures to be painted, gardens to plant, roses to smell.....and I'm doing it as much as and as long as I can.

I am not declaring that I will never again be gainfully employed either full-time or part-time (why? 'cause my mama taught me to neva' say neva', LOL) but I received a clear message from YOUKNOWWHOTHEMANUPSTAIRS telling me that he wants me at home, doing what?, minding home and hearth. So I'm listening and following instructions.

:P to those of you who think I rebel against authority and despise instructions. Ha!

So I'm working on these gosh-darn cushion/pillow covers (Mr. Singer is rolling over in his grave I know it- for abusing his machines!), to make the front porch super pretty for Spring and Katherine's First Holy Communion and then I will focus on getting all of my hanging pots planted up with pink flowery stuff and then I'm going to have a Pink-Themed Girls' Night and serve those yummy pink grapefruit drinks we all liked on Pinterest, but before that I'm going to do some work out back on the patio and get the flower beds back there all planted up nicey for my BFF's maybe with some of those adorable solar powered light strings that hung up in the umbrella (thank you Fernando there will be no little garden lamps for you to chew!) I just had an idea - maybe the Pink Ladies' Night will be a mini fundraiser for the Georgetown Lombardi Cancer Center - and I will use Brian Orakpo's pink shoes to collect money in (this is another story that I will share but I have BO's practice cleats from last Oct (which is breast cancer awareness month hence he was wearing hot pink) that I bid on and won in a silent auction for the benefit of the Lombardi Center....

Sounds complicated doesn't it? I've been accused of living a life that is a reality show....if there's interesting stuff to do and juggle a million things at a time* and things to learn the hard way (and laugh about later) I am right there in the middle of it - this is true!


Back to the Porch and the Patio - getting that all prettied up for the tiny little reception I'm pondering to honor the occasion of Kate's First Holy Communion. Once that's done - excellent opportunity for a Pink Ladies' Night.....not to worry - the food will not be pink, just the ladies and the drinks!!

*btw, I have another post brewing about multi-tasking gone bad.....

So all that rambling and side-bar stuff being said, I'm doing what I want to do next - this is real stuff I'm doing while I appear to be staying at home doing nothing....that is - getting in touch with my inner domestic goddess; having spontaneous fun with my amazing children; getting my art on; connecting with people who I LOVE to be around (see above @Olga the yoga teacher!); and letting my ADD mind be quiet enough to hear what else God has to tell me. Have a terrific Spring Break if you're Spring Breakin'. Happy Easter if you're celebrating.

And please comment if you agree, disagree, aren't sure that I'm playing with a full deck or not, etc. THANK YOU!!!

Double the Fun

Yay! I've doubled my followers overnight! Yesterday I had two and today I have four! I'm a real whiz at this internet marketing, LOL.

So yesterday I tweaked the font thanks to your comments. My logo needs work and that's coming too. The main thing is that I decided not to wait until everything was perfect to get up and running because all of this is a process just like the life changes.

So speaking of life changes this is what's going on -- as of yesterday I'm officially going to be joining the ranks of the full time homemaker, semi-retired, etc. I really like the category "semi-retired" because it indicates a choice on my part and (this may be wishful thinking) the fact that I'm far too young to actually be fully retired! What that means is that after 12 years I'm really ready to leave the corporate world I've been operating in and change things up in a big way.

I'll be teaching this summer so there's the first part-time gig. Another plan is to launch a resume workshop, career coaching, job search strategy service tied to this blog; and hopefully some short term HR consulting projects will follow.

On the flip side, other than my sanity the primary driver here was for me to spend more time taking care of my family at a time when my children need me the most. At ages 10 and nearly 8 they're growing and learning so much right now and I can tell that they just need both of us to be as available as possible. For my part I want to participate in and enjoy the things they're learning and in general do more fun stuff with both of them. Being able to relax and take the time to color with Kate while having conversations about all kinds of things is something that I benefit from as much as she does. So there will be more coloring, more volunteering at school, less stress, more preparation ahead of time, less stress, less mess, more smiles.