April Album

Live from Utah!  A snapshot of the last few days in April… including the big 33 for me.

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Tulips!

This year, we are enjoying 200 tulips in the front yard. 
Yay, spring!
    

Nine goals revisted

About these project management classes... I found out with my good, hard-earned money, that all these goals and lists I keep making aren't really achievable if I don't set a deadline.  Oh.

So, if you, gentle readers of the blogisphere, internets, and cyberspace recall, I've made a few proclamations since starting this blog back in January.   Nine, to be exact - that have basically been reduced to nothing unless I quickly revive them with some serious targets and deadlines.  Ahem.
 
So here goes:

1. More time with family and friends.  Weekly check-ins and social events!   (This is my favorite goal.)
2. More time for introspection.  Weekly blogging.
3. Finish my wedding album.  by August 12, 2010 (10 year anniversary!)
4. Finish my bedroom curtains.  by May 15
5. Join a gym, for crying out loud.  Ride bike once a week: alone to work or with 75 lbs of children to neighborhood park.  I'm starting small here... look at all these other goals!
6. Purchase life insurance.  by May 30
7. Finish estate planning.  by May 30
8. Write children's book on cascarones. Uh... 2011?
   
9. Become certified in project management.  by May 28 (last day of class)

Geez, this got really ambitious.  I'm going to bed.  In the next sixty minutes. or so.

a new goal in progress

I've alluded to this before:  my dedication to blogging is not as great as my dedication to list-making.

So, I went back through my past lists.  Oh, dear.  Progress is slow on all fronts.  But, wait!  Since my last post (well, the post before I was prickly), I added one more goal, and I am 25% from completing it!

My new goal is work-related: I am taking a series of project management courses, and by the end of May, I will be certified in project management!  What?!  It all started when a friend of mine was asking about my job, and what it trains people in project management.  Which is zilch.  So after thinking and talking it through, I decided to get some training on my own.  I researched Portland State University's extended studies program, found some Friday classes, made childcare arrangements, and negotiated my work and union to pay for my time and the class so that it covers daycare costs as well.  The decision to go for it, along with rearranging our Friday schedule took place within a couple of days at the beginning of the month - less than a week before the class series began.  Whew.  So, I've been busy.

These classes have me totally thinking of my dad and brother and brother-in-law, since I have this impression that project management is something that the military must train people in regularly (though I have no idea; am I right about this?).  The jargon is kind of male, such as "don't solve the problem, get the problem solved" and "manage expectations".  Part of me gets excited about this stuff, and the other part of me is trying not to roll my eyes.  Or maybe I have just been too heavily influenced by my book club's recent read: The Female Brain (Read this book!  The subject matter will have to be another post soon...)  But the class is not heavily attended by males - in fact, the ratio is 3:1, with more females.  Go girls! 

So that is my new goal in progress.  The good news is that I think it will give me some confidence and build my skills in the workplace, which is just the boost I need.  I've already taken the first couple of classes, which were on "Project Planning".  It sounds a little dry, but it's very hands-on, and it's helping me to organize my thoughts better.  Stay tuned...

prickly

Yesterday, I was feeling a bit prickly.  It was work related.  

I think I'm better now, or else it's just settling and I'm over it.

hunt for cascarones!

This week in Dean’s classroom, we dyed eggs (4 dozen!), then spooned confetti – a fine motor skill – into each egg.  Finally, today, the only sunny day this week (and if the weather reports are correct, the last one for a while), we walked to the park and hunted for cascarones!  Instead of the traditional cracking of cascarones on each other’s heads, we showed the kids how to crack them in their hands and toss the confetti up into the air.  It seemed like a better option for 3- and 4-year-olds.
 
I‘m still not sure exactly why we do this.  But it’s the first time I started searching.  Stay tuned.