What Harry's Mom Does In Her Spare Time

Well, it is not unpack boxes!

I have been enjoying the changes in my life.
The home move was a great one.
We were really happy in Delray. It was a great location. When we moved to Cavalier Drive, it just didn't work for us. With one or two exceptions, our neighbors weren't freindly. There weren't a lot of active people near us. We were pretty far from the places we like to go. Now, we have friendly neighbors. We have active people around us. We are close to friends (except for the Wagners) and we are close to our activities. We are also very close to Harry's daycare, so he spends less time in the car. I see more friends and do things, like work out with them. The energy here is positive, and I love it!

Also good is my new job. It seems that the old job is down about 50 CRAs (I am told)...out of only 300. That's a big percentage. And that doesn't count managers who have left. I was really busy there, my manager was awful, things were chaotic...even though the company made their ISO 9000 (or whatever), made Businessweek's Top 40 small businesses, went public...good for them, bad for us! The new job...people work together, the company's goal is to communicate, the CEO wants us to call him to provide feedback. Of course, I am not very busy right now. Things could change...but I am using the time to get off on the right foot.

I was looking over our performance goals, and I decided one by one I would aim for an "outstanding" in each of them. Understand, this is a work in progress! I have only gotten to the second one so far.

• Ability to communicate clearly and conciesly at all levels

This was my first item of business. Since I am not busy at work, since I am not even getting any email for the most part, I decided that I could apply all of these goals to my entire life. It's no secret that I have been tired and stressed. That doesn't make for a nice person. And when I am tired I don't always have the time to think about what I want to say effectively or explain it well. I also loose confidence in my ability to say the things I want to say.

Yesterday, while at brunch with strangers (Kevin, Harry, my godparents, my dad, his friend, her brother, his wife and her mother) I decided to work on this. The friend's brother's wife's mother was an interesting person. I decided to tell her so. I'd like to think that after that, the entire group mood changed. Suddenly everyone seemed more friendly, more open. Maybe it was just my perspective. Maybe I just made a difference overall. I do know that the woman, Celia, seemed delighted. Her eyes got big and she claimed she was only interesting because of the person she was talking to (me). Anyway, I think I passed the first test. I just need to keep it up.

I think I need to keep this up at home too. Kevin and I have started to argue now and then. I am sure it is because we are tired. It is just cranky, snappy stuff, but Harry doesn't know that. He just doesn't like it. He is going to grow up to be Chandler Bing. If we argue and he hear's it, he either shows those dimples, or gets up and gives us both a hug...it is way adorable, but a little bit disturbing just the same. We need to stop this before he pulls out a whole tap dance routine!

So, if anyone finds I am not communicating well with you, please let me know!

• Is a team player; collaboration

At the professional level, I think I am pretty good with this. I know because of how PRA had become, I stopped going out of my way to help though. It didn't make me feel good. I think everyone feels better when you work as a team player. Help out my sites, help out the cars at the green light in front of me by NOT beeping at them, smile at strangers, help out when I can. Stop acting like I can do everything better and instead help others do things well, too. It will make things easier for all of us in the long run.

Next week: Integrity and Professionalism. I will let you know how that goes!