Tales of the Ordinary Days

(Grant, Ryan, Nick, Sean) First Sunday of summer break Summer break is official now for both of my kids still in school. With this annual reprieve comes the balancing act around fun vs. responsibility. As you can surmise, I lean on the side of responsibility while the kids lean on the side of fun. A battle at times, but usually with some resulting balance. At age twenty, Ben is becoming an old pro at this feat. He started his forty-hour-a-week labor job last week. Up at seven, he knows that improper balancing of fun and responsibility lead to long work days. Needless to say, he is taking full advantage of this long Memorial Day weekend, knowing his Tuesday 6:30 a.m. wake up call will be here soon enough. But it does typically take about a week for Ben to make the full adjustment. Grant is in that one week zone right now. With finals completed last Thursday at noon and a week off before summer football begins, I can hardly hold him down. "But, Mom, it's my first day ...

Two days of accumulated heels after another 'hard days work' These boots were made for walking... But what about the stilettos? I am back to work. And with this leap, the yoga pants and gym shorts (with my corresponding accessories of piggy tails) have much less made their way into my dirty clothes basket. Instead, my many fancy heels and closet full of dress-up wardrobe choices have been unleashed. Matched with the many work opportunities that are raining in on me, I do feel a bit like the clip out of the movie, Pretty Woman. Julia Roberts plays the naive, but authentic character, Vivian. After meeting the illustrious Richard Gere character, Edward, she is trying to make her way in the world. A favorite scene in the the movie is Vivian trying her hand at shopping on Rodeo Drive. Every woman or man over the the age of 40 knows this scene and can connect with the feeling in that moment of the movie. (first shopping scene of the movie) Julia walks in the store wea...

Ben's home! Off on another random drive. A carefully planned calendar goes a long way for me. I look ahead to a weekly view full of colored-coded entries on future time commitments. Bliss for an organized mind. And then there are my kids. Do they accomplish a lot in a day? Yes. Do they have color-coded planners? Heck no. The three Lane boys have many similarities and differences in their personalities. One similarity that I have always innately known, but is now officially documented, is their shared strength of 'Adaptability'. Per their individual Gallup Strengthsfinder Assessments, all three possess this as a Top 5 Talent. Adaptability (definition per my friends at Gallup):   People exceptionally talented in the Adaptability theme prefer to go with the flow. They tend to be "now" people who take things as they come and discover the future one day at a time. Well that pretty much sums it up. They live in the moment. The good news is that in an eff...

Mother's Day activity Mother's Day was most enjoyable. Although I wasn't able to spend it with all of my sons or my own mother, I did have a fun afternoon with Zach. The oldest. Number one child and son. The reason I was able to first celebrate this holiday in 1994. Garrett and I met Zach in Downtown Denver with no set plans other than to find some new adventures. Brunch was as at an Irish bar and grille. We gave it high marks for both atmosphere and food quality. The Bloody Mary was pretty good too. Our tour of downtown included a stroll through Union Station and then on to pool play and beer tasting at Wynkoop Brewery. I was gifted a t-shirt that reads "I Love Beer" with the word love replaced with a heart filled with the Colorado logo. Also in the goody bag was a Wynkoop beer glass. Next stop was the flagship REI store on Platte Street. With visions of Reese Witherspoon's hiking performance in Wild, I looked at the extreme hiking gear with g...

#3 and last of my new professional pictures Yep, time to launch. My time off has been an excellent ride, but I am now officially back in the work saddle. Reflection time is over. Clarity is in front of me; along with my LinkedIn account updated, a new Twitter account set up, and updated professional pictures taken. Lots more 'work collateral' is still in process, but I am officially back. While working through my new business partnerships, I was asked for an updated CV (curriculum vitae) which is basically a fancy word for a resume. I hadn't updated my resume since 1990, so this was a big task. A lot has happened in the last twenty-six years of my life. I have had three kids, two marriages, and one divorce during this time frame. I have also only worked for two companies. Although I had ownership in both and held various positions, my resume clearly only lists two companies as employers during this long stretch of time. An anomaly in today's working world. One...