Oh J - You Troublemaker

Fans of the Myers-Briggs will recognize the list making obsession that characterizes the "J" trait. The fourth indicator suggests a preference for either spontaneity or list making.

I am a J.

If I'm feeling stressed I "make a list." If I'm feeling like I have entirely too much to do in a short period of time I "make a list." If I'm going somewhere, starting a new project, taking on a new hobby I "make a list." I have even been known to make lists of lists I need to make.

Last summer, before starting out on our 45 day cross country RV trip, I had a list of lists that included: RV Stocking & Readiness, Work wrap-up, Pet Prep, Household Readiness, and Gwen.

I'm not a purist. I like things a bit open-ended and it's not unusual for me to dive right in to a last minute something just because. Sort of like, well, NaNoWriMo, which I decided to do literally hours before it was to begin. This gets me in trouble because although I crave order, I'm not particularly good at maintaining it.

This morning I was up and about a wee bit early because Chris is headed into the office and one of my favorite things is morning coffee with him. Sipping away at my eggnog enhanced brew I curled up on the couch for a visit - knowing that although he was headed in, I was still off for the rest of the week.

Oh, but I was distracted.

Every year, the week between Christmas and New years, I take off and I spend that week creating order. Because I do this I pretty much put off creating order at any other time during the month of December. Then I dive in, pull everything out, and start sorting through the previous year of my life.

This year the in-process piles include several magazines which reflect either interests or things I'd hoped to become interested in at some point during the previous 12 months. So, among the piles on the floor are "Shop Smart" for my love of bargain hunting, "Body & Soul" - a Martha Stewart empire (you go girl) magazine devoted entirely to health and spirituality which was my goal for 2008 when it was still 2007 and I'm pretty sure I got nowhere with, "Highways" and "Motorhome" magazines which are our bibles for RV'ing, and "QST" - thanks to my newly re-acquired ham radio license.

Near those piles are stacks of bills - none of which have been opened or are late because electronic bill-pay has made my life much more manageable, some PeaPod receipts which are the result of my discovering home delivery for groceries, various software packages also reflecting my interests over the year - scrap booking, genealogy, photography - and then the various gadgets which may or may not work.

I have a lot to do. And only a few days to do it in. Oh, and I forgot. My 2009 Franklin Covey set. Oh how I love FC. This past summer, while in Salt Lake City, I actually visited the FC global headquarters and their attached store. I felt like I'd come to Mecca.

And then there are the KITTENS!

Because during the family Christmas my sister introduced me to a momma cat and a litter who had taken up residence on my sister's porch. Her husband, for all the right reasons, called Animal Control to come pick them up but this had not yet happened. She and her children have fallen in love with all four of them (3 kittens and one cat who looks like she's about to drop another litter) and know that if AC gets there before homes are found then it is likely the end of the line for all of them.

So I got in touch with a friend who offered to take two kittens. My sis thinks she's found a home for the baby gray. I will take the momma and deal with the potential litter when the time comes. It will be her last litter, I promise you. And if I find the person who dumped this brave and friendly young mother I will stick my foot out and trip them...then yell at them for not having the sense to have her spayed.

But first we need to gather up all of them and get them to the vet.

Which is who I should be calling instead of blogging.

And staring at those piles on my floor. Which are less likely to be sorted through if I've been distracted by the needs of new furballs. Which is my own fault for letting my heart and my J fight with each other...

But then, isn't life really the point here?


NL

Sanity in the Cards

I've been a very bad girl.

I haven't blogged in 21 days.

I haven't sent out a single Christmas card.

I haven't cleaned the apartment until every speck of dust is gone.

I'm very afraid that Santa won't visit me this year because, oh my, I've been so very bad.

I'm hoping, though, that the cards that we've received, despite me sending not a single card in two years (I've completely fallen off the wagon I tell you), are an indication that there is still enough love in my life that those reindeer will find their way here and fill my stockings with chocolate!

[Mental note: buy chocolate...just in case.]

I *am* going to send cards. I have to go buy some first. I am thinking that I will send cards on Christmas Eve. Maybe come up with something symbolic and all. I'm only going to send them to a few folks - those that sent them and a few others as well - folks I don't keep up with on Facebook. I hope the rest of my friends understand. I hope.

I should have been more prepared. I wanted to be more prepared. I used to be more prepared. But in the past few years I seem to be me easily distracted. Or maybe it's because so much of life is now lived in increments.

I'm actually looking forward to curling up on the couch, pen and hand, and writing small and hopefully thoughtful messages to these people in my life. We are all living our lives in increments and I am in awe of the women (and a few men) who, despite this, have managed to get off thoughtful cards that catch me up on their worlds.

I want to be more like them. But for now I'll just have to settle for at least being glad my Christmas shopping is done...and wrapped.

There is always 2009.

NL

A Difficult Woman

"You are a very difficult woman, Missus Anna"

My ex-husband, who loves movie quotes, used to say this to me all the time when we were married. While the line is from "King & I", the sentiment, I'm certain, hailed from the very core of the ex's soul at various moments in our marriage. As if somehow I was purposefully making his life difficult and he was a martyr for putting up with me.

I wasn't trying to be difficult. After a while the role got tiresome...and required action.

There is a man at work who I am certain is about to think that I am a very difficult woman. He is my boss's boss and therefore, my boss. Earlier this week he called me, along with two of my colleagues, into his office and announced a reorganization that included removing my boss from her position.

She hadn't been told yet.

As I sat there, in disbelief, I said very little. Within in 24 hours, however, I completely accepted the truth.

This man is an idiot.

Oh, the signs had been there all along. I just refused to see them. I kept telling myself that I wasn't seeing the poor management or lack of ethics possessed by this man. I kept thinking, when things didn't add up, that it was *my* math that was faulty.

I was dreaming.

The fact is that an organizational re-alignment is absolutely in order. The company I work for has two outstanding teams that do the same thing and they should be unified. The leads for both teams believe this ferverently. So, apparently, do others within their respective management chains. Except for my boss's direct boss.

When this man finally sat my boss down to tell her all of the things he'd already told her three direct reports he also said, of me, "If she plans on moving to the other sector she will need to sit down with me, you, and our boss and we will decide if we will let her."

Let her?

Excuse me?

There might have been a time when a man could own a woman, but that time is past. My loyalty to the organization I serve is strong and my team and clients are well cared for. That is a loyalty that is freely given and cannot be owned.

I can honestly say that no one I've worked for in the past 18 years has done such a thorough job of personally losing my loyalty. But, as someone said to me this week, in this case my personal loyalty to this man might have been getting in the way of doing the right thing organizationally.

Not anymore.



NL

It's Official

I'm a winner.

In a week of conversations which have had me a mix of happy, mad, hopeful, and upon occassion looking at the person across from me thinking "are you serious? You cannot POSSIBLY be serious? Are you an idiot?"

I have big work ahead of me this week. Work that has been a long time coming if only (if only, if only she says) we can remove some of the testosterone from the mix.

So this evening, after dragging home from a long day at work, I suddenly realized that it was "proof day."

Today is the first day that NaNoWriMo writers were able to upload their manuscripts for "word count validation" and, therefore, the first day that those of us crossing the crazy finish line that is novella writing on speed could actually call ourselves winners.

AND

TA DA!!!!



[This is the badge Chris told me to post. Have I ever mentioned that he's Norwegian?]

But I actually had options. Here's the other one:




What do you think?

NL

Oh My God, I've Done It!

It's official. I ended my 50,000 word writing spree for my "novella" at about 9 pm this evening - and having written my concluding chapter am sporting 51,145 words in all.

I will upload it on the 25th, which is the soonest possible time, and then I will breathe a little easier knowing that I've dotted the last I and crossed the last T.

Yesterday, knowing that I was in the 10,000 word homestretch and still had a full weekend at my disposal, I went out to the NaNoWriMo site and ordered my official T-shirt and two coffee mugs. One mug I will keep for myself and one mug I will give to Chris, who has been about as patient as a NaNoWriMo widower can possibly be and therefore deserves something of his own. It has a Norwegian Viking Helmet on the logo and that alone appeals to my Viking descendent of a man.

He has finished reading the novel and a copy has been sent off to Bink for her reading pleasure. I'm not sure I can edit it at this point, the rush to the home stretch being what it was, and I'm not sure how wide an attributed audience net I really want to cast if I decide to ask someone else to edit it for me.

But I am finished and I am finished 7 days ahead of schedule. So frankly, I'm pretty darned pleased with myself.

NL