Cotton-Pickin' Days 1.0

Yesterday was 102 degrees here in parts, though at least there was a wind. We got a new set of air conditioners, 'super duper high efficiency' so of course monstrously huge but effective. Of course they are so huge that they are a fixture of the master bedroom view and now much be moved back to the original spot by the laundry room, but that is another story. We are having breakfast on the back deck surrounded by trees and birds and at 8:34 it is already humid and warm - but again breezy so quite pleasant.

Finn is a blast. He has picked up machine gun sounds from Callum and so every time he sees a gun - like a water gun he points and makes these noises. A far cry from the days of no Guns in the house for the first two years at least of Callum's life!

Finn is one. He has a bunch of words which are SO darn cute! He has a very solemn yes nod while he says yaaaa, a definite no, mumma, dada, up and
Possibly more. He also likes to call for Callum and Maddie in a loud voice, but this is mostly unintelligible. I forgot how smart they are even at this age! He is very into how things work like Callum was, spending ages playing with things like keys going into their little cases, and lids and jars, and anything that connects or has mechanical parts. And in general he is just into *Everything*. He is walking so much sooner than the others so he can get himself into lots of things that he shouldn't ! He loves to be outside, in fact could spend all day exploring the deck and yard, hose, garden, forest .......

Ah summer......

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http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CreekRunningNorth/~3/XRaZiPx1LwU/

http://www.virtual-doug.com/virtualdoug/2012/05/galveston-and-the-bolivar-peninsula.html

The day could not have been better - cool morning temperatures, low humidity, zephyr breezes - just right for a long scooter ride.  Off I went to Galveston.

(Kinda small isn't it?  Click on the map and all the photos to see the full-sized images.)

It is a 400 plus mile ride to Galveston.  I was not in hurry, so the scooter and I took the back roads.  If I am in a hurry to get somewhere, I just drive the car.  I can take the super-slab and cruise at 75-80 mph in the car and, but a bike is more conducive to a lazier cruise at 65-70 mph, going through small towns and along two-lane roads.

Since I was only staying one night away from home, I didn’t pack much more than a toothbrush and a bar of soap. Well, a change of underwear too - something clean to put on after washing the bugs off at the end of the day.

As you can see, the topography of deep south Texas is flat - most people’s table tops are bumpier than our landscape.  Worse, to get north of here towards the east, there are only two roads - neither of them Interstates, but both are divided highways.

In other words, boring.

But, once I got past Corpus Christi, the road was still flat, but it became two-lane and started weaving through small coastal towns.  I found a little road side eatery - the kind patronized by construction workers and road crews - and enjoyed the “How ya’ doin’?” from the leather-skinned waitress.  Not much chance of finding a “fit and lean” menu item here - the burgers were gigantic, covered with cheese and cooked with extra grease.


Ever heard of the town of Blessing, Texas?  Neither had I, but there it was - a beautifully maintained old hotel surrounded by the typical small-town main street of deserted shops and dilapidated houses.  The Blessing Hotel is on some sort of registry for old historical buildings.  The hotel and the town were so named because it was considered a blessing when the railroad came through.


The scoot ran perfectly and its rider did okay too, but the rider’s butt was happy to see the motel at the end of the ride.  A nice meal, a shower and the evening cigar made for a perfect day.


Morning brought another great day for riding, but before returning home, I wanted to see some of the local area.

Galveston was all but destroyed in the Great Hurricane of 1900 - 8,000 people perished.  It was nailed again by Hurricane Ike in 2008.  Across Galveston Bay is the Bolivar Peninsula - and Ike’s winds and storm surge left little standing in the fishing and resort villages along the peninsula.  Four years later, there is still lots of evidence of the destruction.


People being what they are, total destruction doesn’t seem to deter them from building anew, as evidenced by some gorgeous new vacation homes.

After a breakfast of croissants (purchased at a shop run by immigrant Cambodians), it was time to head back home.  There is only one way to get to the Bolivar Peninsula from Galveston, and that is by ferry.  Surprisingly, it is free.  I guess the Texas Department of Transportation figures running the ferry is cheaper than building a high bridge over the heavily traveled ship channel into the Houston area.  The scooter nestled in between cars and three Harley-Davidson motorcycles on the way back.  I find my scooter is always a conversation-starter with other two-wheel riders.  Most don’t believe a scooter can travel at highway speeds, but once the Harley riders realize I haven't lost my masculinity because I ride a scooter, there is always a friendly bit of chit chat.  Once off the ferry and on the highway, I passed the trio at 70 mph - and made believers that my little Burgman can boogie with the big boys.

Galveston itself itself is a neat old city, worthy of further exploration.  There is just a little bit of a New Orleans flavor to the place, including some great old houses - and even better people.  I think another trip to explore the town may be in the future - but not during tourist season.

Then, the long ride home.  I don’t have a radio or music player on the bike - on purpose.  Besides not wanting to be distracted (and therefore, less safe), I also relish the time alone with my thoughts - pondering ideas, reminiscing some great times or planning new adventures.  It is like wakeful dreaming - a time to let the mind sort itself out.  I cut contact with the world with the knowledge that it will still be there when the ride is over.

By afternoon, the sea breeze had turned into strong winds, and though the Burgman is stable in the wind, riding is just not quite as much fun in the stiff gusts.  A stop for gas and a quick text to Cindy telling her to keep supper warm, I rode home with bugs in my teeth.

Riding is good for the soul.

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/CreekRunningNorth/~3/LAGGuGk41_Y/

http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/shaicoggins/atomrss/~3/Qw5xO2qZwug/

http://www.shaicoggins.com/?p=2377

“We are all works in progress. Each day presents an opportunity to learn more, do more, be more, grow more in our lives and careers. Keeping your career in permanent beta forces you to acknowledge that you have bugs, that there’s new development to do on yourself, that you will need to adapt and evolve. But it’s still a mind-set brimming with optimism because it celebrates the fact that you have the power to improve yourself and, as important, improve the world around you.” - Reid Hoffman & Ben Casnocha (The Start-up of You)

When a friend of mine suggested I read this book, The Start-up of You (Reid is LinkedIn’s founder/CEO), I was immediately curious. So, even though I already had a few books on my list, I decided to give this a go anyway. You see, I find reading books to be a great part of life transitions.

Hang On. Rewind and Reset, Please.

For those of you who may have missed the informal announcements: Over a couple of weeks ago, I left my job at Connecting Up. Some of you may have already read it through my Facebook posts, Twitter updates and/or blog posts here and here.

My departure is somewhat part of a restructuring and budgeting thing that the organisation’s going through. There are a lot of changes happening – long-serving Chairman of the Board was stepping down and a new one just got the job, my former boss and current CEO has also announced that he is about to leave the organisation, financial reviews, a couple of other board changes… So yeah, things have been going through some transformations. And, I had to be part of that transformation through my departure.

I’m trying hard not to be overly sentimental about it, but it must be said that I have loved my job at CU. Probably one of the best jobs that I’ve ever had, working with some of the most fun people I’ve ever met. Considering how full on the role was, I gave myself to my work wholeheartedly. Even if there were a few sacrifices that had to made. And, even though it had to end, I have no regrets.

The people I have met, the work I got to do, and all the opportunities that opened up for me through CU had been incredible. I travelled to Sydney, Perth, Brisbane, Melbourne, Darwin, and Canberra, as part of work. I have been to the Philippines twice, visiting four cities, to present at events. I went to Sri Lanka for the first time and got to see San Francisco twice. I revisited Kuala Lumpur and Washington DC through work. I am even due to go to New Zealand next month for the first time too, as a remnant of my time from CU.

I got to meet and work with incredible people, including Beth Kanter, Holly Ross, and Nancy Schwartz, as well as the amazing folks from TechSoup and Microsoft. I even got to celebrate my 38th birthday on the streets of SF with a group of nonprofit folks that I met from a conference where I presented.

Before I came to CU, I was a terrified public speaker and a reluctant networker at events. My former colleagues could attest how much I hyperventilated every time I had to take the stage. By the time I left, I didn’t just grow to love presenting, I even learned a lot of skills along the way. And face-to-face networking became second nature. Sure, I still feel shy and all most of the time, being a natural introvert. But, I have definitely learned to speak and to become an extrovert on demand.

During the time that I was there, I was happy that I had a number of professional highlights: From increasing social media presence by over 1,000% in the first year (and doubling that within the second year) – to leading the rebranding work and improving our website and content (grew our website views by 570% within two years). I hired two incredibly productive people, recruited our first official volunteer, and helped to build the nonprofit community around the CU brand. Also represented our organisation in the different events and in TechSoup’s global content and community initiatives, as well as launched events as part of the organisation’s new program offerings. Was also instrumental in the launch of NetSquared Adelaide, and trying to champion NetSquared in other states of Australia. I was a committee member to two CU conferences, one of which I keynoted and the other one, I was voted as one of the Top 4 speakers, receiving over 90% approval rating from the delegates.

So yes, it was a great couple of years. With a lot of wonderful memories. And, even though I am no longer part of CU, I still wish the organisation all the best. They provide a great service to the not-for-profit sector, and I know that I will always champion the cause and the NFP sector, even if I’m not getting paid to do so.

And, I also know that I will always be grateful for my experience at CU. I will miss a lot of people and I will miss the work, but I am also ready to face the next stage of my professional life.

So, where to from here?

Frankly, I am not a hundred percent sure yet. All I know is that I would love to stay in the technology field, particularly, in digital media and community, if at all possible. I have developed enough soft and hard assets around these aspects over the last 12+ years, so I would prefer to keep building on them.

But, as the authors of The StartUp of You has pointed out, there are three important puzzle pieces that can inform us when we figure out our career direction and competitive advantage: Our assets + Our aspirations + Market demand/realities.

Knowing what my assets are, I am also familiar with my aspirations. Ideally, I would like to use my assets to make a difference in the world. To be part of something big, something greater.

So yeah, digital + community to make a difference. That’s the dream. But, will someone pay me to do it the way I currently see it? So far, I’ve always found that I get to have that privilege one way or the other.

The thing is, all the great and wonderful things that I have come in my life – from my romantic whirlwind marriage and my two amazing kids to the start-up life of b5media and my work with NFPs at CU… They were all things that I never would’ve imagined for myself in a million years.

After all, I was just a girl from Manila, who was raised by hardworking parents who took us out of poverty and into a more privileged upbringing. And, I just dreamt a lot of dreams as I was growing up. In all those dreams, I have pictured a different kind of happy. The only kind of happy I knew then.

But, I grew up. I changed. I evolved. I transformed.

In every new job, every resignation, every redundancy, every move, every new challenge… I keep finding a new kind of happy. In fact, almost always – especially when it comes to work and career – it’s a kind of happy that was better than before.

That’s why my husband reckons that I should be known as the Come Back Queen. Apparently, he thinks that one of my secret super powers is the ability to bounce back better, higher and happier than the last time.

Good guy, that hubby of mine. In fact, I know that I am married to the right guy because he even says that he thinks I’m even prettier now than I was when he first married me nearly fourteen years ago. Yes, I’m an incredibly lucky woman.

But, I digress.

Back to the career direction point: You know that one of the amazing things that happened since leaving CU was that it opened up a world of possibilities* for me.

In less than 48 hours since I left my job, I have received a number of leads and opportunities (not to mention, dozens of incredibly supportive messages from friends and contacts!). I’ve been to a few meetings and exchanged several messages with different people. Many, coming from really unexpected sources. In fact, even now, two weeks later, I am still getting a lot of surprises.

I’ve been really amazed by it all.

There were requests for meetings, requests for marketing collateral, requests for proposals, offers to connect with someone they know, offers to explore projects, etc. I even had one really flattering message where I was jokingly offered a co-CEO role if I move to this incredible place in Europe. Said he’ll hire me on the spot, budget be damned. I would if I could too, as I think he’d be an awesome person to work with.

But seriously… Would any of these possibilities and opportunities come in to fruition? Only time will tell.

In the meantime, as part of my thinking and waiting process, I decided to set up Vervely. Yes, within a week of leaving CU, I set up my own business, with its own website, a Twitter account, and a Facebook Page – now with a growing following. Even applied for a PO Box!

I’m not sure yet where Vervely is headed. At the moment, I am building its website content and using it as my main business entity as I explore my options.

Depending on the third puzzle piece – market demand/realities – I will make my choices as I see fit.

If I can stay in the area where I already have built my assets and have a market for it, great. If I can meet my aspirations to make a mark in changing the world doing what I love to do and I can get paid for it, great.

But, should I need to make adjustments on my assets and aspirations for this beta version of my career, then I am keen to find out what comes next. After all, when I found CU, I wasn’t even looking for a job*.

So, who knows what will turn up this time.

Will provide updates on improvements as soon as they’re available.

* Possibilities as my 2012 Word of the Year now seem really apt, right?

** And guess what? 2010, the year I ended up working at Connecting Up, is the year I had Connect as my Word of the Year. Incredible, huh?

NOTE: Photo collage highlights some of my CU memories. Couldn’t capture them all.

You Might Also Like To Read...

• The Return to a Connected Life: Obliquely Finding My Way to a New Job*
• On the way to San Francisco and Ohio
• On Becoming a Graduate Student (Again!)
• What Next? {A Book Review}
• 10 Ways to Kick-Start Work in the New Year

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frank

Earth's crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God:
But only he who sees, takes off his shoes,
The rest sit round it, and pluck blackberries,
-Elizabeth Barrett Browning “Aurora Leigh”

Today is my day off. There are a million things that I need to do before the family leaves for our vacation in 2 weeks, one of which is selecting pictures for a scrapbook that the mums in Natalie's ballet class want to do for our beloved teacher who is retiring soon. (it wasn't my idea to do the scrapbook, but by default the job fell to me, since I do what I do as a hobby...)

So I was diligent and met up with one of the other ballet mums today to select the pictures, and it took the whole morning!! And my job didn't end there, I still had to crop some photos when I got home, and transfer them to the thumb drive to bring to the photo shop for printing. And goodness knows why, the numbers didn't add up once and I counted and recounted, only to discover that I had been correct all along. And then later, the numbers didn't add up again, and this time it drove me crazy, and it was only after listing all 80 odd photos in numerical order that I discovered that I had a duplicate photo, hence when it transferred the 2nd time it merely overwrote the existing file. And then after going back into the pictures and re-evaluating the pages they were for, I realized that the duplicate was a typographical error after all, IMG_4699 vs IMG_4996. Incredibly frustrating. And I'm tired just reliving it again.

All this took the entire afternoon to do, primarily because I got majorly sidetracked by Christopher. The kids' school is having a series of 4 fund raising concerts this Saturday to raise funds for the new school buildings. As a choir member, Chris is performing. I was under the impression all along that he was performing at the Gala concert thus we bought tickets accordingly. Today he told me that he believes that he is performing only in Concert 2. This prompted me to email the school administrator to ask if we could possibly switch tickets cos after all, all this is to watch our son perform, is it not?

The school admin was very accommodating and facilitated the exchange. I was pleased, until I checked the choir blog (you know, just to be sure) and discovered that.... Chris is performing in 2 concerts, namely the 3rd concert and the Gala concert. So I had to call the admin back to apologize profusely for the blur-ness of my son and I, and ask if I could pretty please move the tickets back to the original Gala concert. Again, she was incredibly nice about it, and fixed everything for me. I felt terrible, though, everyone in school was busy enough without me adding to it.

With that sorted, I tried to get back to the arduous business of photo selection/transfer... but was itchy enough to read the choir blog again, and it was a good thing I did too, cos I then discovered that Chris needs a choir costume and shoes. I had to call the school again, this time in an attempt to reach the choir teacher to sort this out. Needless to say, with rehearsals going on and at 3.30pm in the afternoon, this was an exercise in futility. It looked like I was going to have to wait till tomorrow to sort this out. It would be leaving it later than I liked, though, with the concert on Saturday and no school on Thursday because of parent teacher meeting.

Then I remembered that I knew one of Chris's choir teachers from a shared love of crafting. So I jumped through several hoops, retrieved her cell number and got her on the phone. After apologizing (for the umpteenth time this afternoon) for disturbing her, I asked her about the choir uniform and was relieved when she validated my angst by saying that it required immediate attention. We made arrangements for my blur son to see her during rehearsal held during school hours tomorrow to do the necessary and I hung up, feeling more accomplished.

Then I remembered that the blur son is going on a field trip tomorrow but at that point I was just too tired of running interference and let it be. He's just going to have to find a way to find his choir teacher tomorrow.

You'd think that by now I would have earned some time with my photos, but oh no, I still had to vet son's social studies homework due tomorrow. The trials and tribulations of being an involved concerned parent. Heh.

And by time I was done, it was time to go fetch hubby who has organized a dinner with his EMBA friends this evening. And I still have another 14 items on my to do list to do, having only accomplished part of one today.

It's the process that matters. Enjoy the journey, I tell myself. Tomorrow is another day.

Posted via LiveJournal app for iPad.

The lesson of biblical theology is that no text stands alone, and the whole of Scripture is its ultimate context. So we should beware of taking every portion of a size convenient for daily reading (whatever that might be) and forcing it to yield up spme self-contained Christian truth. In our efforts to make every snippet of Scripture relevant and edifying to the Christian we may in fact be destroying the very message which is present for us in the wider context.
- Graeme Goldsworthy, Gospel and Kingdom: A Christian Interpretation of the Old Testament, p.102