This weekend I read the Time Magazine special edition of “Mother Teresa at 100.” I don’t subscribe to her particular religion, but I’ve always admired her ability to lead others. So I jumped at the opportunity to learn more about her. The most surprising thing I learned was that there were long periods in her ministry when she no [...]
I woke up in a panic, sweating. I dreamed about an employee I laid off last year. It was her wedding anniversary and her husband was taking her out to a fancy restaurant. She was dressed beautifully and looked happier and more radiant than I had ever seen her. Another worker came over and scolded me, [...]
Continue reading about Minimizing the Isolation of Leadership
It’s Tuesday morning after the Memorial Day weekend. We didn’t go away on vacation. We did not attend a parade or a church service. There were no cookouts at neighbor’s houses to enjoy. It would have been a great weekend to straighten things up a bit, but as I look around at the toys on the floor, some in the [...]
Continue reading about Ten reasons (excuses) why my house isn’t clean after a three day weekend
A ten-year-old’s wisdom Every now and then, you have an “Ah-Ha!” moment- one that gives you a true glimpse at the philosophical side of life. I had one this week, when I discovered a hand-written list in my ten-year-old daughter’s school bag. It was a list that one of her friends, Kaitlin Hards, had given [...]
Happy 10th birthday, Shelby! Today marks the tenth anniversary of the most significant day in my life. Today is the day my oldest child, Shelby, was born. About a week after we brought her home from the hospital, I had the second most significant day of my life. This time, it was because my husband [...]
One of the most challenging tasks for me as a working mother is balancing work and family. It doesn’t matter which role I’m working on- I feel guilty about not spending enough time on the other one. The end result is no matter how hard I work on a given day, at the end of it some [...]
We’ve all made them at one time or another. Some of our attempts have been successful, but the overwhelming majority of New Year’s resolutions fade away shortly after the hangovers subside and the holiday decorations are packed away. Why are New Year’s resolutions so hard to accomplish? My personal experience points to four main reasons: [...]
It was a beauty; larger and shinier than our old one. My husband Ed stuck big, gold numbers on the side and walked up the driveway to screw it into its post. He was excited- our old box had been the target of vandalism many times and hadn’t worked properly in months. We knew it would be [...]
Here we all are, paused, at the top of the roller coaster of the calendar year. We are about to plunge into the Holiday Season- the final six weeks. Sure it is a wild, exhilarating ride- special school programs, family visits, and plenty of traditional food. But it is a stressful time. There are too [...]
Continue reading about How to put the breaks on holiday stress: Do Nothing.
Shelby’s crying again. My eyes tear up as I give her one last hug. I promise I’ll be home soon, but that doesn’t stop the sniffing. We smile sadly at each other as I open the front door and walk out into the dark, chilly October morning. I’m off on another business trip. Once [...]