Just another night on 37 then BOOM!

Work has been picking up and I have been doing some career discussions on the IU campus to groups like the Panhellenic Association, IU Student Association in addition to a couple of other organizations.  In the past week I have made a few trips down to Bloomington and I have been enjoying it  I pop a good audio book into the CD player and Carmen Corolla and I cruise down and then back up 37.  Yesterday was one of those days and overall it was a wonderful and very productive day. THEN the drive home took place.  It started out fine.  I was totally consumed by my book just cruising along and BAM! a deer ran into the side of my car on 37 just south of Martinsville. 

Other than scaring the daylights out of me, I am fine.  Luckily I was able to keep driving until I got to a well lit area where I took the picture below.   I could tell it was a buck when it's face met mine at my driver's side window and it appears as though an antler caught my door handle and ripped it off.  There is also a nice dent in the back side panel of the car.  When I pulled over to check out the damage I called it into insurance and an adjuster should be calling me soon.  I was so lucky it hit the way it did it could have ended much differently.  Not that we need any more reminding but BE CAREFUL on all roads but especially 37 at night!  I feel so bad for the deer!  I did have to call my brother in law to let him know that I got the buck he has been hunting. :)

5 Ways to Piss Mrs. Schnelder Off in a Yoga Class

Rough title to this blog, I know.  But there is a good reason for it.  I have been going to yoga on and off again for the past several years and back when I used to work such long hours, the only time I could squeeze it in was at 6am.  At that time there was only one place in comfortable 6am driving distance from my house with a regular 6am class so I started to go.  Now I know people go to yoga for all different kinds of reasons.  I happen to go to yoga to de-stress, relax, stretch and to center myself.  Overall I really go to AVOID being pissed off.  Well, there was only one choice for yoga instructors at that time at this place (Remaining nameless) and I went several times only to leave pissed off with a strong desire to throttle the instructor.

Today I was feeling a bit anxious.  Nothing I could put my finger on so I thought a yoga class would be good.  I proactively looked at the schedule to see if they had any classes that fit my schedule today.  One fit and "said instructor" was not listed to teach the clas.  Win-Win!  I make my way to the studio just in time for class and as soon as I walked in the door I saw, "Said Instructor" sitting there and my heart hit the floor.  Yes, she was the replacement instructor for this class and I stuck it out.  As it turns out, it was much better than I remembered.  That or I am much more laid back now that my life is a bit more mellow or maybe my mood is better in the afternoon than it is at 6am.  Either way, I left today only wanting to run out of the class a couple of times and I didn't even wish bodily harm to her.

Now what could make me (an otherwise non-violent person) want to throttle a person that is teaching what is supposed to be a relaxing yoga session you ask?  Did she make it too difficult?  Was I in phyisical pain and weak?  No.  It has nothing to do with the intensity of the session.  I will say that I understand that what you are about to read is down right bitchy.  I own that.  I also understand that what you are about to read may very well be the things you love about your yoga class and that is absolutley fine.  There is just something inside me that MUST release this out into the world.

  I will do a count down to give you an idea of how to use yoga to piss Mrs. Schnelder off.

5. Play fast tempo, thumping, loud music throughout class.  Come on!  Did you all take your ephedrine before Yoga?!  Uh, if I wanted fast tempo beats I would have gone to Zumba and not Yoga!

4.  Bark orders to the class to do continuous sun salutes very quickly (imagine the chipmunks on crack) and then tell the class "really, you should go at your own pace" but never let anyone catch up, just keep speeding along.  When I look around everyone has a look of confusion like, "Where are we?"

3. Use the whole class to show all of the advanced moves you as the instructor can do and follow the moves with, "I know none of you can do this stuff now but don't worry I just want you to see what it should look like."  This may a very reasonable act but she says it in a way that is like nails on a chalkboard to me.

2. BLAST the music during Savasana (corpse pose) while you are supposed to be laying in meditation with a lovely lavender pillow over your eyes preparing to go back into the world a much more serene person.  But make sure it is so loud that your eyes water and you can't even hear your own thoughts and you feel like you are at a Metallica concert on the floor.

1. Add Dave Matthews to your yoga playlist for class.

I left class with a strong desire to go fetal in a dark room.  I am headed there now.

Feeling of Contentment

After years and years of struggling to reach some sort of a destination in life, I feel like I have either arrived to the destination I have been looking for or that I have finally come to an understanding that the journey is the destination.  I know I have been blogging about this for months (6 to be exact!) but I still can't believe how happy I am with life right now. 

Of course I have my ups and downs like everyone but I have to say that for the first time in a long time and maybe ever, I find that the ups DRASTICALLY outweigh the downs.  And yet, it feels a little earie...I can't help but feel like there's a storm a brewing...and yet to fully believe that the journey is the destination, you must also understand that this too shall pass.  To quote Longfellow, "In every life a little rain must fall". 

When the inevitable rains come, I hope I will remember that it is still part of the journey and that too shall pass.  Something tells me it will be a little more challenging.  So for now I am enjoying these sunny days, weeks and months.  I am now taking the time to plant the roses, grow them and smell them as I enjoy each and every moment of this gift the universe has given me.

Hello Weight Watchers, we meet again.

It's been over 9 months since I have been on Weight Watchers and I knew I would come back and the time has come.  Here I am.  In the time I was "off" life got in the way as it often does.  I got married, got a promotion, bought a "new" house, sold the old one, quit my job, found a new one and took the summer to "Find the new me" and as it turns out, Weight Watchers is as much of the new me as the old me.  It's such a wonderful program that it will likely be a part of my life forever and I'm ok with that because for me, my weight is a journey, not a destination.

So, my husband and I hope to begin a family in the next couple of years and I thought I better start THAT journey at a lower weight as to help my Post-Baby self out a bit and not have to take off as much later on.  Plus, my "fat pants" were getting a bit tight so here I am!

This is labor day weekend and I have been doing well so far but today is Sunday.  We are entertaining tonight and tomorrow night and I have already used up all of my "bonus" points!  I have to be strategic so that I can stay on track the next couple of days.  I plan on stocking up on fruits and veggies and staying as far from alcohol as I can though that one is going to be a toughie!

Glad to be back on plan!  Weighed in at a meeting today and I'm down 3.4 lbs.  I'll take it!

Oh the things I have learned today

I can't say it enough, I love my neighborhood!  Irvington is a small historic neighborhood 10 minutes east of downtown Indy.  It was one of the first Indianapolis Suburbs.  This summer they have been re-paving Washington Street (Old HWY 40 that splits Irvington in half) and you could see the old rail tracks from the cable cars that used to run from downtown.  Oh how I wish they were still running.  Very cool but not the reason I am in love with my neighborhood today.  Today was the 2nd annual Irvington Skill Share.  People gathered to share skills they have learned.  I LOVED it.  I rode my bike to a church in the neighborhood and learned how to make a no-knead bread, how to knit socks, save seeds from my garden for the spring, make cheese, and re-purpose fabric.  I got so many ideas and immediately came home and harvested seeds from my lettuce and bean plants.  I also found out that I can plant my lettuce seeds now for another harvest this fall.  LOVE IT!

I feel like a kid.  Now that I actually have time to do things outside of work I may not be as financially rich but boy am I rich in ideas and relationships that I am able to build now that I have more balance.  Today is a good day!

Dear Tween Tara...

I am feeling quite reflective tonight after hearing that the mother of a dear friend of mine lost her battle with Cancer today.  LP you will be dearly missed by everyone who had the fortune of encountering you and your wisdom, calm nature and wonderful advice.  You raised an amazing and wonderful son and daughter.  Your memory will live on forever.

 I often think back to when I was a little girl lying in bed dreaming about the woman I would become.  I loved books on spells and witchcraft and always checked them out from the library. (Now that I think about it, my uber Catholic parents were pretty cool with that).   There was one "Spell" (I was so ahead of Harry Potter) that was supposed to show you a reflection of your future husband or wife in the mirror if you chanted it in a dark room.  We had a HUGE mirror in the kids bathroom and try as I might, I was too afraid to follow through with it.  I think part of me was afraid it wouldn't work but the bigger part of me thought it might and I was concerned that I wouldn't like what I saw!  Well little girl, you would have liked what you saw.  Well, I guess that depends on if it would have shown John at that age and at that age I'm pretty sure he still had his rat tail and well...let's just say I hope the spell would not have shown me at that time.  I had two braces on my two front teeth and pink glasses with stars on the side.  Boy we would have been a match!

So, this blog is a message to little Tween Tara the worry wart: That mole on the side of your nose, you know, the one the size of a pencil tip?  Yeah, no one even realizes it's there so quit freaking out about it.  Oh and you are not fat.  You have adorable chubby cheeks with dimples and the braces work.  You will have no more gap in your teeth.  You will have lasik eye surgery and lose the glasses.  It will be 5 minutes of pure hell but you will get over it and it will be wonderful.

You have a great time in college where you will meet your soul mates in the form of sorority sisters.  They will empower you and make you realize that high school was a bit of a sham and that the hormones got in the way of joy.  (You even get to know people you thought were kind of jerks in high school and they become awesome in college.)  You meet friends that will hold your hair back on your 21st birthday. you will meet the friends that stand with you on your wedding day and when you find out those friends are going to become moms you will cry every time.  Those friends become the most wonderful parents in the world and their children will bring tears to your eyes too.  You will share other tears too and not just those of joy.  You will walk over hot coals for them if they need it and wish you could take away their pain and loss for them and they would do the same for you.

Your sucky sister and brother?  Yeah, it takes awhile but you all become very close and hearing about their engagements, marriages and births bring on a whole other set of tears.  They bring you the most special little people to your life.  You can't even imagine loving someone as much as you love those little nephews.

Your "mean" parents that torture you by making you do chores, work in the yard and cook dinner?  It turns out they are pretty smart but you won't realize that until much later.  (You have to let your hormones get settled before that happens) and these days you LOVE to cook and do your best to cook dinner for your own family every night.  It is now cooking and yard work that calms those worries and anxieties.  Cleaning? Sorry, you still hate that.  What you will find out is that your parents enable you to spread your wings and fly by offering just the right amount of love and support.  They let you fall just enough to learn from the feeling of pain but would never let you fall on your face.  Kind of like how they taught you to ride a bike.  You skinned your knee but you didn't bust your head.  They teach you all kinds of things just like riding a bike only it's stuff like buying a house, car, insurance and more.  You may hate their lessons now but really, they know their stuff.

Oh and the heartbreak?  Yeah, I'm sorry.  It's gonna suck and it's gonna suck bad for awhile and it's not just one heartbreaker so hold on.  It gets better I promise though you will lose faith many times.  Then, just like they said it would, it comes when you least expect it.  You will meet this guy and not even have a clue you like him or he likes you.  It takes 6 years for it all to sort itself out but stick with it!  It is SOOOOO worth it.  You end up with two dogs, two cats, a beautiful home and the party is just getting started.

So, Tween Tara the worry wart, I have good news and I have bad news.

The bad news: there will be tears and there will be many and you never stop being a worrier but you kind of start to deal with it.  You have to treat it like a chronic illness and know that the worry is always lurking. It's part of you.

Now the good news: you are happy!  You find love, true friendship and great dogs.  You can have your cake and eat it too and well, you still have chubby cheeks but you eventually start to think they are kinda nice.  So hang in there. The best is yet to come.

Why do this?

For nearly 3 months now I have been interning for Career Investments.  I have to say that it is a wonderful partnership and I absolutely love my 3 bosses.  They are smart, funny, gracious, and continuous learners.

Sooo you know there's a but...I'm hoping someone out there can give me some insight.  So here goes...

I have wanted to be a career consultant ever since I graduated college.  I had even forgotten that fact until I found a list I made soon after graduated.  In this list I wrote down a dream description of my future life.  On this list I was married to a wonderful man (Check), had a beautiful home with a garden (Check) and many other things, (Check, check and check) but I also wrote down that I wanted to be a life coach or career counselor (Check).  I had forgotten this or at least put it out of my mind while I was going down a different career path but here I am.

What's the problem you ask?  Well the problem is that my focus in this new endeavor is recent college graduates that need help breaking into the career field of their dreams.  I KNOW deep down in my heart that there are hundreds and thousands of college graduates out there that could use some additional help upon graduation to figure out "Now what?!"  Maybe they know what career field they want to go in to but haven't had luck getting there.  Maybe they have a liberal arts or a general degree and are not sure how to best utilize their strengths and are unsure of what career field to get in to so they are frozen, unable to go in any direction because there are too many directions to try!  I know they are out there.  Hell, I have been that person more times than I can count.  The problem?  Finding these people and letting them know that there is help out there.

This help does not just apply to those that are directly out of college.  In fact, up until this point the company I work for has primarily focused on the adult market of career changers and/or people that are looking for a career boost to that higher level position they crave.  They have done very well in this market and have worked with a handful of college grads, all of which are huge fans of our company for this help.  The problem is that I want to help more of them.

We are holding free seminars for the parents of recent graduates where we discuss how to help motivate your grads rather than alienating them after graduation.  In a nutshell, "Are your kid and you driving each other nuts now that graduation was 3 months ago?  Let us help so you don't kill one another."  Click here if it sounds helpful to you or someone you know.

I am also looking to match up with local alumni groups to host some networking events with a free seminar on how to best network to increase success in the job hunt.  If you know of someone involved with an alumni group or any other organizations that would be interested in having this event for members, please let me know. telder@careerinvestments.com

Last but not least, if you just know someone that could use some help in their professional life, let me know.  I started out as a client and each time I walked out the door I felt like I finally had a plan and more direction.  It truly is the best feeling ever.  Being stuck in a job that breaks you down instead of building you up is such a stressor that can effect other areas in your life.  Don't be afraid to ask for help.  It's empowering!  So if you know of anyone that can use some help, let me know.  I know they are out there.  I just want to reach more of them.

**Shameless Plug!***

I just realized that it's been awhile since I last posted and I can't really blame it on anything other than my life has been quiet for awhile now.  Peacefully, wonderfully quiet.  Ahhhh...

Things are still going well with my internship with Career Investments.  In fact, I will add a shameless plug to this little blog.  This Wednesday, July 13th we are hosting a free seminar for the parents of recent college graduates that may be struggling with getting their career started upon graduation.  Often parents don't know how to help their kids without causing WW3 in their house (assuming they are again living together). Whether the parents and kids are again co-habitating or not, the conversation often comes out as Parent: "What are you doing to get a job?"  Kid: "Geeze, I'm working on it.  Get off my back!"  The "kids" are at that stage where they are adults but are likely still relying on their parents for financial and perhaps even emotional help and the parents would like to assist in the process in some way but it often comes off as nagging.  Our seminar is centered around giving parents tips and tools to help with their side of the communication and ways to assist their grads in the search with the hopes of minimizing the feeling of "nagging" by the grad and instead empowering them in their search for independence.  If you know someone who may be interested in the seminar, send them to: Career Investments Parent Session

In personal news, I have started volunteering for the Irvington Development Organization to help with fundraising efforts for the improvement of my neighborhood.  They have been "trying" to raise the remaining $50,000 of a $300,000 campaign for the last 5 years.  There is a sign outside of our library with a tick mark counting down to the final amount and it's been so close for so long it was driving me crazy! (The mark is now at the very last tic-mark)

So I decided I needed to do something about it and I contacted the organization.  Come to find out that the fund-raising  committee has been all but defunct for the last 5 years and construction is slated to begin in the next few months so now is the crucial time.  I am now one of 3 fundraisers for the newly founded fundraising committee.  None of us has a background in this but we are doing our best and searching for grants, donors, etc.  If anyone has been involved in community fundraisers and has any advice for me, please pass it along.  I feel like $50,000 is nothing and broken down into small pieces it should totally be manageable so here goes!  It looks like I prefer to volunteer to throw myself into bureaucratic situations but professionally I find myself staying as far away from those situations as possible.  Hey, I have no problem asking people for money for something I believe in and I completely believe in helping my neighborhood develop into something greater.  Donate to the Irvington Streetscape Project here.

Hello Mrs. Schnelder, it's been awhile.

I realize that I have fallen from my semi-regular blogging ritual so today I thought I would take a moment to bring it up to date.  Life has been going smashingly well.  I am as happy as I can remember.  It seems my whole life I have been search of something.  It was, "I will be happy as soon as I...go to college...get my first real job...find the man of my dreams...marry the man of my dreams...get the next promotion...go to Dairy Queen" (that one found it's way into the mix pretty frequently and typically brings much happiness)  But in the past I would achieve the next accomplishment and immediately check it off the list and look for the next "thing" to accomplish, rarely taking the time to enjoy where I was.  I can say that for the last two months I have been appreciating every moment of every day just as it is.  I am exactly where I want to be and I want to hold on to the present for as long as I can. 

Things are going well at work as I help Career Investments launch their division for career consulting for the recent college graduate.  It's not moving as quickly as I had originally hoped but then again, that's ok.  I have had the time to take days in the middle of the week to spend at a lake house in Columbus with friends I hadn't seen in nearly a year, breakfast with a friend that finds herself in one of the hardest stages of her life, a pool party in Avon with all of my closest college friends and their new(ish) families.  John and I are the last married couple of that group to start a family and one friend asked me yesterday if being around all the babies makes me want to start a family that much sooner.  I answered honestly...not yet.  I love where I am and I love where our little family is.  We have had enough change and excitement in the last 6 months to carry us for at least another 6, so for now, I am exactly where I want to be. (and that's on top of my bed in my peaceful little bedroom with 2 dogs and 2 cats nestled around me on a Friday afternoon.)

One month has come and gone

When I started this journey it was the end of April.  It's hard to believe that today is the 2nd day of June.  It has been a great month and I have to say that it was great timing to have this transition take place in the spring.  Not only do I feel like I have grown immensely in the last month, I feel so fortunate to have had the time to dig in the soil and plant our first garden in our new home.  It is likely to be the biggest garden we will ever have at this house because when will I ever have a month "off" with no children, no full time job to worry about and time just to concentrate on whatever I want to do?  I have to admit that I went completely nuts on this garden and I am very happy about it.  I didn't realize how nuts I had gone until I went to write it out in an email to someone that had inquired about what I had decided to plant.  Here goes: we have 5 kinds of lettuce, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, brussels sprouts, mung beans, green beans, kohlrabi, squash, fennel, sweet yellow peppers, 3 kinds of hot peppers, zucchini, eggplant, celery, cucumbers, watermelon, 3 blackberry bushes, potatoes, tomatoes, basil, thyme, lavender, rosemary, mint, chives, oregano, savory, and cilantro.

Tomatoes and basil

Potatoes and cucumbers

Kohlrabi, zucchini, bush beans, eggplant, celery and cauliflower

Peppers, fennel, brussels sprouts and broccoli

Lettuce and outdoor herb garden.

Herb pots so I can move them inside in the winter.

Lovely strawberries!

I feel good!

I have been reflecting quite a bit on what got me into a negative spiral in my last career endeavor. I stopped putting myself first including going from healthy eating and taking time to go to the grocery store, cook, etc. and started eating whatever I could find on my way home from work at 9pm.  I stopped working out which is a huge an outlet for my stress and this contributed to the spiral as well.  In addition to neglecting these two very important pieces of the puzzle, I also took no time for myself to re-charge my batteries.   It seemed that every moment of every day was focused on work.  I even include time that I was sleeping, driving, showering, you name it, my brain was processing about work and all of the things I had not done.  I did not focus on all of the good things I was doing.  No, I could only see all of the things that were falling through the cracks.  That is not a good place for anyone to be.

Now don't go feeling sorry for me.  I did all of this to myself but I also recognize that though I had let it get to a state that was beyond unhealthy, I took steps to pick myself up, dust myself off and take time to heal.  That is what I have done for the last month.  This past month has been an extremely healing time in my life.  I have cooked nearly every daily meal for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  I have seen friends and family that I had neglected for months and I began working out again.  In fact, I started running for the first time in several years and I plan on running a 5K at the end of July.

On the career front, I have been enjoying every minute I have been working for Career Investments.  I absolutely love it and I came home today more energized than when I left to go into the office.  I know that every job has its ups and downs, good parts and bad parts but I also believe that a career should overall energize you and build you up rather than break you down.  That's where I am right now.  I am beginning down a path that builds me up and it just so happens that the career path I am walking down is one that assists others in finding a career that energizes them as well.

Ahhh...I am again being good to myself and it feels incredible.  As my mother-in-law says, pain is a teacher and boy has that pain taught me a valuable lesson.  Pushing myself beyond my limits is helpful to no one and no thing, especially to myself.  I hope I always remember this most valuable lesson.

Top 10 Reasons My Internship Rocks

1. I am a big NPR nerd.  Maybe one of the biggest on the planet.  My car radio only knows the number for the local NPR station and when I am not listening to NPR it is because I am listening to a podcast likely produced by another NPR station.  Many people fill their IPods and IPhones with music.  Not this gal.  This gal fills her technology with NPR Podcasts.  How does this relate to my internship you ask?  Well, the main office for Career Investments is IN the WFYI-(the local NPR station) building.  SWEET!
2. I recommended that Career Investments produce a Podcast about career tips and they are going to create one!  Did I mention that I love Podcasts and now I may get to be a part of one?!
3. I am a nerd in many other ways.  I also LOVE reading books on self discovery and thrive on constantly learning.  Today at work I was given a Strengths Finder book produced by the Gallup Organization.  A previous mentor of mine also gave me this and I loved it but left it behind in my last life.  I am happy to be re-united with my strengths.
4. My strength finder book recommends that I be a sales person or a consultant of some kind.
5. My new title is "Career Consultant".  Double Sweet!
6. I make my own hours
7. I choose if I work from home or from the office
8. I am going down to Bloomington Wednesday to observe some career consulting magic take place in our Bloomington office.  Oh, yeah.  Bring on the college memories.  I love having a reason to go down there.  My appointment starts at 1.  Maybe I should get an appointment with my old hairdresser.  No one, and I mean no one compares to Tracey.  My hair misses her.  Oh then maybe lunch at Trojan Horse!  The Cheeseperer is calling!
9. I think the people I work for are brilliant and for some reason they appear to think the same of me.  Ok, I'll take it!
10. Did I mention that I am passionate about helping people figure out what they want to be when they grow up and then develop an action plan on how to get there?  Oh yeah, that's kind of what a Career Consultant does.  Triple sweet.  

Maybe I should ask to have "Mrs. Schnelder" written on my business cards. :)

Today is my first day

Today got off to a rocky start.  I was racing to answer the ringing phone this morning and slipped down the stairs tweaking my neck and banging my hip and wrist.  Awesome bruising is sure to come.  Then I realized that by the time we put the trash out this morning, the trash had already been collected.  We (by we, I mean John) had the trash out by 7:45!  These are some serous trash collectors.  Up the hill I go with a full trash can.  Oh well, a fall down the stairs and an overflowing trash bin cannot squash me today!  Today I start my internship with Career Investments.   I will be meeting with the partners to begin this next phase.  I get to create (with their assistance) a business plan for this new endeavor.  I am VERY excited.  I totally believe in their product and I can't wait to begin helping college grads put their education to work.  I get to put my brain to work on more than my garden and dishwasher.  Woohoo!

I have an internship!

I have an interesting career oportunity.  In this blog I have mentioned a couple of times that I have been in discussions with a career counseling firm about the possibility of assisting them to branch out into a new market.  Yesterday the details firmed up and I have agreed to begin assisting Career Investments transition into the college market.  It will begin as a part time "internship" where they test the grounds in this area and I test the career field.  We will do a trial month where I will assist them in reaching out to recent college grads looking for assistance in getting their careers started.  I will eventually be conducting the consultation meetings with the clients.  After a month we will discuss moving it into a full time role for me.  If it doesn't work out, I will be no worse off but I think it could be a perfect fit for me!  I love that I get to progress in a new career field and test the waters AND continue to enjoy my summer.  I really enjoy working with all 3 of the partners in the firm and I believe they will be great mentors for me.  I also like the idea of working for a small company.  It will be a complete departure from both the museum world and the world of a large corporation and I look forward to all I will be learning. 

I will continue to look for full time career oportunities as I test these new waters.  No matter what I know I will land where I am meant to be.

Two weeks yesterday

Yesterday I hit the two week mark for temporary retirement.  I have decided to use that term rather than unemployment, I think it has a nice ring to it.  It certainly seems like I have been off longer than two weeks.  It's amazing how fast life flies by when you fill your day to the brim with work for others and you leave little to nothing in your day to fulfull yourself.

I had gone for months without seeing my new home in the daylight.  I would leave when it was dark and return late in the night and darkness.  This morning I took my coffee out to the yard and just walked through the garden to enjoy the work my husband and I have done in the last few weeks.  I took time to smell the honeysuckle growing on the fence (one of my favorite smells in the world) and just took it all in.  It feels so good to be on a different life speed.  I am so incredibly thankful for this time no matter how long or short it may be. 

I know, I sound so zen and go with the flow but the Schnausiness is still in here.  I want to be sure that I have a balance of taking time to smell the honeysuckle AND finding my next career move so I give myself a weekly goal of having 3 contacts with potential employers.  I have one lunch today and one meeting tomorrow and another conversation sometime this week.  Check, check and check.  I am a funny little creature in that I need a goal to fully relax.  I find comfort knowing that I am moving forward while still enjoying where I am.  I think of it as using one eye to look at the future and one eye to look at the present. 

Busy week so far

It's only Tuesday?  I feel like I have done a week's worth of work in the last two days.  John took the day off yesterday and we both worked all day in the yard (I also mowed at the old house) and planted the majority of our garden then made a mother's day dinner for John's step mom, Kathy.  Lemon baked chicken with potatoes, carrots and garlic.  Yum!

Today was also busy and exhausting.  I ran some errands and then I mowed the lawn at out new house.  I also found out that the buyers of our old home have been approved for their loan but the lender is requiring that we scrape any loose paint from our wooden garage and re-paint in addition to ripping down the moldy dry wall in the garage.  So frustrating!  It's a detatched garage.  A glorified shed!  After talking to my realtor he thought I could knock it out in a couple of hours.  Yeah...I worked on one side for over 4 hours and threw in the towel before that side was even done.  I feel defeated.  It can be so expensive to have a professional scrape and paint wooden siding and yes, I can do it myself but I am afraid that the appraiser will come back and say that it's not good enough and I will have wasted all that time.  Yuck.  I will figure it out but I'm not happy about it.

Tomorrow I have lunch with a prospective employer and Thursday I meet with my career counselor again to discuss the possibility of working with her and her partners.  I'm pooped but I still feel very blessed.

A good day and night

I had a nice day yesterday.  I planted three blackberry bushes, two roses, and three ferns.  The Schnelder lawn is going to look stunning this summer.  These plants were gracious wedding/house warming gifts from our friend and John's boss, Aili.  Thanks Aili!!

I had a good meeting with the partners at Career Investments.  It was more of a brainstorming session to think through how this partnership would work.  We will meet again next week.  It sounds interesting so I hope it works out.  

I also have pics of the brickwork I did at the old house.  My first go at masonry.  It turned out ok!

Last night we had dinner with the two French men from the helium balloon company that Conner Prairie bought their giant balloon from.  Bridget and Andy (friend and head balloon pilot) joined us as well with their sweet girl, Audrey.  It was a nice night.  We grilled steaks, had quinoa salad, salad and I made loaves of bread.  I have the EASIEST bread recipe ever.  Baking is not my favorite but I do enjoy a great loaf of fresh bread so this recipe is perfectly easy for me.  Feel free to steal it and make it your own.  I found it on the website www.italianfoodforever.com

Master Bread Recipe

It makes a really good artisan type of bread with a nice crisp crust and a crumb that is moist and full of small holes, perfect to sop up some extra virgin olive oil or leftover pasta sauce in your bowl. This recipe is so simple, that even someone who has never tackled baking their own bread before will find it impossibly easy. This recipe makes 4 (1 pound loaves) of bread that can be baked one at a time over a two week period, or all together if needed.

Makes 4 Loaves Bread

Printed With Permission

3 Cups Lukewarm Water

1 1/2 Tablespoons Granulated Yeast (1 1/2 Packages)

1 1/2 Tablespoons Kosher Salt

6 1/2 Cups Unsifted, Unbleached, All-purpose White Flour, Measured With The Cornmeal For Pizza

Warm the water slightly. It should feel just a little warmer than body temperature, about 100 degrees F. Add the yeast and salt to the water in a 5 quart bowl, or preferably, in a re-sealable, lidded plastic food container. Mix in the flour, no kneading necessary. Add all of the flour at once, mixing with a wooden spoon, a high capacity food processor, or heavy duty stand mixer until the mixture is uniform, or until everything is uniformly moist, without dry patches.

Cover the container with a lid (not airtight), and allow the mixture to rise at room temperature until it collapses, about 2 hours. You can use a portion of the dough to make bread at any time after this step.  Since refrigerated dough is less sticky to shape, it is best to refrigerate the dough overnight (or at least 3 hours) before you try making the bread for the first time. Refrigerate the unused dough in your lidded container for up to two weeks.

On baking day, first prepare a baking peel by sprinkling it with cornmeal to prevent sticking. Sprinkle your refrigerated dough with flour and pull off a 1 pound chunk. Add a little more flour, and pull the dough on all sides around to the bottom creating a ball. This step should not take longer than 30 to 60 seconds.

Allow the dough to rise on the pizza peel for about 40 minutes. It does not need to be covered at this point. It may not rise much before baking, so do not be concerned. Twenty minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. with a baking stone on the center rack. Place an empty container to hold water on the rack below the pizza stone.

Dust the top of the bread with a little more flour, and slash a 1/4 inch deep cross, or tic-tac toe pattern into the top using a serrated bread knife. Slip the bread from the pizza peel onto the hot pizza stone. Pour in about a cup of hot water into the container below the stone and close the oven door to trap the steam. Bake the bread for about 30 minutes or until the crust is nicely browned and firm to the touch. Allow the bread to cool completely on a wire rack before slicing.

Store the remaining dough in your lidded container and use it over the next 14 days. Both the dough's flavor and texture are improved as it rests in the refrigerator.

Note: The dough can also be frozen in 1-pound portions in an airtight container, and defrosted in the refrigerator overnight prior to baking day.

 Enjoy!

Yesterday was the best day yet

I can't believe it's been only a little over a week since I have "retired" but the time has both gone quickly and slowly.  I do believe yesterday was the best day yet.  I started out the day by meeting with my career counselor, Kathleen. She is the president and owner of Career Investments here in downtown Indy.  We have been meeting for several months now as I have been trying to figure out what I want to do with my career.  I have to tell you that though it is not inexpensive, she and her company have been the best investment I have made in a long time (aside from my beautiful wedding and all that comes along with that big day  :) )  Every time I leave her office I feel like I am skipping out the door with new insight on myself and what path I should be heading.  She has done everything from coaching me in my past position as I tried to decide if I wanted to stay to helping me write a kick ass resume when I knew that I did not want to stay.  She looked at my accolades in my career and truthfully and honestly lets me know if I am selling myself short or if I need to look at a prospective career option in a new light. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my time with her.  Yesterday was no exception to this.  My visit went a little longer than usual.  In trying to figure out what what I am looking for, she pointed out that I am a builder.  I have never thought of that before.  In my career I have come into an organization at a time of great growth or change and helped it turn into something different.  At the IMA, I was there during the years of great change and transition and created the event sales system they still use including prices and contracts, etc.  At Ai, they were just opening their doors and I developed right along with the school until I was running the department.  She is right, I am a builder and I love the excitement of that transition phase.  It's no coincidence I'm sure that my dad has always been a builder and owns his own building supply company and that my brother is graduating tomorrow with a degree in construction management.  Building is in my blood! 

Then the meeting took an interesting turn.  She said that she and her partners have been thinking of branching out into a new direction in their career counseling and think I could be a good fit to help them do this.  She invited me in for a meeting later today to talk to the three of them about the possibility of coming to work for them.  It may be a freelance kind of thing or it may work out to be more but I am am excited as career counseling has been something I have been very interested in doing for quite awhile but I was not sure how to break into that industry.  What I love even more is that she approached me about it.  We will see how the meeting goes but I am thrilled just to be invited into the discussion.  It is a good first step.

Another avenue I am looking into is working for the ICVA.  I have a deep love for the city of Indianapolis and everything it has to offer.  Hopefully we will have plenty to boast about with the super bowl this winter but we will see how that pans out!  I have had the good fortune to have a well connected friend in the community and that friend has opened a door for me with one of the VPs at the ICVA and she has offered to have coffee with me to talk about career oportunitues.  So there is that too.

Since I was downtown and by the time my meeting was over it was lunch time, I dropped into one of my favorite breakfast/lunch restaurants in the city, City Cafe.  It is owned and operated by friends and neighbors of ours here in Irvington, Nancy and Brad Royal.  John and I love EVERYTHING on the menu.  It's like Nancy and Brad have connected with us on another level as we look at the menu.  There is a little bit of everything we love on the menu and you cannot go wrong from the soups to the salads to the French Toast covered in corn flakes for an extra crunch.  It's all to die for but my favorite is whatever the soup of the day is (yesterday was cream of chive!) and the Vietnamese Chicken Salad.  It's so good.  For anyone that loves Vietnamese (and I am a bit of a freak for it) it is very similar to bun salad.  It's a cold noodle dish with chicken and vegetables and a dressing that is to die for.  I am so thankful to be able to go there for lunch yesterday because it's always been very difficult for me to be able to get there since they are open for breakfast and lunch but closed Sunday and Monday.  Working in the Pyramids and never taking a lunch break is not very conducive to me being able to go their often in my past life.  But in THIS life,  Heck yes I'm there!

On the home front, we are coming right along on the sale of our little bungalow.  We had some hiccups from the buyer's mortgage company finding that the house was in the flood zone though my two mortgage companies did not require that we pay flood insurance.  We are working through that issue though and I am so thankful for our awesome realtor, Tom Mattingly at Remax for helping us through.  I have done the majority of the repairs they have requested on the house myself and that feels great.  See the siding repairs below.  I will soon add the pictures of the brick repairs I did as well.  

Yes, I do believe Kathleen hit the nail on the head (ha) when she described me as a builder. 

What's on today's list?  My meeting with Career Investments, planting in the garden, preparing dinner for my husband and two French men visiting Conner Prairie from the French company that created their giant helium balloon.  I will be baking some bread, grilling steaks, making quinuoa salad and we shall see what the Frenchies have to say about my culinary prowess.  I will keep you posted!

More to be thankful for

I am so thankful I have the oportunity to have this time off for many reasons.  I was able to spend the day watching my nephews Colton and Dylan for the whole day yesterday.  I have never had or made the time to do that before.  In the past I had watched Colton for a weekend when he was 6 months old but now he's 4!  It was a great day.  We made whole grain muffins, played country store (again, and again, and again) and threw rocks in the nearby lake.  It was a full day and I am a little tired today but I am thankful that I could spend the day with them.

Another reason I am thankful is that we are putting the finishing touches on our former home which has the sale pending.  The buyers just had a few requests for us after the inspection and I am excited to work on the repairs myself.  I'm getting out the hammer and replacing some siding on the garage, replacing a missing brick in the car-port and patching a hole in the return air vent.  It's so empowering to just work on a project that is for the betterment of our former home and will contribute to it's sale.

This week I will also begin focusing on where to go in my career.  I am meeting with a career counselor tomorrow to strategize.  Meeting with her is always so empowering.  She helps me gather my thoughts and hone in on what I am truly looking for and then come up with a plan to go for it.

It's amazing how much there is to do even when you are not working but I am enjoying every minute of it!

A day of reflection

This morning I watched a video on ted.com.  Ted.com is a nonprofit  dedicated to ideas worth spreading.  The attached video link really spoke to me this morning.  Even though I woke this morning feeling anxious that I don't know where I will go from here, watching this video brought me back to why I made this change.  This video is 4 minutes long and completely worth the watch. Ric Elias had a front-row seat on Flight 1549, the plane that crash-landed in the Hudson River in New York in January 2009.  He discusses what went through his mind as he knew they were crashing into the river.  One thing I can tell you is that he did not think "I wish I would have worked longer days and more hours away from my friends and family."  To hear what did go through his mind, you will have to watch for yourself.  I do know that with this change, John and I are really going to have to tighten our belts and likely travel less and my Amazon.com addiction will have to be shelved for awhile but those are small prices to pay for happiness and time together as we look toward growing a family. Watch it here: Plane Crash Talk

Yesterday I mowed the lawn at our former house.  Luckily it is just a couple of blocks away so I could walk the mower over.  It's bitter-sweet to go back to that house.  It was the house I bought on my own at a time that John and I were not sure what direction we were headed.  It was an empowering time in my life and that house became a part of our family as we grew as a couple.  I put quite a bit of blood, sweat and tears into that house and I it does make me proud to know that the first couple that saw it put an offer in within the first week of it being on the market.  They had the inspection and there is nothing major they want from us.  Whew!  In fact, they want nothing on the house at all, just some improvements on the garage.  What a sweet little home it was for us and we wish them the same.

I then walked to the library and picked up a book on opening your own business and selling your craft on Etsy.  I only got through a few chapters and I felt overwhelmed!  Create your name, logo, branding, decide if you are an LLC or a sole proprieter, filing fees and tax numbers, decide if you want an accountant or do it on your own...Ah!  I just want to bake some shit and make some pretty hair clips.  I don't know if I am made for this whole own your own business stuff.  Maybe THATS why I went to school for the arts and not business.  Perhaps I will focus on working for an established business again.  Who knows!

What will today bring?

Yesterday I "Schnaused" my day.  You see, my maiden name is Schnaus and in my family you do not sit idle and let things happen,  you make things happen.  And this my friends, is Schnausing.  One can be Schnausie or be Schnaused.  You can even eat Schnausage made by the little Schnauses every year.  The Schnauses are wee folk from southern Indiana with a strong German heritage and an even stronger work ethic.  When you take the German heritage and work ethic, add the Catholic faith and the Catholic guilt that comes with that Catholic faith you get...well you get Schnaused. 

There are so many things to be done!  No sitting still, there is grass to be mowed, laundry to do, clean the house, grocery shop...it seems I made up for lost time on the domestic front and I did it all in one day as though my hair was on fire.  But fret not, this is where the Elder in me comes in.  I married into the Elder family in January but I have been absorbing some of the Elder traits for the past 6 years since I have been with my husband.  The Elders have a strong work ethic too but my husband always makes time for friends and family no matter how busy he is.  So last night I had dinner and attended a fundraiser with my dear friend and former co-worker, Fran.  It was so nice!  It's so good to laugh and relax with a friend that knows you inside and out even when you go 6 months without speaking and you pick up where you left off.  Ahhh...the day ended up being Schneldered.

As I contemplate what I want to be when I grow up, several people have told me that they think I should open a shop on Etsy or open my own business.  I like the idea of this but this is frightening.  I do not have a business degree nor do I know the first thing about running a personal business but I bet I could Schnaus the shit out of it.  Hmmmmm....I will do some research and maybe ride my little bike to the library to see what books I may find on the topic.  I will keep you posted.

The First Day of the Rest of My Life

Today is the first day of the rest of my life.  Why, you ask?  Well, I have been living the last 5 years of my life at break neck speeds in a career I used to love.  Moving up the corporate ladder at a record pace going from being one of the crew to managing a team of 25 people and the pressure kept mounting.  After much contemplation, my husband and I decided my health and happiness was not worth any career path so yesterday I resigned.  It's empowering and terrifying but I am determined to work to live and not live to work and have a balance in my life.  That balance starts from within and today I started on the road to recovery.