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!