Family-filled Weekend

The Queen and I have a full weekend of family activities. Tonight with her family and tomorrow with mine.

The Queen's aunt and uncle were very surprised tonight by a birthday party. They thought they were going to The Queen's parents' anniversary party.

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Busy and a Bit Overwhelmed

I have been very busy at work lately and I am starting to get pretty busy in my personal life as well. Soccer season is about to start. I had my first meeting last night and practices start next week, as does soccer camp. This is a good time of year, but my work schedule and the added stress there is making it tough this year.

I am a bit overwhelmed at work. There are so many small problems to fix in every department that I sometimes don't even know where to start. I know that I need to get more organized. I need a new method of logging issues and creating follow-up plans. I have even joked a few times that I need a secretary. Her sole purpose would be to keep me focused on the tasks that need to be addressed. If I could find a good one, I could do the work of five people instead of just the work of two people I do now.

I just ordered a 4-pack of Pick Four, which is an updated version of Zig Ziglar’s legendary goal-setting program, The Performance Planner, updated by Seth Godin. I can't wait to receive it and start digging in. I plan to share some of the copies with other managers in my company. I think we all need to be more organized and focus our efforts on key goals. If we can all do that, this company will return to glory.

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Two Years Ago Today

Two years ago today I started this journey. I originally tried to post at least five times per week. I have not been able to maintain that schedule, but I am still posting semi-regularly. I will continue to post here as often as I can so I can continue my life journey.

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Thinking of Change

My eyes have been opened to the problems within my company the last two months. I have been getting more involved in all aspects of the company and I do not like what I am seeing. I feel like I am overwhelmed by the number of changes that need to be made. I feel like I am powerless to make some of the changes and am encountering resistance with most of my recommendations. People fear change!

I keep debating how much I want to talk about with the owner of my company and how much I want to volunteer to take on myself. My work is suffering because of the number of items I am trying to juggle. I can't do this alone.

On a much better note, the family and I had a great time in Seattle over the Fourth of July. It was my third trip to the city and The Queen's second trip there. We were able to see a lot of the city and surrounding area. The only think on my list that we did not get to check off was a visit to the Hoh Rain Forrest. I really wanted to go, but it was just too far for this trip. Maybe on our next trip we can make a plan to visit for a few days.

Seattle made me realize again what is missing in the Central Valley. Other than the fact that I hate the heat here, there is no sense of community. I often wonder why my cities downtown does not have the things that other cities and towns I visit have. Don't get me wrong, our downtown is great and has a lot to offer. It is just missing things that would attract more people to the area.

The entire valley is way too conservative for my tastes. Everyone is afraid to do something quirky because of the people they might alienate. The great thing about a bigger city is that it doesn't matter if you turn some people off because there are enough people that will like what you are doing to support you.

I really loved the Fremont neighborhood of Seattle. They have the famous troll under the Aurora Bridge, but they have a lot more to offer as well. There is a full sized rocket mounted on a building, a chocolate factory, a statue of Lenin and some dinosaur topiaries by the channel. It also has offices for Adobe, Getty Images and some other large offices. They claim they are the center of the universe and even have walking tour maps and funny signs posted around the area. They have created a community and I love it.

The Queen and I talked to our good friends about this and they agreed with us. They have not been to Seattle, but agreed that big cities have much more to offer. They even told us that they have contemplated moving to Portland, but that we were holding them back. They do not want to leave us. That made us feel good, but also got me thinking about a move to Portland as well. I have visited Portland once many years ago, but that was before it stated embracing technology and green industries. The city has changed for the better and I can't wait to visit again.

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