woman's best friend

It was a beautifully clear night here last night, a million stars out, and just a bit cool but no need for a jacket yet. I pushed away from my desk after an evening of stewing about my just-not-happening data collection and the still-ignoring-me board who is causing me great delay and frustration. A walk was just what I needed to clear the cobwebs from my head. Gracie, of course, became ecstatic when I announced we were going for a walk. I ran upstairs for shoes and socks and she about knocked me over to get ahead of me on the stairs (it’s true, we Kentuckians rarely wear shoes unless we just have to). She whined, barked, jumped on and off the bed repeatedly, and chewed at my hands as I tried to put on shoes.


I didn’t buy a head halter, but I’m using a training lead which works like a choke chain. I’m using that and also putting her regular collar and leash on when we go for walks. When she gets too rambunctious, I hold a leash in each hand (like reins) and give her more choke. Last night, I only choked her at the very beginning and then once when she wanted to chase a motorcycle. The rest of the time, she was very civilized and we had a nice 40-minute walk. She is learning and perhaps we will soon be able to walk with just a normal good-dog leash.

Gracie



No matter how rotten my day has been, it’s wonderful to come home to a dog. She runs out to greet me (no matter the weather) and seems truly happy to see me come home. Nobody else gets even 1% as excited as Gracie when I pull into the driveway. The kids and husband seldom even look away from their cell phones or TV screens when I walk in, unless they’ve been waiting on me to come home to do something for them or with them. Sometimes a cat will greet me with a meow of aloof acknowledgement, but usually the motive is that he or she just wants to be fed.

My office plants are splendid. Plants don’t grow like this for me at home. It must be the large windows and morning sun they love so much. The only thing I like about working where I work is the great view of the woods out my windows, the walking trail around the small lake behind the building, and my plants. OK…some of the people are OK too. I’m not totally antisocial.



cubicle plants today



ever-blooming African Violet



Demystifying the Holy Grail

I recently read about procrastination – I am procrastination personified and unparalleled, unfortunately for me.  So, now I have a much better understanding about what and why.  The probem is I still have no clear idea about how to stop. 

I finished off a text tonight and started the next, authored by Katz. The intro was easy reading, but the first section title caused me to freeze: “Demystifying high productivity.” High productivity is the secret to success in this world, and I stopped reading! Is that like Jesus himself handing me the Holy Grail and me saying, “Oh, no thank you, I’m not thirsty.”

Anyway, today was a low productivity day for me. I resolved a few minor cases, stirred up a few things, and wrote documentation the rest of the day. Tomorrow I gotta kick it in gear, get stuff closed out and accounted for.

The morning was clear and sunny. My corn plant that bloomed a while back still has a green stalk. It drips sap all the time. I have a shedding poinsettia underneath and my poor African violet catches the drips. If you look close at the photos, you can see – it looks like water. My violet is awesome!



So well, I've been making a plan to create time to work on my dissertation stuff.  Instead of a couple of whole days, I'm going to take 4 mornings off work.  Morning is my most productive time.  That'll be 5 hours of dissertation work, 4 hours of career, then course work until I collapse for the night.  That's for 4 days, then the fifth day is a holiday for me - Good Friday.  I can do dissertation-work all day...but I am going to do something fun that day I hope.  At least go to the driving range for an hour. Weekends all go for coursework.     
 
Well, speaking of work reminds me I better get back to it.

Old age and death camp

Take a look at my African violet now - it's the most perfect plant I've ever had the honor of calling my own!

I posted this photo out on FaceBook and just about all my friends remarked their grandmothers grew beautiful African violets like this one.  It must be true - all my assorted grandmother-in-laws and my own grandmothers were\are able to grow lovely African violets.  Does this skill somehow increase with age?  What is the skill - being more intuitive with what plants need to thrive or being less neglectful?  For some reason, when I look at my lovely plant now, it reminds me I'm getting old.  Thanks FB friends.  

I'm driving to my third-year residency tomorrow; estimated 7 hours 47 minutes to Atlanta.  Last night, I completed my Leadership Statement due Friday morning along with a presentation of it for the class.  The more thought I put into this concise statement, the more I'm sure being a leader something I hate doing.  I found enough references and declared myself to be a situational leader per Hersey and Blanchard's leadership model.  The way I try to persuade people to work depends on the characteristics of the people and the tasks they have to do for me.  The fact of the matter is that I have a hard enough time being responsible for myself; I hate being responsible for others.  

The residency is like combat (I think of it as death camp).  It will be an incredible amount of work - nonstop - if it's anything like the previous two residencies.  Classes all day, team projects in the evening, people in my face all day long, and individual assignments every night until I can't function.  Last year's residency was 5 days - this one is 8 days.  No sleep, high stress, and little time for socializing, eating, or anything else.  Tonight I have another presentation to prepare, laundry to do (for the whole family), and packing.  I decided to drive this year so I can take all the stuff I want to take (two laptops, a printer, books, enough clothes so I won't have to do laundry, and my guitar).  Even if I don't find time to touch it, having it there will be comforting.  Wish me luck - I need all I can get!