I have not been ignoring you...

I promise. But life has been nuts the past two months. Over the summer I have been developing training at work for our system conversion from a really old (circa 1989) heritage system to SAP. That has taken almost all of my energy. And over the last 3 weeks we've finally been conducting the training. That has been een more exhausting because I spend every day, all day in front of a group of people that aren't sure they really even want a new system but they are getting it anyway.

On top of that, at home, Allison has transitioned out of the crib into the toddler bed. Great for potty training but she seems to think it's a game to get out of bed about 100 times each night before finally going to sleep. This has severly cut into our downtime in the evenings.

And the icing on the cake... blogger is now blocked at work as a "social networking" site. So no daytime updates (not that I've had spare time at work lately).

SAP goes live on Monday so I promise to be back to more regular posting soon.

Juggling and Struggling

I've been thinking a lot lately about my role as a woman, wife and mother. There is so much emphasis today on marriages being a partnership and about doing our "fair" share and splitting things equally around the home. And while I certainly see marriage as a partnership, I'm not so sure about the 50/50 split.

First, to me it sounds like there is exactly X amount of effort that is required to maintain a household and that each of us needs to put in our fair share so that it adds up to that 100%. But life doesn't really work that way. In a marriage, each person has specific tasks that fall primarily to them - due to either skill, desire, biblical principle or luck of the draw. And within those tasks that are primarily ours, I believe we each have the responsibility of giving 100% effort to those tasks. Occasionally our spouse and children may assist us with those things but in the end the responsibility is ours to keep the item on course.

There's a lot of writings on biblical womanhood. Now, I'm not suggesting that I (or anyone else) needs to follow any kind of legalistic guideline as to what is a "woman's work" or a "man's work". We are all given unique abilities and gifts. I happen to love working with numbers and solving problems. As a result, in our house, I manage the day-to-day of the budgets and try to do initial research issues in our house that need tending to. Mr. Brown is a very sweet-natured, not-easily-agitated kind of man (a disposition I am not so much blessed with). As a result, he's better as the driver when we go anywhere as a family and he's able to calmly work through issues that might otherwise have me riled up. You have to work to your talents. And when neither of you has a talent in an area, well, then it is up for grabs as to who should take on a particular task.

But back to my godly woman thoughts.... the truth is, that despite having a full-time (paid) job, my heart is with my home and my children. For right now, my job meets the financial needs of our family and does provide me with some enjoyment. But first and foremost, I feel called to be a loving wife and good mother. (I do not believe having a full-time job prevents either of those, just that my husband and children come before my job. I admire all mothers who are able to manage their households well - whether being at home full time or holding another job in addition. I do, however, really dislike the term "full-time mother." Being a working-outside-the-home mom does not in any way make me or anyone else a part-time mother. I am a mother ALWAYS, whether my children are with me or not. And moms who have share custody of their children with an ex-spouse are full-time motheres as well. Just because they aren't physically with their children all day, every day does not in any way diminish their motherhood.)

Lately however, I've been struggling to balance the demands of my work-life with my heart-calling for my family and home. I've tried researching how others do it and most of what I've found is from stay-at-home mothers. And while that may someday be our reality, it is not today. For now, balancing my relationship with God, my marriage, my motherhood, my home duties and my work are a reality. But the truth is that I'm not so much balancing as quickly shifting from one to another and never quite feeling caught up in any of them.

Have any of you found techniques that work for finding the right balance in your life among competing priorities? I'd love to hear from you. In the meantime, expect a few more posts on this topic. I have a feeling it's going to be on my mind for quite a while now.

My Other Blog

You may have noticed a new link on the right side of your screen to a new blog called Delightfully Organized. That's me. I do believe I finally have some idea of what I want to do with the rest of my life. I am working (slowly, but still working) on developing my own business as a professional organizer.

I've spent my entire life trying to find a way to make things work better, faster, easier. I always loved new school supplies as a kid - crisp notebooks with no marks in them yet, a new Trapper Keeper waiting for me to fill in my class schedule and daily assignments. And as I grew up, I continued to love these things - new refills for my Franklin Covey planner, designing file layouts for my desk drawer and coming up with good ways to organize my apartments on a small budget.

Heck, I even got my Master's degree in what is, essentially, professional organization. Industrial and Operations Engineering. What do industrial engineers do? They take industrial and office processes and find ways to make them work better, faster and/or cheaper. The take extra movement out of as assembly line and streamline documentation flow through organizations.

Even at home I'm always looking for ways to make things easier. I do believe this is because at heart I'm somewhat lazy and want to put forth as little effort as possible in order to still get a great result. Ask Mr. Brown, I drive him crazy at least once a week with a suggestion for how "we" (yes, that usually means "he") can do things a little bit easier around the house.

So I've decided to combine my love of all things organizational and the enjoyment I get from working with people into a career. This is a long-term plan. I'm still researching the market possibilities here locally and reading as much as I can get my hands on about the topic from others in the business. But the wheels are in motion.

Here's how you can help.
- Read my blog. Offer feedback to me on whether things are helpful or not. I honestly want all feedback - both complimentary and constructive. This is my way of working out my ideas on how I want my business to be structured and focused so I am open to change. Expect to see changes in design and content over the next few months as I work out my voice & image. Feel free to let me know what you think of these changes

- Offer yourself up as a test subject. In addition to working on projects around my own home I'm trying to build a book of work. I'm planning to offer some simple solutions as part of Reader Tuesday but will also need a small number of hands-on cases that I'll work complimentary. After my complimentary phase I'll need a few more test subjects for projects at a highly reduced rate.

- Find me a web-designer. I have a graphic designer working on my logo but I really need someone with web-design experience to help me format a website that meets my vision. If you are one or know of one, let me know. I will be eternally grateful for the lead.

So there you have it - my new venture and adventure. Wish me luck!

Back to Work

My first day back from maternity leave. So far, so good. They've been keeping me busy. I managed to get my email inbox down to just a handful, attend a meeting, and take an online training course all before lunch. Honestly, it feels like not much has changed. Things move very slowly around here. I would bet I could be gone a year and not notice much difference. The one exciting thing is that the online training course I had mostly completed development of before I left is now up and running. It's very cool to see your work actually rolled out across the company.

I was definitely tough to say goodbye to the little man this morning. He was all smiles though. And he got his first stroller ride over. Well, his first one where he didn't make the return trip. Speaking of... I think I'll call and check on him.