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2018-03-02 - 1:54 p.m.

DARN I wish I was more organized!!

I am a supporter of the Kennedy Center and have been off and on for years ( I kinda rotate my charity of choice each year).

I seldom get any benefit as don't really get there often in the past dozen years! (Not enough discretionary income to take ALL my clan to see a show often! So we pick one or two a year of all the offerings in the area and Kennedy Center has not been a go to for us of late.)

But I just realized ,since off work due to a "WIND DAY!" HAMILTON Tickets went on pre-sale yesterday! THEY SOLD OUT! This "wind day" is and unexpected surprise! I wouldn't have even been aware of the pre-sale being now if not for being home from work. Gusts up to 70 mph and truth be told even though unexpected so left laptop at work I likely would have braved the drive BUT FOR:
1. My girls off school and the one who was in Civil Air Patrol was insistent "Mom you CAN NOT be so dumb to drive in this!" as we were hearing the emergency siren loudly at 7am and could see things flying by- - boxes, branches etc. One of those exercise balls got stopped on our front yard next to a tree looking like it traveled pretty far considering the dirt and indentations of things hit along the way. I figure "That which you need comes into your life if open to it" HA HA today apparently we needed a "Fitball"! LOL Finding the owner is unlikely but I will ask around the neighborhood if anyone lost it. Until claimed is is one of those some like to use as a chair as good for the back! YES It did make me feel aligned and good after I washed off its dirt and tested it out. Point being when have kids there is incentive to take less risk ; and time with the teens is so awesome! (Listening to K Pop) and
2. Just yesterday morn I installed a device that tracks my driving! The goal is to get a discount on my car insurance for my excellent driving. If I took off when there is a warning it is dangerous to drive rather than rates going down they would get an adjustment up! The goal is to demonstrate my actual good (kinda like old lady!) careful driving. The many classes taken after speeding tickets truly were effective in creating new good driving habits; Behavior modification WORKS!
But I digress.

I was so hoping there were Hamilton tickets left as Kennedy Center Presale was yesterday! SOLD OUT!

General public end of March.

I need to pay attention.

I think this is a GREAT WAY To make up the GAP of Tuition possibly for my oldest child's first year of college! NO Kidding. The other reason to buy them is that one of Soren's class mates is in this touring production. If we can it would be great to see it if it were actually really in budget.

It just occurred to me that I have to look up the re-sale laws in VA as was thinking even if not affordable a easy investment! But may not be legal in Virginia! I know there are limitations but it IS LEGAL in some states.... not sure of where, what the markup is allowed. But within parameters of the law this just MIGHT Be a great way to help college girl bridge her gap a bit.

Will look into the possibility.

VERY EXCITED for her , after federal aid and grants and scholarships it looks like she will need to come up with $11K a year to attend a really beautiful small private school.

With the scholarships she has received that is cheaper per year than in state tuition room and board at the state schools.

I told her to apply where she feels is the right place(s) for her and see what happens. Be open to possibilities and somehow the reality she envisions will manifest with some belief and effort and planning on her part.

I believe investment in education is always worthwhile even if it is not a dollar value return on investment. If it makes a person shaped into a happy healthy person who learns to do what they love with joy and bring light and love into the world - WELL THEN
What more could I hope for , for my children, and for us all?

There are many paths and college education is not the only one. But I feel it IS The right one for her and am so very proud of her.

She has a vocal audition for another fine arts scholarship at this beautiful college coming up. I am ALSO really excited that her high school has a wonderful senior project. AGAIN I don't tell others' stories... (except ancillary to mine so some snippets sneak in here and there) BUT I am so happy to watch hers unfold. I am excited about what she is doing and some possibilites which are truly wonderful for her senior project educational experience and very grateful for the mentor that is really supportive and presented some wonderful ideas.

So today I am enjoying the very slow laborious process of downloading pictures and working on writing and manipulating the photos and software to generate a marketing email. Facebook and other tools are so much more effective so I have been trying to get us up to date with things like Instagram and twitter etc... and there are a few folks adding great content to those! YEAH! No one else wants the newsletter piece so I get that. I LOVE writing an article about the folks in the arts program. I am just not very QUICK at the whole process and for the past year in my job its been MUCH Harder to moonlight!

Well, cause my job was easy for a couple years... I had energy to come home then do newsletter and other marketing at either really early or very late! I would start 8 or 9 pm when day was winding down with my responsibilities and just push through and work til 1AM, or sometimes as late as 3AM-- whatever and STILL be able to function enough to get through the work the next day. (Cause it was legal analysis and review and input on a systems development agile project. I could also in the past do that work early in the morning- head to a coffee shop at 6AM near work and knock it off quickly (pressure of a time frame helps my efficiency!). I would get in the office by 10:30 or 11AM and my boss was trulys supportive! I would INTEND to get in by 9am and be "almost done!" and just get in zone and it would inevitably be later when finally really done. But my boss was truly wonderful and supported that knowing if I started work at 11AM I would just work for the next 8 hrs to get it done!) It was easy enough to find the time to do that! But this year since moving into a new job, a brand new role for me, it is much harder for me to do that as I have to put in extra time at work in order to learn and be successful at my job. Certainly not without mistakes along the way! I AM SO GRATEFUL for my workplace culture and boss and other leaders who support me in that process! I can't say enough good things about my current boss. She is such an inspiration!!

My job has gradually shifted to more actual data analytics skills. I was analyzing the data points of terms and contracts initially. Then I learned tools and data mining skills.

Its an incredible experience I never anticipated! I am so enjoying this winding career path!

I LOVE my job actually.

It rather awesome to interface with the agile software development team, project managers and engineers and coders. Its fun to work with teams of folks. I LOVE project based work and am so happy with the really wonderful work environment and the chance I have been offered to continue to grow and learn more each day. I also really enjoy the digging in of a task with focus when it is hard. I love the puzzle of figuring it out after pushing through the anxiety and fear of not really knowing what I am doing well at first!

The technical , hands on , plumber part of the job is really helping with how some things WORK operationally and moreso now in an operations role the actual execution of things that happen in systems.

I run some critical processes on occasion which are so very different from legal work. If you make a mistake there is a ramification downstream to business partner. This is stuff that affects reporting which is not insignificant in the industry I work in. There are some very cool moments when we at work KNOW The impact of our work is very real.

I feel really good about the ETHICS and VALUES and intention of where I work and the culture which is one of being honest and open.

They do not want to ever be one of those case studies in What went wrong and do their best to get it right.

So thankfully last night I worked rather late to get a critical task done. I just take longer to get some things done than I like but have the grit and perseverance then to stick to the task until done. I have always had to do that. Its an adaptive skill to mitigate my own personal challenges of disabilites which are very real.

I was very enourgaged by the teamwork and the progress we made as a group this week at work! Sorry to not be there today but considering the wind which was very real I am happy to have been home with internet only dropping out periodically today! (It cuts out after some gusts but thankfully has come back on each time). Its been good to be here hangin with the two teens who live with me.

One made sushi for us! She made Spring Rolls and some with crab which was a project she enjoyed. It entailed her figuring out what she needed and walking to the store then figuring out how to do it. It was fun to watch as I worked her on marketing stuff (Slow and steady and finally will get a product out today! Darn uploading pics and finding the right one and formatting takes SO MUCH TIME)

Can't believe how late it is...
I also have the final accounting of medical expenses to do for last year! Took the standard deduction but this is one of those shared parental responsibilities that requires accounting every year. Its just a pain and I have been 80% done for over a month and just have to wrap it up!
TODAY! Marketing email and blast then that!!

Thanks god everyone was healthy this year so the bills are low compared to some years!

In health news for me it was great to have medical insurance as I had to go a bunch of tests...

I dont share all my personal details. Some are not of interest but long and short of it is that after taking care of me it is really good to know I am healthy and have nothing to worry about!
Just a few medical bills

And I will leave it at that. Took a bit of time, money, thank God for the flexible work as had a series of medical "stuff" to take care of- but I have a great Dr. Thankfully and in the end all is well.

VERY GRATEFUL!

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