thank you

This is a simple thank you. To the people who fill my days with laughter and love. Who can listen to me ramble on (and on and on), with increased hand activity, tripping over myself to get everything out... and just smile. The people who enjoy cuddling me as much as I enjoy cuddling them. The people who get that I am tactile and mushy and fervently driven to be strong and independent. The people who know that I love to be silly and yearn to be smart. That I want to bring lightness and laughter into the world and sometimes get stuck along the way. The people who are my chosen family. My friends. My soul sisters and brothers.

Thank you. xo

6 months!

Well hello there! Yes, it's me. Can you believe it? I've missed you. : )
In case you were wondering where the heck I've been hiding.... I decided to give you all a little update.

It's been almost 6 months since I became a full time student. My world has changed!

This seems like such a rote statement, but it can't be further from the truth.
Here's why:

• I spend hours studying. I spend so much time indoors, I'm not entirely sure what season this is. I skip months and days, and they all seem to bleed into each other. Oh, sleep, it will appear sometime in 2011. I can't wait!
  
  
• I have no real social life - except for what transpires in my little office. My friends are kind and patient...I hope!
  
  
• My mind is processing new information by the reams. It's hard to fall asleep at night with so much content in my head so I crawl into bed at night with pleasure book. Sadly, it doesn't take more than a few pages before I'm zonked out.
  
  
• I'm working incredibly closely with a core group of guys, my team - The Intangibles - made up of Eric, Jason, John, Kash, Manoj and Ron. These guys are super! I really, really enjoy them. We are pushing and challenging each other - and celebrating the successes and growing pains that comes with working so closely together. I feel really lucky that we've bonded so well and are having such a good time together.
  
  
• I've taken these courses

MBUS 802 - Creating High Performance Teams

MBUS 800 - Role of the General Manager

MBUS 810 - Foundations of Accounting and Analysis

MBUS 957 - Transformational Leadership

MBUS 811 - Financial Accounting and Analysis

MBUS 971 - Global Business Environment

MBUS 881 - Managerial Economics

MBUS 831 - Marketing Management

MBUS 984 - Design and Creativity

MBUS 988 - Structuring the New Venture

MBUS 981 - Management of New Ventures

• and am in the middle of these:

MBUS 862 - Analysis Based Decision Making (stats)

MBUS 985 - Execution & Implementation

MBUS 851 - Human Resources Management

MBUS 808 - Individual Project

MBUS 812 - Management Accounting and Control

MBUS 952 - Negotiations and Conflict Management

• I'm undergoing executive and career coaching and it's forcing me to stretch myself a little more every day...
  
  
• ... and the best adventures are yet to come!

This is it

I'm watching Michael Jackson - perfecting his art, focusing on the things that are so important to him, watching him dig deep to express the energy and the thrill inside him. I am listening to him care about what drives him, what keeps him awake at night. I am feeling the passion, integrity and sheer joy of listening to your dream and following what makes you feel alive!

I know that MJ had his share of demons and that he struggled daily to fit into the world around him. He was awkward and ungainly moving about the world, except when he danced and when he sang. Then he rocked! He was brilliant. He shined.

It strikes me how few people I know who live this way - who give so much of themselves in their daily lives. How many people aren't ready to turn the pages in the chapters of their lives. How many people feel that life should be structured and organized in advance, that life should have been played out and figured out first - before taking the steps? Too many of us wait - wait for the known, wait for some sign, wait for the "once I get the job; once I make enough money; once I find someone to love..."

I know I have that tendency. I yearn to be somewhere, doing something that I'm not, and yet, I haven't taken the steps - I haven't jumped in with both feet. I haven't quite dug as deeply as I need to and let go of the "what ifs and the should bes"... but I am working on it!

I challenge you (and me) to make your life extraordinary. I celebrate you unfurling your sail and seeing where the wind will take you. This is your life, after all! This is it! You can do it.

jumper cables for my battery

I heard birds singing this morning, as I left the house for work. The air felt mild, the sun was bursting. And my soul did a little happy dance at the thought that the days are getting longer and warmer. I know I am an optimist, and it felt so good!