Trip to Chicago

Trev and I had a great weekend in Chicago - we spent time doing some wedding planning and then socializing. Check out the pics.

04-24-09 Trip to Chicago

On Friday we visited Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs (baseball team) and the restaurant is where the wedding reception is going to be held. It's sooo "them". It's a lovely place and we'll probably be able to go out of the field for pictures. Very cool.

Then, Trev, Rach and I headed downtown so that we could check out what the Chicago skyline would look like in their wedding photos. The plan is for them to have a photo right at sunset - we tested by the water, up on the grass, halfway down the grass etc etc. We decided we liked down by the water the best.

After that we headed out to dinner. Following day Mike and Trev stayed in the bar while Rach and I went to check out linens for the reception. Didn't take too long, and then that was all decided which was great.

That afternoon we rested well and then headed out to dinner with Paul and BJ (who'd come up from St Louis) and Denise, Mike's Mum. Had a great time.

Today we're hanging out before taking a late afternoon flight home. We had a great time, and it was really nice relaxing with them both and seeing all the plans they've made. The wedding plans are so under control which is awesome.

Back to work tomorrow....

I'm a Great Aunt!

Welcome to Abbie Janet Wilson, born April 20th at 1.42pm weighing 8lb 2oz. This is the most beautiful pic of Liz and Abbie - Colin took it. Liz is Trevor's niece.

Britain's got talent

You just have to check this out.....not that I ever watch this program, or the American version, but this woman has had millions of hits on youtube....and deservedly so. Oh my - I hope she makes it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

And here's a UK article following up to that show... http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1170309/I-wont-let-Simon-Cowell-Hollywood-makeover-vows-Amanda-Holden-TV-angel-internet-hit.html

Spring Blossom 2009

Check out these beee-uuuu-ti-ful pictures of the Spring blossom. These are taken over 2 days at 6.30am by my bus stop. I'm in awe....

April 13th 2009 - 10 year anniversary

Today is an important day for me. The last 10 years have flown by .... when I think back it seems like just yesterday. A lot's happened since then.

10 years ago today I had a hysterectomy, age 31. It wasn't all plain sailing but I can truly say that it was one of the best decisions I made. No periods, mood swings, food cravings etc etc etc. I've learnt to deal with the other stuff (hot flashes if I don't take HRT etc) and it's really not a big deal.

I'm healthier than I've ever been and I know that at some point the endometriosis will return and I'll end up with bowel surgery - the doc said 5-10 years at the time....and I'm getting no symptoms that means I have to go through with all that.

Every time I think of that I know that the investment (ie Billy) I make in my health is worth it.

Wooohooo! Here's to the next 10 years!

Ladies, if you're ever in doubt - don't be. Just do it! While recovery takes a little while, it's worth it in the long run!

Clearing out the closet

Growing up I was always used to celebrating Easter - and still do, it's just different here. In England Easter starts on Thursday lunchtime where you clear out of work and then Good Friday and Easter Monday are public holidays. None of these days are public holidays here - I get Good Friday off, but Trevor has always had to work. That makes it a strange holiday.

So today my original plan was to work the morning, then go into town to meet Trev for lunch before heading off to physio. Next I thought I'd head off to the mall to go shopping.... then I decided I had enough clothes. So I spent most of the morning clearing out my closet. At work there's a been a clothes drive the past couple of weeks, especially for business wear as it goes to an organization who focuses on women who are on welfare and getting back into the work place. Last year I participated and gave some stuff away, this year I have even more reason to.

While I've stalled in weightloss during March due to all the trips and parties since last fall I've lost about 20 pounds. I've gone from size US 14/16 to size 10, and even that's getting loose. I've also been working out well and it's really beginning to show. Not only are my pants getting smaller, and the bra size shrunk (which I'm so happy about!!) but now all the sweaters and tops I have are starting to get too big. Rather than ditch everything I've just spent the morning going through everything - trying it on and putting in piles that stuff that I just can't wear.

I'm happy - but what's awful is all the money spent on these clothes. I have suits and jackets I've just got to give away because they don't fit. I do have the "woo-hoo" going on - but at the same time I'm just thinking of all the money I'll have to spend to replace it all.

For now as long as I have 2-3 pairs of work pants, 2-3 pairs of jeans and a dozen tops or so for work then I'll be good. I don't want to buy too much in case I keep shrinking.

Certainly the brown jeans I bought in England last summer with my friend Debbie, that were just way way too tight are getting to the point where they're too loose. Yippee! Hopefully I'll get back soon so I can show off!!

This has given me the motivation to keep off the chocolate and partying and start focusing on my butt. I have a wedding in Mexico at the end of May and I'd like to drop at least another 5lb by then.....let's see if I can do that!!

The one about the screaming woman....

Looking back, this is pretty funny..... but at the time I was so, so mad. It's been many years since I've been yelled at (and I mean YELLED at!) in my job. Funny how some people react.

I have to preface this with what my job is..... for this particular story. Not only do I run a global team of peeps (one reporting directly to me, the others in a matrix style), but I am responsible for the detail of the programming when it comes to performance reporting. This is not something that I've trained for - I've picked it up over the years. I've said many times that learning this has given me several career opportunities and I'm always floored about how easy it can be to WOW people:) That's my secret....and I'm keeping it. I'm forever thankful to Trevor for refusing me reporting resources when we worked together when I first joined my current company. ..... because without that I wouldn't be where I am today.

Anyway.....back to the weirdo. In one of the projects we launched this quarter a new team lead in the UK was responsible for co-ordinating with everyone globally to ensure that all requirements were taken care of. Two things happened. First in order for this project to execute the team needs a list of clients for their teams to go and visit. Seems easy, right? Yeah well.....not so much. Second, it's important that all the regions agree. What I should also say here is that my boss had distributed "final" documents to some VERY senior people around the company. What I didn't know when this happened was that a war was brewing under the surface.....trust me to be the catalyst!!

Let's take the first one - the list of clients. Now the thing that's really important is that the list is accurate and relevant to the topic of the project. I spent time on the phone with the owner of the project asking for the criteria. I explained the information I needed and tried to walk her through the process of a) why she needed to do it and b) how to do it. I had a Webex running so she could see what I was doing (it's a tool where she can go to a website and watch what I'm doing on my PC) but it was clear from right at the beginning that she had already decided my role in this..... which wasn't quite what I had planned! Hahhahahaha. Anyway..... she wanted a number of clients by product and country. Easy enough.....except that I know when dealing with her colleagues that while they will want that information they will want other information also (like exactly WHO to go and see and WHERE they are located). What a freaking dumb ass. So, after about half hour of me trying to explain this I gave up. She complained that I asked too many questions - as I explained to her many times it's important she's specific so that she can give the team the CORRECT information. In the end I sent her what she asked for..... I still can't believe she was screaming at me down the phone....no joke.

What got me was this. I took time out to give her information and recommendations (especially as I already knew what my boss was after.....because a) I confirmed my thinking was correct and b) I know her too flipping well!!) but it was ignored. She took what I sent her, deleted half of it, and then sent out basic info that was totally no help to anyone. Overnight all the other people asked for the specific client information that I had originally recommended. Now, I have no problem providing it - I'm just too damn busy to do things more than once....and would have preferred to do this originally. What really peed me off was that when someone emailed her with a request she had the audacity to reply to an email and said "well, Phil is our data whiz, so i'm sure she can provide this information". WTF. Who am I? Her admin? C'mon people....get with the program. What I didn't realize at this moment was that every other person in the team was already peed off with her - and I had no idea. I thought it was just me - and that maybe it was the moon or something giving me no tolerance. Everyone was coming to me with questions because they trust me. So, I fixed the data and sent it out. Problem over.....or so I thought....

The second thing that happened was even worse.....well, it took longer to fix. I was looking at the detailed programming to make sure that I could report correctly at the end of the month. I took the "final" documents my boss had distributed and started reconciling with the previous information. I had given this task to the person who works for me - figuring it'd take her about 2 hours to get this information together. Well after a day I was getting VERY frustrated with her that she didn't have the answers. So, at the end of the day we both sat down with the information in order to figure it out - my view being at that time was "blinking heck, give to me I'll do it myself!!". What I quickly realized was that it wasn't us.....it was the project owner. Hmmmmphf. To confirm my thinking I quickly sent emails off to people in Asia and Europe to give them the two sets of info I had and asked them to confirm what I should be programming. Well......this gave me the confirmation I needed that this woman is a total nut job.

So to finish the story....the following day at our global team meeting I asked her to present the project. I confirmed with her that all the regions had signed off on her project and that they were all happy. She said "yes". Now....given the story above AND the fact that all the regional heads were on this conference call I was pretty surprised she confirmed they were all happy. Well, can you imagine what happened when I said "Thanks....I'm not sure that's correct - and then opened it up to the regions". Sit back and watching the fireworks..... was pretty funny to me. Luckily everyone else trusts me - the question is do I try and turn her around, or just wait for her to bury herself.

Maybe this woman just needs some mentoring, maybe she's nuts - who flipping knows. All I know is that this coming week all these people are in NYC at a global management meeting - and she has to face all these people that she's peed off. This should be fun! How dumb must she feel? Or maybe she's too stupid to even know.....

Luckily I'm a smartarse and I can fix everything.....it just means there was loads of stuff I couldn't get done and I have to work over my 3 day weekend! That said....that's why these guys trust me - they know I have their back!

Ok, ranting and raving over....

Rhubarb, bikes, my ankle and hair

The week went by in a whirlwind as always. I'll get onto the crappy parts later, but let's start with this weekend. So first, check out the pic below - if you remember back to last year I thought I'd killed the rhubarb. It had blackfly and totally died. I figured that I'd just start again this year. Anyway, we went out on the balcony this weekend - and CHECK IT OUT! I'm soooooo excited we might be eating it this year!















We also achieved something else this weekend - Trev bought a bike. I'm excited about that too - Billy (our trainer) has a new bike, I have mine from last year, so it's looking like we'll have lots of trips out and about. That is so cool. At the same time we got bike shoes - and they make such a difference in spin class. I never thought they would - but now my toes don't go numb!

I've also had my hair done again - getting ready for Mexico in May I've had it brightened for the summer - so while I'm still red, it's definitely brighter. When I get my act together I'll take a pic!

Onto the ankle....which is coming up for it's first anniversary.....I saw the doctor again last week. I got stuck with a needle of cortizone. The doc thinks that it'll help. What I wasn't ready for was a flipping big kick ass bruise that hurts like hell! Anyway.....we'll wait and see:) You never know - it may do the job!!