Boss Man

Today I am thankful for my boss.



I posted the other day about how I'm thankful for my job. Not only am I thankful for a job, but I'm thankful for a wonderful boss.

My boss is a family man who genuinely cares about the people who work for him. When he found out I was pregnant, he allowed me the flexibility to decrease or eliminate my travel. He allowed me to work from home the last week of pregnancy. He allows me to work from home one day a week now, so that Alan doesn't have to go to daycare full time.

My boss is a mentor. He sees potential in his people, and has helped me to grow in my career. He gives me career advice that he learned over the years. He once said that I remind him of him when he was just starting out in his career. He gives me opportunities to present my programs to the CFO and Chief Compliance Officer. He nominated me to attend a Leadership training that only selected individuals in our company were allowed to attend. He believes in me so much that he has said that I could have his job (VP of Global Security) when he is ready to retire.

While my ultimate career goal of becoming a Chief Ethics Officer may not be recognized at Kimberly-Clark, my boss has helped me to gain experience that will lead me in the right direction to meet that goal.

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Shelter from the Storm

Today I am thankful for my house, a roof over my head.



I owned a house back in 2003 when I lived in Raleigh, but since I moved to Atlanta later that year, I had been living in apartments. I actually liked living in an apartment because it was cheaper, and I had no need for a house at the time.

This time last year, Robby and I were thinking about moving to Tampa. It had been a cold winter, and if you know me at all you know that I HATE cold weather. If I could live at the equator, I probably would. I looked up the Tampa weather nearly every day and commented on how much better it would be to live down there. We looked at houses online and found some really nice ones, mainly because of the down economy and people selling their second homes down in Florida. We were ready to go.

Then a month later, we found out I was pregnant. Moving to Florida didn't seem like the best idea anymore, because our family is in Georgia. Not moving down there was probably one of the best decisions we made. Having family close makes raising an infant so much easier! So we started looking in the Duluth area - close to Robby's parents and closer to my mom then I was in Dunwoody.

We bought our house in February of this year. The cost of owning a house is definitely much more than an apartment. Not just the rent/mortgage cost increase, but the utilities and home repairs have really taken a hit on our budget. We used to have much more discretionary income. Now our discretionary income is next to none, but we have a comfortable place to raise our son.

This house has a special meaning after August 17th. Alan was born at home, on the bathroom floor. He started his life here, and hopefully he will grow up here.

I am thankful that we are able to afford this comfortable house and that it has become a home to my new family.

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Lead the World in Essentials for a Better Life

Today I am thankful for my job.



Over the past two or so years, many people have been out of jobs. K-C laid off 1,000 people in the U.S. last year. The economy continues to struggle, and unemployment is at the highest it's been in my lifetime.

But I am blessed to be gainfully employed during this tough economic time. And not only am I employed, but my job allows me the flexibility to have a good work-life balance.

So, in order to keep me employed, everyone reading this should by Huggies, Kleenex, Kotex, Cottonelle, Scott, Viva, Poise, Depends, etc :)

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My Hobby

Today I am thankful for the ability to run.


Running the Indianapolis Marathon

Still running at eight months pregnant

Someone once said that a hobby is something you love doing, but aren't good enough at to make money doing it. That is definitely true for me about running. I love running. I've run five marathons so far, and hope to run a marathon in each state. I'm currently training for the Myrtle Beach marathon in February.

But I am definitely not good enough to make money running. The elites run 5-7 minute miles consistently for 26.2 miles. Right now I'm running about a 10 minute mile. My best marathon time is just barely below four hours, which is a 9 minute mile average. My fastest mile that I can remember recording was a 7:14 mile, but that was during a 2 mile race, and I was dying at the end. There is no way I could do that for 26.2 miles!

But I am truly thankful that I am able to run, and that I have made it to the start and finish of five marathons injury-free. Runners World has articles all the time about runners who have had accidents and have lost a leg or become paralyzed or something and can't run any longer. Stories like that break my heart. I am constantly babying my ankles (the most injury-prone part of my body thus far), getting massages if I start to feel a muscular injury coming on, and not participating in activities that could cause injury. I used to play club soccer, but now I wouldn't do that for fear of twisting an ankle or getting some other injury that would keep me from running.

Even while I was pregnant, I kept running. I ran three miles the day before Alan was born. They weren't fast miles, and they were inside on a treadmill instead of out on the road like I would have preferred, but at least I was running.

Running is a great release. It's also my "me time" and time where I can talk to God. I don't run with music; I pray instead. I also think up crazy schemes that would never actually happen, like opening an awesome running training center with trails and a track and AlterG anti-gravity treadmills. Ahhh, the dreams that would come true if I won the lottery.


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Pets are Babies Too

Today I am thankful for Nacho.



I got Nacho when he was a year old (eight years ago!). The reason his owners were getting rid of him was because they had too many dogs, and Nacho demanded more attention then they could give him. I still had my other chihuahua, Yoda, at the time, but her health was failing.

When I first got Nacho, he wasn't a very good dog. He was supposedly housebroken, but had accidents all the time in the house. He would get out and make a run for it. We lost him once, but luckily one of the nice neighbors found him and returned him to us. He couldn't walk on a leash, because he had never had to do so before. He was a bit of a menace.

Yoda died about six months after we got Nacho. As soon as Yoda died, Nacho became a different dog. Overnight, he became truly housebroken and never had an accident in the house again. He became much more calm. He was more loving. His personality completely changed.

Over the past seven years, Nacho has been a wonderful lapdog. He does demand a lot of attention, which was concerning with Alan joining the family. But he has been very good. He and Alan have pretty much ignored each other so far, and Nacho is still very jealous that Alan gets most of the attention. But he has not snapped or barked at Alan.

Nacho was my baby until Alan came. He still is one of my babies, and I love him very much!

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In-laws

Today I am thankful for my in-laws.


Taken at Thanksgiving many years ago

New members of the in-law family

A lot of people dislike (or have problems with) their in-laws. I LOVE my in-laws. My husband has a great family, and I am so blessed to be a part of it.

I am so blessed to have a wonderful mother-in-law, who has been a huge help with the new baby by taking care of him while I'm at work one day a week (among other things).

I have a great father-in-law, who loves his family very much and helped bring my husband up to be a great, Godly man.

I have a wonderful new sister and brother and a beautiful nephew and niece. I miss them now that they are a state away. I can't wait until Alan is old enough to interact with his cousins.

I inherited four more sets (or partial sets) of grandparents, who are all wonderful!

I am truly blessed with a great immediate family and family-in-law!

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Family, One of Life's Biggest Blessings

Today I am thankful for my family.


My family at my wedding in 2008

My family at Amy's wedding in 2009. We added Sam and Mimi to our family in 2009.

One of the newest members of my family. We added Melinda to our family in December 2009.

Rob is constantly telling me that I have a great family, and he is so right. While my siblings and I used to fight, as all siblings do, we have great relationships now. I couldn't be happier when we are all together for holidays or other events.

It is sad now that we have been disbursed throughout the country. Dad and Mindy live near DC. Stephanie, Jason, and the kids live in Wisconsin. Amy and Sam live in North Carolina. Matt and Mimi live in south Georgia. It is getting harder and harder to get everyone together. I'm so glad that everyone will be able to make it back for Thanksgiving this year and can't wait to see them all again.

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