Blessings and Lessons

So these days I am the Human Resource Director. Great place with amazing people and so much to do. I know this is a blessing to work with them and to be able to learn from them. But since I never see things in black and white, there are lessons to learn there too and lessons although sometimes difficult can easily become blessings.

Remember when I did my marathon? Remember when I worked for the city of Tuttle? Both of those were lessons and Blessings in the end. I promise you the humility I learned at the City of Tuttle could not have been learned anywhere else. When you are director of Human Resources and payroll goes in a day late, humility is important. I still have many lessons to learn;  how to give bad news without sounding rude and uncaring, how to handle criticism without being defensive and how to hold people accountable while still being supportive. Miles to go before we sleep.

Big year:

I will work backwards to catch you up…

Right now, I am in Phoenix, enjoying the sun, shopping and family. My Dad now has a house here and we have also been visiting Fred’s family. We will go to the Fiesta Bowl later this week and head home on Saturday.

November: We enjoyed Thanksgiving at home. Marissa was boss of the kitchen and we all took orders from her. It was a good meal.

October: Tuttle made it to the State Softball finals but didn’t win. The beloved coach of 23 years quit 3 weeks before the end of the season and the girls were heart broken. Karina and Marissa have both decided not to play next year. Karina is going to continue to play golf and Marissa is going to focus on track. It will be really weird to have our summers back after all these years.

August/September Sarah is onto her junior year in COLLEGE and her first apartment. Karina is a sophomore and has her drivers permit. Marissa is on her final year of junior high in eighth grade.

April-Summer: Softball

February/March You know I do not remember.

My Marathon Quote

I have always loved this quote but had only had parts of it.  On the day before my marathon Sarah had sent me the last two lines and this quote went through my head the entire 26.2 miles…

 

Job Update…

Since my job is through UCO, I spent my first three days on the job in Edmond. UGH, looooong drive and I how could this possibly be of use? Safety training, how to get into your UCO email, where things are on campus, etc. Well, I came away with a much greater respect for that “little school”. Did you know that  their freshman class was about 17,000 kids? Pretty darn close to the sizes of OU and OSU’s freshman classes. And Colleen I sat next to a new Vice President that came from TCU.  They have some pretty unique programs and let me tell you they are NICE! Being from UT where the mentality was “we let you in here you figure it out”, it was nice to see programs for the success of Faculty, Staff and Students.

I was finally in  Norman that Friday. We meet with some clients and I am amazed at my boss’ graciousness and kindness and by what I do not know.

The next week we spend three days in meetings with the state director and every sbdc counselor in the state. I sit in a room with some amazingly intelligent and successful people BUT the five people from my center are the best. Honestly I don’t know how I got here, the grace of God and Susan saw something in me that I hadn’t seen in a long time… potential. I am joining the team at time when the higher ups are putting a significant emphasis on professional and personal development… I have a lot of homework.

The next two weeks are spent observing other counselors and as my boss says “becoming ignorant on a higher level”.

I love that we can help people change their lives. We can’t save everyone but everyday we are given the opportunity to make a difference… sometimes we are the last line of defense before they do something really stupid and sometimes we are the last hope to right the ship. It is a lot of pressure to be that person, and the person who is suppose to have all the answers but I want to be that person.