After everyone worked from home Monday and Tuesday during the snowstorm, the past Wednesday through Friday was absolutely insane. Schedules were shifted, meetings were hurried, and we all scrambled to make deadlines. Happily, by the end of the day yesterday I had taken care of all the essentials and was ready for my holiday vacation. …
Many organizations have one big holiday party, and call it good. Not my job. We have ugly sweater days, and gift exchanges at team meetings, and department parties, and whole staff potlucks…we love the holidays. I have a holiday event with one group after work today, and one during a meeting tomorrow morning, with several …
As I mentioned last week, things at work have gone sideways and the pressure is on. After our first week of extra long days, multiple meetings, and minimal argument, I’m happy to report that my “crisis team” is making progress and on track to meet a critical deadline in mid December. It’s going to take …
I believe that it’s very important to be generous, helpful, and available. I spend a lot of my time trying to make other people’s lives easier. It makes me happy to do that. However, there are limits. That’s been a tough lesson to learn because setting those boundaries has meant dealing with a lot of …
Given that today is the last day of June, I intended to have a “month in review” post today. I also intended to work on before this morning, but for a variety of reasons I just didn’t get to it. So when I got up today, the post was my number one priority. However, it …
Last Sunday, I wrote about how the universe had conspired to force me to stop stressing over hosting the perfect parties, by throwing some truly insane monkey wrenches into several events. I did take that lesson to heart, and started to relax more. What I still needed to get through my thick skull, though, was …
Back in November, I shared my tips for low-stress parties and gatherings. Lest anyone think that my life always goes smoothly (although if you read my post about wrapping Christmas presents, you already know better), I have to tell you that I only learned to relax about these things through some very strong lessons. Here …
I’m definitely the planner in my social circle. When there’s something to celebrate (birthdays, holidays, important life events, etc.) or when people just want to get together, nine times out of ten I’m coordinating, and often hosting. Gatherings with friends and family create some of my very best memories. However, a few years ago, while …
Amanda Cade 