Person of the Year award (and its only January 3rd)

I wish there was a way to adequately communicate sarcasm in writing because let me tell you, today's blog title is dripping in it.

I most certainly did not win any awards for personality, patience or parenting today. Today was one of those days where at one point I took a deep breath and actually thought to myself...'I would not anything to do with you right now.' In a span of 4 hours I:

• Completely broke New Years Resolution #3
• Cursed my job (yes - the job I previously stated I LOVE)
• Yelled at my 6 year old with such wrath even I surprised myself (and our handyman who unannounced to me was in the house and witnessed the entire thing)
• Cried over a PowerPoint (which lets face it...should just never happen)
• Scared every living creature in this house - human and animal alike - OUT of the house

Good lord Shannon. Get a hold of yourself.

I once received a gift from a former coworker that to this day, I frequently use. A book of quotes all around finding calm. And after I managed to successfully complete all of the above, I took a look inside and found the following quote:

I'm not proud of myself today but this is where this blog is already proving to be quite therapeutic. Why? Because I also realized tonight that I'm human and everything above is going to happen sometimes. Crisis, in so many forms, is a daily existence and sometimes I get so wrapped up in those moments of stress and passion and frustration, I lose sight of reality.

Now it doesn't provide an excuse to go all BCC* on everyone, but it did provide me the opportunity to take a step back and make the following corrections:

• Accepted that I'm going to break these resolutions. Often. But Monday is a new work day for me to get back at this non-emotional goal of mine.
• Apologized to my son for losing my temper (and momentary sanity) but also explained why I got so upset so we both could learn from the situation.
• Finished the PowerPoint causing the tears. Sometimes just fighting through the frustration is the best cure.
• Offered a mea-culpa to all other living things in this house via dog treats, pathetic looks and free hugs.
• Issued myself a little bit of slack for not being perfect.

And while my stress and workload is still higher than average with no end in sight for the time being, I am taking a deep breath, a break and a blog post. And shockingly, I feel better.

I will be happy to see today come to a close. Tomorrow is a new day.

Oh and the *BBC... that = 'bitches be crazy.' I not only can translate BBC but if you ask my husband, I could be a founding member to this language. However that, my friends, is a whole blog post topic for another day.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone. xo

Blogger or poser…only time will tell

I can't believe I'm sitting here attempting to be become a blogger. I just don't think of myself as cool enough nor do I regularly frequent coffeeshops wearing those once-nerdy-now-trendy oversized glasses touting my mac book in a perfectly weathered messenger bag.

That being said, here I am. And here is 2014. Welcome to both of you. Lets hope I can make this worthwhile for everyone.

Now why a blog now? Like most people, I too am sucked in by the thought of New Years resolutions.  I actually don't really believe in resolutions normally. For me, I think you should work on yourself/your goals/your aspirations year long but for some reason I'm jumping on the bandwagon this year. And as you can probably guess, this blog was one of them…

Shannon's 2014 resolutions:

1. Start a blog

• Wow - check. Awesome start. I can't promise this blog will actually be any good but hey. Putting myself out there. 

2. Institute a 60-minute-cell-snap

• My MAJOR goal for this new year is to working on disconnecting. Specifically for 1 hour every night I have Kai at home. This shouldn't seem that hard but let's face it. I am a self-regonized workaholic. I have a fear of being disconnected. Belief: The second I put my cell phone away something major will happen. Truth: I sincerely believe that and that is the habit I need to break. So to snap my bad habit, I will be attempting to put my cell phone in a drawer for one hour to focus on what really is most important in life - my family. This shouldn't be that hard…but it will be for me. 

3. Be less emotional professionally

• See previous statement about being a workaholic. I'm one of those rare people who can say they truly love their job. Not that I don't have bad days, everyone does. But I really enjoy what I do, the people I work with and my company. And because of that, I want to be the best employee, co-worker, leader I can be. In order to do that, my goal is to work on not reacting so emotionally at times. I could say its the passion about what I do! But I think its really me needing to continue to grow and mature as a person. Not that I think I'm a loose cannon by any means, but I can work to learn when to react internally, and appear even externally. The best leaders I know can appear passionate without appearing emotional and I want to get there. 

and last but not least…

4. Live a healthier lifestyle

• Now if that isn't New Years day cliche I don't know what is but if you can't beat em - join em. This however implies I currently live an unhealthy lifestyle, which is not the case. But, given the choice of talking a walk or watching a football game, you will see me firmly planted in front of the TV. 

So 14 hours into 2014 how am I doing on said resolutions? You are in fact, reading my blog and I started my day with this view and a mile & a half walk:

2/4 ain't bad right?

Four resolutions - 364 days to go. Piece of cake...

Do you have any New Years resolutions? How long do you give yours before you break them?