Some Kind of Day

Looking back on this day, it feels like today had all kinds of everything in it. On the surface it was supposed to be my presentation day for the CCALAC HIT Summit and it was. I even spent last night rearranging my bedroom so I could have a nice backdrop made up of my blanket LOL LOL. That's because I didn't have any time to buy a real backdrop LOL LOL. But my turn wasn't going to come until after lunch and so there were other things that were going on. First things first $$$ I do have to feel grateful for my paycheck this morning. Because it was actually 2+ paychecks. I cashed in on 40 hours of vacation that I never got to last year and took the money. And so my checking account balance shot up by $7K today, pushing it past $34K. That is over $80K in cash I have in my bank accounts. WELL ENOUGH to sustain me for at least a year! How can I not be grateful for that! And then of course, there were the lessons from the Universe. Continuing lessons about patience. Continuing lessons about learning NOT to react. I got an email from Marina about how she said she couldn't trust the Managers dashboard because the numbers changed from the same day. My first thought was duh... of course it changes. Everyone uses this dashboard. Filters get changed. Days get changed. That she copied my boss Dennis and mentioned something to the effect that it couldn't be trusted just made me blow my top. I didn't even think. I sent a snarky response back within seconds saying "why don't you check your filters' and "why the fuck are you copying my boss?" Those were not the exact words of course. And within seconds of sending the email, I was already feeling my own apology. She responded, I apologized and wrote a more detailed response and I just whisked that event away. Sigh. People in the C-suites... so lacking in patience and empathy. I guess it will be me who try to make them aware... hopefully in a very professional manner. Anyway I had to whisk it away... I had a talk I need to get my head in. In fact I was already in the middle of the keynote so I can at least refer to it in parts of my talk... 

As it was my talk came, it went and I thought I did ok. I know I almost ran out of time. It was supposed to go 45 minutes and I could have gone longer. I practiced and practiced and still it didn't really come out like I practiced. But i thought it was good enough. I gave out a lot of material but still I didn't think there was the kind of interaction that the other speakers had on chat. It was either I was giving out way too much information and a lot was going over people's heads, or they weren't really all that interested in the subject. or maybe not in the way I was presenting. But then again I also realize that's my ego talking. hey I was just pinch-hitting wasn't I? Anything I contributed would be fine. And then again this would be my 3rd public speaking stint this year. Something tells me it isn't going to be the last. Anyway when the last Q&A question was done I could finally breathe. All over. It wasn't even 3 PM yet. I'm officially done for the weekend. But I'm not done. Not by a long shot. For me it's just on to the next activity. And THAT would be the Thanksgiving lunch I'm supposed to prepare for Lisa's office tomorrow. Since this isn't my first go-round, I already know what to do. But the thing that I needed to finish was to actually buy the turkey tonight. And so I headed out and did full grocery shopping for the dinner. Not just the turkey but you know my stuffing is legendary with that group of folks. And of course I had to do veggies too right? And gravy. And cranberries. And let's not forget all the containers this food has to go in. By the time all was said and done I had spent almost $80. Not too bad to feed about 11 people. But I do remember the last time I did this 2 years ago it didn't even come to $65. That's inflation for ya. THen again we never got to do it last year and let's face it I actually do enjoy doing this every once in a while. If only to prove to myself that I can do it. Like the cybersecurity presentation. I proved I can do it. Yet again. And I am truly grateful that I not only got the opportunity but that I also came through. I made myself the last of the shaved beef and broccoli over rice for tonight's dinner. And then I spent time prepping for the lunch tomorrow. Cutting up carrots. Celery. Onions. Doing the potatoes in the Instant Pot. And then I reminded myself I had to be up before 7 AM to actually prep the turkey and put it in the oven. Work is most definitely not done just yet...