Thanksgiving weekend recap

It was an interesting weekend. Every year I find that there are many things to be thankful for, and this year was no different in that respect. But there were definitely a few things to add to the thoughts and prayers list. First, my cousin's friend, K. whose husband just passed away after battling a very brutal and rare form of cancer. Second, L.'s step mother, J., who beat breast cancer a few years ago and has now received news of cancer of the bones, liver, and lungs. Third, my sister, P. and my niece and nephew who are suddenly in a bit of a uncertain position as P. and her husband, T., are having marital problems.

P. and the kids came over for Thanksgiving at my mom's house, and we managed to have a nice dinner even though it was clearly not your typical Thanksgiving. I mostly felt bad because P. just doesn't know what to do next, and she doesn't really have the means to do much about her situation. She's got Multiple Sclerosis, two kids, and she depends on her husband for money and medical insurance. She doesn't have a job, because she takes care of the kids and house, and is trying to manage her MS. We all chipped in some money for her expenses to come over for Thanksgiving and to get her by, and we offered places for them to come in the event that things go from bad to worse. But, she is definitely in a bad way.

If things don't work out between P. and T., P. is going to have to figure out what she can do. She used to be a wonderful hairdresser, but with the MS she has numbness in her hands, and up one arm and shoulder. And she would probably move back over here because western Washington is where the bulk of her family and friends live so she would have more of a support system, but man is it ever expensive here. Like my mom recently said, "once you move away, you'd better be sure that you don't want to come back because you probably won't be able to afford to." I'm sure that P. would get child support payments, and some kind of social security or disability payments, but it would be really hard on her and the kids for sure, both emotionally and financially.

I keep praying that she and T. will work this all out. Out of all of their years together, I've never doubted how much they love one another and they've made it through some really rough times. But something seems slightly different here, and that makes me nervous. I can't really put my finger on it. I'm just sad because she was such a talented artist and hairdresser, and that dream has been pretty much squashed by the numbness problems from her MS. And now it seems like her marriage is falling apart. We will just have to keep praying for them and offer them any assistance that they need to get through this time.

Dancing with the...people who have the largest fan base

After tonight, I honestly don't know why I watch Dancing with the Stars anymore. I know that I'll watch to the end of this season just to see what happens, but it's getting fairly ridiculous. It started a few weeks ago when Sabrina didn't get enough votes to stay on the show. I thought maybe the upset would end there, but it didn't. Tonight, Jennie was the one to leave the show. Somehow, Marie managed to pull a miracle out of her butt and received enough votes to make it into the finals...along with Mel B and Helio.

It's not that Marie is terrible. She's OK, but it's only because she's a good performer. She's really not a great dancer. Sure, she pulls off a good number here or there, but she hasn't been consistently good the way that Sabrina, Mel B, or Helio are. And Jennie consistently got better and better as the show went on. So, it was a big shame for her to not get into the finals.

I don't know. At this point, it seems kind of useless for the show to even exist. It's mostly a popularity contest, and apparently enough people were blind enough to think that Marie deserves to go to the finals.

Humbling experience

There are few things in my life that humble me more than changing jobs. This is my second week in my new position, and things are going well. But it is a sure reminder of how little I really know and how much I have to learn on this new team.

One thing that I can say is that this team is extremely organized, and incredibly friendly and helpful. I have my computers setup now, thanks in part to their wonderful knowledge base of instructions for literally everything you need to know. And people have stopped by my office all week to introduce themselves, invite me to lunch, training, or classes that I might be interested in, etc.

My manager took our team out to lunch last Friday, and we had a great time. It was nice to get to know more about the people on the team.

Overall, I'm really happy with everything, and excited to learn. I'll just be a lot more comfortable when I have a little more knowledge under my belt.

It's been a good ride

Tomorrow is my last day on my current team. Starting on Monday, I'll be part of a new team, in a new division, working on a new product. Today, my team took me out to lunch, and we had a great time. Tomorrow night, they're taking me out to a local Irish pub for dinner and drinks.

I have very mixed emotions about all of this. For the most part, I am excited about all of the new things ahead of me, and the opportunity make an impact in another division in our great company. But, I'm also sad to leave behind all of the great people that I work with on my current team. I've been blessed to have worked with such smart and fun people, and I've had some of the best opportunities on this team. And I've made actual friends here, which is something I can't say about every team I've been on. We all really try to pitch in an help one another when someone needs something. Recently, when one of the PMs I work with had knee surgery, everyone chipped in to bring him meals, take him to appointments, and give him rides to and from work until he was well enough to drive again. After my divorce, I had a huge support group in the women that I work with, and they included me in all kinds of activities, and my manager even helped me move after C. and I sold the house. And we all celebrate each other's birthdays, weddings, babies, etc. in a very special way. These are the kinds of things that make our team really special, and I'm going to miss that kind of interaction on a day-to-day basis. I'll still keep up with everyone, but it's really never quite the same after you leave, even though you vow not to let things change.

The other thing I've had on this team is an opportunity to really grow in my career. As a technical writer, you don't always get a ton of respect, but somehow I actually managed to figure out what I was doing and become valuable to the people I work with. Not only did I get to write documentation for my product, I actually got to be part of the product development process and even designed parts of the user interface for our product. I was published in a book about our product, in addition to the numerous online content that I've written. And I was chosen to attend a technical conference in Boston with other people from the team, and we got to talk with all kinds of customers and people working on different products. At night, we all got together and experienced the city. Not to mention, I got to stay at the Ritz Carlton with one of my best friends on the team, which I'll probably never get to do again or at least not any time soon.

I really will miss all of those things. On Tuesday, I went to a team meeting with my new team, and everyone seems really great. I have no doubt that I will have good opportunities and make good friends on this team as well. But, it's always hard to leave something behind that is really dear to you. I knew that it was time, though, and I am still certain of that decision. Sometimes the things that make us grow the most are the things that are slightly uncomfortable, and make us stretch ourselves. I tend to need new challenges every so often to keep myself sharp and to keep learning. And this new product will definitely bring me a lot of challenges, and I will definitely feel uncomfortable for awhile. Going from an expert on one product to a newbie on another product is a pretty difficult change. But, with time, I'll get to know this new product, and I'll meet new customers, and I'll figure out new ways to get information to the people who need it. And I'll always know that what I've had with my current team is priceless.