when i’m free to set the objective and deadline, my extracurricular exploits flow from one to another, with minimal overlap. but sometimes exciting projects find me, and come with a pre-stamped due date. and occasionally many opportunities come at once…and i tend to say yes more than no.

it seems that i have quadruple-booked myself this weekend. which translates into double-header all-nighters. so since i’m up anyway, i decided to take a few minutes to debrief a bit. or perhaps just marvel at the insane number of ways i’ve over committed myself. each of these projects requires my full-time attention, ideally. the perfectionist in me that demands excellence without compromise is screaming right now. behold my four ring circus:

ring one: my raw chef mentor and dear friend mandilyn canistelle, who trained me in the fine art of living foods preparation, is writing a book. The Raw Food Feast: 7 days through the Rainbow will be released in April, and she’s invited me to be her sous-chef on the pre-production, which includes recipe testing as well as planning each shot that will be photographed. over the past three weeks i’ve spent over 75 hours with mandy and a team of helpers refining every detail of the recipes and how they will be presented in the book. this weekend is the culmination of all that work, with three whole days of photography. every dish must be prepared, plated, and captured with step by step shots for each recipe. we have a professional photographer, a videographer (for the publisher’s behind-the-scenes), and a food stylist flying in to make this happen – and i should really be there for all of it. if only i were running a one-act show.

ring two: 30 of my female family members are descending on okc this weekend for a girly saddic reunion. as one of the locals, i would normally be helping to coordinate the airport pickups, hotel rooms, and entertaining activities. seeing as i’m a little tied up, my mom & sister have carried that baton, but at a minimum i want to be present for every minute of the story-telling, belly-laughing, baklava-eating, picture-sharing fun. too bad i’m supposed to spend 8 hours each day at mandy’s, plus…

ring three: with almost no effort on my part to advertise the new biz, i’ve found myself with three editing jobs: one includes some ghost writing, one is volunteer work for my church, and one has good potential to lead to bigger assignments. all three have immediate deadlines. although i had intended to pursue growth on the language training side of the services i offer, i’m thrilled that this aspect of Communicate Clearly is blossoming. too bad the projects are all flowing in during rush hour.

ring four: this is the center ring, the main act under the big top. i’ve been hired to develop living foods program for a lifestyle center near loveland, colorado. this center welcomes guests with life-threatening conditions and incorporates healing therapies and a healthy lifestyle into a holistic treatment. they’ve requested an 18-day menu plan, training for their kitchen staff, seven cooking classes to offer the guests, plus an educational event for their community that includes an hour lecture and 3 hours of demonstrations with tastings. i’ll be spending the month of march at their facility to implement the plan. oh, and we’ll be serving 3 meals a day during this time. um, wow. wow that they’ve commissioned me. wow that this is a really big job. actually, four really big jobs in one. did i mention we finalized this contract less than two weeks ago? so when i haven’t been in mandy’s kitchen or trying to maintain my day job and side jobs,  i’ve been buried under my recipe books developing menus and classes and training.

i leave monday morning, so somewhere between cookbook production and family reunioning, i’ll need to find some time to pack. should packing for four weeks count as a fifth circus ring?

i’ll most likely be scarce on the interweb for the next month – a few weeks without ambient awareness should be good for me. carry on, cyberworld; i’m checking out!

i’ve been freelancing as an English instructor, editor, and writer for several years now, and have recently felt the urge to increase my focus on these side jobs. with the help of an informative website, spiffy new business cards, and a bit of advertising and word-of-mouth, i hope to generate more opportunities to work in the linguistic field i so adore.

this will allow me to professionally offer language training, as well as writing and editing services, on a contractual basis as my schedule allows. i have a few other teachers interested in working for me so i’m developing a vision for expansion already. i’m super excited and invite all of you to click on through and visit the brand new Communicate Clearly web site! feel free to pass the URL along to anyone you think might be interested.

during my ping pong-ing between these two homes, my trusty oversized tote stays stocked with all the necessities, ready and waiting on the floor of my closet. when i decide to make an overnight stay, i just relocate an outfit hanging in the closet to the hook in my car, and throw the appropriate accessories in the bag. the drawback to this system is that i invariably leave said accessories in the bag, so my collection is slowly moving from my armoire to the travel tote. combine that with daily needing the use of several toiletries and tools that do not have duplicates dedicated to travel, and i am officially living out of the suitcase consistently, whether at home or away. which equals not really knowing where anything is at a given time.

while this can be a bit annoying, the perpetual home-rotation has made me grateful for several things: grateful that i truly love visiting my parents and their beautiful, peaceful home. thankful for the bonus time with my titu (grandmother) and the fun girls sleepovers we’ve had. appreciative that i have a job that not only allows me the freedom (and reason) to be near my family, but also the flexibility to be at any medical appointment my mom may have. thankful that my husband maintains the perfect balance of independence and “miss-you-much” throughout my sporadic schedule.

i’m trying to be more intentional about having a positive perspective when it comes to aggravating circumstances. it seems like so many of my frustrations are actually borne out of blessings. i allow myself to get irritated instead of viewing the situation for the fortunate advantage it often is. now if i could just be as intentional about unpacking my tote each week…

what i’m getting at is that in the year since i started this web journal, i have been conspicuously silent about one area of my life: work. this may not seem odd to the many who compartmentalize work into a separate category from hobbies, but for the majority of my employed years i have sought positions in areas that are my hobbies. work has always been my play, my mission, my passion. last year i  talked about my shift in philosophy when i accepted my first just-a-job position. later i whined about how i was struggling with that decision. but otherwise i have not felt compelled to write about métier since this area of my life was relegated from enthusiasm to obligation. however, since most (all?) of my readers are friends and family, and everyone is curious about this, i figured the blog is the new mass email. so here’s the scoop:

i thought i would have no need to change jobs while i’m in this take-advantage-of-my-pre-mommy-years, degree-using, debt-obliterating phase of my career. however, i was approached by a former colleague with an offer that has more compensation & flexibility with less stress & hours, so i jumped at the chance. (plus, you know me…i crave periodic change. protracted routine kills me.) so, no more advertising for me! now i get to get a little techie. the vitals –> this is who i work for: inkwell business products, and this is what i do: managed print services. i consult with CFOs about managing operating expenses in a commonly overlooked area – document storage and output. i’m actually kinda excited about it, partially because so far the job environment has delivered on all the improvements i’d hoped for, but mostly because now i’ll have time to work on building my own budding language business! (more on that to come…)

this is what set off the ripple in my peaceful little pond: my sister and her husband have good friends (another young married couple) that i enjoy and admire a great deal.  they happened to be in town today, and i met the four of them for a brief lunch between appointments. as we sat there exchanging updates, they in their flip flops and i in my high heels, i felt the discontent set in. i listened to the stories of their adventures in marriage and ministry, reaching from central america to africa to canada and beyond, and i could tangibly feel the jealousy like a boulder in my stomach. i thought of how they get up each morning with a united purpose, a life led side by side. how they have the freedom to move from one project to the next, not tied geographically to jobs or comfort zones. they backpack, they marathon, they research together. while i acknowledge there are definite benefits to having familiarity and security to come home to every night, and certainly things about my life they might desire, i could not get past how strongly i felt the yearning for their exciting, meaningful, uncommon life.

as i walked away from the cafe in my professional attire to go “close a sale, ” i felt as insignificant and ridiculous as i have ever felt. i know i ‘ve worked through this already, this coming-to-terms with the career i have chosen at the moment, but it seems it doesn’t take much to open the door for resentment to creep in. i suppose i need to give this arrangement some time to fulfill its ultimate goal – providing the means to involve myself in the things i value – but i never said patience was one of my strong traits, and my daily activities are not where my heart is. my next birthday looming doesn’t help calm the sense of urgency, either.

i know that God’s plan for them is not the same as it is for lee and i, and i pray that He will quiet my silly stirrings so i can be satisfied with the abundance i have – and not just most the time.

so this philosophy has led me to jump from gig to gig, working in missions, language, and teaching, much to the chagrin of my husband who sees the potential $$ that i could earn, seeing as i do have a respectable college degree. (he is one of the people who views work from the “other” perspective. ☺) and i have been quite content until lately. what i realized is that while i don’t value money over other important things in my life, some of the things i hold at the top of my priority list require those dollars i try to disregard.

fostering relationships demands time together, which can involve travel and all the expenses associated with that, and at least usually entails a meal or drink or tickets to an event. memories that are created during these times are priceless. being involved in missions or charities or virtuous causes almost always calls for funds, and having the ability to donate your own resources rather than raising support is much more gratifying (for me). health and living naturally are also something i consider very important for myself and those i love. i have witnessed first hand what you risk when you don’t pay attention to natural well-being, and have experienced the benefits of being proactive in these areas. the problem is, eating and sleeping and cleaning and living and healing naturally is expensive. sad, but true.

these are just a few examples, but i could recognize the pattern threaded throughout the majority of the things i care about. which led me to finally accept a “real” job that will help provide for those things. lucky me, i also found a position in which i feel i can use my abilities and feel good about the work i do, and as an added bonus i really believe i can help people and their businesses. so now i can officially say i am an “advertising consultant,” which causes me to wince and my husband to puff up with pride. but that’s not what’s really important.