When we embarked on this EMBA experience, there were things that had to be let go for a while. Many people gave up watching television. Others gave up their hobbies. As someone who rarely watched television, I fell into the latter category.
I gave up a variety of hobbies that would take on lives of their own with me at the centre. I used to get started on a project and lose track of time. It was only the blurring of my tired eyes that would remind me that it was 2am and I had to get up for work at 6am... These projects included sewing quilts and bags (and dresses when my munchkins were babies), knitting afghans and sweaters, and paper arts (water colouring, rubber stamping, greeting card design). I have several incomplete projects just waiting for me. Patiently sitting in a corner. Or in a box. Or on my desk. Or on the floor beside my desk. Not minding the dust that has settled on them over the past 16 months.
As I ponder what I am going to do when this EMBA program is over, I know that my old hobbies are still there. Waiting.
I started one project already. On Hallowe'en night, I had to fix a handle on one of my girls' loot bags before they could set off to scour the neighbourhood for treats. I decided that I might as well ensure that all four handles were secure and pulled out my trusty, dusty sewing machine. Using the machine made light work of sewing the eight contact points of 3 layers of black canvas. And I remembered how to do everything. I didn't need to pull out the manual. That small effort sparked a need to be creative again... So, I pulled out my patterns and looked at my stash of fabric. (Every sewer has a stash of fabric, every knitter has a stash of yarn, every paper artist has a stash of pretty papers... And I am guilty on all three counts.) My first project after my self-imposed hiatus is to sew robes for my sweet daughters. I have already cut the first one out. The pattern assures me that the sewing will be simple. Now I chose to do them in fleece, which is a knit, and has its own personality. I think I will have this first one done by the end of the week and the second one will be completed a week or so later. Just in time for wrapping and to be put under the tree. I hope they like them!
The real question after finishing these two projects is: What will I do next?
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Thursday, November 4, 2010
How have you been?
Greetings to those of you who still follow my blog. It's been over two months since I last posted, probably because life has been rather busy.
My kids returned to school. One is in French Immersion, which has been a challenge in itself. I spend more time helping her with her homework than I do working on my own.
Then my team got ready for our trip to Germany. It felt like our project host dropped us like a hot potato. I don't know if it was due to indiscretions by our project advisor (those golf course conversations get around, you know) or if things were rather crazy in the project host's world (we were supporting a real-life, live project that had highly sensitive content) and they were too busy reacting to internal demands and couldn't make time for us. All the same, we felt a bit abandoned.
So, off we went to Germany. Can I just say what a lovely country it is? It is astoundingly beautiful there. I am guessing that while rebuilding a country that was reduced to ruins, they made the strategic decision to plant a significant amount of trees in public places and along the autobahns. Verdant was the word I used to describe it at one point, to which a team member said "You mean 'green'?". Sigh. The old walled town of Nuremberg (now a big city that has built up outside the walls), was rebuilt using the original stones. It was just amazing. As an anglophone with intermediate French skills, I found it incredibly easy to get around. The CAGE distances aren't that great. Sure, the language was different, but if you break things down phonetically, you can get the intent of most signs. Body language was helpful in choosing pastries from the oh-so-many bakeries we strolled into. (And everything was oh-so-good.) Listening carefully was also a key learning. Sitting on the subway in Frankfurt, I noticed that they had a digital display that followed the audio announcing the next station. Well, "next station" is "nachte stationne" and sounds like "next station" with an accent. I think an English-speaking person could very quickly adapt in the larger centres of Germany. I didn't get the opportunity to get off the beaten path (although, at first, we thought our little diversion into Hameln was off the beaten path), so I didn't have to adapt to needing to know German in a more fluent manner, but managed quite nicely in the six cities we did visit.
The people we met were all wonderful. Let's temper that with the fact that they were all essentially "bring business to Germany" sales people. They were still lovely people. (And I can't compare them to the people who never responded to our queries.)
Did I mention that I drove a fancy car on the autobahn? The fancy car was too fancy for me. I drive a minivan. If you want to turn or brake... you do so very deliberately - almost with force. Well, the fancy, German-engineered car I drove was some high-performance thing (I think I said it was a BMW on Facebook, but it turns out it was a high end Mercedes) that would veer off if you made only the slightest steering adjustment or would send passengers flying if you tapped the brakes. I needed some time with it in an open parking lot before taking it out on the highway in the dark... but didn't really have the opportunity to do that. I got up to 150km/h. In my minivan, I gradually creep up to 140km/h+ before I wonder why I am passing everyone, so it wasn't really the idea of speed that unnerved me. It was the fact that the car was too fancy. It was an experience. I don't need to do it again.
Well... we only have a month of classes left. Sigh. I am looking forward to the end because I am having trouble keeping my energy up. On the other hand, I wonder what I am going to fill the void with.
My kids returned to school. One is in French Immersion, which has been a challenge in itself. I spend more time helping her with her homework than I do working on my own.
Then my team got ready for our trip to Germany. It felt like our project host dropped us like a hot potato. I don't know if it was due to indiscretions by our project advisor (those golf course conversations get around, you know) or if things were rather crazy in the project host's world (we were supporting a real-life, live project that had highly sensitive content) and they were too busy reacting to internal demands and couldn't make time for us. All the same, we felt a bit abandoned.
So, off we went to Germany. Can I just say what a lovely country it is? It is astoundingly beautiful there. I am guessing that while rebuilding a country that was reduced to ruins, they made the strategic decision to plant a significant amount of trees in public places and along the autobahns. Verdant was the word I used to describe it at one point, to which a team member said "You mean 'green'?". Sigh. The old walled town of Nuremberg (now a big city that has built up outside the walls), was rebuilt using the original stones. It was just amazing. As an anglophone with intermediate French skills, I found it incredibly easy to get around. The CAGE distances aren't that great. Sure, the language was different, but if you break things down phonetically, you can get the intent of most signs. Body language was helpful in choosing pastries from the oh-so-many bakeries we strolled into. (And everything was oh-so-good.) Listening carefully was also a key learning. Sitting on the subway in Frankfurt, I noticed that they had a digital display that followed the audio announcing the next station. Well, "next station" is "nachte stationne" and sounds like "next station" with an accent. I think an English-speaking person could very quickly adapt in the larger centres of Germany. I didn't get the opportunity to get off the beaten path (although, at first, we thought our little diversion into Hameln was off the beaten path), so I didn't have to adapt to needing to know German in a more fluent manner, but managed quite nicely in the six cities we did visit.
The people we met were all wonderful. Let's temper that with the fact that they were all essentially "bring business to Germany" sales people. They were still lovely people. (And I can't compare them to the people who never responded to our queries.)
Did I mention that I drove a fancy car on the autobahn? The fancy car was too fancy for me. I drive a minivan. If you want to turn or brake... you do so very deliberately - almost with force. Well, the fancy, German-engineered car I drove was some high-performance thing (I think I said it was a BMW on Facebook, but it turns out it was a high end Mercedes) that would veer off if you made only the slightest steering adjustment or would send passengers flying if you tapped the brakes. I needed some time with it in an open parking lot before taking it out on the highway in the dark... but didn't really have the opportunity to do that. I got up to 150km/h. In my minivan, I gradually creep up to 140km/h+ before I wonder why I am passing everyone, so it wasn't really the idea of speed that unnerved me. It was the fact that the car was too fancy. It was an experience. I don't need to do it again.
Well... we only have a month of classes left. Sigh. I am looking forward to the end because I am having trouble keeping my energy up. On the other hand, I wonder what I am going to fill the void with.
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