1 Day to My 10th Anniversary at Lever Interactive

Wow! This is it! One last day as a nine-year veteran at Lever Interactive. It has been a long week. Lots to-do, haven't really been able to enjoy or celebrate, but that is o.k., we'll have another decade at least to do so!

Lever Interactive Memory: Chi-Google, Audiot and Tool Pool

Again, this was not going to be my memory for today, but I had to change it just based on last night's events. It has been a long week, lots of things going on. Some travel for the team (my flight was cancelled), lots of presentations, meetings and long nights. Well, last night, a bit tired, but still working through things, as we were talking, a couple of words were messed up, and now have become part of the Lever language:

• Chi-Google: Combo of Chicago & Google
• Audiot: Simply supposed to be audit
• Tool Pool: Was simply supposed to be "to pool" but was written as "tool pool" and read that way out loud before the typo was caught

We wrote them on the whiteboard so we wouldn't forget.

Now really this may not seem that funny. But you have to be sleep deprived, stressed and being in the same conference room with the same six people for the past two weeks. And yet, we all laughed so hard at each of these three "mess ups," to the point that it hurt, really hurt. I couldn't breathe at one point. That is a team, that is a family at work! Driving toward a goal, working late, stressed, and yet able to laugh with each other, and I mean really laugh, over a couple of mis-spoken words!

Lesson I Learned: Meditate and Drink Tea

Meditation has been something I have always wanted to try. But who has time to sit and "do nothing" for even a minute a day, let alone 10-20. The topic seemed to keep coming up in my discussions with various people, particularly in my new EI Master Class with Junto. I decided to try it. And WOW! Love it.

I try to do it in the morning when I wake up (that is the most important time for me) and again at night (assuming I can stay awake after some long days!) The morning ones, in particular, have made a huge impact. I am immediately focused on positive things vs anything else. Plus, it has slowed me down in the mornings. Before it was get up, deal with the dogs, get them fed and out, get myself ready and out the door. Now it is meditate, snuggle with the dogs, feed them, get them out, have a cup a tea with them outside, snuggle some more, and get ready myself, taking some time for some extra self-care and grooming. And yes, this means getting up earlier, which as a non-morning person, is a bit hard, but some extra snuggle time with dogs makes it all worth it.

Plus, I went back to a love of mine, tea. I remember my mom drinking tea when we were kids. A cup every night. Seemed so glamorous even if was Lipton. I've upped my game with loose leaf teas from Culinary Teas and Adagio Teas and an electronic tea kettle from Willow & Everett.

Something about a warm cup of tea, one of my favorite being Jasmine, just relaxes me. And investing in good teaware and high-end loose-leaf tea, has brought my tea drinking experience to another level, and I love it. Self-care.

Thank You: My Amazing Mom, Lynda Utterback

If you have been following this journey, I've alluded to it many times, but I grew up the youngest of two daughters of a single mom. And when I say single, I mean I wasn't even born yet, single, essentially. While it wasn't official in the courts until I was two, I never lived with my mom and dad in the same house. In fact, other than maybe 10 weekends in my entire life, I never lived with my father.

And this was back in the 70s, when things were still much harder for woman. Jobs, pay, even getting and establishing credit was a whole new thing. And yet, somehow, my mom did it, made it and there is a lot to show for it, even beyond the success of my sister and myself.

She finished college on the weekends with two, young, active, and demanding daughters. She didn't even get to her own graduation because it occurred at the same time as my sister's grade school graduation. She put us both through private school, including undergraduate. She let me live at home, rent free while I did my graduate work. She has owned her own business for 30+ years.

And she did all this without ever showing how worried she was, how hard it was, or any sign this was a struggle, even though it was. My mother's motto was get through it and fall apart behind the scenes once it is done. I'm sure there are many times she closed her bedroom door and cried about various things that she never let us see.

To this day, she is my first call for anything, good news, bad news, advice, or just a chat. She is a true inspiration to me. I owe so much to her, I will never be able to repay her.

Thank you, Mom! You are my world, and thank you for everything you have done for me! I love you!