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Year 2.75: Sabbatical from Corporate America

December 14, 2011 by Heather Lucier Stanley Comments Off

I retired on Friday April 24, 2009 from Corporate America. For the past 2 years, I have posted a list of how I have wanted to sum up Year 1 and Year 2 in retirement. This list ends at 2.75 because I start a Full Time position today. Thank Goodness!!!

I am excited to start my new position as a contract PeopleSoft Supply Chain, Accounts Payable and Payroll business and process improvement analyst for a not-for-profit in the health care industry.

I have enjoyed my time off. Most of my days off I did not even consider working again. But I knew I should renew my career as soon as not working started losing its appeal and I had depleted most of my fun money. Enough is enough, I thought. I need to be a participant in the working world and start contributing my talent.

Over the past year I have made an effort to surround myself with happy, dynamic, upbeat, positive, non-judgmental and interesting friends and family who are energized by what they do outside the home and they have gotten me interested in working an 8-5 job again.

I could list several friends and family members who have inspired me to start thinking differently about work and working. Moving into a new home also propelled me forward.

In early October 2011, Alan and I were over budget by $2,500 for decorating and home improvement. In early November 2011, shortly before I started interviewing, Alan and I sat down to discuss my career ambitions and our individual and joint financial goals to create a new financial plan together. We have always hit a home run with financial teamwork because we have the same anxiety level about personal finance: (1) Neither of us likes debt and (2) Neither of us likes to be constrained financially from doing what we want to do, whether it be spending or saving.

I am thankful and lovingly grateful for (1) the huge network of friends and family who stand by me, do not judge me for what I am doing or not doing, and who have shown me how to explore work again, and (2) for my husband Alan who was willing to move closer to downtown. I have a new career for which I can be proud because I am doing something that I want to be doing.

Here is what I have accomplished from the end of Year 2 to Year 2.75:

A. I got nominated and elected as Secretary for the Austin Skiers board in early May 2011.
B. I completed my 4th Muddy Buddy event in mid May 2011.
C. We hired a painter to paint our suburbia kitchen and bathroom cabinets white, our front door black, our stair railings black, our black door white and to touch up paint as needed in late May 2011.
D. I made significant progress on The Big Photo Project.
E. I renewed my Certified Public Accountant (CPA) license for the 13th year in June 2011.
F. I traveled to New Zealand on official Texas Ski Council business in June 2011.
G. We put our suburbia house on the market and sold it in 2 days in early July 2011.
H. I consigned and consigned and consigned some more from May 2011- September 2011.
I. I monitored the 2 month construction process of a newly remodeled 1937 house closer to downtown while we had it under contract with the builder from mid-July 2011 – mid-September 2011, when we closed on it.
J. We explored Ireland in late September 2011.
K. I completed my 1st marathon on October 22, 2011.
L. Alan and I grew stronger in our relationship with one another.
M. I raced my 3rd San Antonio Half Marathon.
N. Alan and I attended the Rogue Sole Survivors party of the year.
O. I attended my first Twilightathon and loved it.
P. I jetted to Switzerland on official Texas Ski Council business in early December 2011.
Q. I found the right position for the right company working on PeopleSoft, software I love!

YAY! Let the hard work begin…

tangential

Going With The Flow Leads To Happiness

May 13, 2011 by Heather Lucier Stanley Comments Off

Wow! So much has happened in a few days. I finished my Spanish I class, got elected to be on the Austin Skiers board as Secretary, and found out I am going to New Zealand.

Going With the Flow. Not Forcing Things is what life is all about.

Not forcing having a career.

Not forcing having a relationship.

Not forcing having a child.

Ok… you get the idea. Going With The Flow.

Over the past few weeks, Alan and I have discussed my new career ambitions and out of our discussions, I have changed my 5 year plan to a 12 year plan for now. I am happy in the present doing all that I am doing with such great variety: piano, running, reading, studying, socializing, volunteer work, blogging when I feel like it. I have a full day every day and know myself really well.

I am truly enjoying myself in the now. Going With the Flow.

Last night I found out I got approved to go on a FAM Trip to New Zealand. That meant I dropped my summer Introduction to Psychology class. Psychology can wait. New Zealand is on the horizon right now.

When a person knows he/she can meet a goal and believes he/she can do anything he/she sets his/her mind to doing, the goal does not control him/her.

tangential

Year 2: Sabbatical from Corporate America

April 24, 2011 by Heather Lucier Stanley Comments Off

Austin Snow in early February 2011

Happy Easter!

I retired on Friday April 24, 2009 from Corporate America. Last year, I posted a list of how I wanted to sum up my 1st year in retirement. I thought I’d keep the tradition going. Below is my 2nd year in retirement from Corporate America summary:

A. I started piano lessons again and progressed from Beginner to Intermediate Level. I’ll start playing pop music in May.
B. I turned 40 and had a fabulous party.
C. I became enamored with costume parties and dressed in costume a lot. I got that out of my system for now.
D. I enrolled in and completed an individual income tax class for CPE credit and continued to maintain my CPA license for the twelfth year.
E. I ran the San Antonio Half-Marathon for my 2nd year in a row.
F. I ran the Turkey Trot in costume and paid for it because of the heat and humidity.
G. I built some stronger relationships, reconsidered others that were not healthy for either person, and made some new ones along the way.
H. I continued to put clothing and household items on consignment.
I. I (WE!) sold the pool table, moved the sectional sofa to where the pool table had been, and bought a couple inexpensive armchairs for the smaller living room.
J. I learned how to play Flip Cup and felt 20-something briefly – a.k.a Mid-Life Crisis, guilty.
K. I got hired by a national tax preparation service as a seasonal tax preparer. Right now, my curiosity about practicing tax has been fully satiated.
L. I became a “Beef Team in Training” member for running.
M. I led a 56 person snow ski trip to Crested Butte, CO in February 2011 and reconfirmed in my mind the hard work it takes to lead something well.
N. I finished the 2010-2011 Austin Distance Challenge Half Track. The five required races were: IBM 10K, Run for the Water 10-miler, Decker Challenge Half-Marathon, 3M Half-Marathon, and Austin Half-Marathon. I have not received my finisher’s jacket yet, but I have the memory. And although the races were fun, it was a lot of racing for one season.
O. I enrolled in a Spanish I class to start relearning all the Spanish I had forgotten in the past 22 years. I have remembered a lot of what I had learned initially, but some things I swear I never learned.
P. I continued to realize how lucky I am to have Alan. He is my bright star. And did I mention he smiles a lot and I smile a lot because he is in my life?
Q. I had plenty of time to rest, think, and dream about a new career.

I feel like things have really come together for me this past year. I did a lot of things that I like to do. Let’s see what Year 3 and my new direction bring.

tangential

Mi diario – Mi casa

April 5, 2011 by Heather Lucier Stanley Comments Off

A rare dusting of snow

Periodically, I am going to write a blog in Spanish because learning Spanish is part of my midlife journey. The blogs will be elementary at first. Eventually, I’ll be able to write more intermediate and advanced blogs in Spanish. This excites me!

I may not have perfect grammar now, but I will eventually have better grammar. I wrote this assignment mostly from memory. Since the professor only requires six sentences, I did not write too many more! Baby steps.

For my Spanish speaking friends and family, enjoy:

Mi diario-Mi casa

Mi casa es grande. Hay ocho cuartos y tres baños. En la cocina, el comedor, y dos salones, las paredes son amarillas. En la cocina, hay una mesa y cuatro sillas donde estudio español. En el comedor, hay otra mesa y cuatro sillas y mi piano. Toco el piano con frecuencia. En el salón cerca del comedor, hay dos sillones marrones, una televisión, dos estantes marrones, y dos mesitas. También, la televisión está sobre una mesa. En otro salón, hay un sofá grande y una televisión. Mi lugar favorito en mi casa es mi cama. Me gusta dormir bien por la noche.

tangential

What I look for in a personal relationship

April 4, 2011 by Heather Lucier Stanley 2 Comments

I have done a lot of personal relationship housecleaning in the past year. I feel that I am in the best place that I have ever been in my life. I do not take relationships lightly. I’m a busy woman so I’m very strategic about most things.

I am strategic about relationships because I feel that any relationship I have should fulfill me in some way. And, I might add, the other person should also feel that our relationship is fulfilling. If not, why be in the relationship together?

Do you have the free time to spend with a person who annoys you if he/she is drinking and/or puts you down and/or attempts to change you and/or emotionally drains you and/or bores you if you are not drinking and/or makes you cry?

As I have evolved in how I weed out relationships, my criteria has gotten even more stringent. I have a lot of beautiful relationships which I love dearly. I have worked very hard on myself to figure out what works best for me personally.

Here is what I keep in the back of my mind always:

1) Does the person smile at me and make me laugh? Do I make the person laugh?
2) Does the person say nice things about me to other friends and family?
3) Does the person have his/her shit together? If not, is the person in therapy?
4) Do we have common interests?
5) Does the person recognize my personal growth and let me be who I am today?

I’m not that complicated. I’m really more like a guy when it comes to relationships. I do not like to talk, talk, talk, and talk, talk, talk about feelings or what so and so did to so and so. A little gossip sometimes is OK, but should not be the focus of our get togethers. If I have overwhelming feelings about something, I go to a therapist and/or I put them in my blog: I pay the therapist and reading my blog is voluntary.

A challenge for you: What do you look for in a personal relationship?

tangential

Do you talk about one person or activity a lot?

April 2, 2011 by Heather Lucier Stanley Comments Off

I have had some very serious discussions lately with a few friends about an interest or a person consuming him/her.

I remember when I started training for my 1st triathlon in 2005, I talked about triathlon, and diet, and triathlon, and diet, and triathlon and diet. I felt so passionate about it. I talked about it so much I had friends who erroneously thought I had an exercise or eating disorder. Wake up call!

Well, many years later I understand that I was a bore. I must say, when I was consumed by triathlon and diet, nobody said: “You are a freakin’ bore! You talk about exercise and diet too much!” They just started spending less time with me and they thought I had a problem.

I let something consume all my energy because I was passionate about it, but did not recognize that several of my friends did not share my enthusiasm until friends started getting concerned and jealous of this interest that took away from quality time spent with them.

I challenge you:

When you are with your friends or family, do you talk about one topic a lot? It could be your child, a sport, or your career.

Any one thing can consume any of us. It is good to recognize when we are talking about one topic too much to others, and perhaps, for our own well-being, we should diversify and spread out the passion.

tangential

The more mature student

March 31, 2011 by Heather Lucier Stanley Comments Off

Sunset at Lake Travis

Recently, a friend asked how it is returning to school and if it is easier or harder.

My response: “It’s different. I am spending a lot more time studying.”

This is my 4th time in school.

1) I studied – of my own choosing, after meeting core requirements – Creative Writing and Literature, Psychology, Art History, French and Spanish as an undergraduate at The University of Michigan. I received my Bachelor’s in Creative Writing and Literature in 1992.

2) I studied Business and Accounting at The University of Texas at San Antonio. I consciously decided not to get another bachelor’s degree – more core requirements? No! – and focused on taking all the required classes to sit for the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exam.

In the mid-90s to sit for the CPA exam in Texas, a person needed a bachelor’s degree in any subject, 30 hours of accounting and 21 hours of business. In addition, a Texas CPA candidate needed at least a year of work experience in public accounting or industry under a CPA. I have been a Certified Public Accountant for 12 years and will continue to renew my license every year.

3) I studied computer information systems at The University of Phoenix and received my Master’s Degree in Information Systems in 2008.

4) In the summer 2011, I will start studying to be a Counselor Intern (CI) and I have already started relearning Spanish to help both English and Spanish speakers in Texas who need and seek out addictions counseling.

How do my studying experiences compare and contrast to one other at The University of Michigan, The University of Texas-San Antonio and The University of Phoenix?

I did not study a lot as an undergraduate at The University of Michigan. I partied. I can honestly say, I did not have the maturity to be a student at 18 years old. I am happy, however, that I picked a major for which I had some natural talent and I graduated.

In my early to mid-20s, when I started studying at The University of Texas – San Antonio, I had matured as a student. I studied a lot and seriously. I got asked to be in the business honor society, Beta Alpha Psi, and all the top accounting firms started recruiting me to be a part of their team.

I got one B for having an 89 average and the professor who gave it to me explained it this way, “It will benefit you in the recruiting process.” I know what he meant, but he explained it in terms of A, B, and C students: “A students stay in academia, B students get recruited and C students are the deal makers.” So in other words, I did not look like such a straight arrow – one B made me seem like I had more personality and got out a little! One B, changing perception? Whatever. He just wanted to give me a B.

In my mid-30s, I decided to get a Master’s Degree in Information Systems because (1) I thought I might like to teach at a junior college or online, and (2) my company was paying for 66% of it. I chose The University of Phoenix because I traveled 35% for my career.

I believe I got one B in this scenario too. Another student and myself paired up in several classes and carried the other students in our group work situations, but we wanted the As and the other students did not. They may have gotten As anyway, but I did not care if I helped them out. However, my teammate got a little bitchy – to put it nicely. I could understand his point and empathized with him, but I explained my reasoning to him as: I like to give people the benefit of the doubt until a pattern of behavior develops over continued interaction with the person. Therefore, if a student slacked in 1 class, I gave him the benefit of the doubt. If he slacked in 2 classes, I started to see a pattern of behavior. Ultimately, my teammate focused on ratting out the person who slacked in the 2 classes that we all had together. I chose not to rat out anybody, but because my teammate insisted on it, I tried to persuade him to be more selective in who he ratted out. That is the Champion Idealist coming out.

How is my 4th time in school going to shake out?

I’m going to have fun with it. I love to learn. I’ll study hard because I want to know as much as I can about social work. The days of being the immature student are long gone! 18-22 years old is a lot different from 24-28 years old. And 24-28 years old is a lot different from 36-38 years old. When I am 50, I’ll reflect on 40, and my 40s, and understand my personal growth even more!

We are here to learn in so many ways. The same life lessons can be taught in different contexts: raising a family, moving up the career leader, studying to be an expert at something new, etc. There is no one way to learn what we need to learn. There is no better way. There are preferred ways for each of us, however. I enjoy being a student.

tangential

My ski trip is almost closed out

March 30, 2011 by Heather Lucier Stanley Comments Off

The trip leaders, of each Texas ski club who offered this particular ski trip to their club membership, are being publicly recognized.

I led a ski trip to Crested Butte, Colorado for Austin Skiers in February 2011. Leading a ski trip requires a lot of effort across several different business functions: sales and marketing, human resources, project management, event planning, and accounting. This is a jack-of-all-trades position: I did it all for nine months!

For every trip leader, trip leadership starts in July and does not end until the trip is closed out. This past weekend I spent several hours on the close out accounting for Crested Butte and the trip is almost closed out. I must use the adverb almost because I am waiting on an outstanding refund from the resort. I anticipate, however, only about 15 more minutes of actual work! YAY! I am thrilled.

What was my favorite part of leading the trip?

Event planning. I love throwing parties!

What was my least favorite part of leading the trip?

Accounting. I feel that I have accounted and accounted and accounted.

So will I lead another ski trip soon?

Although I enjoyed being a leader and received a lot of positive feedback from the trip participants, I feel that I’d be overextending myself by leading another trip anytime soon based on My 5 Year Plan. I know, however, I will eventually lead another trip when the timing is right.

What will I do instead for Austin Skiers?

I requested nomination to be the Secretary (a.k.a. Official Note Taker) for the Austin Skiers Executive Committee. This position will require that I take notes at the monthly board meetings, compile them and send them out to all the board members in a timely manner. This position will require approximately 5 hours monthly and easily fits into My 5 Year Plan.

tangential

Spring Master Class 2011 – Fiesta Espana

March 28, 2011 by Heather Lucier Stanley Comments Off

I have taken piano lessons off and on for several years and have never progressed past Beginner-Intermediate for various reasons. For many years, work travel took priority. Also I could never find a teacher who I truly liked.

Clavier-Werke, where I currently take piano lessons, has a top notch program. The school teaches music theory and conducts master classes and public recitals in the fall and spring every year.

The master class is a private recital in front of one’s peers before playing in front of the public. I am enjoying the fall and spring master classes, but I do not want to play in front of the public at the moment. I played once in front of the public at 32 or 33 years old (in front of Alan even!) and I learned from it, so I will never say it will never happen again. Right now, I am content playing for myself and my peers who happen to be elementary school children.

I have a lot of respect for the elementary school children who have the discipline to practice piano to play it well. Perhaps, through mom and dad’s influence or coaxing, but I am still impressed. Moms and dads have a lot of power. The best thing, of course, is for a child to choose an activity using his/her own free will.

My mother used to perform at piano for money when she was younger and I had access to a piano. I recall begging my parents if I could take piano lessons in elementary school when my best friend starting taking them from a woman in our neighborhood.

In the 4th grade, I remember that my best friend and I made learning piano a social occasion by each taking turns playing the same and only song we knew, Scott Joplin’s The Entertainer. Concurrently, I had been developing a major interest in sports from my athletic father and I had dropped piano almost as quickly as I had started it. I did not take up piano again until my mid-20s when I could afford my own upright.

I feel fortunate that I am not working right now because I have the time to learn how to play piano better. Playing piano is relaxing and challenging. For example, Fiesta Espana will take me approximately one month to memorize and learn how to play well.

tangential

House of the Rising Sun

March 27, 2011 by Heather Lucier Stanley Comments Off

There is no rhyme or reason to the songs that I LOVE – as far as I know. I do not yet have the repertoire or the experience to figure out if a commonality exists for each song that I LOVE that makes it different from the ones that I do not enjoy playing.

I love House of the Rising Sun. I feel that I love it because it is a soothing song. So gentle to play. My fingers dance like a fine waltz, but it is not a waltz. Now, when I go to the teacher, she may say that I need to play the song differently, but that is OK.

I love the week I have alone to interpret the music as I please, but I do appreciate how the teacher keeps me on course to becoming a better pianist. I know I only have a few months with this teacher because she is graduating and I will miss her. I am already grieving with the thought of losing such a good teacher and fear the process of finding another teacher who suits my Idealistic personality. But I know that as long as I describe really well what I need in a new teacher, I will get it, if one is out there!

As I read more and more about personality type, other than my own, pianists – like athletes – tend to be Artisans, not Idealists. Whereas precision to Artisans is so important, my happiness does not come from playing precisely, but from just playing good enough to enjoy the song. My current teacher understands this about me. I have had other piano teachers who have wanted me to be the perfect pianist and I don’t want to be the perfect pianist.

Another thing about Idealists is that they do not view success the same way as Artisans, Guardians, or Rationals. Too complex to describe here, but really simply:

Miss Idealist, does a song make you happy?
Yes

So what do you do?
Keep playing it.

Miss Idealist, does a song make you sad?
Yes
Or more realistically, I tell the teacher I do not like the song and if she feels that I have learned the certain technique good enough, she will not have me play it the following week. However, if I still need practice to be good enough at the technique -and it is not going to be covered in another song – I must play the song again one more week.

So what do you do?
Stop playing it.

This short discussion could carry over to anything for an Idealist: relationships, careers, etc. And that, my friend, is quite a long discussion.

tangential
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