Unexpected Beauty

I purchased a Christmas Cactus back in November and it never bloomed around the holiday. Imagine my surprise when I was dusting last week and found that one whole side of the plant was covered with blooms! I hadn't seen them because they were on the window side. A beautiful surprise!


As you can see my blogging as slowed to a near stall. No excuse for it really--just life taking over.

I started my new job as Marketing Director at Ovation Benefits yesterday. Starting on a Friday was pretty fun! Ironically, 11 years ago I did some freelance work with the Ovation partners to help them develop their company name. Now here I am full circle, returning to them as their Marketing Director. I AM THRILLED. The outfit is smart, entrepreneurial, funny and filled with ideas about how to reduce chronic health problems for employees, thereby recognizing significant cost savings for employers and saving lives in the process. This organization is really not much of a departure from the work I have been doing for the last 9 years. I am looking forward to long relationship with them!

Chris stayed home with the kids yesterday, but they will begin attending school full-time on Monday. We spent several hours this past Wednesday and Thursday with each of them in their respective classrooms, which are side-by-side. If one or the other gets lonely their teachers have promised to give them some time together. The staff is wonderful and the kids already have been hugging their teachers and playing with their friends. I know that when I drop them off Monday they will be fine, I will be the one who needs a binkie!

Of course I am grappling with the guilt that many mothers feel when they have made the decision to return to work. I wasn't even really thinking about doing it until the fall when Ella would enter pre-k, but I knew that if the right opportunity came along I would strongly consider it.

One of the great perks with this new job is that I will be able to work from home one day a week, and the hours are very flexible so that I can not have to worry too much about beating traffic to pick up the kids before their school closes.

I have to thank a few people who have really been there for me over the last month and a half as I went through the most arduous interview process of my life. Chris of course, and my Dad and my sister, and then my friends Flan, Katie and Molly, and a few others who would be too shy to see their names here. I know that I have a strong network of friends and family who help to guide me through these difficult, exhilarating, and rewarding experiences. Thanks to each of you!

Now I am off to enjoy the weekend. I hope you will to, and thanks for reading!

XOXO

Allison