Perfect Moment Monday: A Husband’s Insight

My Perfect Moment for this week relates to being grateful for my husband. As a business owner, mom and wife, there are many things that weigh on our minds. At times it is easy to allow self-doubt to drain us, to divert our attention from the main reason why we make certain decisions.

The story begins when I was wide awake early one morning and my husband’s alarm clock went off. He asked why was I awake, and I said that I had been up with our son about an hour ago and couldn’t fall back to sleep. He immediately asked me what was I thinking about, and when I shared with him my over thinking a business situation, his response was, “I’d rather you be sleeping than worrying about that. No sleep and you’ll be no good to anyone!

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Perfect Moment Monday: A Bun in the Oven

My Perfect Moment for this week happened at 4:20 p.m. on Sat., March 5. There are really no words to describe this particular perfect moment, so I’ll let the video do the talking for me.

As some of you know, I am expecting our second child—a baby girl—and she is set to arrive on or around May 10. I am pleased to share with you our 3D/4D ultrasound that was done this past Saturday. It was the first time our son, who will be three in April, got to see and “meet” his new sister.

To see the video, please go here.

Until next time, embrace your inner wisdom.

Namaste,

Karen

Perfect Moment Monday: Down with the Sickness

My Perfect Moment for this week …

…is difficult to pinpoint. One rises to the top so the one glowing the brightest while looking back over the week was the moment when I made the decision to take a not just one sick day but three last week.

Nobody enjoys being sick. I know I certainly don’t like the sniffles, headaches, moodiness, congestion, etc. But last week both my toddler and I were sick with a cold. His was bad enough to keep him home from preschool for three days. These three days meant that I also was being asked to balance work with family. But half way through his first day home I was blessed with his cold when the symptoms began. I think they’re finally beginning to subside.

The perfect moment was about not just prioritizing my own health and family over work but being able to honestly acknowledge how much I enjoyed the one-on-one time with my son. Was I stressed about not working and…

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Perfect Moment Monday: Precious Post

My Perfect Moment for this week …

…was receiving a spontaneous card in the mail from a friend who is also a client.

I enjoy getting the mail, as it always seems like Christmas morning. You know there will be a little of this and a little of that, but you just never know when there will be that surprise gift—wrapped in just ordinary paper, no special bow or ribbon to set it apart. But when you open it, the gift is larger than the box in which it was put. The power of love contained in the gift turned a simple gratitude card from a friend into the best moment of the week and is certainly in the running for the best moment of the month!

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Perfect Moment Monday: Thanking Employees

My Perfect Moment for this week included the company of some wonderful friends and watching my husband be a shining example of what makes not just a good leader but a great leader. Every year my husband likes to acknowledge those who work for him. He realizes that saying “thank you” throughout the year means a lot to motivating his employees, but he chooses to show them by inviting them over to our home for dinner twice a year. For some individuals this seems like he is going over the top to show his gratitude and that it is a lot to ask of me to host with him. In reality, I fully support this show of gratitude and really enjoy socializing with these individuals.

This past Saturday was for those who report directly to him and was a celebration of 2010: the successes, the challenges, the laughs and the frustrations. My husband, Jerry, puts a lot of thought into the evening; the gift bags they each receive are meant for not just the employee but are meant to be shared with their supporting spouses. Jerry recognizes that for his employees to truly give their all at work, their spouses or partners play key roles and therefore are not just invited but are part of his decision regarding the theme of the gift bag. This year we did “martini” themed gift bags. The idea was to provide each of his employees the opportunity to celebrate one evening with their partners a successful day.

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Perfect Moment Monday: Baby of Mine

My Perfect Moment for this week …

...was spending 45 minutes with an ultrasound technician and my husband while she measured, zoomed in, zoomed out, and moved the wand around my abdomen, trying to keep up with the very active 21-week-old baby growing beautifully in my uterus. Needless to say, there were many perfect moments. But to name just a few: 1) watching and hearing the heart beat steadily at 130 beats per minute; 2) watching the baby flip, roll, kick and wave; and 3) finding out we will be welcoming a sister for our 2 ½-year-old son in May 2011!

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Perfect Moment Monday: Season of Joy

My Perfect Moment for this week …

Christmas is my favorite holiday of the year. I am not sure if it is all the glittery lights hanging from roof tops, the increased level of “happiness” in people, or the idea of buying and wrapping gifts to give to loved ones and those who’ve made a difference. This past week was filled with moments of purely enjoying the season of giving.

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Perfect Moment Monday: Freedom Isn’t Free

My Perfect Moment for this week was having the freedom to spend Thanksgiving not only in a state of gratitude but in my home with my son and husband.

For some this may come as a given, and for others it might be overstating the obvious. But for more than just a few, it’s a luxury they wish they could be experiencing.

I say this because a friend of ours has been deployed to Iraq. His daughter is the same age as my son, and he will be gone for almost 15 months. Even though Thanksgiving Day was spent hanging out and literally doing nothing but…

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Perfect Moment Monday: New Space

My Perfect Moment for this week…

Well, actually the last few weeks, has been heading into my new office.

Beginning Nov. 1, 2010, I was offered an opportunity to share an office space with a good friend of mine. It is only two and one-half days a week, but it is a start for creating a full-time space for me to meet with my clients that is not located in my home.

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Perfect Moment Monday: Family Forever

My Perfect Moment for this week …

…was spending my birthday with my two special guys: my husband and son.

It wasn’t as though we did anything super special, or that it was a day filled with going here, there or anywhere. We spent the day, just the three of us, hanging out and spending some wonderful quality time as a family—which of course includes our two dogs.

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Perfect Moment Monday: The Simplest Things

My Perfect Moment for this week …

…was quite simply becoming conscious of full my life has become.

The moment was Saturday evening. My husband and I were sitting on the couch with our two year old sitting between us. On my left was our dog Aine, curled up with her head on my lap. And on my husband’s right…

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Perfect Moment Monday: Flying High

My Perfect Moment for this week…

Today my Perfect Moment is actually happening on a Monday! My father arrived for a visit from Canada last week, and today he and I took my son Caden to Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum.

Going to the Evergreen Museum is a treat all by itself (It's even home to the internationally known Spruce Goose!) since it's full of stories about history and heroics....

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Perfect Moment Monday: Of RVs and Memories

My Perfect Moment for this week…

This past week I was fortunate enough to have my best friend visiting from Vancouver, BC. She and her nine-year-old son spent the week camping with us in Pacific City, OR. Beautiful!

We were able to spend a lot of time chatting, sharing stories and watching our two boys playing and interacting—similar to what we could expect two siblings to be doing. The weather was wonderful, with only one day of rain. For us, fortune was staying in an RV and having a portable DVD player along with GameBoys for each.

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Perfect Moment Monday: Golf Tourney "Fore" a Good Cause

My Perfect Moment for this week …

Well, it seems I missed sharing my Perfect Moment this week—but that does not mean there weren’t any. Definitely there was excitement building up to last Friday’s Blue Butterfly Campaign fundraiser golf tournament. The power of people coming together to help raise funds for research was enough to carry over be two perfect moments of focus.

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Perfect Moment Monday: Love in Any Language

My Perfect Moment for this week…

Growing up in Canada meant my cereal boxes were bilingual, the main road signs were bilingual, and French was one of the core curriculum subjects from third grade through to ninth grade. Having my son be at minimum bilingual is important, especially in the global village in which we live.

My family has a range of cultures. My husband is Hispanic and Spanish is his first language…

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Perfect Moment Monday: On the Road Again

Each week I hold the intention to participate in Perfect Moment Monday, sponsored by Weebles Wobblog. According to Weebles, "Perfect Moment Monday is about noticing a perfect moment rather than creating one." Here is my Perfect Moment for this week.

This week my husband, son and I are packed up in the RV and on the road for a brief family vacation at the John Day Recreation Area in Oregon's LePage State Park. The area, operated by the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, is popular among water enthusiasts because it sits at the confluence of the Columbia and John Day Rivers and offers activities such as boating, fishing, swimming and water skiing. In addition, there's tons of trails for hike and abundant wildlife.

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Perfect Moment Monday: Gratitude

Each week I hold the intention to participate in Perfect Moment Monday, sponsored by Weebles Wobblog. According to Weebles, Perfect Moment Monday is about noticing a perfect moment rather than creating one. Here is my Perfect Moment for this week.

I have to admit this week is a week filled with many perfect moments, and I have be struggling since yesterday—Monday—with which one to choose and share with you all. So to ease my stress regarding trying to choose just one, then I will just take this time to share my gratitude for being able to truly co-create my life.

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Pefect Moment Monday: Strawberry Smacks

Each week I hold the intention to participate in Perfect Moment Monday, sponsored by Weebles Wobblog. According to Weebles, “Perfect Moment Monday is about noticing a perfect moment rather than creating one.” Here is my Perfect Moment for this week.

Strawberries are my son’s favorite fruit. This past fall when I was planting veggies, I also decided to give strawberries a place to reside. I choose a broken planter that had sat empty all winter, as it had built-in drainage due to the cracks and was large enough to allow the plant to grow easily without being root bound.

With all the rain, this past spring I was concerned if we’d reap any vegetables and wondered if the strawberries could outlast the weather. I know they are hardy, but we really did have a lot of rain.

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Perfect Moment Monday: Breaking Away—From Embarrassment!

Each week I hold the intention to participate in Perfect Moment Monday, sponsored by Weebles Wobblog. According to Weebles, “Perfect Moment Monday is about noticing a perfect moment rather than creating one. Perfect Moments can be momentous or ordinary or somewhere in between.” And so, here is my Perfect Moment for this week.

My perfect moment this week comes at my own expense: here’s the set up. We were camping with friends this past weekend. Their 11-year-old son said he’d go with me to get more ice for the cooler on our bikes. On our way to the store (which is literally three minutes away by bike), he said, “I’m gonna take you the long way.” My response was, “Great; maybe it will be a full five minutes instead of just three and I can see something new.” His long way was going around the building instead of straight to it. Little did I know we would be making an immediate—very immediate—right hand turn. He easily maneuvered up the ramp (Yes, ramp.) to the store door. I, who had no clue the store was right there, tried to follow suit.

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Perfect Moment Monday: Three Chats, Three Generations

My perfect moment this week wasn’t just an experience; it was also an emotional realization. As long as I can remember, I’ve always had a great relationship with my parents. Yes, we’ve had our ups and downs, but in the end we’ve spoken on average once a week with the longest stretch being just under a month between chats. Since my son was born, the telephone chats turned into web cam chats so they could see their grandson. I realized the enjoyment of the chats was declining as they began to take on a sense of obligation, and of course the stress of “are all grandparents being treated equally” set in about a year ago. The result was me pulling away and reprioritizing the importance of the web cam chats with my parents.

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