Thursday, October 25, 2012

My New Project

My job to 99% of my friends and family is a mystery.  I do something that has to do something with selling stuff that's somewhat related to cell phones or computers.

My job is to create awareness/buzz on our products to help Agilent sell more stuff.  The stuff we sell tests anything electronic: cell phones, computers, tvs, etc.  Your cell phone calls the correct person you dial b/c of my equipment. Your USB stick copies information from your computer correctly because of my equipment.  You can "save" information because of my equipment.

This past Monday my company launched a website, through a media house, promoting digital items.  This site is centered around the largest trade show where we showcase my equipment: DesignCon. It has over 5,000 attendees over 4 days and we gEEk it up:)

This site is sponsored by Agilent, and I'm the lead from my company working on this site and putting our content there. It's an all consuming project, and I still have my day job, but it's fun.

Check it out- and see what I can help pull off and do for "outbound marketing".

www.designconcommunity.com

Friday, October 5, 2012

The Shamree Tornado

We are in our last fiscal month of the year at Agilent and busily planning for the next. I'm trying to spend money before it's gone, and decide how to spend next years money- so I know what to ask for. I'm trying to ensure I meet my Q4 goals of webhits and name captures while planning how to increase that by 30% for next year (a lofty goal). In the middle of all these crazy things I feel a sense of peace, a calmness.  I feel like I am in the eye of the tornado and creating a lot of buzz around me.
I'm planning on a new poster. I'm going to do a crossword puzzle poster, no wait! I'm going to do an I Spy collage poster, no wait! I'm going to just put information and images on it.....
Yes my mind changes directions that quickly, and I just run with it.
I love to try new things regardless of what's in my path--- I kind of just crunch right through.
It's craziness all around me with budgets and planning and changes, but in the middle of the tornado--- it's peaceful.

Fiscal Year 13, here I come- watch out!

Friday, July 6, 2012

A Normal Day- What?

I can honestly say that yesterday and today were normal days. YEAH!  Kids are healthy. Work is good. Fires are contained. Family is good.

Let's just sit for a moment to enjoy this. It seems that life is just jumping from one event to another. Tomorrow I leave for Hong Kong for work for a week. I know this will be a hard, long week for me and Josh, who stays home with the kids over the summer. 

But right now life is good.

Thank God.  I can use more days like today:)

Sunday, June 24, 2012

Scary Day....

Whenever the kids and I are in the car and see an ambulance go by with it's lights flashing and siren wailing we pray. We pray they get there quickly to help whoever is in need, and that the person gets well.  I know someone was praying today for the one that we had to call to our house at 8am.


Sitting and eating cereal as a normal day this morning I look over at my 3 year old, Nehemiah, and his cereal bowl is tipped over with milk and cocoa crispies all over the table with his face in the milk. I thought he was playing at the table as he normally does and lapping the milk up like a dog..... nope. He was in the middle of a seizure.


Seizure. 


That word at this moment, hours and hours later, still brings tears to my eyes and an ache to my chest. 


Just as I was starting to tell him not to play at the table he slumped in his chair and I caught him before he hit the ground. The rest is a blur but I vaguely remember screaming for Josh to hold him and put him on his side while I called 911.  Nehemiahs eyes were rolled back, his mouth open, and he was stiff and unresponsive.  While I was talking the the dispatch center he came back to crying and very confused. It probably only lasted 1 minute, but as a parent that was the longest minute of my life.


He was deathly pale, white lips, white eyes, and lethargic.  Josh held him while I was on the phone. They said help was on the way and to watch for more seizures....


More?


Thankfully, none happened and a policeman was quick to arrive.  He just helped monitor the situation until the ambulance arrived. In front of our house. An ambulance.  That made it all that more real.


At this time Miah has just started regaining his color in his face and lips. His hand and feet were cold and he was just starting to answer some basic questions like "What is your favorite dinosaur?" :)  Still sitting very still though- which for anyone that knows my son knows that is very odd.


We got asked a million questions, checked his heart rate, blood sugar, oxygen, etc. Everything checked out just fine.


Fine? He had a seizure!


So we declined the ambulance ride and I took off to the hospital that is 3 minutes away.  


The emergency room staff had us checked in and getting monitored in less than 8 minutes. Amazing. They are amazing at their job!  Thank you Jesus for those wonderful people.


My little trooper got an IV put in, 3 vales of blood taken, and a cat scan.  Somewhere during this Josh showed up thanks to wonderful neighbors who watched Abby and Josiah for us.


After all this is said and done they found nothing.  Am I thankful or worried?  Is this a problem that will continue or just a freak one time thing?


They said that it is usually one of three categories for seizures:
1- Chronic illness due to epilepsy or diabetes
2- due to trauma to the head, falling, car accident, etc
3- a freak one time thing with no answers as to why


Since he came back so quickly with no symptoms they are pretty sure it is #3; however, #1 isn't completely ruled out yet.  He has to go in this week for more testing of his brain waves and blood sugar.


Oh my.  God bless my little one, my heart, and the doctors doing all the tests.


What a scary day.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

What does an engineer do, anyway?

I stumbled across this today and it just made me laugh, only substitute the man on the roof fixing a satellite dish to me messing around with family members computers.

Granted I'm a marketing engineer, so I'm not designing circuit boards, but at the end of the day I can talk through why your cell phone works the way it does.

My kids still think that an engineer has to do with trains and for now my job is "cool" so I don't want to ruin that perception just yet.

It's ok. I love what I do, even if no one in my family or friends understand it or can tell anyone else what I do. It kind of makes me feel like a spy:)

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Grouchy, but losing weight

I've been working out with a personal trainer at work, and let me tell you that her first 5 minutes are harder than my 30 minute work outs, and I love it. I love the fact that I am working on being healthier and losing weight that I can no longer claim as "baby weight". She even has watched my heart rate while exercising and after to see how healthy my "heart" is and I've seen improvements there too.  When you have a schedule and all you have to do is walk away from your desk and show up- it helps. It makes me more aware of what I am eating too because I know how hard it is to work that extra helping of whatever off.  On the other hand, being sore, and more tired physically, and eating less has made me grouchy.  I think it's understandable though. Think of people to quit smoking... and how grouchy they are. It is the same thing in trying to lose weight and not using food as a stress relief.... but inside I'm very happy I'm getting it done:)

Monday, March 19, 2012

Prayer and Petition

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. Phil 4:6

I've been plagued with prayer requests for myself, my friends and children growing up in rough situations. Our pastor has been talking about prayer. My friends have been asking for prayer, and although I do pray a lot to God sometimes I feel like I'm must not be doing it right. Sometimes answers come, but I'm not convicted my prayers had anything to do with it. I know they are important, but some people just seem to "know" that their prayers work.

I decided to start walking through my concordance in my bible and looking at prayer verses. This one stuck out to me the most. Turn your worries into prayer is the reference and the verse talks about prayer and petition. Why is petition called out seperatly? What makes it different than prayer? A petition to me is something you sign to change a law and try to get 1,000 signatures.

Maybe it's having a specific request that you want answered that you are requesting.

I know I have enough requests right now.... and as they say in the Catholic church "Lord hear our prayer".