Easier said than done...

I thought I was coming out of my funk. Maybe I was wrong. I know I have to kick my own ass and get moving. I really have to get to it! I know what I want to do, how do I make myself do it? I am going to start with daily rants on my blog, that will help!

A few months ago I was in a real bad way. I ran into someone that I used to work for, trust, and thought of as a friend and mentor. I was wrong and he, along with my other supervisors, sacrificed me (and ran me over several times with the bus) to save themselves. I really have come to grips with what happened, and I am moving past it. But running into him, talking to him and acting like we are still friends was very hard for me. That night I really broke down. What I am doing with my life! How am I going to find happiness and passion for something. I have been running on auto pilot for a long time. I did something that night that I hadn't done since I was a kid. I got down on my knees and asked God for help. I asked Him to please help me find clarity and a direction for myself. A passion for something in MY life, not my kids or husband but something for me to be passionate and enthusiastic about. Help me get my life going so I can be a better wife, mom and friend. I lost my job and I lost myself. There are parts of this change that I am happy about, I am thrilled that I am able to help out at my kids school and be more involved in their lives. But I lost myself along the way, and I need to find me. I did not expect anything more to come from this prayer. Why would God listen to me when I am a part timer only praying when I need or want something. But it made me feel a little better.

The next day my older brother called me and we were talking. He mentioned that he needed to get a website built for his company, but was having trouble doing it. I asked him if he would like me to take a shot at it and he said if I had time that would be great and if there was a way to get website domain emails that would be fantastic. That afternoon I built my first website, it is a really simple website and nothing special. But FINALLY I felt like I had accomplished something. I DID IT! Maybe I am not the total screw up that I was made out to be. Maybe I can do something. So then I started a blog, keeping it to myself because I have been the subject of public discourse before and I am still not interested in getting my self out to far in the public arena. I have built a couple more websites since then, and a blog for someone else. I am excited about doing websites, I have ideas for this and I just need to get busy working on it. Find a way to survive and earn a living. I have PASSION! And I have no doubt at all that this is all a result of my prayer. I can't go so far as to say that God intervened in my life, but I do believe that my prayer gave me the ability to clarify what was missing in my life. And I try to remember to pray every night. Taking the time to tell God what I am thankful for, what I need help with and what I want out of my life. When it comes right down to it, we are all responsible for our own lives. It is about time I realized I am the only person holding me back. I just hope that I can get out of my own way!!!

Getting moving

I am coming out of my little self pity party. It has been a hard few months (I know - for everyone!) but feeling sorry about it and crying "why me?" is sure not getting me anywhere. For the first time in years I know what I want to be doing. Dare I say I even have a passion for what I want to be doing? I think I do. But how do I make it pay? Not get rich, just enough to say I have an income and maybe take a trip once a year. That's not too much to ask is it?

I am going to really try to focus on getting my business up and running and generating income. It has become a very broad business and I will have to reign some of it in I am sure, but I know I am on the right path FOR ME. And I have already had success, just not monetary success. So if I really want to make this a business I better start treating it like a business. Come up with a plan and execute.

Years ago I took a wrong turn and turned into someone that really wasn't me. I don't know what I would do if I could go back knowing what I know now. I have met some dear friends that I will always love and hate the thought of not having them in my life, but this has been a hard road. Of course every thing happens for a reason and I am who I am today because of what has happened in the past. So I wouldn't change, but I would certainly do things differently!

Now it is time to be me and turn this around. I know I can. After all, in the Fourth Grade Mrs. Clute did give me the "I'll Do It Award" ( and yes I still have it!). Boy I do wish she hadn't retired last year, I miss our talks! But she was right then, and I will do it now!

Birthdays

New Years Eve and Birthdays bring the same thing for me. Reflection and hope. What have I been doing? Where am I going? How do I get there? I used to love my birthday. Started celebrating it as soon as it was March. So what happened to me? This year my birthday has been the lamest of all time. All day today I have been thinking - it's my birthday and I will cry if I want too! It's not that I am worried about getting older, hardly. I think it might be that I havent grown up yet.

Time to grow up, take control, and get out of this funk I have spent the last four years in. I am not incompetent. I am not the screw up of all screw ups. I made mistakes but people make mistakes. Maybe, just maybe, its time to forgive myself. Maybe then I wont stand in my own way.

Today I turned 35 and realized I need to grow up.

School Bell Times and POOR communication

Last Thursday it was brought to the attention of our school PTA Board that the Seattle School District is planning on changing the start time of K-8 schools to 8:00am. This decision is apparently a done deal, although they are appeasing people by pretending that the decision is not "made" yet. I have real problems with this decision for many differing reasons. But my biggest problem - they are planning on making this change and have not done any real work at publicly announcing the plans. People are and have been touring and enrolling in schools for next year. They have been making decisions based upon the information that the schools, and PTA's have been giving them. Did any of these parents get the information about the planned schedule change? Our school is one of the schools that will be changed to an 8:00 am start. What about the parents that chose our school specifically because of the later start time for middle school? How about the parents that chose our Kindergarten program, when they could have chosen a different school if they had known about the time? And yes, what about me? I don't want to have to get my kids up and going at 7am. They already go to bed at 8pm and have a hard time waking up at 8am. But I dont get to have the information in time to consider a different school.


And the School District and School Board wonder why parents are so FRUSTRATED with the Seatte School District. Does anyone know how to get into Shoreline?

No more excuses

I keep finding ways to sabotage myself or distract myself or give myself excuses. NO MORE! I have to put myself first, but it sure is hard!

That said - I am going to get back to this. I am going to get my own website up and running. I have spent a lot of time working on other sites (for free) but I have been ignoring my own priorities. Although these other sites have taught me a lot and given me a confidence I have lacked for along time - I have to learn to prioritize!

So time to get going on my own ideas... But in the meantime feel free to see what else I have been up to:
www.apexnwllc.com
www.broadviewthomsonpta.com
www.seniorladiesrock.blogspot.com

Where does the time go?

Do you ever wonder how it got to be this late in the week/month/year? I can not believe that it is almost March. I haven't forgotten or given up on blogging here. In fact I have missed it! But with no school last week and a major commitment I took on for my kids school PTA, I just have not had the time! But I am going to start making the time again. Right after I run to the grocery store and finish cleaning up around the house (priorities and all that). I look forward to getting back to blogging and working on my web business! It is so inspiring to actually have a purpose to my time on the computer. It took me so long to find a purpose, I am excited to finally get going on creating my business!

Where was this McCain last fall?

Gateway Pundit has a post quoting John McCain speaking to the Senate regarding the Stimulus bill. I hadn't thought of it this way - and I have seen many different charts and examples people have made regarding how much money this is and how it could be better spent. But this really brings it home. What are we going to get for our money? Here is what McCain had to say:

"I'll tell you how we got here, Mr. President. We got here here by the Speaker of the House saying, "We won, so we wrote the bill." That's not what the years I've been here is called bipartisanship. So without the votes of 11 democrats and without the votes of a single Republican the bill emerged from the other body and came over here... The bill was written with negligible input from this side of the aisle.

So what are we up to now? We are up to approximately one trillion dollars... The Congressional Budget Office yesterday said that this legislation would increase employment by the end of the 4th quarter of 2010 by 1.3 million to 3.9 million jobs... I did the math... A 1.2 trillion dollar bill, 3 million jobs, is $923,997 for each job.

...Maybe we should go back to the beginning here.

They wont go back to the beginning, they will shove this through and we will be in debt for years because of this. All they really need to do is mail each of us a check with a disclaimer that if we cash this check we must spend at least 75% of the money right away in the United States (paying mortgages, buy televisions, cars, something). That would sure help everyone - businesses, homeowners in trouble, and people like me that would like to buy a new car but can't really afford it right now (and I don't really need it - just want it). Although I would most likely head to Disneyland if this happened, helping the airlines, hotels, rental cars, restaurants and entertainment industry. But NOOOO that would not give the government control of the money to dole it out as they see fit.

Sad story

This is such a disgusting story - I had to debate with myself before I posted anything about this. This blows me away! I believe in a woman's right to choose, but I also believe it is too easy and there needs to be a line drawn regarding when it is OK and when it is not. Babies are born and live at 23 weeks. It happens. That this woman could go in for an abortion at 23 weeks shocks me and I am disgusted in how the clinic handled this. How long can you wait to get an abortion? I thought you had to do it by 12 - 14 weeks, but obviously I was wrong. Either way - at 23 weeks pregnant should people really be able to get an abortion just because they want one? I could agree with it if it was for health reasons, but just because? Horrible.

Do Something!

I was so worried yesterday about what to do and now today I have done nothing! But I have decided... I am going to put on the back burner my newest idea. Once I have my website designed and up and running I will focus more on my new idea. I am anxious to get going on my website so I am going to focus on that for now. If I make sure to accomplish something everyday then I will be able to get it all done - right? I sure hope so! And in that case, I better get busy and get something done today.

All of these ideas - what to do?

Have you ever had too many ideas? I have spent a long time trying to figure out what to do with myself after my sudden departure from my last job. Now I am closer to figuring out what I want to be doing, but I have too many ideas! If I start them all then I am worried that I will not be doing any of them justice. Drawing the line between too much and too little is the key. But will I be able to see the line once I draw it? I am committed to this blog (this was the first in the line of ideas) and I am going to keep this up - even if I never share it with anyone! And I have been spending days working on one of my other ideas - as soon as I have it set up I will unveil it (to myself) here first! Do I stop and focus on these two ideas for now, or do I let myself go with the third idea I want to start? I will sleep on it tonight and decide tomorrow. Having spent the last few years with a total fear of commitment - can I really commit myself to three different ideas at once?

Vote today!

Today is the first of 6 possible election dates this year. King County has a county wide election to elect the Director of Elections. I supported making this an elected position and I am voting for David Irons. I think that he has the experience to manage a large operation like KC Elections, and he also has the history with King County to know how to get things done in the County. Sheryl Huff is probably going to win, and from what I hear the people working there are happy with her at the helm. I am not going to vote for her, I think she has been less than genuine with some of her reasons for mistakes that have been made and I believe that she may have moved to King County with in the required time line but I do not believe that she followed in the spirit of that law.

David Irons or Sheryl Huff, either one I am OK with. I really am torn on Julie (Ann) Kempf. I really do not want her to win. BUT the "evil twin" in me sure would find it funny for the people that work there to find themselves working under her again. Anyone that worked there before when she was there knows just how painful that was! It will be interesting to see if it is a close race and who will win. A recount would be particularly juicy. Stay tuned...

Yippee!! Sims is leaving!

I was hoping this day would come! I must say this is possibly my favorite thing that President Obama has done yet (although the wisdom of this move on his part is a bit scary). Ron Sims, King County Executive, has been nominated for the #2 job at Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Great news for King County, bad news for the country. I am just glad to see him go from King County. I have my own personal reasons for wanting him gone, but I have always thought he was a horrible Executive.


As a former County employee, I always felt that Sims was only interested in his own agenda. I recall one time where he was coming to view our warehouse and attend a council meeting that was being held in our warehouse. I was responsible for putting together talking points for him while he was touring our facility and meeting with our employees. Sims was an hour late, never went farther than 20 feet into the building, had a closed door meeting regarding Sound Transit with another council member, announced some development for Sound Transit (it seems like they had just gotten the funding to get to the airport) and left. Showed no interest in our facility or what we were doing. This was the Mail Ballot processing warehouse and this was not long after some major issues had been dealt with. The County Council was meeting at our building to see the changes we had made and recognize the changes. Sims was supposed to be there for the same thing but showed no interest in the processes and only in the Sound Transit update.


The $50 million computer system that never was implemented (but was paid for), Critical Areas Ordinance, the medical examiner brains for cash scandal and Sound Transit are all reasons to be glad that Sims is gone. Maybe we will be able to replace him with better, but I would bet Larry Phillips will be the next Executive. It will be a democrat I am sure, people around here vote more for the party than any other issue. Either way - I am THRILLED that Ron Sims is no longer going to be the King County Executive!

Stimulus package or Christmas present?

The House passed the "Stimulus Package" last week with lots of reports about the fact that every Republican voted against it. I was surprised to find this quote in the New York Times:

All but 11 Democrats voted for the plan, and 177 Republicans voted against
it. The 244-to-188 vote came a day after Mr. Obama traveled to Capitol Hill to
seek Republican backing, if not for the package then on other issues to
come.

I am surprised to see that 11 Democrats broke ranks with Speaker Pelosi and President Obama. I am more surprised that there was not more reporting about this, but then again - you can not expect much more from the mainstream media at this point.

This "Stimulus Package" looks to me to be a Christmas Present to the Democrats who could not get funding for much of these issues during the Bush years and they are now piling them on at the first chance they can get. I understand that is how politics work, and this is exactly why I was afraid of one party having total control. But at the same time, don't sell this package as "Stimulus" and necessary to save the economy. On January 30th CBS News ran a story detailing why Republicans are against this bill. I was shocked when I read:

But emergency bills aren't paid for with higher taxes or budget cuts - the
stimulus is all borrowed money. And so anything Congress couldn't afford before
-- $50 million to support the arts, $70 million to help people stop smoking --
has found its way into the stimulus now.

And according to an article at cnn.com:

Much of the $550 billion in spending is divided among these areas: $142
billion for education, $111 billion for health care, $90 billion for
infrastructure, $72 billion for aid and benefits, $54 billion for energy, $16
billion for science and technology, and $13 billion for housing.

I am all for spending more on education and health care. But how is that going to stimulate the economy now? It certainly isn't going to help me today, tomorrow or next month. It wont help my husband's company find more work because it isn't going to help potential customers feel they can remodel their homes. So please, Congress, call it what it is. A pork laden belated Christmas present delivering money for every pet project you could find, borrowing money to pay for it. But wait, isn't that what caused the housing collapse? Borrowing money to buy things you can not afford...

Myspace, facebook, twitter - Oh My!

Strange that I feel this way, since I am trying to get started blogging. But I just can not get into My Space, Facebook, Twitter and all of those social networking sites. I have accounts at those websites, but I don't do much with them. But some of my friends sure are into them, downloading the Facebook app to their blackberry, sending all of these strange requests out from drink requests to posting 25 things about themselves. I guess, having gone through some very public issues not too long ago, I just am a little too private to be very involved in these sites. But it makes me wonder, when my daughter (who is 8 now) starts to get into using the computer and socializing, what will the "normal" things on the internet be? Sharing so much information so publicly kind of scares me. I have seen my young cousins my space pages and the pictures on them.... WOW! I will have to insist that my daughter allow me to be her "friend" when she starts doing these things so I can at least monitor it.

And in this My Space and Facebook time, every news story involving a person gets checked on Facebook or My Space. Do they have a page? What do they have on their page? Or my favorite story so far, the pilot of the US Airways flight that landed in the Hudson River. Some very enterprising person made a Facebook page for him and he now has over half a million friends on his page that he had nothing to do with.

Or how about people updating their pages from work? My favorite example of this was during the Christmas season one of my best friends posted on her Facebook page "I am doing my Christmas shopping, shhhhhh don't tell my boss". How does she know her boss isn't going to see this post? This post impressed me because I thought she must be very confident that her boss a: would not see it and b: if her boss did see it the boss would not care. And since they frequently have beer Friday at her work, I imagine her boss wouldn't care! But I don't think all employers are like hers.

Either way, it is a very public and permanent way of socializing. Future employers, friends, and any other person that wants to look can find out all kinds of information about you that you would not normally share with strangers. Think twice before you put your information out there. Because it is there for anyone to see...

Yes - I am one of the Evil Twins

Yesterdays Seattle Times had an article about Julie Kempf, a candidate for King County Elections Director. This article was about allegations that she forged documents, impersonated a government employee and tried to run over a police officer, plus a few other issues. I am one of the people that her forgeries and impersonations were out to hurt. As she called us, The Evil Twins. Myself and my Evil Twin have always wondered how she did what she did and what ever happened to all of this. We were never told. However, her actions had a HUGE impact on our lives. We paid a price for her lies, ultimately creating a hostile work environment where we could not trust many people. That environment led to a "perfect storm" if you will and set me up to be in a position to blame for major issues later. I am not, and never will, saying that I did not make mistakes - I did. However, I did not make all of the mistakes that were blamed on me and had upper management in my office and the county not had to deal with these allegations against me earlier that year, perhaps they might have had more opened eyes when I was dog piled on for every mistake made in 2004. Either way, I have for 5 years wanted to know what happened and how she did what she did. I paid the price for her actions, even if she didn't. I had an employee who after this absolutely did not trust me. And I always have believed that my supervisor believed these allegations as well. I wish she had been charged, because she did cause us harm. But I do find some relief to know how she did it and that me and my Evil Twin where not the crazy people involved in this.

R.I.P. WASL

Randy Dorn, Superintendent of Public Instruction, is on KIRO radio today talking with Dave Ross about the new testing that will take the place of the WASL. If you missed it and want to hear what he has to say, go to KIRO here and download the 2nd hour of the Dave Ross show from today (Jan 22).

There will now be two different tests: grades 3 - 8 will take the Measurements of Student Progress (MSP) test and High School students will take the High School Proficiency Exams (HSPE). The MSP test will be offered in the Fall and Spring, will take less time, and will be offered on the computer allowing for quicker results that the teachers will be able to use to assist them in preparing curriculum. Passing the HSPE will still be a requirement for graduation. The plan is that this test will require less time away from learning, currently during the WASL testing physical education, music, art and any other "elective" subject is stopped to allow for the WASL testing. According to what Superintendent Dorn was saying on the radio this will not be the case during these new tests, the testing will not require the time commitment and students will still be able to have all subjects during testing periods. I am pleased with this decision for two reasons, I think that these extra subjects are good for kids and it seems to me that it will be using resources better - if the gym teacher doesn't have kids to teach what do they do for the week?

Over all, it sounds like a good plan. But I need to find out more about it before I can say for absolute certain.

Inauguration Day

Carl Jeffers just announced on KIRO radio "this is like the world's inauguration day - He may be the first President of the world". Wow. This is the kind of thing that worries me, but that is for another day. Today is a day to celebrate a new President and hope for a new direction for our country. I am pleased to see so many people so excited about the inauguration. When I took my daughter to school every person in the school that I saw was watching the inauguration speech. The crossing guard told me that she had not seen very many kids today and thought that many of them may have stayed home to watch the inauguration. I think that is great, I love to see people involved in they way this country works and I hope that all of these people that are so involved now will stay involved. But the cynic in me thinks that may not happen. I hope I am wrong. I also hope that President Obama is successful and that this country gets back to work. I did not vote for President Obama, but I support him 100%. He is the President of the United States and that should always be respected. I am certain that I will not always agree with the decisions that are made, but I will always respect the office and person. I guess that is why I was so saddened when I was reading about parts of the Inauguration Ceremony that I missed. It sounds to me that the Obama's and Bush's treated each other with respect, and possibly even admiration? But the people there to watch booing the outgoing President? Shameful. I know that there are strong feelings against President Bush, I don't personally agree with everything that he has done. But I do believe that he sacrificed and made the best decisions that he could. Either way, to cheer "na na na na, hey hey hey, goodbye!" as he is leaving Washington DC makes me sad for our Country. I don't think that people should act this way, and I hope that President Obama brings some solace and maturity to the people that have behaved like this. All I would say to those people is, you have gotten what you wanted - will it turn out how you want? To President Obama, I hope that you can make these people happy. If not, I am afraid that they will blame you for their own misfortune as well. Because obviously they can not be held accountable to their own actions. Otherwise they might not treat the highest office in our land, and the person most representing our country, with such disrespect.


I am hopeful for change, I believe that President Obama will do his best to deliver change. I hope that the country is also willing to change... Calling names and booing is hopefully behind us. Time to get to work and take responsibility for own actions.

Is the media making you nervous about the economy?

I listen to talk radio most days, and I cant remember when I heard a news break that didn't have some depressing thing to say about the economy. And everyday the paper has articles about how bad it is, example from today's Seattle Times, and how bad it will get. Does this depress you and make you concerned about the economy? It makes me worry! So I wonder, if they started reporting more about any little positive piece of information would it make people feel better about the economy? Or even make a bigger deal about how now is a great time to buy a house with rates so low, article here, and FHA is a great way to qualify for a loan. From what I understand, a major part of the problem is that people are not spending money. And people are not spending money because they are worried about the economy. People are worried about the economy because of what they are hearing and reading every day in the news. Maybe if we heard some positive things we would not be so worried and people would spend a little more? Then the economy would get moving a little more? I am sure this is a very naive idea and would not work, but it sure makes me wonder...

I can't believe it - it's a TUNNEL!

What a joke! Two years ago we voted down the tunnel option but now that Governor Gregoire has been re-elected it is OK to build a tunnel? And this new technology is going to make it cheaper? I will be very surprised if it actually comes in on budget - or even close to it. And they are going to pay for this in part with an increase in King County car tab tax of 1%. How can that happen - what happened to the $30 car tab initiative??? I can't wait to see what Tim Eyman has to say about that! Going with the most expensive option and the most difficult option during these economic times is surprising. The article and subsequent comments at the Seattle Times was interesting, but I must admit my favorite part (and the part I agree with most) is the last sentence - they do just want a pretty park!

If you are unhappy about this decision - make sure you remember when it is time to vote this Fall. I think that if more people paid attention to what was going on, and got involved in the process, we could change the way things are done around here. I hear enough people call into radio programs and say "How can we change this!" well the answer is - get involved! So that will be something else that I will have to add to my goals for this year. How can I get involved and help make a change to how things are done around here? I will have to find out... Stay tuned!

My First Post!!

I have always wanted to blog, and now I am finally starting!! One step closer to one of my goals for 2009 - but more on goals later.

For now I just want to introduce myself. My name is Nicole Way and I am a Realtor with Keller Williams Realty in North Seattle, Washington. I have always been interested in Real Estate and after a difficult situation at my last job left me at a crossroads I decided to get my real estate license and start learning more about the real estate industry. I have always been interested in real estate and actually turned down a job offer as an Admin Assistant to a successful Realtor when I finished High School. Instead I took a different job that after 14 years ended rather unhappily. I am now at a point where I can recognize that I made the wrong choice years ago and it is time to make the right choice -so here I am! I know that now is not the best time to be getting into real estate, but I do believe that things will turn around and it is only a matter of time. So my goal is to be up and ready when that turn around occurs!

I want to use this blog to talk about real estate, but I will also be talking about lots of other subjects! Including kids, sports, politics, and goal setting (some of my current interests). Thanks for taking the time to check out my blog, and check back soon!