It's a wonderful life!

Yay, yay, yay - what a wonderful life it is!
The sun shines and shows her best features, my family blooms in many ways and I feel especially good.

In spite of lice (yeah, once or twice a year they show up like a plague infection at school) attacking us (which they never have done before...) I feel like a spring flower in bloom. I feel light on my feet, sunny in my mind.
I keep thinking "go figure" 'cuz hubs still hasn't gotten any money after being unemployed (having trouble getting his unemployment-insurance money because of having been an entrepreneur) and my money sure isn't enough and hubs is a bit blue lately, and all.
Still.
Springtime, baby, and all is well that's sunny. And sun is here today and hopefully tomorrow.

Intriguing that it can be like that - that I can be happy in spite of some issues that, of course, worry me.

Nowadays the little mamas up there are making up their nests, real good... 

There will be babies any day now, I suspect.

The weekend offered a breakfast opportunity outside!

The Boy geared up in brand new clothes. 

About time, everything is too short, all of a sudden.

The new and fast shoes!

The life guard guards the premises.

And begs for a cookie in between...

The Boy got to buy new spring shoes, pants and socks Saturday and he's ecstatic about it. He bought the kind of sneakers his idol wears (Nike, honey) and didn't want to take them off at all, all night.
So while hubs and I dug in order to saw new grass, BBQ:ed and planted flowers The Boy kept running around in his brand new shoes, stating that they can run fast!
Bless his little heart.

I'm so glad - and so proud - that I adopted this sweet wonderful little

lovable spanish street dog. I love him dearly. He loves us.

He loves the sun!

Yeah, they're showing themselves.

Looks like someone's writing.

Life, the way I see it

I get energy from meeting people, spending time with them and talking to them. I especially enjoy meeting other leaders, as I do when ever I take a course, via work.

Yesterday I started a course, that continues today. Of course I learn the subject but even more - I learn from listening to and talking to the other leaders. That is something I love!

I respect all their different experiences and all their new/other takes on issues. It fascinates me, this leading work, and it never ends surprising and offering new challenges.

I wouldn't have in any other way, even though I'm almost always way out of my comfort zone.

The garden is improving.

Good honey xoxo.

Some folks work hard. Some folks do pedicure...

So, that's how we roll these days. Hubs looking grim, thinking and thinking, I'm jumping around, foolishly smirking, the dog closing his eyes in the wonderful sunshine and The Boy hopping in Nikes.
Good stuff, good times but with a serious twist.

It is a little weird that a man can be too old to get a job at the age of 43, I think.

Yes, he's starting his own business again but not with a whole lot of money.
So - again - I'll keep you posted and things will work out. That, I know for sure.

Three days away from home...

Conference time
So, I went to a conference that demanded two flights going there. As always I longed home, already before I took off. And as always, I really enjoyed myself being away, meeting former colleagues, current colleagues and new contacts. I was inspired by new input and I got to go away and focus on something else than my mission at work.
I got time off from leading, for three workdays and I liked the taste of it!

The ancient town on an island, is still surrounded by the very old stone wall.

Impressive.

On the other side, you see the little town!

We were lucky with the weather!

In the middle of the town there were more old buildings.

Distracted by beauty

In this gorgeous place the old beauty distracts you totally. 

It's impossible not falling in love with the town and it's impossible to think about work when you take a photo walk here!

As this very blog is a way for me to get balance in my everyday life (work-life-balance), as have I learned that even a conference experience needs balance. Therefore I visit most of the seminars and lectures (if they're of interest) but not all of them. I sneak off to enjoy the surroundings, to photograph them and I always sneak off to rest and take the time I feel I need to iron evening clothes and do my make-up.

That makes the experience just as invigorating as I think such a trip ought to be.

It's easy imagining how things were, a long time ago...

Gorgeous.

Tranquility. The kind that you catch, seeing it.

See that spectacular light??!!!

I suddenly saw two suns!

I walked with two friends, who are also colleagues, to a nice place for a drink.

I just adore this narrow cute little house!

I didn't long home, at that time ;-)

Experiencing 

Let's cut to the chase: experiencing things alone is not the same as doing it together with the husband and sons. That was apparent where ever I walked eagerly carrying my camera! 

To be able to say:

-Look at that view!

-Wasn't this tasty?

-That looks almost like....

-Can you feel that wonderful scent from that cherry tree?

Can't be overestimated. I felt it intensely.

It felt like walking in a fairy tale for sure.

Moments like these, lasts a lifetime in the memory bank.

The part of the wall that's facing the ocean.

Standing by the beach with the ocean in the back, you see the whole cute little town!

This duck mommy, lay on top of her eggs all day, every day here in a huge pot outside the congress building.

A brave loving mommy. You go girl!

Needing both worlds

So, going there I didn't really want to. 

Being there I enjoyed, I remembered things better and I missed the ones back home.

Getting ready for the second - and biggest - party evening with dinner and dancing I felt I'd rather go home. 

Being at that dinner and dancing and mingling evening, which was absolutely like pure and utter magic, there's no place I'd rather be, I felt, and I was moved by all the great "wonderful seeing you" that I got from a whole bunch of different people.

So, it hit me again that I do need both things for a complete life. 

I need to go away, to get new input, to spill my work heart out to other leaders and my private heart to a hand full of other leaders that are also my good private friends. I need fancy dinner and dancing in a spectacular environment and I need to be face up, on a couch in our living room. 

Both worlds. They complete each other.

Can you see why I state that we have two "the most beautiful town" in our country and that I live in one of them and that the conference was situated in the other one? They sure look alike also!

That narrow cute house by day.

Missing hubs and boy, I got ready for the party evening.

I was game...

Conditioner for the heart and soul: dear sweet friends! The evening sky over the ocean, as a backdrop.

And the house, by midnight, as I walked back to my hotel feeling perfectly happy.

It's a weird thing this equation: family, work and time. 

The longer I'm away, usually, the less I long for the loved ones. The first day I longed home, like crazy, the second day I wanted to go home and then the third day.... I kind of felt like staying a bit longer. Weird - and weird is good, weird is quite OK!

Nice sightings everywhere.

The best speaker of the conference was the key note speaker. Can you guess where he's from? 

USA, of course. I'm not surprised!

Conclusion

I can conclude that being paid to collect input and ideas, to meet interesting and fun people, to be in beautiful places and enjoy great food, ain't half bad.

Neither is coming home afterwards!