Waiting at the Airport (alternate title: Story of My Life)

I spend a lot of time in airports, depending on the time of year. Tonight, I'm waiting at the airport for my other half to arrive. Before his flight, he was complaining that he was tired, he had a long day, he was angry his flight was delayed, etc etc etc. He's right--those are all annoying things. I, however, kept to myself that fact that I was up at 6 am to start working a convention center floor by 7:35 am, spent the entire day on my feet, talked until my voice was hoarse, gathered all of my luggage at the end of said conference, lugged out of my hotel, through two train stations, onto and off of two trains, and now here through the airport just to meet him. I've also been responding to emails and other customer inquiries all day, gave several mini-presentations throughout the day, confirmed our appointments for our wedding venue visits this weekend, coordinated plans with a few friends and finalized plans with my sibling for Saturday night's dinner.

That got me thinking--exactly how do we do what we do as women? I know that I am not the only one who manages both a career and a social life (and some time at the gym, to keep me sane). What makes us tick? Why is it that women always feel so responsible for making sure the social activities are scheduled, the job is managed, the house is clean and the dinner is on the table? Not that I do it all myself, because my other half holds his own when it comes to cooking and he's a great help around the house when I ask, but I still feel like I need to coordinate all of the efforts. Like I said, I know I'm not the only one who coordinates...well...life.

Sometimes this is incredibly stressful for me. Right now, trying to plan a wedding from 500 miles away, in a relatively (in NJ terms) short period of time while trying to close out a strong year at work is taking its toll. I'm tired. Not just I-need-a-nap tired, but like burnt-out tired. This is not how I want to feel. I want to take some vacation time and enjoy planning my big day. Hell, I only get one! Unfortunately, my drive to succeed in my career keeps me from doing that. I suppose when I feel comfortable taking some time off (read: when I've reached my quota for the year), I'll be able to do that. It's not easy to manage so many things, and I wonder what type of Wonder Woman strength my mother had to work her career and raise us three kids (and maintain a house and never miss a single game where I was cheering).

I guess what I'm saying is that women are amazing. I'm not bashing our men, because most of us have some great ones, and they do a lot in different ways to take care of us. However, I look amongst my group of girl friends and I see amazing women doing amazing things every day. Managing households, rearing children, working their career, taking care of life...and it's awesome.

And whatever it is that makes us tick...well, I just need some more of it. I've got 3% to go before that quota is under my belt and sister has some planning to do.

Blogging, Round Two (or 4?)

I've tried to blog, I really have. At the end of my workday, it's tough. Maybe this is something I should write while I'm drinking my cup of coffee (although then I can't guarantee it's going to be in English).

I had a really cool thought today. I was trying to figure out why there weren't more resources for women in business. Not so much the formal, pay-to-attend conferences or networks, but just groups of women helping women. For that matter, groups of friends helping friends. In my immediate group, there are women older than me and women younger than me, and we're all in varying stages of our careers. We all have insight to offer to one another, yet we don't. We complain about the most mundane things when what we should do is talk about our lives, our livelihoods, and our futures. So fine, here it is, my first attempt to facilitate a network of people (because, unfortunately, I have to include the boys, lol) to talk all things business and/or livelihood related. My hope is to eventually graduate to virtual book clubs and discussion boards on the Facebook page, but for now I'm going to start with some ideas, tips and blogging. I guess it's just one step at a time and refine the way I do this as I go along. Thanks for reading; feel free to check out the Facebook page "Confessions of a Sales Diva" and join if the mood strikes!