2017 has been a year of whirlwind with the preparation for the China trip and Jane’s wedding, Michelle’s starting her professional life in Atlanta and the job change for me …

The trip was fantastic and memorable, first time for our son-in-law to see China and meet our families and relatives. He was fascinated by what he saw! Jane worked tirelessly for ten months to plan for her dream wedding and it turned out more than perfect. Now she is helping a couple of friends plan theirs. We only saw Jane and Jim once in September after the wedding, but their homecoming for Thanksgiving more than made up for the lost time.  I wrote about Michelle’s almost homeless first night in Atlanta.  She has been there for five months by now and loves her job, her boss and the city.  Her next rotation will start in March 2018 at a different location.  Who knows what adventures that will bring!  Because mom and daughter work for the same company, we communicate on a daily basis via Jabber about work, family and life in general.  It has brought us closer than ever before!  At work, she constantly runs into people who tell her they know her mom.  Colleagues also take their time to tell me what a delightful daughter I have and how they love working with her.  It makes mama very proud as you can imagine! Jake started Junior High this year.  He took the school bus every morning at 6:45 for 3 months in the beginning.  I have to give credit to the young lad: he was on time for the bus every morning on his own.  Dad started driving him to school in November because it is getting cold and dark that early in the morning.

My new job has its challenging parts but is working out great. It allows me to work with people of all levels across the company.  We are moving from Data Warehouses to Data Lake environment and therefore training will be critical to make the transition as smooth as possible.  When I took the job, college recruiting for 2018 was well under way.  I was involved in making offers to strong candidates. In spite of a competitive job market, we are able to acquire top talent for SYF.  I am proud to be part of a passionate recruiting team! One of the main goals for 2018 is to develop and communicate the Analytics Training Curriculum throughout the organization and make a big splash.

In February, I started taking dance lessons from Tommye, a world champion ballroom instructor. It opened my eyes to a new world of dancing and elevated my passion to a higher level.  My wonderful and supportive husband transformed our son’s playroom in the basement to a dance studio. I am spending many hours down there, practicing and perfecting the moves. I have also found a new teacher in the suburb. He makes following so much easier and smoother. With his leading, coaching and my own persistence, I believe my dancing will transform in the new year!  Reading and writing continue to be my other passion.  Reading helps me write better. Writing has provided an outlet for my creative energy and makes me a more sensible and grounded human being.  I am rewriting the same book for the 3rd time, continuously striving to build the layers of the characters, heighten the conflicts and take the readers with me through the turmoil and triumphs.  It has been a rewarding experience (not in the financial sense).  Every time I find the right word to express something simply, elegantly and resonantly, it’s like taking a sip of the crisp clear wine, the after taste of which lingers and satisfies like nothing else.

It’s been a wonderful and challenging year.  I have learned, grown and becoming a better person, I hope.  Looking forward to 2018 and what it has in store for me!