Tag Archives: planning

Jun12

Where Do you See Yourself Five Years From Now?

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Where Do you See Yourself Five Years From Now?

Anyone who has ever worked a day in their life has been asked this question in an interview at some point. I don’t know about you, but I’ve never gotten the answer right.

And when I’ve been on the other side of the desk there is one response I don’t think I’ll ever forget. I was interviewing potential support workers in a group home for mentally challenged adults. As a manager, I was well aware of the questions I was allowed to ask as well as the ones I was not allowed to ask. But the five year was always a favorite. I got the usual responses about the entry level position being a stepping stone to a future career in social services. I also heard that a part-time job while attending school would provide the much needed funds to further their education. And then there were the ones with the canned responses of doing something meaningful and making a difference in someone else’s life.

But this one response came across as being both brave and blatantly honest. The interviewee was a recent high school graduate. “I haven’t got a f***ing clue.” He went on to explain that his parents were pressuring him to go to university. He had no interest in doing this and wanted to head out into the work world first. Criminal records check was clean and he had minimal volunteer experience on his resume. Working with mentally challenged adults sounded interesting to him. He was also willing to take on overnight shifts and work on weekends. I hired him. And he turned out to be quite as good as he looked on paper.

While I don’t recall recall any of my own responses to the 5 year question when I was being interviewed, I highly doubt that I was as blatantly honest as this young man. It’s also been decades since I’ve been asked this question in an interview. Instead I’m quite confident that I’ve asked it of others far more times.

It’s also been years since I retired. And if anyone asked me that 5 year question today, there’s no doubt in my mind that I would be as honest as that young man was, although I would probably express it in a far less colorful manner. Sometimes I can’t fathom what my life will be like in five months or five weeks or even five days, so please don’t ask me about five years from now.

But it is a good question to ask. It is something to contemplate.

I’ve told you my answer. What’s yours?

Jul31

What Plan Are We On Now?

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What Plan Are We On Now?

Change. Change. Change. Adapt. Adapt. Adapt. When you go from Plan A to Z and need another…..then just keep on going.

I left downtown on Thursday and am now out in the burbs in St. Vital with my friend Rita. Until Tuesday Iwhen we head out to the lake again. Another new plan.

I’m determined to tough it out here in the Peg until I can get that photo taken for my driver’s license. In all likelihood I will hightail it back to Washington and I won’t get out west to Calgary or Kelowna. I’m homesick! I don’t care if it’s 111 degrees and threat of wildfires. I want to go home.

Of course there’s lots here to do to stay amused. Rita has had some shopping to do and it’s been fun checking out Jysk and Giant Tiger as well as Canadian grocery stores and Walmart. But I’ll save my shopping for when I’m back in the USA.

I finally got to VJ’s for a gut bomb the other day. This stand is home to the best chili burgers and fries in the province. And they actually have plastic tablecloths on the picnic tables, a slight change that’s easy to deal with.

A friend from Regina called me yesterday. We met at the YMCA about fifteen years ago in water aerobics classes. She moved away from Winnipeg around the same time I did. Kim is hoping to come to Mexico this winter and we are hoping to get together for the first time in way too many years. Another new plan.

And yet another plan. I need to get back to my son’s to deal with one more bin full of slides. My dad took slides, not photos. And I am gladly passing them on to my brother. Hopefully he will do something with them. They’ve been stagnating way too long in a Rubbermaid bin.

I won’t be posting again until next Sunday. I’m not sure if I’ll have Wi-Fi out at the lake.

By next weekend I’ll have another plan. Stay tuned.

Aug8

The Best Laid Plans

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The Best Laid Plans

Plans. We all make them. We try to follow them. More often than not, things don’t always go as planned.

I look at my life and wonder how everything got so convoluted. One year in Mexico has turned into more than a decade. But oh the incredible adventures I’ve had. I’ve met amazing people and traveled to fascinating places.

I had just settled in to a comfortable routine of six months in Mexico and six months in Leavenworth, with side trips to Canada to see my kids. When I headed south in the fall of 2019, I was returning to Aguascalientes. Yes I’d visited the museums and art galleries the previous winter, but I’d also made friendships and I had volunteer work planned. Needless to say traveling was also on the agenda.

The six months became eleven when Covid arrived. I watched way too many movies in Spanish on TV, colored for hours on end and found games to play on my phone that were quite addictive.

I used up all my gel pens and markers. I colored every single page, including the title page, of a book I’d brought with me. I headed for the nearest papeleria and bought crayons and children’s coloring books, all that was available in my area.

I spent hours in meditation and prayer, a most welcome respite especially after dealing with INM and obtaining an extended stay when my visa expired. I must admit it was a much easier process getting that extended stay in the USA a few months later.

I arrived in Leavenworth in late September with the idea that I’d pick up my warmer clothes and head up to Canada. These plans changed when numerous restrictions regarding travel and quarantine were enforced. I must admit I quite enjoyed the mild winter here as compared with the brutal winters on the Canadian prairies I had experienced in the past.

It’s now August and I haven’t made it back to Canada yet. Yep, eleven months and counting. But a very different life than I had in Mexico. I can’t remember the last time I colored, although I did take out my acrylics and paint yesterday. Movies are now in English and I’m usually with friends when watching. No games on my phone anymore. They’ve all been moved onto my tablet lol.

Of course it’s also been a very different experience here in the USA this year. I used to wear a mask because of smoke from fires, not because of COVID-19. My volunteer work has dwindled down to teaching fitness classes. Lunches and activities at the Senior Center are mere memories, as are book club and programs at the library.

I’m constantly being asked when and where I’ll travel to next. My answer remains the same. I don’t know. Rules regarding travel change every day. I’ve given up making plans as they keep changing as well.

There is only one constant in my life right now. As the deadline of September 20th approaches, I will be en route to Canada or Mexico. If it’s Canada I don’t know where my destination will be. I have kids in two different provinces. If it’s Mexico I will definitely be on my way to Aguascalientes. To me these are all long range plans and I have more than enough trouble making even short range plans now.

For now, my plans are merely whatever happens to fall together. Extreme mindfulness.