Hurricane Idalia is heading our way

I’m a true-blue Floridian, born and raised in the land of sunshine and hurricanes. I mean, who needs boring weather, right? I’ve seen it all – from hurricanes parties to trees crashing down like they’ve had one too many margaritas. And let me tell you, watching tipsy folks stumbling into giant branches is pure comedy gold! Now, don’t judge me, but I was young and adventurous back then. We even turned these hurricane nights into a party game extravaganza, spinning tales and playing games as the wind howled outside. The next morning, we attempted a daring river escapade, only to be thwarted by the mother of all floods. Ah, good times, my friend. Good times indeed!

Having kids is like adding a spin cycle to the hurricane experience! Now I’m not just packing snacks and toys, but also a go bag for a quick escape. You can find me, all stressed out, stuffing it with clothes, meds, chargers, and every essential document. And guess what? The cars are always topped up with gas, the gas cans are brimming, and even the generator is ready for action! I’ve got more flashlights than a rock concert and enough oil lamps to start my own vintage store. The kids? Well, let’s just say they’ve mastered the emergency drills better than any superhero team. And don’t even get me started on tagging our horses’ tails! With a little more tidying up, we’re officially as prepared as the Avengers facing off against a Category 3 storm. But hey, who can forget the infamous Hurricane Michael? It went from a light drizzle to absolute chaos, leaving poor Mexico Beach in ruins. Oh, the joys of living on the hurricane coaster! 🌪️

In our humble abode, nestled comfortably in Zone B, we have decided to defy the evacuation orders. Why, you ask? Well, it’s all because of our beloved furry and feathered friends! You see, we simply cannot bear the thought of leaving them behind. Our pastures are wide open, offering them a buffet of grassy delights and endless fun. There are trees aplenty for their impromptu game of hide-and-seek, and a barn that has stood the test of time for a whopping century. Although we hope they won’t seek shelter there during the mighty Cat 3 hurricane, as it’s not exactly the hippest spot in town. But fear not, for our animal companions are smarter than your average human (no offense!). When the winds start howling, they’ll be the first to hit the ground and show off their impeccable survival skills. Our house, you see, is a solid fortress, built in an era when they had true craftsmanship. So, here we are, hopelessly addicted to the Weather Channel (I blame their dramatic theme music). The hurricane keeps creeping closer to us, but hey, at least we’re getting all the best memes and our locals are becoming famous on the Weather Channel. It’s all quite the spectacle, I must say!

I keep checking and yep, here comes the hurricane! Our kids’ school is evacuating faster than you can say “storm surge.” We’re talking about a whopping 7 ft of water coming their way. Don’t forget to pack your floaties! But fear not, my friend, we Floridians are prepared for the power outage extravaganza. Our generator is all set up, plugs galore, and we even have an AC wall unit to keep us cool as cucumbers. We’re like a survival squad ready to take on the storm! And let’s not forget about those poor non-Floridian transplants, running around in sheer panic. Bless their little hearts. Meanwhile, I’m just here, watching my child sprint through the house with a slice of homemade bread, screaming that it’s the world’s greatest bread ever. Can’t argue with that, right? To top it off, we’re whipping up some blueberry muffins for the inevitable power outage feast. So, for all you folks in Idalia’s path, stay safe and keep your sense of humor intact! She’s a real beast, after all. Survival mode: activated!

Would you dare dance with a mischievous Cat 3 hurricane making a beeline for your location?

Feeling grateful amidst job searching for the first time in 16 years…

I have not searched for job in a very long time. I have always known someone who has a position they think would work for me. My reputation has always been stellar in the work department. I would interview, almost always got that job. It is not that way anymore. The competition is younger, better educated, and willing to take any pay. I feel like I am dating without the dating apps. Maybe I should design a tinder for job searching?? Hmm!!

Back to my story. I know my worth. I know I come with a long list of skills with an amazing attitude. I have a degree, a lifetime of work skills. I have tons of recommendations on LinkedIn and Multiple people have reached out to volunteer to be a reference. I mean this girl feels good about herself. I laugh when I see things like “requirements: MBA, SalesForce Cert, Hubspot Cert, Excel expert, PowerBI Expert, Marketo Cert” for ” 15/hr” or “$55/yr”, Wait what? I applaud the companies paying people their worth, but some of you. Some of you should be ashamed!

I am thankful I am getting interviews. I am thankful that my first few were with people I knew or AI. We have AI interviews now which I kind of dig. I am also thankfully getting interviews with companies I really would like to work for. I have been targeting companies I want to work for then applying for anything that excites me. It should be a choice situation which always makes me happy!

I want to be excited for work again. I loved my old teams and never would have left them. Some of them were like family. The fact still remains, I was slowly losing my excitement for work. It is hard to be excited when you see such horrible practices happening around you to good people. When you see people who do not seem to know how to do their jobs, continually get promotions. While the good ones get glanced over for promotions or let go. It is disheartening. I am thankful I am finding places and jobs that excite me. I am really loving finding positions I know I would be amazing doing at companies who actually make a difference. Companies who are not all about shareholders. Companies that I truly want to be a part of. I know that strategy will pay off for me!

How do you look for a new job?

Gratitude around the farm

I am grateful for this time to get things done around the farm. It is cooling down. There is so much work to do. Sadly a lot need supplies. I am working on anything where I can repurpose items we already have. That has been fun. I also have started pruning and cleaning out some sections of the farm.

This morning, I got to go for a nice trail ride this morning with my old faithful Apache. It was nice to ride with him, get fresh air. He was my Attitude of Gratitude today. He is such a sweet boy. He saw me walking towards him, did not try to get away, put his head directly in the halter, walked alongside of me. He was just such a sweet little gelding gentleman today. Our ride was nice and slow. We did the barrels in the arena, rode around the property of my friend and home. It was a perfect first ride in quite some time. I am just so grateful for him. I am grateful we moved to a farm so that I can wake up every day to my sweet animals. My horses, chickens and goats are just the cutest!

Horse and cat around the barn
‘Horsing around the barn’

What are you grateful for?

It has been awhile….

It has been awhile. I put my love of designing to the side this past year in order to buy a farm (see goat pic above) and then later working to master excel while facing a new boss who was quite a challenge.

This past year has had its challenges but I learned a lot. Let’s begin,

I became proficient in Excel and have learned to love it!

I have been studying for my SalesForce Admin Certificate

The farm I have been eyeing, came up for sale. I know I know you deserved a blog post then. I will try to summarize quickly! The farm came up for sale on a Thursday afternoon by Friday afternoon II was approved and got to see it. It was exactly what I dreamed of for the property and I can see how to make the house ours. It’s a cute farmhouse. Sat am I brought my husband and kids to see it. They agreed it’s amazing. By that afternoon we were under contract. In fact this time last year we were under contract. That meant Zen Mama Llama was in the back burner. She wasn’t gone just not updating the blog nor creating any new products.
Our farm started with two turkeys, 4 chickens and now is

4 horses

2 turkeys

35+ chickens

2 goats

2 Great Pyrenees

I have had my hands full before and after work but man am I happy. It is my happy place.

During this time, I got two new bosses and the one I loved left. The new ones are not the mentoring or telling the whole truth kinda gals. It was hard but I focused on my sales teams and was thriving. I hit my stride, my sales teams were my clients and the sales leaders listened to my advice which helped them succeed tjust like I used to do with my clients when I was in a client services role. I have a passion for client / customer service. I love account management so sales operations was an amazing fit. One I never would have thought of. Now I am enrolled in sql classes, studying for my SalesForce admin certification all because I truly love helping people understand how to use technology, analyze data and advise on paths to take based on the data. Telling a story with the data. I feel like all of my roles at Mediware/WellSky have prepared me for a new role, whether that be sales or revenue operations, customer / client success manager or operations, leading a SDR team, working the deal desk or being an executive assistant. They all involve, organizing, helping others succeed, wearing multi hats, continue education, training, coaching and technology. I have a gift for learning softwares quickly and teaching others.

Even with 15.7 years of amazing reviews, sales leaders who fought for me, “a business decision” was made to let myself and a coworker go without proper severance or notice. That stung but was the kick I needed to move forward. The outreach of support and volunteering to be a reference for me has been breath taking. My LinkedIn recommendations are stellar. I am hoping that gets me hired by an amazing company that I can help grow with all of my knowledge from lead generation to keeping the customer happy. I feel like knowing the whole picture makes me a better candidate. Plus I am super nice, work hard, wicked smart, have a great attitude and doggone it people like me.

So for the first time in almost 16 years I am looking for a remote job. Remote because I’ve been remote for 10 years and in a rural area. Needless to say we have been a little busy.

Ps If you know of a job, please send my way. Thanks!
PSS I have a new journal coming to Amazon by Monday!

Cowgirl Jamie

Thank all l so much for your love and support. You bring a smile to my face!

With Gratitude,

Zen Mama Llama

New blanket alert

I loaded a blanket with the above picture in the Zen Store make sure you grab one. I mean who doesn’t want to snuggle with horses? It feels good to be designing again. I love when I see a sale come through and I love seeing my designs on other people. Makes me smile!

Hope your day has been filled with blessings!

With gratitude

Zen Mama Llana

Sweet Peas Cafe and Litchgate

After our fun morning with friends and cats, we were a little hungry. I was getting hangry. I can admit it. I’m not such a delight when hangry. So that we could eat quickly without much decision making, we chose
Sweet Pea Cafe, a local vegan cafe with some yummy treats.

They have a standard menu and a daily surprise menu, as well as yummy vegan treats. That’s my favorite part. It’s the kids favorite part too. I chose two wedding cookies, JB chose key lime pie, then traded others for theirs. Hubs got his normal brownie, and CB chose a large chocolate chip cookie. The boys split their Beyond burger & sweet potato fries. I got their Thai Budget with Sweet potato fries and hubs got their Buffalo “Chicken” sandwich with fries. We love the fries there, they cute the sweet and regular potatoes up to make them. Everything is fresh and delicious!

We took our food and I surprised the family with Litchgate, for a picnic. It is one of the best kept local secrets and none of them have been. I wish I had gotten a pic of the kids faces as we walked through the path, that opens up to a beautiful old oak tree that is just magical. The amazement on their faces made me smile big.

We walked under the trees enormous limbs and ate by the meditation maze, which both boys completed. CB and I took off to the troll bridge and talked to fairies as we ran down the path making a couple eating lunch laugh.

It was a fun day with some yummy food.

What is your favorite place to grab food with your family?

Framily morning date at a Cat Cafe

What a fun morning we had with part of our village! We did a framily, (friends who are family), date this morning! One of my besties kids, as well as my kids love cats. We scheduled time at Tally Cat Cafe, which has a great assortment of drinks and you can reserve a spot to play with cats for $8 an hour per person. Yes I know we have cats but these kids love animals so much and,I’ve spreading the love. So we made the 40 min trek to play with cats. A and I drug our menfolk along willinglyish. No really, they had fun.

Tally cat cafe fun with framily Tally cat cafe fun with framily

. It’s nice seeing everyone together, laughing and catching up. Life gets busy and this morning slowed us down, even for just one hour to enjoy each other. I went from seeing them daily no nothing in weeks, waaaa!

The cafe did not have as many cats as usual, but the ones they do have, did not disappoint. Plus the company was perfect! Just good people with a lot of laughs! We love the village we are building for ourselves. We all love and support each other and each other’s kids.
Our kids in true form were asked to stop running as well as stop picking up the cats. But, we expected that. We did have a lot of young kids around a lot of kittens. Those kids are kinda scary when they are running towards you when you are tiny. They had fun though. Lots of fun!

We even took the kids to Lynchgate for a picnic with food from Sweet Peas! I’ll do another post on that in a few!

What do you love to do on framily dates?

ps visit the Zen Store for some zen merch