Trudy Bourgeois

What an amazing woman! Saturday morning I was so fortunate to attend Trudy's leadership conference at my church called "Navigating the Business Landscape with Grace and Authenticity". Geared toward the career woman, I was ever so grateful for a seminar that I felt was just for me. For more than 3 hours I was riveted and clung to her every word. I picked up tip after tip and had writers cramp from taking copious notes. Her style is informal and deliberate with a lot of humor!

Trudy is a member of my church and we are so lucky to have her in our congregation. She provided this seminar following Pastor George's (PG) message series on leadership. She served as a guest speaker during PG's message called "Leading and Succeeding at Work". At the end of the message that day, I sprinted to The Seeds Bookstore to register for her seminar. I saw the command she took at the pulpit and I knew I wanted to be part of anything she had to offer.

About Trudy:
Founder and CEO of The Center for Workforce Excellence
"Trudy Bourgeois is one of America’s leading experts on transformational leadership and a highly regarded leader in the field of workforce performance improvement. As an acclaimed author, business coach, experiential learning facilitator, and sought after business speaker she has reached millions of people with her positive messages about leadership, personal empowerment, and the search for success and happiness in our lives. She conducts numerous seminars and speaking symposiums for corporations throughout the country teaching men and women how to harness the greatest of the 21st century workforce.

Bourgeois left behind an eighteen-year corporate career after climbing to Vice President of National Accounts, where she managed a 3 billion dollar business unit for a Fortune 100 company, in order to create her own business. Dollars and Sense Magazine honored Bourgeois as one of the “Best and Brightest Women Leaders”. As the founder and President of The Center for Workforce Excellence, Bourgeois continues to utilize her superb management and interpersonal skills. An expert at developing next generation leaders and creating programs that enhance workforce performance."


















The remainder of this post is going to be completely self-indulgent so stop reading HERE if that is not of interest to you. I am mostly writing it for Fluff & Mel (and for myself too so I won't soon forget).

In the short period of time 29 women plus myself spent with Trudy, I had more self revelations than ever before. Without re-writing all my notes and violating copyright laws, I won't reiterate everything, but I am hopeful you will catch a glimpse of the insightful morning I had.

I am smack dab in the middle of Corporate America. Is it a place I ever thought I'd be? NO! If you saw me running around fabric stores and flea markets on the weekends, would you ever guess I call Corporate America home during the week? NO! Did I ever strive to get where I am today? NO!

With my love of daytime tv, my longing to make & create something new everyday and my disdain for getting dressed up, I always thought I really belonged at home watching soap operas & talk shows while running some sort of creative type business out of my home. That's a far cry from where I am (and dare I say where I ended up).

The big mystery has always been - Why am I so happy if I am in a place I never thought I'd be? A place that seems to be so opposite from anything I ever imagined. How did I get to where I am without any set goals? How have I been able to excel? Doesn't my personality seem to defy my place in Corporate America?

Enter Trudy Bourgeois!

She had us take a quiz titled "How Authentic and Graceful are You?" We had to answer true or false for each statement. Here is a sample:
#1. I have a vision for my life. FALSE
#2. I have total clarity for how my career vision fits into my life's vision. FALSE
#3. I am happy to go to work and to come home. TRUE
#11. I am clear about my professional mission. FALSE
#12. I consistently deliver breakthrough results and receive high performance ratings. TRUE
#14. I have established my personal leadership anchors that protect me from doing things that do not align with my values and beliefs. TRUE
# 16. I am not afraid to speak my mind, even in situations where I know that my boss or others will disagree. TRUE

Next she had us list our top 3 strengths.......things that we enjoy &/or do well (which usually go hand-in-hand).
I love to create & be crafty, organize & plan.

Bingo! That's all it took for Trudy to work her magic!

Trudy sat down with me for less than five minutes and asked me a series of questions about what I have done throughout my career including what I do now. Amazingly, she demonstrated to me that almost my entire career has been dedicated to creating, organizing and planning.

WHAT?!?! How did that happen???

While I thought I was just skating through Corporate America, I was actually intentionally drawn toward positions that have allowed me to create, organize and plan. Somehow, I still think much of it was pure luck, the positions I have held have allowed me to utilize the skills and talents I possess. Do titles such as Senior Consultant and Manager ooze with enthusiasm & a match to me? No! However, with each of these positions, the actual tasks and the large scale company goals have fit nicely with my skills.

REVELATION: Trudy explained to me that I possess the skill of being able to see something through from concept to execution. I am a strategist. (create, organize, plan)

Those things are very true. I love to start with nothing and make it in to something big. I love to organize and plan each step, policy, training session, etc. along the way. I love to analyze the results and make adjustments along the way. I love to create elaborate action plans for large-scale projects - involving large numbers of people. I love to be given a task with little or no instruction and being charged with "getting it done and getting it done right and with positive results". I love to be the pilot of any new program or major initiative in our company. I love change! You're asking, "Did I read that correctly?" Yes, you did. There is nothing that gets my level of enthusiasm up more than when we have a BIG change coming whether it is organizational or as a result of government legislation. I love it and now I know why!! I GET TO BE CREATIVE AT WORK!! I GET TO PLAN AND ORGANIZE LEADING EDGE CONCEPTS WITHIN OUR INDUSTRY!!

Whew! What a relief!

In closing, Trudy helped me to develop a professional vision. I can now change some of my quiz answers from "false" to "true". I now know when I apply for new jobs or ponder new positions, I need to investigate whether those positions will allow me to create, plan and organize - regardless of the title.

KV's Professional Vision / Value Proposition Statement:
"To drive the creation of new strategies, processes and paths that lead to better performance and results."

WOW! How profound! Who knew I would wake up Saturday morning and be so blessed by a truly remarkable woman?

Thanks Trudy for sharing your talents with me! Thanks for blazing the trail!

Big 80s Hair Contest

This is one of 4 photos I entered in the Big 80s Hair Contest on Living Locurto's Blog. Wish me luck!! All the photo entries will be posted on her blog Wednesday, October 1. I KNOW some of my blog readers had big 80s hair so submit your photos too! It will be FUN!
























1987 Southwest Texas State University, San Marcos, TX

KV, Tracey, Michelle, Robin - suite mates

The Def Leppard ticket stub was on this page of my photo album so I am guessing this is the night we went to that concert. (?) Tracey & Robin may have headed to the Steve Wariner concert though. I swear, they went to Bluebonnet Palace every other weekend to see him perform!

Every night before we went out, we spent at least 3 hours getting ready. I am not kidding you! A full 3 hours full of primping, changing outfits at least 4 times and spending LOT'S of time on our hair. We must have spent a fortune on hairspray, perms & mousse.

Hurricane Ike Update

I left everyone hanging after my 9/11/08 Ike post. Here are where things stand: All my family and friends are alive and well......maybe not perfect, and maybe their homes & yards need some repair, and maybe they are tired of living without electricity, but all things considered......well.

Since we have all seen the pictures and heard the stories of Galveston and Houston, this blog post will mostly be centered around the people I know, the pictures they took, and the first-hand accounts from Lake Jackson, the Brazosport area and The Woodlands.

Many do not yet have electricity so they have been unable to download and e-mail their pictures. I will continue to update this post as I receive pictures and stories.











Hurricane Ike came ashore in Texas at 2am September 13, 2008 just 1 mph short of a Category 3 Hurricane. Galveston took a direct hit but the storm span was 600 miles across. It left 4 million without power.

Common Storm Words & Themes:
"Camping" - most people have paralleled their post-storm life to camping; they may be living in their homes but it might as well be a tent; no light, no air conditioning, no computer, no tv, no refrigerator; their culinary delicacies include canned goods and perishable items that fit into an ice chest

"Noah's Ark" - oh, I had to laugh at my friend Robin who evacuated with her family & their pets to a hotel; she said everyone in the hotel had at least 2 pets and she felt like she was on Noah's Ark

"War Zone" & "Ghost Town" - stores closed; empty streets; devastating damage; no gasoline; no communication; no electricity; no phone service; most streets undriveable due to the debris

Where is Paul Revere when you need him???
As everyone across the country watched the hurricane blow through the Texas coast, people who needed information the most, didn't have it. Citizens of Ashtabula, Ohio were far more informed than my brother in his family who sat helpless in their home as vicious rolls of thunder shook their house and trees cracked and fell around them. Once power was lost, people lost touch with EVERYTHING. In fact, those who still do not have power, are still out of touch. Remember that the next time you are watching CNN. You will have more information than the powerless folks who are sitting in the dark, quiet wondering what is going on. And I am talking about the Brazosport area. Those in Galveston are far worse off.

Lake Jackson, TX
Going on 9 days, my parents and friends in Lake Jackson still do not have power. Most everyone left town under the mandatory evacuation but upon their return, they came home to messy yards, downed trees, downed power lines, a little home damage and no electricity. School is starting tomorrow and it leaves one to wonder how everyone will get dressed with no lights, no hair dryers, no computers for homework, & no washing machines or dryers to clothe the kids & teachers. It will be a challenge but I think most people are ready to get back in to some sort of routine. We can only hope the power will be restored this week. My parents went to church this morning and it too didn't have power. They said it was packed, hot & dark. But that didn't seem to bother anyone as most are ready for some sense of normalcy. There was no sermon but instead a time of musical worship and a lot of storm stories!

The only pictures I have of Lake Jackson are ones I got from the newspaper. I will get others when my family & friends can use their computers.























A church lost its steeple and it pierced the glass windows when it landed.

















Mangled power lines - a common sight throughout the Brazosport area; no wonder it is taking so long to get the power restored

The Woodlands, TX
Most people in The Woodlands didn't evacuate since it is almost 90 miles from the gulf coast. Its proximity didn't keep it from harm's way. With the power, force and speed of the hurricane, 90 miles inland didn't seem to matter. My brother's home didn't fare so well. One of their backyard trees fell and hit their home. The main trunk missed the house by 3 feet (a true blessing) but a branch gouged through the roof and into their kitchen. Sheri, my sister-in-law, and my nephew & niece, Hunter & Summer, witnessed it. (story & pics below) Needless to say, after dealing with it raining in the kitchen, a hole in the roof, living out of an ice chest on PBJ & tortillas, no power, no football or decent food, they packed up the family & the dog and came & stayed with me until The Woodlands power was restored.

My House & The Evacuees
Take a glimpse into my house and what the evacuees did in the DFW area.........

Hunter loves to interview people (we think he might have a future in newscasting). Here are pics of him conducting an interview with Summer recounting the tree story.

Hunter set the stage and gave facts about Hurricane Ike. He told us how scary it was to see a tree come through the kitchen ceiling. He told us he cried and was really scared when his mommy left him in charge of Summer as she frantically ran out in the rain and into the street to find Dada (who was helping a neighbor that had also just sustained major damage).









































Over breakfast consisting of a chocolate covered donut with sprinkles, Summer tells us the story:
"A tree came in our kitchen. We were in our dining room and this huge crash came in our kitchen and our cabinet was leaking. Some ice came in on our floor. I was scared. Then I went to Hunter's friend's Alex's house and watched 'Curious George'."

Very good Summer! I'll translate a few things. "Ice" = what looked like ice to a 3 year old was sheet rock & dry wall that crumbled down onto the kitchen sink, countertops and floors; How did she watch a movie with no electricity? The neighbor had a portable DVD player that still had some juice. They came over and got Hunter & Summer so Sheri & Derek could start cleaning up the mess and trying to prevent more rain & debris from getting in the house. Using pieces of plywood and a tarp, they were able to get the hole covered until they can get a more permanent repair.



























































Next Hunter interviewed Dada. Let me start by saying that Derek (aka "dada") is THE best story teller. He keeps an audience captivated and somehow makes every story into an adventure that leaves you waiting for more. And funny.......his stories will make you laugh. In written blog format, I'll try to do his stories justice. Too bad I didn't record this.


















Hunter: "What was the hardest part of the hurricane?"

Derek: "lack of communication; missing college football weekend; being out-of-sorts; sleeping with windows open and hearing the neighbors shouting and their generators running"

Hunter: "What was the funniest part of the hurricane?"

Derek: "Two stories. First was in the midst of the storm as trees starting falling, our neighbor came running outside in the pouring rain wearing a soaked wife-beater shirt, a yellow hard hat, and woody woodpecker boxers & the cow was out of the barn."

(Summer in the background laughing hysterically, "Woodpecker with cow out barn!!" I hope that's not the story she chooses to tell on her first day back at Mother's Day Out.)

Derek - con't.: "The second was the story of one of my customers. These are guys that work at Seaside Lumber in Bolivar and for some reason they decided not to evacuate. Six of them were on the roof of their lumber company and the waters continued rising, now to a dangerous level. They decided to jump off the roof and swim to safety at the church next door. As they began to breathe a sign of relief upon entering the church, they almost lost their breath as they noticed a lady who had evacuated with her pet lion!"

After Derek told me this, you always wonder if the customer told it with any hint of exaggeration. Come to find out, as I was looking at hurricane pics on the internet, I came across pictures of Shackle the lion. It's a true story.




















"Shackle, an 11 year old African lioness, lies at the First Baptist Church in Crystal Beach, TX. The lion and her owner waded through Hurricane Ike flood waters to the church after they were unable to make it off Bolivar Peninsula prior to Ike's landfall."




















If I had to choose a theme song for Hunter & Summer's stay at my house, it would be "Sexy Back" by Justin Timberlake. We must have listened to that song no fewer than 30 times. Here are a few pics of them getting their groove on.













































































































Ft. Worth Zoo
We took advantage of the beautiful fall weather and spent a day at the Ft. Worth Zoo. They got an evacuee discount!

What was your favorite part of the zoo?
Hunter: the snakes & penguins
Summer: the train rides

Enjoy the pics!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

The next set of pics were taken by Hunter & Summer. Don't strain your eyes too hard looking for the (nonexistent) animals.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

While we were at the zoo, Derek stayed at my house to catch up on work and bond with the dogs.


















Have I talked about the food and how hungry this crew was when they arrived? After eating out of an ice chest for 2 days, when they piled out of the car, they had ravenous appetites and ate the Chicken Spaghetti, Garlic Toast and Chocooate Sheet Cake (the recipe is coming Wonder!) like they hadn't eaten in a month. Hunter wore my apron and helped me cook. He's an excellent taster!























Phone service was not as available as we would have liked, especially the day of and the day after the storm when we were trying to account for people and damage. We were so thankful when we didn't hear, "All circuits are busy. Please try your call again later." Here is Summer telling PaPa & Mel about the zoo.























The caption for this next photo could be "higher ground", "survival", or "spoiled". Roxy is used to having the house to herself. She couldn't find a time or place to eat in peace so I put her food & water on my bed.


















Time To Go Home
Word came in at 10:30 one evening that power had been restored in their neighborhood. They waited until the next morning to verify it was still going strong. I was thanked immensely for my hospitality but Roxy & I benefited from their visit as much or more than they did.

KV with Hunter & Summer (and both dogs)



















Good-bye!

Food Feature on College Game Day

In my previous post, I talked about my delight in cooking while waiting for the kickoff of my favorite game. I am going to start a Food Feature on College Game Day which means I will (attempt) to post a recipe each Saturday.

Today's recipes will be Brisket & Beans - YUM!

Brisket
Recipe by Mel (my mom)

Flat Cut Brisket
Woody's Cook-In Sauce (bar-b-que concentrate)
Garlic & Herb (salt free) seasoning
Salt

ingredients




























Place brisket in heavy foil in a large pyrex - fat side down.
Mix 1/2 bottle Woody's Cook-In Sauce with equal amount of water. Stir. Pour over meat.
Completely cover brisket with the Garlic & Herb seasoning. Then do the same with the salt.
(Don't ask why we use salt-free garlic & herb seasoning, then cover with salt. We don't know.)

Close foil. Refrigerate overnight to let the meat marinate. If you don't have the time to marinate overnight, marinate at least a few hours before cooking.

Bake at 300 degrees for 4 hours.

Remove the meat from the pyrex and place on a cutting board. I lay it fat side up so I can cut off the entire layer of fat. I guess this is optional if you like the layer of fat on your brisket. I then turn it back over and start slicing.

After it is sliced, I pour some of the meat drippings on the brisket to keep it moist.

If you wish, you can use the meat drippings to make a gravy (using flour & water over high heat) which is absolutely delicious poured over the meat and mashed potatoes.

pouring Woody's/water mix over the meat














pouring salt-free Herb & Garlic seasoning over meat














cooked brisket straight from the oven














cutting off layer of fat














sliced














I usually slice about 3/4 of the meat and chop the remaining 1/4. I use the chopped for left-overs to make brisket tacos wrapped in tortillas. I usually smash pinto beans & add to tacos. You could even add cheese, guacamole or anything else you'd like to the tacos.


Pinto Beans
Recipe by KV & Mel

1 lb Pinto Beans
1 jar Picante Sauce
either bacon strips or beef bouillon cubes for flavoring

ingredients





























Rinse beans then place in water and soak overnight.

To soak or not to soak: I am a bean soaker and so was my grandad but my mom is not. This step is really up to you but I think the beans are better if soaked.

Fill 1/2 - 3/4 cooking pot with water, add beans, and bring to a rapid boil.
Add about 4-5 slices of bacon if you are choosing that option.
Keep the boil going throughout this first step.
As the water evaporates, keep adding water and keep cooking on high.
Stir often.
This step will end when the beans become a more solid color and start to lose their dots.
When that happens, turn the heat down to simmer.
Pour in the bottle of Picante Sauce. (I use medium.)
If you are cooking with bouillon, add the 2 cubes now. (don't use bacon & bouillon - choose 1)
Cover & simmer for about 1 hour or until the beans are soft.
When cooking with bacon, I sometimes have to add salt for taste; I rarely need to add salt when using bouillon.

rinse














soak















boil














picante

College Football Season

It's here! My absolute favorite time of the year is fall and college football season.

My ideal Saturday morning is waking up, popping open an ice cold Dr. Pepper, turning on ESPN's College Game Day, and preparing to cook a meal that I'll time perfectly to the kickoff of my day's favorite game (it's usually the UT game). There is nothing better than ideal outside temperatures so I can leave the backdoor open and something delicious simmering on the stove. I love a house with the feel of cool crisp air, aromas coming from the kitchen, and the sounds of football on tv.

College Game Day

If you want to get fired up about the games, watch College Game Day. Go on the road with Chris, Lee and Kirk. Broadcast outside of a stadium that will have one of the day's best games, you'll get an insider's perspective on that game and of all the other great match ups. I love the enthusiasm and spirit on these college campuses and I also love getting a glimpse at the campus itself and their traditions.

The Waiting Game

With my family and closest friends safely in their evacuation posts, the waiting begins.


















I took inventory of everyone in the early morning hours when reporters began predicting Ike's eye to directly slam my hometown. As many of them live in the pink Zone Coastal (see pic above), mandatory evacuation was already in order.

Packing for a hurricane makes you take inventory of your belongings. You have no choice but to carefully select only the treasures that will fit in your car. It's ideal (for most, necessary) to pack important papers, especially home insurance information. In the haste to leave town, boarding windows, securing all loose items outside, and placing prized belongings (that don't fit in the car) in water proof containers and locations must be done. On top of that, you can only hope that you have gas in the car because there is no guarantee that you'll be able to find any. Then, you try to outsmart the other 1 million who are leaving to find the "perfect" time to drive away to avoid the traffic. (Oh.....writing that paragraph gave me anxiety. Now I think I finally know why I live in Dallas.)

With uncertainty in the air, my family & friends who are calling San Antonio, Austin, San Marcos, Georgetown and Bastrop their home away from home for the next few days, will try to make the best of it. If they venture out in the towns where they are "vacationing", they'll have a constant yearning to get back to a newssource for the latest update. They'll have sleepless nights full of worry. "Will we have a home to return to? How much damage will we have? Will we be able to live in our home? Will my hundred year old towering trees still be standing? How long will the power be out?" The questions will be endless but there is nothing anyone can do except wait and pray.

The prayer I'm hearing from the cast of those I am close to is for the hurricane to weaken. I do not feel it is appropriate or fair to pray for the hurricane change its path because that would only inflict harm to another community. So if you are the praying type, send up a word for the Gulf Coast communities that will be impacted by Ike.

I would also encourage you to take inventory of your life and ask yourself if you could only fill a car with the most important things in your life, what would you pack?

















When my family and friends are able to return home, I'll post an update.

For those of you who know me, you know I love music, live entertainment, going to concerts, and the MTV Video Music Awards. I continue to watch year after year knowing fewer and fewer of the musicians. I still hold on to the diminishing possibility that one of my great 80's rock band heros will make an appearance. Last night was no different.

Unfortunately, the only glimpse of the 80's I was able to get was yet another famous musician grabbing his crotch. Sigh.......

michael j.
lil wayne

























MTV......you used to be the GREATEST! What happened?? Please go back to playing music videos again. And bring back Dweezil Zappa while you're at it.