Why?

Why start a blog?  That has to be the first why and like so much in life is  both simple and complicated.  Simple:  my youngest son while laughing at my description of a hot yoga class told me I should be blogging.  Complicated:  he actually said vlogging not blogging.  (Is communication between parents and children ever simple?).  Since vlogging (for those of you, like me who don't instantly recognize the term) involves posting videos of yourself on YouTube and I only have three good hair days a year, vlogging is not an option.  Therefore, simple solution:  blogging it is.

Why PleasantlyRelentless?  I am a commercial property manager and love working.  I am old enough to remember when secretary was the only office role available to women.  I am grateful to those women who worked to change things so I could have the opportunities that have come my way.  I feel strongly that I have a responsibility to mentor and help younger people (male and female) grow in their careers.  Developing those mentoring skills is the reason I took a seminar recently about women in the work place.  The keynote speaker's main point was that women should always smile and remain pleasant no matter how much bullshit is thrown our way (the wording was different but the meaning was the same) or in other words "remain relentlessly pleasant". I was offended.  I don't think staying pleasant is always a woman's best option.  In fact, one of my strong suits is my ability to be pleasantly relentless.  That relentlessness has carried me through more than one crises and I won't dampen it down just to make the presence of a female in the workplace more acceptable.

Anyway, that's the whys.  The whats would be what do I think I can contribute to the blogging community?  I guess I at least have a good story about a hot yoga class.  Seriously the teacher kept proposing alternate postures to make it more challenging.  We are taking a class that lasts

1 1/2 hours in a room that was supposed to be heated to 104 degrees (she didn't watch the thermostat and it got to 109).  Just breathing was challenging enough, thank you for asking.  Beyond that, I have a rich Florida Cracker heritage that is always good for a few laughs, am a semi-competent seamstress working on my second wedding dress for a family member and first tuxedo (separate entries about those later), have a job that requires me to spend hours discussing the merits of various paper towel dispensers and a husband and family that challenge, teach and enrich my life every day.  Maybe I won't contribute a lot but I think it is time to at least join the conversation.