The Ratliff Roundup: June 2010

I am writing this blog because I have a little free time to myself. Wow, I should type that sentence again, because time is rare around here and it down right makes me mad. I hate that time keeps slipping, and am frustrated that I can't influence it to stop, or slow down!

Lately, I am glad to say that that I have spent has been with my immediate family (or former immediate). Spending time with my parents and my sister and my nephew over the past few months have been amazing and I know that it is right where God needed me to be and I can't thank God enough for giving me a husband that wants to be with my family just as much as I do. It probably has something to do with my parents loving Joe!! With my dad's ever-fragile health, Ann thought it would be a great idea to take family pictures. I agree and started to ask my mom why it was that we never did take family pictures. She replied that there was the one Christmas where we took pictures in front of the tree; it made me laugh. The photo session was amazing! The photographer had me, Ann and my parents all taking these funny pictures where we were literally cheek to cheek! It was also wonderful to see my dad with all of the grand children and I just can't wait to see the pictures. I will post as soon as we get them. Being out of town is hard, but I am so glad I have made those trips.

So -- I have actually had a pretty hard March, April and May.

For PepsiCo, I facilitate how to "manage change." I think it is so ironic that the change process has hit me personally pretty hard and has really tried my faith and the philosophies that I am so proud to own and teach.

I think I was in denial when Abby, our nanny, left to start her career. I was trying to act so cool about it all and deep down inside I was so scared and so sad to see her leave. She was great with the girls and I was completely confident when I went to work. I knew that she would take care of their needs, teach them about the Lord and help grow them. The nanny search lasted quite a while. We did end up hiring D'Ann, and I really like her. She has been with us for about three weeks and I just like her temperament and I pray that she will be able to be with us for a long time.

That was March

and April

May brought about a horrible, horrible accident. I was with my mom and Elle. We just had a great time shopping and I stopped at Which Which to get lunch for everyone. We were having a blast! The phone rang and my friend Brooke said "are you driving?" I replied that I was and then she insisted on me to pull the car over. At this time I was like she is cra-zy. So, I pulled over and my mom started driving. She continued to tell me that there had been a horrible accident -- Lakeysha and her kids were killed. I'm like, what? She told me again. I just couldn't breathe. I told her I had to go. I had to call the other 2 in our foursome. Yes, our four-some. The old gang. We had been together since 2006. No one laughed like we did. No one told the truth like we did. No one embraced and challenged diversity issues like we did. We all loved the Lord and Mark would always end our team meetings with "This is the day the Lord has made." It was an incredible two years until "they" accepted other jobs within PepsiCo. But other jobs didn't stop us. We still continued to meet once a month and it was at that point in 2008, when Lakeysha's and my relationship grew. We were still on the same team, but just doing different roles. She was the one I could email at 10 am and say, "let's go to lunch" and she would. We would talk about everything. There was nothing to hide with her. She also gave me great direction and feedback. We had amazingly open conversations. I mean, you should have heard our discussions about Obamana vs McCain. Ok, wait, back to the story. So, this was my girl. She was gone. Of course, I had other friends that were in my little "circle" -- but friends at work, that's another story. She was the first adult I would see after dropping the kids and the last face I saw before going home and starting my second job. She was there every day. It's taken me a long time to write this blog. I don't really expect anyone to read this; I usually don't write this much. But to be honest, this is therapeutic. I have been so sad over this. It has been quite hard, and what is worse is that Wyndell is still in the hospital and I can't imagine what he is going through. Here is a picture of me and Lakeysha -- "Foxy Greene." Every time we had a work function, we were arm and arm. I went to my first work function last week, and it was very hard. Did I mention I had way too much wine?

So -- I have been grieving the loss of my friend. I have also been trying to study for my HR Certification exam. I have been studying the material for a few months. I attended a 3 day session in Atlanta and I was 1 week away from taking the test when Lakeysha died. I thought I would postpone the test; but decided she would wave that index finger in my face if I didn't. I went to take my test on Thursday. It was a long 3 hours and 45 minutes. I reviewed every question. Talked to myself. Prayed to Jesus! Then I was done. I clicked submit and waited…. and PASS showed up. I was elated.

These past few months, so many wonderful things have happened and I must make sure I keep count of those too!
1. Elle finished CCDC and is on her way to Kindergarten. I am so proud of her. She and I have a very special connection and I thank the Lord for her in my life.
2. Emme continues to crack us up. For those wondering, our relationship is awesome. She truly makes me smile and I envy her willingness and courage to meet new people and help her older sister meet new people too.
3. The girls did a great job in their spring recitals. They were too cute!!
4. I celebrate 10 years with PepsiCo this week!!! Can you believe it??? I sure can't! We are having a big happy hour (what else?) to celebrate!

If you are still reading this, bless you. Please be in prayer for Lakeysha's husband. Be in prayer for our staff and the grieving we are going through. Be in prayer for me and Joe as we continue to make this dual working marriage/parenting thing work. We are doing great; but it is hard. We are both so eager to succeed and be a good corporate citizen. We also strive to be great parents and too often fall short. Above all we strive to be in great relationship with Christ. Here are some great pics, hope you enjoy!

Me and Keysha at Corp Party

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