Retrospective Workshop

This last weekend I was thrilled to be involved in hosting a workshop on Agile Retrospectives.

Sharon Cichelli and I had a great time working together to get everything prepared and presented together in a really cohesive way which it seemed like everyone appreciated.

Retrospectives are my favorite part of Agile because it is cause for some reflection and growth. I find this the most difficult and most rewarding part of the Agile process.

It is difficult because saying to yourself "how could I have done this better" is a hard question to answer truthfully. While some of us spend, some might say, too much time obsessing about what someone meant or what that look was, there are others who don't have the observation skills needed to see that there was a comment or a look at all.

By meeting in a group (who have to provide a level of safety before true reflection happens), it's easier to see through the eyes of others what is the next most important thing to work on. And that's what Agile boils down to, right? Doing the most important thing next and putting aside the others until they are most important. And this sense of accomplishment is very rewarding.

I did learn a number of things while holding the workshop.
I wasn't as nervous as I expected I would be. I think presenting with Sharon, going through it beforehand, having a well organized outline and friendly participants helped, but I was still surprised that my introverted side didn't take over more.
While I knew this before we started, it was fascinating to see the difference between a bunch of technical people memorizing digits of Pi vs. verses of "The Charge of the Light Brigade". So much excitement for the first and a little apprehension for the second. To be fair, the poem was at the end of a three hour session.
Someone came up at the end and shared his view of Retrospectives which I feel needs to be a cornerstone of the next time we give the workshop: Retrospectives are not a problem->solution kind of meeting, rather a exploration and discussion type of meeting and it should be introduced, supported, and concluded that way.
He was basically saying that tech-like people will come at a meeting like this which is based on incremental improvements, safety, interpersonal skills and growth and slice and dice it into tasks with checkmarks and measures.

Sharon emailed me yesterday and asked if there was another topic I might consider hosting a workshop about. I am sure there's something out there I could focus my thoughts around, but with Retrospectives being my mental beacon for the last 6 months, I am having trouble seeing a single topic. Maybe Sharon has something she feels strongly about that I can provide some support and get energized about.

Thanks everyone for the great session, the wonderful support (hubbies Jonathan and Ryan) and all the "luck".

I need your help

I have created a new diaper bag which just might be considered over the top... or it could be something worth pursuing.

Please look at these pictures and tell me what you think.

It is a bag modeled on the dress that Aurora wears in Sleeping Beauty. I will post it on etsy.com, but I am not sure how much to list it for. Any thoughts?

It is made of polyester and will wash and has the usual fold out changing pad.

Introducing....

Dulce de Leche aka Dulcie

Banner ads done all wrong...

I was innocently going to try and find out if Time Warner was going to show the Vanderbilt game this weekend because... eh... I probably won't watch, but it's nice to know it's there.

I wasn't able to find out on Time Warner's site, plus I was distracted by the war going on between my local NBC affiliate and Time Warner... must get back on task.....So I went to TV Guide to see if they could help... they are TV GUIDE afterall...

and this is what I saw...
If I had to guess... I'd say that TV Guide is owned by CBS and they REALLY REALLY want us to watch Eleventh Hour tonight...no, really, you should watch it... oh, and they haven't sold any banner ads in months because they have 6 (!) different kinds of banner ads for Eleventh Hour! it's tonight! So you'd better watch!

Back to work for 5 minutes...

Take my money! I hate you/call me!

Here, take my $20 Stephanie Meyers! I was resisting buying your 3rd book in the Twilight series because I was looking for it in paperback. I only finished the second book the other day... so I was being patient and responsible...

I was so excited when we went to Half Price books and there it was on the shelf! And Half Price! After I stopped dancing around and waving it in front of Ryan in triumph I opened the cover and was disappointed to find it was in Spanish. BahhH!

So I had to buy it at full price... in hardback... driving immediately to the nearest B&N!

Damn you! Damn you for making teen fiction so appealing! So readable! There's not even any sex (just lots of smoldering) and I am totally hooked! And the third one is pretty good (I am surprised she's able to keep up this level of interest after three).

So, sorry Jose Saramago, your intriguing Blindness is going to have to wait, half finished, until I know what's going to happen to Bella and Edward. I will resist purchasing Breaking Dawn until Jose gets his much needed attention.

At least I am not talking about a TV show... only because Lost doesn't start for another month.

Bates Family +1

You will all be happy to know that we have added to the Bates Family. A girl this time.

She's about 6 pounds and covered in fur and is adept at saying "meow".

We are in negotiations on the name, but some top contenders are "Ember", "Emerald", "Amy". We had to put our foot down on names derived from Pokemon characters (although Rosie was a good suggestion). It seems that J, Ryan and I can agree on any number of names, but P feels strongly and objects to most names.

This little bundle of fur is a 1 year old ivory short hair tabby who seems really sweet and not completely freaked out by the dog. They both spent the night in our room (kitty under the bed and Maggie on her usual bed), so we considered that a success.

Did you think I was talking about something else when I said we had added to the Bates family?

Happy Anniversary, Honey

Today it's been 9 years since our fun party with all our friends where we got hitched.

As is standard for a 9th anniversary (officially the "pottery" anniversary, unofficially the "practical" anniversary), we have given each other a new computer. An iMac! Which we promptly reformatted half the drive to be a Windows machine, so now we have TWO new computers! woo hoo!

I have gotten a number of very nice emails this morning wishing us a wonderful day. Most of them hope we get to go out on a date (which we are tomorrow night AND Saturday night!). Tonight we are going to a Cub Scout meeting and watching the debate with our neighbors. Again, the "practical" anniversary.

Finally, I wanted to share an e-card which my parents sent to us. It's my favorite. Mom didn't intend for it to be hilarious, but the banner ad really makes me enjoy the card all the more.

Happy "first cold front of the year, that's why we picked this weekend" Anniversary! Check those genital warts!