An award and 15 year anniversary!

The daughter got an award this morning at the School Assembly. It was for showing "Confidence and Kindness" through the school year so far, particularly in the month of December.

As her mother, I am proud of my child in every way. But her behavior with us at home or in social situations is very different from school. She comes across as a very reserved person. And she is a true introvert. It took her a couple of months to start showing her true personality to her teachers. And I love how they have picked up on her confidence, especially when they see that brilliant smile that lights up her face when she is proud of something she has accomplished.

She has always been a compassionate person from within, but we did not see her exhibit that trait to other people. To animals, yes. To the garden, yes. To other humans - rarely. I take the example of our son, her baby brother, and up until a few months ago, she would tolerate him, at best. The switch has flipped now, and she is his biggest advocate. She is extremely possessive about him, and is full of compassion for his terrible 3's which drive us all crazy. To see that she is being recognized for being kind to all her friends in school too makes me very happy!

I also celebrate my 15 year anniversary at Intel today. Yes, it's been that long a journey - from a grad intern to a server memory architect....always challenging, always fun! I was thinking if I've ever felt like I was stuck in a rut, and at times, maybe I did, but I don't think Intel has anything to do with that feeling.

The opportunities are limitless within our large company, and now, more than ever before, they are encouraging women to do whatever we desire and choose to do. The flexibility is available as well, to work part time, reduced hours, work from home, request for zero to very little work travel - and barring a few exceptions here and there, it's truly a Great Place To Work!

It's a happy day, and it's a Friday - can't wait to celebrate tonite with the family!

Eight

I made this card for the husband, on our 8th wedding anniversary today :)

We are in a really good place with our relationship right now....and I am grateful for that. I cannot say the same thing about the early years, or the stressful times when we had job changes, infants, lots of expectation mismatches, and little faith in each other.

But we have both worked to make it better; finding humor during stress, finding each other's love language, expressing ourselves frankly, and working as a team w.r.t parenting.

There is still room for improvement, but we are clearly headed in the right direction.

Happy Anniversary, my love!

Day 8 - Work Anniversary #13

The husband was sooper nice to me this morning....he woke up early and did many chores that normally I would do. Before leaving for work, he came by to wish me "Happy Anniversary". For a minute, I felt terrible for forgetting our "wedding anniversary".

But then I paused - and thought again, and told him, "but our anniversary is not until the end of the month".

And he said - no, it's your "Intel Anniversary" today - another pause - and his wish brought a huge smile on my face :).

13 years - jeez, it's a long long time. I never knew I would stick around with one company for SO long. Thank God I don't feel stuck though. I've changed groups and positions and work profiles, and my current job has been the most challenging assignment that I have taken up in my career. My manager, who is technically exceptional, always pushes me to do more and better (it's another story that he only does that and appreciates very little of what I deliver, but that's okay) so there is never a day when my work day is boring.

There is still SO much to learn for me.....and honestly, as much as I like being a mom and cooking new recipes and doing things at home, I think I would be miserable not having a career.

Also, I LOVE being in California. Southern California would be slightly better than this, but where we live currently is blissful. Small town - everything is within 10 minutes of driving, excellent schools, great weather, great social circle, an affordable lovely home to live in, and lots of nature around to enjoy for us. The entire country is gripped by the Polar Vortex but we have warm sunny weather out here....could not be more blessed in that department!!

I treated myself with a sooperb massage during lunch time. The therapist Cassandra was really good, and my sore running muscles are thanking me tons right now!!!

One more year and I have my second sabbatical from work - looking forward to a paid quarter off :)!

5 years

Five years ago today, I married a person who I thought was very loving, warm and caring, intelligent, a man with a great sense of humor and a kind heart.

The first year was very trying - we both thought we married the wrong person - we had fun but we fought a lot too. It was level-setting our expectations from ourselves, in the relationship, as well as each other. We survived!!!!

The second year was better - there was love, but there was still a lack of complete harmony. Job changes and living in two different cities did not help improve the situation much. We didn't forget to have fun however....and we survived another year as well!!!!

The third year was very happening - we bought a home which was a happy but stressful occasion, and then towards the end of the year I got pregnant, which was again a happy but stressful affair in the first few months due to complications. I think it finally dawned on us during this year that we are in this for real, for good.

The fourth year was the happiest of all. The daughter was born, bringing immeasurable joy into our lives. We were smitten by her, we were in love with her - we put are differences aside and completely devoted ourselves to her. Hubby also stepped up and took amazing care of me during my challenging pregnancy....and I am very grateful for it. Oh and he was amazing during my labor and delivery as well!!!!!

The fifth year - the daughter continued to bring more love and more joy into our lives. We learnt how to parent a child without any support from elders. We learnt to care more and more for each other's needs. I think our bond became the strongest, and deepest this year.

I've learnt a lot during this time. I've learnt that the man I married - who I thought was very warm, loving and caring - is indeed so. He listens - whenever I have things to say. Whether I'm angry or just sharing, he patiently listens. He looks after me - he massages my feet when I'm tired, he makes me a cup of tea, he cooks for me, he folds my laundry - just to mention a few things. He shares more than 50% of the parenting and household chores with me. He showers his love in many ways - ranging from intangible to tangible gestures. His sense of humor and timing is brilliant - it works magic in diffusing tense situations. Having our daughter has been our greatest adventure together, and we're having a blast with it. But more than anything, what I've learnt is that my man has a very kind heart - a quality that is important above anything else.

Each year, our relationship has gotten better and better. All I hope for is that our future keeps chugging along the same path, and I see a beautiful life ahead of us.

To my hubby,

Thank you for loving me so much, for your amazing support towards my career, for your kindness and understanding in the little things in life that matter so much to me, for choosing to live a healthy lifestyle with me. Above all, thank you for being the most amazing dad to your mini-me - our daughter - it just melts my heart to see you both so happy with each other.

Here's wishing us many more years of blissful and blessed togetherness!!!!!

Happy Anniversary Dear Hubby - You are loved a lot!!!!!

11 years at INTC

I vividly remember my first day at Intel, attending the New Employee Orientation workshop, 11 years ago today. It was my dream to get a job at Intel, and I achieved it within months of coming to the US. I started out as an Intern, at the small Sacramento campus, as a test engineer. I was extremely lucky to find a group which took me in as a family, nurtured my technical skillset, and appreciated the hard work, sincerity n personality that I brought with me as a fresh graduate. I still work with some of these people - we followed each other as we moved groups, and we blend so well as a team. Some have become my family in the US, and take care of me like their daughter. I feel very lucky and blessed to have begun my career with such wonderful individuals.

Since then, I have switched many job profiles, and have moved from the test side of things to being an architect. I landed into my current role by great recommendations and lots of luck....and it's a role which is very tough to get into. I have a very challenging job, as I mostly work on next generation technologies (none of which I can share publicly here), but it is very rewarding as well. Nothing that I work on can be googled - very little of it can be referenced from elsewhere. Inspite of so much experience on my resume, I am still a junior member on the team, with only one new college grad hired recently.

I have thoroughly enjoyed my professional life all these years. I've gotten promotions when I deserved them. When I was single, I worked hard and played hard. I put in long hours of work and sometimes worked weekends, but I traveled quite a bit as well, and always found time for exercise or sports. After getting married, I learnt to balance better. After becoming a mom, I switched to a reduced work-week and at the moment, I feel I have a very good work-life balance going on. Intel has supported me very well during these transitions. I have always managed to take as much time off as needed, and I have also put in extra time when the project demands it.

Intel is also a great place to work for the outstanding benefits it provides to its employees. From an excellent retirement program & Sabbatical every 7 years (which is 8 weeks of paid leave in addition to the 4 weeks off you get each year) to discounts for virtually everything, to amazing programs organized at each site - a top-class gym with 24x7 access, onsite Spa, fun quarterly events (our last one was a cricket game that I organized for my mostly non-Indian team), winter parties, summer carnivals, free tickets to movies and various shows...the list could go on and on. During the recession years, it was not so good. We even had to pay for the disposable water/coffee cup, but things have definitely gotten way better since then.

Intel is also known to have a peculiar work culture. Lots of meetings, lots of documentation, lots of power points - they say it moves slowly. Some of it is true....because we are such a large company. However, in recent years, the focus has been to be nimble and agile. There are many folks who have never worked elsewhere (like me), so people coming from outside of Intel have issues fitting in. I feel its more of their problem than ours, as we have an open door policy w.r.t all issues, and positive changes are welcome if influenced and approached in the right manner.

In recent years, the company has also put a lot of focus on hiring, and retaining diversity candidates - women being one of them. Special incentives are given if a diversity candidate is hired to the referring employee, and women are given much more flexibility and leave options to be able to retain their positions when they go out on maternity leave. A lot more needs to be done, but the progress in recent years has been very encouraging.

Many people ask me, Isn't it boring after so many years? Honestly, I rarely feel that way. It's because we have so many choices to do different things within the same company. It's a matter of making those choices and changes happen. If I were to keep switching companies, I would not get the flexibility I currently have with a flexible reduced schedule, where I feel I am as much of a mommy (maybe more) to my toddler as a valuable asset to Intel. I would also lose the benefits that I have piled upon so far in terms of retirement, stock, paid leave, maternity time-off, etc. Not to mention - each new place comes with its own challenges. Being within the company for so long, and having such a wide network of people that know me (&vice-versa), it is easier to switch groups and roles when the time comes. Getting recommendations for yourself is easy, and getting feedback on the new role and manager/colleagues is also easy.

At this stage of my life, I need the balance and flexibility, more than anything else. And I'm happy that my current company understands and provides that to me. When change is meant to happen, it will!

I'm truly grateful for my professional journey so far....I hope it continues on the same positive path.

Here's to many more successful years in the semiconductor industry!