BMX

I have been hesitant to post this one. It is just too much of a gem to share broadly, but then again, I really don’t think my reader base of 10 people will be the tipping point of exposing the broader world to this amazing program. 

In short, for the past few months, we have spent our Sundays up in Napa for the kids to participate in a BMX “class”.  And it has been so much more fun than I could have ever expected or imagined. 

Oskar signed up with a few friends for the early spring five week session back in March where he learned the basics of BMX racing from an Olympic bronze medalist and experienced a huge boost in confidence. And after seeing Oskar receive a trophy at the end of the program Alva announced she was going to participate in the next session despite previously not knowing or wanting to learn how to ride a bike. 

The first week of Session Two Alva was hesitant but loved going around the track on her balance bike with Martin running by her side. Even more, she loved the hi fives she got after each race from Donny the director of the program. 

Before week two began, Donny reached out to encourage Alva to start using her pedals and that was all she needed. A day of practice at Joe D playground and the pedals were officially back on the bike. 

And by week five she was pedaling around before, during and after each practice and Martin was able to let her go on her own for over half of the track.  She just needed a little external encouragement to make it happen and she is now unstoppable. 

Oskar has also really excelled and improved: placing second in his Moto even after missing an entire day of races for Nascar. 

What I originally perceived as an inconvenience (having to wake up early every Sunday to drive to Napa for the day) has now turned into my favorite thing to do. 

Session 1, cheering on Oskar

Session 2, Week 1

Session 2, Week 2 (at the top of the Gate)

Going on her own!

Living her best life

Mother Son Weekend

It started with a simple idea in Mexico. Erin and I should plan a weekend trip with our two girls before they start kindergarten. And then that idea bloomed into something more: I should aim to have a weekend away with each kid once a year for some proper one on one time. It had been years since Oskar and I had that one crazy night at Timber Cove and I still look back fondly on that moment with just the two of us. So this year both kids are getting their very own mother / child weekend. Alva’s weekend is locked in for August, so I gave two suggestions to Oskar for his: we could do a Nascar race weekend in Sonoma in June or an Indy race car weekend in Laguna Seca in September. Oskar wanted to go first so Sonoma it was! 

I had so much fun planning the weekend but loved even more all of the impromptu decisions we made along the way. The Nascar race was on Sunday and the weekend started on Friday and we made the most of everything in between. 

I picked up Oskar from school Friday afternoon and our first stop was the convenience store for snacks… we landed at a BevMo and I refused to say no to anything Oskar put in the basket: chips, sure, popcorn why not, pretzels, those are healthy and would, in theory, counteract the skittles, cookies, sweet tarts, pop tarts, gummy bears, gummy worms and who knows what else. $70 of junk food purchased later, we were on our way. 

We got to the hotel in Sonoma just before dinner but, fully snacked up from the drive, (we had already dug into the graham crackers, red vines and goldfish) we were able to take our time checking out the features of the hotel during which Oskar proclaimed “this is the best day ever”. We then walked to HopMonk Tavern for dinner and, since it was a nice night, we sat outside to eat our meal and listen to the live music. 

Back at the hotel, the first surprise of the trip: a Lego race car set with two separate cars that we could build. We sat on the bed until 10pm each building our own car and having such a nice night. Cars finished, we finally turned off the lights and went to bed. The next day had even more in store.

The Joy (and Guilt) of Nostalgia

Oskar and I woke up Saturday with big plans: we were going to Six Flags for a day of roller coasters and a trip down memory lane. But first we needed breakfast. A local Sonoma favorite is Sunflower Cafe so we walked the few blocks to have the true Sonoma experience. But in reality, it was kind of crowded and we weren’t there to check off a touristy box or be seen. This was not what we needed. Instead we headed back to our hotel and hit up the Black Bear Diner across the street. This was definitely more our speed and gave us a chance to just enjoy each other's company. After a massive plate of chocolate chip pancakes and raspberry lemonade (because per Oskar: how will I know if I like it if I don’t try it) we grabbed our car and we’re officially off to ride some roller coasters. 

Just a quick background, growing up, Six Flags was called Marine World Africa USA. It had limited roller coasters and much more wildlife. Walking through the gates to the renovated park, while completely different, unlocked a handful of crazy memories I hadn’t thought about in years! At the old park you could ride camels and elephants, you could see snow tigers (and convince your parents to buy the matching stuffed animal), you could see a whale and dolphin show (and even potentially be kissed by an orca, as I had the pleasure of being) and the best part: you could see a water ski show that inspired countless hours of fun and pretend for weeks and months after the visit. Fun fact: my brother, sister and I would put on similar water ski shows ourselves at home either with our cabbage patch kid dolls or ourselves behind the wooden boat parked on the side of our house. It really was a crazy time to be a kid. 

Those memories gave me such a wave of nostalgia that I was almost able to tune out the guilt of what we now know to be terrible experiences for the animals we rode, kissed and admired up close and from afar. 

Thankfully most of the animals are now gone and Oskar was more focused on riding every roller coaster he was tall enough to ride. And despite my ever growing aversion to anything vertigo inducing, I was able to pull it together for him most of the day. The highlight must have been the White Water Rapids ride which we took with a random family of four. The other mom got soaked under the waterfall and all of us laughed the entire time. Unfortunately it also left Oskar and I with the joy of having wet jeans for the rest of the day. 

We played games, rode all of the rides, ate ice cream and nothing of nutritional value, and core memories were made… including one memory I would prefer to forget…Oskar built up the confidence to go on a ride by himself and I let him wait in line alone. It was a short line and short ride and I could keep my eyes on him the entire time. And yet somehow I missed him at the exit after the ride. For no more than five minutes he stood waiting at the exit just out of sight while I scanned to see if he was taking another turn. When I realized the mistake I found him right away, on the verge of tears.  It was a devastating moment for us both. But he did exactly what he was supposed to do, stayed put, and we were back to happy after just a few moments to realize he was safe and I would never leave him. 

The afternoon rolled around faster than we knew it, with an early start the next day, we packed up and headed back to the hotel for a movie night and pizza in bed.  Oskar showed me once again what an amazing guy he is.  When the delivery guy showed up with just Oskar’s personal pizza and not my salad, Oskar went out of his way to tell me multiple times that I could share his pizza with him. My heart melted. This memory will stay with me for years and, along with the whole day, was why I wanted this trip to begin with.

NASCAR

I should start by saying, probably to no one’s surprise, I have never been to or seen a Nascar race so I had no idea what to expect. All I knew was that the race started at 12:30 but fans could get there at 7am (to do what I still wasn’t sure) and a few of Oskar’s friends from school were going to meet us there.  I quickly learned over the course of the weekend, from talking to the locals, that 1) we needed to head to the raceway before 9:30 because traffic can get terrible (the normal 15 minute drive can quickly become 1.5 hours), 2) it would be really loud (I had a plan there and packed accordingly) and 3) people could spend a whole day doing all of the fun things available (what that meant was tbd). 

So at 9:30 after grabbing a fresh green juice and some pastries (the gummy bears for breakfast in the hotel weren’t going to cut it) we started off on our adventure.  The first excitement of the day: the 20 minute drive did in fact take 1 hour and, about 30 minutes into the drive, Oskar informed me he really had to go pee.  For reference, it is a two lane highway with nowhere to pull over so the next 30 minutes we’re super fun.  That, plus it looked like we were going to miss the air show which was something Oskar really wanted to see.  We made it to the main parking gate with Oskar on the verge, but thankfully they had porta potties available for immediate use and, after a quick pee break, the stress level dropped significantly. 

I had prepaid for premium parking (because again, I had no idea) which meant we had to take a bus around the two mile track to get to the main grandstand where our seats were.  We watched most of the air show from the bus and I slowly started taking in what a huge event this actually was. My only reference point of professional sporting events is watching the Giants play baseball where you show up at the third inning, hang out for a few hours and then call it a day. This was something else entirely. 

Behind the main grandstand was the fan zone with countless fan experiences to check out, free giveaways, food trucks, beer trucks, DJs and every slice of americano you could imagine. It smelled of BBQ and diesel and even before the race started, it was loud. The crazy part: you could bring your own food, beverages, animals, anything really into the fairgrounds and you could go almost anywhere and sit anywhere. No one checked. It could have easily been chaos  but yet it all kind of worked. I tried to just take it all in and let Oskar lead the way until it was time to grab our seats and watch the race. 

We got to our seats around 12 and Oskar’s friends showed up after the race began (due to the conflict with BMX) so we had just a little bit longer with just the two of us. 

After the pre-show DJ, followed by a Christian prayer and the national anthem, we finally heard the words we were waiting for “racers start your engines”. And then I went deaf and there were no more conversations until the race ended 110 laps and 3 hours later. Oskar and I managed to use some limited sign language to communicate needs such as bathroom, water, candy, and once the other kids showed up, the moms used their iPhones to communicate in writing. 

The best part of the race was when the yellow flag came out and all of the cars ended up bunched together again. The second best part was the end when I could take out the ear plugs and finally talk and hear again. The third best part, having Oskar talk about the race and day with his friends for the next two weeks (okay, this might have been the best part). 

We got home that Sunday night at 6pm, exhausted from the day and weekend, ready for some proper food and both so happy to have had the time together (at least I was happy, we will see if and how he remembers this weekend a few years from now). 

First Impressions

When I left Salesforce I had three amazing things told to me that have stuck

1. When asked how I will introduce myself to the new team and company, a friend in Treasury suggested “hi I am Lisa, I like dive bars and fast food” 

2. When each team member went around and gave their favorite Lisa memory at our last team meeting, more than a few referenced nights of karaoke to which Cody expanded “like work and karaoke, both of which have no business being fun, you always seem to make things a little more fun”

3. And finally, more than a handful of team members joked that I either should (or shouldn’t) be too authentic too early since it would most likely result in one too many HR violations and me getting fired (some were rooting for this so I would come back). 

And so it is with this context that I think I might have overshot it and given the wrong first impression at work. I am pretty sure they all think I am a mountain loving, bike riding outdoorsy type mom who is more on the buttoned up accounting side of the spectrum than the hot mess, dive bar going, HR violating, karaoke singing person I am deep down. I suppose this is what is expected of a C Suite executive and I need to embrace it. 

I can and will at least correct them in the mountain side of things.

 

So Long, Again

So you know how I said the party was over in March and the hangover had kicked in. Well the party is officially over for this part of my career. June 2 was officially my last day at Salesforce, again. The last 6 + years have been incredible and I have absolutely loved working with my business partners and building out the best team ever. As I said the last time. It truly was a bittersweet decision. 

However sad I am to leave my friends and team behind, I know we will stay in touch and it is not a goodbye forever. So in the meantime, I am beyond excited and thrilled to announce I am entering the next phase of my career as Chief Accounting Officer for PubMatic! Excited to expand my scope and impact and see where this journey leads me. 

The kids came to visit me one last time at the Tower