Busy Season Round 5: Modified

This is my fifth busy season. I'm kind of a pro now.

Psych.

But I am getting better.

Before I yammer about that, can I just take a moment to acknowledge that I imagine it would be super exhausting for the one who is actually working the long hours in a conference room day after day? Kudus to my main man for not only working the long hours, but also keeping his team laughing.

Over the years I've learned it is important to keep busy during busy season. Last year I was sucked into Downton Abbey and Crossfit. I'm not quite back to Crossfit levels yet. Anyway, humor me as I demonstrate my type-A personality through the use of bullets with suggestions on how to handle the other side, the non-working side, of busy season.

• Surround yourself with people or you'll end up on the couch, eyes glued to a popular TV series. As previously confessed. This year I've gotten to go on walks and drop in on friends, have neighbors over for dinner, and invite others for mid-afternoon coffee and biscotti. Sitting is worthwhile if there are people to sit with, you know.
• Get to the gym or get a workout plan at home. As Elle Woods says: Exercise gives you endorphins; endorphins make you happy! Having a treadmill this year has been awesome. Don't get me wrong. I'm still lazy plenty of days. (Like last night when I was going to put Mary to bed and then get on the treadmill. But then she fell asleep in my arms and I couldn't put her down. Sorry I'm not sorry). On the whole, though, I'm way more likely to go for a run when it is so accessible. And having a set of dumbbells is handy it too. (Get my pun there? Bah!) Easy to grab and do arm raises and curls when you flip on the TV for a daily dose of The Ellen Show.
• Don't ask when he will be home. You probably won't like the answer and he won't like having to tell you. So just go ahead and figure your best guess then add an hour. And when he is way off and comes home late, don't be mad. And when he shows up an hour or two earlier than you expected and you were planning on PB&J for dinner since he wouldn't be there, be thankful and get creative with the fridge contents. 
• Plan time to be together. In the past it has been a Friday night happy hour or date night. Even if that date night was at the gym. This year we have instituted a weekly dinner next to his office. He gets to see Mary before she goes to sleep and I get to one hour of time with my bestie. 

And of course this this year there is a new twist: I'm at home all day. I don't have work to break up the long days, coworkers to talk to, or even a reason to do my hair. 

So in addition to the general suggestions above...

• Go to Target for field trips. 
• Have a cleaning plan. Just knowing that I'm committed to vacuuming on Friday and filing papers on Wednesday means that I don't have to feel like I have to do everything today. 
• Play with your baby. A lot. She'll only be 11 weeks old once. And she's darn cute. 

And don't let your husband accidentally take your car with your wallet inside and no gas in the other car. You'll be trapped at home for the day might feel like you're running out of oxygen. In which case, you know you're officially off you're rocker. 

Who says "off your rocker" anymore? Whatever. Not the point. 

Speaking of cute babies (well, we were talking about her earlier, okay?)... these are a few snapshots from hanging out. 

Yup. It's pretty great. 

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2:30 at 12:30

I have a serious case of the 2:30's right now. Oh, you don't know about the 2:30s? Have you seen the 5 hour energy commercials about feeling like you're going to fall asleep at 2:30? That's what I'm talking about. And there is no good reason either. I went to bed at 10:30 last night and didn't get up until 6:45. And I took a nap* yesterday.
* Loose definition of nap, here. I layed down for 30 minutes and played on my iPad. That totally counts.

Today I would like to:

• Do laundry
• Sew cloth napkins
• Make wine glass charms
• Cook food for the week
• Find cheap bedding for the guest room
• Read at Loose Park
• Make a lemon pie
• Buy and paint frames for the pictures I ordered
• Clean out my car
• Paint the basement orange or something. For realz...

But I'll just sit here at my desk. Writing a report. Editing Visio diagrams. Yawning.

Maybe I'll go walk a few flights of stairs to wake myself up. Sounds de-light-ful.

Pardon the sarcasm. I'm just a little delirious.

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the towel is still damp

Confession:
Remember how I had a friend who got mad because some guy at work didn't remember meeting her? Well, she was sitting in a meeting the next day and her coworker says "yesterday in our meeting with Ashton Kutcher*..."

And a lightbulb went on.

Why? Because my friend thought she was talking to Brad Pitt* the whole time. And was very upset that Brad didn't remember her. When in reality, she had never met Brad before. She just thought Brad was Ashton.

Oh humility...

*Names have been changed for confidentiality. And Ashton and Brad were the first two celebrity names that came to my head just now. Is that weird?


In other news:
I brought creamer to work a few weeks ago and put it in the fridge. I don't often have creamer at work because I don't often drink the office coffee. Office coffee has a bad reputation for a reason, peeps. Well anyway, I brought creamer and I've used it a few times. When I say a few, we're talking 3-5 times today. But when I puled it out yesterday it was almost empty. And I got annoyed. And then I remembered my friend's dose of humility and thought to myself "What if this isn't my creamer after all? What if I put it in the fridge on the wrong floor? What if the cleaning people threw it out as part of their Friday-fridge-cleans? Then I thought of New Girl.

Have you ever seen New Girl? Hilarious show.

The first time I showed it to my cousin I told him there were more sex jokes and more foul language than I'm normally comfortable with.

His response: "Sooo... exactly how many are you normally comfortable with?"
My response: "Touche"

It is slightly crass, but oh so hilarious. Watch this clip...

So there you have it. Someone else thinks the French Vanilla Coffee-mate legitimately belongs to them and I legitimately think it is mine. 

I guess it just gets down to who wears whose underpants. 

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What (not) to do at work

Welcome back to my blog. 

I have been trying to blackmail my family and friends 

that have ceased blogging by refusing to blog until ya'll do. 

But I'm not convinced its working 

so I'll just hold a grudge and jump back in.

Upcoming blog posts (in no particular order):

New York

Little League

Whole Wheat Oatmeal Raisin Bran Muffins

Summer Garden

Now I can't promise I'll blog about those things, but I'll sure try.

Today, though, we're talking about what you should and should not do at work. Most of you have seen my opinions on professional dresscode on my FB, so I'll spare you more opinions on that and jump to another sensitive subject. Here is a question from one of my imaginary readers:

Dear crazy blog lady, What do I do when I am introduced to someone and they say they have met me before but I don't remember them? 

Good question! Thanks for asking :-)

What you should not do is tell them that they are wrong. "No, you must be wrong. We've never met" is not a nice response.

You should apologize for forgetting and ask where you've met before. Try something like "Gosh, I'm so sorry! I knew your name sounded familiar, remind me- where did we met?"

If you miss this step and the kind person that you don't remember tries to help you out by saying "I think we've spoken over the phone a few times. I'm the one that led the meeting last week about Project X." You should not shrug your shoulders and say "Nope, don't remember. Oh well." That is actually very rude and makes the kind person that you're talking to feel very insignificant. Or indignant. Those words can be used interchangeably sometimes. That kind person might feel the urge to snap you like a green bean in the hands of a southern black woman in a rocking chair.

You should say "You're right! I must not have had enough coffee this morning. Good to see you again!" This comment is acceptable, even appropriate, regardless of whether or not you have met the person.

But really, if you're being a butthead to other people, you should confess to them and to God about it. I read an article last night that talks about holiness at work and it was helpful and humbling to me. Below are some snippets:

Dependence. Go to work utterly dependent on God 

Integrity. More people rob their employers by being slackers than by filching the petty cash.

Skill. Get good at what you do. 

Corporate shaping. As you have influence and opportunity, shape the ethos of the workplace so that the structures and policies and expectations and aims move toward accordance with Christ. 

Impact. Aim to help your company have an impact that is life-enhancing.

Communication. Work places are webs of relationships and communication.Let those who love their salvation say continually, Great is the Lord! 

Love. Serve others. Take an interest in others at work. Be known as the one who cares not just about the light-hearted weekend tales, but the burdens of heavy and painful Monday mornings. 

Money. Don’t work to earn to have. Work to earn to have to give and to invest in Christ-exalting ventures. Make your money speak of Christ as your supreme Treasure.

Thanks. Don’t be among the complainers. Let your thankfulness to God overflow in a humble spirit of gratitude to others. Be known as the hope-filled, humble, thankful one at work.

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one of these things is not like the others

Don't judge me for what you are about to read.

This morning at work I got in the elevator. Now we all know where I work, but for the sake of internet ambiguity I'll just say that this building has a lot of people. This includes lots of people that have been in the business for a long time, lots of people who work here only seasonally, and almost no one that wears anything resembling business professional. It makes my job of getting dressed in the morning much easier. I could throw on a t-shirt that says "Tool", a pair of mom jeans and reeboks and no one would think twice about it. Well, they might think that odd on me because I try not to make a habit of wearing my Tool shirts to work, but generally speaking it would be perfectly acceptable. A coworker was rocking chucks the other day. One green. One orange. No big d.

Even with such a casual culture, there is one unspoken rule that everyone abides by: ladies enter the elevators first. It's has a holding-the-door-for-you kind of chivalry to it that no one questions. Well, there is one man that always breaks that rule, but I'm not kidding when I say he is the only one I can think of.

Well this morning, we added a second "gentleman" to that list. Now don't get me wrong, I don't care if I enter the elevator first, it's just an observation. He's breaking the rules. So he enters the elevator in front of me and I notice his laptop bag is a gorgeous leather. This is exactly what my bestie has wanted for a while and would love for his birthday. I'm about to ask him where he got it when he turns around and I see the tag on the front. Coach. Nevermind.

That's when I realize... this guy is not like the others in our building. His leather bag has to cost more than $500.Yes, I looked on the website. He has wavy, dark brown hair. He's got those thick rimmed glasses that are just slightly oversized. Super in right now, doncha know? He is wearing a JCrew shirt (just like the one I got hubs for Christmas last year). And has his hands in the pockets of his perfectly hemmed jeans like he's posing for a preppy magazine.

Poor guy. He won't last a week.

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It's been a long day

Today was a long day. I left the house at 7:15 - a miracle - to meet a coworker for coffee. From there it was like boom, whack, watch out, slaaaammm, all day long. I was sweating by the end. Like actually sweating at work. From the stress of it all. Who does that?

And as I was pulling into my driveway at 7:15 tonight I thought...
Well, it's been a long day!
Well it's,
been a long,
been a long,
been a long,
Been-a-long daaaaayy!

You don't know that one? I first heard it in junior high when a friend made me a CD titled "Jigga J." It was full of showtunes and I loved it! This particular song is from a show called "How to Succeed in Buiness Without Really Trying." Kind of ironic in the context of my day come to think of it..

In honor of the fact that tomorrow is Thursday. And mostly in honor of the fact that tomorrow I will get my roommate back, I thought I'd share this little ditty with you.

Http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TdGuje6Vrxg&feature=youtube_gdata_player

(Ps- Link isn't working. Just copy and paste for now.)

2pts to the person that can guess the name of the male singer!

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Is this real life?

You know the David After the Dentist video? One of my all time favorites :-)

But seriously, what you are about to read is real life.

Yesterday I got a work email announcing a bake-off.
My thought logic:
FUN!
Wait, that's scary. Other people are way better than me. I'll pass.
Whatever. I don't bake to be awesome. I bake cause I'm a sugar-aholic.
So that means I need to bring something.
Well I can't just make my go-to Chocolate Cherry Heart Smarts. Lame. Need to do something more impressive.
No no no. I'm not trying to impress anyone, remember?

So today I'm telling a female friend at my client (women are hard to come by) about the stich-u-ation and the guy next to her chimes in...

"You know what you should definitely NOT bring? Those cupcakes you made last week! Did anyone actually eat one anyway?" *snide laugh*"

Kid. You. Not.

Is this real life? Why yes. It is.
Have I told you lately how much I love working with [pretty much] all men? Cause I do.
Maybe I should make him a chocolate pie. Minny Jackson style.

Oh and for the record, these are said terrible cupcakes. Admittedly could be way better, but also could be way worse.

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Integrity 101

I just got off the phone a vendor. The short version of the story is that they have a technical issue that has created a loophole for fraudsters. One of our employees discovered it and wants to know what to tell clients. This is what the vendor said:

"Try to be as vague as possible. Just use a little smoke and mirrors."


Am I imagining things? I'm dreaming, right? Oh I'm not? Well then my standard of integrity must be higher than yours. My bad.

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I'm glad I can be honest with you all. Cause I need to just externally process what I've been thinking lately. Will I erase the un-thunk thoughts after I figure out what I think? No. Too much work :-)

So this weekend I think I was thinking about how much we ought to expect a person to love us. How much can a human fulfill our need to be loved? And how little affection is too little? At what point does it become just "good enough"? Which of course is never actually enough.

I'm very thankful for my hubs. And especially thankful for Christ who loves me more than my bestie could ever hope to. He's the one that makes our marriage thrive.

So then I encounter people... Okay fine just one person... A work person who requires way more patience than I'm used to needing to give.

I remember once last year I was working for a manager at my company who was, well, challenging to say the least. I remember raising my voice with him and saying "I've never even been tempted to speak to my husband this way so there is no way you should make me this angry at you!" It was a very female thing to say at the moment- you know, nonsensical and not helpful- but I meant it!

Anyway, back to the guy this week. He requires more patience from me than I'm used to. I have to continually pray and ask God to make me humble and to remember that he means well. I say outloud in my head... Or maybe just outloud altogether things like "I'm a woman therefore I think I know best." Which really is the truth! But really, it isn't the truth. It's just in my arrogant little head.

What is my conclusion? For now I think it is: love is not just a feeling, it is also a commitment that requires intentionality and a healthy does of patience.

"Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law..."

Mt 22:37-40

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Email malfunction?

We're now 3.5 hours into Monday, that's nearly 10% of the week, and I've received zero emails. I'm starting to get concerned. What if there have been 100 emails sent to me an my inbox isn't working? What if people know that I blog when I'm at work? What if I really am getting the boot like the whispers said last Friday? What if the world is falling apart??!

Drink green tea chai and calm down, lady!

Blue Koi with the girls in approximately 0.5 hours. Eyes on the prize!

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Surprise bagels

First, let me start of by telling you that my computer breathed its last just before New Years, so I'm really only blogging when I'm at home and on my work computer. I try not to open my work computer at home therefore I haven't blogged much lately. My computer is now in the hands of a professional so we'll be back to blogging in no time.

Getting to the point, Thursday was rough. One of my roles at work is kind of an operations manager for our products. I spent all day on back to back calls with people in the offices ask questions and giving updates and having them complain about one thing then the next. I was exhausted. I had to bake cookies that night to calm myself. Just kidding. But I did bake cookies.

The next Morning I got in to work and there was a dozen bagels on my desk. Including power bagels! My co-worker brought them for me because he knew I had a rough day on Thursday. I know you've seen bagels on my blog recently, but I want you to see these exactly like I saw them.

It was all BRIGHT AND CHEERFUL! (Please don't mock my phone picture taking skills.) They made me feel valued. How is it that bagels do that? Some people thought it was my birthday. Others thought it was last day (aka I was getting the boot from my client). That thought wasn't quite as cheerful. But since it wasn't true I actually giggled on the inside when I heard the whispers.

Anyway, it was a good friday. I'm now just a few hours away from Monday. Let's be honest. Monday's kinda stink...

Maybe I'll bring donuts.

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I'll take the sticks and stones, please.

What is it about words that just getcha? I could be having a perfectly fine day, aside from the fact that I didn't wash my hair this morning my outfit is awful, and then someone says something mean, grouchy, a little off, rude, insensitive, whatever and then it's just all gone. Why is that?

See I had to call the chief compliance officer at a company to get his approval for a sign my client is putting up. He starts the call all cheery..."Hi, how are you? Happy new year!" Insert blah-blah-blah happy talk. Then he joyfully pounces on me for using a word in our marketing that we aren't allowed to use (even though his company was the one that wrote it) and says that he doesn't care what our legal team says because it's his decision and our "opinion is irrelevant".

Let's evaluate this for a second.
I didn't write it.
It's not my decision.
I'm just the messenger.

But I still am very distracted and can't work and instead am forced to blog about how the man is never nice. He's honestly like this all the time. But why do I care?

Oh yeah. Galatians 1 comes to mind. Its because I still like the approval of men. Not men, men. But people, men.

God approves of me, thanks to Jesus.

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Consultant specializes in being awkward

Do you ever struggle to be awkward and rude at the same time while having some water-cooler talk with people you've never met at your client site? Try this line.

"I am supposed to bring a dessert to a Christmas party tonight, but I ran out of time to make anything. My husband told me to I should just buy something. I might as well go wearing my swimsuit! There's just no way I can buy sweets at the store!"

Insert chocolate in mouth and walk away. Way to be a snob while delivering the ultimate TMI statement at work...

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huh?

I have been oh so very absent from the blogosphere lately. And I miss it. I couldn't even tell you the last time I looked at The Pioneer Woman or Thrifty Decor Chick. So behind!

I don't even have anything good to write about. I just wanted to tell you all that I'm alive.

I helped launch a new product line. It's called Money Express. You've never heard of it.
I have used twice the normal number of minutes on my cell phone. Or maybe three times... I hit the "twice" mark last week.
I bought a pre-paid phone.
I "posed" as a latina for an ad.
I baked a quiche.
My sister cleaned my house for me when all the cleaning companies in town were booked. You wish my sister was your sister.
I traveled to Florida, South Carolina, and Tennesee.
I bought a turnip and told the grocery store lady it was a parsnip. Or maybe it was the other way around.
I chopped a rutabega. And whatever that other thing was that I bought.
I went to the world pray-me-air... that's french for premiere... of Tom Sawyer (the ballet) at the Kauffman Performing Arts Center.
I planted more tulips.
I killed my mums.
I bought a pair of skinny jeans. And wore them in public.
I lost my luggage on a non-stop flight.
I slept in my contacts and my eyes have not forgiven me.
I stayed at the KU v. K-State game until the 4th quarter. Took some dedication.
I mistakenly used whipped cream instead of whipping cream. Big difference.

Just par for the course, ya know? Not that I've ever played golf, but I think that's what that means...

What am I even saying right now? I should stop while I'm behind.

Check back later. I'll have pictures for you or something.

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the calm before the storm

I never went back and added more to my last post. Apologies.

In short, it was a rough work day. On Friday I referred to it as running off the back of a treadmill. You're trying really hard to go forward with force, but the machine is faster and throws you off the back and you fall on your face. Yeah. It was one of those days. May be exaggerating a bit, I am a girl after all, but it was crummy.

And then I got reeeeally nervous thinking about the next few weeks of launching this product and how I need to do more and how I need to do better. I've got to earn my keep and add value.


This was all on the tails of last week's sermon on Philippians 4:6-7.

The Lord is at hand; do not be anxious about anything, 

but in everything by prayer and supplication 

with thanksgiving 

let your requests be made known to God. 

And the peace of God,which surpasses all understanding, 

will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Thanks, Paul (and Redeemer Fellowship) for this reminder.

So I finished The Help, good book by the way, and picked up my Bible and "Calm my Anxious Heart," a favorite from college, and am heading off to Tampa in the morning.

In the meantime, someone please bring hubs some nutritious food on Monday and Tuesday, would ya? I'm afraid he'll eat Mickey D's for 6 straight meals...

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a career developing day

In the words of my client:

"I think today was a career developing day for you."

How is it not even 5:00 yet? More to come.

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distracted

No no no, I can't work right now. I'm busy.

Josh is singing to me!

Through my earbuds. But whatever...





.

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Oh Monday

Mack forgot to wake me up.
Woke up 15 minutes before a conference call with a potential client.

Had to tell them I can't help because I'm too busy.
Neither can the rest of the team.

Spilled coffee on my shirt while driving to work.
Cardigan can cover most of it I suppose.

Good morning, Monday. You think you're cute, doncha?

"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God." (1 Cor 10:31)
Do Monday to the glory of God. That's my goal for the day.

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Damage

First- I'm mostly back to normal from the cold. I still have a lot of junk going on in terms of congestion, but nothing too terrible. I managed to make it through multiple conference calls held while laying in bed. I wasn't ridiculed for leaving a voicemail and saying my name was Mrs. Block. I didn't do any real damage from my using the wrong words or just forgetting words or just forgetting what I was talking about mid-sentence. And even though I through I got out milk to make mac & cheese and proceeded to pour the whole thing down the sink drain instead of into the pan with the mac and the cheese, I still had an edible dinner. Not too much damage was caused from the cold meds I took. Just a few side effects. Speaking of which, I knew I needed to leave work when I actually had to ask someone whether I should use "effect" or "affect" in a sentence last week. SOOO not me.

What were we talking about? Oh yeah, damage.

Gus Gus. That shall be his name. Except I'm sure that he's not as cute and innocent as the real Gus Gus from Cinderelley, but I don't know the names of many mice.

We have mice. Well, I prefer to imagine that there is only one, but I'm sure I am being naive on that. And this mouse is a clever one. I put out two mouse traps, but Big Mack ate them. The traps, not the mice. Hubs put out two more with my crummy mack and cheese. Gus Gus took the food and the trap didn't snap. So hubs put peanut butter on it. Can't get that so easily!

Do you know what he did?

He kicked him... he was injured, injured bad.

No he didn't. And he wasn't. But what he did do was eat all the stinkin peanut butter!

Rude.

That's all.

Good night :-)

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I cannot go to school today

I cannot go to school today,
Or work. I can't go to work, I mean.
Before my bestie left town he decided to share his cold. 
His gash, a rash and purple bumps.
Now my mouth is wet, my throat is dry,
I'm going blind in my right eye. 
And most likely my left eye too. It's dry.
My tonsils are as big as rocks.
They've always been large, but they're really big now.
Plus work is just overrated and takes to much energy.
At least I don't do manual labor.
And don't you think my face looks green?
Oh maybe that's just my lack of Vitamin D. My bad.
My nose is cold, my toes are numb.
It's probably the overactive AC on the 17th floor.
My neck is stiff, my voice is weak,
I hardly whisper when I speak.
Just kidding. Making sure you're still with me.
Or maybe that's me that's dazing off... dozing off? 
My temperature is one-o-eight.
Give-or-take a centigrade. What is a centigrade anyway? 
And why do I keep asking myself hard questions?
What's that? What's that you say?
You say today is. . . only Tuesday?

Oh.

Bummer.

Adapted from the one, the only, Shel. 

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