Oh, that's right . . . I still DO have a blog!

Admittedly I've been absent.  Very absent.  Fortunately (or unfortunately), I don't have very many readers so I'm fairly certain I haven't been missed.  As a side note, I still don't get how some people have so many readers/followers when the content they put out is a snore-fest.  Perhaps my content is an even snorier snore-fest?  At any rate, I'm back and I shall try to be better about posting.  No promises though; I hate to break them and who knows how long my commitment to blogging will last this go-round?

Lately I've been struggling a bit with satisfaction at work.  I've been feeling as though my efforts aren't always recognized and/or appreciated.  But even worse than that, I feel as though not everyone else around me is putting in the effort their jobs require.  It's not that I'm trying to be into everyone else's business; rather, many of the people that have frustrated me lately are actually people that I oversee and whose slack I have to pick up along the way.

For as long as I can remember, I have always felt driven towards success--even if that meant a lot of hard work along the way.  I struggle to understand why that isn't the same for everyone else around me.  When I'm faced with a task or challenge, I am going to give everything I have to make sure that it's not only accomplished, but also that the result is the best one possible.  More and more I'm finding that I'm in the minority in taking that approach.  Why is that?  I don't think it's a generational thing (because there are plenty of people both older and younger than me that seem to be less motivated to achieve excellence/success).  Perhaps it's a nurture thing?  I was raised with very high expectations placed upon me.  As I've grown up and joined the workforce, those expectations that others used to place on me are now the same expectations I place upon myself.

I'm also the person that tends to feel,

"If you want something done right, do it yourself."

That isn't the best mentality when you're in a managerial role because at the end of the day there are not enough hours in the day to do everything yourself.  And if you try to do it all, you're probably going to go insane . . . or at least stress yourself out much more than is necessary.  That's about where I am right now.  I'm more stressed than I have been in a long time and I need to do something to dial that back.  In an effort to get to a better place mentally, I've decided to take a couple days off and it'll be a 4-day weekend for me.  To just have some time to relax and not think about work is sure to be helpful.

I'm still curious to know whether anyone has other theories on the lack of motivation that seems to be so prevalent in today's workplace.  Thoughts?

Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.

Quite possibly the longest blog title ever...and a quote from one of my favorite movies of all time!  But seriously, the time has been flying by.  Things have been a little crazy in my dating life, but I won't bore you with details of that.  Suffice it to say that it's easier than you'd think to acquire a semi-stalker, while intellect is important it cannot make up for zero personality, and most notably, it's nice to be the girl envied by other girls instead of being the one turning green with said envy.  Yes, that means that I "got the guy" this time around.  Yay!

Things really are busy.  While I feel like everything is flying by, I'm having a great time and haven't been this happy in a really long time.  And that's still true after finding out I have to replace my A/C entirely - goodbye, $6,300.00.  My weeks seem to fly by since I have so much going on.  Mondays and/or Tuesdays are nights to meet up with friends for dinner.  Wednesdays are trivia night (1st place victory tonight!!!).  Thursdays are kickball and the post-kickball party (my team may be the bad news bears kickball team but we truly DOMINATE at flip cup!).  And then it's the weekend - filled with more time with friends and hopefully some weekend trips coming up.

All in all, there's nothing to complain about socially.  Work has been a bit tough lately (and more stressful than I'd like) but at the end of the day there are more positives than negatives so I just go with it.  How are you doing?  Are you excited about the summer?  Any fun plans???

Random Confessions

Sometimes it's nice to get silly things off your chest.  Feel free to add a comment about your random confessions.  These are mine today:

1.  On both my car radio and my television I only listen with the volume on intervals of 5 (i.e, 5, 10, 15, etc.).  If it's not on an interval of 5, I get very annoyed.

2.  There is only one proper way for the toilet paper roll to hang...and if you hang yours incorrectly I WILL change it when I visit your guest bathroom.  For the record, the roll should be pulled from the top only!

3.  I judge people that can't properly differentiate between "you're" and "your" or "they're," "there," and "their."  Is it really that difficult?

4.  I prefer to have my picture taken with the left side of my face towards the camera - my hair falls nicely on that side and I consider it my "good side."

5.  I'm obsessed with the MPG on my car.  If it dips below 26 MPG for the tank I have to drive economically until it's back above 26.

So what about you?  Any interesting obsessions, silly confessions you'd like to share?

Why work when you can blog?

This morning I got called an "SLB" by a co-worker.  I'd never heard that before, but was pleasantly surprised that it stood for "Skinny Little Bitch."  I'm pretty sure the "Skinny" part is still a stretch, but I liked it.  Sure, the reason she called me that in the first place is because my pants are literally falling down today, but I'll take it nonetheless.  I really do need to do some shopping though.  I only really have a couple pairs of pants that fit like they should.  I was trying to hold off until I got down to the weight I wanted, but clearly some interim clothing is a must.  Yesterday also gave me some positive reinforcement from a couple other people on my weight-loss.  Those little things are what keep me going when I find myself getting a little slack with my eating habits.

On to other topics...my new favorite TV show is 'The Voice' on NBC.  Partly because I love the concept of choosing the singers based on their talent alone...

and partly because I'd forgotten how cute Adam is...

I prefer him clean shaven, but a little shadow looks pretty dreamy as well.  Personally, I think that he's compiled the best "team" so far, but I may be a little biased.  The battle rounds start tonight so I'm hoping that some of my favorites make it through (I'm rooting for you, Javier Colon and Jeff Jenkins!!!)

Next Monday is my Dad's 60th birthday!  I can't believe he's hitting 60, but I'm so thankful to have him in my life.  He's healthy and active for his age, and I get to see him every weekend at the very least - I couldn't ask for more.  On Sunday, my brothers and I will be taking him golfing in the morning and then out for some grub in the afternoon/evening.  I haven't swung a club in months, but since The Players Championship is this weekend it seems like as good a time as any to hit the links.

Okay, since I am at work, maybe I should actually go do some.

Quick Update

Admittedly I've been a bit lax in posting here...and considering the fact that I fell asleep on the couch at 8:45 tonight, my guess is that part of the reason is because I've been super busy and pretty tired.  So here's a quick recap of my life of late:

1.  I'm now 13 weeks into my weight loss journey and after a -4.2 lb week I'm down a total of 31 pounds!  I really can't even believe it and I'm pretty stoked.  It all comes just in time for...

2.  My family vacation...which officially begins on April 24th (Easter Sunday).  We're heading to St. Kitts and I couldn't be more excited about it.  I love to travel, especially to new places, so this should be an amazing getaway.

3.  Bar prep for the summer is (sort of) underway already.  I've met most of my new peeps.  There's just one lone person that I have neither met nor heard from to schedule a meeting...slacker anyone???  The rest of my peeps are awesome though and I'm looking forward to a summer spent helping them out!

4.  After some issues with one of the extras I purchased with my new car, my baby is FINALLY home with me and looks beautiful.  She's been away from home so much though that I don't even have quite 300 miles on her in the 15 days she's been mine.  I'm looking forward to spending plenty of quality time with Vixen.

5.  Ten days ago, I celebrated another birthday.  I was happy to be able to spend the evening before my birthday with some great friends - I'm thankful for all of them in my life.  All in all, of late I've been able to reach a "satisfied" mental state that had seemed to elude me for a while.  Here's to hoping my happy outlook will be a gateway to more great things in my life.

And that about sums it up.  I hope that everyone out there is healthy, happy, and well-loved.  Have a great rest of the week!  xoxo

Showing My Age

Even when I was much younger, I typically wasn't one for all-nighters or even staying up super late multiple days in a row.  As I've gotten older, that has become even more true.  More often than not I'm in bed by about 10pm.  (I know...hang on to your party pants, people!)  Even on the weekends, unless I'm out somewhere, I'm usually in bed by 11 and awake by 8am.  I'm not sure if that makes me incredibly lame or if it just means I'm a responsible adult.  This weekend though, both Friday night and last night, I didn't get to bed until after 2am...the result???

I'm clearly not cut out for staying up so late and adding alcohol to the mix to boot!  Yesterday, after a late night on Friday, I knew I needed to do something to rest up for the night since a going away party for an acquaintance didn't even start until 11pm.  My solution was to take TWO naps during the day yesterday.  (I'm talking serious, 2 hour naps...none of that catnap crap.)  If you have to sleep an extra 4+ hours DURING the day just to prepare yourself for an evening out, you're getting old.  Clearly I'm getting old!

In addition, aside from my intolerance for late nights, I also discovered last night that I'm also now that person at the bar wishing it wasn't so darn loud (and perhaps even complaining about the noise level).  I've always loved music, and it's one thing to "feel" the rhythm of music in your soul...it's an entirely different thing to feel the beat of the music pulsing (literally) through your blood because your whole body is vibrating.  That's how I felt last night.  The dance floor vibrated to the beat, the sink in the bathroom shook with the noise, and my head felt like scrambled eggs sooner rather than later.  When did that happen to me???  A little ringing ear syndrome at the end of the night was never a big deal in the past.  Last night, however, for a good hour at the end of the night I found myself wishing/praying they could just turn the volume down a little bit.  I've never been particularly good at reading people's lips and shouting in my ear at the top of your lungs so I can hear is necessary, but also painful.  Ultimately, while I had fun with my friends it also gave me a headache.

Growing old isn't very fun and I feel like I need a nap already...  *yawn*

Matchmaker, matchmaker, make me a match...

A year or so ago - on a weekly basis - there was just one little teeny-bopper I saw rocking out to his iPod in front of a sign for a restaurant near the marina on the intracoastal.  I'll admit that seeing him rock out every week made me smile, but it never once made me go to his restaurant.  These days it seems like there are dancing sign-holders at nearly every major intersection.  Why this sudden boom?!?  Do other people actually get lured in by the dancing/lip-syncing skills of these pubescent teenagers???

On my way to dinner yesterday, there was a teenage girl dancing her little heart out and spinning her "We Buy Gold!" sign like it was going out of style.  While waiting at the light, I discovered she had about a dozen signature moves...none of which prompted me to run home and get some old gold jewelry to take to her store.  On my way home from dinner, exactly one signal light away from the gold girl, I saw a guy spinning his Little Cesar's sign and dancing his cares away.  Even if I didn't have a full belly of citrus chicken, I would not have been compelled to stop for cardboard pizza.

What I did find myself wondering was whether any of these sign kids ever get together to swap strategies, dance moves, etc.  OR!  What if gold girl and pizza boy decided to start a relationship???  They could melt down all her old gold jewelery and eat like pizza kings...for about a week. 

What do these people do/say when someone asks them what they do for a living?  Do they respond, "Oh, I spin signs and dance at intersections."?!?  If I were talking to someone and considering whether to date them, I'm pretty sure I'd be gone about 2 seconds after I heard a response like that.  Which leads me to believe that the only person that could date a sign-spinner is another sign-spinner.

Someone get these kids a matchmaker!!!

Weird Creature, That One

Sometimes my dog completely freaks me out...case in point, I was checking my email a moment ago and Oreo had taken her normal place on my lap.  Then she sat up quickly, began a series of mini-growls, and has been staring intently at the same spot ever since.

My first thought was that my house is haunted, but seeing that I'm the first person to live here, it's highly unlikely that someone passed on in this house and is overstaying their welcome.  My next thought was that my dog is simply odd...and this is quite possibly the answer I'm looking for.  Finally though, I think I identified what still continues to have her completely mesmerized.  I have all of my Christmas (not "holiday" - it's CHRISTMAS) cards taped along my counter on display.  Several of them have photos of babies, families, and even animals.  The particular picture that seems to have attracted her attention is of my friend's dog.  That would explain the growling - I would growl at a floating dog too!

Anyway, in the spirit of the season, I give to you a picture of my dog, Oreo, in her Santa outfit.  If that's not adorable, then I don't know what is!

 Merry Christmas, everyone!

My Latest Obsessions

I figured it was time for a lighter blog since my last one was a tad less than entertaining.  So here we go: my latest obsessions:

1. Wordsmith for Android Phones

I'm a Verizon girl, so that means I don't have the oh-so-popular "Words with Friends" app that Apple users do, but that doesn't mean I can't maintain my Scrabble obsession on my phone.  My younger brother turned me on to this Android app and I've since been firmly embattled in Scrabble matches with my brother and another friend of mine.  I highly recommend it for word-nerds like myself!

2. Angry Birds & Angry Birds Seasons

When they finally brought this app to the Android market, I was very excited.  Nothing tears through my phone's battery like my obsession with these squealing, squawking birds and their grunting piggy foe.  I love it!!!

3. It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia

There are very few shows out there that regularly make me laugh, but Sunny always does.  At least once an episode - whether I'm watching with friends or it's just me and my dog - there's always something that makes me laugh out loud.  I'll admit that I wasn't up on this show until a few months ago (much to the amusement of some people) but I was dedicated to playing catch-up on episodes.  If you're not already watching, you should be!

Okay, that's it for now.  My obsessions are always changing so I'm sure there will be similar posts in the future.  Have a great one!

Random little thoughts

What's the deal with adult braces?  I've been seeing an unprecedented number of them lately.  Unless some weird dental issue crops up unexpectedly later in life, if you've lived with crooked teeth trying to escape each other your entire life, why fix it when you get older?  Yes, I know that braces are expensive so perhaps your parents couldn't afford them...so I see that...but still!  If you're going to go the adult braces route, at least invest in Invisalign so the rest of us don't notice.  (Wow, don't I sound like the mouth police?  But really...I've always been a bit of a snob when it comes to teeth.  Whenever I go out with a new guy, one of the first 3 questions my mother asks is, "How are his teeth?"  Seriously.  And that's before my super Catholic mother even asks if HE'S Catholic.  I think that says a lot!)

I love me some 'Wordsmith Free' for my phone (it's the same thing as 'Words with Friends' if you weren't sure) but I can't stand when it takes my opponents days (literally) to make a word.  I get that we're all busy and we can't spend our days in Scrabble Heaven, but if you're going to play a game, don't take forever to take your turn.  I'm going to lose interest quickly...and I'm going to second guess that magical 58 point word you pulled out of your ass after going for 3-letter gems the entire game.  I can smell a Wordsmith cheater from a mile away!!!

What's with people running barefoot lately...or wearing those weird new toe shoe things?

Personally, unless I'm being chased by a hungry bear, I really don't see the point in running long distances - and certainly not in hideous shoes like that!  Besides, if you're ever being chased by a large, snarling carnivore, you don't need to be the fastest human ever...you just need to be faster than your slowest friend!

At any rate, speaking of running/exercise, I must retire since I plan to get up early to pick up 4 dozen donuts on my way to work.  (Evaluations for my classes are next week and I'm not above buttering up my reviewers!)

Babies must be super itchy

So as I believe I mentioned in a previous post, I had a bit of a 4th of July mishap and absolutely destroyed my knee.  Since then, and with the help of tons of Neosporin, my little knee has been working night and day to make some brand spankin' new skin.  (I had completely forgotten what a pain in the neck [or knee] skinned knees are!)

Well, let me just say that as my knee has healed (it's about 90% okay now) I've rediscovered just how much new skin itches. I mean, seriously...it's almost unbearable at times.  And if I make the grave mistake of beginning to scratch one little part, the whole thing explodes in a deadly mixture of pleasure/itchy agony and I can barely stop scratching.

Given this little reminder, a random thought crossed my mind: newborn babies, with all that brand new skin, must be the itchiest creatures on the entire planet!!!