Tag Archives: work

Vive le Weekend!

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Albeit a short weekend, it’s still a day off! As of this moment, I have 37.5 hours left before I have to clock in again. About 14 of those hours will be spent sleeping. How much can I do in 23 hours? For starters: this blog post!

There are so many things I need to get done. One might think that just because you have time off work, you must spend all of that time doing personal things that need to get done. I protest! I think it’s important to spend at least half of your time off doing things you enjoy doing as well. I enjoy being lazy resting. I just worked 11 days in a row, including 50 hours in the past six days. I think some rest is not only well-deserved but downright necessary!

I have a couple of movies I bought for $1.99 each at a nearby Blockbuster that’s closing. I plan on watching at least one of those. I also must give my seriously neglected camera a workout. I long to create a new piece of jewelry, too. However, you can’t force creativity to happen in a small window of time. So that may not happen … unless I watch movies at the same time. I do enjoy multitasking!

The main things I need to do are office related (including taxes). After working so much, personal office work is the last thing I want to do, though. :roll:

Nope! Twenty-three hours is just not enough time! Once a new manager is in place and the new staff is put on the weekend schedule, I think I might press for a full 4×10 work schedule so I can have my Sundays back. Having a full two days off in a row is more important to one’s mental well-being than I realized.

Vive le weekend!

The Mother Ship | New Office Progress

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I’m thinking of calling it “The Mother Ship” … my new work/play room (office/crafts). Half of it sort of looks like a huge storage closet right now because I have two metal shelving units that are mostly filled with old scrapbooking supplies and tools. Going through all of that will be a process. At least they’re in here now.

I brought my rug down. The curtains will come down later. The blues actually do play nicely with the green on the walls! Yay! So here is my work in progress now (shots snapped with cell cam)…

The red behind the desk is my fuzzy robe. It gets COLD down here! Also notice my space heater aimed directly at where I sit.

Maybe by Wednesday I’ll be able to start crafting. I have the day off. After working 55 hours last week on top of all this moving, I fully intend to do my own thing!

P.S. With the shelves moved in here, Greg is working on his side of the basement. More on that later!

It’s Not a “Perfect” Life, but it’s OUR Life

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I’m sorry Goslins, but I’m using this statement from your show opener. I’ve let people and their perfectly cleaned, organized, and decorated houses as well as their plans for raising the “perfect” children intimidate me and make me feel inadequate long enough. How many times have I said it? There’s no such thing as perfect. Finally, right now in this moment, I am close to completely OK with that (because completely would be a version of perfectly).

I’m not one to do things in anything resembling a prescribed way. In fact, I generally balk at trends because I don’t want to be like everyone else. In a similar way, I’ve never felt it necessary to force my kids when it comes to school. Jason attended high school all the way through his senior year but was just shy of enough credits to graduate with his class. So he got his GED instead. He pass the first time with really good scores. Josh … brace yourselves … dropped out half way through his senior year and took his time about getting to that GED. I know. You may be shaking your heads right about now. When he was ready, though, he nailed that GED with slightly higher scores than Jason even. (Sorry Jason. It had to come out sometime.) :)

For the past 18 months, Jason was in college while Josh got lost in computer server land playing peer-to-peer games and blogging about tech things. I know people had their opinions about that and about us for “allowing” it to go on. I thank those people for keeping their opinions to themselves. :) I knew that Josh wouldn’t grow old and fester in that room downstairs. But, just like with the timing of getting his GED, the decision to get out and do something had to be his. I knew it would happen. Still, it’s not “ideal” according to Paul & Penelope Perfect, who believe a four-year university immediately after graduating from high school with a 3.5 GPA or better is the only way to go. If that works for Mr. & Mrs. Perfect and their lovely children, great! No, really. I think it’s fabulous! Even more so if that happens with no stress, tears, or arguing! I do not like hate stress, tears, and arguing. Yes, “hate” is a strong word (and not one that is thrown around this house at one another, ever), but it is absolutely appropriate here.

At the end of this week, several great things happened. I got a promotion at work. Yay me! Jason became an official certified FAA airframe & powerplant mechanic (that means he’s going to work on airplanes). These guys deserve even more credit than pilots! Ali, along with her fellow thespians, won best over all float in their homecoming parade (second year in a row). AND … drum roll please … Josh got a full-time job making considerably more than minimum wage. People may not think working at Walmart is great (some for political reasons, I’m sure) but as hard as it is to find work these days, it’s no time to be a “job snob”. :D

Taking a step back and soaking all that in makes me realize that, aside from a little stress caused by home office disorganization (largely due to out of control ADD – fact, not cliche), my house in all it’s messy, cluttered glory is just fine. Anyone who can’t see past that, I truly believe, just doesn’t get it. If the clutter makes you uncomfortable, I do apologize. But it will probably still be cluttered after the last child has left the nest. It’s just who we are, who we’ve always been. It’s our life.

Procrastination

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A little time saved now equals a lot of time spent later.

Is it really worth setting that thing in your hands down on the edge of that table with the intention of getting to it later? How much later are you planning on getting to it? Within the hour? GREAT! Seriously? If not, then you better walk your butt to where that thing really needs to go right now. Chances are, once you turn your back on that thing, it will leave your mind until next week. Worse … You’ll get used to seeing that thing on the edge of the table and won’t even give it another thought. It’ll be as if that thing belongs there.

In my case, that thing is usually the mail. For many years it was standard operating procedure in this house to pay bills once per month because that’s when the paycheck came. Even when I started working again and a second check came every other week (now semi-monthly), bills were still paid once per month. Now many of them are on auto-pay. I don’t have to think about them, but a statement still comes in the mail for most of them. Those statements have to be opened, filed, and trash disposed of. Probably two-thirds of each stack of mail goes directly into the recycling bin. What a waste!

It comes back to the need for scheduling. My work day is full of schedules and deadlines. Scheduling home tasks makes personal home management feel like a business … like more work. I have trouble separating the two concepts, and it feels strange to me. Would it be efficient? I’m sure it would! But when I clock out at the end of my work day, be it 8 hours or 11, the last thing I want to do is more work. I want to do things I enjoy like read, write, take photos, make jewelry, or just park my butt in front of the television. Can I get an “Amen”?! Penciling in this mundane work on the weekends is just as bad. Do we not deserve at least one day of rest? Why do today what I can put off until tomorrow?

Why? Because there will be twice as much to do tomorrow, three times as much to do the next day, and so on. Before you know it, the end of another month is here. Now there’s an entire day’s worth (or more) of work to do just to get caught up. Time that could have been spent going somewhere or doing one of those things I enjoy. So why don’t I just bite the bullet and schedule time for this stuff? This stuff. Paperwork, filing, shredding, recycling. Oh, I have tried. I even had “Office Work” scheduled on my Google calendar twice per week. That went over like a fart in church!

It’s so bizarre that the work I get paid to do, even though I work from home, I have no problem doing above and beyond expectation. I do have high expectations of myself over all. That could be part of the problem. If I don’t feel I can give a task 100% or complete it within a certain amount of time, then I won’t even start it. I hate leaving things unfinished. Now that just doesn’t make sense at all. Does it? If I haven’t started, then it isn’t finished either!

Oh, and then … then there’s the ultimate satisfaction of completing a task and then maintaining the system. Sadly, that always come to a tragic end as well. Something inevitably happens to thwart the system and causes my fine oiled machine to break down. Then I’m two steps behind again, then three, then four and back to procrastinating.

I want to have my full-time job (plus overtime), and be a very part-time photographer, and make jewelry, and read, and blog, and network socially on the interwebs. It always seems like almost any one of them is at the expense of the others. The only exception being that nothing interferes with the full-time job. :lol:

I do believe I’ve crossed over into rambling. I will try, yet again, to create a schedule. I’m going to make one more excuse here, though. Creativity is hard to schedule! what if I pencil in jewelry making on, say, Wednesday afternoons but don’t feel inspired when my scheduled time comes up? I’m just keeping it real. It’s easy to say I’m turning over a new leaf, but changing overnight isn’t realistic! Even in the corporate world, they have planning committees work together over a period of time to come up with policies and procedures to implement change. There’s goal setting and ways to measure progress. As long as I realize this and everyone around me also realizes this, then maybe … just maybe … in a few months we can have some new habits formed as a result of scheduling.

It’s a myth that it takes just 21 or 28 days to form a habit. It actually takes 66 days on average. True story!

Happiness is…

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What Constitutes a Happy and Fulfilled Life?

Simply hanging out with my family makes me happy. There’s a relaxed joy about just lounging in the family room watching a movie or favorite shows together. Not everyone in the family enjoys the same types of games, and that’s fine. Some of us enjoy being more silly than others. Personally, it depends on my mood; I can be crazy silly or just slightly silly. Spending time individually with my kids is also important to me – even if it’s just for ten minutes or so. Hearing their views on things, learning what’s important to them, knowing their goals in life (or just for the current week) … these things warm my heart. I encourage their individuality. This brings us all peace.

I truly enjoy the work I do at my “day job”. It’s satisfying to know that I helped someone solve a problem or that I did my part in maintaining a safe and secure place to do business.  It’s also a total thrill to me to push and challenge myself to do better all the time. It’s a bit of an adrenaline rush for me!

Photography is a passion of mine. Anyone can take snapshots, but simply buying an “over-the-counter” DSLR Canon from Best Buy didn’t instantly make me a professional. Yes, my photos started looking better, but until I really learned how to use all the settings available and invested in a few good lenses and learned more about composition (I already refused to use the on-camera flash – ICK), I was really still a point-and-shooter – just with a somewhat nicer camera. At best, I had moved up to an avid photographer or an aspiring professional. But I digress. What I love about photography is capturing the ordinary in extraordinary ways to draw the eye to things normally overlooked so you see the true beauty and find real emotion in things. This brings me joy!

There is something I find fulfilling, and that is to observe and totally absorb my surroundings wherever I am. At the risk of sounding like a stalker, I do pay attention to people at the store. I find human behavior very interesting. It’s much more than that, though. I pay attention to sounds and smells all around me, and I really SEE everything – not just what is directly in front of me. When I’m at the grocery store reaching for apples, I notice the entire display of the variety of apples and how meticulously they are stacked at an angle with the stems all facing left. I notice the sweet and tart smells and also the sound of the produce bag rustling as I place each apple into it. I notice the smooth coolness of the apple (or the peculiar bumpiness of an avocado) in my hand. Total awareness like this is extremely satisfying to me. To make the conscious effort to notice everything in life is important to me. It calms me.

Notice the end of each paragraph: peace, adrenaline rush, joy, and calm. These things make me happy!  What makes you happy? What satisfies you and fulfills your life?

What Gives You Balance?

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HINT: I’m not talking about a good pair of sneakers!

When people say there aren’t enough hours in the day, I think maybe we’re just doing to much. Some things need to be put off until tomorrow. I know it’s not always possible to pick a thing or two to put off. Some days are truly that full of activity, and there’s not a lot we can do to change that. I do believe, however, that is the exception to the rule and not at all the norm. If it is the norm, then those people may need to stop and consider if that’s really how they want to live their lives day to day.

I do have days like that, and I am so glad to get to the end of a day like that! Many times when I feel overwhelmed like that, it’s my own fault. How? Poor planning! I’m a procrastinator. It’s true! Then, when I finally get around to taking care of that thing I’ve been putting off, it takes forever to do. Or, when I finally start getting ready to go somewhere, I have to rush through it like a mad woman so that I’m not late. I do realize in those moments that it is my own fault.

What gives me balance? Just as crazy busy as those last-minute moments are, I have my lazy times. Those are important to me. Whether I fill those lazy times with writing, designing jewelry, photography, or just curled up on the couch watching a movie or two, it’s MY time. Selfish? I don’t think so. If I’m not careful, it could be. However, I don’t believe that anyone needs to be giving to and doing for others or even striving to better themselves every waking moment of their lives. Balance.

Once upon a time, I was a more of a perfectionist. Now I pick and choose what I want to be meticulous about and have given up the losing battle of trying to control absolutely everything in my life. I don’t want to look back someday and regret that I missed things because I spent so much time trying to control everything. So there are messes in my house. I’ve already hashed that subject out a bit here. On the other hand, there are certain places in the house that I like to have a certain way. Balance.

On the job (the full-time one), I push myself hard. It could be because I have to be accountable there. It’s also because there are measures available there so I can challenge myself for my own personal best and actually see results by comparison. It’s also because my eye is on the prize. This is where the consistent cash flow comes from and at this point in my life, money is extremely important. When overtime is offered, there I am! I struggle with setting limits on how much overtime I work, though. Must work on that. Balance.

On the other job (the part-time one), I don’t push myself nearly as hard but am equally hard on myself. Photography is truly a passion, and I love to share that gift and see the delight and joy on people’s faces when they receive their photos. Then there’s that observant part of me that can see when people aren’t as pleased with the results (these are usually people who don’t care for ANY photo of themselves). I take that very hard and end up full of self doubt again. I get over it, figure out what I could have done differently for better results, learn all I can about how to do that, and carry on. Balance.

On parenting, three out of four isn’t bad. Nature vs. nurture considered, if three are doing well in school and are goal oriented, that has to say something. As for the fourth, I’m confident that he will find his way. When he does, it will certainly be HIS way and not because I pushed him. A little more push is admittedly needed, but I refuse to shove. Not my style. Don’t judge me. To quote every guest on Springer & Povich, “You don’t KNOW me! You don’t know my life!” If you’ve ever even flipped past a channel when those shows were on, you know exactly what I’m talking about. Guidance, patience, and two-way communication. Balance.

On marriage… well, I have to draw the line somewhere. I share a lot in my writings, but this one will have to remain a mystery to the few who actually read what I write (and I do see the numbers). :P Perhaps someday… but not now. Odd sort of balance there.

A Letter to God Regarding Time

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Dear God,

I was wondering if I might put in a request for the addition of one day to the week? I know it would completely obliterate the original story in Genesis, but perhaps we could revise the Bible to say that on the seventh and eight day, you rested. Technically, on our seventh day, we don’t completely rest because we have to get up early and rush to get ready to gather in Your house to for worship and fellowship. An eighth day would be marvelous to be able to sleep in and just lounge about the house the entire day.

This wouldn’t change work or school schedules of course! Work and school would still only be five days per week. We would have a three-day weekend, though. How many times do you hear pleas for more hours in a day? So give us a whole 24 hours more and call it a day!

Amen

Charming Vacation Rentals Across America | The End

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I just know everyone will be positively heartbroken that I’m ending this series. Don’t worry! I’ll still highlight some fabulous rentals when I come across them, but I’m done with the daily postings. I made it through half the states plus DC, which is quite an accomplishment!

Life, yet again, has taken a turn that I had to follow. School started, and I have to get up and moving earlier. That’s the time I would normally savor a cup of coffee and slowly start my day. No time for that now! Oh no! I hit the ground running now. I start work first thing, then use my first break to drive Ali to school. Starting earlier is great because that means I can be done by 3:00 if I choose not to work overtime. Choose not to work overtime? Me?! OK, so it does happen once in a while. Yes, I do know when to slow down and recharge.

As a matter of fact, I clocked out at 2:45 today and set an alarm to take a 30 minute nap. I was up and clocked back in for a 3:30 teleconference. However, I won’t be using the digital kitchen timer as an alarm again. That’s just an incredibly rude way to wake a person up!

Also, my brain is going to be to busy absorbing a ton of new information as I go through training in a new department for work this month. I’m excited to learn more about the Trust & Security department and think it is exactly the right fit for me! Should this temporary assignment as a fill-in for another employee’s maternity leave turn into something permanent, I’m fairly certain I would … without hesitation … accept!

So this is why the posts about charming vacation rentals have stopped. It was fun while it lasted, but life’s unexpected turns are more fun!

Slow Me Down!

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I will probably work the extra 3.5 hours tomorrow morning to bring my total hours worked this week to an even 60, and to see if we can get totally caught up by noon tomorrow.  Just two weeks ago, we were working on emails that were four weeks old.  As of tonight, we are only one week behind.  Since Sunday evening, I have worked 518 emails, processed 110 URL requests, handled 5 listing transfers, combined 10 accounts, and spent a total of 3 hours on conference calls.  Oh!  I also delivered the bear to it’s next VRBO family to take him on vacation.