Remember Me

Two ladies from my work retired yesterday. One has been with the company for over 30 years, and the other for over 10. In 10 or 30 years of working with the same people every day, you begin to learn a lot about them.

Sometimes I really like my coworkers, sometimes I loathe them, and other times I am indifferent. I've said it before though - these are the people with whom you spend the majority of your days, weeks, months, and years, so maybe you should try and get along. You drive to the same place and work and breathe the same thing; you're bound to have a thing or two in common. Being part of a family business even further instills this in me and each time someone is let go, retires, quits or gets fired, it feels like a personal loss to me. (Is it a coincidence that hire, retire and fire all rhyme?)

As part of the retirement gifts, a few of us put together a scrapbook for each of the ladies, complete with memories written by other coworkers. One of the ladies was easier to write about than the other. She was here longer, she reached out to more people, and she had more bounce in her step. This got me thinking. How do I want to be remembered? I think about how I want to be remembered by my family, friends and people I knew through school, but I never really think about how I want my coworkers to remember me once I retire. Probably because I am one billion years away from that part of my life. (This brings up both feelings of "Oh God!" and "Thank God!")

I see my coworkers stressed out (aren't we all?), huffing and puffing and sighing at every turn. It's understandable to feel overwhelmed and despise your day, but all of the time? C'mon. I see others not wanting to talk to their coworkers, scowling at people and inanimate objects. I see the ones who come to work to get their tasks done and nothing more. And frankly, it's draining to be around these people.

And then I see the ones who smile at everyone. The ones who are helpful, even when they have a mountain of crap on their desk. The ones who will go out of their way to solve a problem, without expecting extra praise or reward. The ones who do their job well and aren't devils in the process. (Side note: devils are like people of evil / people d'evil! This is not real etymology, I just like to pretend to speak French). Anyway...

There is such a thing as being happy at work. I am going to try and find that place every day and be positive. When it comes time to remember me, I don't want people (even me) struggling to remember something good.

How do you want to be remembered?

A birthday tribute

I keep going through this cycle: work all week hoping to get to a relaxing weekend, fly through the weekend, feel icky on Monday because it’s the week again, work all week hoping to get to a relaxing weekend… I mean it makes sense that everything is a cycle. It just feels so robotic and routine, even when my activities are always changing. So now, we are at the part where I’m excited for the weekend! 

This weekend has an improv comedy show in store, along with spring cleaning, crafting, celebrating St. Patrick’s Day, and more crafting. 

{Me and the birthday girl, dressed as Christmas presents}

Happy Birthday to Ms. Ashley! 
Ashley is the one of the nicest people you will ever meet. I was lucky enough to meet her my freshman year of college at the U of M in our Bailey Hall dorms. Being in Bailey Hall meant a few things, one of which was that you often stayed in and hung out with your hall mates rather than deal with the stupid connector bus that took you to all the fun in Minneapolis. Soon, Ashley and I found out that we had two lectures and two discussion sections together. So naturally we studied together, then ate meals, exercised, went to concerts, watched tv, and spent every waking moment day together. Since then, we have been best friends and shared many nefarious adventures. We share a love for so many things and I'm lucky to have such a sweet friend who listens to my (and everyone else’s for that matter) ramblings. Happy birthday Ro! May this be the beginning of an even better year for you.

Brotip #1467

I got the tip to this website from Davina and am sort of addicted to them. The sayings are sometimes funny, sometimes serious, and almost always applicable to life. 


Two things come to mind when I read this. One is the impending work I have to do as a result of an audit we just had at work. Sucks, but it will only make us better. We found what doesn't work.


The second is a friend's relationship. It's not a failure. It's success at finding what doesn't work. You live and you learn. (Then you egg his house).

Merry...Tuesday?

Ah, the week has begun. I intended to post yesterday but work got in the way and I had to skip my breaks. So here I am, after a long day of audit torture.

But back to the good stuff, le weekend. Friday was spent at the bowling alley. My back was aching and my finger was crying over a wide papercut, so I didn't feel like bowling. But then I decided to stop being a poor sport (and an old lady) and look, I had fun. We ended up on my sister's couch watching lots of tv shows (how typical).

Saturday started out extremely lazy. Then I went for a 3.8-mile run with my sister along the Mississippi River. And once again, I was lazy and didn’t want to go and had to be dragged out there and was happier for it. Moral of the story is stop being lazy and complaining about everything!?!? Hmf. Saturday continued on and le boyfriend and I went shopping (nothing to show for it) and to dinner at W.A. Frost, which was yummy. Then we hopped from here to there and celebrated another birthday. I swear there is a birthday practically every weekend! I guess it makes sense since there are only 52 weekends in a year and there are many people in this world who have been born...

Anyway, Sunday was breakfast, lazing, hoopin’ it up at the nearby basketball court, dinner, then watching Night at the Museum. I would say this was my most laid-back and lazy weekend yet. It’s a nice change to not know what you’re doing until the day you’re actually doing it. It doesn’t happen that often in my book. And now, let’s try to get through this week, shall we?

How I Shall Survive:

1. Audits. Zero fun but there for a reason. We’ll only be better because of it. (And have to do a crap ton of work but whatever). I gotta think of the big picture here.

2. MSP Fashion Week. That’s right. A low-key, smaller-scale fantastic week of style events and sales. I plan on going to a trunk show and maybe some kind of designer showcase. We’ll see.

3. Concerts. I have a concert to look forward to at the end of the week. Then I have eight more planned for the future…oops!

And lastly:

Happy [Belated] Birthday to Mr. Kevin!

Kevin is my brother-in-law who is ultra-nice and will do a lot of considerate things for people. He livens up my work day by being hilarious. He knows how to make you feel as though you’ve done a great job at anything, even if my cooking does suck. He’s a great guy to my sister, and that’s the number one thing I look for in someone who is married to my sister. Go figure. Happy birthday Schmevin!

Merry Monday

Hello dearies! It's been probably over a month since I last wrote this installment since there were so many other things happening on Monday, like the day off of work for Christmas, the day off of work for the New Year and although I was working, MLK Jr. Day and Lunar New Year warranted other thoughts.

Now I am finally back to being at work on a regular, old Monday. Cue the trumpets! Wahoooie! It's 100% a Monday at work too. This weekend was fun and fast, as usual. I spent Friday celebrating Laura's birthday in Uptown (it was such a college reunion!), Saturday I attended the boyfran's high school alumni basketball game and we celebrated three years of going steady with a tarte from Chez Arnaud, a dinner at Rudy's Redeye Grill, a viewing of Super 8, and a night out with his friends who were in town. 

Sunday was a day of volunteering (you can read all about it here) and then I went and cuddled with my nephews for a couple of hours. Then, I saw The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and was blown away. You can also read about that movie here. All in all, a good weekend.

This month has been one of the best, with so many activities and what I feel are accomplishments. I planned to run 25 miles this month and am at 22 so far. I wanted to see at least three movies and I've seen 4x that amount. I did really well on my resolution chart in terms of the weekly and monthly goals, and not so well on the daily goals.

This is what I'm looking forward to and what will give me energy today:

1. My coworker comes back tomorrow. I'm trying to finish a lot of her stuff I was filling in for, so this day will be busy, busy.

2. Book club is tomorrow and I'm excited to see everyone. (Not as excited to see all of their tans from their January vacations, snots!)

3. Next weekend one of my favorite comedians (Chris Barnes) is coming to town and I'm definitely going to see him.

The days are long, but the years are short. This one is already flying by! I hope you have a great Monday! 

Merry Monday

Ahh, this weekend was so full of activity that I can barely stay awake today. I guess I still need to master the art of sleeping with my eyes open at work. Heehee.

Friday was the boyfran’s birthday celebration, Saturday was dinner downtown and the Jerry Seinfeld show, and Sunday rounded it out with dinner (also downtown) and the Mat Kearney concert. I feel like I was either running around or laying on the couch watching reruns of 30 Rock. (So excited for its return!)

How am I going to get through today?

1. Being productive: I have a lot of work to do today and by golly, I am doing it.

2. Short work week: Only three days! Then a day off! Then back to work for a day! Then two off!

3. Thanksgiving: I’m going to teach some of my family (the willing and eager ones) a fun card game I played all Saturday night after the show. Plus, it’s le B-I-L’s birthday celebration so that will be fun too.

That’s all I can muster up right now. My other b-l-o-g is getting a makeover as we speak, so that’s kind of exciting too. 

Gee golly shucks, it's cold.

I think you know the whole go-to-work-when-it's-dark and leave-work-when-it's-dark situation. (If you don't I loathe envy you). Since I work in a cube that is far away from any sort of window and the windows we have are tinted, I make it a point to go outside for at least one of my breaks. And when I do, it's kind of cold. And then I'm like "Aw, gee golly shucks, it's cold, why did I leave my den?" So it's getting cold but I think that Minnesota is having a fairly-mild November given our history, so that's kind of nice too. And the other thing I think is that having four seasons and harsh winters and brutal summers makes for a tough, well-rounded person. Or at least one who knows how to complain. Harhar.

That's all.

Merry Monday [Work Edition]

Doesn't it sometimes feel like we go through the week to get to the weekend, only to have it flash by us and drop us at the door of Monday again? Rinse and repeat?

Well that has happened once again and my friends, we're back at day 1 of the work week. I spilled coffee on my boots, had to lug ten-thousand things to work and got here late. But once I got here, everything turned around.

So now I'm a happy Monday Camper, or Mamper:

1. Just kidding I don't like the world Mamper.

2. More time. I found out a HUGE audit at work has been postponed from the end of November to the beginning of January. Having an extra month to work is EPIC, and this time we won't procrastinate, but keep at our schedule like our audit is still early.

3. Coworker morale boosts. Last week my coworker told me I'd be good at a new lead position I will be transitioning into because I'm intelligent and people value what I have to say. That made me really happy, because it's easy to feel exactly the opposite.

4. Enjoying work and the people who surround you. Most of us spend at least 40 hours of our week at work. It helps to enjoy the tasks you're involved in and the company you keep. I used to not care about being friends with people at work...(sounds mean, I know) but then I realized I will see these people the most out of anyone I know so I might as well like them!

5. Noah and the Whale. Even though I'm a little peeved with them, I am excited to hear them tonight. They were pretty-darn-good at Lollapalooza last summer and I'd like to see what the show is like when I'm not sweating in blaring sun and fearing skin-sizzle.

I hope your Mondays are equally good or better! It can be hard to get up and do it all over again, but when you actually want to, it's a nice change of pace.

Scary Monday

Happy Halloween friends!! Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, especially when it falls on a weekday. This is because you then get to celebrate more than once (weekend and actual) and you get to celebrate it at work like we're doing today. 


Things that I love about Halloween that make me happy on this Halloweeny Monday:
1. Candy. My teeth are rotting as we speak and I'm going to decrease my intake in general...but maybe not today.
2. Disguise. Since we're ourselves pretty much every day, it's fun to step outside of that role and be something we're not. In this case, Snow White.
3. Black and Orange. Even my phone is festive with these colors right now.
4. Community and Trust. When else can you go door-to-door and expect strangers to give you something that you like and can (sort of) benefit from? (Don't think about the movie Candy Man).
5. Fall. Halloween is SO fall.
6. Pumpkins. Picking, carving, displaying, eating the seeds. 
7. Fright. I'm the biggest scaredy-cat on the planet, but it's fun to do something that spooks you. But I don't intend on watching seventeen scary movies like Jes or Zeb have been doing.

8. Apples. Except for when I'm Snow White.

9. That Festive Feeling. Work is bubbling with excitement and it's nice to have more fun at that place you go to every day.

10. Humor. Where do ghosts go out? [Anywhere they can get sheet-faced].

I hope your day is spooktacular, filled with more tricks than treats (and maybe some puns), and that you have fun!

Oh, and, from the weekend:

Merry Monday - Labor Day Edition

Being that today is a holiday, this version of Merry Monday isn't as legitimate. I slept nine hours last night, I don't have to go to work today, the sun is shining, the weather is cool, and my only obligation is a Twins game in this gorgeous weather.

Still, there are a few things that make today one of the best:
1. Sleeping in. Almost everyone I know has a routine of when they go to bed and when they wake up. Mine is pretty erratic but the one thing that is somewhat regular is that I sleep fewer hours than I think I should. So when I don't really have to pay attention to any alarm clocks, external or internal, it's bliss.
2. Drinking coffee through a straw. Even though it's about 60 degrees outside (yeay!), I'm still enjoying iced coffee...through a straw.
3. Easy communication. Text messages rule.

That's it for today. Here's a little lyric from Vampire Weekend in spirit of labor:

"We only work to live. Until we live to work." I hope you have some kind of happy medium in your life.

Enjoy your labor day and celebrate what it means to you. Whether it's all of the people who have come before us who worked hard to provide infrastructure, freedoms, and convenience, or if it's about the end of summer, the start of something new, or the last day of the State Fair - celebrate it.

"To be, or not to be, that is the question:"

My internal monologue is in a fight with itself.

It can’t decide whether or not it wants to pursue grad school.

It’s been thinking about it ever since it was in college.

It has always thought this was the path for it.

It now has its doubts.

Now that I’ve exhausted my need to talk in the third/odd person, I’ll get real. Academics have always been an integral part of who I am. If I wasn’t making a ridiculously intense study guide for a test that only counted for 5% of my grade, I was overachieving on a PowerPoint presentation with just the right amount of bells and whistles. CSOM at the University of Minnesota requires that you work for two years in a real, big-girl (or guy) position before attempting graduate school. Naturally, my path was going to be to graduate, work for two years, then apply for graduate school. I even was going to take my GMAT and apply early to ensure that I would begin class at the start of the end of my two years of working. Wrong.

It has now officially been two years and a month since I began working in my big-girl job. And while I still have the GMAT in the back of my mind, the test preparation book is collecting dust on my bookshelf that is crowded with materials I actually want to read.

I’ve been looking a lot to the people who surround me for inspiration or motivation in one direction or another.

Two of my best friends are in the psychology field, so basically grad school is already on their life plate. I think this has slightly influenced me. If my friends are going to be so highly educated, maybe I should be too.

Another friend who studied himself crazy for the LSAT for months decided that he actually didn’t want to take it, nor did he want to be a lawyer at all. Then, he moved to Taiwan to study Chinese.

Yet another friend went to grad school and now cannot find a job.

Then I have all my friends who are happily working and would not go back to school even if they were paid to.

The pros are:

Learning from professionals with work experience

Meeting new people who have similar interests

Challenging myself to balance work and school

Having the opportunity to study abroad again (a month at most)

The cons are:

Paying ridiculous amounts for tuition

Buying books and other materials

Driving at least an extra hour each day

Paying for parking

Only being able to do it part time

Balancing work and school

Reducing the size of my paycheck by at least fifty percent

Studying, taking tests, writing papers, doing homework, giving speeches, writing dissertations…

Anyway, some of the things on the cons list are petty, but the fact that I routinely list them as cons probably means that I’m trying to make the cons seem more intense so that I can justify not going to school. Part of me feels like a failure for admitting that I’m not going to have more than an undergraduate degree. The other part says, "who cares?"

I feel a teeny bit excited to finally put this to rest and pursue other things I am passionate about. I’m currently working on a project that has taken up a lot of my time, but because I think the research is fascinating, I know it is important to me. [More on this later].

Is there anything in life you wish you did, but didn’t? Is there something your internal monologue is arguing about?