Success!

I am happy to report that I survived Convention. The whole event was awesome and my auction that I've been planning for the last four months was a huge success. People loved it so much that they want to know if we will do it again next year. I even had several people ask how they could donate to our cause (Operation Smile) from home after Convention. I love that!

It feels good to work for a company that does so much good--and with people who are passionate about doing good.

hiatus

Convention starts tomorrow, so I will be taking a brief hiatus from my blog-every-day-of-the-month challenge. It's possible that I may be able to post when I get home in the evening, but I can't promise I'll have the energy to do so.

Don't be sad. I shall see you again...if I survive until Saturday. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Thriller

If you're looking for a fun and night out to get in the Halloween spirit go see Odyssey Dance Theatre's production of Thriller. Click HERE to watch a clip.

The dancing was great but one of my favorite parts was before the show even started. While people are getting seated and waiting for the show to start, the "zombies" from the production wander among the audience. One of the girls was actually climbing over seats and people. Others would come right up to you and stare you down. The best part was after our whole group was seated, a boy zombie crawled along the empty row behind us on the floor and snuck up on the the people in my group at the other end of the row. When he got to them, he slowly popped up and made a growling noise which scared the crap out of my friend. Ah...so funny!

old news, new news

This is old news to anybody I've seen throughout the week, but I don't think I've seen any of you readers during the week, so it will be new news to all of you. Drum roll please! Da, da da da! I have a new haircut. Well, kind of. It's just my bangs that are different. I went to get them trimmed Monday night. I meant to get them the same as last time, but right there, on the spot, I decided to do something daring, something fun, something new--et voila! I am so glad I did.
So, my cowlick is going a little nuts here in this picture, but it's much better now after almost a week of "training." Amazing how a small, good change to your hair can make you feel like a new person, but yourself at the same time. Very refreshing.

You know...

...you've been staying up way too late when it feels so good to go to bed at 11 o'clock.

Just do it, okay?!

It's bad enough that I have to work with someone who walks around like he's "too cool for school," but why does he have to fight me on something miniscule that I ask him to do for a huge project I've been working on for the past 4 months? In the time that we've gone back and forth about whether this teensy but hugely important change should be made, he could have made the change a dozen times already! I know you're busy, but I'm the customer here. Don't argue with me; just do what I ask and we can both get on with our lives. Please and thank you.

Monday, Monday...

Look what a nice note I found in my email inbox on this monday morning:

Dear Rebecca,

You are always so nice to send follow-ups and I am so grateful for your diligence and faithfulness. It’s my great pleasure to work with such an outstanding
Person and I thank you Dear friend. Clay

Sometimes kindness like this touches me so much that I get a little choked up--which is what just may have happened this morning. Feeling appreciated is also good motivation.

Thoughts on Motivation

Thanks to those of you who provided some helpful ideas on motivation in response to my post of a few days ago. Thanks to Kate for dedicating a whole post about it on her own blog! All these ideas are much appreciated and I am going to try them out.

I had a thought on motivation myself this morning. Maybe it's not so much about being directly motivated to do better at work, but about helping myself feel better at work and thus perform better.

I have church at 11 a.m. Which means I usually have plenty of time to get ready on Sunday morning. This means I usually feel like I look pretty good--having had plenty of time to put together an outfit that I like and do a really good job on makeup etc. I was driving to church this morning feeling pleased with my outfit and the outcome of my new eye shadow color experimentation, therefore feeling good about myself and looking forward to being at church. This feel-good attitude also usually means that I am more alert, I engage more with others and participate in discussions etc.

But on most work days, I sleep in until the very last minute, put on the first thing I can find that is clean and in which I don't feel like a stuffed sausage and rush to work--which means I also often feel frump-tastic, unstylish, not confident, unprepared and tired. No wonder I feel so unmotivated about my job!

So, another tactic I'm going to try is to dress for work more carefully. I think this goes along great with Kate's idea about playing a role (see #4 in her entry about Motivation). I mean, if you're going to play a role properly you have to dress the part, right? So I'm going to look at my work clothes as costumes that help me dress the part of someone who enjoys and is good at her job (note: I am good at my job--ask anyone I work with--I just don't always enjoy it).

Wish me luck!

The But Clause

it's never a good thing is it? and nobody ever likes to hear "the but clause," do they?

Last night my roommate had a second date with a guy she was first set up with about 2 weeks ago. After the first date she told me he was nice and good company but she didn't feel any attraction or connection. So when she got home last night I asked if she liked him any better after a second date. Her response was the same. So then we started talking about how you let a guy know that you don't want to go out with him anymore. Do you keep avoiding and making excuses until he gets the hint? or do you tell him straightforward that you don't want to go out again?

I'm pretty sure I've heard multiple guys say they prefer the straightforward approach--but this is hard especially when you avoid confrontation like my roommate and I do. So I offer to practice with her and we start coming up with the exact wording she can say if this guy calls to ask her out again. Basically we came up with something to the effect of "I really enjoy your company, but I'm just not feeling it." This is where my roommate says, "I'm fine saying the first part, it's the second part I don't like." To which I respond "yeah, nobody likes the but clause," and she says "no. the but clause is never good."

And then we laughed and laughed...

Burnout

Do you ever feel burned out at work? maybe that's a dumb question, but I'm feeling that a lot lately. It's not just because it's our busy time of year. I like doing the out of the ordinary stuff that I am working on for our upcoming event. It's the normal responsibilities of my position that I've been doing day in and day out for the past 3ish years (have I really had this same position for 3 years?) that I simply have no desire to continue doing.

Anyway. I'm wondering if any of you ever feel the same way. What have you done to make it better? how have you rejuvenated your work self or regained enthusiasm for your job? Honestly, sometimes I feel like I just don't want to work anymore. I wish I could quit and read and crochet and cook all day...but, that's not really an option seeing as I'm not independently wealthy. So, I really would like some suggestions. Lay 'em on me!

Tricksy

I think my smoke detectors are playing tricks on me.

Monday night the one in my bedroom started chirping in the wee hours of the morning waking me from a sound sleep. I tried to go back to sleep, but the intermittent chirping kept waking me up. (I was extra irritated that this happened because I just checked them all and put new batteries in them a couple of months ago.)

I got out of bed and tried to find a package of earplugs that I swear exists in my home somewhere--but with no luck. Finally, I decided to take refuge on the living room couch. In there, with the bedroom door closed, it was a little quieter. And soon after I was settled on the couch it stopped altogether. I was tempted to go back to my bed, but for some reason I thought that if I went back in there the chirping would start again--as if the smoke detector could also detect my presence in the room.

I stayed on the couch all night and the smoke detector stayed quiet. In fact, I haven't heard a peep out of it since. Let's hope it stays that way for a good lon time.

not doing so hot

looks like I'm already not doing so hot on this "blog everyday thing." But I'm gonna keep trying.

Question: if I writ etwo entries today, does that make up for missing yesterday? I don't know if I will do two today. I'm just asking.

Challenge accepted

Ok, so I know I'm accepting this challenge a couple of days late, but better late than never, right?

In honor of, and to get into the proper spirit of, Halloween, I began the month of October by reading a story by one of the most wonderfully creepy authors I know, Edgar Allan Poe--and I just might make that a tradition.

Instead of reading one of Poe's popular and widely read pieces, I chose one that I'd never heard of before--and was pleasantly surprised by a delightfully satirical story which appeals to the morbid sense of humor. To give you just a little taste, here is an excerpt from Poe's short story "Never Bet the Devil your Head" that I found particularly amusing. To give a little background, the main character has just finished lecturing his friend, Toby Dammit, about the dangers of his careless use of the phrase "I'll bet the devil my head".

"Finally, setting his arks a-kimbo, he condescended to reply.
I can call to mind only the heads of his discourse. He would be obliged to me if I would hold my tongue. He wished none of my advice. He despised all my insinuations. He was old enough to take care of himself. Did I still think him baby Dammit? Did I mean to say anything against his character? Did I intend to insult him? Was I a fool? Was my maternal parent aware, in a word, of my absence from the domiciliary residence? He would put this latter question to me as a man of veracity, and he would bind himself to abide by my reply. Once more he would demand explicitly if my mother knew that I was out. My confusion, he said, betrayed me, and he would be willing to bet the Devil his head that she did not.
Mr. Dammit did not pause for my rejoinder. Turning upon his heel, he left my presence with undignified precipitation. It was very well for him that he did so. My feelings had been wounded. Even my anger had been aroused. For once I would have taken him up upon his insulting wager. I would have won for the Arch-Enemy Mr. Dammit's little head--for the fact is, my mamma was very well aware of my merely temporary absence from home."

Maybe I'm a big literature nerd, but I thought that was SO funny! It takes a minute to get used to the archaic language, but it's worth a read.

What's your favorite Poe story or poem?