Month: June 2010

I would like to thank Jan; my day yesterday was filled with nice people on the other end of the line. I know it is due to prayer, nothing else explains it. I don’t know when I will be normal Angie again, well normal for me.
Things are going on at work that have me stressed that for obvious reasons I will not talk about here. Same for at home, just know it is not with the Irishman, he and I are good, better than good; it is not with Elizabeth or Jeffrey.
Ok, enough said. Today is Wednesday, my Thursday, I am debating on whether or not to take tomorrow as a vacation today. It was tough to get out of bed this morning, tomorrow will be even tougher! But Friday, well, Friday is Gigi and Tessa day, I am so excited! We are going to have so much fun, I have no idea what we are going to do yet, but it will be fun!
Tessa will be three on July 9th, I cannot believe it was three years ago when she was born, it seems like yesterday. She is an amazing little girl, smart, funny, inquisitive and just a joy to be around, I feel so blessed she belongs to all of us.
Well that is all I have for now, I am sure after the long weekend I will be more myself. Don’t worry Jan! No grey hairs for me, you know it will all be ok!

Dear Readers,
I have nothing vapid or vain to say today, nothing random. I feel the world closing in on me, I thought parenting was supposed to get easier as they grew into adults and moved out of the house. If anyone has any kind of good thought for me today please pray that all of the people that call in for tech support are nice. These are typically not nice people, they scream and curse and say the vilest things, mostly women, but if they could all be nice today that would be great.
Thanks
Angie

Anyone who knows me knows that I am pretty much a joyful person; I believe happiness is overrated and the term “do what makes you feel good” asinine. Being joyful and being obtuse the happenings of the world around you are two different issues. I am very well aware of what is going on in the world, no, I do not ignore it, I just do what I can to make my corner of the world a little bit better. I won’t go into detail on how I do that, my parents taught me that you should do your good works in private, not for the world to see. It dilutes them if everyone can see and if you are doing it for personal glory not heavenly glory.
Really I think you should do nice things for the people around you, helping our neighbor is not too old fashioned of an idea these days is it? If we help each other and the neighboring city helps each other and so on and so on, well eventually everyone will be helped. I firmly believe the United States of America cannot save every third world country from themselves. I believe we should help the people, especially the children that are in 3rd world conditions right here. The backwoods of Tennessee and Virginia come to mind as well as some areas of Louisiana. I am sure other states need help as well. Let’s help our own, then when we have solved our issues, move on to other countries.
I know I am on a soapbox today, and it being Monday is perhaps not appreciated, however, it is what is on my mind right now.
I have been called overly optimistic, annoyingly happy, and eternally joyful, I’ll take them all, I do not see any of those traits as an insult. However, I can be obstinate, purposely obtuse, and when provoked, ha, all I can say is watch out. I can argue with the best of them, thank you Dad and Grandma for teaching me two different ways to win an argument.
I hope everyone has a great Monday, I hope everyone finds something nice to do for someone in your life this week. Karma….

It is Sunday morning and it is early, Tiffaney graciously agreed to trade days with me so I can be off this Friday without having to take a vacation day. So here I am awake at a very early time!
Yesterday was spent watching more soccer, very sad that the U.S.A. team lost, from what I could tell they played a good, hard game. But I admit to knowing nothing about the game. But it was a fun time, Jess did get to come out and spend time with us, Marcus even made it, as well as fiancées 1759 friends. Today is another soccer match, so after I leave here at 1:30 I will meet the Irishman back at the Fillmore in Plano. Then back home and to bed as I have to be back at work at 5:30 tomorrow morning. A very full weekend indeed, unusual for me, I know, but ya know sometimes it happens.
I didn’t realize that this early in the morning people would be driving, here is the question, are they driving to work like me, or is the drive of shame home? Or the clubs just closed down and they are on their way home from the club? This is the question for this very early Sunday morning.

Well it is another Saturday and another round of watching paint dry! Today we are going back to the Fillmore in Plano to watch a soccer match. This time it is with people from fiancée’s 1759 club. I have met some of the people in this club and they were a lot of fun and made me feel instantly a part of the group. I am looking forward to meeting more of them. I have also invited Jess to come along, he has something to do this morning, I am hoping it won’t take forever and he can make it. I think he would enjoy meeting these folks as well. Well that and the beer…
It was special treat day for the pups, canned food mixed in with their dry food, no worries Jess it is all science diet! They loved it; they know it is a special treat so they gather around me as I mix the dry with the canned, as I do not want them to eat just the canned. Chewie talks to me the entire time and Nocona just has the crazy eye look.
Well I have had coffee, I have played games on facebook, I have to go now and pick out a fabulous outfit that will impress fiancee’s friends! TTFN!

Today marks the one year anniversary of the day we lost not one but two amazing icons. The first being Farah Fawcett, Farah you taught me that a southern girl could grow up to be a California Girl, you taught me that I could be a feminist and still be feminine, you taught me that if I wanted I could go to the police academy, work as a private detective, leave an abusive marriage and raise children on my own. You were the role model for my high school hair style, I have no doubt you are with all of the other great sex symbols of our time, Marilyn Monroe, Betty Grable and Jayne Mansfield, you all taught us we could be sexy without losing our religion.
Michael Jackson, you provided the music of my adolescence and my coming of age years, you were there teaching me to dance, teaching me to be socially responsible, teaching me to have fun. From the first time I saw you on American Bandstand when I was 5 years old, I was in love. I was in love with the Michael that had this amazing talent to entertain me, to heal my heartache with his songs when I broke up with a boy, your music helped me rebel when I could no longer pretend to be perfect. I could always escape with your music.
I miss you both, I thank you both.

So yesterday I purchased the Greek yogurt with honey, it was very good. Although the honey was ok, it was not what I grew up with. I grew up eating amazing food, all of it fresh, the vegetables were straight from the garden, fruit from the orchard, if not ours, someone local, cows from the man up the road, honey from the honey guy.
My dad ate a teaspoon of honey every day, he said that someone had told him once that it aided in digestion, he was not overweight so maybe he was on to something. Of course the honey we had came from the man up the road a piece; he had bees and harvested the honey himself. The honey was in a mason jar and even had part of the comb in it. It was so good; I have not had honey like that since leaving Owasso. I may go to the farmers market here and see if there is any fresh honey like that, now that I am thinking about it.
We purchased our milk from another man up the road and around the corner, he not only sold fresh milk (remember the cream at the top Tammi?) he had all kinds of animals. Just a word of advice, peacocks are mean. He had a little house on his property as well, it was so cute, he told my dad that I could rent it after high school, but my dad quickly vetoed that idea, the man had a son who was, well, for lack of a better word, teched, that is the word my grandmother would have used. And my dad did not feel good about me being on the same property as the son. So to an apartment next to drug dealers is where I went!
I remember peaches from Wagoner, Oklahoma, OMG; those were the best peaches ever. So firm, yet when you bit into one the juices would just run down your chin, the flavor, well it was roll your eyes in the back of your head good. The man who sold the best peaches there was an old farmer whose overalls looked like they had never been introduced to laundry detergent, however the man himself was clean as a whistle. My mom wondered how he could bathe then get back into those dirty overalls. It was all very curious and very much part of the experience.
Next were the strawberries, we bought those from the Worley’s who lived up the road and on the hill. They had the biggest strawberry patch, and the berries were so good, that was the only place to purchase them.
I miss all of that good fresh food, the tomatoes, the green beans, the okra, the fruit, if I could go back in time, I would go for dinner!

Well I am later than usual in posting today; however, I shall try and be as entertaining as usual. First of all I would like to give a huge shout out to Abreva, it has saved the day. People if you feel a fever blister coming on, run, do not walk, to purchase this miracle product. You have to apply it exactly the way the instructions well instruct and it will work.
Jess, while I appreciate the suggestion you left after the last post, I believe I will pass on having anyone kiss my fever blister. You are very kind to want to have fiancé kiss the booboo and make it better, but in this case it would just spread an infection.
I have found a new product I am going to hunt down and try, Greek Yogurt, I found a brand and have hunted down where it is carried and will be on the search today. Will update everyone on how tasty it is. I like the Greek Yogurt at Starbucks; however, I have the feeling that one is not so healthy.
So I noticed I have one calf bigger than the other, I wonder if that is a sign of disease or deformity. And if it is deformity why did it take me this long to notice? Maybe I should exercise the one calf more than the other, make it lose weight, and if it does not I will know I need to rush myself into a calf specialist so they can fix me.
I have found a new television show, Girl Meets Dress, it is about a wedding shop right her e in Plano, TX. I have found their website, entered my information and am waiting to be contacted by one of those fabulous consultants.
My friend Tiffaney had a brilliant thought, she was talking about how fiancé gets the whole beer budget to himself and she asked if that meant I get the whole shoe budget to myself! Wow, she is soooooooooo smart. I am thinking she has a point….

Yesterday afternoon fiancé and I went to the movies with his girls to see Toy Story 3 3D. Wow, Disney/Pixar has done it again; I wondered if it would be as amazing as the first two, have no fears, it is.
Be forewarned, take Kleenex, I cried like a BIG FAT BABY! I will definitely be purchasing the DVD when it comes out. I have nothing more exciting to say, I had a very stressful day yesterday and it is manifesting physically today. I am getting a fever blister; I get those when I am under enormous amounts of stress.
Well, I will tell more tomorrow, I am afraid that is all I have today; I hope everyone has a great Wednesday!

Wow, could not have said this better:

12 Things We’d Tell Our Bosses if We Could
Buzz up! 805 Print
Karen Burns, On Wednesday June 16, 2010, 10:47 am EDT
As employees, we are told to be diligent, to follow through, to be “self-starters,” to have a good attitude, to be flexible and patient and dependable and loyal and respectful. We’re told there is no “I” in “team.” We’re told, “You should just be grateful you have a job.” But surely bosses have obligations to us just as we do to them. And surely one of the biggest of those obligations is to seek out their employees’ point of view.

Of course, not all employees feel free to say what they’re actually thinking. You know who you are! That’s why in today’s column, the employees of the world get to speak up. What would you say to your boss if you could say absolutely anything at all? This is your chance, people.

Here are a dozen to get you warmed up:

1. “Give me the tools I need to do a good job.” If you’re unsure, ask me. But, basically, time, materials, information, maybe even a little authority–these are what I need to succeed.

2. “Admit it when you make a mistake.” It shows you’re not afraid and is the best way to earn my respect. Whatever you do, don’t act as if you never make mistakes. That’s just ridiculous.

3. “Don’t treat me like a cog on a wheel.” I’m an individual. If I screw up, tell me. If someone else in my group screws up, tell him. Don’t blame the whole team.

4. “Ask for my opinion from time to time.” I might be able to offer some good ideas if you listened to me even half as much as you expect me to listen to you.

5. “I truly need frequent feedback.” Please don’t wait till the year-end performance review. I can do a better job for you if you let me know what I’m doing wrong, and what I’m doing right, on a regular basis.

6. “Don’t leave me hanging out to dry.” When things go south I need you to be a leader and back me up. If you are not loyal to me, it is impossible for me to be loyal to you.

7. “I can’t hear you when you shout.” Maybe someone once told you intimidation is a good management tool. But seriously, yelling at employees just makes you look weak and ineffectual.

8. “Don’t make me work with idiots.” I realize it’s not easy but if there’s a problem person in the group it’s your job to resolve the situation. Don’t let it drag on and on. It poisons the whole workplace.

9. “Have a clear agenda.” If you don’t know what you want, how do you expect me to? I need you to understand your own goals, and communicate them to me clearly.

10. “Don’t lie about deadlines.” There is no better way to lose the trust of your people than to set “fake” deadlines. Trust me enough to be honest with me and I’ll do a good job for you.

11. “Be predictable.” If you behave erratically I will spend more time and energy worrying about what you’re going to do next than working.

12. “Mentor me.” Ask me my goals. Give me projects that help me develop and grow. I will do a fabulous job for you if you take an interest in me and my career. And that’s a win-win.

Karen Burns is the author of the illustrated career advice book The Amazing Adventures of Working Girl: Real-Life Career Advice You Can Actually Use, recently released by Running Press. She blogs at http://www.karenburnsworkinggirl.com.