Felicity's 2nd Birthday Party! Wish I could have been there!Sunday, June 21, 2009
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
slowly i turn
i love that episode of i love lucy with the slowly i turn bit in it... the one where she gets sprayed in the face with water. i also like the one where she sets her nose on fire. and when she has to eat her cheese baby.
today is my dad's birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD! my favorite dad gives business advice story: when i was probably about 13 my dad told me to never fire anyone at lunch b/c then people will be afraid to go to lunch with you.
i wonder if it is better to fire someone on a monday or friday. maybe split the difference and go for wednesday?
last night i went for a bike ride. i went just as the sun was starting to set (that's about 9 PM here... weird, isn't it?). as i rode around i saw fireflies around the trees. that's a very special treat, i think. we don't have those in ca. fireflies aren't as magical as the red tide in ca but it's probably second place. i guess i just enjoy things in nature that glow. anyway, as i would see them light up i thought to myself 'this is like being in love.' i have absolutely NO IDEA what that even means but i thought it and now i'm sharing it with you.
tonight i miss dan. i wish i had someone to go get ice cream with me. dear dan, i miss you. please come visit soon. love always, elaina.
today at work i was given an indian burn. what has this world come to? he was trying to illustrate how he intimdates people... and left a red mark on my arm for about an hour. i was so shocked when it happened that i didn't say anything, i just walked away. in other work news, my boss almost made me puke today. i had to get up and run out of the office and out the back door of the building. and of course he followed me saying 'where are you going?' and i had to come back and be like listen you make me want to vomit! it really wasn't his fault... i just have a very, very sensitive gag reflex. in order to stop myself from vomiting i have a little mantra & visualization trick i use. i say to myself "puppies and rainbows, puppies and rainbows" and picture cute little puppies running around underneath a rainbow. and it works. clears the mind. it's hard to vomit while picturing a puppy running under a rainbow... unless super cuteness makes you want to puke.
today i was on a conference call with the sales manager from north carolina and one of our corporate people. the lady from nc asked me how things are in richmond and i said "IT RAINS A LOT HERE." i don't know why that is always the first thing that pops out my mouth when ever someone asks about how things are going here.
how are things going in richmond? IT RAINS A LOT HERE.
how do you like richmond? IT RAINS A LOT HERE.
are you adjusting to life on the eat coast? IT RAINS A LOT HERE.
do you miss your family? IT RAINS A LOT HERE.
want to go out for dinner? IT RAINS A LOT HERE.
and people always say 'it doesn't normally rain this much.' but really i think normally they don't have someone pointing it out so much. even if it's just a dewy wind in the morning i make sure everyone i see that entire day is informed that IT RAINS A LOT HERE. i also make sure that they know IT'S NOT LIKE THAT IN CALIFORNIA. i find myself saying that a lot. i like to tell everybody here about the way we do things in ca. i'm sure it's super annoying about i can't make myself stop. eat, breath, talk about the way we do things in california, sleep.
the other day i had someone grill me about why i call the parking structure a parking structure. i guess out here it is only acceptable to say "parking deck" or "parking garage." if you say parking structure suddenly people will have no clue what you're talking about. which is odd b/c if i was in ca and someone said "it's free to park in the parking deck / garage" i would understand what they meant. i wouldn't feel the need to explain that both decks and garages are things that are attached to houses and there isn't one located next to the building but that it was ok b/c i already parked for free in the parking structure.
today is my dad's birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD! my favorite dad gives business advice story: when i was probably about 13 my dad told me to never fire anyone at lunch b/c then people will be afraid to go to lunch with you.
i wonder if it is better to fire someone on a monday or friday. maybe split the difference and go for wednesday?
last night i went for a bike ride. i went just as the sun was starting to set (that's about 9 PM here... weird, isn't it?). as i rode around i saw fireflies around the trees. that's a very special treat, i think. we don't have those in ca. fireflies aren't as magical as the red tide in ca but it's probably second place. i guess i just enjoy things in nature that glow. anyway, as i would see them light up i thought to myself 'this is like being in love.' i have absolutely NO IDEA what that even means but i thought it and now i'm sharing it with you.
tonight i miss dan. i wish i had someone to go get ice cream with me. dear dan, i miss you. please come visit soon. love always, elaina.
today at work i was given an indian burn. what has this world come to? he was trying to illustrate how he intimdates people... and left a red mark on my arm for about an hour. i was so shocked when it happened that i didn't say anything, i just walked away. in other work news, my boss almost made me puke today. i had to get up and run out of the office and out the back door of the building. and of course he followed me saying 'where are you going?' and i had to come back and be like listen you make me want to vomit! it really wasn't his fault... i just have a very, very sensitive gag reflex. in order to stop myself from vomiting i have a little mantra & visualization trick i use. i say to myself "puppies and rainbows, puppies and rainbows" and picture cute little puppies running around underneath a rainbow. and it works. clears the mind. it's hard to vomit while picturing a puppy running under a rainbow... unless super cuteness makes you want to puke.
today i was on a conference call with the sales manager from north carolina and one of our corporate people. the lady from nc asked me how things are in richmond and i said "IT RAINS A LOT HERE." i don't know why that is always the first thing that pops out my mouth when ever someone asks about how things are going here.
how are things going in richmond? IT RAINS A LOT HERE.
how do you like richmond? IT RAINS A LOT HERE.
are you adjusting to life on the eat coast? IT RAINS A LOT HERE.
do you miss your family? IT RAINS A LOT HERE.
want to go out for dinner? IT RAINS A LOT HERE.
and people always say 'it doesn't normally rain this much.' but really i think normally they don't have someone pointing it out so much. even if it's just a dewy wind in the morning i make sure everyone i see that entire day is informed that IT RAINS A LOT HERE. i also make sure that they know IT'S NOT LIKE THAT IN CALIFORNIA. i find myself saying that a lot. i like to tell everybody here about the way we do things in ca. i'm sure it's super annoying about i can't make myself stop. eat, breath, talk about the way we do things in california, sleep.
the other day i had someone grill me about why i call the parking structure a parking structure. i guess out here it is only acceptable to say "parking deck" or "parking garage." if you say parking structure suddenly people will have no clue what you're talking about. which is odd b/c if i was in ca and someone said "it's free to park in the parking deck / garage" i would understand what they meant. i wouldn't feel the need to explain that both decks and garages are things that are attached to houses and there isn't one located next to the building but that it was ok b/c i already parked for free in the parking structure.
Monday, June 15, 2009
a follower
so i have my first official follower. thanks amber! YAY! i'm not totally sure what a follower is but i'm excited to have one.
anyway. here are some things i've been thinking about:
if someone asked me for words to describe myself single would not be in the top ten i would think of. i actually don't think it would be one of the words i would think of at all. single just isn't some thing that i think of me as being... it's not who i am. i was just thinking about that tonight b/c someone had said something about being a single person like that is one is their defining characteristics and i just thought hmm i guess i'm not in that group.
i've been exhausted lately. i'm not sure what my problem is. i just constantly feel like i could fall asleep at any moment. i don't know if it's the unkickable cold, all the work, the stress, the fact that all i do is sit and eat d&b food, i'm not dancing any more... all of the above. i think i must be going through a depressed phase or something. need more sunshine, less rain. virginia.
i can't wait until lauren comes to visit. i think it will help to have a familiar face for a bit. oh and if annie comes out to visit it would be brilliant.
today a manager at work was talking to me and i wasn't paying all that much attention. he had come up to me two different times and asked me things and i had told him the answers and then he came up to me a third time and was like what is wrong with you? you've only said like two words and i was just like i don't know i guess i'm tired and he was just like what? what's wrong with you. and i kind of said meh and walked away. i nearly started to cry though. i don't even know why. i wasn't sad before he started talking to me and like 5 minutes later i was fine again, but for whatever reason the moment just made me want to cry buckets. some times i wonder what's going on in my brain when i'm not paying attention.
so today i got an email saying i needed to go to a webinar for some training. on something i'm already totally trained on. it was just so absurd to me. that my first piece of manager training i've been offered is on something i'm already excellent at doing. at first i thought well you know at least they're trying. and then i thought no, they should've asked me what i need training on instead of wasting valuable tools and resources. it just was one of the moments when i think to myself 'gee corporate is out of touch with what is going on here.' i know they're trying. i know they think they're helping. but some days i would just like to shake them and say hey how about you come run this office while i go on vacation for a week. it is frustrating to be asked to do things beyond my skill level with no direction, to be asked to run the office alone, to get a million things done and just feel like no one understands what i'm trying to do. it's frustrating. frustrating is only the beginning of the words i like to use to describe the emotions i feel regarding corporate. one day i would love to mail my cocktail napkin with my outlined speech about how i'm a straight shooter who doesn't blow smoke to corporate. ::hahaha::
today i hit the 60k mark for the gl. :) when i get that bonus check i'm totally splurging at godiva.
as a final note i'm really not as sad as i might sound. ::hahaha:: just venting. if you've ever worked with me you know how i get on mondays. i'm fine.
anyway. here are some things i've been thinking about:
if someone asked me for words to describe myself single would not be in the top ten i would think of. i actually don't think it would be one of the words i would think of at all. single just isn't some thing that i think of me as being... it's not who i am. i was just thinking about that tonight b/c someone had said something about being a single person like that is one is their defining characteristics and i just thought hmm i guess i'm not in that group.
i've been exhausted lately. i'm not sure what my problem is. i just constantly feel like i could fall asleep at any moment. i don't know if it's the unkickable cold, all the work, the stress, the fact that all i do is sit and eat d&b food, i'm not dancing any more... all of the above. i think i must be going through a depressed phase or something. need more sunshine, less rain. virginia.
i can't wait until lauren comes to visit. i think it will help to have a familiar face for a bit. oh and if annie comes out to visit it would be brilliant.
today a manager at work was talking to me and i wasn't paying all that much attention. he had come up to me two different times and asked me things and i had told him the answers and then he came up to me a third time and was like what is wrong with you? you've only said like two words and i was just like i don't know i guess i'm tired and he was just like what? what's wrong with you. and i kind of said meh and walked away. i nearly started to cry though. i don't even know why. i wasn't sad before he started talking to me and like 5 minutes later i was fine again, but for whatever reason the moment just made me want to cry buckets. some times i wonder what's going on in my brain when i'm not paying attention.
so today i got an email saying i needed to go to a webinar for some training. on something i'm already totally trained on. it was just so absurd to me. that my first piece of manager training i've been offered is on something i'm already excellent at doing. at first i thought well you know at least they're trying. and then i thought no, they should've asked me what i need training on instead of wasting valuable tools and resources. it just was one of the moments when i think to myself 'gee corporate is out of touch with what is going on here.' i know they're trying. i know they think they're helping. but some days i would just like to shake them and say hey how about you come run this office while i go on vacation for a week. it is frustrating to be asked to do things beyond my skill level with no direction, to be asked to run the office alone, to get a million things done and just feel like no one understands what i'm trying to do. it's frustrating. frustrating is only the beginning of the words i like to use to describe the emotions i feel regarding corporate. one day i would love to mail my cocktail napkin with my outlined speech about how i'm a straight shooter who doesn't blow smoke to corporate. ::hahaha::
today i hit the 60k mark for the gl. :) when i get that bonus check i'm totally splurging at godiva.
as a final note i'm really not as sad as i might sound. ::hahaha:: just venting. if you've ever worked with me you know how i get on mondays. i'm fine.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
several things.
first, i bought sylvie a new wheel today. she never used the old one and i thought it might have been b/c it was too difficult to get it to spin. and i was right. she hasn't stopped running in about 4 hours now. she's on a hamster marathon. i understand now why people think it would be a good idea to use a hamster to power things. they are little work horses. work hamsters.
the other day at work we were talking about that guy who won 232 million in the lotto. james was saying that if that happened to him he would still work but not at d&b. he said he'd get a job at a hardware store and work from 12-4 like 3 days a week. ann said she'd stop going to her job and do charity work. i said i would definitely not sell power cards. but i wouldn't get a job and wouldn't just do charity work either (not that charity work isn't great... i just have some other plans)
so i've been thinking of a list of things i would do if i had a seemingly endless supply o' cash.
first of course i would give 2 million to each person in my immediate family. 2 million would also go to laurel, lauren, diane, abby & dan. wouldn't it be nice to have $2 million guys?! at first i thought i'd give you each $1 million but then i figured ahh what the heck you people are worth twice that much!
i would pay the rent in my apartment for the next year.
i would buy a hunter green range rover.
and then i would set about the world learning all the things i've always wanted to learn.
i'd learn how to cook in italy. i'd learn to bake. i would not learn how to decorate cakes, that's for sure. i don't want to know how to do that.
i would learn to sculpt and draw and paint.
i would take more ballroom dancing lessons.
i would go back to school and get a degree in poli sci.
i would be one of those rich people they send to outer space.
i would join the peace corps.
i'd open a bed and breakfast.
and a smooth store some where tropical that doesn't need a smoothie store.
i would learn to play the guitar.
and the piano.
i would get a pet monkey. a little one. not the kind that can tear you apart.
i would go in a hot air balloon. and a submarine.
i would buy a cotton candy machine to keep in my living room.
i'd sponsor like 100 kids on the children's network... you know the one where the send you a picture of some poor child wearing crazy clothes. yeah i'd buy like an entire village!
i would learn about outer space. go to some mountain where they have one of those telescopes and just learn everything i can about the universe.
i would go to every national park in california.
i would learn to take fabulous photos. i will not learn to develop my own photos. i will have people for that.
i would attend sporting events all the time. and enjoy it.
i'm sure there are other things but that's what i can think of for right now.
i've decided to take a pottery class at community art center. you learn how to make things on the spinning pottery wheel thingy. classes begin in july. i'm really very excited. i think it will help me with my brain. tomorrow morning i have a chamber meeting and we will be learning about enjoying the arts in richmond. i'm very excited to learn these things. i also picked up supplies today to work on painting again.
some days i wonder if i am actually losing my mind. any time i'm at work and i'm not in my office i walk around talking to myself so that i don't forget all the important things i have to do when i get back to my office. lately i've been learning that some times i have to say i'm done for the day and turn off a piece of my mind. i'm still working on it. on the whole you can't control everything part of life.
i would like to take a moment to have a little party for myself. right now for this month i have over $55k on the books. i will probably finish at close to $70k. my budget was $20k. tulsa is at about $19k. i'm pretty impressed with it. ::hahaha:: my biggest wish in this world is that troy would call and say 'thanks for your hard work' but that will never happen. sadly, i'm the kind of person that is motivated by someone saying 'good job' but that doesn't happen much. why? i don't know.
i'm looking forward to the weekend. i'm looking forward to resting. to enjoying some time alone. that's another reason why i fear i may be losing my mind. i have no desire to go out and be around people. and i don't really like people. i think i just need some time away.
omk made me eat lunch at the bar the other day. he said 'you promised.' he's getting annoying already. ::sigh:: i brought a pad of paper with me so that i could write down all of my ideas of things i could do for marketing our murder mystery show... and not waste the time while i ate lunch. i've definitely lost my mind.
the other day at work we were talking about that guy who won 232 million in the lotto. james was saying that if that happened to him he would still work but not at d&b. he said he'd get a job at a hardware store and work from 12-4 like 3 days a week. ann said she'd stop going to her job and do charity work. i said i would definitely not sell power cards. but i wouldn't get a job and wouldn't just do charity work either (not that charity work isn't great... i just have some other plans)
so i've been thinking of a list of things i would do if i had a seemingly endless supply o' cash.
first of course i would give 2 million to each person in my immediate family. 2 million would also go to laurel, lauren, diane, abby & dan. wouldn't it be nice to have $2 million guys?! at first i thought i'd give you each $1 million but then i figured ahh what the heck you people are worth twice that much!
i would pay the rent in my apartment for the next year.
i would buy a hunter green range rover.
and then i would set about the world learning all the things i've always wanted to learn.
i'd learn how to cook in italy. i'd learn to bake. i would not learn how to decorate cakes, that's for sure. i don't want to know how to do that.
i would learn to sculpt and draw and paint.
i would take more ballroom dancing lessons.
i would go back to school and get a degree in poli sci.
i would be one of those rich people they send to outer space.
i would join the peace corps.
i'd open a bed and breakfast.
and a smooth store some where tropical that doesn't need a smoothie store.
i would learn to play the guitar.
and the piano.
i would get a pet monkey. a little one. not the kind that can tear you apart.
i would go in a hot air balloon. and a submarine.
i would buy a cotton candy machine to keep in my living room.
i'd sponsor like 100 kids on the children's network... you know the one where the send you a picture of some poor child wearing crazy clothes. yeah i'd buy like an entire village!
i would learn about outer space. go to some mountain where they have one of those telescopes and just learn everything i can about the universe.
i would go to every national park in california.
i would learn to take fabulous photos. i will not learn to develop my own photos. i will have people for that.
i would attend sporting events all the time. and enjoy it.
i'm sure there are other things but that's what i can think of for right now.
i've decided to take a pottery class at community art center. you learn how to make things on the spinning pottery wheel thingy. classes begin in july. i'm really very excited. i think it will help me with my brain. tomorrow morning i have a chamber meeting and we will be learning about enjoying the arts in richmond. i'm very excited to learn these things. i also picked up supplies today to work on painting again.
some days i wonder if i am actually losing my mind. any time i'm at work and i'm not in my office i walk around talking to myself so that i don't forget all the important things i have to do when i get back to my office. lately i've been learning that some times i have to say i'm done for the day and turn off a piece of my mind. i'm still working on it. on the whole you can't control everything part of life.
i would like to take a moment to have a little party for myself. right now for this month i have over $55k on the books. i will probably finish at close to $70k. my budget was $20k. tulsa is at about $19k. i'm pretty impressed with it. ::hahaha:: my biggest wish in this world is that troy would call and say 'thanks for your hard work' but that will never happen. sadly, i'm the kind of person that is motivated by someone saying 'good job' but that doesn't happen much. why? i don't know.
i'm looking forward to the weekend. i'm looking forward to resting. to enjoying some time alone. that's another reason why i fear i may be losing my mind. i have no desire to go out and be around people. and i don't really like people. i think i just need some time away.
omk made me eat lunch at the bar the other day. he said 'you promised.' he's getting annoying already. ::sigh:: i brought a pad of paper with me so that i could write down all of my ideas of things i could do for marketing our murder mystery show... and not waste the time while i ate lunch. i've definitely lost my mind.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
poppins
i love to watch mary poppins... not just a little bit but a lot. i probably watch it about 6 times a month. what i love about mary poppins is that she is very good at her job but she doesn't take it or herself seriously. i also love how that movie is full of great one liners. the whole thing is just hilarious. plus i LOVE dick van dyke.
"i want to make one thing perfectly clear... i never explain anything."
"i want to make one thing perfectly clear... i never explain anything."
Saturday, June 6, 2009
goooooOOOOOOOooooOOOOOooooooooal!
soccer game.
omg.
i am so sunburned on my forehead. it is ridiculous. i didn't even realized it had happened. i walked back into work tonight and this guy goes WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU?! and i was just like uhmm i don't know what you mean and i walked away. and then james saw me and was like HOLY SUNBURN! and i was just like what? am i really sunburned? and so i go into my office and look in the mirror and... WHAT THE?!? It's just my forehead and nose and it is beyond pink. i will take a picture...
ok so the redness on my nose... my forehead is that color too even though you can't tell in the picture. my forehead is actually more red than my nose. th soccer game... the children. every where. every moment. for hours. if you know me, you know how i feel about children who aren't related to me or my close friends. lets just say the feelings aren't positive. and i am now feeling confirmed in feeling more not positive feelings about children of strangers. that's enough about feelings for a week or so. anyway. i would love to see a kickers game some time when i wasn't working and when i could throw things at children without fear of someone calling the corporate office on me.
the good news about the soccer game: it didn't rain.
Friday, June 5, 2009
cold war
so i have a cold. fabulous timing. actually, is there ever a good time for a cold? does anyone ever say 'gee i wish i could get a cold this week... i would love to not be able to breath comfortably today.' i'm pretty sure it was caused by a few factors: 1. the dramatically changing weather we have every day here. 2. the fact that i got caught in a downpour and had to sit in a restaurant soaking wet 3. i work too much and am constantly stressed out 4. i'm sure i was at some point exposed to some other person carrying this sickness and they passed it along to me.
it didn't help that i had to be at a networking event at 7 this morning. i wanted to die the entire time i was there. and tomorrow i have a booth at soccer game. most likely it will be raining. so i will be standing outside in the rain... with a cold... wishing i could die... for nine hours. lets hope that either it is a nice temperature outside and my cold clears up in the night or it rains heavily and my boss has mercy on me and says forget it. he let me leave early today (meaning at 5 PM instead of staying until 9 PM so it was only a 10 hour day instead of 14) even though we had the big party that i've been saying i would stay for since before we opened. i think mostly i looked like death and he didn't want the party host to see me or think i had been any where near the food. totally understandable. ann (the lady who i share an office with) tells me i work too much. she says if anyone ever asks me 'do you think you work too much?' i'm supposed to say yes. she told me that today. i explained to her that 1. i'm a workaholic and 2. if i don't do it no one else will. that's not me like being a crazy control freak, there just isn't anyone in the store who is trained to help. james and i have discussed training ann to help me, so she better watch out b/c before she knows she will be working too much too.
i keep a list of outstanding projects on my white board that i check off and erase as i finish large projects. for the last two weeks there have been about 6 large projects that i haven't been able to complete and i got mad today and I just erased them. a few hours later ann turns to me and was like wow you don't have any outstanding projects! and then i had to explain that i had just errased them b/c i was sick of looking at them but i still had to do them. ::sigh:: i'll probably write them back on there on monday... or i will forget them. which is worse: forgetting that you need to do something and not doing it or knowing that you need to do something and not doing it? i can't decide.
ann is a very good wingman. she is currently trying to get me set up with omk. we both think he is a fabulous man so she is doing everything she can to get that to work out. here's to hoping she succeeds. she always signals me when he's going to come into the office and is also very good about directing his attention to me. i adore her and her wingman skills. :)
it didn't help that i had to be at a networking event at 7 this morning. i wanted to die the entire time i was there. and tomorrow i have a booth at soccer game. most likely it will be raining. so i will be standing outside in the rain... with a cold... wishing i could die... for nine hours. lets hope that either it is a nice temperature outside and my cold clears up in the night or it rains heavily and my boss has mercy on me and says forget it. he let me leave early today (meaning at 5 PM instead of staying until 9 PM so it was only a 10 hour day instead of 14) even though we had the big party that i've been saying i would stay for since before we opened. i think mostly i looked like death and he didn't want the party host to see me or think i had been any where near the food. totally understandable. ann (the lady who i share an office with) tells me i work too much. she says if anyone ever asks me 'do you think you work too much?' i'm supposed to say yes. she told me that today. i explained to her that 1. i'm a workaholic and 2. if i don't do it no one else will. that's not me like being a crazy control freak, there just isn't anyone in the store who is trained to help. james and i have discussed training ann to help me, so she better watch out b/c before she knows she will be working too much too.
i keep a list of outstanding projects on my white board that i check off and erase as i finish large projects. for the last two weeks there have been about 6 large projects that i haven't been able to complete and i got mad today and I just erased them. a few hours later ann turns to me and was like wow you don't have any outstanding projects! and then i had to explain that i had just errased them b/c i was sick of looking at them but i still had to do them. ::sigh:: i'll probably write them back on there on monday... or i will forget them. which is worse: forgetting that you need to do something and not doing it or knowing that you need to do something and not doing it? i can't decide.
ann is a very good wingman. she is currently trying to get me set up with omk. we both think he is a fabulous man so she is doing everything she can to get that to work out. here's to hoping she succeeds. she always signals me when he's going to come into the office and is also very good about directing his attention to me. i adore her and her wingman skills. :)
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