Tonight's blog title has been brought to you by Megan. I held her over the keyboard and let her hit the keys. :-) So I need to get my eating in check again. I keep thinking that because I'm running more I need to eat more, but the truth is I'm just using that as an excuse to eat a little more then I know I should. Tomorrow we are getting a free lunch out, at some Mexican place down town. I'm going to be getting a chicken caesar salad.
Work is going okay, but still not very enjoyable. I think my boss is convinced I'm quitting next week. Even my boss's boss sent me an email about something, and at the end said "p.s. How are you holding up?" Oh well... it's finally got to the point where I obviously can't be 100% honest with management. That's how these things go.
The weather is looking to be really nice this weekend, I'm hoping for a good outdoor run. Saturday night is my role playing group, which I am really looking forward too. I just hope we actually get to play some and don't spend the whole night bull shitting around.
Thursday, March 30, 2006
Wednesday, March 29, 2006
Always trust a dwarf
I can't decide what is more pathetic - the fact that I only have 3 actual pastimes, or the fact I had to look up how to spell "pastimes". All I could think was, "past time" but that didn't make any sense...
If I had to list my pastimes, it would look something like this, in no particular order: video games, exercising, and movies. I think I'd put roleplaying as a distant fourth past time. Okay, so maybe I have 4 pastimes. Is that a lot? Is blogging considered a pastime? Crap, maybe I have more then I thought!
Anyway, todays post is about roleplaying. The group that I originally tried to run as a Dungeon Master is starting back up again. This time, my brother has taken on the task of DM. Granted he has more free time lately, but I hope it doesn't distract from other things he should be doing...
So I made a Dwarf Cleric for our adventures. I've always loved classic fantasy dwarfs. I guess its because they are always portrayed with characteristics that I really admire. Hard working, determined, strong sense of honor and duty to friends and family. Dwarfs are known for making big personal sacrifices for the greater good of their clan (aka, a typical dwarf community). Dwarfs are also known for honesty in all things, which is a big thing I always identified with.
I suppose I consider all those traits things that I strive to do, but find that I don't always live up to. That's part of what I enjoy, but hardly ever do with roleplaying. I never get to actually to play a character personality. Instead I just end up playing as my own personality! Maybe that's why I'm a programmer and not an actor?
If I had to list my pastimes, it would look something like this, in no particular order: video games, exercising, and movies. I think I'd put roleplaying as a distant fourth past time. Okay, so maybe I have 4 pastimes. Is that a lot? Is blogging considered a pastime? Crap, maybe I have more then I thought!
Anyway, todays post is about roleplaying. The group that I originally tried to run as a Dungeon Master is starting back up again. This time, my brother has taken on the task of DM. Granted he has more free time lately, but I hope it doesn't distract from other things he should be doing...
So I made a Dwarf Cleric for our adventures. I've always loved classic fantasy dwarfs. I guess its because they are always portrayed with characteristics that I really admire. Hard working, determined, strong sense of honor and duty to friends and family. Dwarfs are known for making big personal sacrifices for the greater good of their clan (aka, a typical dwarf community). Dwarfs are also known for honesty in all things, which is a big thing I always identified with.
I suppose I consider all those traits things that I strive to do, but find that I don't always live up to. That's part of what I enjoy, but hardly ever do with roleplaying. I never get to actually to play a character personality. Instead I just end up playing as my own personality! Maybe that's why I'm a programmer and not an actor?
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
I am Ninja
Once again, I got too tired to post on my blog. Instead, you should spend a few minutes watching some hularious Ninja videos:
Ask a Ninja
A few samples:
Follow the advice advice of my grandmother who said: Stab first. I don't know the second part, because I stabbed her.
I've killed several people with gift cards.
Ask a Ninja
A few samples:
Follow the advice advice of my grandmother who said: Stab first. I don't know the second part, because I stabbed her.
I've killed several people with gift cards.
Monday, March 27, 2006
Taking a day off work
It always starts out the same. I stayed up too late the night before perhaps. Maybe I just wake up with a headache. Or maybe I just don't feel like going in. Or in the case of today, my alarm was set to PM instead of AM so I woke up late. The result, I take the day off.
After that, every single time I end up going through the same series of emotions. At first, I feel good to be staying home. I usually start the morning off by checking my work email, and as always there tends to be a few things that make me go "Errr crap maybe I should have gone in today." From there, I try to let it go - maybe a few video games. Some movies, one of my favorite things to do on the days I stay home is watch the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy. (yes, all 10+ hours of it)
From there, the my mood progressively gets worse as I continue to check email during the day. Maybe there is an issue someone needs my help with, or perhaps something from a long time ago decides to pick today to come up again. Whatever it is, it's always SOMETHING that just makes me pissed off I ended up staying home.
The final icing on the cake tends to be someone scheduling a meeting, either for the day I stayed home, or perhaps they schedule it for the next day. And why is it, my boss always ends up scheduling a meeting shortly after, to "Talk about how things are going"??? You might say, it's just coincidence. But if its coincidence, WHY DOES IT ALWAYS SEEM TO HAPPEN TO ME!?!? And further more, why does this shit happen to me right after seeing a movie (V for Vendetta) that has a main theme of "Nothing happens by coincidence?"
Who knows... these are just the crazy thoughts that go through my head on the days I decide to stay home. Sometimes I feel like it's just my stupid ass worrying self that makes my mood get worse and worse as the day goes on, but that doesn't help me shake them off.
So tomorrow, again just like after every day I end up taking off, I'll go into work super early and work late in my own little attempt to "make good" for my being lazy and not going in.
Sigh.
Well, if you've made it this far - blogger image uploads are working again so here are some good ones from the last 3 days.
GG (my newly appointed nickname for Grandma Gayle) went to Vegas!
Megan in a cute outfit to go see Grandma/pa Bieraugel.
Oh no... she has finally figured out how to pull the little toys out of her Exersaucer.
After that, every single time I end up going through the same series of emotions. At first, I feel good to be staying home. I usually start the morning off by checking my work email, and as always there tends to be a few things that make me go "Errr crap maybe I should have gone in today." From there, I try to let it go - maybe a few video games. Some movies, one of my favorite things to do on the days I stay home is watch the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy. (yes, all 10+ hours of it)
From there, the my mood progressively gets worse as I continue to check email during the day. Maybe there is an issue someone needs my help with, or perhaps something from a long time ago decides to pick today to come up again. Whatever it is, it's always SOMETHING that just makes me pissed off I ended up staying home.
The final icing on the cake tends to be someone scheduling a meeting, either for the day I stayed home, or perhaps they schedule it for the next day. And why is it, my boss always ends up scheduling a meeting shortly after, to "Talk about how things are going"??? You might say, it's just coincidence. But if its coincidence, WHY DOES IT ALWAYS SEEM TO HAPPEN TO ME!?!? And further more, why does this shit happen to me right after seeing a movie (V for Vendetta) that has a main theme of "Nothing happens by coincidence?"
Who knows... these are just the crazy thoughts that go through my head on the days I decide to stay home. Sometimes I feel like it's just my stupid ass worrying self that makes my mood get worse and worse as the day goes on, but that doesn't help me shake them off.
So tomorrow, again just like after every day I end up taking off, I'll go into work super early and work late in my own little attempt to "make good" for my being lazy and not going in.
Sigh.
Well, if you've made it this far - blogger image uploads are working again so here are some good ones from the last 3 days.
GG (my newly appointed nickname for Grandma Gayle) went to Vegas!
Megan in a cute outfit to go see Grandma/pa Bieraugel.
Oh no... she has finally figured out how to pull the little toys out of her Exersaucer.
Sunday, March 26, 2006
Outside run, take 2
Today was my second outdoor run attempt. Last weekend was obviously much too cold/snowy. For today's run, we went to Lake Harriet. It was pretty nice out, only cold for some parts of the run, but there were a LOT of people out. But it was my first run there, so I didn't let it get in the way of the fun.
I had planned on doing 4 miles, and of course ended up doing more. I haven't got the final numbers, but apparently we did a 10k in 59 minutes. A couple of the miles were hovering just above 9 minute pace! It felt good, and it helped that my running partner is very good at pushing himself (and thus, indirectly, me). Considering he got 2 people he knows to sign up for the 10k we are running, I'm not surprised! I'm not really sure if I was ready for another 6 mile run, but I did it anyway!
This week is going to be a slow down week I think. I'm going to take it easy on my tue/thur runs, and then this weekend I will (hopefully) get outside for my normally scheduled distance. I think my body is about ready for a break.
I had planned on doing 4 miles, and of course ended up doing more. I haven't got the final numbers, but apparently we did a 10k in 59 minutes. A couple of the miles were hovering just above 9 minute pace! It felt good, and it helped that my running partner is very good at pushing himself (and thus, indirectly, me). Considering he got 2 people he knows to sign up for the 10k we are running, I'm not surprised! I'm not really sure if I was ready for another 6 mile run, but I did it anyway!
This week is going to be a slow down week I think. I'm going to take it easy on my tue/thur runs, and then this weekend I will (hopefully) get outside for my normally scheduled distance. I think my body is about ready for a break.
Saturday, March 25, 2006
V for Vendetta
Finally! Andrea and I were able to get out to a movie together. The last movie we saw together was the fourth Harry Potter flick, back in November. So today, as the title suggests, we saw V for Vendetta. First, before I start off, there might be minor spoilers in today's post, so if you don't want to read about this movie, then skip this!
I really enjoyed this movie, even though at the end you are still wondering "Who the hell is this guy? Why does he have semi-super powers? What experiments were done to change him into what he is now?" Those things are overshadowed by the actual plot of the movie, that being the possible future where the government has too much power.
I guess the main reason I liked the movie is that, you really aren't sure if this "V" guy is actually a brilliant mastermind or some psychotic lunatic. In the end, you have to draw your own conclusions which normally pisses me off, but for this movie, I think it did it very well.
Overall rating: 8 out of 10.
I really enjoyed this movie, even though at the end you are still wondering "Who the hell is this guy? Why does he have semi-super powers? What experiments were done to change him into what he is now?" Those things are overshadowed by the actual plot of the movie, that being the possible future where the government has too much power.
I guess the main reason I liked the movie is that, you really aren't sure if this "V" guy is actually a brilliant mastermind or some psychotic lunatic. In the end, you have to draw your own conclusions which normally pisses me off, but for this movie, I think it did it very well.
Overall rating: 8 out of 10.
Friday, March 24, 2006
Super Suppers
I realized I haven't done a full report on the Super Suppers that Andrea and I did. I figured today is a good as day as any, we are about half way through the meals.
First off, as I was sort of afraid, the portion size isn't exactly as they advertise. I kinda figured it would be that way. The first meal we had was Chicken Enchiladas. The pan was supposed to have 12 servings. Well, we ate it all in two sittings, so that means we each had 3 servings per meal. On the plus side, they were very good. First meal was a success.
Our second meal was pasta shells in marinara. Again, a 12 serving dish we ate in 2 nights. Also very good, probably because there was lots of cheese. I'd assume each meal was roughly 900-1000 calories, which is a bit high. Third meal was some chicken and rice, the chicken was in some kind of honey ginger sauce. It was not so good, the rice wasn't cooked well enough and/or we didn't reheat it right. Fourth meal was beef stuffed bread. It was a bread filled with strips of beef, onions, mushrooms and cheese. I wasn't to big on this one, but I was a little sick the night we were supposed to eat it. I'd give it one more shot.
Fifth meal was fish in a flash. Now this one was VERY good and really healthy. There were 6 servings, and we ate one serving of fish each night. The key here is that we added our own food into the mix. Rice one night, potatoes another, and veggies with each meal.
The latest meal we had was some twice baked potatoes, which by themselves are okay - but they don't really make a whole meal. I'll probably eat a few more before we throw some out.
Overall, I'd say we probably won't do it again. It was a fun experiment and I'm still looking forward to a few of the meals. (Fish tacos tomorrow night!). Andrea is also finding that she is actually missing preparing dinners. And honestly, her prepared meals are healthier then these frozen ones we are eating.
First off, as I was sort of afraid, the portion size isn't exactly as they advertise. I kinda figured it would be that way. The first meal we had was Chicken Enchiladas. The pan was supposed to have 12 servings. Well, we ate it all in two sittings, so that means we each had 3 servings per meal. On the plus side, they were very good. First meal was a success.
Our second meal was pasta shells in marinara. Again, a 12 serving dish we ate in 2 nights. Also very good, probably because there was lots of cheese. I'd assume each meal was roughly 900-1000 calories, which is a bit high. Third meal was some chicken and rice, the chicken was in some kind of honey ginger sauce. It was not so good, the rice wasn't cooked well enough and/or we didn't reheat it right. Fourth meal was beef stuffed bread. It was a bread filled with strips of beef, onions, mushrooms and cheese. I wasn't to big on this one, but I was a little sick the night we were supposed to eat it. I'd give it one more shot.
Fifth meal was fish in a flash. Now this one was VERY good and really healthy. There were 6 servings, and we ate one serving of fish each night. The key here is that we added our own food into the mix. Rice one night, potatoes another, and veggies with each meal.
The latest meal we had was some twice baked potatoes, which by themselves are okay - but they don't really make a whole meal. I'll probably eat a few more before we throw some out.
Overall, I'd say we probably won't do it again. It was a fun experiment and I'm still looking forward to a few of the meals. (Fish tacos tomorrow night!). Andrea is also finding that she is actually missing preparing dinners. And honestly, her prepared meals are healthier then these frozen ones we are eating.
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
Ugh
Another day without a post. I hope this month of posting doesn't fizzle out! I've been trying to keep the posts going but once again, find it hard to motivate myself to get up something interesting. Work has been consuming my thoughts as of late. I've made certain decisions regarding work, that although I don't want to get into right now, the gist is that things will be status quo for awhile. I know that somewhere along the lines while working at Micron for all those years I said the same thing, but I've got to promise myself that this time will be different!
BTW, all those recent hard nights for me and Andrea have REALLY gotten better. I honestly don't know what was going on, but lately Megan has been just a gem at night. She goes down for the night between 7 and 8, maybe 9 at the latest. She might cry just a little bit, but a quick feeding or pacifier and she is just fine. No more swing needed, she is falling asleep while we hold her and going down into the crib. So it's been a good few days recently on that front. (fingers crossed)
Off to dream land I go...
BTW, all those recent hard nights for me and Andrea have REALLY gotten better. I honestly don't know what was going on, but lately Megan has been just a gem at night. She goes down for the night between 7 and 8, maybe 9 at the latest. She might cry just a little bit, but a quick feeding or pacifier and she is just fine. No more swing needed, she is falling asleep while we hold her and going down into the crib. So it's been a good few days recently on that front. (fingers crossed)
Off to dream land I go...
Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Nothing to see here
Doh! I missed another day of posting. What's funny is that I didn't even realize it. I guess it's because it was Monday, and nothing interesting happens on a Monday. Today was more or less the same, although there was one interesting development. Megan has learned how to grab the arms of her swing so she can actually stop the swing... This... is bad. Maybe it was just a fluke! No, probably not. We are witnessing the end of the swing.
But really we've been working on not using it as much lately anyway. In fact Sunday, I can't remember ever putting her in the swing. Last night, she went down at 7pm after eating without needing the swing. So maybe it won't be so bad.
So I forgot to mention what I did Sunday - watched 4 hours of Band of Brothers. Good stuff, I bought the DVD set for my brother a few christmas's back. We planned to watch it together for awhile, but just never got around to it. Decided watching it on my new TV was a good excuse to get it started! Hopefully I'll get to watch some more this weekend. Time to go, need to get some gaming in before bed.
But really we've been working on not using it as much lately anyway. In fact Sunday, I can't remember ever putting her in the swing. Last night, she went down at 7pm after eating without needing the swing. So maybe it won't be so bad.
So I forgot to mention what I did Sunday - watched 4 hours of Band of Brothers. Good stuff, I bought the DVD set for my brother a few christmas's back. We planned to watch it together for awhile, but just never got around to it. Decided watching it on my new TV was a good excuse to get it started! Hopefully I'll get to watch some more this weekend. Time to go, need to get some gaming in before bed.
Sunday, March 19, 2006
I AM the Fish
Today is as good a day as any to post to do a fitness update. My last update was back at the beginning of Feb, so I figured it was about time. As I've mentioned, I've started my training program for the 10k I will be running next month. So far it's going good, although the recent snow storms have put a damper on my outdoor running. Hopefully that will pick up soon enough. I find I'm not sticking to the program as much as I thought I would. I'm wanting to run more, do more cardio, etc. Take today for example, I was scheduled to run 3.5 miles. I ran... 6.2 miles. I'm not really sure why, maybe just curiosity. Why does a dog lick himself? Because he can!
I guess the big news is that a few weeks ago, I actually reached my first major health goal. I am no longer in the "Obese" category of the BMI scale. I'm now only in the "Overweight" category. My goal is to be in the "Normal" category by Sept of this year. For a man of 6 feet, a weight of 184-220 is Overweight. Today I weighed in at 216. So basically I'm hoping to lose 20ish more over the next 6 months. Seems pretty obtainable to me.
It's really funny, I feel like so much about me has changed over the last year. But to the outside observers, I haven't changed much. I even asked Andrea the other day in what ways if any she thought I have changed in my day to day personality. All she could really come up with is that I've become more critical of my friends and family making unhealthy decisions. (which is true)
I guess some of the real tests are yet to come. It's easy to stay on track when you have goals. But once you reach all your goals, and you just have to maintain... maybe that will be harder.
I guess the big news is that a few weeks ago, I actually reached my first major health goal. I am no longer in the "Obese" category of the BMI scale. I'm now only in the "Overweight" category. My goal is to be in the "Normal" category by Sept of this year. For a man of 6 feet, a weight of 184-220 is Overweight. Today I weighed in at 216. So basically I'm hoping to lose 20ish more over the next 6 months. Seems pretty obtainable to me.
It's really funny, I feel like so much about me has changed over the last year. But to the outside observers, I haven't changed much. I even asked Andrea the other day in what ways if any she thought I have changed in my day to day personality. All she could really come up with is that I've become more critical of my friends and family making unhealthy decisions. (which is true)
I guess some of the real tests are yet to come. It's easy to stay on track when you have goals. But once you reach all your goals, and you just have to maintain... maybe that will be harder.
Saturday, March 18, 2006
Picture Day
I wasn't feeling 100% better yet today, so I skipped my run. Fear not, I shall get it done tomorrow. I just had stomach cramps most of the night, and I had developed a decent size headache my mid afternoon. I'm feeling okay now though, so tomorrow should be good to go.
Today was nice and relaxing, mostly filled with video games. My World of Warcraft shaman got level 60 today. Thats the 4th character I've got to level 60 in World of Warcraft. Sad isn't it? Andrea's parents came to visit around 2pm and stayed until 5. They had a nice visit, and got to see Megan during her happy time. At 6pm Andrea and I visited some friends of hers from church for dinner. Like I said, mostly relaxing day. Oh ya, here are some pictures:
Look Mom, no hands!
Grandpa and Megan enjoying some golf.
Mom and Megan fooling around.
Today was nice and relaxing, mostly filled with video games. My World of Warcraft shaman got level 60 today. Thats the 4th character I've got to level 60 in World of Warcraft. Sad isn't it? Andrea's parents came to visit around 2pm and stayed until 5. They had a nice visit, and got to see Megan during her happy time. At 6pm Andrea and I visited some friends of hers from church for dinner. Like I said, mostly relaxing day. Oh ya, here are some pictures:
Look Mom, no hands!
Grandpa and Megan enjoying some golf.
Mom and Megan fooling around.
Friday, March 17, 2006
Stomach? Are you okay?
Happy St. Patrick's day! This day is usually a day people get really drunk, especially when it lands on a Friday. I didn't have any alcohol today, so ha! Today is kinda special, my Mom and Dad were married on St. Patrick's day. At least... I'm pretty sure that's right.
To celebrate, Andrea and I went out to the... "Green" Mill for lunch. Get it? The Green... nevermind. We had a coupon for buy one get one free lunch. Not to mention last week we went out to Red Robin and Andrea got a free dinner using an Internet coupon because it was her birthday. Oh, did I mention we also got dinner a free $25 dollar gift certificate for a new restaurant, "Viva Italia"? Are you getting a picture yet? Andrea is the QUEEN of free stuff, I swear. She signed up on this Medica health web site, called eFit. Filled out some stuff, enters in data each day that says "hey I worked out today, give me eFit points" next thing you know, she gets a $10 dollar gift card to Barnes & Noble.
Where was I? Oh ya, so after lunch I chilled out and played some video games. I was starting to feel better so I decided to get a work out in around 6pm. Figured the gym would be light on people, and I just wanted to get something in for missing yesterday. Ya, well I regretted that decision right when I got home. Stomach started hurting, couldn't eat dinner. And now I'm feeling crappy again. I'm also hearing my brother, who also felt the same symptoms a few days ago, was throwing up today. Great... maybe it's going to get worse.
If I'm feeling up to it, I'm going to go for my run tomorrow. It's either gonna be great or cause me to vomit. Maybe running outside will be the best decision, that way if I do have to throw up, it will be in a big pile of snow. Won't that be colorful?
To celebrate, Andrea and I went out to the... "Green" Mill for lunch. Get it? The Green... nevermind. We had a coupon for buy one get one free lunch. Not to mention last week we went out to Red Robin and Andrea got a free dinner using an Internet coupon because it was her birthday. Oh, did I mention we also got dinner a free $25 dollar gift certificate for a new restaurant, "Viva Italia"? Are you getting a picture yet? Andrea is the QUEEN of free stuff, I swear. She signed up on this Medica health web site, called eFit. Filled out some stuff, enters in data each day that says "hey I worked out today, give me eFit points" next thing you know, she gets a $10 dollar gift card to Barnes & Noble.
Where was I? Oh ya, so after lunch I chilled out and played some video games. I was starting to feel better so I decided to get a work out in around 6pm. Figured the gym would be light on people, and I just wanted to get something in for missing yesterday. Ya, well I regretted that decision right when I got home. Stomach started hurting, couldn't eat dinner. And now I'm feeling crappy again. I'm also hearing my brother, who also felt the same symptoms a few days ago, was throwing up today. Great... maybe it's going to get worse.
If I'm feeling up to it, I'm going to go for my run tomorrow. It's either gonna be great or cause me to vomit. Maybe running outside will be the best decision, that way if I do have to throw up, it will be in a big pile of snow. Won't that be colorful?
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Tough Day for the Andersons
I'm sick. I hate being sick. It started as soon as I got on the bus this morning, I felt upset stomach, headache developed shortly there after. I made it through the day, because I had to. But I'll be taking a sick day tomorrow. I'm pissed that I couldn't get my run in today.
After getting home, I had to sleep some, so I started that around 6pm, only to be awakened by an extremely upset Megan. I don't know if her teeth are bothering her or if it was something else, but she was NOT happy tonight. Andrea ran a bath and she seemed to calm down a little after that. She slept from 9 to 9:30, I honestly thought she'd sleep longer. Instead she was up again at 10, and only in a slightly better mood. She's sleeping in her swing now, hopefully she will be going down for the night here shortly.
We are slightly worried what we are going to do when she out grows the swing. It's our main line of defense against crying and upset Megan. Maybe they make a 6-month model?
After getting home, I had to sleep some, so I started that around 6pm, only to be awakened by an extremely upset Megan. I don't know if her teeth are bothering her or if it was something else, but she was NOT happy tonight. Andrea ran a bath and she seemed to calm down a little after that. She slept from 9 to 9:30, I honestly thought she'd sleep longer. Instead she was up again at 10, and only in a slightly better mood. She's sleeping in her swing now, hopefully she will be going down for the night here shortly.
We are slightly worried what we are going to do when she out grows the swing. It's our main line of defense against crying and upset Megan. Maybe they make a 6-month model?
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
Serenity
For once my title isn't a movie reference. An extremely astute reader (in other words, you can read my mind) may have noticed my play on a very famous saying in last nights post. What saying you ask? The Serenity Prayer:
As an exercise to my readers, I'll let you try to figure out what the hell I'm talking about. You might be wondering what an atheist such as myself is doing quoting sayings with such a religious undertone. I guess, to me I see a meaning in that saying beyond any religious ones.
There are of course, things in your life that you will never be able to control. Your father dying of a heart attack. Your company doing layoffs. A tornado ripping apart your house. The list goes on. The problem I think, is that people sometimes add things to the list of "beyond there control" that they shouldn't.
For a long time, I think that's exactly what I was doing. I was putting things into the category of things I cannot change. Aspects of myself, aspect of my job, aspects of my relationships. All sorts of things.
Gaining control over one of my biggest failures in life has been nothing short of empowering. Taking control of my weight and my health has shown me what one can really accomplish with serious hard work, commitment and time. Imagine the number one thing you dislike, no, HATE about your self. Now imagine that thing was erased. What would you be left with? The second worst thing you didn't like about yourself? But, if you had enough self determination to change that number one thing, what's to stop you from changing that number 2 thing? Or the number 3 thing?
So, in answer to that previous question, what happened? I guess I took a long hard look at that list of things I considered "out of my control" (or, cannot change) and am trying to decide what really belongs on that list.
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
As an exercise to my readers, I'll let you try to figure out what the hell I'm talking about. You might be wondering what an atheist such as myself is doing quoting sayings with such a religious undertone. I guess, to me I see a meaning in that saying beyond any religious ones.
There are of course, things in your life that you will never be able to control. Your father dying of a heart attack. Your company doing layoffs. A tornado ripping apart your house. The list goes on. The problem I think, is that people sometimes add things to the list of "beyond there control" that they shouldn't.
For a long time, I think that's exactly what I was doing. I was putting things into the category of things I cannot change. Aspects of myself, aspect of my job, aspects of my relationships. All sorts of things.
Gaining control over one of my biggest failures in life has been nothing short of empowering. Taking control of my weight and my health has shown me what one can really accomplish with serious hard work, commitment and time. Imagine the number one thing you dislike, no, HATE about your self. Now imagine that thing was erased. What would you be left with? The second worst thing you didn't like about yourself? But, if you had enough self determination to change that number one thing, what's to stop you from changing that number 2 thing? Or the number 3 thing?
So, in answer to that previous question, what happened? I guess I took a long hard look at that list of things I considered "out of my control" (or, cannot change) and am trying to decide what really belongs on that list.
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Are those my feet?
Blogger image uploads are still not working for me, so I did things the old fashioned way. I wanted to show everyone Megan's current favorite thing to do:
Anytime she can, she grabs her feet now. Changing her, feeding her, anytime she is waking up from a nap in her crib. BAM, grabs the feet. It's pretty cute. She has 2 teeth now, the 2nd bottom front one started coming in a few days ago. And one last development... she seems to be getting her 2nd dimple in. Is that even possible? All her smiles so far have only had 1 dimple on her right cheek, but now she is starting to have one on her left cheek. Weird!
There is the new TV... the poor delivery guys had to go all the way around my back yard in the snow. I felt bad for making Andrea deal with all that, but there wasn't a whole heck of a lot I could do. So far, the TV is awesome. I'm contemplating taking off the front cover shield to reduce on glare and make the picture brighter. The only problem is, I have no "safe" place to store it if I did take it off. So I don't know...
Tonight I ran... hard. I started out at a 5.7 mph pace and after 12 mins upped it to 6. When I hit my 2.5 miles (scheduled mileage), I jacked it up some more. Next thing I know I'm at 7 mph pace and 3.5 miles in 35 mins. I ran out of some parts frustration and some parts anger. Frustration for situations that seem out of my control. And anger at myself for not having the strength to take control of them.
It seems like a lot of people I work with are only there because they'd rather have a job then be looking for one. Now, instead of being able to ignore that and just be "the guy doing some work", I'm in the same boat as them. On the one hand, it's somewhat of a bonding thing knowing we are all in the same situation. But at the same time, I have to ask myself: Can I goto work for the next who knows how long, knowing I'm being asked to do a job I may never be able to "succeed" at because the knowledge I need to do this job can only be found in the heads of other people? And even people that have been doing this job for 5+ years are still having to goto other people for help?
Anytime she can, she grabs her feet now. Changing her, feeding her, anytime she is waking up from a nap in her crib. BAM, grabs the feet. It's pretty cute. She has 2 teeth now, the 2nd bottom front one started coming in a few days ago. And one last development... she seems to be getting her 2nd dimple in. Is that even possible? All her smiles so far have only had 1 dimple on her right cheek, but now she is starting to have one on her left cheek. Weird!
There is the new TV... the poor delivery guys had to go all the way around my back yard in the snow. I felt bad for making Andrea deal with all that, but there wasn't a whole heck of a lot I could do. So far, the TV is awesome. I'm contemplating taking off the front cover shield to reduce on glare and make the picture brighter. The only problem is, I have no "safe" place to store it if I did take it off. So I don't know...
Tonight I ran... hard. I started out at a 5.7 mph pace and after 12 mins upped it to 6. When I hit my 2.5 miles (scheduled mileage), I jacked it up some more. Next thing I know I'm at 7 mph pace and 3.5 miles in 35 mins. I ran out of some parts frustration and some parts anger. Frustration for situations that seem out of my control. And anger at myself for not having the strength to take control of them.
It seems like a lot of people I work with are only there because they'd rather have a job then be looking for one. Now, instead of being able to ignore that and just be "the guy doing some work", I'm in the same boat as them. On the one hand, it's somewhat of a bonding thing knowing we are all in the same situation. But at the same time, I have to ask myself: Can I goto work for the next who knows how long, knowing I'm being asked to do a job I may never be able to "succeed" at because the knowledge I need to do this job can only be found in the heads of other people? And even people that have been doing this job for 5+ years are still having to goto other people for help?
Monday, March 13, 2006
I'm so Ronery
My streak has ended! 11 straight posts, not bad. I'm not going to call this month a total failure because of one day. It's just like eating healthy. You can't give up just because one day you decide to go out to eat and have a little more than you should.
All day yesterday, I was thinking, man I gotta get a post up! And every time I just wanted to keep playing video games. The big news is that yesterday, someone bought my old TV! I had Andrea send out an email to her Mom's group and within 24 hours I had 2 interested couples stop over and look at the TV. The 2nd couple ended up buying it and took it home on Sunday.
My downstairs is so... ronery! You can guess what that means, yep I bought a new TV. It's supposed to be here tomorrow between 1-3. They are going to have to come around back which is going to be a bitch thanks to all the snow.
I thought I'd end tonights post with a cute picture of Megan. But blogger is being a bitch and won't accept my picture uploads. I'll have to post it tomorrow.
All day yesterday, I was thinking, man I gotta get a post up! And every time I just wanted to keep playing video games. The big news is that yesterday, someone bought my old TV! I had Andrea send out an email to her Mom's group and within 24 hours I had 2 interested couples stop over and look at the TV. The 2nd couple ended up buying it and took it home on Sunday.
My downstairs is so... ronery! You can guess what that means, yep I bought a new TV. It's supposed to be here tomorrow between 1-3. They are going to have to come around back which is going to be a bitch thanks to all the snow.
I thought I'd end tonights post with a cute picture of Megan. But blogger is being a bitch and won't accept my picture uploads. I'll have to post it tomorrow.
Saturday, March 11, 2006
46 degrees
It's getting late but I wanted to get a post up today, per my one post a day this month. Yesterday I went to a specialty running store that was recommended to me. I picked out a new pair of running shoes and then hit up Target for some running pants. Today was my first outdoor run, and the weather was pointing to some bad rain. My buddy who I was planning on running with called me and we both agreed we should head out early to beat the rain. So at 10am we started, it was 46 degrees and sorta windy out.
I'd say it was a great first outside run. The shoes were awesome, no pinching, firm fit. I did just over 3 miles and felt like I could probably do a little more. I'm glad I stuck to my plan though, because after I got home and rested for a few hours, I realized that I was sore in a few new places that I had never felt before when running on a treadmill. Thankfully, nothing in the knees or feet areas, so I think I'll be good to go in the coming weeks.
I'd say it was a great first outside run. The shoes were awesome, no pinching, firm fit. I did just over 3 miles and felt like I could probably do a little more. I'm glad I stuck to my plan though, because after I got home and rested for a few hours, I realized that I was sore in a few new places that I had never felt before when running on a treadmill. Thankfully, nothing in the knees or feet areas, so I think I'll be good to go in the coming weeks.
Friday, March 10, 2006
Special Guest Blogger
I want to thank Scooter for his recent comment, and for all the emails I got about my recent post about Friendship. I'm not gonna lie, this week has been pretty tough. At work, at home, I just can't seem to get into a good "comfort" zone with things. I think what happened at work is that I more or less started a new job 2 weeks ago and I wasn't quite prepared for that. You get used to work after a year and big change all at once is tough.
Anyway, before I get ahead of myself, I'd like to introduce tonights guest poster. This is a message about friendship, however it is much more positive then my recent thoughts. I'd like to post this because I think it's worth reading, and not just for me. So without further ado, please enjoy tonights special guest blogger:
Anyway, before I get ahead of myself, I'd like to introduce tonights guest poster. This is a message about friendship, however it is much more positive then my recent thoughts. I'd like to post this because I think it's worth reading, and not just for me. So without further ado, please enjoy tonights special guest blogger:
I certainly don't think your definition of what a "friend" is or was in the past is "wrong" as you said. However, I think as we grow older our relationships with everyone in our lives is going to change in different ways. Part of it is that each of us takes our own path while our friends take their own path. Many times they intersect or run parallel (which may be why we have these particular friends in the first place). But as we continue down our paths, they are bound to take different turns and for one reason or another we may find ourselves with fewer opportunities to spend the same amount of time with our friends as we may have grown accustomed to. Part of the definition of "becoming an adult" or "maturing" is that we take on more and more personal responsibilities and obligations. You have a wife, a baby and, as it seems from today's blog post, many more responsibilities at your job/career. This leaves less time, as it should, for me (for instance) or for RPGs or everything else you had time for while you were 22 and just out of college. That doesn't belittle our friendship, it is simply the way life progresses.
Regarding your current definition of a friend as "a random collection of people from your past that you see every few weeks or months for some idle chit-chat", I have to disagree. As I was trying to allude to above, I don't think the amount of time between visits is necessarily important in defining who your friends are. For me, a friendship means someone who you have a mutual and genuine concern about on a personal level (as opposed to the abstract "everyone is entitled to a good education" i.e. a good social conscience). As far as what you talk about in the times that you do get the chance to get together... I think because of all of the other stresses and pressures in our lives, we many times simply want to relax and try to feel comfortable again when we finally do have the chance to reminisce with someone from our past. But that also will depend on each particular relationship that you cultivate with each individual friend. I would be incredibly happy to discuss with you who the Vikings are going to select in the first round of the draft this year, but I would be even more satisfied to debate about why we should or should not be in Iraq or why South Dakota should or should not be allowed to pass a law banning certain abortion practices.
One thing I've become keenly aware of is that here in Minnesota especially, people tend to shy away from any controversial topic in order to appear polite even at the expense of becoming or appearing boring (which is what I am assuming you are trying to get at when you talk about idle chit chat). I think this last point is where each of us becomes responsible for working hard to maintain the friendships that we want to keep. As we grow up or develop alongside our friends, we should, if they truly are our friends and we do have an unconditional interest in them, know what it is that interests them and what is the best way to interact with them on the occasions that we are able to spend whatever time is available with them. Part of this time, each and every time, we will be learning how the other has grown, matured, changed, etc. etc. since the last time we talked. To me, it is exciting to see.
Thursday, March 09, 2006
The Snowball Effect
Sorta like the butterfly effect, only better. How do a bunch of little things always have to eventually become one gigantic feeling of stress? Work really has me freaked out at the moment. Normally I would be looking forward to a Friday but instead I am dreading it. What issue will come up next that I can't handle? How many times will I have to go to other people for help and guidance?
I let the stress get to me today. I punched my cube wall in anger/frustration. Meanwhile my coworkers are telling me, "Shawn, that's not your problem. It's not your job to answer that." I'm not used to limiting myself like that. If there's a problem and someone asks me what it is, I'm going to help. I'm not very good at passing the buck, or telling someone "Sorry, that's not my job."
I need to let it all go... I need to tell myself, it's just work. But I can't, not while I'm there. Sure I can get home and forget about it for awhile, but then there it is again every day staring me in the eye. And now, looks like it's even going to be Fridays.
I let the stress get to me today. I punched my cube wall in anger/frustration. Meanwhile my coworkers are telling me, "Shawn, that's not your problem. It's not your job to answer that." I'm not used to limiting myself like that. If there's a problem and someone asks me what it is, I'm going to help. I'm not very good at passing the buck, or telling someone "Sorry, that's not my job."
I need to let it all go... I need to tell myself, it's just work. But I can't, not while I'm there. Sure I can get home and forget about it for awhile, but then there it is again every day staring me in the eye. And now, looks like it's even going to be Fridays.
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Hump day break
Think I'm gonna take tonight off my blog posting. Can't think of anything interesting to post, and I'm busy taking care of Megan tonight. Andrea just headed out to a 7pm meeting, so it's just me and the Meganator tonight. Lots of fun things planned for this weekend though.
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Roleplaying Update
I haven't mentioned yet, but my old roleplaying group has finally started up again recently. We made GURPS characters a few weeks back. The plan was to play every 3 weeks, but now it doesn't look like that's going to happen. I'm pretty bummed out about that, for some reason I get really excited about it and then it always fizzles out. From my own attempts at starting a group to the other group I am a part of. Roleplaying every 4-5 weeks doesn't quite satisfy my gaming addictions. I NEED MY FIX MORE OFTEN THEN THAT. I even went out and bought a GURPS book just so I could have my own copy to memorize in between sessions. I hate not knowing the rules of a given gaming system, I think I'm the kind of player that GM's hate because I like to be able to quote any given rule for a situation (especially if that rule help something in my favor). Anyway, if your still reading by now, impressive. This was one of my best attempts to post about something no one understands or has a clue what I'm talking about. So now I can sneak in something totally random.
I been thinking a lot recently about friendships. I do this from time to time, I think back on the past friendships I've had and compare them to the friendships I have now. I try to define what it means to be a "Friend". What I can't seem to decide on, is if my past definition of friend was wrong or if the definition of a "Friend" changes as we get older. Are friends really just a random collection of people from your past that you see every few weeks or months for some idle chit-chat?
I guess what I miss the most, is the way that I used to be able to just sit down and talk with my "friends" about things more interesting then work, the weather, recent movies, or current events. Is it because we all become so wrapped up in our own lives that we don't have the time we used to? Or is it something even worse, do we lose the ability to talk about those things at all?
I been thinking a lot recently about friendships. I do this from time to time, I think back on the past friendships I've had and compare them to the friendships I have now. I try to define what it means to be a "Friend". What I can't seem to decide on, is if my past definition of friend was wrong or if the definition of a "Friend" changes as we get older. Are friends really just a random collection of people from your past that you see every few weeks or months for some idle chit-chat?
I guess what I miss the most, is the way that I used to be able to just sit down and talk with my "friends" about things more interesting then work, the weather, recent movies, or current events. Is it because we all become so wrapped up in our own lives that we don't have the time we used to? Or is it something even worse, do we lose the ability to talk about those things at all?
Monday, March 06, 2006
Super Suppers
I'm still trying to come up with more ideas on what to post. Nothing too exciting happening today. Last night was a bit rough, Megan had a very fussy period. It stressed out her parents, but we survived.
I think I want to give my blog a new look, but I'm not sure how. Anyone have any ideas? I'm open to suggestions... Post any ideas!
So Andrea and I are trying something new. It's called Super Suppers. Should be interesting to see how much food you really get (and how much freezer space you need!). The food looks to be healthy enough, it's just depends on the size of the portions I guess. I will report more on how they are later in the week.
I've added a new link to my blog roll. I don't add links often unless I really think they are worth checking out. This one is a new blog, but I have a feeling it has great potential. I know the poster is 100% more witty and insightful then me, so go check it out, in case you care...
I think I want to give my blog a new look, but I'm not sure how. Anyone have any ideas? I'm open to suggestions... Post any ideas!
So Andrea and I are trying something new. It's called Super Suppers. Should be interesting to see how much food you really get (and how much freezer space you need!). The food looks to be healthy enough, it's just depends on the size of the portions I guess. I will report more on how they are later in the week.
I've added a new link to my blog roll. I don't add links often unless I really think they are worth checking out. This one is a new blog, but I have a feeling it has great potential. I know the poster is 100% more witty and insightful then me, so go check it out, in case you care...
Sunday, March 05, 2006
Rule of 4
I got "tagged" by email today. I thought, instead of emailing back I would just post the response on my blog. Reason for this is that, I would never get blog tagged, so I figured what the hell! So here it goes:
Four jobs you have had in your life:
1. Software Engineer
2. Computer Operator
3. Shipping and receiving (aka, stock boy?)
4. Ummm guess I've only ever had 3 job titles in my life.
Four movies you would watch over and over:
1. Fight Club
2. Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
3. Star Wars (any)
4. Lord of the Rings (any)
Four places you have lived:
1. Minneapolis, MN
2. Apple Valley, MN
3. Duluth, MN
4. Boise, ID
Four TV (or cable) shows you like to watch:
1. Firefly , aka Serenity (bring it back damnit!)
2. My Name is Earl
3. X-Play
4. The Daily Show
Four places you have been on vacation: (do weekend Vacations count?)
1. Las Vegas, NV
2. Black Hills, SD
3. Daytona Beach, FL
4. Lake Tahoe, NV
Four websites I visit often:
1. blogger.com (go figure)
2. hotmail.com
3. imdb.com
4. google.com
Four of my favorite foods:
1. pizza
2. chicken fajitas
3. chicken ceasar wraps
4. cross-cut fries with seasoned sour cream!
Four places I would rather be right now:
1. watching Ultraviolet
2. at brunch with my family
3. enjoying some video games
4. the gym
Four people I am tagging that I think will respond.....
Going to skip this part, since I don't know too many bloggers that I'd tag. But if your reading this, and you want to be tagged, consider yourself tagged by me!
Four jobs you have had in your life:
1. Software Engineer
2. Computer Operator
3. Shipping and receiving (aka, stock boy?)
4. Ummm guess I've only ever had 3 job titles in my life.
Four movies you would watch over and over:
1. Fight Club
2. Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy
3. Star Wars (any)
4. Lord of the Rings (any)
Four places you have lived:
1. Minneapolis, MN
2. Apple Valley, MN
3. Duluth, MN
4. Boise, ID
Four TV (or cable) shows you like to watch:
1. Firefly , aka Serenity (bring it back damnit!)
2. My Name is Earl
3. X-Play
4. The Daily Show
Four places you have been on vacation: (do weekend Vacations count?)
1. Las Vegas, NV
2. Black Hills, SD
3. Daytona Beach, FL
4. Lake Tahoe, NV
Four websites I visit often:
1. blogger.com (go figure)
2. hotmail.com
3. imdb.com
4. google.com
Four of my favorite foods:
1. pizza
2. chicken fajitas
3. chicken ceasar wraps
4. cross-cut fries with seasoned sour cream!
Four places I would rather be right now:
1. watching Ultraviolet
2. at brunch with my family
3. enjoying some video games
4. the gym
Four people I am tagging that I think will respond.....
Going to skip this part, since I don't know too many bloggers that I'd tag. But if your reading this, and you want to be tagged, consider yourself tagged by me!
Saturday, March 04, 2006
The Tax Man Cometh
Quick addendum to last nights post - turns out the DVD was one of those that play automatically after a little bit. Honestly, I don't own too many movies that just START from the main menu. Anyway, the humor of the situation was still not lost...
I did end up having a few drinks last night. It's kinda hard not to when you wife says she's going out to grab some Corona and instead comes home with $100 dollars in booze. Maybe her week was harder then mine! But still, even after a few drinks and a night of video games until 1am, I managed to drag myself out of bed (with Andrea's help) early enough to get in a 3.5 mile run this morning at 8am. Felt good, Andrea got a good run in, we were both glad we did it. Next week starts my actual "training" program.
The reason we had to get our exercise in so early today was that we had a 10am appt with the Tax guy! (or woman, as it turns out) After realizing we didn't have all the documents we needed for a solid itemized return, we came home and Andrea headed off for her lunch with a friend and I returned to finish up the taxes.
Now, before I share the results, you have to understand that for the last, oh I don't know, 3 maybe 4 years, I've been paying out the ass every tax season. Anywhere from $800-$1500 dollars every single year. It was getting down right stupid. Even last year, AFTER buying a house we still owed. So this year, with Megan and a FULL year of mortgage payments I figured there was just NO way we should owe.
We went into today hoping for anything positive... any tax return would have been great. Andrea said not to get our hopes up, but I figured we were due at least a grand or something. When the final numbers added up, my jaw hit the floor. 3 grand Fed and 1.5 grand State! HELL YA!!! Can you say, time to upgrade my HDTV finally!?
I did end up having a few drinks last night. It's kinda hard not to when you wife says she's going out to grab some Corona and instead comes home with $100 dollars in booze. Maybe her week was harder then mine! But still, even after a few drinks and a night of video games until 1am, I managed to drag myself out of bed (with Andrea's help) early enough to get in a 3.5 mile run this morning at 8am. Felt good, Andrea got a good run in, we were both glad we did it. Next week starts my actual "training" program.
The reason we had to get our exercise in so early today was that we had a 10am appt with the Tax guy! (or woman, as it turns out) After realizing we didn't have all the documents we needed for a solid itemized return, we came home and Andrea headed off for her lunch with a friend and I returned to finish up the taxes.
Now, before I share the results, you have to understand that for the last, oh I don't know, 3 maybe 4 years, I've been paying out the ass every tax season. Anywhere from $800-$1500 dollars every single year. It was getting down right stupid. Even last year, AFTER buying a house we still owed. So this year, with Megan and a FULL year of mortgage payments I figured there was just NO way we should owe.
We went into today hoping for anything positive... any tax return would have been great. Andrea said not to get our hopes up, but I figured we were due at least a grand or something. When the final numbers added up, my jaw hit the floor. 3 grand Fed and 1.5 grand State! HELL YA!!! Can you say, time to upgrade my HDTV finally!?
Friday, March 03, 2006
The Day that Wasn't
Today was one of those days you just wish never even happened. It started out with me getting up at 4:50am in order to get to work early. My morning started out okay until I was blind sided by a conference call from one of our clients with 5+ people in a meeting. I tried my best to answer their questions but still felt like I just had no clue wtf I was talking about. That culminated into an email I got at 3:30pm that might indicate a problem with something that should have been found weeks ago before it was released. Sigh... As Andrea puts it, will it matter in 5 years? No... But that doesn't make today any easier.
I should look at the positive side. At least today is Friday, I have my entire weekend to look forward too. After this long ass stressful week, all I wanted was to have a bunch of screwdrivers and play some video games. But I can't because I also want to exercise at 8am tomorrow, and that doesn't lend itself well to having drinks tonight. Oh, the hell that I put myself through.
Then just when you think your day is officially crap, I put in a movie as I sat down to blog. I looked over and the DVD remote was on the couch next to Andrea so I told her to start the movie. She refused, and instead gave the remote to Megan. 5 seconds later... the movie started. Talk about washing away the day of crap. My daughter kicks ass!!
I should look at the positive side. At least today is Friday, I have my entire weekend to look forward too. After this long ass stressful week, all I wanted was to have a bunch of screwdrivers and play some video games. But I can't because I also want to exercise at 8am tomorrow, and that doesn't lend itself well to having drinks tonight. Oh, the hell that I put myself through.
Then just when you think your day is officially crap, I put in a movie as I sat down to blog. I looked over and the DVD remote was on the couch next to Andrea so I told her to start the movie. She refused, and instead gave the remote to Megan. 5 seconds later... the movie started. Talk about washing away the day of crap. My daughter kicks ass!!
Thursday, March 02, 2006
Sure Happy It's Thursday
I ran another 5 miles in 55 minutes tonight. The gym was finally somewhat empty for a change. I'm sure the outside temperatures had something to do with it. Fine by me! More people outside, less people I have to fight for a parking spot and locker space. I'm getting some weird pains in odd locations lately. Most recent is a pain in my lower right side, almost like a pulled muscle. But I have no clue what could be pulled. Not to mention my right shoulder problem that has been going on for at least the last 3 weeks. It doesn't hurt or feel sore or anything, but when I lift my arm in JUST the right way, it hurts like HELL. I know - so just don't do that.
I realized that in order to accomplish my goal of posting every day I was going to have to start posting about the one thing I have never posted about: Work. I don't know, I guess I just have this irrational fear of getting fired because of something I posted on my blog. I'm sure we've all read about it happening. Not that anyone at work even knows I have a blog, but I digress...
Recently at work, I got what I like to call, a promotion through attrition. Someone who interviewed me, trained me in, was a mentor and also somewhat of our team lead decided to leave the company. She was going to be a stay at home Mom for her new 10 month old. (first child). I can totally understand her desire to do that, hell that's why Andrea is staying home. Unfortunately for me, they decided I should take on some of her tasks. Thankfully not the team leader tasks. (approving time reports, collecting status reports, etc.) No way did I want to do that... But even so, the other set of tasks they have me doing are stuff that a person with 6+ years of experience with this company was doing. It's not technical type tasks, but things that really required knowledge about the business. Long story short, her last day was Tuesday and I'm already stressed out on Thursday. I know I'll survive and muddle my way through things somehow, but the fear of screwing up is looming over everything I do. Needless to say, it's been hard to get up for work this week.
I realized that in order to accomplish my goal of posting every day I was going to have to start posting about the one thing I have never posted about: Work. I don't know, I guess I just have this irrational fear of getting fired because of something I posted on my blog. I'm sure we've all read about it happening. Not that anyone at work even knows I have a blog, but I digress...
Recently at work, I got what I like to call, a promotion through attrition. Someone who interviewed me, trained me in, was a mentor and also somewhat of our team lead decided to leave the company. She was going to be a stay at home Mom for her new 10 month old. (first child). I can totally understand her desire to do that, hell that's why Andrea is staying home. Unfortunately for me, they decided I should take on some of her tasks. Thankfully not the team leader tasks. (approving time reports, collecting status reports, etc.) No way did I want to do that... But even so, the other set of tasks they have me doing are stuff that a person with 6+ years of experience with this company was doing. It's not technical type tasks, but things that really required knowledge about the business. Long story short, her last day was Tuesday and I'm already stressed out on Thursday. I know I'll survive and muddle my way through things somehow, but the fear of screwing up is looming over everything I do. Needless to say, it's been hard to get up for work this week.
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Day 1 of the Blog-A-Thon
Today is Andreas birthday. To celebrate we went to a new local restaurant called Copper Bleu. What's funny is how many people I knew that have already checked it out. I won't begin to attempt to review it because I can't. Why? I'm too cheap. I'm normally not a big fan of fancy restaurants. To me, no single meal is worth $70-$100 dollars. Maybe I just don't get it, or maybe I can't appreciate the finer things in life. Don't get me wrong, I know what good food tastes like. In the same way I know what good vodka tastes like. But expensive vodka gets you just as drunk as cheap vodka. Same goes for food.
Regardless, Andrea and I are pretty thrifty so even the "fancy" restaurant prices don't scare us. For 2 dinners and 2 desserts, our check was only $40 dollars. At first I was going to give the waitress a 10% tip because as I said, I'm cheap. But while checking my drivers license for my credit card she commented on how I've lost weight. That was enough to bump her up to 20% tip. Flattery will get you every where.
Regardless, Andrea and I are pretty thrifty so even the "fancy" restaurant prices don't scare us. For 2 dinners and 2 desserts, our check was only $40 dollars. At first I was going to give the waitress a 10% tip because as I said, I'm cheap. But while checking my drivers license for my credit card she commented on how I've lost weight. That was enough to bump her up to 20% tip. Flattery will get you every where.
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