Tag Archives: changes

knock knock

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You wanna know why you’re knocking on my door? Because I HAVE A DOOR THAT WILL CLOSE AND ALSO HAS A DOORKNOB!

See that red sock? Yeah, that was my “doorknob.” And my door opened into my room (my tiny, tiny room) and took up space. I swear, when my door was shut, it looked like the Dorm Room of the Perpetually Lucky. Now, thanks to Tim the Tool Man El Jefe de la herramienta del hombre, my door swings out and has an actual knob. (so in the future, if there’s a sock hanging from the doorknob, don’t come in…) Also that mirror? IT’S HANGING NOW. Like on the wall.

I rearranged my room and Rader’s this weekend, trying to make better use of the space. During my frenzied cleaning, I found a Barbie Tiara (what? doesn’t everyone have a Barbie Tiara just lying around their house?) Naturally, I wore it while I cleaned.

You can see in this pic that my bed used to be located on the wall next to the door. Now it’s on the far wall and wow do I have a ton more room. I had to move my desk out to make that happen…but I’m glad I did.

And for your moment of Ruby, as I was pulling my sheets out of the dryer, I turned around to find this:

I’m not the only one who loves warm, clean sheets I guess.

Hope your weekend was a good one. I certainly can’t complain…

walking to happy

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I turned 40 in March. It’s a big mile-stone birthday for many people and your reaction to such an event really depends on who you are on the inside.

I never dreaded turning 40. I actually feel better today than I did 10 years ago. (look better, too, but that’s beside the point.)

A few years ago I started on my path of self-rediscovery. I needed to find myself again, because somehow, I’d lost a bit of the real me. I got fat, I was depressed, and mostly I was a shell of the person I used to be.

So slowly I started to shed the weight. It’s really easy to hide behind the fat. The more I exercised, the better I felt. And now, if I don’t walk at least 4 days a week for over an hour, I start to feel sad. It’s one of my favorite times of the day. Lots of thinking, contemplating, daydreaming, and sometimes a little crying will take place on my walks. I don’t hide anymore. And I don’t feel like I need to.

And frankly, I’m happy again.

What’s the point of all this? I guess maybe that the only thing we can be in control of is our own happiness. I took charge of my emotional well being. I stopped relying on others to make me happy. It’s an amazingly freeing feeling. I’m not saying that others can’t enhance your happiness but to give them full control over your emotions tends to give them control over you. Bit-by-bit you lose yourself.

Have you tried it? Have you taken control of your own happiness or are you still relying on others to do your job for you? It surprises me that my daily walks are the one thing that bring me peace. I bet there is something out there that will do the same for you.

back at work

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Literally. I started a job this week. I’ll be working 3 days a week in accounting. I really like the company and the people I’m working with.

But being back in the corporate environment after taking an 18 month hiatus is a little strange. This is what I’ve discovered so far:

  • New Employee Orientation is the same everywhere. I think it should only be a requirement if you’re a new graduate. I don’t need you to go over every sheet of paperwork with me one-by-one. I’m a big girl. I can figure out how to do my taxes, my 401k, my health insurance. This is not my first rodeo.
  • Office coffee is just bad (apparently except on the 10th floor where HR is. Not sure why, but believe me, I’m making friends with the HR folks for the coffee alone) Thank goodness they have liquid creamer to help ease the pain of bad coffee.
  • Jeans on Friday only. Just. Shoot. Me. I work Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday. I’ve been wearing yoga pants or jeans and t-shirts for forever now. Even my last ‘corporate’ job didn’t care what I wore. Now I have to play dress up? Even business casual is hard for me to pull off these days.
  • Cube environment is a strange beast. Thankfully, we have the full-sized cube walls, so there’s no ‘prairie dogging’ going on. But there is a lot of speaker phone calls. That is one of my biggest pet peeves. Ever. Go to a conference room. Please. And if you can’t, pick up the phone. And if you can’t, GET A FUCKING HEADSET. That is all. Yesterday, 2 people were on speaker, with each other. One in an office across from me, one three cubes down from me. Maybe they could’ve just talked in person? Yes…Yes, that would’ve been better.
  • I ♥ office supplies.
  • Another thing about cube-ville? The conversations that go on around you. I’m bringing my iPod today.

I’m actually really glad to be back at work. I’ve missed people. I’ve missed conversation. I’ve also missed the steady paycheck.

Today’s note from the Universe:

It’s the exact same for me, Melissa. My love goes unreturned, I feel completely unappreciated, or some clown starts telling me what’s wrong with the world (my world!). And so, I have to remind myself that I am the Universe, that this is an adventure, and that one day they will come to know the errors in their thinking. And, not that it matters at all, but I secretly hope that on that day I just happen to be carried past them, sitting in my processional throne, followed by throngs of admirers, with all the Angels singing, “We are the champions, my friends…”

Melissa, you are the Universe, this is an adventure, and they will learn.

Tallyho,
The Universe

Seriously, how much do I love the Universe?

Dear Southern Grocers (especially Walmart)

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Change is sometimes difficult to deal with. Even though I’m a huge proponent of change, I understand that sometimes it’s hard to adjust to. Especially in the business world.

Sometimes attitude makes all the difference. I realize that the south is oftentimes resistant to new things. Once we get comfortable, we start spouting off things like ‘Why fix what ain’t broke?’ and ‘Change is for the parkin‘ meter.’

I need you to listen to this southern girl. This Global Warming thing is real. You can try to blame Al Gore and chalk it up to a bunch of ‘liberal hooey’ but that doesn’t change the truth. The reason your corporate offices are selling ‘Reusable Grocery Bags’ is because they realize that those awful plastic bags are a huge contributor to Al Gore’s mess this problem.

This shopper actually loves her reusable bags. (I HATE the Walmart ones…I love the Kroger ones) I would love them even more if you, the southern grocers, would train your associates on how to efficiently bag groceries in the reusable bags. I understand that here in Little Rock, there are only about 5 of us who use them, but I promise, if your associates change their attitude and become more efficient, that will change.

Yesterday I was at the Bryant Walmart with my mother. My checkout associate was really nice. She was older and had obviously never had anyone use the reusable bags before. (I’m quite sure Bryant, AR will be the last place on earth to convert to the reusable bags.)She was almost confused when I handed the bags to her. She fumbled her way through, mumbling under her breath the whole time. I don’t think she was intending to be rude, but it came across that I was inconveniencing her. Last week, the associate was downright rude to me. She rolled her eyes when I handed her my bags. That is unacceptable.

Honestly? Their attitude is your fault because you haven’t trained them properly. When I was in Florida this summer, I watched in absolute AWE as the Publix associates were almost joyful when they were handed the reusable bags. And talk about efficient? It was amazing. I wish Publix would come to Arkansas. I would never go to Kroger or Walmart again.

I use 6-8 grocery bags for my weekly groceries, as opposed the 30-40 plastic bags. I wish we’d go to a completely ‘plastic-bag free’ environment, but I know, at least in Arkansas, we’re a long way away from that. I’m still using my reusable bags and I need you guys to do a better job in welcoming my choice. Don’t make me feel like I’m inconveniencing you. Because I promise, one day, there will be another grocery option here–and I’ll take my business to them faster than kudzu spreads.

changing veils…

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In this time of economic crisis…where we have 2 house payments, 1 income and me trying to avoid waiting tables at all cost (everyone take a moment to send good thoughts out to the two proposals that are in NY…Momma needs a new pair of shoes to buy groceries!) I’m making some sacrifices.

We’re cutting back everywhere we can.

And one of the places I’ve decided to sacrifice is my hairdresser. Okay, not completely. She’s still going to cut my hair, but I can’t afford to have her cut and color it every 6 weeks. (Katie, if you’re reading this, I’ll see you next week for a cut.)

I’ve been blond for forever. I get a wild hair up my ying-yang every once in a while and color it red or brown but I always go back to blond. since I can’t afford to have Katie color my hair, I can’t maintain my blond at home. It’s just too difficult.

So my BFF from high school and I went shopping for boxed color. And we found this:

L’Oreal Excellence Creme Light Reddish Brown (6RB)

And now, I’m no longer a blond.

Here is a picture of me from this spring:


and here’s the new me:

What do you think? Good change or bad?

oh my achin’ everything!

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I love that I have a new house to paint.

I hate that I have to paint it.

I am aching in places that I didn’t even know had muscles. And I’ve only painted the kitchen!

Due to our current status of “in between houses” this will be the first Thanksgiving in 10 years that I’m not cooking. I’m actually a little sad, because I do fix one helluva turkey, if I do say so myself. And my pecan, apple, and pumpkin pies kick major ass. Major. Ass.

I promise, I might lie to you about other things, but I would never lie to you about my pie baking ability.

Fishdog will be back in the Rock tomorrow night. He’s bringing with him our Directv receivers and a couple of televisions. We might not have furniture in the house, but we aren’t gonna go a day longer than we have to without our TV. Especially since it’s a big college football weekend. Duh.

What’s going on with you guys? Go ahead and report in while I run to grab me another beer and a muscle relaxer.