A few kind words please...

Let's just say that I'm currently at a compliment deficit... this may not make sense but for me, a few kind words really go far.  The best thing a coworker or boss can do is to publicly praise something I do.  Noticing my hard work and good results then taking the time to let me know they saw it - especially in front of others - is how I get satisfaction at work.  I'll work double time just for a little notice.  Bonuses and other incentives will never get me moving the way a few kind words can.  Right now I'm just feeling a bit down at work because I need some acknowledgment and nothing is happening.  Sounds needy right?  Well, it's just how I'm motivated and I've told my team this so it's hard when nothing happens.

One of my main responsibilities at work is to plan events to help introduce current and prospective customers to what we do.  They are usually Lunch and Learn formats where we take over a conference room, bring in food and have a lively (ok, usually not very exciting) presentation about our topic.  I'm in charge of the guest list, invites (postcard, letter and email), coordinating follow up calls plus taking care of the logistics of where to hold it and making sure the venue and caterers are all okay.  Recently we've even brought a temp on board to help with phone calls and I'm training/managing that person too.  I enjoy event planning and have this pretty much down to a science.

Over the last quarters there has been an increased desire to get more attendance to events so our lists have increased (from 300 invited to 1700 invited) as have the size of our venues and need for catering because of the larger numbers. 

Last quarter we did two last-minute events to get our quarterly numbers up and I pulled together two large (for us) lunches with about one month of prep.  We were scrambling, especially when we were a week away and realized we'd outgrown our space and needed another ASAP!  The events were very successful, the best attendance we'd had since I've been on staff.  I worked a bunch of extra hours to pull off the changes.  I didn't get any acknowledgment, thank yous or pats on the back from anyone I work with (accept for the receptionist who was assisting me).  Nothing. 

Last week was the first event of this quarter, yet again I put in the extra hours to make it a success and we had the best attendance to date at the lunch.  Again, not a word from anyone I work with.  Everyone is happy with the numbers so I know it was a "success" in their minds but the fact that I never even get mentioned when my boss goes down the report of the event is hurtful.

Why do I work so hard if nothing I do (especially when I know I'm going above and beyond) is acknowledged?  I'm not asking for people to applaud every time I sign in to my computer, I just want my months of preparation to be noticed and appreciated.

Waking up for work this Monday was difficult to say the least.  My company is not known for being employee friendly and my position in particular is overlooked in many ways.  Needless to say, my job hunt for something new is in full force (as it has been for several months but there aren't a lot of openings in Marketing, Communications, PR, etc.).

The Epic Summer of 2009!

I am happy to report that I've been having a fantastic summer.  I'm finally doing all those fun, hip, single-person-during-the-summer things around Denver and Colorado!  My blogging time had been consumed with other activities - it's nice to have so much happening but I'm sorry for anyone who actually wants to keep up with my life with more than Facebook updates!  I love reading others' blogs as I start my days but I've been so bad about putting my own updates together.

So here's a quick run down of the fabulous summer.  Ben and I have been experiencing the best of summer and of the wonderful place we call home.  We've been bike riding, going to outdoor concerts and movies, eating on any patio I can find, walking around town for food or drinks instead of using the car, and most of all - enjoying nights and weekends full of rest and relaxation!  We've hit the mountains a few times and I've discovered all kinds of fun places in old Denver (where Ben lives) that are just picturesque.  I've started to do all those fun things I always wanted to do and embracing the life of the hip, 30-something in Denver.  We're not spending tons of money but just enjoying all the fun that summer provides.

Highlights so far:
- Concert at Red Rocks
- Outdoor movies at Infinity Park (the outdoor Rugby park that shows free movies throughout the summer, we get to sit on the pitch and bring food and blankets to camp out for the show)
- Free concert in the park by the Colorado Symphony Orchestra (fun people watching for sure)
- Car camping at the foot of 14ers (14,000 foot peaks that Ben climbed, I stayed at the car and read)
- Driving up to Winter Park and checking out the new ski village that's really cool with great restaurants
- Riding our bikes around town and checking out all the awesome, huge, older houses in Denver (you can just imagine what it was like 100 years ago for all the high society folks that built them)
- Riding to Dazbog Coffee and feeling like a true Denverite when sitting on the patio at this neighborhood coffee shop watching folks walk dogs or frequent the local shops
- Finding a great wine bar in the foothills with a fantastic outdoor space that has a fountain and is all lit up in Christmas lights after dark (totally romantic)
- Being introduced to great local bands as we follow Ben's friends' band around town when they open for folks (we really do have a great music scene in town)
- I did a 24 mile bike ride with Ben's mom the other weekend, we didn't mean to go that far but we survived and were so proud of ourselves after we did it

That's about it for now, just felt that I needed to acknowledge what I've been up to and officially blog about all those "distractions" that keep me from sitting down to post something.  Coming soon (I hope) my summer in pictures.

To the Birthday Girl!

I've been needing to get back to the blog world and have a great reason to start blogging again today because I get to celebrate my friend Leslie and her 30th B'day!  Today is her birthday and her very creative husband wanted her friends to help celebrate through our blogs - welcome to birthdays in the tech world!

Here are a few things about Leslie:
- I remember every time I popped in to her room our Sophomore year Titanic always seemed to be on the TV
- Being an L-House roomie for about a week but hanging out there a lot - can't get enough Christmas Vacation around the holidays
- I admire her dedication to working out, I'd be on my way to get junk food and see her out running
- Not only is she tall (which I'm jealous of) but has such awesome red hair - you can't miss her in a crowd (it helps short people like myself find her, this is very good)
- I love seeing Leslie be a mom.  Her pictures and stories show how much she loves her girls and they are so blessed to have such a wonderful woman for their mom.

Happy Birthday Leslie!  Enjoy the big 3-0, I'm so glad that we became friends!

Quickie

I have 10 minutes before class and since I'm all ready to go I decided to do a bit of blogging. I'm loving spring, in fact I'm wearing a dress right now and enjoying the warm day before a storm rolls in tonight. I get a massage tomorrow night after work and I'm so looking forward to it. Stress at work has made it an even better idea than it was when I scheduled it.

I'm on the hunt for a new place to live and can't believe that two months from now I'll be in a new place in a new part of town - so excited about that. Get to save some money and be closer to the people and things that I spend my time with. I'm a bit addicted to Craigslist's housing stuff - trying to find just the right place with a move-in date of June. More things are appearing every day so I'm getting overwhelmed and excited.

Okay - class time, off to discuss the balance of equality and efficiency!

Pictures!

So, after the novel I wrote yesterday I decided that I would post some pictures since they are easy to look at and you won't have to do much reading!

Here's Ben and I before the fund raising concert for Art From Ashes, one of the non-profits he volunteers with. (He's a pro at taking pictures of himself, that comes in handy when there's no one else around to be the photographer.)

And here we are about a month ago celebrating our birthdays a bit belated with his brother, Ed and his girlfriend/my friend (who introduced us) Julie. Happy Friday! TGIF!

Yep, I'm Still Here!

Here's the funny thing about my blogging. I love reading everyone else's blogs (Google Reader is the first thing I check each morning after looking at my email) but I've become so bad about updating my own. So in case anyone is a blog stalker like me, here is some reading material for you, from me, as my contribution to the blogosphere that I keep taking from and now need to give back to.

Here's the rundown of Becky's life over the last few weeks including a new quarter at school, the misadventures of Ben and Becky, tough times on the job and some life changes in route like moving in June…

School:

I started a new quarter last week and I'm already done with week #2! 1/5 through the quarter and since I'm taking the summer off from classes I have some freedom to look forward to once this quarter is done. My first class this quarter is a "Values Based Leadership" class, an elective that fit into the time that I needed a class but I'm loving it! My professor is a total genius, author, speaker, knows everyone in the business world and really enjoys helping us to think through things. There are two other students in the class so we actually meet in my professor's office, sit around a table and it's a tutorial discussion format – not a lecture or seminar type at all. The content is all ethical and political philosophy to figure out how to see man, leadership and the formation of governing. We've talked through Aristotle, Hobbes, Locke and have some really jewels coming throughout the class. There's a lot of reading to do and with only three of us students there's really no room to slack but I absolutely enjoying how much I learn and where discussions go each night – my brain gets very full!

My other class is a Law and Public Policy class that's required for all MBA students. It's mostly students presenting briefs about important cases that are assigned throughout the class and the professor putting it all in a business context. It's interesting and I'm learning about things I knew nothing about. This class also has a lot of reading so I'm spending most of my lunches and weekends reading for my classes.

Life:

The fun thing is that I'm getting to have some fun outside of work and school which is really helpful because I have steam to let out and stress to get rid of so it's nice to have some fun to counter the daily grind. Ben and I have been all over the place recently and it's been great. We hit a few pubs the weekend before and the day of Saint Patty's Day. Got to see some Irish step dancers, eat fish and chip, corned beef and drink some beer. Ben also has a friend/client who just opened up a pub near me so we've been there to patronize his endeavor a few times already.

We attended a benefit concert for a nonprofit that Ben volunteers with – it was at a fun venue in town and featured seven local bands of different genres so there was something for everyone. Because the charity is about the healing power of creative expression (they target kids 14-24 who have major baggage that they can get out through poetry) they had a painter painting on stage while the bands performed and a live tattoo artist working on a customer's big tattoo in the back of the room. Lots of things going on at the same time around the venue but really fun for a night! We then hit a cool late night spot that has great food and drink deals for the late night crowd – I'll be going back there again!

Other fun things we've done…went up to the mountains so Ben could ski and I could sit and read in the lodge. It was a beautiful day and fun to be Ben's copilot on the drive. We also went to the home opener for the Colorado Rapids, our professional soccer team. Ben played soccer in college and has coached too so the world of soccer (he follows the European leagues religiously) is a big deal for him.

Birthday Recap

Goodness!  Where does the time go?  Seriously, it's already the middle of February and I keep thinking that we're still in the beginning of January – time for me to get with the program!

My 3-0

The big event of the last week was my big 3-0 birthday.  I'm now officially in a new decade.  I really wasn't very nervous or regretful in turning 30, I'm happy with my life right now and all the panic I've heard other people going through before the big birthday just didn't apply to me.  I kept it low key, sticking with my important birthday traditions.  Every year I have to do Mexican food and margaritas to make up for going to Abuelo's in Abilene on my 21^st birthday with the plans for getting margaritas then being seated next to the dean of the college of bible so we ended up with iced tea instead!  I've now added Italian food to my birthday routine because two years ago I was in Rome for my birthday and had a wonderful dinner in a Piazza with my brother.  This year mom and I went out for Mexican for my birthday lunch (and I did have a margarita, so wild).  Then that evening Ben and I met up with mom and Chrissy for some yummy Italian at a place by where I live that I've wanted to try.  Ben showed up at my house in his suit and tie (looking very bankerish) with flowers – the perfect site to see when opening a door!  He guessed on what flowers to bring and totally got it right by choosing beautiful red roses with greenery.  Friday night capped off the week with my favorite homemade chocolate birthday cake at mom's with my family and my friend Tara.  I opened presents and finished my birthday week!

School has kicked into high gear with a midterm last week and assignments starting to pile up.  I am happy to say that the midterm in my Cost Accounting class (blech) went better than I'd thought.  I really don't understand this class and business math is not my thing at all.  This is the last business math class I have to take and so far I'm surviving it, partly because I have a great study buddy who helps me with the out of class problems – I lucked out on that one.  I officially only have one more test, the final for this class, and never have to think about accounting classes again!  Thank the Lord!

I've been lucky to spend much of my off time with Ben, right now our schedules seem to be working out pretty well even though we are both busy with life, work and all our commitments (mine is mostly school, his are volunteering and friends).  I had a total "girl moment" over the phone last week where I just went a bit crazy, dipping into some of my insecurities and didn't make sense even to myself and especially not to him.  I was a little worried what his reaction would be the next day and thought (based on my experiences with other men in my life) that I might have really messed things up.  Ben was understanding, listened to my calmed down explanation and we moved on.  What a relief that he's willing to figure me out and give me some slack when I need it – I've not always been that lucky (starting with my mess of a dad and adding other boys to that).  I'm so lucky, Ben gets me and cares enough to wade through some of the messier stuff.

Catching Up

Times flies when you're having fun (or going to school, working and dating great guy)!  Here's a quick overview of the highlights from the last week and half:

-  The symphony was great!  It was so much fun dressing up, being downtown and listen to great music.  I liked our seats because they were just over the stage and we could see the musicians play and the movement of the different sections as the songs went on.  So much fun!

-  School is getting a little busy with assignments coming due in my classes and lots of group stuff that I have to find time for.  I like the classes but wish the workload was different.

-  Friday night Ben came over for dinner with my family and met mom and Chrissy.  We ended up staying for three hours just chatting away…time seems to fly with this one!  Everyone seemed to get along well and there wasn't any weird awkwardness among us.  Things just seemed to flow, that's good.

-  Sunday I got a last minute invite to join Ben's parents for dinner at their house.  I was at school, working on a group project totally in sweats and non-glamorous – just what you want for seeing his parents.  We had a great time, his dad made an awesome dinner and I got hugs from both of his parents when we left.

-  Tonight we're going to celebrate Chinese New Year (if the weather holds out and it's not too bad to be outside and on the roads).  Since Ben was sick on New Year's Eve we're doing a do-over of sorts and celebrating a different new year with both of us well.

-  I must admit that things are going well with my new beau, I would say I'm rather smitten.  We have so much fun together and just suit each other so well.  I find myself getting distracted easily and start thinking about him…all those sappy beginning of romance things that are so fun.  He's unlike any man I've ever met before and I'm so happy for it – he's patient and kind; cares about me and can tell if I'm having a bad day based on the sound in my voice; he keeps track of what I like and finds sweet ways to do things for me; I know that he wants to take care of me and make sure I'm okay; time flies when we're together and I lose track of time; I can tell he enjoys being with me and that makes me feel so good.  There's so much more but I won't bore you with too many details at a time.  I'll just say he's one of a kind and just the type I've been looking for but didn't think existed.  Lucky me!

Getting Older

I turn 30 in four weeks. I'm not really dreading it and I'm not going through any "early life crisis" so I'm feeling good about this next big birthday. I am more content in my life, where things are and who I am then I've ever been before. I'm in a good place to usher in a new decade of my life.

The extreme irony here is that I just came from the optometrist and have to get glasses! Apparently my age is catching up with my eyes! I realized in class on Tuesday night that the overhead screen and white boards were a little blurry. After about a year of feeling like fast food menus were harder to read and that clocks across the room weren't totally legible I decided after class that it was finally time to see if my always 20/20 vision had declined. It has. Just by a little, but enough that with a slight prescription I can see distances better. Now for night driving, movies and classes I'll be styling in these new beauties:
I did have fun picking out frames and will be waiting in eager anticipation to get the call that they are in and ready for me! Pictures of my new, studious self to come!

Baggy Pants

Today is a happy day...I'm wearing pants that are too loose!  Awesome.  Here's some context - this time last year they were snug (very snug, like the only dress pants that were fitting).  It's little things like this that make me happy because I've been trying to lose some inches and control my overeating better and when there's a direct comparison to show how much I've lost I can pat myself on the back.  I'm down around 10 pounds or so from where I was in late  summer when I decided to take the overeating thing seriously.  Fitting back into pants (and having my wardrobe opened up to me again because things fit) is great!  Just wanted to share the good news!

Last night I went with Ben to a great wine bar in Denver.  It's not too far from his place and we had a great time.  He's a big red wine guy so it's his job to act as my personal sommelier and expose me to new wines.  We each tried two wines and nibbled on a great cheese platter - just a very nice, simple evening with plenty time to talk.  He started a new job yesterday so we were celebrating that and I got to hear all about his training, good times!

Tonight I'm back to school for another quarter.  I'm already half way through my degree and have five quarters left.  Tonight I start the first of four straight quarters in the next 11 months so it's time to buckle down and get used to no nice breaks for a while (goodbye Christmas vacation...).  I'm taking a Management Consulting class which sounds pretty interesting because it covers the emergence of management in new places and we get to read cool articles and do a lot of group and class discussions.  My other class frankly scares me...it's Cost Management, my second Accounting class (I didn't do very well in my first class...not my forte) and I'm just hoping to survive the quarter!  We'll see what it's like after the first night - the professor has already assigned reading that's due tonight!

So there's life...just wanted to get back into the blogging rotation and keep up on the posting.  Now I'm off to pull up my pants and take my lunch break!

Holiday Update - And Some Romance!

Hello nearly forgotten bloggers… here's my big holiday update edition. 

You've Got Mail:

I've been waiting to write about my little romance until I knew were things were going.  I'm happy to say that I now have a wonderful man in my life, though we're just started dating.  We met through my school friends who play trivia on Tuesday nights at a bar near campus.  I hadn't been able to play because I had a class at that time but after finals I was able to tag along.  My friend Julie brought her boyfriend Ed and Ed's brother Ben came too.  Ben and I chatted a bit that night while playing then became friends on Facebook, I was interested in getting to know him better.  Julie and our friend Stephanie and I went out for happy hour the next week and they both thought that Ben and I might make a good pair; it was nice to have encouragement from folks who knew each of us separately.  We ended up playing trivia together again and sat next to each other and chatted all night then the next night I went to his brother, Ed's birthday party (a little odd because his parents were there too…"hello, I'm Becky, I think I have a crush on your son, nice to meet you?").

It's hard to start something up over the holidays, as you can guess.  We ended up chatting on Facebook every day and really getting to know each other online.  I really felt like the Meg Ryan, Tom Hanks romance in You've Got Mail.  We went on our first date Monday night and had a great time.  We talked for five hours and totally closed the place down!  We were at the same New Year's party but he got the stomach flu that night so he left after about an hour and has been recovering since then.  I went over to his place last night so he could have a movie buddy to watch movies with him while he's recouping.  Things seem to be going well and it's been a great holiday season and beginning of a new year with him.

Here are the stats on Mr. Ben.  He is 12 days younger than I am (yep, we both turn 30 within two weeks of each other), grew up in South Denver like me and went to a high school where I had a lot of friends.  He speaks German, studied in Germany and traveled throughout Europe while there.  He's a total Renaissance man who loves art, all kinds of music, can quote Shakespeare and knows history.  He's really smart, already has his MBA and is nerdy in the same ways I am.  He's a banker and just got a new job that starts on Monday.  He lives near downtown with his brother and he's really athletic (bike riding, skiing, soccer).  We have very similar temperaments and introvert/extravert tendencies.   We can talk about baroque music, spreadsheets and South Park all in the same conversation – it's great! 

Fun With Technology:

The week before Christmas my computer suddenly got very sick.  One night it was fine, then I installed updates and shut it down – the next day I tried to restart it and things were corrupted.  Of course I freaked out because all my school stuff is on it and so much of my life is through the computer.  Thankfully I work with a bunch of computer engineers so they were able to at least make it possible to get data off it but I spent the next week with Dell and my brother helping to get it back to normal.  Between wiping the hard drive and getting new memory and mother board I ended up starting from scratch on mostly everything.  I'm happy it's working fine now and I'll start school this week with a happy computer.

Christmas:

My brother came home for the holiday and we had a great time.  We basically stayed at mom's (I slept over for the week), ate, watched movies, ate some more, chatted and saw family.  I took all of Christmas week off so I got to hang out in sweats, with no makeup and be lazy – I love that!  Santa was nice enough to bring me a camera (my old digital camera was five years old and not very user friendly compared to the newer models) so now I can include more photo updates on the blog and pictures on Facebook. 

New Year's:

I spent New Year's Eve with friends from school, hosted by a new friend I've made through them.  It was a nice party, great food, got to meet some new people and we saw the new year in.  Too bad Ben got sick early in the night and had to leave (he only lived a few blocks away from the party so made it home quickly).  It's fun to see how much life has changed in a year – new friends, hanging out is a cool part of town and feeling more "grown up".

8 Things Tag

Hello forgotten blog readers!  My computer has been on strike for about two weeks now so I'm finally getting back into the blogosphere.  To start, let's complete the Eight Things tag I recived last week!

8 Favorite Restaurants:
1.  Cheesecake Factory

2.  Rio Grande

3.  Hacienda Colorado

4.  Magianno's

5.  Illegal Pete's Burritos (better than Chipotle and Qdoba)

6.  Big Bill's New York Pizza

7.  Jo Allen's (in Abilene)

8.  Fatburger

8 Things that Happened Today:
1.  Woke up to my mom, sister, and brother who are all camping out at mom's for the holidays (mom and Chrissy actually camp out here all the time as permanent residents)

2.  Watched my mom's cats chase each other around the house

3.  Ran to Office Max with mom to get Turbo Tax so we can do my brother's return before he goes back to London

4.  Checked Facebook

5.  Read the newspaper

6.  Took a shower

7.  Learned about a "sprint eliminator" swim meet format because my sister is swimming in one today

8.  Had a pot of English Tea with cream and sugar cubes…the proper way J

8 Things I Look Forward To:
1.  Starting a new quarter in school (kind of, not ready for work but ready to be back with friends)

2.  Going on a date with my latest potential beau

3.  Seeing my sister off to college in the fall as she starts at Azusa Pacific University

4.  Seeing my mom and sister continue to become more healthy since dad is out of the  house

5.  Watching my mom in her new stage of life as she downsizes, finds a job and becomes more self-fulfilled

6.  Reading a book by my brother or seeing him cited in journal articles or on TV as an eminent scholar in archeology (it's just a matter of time before Indiana Rob makes his debut)

7.  Finding a new job with a group of people I enjoy working with and duties that fit my strengths

8.  Getting married someday

8 Things I'm Scared Of:
1.  That something bad will happen to a family member

2.  That I will never be married

3.  What will happen when one of my cats dies and the other is left alone

4.  Paying off loans for graduate school

5.  Slipping on ice (I hate ice, I walk like a little old lady whenever there's ice on the ground)

6.  Getting in a car accident, haven't been in one before (other than a little rear ending in a parking lot – doesn't count!)

7.  Choosing the wrong mate and having a bad marriage

8.  Having kids, what it would be like, if I'd be a good mom…

8 Things I Wish For:
1.  My sister to have as great a college experience as I did

2.  My brother to find funding so he can start his doctorate when he finishes his latest master's degree

3.  To work overseas in Europe for a few years, do the expatriate thing

4.  To find my Price Charming and be swept off my feet

5.  Not to grow old alone

6.  A church home that really fits me as a single, nearly 30 year old female (slim pickings in Denver)

7.  To see more of the world and get more stamps in my passport

8.  To be a professional caterer/event planner

8 Things I Watch on TV:
1.  The Amazing Race

2.  11^th Hour

3.  Privileged

4.  The Today Show

5.  Gilmore Girls reruns

6.  Sappy Hallmark Channel made-for-TV-movies

7.  Anything on the Food Network

8.  Masterpiece Theater

8 People I TAG:

Anyone who hasn't done this and wants to!

 

My Bum Foot

So it's been four weeks since I dropped a solid oak bench on my foot and I'm still not in regular shoes.   I have a lovely collection of flats that I keep wearing and my shorter pants that work with them (without dragging on the ground too much) but as a short person I'm ready to wear real shoes with some heel!  This weekend I put on my bright yellow Crocs for the first time since my bench incident because they are the most roomy of my other shoes.  They actually fit ok and I'm glad to have them around to cover more of my foot when needed.  They are the best shoes for nasty weather that fit right now so I'm walking around in this morning's snow in my wholly Crocs that look like summer shoes!  All day I'm been so embarrassed to show my feet.  I'm like the guy wearing socks with sandals except I should know better!  Foot, please heal!

The last week has been a bunch of boring things.  I got new tires and wiper blades on my car just in time for this big snow, what a difference the right equipment makes!  Over the weekend I worked on a resume site so I can use it as an online portfolio as I look for jobs.  Since the market is not so stellar I've decided to start looking now so hopefully I can be out of here in the next year – knowing it's going to be a longer hiring cycle this time around.  Let's just say that I'm avoiding the company party even though it's at Maggiano's because I just don't want to be around some of these work people any more than I have to.

Happy thoughts of the day:

1. I get to do trivia with some of my school friends tonight.  I had a blast a few weeks ago when I went after my last final was over.  We got first place that night, no thanks to me, so I'm hoping to contribute to a few answers tonight.

2.  My brother comes into town a week from tomorrow!  He's finished his first term in London and is enjoying the holidays there for the next week before coming home and joining us for 12 days.

3.  Mom and I baked Christmas cookies this past weekend (and yes, I ate a lot of the dough) so now I have yummy cookies to look forward to when I go over and visit.

4.  I only have 8 days of work after today before I get a break!  I'm taking the week of Christmas off so I'm looking forward to some much deserved R&R.

Bring on the Tinsel!

I just finished sending out our corporate Christmas cards and discussing office decorating with our receptionist so I'd say the holidays are in full swing.  Over the weekend we put up mom's tree and strung garland down her staircase banisters.  I even upgraded my copy of the movie White Christmas from VHS to DVD for more years worth of viewing in widescreen.  Each year I'm more into the spirit of Christmas and enjoy the holidays and festivities more.  One problem is that one of my cats is a feline garbage disposal and loves to eat random trash including anything resembling evergreen.  To have a tree or any other decoration within cat access is a tragedy waiting to happen.  So the inside of my house doesn't look very holiday-like and in the past that's extended into a semi-Scrooge attitude for me.  I love cooking and gift giving but the whole decorating and listening to holiday music just wasn't so much on my radar for a few years though I'm happy to say that each year I seem to improve.  So this year I have a great wreath on my front door and garland with lights welcoming me each night from my porch. 

Of course the official holiday season for me starts with Thanksgiving and we had a great time last week.  I camped over at mom's and spent some fun time with her and my sister.  This is Chrissy's last Thanksgiving at home before she starts college so it was nice to spend it with her.  We went to my aunt's for Thanksgiving dinner then made yummy pumpkin pies on Friday to extended our own eating extravaganza.  I bought a pile of magazines to enjoy now that I'm on break from school reading and had fun flipping through them as Chrissy watched all her recorded forensic dramas (House, NCIS and CSI are her favorites).  It was a nice, relaxing weekend and just the right way to usher in the next month of celebrations. 

We had fun on our first web cam chat with my brother (I bought him one as a thank you/Thanksgiving gift from Amazon UK) and are so excited to now see him when we talk – what a difference that makes in helping you feel closer when you're actually a continent away!  Thank you Skype.

Lastly, I updated my resume last night and will slowly work on finding a new job.  Between my cube neighbor and the CEO this is just not a good place for me.  Over break I noticed how tight I would get every time I thought about work – just thinking about it stresses me out.  I'm not the only one in the office who is unhappy, company morale is at a total low and I know there are a few people that are exploring other options.  Last week I had a ton of fun planning our gift baskets for customers, researching sites to find everything we needed, budgeting and sending a proposal to my manager.  Monday afternoon I got the news that we were not going to do gift baskets any more – just another project that I get excited about, spend a lot of time on and then hear we're changing our mind!  Seriously, how do we even get work done when we are in a constant state of wondering if anything will actually come to fruition?  The sad thing is that my last company was a great place to work but I was in the wrong position, now I have the right job but at a company that is terrible.  I just need to find the right position at the right company.