Trying to find my way...

I'm baaacckk....

2007-03-29T19:24:00.000-07:00

After a month away, I have finally found something to post about.

I found this site called jobster.com. It is where you can answer questions about companies where you have worked. I took a look at the questions, and I just couldn't help but laugh as I answered each one with a response for Digital Dog, Inc. my old company.

So, since I am to much of a chicken to do so...I am putting it here for your enjoyment.

Q: What are the three best things about working at...?
1. The free alcohol
2. The pool table
3. The free alcohol

Q: What are you responsible for at...?
Depending on the day, the responsibilities were: Receptionist, secretary, mind-reader, janitor, baby-sitter (for the boss), customer relations, training, designing, coding, QC, beer fetcher, and scape-goat. Most of the time, I did them all everyday, but occassionally I got a break.

Q: How did you find your job at...?
Online, where else do you find jobs now a days?

Q: What's one of the projects you worked on at...?
A better question would be what project didn't I work on, I don't think there was one...

Q: What's the interview process like at...?
Basically....submit resume, talk to boss on the phone, come in, talk to boss face to face, respond appropriately to the following question: So, uh, do you mind people drinking alchohol on the job? (The appropriate answer is Hell no!!!! What time is beer thirty?) and TA-DA your hired!

Q: What's unique about working at...?
Well, I've never worked anywhere that mind-reading was a requirement for the job before.

Q: What did you learn along the way at...?
Well as mentioned above, my mind reading skills improved greatly. As did my skills at handling stress (you have no idea how much stress i can handle now!!!). I also learned how to work with a boss that could swing from ecstatically happy to depths of despair in 2.4 seconds flat. And finally, I learned to thrive on verbal abuse and veiled insults to my intelligence. I'm such a smart girl!! (gag me)

Q: What are the most challenging aspects of your job at...?
Dealing with a dictator boss who expected you to work your ass off 24-7 for a non-competitive salary, no bonus, and no advancement!! Oh and I can't forget, learning to deal with feeling like being a female was the reason for my non-advancement...maybe I should of just gotten a sex-change, maybe then I could of gotten somewhere.

Q: What's the best team you worked with at...? The Creative Dept was the absolute best. We were a well oiled machine...well, when the boss wasn't trying to play art director and micromanage.

Q: What advice would you give to a new employee at...? Take a mind reading class, read how to deal with mood-swinging assholes for Dummies, and enjoy the free beer....your going to need it.

Q: What do you miss most about ...? The free alcohol...duh! Oh and the pool table, can't forget the pool table.

Q: What's the funniest thing that ever happened to you at...? Funny....hmmm....yeah i got nothing...

Q: What's the toughest problem you've had to solve at...? To try and read, by his body language, what mood the boss was in when he hit the door. We need to know whether he was safe to talk to that day or not.

Q: What are people reading at...? Read...what are you thinking...that would waste precious billable time...

Q: What blogs are people reading at...? See above answer

Q: What's the secret to getting hired at...? Be really good at what you do, be willing to work yourself to death for it, be willing to be paid nothing to work yourself to death for it....oh and make sure you have no issues with alcohol flowing freely!

Yes, I am trying to be funny and yes I am a disgruntle ex-employee who had a very bad experience. I know others who feel the same way I do about the company. There may be some out there that don't, but unfortunately I haven't had the opportunity to meet them...If your out there, share you experiences!!!

Is this really something I want to hear my 8 year old say

2007-02-24T19:04:00.000-08:00

"I won, I won, I won....I won at poker mommy!" Sigh..they grow up so fast...maybe starting this young she'll have enough winnings to cover her college tuition.

Be proud of me...

2007-02-24T19:01:00.000-08:00

I finally managed to take down my Christmas tree today. That's right...only 2 months late :). Its an accomplishment, don't' you dare laugh!

My day started with a bang

2007-02-16T09:52:00.000-08:00

Well, actually it was more of a crunch...but i digress from my story.

I stayed at N's last night and got up this morning and went outside to turn my car on to warm up. I drive a stick, so of course its in neutral, and I have the parking break on. I go back inside, get upstairs, and hear a very loud crunch...the crunch was my car hitting his garage door. Opppsss....I was so embarrassed! Luckily he can fix the door, I would of felt even worse if he couldn't, and my car hadn't had a new dent/ding in 3 months, it was due. He keeps telling me it is ok, he's just glad I'm not hurt and I know it is, but I still feel bad about it.

I secretly think cars have this secret vendetta against me. Everything that happens to me usually involves a car in some way :).

Got to love this

2007-01-30T12:08:00.000-08:00

I just got a comment on a story I posted back in July about my Escape from Hell...otherwise known as my departure from Digital Dog Inc.

Well surprise surprise today I get the following comment "It was well known your work was sub-par. You left before you were fired, get over yourself." And of course, its signed by Anonymous.

Now I don't know who anonymous is...but here is the deal. Don't be a coward and hide behind that title. If you have something to say to me...say it to my face, and prove your claims. Right before I told Larry I was quitting...he had told me that my job wasn't in jeopardy and I would continue doing the same things in the company I always had (one of the reasons I was in favor of quitting...but anyway) and he told me more than once during the following 2 weeks that if I needed to stay longer than 2 weeks he would be more than happy to extend my notice of departure.

So who ever you are...get over YOURself.

Today

2007-01-26T08:17:00.000-08:00

Its Friday...and its a wonderful day....just thought I'd share :).

A Baby Story

2007-01-23T19:06:00.000-08:00

Warning - First time Mothers probably shouldn't read this. I typed it up for a pregnancy horror story competition on another site, and since I took the time, I figured I might as well post it.

I'm one of those people who didn't know she was pregnant until she got to the hospital. I went to prom 3 days before she was born in a size 8 dress (and yes i have the pictures to prove it :) ). But that's just where the story begins...

First, I went into labor on the bus. I was in labor all day at school, because I hated dealing with our secretary at school and didn't want to have to get her to call someone for me. My boyfriend took me home and when my mom got there, he left for his Boy Scout meeting. (go ahead, laugh I know you want to ).

We get to the hospital and they ask if I might be pregnant, and since I hadn't had my period in a while (the only actual sign I had, no morning sickness, no swollen feet, etc.), I said I guess. So, they slap a fetal monitor on my and you guessed it, a heartbeat.

Well then they think I'm really premature, so they start looking for Vanderbilt's Angel Flight number, and of course, our hospital has misplaced it. Well, then they call the Vandy switchboard, and they can't find it (I mean come on, its their medflight copter and they don't have the number). Anyway, while they are looking for that number. The hospital calls in about 5 or 6 doctors all for me ( a couple of OBGYN's, pediatricians, etc). They realize that my daughter is in distress, so I'm getting IV's, cathiders (sp?) and all while being yelled at to flip back and forth from my back to my stomach.

Then came the words "Emergency C-section". Well they wheel me into the emergency room. Our hospital is small so there is no Anesthesiologist on call so one of the doctors is going to have to fill in. Right after they wheel me in, my doctor (whom I had never met before) screams, get me a God D*mn scapel I don't care if you have to pull it off the tray in the hall. She then looks at me and says sweetly "It will all be ok sweetheart" I immediately think great, I have a crazy person about to cut me open.

So they have the mask on me, but I'm not out, so I get 3 shots of Lidacain to the stomach and she starts cutting - Before I am Out. I quickly am put under and don't remember the pain (thank goodness for drugs).

When I wake up I have a 3 pound 12 ounce beautiful little girl. She is 3 weeks overdue and fully developed just underweight.

I found out I have a small wall in my uterus that kept her to one side and only allowed her to grow so much. I also had toxima and was extremely anemic. I had to have a blood transfusion and magnesium IV, and almost died twice once when I was in labor and once when my Blood pressure sky rocketed because of the toxima. I got to go home 6 days later.

My daughter is an extremely intelligent 8 year old and perfectly happy.

These are her eyes :).

Looking back I know I was in denial, if I hadn't wanted to not believe I was pregnant I probably would have seen it. But I was 17 and the mind is a very powerful thing.

Smile

2007-01-22T07:21:00.000-08:00

Mischief is my middle name

2007-01-15T07:07:00.000-08:00

I am a
Snapdragon

What Flower
Are You?

"Mischief is your middle name, but your first is friend. You are quite the prankster that loves to make other people laugh."

Happy

2007-01-12T08:44:00.000-08:00

Driving to the bank at lunch yesterday something dawned on me....I was happy. I didn't have anything weighing on the back of my mind. I didn't have this feeling of forboding that I have been carrying for a while. That thought made me even happier.

I am not saying I don't have my moments of unhappy, or stress, or panic. But my overall feeling is happy. Happy, happy, happy. I'm glad to be back to that.

The reasons for this feeling are many:

a) I have a new someone special in my life (Hi :))
b) the ex has reached a stable point in his life and therefore has quit the "I want you back" messages and
c) the holidays are OVER!!!! (now i just have to deal with the pesky credit card bills)

Now...if i could just get the sesame street theme song out of my head life would be just about perfect.

Christmas Eve

2006-12-24T11:19:00.000-08:00

Its Christmas Eve and I'm finally done shopping. I had to take back the Easy Bake Oven I got for my daughter because someone else got her one, and of course I ended up spending way more on the stuff to replace it than I originally spent on it. (Damn Wal-mart, it has mind controlling powers I swear!). So now I am back in the floor wrapping presents...which I don't mind :). But then I need to clean my house...which unfortunately isn't on my list of joyful events. Balance...life is all about balance I guess.

Thankfully to get all of this done I have the day to myself. My daughter is with her dad today doing their Christmas rounds, so I have time to finish up everything around here.

Ho!Ho!Ho! Merry Christmas!!!!

Christmas fun :)

2006-12-19T09:02:00.000-08:00

Can you dunk Santa?

Time to wrap...

2006-12-17T18:55:00.000-08:00

Ok, I found a really great deal on ribbon at Krogers today, so I can now do all my Christmas present wrapping :). My favorite part of the holiday is picking out presents for people and then wrapping them. Since I love to do it, and am fairly good at it, my mom use to have me wrap my own presents...she would put them in a box so i couldn't tell what they were and hand it all over to me. I've noticed since I'm not there to do it any longer, she relies more and more on gift bags. Hmmm....coincidence?

I got the last one!!!!!

2006-12-17T11:20:00.000-08:00

So today, I went to get my Christmas tree. My daughter was dying to have a real one this year, so I put it off til the week before Christmas so as not to run the risk of it drying out and all that good stuff. So first, I live in a small town so the only place that had Christmas trees left was Kroger. Ok, fine, no big deal. That wasn't the hard part...the hard part was finding a stand to put it in. The following places did not have Christmas tree stands:

1. Kroger
2. Walmart (yes walmart - how hard to believe is that)
3. Freds
4. 2 different dollar general stores
5. TSC

Finally we found one (the last one) at Walgreens. 2 hours to locate a tree and stand!

So now we get to do the fun part...decorating the tree - yeah!!!! After I take a nap to recover from 2 hours of driving all over town to locate the last Christmas tree stand.

Come back to see a picture of the finished product.

My song :)

2006-12-06T10:46:00.000-08:00

Artist/Band: Rascal Flatts
Lyrics for Song: Stand

You feel like a candle in a hurricane
Just like a picture with a broken frame
Alone and helpless like you’ve lost your fight
But you’ll be alright, you’ll be alright

Cause when push comes to shove
You taste what you’re made of
You might bend ‘til you break
Cause it’s all you can take
On your knees you look up
Decide you’ve had enough
You get mad, you get strong
Wipe your hands, shake it off
Then you stand, then you stand

Life’s like a novel with the end ripped out
The edge of canyon with only one way down
Take what you’re given before it’s gone
And start holdin’ on, keep holdin’ on
Cause when push comes to shove
You taste what you’re made of
You might bend ‘til you break
Cause it’s all you can take
On your knees you look up
Decide you’ve had enough
You get mad, you get strong
Wipe your hands, shake it off
Then you stand, then you stand

Every time you get up and get back in the race
One more small piece of you starts to fall into place – yeah

Cause when push comes to shove
You taste what you’re made of
You might bend ‘til you break
Cause it’s all you can take
On your knees you look up
Decide you’ve had enough
You get mad, you get strong
Wipe your hands, shake it off
Then you stand, then you stand

Women are honest, I swear!

2006-12-01T15:19:00.000-08:00

One day, when a seamstress was sewing while sitting close to a river, her
thimble fell into the river.

When she cried out, the Lord appeared and asked, "My dear child, why are you
crying?"

The seamstress replied that her thimble had fallen into the water and that
she needed it to help her husband in making a living for their family..

The Lord dipped His hand into the water and pulled up a golden thimble set
with pearls. "Is this you thimble?" the Lord asked.

The seamstress replied, "No".

The Lord again dipped into the river. He held out a silver thimble ringed
with sapphires. "Is this your thimble?" the Lord asked again, the
seamstress replied, "No.".

The Lord reached down again and came up with a leather thimble.

"Is this your thimble?" the Lord asked.

The seamstress replied, "Yes".

The Lord was please d with the woman's honesty and gave her all three
thimbles to keep, and the seamstress went home happy.

Some years later, the seamstress was walking with her husband along the
riverbank, and her husband fell into the river and disappeared under the
water.

When she cried out, the Lord again appeared and asked her, "Why are you
crying?".

"Oh Lord, my husband has fallen into the river!"

The Lord went down into the water and came up with George Clooney.

"Is this you husband?" the Lord asked.

"Yes", cried the seamstress.

The Lord was furious. "You lied! That is an untruth!"

The seamstress replied, "Oh, forgive me, my Lord. It is a misunderstanding.
You see, if I had said "No" to George Clooney, you would have come up with
Brad Pitt. Then if I said "No" to him, you would have come up with my
husband.

Had I then said "Yes", you would have given me all three. Lord, I'm not in
the best of health and would not be able to take care of all three husbands,
so that's why I said "Yes", to George Clooney."

The moral of this story is: Whenever a woman lies, it's for a good and
honorable reason, and in the best interest of others.

That's our story, and we're sticking to it.

Water and Wine Education

2006-12-01T15:16:00.000-08:00

It has been scientifically proven that if we drink 1 liter of water each
day, at the end of the year we would have absorbed more than 1 kilo of
Escherichia coli (E. coli) bacteria found in feces. In other words, we
are consuming 1 kilo of Poo.

However, we do not run that risk when drinking wine (or rum, whiskey,
beer or other liquors) because alcohol has to go through a distillation
process of boiling, filtering and fermenting.

WATER = POO

WINE = HEALTH

Free yourself of Poo, drink WINE!!! It is better to drink wine and talk
shit than to drink water and be full of shit. There is no need to thank
me for this valuable information; I am doing it as a public service.

Have a nice day...

I got hugged by a homeless guy on my way to my car

2006-11-27T19:32:00.000-08:00

Yep, you read that right, hugged not mugged. He was nice, sober and clean. He walked up to me, shook my hand, and said let me tell you 3 things to remember in life. Think before you speak. Think before you act. And don't look down on homeless guys like me, because you don't know our story. He was very nice and we talked for a bit, he asked if I was married and if I had kids. What I did for a living. When I told him, he said you went to college for that didn't you. I said yes, he said your smart. He then looked at me and said, you don't look like you come from money, you worked your way through college didn't you. I said that and student loans, and I'm still paying on those. I handed him some money before I left and he gave me a hug. Said I was one of the few who would listen to him and didn't just brush him off as another homeless bum.

It was one of the best hugs I've gotten in a while...I think because he truly meant it. It made me feel really nice, and was a wonderful way to end the day.

A week later

2006-11-18T19:43:00.000-08:00

I feel much better. Work is much much much better. I am back on track and my projects are going nicely. I got closure on my wondering whether the guy I had been seeing would or would not be trying to work things out with his wife (they were supposed to be getting divorced because she cheated on him, I thought that the divorce was a non-changing decision, I was wrong - note to self: only date guys who's divorce papers are signed, sealed and delivered)

So now what...short work at week :). Date on Friday night with what seems to be a really nice guy. I'm trying this whole online dating thing, E-Harmony, Yahoo Personals, you guys know the drill. I don't get out a lot to meet people so this works well for me, I think, well at least I hope. We'll see how it goes.

Tonight me and my daughter went to the drive in and saw Santa Claus 3. I almost feel asleep, not recommended if you are looking for an adult movie to enjoy, but if the kids want to see it, take them, they will enjoy it.

Life moves on and so do I. La La La :)

Alone

2006-11-12T16:52:00.000-08:00

That one word describes how I have felt the last few days. I thought I was handling everything well...boy was I wrong. The end of this week has been pure hell on me. Two tearful breakdowns on the boss because I have been sucking at my job lately (thankfully I have a wonderful boss who lays down the law and comes up with a plan to help me overcome it, then asks me what is wrong otherwise and lets me get it all out of my system).

The person I had attached myself to after my divorce, I don't think will be there anymore, not in the way he has been for the past while. He has his own issues and things he is working through, and I'm pretty sure they are leading him in the direction he needs to go, unfortunately, its in the opposite direction from me. I wish him all the luck in the world with what he is going through.

So for the first time, I am actually having to deal with this alone. That is a scary word and I don't like it one little bit. I'm a person who likes to be happy, to help others, to be surrounded by friends, but being an hour or more from all but 3 or 4 of my friends makes that kind of hard. Those friends that are close have been through recent life changes (aka - new baby) so there time and availability are limited. None of which I am complaining about, just saying.

My family is there, but its not what I need. I need someone who will let me cry on their shoulder with no judgment on what decisions I have made. Someone who will offer advice, and not get mad when I don't take it. Someone to just lay on the couch with and watch tv.

I guess I'm longing for what I had. The comfort of knowing there is someone at home that's got your back no matter what, that will welcome you with a hug no matter what has happened.

So now I sit here in the dark, alone, watching tv, debating whether I want to bother fixing something to eat, and wondering, when will I stop feeling alone.

Tomorrow I will wake up and start trying to find my feet in the office again. Become what so many want me to be. Maybe the refocusing will help me, or maybe it will just distract me, who knows.

All I know is, I hate the word alone.

Says it all

2006-11-09T19:09:00.000-08:00

Music Video Codes By VideoCode.ORG

Where our priorities lay

2006-11-07T13:40:00.000-08:00

Today we vote to decide the best direction for our country for the next 4 years or so...and what is CNN's breaking news.

Brittney and K-fed are getting divorced due to irreconcilble difference.

How sad is that....

Start 'em young, that's what i say

2006-11-07T11:27:00.000-08:00

Need your help...

2006-11-07T09:22:00.000-08:00

Hey guys,

I know I have a limited readership. Ok so maybe limited is inflating it by quite a bit, but anyway...

For those of you reading this, please check out this link: http://chris.quietlife.net/2006/10/31/raining-cats-and-dogs/ and this link http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/Claudia_Nunez/index.html

We are trying to help keep this woman from being deported. The reason, she will have to leave her two children behind, both U.S. citizens. I'm not going to give the full story here. The links above provide it. The thing is we only have today left to get people to sign the petition, so please think about it!

Everything has a gender....

2006-11-02T14:26:00.000-08:00

1) Ziploc Bags are Male, because they hold everything in, but you can see right through them.

2) Copiers are Female, because once turned off; it takes a while to warm them up again. It's an effective reproductive device if the right buttons are pushed, but can wreak havoc if the wrong buttons are pushed.

3) A Tire is Male, because it goes bald and it's often over-inflated.

4) A Hot Air Balloon is Male, because, to get it to go anywhere, you have to light a fire under it, and of course, there's the hot air part.

5) Sponges are Female, because they're soft, squeezable and retain water.

6) A Web Page is Female, because it's always getting hit on.

7) A Subway is Male, because it uses the same old lines to pick people up.

8) An Hourglass is Female, because over time, the weight shifts to the bottom.

9) A Hammer is Male, because it hasn't changed much over the last 5,000 years, but it's handy to have around.

10) A Remote Control is Female. Ha! You thought it'd be male, didn't you? But consider this - it gives a man pleasure, he'd be lost without it, and while he doesn't always know the right buttons to push, he keeps trying!

Do they think we will really forget?

2006-10-22T19:45:00.000-07:00

Advisers: Bush to shift message to economy

With the November elections fast approaching, White House advisers say President Bush will change his message on the campaign trail this week from the Iraq war to who are the best stewards of matters affecting the wallet.

Like this is gonna make people forget about the war. Does his administration really think we are that stupid. Besides the fact, for this to work, the democrats would have to drop the war talk as well.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/10/22/bush.economy.ap/index.html

This is just going overboard

2006-10-18T07:38:00.000-07:00

http://www.wsmv.com/education/10102602/detail.html

No more tag, or touch football at recess because it is to dangerous. Come on people!!! Have kids suddenly become shrinking violets that can't survive a skinned knee or two, or in my case 300. This keeps up and we'll be wrapping them in bubble wrap every morning when they get out of bed.

I just wonder, if you follow along this thought path, how in the world are humans still alive. When I was a toddler, the carseat was optional, much less the whole, sit in a booster seat until you 8.I didn't have bicycle helmets and knee pads. I climbed trees, threw rocks, played tag and Red Rover, Red Rover, won't you please come over with kids three times my size ( and got clotheslined on many occassions.) It must be a miracle I have survived to adulthood.

Had it up to HERE

2006-10-17T19:04:00.000-07:00

Apparently all I've been through over the last few weeks is catching up with me. Today has not been a good day. Reasons:

1. The Depo shot I got last week is messing with my head so I am both really really tired and really really irritable.
2. The reason this is bad is because I hardly ever let my ill side show. I am typically the sweetest most nicest person you could hope to find (don't believe me, ask my friends :P)
3. I just found out the mortgage payment I submitted by Credit Card through Western Union on the 6th of October, was declined by Chase Mortgage!!!! WTF!!! Now its really late, and I have late fees to pay, and they don't have 24/7 customer support!!!!!! I have to stress over this til in the morning.
4. Pretty much I'm sick of everything - work, bills, exhusbands, family, and on and on and on, and not because they have done anything in particular, its just my system has had as much as it can handle.
5. I have no one to hold me while i cry this out of my system (WHICH SUCKS!!!!!!!!)
6. I can't show this at the office because I am a manager and I can't vent about things like this anymore in the workplace (for any co-workers reading this, I will use my Jedi mind tricks to make you forget it)

Well it seems I still have a bit of my sense of humor left.

Bah, I know I'll get over this, but right now I want to rewind 6 months to when I thought my life was normal.

Maybe a good nights sleep will help....if not that then a good drunken stupor.

The way I've been feeling for the last 2 weeks

2006-10-15T17:49:00.000-07:00

Music Video Codes By VideoCode.ORG

Yep, I got a divorce, can you guess why?

Here's the deal, we've had issues for a while, all which could have been worked out in counciling i'm sure. But he couldn't give up the girl. After 4 chances to do so, I said enough and went to the lawyers and started the process. A week and a half later, I was officially a single woman.

Luckily, I have an extremly easy nature, and refuse to be miserable or let anyone else be miserable because of me, no matter how much they deserve to be. We are still "friends" I use that loosely for now, but I'm sure we will be true friends eventually. I do this mainly for our daughter so that her life isn't made even more complicated than it already is.

I'm keeping our new house, been in it only 3 months, thanks to him being willing to cover two months of the mortgage and allow me to recoup the savings i wiped out on the divorce.

I want to say thanks to all my friends who have listened to me cry, vent, get mad, get sad, and helped me to deal with it all. I'm sure I'll be leaning on you all, some more than others, to get through some bad days which I am sure will be coming along from time to time.

But life goes on, and this is a new experience for me, I haven't been single since I was 16, its a very strange feeling....

So glad they cleared this up for me..

2006-09-25T12:40:00.000-07:00

What kind of Super Hero are you?

2006-09-12T11:21:00.000-07:00

Your results:
You are Spider-Man

Spider-Man		80%
Superman		80%
Wonder Woman		65%
Robin		60%
Supergirl		55%
Green Lantern		50%
The Flash		50%
Catwoman		40%
Iron Man		40%
Batman		30%
Hulk		15%

You are intelligent, witty,
a bit geeky and have great
power and responsibility.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Quiz

Overheard

2006-08-25T21:29:00.000-07:00

Conversation between a homeless man and a business man:

Homelessman: Let me tell you something I'm not a bum, I get a government check, but I need a couple of dollars for food.

Businessman: We'll let me tell you about this place that will give you shelter and help you get back on your feet and find a job.

Homelessman: I don't need no job, I get a check, I just need something to help me out til next friday.

What did the statement "I'm not a bum" followed immediately with "I get a government check" strike me as ironic. I almost started laughing because in my mind, at that moment, they both meant the same thing.

Please don't anyone start posting about how he may be disabled, etc. Anyone moving around as well as he did, and walking 4 miles as he said he had done that morning can do some form of work if they want. He clearly didn't, he just wants to live on what the government will give him. I'm not saying all homeless people are like this, because they are not. I know that there are desperate circumstances that cause people to live on the street, and I don't think enough is done to help them. But people like this sometimes make it hard for people to want to help, because they don't want to help themselves.

What kind of mother are you?

2006-08-22T19:03:00.000-07:00

I am a Zen MoM...

How do you do it? Even when explosions are all around, you are able to take a deep cleansing breath and chant your mantra "this too shall pass." You are a calming influence on your kids in a hectic world.

What kind are you...take the quiz to find out. http://www.areyouaslackermom.com/

I wrecked my car

2006-08-20T21:30:00.000-07:00

I hydroplaned (slowly i might add) into the guard rail. At least I was going slow so the impact didn't hurt me or my daughter, just the bumper, right finder, and the hood of my car :(. Oh well, it could have been much worse. So I am going to work from home tomorrow while I workout the details of getting my car fixed and figuring out what I am going to do for transportation until it is fixed. I think it would be a sign of the world coming to an end if even one week of my life went by without something happening.

Eye opener

2006-08-16T19:24:00.000-07:00

My husband is a cop. More specifically a Deputy Sheriff assigned to the courthouse when court is actually in session.

I haven't worried about him being killed or anything. He spent 10 weeks at academy only coming home on the weekends, no worries from me. He's been on duty since mid-march, still no worries. I've heard about high-speed chases, men hiding in the woods, and still no worries.

Today, my first worry. They had a prisoner start a fight in the courtroom. My husband had to tackle him. For his trouble he has a huge knot or two on his head. Its the first time he's been hurt on duty. The first time I have proof he puts his life on the line every day for his job. It has shaken me.

But now, I have to push it to the back of my mind. I knew what he was getting into when we discussed wether or not he would take the job. I now have a duty as a cops wife. To support and be there for him without question because sometimes he can't tell me what happened. I can't dwell on what might happen. If I did, I would live my entire life in fear.

So, as Scarlett would say, tomorrow is another day. We'll see what it brings.

Update:Now he tells me he might have a slight concussion but that he refused to go to the hospital after the fight. I told him he should have gone, and next time, if he doesn't, i'm going to beat him. Why must men be so macho?

Mac's are too better

2006-08-15T12:28:00.000-07:00

Caption Contest

2006-08-14T19:00:00.000-07:00

Link to original image (http://mika.design.ru/lj/medvedi.jpg)

Ok, I couldn't resist. This image was just to cute. Bring on the captions.

I almost lost it...

2006-08-14T18:29:00.000-07:00

I'm one of those people that lets their computer remember their username and passwords. Today my browser decided it didn't want to remember any of those I had saved, including my blogger info.

So I spent a half hour trying to remember it, requesting it from blogger (it never showed up), and finally, finally remembering I actually made this one secure. (Imagine that).

All the cool kids are doing it..

2006-08-09T13:37:00.000-07:00

Pick the month you were born:

January----I kicked
February---I loved
March------I smoked
April------I dry humped
May--------I choked on
June-------I murdered
July-------I did the Macarena with
August-----I had lunch with
September--I danced with
October----I sang to
November---I yelled at
December---I ran over

Pick the day (number) you were born on:

1-------a birdbath
2-------a monster
3-------a phone
4-------a fork
5-------a Mexican
6-------a gangster
7-------my cell phone
8-------my dog
9-------my best friends' boyfriend
10------my neighbor
11------my science teacher
12------a banana
13------a fireman
14------a stuffed animal
15------a goat
16------a pickle
17------your Mom
18------a spoon
19------myself
20------a baseball bat
21------a ninja
22------Chuck Norris
23------a noodle
24------a squirrel
25------a football player
26------my sister
27------my brother
28------an ipod
29------a permanent marker
30------a llama
31------A homeless guy

Pick the color of shirt you are wearing:

White-------because I'm cool like that
Black-------because that's how I roll.
Pink--------because I'm NOT a homosexual.
Red---------because the voices told me to.
Blue--------because I'm sexy and I do what I want
Green-------because I hate myself.
Purple------because I'm cool.
Gray--------because I was drunk
Yellow------because someone offered me 1,000,000 dollars
Orange------because I hate my family.
Brown-------because I was high.
Other-------because I'm a ninja.
None--------because I cant control myself

Now type out the sentence you made and post it in the comments

Mine was "I dry humped a llama because I'm sexy and I do what I want."

I made a mistake

2006-08-09T08:40:00.000-07:00

My mom says the only people not making mistakes are those that aren't doing anything.

*Sigh....It still doesn't make me feel any better.

Gas prices on the rise (again)

2006-08-07T11:01:00.000-07:00

BP to shut down Alaska Pipeline

How much more of this ca we take without some kind of action from the government. Sure they say conserve and only travel as much as you have to, but for me that is 125 to 150 miles a day. Because that is what my commute is. Thankfully I have a fuel efficent car, but still its beginning to hurt, a lot.

Its nice to dream...

2006-08-01T21:07:00.000-07:00

Even if it does feel like 105 outside in the shade.

Let it Snow!!!

(warning, it can be addictive :) )

He was drunk, get over it

2006-08-01T20:49:00.000-07:00

Ok, so Mel Gibson was drunk.

So Mel Gibson opened his big drunk mouth and said some things he shouldn't have and managed to offend a bunch of people.

So what!

Who out there hasn't ever done or said something that they would never have otherwise if it wasn't for going well over their alcohol limit. Not me certainly. I'm the one who ended up throwing up at my bosses birthday party (but I had a blast BTW). I'm not saying I agree with his statement. I don't. But if everyone out there was held accountable for what they said or did when drunk there would be a whole lot of divorcing, breaking up, and firing going on among other things.

So now we are supposed to boycott him and anything he is involved in...can someone tell me why? Does it really mean that I secretly support his drunken statments because I go see one of his films? Do you really think he is going to fall from grace over this? Do you really think in a months time, when some other celebrity had done something as equally stupid takes over the DA of the Day spotlight that anyone will talk about it anymore?

Will anyone actually remember when his next film finally gets to theaters? I say no.

He is human. You are human. Live with it.

Escape from Hell

2006-07-21T16:31:00.000-07:00

Today is the anniversary of one of the most life altering events I have had in recent years. It of course falls after meeting my husband, marrying my husband, and the birth of my daughter, and a few other things I'm sure, but still it was very important. Today is the day of my escape from Hell. A year ago today was my last day to work for Digital Dog.

I did have some wonderful times at the company, and met some people who still remain my close friends, J, L, C, G and M - you know who you are. I also learned a lot while I was there, some of which I wouldn't have learned if I hadn't worked in that type of environment. Still the majority of the time the environment was Hell a lot of the time all because of upper management.

I was hired as a production/design assistant straight out of college which was cool. But apparently included in that job were, receptionist, office manager, QC for everything, Tutorial creation, and being everyone's keeper to make sure they had the stuff they needed for meetings. All for the lowest salary in the company. So over 2 years time, I handled all of this. Working overtime almost everyday. Often times as late as 7 or 8, and several times til 11 or midnight. All without comepensation or even a simple thank you most times. I take that back, I once worked 28 days straight, commuting an hour and a half to Nashville 7 days a week, and I got to have Halloween off without having to take a vaction day. But being the only "real" job I had ever had, I didn't know it shouldn't be like that 365 days a year. If it hadn't been for the people I worked with I would have probably had a mental breakdown multiple times.

If anything went wrong with a project and it could be traced back to me, even if I had just answered the phone, the ensuing lecture or punishment landed at my feet. I had design privileges taken away from me more times than I can count for a misspelled word on a site, or missing something when I QC'd an application. I was put on a 30 day probation, with the threat of reduced pay and/or firing after that, and had a pay-raise put on hold for 2 months (after a year and a half of working there)if I didn't get my act together, all for missing something when I QC'd an application. The client wasn't even upset, but I paid for that mistake like you wouldn't believe. Other employees had almost crashed servers, lost clients, etc and not had that harsh a punishment given out, but for me, missing something not adding shipping was enough to banish me to the land of shame for a month.

Now that I think about it, the turn over rate for that company was ridiculously high. There might have well been a revolving door in the entrance, because that was what it was like. I was one of the ones that lasted the longest, but mainly because again, I didn't know any better, and wasn't going to jump out of a job with a steady paycheck.

When internal issues came up between middle management and upper management, I will be forever grateful to those who made sure I knew what was going on and ultimately convinced me to quit my job (you 2 know who you are!). I would probably have stayed if not for their encouragement, that I could do better and was more talented than upper management would ever acknowledge. I would probably still be in my corner desk, doing the same thing, for the same pay a year later if not for them.

Since I left the company has threatened to sue me for talking to an old client (note I signed no contracts, no non-disclosures, no non-competes, nothing) and they refused to fill out paperwork we needed to purchase our house. And they said I left on good terms, yeah right.

I have been much, much, much happier since I left. I landed with a new company CentreSource with the help of one of my old co-workers that I absolutely LOVE. I love the people, the environment, and my boss isn't a psycho. He genuinely cares about his employees. (When your boss emails you to get off the computer while you are on vacation, he cares about you taking your time off to de-stress). I am also management now. A big step from low man on the totem pole to running a division and being responsible for the look and quality of all designs that leave my shop.

I now have my self confidence back. I know that I am damn good at what I do, and no one will ever be able to change my mind. I am considering going back to school next year for my MBA, at the encouragement of my boss, something I would never have done in Hell, because what does a website builder need a business degree for.

I thought I would share my experience so that all of you out there in jobs that treat you like crap will know that sometimes taking a leap of faith out of the situation will take you to a wonderful place. No one should have to put up with being treated like that. I put up with it to long and I'm glad I left. I will never look back.

Time goes so fast

2006-07-21T12:22:00.000-07:00

Why is it when you are a kid, summers last forever. I mean my memories seem like they lasted for months and months. School years took forever too of course. As I get older though, time seems to keep picking up speed. College went pretty fast, but each year I work it seems to go by even faster. Its been a year since I left the job from hell (more about that in a later post), and almost a year since I started my current job. My daughter is 8 years old (8 YEARS OLD) how the hell did that happen? She was so small a second ago and now, she's a foot shorter than me. The child is 8 and is 4'2. (I see a professional basketball career or supermodel, just depends on if she is more girly girl than sports fanatic).

I am afraid that the older I get, the faster time will go. Will summers soon seem like days, instead of the weeks they seem like now. I hope not.

A rare weekend

2006-07-21T12:10:00.000-07:00

I get to play being a single girl this weekend. Well kind of... The husband is working at the truck and tractor pull, making sure everyone behaves themselves. (If not its off to jail with you!) He got a late shift of 5pm to whenever they finish up, which could be 2 to 3 in the morning. My daughter is spending tonight and tomorrow night with her grandmother, Lolly, so I have 2 nights with no child and no husband. What is a girl to do with herself? Normally, I'd go home, work, read, sleep, the normal stuff. This weekend, no way.

Today I am going to go hang out and play pool with a bunch of the guys from work. It should be a good time for all of us to get together outside the office. Tomorrow, I am going to visit my best friend from college and have dinner, watch a movie, bitch about our husbands, etc. etc.

An unusual week for me, I normally don't get so much social time, so I'm going to get as much as I possibly can.

Things that made me smile at work today

2006-07-18T19:30:00.000-07:00

1. The new flash guy started today at work. Finally, I have help.
2. A client told me I was very good at training because I could bridge the gap between technical knowledge, and normal people and make it where they can understand.
3. Our business analyst told me, in front of the boss, that I have good business skills, no one ever told me that before.
4. My boss said in front of everyone that I managed to launch 30 to 40 sites in the last year from my department, and that it was pretty amazing. (maybe not his exact word, but you get the idea)
5. A new partner who used us on a trial bases for one project, has decided that he will use us for more based on his experience with my team on the first one.
6. None of my projects blew up.

It was a very good day.

Workaholic ?

2006-07-18T19:25:00.000-07:00

My husband is convinced that I suffer from a Workaholic disorder. He has been subjecting me to online quizzes for this disorder, and when I answer the questions the way I think they should be, he changes them to the way he sees them. As a result of his changing answers, I am a workaholic according to these online quizzes. (on the low end admittedly, but still) So the question I raise is, I am a really a workaholic or, because he thinks I am, is he just determined to try and make me see things his way?

Either way, I am not an workaholic in a bad sense...am I?

Seems like the beginnings of a good day

2006-07-17T08:44:00.000-07:00

Ever have one of those days when you finished getting ready in the morning everything had just fallen into place, your clothes fit right, your hair didn't freak out, and your make-up actually looks good. That was my morning. It started out well, knowing I look good when I walk out the door always boosts my confidence, lets just hope I stay up.

Maybe a little conceded to say I look good, but hell, if a girl can't tell herself that occasionally what's the point of being a female.

Quitting Smoking Helps Asthma Patients..

2006-07-16T19:36:00.000-07:00

Huh, who'd of thought?

As if my daughter and 2 real pets aren't enough

2006-07-16T10:13:00.000-07:00

Why does this worry me...

2006-07-15T20:52:00.000-07:00

http://blog.wired.com/tableofmalcontents/#1519874

Its the video at the very top of the page. I'm not sure what worries me more, the fact that girls this age don't have a clue what suffrage is or the fact that they will willing sign something when they don't have a clue what its for just because someone puts it in front of them.

Epiphany

2006-07-15T11:02:00.000-07:00

I think I spelled that right, anyway...

I'm beginning to realize that some of my family is missing me alot even though I only moved a half hour or so away. But seeing as I am the first from that group to not live within 5 or 10 mins of everyone else, I guess that is a big deal. My mom has started calling me on my way to or from work just to talk, something we use to not do so often. My grandmother sounded so excited that we were going to be able to come to a family thing at dinner tonight, because I told her earlier in the week I didn't know if we could. The reason this is an epiphany is because I just never felt that my presence was all that important. Why I don't know. I mean I know they love me, but I am the one that is different from everyone else (the closest one like me is my mom), so I don't always fit into their "ideals" alot. I guess even if you are the "black sheep" of the family, they still miss you. If your not there, who are they going to pick on :)...

I'm glad today is today...

2006-07-14T14:53:00.000-07:00

Because I'm so glad I won't have to drag myself out myself out of bed at 6am, and that I won't have to fight rush hour, and that I can relax and do whatever I want, but most of all I'm glad today is today, because my significant other told me I could go on a shopping spree, what better way to end a day.

Local Politics

2006-07-13T21:06:00.000-07:00

For some reason I started thinking about something.

Do local politicians, the ones on the county level really have a platform that they campaign about? I mean I live in small rural county (I just work in Nashville) and its always the same when I go vote, each candidate runs as an independent, they don't want to risk loosing votes by actually admitting to being either a republican or democrat, and there never seems to be easily accessible information as to what they plan to do differently, or what they've done better if they are trying to keep their job, than their opponent.

It usually comes down to what seems like the campaigns for Student Council in high school, the most popular person wins*... Am I just not paying attention enough to, I don't know, whatever it is I am apparently missing? It seems like a waste, but when I go vote I either skip a category where I don't have a clue who the people are, or I vote for the person who's name I heard the most. A lousy way to pick a mayor or sheriff, but at least I can say I voted, for all the good it seems to do me.

*and don't say "of course the most popular person won, they got the most votes" you know what I mean when I say popular..

Focus MGal Focus

2006-07-13T13:10:00.000-07:00

I am having such a hard time focusing this week at work and I can't figure out why! Maybe because I don't have a deadline breathing down my neck and I have room to breathe or maybe its because I just do this every so often. Either way I need it to stop, I feel like such a slacker.

What am I doing...

2006-07-13T07:43:00.000-07:00

I have no idea really. I've been thinking about starting a blog for a while now and just never did it. I guess I was afraid to put my thoughts out there for other people to see and judge. I have this little (ok huge) insecurity problem with people judging me. But what I have realized after reading and commenting on blogs is that no matter what you say someone is going to agree, someone will disagree, and the rest won't care. So here I go, trying to find my way through one more thing....