Traffic and Committees

Outside of traffic, there is nothing that has held this country back as much as committees. ~ Will Rogers

Yesterday was Wednesday. I dislike Wednesdays.

Wednesdays mean meetings. I'm on a bunch of different committees at work and Wednesday seems to be the day for meetings. One of these committees meets at 3pm and the meeting lasts for an hour.

This of course means I don't leave the office until 4:15 or later. Which is a difference of two hours from my normal commute. Can I tell you how much of a difference two hours makes?

Add on any sort of weather and the commute takes approximately a lifetime. I so hate leaving work that late.

But there is light at the end of this tunnel...at least for a little bit with me working from home soon.

Until later...

A Moment of Time

The whole of life is but a moment of time. It is our duty, therefore to use it, not to misuse it. ~ Plutarch

There are days when I need to remember this. Life goes by so fast and the monsters change so quickly. I need to remember to take time each day to connect with them.

Until later...

Clothing

Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society. ~Mark Twain

My monsters will never have to worry about being naked. Or at least they won't until they grow out of their current sizes.

I just did laundry...one of the most hated chores in the world...at least in this household. Jeans just came out of the dryer and the monsters have so many pair of jeans, I can go almost two weeks without washing denim.

How did this happen? Seriously? I'll tell you how it happened. Old Navy. Yes, Old Navy has these jean sales where jeans are $10. The monsters love Old Navy jeans, so every time they're on sale, I go in and get another couple of pair for each of them.

I have an Old Navy additiction. It needs to stop.

Until later...

Commute

Each year it seems to take less time to fly across the ocean and longer to drive to work. ~ Author Unknown

We've been talking about this possibility for weeks at work. The possibility of a pilot program in which someone from our team would work the night shift to see if the content center in Manila is creating enough work for us to implement a full time night shift.

The possible individuals for working this shift are myself and one other. I've made it clear that I wouldn't mind working the shift and so has he. The two of us have the longest commutes and both of us would enjoy not having to come into work.

Today the possibility became a reality. Our team will have one individual working 7pm to 4am, Sunday through Thursday, supporting the group in Manila.

The person working this shift? Me. After thinking about it, the other individual realized that for the short term, this wouldn't work out with his family situation, so that left the job up to me.

I'm looking forward to it. Not necessaily the working at night, but the no commute and the working from home in my jammies. The money I'll save in gas alone makes it wonderful and there will apparently be a shift differential also.

So, as of the 25th, I won't have to go into the office for four weeks. I say bring it on!

Until later...

Judgment

Judgment is forced upon us by experience. ~ Samuel Johnson

It's that time of year again...time to stand in judgment of my peers. There's nothing I dislike more about January than the fact that I have to write out peer reviews.

Peer reviews if done correctly can be a great source of growth and development for others. If done incorrectly, they can be a great source of dissention and ill-will.

This is the first year that I'll actually be writing peer reviews for this team. I'm not looking forward to it. Okay, that's not entirely true. I don't mind writing the reviews and I have a good idea of what I'm going to say.

The part I'm not looking forward to, is reading my reviews from my peers. This is the biggest backstabbing group of individuals that I have ever worked with before, and I have a feeling the reviews are not going to be what I am told face to face.

I don't get the culture of backstabbing. Never have. If it's one thing you know, you know how I feel about you. I find the energy that some people use up by being sweet to your face and pulling out the chef's knife behind you to be wasted energy. What's the point?

And passive aggressiveness...what's with that?

Ah well, I have to remember that differences make the world go round...right?

Until later...

Restoration

Cleaning your house while your kids are still growing is like shoveling the walk before it stops snowing. ~ Phyllis Diller

It's once again Saturday and once again time to catch up from the week. I honestly don't know how the clutter gets this bad.

Someday, it'll be just me at home and the house won't need the normal Saturday restoration. I tell myself that every week. And I know I'll miss it. Not the cleaning...no, only a crazy lady would miss that. I'll miss the fact that there aren't two monsters around to create the mess.

So this Saturday, I'll contemplate on the fact that I do have those monsters aroudn to create the mess and be thankful for it. There are only a few short years left of this stage in my life.

Until later...

Siblings

Our siblings. They resemble us just enough to make all their differences confusing, and no matter what we choose to make of this, we are cast in relation to them our whole lives long. ~ Susan Scarf Merrell

I logged into Facebook tonight and noticed pictures had been posted of my brother and his new...I hestitate to call it a family, but that's what it is. They seem a unit in the pictures and very happy.

This Christmas, my brother came home for the first time in years and brought his friend and her daughter. They've been living together since the end of the tourist season in Alaska when Whelp moved to the PNW.

She's a nice woman and her daughter is adorable. The time we spent together was just enough to get past the initial awkwardness of strangers, but not enough to actually become friends.

I enjoyed seeing my brother interact with this little girl. He's very good with kids and she seems to enjoy being with him as well.

Whelp confuses me...always has, but the one thing I know, is that whatever he does in life, whereever he is, I want him to be happy. It was nice to see evidence of that happiness in pictures today.

Until later...