Ahhhh-Ruba

Vacation is over and I am more relaxed, finally :-)

I liked Aruba, it was different from other islands I have visited. It was dry and windy, not hot and humid (that I can get at home). We were very successful in the casinos as well, made for a profitable vacation as well.

Got back to work and wham, bam the fun began......

Still no word if my exit strategy can be implemented. Still the issue of my job grade (so what if I am over-qualified, I need a little less "thought" in my day).

Did a fun thing I found at CGC site, a map of where you have been, it was fun




create your own visited states map
or check out these Google Hacks.



create your own visited countries map
or vertaling Duits Nederlands

vacation from my vacation

Yes, I am about to embark on yet another spring break vacation, this time with the older children since their break is different from the younger. I am Aruba bound. Never been can't wait..... But I am stressed about taking a vacation, is that not nuts????

• I am stressed to leave the young-ins home with my parents (they stress each other out)
• I am stressed to leave work again in the middle of pure hell-dum
• I am stressed that I will forget something
• I am stressed that my daughter has to fly to Atlanta with the volleyball team while I am gone and I won't be there to send her off or be in Atlanta with her
• I am stressed that I still have this horrible job.

I was talking with my new manager about how I was stressing. She too confided in me that she was almost at her breaking point, in fact the whole organization was about to bust.

Our she-devil leader is good for a short term gig, but she has outstayed her usefulness, she needs to move on to another organization and stir them up.

It is always good to be challenged in one's career, move outside your comfort zone, be pushed to grow, I don't disagree with that. However, one can only be pushed for so long, and stretched so far. Even a rubber band will break if pushed beyond its limits.

And that's where we all are, beyond our limits. This group of 200 plus folks has become the crankiest, meanest bunch around. Folks that would never say boo to you are now ripping your head off if you look at them the wrong way.

I really need to get this new position, or seek employment else where or I am gonna snap....... First step is not to stress on this vacation (think happy thoughts :-)

Breaking In A Newbie

I still work in the She Devil's organization, but we recently had a reorganization of sorts. None of us have any say in this, like what we would like to do, or whom we would like to work for. Nope, we are mere pawns in the chessboard of political advancement.

My group got EXPANDED. So much so, they brought in another level of management (that's always fun). So I now have a new direct manager (although I still deal directly with the next two levels up on a daily basis).

This manager I now have is used to dealing with VERY junior people, not the level we are. We are not accustomed to accounting for every second of our day and giving a weekly report (this is so she can help us prioritize, ha).

She told me today that she was going to put a stop to She Devils abuse of us. I merely chuckled, I know this is an impossible task (many greater than her have tried and failed, being miserably chewed up and spit out).

I hope she is successful, it will be entertaining at best.

Still no word on getting out of this hell hole.

Footnote: project mentioned in prior post update......

She Devil dictated the outline for the brief I wrote, I had no wiggle room to change. I presented to the analysts yesterday and they SPIT UP all over it saying the outline of topics made no sense and was very disjointed. She Devil was very disapointed with me, and requires a complete re-do (I hate my job).

Stop the Insanity

I was fresh and back from vacation Monday, only to be hit with a whopper of an assignment. I thought I was playing catch-up only to find out I was in the same boat as my peers, the request had just come Monday and the assignment was due by 3:00 Tues. Not so bad I thought.

Trouble was this request was from the she devil VP we work for and we obviously have not brushed up on our mind reading skills, and we ALL were wrong in our interpretation of her request, sigh.

So this morning we had exactly 1 hour to re-do everything and make it perfect.

The good new is that also in my inbox Monday morning was note from a wonderful manager I had worked closely with in my prior position within this company. She wanted to "talk", that meant only one thing, she wants me to work for her. Sure enough, she does. I said TAKE ME NOW!!!

The only stumbling block is that I am a higher job grade level than the position calls for. I countered with think of me as two employees for the price of one :-)

We shall see............

The Disney Daze

If I EVER have to sit through its a small world again, I WILL do something drastic.

WHY does that ride still exist, please tell me??? My 10 year old said it the best "this is a ride that NEVER ends" or "look, my favorite part, the END".

If my 10 year old (the youngest) thought it was dumb then why were we riding it? Because the "grown up" 18 year old whined the loudest and got us all goaded into going on it. I was made to feel like Grumpy for not wanting to fully enjoy the Disney experience. NEVER AGAIN I SAY!!

Note to 18 yr old: Time to grow up and you can never re-live the past (never as much fun as you remember it)

I need a vacation from my vacation.

Need to get out more

It was this past weekend's road trip to my daughters volleyball tournament that I realized my kids need to get out more.

We live in a large metropolitan area, and it's not like my kids have not been to other places, it's just that they have done so via an airplane. By doing this, they go from one metro-plex to another, never really getting to see the "real" US of A.

We were on a 5.5 hour road trip to Arkansas, passing mostly through Oklahoma. My daughter and her team mate were too busy watching her iPod, texting friends, and singing their disgusting songs to notice the country side. We stopped for a bite to eat, and let me tell you, it took us a long time to find a sit down restaurant, as there seemed to only be fast food joints on this long trip.

It was a home town Mexican food place. Nothing fancy, very simple, and it was clean, so we ventured in. It was at this dinning experience that I realized this kid had to get out more.

We are looking over the menu and she leans over and whispers to me: "do you think their meat is safe?" I busted up laughing. "Darling Daughter", I said, "we are still in the United States, not a third world country. The meat is good."

I think we need more road trips.....

A Whine Drama Weekend

Have you ever heard of CLUB sports? Well I had not until this year, and I wish I had not. My daughter is an excellent athlete. I have been told so by coaches over the years. I was encouraged to get her into a "club" to strengthen and hone her skills, a chance for a scholarship I am told. Those are the key words to any parents ears (now you should hear the first loud sucking noise, it was at this point I was sucked into the vortex of this money machine).

There were tryouts at different clubs. Which club would give her the best chance to excel? Which club had the best reputation? Which gave the best exposure? UGH ARG!!!!!!!!!!

I was clueless. I went with the club that was the closest and where most of her team mates went. She made the top national team (I thought at the time, yippee). So the practices began and so did the tournaments.

In a very short time I realized this was a money machine. The cost to me to start was 3K. That didn't include my travel costs, food, etc...........you can see where I am going.

Every tournament charges to get in, you buy their food, you buy their drinks, etc.....$$$$$$

Now I am finding out that the coaches for the clubs are also the area's high school coaches. The coaches FEED the clubs. They tell the girls you will not make varsity unless you are in a club (unofficial). It is almost like a cartel.

But that's the background to the drama this weekend.

I REFUSED to be a club mom. I will not pester the coach about my daughters playing time. I will not pester the coach about anything, period. Let him do his job. But guess what? If you don't, your kid gets pushed aside. ITS DOG EAT DOG!!!!

I was told by the Club owner my daughter was the third best athlete they had in ALL their club for all ages (she is 15, it goes to 18). Yet, she has had no playing time. HMMMM. I just drove 5.5 hours one way this weekend to a tournament to watch my daughter sit on the bench. The reason. They changed her position. This new position is completely different from the one she plays in high school (A position she is good at, the position I am paying to have her improve on).

So since they changed her position, she isn't as good, they don't play her in the games.

WHY DID THEY DO THIS????

Because it seems there is a mother that demanded her darling play the position my daughter had and they caved.

The gloves are off, I am about to be a CLUB MOM, oy........................

(also wondering if she really is good enough for scholarships if the coaches are feeding players into these clubs....you have to wonder)

"you need a band aid for what????"

I love kids, they are so funny, especially when they are not tyring to be. I am blessed with five (yes five, however only 2 live here full time). The fun times are never-ending.

My 10 year old son recently yelled from the shower "MOM!! I NEED A BAND AID". Hmm, I wondered, why does he need a band aid in the shower? I figured he got a hold of his sister's razor and was "practicing" shaving his face, so I was chuckling to myself as I walked up the stairs to his room.

There stood my son, shielded behind the shower door with his hand out to grab the bandage. I asked why he needed this, assured I knew what the answer would be, I was wrong......

"I cut my butt shaving" were the words I heard.

"you did what?"

"Mom, just give me the band aid and don't ask, PLEASE!!!"

I did, and left. But I didn't let it go at that. I pressed for an answer when he was done. I finally got a response: "I didn't want a hairy butt like Will Farrell"

Okay, what the heck does that mean????? I found out he had seen the movie Ricky Bobby...( something or another ) at his father's and at the end you see Will's butt. He said it was disgusting with so much hair, he was starting now to make sure he NEVER had such a behind.

I said its not worth the trouble......

I just shook my head and walked away laughing hysterically inside my head.

'Nuff Said

It must be the butter

During my honeymoon last October, I announced to my new husband that I was going on a diet when we got home. I think I was the only bride in history that had to have her dress LET OUT before the wedding. My new husband is the best man in the world; he loves me for me and not my outside. That one thing alone was my impetus to lose weight (and the fact that I was really tired of being a beached whale).

The thing that led me to letting out my dress and being a shamu was one of the passions we shared, we LOVE to cook. I had not only found my soul mate in this man, but I found a partner in crime to the BEST cooking in the world.

He decided that he too would work on losing weight with me. We both had about 80lbs to lose, and since we are middle aged, we knew it would be a change of life, not just a diet. He and I started cooking gourmet healthy, and it has been paying off. Since November I have lost about 22 and he has lost 35 (I hate men).

This Valentines day we made some mussels as an appetizer and then simmered lobster tails in the olive oil/garlic/spices sauce we cooked the mussels in. Then we broiled the lobster in lemon to finish it off. I made a brown rice dish with veggies for the side dish. He LOVED it, I was just okay with it. He loved it so much that he bought some more lobster for our Friday night dinner, and we did the same thing, only this time had clams instead of mussels for an appetizer. Again, he loved it, but I was just okay. As a matter of fact, I only had half of my lobster and saved the rest for lunch the next day.

I was depressed. I really was. I have been having the BEST meals now for almost 6 months and losing weight. I had just had what had been my favorite crustacean. TWICE in one week and I was just so-so. It was then that I realized what was wrong. In the past, the lobster had merely been a delivery mechanism for BUTTER. Yes, BUTTER. I LOVE BUTTER. I MISS BUTTER. But, butter the way I was eating it was BAD, very bad. Up until these meals, I really had not thought about, or missed butter. But I now it was the missing link. So either I will only eat lobster in the future with butter or I will skip it all together.

However, I may give it one more try because hubby has described to me the way he intends to cook it the next time. He will simmer, then slice, roll in parmesan cheese, and bread crumbs with a LITTLE butter and bake. Now that sounds promising. I think I will wait until I try this to swear off lobster forever........

Whine.

Just Breathe

I am hyperventilating!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Why you ask? BECAUSE I JUST FOUND OUT I WILL HAVE TO SPEAK TO A VERY LARGE GROUP OF PEOPLE. There, I feel better now.

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE to speak, do it all the time. I have been told I am a great presenter, but that doesn't negate the fact that I have HORRIBLE stage fright. My fright is so bad, I have almost PASSED out on a number of occasions. One time I was just standing in front of my peers (only about 10 of them) presenting my ideas, and I had a panic attack, and the room started to white out and there was a horrible ringing in my ears. I pretended to have a cough, so that I could get my act together.

Over the years I have been "lecturing" and presenting to sizable groups, but they have ALWAYS been my peers. As my career has progressed, I have had the luxury of creating the presentations for our executives (let them deal with the stage fright). Now its my turn to stand up in front of customers and prospects and deliver a presentation I have not yet created.

I have been given the topic and now I must produce something that will hold the attention of this group of tech weenie executives. I don't consider myself an expert in my field, but for some reason my management does. UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!

Must find a brown paper bag to breathe into........see ya.

This sums up my job

My First EVER Blog Post, wow...

I can't believe it has taken me so long to set up a blog, considering I have an education in computer science and have been working in high tech companies for over 20 years, I should have been on the bleeding edge of this BLOG thing, right? Actually I have been fighting it, never thought it had any value (ha). But recently, as an outlet, I have been surfing blogs, and I think I am becoming addicted to them. I have no idea why I would care about what's going on in a perfect strangers life....

I got sucked into the blog world when I read Jennifer Lancaster's book: Bitter is the new black. It was a scream, I laughed out loud in public places while reading (I got some strange looks). That book was based on her blogs and it piqued my curiosity, so I looked her blog up.

From there I have been blog hopping and finding all sorts of flavors of blogs. I have been gravitating to the medical blogs (perhaps that is because if I had it to do again I WOULD have gone to Medical School instead of getting my MBA and going down the business path.....I digress)

I have been encouraged by my management team to start a BLOG that is related to my line of work and deals with my expertise, but I figured I would start this one instead :-) I NEED an outlet for the crap I deal with daily.

Have you read the book "The Devil Wears Prada"? Well if you haven't then you won't understand when I say I work in an environment that is as dysfunctional and dictorial as that book depicts. I realize it’s about the fashion industry, but I "Live" a lot of that craziness in my organization. Our "leader" is a clone of the boss lady.....hence my need to vent.

Can't say that I will be posting all the time, just when it is the craziest and possibly when I have the least amount of time (I tend to find things to do other than work when I have a lot on my plate).

Ahh, I feel better already now that I have a place set up to vent.......