Mid Year Assessment

At work I am preparing for my mid year assessment. That's where you, your boss and perhaps someone else that might be a reporting supervisor or team member or something else that has stuff to say about you, sit down and talk about the good, bad and ugly so far for the year. Also, you have to plan for how to complete the goals that you set December 2009 by December 2010.

Okay, I'll bite. Here's my 2010 mid year blog assessment.

1. It's September and I'm doing my mid year assessment. Need anything else on that? Nope? Didn't think so. I give myself a B considering I didn't even think to do a "self" self assessment in June or July.

2. I worked on my 101 in 1001 a little bit. Could I have done better? You bet your sweet patootie. Am I ashamed of what I've done so far? Nope! What can I do to prepare for December 2010? Finish some of the damned list - duh! I'm at 28%, I should be able to get to 35% by then. I give myself a B-.

3. Commenting on other Blogs - Well commenting on new blogs? D. Commenting on my blogger buddies blogs? B. What can I do better? Well I guess surf the net and find new blogs. Not sure that I have that kinda time though. We'll see.

4. Blog Content - Well, I think I'm funny. Even if YOU don't think I am, I think I am (how do you capitalize a capital I? Like that sentence for instance. I capped the YOU but you can't tell that I capped the I. Ponder that, will you?). Oh, and I've begun adding pictures to almost every post. That's pretty good, right? I give myself a B. I may not blog often but the stuff that I blog about is quality. Really, well kinda, but I give myself a B anyway. What can I do to improve? Well, my first order of business is to find out how to do that hover think where when you hover over a word or phrase you can see that the blog author wrote something really snarky or insightful. I'm gonna ask CG if she can help with this. And perhaps I can steal a more exciting life. Then I'd have 'funner' things to talk about.

5. Blog Look - I tried to change the color and stuff a few weeks ago. Then I got bored and stopped. I added a twitter feed. Doesn't that count? No. Okay. I give myself a C. I'll change the color or something later.

Much like my work assessment, I give up after 5. I can't think that hard and still stay awake. At work I wrote 5 reasonably reachable goals and the boss man gave me another one. Feel free to give me a 6th one bloggie friends. Not sayin I'm gonna do anything with it, but fire away.

Oh, yeah, are we getting blog-raises this year? Is it too soon to ask about it? Okay, just wondering.

Dear Summer,

Dear Summer,

SM is not happy right now. No, no. It's not you, it's me. We have had such a great time together. Remember those times I painted my toes and wore sandals? And remember that time you were all sunshiny and we shared frozen drinks together? Oh! And those times that we'd eat outside together? Boy, those times were great!

I looked at the calendar last night and you know what I saw? September 23. Do you know what that is? The first day of Autumn.

Yeah, I know. That means that really soon we're gonna have to break up for a little while. I don't know if you and Autumn are friends but she and I are only lukewarm. I don't really like her all that much. She's kind of cool towards me. She acts like you, but then she gets cool and I have to get a sweater. Then she gets warm again. She's too wishy-washy for me.

I also don't like her that much because after she comes along then Winter comes. Winter is on my sh*#t list. I can't stand her arse! She's all cold and frosty, like she's better that folks! I gotta put on extra clothes just to hang around her! And, she doesn't like my sandals or my tank tops. And, get this, she looks all sunshiny from the inside then you go outside and she's cold! I know. What kinda mess is that?

Oh, now Spring is okay. You know, her right? She gets warm but she brings these things that make me sneeze and stuff. I don't really like that but she tries to be friends. She really does. So, I tolerate her.

And then you come back to me and everything is right with the world. Yeah, I kinda have a crush on you. No, I don't want you to feel odd about it. I want you to embrace it. I do. I will yell to the world that I like you. I hope you like me back.

Well, since I know you are going away, I made you something. Yep! It's a photo album of our times together. It will keep us both warm while Autumn and Winter are here. Have fun while you're in Australia. Send me a postcard. I'll be thinking of you!

Yours,

It's Not You, It's Me.

I'll give you a sneak peek into my life.

You should be honored. I don't show people my soul very often.

It's explains my neglect of blogging (kinda).

I've been writing.

A book.

A cheesy, fluffy romance novel that you can read in 3 hours.

It's not life changing (well, it is for me).

It's not a wow, epiphany moment.

It's just girl meets boy, they decide they like each other, they 'do it' (cue fireworks), they meet families, they 'do it' some more (cue more fireworks), there's some fake complication, it gets worked out and then they get engaged.

55,000 words of fluffy goodness. Almost like a fluffernutter sandwich.

And when I'm done, well I'm not sure what I'll do, except probably write another one, and then another one, and then one day it's what I'll do all the time.

Sitting on my sunny patio, with my laptop and a mocho-choco-latte-ya-ya, typing out a romance to be sappier than all other romances -- that's what I want to do when I grow up.

It's what my passion is -- to write fluff. I want to give the world 3 - 6 hours of gooey, warm goodness and then let it go on it's way. You see, anyone that knows me knows that I'm all happy happy. I don't even like to watch sad movies (so no Tall Girl, I did not watch The N0teb00k. I gave it back).

So that's what I've been doing and why I've been so neglectful. Hopefully you can understand. And if you can't understand, then I understand.

Well, no, not really. If you don't understand, then I totally don't understand. But it's okay.

It's not right, but it's okay. I'm gonna do it anyway.

Let The Sports-athon Begin!

Today is the first day of the official football season. For most of you, it's the day you become football widows. For me, it's the start of sexy commentators in perfectly tailored suits talking about men running across a field wearing shiny, tight pants that shows off their super human strength and great arses.

Are you ready for some football?

In the time before cable my daddy would watch sports all weekend long. If it had two or more people or teams competing against each other, we were watching it, like it or not. Seriously, I've seen bowling on t.v.

Then high school came around and I became a water girl for our high school football team. I learned some of the mechanics but what I really learned was my love of the game. That wasn't the only game I watched. My best friend's father would watch baseball and I'd watch too. Back then the Braves weren't as hot as they are now. But I watched them anyway.

Last night I watched women's tennis. I don't remember the names of the ladies playing but the lady who had a baby 18 months ago won. It was a good match. I felt sorry for the other lady. Yep, I watched tennis.

Yeah, I know. You'd think I'd have dates out the wazoo. Nope! My ex didn't even like sports. Actually, I've dated more guys that never went to a sports bar than not. Sad.

But today it doesn't matter. Today at 12noon I'll watch the pregame show with my boys and then I'll watch some match ups all afternoon. I don't like beer so I'll have some wine with my beer nuts (popcorn). I'll yell at the t.v. and scream obscenities at the umpires.

It would be nice to have something to scratch though. You know, someone else's.

This Much I Do Know...

I was reading wholelivingmagazine and the last page has an article titled "the whole truth". It's a bunch of thought provoking questions asked to Rosannecash. I saw the questions and thought they were pretty good. So, since I'm really famous too, I thought I'd answer them here.

AND because I'm crazy like that, I added one or two really good questions that I've seen over the years.

If I could say one thing to myself 20 years ago...Good God the ride is gonna be interesting. Always remember, there's a reason for everything AND what doesn't kill you will make you stronger.

The lesson I keep learning over and over...the scorpion and the frog. No matter the situation, that lesson almost always applies.

Prized Possession...I know, you think I'd say The Princess but she isn't mine. She is only at my house on loan. In a few years she'll belong to the world and make it a better place for having known her. No, my most prized possession is a box of birthday cards that I keep. Some of them are from the Princess, some are from friends and family. All of them are funny, sweet and make me cry.

My mom was right about...Some kids at school teased me about the clothes I was wearing. I thought they were comfortable and I liked them. Mommie told me that it didn't matter what other people thought about me, my clothes, whatever. It mattered what I thought. I live by that motto to this day about most things - not just clothes.

My mom was wrong about...the phone. You have to handle it. Yes, that's in code.

My favorite place in the world...a porch with the sun shining, slightly off of me, with a cold slushie or a porch at night with the stars out, a glass of good wine and a great friend at my side.

Personal philosophy...You get five HaagenDas minutes and then it's done. Loosely translated - Go ahead and have a good cry. Then you need to put your big girl panties on and deal with it.

What keeps me up at night...Nothing (Because I refuse to worry. What good is that gonna do) and hopefully someone tapping my shoulder at 2 a.m.

Book that changed my life...Love You Forever. OMG! Every new mommie should read this book. The love you will feel for your child is captured perfectly in it.

My latest favorite quote...borrowed from Eat.Pray.Love.)"If I promise you that you will never have any reason in your life to ever worry about anything, will you believe me?"

Before I die I must see...Big Ben, London Bridge (the original one - it's not where you think!!), my book published, The Princess on screen (if that's what she REALLY wants to do).

What I know for sure...As long as I have faith, it will be alright.

Enjoy The Journey

I have a friend that sends me a daily inspiration email each morning (hence the name daily). Normally these little emails are uplifting and a pretty good way to start the day. The one that was sent this morning was especially on the money because it was entitled "Enjoy The Journey".

I began this blog a long time ago. This is the third incarnate. The first two were snappy and full of bite. I decided that snappy and bitey were not the direction I wanted to go. Then I began this one (and it was juuuust right).

I've been throught a lot in my 38 years and still have much, much, MUCH more to go. One thing that I have learned is that if you don't stop to smell the roses, you will miss a lot.

Here's to roses. May they smell good forever.

YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

TODAY'S WORD Sometimes it's easy to become so goal-oriented and so focused on our dreams that we overlook the simple things that we should be enjoying in our everyday life. But we have to remember that life is not really about the destination, it's about how we live all along the way. It's about the path we're on that shines brighter and brighter.

In this life, there is no such thing as a finish line. Once you accomplish one dream, God will give you another. When you overcome one challenge, there will be another. There is always another mountain to climb. If we make the mistake of just living for the destination, we'll look up one day and realize we've missed out on the biggest part of life because most of life is routine. Most of us get up every morning, go to work, come home, eat dinner, go to bed and do it again. There are very few mountaintops where you graduate from school, or you get married, or have a child, or go on vacation. The high times are few and far between. Don't get stuck living for the mountaintops. Learn to enjoy the path you're on. Learn to enjoy the people in your life. Learn to enjoy the simple blessings of walking in the path the Lord has prepared for you.

VENT - Krappy Karrots from Kay-Roger

This post is the real letter I sent to Kay-Roger. I'm not a happy camper right now and when momma's not happy, she tells ALL of her friends.

My vow is to keep telling people I'm not happy until Kay-Roger makes me happy. I'll let you know how long that takes.

============================================================

Kay-Roger, Atlanta Marketing Area
2175 Parklake Dr
Atlanta GA 30345

Mr. L,

I have generally enjoyed shopping at your stores. The prices are low and the selection has been good. However, I have noticed in the past 6 – 12 months that the quality of food, the selection and the customer service level has gone down. Even so, I continued to patronize the store because it was closest to my home.

Yesterday, I walked into my local Kay-Roger store in search of a 2lb bag of carrots. There were about six 2lb bags of carrots in stock and all of them were wet, slimy, old and had roots growing out of them. I went in search of the 1lb bags and found the same number of carrots but instead of slimy, they were old, dry, cracked carrots.

I asked that the produce manager be paged. After 5 minutes I was informed that he was not in. I then asked for the store manager. Five minutes later, he came over to me, I showed him the carrots and he simply looked at me with a blank stare. I explained to him that the carrots were old and decayed enough that they could make someone sick. I told him this THREE times. He continued to stare at me, not apologizing, not offering to produce another bag, not saying a word. I asked if he had any fresh carrots in the back and he brought out two 1lb bags of the old carrots. He said that he had just taken them out of the box. I told him that he should have denied the shipment.

I have visited the (__) store for the past 2 years because it is less than a mile from my house. I have also visited the (__) store (4.4 miles from my home) and the (__) Store (4.2 miles). They have the same issues as the one in my neighborhood. If I want a decent Kay-Roger shopping experience I have to travel 9.2 miles to the nearest store!

This may not seem like a long distance to you, but I am a busy mom and I don’t have time to travel in search of a Kay-Roger that carries quality food and offers good customer service. Yesterday I went to the (other) store located across the street from your store. They had fresh carrots at a cheaper price and the customer service attendant was very friendly.

I would like for someone to contact me and explain why 1) the produce is allowed to be in that condition and 2) why managers are not trained to pull questionable items off the shelves. Until I receive a response, I plan to begin visiting the Poo--blay Grocery store on (__) for my weekly shopping. I also plan on telling my circle of friends about my experience. If the Kay-Roger stores in my neighborhood cannot be comparable to the Kay-Roger stores off of (__) and (__), then I simply will go elsewhere.