Friday, Friday, Friday!

I'm not entirely sure where the week went. I feel like I ran around like a chicken with my head cut off at the office and at home Monday thru Thursday. Thursday afternoon and evening were pretty relaxing and enjoyable.

But all that running around meant that I was pretty productive.

House decorated for Christmas? check
Work for clients finished? check
Christmas cards for Beth finished? check (although with some minor "OMG, I fail at life" moments)
Brainstorm ideas for sisters Thank You cards? check
Find restaurants/things to do in Savannah, GA? check
Pack up some warm clothes (and a bathing suit*) for weekend getaway? double check

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So - onto more important things. Next week at the office we are having "Goodie Day" (I wait all year for Goodie Day...)

What is Goodie Day?

The Planner's** definition: You make some treats and bring them in. We will share from 11:30-12:30 (lunch hour).

Wrong answer.

My Definition: People bring in sweets, treats, appetizers, whatever they want to eat but can't justify making it for themselves at home. You put it in the conference room and you eat all.day.long. All day.

So, what should I make??

I made cupcake bites last year and they all didn't get eaten. And I think I made something like cookies or brownies the year before. I am open to anything (and everything)...salty, sweet, salty & sweet? My only requirement is that it's not too time intensive and that it's not really expensive to make.

*there's a hot tub on the roof - how cool is that?

**I use the term "planner' loosely because all she does is send out and email decree telling everyone the day and "time" of the Goodie DAY. Don't call it a Goodie DAY if it only lasts for an hour by your definition.

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days like today...

{Image Source}

When I look out my office window, this is what I see. Kind of. Except this is a picture off of the internet...but it's close. It's foggy, gloomy, chilly, rainy, windy.

But this afternoon it's supposed to be warm(er), sunny, and windy. The only part about that I don't like is {windy}. Wind and my hair just don't play nicely. Windy days make me want to shave my head... but I'll never bring myself that far.

There is one good thing about this weather - but let me set the stage for you first. Our office has low wall cubes (read - 3' walls...we can all look at each other while sitting at our desk) Some people have offices and some people who aren't "good enough" to have an office but are "too good" for low walls have 5' walls.

I have a 3' wall because I'm just a kid - understandable.

I sit in a little annex on the floor. There are 4 cubes tucked away over here - 2 low, 2 high. And then some printers. It's kind of in a corner so there are windows behind me and to my right (they wrap around the building). To my left is a long hallway (where the big dogs sit) and the break room.

Here's an old picture - this is the cube to my right and the windows to my right. And a great example of (a) how low the cube walls are and (b) how ridiculously close we sit. I can answer his phone without getting out of my chair.

Normally I can't see anyone coming down the hallway or walking up behind me while I'm working. Except when the weather is crappy - then the windows act like mirrors and I can see everything. I can hear you coming AND I can see you coming. It's kind of cool - especially when we had folks who used to work here and got a kick out of sneaking up on people. Definitely un-cool.

And there's your random tidbit for the day.

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Tuesday FAIL

This week I have been going into work an hour early to make up some of the time that I would have to take off for the Thanksgiving holiday.

So I show up at the office at 6:30am and the building is apparently functioning on emergency power. There was enough power to boot up my computer, check my email once, and that's it.

Fastforward to 8am after the rest of the office has gotten to work. The power totally goes out and a few of us decide we're going to breakfast. When we got back to the office about 9am - we were told to go home. So, I did.

I went home and cleaned my bathrooms, got my Goodwill stuff together and delivered it, went to Target and Bed, Bath & Beyond for a few things, went to the gym for an extended cardio session (because I had the time, right?)

I got home around 2:30pm and checked my email. Power and network came back around 11:30. Everyone else went back to work.

FAIL.

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It's That Time of Year Again!

Time for your company's United Way representative to start asking everyone to throw down some cash!

I think that the United Way is a great organization that helps essentially fundraise for other organizations. I'm glad people donate their time and money to this organization and help it succeed.

It's just not for me.

Why is it not for me?

Well - in college, I was a member of a service sorority (Gamma Sigma Sigma). Our organization not only supported the United Way, but it also supported individual organizations (Susan G. Komen, American Cancer Society, March of Dimes, the local Habitat for Humanity, local after school programs, the pysch ward, American Red Cross, Blood Connection...)

As I participated in these events - I found that I enjoyed myself more and gained more out of not only volunteering my time to these individual organizations but also giving my money directly to the organizations that I felt strongly about. I liked this idea better than giving to the United Way and then letting them handle the distribution of my money. I've explained this multiple times to multiple people I work with. After explaining it, most people seem to understand and respect my point of view.

Except one. We'll call her Ms. United Way (or Ms. UW for short). She is trying hard to raise money in a bad economy for the United Way - and that's got to be difficult. But don't get snarky with me when you hand me the United Way packet and say "Well, here's your packet and donation form. You can at least wait until I walk away to throw it in the trash can."

All of this came out of her mouth before I could even say "Good morning".

Really?

And for the record - if you ever wanted to change my mind about UW, that is not the way to do it.

And while we're adding things to the "record", Ms. UW - this year The Mr. and I have already donated to the American Cancer Society, donated to Goodwill, participated in Relay for Life, given blood on multiple occasions, volunteered for Meals on Wheels, attended the most.depressing.lunch ever for the Red Cross and volunteered for Habitat for Humanity.

So, Ms. UW, don't get snarky with me because I won't pay $3 for a Chic-Fil-A biscuit or donate money out of my last.two.paychecks because there's a great chance that I will not be employed after that.

Sincerely,

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Orange, TX

I got "the word" this morning - so now I can fill you all in. (I am positive you were on pins and needles yesterday afternoon!)

Orange, TX - it's where that little, itty bitty red dot is at the lower right of Texas. It's an hour and half northeast of Houston. 45 minutes due west of Lake Charles, LA.

What about it? What not about it?

No, I'm kidding. Here's the story: my project ends at the end of October and there currently isn't any work for me (or anyone) once that's done. There was an opportunity in Orange, TX to work at a plant owned by one of our clients. The duration was 12-15 months, no expenses paid. You read that right - NO expenses paid. My boss mentioned a possible pay increase to try to help cover some of the cost - but who knows. So I had to weigh the decisions.

Do I say "Thanks, but no thanks" and risk getting laid off at the end of October?
Do I say "Sure - when do I leave?"
How would The Mr. feel about it?
What will I miss out on while in Texas? (because let's face it - a plane trip home isn't cheap)
What's best for my career?

The Mr. and I talked about it and after a very emotional discussion in the parking lot (since I had less than 9 hours to decide) decided that it would be in my best interest to throw my name in the hat. It would help me continue to gain experience (because being laid off or furloughed gets you zero XP), I could keep earning PTO (instead of using it to be furloughed while I sit at home and ponder my fate in November), I could keep putting money into my 401(k) - and now is a great time to do that, and the best part? I would still have a job 12 months from now. I would have been able to hopefully ride out "the storm" in South Carolina.

I have friends who were laid off in March and have yet to find a job (in the same field as I am). Engineering firms are letting people go in waves. There is no hope. Texas was my hope - even though it pained me that I was going to be leaving my home and husband for a year to live in Texas.

This morning, I got an email from my boss - they decided to hire locally.

I didn't want to go to Texas. But now I feel let down because the date "Oct. 30" once again looms in my not-so-distant future.

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What's in a name?

Okay, blogger people. I have a short vent. I am STILL fighting my IT group to have my name changed in all places at my place of work. This is ridiculous. Beyond ridiculous. I've been married for a year now. They knew I was getting married when I started working at this place. What.The.Heck. Seriously.

Here's what I got from my IT group when I asked them to change my name:

You were right, the account is still under Michelle {maiden name}

It’s easier to keep the account as it is. If you don’t mind keeping it this way it would be easier on my end.

Easier on your end? I bet its easier on your end because you don't have to do a damned thing if you just convince me to be effing complacent.

Here is my response:

I would actually prefer for this account (and all of my other accounts, computer, etc) to have my name changed on them. I didn’t realize it was going to be such a pain to have my name, user names, account logins, etc changed after I got married. I didn’t have this much trouble getting my name changed with the government (both social security office and passport) so I didn’t think it would be that difficult to have it changed with my IT group here at the office. In fact, I was assured that there would be no problems a year ago before the wedding.

How is this handled with others who have gotten married or divorced and also requested their name to be changed? I feel certain that there have been many requests for name changes in the past 10 years of the company.

...what happened next?

The IT guy called. Asked me if I was pissed off and why I was pissed off (wtf. wouldn't YOU want YOUR name changed?) And then immediately fixed everything that I have been fighting to get fixed for the last year. Now really, was it truly that hard? This makes me cranky.

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My Husband.

... he's silly. Check out this shirt he's wearing... (I just found this picture from the summer)

What's the story with the shirt? Well when I started working for this company last year, July marked the company's 20 year anniversay. So of course we, as a company, had to celebrate. Everyone who wanted a shirt got mailed a shirt - and their spouses or significant others got shirts too. I was new...2 months into the job and thought to myself "How cool - I could use a Mustang shirt if I go recruiting or something like that." They didn't show pictures of the shirts - so everyone was floored when we got these in the mail.

At that point The Mr. didn't work here. After he started he decided it was time to wear the shirt. So when the anniversary rolled around again in July (which the anniversary is a big deal every year because we get a $50 bill. Our bonus I suppose?) The Mr. put on the shirt and went to work. I couldn't let him out of the house without documenting this!

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