Unexplored Territory

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

Making a choice

Blog or finish up a 50 page case.

I think work wins out this morning.

Have a good day, y'all!

Friday, July 13, 2007

Now it is time to pay the piper

During the week, I make choices.

This week was my first week back to teaching night classes.

And it has whooped. my. butt.

In the sense of my full-time job, that is.

So here I sit, with over 1/2 of my work week left and the weekend looming ahead... and I am not thrilled with myself.

If someone can find a way to squeeze another five hours out of a day, can you let me know? Because I need to figure it out. Post haste.

Have a good weekend, y'all.

Labels: work

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

Something has to give

Ever get yourself so wound up in a tight ball that you feel you could be bounced from New York to Detroit and back and never feel the effects?

That is me right now.

I have this tremendous amount of creative energy right now, but I only have so many hours in the day (and so many resources) to utilize it. The rest of the time, I am wiping noses or telling someone to get ready for school or getting lunch around or preparing for class or whatever.

I have decided that I am no longer going to teach class at this institution anymore. I don't like the format, and I don't like giving people "busy" work just to keep them in their seats for 4 hours a night. I have too much respect for the students, who are all adults with jobs and lives and kids, to just keep them there. If I finish with the material, then we are done. If I finish with the material in 2 hours and not 4, then we are done. But then you get these notes in the newsletter that it has been "observed" that the evening classes have been letting out early. Well, that is directed at me specifically. The other profs keep their students until 10. And what are they doing during that time? Busy work. Or listening to their prof talk about nothing that pertains to the work at hand.

See ... and if I let this one thing go, I think I will be a happier person. I will be able to actually work at night, and have the weekends free. I will actually be able to take over a lot of the stuff that Ace has had to handle. Does this mean I want to stop teaching altogether? No. Just not there anymore. I guess I have a difficult time taking directive from a "boss" who says things like "I seen that coming."

A lot of my mind this morning. Plus I have to help my friend Jacque this morning, but also have to get one dropped off at preschool and the other dropped off at Kindergarten for a field trip.

I want to open up a yarn store. I just want to have that ability.

Man ... too many things going on in my head this morning. What should be going through it is this case I am working on.

So off to work I go.... Hi Ho Hi Ho....

Labels: work

Friday, March 30, 2007

The grass isn't always greener

I have to discuss an interview I went on yesterday.

I work from home. I have worked from home for the same company since July 1999. I am coming up on year nine with this company, and I have ridden through many a storm with them (reorgs, managers leaving and going other places, other managers being promoted to higher positions, moving to another team in order to ensure longevity, etc., etc.).

I have been known to complain about this job. I have been known to gritch about having to work on the weekend. I have been known to utter a word or two about quota requirements.

What I haven't done is fully take stock in what I DO have in this position.

Until yesterday.

This is where I get a little religious ... so bear with me.

We were told last year that there was a possibility that our jobs were going to be outsourced to overseas vendors. They were actually looking at overseas attorneys to see if they could do the work that we do (we read, summarize, and pull out points of law from cases (mine are federal) ... really it is pretty rote now, but it still is legal work). It was really questionable whether they would be able to pull it off.

And they couldn't. We were just informed recently that it is no longer a go, but that didn't mean that they wouldn't keep looking for other overseas vendors. Fine. That is the name of the game in business. Always looking at the bottom line, and I can fully appreciate that.

I applied for a position at a company here in our hometown. They are growing exponentially. I won't say too much about what they do because I don't want to be unfair to the company.

I applied last year when the project was announced. Or somewhere close to the announcement because I had a feeling something was going on. And I waited. A LONG time. I was getting more and more nervous as time progressed that I was never going to be offered the opportunity to show this company my wonderful qualities.

Then I received a phone interview at the end of September. And I was told that I was eligible for the next step.

And I waited. A long time.

I finally received word last week that I was offered a face to face interview. This was about two weeks after we had received the final word on the outsourcing project.

I was conflicted. I really was. I didn't really talk about the interview much with anyone but Ace and my sister and mother. I didn't even tell my friends until this week that I was interviewing. I was conflicted because I no longer "needed" the job. The impetus was no longer there.

But, I had applied, I said I would interview, so I was going to carry through with my commitment, because my parents taught me that when you start something, you finish it. No ifs, ands, or buts about it.

So I prayed a lot about it, and I came to the realization that God was placing me in this position for one of two reasons: (1) to open a new door for me or (2) to show me that what I have is really where I need to be.

And yesterday afternoon, it was apparent that it was # 2.

The company has no structure. It is flat. There are a LOT of younger people walking around, ones who I assume are mostly part-time. I had no idea whether I was interviewing for part or full time, and when they asked me what I preferred, I told them that I needed full time because I needed benefits and I needed income stability.

And then they asked me later if I would "accept" part time. Well, what did I just say to you? Are you listening to me?

The employees were walking around in flip flops, jeans, and sweatshirts. And they think that is cool.

Yeah. I guess that is cool. But I walk around my place of work in my pajamas and not showered. I have my coffee brought to me on a daily basis. I can crawl into my bed after turning off my computer in 3 seconds. I don't have to get in a car to go anywhere. I can go to my daughter's Easter egg hunt at her preschool. I can fix lunch for my son and see him off on his bus. I can see my kids get off their bus every day. If someone is sick, I can stay home and still work.

See where I am going with this.

Lesson learned, God. Thanks for letting me figure this one out.

Labels: job interviews, work

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Remedial Email Reading 101

Apparently, there needs to be a class for me to take called "Remedial Email Reading." Because yesterday at 2 (it wasn't noon), I called in with my little passcode. The operator says "now is this for the 20th" and I confidently reply "Yes!"

And he said "well, today is the 19th."

So my conference calls is TODAY, not yesterday.

Mark me down in the Eager Beaver department, please. And increase my bonus to 150 percent, please.

Yesterday the kids went to a little craft store, spent their money, and then got haircuts. The Queen just got 1/2 inch taken off, so you can't really tell the difference. The Man got a trim and no longer has is Elvis sideburns, so he does look better.

The Monkey .... she had her first haircut ... her first "official" haircut.

And here is her new 'do.

It might not look like a lot, but it really is. There are layers and quite a bit was taken off in the back. And it did make the curls pop a bit. And it was MUCH needed.

Labels: haircuts, kids, work

Monday, February 19, 2007

Hurry Up, Abe ... George is having a Global Teleconference

What is your opinion:

Presidents Day. Bank holiday. Hallmark holiday. Teacher holiday.

My opinion: Bank holiday, which has been taken and run with by the school systems.

Some schools are having classes today because they have used up all of their calamity days and are over. Not our school system. I have lost count, but I think we have used our allotted five.

So ... yet another day home with the kidlets. And I am extremely fortunate (yes ... you heard me ... FORTUNATE) to have this job where I can stay home with them. Now, don't ask me WHY the president of our organization has chosen today, of all days, to speak to us in a global teleconference. At noon.

What will be discussed? Only the president knows. Honestly, I think it will be a waste of my time. But I need to learn to respect authority better. I don't do well with it, and I teach my kids the same thing by living that kind of life. So I guess I should pay the respect that things deserve...

But still ... two things happening today that I think are unnecessary. And those two things will meet in the middle at noon. Luckily my phone will be on mute so they won't have to listen to my kids. But then again ... maybe I should take it off of mute and someone can keep saying "whose kids are those? That poor person has to WORK with those kids at home? She needs a 100 percent raise to be applied retroactively for five years."

One can dream, can't they?

Oh yeah.... and my first weigh in .... lost 3.9 pounds!!!!!

Labels: President's Day, school, Weight Watchers, work

I'm a mom of three peeps ... Queen Bee, The Door Man, and the Chandelier Monkey, and wife to Ace, the Helpful Hardware Man. I created this space to get away from the people known as my inlaws, and because life with three kids and a hubby is all Unexplored Territory.

The nine-year-old who seems to be growing older every minute, has an opinion and a comment for everything, and has a true servant's heart.

The seven-year-old who loves the organization of things, will someday be someone's therapist because of his kind soul, and will more than likely be living with us until he is 40 years old.

The five-year-old with the 13-year-old attitude, who has a dictator's personality, asks you to watch her all the time and say "hold on" to keep your attention, and will someday come home on the back of some dude's motorcycle with 10 tatts and a body piercing or two.

The man of the house, the fixer of things, the winner of prizes, and the only person in his family to escape the South.