I keep trying to figure out how life got to be so complicated. Who would have ever thought life would get so crazy. It seems we are all trying to fit more into our day, trying to accomplish more tasks in a shorter period of time, trying to fill up every second of our day with complicated, time-consuming tasks. Yet what we are doing is driving ourselves nuts. As I get older, I don't want to get busier, but it seems with jobs the way they are and employers expecting so much more out of everyone, it is difficult to slow down. At the end of the day, we are more frazzled, more tired, less enthusiastic, more stressed out and we ask ourselves what the heck we are doing. They tell us we have to take more responsibility for our careers, so we do that. They downsize people, but the work doesn't go away, it just gets redistributed among us. They plan new projects that take hours and hours of time. Those projects are over and above our already planned out schedules. They bombard us with meetings all day long, filling them with trivial stuff like "how do you feel about our what so and so said...", or call a meeting while we are attempting to close the books on time to discuss what days we want to work from home. Petty, time consuming crap.
They are just setting us up for failure. They give us our yearly performance reviews, and in order to keep our raises low focus on the two mistakes we made all year long. This gives them more feeling of power. They are already managers, they already push paper around, plan meetings, talk at meetings, but they don't do the actual work. I'd swear they spend their time plotting out how to drive us crazier than we already are.
The company is a $5 billion a year company...how much more do we really have to make. How much more can we pay our executives, and what can they possibly do with all that money. Why is it so out of balance. Why do the workers not get paid for the hard jobs they do, while the managers just keep pushing the papers around their desks.
This is not what I signed up for in life...I need to figure this out sooner rather than later.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Saturday, February 28, 2009
I Love Weekends
I literally love Saturday and SUnday. It is a time to regroup, relax, work harder (if I choose), visit friends, go to church, take a nap. It is a time to catch up with friends on Facebook, time to check out the new card making videos by card makers, time to check on scrapbook blogs that I follow. It is time to clean house (if I choose), grocery shop, check out a new place to move to, watch the grass grow, have a second cup of coffee.
I love the weekends because it is time away from work, time away from the rush of the week. The weekend is a time to be normal, to choose what I want to do, sleep late if I feel like it, listen to the rain, catch up on old movies. Weekends give me time to reflect on the past week, to mentally list what went right, what went wrong, what didn't get done, what did get done, who was nice, who was mean. A time to reflect on what I can do better next week, how I will benefit from what I have learned, pick something new that I want to learn about, read a new book.
Life is different on the weekends. It is more like it should be, time to slow down and act normal, or at least more normal than we do during the week. Life is bearable on the weekends, it is what I make of it, not what somebody makes me do. It is my time to create, design, reflect, visit, cherish, and love my life. I don't know who decided work weeks had to be 5 days, and rest only 2 days, but they got that backwards. Way backwards!
I love the weekends because it is time away from work, time away from the rush of the week. The weekend is a time to be normal, to choose what I want to do, sleep late if I feel like it, listen to the rain, catch up on old movies. Weekends give me time to reflect on the past week, to mentally list what went right, what went wrong, what didn't get done, what did get done, who was nice, who was mean. A time to reflect on what I can do better next week, how I will benefit from what I have learned, pick something new that I want to learn about, read a new book.
Life is different on the weekends. It is more like it should be, time to slow down and act normal, or at least more normal than we do during the week. Life is bearable on the weekends, it is what I make of it, not what somebody makes me do. It is my time to create, design, reflect, visit, cherish, and love my life. I don't know who decided work weeks had to be 5 days, and rest only 2 days, but they got that backwards. Way backwards!
Friday, February 27, 2009
Changing Attitude
I've gotten to the realization that as far as work is concerned, I desperately need to change my attitude...it's definitely dragging me down. I have a job that I have been on for 18 years, sometimes it's good, sometimes it's bad, the same with any job one has been on for 18 years. I like what I do (accounting), and I like the people, but I absolutely hate the politics, and I especially HATE when the people I like play the politics.
Okay, so it's a job, you leave at the end of every day, and you go home. It's so easy for people to say "leave it at the office". However, when you are at your desk for 8-10 hours per day, then you have a 1 hour commute home, what more do you think about but your job. You think about your day while you are on that BART train, and you think about the things that went wrong (first), then if you can get to the things that went right that's good. We get too bogged down with what went wrong. And these days when you are trying to juggle 15 things in the time it takes to juggle 7, you are stressed to the max before you even leave the gate. During the 8-10 hours you are at the office, you see people who are friendly, people who are not friendly, people who play the games, people who have a brown stained nose, people who you can't wait to see tomorrow. And during that day, there have been ups and downs. The downs take over the ups because everyone is so stressed, or in the mode of playing games, or just plain rude, there is no time for the ups anymore. You have been struck down and taken over by those nasty feelings. You have been sucked down into the abyss by those game players, those butt kissers, those people who robb you of your nice side, because that is the majority of people these days. And it's not just at work...but I digress.
So I am at the age now where I cannot just decide to "quit" my job because something doesn't go my way (I've only done that once, by the way). I am at the age where I have to lay low, not cause any ripples, let it slide off my back, but doggone it's so hard to do. I am not a liar, or a cheat, or a thief, but it seems like these are the only people going anywhere. I am so disgusted with people's attitudes (including mine but only because it is incapacitating me), and people's rudeness. The mindset of folks these days is "ME, ME, ME" and they are going to get there any way they can. Just getting onto the freeway in the morning is a feat in itself; navigating your way through a grocery store isle is like avoiding roadkill; and trying to find someone with a pleasant attitude ANYWHERE is considered a coupe de grasse (or however you spell it).
Anyway, I need to curb my grouchiness, my bad attitude towards people at work and people outside of my personal and family circle, and be calm and let it all slide right off; otherwise, I'm going to stress myself out too much. I do find myself walking around with a frown on my face (not my fault) more than I care to, so I think it's definitely time to change my attitude. Think I can do it? We'll see soon enough.
Okay, so it's a job, you leave at the end of every day, and you go home. It's so easy for people to say "leave it at the office". However, when you are at your desk for 8-10 hours per day, then you have a 1 hour commute home, what more do you think about but your job. You think about your day while you are on that BART train, and you think about the things that went wrong (first), then if you can get to the things that went right that's good. We get too bogged down with what went wrong. And these days when you are trying to juggle 15 things in the time it takes to juggle 7, you are stressed to the max before you even leave the gate. During the 8-10 hours you are at the office, you see people who are friendly, people who are not friendly, people who play the games, people who have a brown stained nose, people who you can't wait to see tomorrow. And during that day, there have been ups and downs. The downs take over the ups because everyone is so stressed, or in the mode of playing games, or just plain rude, there is no time for the ups anymore. You have been struck down and taken over by those nasty feelings. You have been sucked down into the abyss by those game players, those butt kissers, those people who robb you of your nice side, because that is the majority of people these days. And it's not just at work...but I digress.
So I am at the age now where I cannot just decide to "quit" my job because something doesn't go my way (I've only done that once, by the way). I am at the age where I have to lay low, not cause any ripples, let it slide off my back, but doggone it's so hard to do. I am not a liar, or a cheat, or a thief, but it seems like these are the only people going anywhere. I am so disgusted with people's attitudes (including mine but only because it is incapacitating me), and people's rudeness. The mindset of folks these days is "ME, ME, ME" and they are going to get there any way they can. Just getting onto the freeway in the morning is a feat in itself; navigating your way through a grocery store isle is like avoiding roadkill; and trying to find someone with a pleasant attitude ANYWHERE is considered a coupe de grasse (or however you spell it).
Anyway, I need to curb my grouchiness, my bad attitude towards people at work and people outside of my personal and family circle, and be calm and let it all slide right off; otherwise, I'm going to stress myself out too much. I do find myself walking around with a frown on my face (not my fault) more than I care to, so I think it's definitely time to change my attitude. Think I can do it? We'll see soon enough.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Scrapbooking Cruise
I went on a scrapbooking cruise with my sis-in-law, Tresa, earlier this month and had a blast. Tresa has been on about 7 previous cruises and was an old hat for all the tips of cruising. This being my first, I overpacked clothes, overate, definitely overpacked scrapbooking stuff, thereby making my luggage overly heavy. Somehow it was harder packing it all back up than it was originally (funny how that works). I tried "power sorting" before I packed, but to no avail, I ran out of time (we had only been planning this for about 6 months). So I ended up taking more than I needed, which made my "Big Bertha" rolling cart very heavy. Anyway, Tresa and I drove her car to San Diego to catch the boat, which was an all-day drive (whoowee).
We had a blast. We had a 5-day cruise to Mexico, with stops at Cabo San Lucas and Ensenada. We met some fun n'crazy scrapbooking buddies (Colleen, Dana, Pam and Cookie), there were about 30 or so that were in our group of scrapbookers. I put my ear patch on about 4 hours before we left San Diego, and at dinner time started feeling a little woozy. Someone at dinner asked me if I got seasick, and I told her I had a patch on, just as I touched the back of my ear, and discovered it had fallen off. Well, no wonder I felt sick...so I put another one on after dinner, and all was well the next day after I slept off the sick feeling. So in Cabo on Monday we saw the sights. So many booths with all the same stuff; beautiful sterling silver jewelry, some ceramics, clothing, refrigerator magnets, etc. Every booth had the same type of stuff. One guy actually said "Come in my shop, I will rip you off just as good as the others." We laughed. We met up with Colleen and Dana and had a drink with them on a sidewalk bar and watched the peeps go by. Had a picture taken with lizards on my head and shoulder (they were cute) and collected some free jewelry from a couple of shops that cater to the cruise crowds. Got plenty of pictures of the local sights, and headed back the boat, to scrap some more, visit some more, eat some more, discover some more.
In Ensenada we got off the boat and boarded a bus to take us to town. Once we got off the bus, we rounded a corner and were confronted with probably 15 militia with guns. They looked like they were guarding something, but we just walked on by (Tresa got a photo from the other side of the street) and wandered into the shops. Same kind of shops, same kind of jewelry. But we found this one shop that had original artwork by a lady who was 4th generation of ladies that created this type of art picture from a copper plate where she engraved her design, then painted it, then pressed it onto damp paper, and it imprinted a beautiful picture. She then framed and sold them. They were georgeous, so Ms. T did her duty to support this artist. We then went to lunch at Los Amigos and shared fish tacos (yum), nachos, and the most heavenly Mango Margueritas I have ever tasted. They were probably 16 oz. and wonderful. Then we mozied back to the ship. That night we had dinner then drinks with all our fellow scrapbookers, and exchanged email addresses. Overall we had a great time.
I heard one of our fellow scrapbookers (Cookie) is in charge of organizing the next cruise, which T and I might consider. Maybe we can make it a regular thing. At least it was nice taking a vacation with Tresa, we both love scrapbooking, and it is nice to be with someone you like...sure makes the memories much better!
We had a blast. We had a 5-day cruise to Mexico, with stops at Cabo San Lucas and Ensenada. We met some fun n'crazy scrapbooking buddies (Colleen, Dana, Pam and Cookie), there were about 30 or so that were in our group of scrapbookers. I put my ear patch on about 4 hours before we left San Diego, and at dinner time started feeling a little woozy. Someone at dinner asked me if I got seasick, and I told her I had a patch on, just as I touched the back of my ear, and discovered it had fallen off. Well, no wonder I felt sick...so I put another one on after dinner, and all was well the next day after I slept off the sick feeling. So in Cabo on Monday we saw the sights. So many booths with all the same stuff; beautiful sterling silver jewelry, some ceramics, clothing, refrigerator magnets, etc. Every booth had the same type of stuff. One guy actually said "Come in my shop, I will rip you off just as good as the others." We laughed. We met up with Colleen and Dana and had a drink with them on a sidewalk bar and watched the peeps go by. Had a picture taken with lizards on my head and shoulder (they were cute) and collected some free jewelry from a couple of shops that cater to the cruise crowds. Got plenty of pictures of the local sights, and headed back the boat, to scrap some more, visit some more, eat some more, discover some more.
In Ensenada we got off the boat and boarded a bus to take us to town. Once we got off the bus, we rounded a corner and were confronted with probably 15 militia with guns. They looked like they were guarding something, but we just walked on by (Tresa got a photo from the other side of the street) and wandered into the shops. Same kind of shops, same kind of jewelry. But we found this one shop that had original artwork by a lady who was 4th generation of ladies that created this type of art picture from a copper plate where she engraved her design, then painted it, then pressed it onto damp paper, and it imprinted a beautiful picture. She then framed and sold them. They were georgeous, so Ms. T did her duty to support this artist. We then went to lunch at Los Amigos and shared fish tacos (yum), nachos, and the most heavenly Mango Margueritas I have ever tasted. They were probably 16 oz. and wonderful. Then we mozied back to the ship. That night we had dinner then drinks with all our fellow scrapbookers, and exchanged email addresses. Overall we had a great time.
I heard one of our fellow scrapbookers (Cookie) is in charge of organizing the next cruise, which T and I might consider. Maybe we can make it a regular thing. At least it was nice taking a vacation with Tresa, we both love scrapbooking, and it is nice to be with someone you like...sure makes the memories much better!
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Check out this site...
The last couple of days that I have been home sick, I have done quite a bit of surfing on the net looking for various craft videos and found a site that is just eye-opening. It is the site of a demonstrator for Stampin' Up, a popular stamp supplier. Her name is Angie Kennedy Juda and her site can be viewed at http://chicnscratch.typepad.com/ Go check her out. She has so many inspiring videos, is a very inspiring woman, very energetic and fun. I have watched many of her videos, but she has so many on there, I haven't seen them all. But it's worth a look see.
I'm inspired enough to go in my craft room and get something done, so I'll be back later...
I'm inspired enough to go in my craft room and get something done, so I'll be back later...
Friday, February 20, 2009
Friday Thoughts
It's the best day of the week, as far as I'm concerned, Friday. The end of the work week. I worked from home yesterday, that was good, then this morning called in sick with a nasty cold I caught from some germs somewhere. Tresa had a cold starting Monday, and I started getting mine on Thursday. So I stayed home today, doped up on Benadril. My daughter went to the store and bought me some chicken noodle soup for dinner, then out she went for minature golf with her friends. She's a good daughter.
I've been perusing a few stamping catalogs today, Close to My Heart, and Stampin' Up. I love both of their lines, and if I had tons of extra money I think I'd buy everything they both have to offer. They have excellent ideas, use wonderful creative processes, and provide me with lots of creative anxiety to get busy. I go to a few websites on a daily basis and get my dose of creativity and enthusiasm from these other sites. I follow Ali Edwards, Jennifer McGuire, Becky Higgins, Tim Holtz (talk about your creative genius). These are very creative and busy folks, posting projects, pictures, thoughts and ideas almost every day, inspiring the multitudes of people out there just looking for some creative juices to get flowing.
I love creating my own scrapbooks, scrapbooks to sell, and cards to sell. I have a following of friends at work that order cards on a regular basis (I made my cruise spending money on cards and a scrapbook order for friends at work). It can be lucrative, so I need to concentrate a little harder on getting a business going. I just want to make sure I don't take the fun out of it, and make it just another job to do. I've always loved doing many different crafts throughout my life, I got my love of crafts from my grandmother who used to do mosaics, quilting, sewing, knitting and crochet, and resin lamps (remember those molds you would fill with resin to make say a grape lamp). Anyway, when I was in high school, my brother saw that I had a gift and a love of painting, took me over to San Francisco one weekend and bought me paints, brushes, canvas and got me started painting.
From there over the years I have learned how to oil/watercolor/acrylic paint, paint handblown eggs, paint china (ceramics), and anything that will hold paint. I have learned to crochet, knit, quilt, woodwork, build houses, bead, cross-stitch, needlepoint, macrame (now that takes me back many years) you name it, I have tried most things. I seem to have tried most crafts, loved most of them, and have leftover "stuff" that I don't use anymore. I am in the process of narrowing down the number of crafts I do to those I can count on just one hand. I don't have the time nor the desire to do all those things any more, but I do still love to paint, on canvas and especially china paint. I took classes for about 3 years from a private teacher and fell in love with the art (fine art). I don't think I will ever give that up. But I do have lots of craft stuff that I think I will donate to our church camp and let the kids have a go at.
Anyway, I have 2 days over the weekend to attempt to get creative. I have some card orders I need to get complete, some Algebra studying to do (that's not creative as far as I'm concerned), and my scrapbook stuff from the cruise to put away. My craft room is a mess, and I need to get it cleaned up...
Anyway, have a great weekend and be creative in your own way.
I've been perusing a few stamping catalogs today, Close to My Heart, and Stampin' Up. I love both of their lines, and if I had tons of extra money I think I'd buy everything they both have to offer. They have excellent ideas, use wonderful creative processes, and provide me with lots of creative anxiety to get busy. I go to a few websites on a daily basis and get my dose of creativity and enthusiasm from these other sites. I follow Ali Edwards, Jennifer McGuire, Becky Higgins, Tim Holtz (talk about your creative genius). These are very creative and busy folks, posting projects, pictures, thoughts and ideas almost every day, inspiring the multitudes of people out there just looking for some creative juices to get flowing.
I love creating my own scrapbooks, scrapbooks to sell, and cards to sell. I have a following of friends at work that order cards on a regular basis (I made my cruise spending money on cards and a scrapbook order for friends at work). It can be lucrative, so I need to concentrate a little harder on getting a business going. I just want to make sure I don't take the fun out of it, and make it just another job to do. I've always loved doing many different crafts throughout my life, I got my love of crafts from my grandmother who used to do mosaics, quilting, sewing, knitting and crochet, and resin lamps (remember those molds you would fill with resin to make say a grape lamp). Anyway, when I was in high school, my brother saw that I had a gift and a love of painting, took me over to San Francisco one weekend and bought me paints, brushes, canvas and got me started painting.
From there over the years I have learned how to oil/watercolor/acrylic paint, paint handblown eggs, paint china (ceramics), and anything that will hold paint. I have learned to crochet, knit, quilt, woodwork, build houses, bead, cross-stitch, needlepoint, macrame (now that takes me back many years) you name it, I have tried most things. I seem to have tried most crafts, loved most of them, and have leftover "stuff" that I don't use anymore. I am in the process of narrowing down the number of crafts I do to those I can count on just one hand. I don't have the time nor the desire to do all those things any more, but I do still love to paint, on canvas and especially china paint. I took classes for about 3 years from a private teacher and fell in love with the art (fine art). I don't think I will ever give that up. But I do have lots of craft stuff that I think I will donate to our church camp and let the kids have a go at.
Anyway, I have 2 days over the weekend to attempt to get creative. I have some card orders I need to get complete, some Algebra studying to do (that's not creative as far as I'm concerned), and my scrapbook stuff from the cruise to put away. My craft room is a mess, and I need to get it cleaned up...
Anyway, have a great weekend and be creative in your own way.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Random Thoughts
Just a few random thoughts for today...this blog spot is harder to set up than I thought, but I'll get there soon enough.
I'm in a phase of life right now where I want to "simplify". In fact, that is my word for 2009, "SIMPLIFY". I'm in the process of going through all the "stuff" I thought was important for me to accumulate over the years, and decide whether it is still important for me to keep. My desires when I was younger and collecting all this stuff were so different back then; much different than they are now. Well, not necessarily different, I still want many of the same things I wanted back then, but I'm just being realistic to admit I will not have those same things because I am in a different place in my life. Let's admit it, even if I got married today, I still would not have those "10 kids" I wanted back then...all the china, and linens, and "Martha Stewart" type stuff I accumulated, all the chocolate molds, all the bakeware, all the "stuff" I just don't want to keep it anymore. I will never have that life, so I just need to get rid of it and simplify my house, my life, and my mind.
So I will slowly go through my rooms and the garage which are all full of "stuff" and decide what will go in the "final" garage sale. Because whatever does not sell, will go to Goodwill, I've just got to get rid of it. The weather will start getting good here pretty soon, and I will set up one huge, final garage sale and hope that it all sells. Then whatever is left, will be free to whoever wants it, or taken to Goodwill. I want to make my life less complicated, less stressful, less work overall. I want to concentrate on an on-line business of my crafts and try to get that going, and I want to concentrate on "giving back" where I can. Get involved in church more, in giving back to the community where I have grown up most of my life. It's definitely time to make some changes in my life.
I'm in a phase of life right now where I want to "simplify". In fact, that is my word for 2009, "SIMPLIFY". I'm in the process of going through all the "stuff" I thought was important for me to accumulate over the years, and decide whether it is still important for me to keep. My desires when I was younger and collecting all this stuff were so different back then; much different than they are now. Well, not necessarily different, I still want many of the same things I wanted back then, but I'm just being realistic to admit I will not have those same things because I am in a different place in my life. Let's admit it, even if I got married today, I still would not have those "10 kids" I wanted back then...all the china, and linens, and "Martha Stewart" type stuff I accumulated, all the chocolate molds, all the bakeware, all the "stuff" I just don't want to keep it anymore. I will never have that life, so I just need to get rid of it and simplify my house, my life, and my mind.
So I will slowly go through my rooms and the garage which are all full of "stuff" and decide what will go in the "final" garage sale. Because whatever does not sell, will go to Goodwill, I've just got to get rid of it. The weather will start getting good here pretty soon, and I will set up one huge, final garage sale and hope that it all sells. Then whatever is left, will be free to whoever wants it, or taken to Goodwill. I want to make my life less complicated, less stressful, less work overall. I want to concentrate on an on-line business of my crafts and try to get that going, and I want to concentrate on "giving back" where I can. Get involved in church more, in giving back to the community where I have grown up most of my life. It's definitely time to make some changes in my life.
My First Blogspot
I figured it was time to get into the swing of things and set up my own blog...it seems like everyone else has one, so why not me. It is just a way for me to get involved in something new and happenin. My daughter would be proud!
I check out so many other blogs on a weekly basis, mostly family blogs or scrapbooking blogs, but always a blog that is creative and inspiring. There are so many inspiring and enthusiastic people out there. I just got yesterday my second publication of a magazine called "Where Women Create". It is a fantastic publication showcasing creative women and "where" they do their creating; their studio. It is a wonderful book published by Stampington & Company (they publish beautiful magazines like Somerset Studio) and this is their second publication of this particular magazine (I also purchased their first publication and was blown away by it). I bought it yesterday during my lunch hour, took it back to my desk and quickly flipped through the pages. Then when I got on BART to go home last night, I pulled it out and read it from cover to cover (not all on BART, but continued after I got home). I could not put it down. I read all about where these particular artists create their masterpieces, how they got started, what inspires them, all the stuff I am interested in. It's a publication worth picking up. Check it out (www.stampington.com).
Have fun .
I check out so many other blogs on a weekly basis, mostly family blogs or scrapbooking blogs, but always a blog that is creative and inspiring. There are so many inspiring and enthusiastic people out there. I just got yesterday my second publication of a magazine called "Where Women Create". It is a fantastic publication showcasing creative women and "where" they do their creating; their studio. It is a wonderful book published by Stampington & Company (they publish beautiful magazines like Somerset Studio) and this is their second publication of this particular magazine (I also purchased their first publication and was blown away by it). I bought it yesterday during my lunch hour, took it back to my desk and quickly flipped through the pages. Then when I got on BART to go home last night, I pulled it out and read it from cover to cover (not all on BART, but continued after I got home). I could not put it down. I read all about where these particular artists create their masterpieces, how they got started, what inspires them, all the stuff I am interested in. It's a publication worth picking up. Check it out (www.stampington.com).
Have fun .
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