My New Favorite Thing

I get worked up over stupid things lately, so when something so meaningless can make me feel better, I want the world to know.

This little makeup set is from the NP Set line called Bon Voyage Baby. I love it because it's so compact, the neutral colors and it has everything I need to feel pretty. It comes with 3 eye shadows, 2 lip glosses and a little applicator. And the mirror on the lid completes the package.

Now that summer is right around the corner, I don't want to be weighed down with heavy makeup. With Bon Voyage Baby, it provides the perfect polish to go from drab to dazzling.

Alone in a crowd

I'm at that moment in my life where I don't want to stay home, but I don't necessarily feel like being social. So instead, I've opted for being alone in a crowd.

It's a beautiful Friday night, 70 degrees, clear, calm night. It would be perfect to take a walk hand-in-hand along the bustling city streets with a special someone. But there is no special someone. That doesn't mean that I still can't take myself out on a date.

Not too far away from me is a cute little town square, with wide sidewalks, outdoor seats and a coffee shop with a guy playing acoustic guitar. Perfect.

Armed with my journal, book and laptop I took the ride 10 miles away just to be lost in a small crowd. I have my caramel macchiato, raspberry cheesecake tart, good live music and free wi-fi. I couldn't be more contempt right now.

Back-seat lurkers

*sigh* It never fails.

Random thoughts

"It's not that I think everyone else is an idiot, I just think that I'm better than them."

"At what age is it just stupid to have every comment you utter reference getting drunk?"

"It's nice to know that I have over $35,000 in student loan debt to be a copy/paster."

In a meeting, a coworker said "How do I get an overpaid job where I can be arrogant and not really know what I'm talking about?"
It took all of my willpower not to reply with "You already do."

The future awaits

I was told by a psychic reader that April will be a big month for me; a month of change and regeneration. At the time, I didn't pay much attention to it. But since yesterday I felt this kind of electric energy coursing through my veins. And if it's true that you can make your own reality, than I have to believe that April is the start of something good for me.

Yesterday I officially started the inquiries into a job search. I was also in touch with an old friend. And today's horoscope is encouraging:

You will be at the top of your game today! You'll come up with the perfect answer at the perfect time. You'll toss out the sassiest comeback to a flirtatious comment. You'll be in the right place at the right time. In short, everything you need will be at either the tip of your tongue or your fingertips. This will naturally put you in a great mood, which will go a long way toward putting a blue friend into a better mood. Spread your luck around -- it is contagious.

So, here's to Spring and a new cycle of my life.

No respect

There's this unsaid joke among a few (ex)co-workers about a particular manager who always seems to find excuses to duck out of work early.

Today's email from my manager:

I am headed out just after 3pm to be home for the bus – I will be available via phone (home or cell) after 3:30pm and online.

Samantha has her first Tee Ball practice this afternoon as well - so if the rainy weather does not force cancellation of the practice I am will be available after 5pm via my cell phone and email.

So I replied:

I have to go home at 2:54pm today because my dog lets lonely and likes to sit on my lap. I’ll be available using mental telepathy. Barry has obedience school this afternoon as well, so if he doesn’t maul the Great Dane in his class, I am available after 5pm via my iPod.

But Steve beat us all...

Thank you for your email. Unfortunately I am out of the office. My imaginary friend is having dental surgery and while I am not helping that friend in any way, I am mentioning it here for sympathy. If I am sober, you should be able to contact me after the day is already formally over and you will likely want to go home to have your own life. If you still must contact me, feel free to use passenger pigeon and allow 3 to 8 weeks for reply.

I Twitter therefore I am

I'm too lazy and uninspired to write a proper blog entry, so I'll resort to finding comics that translate my life.

This one cracks me up because just yesterday Mike asked me what I did this weekend.

"If you read my Tweets you'd already know."

Funny because it's true

Hide and Seek

Barry has this new thing going. He looks for impossible places to fit his body to hide from everyone. He's been doing this for a few weeks and I don't understand why.

This morning I was getting ready to leave for work. I yelled out to Barry to say goodbye and there was no response.

Hmm, that's strange.

I went into the bedrooms and looked under the bed. No dog.

I went into the bathrooms and looked in the bathtubs. No dog.

I opened closet doors all over the house. Maybe he got stuck in there? No dog.

By this time I looked in his known hiding spots and I couldn't find him anywhere. I started to wonder, "did I leave him outside? Could he have unlocked the door and take himself for another walk? Nah, he doesn't have opposable thumbs."

So I had to revert to the only known trick that could root Barry out from where ever he was hiding.

"Do you want to go for a ride to Mommy's house?"

In the kitchen I heard the jingle of his collar. A heard a cabinet door open and shut. And Barry came happily trotting around the corner into the living room where I was.

I couldn't help but laugh. Barry can now nose my kitchen cabinets open and nudge his way inside just so he could sit in a dark, enclosed space.

I have a weird dog.

Geek out

I have been very busy blogging the last few days, just not here. If you want to be geeked out on elearning and stuff like that, head over to my other blog.

I'm attending the eLearning Guild's Annual Gathering | 09 in Orlando, FL. I haven't been to the House of Mouse yet. I think that will be tomorrow.

hot dog

hot dog
Originally uploaded by fartparty.org

cutest thing ever!

High School Reunion

I love how Facebook has been bringing people together. Saturday, all because of our reconnections on Facebook, many of my classmates from high school got together to meet up. Many after 18 years.

It was great to see everyone. At first I was worried that I wouldn't be able to recognize who came in the room, especially those who I really didn't hang out with, but it was easy. People really haven't changed and it was pretty comforting.

The best part was the ease in which we all talked with each other. None of the 'clique-y' barriers that existed in school were there anymore. Everyone was amazing, everyone was beautiful, everyone had their own story to tell. There were some moments of 'remember when' but mostly we talked about our new lives, our successes, and (in some cases) children.

It wasn't until that reunion that I fully realized the wealth I had growing up with these people. We all 'stayed real' and didn't put on any illusions of grandeur. We had the support in our lives to achieve whatever we wanted to, but were also kept grounded by our roots -- and from what I saw, no one seemed to loose sight of where we came from.

Colonia High School Class of 1991. You rock!

(Rest of photos)

Snow day

The east coast got hit with a snowstorm overnight. Even before I was heading to bed, I saw all the Facebook posts that school was already cancelled and everyone was excited for a snow day. Especially the teachers.

I looked out the window. Yeah, there was snow, but the roads are being cleared. I can see traffic moving on the main road in front of my house. There's no reason to stay home.

I stayed home all day yesterday. I never got out of my pajamas. I never brushed my teeth, let alone brushed my hair. My dog was at my parents' house so I had the whole day to be alone. And I was bored.

I *tried* to do homework. My goal was to take an exisitng, boring online course that my company developed and rewrite it to fit the constructivist learning theory using rapid-development software. I'm trying to use Adobe Captivate. I got nowhere. I just didn't have the motivation to understand exactly what constructivism means, to rewrite anything, or to learn new software. So instead I wound up trying to take a nap, making tuna melts for lunch, watching 2.5 movies (I couldn't sit through the last one) and eating nachos. As relaxing as the day was, I was kinda bored. I was lonely.

So today when faced with the decision to work from home, I'm torn. I really don't want to spend another day by myself trying to be productive. But on the other hand, I'm not that excited to drive to work and sit at my cube and spend another day trying to be productive. My project schedule is currently at the point where I'm waiting for other people to do things so there's not much I actively have to do. It's depressing.

Maybe I'll go somwhere with free wi-fi and work from there. I wouldn't be home, but I wouldn't be at work either.

I'm so looking forward to next week when I'm in Orlando geeking out at the eLearning Guild's Annual Gathering.

Answering the call

Last night President Obama gave his first State of the Nation address to congress. One of the three areas his administration will invest in to secure our nation is education.

In a global economy, where the most valuable skill you can sell is your knowledge, a good education is no longer just a pathway to opportunity. It is a prerequisite....So tonight I ask every American to commit to at least one year or more of higher education or career training. This can be a community college or a four-year school, vocational training or an apprenticeship. But whatever the training may be, every American will need to get more than a high school diploma.

This is good news to me because this means that there is a place for me and the work I want to do. My challenge is now finding how I fit in.

Wide Open Spaces

This reminds me that I have my road trip to Orlando to look forward to in 2 weeks. Yeay!

In August 2004, I went to Las Vegas to celebrate Cyndi's 30th birthday. On one of those days we rented a convertible and drove out for a day trip to the Grand Canyon. We took the interstate most of the way to save time, but every once in a while we'd change over to Rt 66 for some nostalgia. It was worth it. I love to drive as long as the road is open, the weather fine, gas cheap and the music good.

Be the change

As I go through my morning ritual of reading email, horoscope, twitter feeds and e-learning blogs, I came across the T+D Blog and this particular article.

Although unemployment is at an all-time high, you should not assume that employees "should be just happy to have a job." They need a purpose, a reason to work and they need to feel like the work that they are doing is meaningful and valuable to the company.

This is exactly how I feel right now. I don't feel that it's good enough to just have a job. I don't want a job, I want a career. I want to be proud of the work that I do. I want to be able to show it off and say "Look what I can do!", I want to hang my gold star on my refrigerator to show my dog.

I wish I could anonymously send a link to this article to the top dogs of my company. But I don't think it would change anything, and really, I'm not interested in change here anymore. I'm more interested about the change in me and what I care about.

I will be finishing my Masters degree in Education in a few weeks. I say that as if it's going to magically happen, but the reality is that I still have a lot of work to do on my final project. I'm using that milestone as the catalyst to start looking for another job. Time to move out of Project Management and on to Instructional Design. For the first time in my life, I will actually take a job in the field that I went to school for.

Advanced Personality Test

Another personality test at Youniverse.com

Intellect: Thinker
Skills: Listner
Emotions: Theorist
Dynamism: Grafter

Your Core Skills

You are highly academic with a love of complex intellectual challenges that require you to really use your brain and an impressive ability to absorb and synthesise very detailed material. You find comfort in philosophical theory and abstract conceptual thinking. You're very compassionate and understanding and so your colleagues often come to you to share their problems or ask for advice. You are regarded as a sensitive and empathetic team-player.

Potential Areas Of Weakness

You have a low tolerance for inefficiency or lack of clarity which means that you sometimes resist involving colleagues in your thinking in case it slows you down. You may sometimes come across as detached or reserved and it's important that the need to communicate doesn't get overlooked when you are engrossed in analytical work. You have the potential to be an effective thought leader but don't always demonstrate the necessary confidence.

Areas You Might Want To Work On

• practice public speaking in front of the bathroom mirror
• ensure that your natural role as facilitator or mediator does not mean that you fail to express your own opinion
• make a conscious effort to involve others in your work and enjoy the positive impact on your mood and creativity

Careers That May Suit You

data analyst computer programmer research scientist focus group facilitator

Your Detailed Personality Assessment

You are able to apply yourself successfully to pretty much whatever takes your fancy. You owe it to yourself to make sure that your work environment offers you maximum stimulation and satisfaction. You are at your best when you are energised by serious brain-work. Focus on setting out a clear career plan and developing a set of powerful self-promotion techniques that will give you the confidence to step up and achieve your goals.

When it comes to leadership, you are a firm believer in conviviality. You like to be a friend as well as a boss. Job satisfaction lies in building strong relationships with the people you work with. But it's important to always be careful not to blur those boundaries.

You have a very good eye and are naturally attuned to aesthetic beauty. You appreciate craftsmanship and understand the value of true mastery. You have strong ambitions and like to push yourself.

As far as you're concerned, hard work is the best way to achieve your goals. Short cuts to success are just a false economy. You tend to be quite traditional in your perspective and like to have a clear sense of your career milestones. You believe that effort should be rewarded and that if you put in the hours you'll reap the benefits. However that doesn't mean you always follow your own wisdom. It can be hard to maintain intense levels of focus all the time.

Life may feel quite bleak to you right now. It seems like there's not much on the horizon and you could really use some inspiration and positive vibes to propel you into the next phase. It's not surprising you're feeling fraught. Work is taking over your life and it seems that things may be starting to get on top of you. You could really use some time and space to think. Maybe it's time for a change.

The way you approach each day can have huge implications for your success in the workplace. Positive mental attitude comes naturally to you. You definitely seem to have your priorities right in life. You have a strong sense of self and know what you need to feel good. It's just important that you make sure that you can always summon the motivation that you need to pursue your goals with ambition and determination.

The Future

Maybe you've outgrown your current job or perhaps you want make your mark with a big career move. You may not be ready to make a change just yet, but you're definitely thinking about your options and you understand the value of doing lots of research and thinking so that you make the right move when the time comes. Life an feel like a bit of an endurance race sometimes. It's all about making sure that you have the stamina and commitment to go the distance. You seem to be quite pragmatic about the fact that work has its ups and downs, and this is a really healthy way to be, as long as this doesn't dampen your natural enthusiasm for life.

My Creative Self

I took Chelsea's lead and did the Creativity quiz on Youniverse. Here are my results:

Hands On
About Me
For you, creativity is all about getting physical. You like to roll up your sleeves and get stuck in. Being able to make something with your hands is an important expression of who you are. Art is probably a big part of your life. And you like to use your natural flair for creativity at work and at home. You particularly enjoy the feeling of seeing a project through from start to finish. Nothing beats the sense of satisfaction that comes watching your own creation evolve and grow. Chances are you really appreciate the special skills that you have -- its a wonderful gift to be able to express yourself this way. Bright lights and red velvet. You really enjoy conjuring a true sense of occasion, highbrow and high emotion.

How I Create
You've got a creative head on those shoulders. You grab any opportunity to record bright ideas as they strike. It's all about form, man-made just can't beat the beauty of nature. You're the type that can think better in wilderness. Your strength lies in your ability to record what we all see, but from your own perspective.

How I Think
Deep down you have a curious spirit and like exploring new places and ideas. You seek out your creativity by grabbing opportunities that come your way. Unexpected challenges invigorate your mind and inspire you to new levels.

Explorer/Director

Your Major and Minor Personality Types

Characteristics of all four personality types can be found within each of us, but there is almost always one personality type that is dominant. We call this the major personality type.

The Chemistry Profile also identifies your minor or secondary personality type. You exhibit some aspects of this personality type, though not to the same degree as with your major type.

* Your major personality type = Explorer
* Your minor personality type = Director


You are an EXPLORER/director

You are a skywalker. You love adventure, both intellectual and physical. And you greet new challenges with passion and bravery.

When you get interested in a project, you can become extremely focused on it, sometimes to the exclusion of all around you. You complete it carefully and thoroughly, often with great originality.

And because you have a lot of energy and tend to be enthusiastic about your ideas, inventions, and projects, you can be very persuasive.

You tend to like to collect things, experiences or ideas. And you are eager to make an impact on those around you, as well as the wider world.

Although you enjoy people and can be charming and humorous, you are not very interested in routine social engagements or boring people. You are comfortable being by yourself, pursuing your own interests.

People probably call you a non-conformist, an original. You like to have good conversations on important topics. People tend to admire you for your innovativeness. You make an exciting, though at times distant, companion.

(Taken from the Chemistry dating site.)

Yaaaaaaa!

I love hippopotamuses... or is it hippotomi? Whatever, hippos. You know what I mean.

I can only imagine the cringing and rolling of eyes the momma hippo as her little one screams in her ear.

"Mom? Mom? Mom? Mommy? Mom? Mom? Can I have a cookie? Mom? Mom? Mom? Mom? Timmy's looking at me! "

Sigh.