In an effort to spice up my blog, I thought I might put random thoughts and memories up and chat about them.
The other morning I was putting my make-up on in a rush. I had just applied my eyeliner and was getting ready for the mascara when my blond eyelashes, sticking out from my lined eyes, reminded me of the first time I ever applied make-up.
It was a warmer day, I might have been 12 or 13, and my mom ran inside to some place, could have been a bank, the grocery store, tanning -I don't remember but I recall staying in the car while she completed her errand. I played with the music (my favorites were the Oldsmobile cassette tape that came with the car and had Cyndi Lauper's Time After Time or Conway Twitty's greatest hits - hey, it's what was available), toyed with the car's controls and when that got boring I decided to rummage through my mom's purse (apparently whatever errand occupied her time only required her wallet). I found my mom's make-up: a bulky black eye pencil, a brown eyebrow liner, hot pink blush, blue eyeshadow, and some mauve lipstick. I decided to take a stab at becoming beautiful. Having never applied eyeliner the lines I made on my eyes were thick, squiggly, and incomplete. The blue eyeshadow was applied much too dark. The pink blush served more as paint for my cheeks than a gentle rouge and the lipstick collected more on my teeth than on my lips. I looked hot. By the time my mom got back to the car she was shocked but so amused (although not wanting to laugh in my face) that she concealed her laughter and said something very simple like "What's that all for?" I told her I was bored and she dropped it. She could have launched into a bit about how I was too young for make-up (though nowadays girls are wearing make-up by 8!) or how I shouldn't mess with her stuff. Instead she just put the car in reverse and carried about her day. I paraded around in the make-up like I was Cindy Crawford and eventually started asking for my own. Course all I could afford on my lawn-mowing and weed-pulling allowance was Wet-n-Wild, but it did the trick.
I looked down at the collection of make-up I had before me now, in present day, and smiled at the memory of it all. The cheap Wet-n-Wild and the crazed glitter and Ben-Nye products have been stored and shelved in favor of soft shades of Clinique liners and mascaras, Bare Minerals foundation and Chanel quads and lip gloss. Funny how just 10 years ago the purpose of make-up for me was to be as bold and dark as possible and now I purchase make-up based on how "natural" it will look.
It's funny how we grow and mature. It seems like such a rollar coaster in so many ways and aspects. I remember hating "crotch rockets" as a teenager only to own one at 19! I remember turning my nose at expensive and/or designer products in favor of a sale priced item. I recall the days when I loved wearing some flimsly, scantily clad outfit and now I find myself gravitating to more coverage and classic, almost retro styles.
Makes me wonder what I'll be like 10 years from now. Will I grow even frumpier? Will I wear no make-up like I did during my TSA stint? Will I be a total fashionista? Will I be a borderline cougar and wear outfits that would have made my 21 year self blush? I dunno. I can't wait to see though.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Whoa
Has it really been a month since I blogged?! I was certainly a fool for thinking I'd have more time to blog now that I'm done with school. I guess since I'm studying for two classes at once it soaks up any spare time and thoughts I have. Plus a lot has been going on - seems like too much for one little blog so I decide to just ignore blogging. I don't like doing that.
Update on current events: still studying away. I've participated in another, what I like to call, "Bad Decision Sunday." I last wrote about BDS on my 2/23 blog. Basically I had another day on the couch eating bad foods on Sunday which really put my studies in a tailspin. To the point that last night I pretty much resigned to the realization that I piled it on too much too fast and will most likely not pass the CPA exams. But an opportunity has come up this and next week that may provide more study time than anticipated so I will see if I can get caught up again and regain some spirits and steam. In the meantime I must absolutely stay current on what each day's study plan is or this will never work.
Weight loss is going well. I am down almost a total of 25 pounds. By the end of this week I should hit my first 12 week goal (yay!!) and I will definitely be able to wear the outfit that I photographed and put on my work desk as a reminder to stay true to my goal. I'll photograph myself wearing the outfit and go shopping for my next outfit to be worn at the end of my 2nd 12 week goal, which will be the end of June and another 25 lb loss. I've dropped two sizes and feel great though I had to discontinue going to the gym - it was just too much with all the studying. Dane continues to go to the gym and has lost a total of 45 pounds if you will believe that! He looks great, is gaining muscle, and has done much to be proud of. We cheat at least once a week but have still managed to meet and maintain our goals.
Work is another story altogether. I may or may not have blogged about my assistant before but the truth is we've been having issues with her, let's call her Alice, since last April. The first four times I spoke with Alice were non-documented verbal warnings and by that I mean that I documented the conversations and filed them away in my own files hoping I wouldn't have to return to them. Well in October I had to give her the first written warning and put her on what is called a PIP. She, like she is want to do, picked up the pace for a few months - especially during her first 30 days "do or die" of the PIP but then, as usual, things started slipping again. So we revisited her PIP progress (or lack thereof) in January, wiped the slate clean and decided to start over again this time I would be sitting with her at her desk retraining her. That was going as good as can be expected except she had some personal issues keep her from work. Unfortunately those personal issues were just not acceptable reasons to miss work (excuses such as: "my dog ate chocolate and I'm afraid he'll get sick." "I'm moving out of my apartment and breaking up with my BF - can I take two days off?" She never moved out - BTW. "I stayed up all night talking to my BF and now I'm tired, I'm not coming in." Interestingly enough this was the day after St. Patty's Day.) And that was just all in the last 2 weeks!! So after all that nonsense my boss and the HR person (who have traditionally been the ones to talk me out of firing her in the past) finally said "enough is enough" and we terminated her employment. So now I'm left doing most of her work AND my own work, but it's only temporary for now. If I have it my way though, Alice's job will permenantly be split between me and the part-time accounting assistant, who we will call Cindy. Cindy is great and we are lucky she can boost her hours. I really do think we can make it work just fine. Case in point - we aren't even half way through the week and I've already accomplished everything Alice would normally have gotten done. And that speaks nothing to the other little stuff I've done and the pieces of my job I've accomplished as well. Not saying that I'm the cats pajamas (I am) but it sounds like Alice was really inefficient and spent most of the day on the internet, according to Cindy - who never wanted to "tattle" on Alice. I get that. But Cindy felt very discouraged and frustrated about the whole situation thinking Alice and I were buds. Apparently in my efforts to reach Alice and make the whole "boss re-training you" as smooth as possible, I made it seem like Alice got preferential treatment. I knew she was screwing around, but I didn't realize how much she was - like HOURS a day were wasted away! I don't know if I should be embarrassed or feel good knowing that we really did do EVERYTHING to give Alice every chance to change and shape up. Just goes to show that once you start taking advantage of a system or person, it is near impossible to recover - even if it is for your own good.
Finally there's been some interesting shifts in the story of Isis that I have yet to get to the bottom of but it's certainly been on my mind. I won't post too much, if anything at all, but I will definitely say I'm not very shocked and I feel closer to the truth now than I've ever felt before.
So lots of stuff going on. I imagine for the next several months there will be nothing but updates on the blog, maybe recaps of certain events coming up like my Colorado trip and my MBA graduation. Eventually I'll set up a blog for the Baltic Capitals trip. Once I return from Europe I can get this blog back on track once and for all!!
Update on current events: still studying away. I've participated in another, what I like to call, "Bad Decision Sunday." I last wrote about BDS on my 2/23 blog. Basically I had another day on the couch eating bad foods on Sunday which really put my studies in a tailspin. To the point that last night I pretty much resigned to the realization that I piled it on too much too fast and will most likely not pass the CPA exams. But an opportunity has come up this and next week that may provide more study time than anticipated so I will see if I can get caught up again and regain some spirits and steam. In the meantime I must absolutely stay current on what each day's study plan is or this will never work.
Weight loss is going well. I am down almost a total of 25 pounds. By the end of this week I should hit my first 12 week goal (yay!!) and I will definitely be able to wear the outfit that I photographed and put on my work desk as a reminder to stay true to my goal. I'll photograph myself wearing the outfit and go shopping for my next outfit to be worn at the end of my 2nd 12 week goal, which will be the end of June and another 25 lb loss. I've dropped two sizes and feel great though I had to discontinue going to the gym - it was just too much with all the studying. Dane continues to go to the gym and has lost a total of 45 pounds if you will believe that! He looks great, is gaining muscle, and has done much to be proud of. We cheat at least once a week but have still managed to meet and maintain our goals.
Work is another story altogether. I may or may not have blogged about my assistant before but the truth is we've been having issues with her, let's call her Alice, since last April. The first four times I spoke with Alice were non-documented verbal warnings and by that I mean that I documented the conversations and filed them away in my own files hoping I wouldn't have to return to them. Well in October I had to give her the first written warning and put her on what is called a PIP. She, like she is want to do, picked up the pace for a few months - especially during her first 30 days "do or die" of the PIP but then, as usual, things started slipping again. So we revisited her PIP progress (or lack thereof) in January, wiped the slate clean and decided to start over again this time I would be sitting with her at her desk retraining her. That was going as good as can be expected except she had some personal issues keep her from work. Unfortunately those personal issues were just not acceptable reasons to miss work (excuses such as: "my dog ate chocolate and I'm afraid he'll get sick." "I'm moving out of my apartment and breaking up with my BF - can I take two days off?" She never moved out - BTW. "I stayed up all night talking to my BF and now I'm tired, I'm not coming in." Interestingly enough this was the day after St. Patty's Day.) And that was just all in the last 2 weeks!! So after all that nonsense my boss and the HR person (who have traditionally been the ones to talk me out of firing her in the past) finally said "enough is enough" and we terminated her employment. So now I'm left doing most of her work AND my own work, but it's only temporary for now. If I have it my way though, Alice's job will permenantly be split between me and the part-time accounting assistant, who we will call Cindy. Cindy is great and we are lucky she can boost her hours. I really do think we can make it work just fine. Case in point - we aren't even half way through the week and I've already accomplished everything Alice would normally have gotten done. And that speaks nothing to the other little stuff I've done and the pieces of my job I've accomplished as well. Not saying that I'm the cats pajamas (I am) but it sounds like Alice was really inefficient and spent most of the day on the internet, according to Cindy - who never wanted to "tattle" on Alice. I get that. But Cindy felt very discouraged and frustrated about the whole situation thinking Alice and I were buds. Apparently in my efforts to reach Alice and make the whole "boss re-training you" as smooth as possible, I made it seem like Alice got preferential treatment. I knew she was screwing around, but I didn't realize how much she was - like HOURS a day were wasted away! I don't know if I should be embarrassed or feel good knowing that we really did do EVERYTHING to give Alice every chance to change and shape up. Just goes to show that once you start taking advantage of a system or person, it is near impossible to recover - even if it is for your own good.
Finally there's been some interesting shifts in the story of Isis that I have yet to get to the bottom of but it's certainly been on my mind. I won't post too much, if anything at all, but I will definitely say I'm not very shocked and I feel closer to the truth now than I've ever felt before.
So lots of stuff going on. I imagine for the next several months there will be nothing but updates on the blog, maybe recaps of certain events coming up like my Colorado trip and my MBA graduation. Eventually I'll set up a blog for the Baltic Capitals trip. Once I return from Europe I can get this blog back on track once and for all!!
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