New Year's Resolutions

I hate going to the gym in January.....it is waaay too packed.  Filled with people who have made new year's resolutions to work out more and lose weight.  You can never get on the machine you want and there are a lot of lollygaggers.  By February it calms down and all is back to normal.  Not that I am against people making resolutions to get back in the gym, it just makes my time in there longer which I am totally against.  I don't like to spend a second longer than necessary in the gym.  Sooo many other places I would rather be.  
A few years ago I made my resolution to work out on a consistent basis, and i have kept that up pretty good :)  Yay me!  Now I need to take it up a notch.  This year I need to get more serious about my cardio.....and committ to 4 hrs a week.  I need some help on keeping me accountable........I hate cardio :(
I also resolve to become more than financially active in my sorority.  I will join some committees and give service to mankind.  I resolve to keep in better contact with loved ones........even if its just a text or quick email.  We are not promised tomorrow so let's cherish each other while we can.  And last but not least, I will not get my priorities confused with my options  :)  Concentrate and focus on what is best for ME, and whateva for the rest!

The Holidays

It's  been a long time......I shouldn't have left you........   :)  But I'm back!!!!!  And so much foolery and nonesense have occured in the last month I don't know where to start.  From altercations at a club,  running a 5k, to chastising homeless people in Las Vegas it has been a whirlwind month.  Plus to top it off, I had my 31st birthday  :)  But we won't get into all that (to protect the innocent.......namely ME)  I want to discuss buying Christmas presents.  I want to discuss this because it's EXPENSIVE!  There are 21 kids on my list this year.......and none of them are mine.  WTF?  why the face?  I enjoy buying presents for people and always try to purchase something I know they will like, but really.....if I have 21 people to buy for no one is getting a great gift.  It's definitely going to be the thought.  I think in 2011 I will focus on buying birthday presents instead.  That way, each child will get a nice gift at least once a yr. and get some stocking stuffers for Christmas.

Ok, so here's my ultimate thought.  As a parent, it is your responsibility to make your child's Christmas great and memorable.  I know that family makes it special and being around love and all that is priceless, but YOU are Santa.  Don't expect extended family members to purchase Santa gifts for you....that's for the parents and then grandparents and such..........not for cousins and aunts, etc......Just my thoughts.......

Wake Up!

Today’s posting is about absolutely nothing.  I am just typing so I will not fall asleep in my office.  I wish naptimes were mandatory for adults.  A good 30 minute cat nap would do me a world of good right now.  I took a 15 minute doze in the car right after lunch.  I couldn’t get comfortable though. 

I REALLY need to pay a visit to my shoe cobbler soon.  I have 3 pairs of shoes that are in need of repair, but he closes at 6:00 and I can’t get there in time after work. 

I am buying myself a sewing machine for b-day/Christmas present.  Another one of my big ideas……….but I would like to be able to sew my own hems in my pants.  Do you know the cleaners charge me $12?  And apparently I’m short because all of my pants have to be hemmed.  I know I spend close to $120 a year on hems, buttons and ravellings!!!! 

I’m going to ask my optometrist to give me my contact prescription so I can get it filled at LensCrafters.  I thought it would be easier for the optometrist office to do it, since they are closer and have all my info, but it has been over a week since I ordered and they have yet to call me and tell me they are in.  LensCrafters always had them in stock;  it just took them forever to ring up.

I already have my Christmas tree up.  Since I spend most of the Holidays travelling or in Mississippi, I don’t get to enjoy decorations at my own house.  So this year I put them up early so I will have some time to celebrate  J

I am getting false eyelashes today; it will be my first time trying.  Just want to test it out.  I hope it doesn’t become like waxing eyebrows and getting nails done……those things used to be a novelty for me.  Now it’s part of my regular beauty routine.  That adds up to close to $100 a month.  Ridiculous.

I am addicted to Diet Sierra Mist Cranberry Splash.  I wish they sold it throughout the year and not just around the holidays. 

I can’t text pics with my iPhone.  I really need to have the iPhone/AT&T people check that out. 

I am really thankful for people who have served our country in the military/armed forces.  And to their families who have made the sacrifice with them.  I don’t think I could do it. 

How did I get a credit with Piedmont Natural Gas?  I think they have made a mistake.  Hadn’t paid a bill in 2 months and it still has credit.  I am scared of the day they find out it was a mistake and try to make me pay back. 

I would go back to school to get my PhD if the stipend wasn’t so low.  My living expenses/bills/lifestyle can’t sustain on the pay cut for those3 to 5 yrs.   Why aren’t there part time PhD business programs? 

Politics

I have always been interested in politics.  Local politics was frequently discussed in my house when I was growing up.  My mother worked for many years in the mayor’s office and my Dad was an armchair pundit.   I wasn’t so much engrossed by the issues as I was the game of politics and the characters involved.  It taught me that for some people, POWER and access was just as important, if not more so, than money.  Because believe me, you aren’t getting rich off of being in local government in Jackson, MS…………….well not by government alone.

Which is why the political events over the last couple of years have been so fascinating to me.  Politics is now telephone/chit – chat conversation with my girlfriends.  Facebook statuses are filled with commentary and opinions on the political landscape and even Hollywood has become vocal about political issues.  They call it a “movement” a “surge”.   I call it reality. Some leaders became complacent because when the system was working for them, they didn’t feel the need to create a better system for everyone else. As a result, portions of the population suffered in near silence until it was brought mainstream, and a few people worked to change it.   Now the system isn’t working for anybody and we are all up in arms.  Maybe this pain will bring about some solutions for our transforming society; Transforming because we are entering a new economic era.  The growth industries of the future will be scientific.   We can no longer hold steadfast to the financial, health and education systems or even the life expectations of what we have been taught.  They will have to be redesigned with what the future will truly look like.  Here are a few things to ponder:

More than likely, we will not retire early                                                                                        When the United States passed a social security law, the avg. life expectancy was only 61.7 years; meaning if you were lucky to live past the life expectancy, you deserved a couple of years off J   With better quality of life and expectancy at 80 now, the social security system is not built to sustain you comfortably for 20+ yrs. I plan on becoming a greeter at Wal-Mart or work at the DMV

You will average 7 jobs/companies in your career                                                                               my Dad was a CPA and worked for the same employer his entire career; I’m on company number 2 and still can’t describe what I do

Facebook is the 3^rd largest population in the world                                                                     Justin Timberlake did a great job in “Social Network”

Some jobs will never come back                                                                                                                                                            a computer stole my job, that heifer!

People under the age of 40 don’t check their mailbox every day                                                                                                                                                              The U.S. postal service is in the red and petitioned Congress to stop Saturday deliveries to help mitigate costs;  I don’t think I would notice ~ I only check my mailbox 2x a week at most

Flexible Work Arrangements/Job Sharing will not be so uncommon                                                                                                                                            maybe I can go back to working in my pajamas;   I was more productive

Trick or Treat

I bought my Halloween costume at the beginning of October.  I honestly wanted to borrow somebody’s child and go trick or treating, but I soon discovered that they were trick or treating on Sunday, not Saturday as I reasoned in my mind made more sense.  So where to go and what to do?  I received tons of flyers for parties that were being thrown by event planners that are popular in the city.   I knew that the crowd at these parties would be grown & sophisticated Charlotte young urban professionals.  I would fit in perfectly, but they didn’t quite pique my interest.  I wanted to be more laid back and relaxed.  So a friend and I, who had been planning on hanging out for quite a while but our travel schedules never allowed us to, decided that Halloween was the night.  We found a completely random down home party, thru a friend of a friend, who said the same party the year before was off the chain!  So we head off, not knowing a soul at the party, or so we thought J   Did I mention I was random? 

First of all, our crew of 4 turned into a duo thru random & last minute events.  This party only leaves me with a list of Questions:  Where do you stand at a party where you don’t know anyone?  At the bar?  Go to the dance floor? 

Where do pics taken of you by people you don’t know end up? 

What do you do when your costume gets more attention than you expected?  Stand against the wall like a flower?  Or say to hell with it, you don’t know these people and play your confidence up? 

 What do you say to a guy who finally has enough liquid courage to ask you for your phone number when you are really not interested? 

How do you manage dance requests?  Does it go in order of approach?  And how many songs do you give each guy?  Do you have to look at the guy you are dancing with? 

What do you do when the last person you thought you would see is right in front of your face?  Have you invaded their territory?  Are you a stalker? 

What age is it when dancing changes?  Why do people in their 20’s dance all up on each other while people in their 40’s do a box 2 step?  Why don’t women in their 40’s dance by themselves and have to have a male partner?  Why does it take the 40 crowd dj forever to warm up? 

When will the perculator get old?  Does anyone know how to do the perculator? 

Why do I try to be nice to people who could care less? 

Why can’t I look away? 

Why do I smile all the time?  And why does that smile tell all the crazy people to come talk to me?

How do you make friends at a party?  What if you meet someone interesting and want to learn more about them, how do you approach?  Would they think you were weird?   Do you say, hey, it was good talking to you, not trying to hit on you or anything but really want to expand my network of associates and friends, how can we keep in touch?  

Do you have your church dress on or a costume? 

Are you dressed as Nikki Minaj?  Have you worn that on a regular night? 

Coming soon..........Do you have isotoners on?

Quite Random

I am very random.  For some reason I tend to try "different" things.  Not so different as sky diving or bungee jumping, but learning to sew, trying to refinish/repair furniture, etc........  This year I have taken swim lessons, tennis lessons and ran five 5Ks.  Now I am not good at ANY of these activites........I suck at tennis and I still hate running, but it has been a great stress reliever and cardio.   Recently I have noticed that this has rubbed off into my social/personal life.   How so you may ask.  Well let's examine recent events.  One Sunday I sent text messages to a few people whom I had not talked to in several months.  Just trying to keep in touch and expand a relevant network.  From this communication I received an invite to attend a local motorcycle club's anniversary party.  I was pretty sure I would only know the person who invited me, had no idea what kind of crowd and shenanigans would be there, and hadn't seen or heard fromt this friend in over a year.  So I decide to go and drag 2 unsuspecting friends with me.  What a sight!  There are over 75 motorcycles parked in the yard, the most dudes I have ever seen at any gathering in Charlotte, and the clubhouse looks like an abandoned storage facility.  As we walk up to the building, we immediately start to feel uncomfortable.  We are over dressed.  We have on cute jeans and tops with our hair done, but all the other ladies have on biker gear and bandanas.  The men outnumbered the women 6:1.  We didn't know anyone but we got a lot of attention.  There is a pair of panties hanging on a wire across the ceiling.  We are afraid to sit on the couch,  its quite dingy and unstable.  The age ranges from late 20's to early 80's.  I danced with some ones intoxicated 70+ uncle.  He was nice.  I got told off/cursed out by another intoxicated man because I didn't want to dance anymore; he stepped on my feet and spit when he talked.  They tried to take his keys away when he left, they were unsuccessful.  I felt Superman's chest.  I took pics on motorcyles; they are really big.  My biker name is Chocolate Drop.  All in all, had a fun time and my friend met her boo!

Coming soon.......Halloween Night 2010