A Reason to Swim

Clever, clever.

(click picture to enlarge)

At one point with my former employer (ironically, at a magazine), my co-workers and I were given the task of training the newest assistant to the office. During the course of her week-long training, we each spent a fair amount of time explaining the office how-to's and our personal advice on workday survival.

For instance,
this is how you bind the presentation...
this is how you call the help desk...
this is how you make coffee...
etc.

At one point in my rambling, the girl (who was all-around confused) looked at me and asked some variation of the question, "so what do you do when you have nothing to do?" Listen - boredom in the workplace is just a reality. I knew what she was getting at. Or at least I thought I knew what she was getting at. I, of course, encouraged her to reach her potential and maximize her productivity as best as she could and that when she felt like she had some downtime, she could join the rest of us and "read news online." Which of course meant, surf the internet. She knew what I was getting at and I knew that in that moment I had just explained the most trivial (and obvious) of day-to-day boredom fulfillment. From that day forward, the notion of "news online" took on a whole new meaning. Whether or not our stories were newsworthy, my fun NY co-workers would send around articles on the vital world facts: who Brody Jenner was dating, what on earth Kate Gosselin was up to, and the latest and greatest recap on Gossip Girl...

Dan Rather, eat your heart out.

Friday Things

I love it when people surprise me.

It's the little things in life that just get you sometimes, and my sweet friend Leah came into work today with a little gift. You see, Leah is a lover of music and is helping me become cool with every song recommendation that she throws my way. I asked her for a few suggestions and she delivered in abundance with a list of "must listen" artists and two personalized CDs.

Man, what a Friday treat.

And just because you stopped by, I'll give you a treat in the form of Jake & Maggie Gyllenhaal (aka, my parent's dogs).

It's no secret that I love these two, so please get hyped for Friday and enjoy...

5 Golden Rings

In case you haven't noticed, it's the holidays around here. I mentioned in my Halloween post that my office is no stranger to company work parties and Christmas is no different. We were asked to sport our tackiest outfits and bring our best secret Santa gift for our Thursday party. I was lucky enough to borrow my vintage sweater and accent them with my light bulb earrings, because if my Mom has taught me nothing, she has advised me in the art of a well-crafted accessory.

Anyway, I did not walk away with triumph from our Christmas fashion show (let it be said - the round of applause voting system is seriously faulty), but I did happen to take part in a secret Santa gift exchange that involved no less than four over-sized TV remotes (?) , a crazy chicken calendar (??), a Snuggie (!!), handcuffs (??), a tiny robot (also, ??), and a partridge in a pear tree.

Here's to hoping for a re-count...

Who has two thumbs and loves tacky sweaters? We do!


"Is it my fault that the first seven days all involve birds?" - Andy Bernard, The Office

New Beginnings

If Melanie Griffith could see me now.

After months of stress, anticipation, worry, doubt, tears, anxiety and fear...the impossible happened, I finally got a job!! As I sit in my cozy cubicle on day three of my working adventure, I can’t help but think of the vast working world (and my small role in it) and compare the astounding similarities that occur in each office. Sure, the day-to-day activity is different, but the people aren’t. The reason for the universal popularity of shows such as The Office is that their satirical portrayal of a typical office environment is completely spot on.

Not only have I found comfort in my recognizable “friends” but I have also realized that my work groove is just as easy to maintain now, as it was four months ago. All of the fear I had about remembering how to co-exist in the workplace has completely subsided. True to form, I still uphold my quirk of setting three alarm notifications on my phone (each on an odd number, of course), only to wake up with the first and shut the other two off, my daily morning blog run-through (whether or not I have time to read them at that moment is not the point...I just like to know what is waiting for me), and lastly, my mid-afternoon Diet Coke break. Not all of these are necessarily required to get my work done, but each are a part of a routine that has been created through many days of trial, error and survival and invariably set the tone of any given day. And really, why mess with a good thing?

One of the more interesting aspects of my new employed life has been my time management in the morning. In New York, I had the luxury of a 15 minute door-to-door “commute.” I knew that no matter what, I could get to point A (my tiny apartment) to point B (my awesome building) in that amount of time. There was a sweet comfort in knowing that not one extrapolating factor could hinder my ability to reach my destination in that desired amount of time. Now that I am on Texas soil, there is so much more to think about. Each 5 minute variation in my morning routine can mean a world of difference in my arrival time. Not only is my office inconveniently located 20 miles away, but it is also the home of hundreds (maybe thousands?) of other employees...you can only imagine what the parking situation is like. Think absurd, mixed with a dash of ridiculous. The spaces are tiny, people are blazing over speed bumps and there is little time to remember where you have parked each day, leaving you a careless wanderer at the end of your long workday – nobody wants that.

Needless to say, this old dog is going to have to learn a few new tricks. While it’s not the first job that I know, it’s a new one. I believe that there is a reason that God calls us to a newness in life. Whether it's the desire for dependability on Him or the need for us to grow in ways that we have never thought possible, it has been proven time and time again that with Him, all things are possible. So today I am still. I am no longer in the holding tank of uncertainty, but rather, a clear path that is ready to be discovered. For now, I will cherish the beginning. I believe that the rawness in a fresh start is only a foreshadow of great things to come...and the possibilities are surely endless when He walks next to me (even if it is to-and-from a parking garage).

Love,

Kristen

"He has showed you, O man, what is good.
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God."
~ Micah 6:8

Confessions of a Workaholic

Annnnnnnnd I'm back. Here I sit on free WiFi in D-town. Man if feels good to be a gangsta ;)

Who knew that after leaving a job where I sat with countless hours of (boring) internet access that I would feel the need to be so connected? Let's just say that job hunting is nothing short of impossible with a faulty internet connection. So here I am, left to my own devices to find new and creative ways to access the world wide web. I have not graced the halls of a coffeehouse since the days of college, but now here I sit with 30 of my closest friends just typing away. I guess it's true, you don't know what you miss until it's gone.

Over the past few weeks I have tallied up a few "quirks" that I thought I would confess to you. First of all, in a weird state of unemployed confusion, I found myself checking my work email. I mean, what an admission. I have since recognized how weird that is to check my old email for extrememly pointless information, but I just couldn't help myself. It's like I was screaming for a purpose. Doesn't anyone care that I'm gone? Did the office not crash into a million pieces when I left? Luckily the office is just fine without me.

Another weird thing about my time off is that I still set an alarm. Starting with the morning that I got back, I have faithfully set my alarm every morning. Isn't that just weird? I think that part of it is habit, but I also know that my Mom doesn't like for us to sleep very late when we're home so I tried to be sensitive to that as well. Gah, what a people pleaser.

The freshest of all of my "confessions" occured this morning at the end of my interview. Just to fill you in, I have recently been interviewing for non-profit marketing positions for several organizations. Most of them have been informative with a dash of hopelessness ("No job for you.") but today's was the first of the most promising meetings. I walk in, black suit and all, sit down and interview with two women about the available position. Most of the interview went quite well and at the end I felt very good about the direction things were heading. So I stand up, grab my bag, begin the goodbye casualties, when all of the sudden she says, "Oh! I almost forgot...where do you receive your international news from?" Let me just preface this by saying that this question was not completely unrelated, seeing as how the organization deals with international affairs, but c'mon - out.of.nowhere. So there I stood, completely caught off-guard, when I blurt out, "oh...um...you know, USA Today."

What.

The question was in reference to international news and I cite USA Today? Let's not even TALK about the fact that USA Today isn't the most credible of news sources and go back to the fact that it's a national paper. In my defense, there ARE international news articles in USA Today, but really? What a weird way to end an interview. Needless to say, my confidence is shot on that one and I feel like I need to head back to the drawing board. If that isn't an embarrassing confession, then I don't know what is.

Will work 4 food?

Free Rice

Need something to pass the time? Of course you do - you're a blog reader. Not only that, but you read MY blog which proves that you are bored:)

Check out - www.freerice.com

This just happens to be one of my favorite sites. With every click and correctly appropriated vocabulary word, you earn 10 grains (per answer) of rice to be donated to the UN World Food Program. So you get to spruce up your vocabulary skills while simultaneously helping a great cause. I could literally spend hours doing this, and to be honest, I probably have.

So there you have it, my best kept work secret. Addictive personalities beware, it can get out of control quickly...enjoy!