May 16, 2008

They love me! They really love me!

Well, our Policy group does anyways. Yesterday was our quarterly all-staff meeting. (And there was much rejoicing. Yay.) Robin and I sat in the back. She had gone to a funeral that morning, so it was my job…nay my duty to make her afternoon suck less.

So, thus began the afternoon of too much sugar. So at one point we’re discussing how cheesy the “department awards” are. The department awards are where a department chooses to recognize another department for doing something above and beyond their job functions. Usually it turns into who was the most helpful person from another department in the last three months. The biggest winners are usually IT because well…they help everyone and everyone is so grateful. But that’s their job. They aren’t going above and beyond. We pay them to fix crap when it breaks. Sure, I’m glad when the IT guys come down and make my email work, but they have to. If they don’t, who will? So, we were discussing the meritlessness of the whole presentation business and I had gone on to say that no one at our level (being not a VP or director) ever really wins.

Then our Policy team blows my entire theory out of the water. They recognized me and another gal in my department for our tireless work for them. I know. I was just as shocked as you! So, not only did I get my name on a giant PowerPoint slide, they’re buying each of us a new pair of shoes. Isn’t that cute? Here’s the congratulatory email I got after the meeting:

Congratulations for being selected for our staff recognition! You two gals are really quite fabulous. Whenever it is a mutually beneficial time we will escort you to DSW or the Shoe Pavilion and get you some new spring/summer shoes for your gift. Thank you for all that you do for us!

Hugs and Kisses,

The Policy Team

Isn’t that just crazy? I mean, I’m not complaining that my company is going to buy me new shoes which I think is a pretty sweet gift too. So, yay go us for rocking the house. And hooray for new shoes! You just can’t beat that!

Of course Robin and the people at my table gave me a ton of crap for saying that people who aren’t VPs or Directors are rarely recognized. And they would not shut up about it. Even when I offered to lend them my new shoes!

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May 13, 2008

Heh

I don't know why I found this so funny, but I did. You see, I got a $0.68 raise today. (Yes, it was my hourly rate, but it made me giggle nonetheless as it is one cent away from sixty-nine.) (Yes, I am 12.)

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May 12, 2008

The Busiest Week(end) Ever!

Can I borrow some toothpicks? Maybe some caffeine pills? Do you have any left over coffee? Do you think I could convince my CEO to instigate official nap time starting today?

This weekend was so crazy. And a lot of fun. But man, I’m paying for it now. I could really use a nap. But stories! And pictures! It’s been awhile since I posted photos. (Or so Flickr tells me.) Let’s do the whirlwind recap, shall we?

No? How about just the highlights and funny stories. Sounds good? Good. Here we go.

Friday - Kickball End of Season Party
Funny Story: I walked into the bar about 30 minutes after the “scheduled start time.” There were four people in the bar. A wave of panic raced through my veins. Crap. Was I in the wrong place again? I walked outside and saw one table of strangers. Where the hell was the party? Finally Amy showed up and we went upstairs to the balcony where all the kickballers were. Filled with relief, I found my friends, the beer and got my MVP medal.

Recap: The party was a lot of fun. The beer was both cold and free. I got to see some of my kickballing friends. I left with gum on my jeans. (Yeah, I don’t know either.) Got home just before 3 am.

Saturday - Taste of Addison
Funny Story: Robin was trying to flirt with this guy and had the following conversation:
Robin: Excuse me. Do you know who's playing and what time they come on?
Guy: The Black Crows at 10:30.
Robin: Thanks! (turns back to me and Amy)
Robin: It's the Black Crows at 10:30.
Me and Amy: Duh.

She scolded us for ruining her "game" later on in the night. But Amy and I agreed that that totally wasn't flirting - mostly because she walked away after asking him the question. She did make up for it later that night by picking up FOUR guys and securing a table at the bar. At least she's good for something?

Recap: We ate too much delicious food. Sat outside during a cold front and nearly chattered our teeth off. I had a conversation with a guy from Scotland and completely understood him. (Thanks for the practice, Kerry and Ian.) Got home about 3 am.

Sunday - Mother's Day
Funny Story: We took Mom out for dinner on Mother's Day. We knew every restaurant would be packed with families and screaming kids and mothers who just want to go out for dinner, but still have to put up with their bratty children. We found the solution. We took Mom to Buffalo Wild Wings. Because clearly no one wants to take mom out for wings and beer on Mother's Day. (This goes hand in hand with theory of taking Dad to Hooters on Father's Day.)

Recap: It was a lazy Sunday. Did a bit of shopping. Hung around their house. Ate wings. Watched the Tudors. Happy Mother's Day! Fortunately got home about 9:30.

And lazy as all that sounds, I'm still so tired! I barely made it to work this morning. I guess I had drained all my power cells. Knowing that, please appreciate all the hard work I put forth to present you with kickball pictures! And yes, that's me in my MVP medal. Enjoy!

Ricardo (Lookin' to Score) and Me (Big Leballskies)

Amy (BL), Susan (V. Red Ball) and John (Balls of Fury)

Me (BL), Paul (BoF) and John (BoF) who is trying to lick Paul

Amy and Me (BL) I think this is by far my favorite picture from the night.

Check out all the kickball debauchery here.

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May 08, 2008

End of Kickball Season

Our end of season kickball party is tomorrow night. I won the MVP award for my team. I only know that because Amy let it slip the other night at bowling. I’m not sure why I earned the MVP other than the fact that Amy won it last season and I busted my ass keeping score and trying to keep the team from killing each other this season. Winter kickball is a lot harder than it looks.

Now the big problem comes when we sign up for summer league. Do I want to go back to my old team? Do I want to endure another 10 weeks of drama? Of boys who think they know everything about kickball? Of those same boys who tell you to move one foot to the right while you’re in the outfield because you should be covering the gap just in case just to see the batter BUNT the damn ball one foot in front of the plate?

Don’t get me wrong, I love kickball. It’s a fun sport. The league is great. The people are great. I’ve now played two seasons and completely enjoyed it. However, our fall team was more fun than our winter team. The winter team took everything personally, didn’t show up to games, thought they deserved the title, but didn’t want to work for it. Frankly they were exhausting. Nice folks, but exhausting.

I don’t like the drama. I’ve never liked the drama. But the boys we invited to play last season started out pretty normal, but then blew up into a bunch of Crazee Boyz with the Drama. I nearly drop kicked a few of them.

Of course, I would have insisted the right fielder move a bit to the right to make sure he covered the gap. You know, just in case.

So, sign ups for next season are coming up. I’m excited. It will be nice to play when the weather doesn’t suck so bad. Seriously, we had three rainouts this season. THREE. That’s a lot when your season is only 10 weeks. But I’m also troubled. Do I sign up for the same team? Do I sign up for a different team? Can I convince my team to pick a new color for their shirts?

I think I’m gonna scope it out at the party tomorrow night. Maybe another team will throw up their hands in excitement and just sign me on the spot. After all, I am an MVP.

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May 07, 2008

I heart Cupcakes

I thought you should know: Sprinkles cupcakes are better than Krispy Kreme donuts. Hands down. Mmmmmm...

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I Think I Want a New Car

I started car shopping the other day. I don’t know what I want. Well, that’s not entirely true. I want a car that gets awesome gas mileage. (Who doesn’t?) So, I at started to do the research. Then I got confused. Hybrid, normal with good gas mileage, smaller SUV, crossover, Dodge, Mazda, Honda, convertible, red, blue, gray… So many choices!

I think I pick my cars based on their attributes. I want good gas mileage, a sunroof, a rocking radio, a great color and low payments. Is that so hard? Maybe my heart isn’t in it quite yet. I won’t really get into it until I start test driving.

Now, there’s nothing wrong with my SUV necessarily. Although, it doesn’t get very good mileage and it’s kind of big and bulky. Sure there’s plenty of room to haul stuff, but I don’t haul a lot. And it’s 3.5 years old.

I originally got this car when I moved to O! because they get snow in O! and my little Stratus was not going to handle snow very well. So, I got a Mazda Tribute. A smallish SUV capable to maneuver snow banks and crappy weather. What I learned later is that a 2WD SUV wasn’t anymore useful in snow than a sports coupe. Or so my friends from O! told me. (This is why I maintain that if it’s snowing, you should really just stay home.)

So now I’m back in Texas and the land of sunshine (and currently of rain). We don’t get snow very often, and when we do we sure as hell don’t leave the house. Heh. So, I have a moderately rated for snow SUV in a state without snow. Or something.

So, I have a Tribute which is a good car. It drives just fine, is comfortable and has plenty of space to haul stuff. However, with the ever growing gas prices, it’s time to change. It’s time, I think, to find something a little more economical. Sadly, that does not include this.

And this is where I ask for your help. I’m taking suggestions. I’m taking stories. What do you drive? What should I start looking into? What car have you owned that is terrible? What cars have you heard get great gas mileage? What cars get awful gas mileage? Should Dallas try and make better public transit? Feel free to try and talk me into a Hummer! (If you can do that, I’ll buy you a car too!) (Maybe.)

Posted by: Karen at 01:02 PM | TrackBack (0) | Comments (2) | Show Comments

May 02, 2008

I Treasure these Moments

It was the most beautiful moment ever. It's early in the morning. He rolls over and puts his arms around me and pulls me in close. It's still that moment between awake and asleep where everything is still cloudy and all you really want to do is pull the covers over your head and sleep for another few hours. I snuggle in and bury my nose in his shoulder. His arms feel so warm against my skin. He pulls me so tight and whispers in my ear, "I love you, baby." Then he lets out the loudest fart ever.

That's what true love is.

Posted by: Karen at 11:11 AM | TrackBack (0) | Comments (1) | Show Comments