I only think in the form of crunching numbers.

Here are some quotes and song lines that I just found written on my time notebook. I think they're good ones :)

"I swear I have learned these lessons before, but somehow I digress and must learn them again." - Jessica Sahely

"I only think in the form of crunching numbers." - Fall Out Boy (Thnks Fr Th Mmrs)

"Go on and on.....to the beat of our noisy hearts" Matt Nathanson

....and apparently these are songs I liked at one moment.....so I think I'll give them a listen.

Must Have Done Something Right - Relient K
Great Salt Lake - Band of Horses

Last paper chain link...again.

I don't want to get my hopes up too high....but I think that today might be the end of busy days for a while.

I don't want to get my hopes up because I already have done that.....hmmm......on March 15th, April 15th, September 15th, October 2nd (internal deadline). And its too crushing for me to make these assumptions. For me to assume I'll make it home to have dinner with Tanner at a decent hour but I really show up at 9:30. I hate, hate, hate how lately after we clean up dinner there is one hour of relaxation until I have to hop in bed to wake up at 5:15 to do it all over again. I feel like such a whiner, but it's really, really tough. I have been told to "get more strong" (hehe) in order to handle the dedication required of my job. My job that requires endless hours of time spent sitting in front of a computer plugging away. I feel like I don't even have time for my own thoughts....if that makes sense.

I really need to re-evaluate and figure out what to do. Because 1. I have to have a job, (job = $$$)....2. my family (Tanner and my pups) are very important to me....and 3. my sanity, that's most important and that's quickly slipping away. I am going to give the next few days to myself to figure this all out.

Oldie but Goodie

Here is a work-related post that I wrote on my personal blog back in February that just had to be shared on this platform.

Honesty is the Best Policy

Let me tell you what happened to me yesterday at lunch.

My friend and I were having our daily chat in the lunchroom. It’s the one time during the day we can get away from the daily grind and just laugh and hang out. Well yesterday we suddenly realized we were shouting at each other. I yelled WHY ARE WE SHOUTING?

We came to the conclusion that it was because the tv was blaring. I decided I would take it upon myself to turn it down for everyone's sanity. I walked all the way over to the other side of the room where the tv is and was ready to climb on top of a chair to decrease the volume of the news anchors on CNN, then something deep down encouraged me to ask the randoms in the lunchroom if it was okay. I turned to the girl sitting alone at the table near the television and started to ask her, assuming she agreed, if she wanted me to turn it down….before I could finish my sentence the girl told me that she turned it up…she turned it up because of ME. Apparently she can never hear the television over our lunchroom conversations. She expressed this to me very matter-of-factly; surprisingly not blatant or rude. I was stunned, and instantly apologetic.

I walked away in shock…I was mouthing, can you believe what just happened? This girl was the epitome of honesty. She dared say what no one dares to say…you annoy me and I am not afraid to tell you. The rest of our lunch was full of quiet whispers intermingled with erupting laughter because we couldn’t hear each other. We shot nervous glances over to our new acquaintance (who we never even knew existed until that moment) to make sure she didn’t hear us.

This one shocking episode in our lives was enough to keep us laughing the rest of our work day. It was especially helpful to keep us motivated at that point in time where your brain doesn’t function anymore and you just want to go home. So, I want to take a moment to thank this honest stranger for putting us in our place and giving us a good laugh.

Really?

I just waited like 20 minutes for that f'ing printer in the kitchen and when it finally said it was done I go in there and its all ripped apart and get this...no print out.

My husband said I should learn the term FML

Today was just one of those days....

Maybe its because I left the house at 7 AM and got home at 930 PM.
Maybe its because I worked on the California LLC Return the ENTIRE day.
Maybe its because I thought post 9/15 would be the end of busy days and late nights...whoops early celebration.
Maybe its because I have been overworked since January.

I'm not sure what it was exactly maybe just a combination of everything but day 365 really happened to BLOW.

Morale Booster

This morning when I left the house I had no idea the adventures that were in store for me. Today was not a normal Friday, our entire office planned to participate in a firm-wide volunteer effort to give back to the community.

I don't know why it's always so nerve racking to drive new places around here, maybe because I'm used to the good ol' grid system. I found myself at exit 39 in Maryland which Google maps told me to take, then up ahead there was exit 39A AND exit 39B?! Google maps failed to mention this decision on my route. I swiftly picked up the trusty cell phone to ask Jen which one was right. Too bad my phone said 'S.O.S. Service Only' which was the type of service I was desiring yet the phone would not dial her number, so it literally came down to a Goofy Movie style decision...aaand...I chose to take 39B on the right. I drove for a few miles not quite confident I had made the correct decision. I caught a glimpse of my navigation system that had been searching for satellites the entire morning...until THAT moment. I had chosen the right road. Thanks NAV, I could have used your services ten minutes ago when I was having a panic attack.

But what was I supposed to do now? I was headed to pick up my friend Jen so she could show me where to park so I wouldn't get ticketed or towed...apparently its an art or learned by experience, skills I unfortunately do not have. Two problems, I had no idea which apartment was hers and no cell service. How did we ever survive without cell phones?....I thought back to those times and remembered PAYPHONE! Do they still exist? Let's hope. I drove for a while and then I spotted the grimy calling machine on the wall of 7Eleven. I gathered up all the change I could find in my car and there I was standing outside the SEV with the nasty phone pressed against my ear hoping Jen would decide to pick up the unknown number, oh and did I mention it was raining? By the 6th ring I was beginning to get pretty nervous but then I heard, "Hello?"

I got through that dilemma just to be faced with another...Jen was like "Oh a park!" I looked to where she was pointing and thought, well I have a small car but how the hell am I getting it in there?! There was only one way...the dreaded parallel park. My only experience with parallel parking was 1) when I failed my driver's test and 2) when I retook the test and the instructor from the DMV chose to ignore the fact that my car was pushing over a garbage can. Parallel parking is dangerous with the wrong person behind the wheel. Good thing I had a wise and patient coach. Because I was all, "I can't do this!" and she was all, "You're doing great!" And after about 5 tries and 5 freakouts I got my civic into its temporary home.

Usually the source of some serious stress is the use of the public transportation system, the Metro, but unusually that was not the case today. Because today I was with a pro so I just relaxed and let her take control. She successfully got us on and off like a nervous mother with her child and that ended up being the quietest time of my morning.

2 hours after my departure we finally made it to our destination. Our National office is where one of the many volunteer efforts was taking place. We went upstairs to meet with a group from Fairfax that provides mentoring, guidance and fun to teenage kids in the adoption system. We were each given a packet full of photos of a child and were provided with some really thoughtful information about each of them from a lady that works for the company and spends a great deal of time with the kids. It was sweet to hear how enthusiastic she was and you could really tell how much she loved all of them. I had never heard anyone use so many amazing adjectives and stories to describe a person. I think she is perfect for her job and her job is perfect for her.

We got chance to create about 40 scrapbooks with those photos and stories, 1 for each of the kids that they would receive as a Christmas present. It was such a fulfilling experience to know that we could do something to touch their lives without even getting to meet them. It also made me stop and think of how grateful I am for what I have...my experiences, my family, my friends, my job. At first I thought taking a full day to slow down like this right in the middle of such a busy time at seemed kind of ridiculous considering the amount of work I had on my desk. But after this day I was really glad I spent my time doing something that meant something instead of just doing something.

Quote of the Day

"I know compliance doesn't generate a lot of revenue but it does generate a lot of grief." - V.P.

9/15 has arrived...finally