A Better Way To Keep Your New Year's Resolutions!

Keep on smiling!

A Very Boring New Year's Resolution Update!

It’s time for me to evaluate my progress on my New Year’s Resolutions! Let me warn you. The resolutions sound weird and random standing on their own so if you haven't read the original post on New Year's Resolutions already (Kari's New Year's Resolutions), you may want to go back and take a peek!

No Gluten: I would give myself a C. Better than I have been but I haven’t made it to “No Gluten” status! Baby steps!

Drink More Water: A!! I recently read an article that diet soda drinkers are 44% more likely to suffer a stroke, heart attack or heart disease. I read that article a week ago Friday and stopped my Diet Pepsi habit the following day. Just like that! So far so good!

Make a Dinner Menu: A! I have been making a menu almost every single week! Feels good!

Exercise: B. I had to take a slight diversion. Doctor #3 told me that perhaps I should consider biking or swimming instead of walking/running. So although I have fought it for a few years, I bought a stationary bike. Back on the road again!

Drink Coffee: A!! I drink a big mug of coffee on the way to work every morning! Lovin' it!

Bring My Lunch To Work: B. I have been pretty good but could be better!

Use My State Park Sticker: F. :( I haven’t been to a State Park yet…

Volunteer Less: C. Still volunteering but I did turn down an additional opportunity to volunteer!

Better Balance Between Work and Home: D. Long, long days but I have been able to use my flexible work arrangement a couple of times. My dreams are consumed with work. :(

Spend More Time With Friends: C. I can do better!

I’m looking back now thinking, “Was I crazy to put down 10 New Year’s Resolutions?”  Yes, I think I WAS!!  I must have been caught up in the moment!

All good things though so I’m going to keep on trying!!

Thought Number 2: I think this is the last New Year's Resolution update!!  BORING!!!!

For those of you who have your own New Year's Resolutions, I hope this finds you successful and beating the odds! :) Or simply being odd. Whatever makes you happiest!

Keep on smiling!

Nothing Says Love Like....

Last week I went Valentine’s Day shopping for my husband. I never know what to get him but I thought I would give it a valiant effort so I went to Gander Mountain.

My husband enjoys hunting. He’s not a crazy hunter that goes all the time. But he does participate in many seasons like turkey hunting, bow hunting, gun hunting and muzzle loader season.  And he has all the toys that go along with hunting.

So Gander Mountain seemed like a good place to go. Well actually, I was really close to Gander Mountain so it seemed efficient too!

I wandered through the clothing section, wondering if I could find something that seemed like a good gift. I couldn’t. So I decided to wander over to the camping section. Not because he likes camping per se. Just because it looked interesting.

On the way to the camping area of the store I wandered through an off shoot of the hunting department and something caught my eye.

One of the things my husband uses is Scent Lok clothing. He has special detergent to wash the Scent Lok clothing that takes any smells out and then he stores them in and a Scent Lok bag once they are washed. After all, no one wants to smell like a human when they are hunting!

And right there in the aisle, it jumped out at me. Dryer sheets that remove human scent. Wow! I didn’t even know they made scent sucking dryer sheets and I know he doesn’t have any!

So then I started looking at the other products and this one jumped out at me.

Scent Killer Liquid Clothing Wash for high efficiency washers. Read the label. “Autumn Formula – Washes Away Odors and Adds a Light Scent of Leaves and Dirt”.

 Sooooooo, you use this detergent to purposely smell like dirt. Nice.

Anyway, I found a gift for my husband!! A 6-pack of scent killer products from Bone Collector.

Because nothing says “I Love You” like products that make you smell like acorns, dirt, rotting leaves or simply smelling like nothing at all.

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!!  I hope there is a moment today that uniquely says “I Love You” to you.

 
Keep on smiling!

Sealed With A Kiss

We have instant messaging capability at work, to communicate within the company. Today a fellow HR Manager asked me a question via IM. My response to him included information on the 401(k) plan. So I typed in 401(k) in the response and when I hit send, a funny thing happened. Big red kissy lips came up on the screen. Whaaaaat? There it was staring at me. 401 and then a big pair of red lips.

(In case you haven't figured this out yet, I'm not always wise to the ways of this newfangled technology.)

I quickly typed in, “Wow, I don’t know how that happened?” No response.

Then it hit me. The (k) must turn into the big red kissy lips. 

So, just me being me, I typed one line with just (k) on it and when I hit send, there were the lips again. (Brilliant, right?)  I quickly typed an IM that said the k in parentheses must be producing the big kissy lips. This whole time, my peer is not responding. I am starting to panic.

I typed, “Truly didn’t mean to harass you! I had no idea that would happen!!” 

He finally responded with, “OMG, I am laughing too hard to type!” 

Whew!!  

What am I thankful for today?  That I work with people who have a great sense of humor!

Keep on smiling!

A Better Way to Award Financial Aid

Thursday is my flexible work day in 2012. Technically it is my day off but I haven’t had a Thursday yet that I haven’t actually worked at least a few hours for my employer. Since they are generous enough to supply me with an iPhone and a laptop, the connection is always there. Nonetheless, I love my Thursdays. They become a marathon session of knocking things off the To Do list. I LOVE checking things off the To Do List.  Sometimes I add a few items in that I have already accomplished in the day, just to check them off. Hee Hee.

Today I checked a big one off the list by finishing up the FAFSA which, in case you’re not into this stage of your life, is the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Basically, it is an online application where you divulge all of your financial information and educational background to the government in hopes of your student being awarded grants or work study or subsidized loans. The next step is for the government to almost immediately tell you that you make too much money to get any of these things. :)

Our daughter is a senior this year and has already been admitted to the college of her choice. :) But we spent the last 12 months touring campuses both large and small.

And I have come up with a better way of identifying which students should receive financial aid. It is very simple. The amount of the financial aid awarded should be based on the size of the diamond ring the mother is wearing. The larger the diamond ring, the lower the amount of financial aid awarded.  Because c’mon!! If you can afford a diamond the size of hard boiled egg, you can afford to pay your child’s tuition!!  In fact, you could take a loan out against that ring and pay for at least a year or two!!

Seriously! The larger the campus, the larger the diamonds seemed to be!

In case that method doesn’t work, I have a back-up plan. Financial aid should be based on the shoes worn by the mother. If you are going on a campus preview day which involves a walking tour of the campus (and it always does), and you are wearing 4 inch high, Christian Louboutin stilettos, your child does not need financial aid! Seriously, he/she doesn’t! 

The women who came in sensible casual, walking, hiking or running shoes; line up, toes to the line and now let’s take a look at those diamonds!

Seriously, it’s been a lot of fun. I’m happy to be part of this soon to be new adventure of our daughter’s!

Keep on smiling!

Dogs Are Smart

My dog, Truman, woke me up at 3:40 this morning. Why? I’ve blogged about this before. Because he knew what time it was and was afraid we had overslept. Normally, by 3:40 my husband has showered, dressed for work and is packing his lunch. And by 3:40, I’m in the shower, getting ready for my day too. But today is Saturday. And the last person to go to bed (not me) forgot to shut the bedroom door. So at 3:40 AM our big brown alarm clock was in the door, softly whining, “Get up! You are going to be late!” So I got up and let me tell you, he was very proud of himself. I checked to make sure he had water and didn’t need to go outside, patted him on the head and went back to sleep (shutting the door behind me).

When I woke up a couple hours later, everything was quiet, just like a Saturday morning should be.

I recently read an article that talked about dogs being able to read facial expressions and pick up on moods. I don’t think this is groundbreaking research for anyone who owns a dog. I wonder how much money they spent doing this research and I wonder if there had been a government grant involved. But mostly I just thought about my own dog.

My husband doesn’t believe our dog is not very smart. I completely disagree. He’s a genius. First of all, let’s look at the obvious. The dog sleeps all day, is always assured food and water without doing any type of work, and humans not only clean up all the hair he leaves behind, they also clean up his poop.

He knows how to manipulate people too. Big time. When I’m home or my daughter’s home, or we’re home together, Truman peacefully lounges around. As long as he has food and water and goes outside once in a while, he’s perfectly content. 

When my husband is home, it’s a different story. Truman whines. Why? Because he knows he will get all kinds of attention from my husband. He will get extra food, extra treats, extra belly rubs, back massages and a thousand walks a day if he really wanted to push it. Just by whining. I’m telling you, this dog is a genius.  

I don’t believe Truman whines because he actually needs to go for a walk. I think he whines because he believes my husband is the one who needs to go for a walk. And Truman is the one who is in charge of getting him out there.

My husband loves to watch sports and he loves to analyze Ebay. He could probably spend hours and hours, uninterrupted, sitting on the couch with his laptop on his lap, watching TV and searching Ebay and be really happy! And there are much worse things, right?

I believe Truman’s whining is not, “I need to go outside!” I think his whining is, “C’mon buddy. Time to get off the couch and go out and get some fresh air! Follow me and I’ll show you the way. And as a reward to you for getting some exercise and breathing some fresh air, I promise I will randomly poop in someone’s yard for you. That way you can go home and say, ‘See, he needed to poop. That’s why he was whining.’ It will totally look like YOU are doing ME a favor.

Along with that little triumph, the bending over to clean up after me will help keep your back stretched out and it’s a great way to re-use those plastic bags you keep bringing home from the grocery store. And by the way, your secret is safe with me. I know, that even though you complain loudly, you really enjoy me taking you for a walk. And I have also heard you say that if it wasn’t for you having to take me on so many walks (wink, wink) you’d probably weigh 300 pounds. So let me just say; you’re welcome. I’m there for you buddy!!”

Yes, Truman is incredible, caring and a genius!

What I can’t explain is why such a genius dog will sniff at bird poop, goose poop, road kill and any other gross thing along the road. Hmmmm. I guess we’re not supposed to understand everything. People probably didn’t completely understand Einstein either.

Keep on smiling!

Today is National Hug Day!

I love it! What a great "national" day! This calls for a celebration! Life is short. Hug your family, hug your friends and don't forget to hug your dog (or cat)!

Keep on smiling!