Weekly Reflection...

This time last year, I had a job that kept me in a small room with three other people all day and usually part of the night. I was working 10-12 hour days everyday, and many time I would work the same schedule from home on the weekend. Not only did the work schedule stink, but I was basically the complaint department in my office. If someone didn't like something we did, they spoke with me. They would call me to yell at me and call me nasty names, or e-mail me and of course call me really nasty names, or sometimes they would send letters and yell at me and, again, call me nasty names.  


To put  it mildly, I was a sad girl who was losing faith in the human race.  Not only was my fellow man disappointing me, but I was willingly sacrificing everything wonderful in my life to prove to myself and everyone around me, that I could do it all. I wanted to prove that I was worth having this job and I was able to do the job of three people (before I got there, three people did my job). 


In many ways, I am a strong-willed person who doesn't really care what others think of me. However, this feeling goes away when it comes to proving myself needlessly. In many instances, mainly academic and work related situations, I feel like I have to prove that I am smart enough and good enough (I know, it sounds like a Stuart Smalley lead in) to be doing what I'm doing. But, as one of my colleagues told me before I left my job, this ends up undermining my ability to do my job and my lack of confidence and need to prove myself doesn't allow for growth and just ends up taking up my time.  


I tell you all of this because I have learned that sometimes what your are looking for isn't where you are looking for it or when you are looking for it. I have learned that sacrificing everything you love for a job that was killing your spirit, isn't ok.  But most of all, I have learned that the only approval I need is my own. 


On another note, I left my job last May and have been looking for another job off and on since then. My criteria for a job has changed and as my brother pointed out last weekend, I've become more picky. 

Weekly reflection...

Here we are at the end of another week. I hope it was a good one for you. Around here we are getting back to a sense of normalcy and continuing to put life back together. There are days where the past few months seem like a far away dream that never could've happened, and then there are days where you continually ask yourself if you did everything you could have. But, what I'm coming to realize is something I heard on a rerun of Scrubs last weekend (sometimes they have good philosophical moments). Anyway, what I'm learning is sometimes the bad guy is a disease that you were never going to beat. No matter how hard we fought for her or how hard she fought, my mother-in-law wasn't going to beat lung cancer. It was too far along and we weren't strong enough to beat it, but we all did the best we could.

Amazingly enough, life goes on and the days and weeks continue to speed by. As we close another busy week, I hope during these cold days of winter you are able to find some sunshine to enjoy and you are warm and cozy this weekend. I will be heading to Auburn, AL to spend time with my younger brother as we explore Auburn University. I'm super excited about it and will make sure to take lots of picture. Happy Friday everyone!

Appliance Lovin'...

Let me tell you about my favorite appliance at the moment. Actually, it's been my favorite since the day we bought it a year and a half ago. It's our Keurig, the coffee, tea, hot cocoa maker, or whatever other drink you want maker. Well, almost any other drink, I say almost because it doesn't do lattes, cappuccinos or things that involves milk, but it does make quick, good tasting coffee and tea.

The best part are the little K-cups. This is how you make coffee, tea or hot cocoa. You just open the top of the Keurig and put the K-cup in and hit the brew button, about 30 seconds later you have your hot drink and are ready to walk out the door. You don't have to mess with a filter or coffee grounds, the K-cup is self-contained, so the clean up is so easy. There are also tons of K-Cups out there and many coffee shops are coming out with their own. You can buy them where you buy the Keurig or there are many websites where K-cups are sold. I also love it because you can set it to turn on at a specific time and turn off after a designated time period.

The Keurig also lets you make the drink in a variety of sizes from small tea cups to large travel mugs, depending on what Keurig you have. The Keurigs come in a variety of sizes too. There is a new Mini, which is perfect for a single cup at a time, all the way to the Platinum which also makes cold beverages like lemonade or tea. I use my Keurig several times a day, especially in the winter and love, love, love it.