Monday, January 29, 2007
ok so it's been a while. not too much is newsworthy but i'll give you some of my famous (ok maybe not) bullet points..
- school is back in full swing. the kids have been nothing less than completely insane. i ask at least one kindergartener per day if he or she has lost her mind. two funny stories from today
(1) While writing the daily news during circle time (for explanation, ask the nearest elementary teacher), the teacher asked who had news to share. The girl chosen to share her news said, "A girl got hit by a bus. She died." the teacher chose not to write that one down.
(2) I was drilling one of my kids over her numbers today. I held up a flash card with the number 9 on it. The following dialogue followed:
Me: What number is this?
Student: P!
Me: [Student's name], this is a number. P is not a number. What number is this?
Student: Q-U-E!
- two things are hanging on the back of my bedroom door - my grad school graduation robe (i have no idea why) and my black coat. before falling asleep the other night, i realized that the combination of the two in the dark look an awful lot like the grim reaper is standing at my door.
- i went to the sister hazel concert on friday night. it was amazing as usual. it was the highlight of the month of january. if you haven't seen them in concert, you must. even if you have just a vague idea of who they are. my friend darcie went and (unless she's lying to me) thoroughly enjoyed herself.
- i'm teaching a saturday class at pulaski tech. there are 5 students in the class. while somewhat intimidating, the small number of students isn't a bad change from the 35-50 i had at asu. i should be preparing for this week's class as i type this. i'm still a procrastinator, even as the instructor.
- i need to go to bed. hang out with the grim reaper. i usually tell myself this every night about this time. it does no good.
- if you haven't seen Little Miss Sunshine, immediately drop what you're doing and go watch it.
- elvis has decided that the tire swing in our backyard is evil. he's started barking at it constantly. i should be posting a video of this on my myspace soon. seriously, i'm that ridiculous.
- school is back in full swing. the kids have been nothing less than completely insane. i ask at least one kindergartener per day if he or she has lost her mind. two funny stories from today
(1) While writing the daily news during circle time (for explanation, ask the nearest elementary teacher), the teacher asked who had news to share. The girl chosen to share her news said, "A girl got hit by a bus. She died." the teacher chose not to write that one down.
(2) I was drilling one of my kids over her numbers today. I held up a flash card with the number 9 on it. The following dialogue followed:
Me: What number is this?
Student: P!
Me: [Student's name], this is a number. P is not a number. What number is this?
Student: Q-U-E!
- two things are hanging on the back of my bedroom door - my grad school graduation robe (i have no idea why) and my black coat. before falling asleep the other night, i realized that the combination of the two in the dark look an awful lot like the grim reaper is standing at my door.
- i went to the sister hazel concert on friday night. it was amazing as usual. it was the highlight of the month of january. if you haven't seen them in concert, you must. even if you have just a vague idea of who they are. my friend darcie went and (unless she's lying to me) thoroughly enjoyed herself.
- i'm teaching a saturday class at pulaski tech. there are 5 students in the class. while somewhat intimidating, the small number of students isn't a bad change from the 35-50 i had at asu. i should be preparing for this week's class as i type this. i'm still a procrastinator, even as the instructor.
- i need to go to bed. hang out with the grim reaper. i usually tell myself this every night about this time. it does no good.
- if you haven't seen Little Miss Sunshine, immediately drop what you're doing and go watch it.
- elvis has decided that the tire swing in our backyard is evil. he's started barking at it constantly. i should be posting a video of this on my myspace soon. seriously, i'm that ridiculous.
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
sometimes you read things that really hit home. it relates directly to how you're feeling or what you're going through at that particular time. this has happened so often lately that God is trying to tell me something. and while it might not resonate the same way with you, i thought i'd pass it along anyway...enjoy.
"My dear children, let's not just talk about love; let's practice real love. This is the only way we'll know we're living truly, living in God's reality. It's also the way to shut down debilitating self-criticism, even when there's something to it. For God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves."
- I John 3:18-20 (The Message)
"I don't think much surprises Him: this is how we make important changes - barely, poorly, slowly. And still, He raises his fist in triumph."
- Anne Lamott
"One secret of life is that the reason life works at all is that not everyone in your tribe is nuts on the same day. Another secret is that laughter is carbonated holiness."
- Anne Lamott
"Your sick worried mind can't heal your sick worried mind. Well, maybe your mind is lovely and pastoral and you do not suffer from paranoia, hypochondria, a bad attitude, and delusions of victimized grandeur. That is very nice, but we don't want you in our cave after the bombs fall, becauseyou are going to annoy us to death."
- (you guessed it...) Anne Lamott
"God doesn't want or expect you to get it together before you come along, because you can't get it together until you come along. You can spend half of your time alone, but you have to be in service, in community, or you'll get a little funny."
- Anne Lamott (can you tell i'm reading her book?)
"Why couldn't Jesus command us to obsess about everything, to try to control and manipulate people, to try not to breathe at all or to pay attention, stomp away to brood when people annoy us, and then eat a big bag of Hershey's Kisses in bed?"
- Anne Lamott (can you tell i like it?)
"...then I prayed that I could just keep the faith. I have a lot of faith. But I am also afraid a lot, and have no real certainty about anything. I remembered...that the opposite of faith is not doubt, but certainty. Certainty is missing the point entirely. Faith includes noticing the mess, the emptiness and discomfort, and letting it be there until some light returns. Faith also means reaching deeply within, for the sense one was born with, the sense, for example, to go for a walk."
- Anne Lamott (last one...promise)
"My dear children, let's not just talk about love; let's practice real love. This is the only way we'll know we're living truly, living in God's reality. It's also the way to shut down debilitating self-criticism, even when there's something to it. For God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves."
- I John 3:18-20 (The Message)
"I don't think much surprises Him: this is how we make important changes - barely, poorly, slowly. And still, He raises his fist in triumph."
- Anne Lamott
"One secret of life is that the reason life works at all is that not everyone in your tribe is nuts on the same day. Another secret is that laughter is carbonated holiness."
- Anne Lamott
"Your sick worried mind can't heal your sick worried mind. Well, maybe your mind is lovely and pastoral and you do not suffer from paranoia, hypochondria, a bad attitude, and delusions of victimized grandeur. That is very nice, but we don't want you in our cave after the bombs fall, becauseyou are going to annoy us to death."
- (you guessed it...) Anne Lamott
"God doesn't want or expect you to get it together before you come along, because you can't get it together until you come along. You can spend half of your time alone, but you have to be in service, in community, or you'll get a little funny."
- Anne Lamott (can you tell i'm reading her book?)
"Why couldn't Jesus command us to obsess about everything, to try to control and manipulate people, to try not to breathe at all or to pay attention, stomp away to brood when people annoy us, and then eat a big bag of Hershey's Kisses in bed?"
- Anne Lamott (can you tell i like it?)
"...then I prayed that I could just keep the faith. I have a lot of faith. But I am also afraid a lot, and have no real certainty about anything. I remembered...that the opposite of faith is not doubt, but certainty. Certainty is missing the point entirely. Faith includes noticing the mess, the emptiness and discomfort, and letting it be there until some light returns. Faith also means reaching deeply within, for the sense one was born with, the sense, for example, to go for a walk."
- Anne Lamott (last one...promise)
Friday, January 05, 2007
open letter to my place of part time employment
To Whom It May Concern (Though I doubt it Concerns Anyone):
Seeing as how I am quickly approaching my 6 month anniversary of my employment with your company, I thought I would share with you my thoughts regarding my time there. I will express these thoughts in the form of bullet points because: a) this isn't exactly professional and b) i like bullet points.
- I must point out, as I'm sure has been done before, that the sales quota/commision-based system that you use is not a good one. I realize that you, as a corporation and therefore a faceless entity, do not care about the work environment you create for you employees as long as that environment results in a higher profit margin. Although at this point, I get the feeling that your profit margin isn't doing so great because you have had our managers encourage us to 'get brutal' on the sales floor. I do hope that you'll forgive my refusal to do so. The work environment is hostile enough without my contribution to it. Women are catty enough without their income being based on whether or not they or the the next associate get to ring up that pair of tights. i could go on about this, but i will refrain. I will only end by saying that when every employee of your store wishes they could quit because they hate to work there, you have a problem.
- Despite your constant drilling it into us, I refuse to believe that most of our customers want to be followed around the store. I am open-minded enough to believe that all customers do not shop like me (i.e. they want to be left alone because they truly are just browsing), but I cannot and will not believe that all of our customers come to our store seeking one certain item and want us to find said item for them as well as follow them around suggesting similar items. I have done extensive research. People don't appreciate feeling stalked. I, personally, do not appreciate stalking people which is what I feel like is somewhat necessary to reach my sales quota (for more of my thoughts on the sales quota, see bullet point 1 or call me when you have a half hour to burn).
- New employees are some of the most over-zealous, obnoxious people in our store. Your orientation has scared them to death and they feel that they must personally attack every customer that comes into their section. They are petrified of not meeting their sales quota even though they are not eligible for a paycut until their 6 month review (a fact you conveniently leave out of orientation) and their sales typically do not count for their first few weeks on the floor (another fact omitted during orientation).
- This newest batch of new employees have come with their own unique set of quirks. They are older than most of the girls associates and therefore feel that they have nothing to learn from us 'youngsters' even though we have been employed there much longer than they. When any advice is offered, they curtly inform us that they know exactly what they are doing (even though, in fact, they are doing it wrong). They are also of the opinion that their sales are more important than ours (keep in mind they won't be reviewed for 6 months - you see why this is important?) and so they refrain from helping us veterans do the menial tasks of preparing for inventory, doing markdowns, shutting down registers, etc. They will stand silently, like a statue, watching and waiting for a potential customer while the rest of us do as we've been told.
You might also want to inform these particular associates that they are not allowed to do the following (since they are currently of the opinion that these things are allowed):
* leave the store for half an hour while on the clock
* post their register and turn in their money before 'all clear' has been called
* perform the above action before the store is even closed
It is my sincere hope that you find the above information useful. And while I will not lie by saying that I have enjoyed my time spent in the employ of your company, I will say that working there has allowed me to meet some very nice people and I am eternally grateful to these people for making my time there more bearable.
Sincerely,
Ruth
P.S. The new cd of instrumental piano arrangements of elton john's music is a pleasant change from the constant sound of the beatles, abba, and no doubt.
Seeing as how I am quickly approaching my 6 month anniversary of my employment with your company, I thought I would share with you my thoughts regarding my time there. I will express these thoughts in the form of bullet points because: a) this isn't exactly professional and b) i like bullet points.
- I must point out, as I'm sure has been done before, that the sales quota/commision-based system that you use is not a good one. I realize that you, as a corporation and therefore a faceless entity, do not care about the work environment you create for you employees as long as that environment results in a higher profit margin. Although at this point, I get the feeling that your profit margin isn't doing so great because you have had our managers encourage us to 'get brutal' on the sales floor. I do hope that you'll forgive my refusal to do so. The work environment is hostile enough without my contribution to it. Women are catty enough without their income being based on whether or not they or the the next associate get to ring up that pair of tights. i could go on about this, but i will refrain. I will only end by saying that when every employee of your store wishes they could quit because they hate to work there, you have a problem.
- Despite your constant drilling it into us, I refuse to believe that most of our customers want to be followed around the store. I am open-minded enough to believe that all customers do not shop like me (i.e. they want to be left alone because they truly are just browsing), but I cannot and will not believe that all of our customers come to our store seeking one certain item and want us to find said item for them as well as follow them around suggesting similar items. I have done extensive research. People don't appreciate feeling stalked. I, personally, do not appreciate stalking people which is what I feel like is somewhat necessary to reach my sales quota (for more of my thoughts on the sales quota, see bullet point 1 or call me when you have a half hour to burn).
- New employees are some of the most over-zealous, obnoxious people in our store. Your orientation has scared them to death and they feel that they must personally attack every customer that comes into their section. They are petrified of not meeting their sales quota even though they are not eligible for a paycut until their 6 month review (a fact you conveniently leave out of orientation) and their sales typically do not count for their first few weeks on the floor (another fact omitted during orientation).
- This newest batch of new employees have come with their own unique set of quirks. They are older than most of the girls associates and therefore feel that they have nothing to learn from us 'youngsters' even though we have been employed there much longer than they. When any advice is offered, they curtly inform us that they know exactly what they are doing (even though, in fact, they are doing it wrong). They are also of the opinion that their sales are more important than ours (keep in mind they won't be reviewed for 6 months - you see why this is important?) and so they refrain from helping us veterans do the menial tasks of preparing for inventory, doing markdowns, shutting down registers, etc. They will stand silently, like a statue, watching and waiting for a potential customer while the rest of us do as we've been told.
You might also want to inform these particular associates that they are not allowed to do the following (since they are currently of the opinion that these things are allowed):
* leave the store for half an hour while on the clock
* post their register and turn in their money before 'all clear' has been called
* perform the above action before the store is even closed
It is my sincere hope that you find the above information useful. And while I will not lie by saying that I have enjoyed my time spent in the employ of your company, I will say that working there has allowed me to meet some very nice people and I am eternally grateful to these people for making my time there more bearable.
Sincerely,
Ruth
P.S. The new cd of instrumental piano arrangements of elton john's music is a pleasant change from the constant sound of the beatles, abba, and no doubt.
Monday, January 01, 2007
happy new year
happy new year! so it's 2007...holy crap
i'm going to break tradition and actually make a resolution or maybe a few...we'll see where this goes...
- rid myself of love handles (any advice would be appreciated)
- work less, hang out more (aka get one job that pays all bills)
- read more
- be less self conscious (aka stop worrying about what other people think)
- trust God more
i'm going to break tradition and actually make a resolution or maybe a few...we'll see where this goes...
- rid myself of love handles (any advice would be appreciated)
- work less, hang out more (aka get one job that pays all bills)
- read more
- be less self conscious (aka stop worrying about what other people think)
- trust God more
