Do you love what you do?

So, how was everyone’s 12/12/12? It sounds like a holiday when you put it in that context.

I ended up signing up for the Rock ‘N Roll Dallas Half Marathon yesterday. Because of the special repetitive date, they reduced the registration price by $20. Score! Thinking, there wouldn’t be a better deal than that, I grabbed on and ran with it.

So let it be known that on the last repetitive date that I will ever see in my lifetime I signed up for my very first half marathon. Now lets see if I can finish in the time I provided during registration, 2:35.

Moving on.

Last weekend, I had lunch with a good friend of mine. I hadn’t seen her in a few months so it was great to catch up. When I asked her how her job was going her deamenor shifted. She began telling me that things were okay, but that her boss is always putting her down. She mentioned that they don’t get along too well and that she’s feeling miserable. It all took me back to the days when I felt the exact same way about my old job. I dreaded getting out of bed everyday. I lost respect for my boss on multiple occassions due to his lack of gratitude. I was just as miserable as my friend is now.

This all lead me to think of what I have now. I work for a company that respects their employees. I have a boss who’s willing to take the heat even if I was to blame. I work with my co-workers as a team and not as individuals. I don’t work to put people down and we’re quick to try to solve problems and build people up instead of tearing people down. It’s not always rainbows and sunshine. I have many days that are stressful and tiresome, but I always wake up the next day wanting to head into work.

I’ve spoken with Joe on my career path a lot in the last two years. I wouldn’t say I’m doing what I love right now, but I feel like I’m on the right path. I’ll never make a ton of money. I got a degree in the liberal arts area, so I’m aware of what the financial aspect means. I’m good at living within my means if that means doing a job that I absolutely love. Or at least enjoy.

I couldn’t help but feel sad for my good friend. She deserves so many good things in this life. I told her that it can only go up from here. I felt like I was scraping the bottom of the barrel, but I scratched and clawed my way up. Life is too short to do something that makes us miserable. As Americans, we spend over 40 hours a week at our jobs. That’s a lot of hours to be miserable.

So, do you love what you do? If the answer is no, then go out there and figure out what makes you happy. I never want to be put in that situation again and I certainly wouldn’t wish it for even the worst of enemies.

I hope you all find what you love to do today. And make today a great one!

Zeus

I think it’s high time I finally introduce you to the newest member of the family.

Meet Zeus.

About 2 months ago, Joe and I took a trip to our local Petsmart. Furrever Friends, the adoption organization, was showcasing multiple kittens and cats that day. As we checked out all the precious kitties, Zeus was casually checking us out. The foster lady opened his cage and let us hold him. He was perfect. Not too wild like his brother and he had those real recognizable tabby marks that we liked. He just seemed so cool. I ended up paying for him that day and made arrangements to have the foster lady keep him for two weeks until we moved to our bigger place.

It has been about a month and Zeus has been a sweet and crazy blessing.

He loves riding in cars with boys. He spends most of his afternoons attempting to ride his brother, Apollo, like a horse. Pouncing is his fortay and playing is his game. He sleeps in odd places and scares himself when he walks by the aluminum trash can. Apollo has the perfect cat toy for Zeus, his tail. If Zeus isn’t swapping at Apollo’s tail, he’s picking multiple toys out of his toy box. He’s like a child. He chooses one, plays with it for five minutes then goes back to grab another toy. Sixteen rounds later, our floor is covered in cat nip pillows, noisy bell balls and remnants of kitty wands. How does he get your attention? He walks in between your legs. Don’t ask how many times we’ve tripped over him.

Don’t be alarmed if you receive a gift from us this year with teeth marks. He finds wrapping paper the best thing to naw on when mom is wrapping gifts. He spends his time under the Christmas tree and has found a way to turn the lights on and off. Such a smart kitty. He may be getting bigger, but his face still won’t grow into his ears. His face seems to be nestled in between 2 NASA space station satellites. Too bad he has the worst listening skills. I’m still not convinced he knows his name. And I’m really not convinced he knows the word ‘stop’ or ‘no.’ We’ll keep working on that.

At least Zeus has his best friend. These two play together, eat together and sleep together. They may not always like each other, but they’re officially brothers so they better start getting used to it.

These two are our babies. They’re a handful, but we’ll keep them.

Moving: A Work in Progress

Moving is annoying.

We moved into a bigger apartment the first weekend of November. The second weekend of November was spent installing contact paper and unpacking. And this past weekend was spent screaming out my frustrations as I mentally glared at the apartment to-do list. I can’t seem to lesson the load. If anything, I’m adding things to the list on the regular.

Our extra bedroom has become a staging room. If we haven’t unpacked it, used it, hung it, slept in it, etc. than it simply sits there glaring at me. The glaring anticipation of all these things to be placed in their place is causing me anxiety.

I’m not an extremely organized person. We have multiple junk drawers and unlike Joe, I don’t organize the dishwasher. So, why the anxiety? The problem comes when I know there are tons of things that need to be done and the process is slow as molasses. I want the automatic satisfaction that the curtains are hung, new furniture in the spare bedroom and the counters spotless. However none of this is done without me. I wish I could just snap my fingers and everything would be done.

We recently went to a house warming party. The new homeowners said something that stuck with me. They said that they would throw a house warming party once they were settled in the new home; however they realized they weren’t going to get that feeling for a while so they went ahead and threw the party together anyway. The simple truth of it all is we’re all building a home for ourselves. Are we ever done fixing, hanging, building, etc.?

I know eventually I won’t spend my weekends hunting for furniture, unpacking random boxes or organizing home office items. It’s a work in progress with work being the key word.

When I’m not working on making our apartment a home, I’m working at my legit job. Last week was one for the books – a book that needs to be destroyed. It was a rough one. Thanksgiving couldn’t have come at a better time. This year, I’m thankful for a roof over my head and my sanity to keep it looking more like the photo above and not like the spare bedroom.

Have a wonderful Monday, ya’ll. Make it a great one though.

An Ode to the Allen Wrench

I had another post scheduled for today, but after last nights festivities I must share an experience that nearly every human being has experienced once in their lifetime – multiple times if you’ve had the urge to buy pretty furniture.

Yesterday, I made my way to World Market, the one place besides Target that I can NEVER leave without buying something. With more square footage in our new place, we obviously have more room for more stuff. Woohoo! I love stuff!

I found this little beauty that I just NEEDED!

A perfect little bench with storage under the seat. With Market Street having a furniture sale, this little baby was calling my name. More like screaming it. After a quick approval from Joe, I told the sales lady I’d take it. She had one in the back and 20 minutes later I was headed home with a big box in the back seat.

After ripping the box open, we came upon a demon of all demons.

The allen wrench or for you geometrical nerds, the hex key/wrench. According to some moron, they believed this little tool was and is the greatest tool to build furniture.

So a few complaints later, we attempted to put the bench together. And we got fairly far until we realized that the last few holes to align the scews up with weren’t lining up at all. All because the allen wrench is the worst tool on the history of earth and should be banned from all existence. Scratch that. It should be used as a form of punishment. Yes, punishment.

Whomever makes the furniture believes that the allen wrench only needs a quarter of an inch to screw in 87 screws. The tiny tool fits baby hands. Unless I’m 3 months old or I’m Kristen Wiig in a Lawrence Welk skit they’re setting me up to fail miserably.

To solve this screwy problem, we would have to slightly unscrew all the screws and realign every piece, a task that neither of us wanted to tackle last night.

So here’s where it stands.

A lonely, unfinished piece of furniture on it’s side with a seat cushion and pillow for company.

I loathe you, allen wrench.
You are the worst tool to build my bench.

I was hoping for a place to sit.
But all the screws just won’t fit.

We’ve given up for the night.
But we’ve only just begun this fight.

You think you’re all that.
I must tell you, you are more useless than a fat, lazy cat.

To whomever invented you.
You’re one big bag of poo.

To all manufacturers.
Stop being morons (sorry. nothing rhymes with manufacturers).

Sincerely,

Consumers without furniture.

All Sorts of Random

I have so many thoughts running through my head right now that I can’t organize them into one post today. So to showcase such a spazzy brain, I’m here to list them out for you. Maybe you can give me some good advice and comments.

1. How bout that debate huh? Obama came out swinging and Romney was ready with his dukes up in defense. Whew! You know you’re an adult when you actually WANT to watch the presidential debate and it’s actually entertaining and informative. So which body part will we be switching this time?

2. So apparently a lot of people Google National Boss Day and meme. Put that together and you get 247 views on your blog. Whoa momma! I don’t know if I should say thank you or just laugh. Until yesterday, my best blogging day had 66 views. Does this one count?

3. I love running. Last night, I finally ran the entire loop of the trail I hit up a few times a week. I was a proud little runner out there. As the sun was setting and my right foot was falling asleep, I knew I was going to accomplish a small goal that means so much to me. I fueled my body right and hydrated properly all day. I kept an easy pace and just kept at it. My lungs and legs felt great. I kept well in tune with my body and it seriously paid off. I am a runner.

4. We are currently venue shopping right now for our wedding. Why in the world are places so dang expensive? I’ll have more on that for Wedding Wednesday, but holy Moses! I’ll be damned if I’m budging on my budget for this dang wedding. I’m doing research on a nightly basis to find vendors that are in our price range. I’d rather spend our money on a down payment on a house (and the honeymoon) than on an event that’s over in 6 hours. Grrr.

5. Is anyone watching Duck Dynasty on A&E? Duck Dynasty blows any Honey Boo Boo redneck catastrophe straight out of the water. The second season started last week and I’m so looking forward to Si and Jace’s antics. If you don’t know, Duck Dynasty is about a family who built a million dollar company making and selling duck calls. The business is the least of the topics at hand on this show. Beaver and bee hunts, dressing a duck on Career Day and Vietnam stories are all wrapped up in camo Christmas paper. It’s just amazing.

Was that enough random for one day? See, my little brain is all over the place today. I think it has something to do with hump day. So, make it a good hump day guys and go get a little spazzy.