I don't mind decorating for the holidays, in fact I absolutely love it and start Thanksgiving weekend. The house looks great inside with my village in the front window (I leave the drapes open the entire month) and mini lit up trees, along with my Christmas mooses (I have about 10 of them including 4 which hang on the walls and play music when you squeeze them). My neighbors love the village and usually stop as they walk by to inspect and make wonderful comments. The outside is lit up with lights on the bushes and Christmas Moose wreaths all about. Even my SUV has a wreath on the front of it for the holidays.
Unfortunately in only a month, everything has to come down and that's what I absolutely hate to do. Boxing everything up for the shed is so depressing to me. I have decided to leave the village up for the winter at least. It's not exactly a Christmas village, merely a Victorian one. Some of the houses have decorations on them but from the outside, one can't tell. Everything else including the skating park, carousel, train station and City hall plus all the accessories are your run of the mill late 1800's little town so it won't look strange from the outside.
This New Years I have decided not to go to our Moose family Center. I am one of the few who doesn't drink and I always feel obgligated to be a designated driver. This means that at 2:30 AM, I am still driving around town. I am too old to be driving at that hour of the morning. I will be going to Lynn's and she lives close to the office (I have work tomorrow). I will let one of them explain their New Year's tradition. Suffice to say it will be nice for me to visit with my Aunt and I always enjoy spending time with the girls,their hubby's and kids.
So another year draws to a close. There have been some wonderful times (losing weight has been super) and some tough times this past month (losing my brother has been the pits) but we will move forward, and hope that next year will bring more weight loss (don't say it Joan and Carla, I know exercising will help), the chance to visit with my Iowa friends at our Moose Convention in Las Vegas in June and hopefully making some more great memories to last a lifetime.
I wish all of you a very wonderful New Year and hope that everything you wish for comes true.
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Boy these are heavier than you think
Each year I spend Christmas Eve with some very close friends (he is a buyer also, she is a nurse). Usually their son and daughter-in-law are also there but this year the kids were invited to visit family in Florida so it was just the three of us. We had a super time and of course great food.
This year was also a cause for celebration because their son won his 2nd Emmy in two years as one of the editors of a daytime T.V. show (can't remember which one). Last year he offered to let me have a picture holding the Emmy but we forgot to do it before I left, so this year we made sure to take the picture before dinner.
In 1969, the company I was working for, one an Academy Award for creative lighting of a movie set (The Molly MacGuires was about a mine strike and required special lighting for the mine scenes) but no pictures were taken of the employees holding it (maybe they didn't want it fingerprinted to death).
So here I am holding not one but two beautiful Emmys. They weigh about 10 lbs each. Seeing them on TV or in pictures doesn't do them justice. You cannot imagine how absolutely gorgeous they are, and I can understand why these and the Academy Awards are not only coveted to prove the quality of one's work but also for display.
I sure wish at least one was mine to take home but alas I have no creative talent whatsoever so I will just have to be happy for the chance just to hold them and be grateful for the picture to prove it.
Saturday, December 22, 2007
My wonderful co-workers
Sometimes I teach purchasing classes, and one of the things I have always taught is respect for our co-workers for whom we do our buying. Since we spend most of our waking hours with these people, actually more than with our families, it seems important to me to always try to get along with them.
Some of you know that I have a very difficult co-buyer who has hardly spoken to me the 4 and a half years I have worked at the company. I believe she intended someone else for the position but the Vice President at the time of my hiring was someone I had worked for before and he made the decision to bring me into the company. The legacy of this is that she has never warmed up to me and sarcasm towards me has been evident since day one. I don't work for her so most of the time I just ignore her and try to stay out of her way.
About a year ago, our boss changed the products we buy, giving her mine and giving me what she had been purchasing, and apparently didn't want to do any more. I was more chagrined than unhappy because to me buying is buying. What it did though was allow me more interface with the other employees of the company since instead of purchasing for production, I am purchasing what our other employees need to do their jobs, ie, computers, stationery, marketing stuff plus the materials for our other offices in Europe and India. I also place the orders for our sales and marketing departments when they do conventions and shows. These are orders for the hotels, booths, food, lighting, signs etc. I try to place the orders quickly because I do know that time is a big factor. If there is an error in the requisitions, instead of returning them to the sender, I call the person and immediately fix the errors so that the orders can be placed. Apparently this is something my co-buyer refused to do. She would just return the requisition out of the system with notes indicating what was wrong. This would delay the orders being placed. I have never done this to gain anything but more to make it easier for my co-workers to do their jobs in an expedient manner.
Doing, this, I have gained more than I have expected. Once I lost the weight, the marketing department conveniently sent over more than a few company shirts for me to wear. They have also provided me with the promotional items they purchase which I share with the other buyers including my nemesis (doesn't improve her behavour towards me but I can't share with the other buyers without giving to her too) and the people who work in our customer service department next door. When my computer failed, it was only a half hour before I had a brand new computer with all the bells and whistles. Even my boss commented on the speed of the service I was given. When something breaks in our building, everyone comes to me. They know that if I ask, something, including a new coffee pot this week, will appear quickly.
When I was in Iowa in June, I took my Ipod with me and somewhere (I am assuming running through airports) I lost it. When we had our company Christmas party last week, I mentioned to the other people at the table (I sat with sales and customer service, not purchasing) that I was really hoping I would win a new Ipod because there were three amongst the 20 gifts they were drawing employee names for. I didn't win one of the prizes (3 people at our table did win prizes - no Ipods) and the rest of us at the table celebrated their wins with them.
Yesterday purchasing passed out the gifts we were given by suppliers to the people on the line (we do that every year instead of taking the stuff home). When I returned to my desk, there was a Christmas wrapped gift on my desk with a card indicating the gift was from our sales and customer service department. When I opened the package, there was a brand new state of the art Ipod. I was overwhelmed. The card was signed by all the people in the departments. I was so touched, I cried. The past three weeks have really drained me and I must admit my holiday spirit since I returned from Georgia is the lowest it's been in years. I immediately went next door to personally thank everyone for being so kind and generous. Everyone commented that what I do for them both service wise and making sure I share what I have with them gave them no choice but to show how much they appreciated everything I do for them.
This must be the true spirit which I try to carry all year. It proves to me that doing unto others all year not December is what it's all about I am very grateful for the co-workers who do appreciate the service I provide and have proven to me what the word "SHARING" is all about.
I wish all of you a very happy holiday and most important a VERY HAPPY AND HEALTHY NEW YEAR. I hope everything you wish for comes true and I thank you all for being my blog friends.
Some of you know that I have a very difficult co-buyer who has hardly spoken to me the 4 and a half years I have worked at the company. I believe she intended someone else for the position but the Vice President at the time of my hiring was someone I had worked for before and he made the decision to bring me into the company. The legacy of this is that she has never warmed up to me and sarcasm towards me has been evident since day one. I don't work for her so most of the time I just ignore her and try to stay out of her way.
About a year ago, our boss changed the products we buy, giving her mine and giving me what she had been purchasing, and apparently didn't want to do any more. I was more chagrined than unhappy because to me buying is buying. What it did though was allow me more interface with the other employees of the company since instead of purchasing for production, I am purchasing what our other employees need to do their jobs, ie, computers, stationery, marketing stuff plus the materials for our other offices in Europe and India. I also place the orders for our sales and marketing departments when they do conventions and shows. These are orders for the hotels, booths, food, lighting, signs etc. I try to place the orders quickly because I do know that time is a big factor. If there is an error in the requisitions, instead of returning them to the sender, I call the person and immediately fix the errors so that the orders can be placed. Apparently this is something my co-buyer refused to do. She would just return the requisition out of the system with notes indicating what was wrong. This would delay the orders being placed. I have never done this to gain anything but more to make it easier for my co-workers to do their jobs in an expedient manner.
Doing, this, I have gained more than I have expected. Once I lost the weight, the marketing department conveniently sent over more than a few company shirts for me to wear. They have also provided me with the promotional items they purchase which I share with the other buyers including my nemesis (doesn't improve her behavour towards me but I can't share with the other buyers without giving to her too) and the people who work in our customer service department next door. When my computer failed, it was only a half hour before I had a brand new computer with all the bells and whistles. Even my boss commented on the speed of the service I was given. When something breaks in our building, everyone comes to me. They know that if I ask, something, including a new coffee pot this week, will appear quickly.
When I was in Iowa in June, I took my Ipod with me and somewhere (I am assuming running through airports) I lost it. When we had our company Christmas party last week, I mentioned to the other people at the table (I sat with sales and customer service, not purchasing) that I was really hoping I would win a new Ipod because there were three amongst the 20 gifts they were drawing employee names for. I didn't win one of the prizes (3 people at our table did win prizes - no Ipods) and the rest of us at the table celebrated their wins with them.
Yesterday purchasing passed out the gifts we were given by suppliers to the people on the line (we do that every year instead of taking the stuff home). When I returned to my desk, there was a Christmas wrapped gift on my desk with a card indicating the gift was from our sales and customer service department. When I opened the package, there was a brand new state of the art Ipod. I was overwhelmed. The card was signed by all the people in the departments. I was so touched, I cried. The past three weeks have really drained me and I must admit my holiday spirit since I returned from Georgia is the lowest it's been in years. I immediately went next door to personally thank everyone for being so kind and generous. Everyone commented that what I do for them both service wise and making sure I share what I have with them gave them no choice but to show how much they appreciated everything I do for them.
This must be the true spirit which I try to carry all year. It proves to me that doing unto others all year not December is what it's all about I am very grateful for the co-workers who do appreciate the service I provide and have proven to me what the word "SHARING" is all about.
I wish all of you a very happy holiday and most important a VERY HAPPY AND HEALTHY NEW YEAR. I hope everything you wish for comes true and I thank you all for being my blog friends.
Friday, December 21, 2007
Temptation, thy name is Christmas Goodies
As most of you know, I am a buyer, and for the past week, our department has been given every kind of sugar something in the world by our suppliers. I promised myself that I wouldn't give in to temptation of any sort, during this holiday season, which could cause a weight gain since I still have 40 lbs to lose after my stomach bypass surgery, and can't seem to get myself motivated to exercise. Logic indicates if I am not moving around fast enough to lose more weight, I must keep focused on eating very small amounts of healthy food, a very difficult thing to do with all the goodies being passed around.
What I have done this week is share with the other employees in our building who aren't fortunate enough to have suppliers bring them great tasting sweets. Everyone thinks I am the most generous co-worker, and I almost feel a twinge of guilt when they heaping thanks on me. Little do they know, it's the sharing which is keeping me focused on my goal not to gain during these times. If they happen to love the glut of cookies, brownies, chocolates and whatever else I can unload, then so be it.
I am still very thankful I had the surgery in February 2006. If I can behave through New Years, I might even make a promise to start exercising or just walking around the building and, hopefully, lose the 40 lbs by next Christmas. Heck, by then, I might even be able to indulge in a brownie or two.
What I have done this week is share with the other employees in our building who aren't fortunate enough to have suppliers bring them great tasting sweets. Everyone thinks I am the most generous co-worker, and I almost feel a twinge of guilt when they heaping thanks on me. Little do they know, it's the sharing which is keeping me focused on my goal not to gain during these times. If they happen to love the glut of cookies, brownies, chocolates and whatever else I can unload, then so be it.
I am still very thankful I had the surgery in February 2006. If I can behave through New Years, I might even make a promise to start exercising or just walking around the building and, hopefully, lose the 40 lbs by next Christmas. Heck, by then, I might even be able to indulge in a brownie or two.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Not enough time for everything
Here we are at not only the end of a quarter but also the end of the year. We are swamped here at the office, plus I was out the week I spend in Georgia so I have been playing catch up for the past week and a half. I wrote before that the end of the quarter is always busy since we are trying to ship as much out as we can. The end of the year increases the stress level by 25% because we really want to get everything out as we close the year.
On top of this, there has been distressing news regarding my brother's estate. 2nd son (you know the one who did nothing regarding the apartment and who made absolutely no arrangements at the mortuary leaving me with all the responsibilities and payments, then left the day before his father's memorial service) has applied to be the administrator of Frank's estate. The legal notice appeared in the town Newspaper. Fortunately my wise cousin Joan has been searching the web using Frank's name to see what's out there and has found some things on line issued from 2nd son which are extremely disturbing to me, the request to be named administrator of the estate being the highest item. While he has asked the courts to name him administrator, he has done absolutely nothing about Frank's apartment or car, leaving the responsibilities up to Frank's boss and his wife to clean out the apartment and store the car on their property.
It's obvious that 2nd son is only hoping to expedite the probate of the estate so that he can get his hands on the money faster. Since I have no doubt that 2nd son has no intention of repaying me, I have contacted an attorney in that area and asked him to file a claim against the estate on my behalf.
All this saddens me. This is not what I expected of my brother's legacy. It's shabby and goes against everything I believe in. This is how my nephew has dragged me into his low life world and it makes me very angry, but to allow him to keep my money when he has done absolutely nothing, makes me even angrier. How it will end, I have no idea. I just cannot give up the fight.
On top of this, there has been distressing news regarding my brother's estate. 2nd son (you know the one who did nothing regarding the apartment and who made absolutely no arrangements at the mortuary leaving me with all the responsibilities and payments, then left the day before his father's memorial service) has applied to be the administrator of Frank's estate. The legal notice appeared in the town Newspaper. Fortunately my wise cousin Joan has been searching the web using Frank's name to see what's out there and has found some things on line issued from 2nd son which are extremely disturbing to me, the request to be named administrator of the estate being the highest item. While he has asked the courts to name him administrator, he has done absolutely nothing about Frank's apartment or car, leaving the responsibilities up to Frank's boss and his wife to clean out the apartment and store the car on their property.
It's obvious that 2nd son is only hoping to expedite the probate of the estate so that he can get his hands on the money faster. Since I have no doubt that 2nd son has no intention of repaying me, I have contacted an attorney in that area and asked him to file a claim against the estate on my behalf.
All this saddens me. This is not what I expected of my brother's legacy. It's shabby and goes against everything I believe in. This is how my nephew has dragged me into his low life world and it makes me very angry, but to allow him to keep my money when he has done absolutely nothing, makes me even angrier. How it will end, I have no idea. I just cannot give up the fight.
Monday, December 10, 2007
A Legacy Of Love
I went into Frank's obituary page Saturday where friends and family can leave messages. There are 5 pages of messages and they made me cry. Most say how much he meant to these people and how much they will miss him. What better legacy is there for a person, but to be remembered by so many with love and respect. It's just too bad that his sons will never be able to appreciate who their father was and how much he meant to so many people. It's obvious his was not a wasted life. How can I not be proud to say I was Frank's sister?
There is a way to order a book which includes all the messages left, and I think I will do just that so our family will have a rememberance to keep. I will wait until just before the obituary expiration date so that as many are included as possible. I have asked family members to write messages as well as friends in Iowa who got to know him in June.
It's now time to move on with my life, return to work and get on with living. I can only hope when my time has come to be with Frank and my parents, I too will have touched people's lives in such a manner, and receive the same type of loving messages.
There is a way to order a book which includes all the messages left, and I think I will do just that so our family will have a rememberance to keep. I will wait until just before the obituary expiration date so that as many are included as possible. I have asked family members to write messages as well as friends in Iowa who got to know him in June.
It's now time to move on with my life, return to work and get on with living. I can only hope when my time has come to be with Frank and my parents, I too will have touched people's lives in such a manner, and receive the same type of loving messages.
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