less than 20 days

Today it happened! A day I have been looking forward to since November / December of last year! The start of college football!!! And yippee that both of my teams won! Sadly I don't get the BTN station so I didn't get to watch but I watched the score the entire time! Great start to the season as both of my teams won!

Not a lot has been going on, or so it seems. Car pooling is going good... M commented a few times on how he's liking me driving - getting a little too comfortable if you ask me! Ha!

Our team ended the month $116 shy of $31K (M's goal)... well as of Friday. We have Tuesday and Wednesday to bring that in. Great month, team! Wednesday will be interesting, need to think of some ideas before the weekend is over!

J and I went for pedicures Thursday and then for a few drinks. I was happy with myself as I only giggled once from it tickling (the pedicure that is). Guess using that pumice stone is paying off!! I wasn't overly impressed with the bar we went to, but the company made it worth the while.

In a few weeks, our team (or part of it) will be on live TV. We will be taking donations for KCPT over the phone. Killer part: it's from 8 to 11pm! Our team will be nice and tired the next day, I'm sure.

Started and finished another book... Nicholas Sparks, you never let me down! "The Choice" is an awesome book. I have loved every book of his! Starting today on "Amazing Grace" by Danielle Steel.

Today makes 19 days until I'm back in Iowa! This year sure has flown by and I have no doubt with everything going on at work in the next few weeks that Sept 19th will be here before I know it.

Sorry I have no pics to share today. M says I'm a picture taking machine... not sure I'd agree at this point!

Have a great 3-day weekend everyone!

25 days

A while back M mentioned we should start carpooling. I mean, living 3.5 miles from each other and always headed to the same destination, it was a no-brainer. He thought that he was going to drive all the same and save me the gas (very sweet man, huh?) ... but I'm just not that type of person. I mean, that's very sweet and does it save me money and mileage on my car, HECK yes... but I just couldn't agree to it. He then tried to say we'll go every other month... we finally negotiated and agreed to every other week. It is taking a lot getting used to though, let me tell you. Not having a car when you're hungry at 11 but he's stuck on a conference call that seems never ending... or needing to run an errand over lunch but not wanting to ask your boss to take you somewhere (which if he had the time, I know he'd do it in a heartbeat)...it takes more planning however, which I've learned to do very quickly. I'll buy more snacks in case there is a day that we can't get out for lunch until late, I'll make sure my errands are ran after work or on the weekends ... and then of course understand that there are going to be days that it just won't work for us to carpool. It also means no more going out for drinks unless M is willing to go, which doesn't happen too often anymore... again, more money saved! I'm supposed to drive this week so we'll see how that goes!

Work this month has been insanely busy ....the busiest I have been in a long time. We've sold amost $30K (which we've outsold every other month except May this year... not combined, just month over month), thankfully they haven't been a ton of little sales, it's been 3 big deals. A 22 location (talk about head spinning), and two 6 location accounts. This though, is the type of stuff I enjoy. The type of customers I love working with. I'm so proud and happy for our team... and anxious for the "partay" we'll have to celebrate!

Unlike most weekends lately, this one has been somewhat productive. Friday night, I worked for quite a bit (finished all but one detail on that 22 location account) and then hit the sack pretty early. Saturday morning I had a hair cut, then ran to the library to pick up a few books. One of which I've finished already and started on a 2nd. I picked up
this book and read it already. Even if you are not a country music fan, this is a must read in my opinion. You can read about the details here. I cried a lot, learned a lot and felt the urge to connect with God a lot more after reading this. While searching for the picture to put up here, I found out she has written another book, "The Road Home" and can't wait to read this.

Before I headed home from my hair appt and the library, I wanted to stop and get some tomatoes. I thought about heading down to the city market, but I thought I'd try this little "market" not too far from my house. BIG mistake! BIG BIG mistake!!! I won't be going back there... I picked up about 8 tomatoes (pretty good size, but still!)... I paid 13 freakin dollars for those tomatoes! I could have drove down to the market and back two times for that price! Lesson learned!

My parents celebrated their 36th anniversary this past year. Amazing! They are as happy as ever and still very much in love. I hope to someday have that! They did a little shopping the weekend before, that was their extent of celebrating!

So, what's 25 days? In 25 days I'll get to see family I haven't seen in 9 long months... see friends I haven't seen in almost a year. This is probably the most excited I've ever been to be headed back to Iowa! The delay of my trip in June pretty much sucked! My parents are throwin' a little party for my Dad's side of the family, which I'm excited about. I haven't seen some of that side of the family in well over a year! My grandma's 75th birthday and her and grandpa's anniversary is that weekend, so that being combined with the fact that we don't get together at any holiday anymore, is a great reason to have a party! With 4 "kids" (and their spouses), 9 grandchildren and 7 great grandchildren, nobody has a house big enough to all gather in at the holidays. I'll be spending part of my time in Mt Pleasant with family (and seeing a few friends) and then the rest of my time will be spent in Cedar. I am anxious to see how they've turned things around, see what the city is like since the floods.

Well...I think that is enough for now, besides the fact that my washer stopped about 15 minutes ago! And my tummy is growling for some lunch!

Have a great week everyone!

Oh, one last thing, a big CONGRATULATIONS to Melissa and Lance on their nuptials yesterday! Sorry I missed it, I can't wait to see pictures!

cautious for a reason

I found out Monday that I didn't or won't be getting the "promotion". I was angry at first.... M said my face was cherry apple red, which tends to happen when I'm upset. I thought a lot about it Monday night, and I'm now okay with it. It wasn't going to include any additional money and it was going to be broke down by region, so at the end of the day, it is a good thing I didn't it. This only means there is something bigger and better out there for me!

amor

amor = LOVE!

As I'm sitting here at home (which, by the way, sometimes still does not seem real that I own a home), I wanted to write down a few things that I am in love with... (besides the obvious friends & family)

*~* great photography. a photographer who captures the moment. I ran across this photographer this morning. If I lived near her, you can bet your bottom dollar I'd be having some pictures done by her. Breathtaking!

*~* great weather. It's august 17th and I've had my air running for maybe a total of 7 days this month, MAYBE 7 days. which means I get to enjoy all the sounds of nature, the bugs, the kids playing in the backyard, dogs barking, all of it.

*~* august is almost over, which means my favorite season is right around the corner.

*~* season opening games are only 11 and 13 days away.

*~* good music

24 million!!

***Updated 8/17 - pictures from our day at Harvester's below***


Today the team and I volunteered at Harvester's. I love that our company encourages us to give back to the community, it makes my heart warm. Harvester's is the biggest food bank in the KC area. Amy, who gave us the grand tour, told us today they have distributed over 24 million pounds of food and household products over the last year. That numbers is not even fathomable to me. TWENTY FOUR MILLION POUNDS! Our project today was to clean and re-package eggs. A stedious, kind of boring job... but we went through a whole pallot of boxes of eggs in the 3 hours we were there. I got some pictures, just don't have time to download them and post them.

Today, at the end of the day as my boss and I were getting ready to leave, he comes into my office, with a very serious look on his face. We've been going through a lot in our office so I didn't think too much about it. He says "I received a phone call today about you.... from Rochester (our corp office location)." Panic sets in... Ummm, M - you're freaking me out - just tell me what is going on. He kind of gets a little grin on his face then, which I know it's not all that bad then. I'm being asked to step into a higher position in the company... a job that somebody has recommended me for. I can't / won't go into details at this point, not until I know more about it and not until I know it's mine... but I'm very honored. Very surprised and caught off guard. I know I can do the job, not surprised that my name came up, but more surprised that I was asked over a few others. A few others that everybody in the LM side knows their names, knows how good they are. Now, it very well could be they were asked and turned it down... or they're throwing it out there to a few different people, but who knows. And why dismiss that maybe that's not the case that I was the first person that came to people's minds. I can't wait to get the details on this and maybe start a new venture in my career.

Very happy tomorrow is Friday, looking forward to the weekend as the highs are supposed to be in the 70's!!!



PT and PJ checking for cracked eggs

The back of our shirts that the company provides "Caring for our Communities goes hand in hand with caring for our comapny"

Myself, M, B, RR and JT

At the end of the "day" ... PT, JT, MR, M, PJ and RR

pictures from the last week

Here are my flowers from last week... all dried up. Project still underway!

This was the temperature yesterday as I was coming home from the market at about 10:00 am! The high yesterday was 77!!


These next three were taken on my way to work Thursday morning... a beautiful sunrise! Yep, I actually made it out of bed in time to see the sunrise, first time since probably late spring.

The layout today has been a bit challening... I can't for the life of me get this one to move over... these nasty things are ALL over, in ALL of our tree's down here. If the branches are not snapping from their weight, they're touching the ground. Anybody know what they are? They kind of freak me out.

This has always been one of my favorite views headed into downtown KC....Click on to enlarge, if you want.









The first pic is one of the buildings in downtown KC that I like for it's architecture. Second pic is part of the downtown skyline from the City Market.



Next two were taken around 6 p.m. Loved the look of the clouds.




Then not 30 minutes later, here is what the sky looked like. I LOVE a blue sky with big puffy white clouds - one of my favorite times to fly.




Sunset last night.

Finally!

Really, there is only one thing to say about this... AMEN!!!

Read here what I'm talking about!

talk about some tears...

I did not get to watch this when it originally aired, and probably a good thing. Crying before 9:00 a.m. isn't a good way to start your day! Honestly, I'm speechless.

and you call yourself a Christian woman?

Usually when I am about to post something like this, I will apolgize first... not this time. This person makes my blood pressure rise, they make me want to quit my job on a regular basis, but more importantly makes me question how she can call herself His daughter, a woman of faith.

This post is directed to one individual and if they ever come across it, they damn well better know who they are, if not, shame on you!

How dare you. How dare you make the accusations you made today. How dare you think that because you're not looking like a perfect role model in the boss' eyes that you should try and take others down with you. You are a middle aged woman, a Missionary, a woman with 25+ years of work experience under your belt and you can't accept coaching or the truth? How dare you lie. How dare you criticize people for getting loud in the office, or having arguments with the boss when not just less than a month ago you were pulled aside by the boss after a meeting for your poor behavior in a team meeting and yelled and argued with him behind closed doors.

Turn the tables towards yourself, take a step back and look at yourself through others eyes. I will pray for you because you need serious help.

can it be fall already?

Really, this heat is out of control! It's bad when it's 87 degrees at 7:00 am. People are angrier this time of the year, it's bad when high 80's excite me! I am anxious for fall already, and we probably have another good 45-60 days!

This was the temp Monday as I was driving home...


Since the heat and I don't get along, I typically "hibernate" in the summer time. I don't go out unless I have to! This past Saturday a couple of friends and I headed to the market. I spent less than $30, which got me some tomatoes, corn on the cob, 2 cantelopes, some strawberries, these beautiful fresh flowers and breakfast! Not bad, eh?




One of my very good friend's birthday is coming up next week, I'm working on a 'lil somethin to send to her, which I'll post more info after her birthday, just in case she reads this between now and then :)

M, from the office, got us all a free lunch from one of my absolute favorite restaurants - Jose Peppers. I can't wait to eat me some Mexican!!

Other than that, nothing else is going on thanks to this damn heat. Hopefully things will pick up soon and I'll have more exciting things to post about! Have a great rest of the week!