A Blog a Day

I am very happy that I have made posting on my blog every day this month a priority. There was one night when I went out after work so I had to scramble to get my post done before midnight, but otherwise it has been fairly easy to post every day.

Now, I'm not saying that my posts are necessarily that great or interesting to other people, but for me there is a lot of joy in writing for pleasure. Making it a daily exercise has been fun and I love the idea of capturing moments in time with my words.

For the short term, my goal is to get through the month posting every day. Who knows if that will carry over beyond May 31? I hope it does...

Sticky-Wicket Wednesday

Hah, after listening to me grouse about an issue this morning at work, one of my friends/co-workers (who has checked out my blog) said that today was a sticky-wicket day. I said, "Yah, it's Sticky-Wicket Wednesday." Okay, Vicki actually came up with the sticky-wicket name after listening to me vent and we joked that she needed to help me come up with a moniker equivalent to "Cranky Schmanky."

There you have it, today became Sticky-Wicket Wednesday! So what were my sticky-wicket challenges today, you ask? Well, let's see, a couple of things I had to deal with were...

• having to attend a weekly meeting which, at times, is quite painful due to the pernicious group dynamic. Sometimes having to be politically correct and professional savvy gets old when what I really want to do is say, "Hey, who are you trying to kid with that line of BS?" Sadly, today's meeting did not disappoint.
• not sending my pounded out email reply to someone asking me about a process they are in charge of (and I am not) which they have asked me about for the past three years. Seriously, if I was in charge of it, I would know what I needed to know about managing the process. Vicki wisely suggested I not send the email which I hammered out! She also guided me away from resending this person the emails I sent about the process in 2007, 2008 and 2009.

Working at an institution of higher education, at least at mine, is fraught with many challenges, but there are many, many, many more rewards. So while there where some sticky issues today, this Wednesday was more or less par for the course.

Slip-Sliding

In early March, as noted in this post, I decided I was only going to work 8 hours a day. It hit me today that I am slowly slipping back to working more than 8 hours a day. It has been a day here and there, working until 6:00 p.m. or skipping my lunch break and working late. Yesterday I worked about 10 hours and today it was closer to 11.

I am glad to be aware of this subtle and creeping shift in the wrong direction; it makes me realize just how easy it is to slip back to old habits. I've been working too many (uncompensated, in any way, not just pay) hours for years, so I guess I have to give myself a break and realize that change does not come easy.

My goal for tomorrow is to work a straight eight!

It's Raining Men...Nah, It's Just Raining

As I drove home from work today, the heavens opened and buckets of rain came pouring down. All I could think of was the song, It's Raining Men by the Weather Girls and the following lyrics:

It's raining men, Hallelujah,
It's raining men, Amen.
I'm gonna go out, I'm gonna let myself get
Absolutely soakin' wet.
It's raining men, Hallelujah!

Ah, well, I guess it was wishful thinking on my part because the only thing falling out of the sky today is rain, rain, and more rain.

Six-Word Sunday

This moment is
what really matters!

Girl Time

This afternoon I am anticipating spending this evening with two of my closest friends, Cari and Toni. The three of us have been a trio for a few years and I can say that these two women really know what it means to be a friend and love unconditionally.

Tonight we are going to hang out at my house, chat and probably watch a movie. It really doesn't matter what we do, it is just the time together that is important. With Toni and Cari, I know that I can relax and be myself, whatever that means on a particular day. They have seen me at my worst and they have supported me through some challenging times. I hope that they have also seen me at my best; they are always ready to share a laugh or celebrate the good times with me.

I am feeling so blessed to have these incredible women, and many more, in my life!

Ohana

Tonight I was lucky enough to volunteer at an event celebrating Asian Pacific Islanders. The most amazing thing about this event was that it reflected Ohana, which means family in Hawaiian culture. That this event was held at the local correctional facility makes it even more powerful because for a few hours, the fences and barbed-wire faded away, to be replaced by cultural pride and joy which everyone in the room was invited to share in and a part of.

There were three people at this event, Johnny, Leilani, and Nancy, who each embody Ohana. Johnny was the gentleman in charge of the performance; he led the group of men performing and explained what each dance or song represented. After welcoming everyone to the event, Johnny made it clear that each person in the room, regardless of their own backgrounds, was not only invited, but encouraged to participate in the event. He also explained that the men performing with him were not only his crew, but had become his family.

Leilani is a community member who volunteered to attend this event and share her knowledge about the history of the Hawaiian people. With grace and warmth, she prayed and danced; like Johnny, she urged everyone to join in and partake in the dancing and singing. Leilani explained that in her culture, they have animal spirits who are life blessings. Her spirits are the shark and the turtle. Leilani invited each person in the room to share her blessing or spirit and in so doing, to make their ancestors proud. When the performances were over, Leilani lingered and spent time talking with person after person, showing love and acceptance in her attitude and respect for them.

Nancy is currently working at the correctional facility as the community partnerships coordinator (sadly her job is being eliminated due to the state's budget woes). During the course of this evening, these men took time to thank her for her work on events and activities like this evening's Asian Pacific Islander event. With their appreciation, they showed Nancy they have all accepted her as part of their Ohana. Nancy's respect and appreciation of each of these men has shown them that they are valued and loved. She has opened her heart and mind to include them in her Ohana.

It was truly a delight for me to be experience the best of human culture--love and acceptance--at this event. Ohana in the house!

Playground Game & Memory Lane

Today at work, I nearly trip over a power cord for a laptop computer. In so doing, as I exaggeratedly lifted by leg high to cross over the cord again, I had a mental flashback of a game we played back in the day when I was in elementary school.

That game was what we then called Chinese jump rope. I did an internet search and chose the best video I could find that shows how the game was played. In my search, I came across a few different names for this game, including el juego del elastico, elastieken and elastics.

Looking at those videos, I was reminded of another game we played when I was a girl. I don't know if we had a name for it, but in this video it is called ayatori (string game) and I remember being able to do exactly what is shown in the video, but I am sure I would have to watch it a few times to get it right. I did get out a piece of yarn and the first few steps are still in the recesses of my mind. There are other outcomes when playing this game and you can see some of them on youtube.

Another game from my youth that I came across when doing this search was click clacks. I had a set of those babies and remember playing with them a lot. It's been funny to see some of the games I used to play or the toys we used to have, like Rock 'Em Sock 'Em Robots, Life, the Easy Bake Oven, or the Spirograph.

Wow, one little trip sent me off on a journey down memory lane!

Cranky Schmanky

Some days, despite my best intentions, I find myself feeling cranky. On those days, anything and everything can be an irritant. This morning I felt a little cranky, which got me to thinking about what makes me cranky.

The following list is not intended to be exhaustive, but it includes some of the things that make me cranky:

• Not getting enough sleep.
• Having someone act like a jackass in one moment and then ask for a favor in the next.
• Dirty dishes in the kitchen sink.
• Being so hot that sweat forms in my nooks and crannies.
• Missing an easy shot when I play racquetball.
• People who hold conversations in the middle of the aisle in a market or store, seemingly oblivious to everything and everyone around them.
• Being in the bathroom and realizing there is no toilet paper.
• Tangled Christmas lights - ho, ho, frickin' ho!
• Having my computer act wonky and not being able to figure out why.
• Being on time and waiting for the person who isn't, especially if said person is perpetually late.
• Being late for the movies, church, a party, a wedding, etc. (Work--not so much.)
• Spending too much time with a narcissist.
• Worse, being in a personal crisis and talking with a narcissist.
• Paying for something at the store, getting home and then realizing I don't have that item in my bag.
• Stepping in gum.
• Car trouble, of any kind. Not knowing a do-hicky from a whatzit to a thingamajig doesn't help.
• Dog poop in the house. Bad dog!
• Having a bad hair day.
• Being cranky with someone I care about and then feeling like crap because I acted like a jerk.

I suppose that is a sufficient list of my crankiness. My son told me today that when I am cranky, I should take a breath and think before I say anything. Good advice, but it didn't make me feel less cranky!

Daily Deliberations

Eleven days have passed in May, and I have managed to post on my blog every day so far this month. I am hoping to develop a rhythm to my writing and become a regular poster. I so enjoy the blogs of bloggers who write or post (I follow some photo blogs) every day. Today I learned that one of my friends is blogging, so I am excited to add hers to the blogs I follow.

I am tired this evening because I worked almost 12 hours today, but I decided I could and should take a few minutes to write on my blog. I am enjoying the process of thinking about what I want to write about, and once I do, figuring out just what I want to say. I think there is some benefit in not spending too much time editing my posts because it is easy for me to wordsmith a lot since it I spend a lot of time editing communications at my job.

To all the bloggers known and unknown to me, thank you for inspiring me to think and write, to write and think, to make time for daily deliberations.