Mind the Gap

While I was in NYC a couple of months ago, I would constantly see ‘Mind the Gap’ at the train and subway stations. This basically meant to watch the space between the platform and the train car when exiting or entering. 

As someone who suffers from proximity issues, image how elated I was when I read ‘Mind the Gap (in the bathroom)’ by Modern Manners Guy...finally, someone who understands!!!

Remember, Mind the Gap, Everyone!

Welcome to the Dark Side

It’s official…I’ve crossed over to the dark side.

I purchased an iPhone!

I still can’t believe that I did it. I have been a loyal Android user since they first came out. I was really looking forward to upgrading my current phone to the Samsumg Galaxy SIII, until I started experiencing some problems with it last week. When I went to the Sprint store the customer service representative explained that since the last system update people have been experiencing the same problems that I mentioned. The resolution was to do a hard reset which I wasn’t against doing. I just thought that since my phone was acting up and I was eligible for an upgrade that I would dive into the iPhone waters.

For anyone who has read my blog, you’ve probably sensed that I’m not a big fan of my iPad. I am hoping that as I slowly integrate over to mainly Apple products that my love for them will grow and blossom. I know that I will enjoy App sharing (my Android only had free Apps on it) and the ability to listed to my music library from my phone. And I'll be able to purchase really cute phone cases! (It is all about the phone case, isn't it?)

If any of you have any helpful hints and tips or Apps that I should check out, please let me know!

I'm Not in Kansas Anymore

A week or so ago I mentioned that I was being sent on a new work assignment. After being in Tarrytown, NY for almost a week, I was redeployed to another office located on Long Island. I’ll be the first to admit that my geography knowledge isn’t the best. Although I hadn’t given it much thought, I always thought that Long Island was a city, and not, well a long island with cities on it. (That’s fine, please go ahead and have a good laugh on that nugget of information)

Even though I live in a metropolitan area, I am quickly learning that I’m not in Kansas any longer. For instance, hotel rooms are very pricey without much in the way of amenities. I’m staying at a Days Inn and the rate is $179/night. And my room isn’t that big…there’s enough room for a queen sized bed and a small desk. And once I placed my two suitcases inside, there really wasn’t much room!

Closet

My Room

On a side note…I will say that this Days Inn is nice. (I don’t mean Four Seasons nice, but nice compared to other Days Inns that I have stayed at) The rooms were renovated this year and they look very contemporary, and above all they are CLEAN! The downside is the lack of space and that there isn’t a mini fridge and or microwave so I can keep some food items in my room. Fortunately when I return to this assignment after Thanksgiving I’ll be moving to an extended stay hotel which will offer more amenities for a long term stay.

The parking lot is also very interesting in that it only hold about 30 cars, if that. The street in front of the hotel is a closed street so there is parking there. Although if cars are parked on both sides of the small street, the street quickly becomes a one lane in or out on the street. I typically elect to park on the street so that way I am in front of the hotel and can get inside quickly.

I’ve quickly realized that these are minor inconveniences for me that will soon pass. I am fortunate to have a hotel room even if it means that I have a 40 minute drive each way to my office every day. There are many people who lost personal possessions and their homes due to Hurricane Sandy. I think I’ll survive having a small room and no refrigerator for a while longer.

Ask And You Shall Receive!

Imagine my surprise today when I received a Blogger Buzz update that A Blogger App had been made for iPad!

Although I can't figure out how to link back to my original post about blogging with an iPad (sigh), I am happy that things are moving in the direction to make it better for me to use my iPad for blogging.

I can add pictures....

Although I don't know where the picture is going to be positioned in my post. And I can't access my online Picasa web album to obtain pictures.

And it looks like I can't format my font either. So this new App might only be good for quick posts that lack my usual flair and creativity.

Guess I can't get everything I ask for...although it won't stop me from asking!

What Time Is It?

And the other shoe drops…

This morning I noticed that the battery in my watch is now dead!

Geez…

I can’t win for losing with this watch thing.

What's Today's Date?

I’ll admit that I can be a bit obsessive about some things. Watches are one of them. I really don’t know where my watch fascination came from, although I can always remembering wearing one since when I was in high school. My very first watch is one that my Dad purchased for me. It had a brown leather band with a mother of pearl face and roman numerals for the numbers. (And believe it or not I still have the watch in my jewelry box)

Well, I believe my watch fascination has turned into a ‘problem’…

Earlier today when I glanced down at my watch, I noticed that the date was set to the 18^th. Even though I didn’t have any idea what today’s date was, I didn’t think it was the 18^th. So, I proceed to look at my cell phone and realized that today is the 13^th. The 13^th?!?!

Hard to see, although it does say the 18th

So, this means I haven’t worn this particular watch in several months since the date has skipped ahead by 5 days!

Geez…

And truth be told, I have 5 watches. (And you might be wondering why anyone needs five watches) Each one has a different function…dressy, casual, gold versus silver.

I know, probably not real justifiable reasons, huh?

Blogging With an iPad

I've been trying for awhile to wean myself from my laptop to my iPad. So I decided not to bring my laptop with me for my current work assignment. And here I am now trying to create a post to see what I like and don't like about using my iPad for blogging.

So far I've found that it's not the easiest to type a post. And I don't know how many times a word I don't want appears on my screen. I think my biggest complaint will be adding pictures to a post. Looks like my problem was averted as I can access pictures that I've uploaded from my phone to Google and from my Picasa web albums. Score! Although....I can't move the picture to where I really wanted it. (Hence why it is dead smack in the middle if the post for no apparent reason.

And I just realized that I can't scroll back to the top of this post to edit it. Hopefully there aren't any misspellings or completely wrong words.

Yeah, this is definitely one of those real random posts. Although seriously, does anyone have any suggestions on how to create posts with pictures to upload to Blogger via the iPad?

Help!

Awkward and Awesome

Here are my awkward and awesome moments for the week (Inspired by E from E is Random who was inspired by Sydney at The Daybook): (All and all I have to say is that I had a GREAT week!)

Awkward

·         Having maintenance in my apartment while I gone and someone taking the liberty to use my bathroom!

Awesome

·         Being able to be a Walker Stalker for the Dallas 3 Day Walk.

·         Being able to meet some of my social media friends at the Dallas 3 Day Walk.

·         Finally being able to get a pedicure after months of 3 Day training and my walk. Believe me, it looks like I have new feet!

·         Getting a First Class upgrade on a three hour flight this week.

·         Receiving an email that American Airlines has a special promotion until the end of the year for double elite qualifying miles and points for every flight until the end of the year. Hopefully I’ll make Platinum status for next year!

·         Receiving a poor quality product from an online vendor. When they called to see if my order met my expectations and I told them that it didn’t, they offered me a merchandise credit for a future order. Love when I receive good customer service and it's initiated by the company and not me.

Rationing

I mentioned yesterday that my bat phone rang and that I was headed to a new work assignment. Well, my travels have landed me in New York! The last time that I worked here I was in Buffalo, NY in 2006. Now I am working about 25 minutes outside of New York City. Hopefully I’ll be able to take in some of the sights and visit some people that I know once things get settled for me.

This morning I awoke to gas rationing being the main topic of conversation. Beginning this morning gas is being rationed based on the license plate numbers on the vehicle: if it is an odd numbered date (like today, November 9^th) license plate numbers that end in an odd number (and cars with vanity plates) can get gas; on even numbered dates vehicles with license plate numbers that end in an even number can get gas. The exceptions to this are people who have portable containers to secure gas and commercial vehicles.

Of course, according to the local news, no one feels this is fair. There are lots of different situations and scenarios: What if a person doesn’t get paid until a certain date and they can’t get gas when they need it? What about people who are in sales and drive a lot? Talk about the need to plan your trips wisely!

And what’s really unbelievable is that hundreds of thousands of people still do not have power! It’s my understanding that one of the power companies on Long Island is the biggest problem as to why people don’t have power. And at this point it has been a week and a half since the storm occurred.

It’s at times like these that I realize just how much I take for granted being able to fuel up when I need to or being able to have electricity. Let’s hope that all of these problems are resolved quickly!

Wait For It...

A lot of people don’t know that I have limited (and I mean very limited!) patience. I don’t try to hide the fact, although people in my professional life always seem to comment that I am a very patient person. What I think they confuse it with is that I’m not easily excited and I remain pretty calm in most situations. Well yesterday was a day to try my patience…

As you probably know Susperstorm Sandy made landfall a couple of days ago. And since I work for an insurance company with their catastrophe response division this means that a work assignment is pretty imminent for me. Well, I also have vacation scheduled beginning today through next Tuesday for the Dallas 3-Day Walk. (And I’ll also mention that my time off has been scheduled since last fall) Just like clockwork my manager contacts me to inquire about my upcoming time off. And to make a long story short, he was going to contact me before the end of day to let me know if I would need to cancel my vacation request and if I would be sent on an assignment within the next couple of days.

Guess what?

Yep, he never called me back before the end of my typical business day. So, I did send him a message that I will make one last ditch effort to contact him this morning to see what my status is. So now do you see why my patience has been tried? Hopefully all will work out well so that I can be here for the 3-Day (or at least one day of it!) and leave at the beginning of the week. I’ll keep you posted…

On another note…

When I started writing about patience it made me think of another work related story. Several years ago I worked in a department where the department secretary would send out status updates when there was a hardware or software problem. She would end each email with ‘Thanks for your patients!’ After seeing this same sign off about a thousand times, one day I decided to tell her about improper word choice. I explained to her that ‘patients’ are people in the hospital and ‘patience’ is what she would like for all of us to have regarding the hardware or software problem (and what I had been demonstrating every time she sent an email). All I can say is that unfortunately (and sadly) she never understood the difference.

I know, real random right?

Happy Halloween!

Technically it is October 31^st so I guess that makes it Halloween. Although to be honest, I’ve never really been a big fan of Halloween. I mean aside from the candy there’s really nothing that exciting about the day to me.

I don’t really remember being excited about dressing up as something as a kid. And I’m really not excited about dressing up as something as an adult. Although when I see people with interesting costumes, I am somewhat amazed with their creativity. And then there are the other group. The group that walks the fine line that begs me to ask “Is that a costume or what you’re really wearing?” I saw several of those people out this past weekend.

Although I haven’t talked about it much on my blog, I have been working on a costume of sorts for the upcoming Dallas 3-Day Walk. During the DC 3-Day Walk I debuted a tutu that I made. (Yes, I made it myself!) And I decided to add to it for the upcoming Dallas walk. Through all of this I have learned something: I don’t have the patience for arts and crafts!

I really thought the tutu would take an evening to make. It turned into a two evening instead. The other night I was working on signs (ok, onesign) for the walk. One sign took me the better part of four hours to make! And I’ll be honest that this isn’t a sign that is going to win any awards. I just underestimated how long it would take me to stencil out letters, cut them out, and then place them on poster board. The lesson learned here is that maybe stencils aren’t to be used to cut out letters. I probably should have stenciled the letters on to the poster board and then filled them in with glitter or something else.

Well, yesterday I decided to begin working on a sparkle bra for the Dallas walk. And I really thought I was up for the challenge. Let’s just say that after spending at least three hours gluing sequins on a bra cup that I’m not even half way done with the project. And to add insult to injury, I thought two 800 packs of sequins would be enough to cover both cups. Well, as of right now I have gone through one package and I only have about ¾ of a cup covered! (At this point you might be wondering just how big the cups are. Well let’s just say that I my‘girls’ are really women!)

Hopefully the sparkle bra will be completed today. And yes, once it is I will post a picture for you to see it. And let’s also hope that I don’t have any Trick or Treaters stop by either since I haven’t picked up any candy. At this point all I can give them is a pear or string cheese.

Friends

This past weekend was a pretty good weekend for me to catch up with friends. As much as I enjoy doing things with other people it can sometimes be a bit of overload for me which causes me to retreat into my own little world.

On Saturday I was able to get together with a friend who has been in town for business. She and I first met about 7 years ago due to the job that I have now. And amazingly she and I have been able to see each other a couple of times a year in spite of living in different states. Recently she received a job promotion which gave us even more reason to celebrate being able to see one another!

On Sunday morning I met up with my 3-Day walking team for breakfast after their training walk. (And yes, I probably should have met them for the training walk!) It was good to see all of their excitement about the upcoming Dallas/Ft. Worth 3-Day walk this weekend. Although I decided not to walk Dallas this year, I will be out there cheering them on each step of the way (also known as a Walker Stalker!).

After that one of the ladies and I went to Wal-Mart to pick up a few items that I needed for my Walker Stalking duties. From there, I kind of invited myself to go to a soccer game with her. Even though it was a bit windy and cool we had a good time catching up. From there we ended up at lunch and met two 3-Day walkers sitting at the table next to us!

And my Sunday ended with calling another friend to gossip about something that I saw on Facebook! (Facebook can be good for something I guess) And I always say that men gossip more than women do since he already knew the back story on what I was calling him about!

What I realized this weekend is that I have a pretty eclectic group of friends. I honestly don’t know how well they would ‘mix’ with one another since we all have become friends from different situations. All I can say that I am pretty lucky to have a great group of friends!

Welcome!

First, I’d like to say ‘THANK YOU’ to the new readers that have recently found my blog! Over the past week I have received comments on my posts (which I love!) which lets me know that someone other than myself (and maybe my family) is reading my blog!

I’ll admit that I follow all of my blogs in a reader which places them all in one space (and I won’t say how many blogs I read either!). The downside is: I don’t get to see the fancy layouts of blogs; the blogger may or may not know that I am actually reading their blog on a regular basis; and it’s not as easy for me to comment on their posts (ok, maybe I’m just being lazy but not going to actual blog to comment).

One of the comments I received is that I make blogging look easy. At least I have one person fooled! Seriously, I love blogging yet it can be pretty time consuming. (I’m sure my regular followers already know that I can fall off the grid from time to time when my professional life gets hectic) And I have the mentality that if I’m going to do something, I’m going to do it right. So I like to take the time with writing my posts, adding pictures, and making certain that my actual blog is visually appealing. (So, for those who are reading me in a reader, please go check out my actual blog!)

I’m also lucky that my life is a bit interesting from time to time which gives me something to write about. For those who don’t know, by day I work for an insurance company with their catastrophe response division. (And yes, that might be a hint that my life may get hectic due to Hurricane Sandy and her antics!) This means I travel a LOT, eat out a LOT, and meet a LOT of interesting people along the way. And when I’m not on a work assignment (which isn’t as often as I would like) I have a great family and group friends (who’ll probably say they don’t see me as often as they would like) that I hang out with, I enjoy personal travel, and I always seem to have something going on.

I’d like to take my blogging to the next level. For me that means acquiring my own domain and creating a personal brand across all of my social media outlets. I’m slowly getting there…and if you have any helpful hints to help me get there, please let me know!

Awkward and Awesome

Here are my awkward and awesome moments for the week (Inspired by E from E is Random who was inspired by Sydney at The Daybook):

Awkward:

• Another week passing that I haven't written any new posts for my blog.
• A near miss car accident. As I attempted to make a left hand turn after a car passed the intersection, the car decided to slow down. I don't know if she was deciding to make a left hand turn at the last minute or if she wasn't certain that I saw her or not. I honestly have no idea what happened, but I do know that there wasn't an accident!
• Learning that a co-worker's mother has peritoneal cancer. Cancer sucks!

Awesome:

• My birthday was this past week! In true Aries fashion, I love my birthday. My current work assignment has me 3 hours from where my family lives at, and my mother, sister, father and stepmom visited me for my special day. I had a progressive lunch with them and it was one of the most memorable and best birthdays that I have had in a long time.
• Getting a release date for my current work assignment. This means that I will be headed home for a much needed break (and will hopefully get back to writing for my blog!).
• Ordering coffee at Starbucks and the Barista telling me "From the looks of things I don't think you need much coffee this morning!". For some reason that day I woke up in a great mood, there was good music on the radio and nothing was going to stand in my way to have a good day.
• Receiving a goodie box of Canadian chocolates from a friend who lives there. Yum!

Awkward and Awesome

Here are my awkward and awesome moments for the week (Inspired by E from E is Random who was inspired by Sydney at The Daybook):

 Awkward:

• Not posting on my blog all week long. How do I go from posting nearly everyday last week to not posting at all this week? I have to manage my time better to be more consistent.
• Exiting the elevator at the hotel and smelling marijuana in the hallway. What's even more awkward is that I called the Front Desk and they didn't seem to be too surprised about it. Hmmm...

Awesome:

• Seeing a friend of mine who I haven't seen in a couple of years. It was also on her birthday! (If all goes well, I'll see her tonight for sushi!)
• Getting a dozen cupcakes delivered to me at work. Did I fail to mention that tomorrow is my birthday???
• Walking 4 miles two different days this week. (OK, I know I could have done better and walked more days)
• Getting a step closer to being released from my current work assignment. Although that might sound like a bad thing, it really isn't. This means I'll get some downtime and some much needed rest!
• Seeing some more friends from Indy for sushi last Saturday night. Dinner was great and the conversation even better!

Here's to an even better next week!

Awkward and Awesome

Here are my awkward and awesome moments for the week (Inspired by E from E is Random who was inspired by Sydney at The Daybook):

 Awkward:

• Writing an awesome book review to post on my blog, only to accidentally delete the content AND not have a back up copy of the post. Ugh!
• I was waiting for the elevator at the hotel with a man and 5 little girls (probably from ages 3 - 13). They looked like they were returning from swimming. I asked him "How did you get so lucky?", implying that he was took 5 little girls to the pool. He responded "They're all mine although they're adopted." Then I noticed that each girl was a different ethnicity. It never crossed my mind that the girls weren't related, I just thought he was brave to take 5 girls to the pool by himself!
• Deleting my Project365 and Daily Photo accounts. Although I really want to focus on my love of picture taking and taking better pictures, I am finding that I don't have time to take a picture a day for two different platforms that don't cross share information.
• My 4Square app. Every time I try to check-in someplace, I don't receive any points because 'my device thinks I'm too far away'. I cant figure out if the problem is with the app or my phone. Either way, I'm real close to deleting the app since I am so frustrated using it.

Awesome:

• Having dinner with friends in Indy that I hadn't seen for 5 years. It was great to catch up over good food and even better conversation. I really miss Indy and my friends here.
• Having lunch with one set of my parents as they traveled through Indianapolis on their way to Florida. I've seen them twice in the past two weeks!
• Raising almost $1,000 in a week toward my Susan G. Komen 3-Day fundraising account! I am so overwhelmed with the generosity and support that I receive from my friends and family. (And if you would like to make a donation too, please click on the following link: www.the3day.org/goto/ShannonUnderwood
• A co-worker surprised me and brought me back Coffee Crisp candy bars from Canada. I had mentioned how good they are in passing and he picked me some up. I love random acts of kindness!
• Instagram is finally available for Android! I don't what it's all about, although I'm looking forward to adding some cool effects to my pictures. If you want to follow me, my user name is: indygirl_1997.

The Committment Lives On

Today is the last day of Lent. Although I’m not Catholic, some of you might remember that I decided to ‘commit to something’ during the time of Lent. Initially I thought it was going to be sweets, but then it turned into being committed to giving up meat (red meat and pork since I already don’t eat chicken).

Yeah, I know you’re probably thinking that I might have taken the easy road on this one. But I do enjoy a great steak, hamburger, and just about anything pork related. The most difficult part during this time is that I’ve been on a work assignment, which typically consists of more fast food options which aren’t always non-meat friendly.  For the most part it wasn’t that difficult and I had two slips ups:

1) From a box lunched served during a business meeting. It was about a week after I stopped eating meat, and I had half of a roasted turkey sandwich (and let’s be honest, is processed lunch meat really meat in the first place?);

2) When I was attempting to be conscious of what I was eating I ordered baked cheese ziti from Fazoli’s. From the name of the dish I assumed it would have tomato or marina sauce, well it didn’t. There were some type of meat crumbles in the sauce (and let’s be honest again, if I were really trying to eat meat it wouldn’t have been faux meat from Fazoli’s).

Overall I am very satisfied about my commitment to not eating meat. With the exception of pizza, I didn’t miss eating it at all. Although I really did want some good ole pepperoni on that pizza that I ordered!

As far as health benefits…I believe I was a lot more regular, if you know what I mean. I’ll spare you the details so we’ll just say that was a benefit for me. I also believe that I ate more veggies (which also probably contributed to the TMI moment that I just shared with you).

At different periods in my life, I have stopped eating meat. With the exception of chicken, I have always returned to eventually eating meat. Now, I am seriously thinking about continuing on this path and only eating fish and seafood (also known as a pescatarian but I’m not into those types of labels).

Probably my biggest concern with this decision is for those who invite me over for dinner. Right now people already think it’s strange that I don’t eat chicken, which seems to be a staple for most Americans. Now to eliminate all type of meats might make others feel limited as to what they can cook when I am invited over. Typically I don’t share my eating needs with others, and I’ll just eat the non-chicken items that are served. This new change might just make me come out of my ‘what I eat and don’t eat’ closet and expose myself to everyone.

Stay tuned and we’ll see how it goes. Maybe I can incorporate some other healthy changes into my daily diet. If anyone has suggestions for me regarding my new eating choice, please let me know!  

Tipping

It seems like every other day I am learning something new about my iPad or about features within iTunes. My latest find has been podcasts!

I have always heard about podcasts, but didn’t really know what they were. In case you don’t know what a podcast is, it’s a type of digital media consisting of audio or visual information that can be downloaded or subscribed to. I always knew they are informational, but I had no idea that they are free to download or subscribe to in iTunes. Yes, you read correctly…FREE and iTunes in the same sentence!

So, the other night I decided to download a few podcasts to see what I thought. The first podcast (and so far only one) that I have listened to is from series called “Stuff You Should Know”, and this particular episode is ‘How Tipping Works’. (And if you’ve been reading my blog for any period of time, you should already know that I’m all about useless information, so this is right up my alley!)

Well, tipping has always been kind of a gray area for me. I have worked in the service industry as server in which I relied on tips for my income. So I have always had an appreciation and understanding of people who work in a tip driven environment. Although sometimes I think that since I was ‘one of them’ at one time, I tend to learn toward the side of over tipping.

It seems like 20% is my automatic base percentage to base tips from. So if the service is great, the percentage increases; if the service is poor the percentage decreases. Let’s be honest, if the service is poor my base percentage should probably be a lot less. But then I feel bad for leaving a poor tip. But does the person feel bad for giving me poor service? I don’t think that I am high maintenance customer. In a restaurant setting, I want my server to be knowledgeable about the dishes and available options, anticipate my needs (keep my drink full, make certain I have the necessary utensils, etc.), and bring my check at the appropriate time. I don’t think I’m asking for much.

From reading my blog, you already know that I frequent a lot of different places that tipping is required. I always tip my hair stylist, esthetician, and manicurist 20% of the total bill. And that has always been a given no matter what. Like the other day I went to have my eyebrows waxed. I had a scheduled appointment, yet still waited for 20 minutes before she was ready for me. Somehow she still received a 20% tip. So, was the tip for the great job she did once she finally completed my services? Honestly, I probably should have adjusted the tip since I had to wait. Although I left with great brows, I was still unhappy that I had to wait.

When traveling, I am all over the board about tipping. When I know that my suitcase might be a little bit over the weight limit, I’ll check the bag curbside and have a nice $5 tip waiting. Typically this $5 (and a nice smile!) will insure that I won’t be paying the overweight baggage fee. I also typically tip anyone who touches my luggage (ex: shuttle bus driver to car rental center)

No matter what the situation, the podcast explains that you should always tip on the full price even if you have a discount coupon. Although I agree with that, I don’t think that I should have to tip on ‘added on’ charges. For instance, the transportation service that I use to get to back and forth to the airport charges a flat rate, toll charge, and a fuel service charge. Well, I don’t think I should tip on the tolls and fuel service charge amount. So now it appears that I might seem cheap, but then again I am also tipping 15% - 20% on the flat rate when I think the standard tip is 10% for this type of transportation.

Overall this particular podcast was entertaining and informational. The two guys had a great banter between one another and there was a lot of useful information. So I would highly recommend this podcast if you’ve never tried a podcast before or if you want to know more about tipping.

Are there any podcasts that you’ve listened to that you can recommend?

Awkward and Awesome

Here are my awkward and awesome moments for the week (Inspired by E from E is Random who was inspired by Sydney at The Daybook):

Awkward

·         An impromptu office poll that revealed way too many people talk on their cellphone or home phone while in the restroom AND don’t see a problem with it. Ugh! Note to self: don’t use anyone’s cellphone anymore! (And just in case you missed my initial thoughts about restroom cellphone talking here's a link for you)

·         My stepfather and stepmother both experienced complications with their recent surgical procedures and had to seek medical attention. Fortunately they are both doing fine again.

·         Realizing that I have waaaay toooo many TV shows set to record on my DVR. When I was home for the weekend, I had to delete some recorded shows and cancel some series altogether. Sigh.

Awesome

·         Realizing that at least one person in my current office agrees with me that talking on a cellphone phone while in the restroom is a NO-NO!!!

·         Using the first class upgrades that I earned to fly first class this week!

·         Being warmly welcomed back by my co-workers after taking the past weekend off. I don’t know if my replacement was just that bad or if they really did miss me and my winning personality.

·         Officially starting my 3-Day fundraising! After sending out the initial email to previous (and hopefully future) donors, I generated $520 in donations in less than 24 hours!

Awkward and Awesome

Here are my awkward and awesome moments for the week (Inspired by E from E is Random who was inspired by Sydney at The Daybook):

Awkward

• A friend committed suicide. Still trying to understand how someone who appeared so happy and full of life decided to take their own life. Sometimes people are dealing with so much more than their outward life appears. He will be greatly missed by so many people.

Awesome

• The absolutely beautiful weather Indianapolis has been experiencing! Unseasonably warm weather in the 70's and record breaking temps.
• My stepfather being released from the hospital after his heart transplant 3 weeks ago!
• Having dinner with a friend who I haven't seen in 7 years! The conversation was easy and it was like no time at all had passed since we last saw one another. And since I will be in Indy for several more weeks we should be able to get together a few more times.
• The lady/mother of two who shared the available washing machines with me at the hotel laundr facility. Although I thanked her profusley, I don't think she had any idea how much that meant to me.
• Even in the mist of tradegy and loss, awesome things can still happen.