I haven't been to the SSI Parade in YEARS - probably four or five. Every one of those years I have really, really tried to be there, andd due to one thing or another, something has come up. {Example: This year, two days before the parade I came down with an ear infection AND a respitory infection. Needless to say, I spent Parade day in bed.} And now, I won't have the CHANCE to do it again, because THEY ARE CANCELLING THE PARADE!
According to www.southsideirishparade.org, it has gotten too big and out of control. Um, sorry, usually something like that brings MONEY and REVENUE to a city and is a GOOD thing.
Stupid, Stupid, Stupid.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
House Hunting
I'm a big fan of HGTV. Property Virgins is my favorite, but I could really just sit around and watch it for hours straight - I find it interesting. On Property Virgins, one of the the things they always talk about it combining the individual tastes of each person in order to find the 'perfect house.' They always make it look SO freakin' easy! Jon & I are house hunting right now, and are both first-timers at it. Unfortunately, we both have VERY different ideas of what we both want, which is making it extremely hard to even get through the house-hunting phase of it. We are both extremely stubborn, and both thing what we want is, uh, obviously the best. (duh.) For example - he wants a better house -- more bang for his buck, if you will -- and is willing to be open to not as nice neighborhoods to get it, whereas I think we can get a decent house that's not huge (there are only two of us!) in the neighborhood we want. The problem is that neither of us is WRONG, but neither of us is RIGHT.... it's strictly preference. And it's frustrating.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Downside
The kids have been sick for about three weeks, and this past Friday I finally caught whatever it is they had. It happens to also be parade weekend. What AWFUL timing.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
6 Months Ago...
For lack of anything better to do (the girls are both napping.) I thought get on the horse again (is that the saying?) and update this blog. More for myself than anyone else, since I'm pretty sure I'm the ONLY one that sees it, but none the less.
When I started this blog, I was in such a different place and doing what I am doing now is the LAST place I thought I'd end up. I can't even begin to desribe, in retrospect, how much I absolutely hated my job. I understood when I took the job that working from home would be a big challenge. There's quite a bit of self-discipline involved, and although I don't have alot, my lack of self-discipline is not the reason I did not like my job or stay at it. The biggest problem was that I was not MANAGED. Basically, when my boss sent me off to Chicago, he told me "treat my sales position as if this were my own company." He gave me the freedom to do WHATEVER I wanted. With no client base in Chicago, I was literally expected to spend 50-60 hours a week building a successful business from ground zero. With no past work experience OR specific schooling in Marketing (or Sales for that matter), I was bewildered with where to begin. I had no direction, no clear expectations, and no supervision. What the HELL was my boss thinking? Of course my venture into a new market, and thus his venture into a new market, was unsuccessful -- it was doomed from the beginning. It was not from the actual job that I gained experience at that position -- it was from what was LACKING at that job that I learned a TON.
Besides for the dislike for the position, the economy played a huge role in my getting laid off/leaving from the company. There was, almost literally, no business coming in. I knew it was going to happen weeks before it actually did, and had many conversations about what was going to happen when it came. Applying for and getting a nanny position the same day my position ended at the company was a little bit luck, but moreso planning. I needed to get my bills paid, and being the stubborn, independent person that I was, would not depend on anybody else for that. It would give them leverage to say "I Told You So" about my financial decisions, which I would not have. And so, I happened upon finding some great families. What was meant to be temporary is going to last longer than 'a month or so until I find a real job.' This is MY real job. In fact, I did go on a couple interviews, and turned down a "real" job -- I like what I do. Every aspect of it fits what I need right now, and hey -- If it's not broken, don't fix it.
So, looking back, it's amazing at how things can change. I have a feeling that over the next few years, there's going to be a lot of 'big' decisions being made that will determine the course of where the next 10,15, years go. And that's exciting!!
[Quick Update: Nannying is great. My days go by pretty quickly, which is hard to conquer in the winter months. I'm getting cabin fever, though, and I think so are all the kids. Thank GOD that hopefully the subarctic weather is finally over with, because now I will be able to go out and about during the day with the kids, which is AWESOME and going to make the day fly by even quicker.]
When I started this blog, I was in such a different place and doing what I am doing now is the LAST place I thought I'd end up. I can't even begin to desribe, in retrospect, how much I absolutely hated my job. I understood when I took the job that working from home would be a big challenge. There's quite a bit of self-discipline involved, and although I don't have alot, my lack of self-discipline is not the reason I did not like my job or stay at it. The biggest problem was that I was not MANAGED. Basically, when my boss sent me off to Chicago, he told me "treat my sales position as if this were my own company." He gave me the freedom to do WHATEVER I wanted. With no client base in Chicago, I was literally expected to spend 50-60 hours a week building a successful business from ground zero. With no past work experience OR specific schooling in Marketing (or Sales for that matter), I was bewildered with where to begin. I had no direction, no clear expectations, and no supervision. What the HELL was my boss thinking? Of course my venture into a new market, and thus his venture into a new market, was unsuccessful -- it was doomed from the beginning. It was not from the actual job that I gained experience at that position -- it was from what was LACKING at that job that I learned a TON.
Besides for the dislike for the position, the economy played a huge role in my getting laid off/leaving from the company. There was, almost literally, no business coming in. I knew it was going to happen weeks before it actually did, and had many conversations about what was going to happen when it came. Applying for and getting a nanny position the same day my position ended at the company was a little bit luck, but moreso planning. I needed to get my bills paid, and being the stubborn, independent person that I was, would not depend on anybody else for that. It would give them leverage to say "I Told You So" about my financial decisions, which I would not have. And so, I happened upon finding some great families. What was meant to be temporary is going to last longer than 'a month or so until I find a real job.' This is MY real job. In fact, I did go on a couple interviews, and turned down a "real" job -- I like what I do. Every aspect of it fits what I need right now, and hey -- If it's not broken, don't fix it.
So, looking back, it's amazing at how things can change. I have a feeling that over the next few years, there's going to be a lot of 'big' decisions being made that will determine the course of where the next 10,15, years go. And that's exciting!!
[Quick Update: Nannying is great. My days go by pretty quickly, which is hard to conquer in the winter months. I'm getting cabin fever, though, and I think so are all the kids. Thank GOD that hopefully the subarctic weather is finally over with, because now I will be able to go out and about during the day with the kids, which is AWESOME and going to make the day fly by even quicker.]
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