Blogoversary!

One year ago today, I was living in Florida and sitting in my house feeling down about being unemployed. I decided I needed to stay productive and have an outlet. What resulted was far beyond what I ever imagined. I’ve connected with some amazing people through this blog and it’s been such a great experience to become part of the greater blogging community. There are a ton of people out there who make blogging look so easy and I greatly admire them!

Who knew when I started this blog how much would change in just a few short months. In late October 2008, I got married and my husband and I went on a honeymoon cruise through the Caribbean. I spent my honeymoon trying to forget the fact that I had been laid off just a few weeks prior, and that when I returned home I would have quite a challenge ahead of me–finding a job in a recession market in South Florida, one of the worst-hit areas in the country. I remember spending November and December thinking really hard about what I wanted to do – did I want to own a business? Freelance? Go back into the corporate world? It felt like I had endless possibilities, but one fact kept creeping to the surface as time continued to pass—with my husband’s job also in jeopardy, we needed to broaden our job searching beyond Florida.

And so here I am now, a year later living a very different life in the Midwest. I like to say our move was out of necessity. A survival tactic. A Band-Aid. It’s not the ideal situation but at least we’re not living in a van down by the river. It’s ironic that tomorrow is Thanksgiving and today happens to be my Blogoversary because I’m thinking about all the good things that have resulted from blogging and the things for which I am thankful. First, I can’t emphasize enough how much I’ve enjoyed “meeting” people who are reading my little blog. In particular, Andi and Tracey have become two of my closest blogging buddies. Their energy and friendship have been a source of inspiration. Thanks to both of you – one of these days I hope we will get to meet in person!!

Thank you also to everyone who reads and comments on my blog. I love hearing from you and I look forward to continuing our interactions!

Here’s to another great blogging year ahead!

Thanks everyone,

Missy

Things That Really Bother Me

1. The drivers where I live are WORSE than the 90 year-old drivers in Boca. I mean, at least Grammie is driving the speed limit! People around here barely touch the pedal, it seems. I continue to be perplexed by this – there’s NO traffic! Why aren’t you driving the speed limit? It makes me nuts.
2. One of my co-workers is ALWAYS late to work -- nearly every day, I kid you not. And to make matters worse, she sends myself and my other co-worker an email message from her BlackBerry stating that she’s running late, her alarm didn’t go off, she had a wardrobe malfunction, her sinuses kept her up all night, her stomach is bothering her from eating too much cheese dip the night before and she’s stopping at Target to pick up Imodium, but they don’t open until 8 a.m. so that’s why she’s late…all of these are excuses she’s used. If I have to be here by or before 8 a.m., then what makes her so special that she can waltz in here 10, 15 or sometimes 30 minutes late?
3. People who are passive aggressive. I’m a “D” on the Disc test, and ENTJ on Meyers-Briggs. Basically this means that I tell it like it is, I don’t skirt around an issue. Unfortunately for me, there are A LOT of passive-aggressive types at work which is making it a little challenging for me. If you saw the recent season finale of Curb Your Enthusiasm on HBO, my complaint is similar to that of Jerry Seinfeld: What’s with people saying “Having said that…”? I mean, why can’t you just say what you mean the first time around?
4. Speaking of Seinfeld…you know what else is bothering me? Low Talkers. There is a certain person I work with who has a terrible, terrible habit of talking too low. Most days I find myself wanting to shake her to get the words out of her louder and clearer. What’s odd is that I think she’s adapted to this style of talking for business purposes. And I think she finds it perfectly acceptable to talk that way.
5. People who think their project/deadline is the most important thing on the planet, and that I should dropeverythingI’mdoingrightnowtohelpthem. ‘Nuff said.
6. Strangers who try to involve you in their drama. I was at Kohl’s not too long ago picking up a couple of picture frames (holy cow, have you seen how cheap their frames are? And cute, too!). Anyway, as I get into the check-out line it becomes obvious there is a huge issue with the cashier. She doesn’t know what she’s doing and she’s slow. So I jump into another line, where a soccer mom is purchasing clothes for her son. A TON of clothes...which means removing the hangers, checking for security tags, folding the clothes…and then the Mom starts complaining that the price isn’t ringing up correctly. So she starts looking at me, like, “Can you believe this? I mean, that price is wrong, it wasn’t like that in the Sunday flyer, I can’t believe they don’t have their merchandise labeled properly"…yada yada yada.
7. Finally, and because this just happened to me this morning…People who creep up behind your desk at work without any warning. How about a “hello” or “knock knock”? No, instead, I get someone talking right off the bat about a new project as I am still in the middle of typing an email. It’s like…can you give me just a second here to finish this thought that I was in the middle of typing? And that thought being how much I can’t stand it when people like you creep up behind me??

My Ongoing Fascination with David Duchovny

Oh I have sooo much I want to talk about...work, work politics, work gossip, how my husband and I are officially sick of eating at the Olive Garden {oh the horror of it all!!}, and my recent trip back to Florida--the first time since we moved in July {sniff}. But, all of that will need to wait. Because I am seriously in love with Hank Moody.

Hank is David Duchovny's latest character on the series Californication on Showtime. I first discovered this show on Netflix, watched Seasons 1 and 2, and then promptly ordered Showtime on cable so I could watch Season 3, currently airing. Are you watching this show? Well, ARE YOU? And if you aren't...WHY NOT??

Hank Moody is a struggling author with a 13-year old daughter and an on-again, off-again girlfriend/mother-of-his child, Karen {played by the incredibly beautiful Natascha McElhone -- seriously, it should be a crime to have cheekbones like hers. I would die for them.}

So, what's the big deal about this show? Well, let me tell you...first of all, it's very...shall we say...ADULT. This is not the kind of show you watch with your parents. Hank, of course, is a major chick magnet and seems to land a new girlfriend ever episode. {Or, as my husband says with such affection...Hank gets more ass than a toilet seat.} But, much like men say they don't read Playboy for the pictures, I like to say that I don't watch Californication for the action. I watch it for David Duchovy. The man is such a brilliant actor. Witty, funny and easy on the eyes...what's not to love? It's be great seeing him finally break free of his Agent Mulder character from the X-Files, although, he was just as equally entertaining on that show but for different reasons.

I just can't get over how they keep showing his butt on Californication. It's incredible!

OK, I have to stop here...I could go on and on. Do you have celebrities that you dream about? Who do you pretend to have as your boyfriend? Please, discuss, while I continue to be short of breath.

Missy's Trying Her Groove Back

I've been mulling over the title of this post for the past two weeks (incredibly, yes, two weeks). It was a Friday after work and I was driving home on the highway, thinking to myself that I really need, or should I say want, to start blogging again.

So I'm driving around the entrance ramp, when I say, ah, yes! I'll call it "Missy's Getting Her Groove Back" but then I realized, well, I haven't really gotten my groove back. Yet. Then I thought, maybe I should title this "Wow I really suck big time at blogging, and I really admire all those bloggers whom I read every day and somehow have something to say every day...yea, I really suck."

Yea, that's pretty much how I feel.

Moving back to the Midwest and becoming employed again has been, by far, a much bigger adjustment than I ever imagined. We like the area where we live, but we don't love it. I like my job a lot, but I don't love it. It's taken a few months for me to realize all this, but the reality is that our situation is probably more of a Band-Aid than anything at this point. I know we probably won't be in this area for a lengthy period of time, so we're just trying to make the most of it.

And making the most of something in this area is a very delicate balance. Unfortunately we've ate at nearly every restaurant in the area, with the exception of Hometown Buffet, which I refuse to set foot in. Last weekend we traveled over 40 miles just to go eat sushi. Who drives that far just to eat sushi? The minute we arrived in the town it was like, ahhh, civilization. We ordered way too much but it was worth it. I can still taste that salmon sushi and the yummy roll with drizzled mango sauce.

Later this week, for the first time since we moved in July, we are heading back to Florida to visit my stepson for his 14th birthday. I never thought I would miss living in Florida so much, but I miss our old house and the lifestyle. I miss my old nail salon and having Whole Foods and the mall just down the street. I miss our pool, and I even miss our crazy next-door neighbor.

Living back in the Midwest has its perks, though. I've enjoyed seeing the seasons change again. We have a fireplace in our house and we've put it to good use these past few weeks. I am finding it sort of fun again to shop for winter clothing and rebuilding a wardrobe. I am looking forward to the holidays and seeing the snow fall again. Of course, ask me again in a month if I like the snow. I will probably growl at you.

So, life all in all is good. My team recently discussed time-off during the holidays, and guess who will be in the office the whole time? Yep, yours truly. I only had five days off this year but I managed to negotiate three weeks for next year. So, I will be in the office the day before and after Thanksgiving, and around Christmas and New Year's. My co-workers were all making sad faces at me, like, "Oh we feel so badly that you have to be here" to which I responded "Last year at this time I was unemployed...I'm just thankful to have a job!"

And so that's really what I'm trying to do now...see the positives in everything. So what if I have to be in the office? At least I have a job. At least I have my health. And I'm pretty darn content, I guess.

For those of you who are still following me and my little old blog, thanks for hanging in there. It's good to be back.