School is going ok so far. I have a Supervision/Leadership project due in two weeks, and a Marketing test coming up. I think that if I can make it to spring break with good grades, I’ll be just fine.

The new job is… hmm… new. As much as I will miss my old job, I’m looking forward to focusing on just one thing. Having my attention split in so many different directions with the two jobs and school is difficult. Also, I know observation is important for learning, but I’m so used to doing things when I’m at work (cause that’s what they pay me for – doing things) that just watching makes me nervous. I feel anxious like I’m going to get in trouble, even though rationally I know that’s silly. Technically, because of the split with the old job, I’ve spent an equivalent of 9 days training. There’s only so much a person can contribute in their first 9 days, right?

Stupid work ethic.

My brain is either going to love me for challenging it so much in such a short period of time, or it’ll spontaneously combust.

I know summer seems a long way off today, but it’ll be here before I know it and the slower pace will be quite welcome. I foresee strolls along the river bank and juicy peaches! *grin*

Why am I so shocked by the whole ordeal? Because I’m going to be working in Human Resources. Yep, that’s right, this introverted thinker is going to have to work on her people skills. The strategizing, planning, and implementing aspects of the job sound ridiculously fun though.

It’s a good thing I don’t have kids, or my life would really start to resemble that of Sally Forth.

The problem with being up so early is that it’s hard to be productive without making much noise. My husband will sleep until about 7min before he must leave for work, which limits the activities I can do in the bedroom until roughly 10am.

Slightly different topic – I’ve been more annoyed than usual at the sound of buzzing electrical white noise. I think that once everyone is awake it will be a music or movie filled day in order to drown out the refridgerator compressor.

Maybe I’ll pile on some warm clothes and go for a walk. It’d do me good to get away from all these devices for a bit.

My dad had the day off so he drove up to visit for a few hours. It was nice to see him, and we finally went to The Machine Shed in Lake Elmo. That was a drive from our apartment, but it was worth it because we walked in to see a big round table of old pals chattering away, just like my uncles and their fishing buddies do at the Rockford, IL location they frequent.

Here’s hoping December has just the right amount of intrigue.

Green beans.

What is there to say about green beans?

They are green, and they grow on bushes or poles. They are the main ingredient in a delicious holiday casserole, though as a child I did not appreciate it one bit. That was the dish I avoided, and I usually got away with it as long as there was another vegetable option on my plate. (I favored creamed corn, and still do.) The kind of green beans I most enjoy are the garlicky sauteed variety that come from Chinese restaurants.

These look pretty good though…

We’re currently talking about employment law stuff in my Monday night class, which is interesting. We focused a lot on sexual harassment tonight, and at one point the teacher asked the women to raise their hands if they’d ever been sexually harassed at work. About half the women raised their hands.

Half.

Half! That’s too many!

My arm went up since he didn’t specify that the harasser had to be a fellow employee. There were many times while I was working at the gas station that customers said inappropriate things. I can remember a particular conversation two of the mall maintenance guys were having about the shape of my backside… it clearly wasn’t intended to be a private conversation.

Sometimes I’m really glad I’m not in my twenties anymore, and sometimes I’m even glad that I’m out of shape because I encounter far less of that sort of attention.

That sort of thing would probably come in handy. Once I got better at recording things, maybe I could start to work them into stories to use for various purposes.

I blame this notion on the book I’m reading: The Elements of Persuasion. It mentions the real-life stories The Ritz-Carlton uses to motivate employees and increase business by word-of-mouth advertising. When people have some autonomy and enough time to go above and beyond, some amazing things happen.

I can keep it up on my waist for a while, much longer than I’d be able to handle a small hoop for sure, but I still need a lot of practice. It’s a good thing for me to remember that sometimes it takes a while for a new activity to feel natural. Even if my first try doesn’t work brilliantly, I can improve my skill over time.

It’s a little bit like what it says in this article: What Kind of Genius Are You? Some people make their mark when they’re young. For other people, it takes a lot of trial and error, a lot of learning and building, to get to their peak. I’m not saying I’m going to hit my hooping peak at age 65  (ha!), but all of these little adventures give me stories to tell and help my perseverance.

So, it was Black Friday, all day, despite my feelings that it wasn’t. I did actually order a couple of simple gifts via Amazon a few minutes ago, but other than that I didn’t shop. I still haven’t decided if I’m going out to buy a hoop tomorrow. I suspect it will depend on the weather.