Category Archives: All about me

Unexpected connections, sunglasses and – chi?


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I knew Thursday would be packed.

Another department manager had resigned, and a replacement wouldn’t arrive until next week. That meant existing folks jumping in to fill the gap. For the month end close, my day helping out would fall heaviest that day.

I was prepared because I had cleared out my own tasks faster than usual and I made sure no one needed me for anything that evening in case I had to stay later.

The additional challenge to the day was not even, really, presented by the work itself.

It was the damn Health Fair!

First of all, I had it in my mind to make sure to bring the temp worker and my other full time female co-worker with me. (The male in my office was not interested).

The reason I did was because I had read a Happify task: Reach Out To A Potential Friend

Is there someone at work you’d like to befriend but don’t know how? Is there a neighbor who once said “I’d love to have you over for a drink, sometime!” but never followed through?

Now, I never take these tasks 100% literally – in fact, they all have an option for you to decide on your own how you want to approach it, but it’s the intention behind it that matters.

I wanted to reach out to the temp so she could enjoy the giveaways and presentations. She couldn’t win the raffle as someone not a full time employee, but she still might see something of interest to her and just be part of a social event to break up the day. The full time co-worker is a normally shy and quiet gal who I knew wanted to go but would also feel better if there were people with her.

Well, the other full time employee and I were over there for the full 90 minutes of the event! We had so much fun doing little things like trying out food, juice, lotions, getting a bone density reading, a BMI test and then….then..then! The one that blew us both away – the chi analysis.

We had watched them in the corner booth for a bit and already heard reports that the woman who did the reading was amazing. Her husband uses chi for pain removal, and he was also there. My co-worker has some cranky knees so she sat down for a session with him while I put our names in line for the reading. It took time because she was giving everyone at least 10 minutes at a time.

All I will say when it came to my turn is that I was astonished at how accurately she “read” me without asking me a thing! I stood in front of her for about 2-3 minutes. She was about 2 feet back from me, and she kind of bounced her hand in the air over portions of my body – mostly focusing on the torso and shoulders.  She took notes on an iPad, and when she was done I sat down, and THEN we talked.  Truthfully, she asked spot on questions, I did my best to answer succinctly because people were waiting in line – but just even her questions were so revealing that my head was in utter turmoil when I stood up.  Turmoil sounds bad, but it’s not really – there was just so much she uncovered so quickly I knew it would take time to process.  My co-worker felt the same way when she was done. Oh, and her knees felt much better, and they still do today!

We are both going to call them for a full 30 minute free session.

So, clearly I reached out and connected with my co-worker quite successfully. We were still talking about it again this morning, and it’s probably the most animated I’ve seen her since she started working here. I know I probably would not have stayed as long at the fair or perhaps not even done the chi session without her.

Oh – and we both won prizes! She won a free facial treatment, and I won a pair of pretty snazzy new sunglasses! Which is kind of funny since I had just left my old ones at my parent’s over Easter  which reminded me that those were cheap and scratched, and maybe I could treat myself to some new ones. Hmmm…maybe I gave off a chi vibe about that?

Anyway, I was extra grateful at the end of the day to have this additional task in my Happify track:

Body Scan Meditation:

Block out 10 minutes, lie down somewhere comfortable, and spend a minute focusing on your breathing.

Now, imagine you’re taking a scan of your whole body, starting with your feet and moving past your torso on up to your head.

This was absolutely perfect for me to do and I know the reason I had such a good night sleep despite working until 7 and having that turmoil in my mind is because I first talked to M about it and then did this task.

The bottom line is that these tasks make me approach things so much differently each day.  I certainly would not have made the connections that I did on Thursday which would have been a huge loss.

Riding in the sunset for a while


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Photo by @KCAlfredphoto 

Torrey Pines golf course at sunset.

I thought this photo was perfect – I was going to look for something that depicted “swamped” or “rat race” but really, in keeping with my NO Whining & NO Gasbags motto for 2013, I must say that while I will need to maintain a more intense level of focus and sticking to tasks for the next couple of months, it’s for GOOD reasons.

  1. My co-worker (staff member in my department) is having a baby in early April
  2. We have a new software program that will, over the long term, make her tasks a lot easier
  3. Technology will allow me to do a lot of work from home so that I can still make dinner, work out, and snuggle with cats here and there.

February and March will fly by. I’ve got to get all our leases into the new system before the end of this month so that we can spend next month tweaking with reporting and auto loads to the AP system for a more streamlined rent payment process (that will benefit two departments). I have to interview temp employees and hopefully have one chosen and working with us in March. On top of the usual tasks in these months of performance evaluations and budget planning for the next fiscal year. Wee?

Plus I need to keep posting on the pergola site once a week. Plus I’d like to run now and then. Plus, oh yeah, don’t I have kids and a boyfriend and stuff?

What that means is likely just weekly check in posts with the money & exercise habit progress reports and not much else. It means no Facebook except on the weekend maybe. I’ll post on twitter, but I wont be reading 100% of my timeline. I’ve currently got four books in my Kindle that I will use as complete down time breaks. I’ll take off all work of any kind on Sundays. But yes, I will be working at night and on Saturdays for the next month for sure, and possibly into March.

The payoff will be sanity while Tracy is on leave and beyond.

And it really isn’t that bad. 16 isn’t playing sports so there isn’t a pull there. His grades are not AWESOME, but they are also not HORRID this year and that is without me monitoring anything. We just had some wonderful, solid time together – all of us – while I was recovering from surgery.

Speaking of which – oh my goodness is it ever freaking awesome to be done with all THAT! Back to normal and feeling great. Phew!

Part of the responsibility of being a manager is having to cover vacancies and I am up for it. I actually really enjoy it as long as I have the space to focus on it. And it’s only for 4-6 weeks and as I check off each lease and task from the list, the load will ease.

I do have a 5k trail race on schedule for this Sunday so I will probably share pics from that – a new trail out in Mission Gorge that I am really excited to check out. Then a 6k trail even in late March at Black Mountain. SO not to worry – I’ll be getting some sanity restoring outdoor running time in :-)

How could I not with that beautiful scenery above displaying just how wonderful it is to live in this beautiful part of the world?

 

Warning! This is your brain on Zyrtec!


Well, MY brain anyway ….

The ol’ barometric pressure took a nose dive last night and right on cue my sinuses filled with pressure.  Consequently I’ve been either excessively foggy headed and tired from the pressure itself or, the Zyrtec I take to relieve it somewhat. Take your pick – either way, I am not at my sharpest but with the meds, at least it doesn’t hurt :-)

Here are some random ramblings of my brain in this condition. I should probably apologize ahead of time to the many many people I may will offend or piss off.

Nah…..why start now?

**** There are Christmas lights on TWO houses around the corner from me! TWO! And not just put up because you hired one of those light hanging services to come do it just to get it over. I’ve seen those. They go up, but don’t turn them ON at least until after Thanksgiving. No, these two houses are LIT UP! ON November 17th!! Now, I am the Mrs Griswold of the block and I love exploding in lights more than anyone, but NEVER…NEVER…before Turkey Day! Heck, with Thanksgiving being so early this year I may not even hang my outdoor lights immediately.

Maybe. Don’t hold me to that :-)

**** This one wont offend anyone – last night was the final Friday Night Lights for us this year. Since 16 is a junior and was hurt most of the season I am OK with it, but also very sad for the seniors who played their last game together. Apparently they were all crying on the field after. Especially big #78. Even though he is the only one guaranteed to be playing Division 1 football in college, it was very hard for him to say goodbye to the coaches and players who basically taught him the game. He hadn’t played youth football like so many others because he was too big so his only football experience is at the high school. It’s no wonder he had the hardest time seeing that end. I’ll be sad to see many of the parents move on. This senior class was a great group of families and kids. We’ll have a finally banquet for the kids in early December to really wrap up the season and I think extra tissues will be needed all around!

**** Speaking of parents…so…I live in an area that may have or may not have a reputation of potentially being another location for The Real Housewives. Plenty of excess money and time goes around in certain parts. Not the WHOLE area mind you, but there are some very very ritzy pockets and if their kids go to public school, the end up where we are. I’ve now been to dozens of baseball, football and girls volleyball games over the last two years and I noticed something about the volleyball crowd recently.

Some of them need to lose the phone numbers to their plastic surgeons. Really. I mean it. There are way too many Dolly Parton and Cher look-a-likes in the stands at the gym! I have no clue why there appears to be a higher percentage per capita of such examples in that particular crowd vs the other sports but…yeah..it’s kinds scary to see them up close.

**** I should follow up after the rant earlier about the busy body/bullying co-worker to report that – as I suspected would happen – about an hour or so after I barked at her, she came by in her classic passive-aggressive manner and struck up a totally unrelated conversation but then managed to “slip in” her version of an apology. Having known her my whole adult life, I know her patterns all too well and she didn’t disappoint. Ah well….some people just never grow up or learn real empathy. I just wish those types would be quieter :-)

And now I need to get to bed and hope that I wake up with a bit clearer head tomorrow. We have a trail run planned and I want to enjoy it like I enjoyed the run on Wednesday.

 

 

I am SUCH an only child!


Why do I state this?

Because the best way for me to regain some semblance of sanity when I am feeling anxious over being in limbo..or stressed…or in any way out of sorts….the BEST thing I can do for myself is get as far away from people as possible.

It doesn’t have to be for long, but it needs to just BE.

So today since I had a mid-day appointment with the final exterminator, I decided I didn’t want the hassle of driving back and forth from work. So I took the day off.

I still got up at 6am and listened to the radio show I like.

But instead of going to work, I drove down to the local trail.

And I ran.

No music, no more radio show, just me, my breathing, my thoughts and the trail.

I initially thought I might run for 3 miles. But about 1 mile in I decided on 5. The temperature was perfect. I’d planned ahead and drank plenty of water and ate some energy beans for breakfast #1 so I knew I was prepared nutritionally to just go. So, I did.

I ran slow – 12 min miles. But I never stopped. Up and down one end of the trail and the other and part way back again to reach the 5 miles total almost exactly at the 60 minute mark.

And OH IT FELT SO GOOD!!!

My brain churned over and walked through and then let go of all the crap.

And my feet kept churning along too.

I genuinely smiled and said good morning to everyone I met on the trail (and for 8am on a Wednesday there was quite a lot of trail traffic!) I took note of every bird and lizard and rabbit that crossed my path. I inhaled as I passed the bales of hay – twice!

As much as I love running with my friends there are just days when, well, I NEED to run alone.

At the 5 mile mark I was feeling my left knee tighten at the t-band and it still does feel sore even after stretching and rolling. It’ll be fine. We have regular 8 mile Sunday morning runs starting this weekend and I wanted to be ready. After not running in 10 days and that last run being rather horrid, I really needed something before Sunday to know I could keep up.

After the run, I went up to Starbucks, ordered Breakfast #2 and then…I sat down in a big leather chair in the shop and just relaxed.

Sipped my gingerbread latte. Ate my breakfast sandwich. Scrolled through twitter on my phone. People watched.

Almost and hour…just sitting. And being.

And pardon my french, but damn that was so fucking amazing and necessary!!!

Teaching my brain how to focus


Instead of constantly bitching about the shiny object syndrome that hampers nearly everyone’s ability to focus, I decided to actively try and do something about it.

I had already stopped obsessively reading my twitter timeline daily (yes, I stupidly used to actually try and do that. And? I sadly DID for a long time). I had everyone organized into lists so I simply started using those more effectively which mean perhaps keeping my eye on the Media list during the day but only checking in on other time lines first thing in the morning or after dinner. But on the weekends I was still being drawn to it like a moth to a flame.

Same with Facebook. I was never quite as addicted as I was to Twitter, but I was still in there a lot and reading certain Close Friend lists constantly and posting and commenting quite a lot.

My Google Reader feed with all the blogs I follow? Checked it and opened/read/skimmed nearly every damn post. Which is insane because I subscribe to 75 blogs. I know that’s actually not a LOT compared to some, but really…75!!

Then I started to up my writing – both for fun and for work and..I know..this will shock you – I discovered that I couldn’t get started. A lot! I wouldn’t call it writer’s block at all. It was more like, information overload where I had taken in SO MUCH at once that I didn’t know how to unjumble the words.

I mean, in reality, I was doing a LOT of skimming. It was incredibly rare for me to click on a link from Twitter or Facebook and then read the WHOLE article shared. Same with those blog posts in my Reader. Skimmed. Nearly every time. Unless it was full of cat pictures. THOSE I read top to bottom :) But commenting on any of the sites? Oh hardly ever since, well, I hadn’t really ABSORBED whatever lovely things had been written.

And as someone who thinks likes and follows are cool, but that comments on a post are GOLDEN, well…I wasn’t exactly playing the game correctly myself was I?

So, I said STOP.

What is quite funny is that right after my own internal clock setting off that alarm, I just happened to get a link to a most on What Multitasking Does To Our Brains. And I read it. All of it. In one sitting. And I nodded. A lot. In the advice on how to bring yourself back to focusing it hit upon some of the techniques I started doing.

I closed my browser tabs to all social media UNLESS I was in a space when Twitter & Facebook were OK to peruse. This also meant moving my phone out of my sight and reach and even turning it face down.

I listen to music more which does work for me.

I’ve gone back to the tried and true routine of making lists on paper. I’ve got a little notebook I carry around with a weekly task list for web content writing or promotion. I’ve got another one at my day job with a list of weekly tasks. I’ve found the process of physically holding pen to paper to jot down my ideas/notes/inspirations gained is critical to cementing them in my brain in a more organized fashion so that when I have to tap into one of them to create a post or even re-design a spreadsheet at work, the thoughts flow out much more freely.

I allow myself NOT to read things entirely. If I know I only have time to skim my Reader? Then I check the list, see if a title or an author grabs my eye and if not, then “Mark as Read” is hit and I close the tab. If I see something I want to read, then I READ IT. Depending on how much time I have allotted in that moment, I might read 2 or 3. But I READ THEM. And I try to leave a comment on anything that drew me in long enough to do that.

When I have the time at the end of the night to perhaps catch up on twitter, half the time I pick up a book instead. The goal there is to focus on something more than 140 character bursts. Again, it’s like that helps my brain keep the information going in more organized.

I also save more tweets to go back and click on links later if I know I will want to READ them.

And I have to say that it’s been so much more relaxing this way!

When I want to write, it’s no big deal to get going. Words flow, I can stick with it to the end and when I hit post I feel a lot better about what I’ve written.

At work, I am back to starting and FINISHING tasks in one sitting without those “Squirrel!” moments catching my eye. Amazingly enough, the workday goes by a lot faster as a result!

And all of THAT relaxes me so that I can respond to the needs of the other two people in the house AND also carve out time to run much more easily.

So yes, I would certainly have to say that multitasking was not working for me at all. Practicing mindful focus is much much healthier and more productive.

What do YOU do to keep your focus?

The merry month of May


So here’s a rarity. I’m going to try to write in here every night this month. Sort of like a (gulp) actual diary. I’m sure it will largely be boring and frequently short, but I know I will need to do some non technical writing to keep my brain clear. Having sold more books we are going to really ramp up the fresh content & format of PDIY. Also going to update the book itself & look into formatting it for kindle, nook & iBooks. Oh yeah, and finish up the in depth market research for the next site.
Yipes! I’ll need a place to process the rest of my day so prepare for the mundane.
Por ejemplo:
The first 60 mins of today (4/30) were a total fail. Woke up sore as hell from three hours of workouts yesterday & as an added bonus! Special! Sinus headache included. Chip peed on the floor while I ate breakfast do I got to clean that before I left which caused me to leave my phone at home. Ugh. Thankfully, I managed to shrug off the foul mood (though not the headache) as the day wore on. It helped that work itself went along pretty smoothly and that two more ebooks sold – yay! 15 was his usual uncooperative self regarding school & did the bare minimum as usual at first. Then he started talking about his Xbox “clan” and a schedule & goals and I said. “THAT! Show me THAT organization & motivation to meet goals with school & I’ll help you clear the space & time to reach your clan goals!” jeepers! Got a bit of agreement on that actually.
Meeting with Eve to get organized over dinner helped finally turn the day around.
Then Chip peed again :( ugh that cat!! I know I should take him to the vet soon. $$$ other than the peeing he is fine though. At least it’s just two spots on the wood floor (so far)
Now for the dorky part of this experiment: I am rating Monday Yellow. A little pee, a little virtual sunshine with both jobs & a middle of the road schoolwork day.

What’s that saying about old dogs and new tricks?


Or, more appropriately for me – old cats?

In my ongoing pursuit of supplemental income I’ve mentioned that I’ve been doing some content writing for a website that I run with my friend Eve. I know you’ve all checked it out at least once and clicked on an ad or two for me right? What? You haven’t? Oh, c’mon – here, check out the pergola design page so you can all the wonder possibilities out there :-) I’ll wait…………..

But seriously folks (and thanks if you actually bothered to do that!) I’ve been ramping up the writing for the site updating pages and writing more articles for a corresponding wordpress blog that feeds to the site and hey now – we’ve sold 10 ebooks since Feb! W00t! Five of them in April alone. Adsense revenue has taken off in the last two months and I actually got a payment from them this month (threshold is $100 before they issue). I had to learn obviously about pergolas in order to write intelligently on them and then I had to start learning the basics of SEO so that I could drive traffic and interest to the site. Those concepts were not too hard to absorb really.

However….

Now Eve is bringing me in on new client contracts she gets to help support other small business owner’s sites.  Since she also has a full time day job she wants to train me on some more in depth internet market researching skills which I can then translate to our own site and to another one we want to launch this year as well as take some income from her client contracts to ease her work load and increase the services she can provide them. So now I am reading manuals and learning a whole new software and how to analyze the data it spits out and…..aack!

I mean – this isn’t a TOTAL 180 swing from accounting but it is close! Of course, my math oriented brain wants to create statistical analysis out of it all and actually the initial programs are doing just that but now I have to learn how to read them. It’s like learning a new language with PPC & ORV & CPC and…yowza!

Marketing and writing – whodu thunk?

There are many nights when I just have to sit back and say “Brain. Full. Need. Sleep.To.Reset.”

And then I dream about pie charts.

Mmmmm..pie.

I need a beer.

Have a good weekend :-)

Dear Mildred


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Isn’t that one of the coolest photos you’ve ever seen? Thought I’d send you this with best wishes for a fantabulous weekend. We, of course, are due again for rain on Sunday. Because it ONLY rains on weekends in San Diego. Seriously. It sucks.

What also sucks is that I have to go to a memorial service on Sunday. A much loved high school teacher passed away last month. Even though I never had class with him, I still knew him since it was such a small campus and nearly all of my closest friends did take his famous Art History class and then went on the summer trip to Europe with him. The stories I heard from those trips sure made me envious!! My best friend Jax was one of those students. She adored him. The one textbook she kept – which I now have – was her Art History book. Art Throughout the Ages. Funny how you can close your eyes and still picture textbooks from your past, right? Since Jax is gone, and I know it would have been important to her to honor this teacher, I will go in her place. Which is pretty much doubly sad for me, but I know it’s the right thing to do to honor HER memory.

Now, it wont all be sad! Because it means I will see a lot of my high school buds. Many of whom I have reconnected with on Facebook. A few lovely ladies in particular who I’ve come to know again will be here from up north. We’ll have a nice get together on Sat night before the memorial on Sunday. THAT part of the weekend will be fun.

Meanwhile, to ease any anger or outrage over other stupid things going on in the world, just stare into that water up there. I swear that and a good blueberry beer will soothe what ales you.

Hah! “Ales” you! Get it?! Hahahahaha. I kill me.

Keep on rockin’ in the free world,

Love, Me.

Dear Shirley


 

The weekend did not go as planned. Mother Nature not only didn’t listen to my plea for calm weather, she essentially threw a righteous temper tantrum that effectively canceled the Super Seal Triathlon. No cheering for my friends. No pictures. No cowbell. Just lots and lots of cold cold wind and rain and even hail. Consequently we treated our no running/no racing depression with lots of beer & high calorie food. OK, so that part wasn’t so bad :-)  I just want to say that I highly recommend both blueberry beer (can be found in your grocery store) and the Bloody Mary Brunch at Small Bar.

As an added treat,  I also found a lovely little surprise in my in box this weekend.

It’s been ages since anyone passed on a bloggy award to me. I guess that actually, you know, updating the blog now & then means more people might stumble across it and play along? :-) Shocking eh? I should really pass the award on to 15 since he has largely been the inspiration for writing (for better or worse!) Of course, he might not be so thrilled about that eh?

At any rate, I would like to send out a huge thanks and hello to new blog friend Scott at Raising a Realist for passing this along. He’s one of those YOUNG parents with an adorable daughter but he also has the added JOY of being a high school teacher. IOW, he really gets to spend his days with the likes my own Mr 15. Poor sap :)

So, the rules for accepting the award are:

  1. Thank the award-givers and link back to them in your post – DONE!
  2. Share 7 things about yourself. HAH – since my about me already has a few more than seven this might be difficult but for the newbies I will figure it out.
  3. Pass this award along to 15 other bloggers. 15?! Ack!
  4. Contact your chosen bloggers to let them know about the award. Will do!

Seven Things About Me

  1. I absolutely cannot handle violent movies. Images stick in my head way too easily and way too long. Why then, you ask, do you watch all the CSI’s and Criminal Minds and Gray’s Anatomy? Easy – at home on my TV I can look away easily and those are still somewhat tame compared to an HBO type show or a movie in a theater.
  2. Speaking of the theater… I have a very hard time NOT typing spelling that as “theatre” I learned how to read and write at a Montessori school where the teachers were all from Sri Lanka and had learned proper British English. Consequently there are still a few words in my brain that are spelled differently. I am not always aware of them, it’s just something that comes up as I am reading or writing now and then.
  3. My summer/early college jobs were a) Wild Animal Park food worker (traumatized by the site of maggots in a particular side dish has ensured that I will never eat that side dish again) b) Avon sales gal (HATED IT!) c) Office assistant at a periodontists where I filed charts and insurance forms. Just as boring as it sounds and convinced me I wanted nothing to do whatsoever in the medical/dental fields. IOW – all of those early jobs taught me exactly what I would NOT want to pursue as a career. Good process of elimination there considering I didn’t just automatically know what I DID want to do.
  4. (This is a lot harder than I thought to some up with these!) It’s been 12 years since I last made a car payment.
  5. I am the rare girl who does not like to shop for clothes. I’d estimate that the majority of the clothes in my closet are over 5 years old. Some are easily 10. There may even be items that I still wear occasionally that are pre-15 :-) Same with shoes. Sure, some of it is money but even when I might have had a more generous clothing budget I still didn’t shop much.
  6. Home or garden stores though? Oh yeah – let me loose!! There’s a frustrated interior and landscape designer inside me, I swear! Maybe that’s why I have no trouble doing content writing for a DIY pergola site :)
  7. (dear gawd, how happy am I to see that 7 pop up finally?!!) I’ve reached the age when, if I don’t write it down, it aint gonna happen. Well, it *could* be age, or it just could be the nature of how much I have to juggle but whatever – it’s my reality. And I’m talking some incredibly basic things too. Like remember to pick UP the dry cleaning you dropped off. I have to make a To Do list every Saturday morning for the upcoming week or I am lost. I love that my new phone has Siri because I’ve already asked her while driving to remind to do something when I got home (Put new pack of gum in car, take chicken out to defrost etc etc). Without Siri or my own To Do list notes I am pretty sure I would just sit in front of the computer reading and writing and watching videos and then wonder why my gas tank is empty, I have no clean clothes or food and for gawds sake why are the cats howling like that?!

And now, paying it forward:

The following bloggers are in my Reader or Subscription list so that means I liked their writing enough to not want to miss a single post, ok? OK! So give them a click please.

  1. Diatribes and Ovations
  2. Be Gay About It
  3. Child’s Play x3
  4. Juggling Life
  5. Mel, A Dramatic Mommy
  6. Miss Music Nerd
  7. museikchik
  8. My Imperfect Truth
  9. Old Blue Socks
  10. Broken Condoms
  11. The Unintentional Mother
  12. Dinosaurs Can’t Eat Pizza
  13. Visionary Gleam
  14. Three Cat Yard
  15. The Journey

Hey, it was easier to come up with the 15 than it was to come up with the 7!

And if you read all the way down to the bottom of this letter Shirley, I applaud you. Also? Cross your fingers for me OK? This is the afternoon that we go to the Dee Em Vee to get both 15 and 26 on the road to being fully licensed drivers.

I am still not entirely sure how I feel about that!!

But I am sure I will need a blueberry beer when I get home.

Love, me

Dear Christine


No, this isn’t a new name I came up with to address – it’s the name that TOO MANY DAMN PEOPLE use to address ME!

Note to parents: I know you worry about naming your children & how you spell their names because you don’t want them to be teased and such in school – yeah – forget that. Worry about the ADULTS who are too busy/inconsiderate/blind/disrespectful to care.

Now, I understand if you were first introduced to me in person and you get mixed up. ChristinA – Christine – they are close. I get it. I will even gently correct you once or twice once you develop your bad habit of getting my name wrong. Certainly, if we become close enough to consider each other friends and I see you fairly frequently, I WILL tweak you a bit if you keep screwing it up.

However….

If you reply to me after I send you an email…when my signature clearly shows my name spelled out properly…and you STILL reply back to me “Dear Christine”? Well, as you can imagine I have now completely tuned you out. It doesn’t matter what you write after the salutation because my brain registered it as “Oh, a dumbass! DELETE!”

Now, trust me – I wish I could delete. But especially at work, I can’t. However, especially at work – I am even more insulted! How unprofessional do you have to be to not be careful about how you spell someone’s name? It just happened again this week. I sent an email in response to a voice message because I needed clarification what the dumbass..errr…co-worker needed. She responded with “Hi Christine….blah blah blah..I’m too stupid to care if I spelled that right…blah blah blah!” Ok, so everything after the misspelled name might have been what my mind read vs what it really said but….

I managed to swallow my annoyance and provide her an answer…and then I sort of stealthily BOLDED the a in my signature thusly:

Christina

Now – I have no clue if she noticed or not. You know why? Because not only is she blind – she’s also rude. After providing her the information she needed I got CRICKETS back in return. No “Thank you” – NADA.

Blind AND inconsiderate all in one package.

I blame Christine. She needs to GTFO of my life already!