"I don't know you!"

Today I started tutoring one of my students at her house. Valeria's mother does in-home daycare, so I knew to expect some other children around. Valeria greeted me at the door and then we went up the stairs from the foyer. As I reached the top of the staircase a little Asian girl sitting in a high chairs shouts, "Mommy!" She then gets a better look at me and says, "I don't know you!" and quickly proceeds to put her hands over her eyes and say, "I'm scared!"

"Oh, dear!"

I had to use the restroom right as I got to a friend's house. I went to the hall bathroom and found pee all over the seat, courtesy of the little boys at the house. Instead of wiping it up, I decided to go to the downstairs bathroom. I didn't bother knocking. I busted right in and when I felt the steam, it was already too late. There was someone in the shower stall. I said, "Oh, dear!" and shut the door. Oops. Sorry, Benny!

Purge Round 2

After my first 10 item purge, I started thinking how easy it would be to get rid of 50 things. I even contemplated getting rid of 10 things every week for the rest of the year!

I was being a tad over-ambitious.

After round 2 of the purge, it seems that getting rid of things may not be so easy...

Here are the next 10 to go.



Pink bikini, mini cocktail set, velcro hair rollers, old school newspapers (I was on the staff, so it's not completely ridiculous that I still have them!), Sesame Street lunchbox from middle school, necklaces, electronic Scattergories, wedding planner, calculus answer book, and a green and white striped bag.

Purge Round 1

I know it sounds cheesy, but I've been doing a lot of self-exploration lately. Mostly because I'm so unenthused with my job. Last week, I had a meeting with the new HR director and she asked me if I enjoyed my job. And I cannot tell a lie...

I only took the job because I didn't have one. Even though I was only unemployed for three weeks, the thought of being a financial drain and not making my own money was unsettling to me.

So, anyway... here I am. Working 8-4, becoming increasingly irritated with my supervisor, poring over tons of blogs and various articles, trying to figure out what exactly it is that I want to do with my life.

Then I came upon this and decided that maybe I needed to get rid of some things in order to make room for all the great stuff that is about to come in! Eureka!

And today, I was watching Kimora Lee Simmons on her reality show, Life in the Fab Lane and she was eliminating clutter in her life. Her "clutter" is not surprisingly, a lot more interesting than mine, but I am beginning to sense a theme here.

Last week at church, the sermon was about preparing for God's blessing. Yes... this is definitely the direction that I need to be in right now.

So, without further ado... the first 10 things to go!



4 pairs of shoes, some honey from Australia, Bob's Sweet Stripes, Valentine's Day Lollipops, a cell phone holder, white eye shadow, and a tin of mints.

2011

Now that 2010 is behind us, I decided that I should revisit my resolutions and then create some new ones.

Here are my resolutions from last year and my results...

1. Volunteer once a month
I only managed to volunteer 4 times this year. I hope that I'll be able to find other opportunities. Am I limiting myself with the term "volunteer"? What about just helping a friend? Does that count? Hmm...

2. Take better care of myself - skincare, exercise, etc. (mostly for vanity's sake)
I think that this goal was much too vague. I am going to be more specific regarding this area of my goals.

3. Attend church on a more consistent basis
After attending a few different churches this year, I have found one that I really enjoy. I like this church a lot. They have a monthly scrapbook fellowship that I'm looking forward to attending! Also, J and I brought my mom there one Sunday and she decided that she wanted to make a commitment to coming to church with us once a month.

4. Save money (retirement, kitchen appliances...)
Money was saved for a honeymoon and we also put a down payment on a new car. We didn't get new kitchen appliances, but the new vehicle was a more pressing need.

2011 New Years Resolutions
1. Volunteer every other month (I figure 6 times a year is more attainable after only 4 times this year)

2. Exercise for 30 minutes a day (even if it means Wii Just Dance or Kinect Dance Central)

3. Become involved in the church (Hello, Scrapbook Fellowship)

4. Save money for a vacation (P's bachelorette not included)

5. Determine the motivation behind the things I say and do before I say and do them. Am I hurting or offending anyone? Am I helping anyone?

December Volunteer Venture

Back at the Goodwin House. I was there to wrap gifts for the residents. One of my friends met me there and we got to hang out a little bit. It was fun to wrap gifts and it definitely put me even more in the Christmas spirit.

It never occurred to me that as you get older, you might not be able to do some seemingly simple activities such as wrapping gifts. It was kind of sad, but I was definitely more than glad to be able to help :)

Pics here

i forgot...

to mention that there is a prisoner holding cell somewhere near my office. I'm thinking above. Right in front of my entrance door are police parking spots and I often see them bringing people in and out in handcuffs. In fact, during my first week, I saw someone in a jumpsuit with "PRISONER" on the back.

It's ok though, I worked at juvie before so I'm familiar with all of this stuff.

the job

So, I thought it was about time I blogged about my new job. I am a recruiting assistant for an IT company. Basically, I schedule interviews, maintain/update our status reports and try to keep things in order for my boss. I spend most of my day sitting in the office with him, in silence, except for the phone calls and occasional instructions and questions that follow.

I learned early on that my boss is an oversharer. He has told me all sorts of random TMI. From things that are supposed to be impressive (he once punched Keifer Sutherland for trying to ride his horse... long story) and things that are kind of odd (he just had to go home and change because his shirt isn't covering his stomach).

Last week, he tried to give me month-old cookies that were a gift from one of our vendors. Without even opening the box, I put them directly in the trash and said, "These aren't good anymore. They are hard as bricks now." And he responded with, "I didn't know. I don't eat cookies."

I didn't know if it was rude of me to put the cookies in the trash right in front of his face, but at the same time, my first thought was that I didn't want him to think he was doing me a favor by giving me old cookies.

Yeah, so that's my job. One fascinating moment after the other.