Wednesday, October 26, 2011

back

a very good friend of mine posted a link to my blog in her blog, so now i'm feeling obligated to keep this thing updated! work did this horrible thing it does where it picks up and doesn't give me a chance to think. so now i'm taking a thinking moment by force, whether or not it's here. because i think i read somewhere that it's more productive to take mind breaks throughout the day than to charge forward and get decision fatigue without a break.

anyway, there's news! i'm PREGNANT! at 14 weeks now, thane & i go tonight to hear baby's heartbeat for the first time. i've got an itty bitty baby bump in progress, and it's really interesting that my body is forming a baby without my help at all! i mean, i'm eating healthy stuff, and i'm exercising (if dancing like a fool at a Hanson concert last week counts, which i think it does). but i'm not thinking, ok, let's get to work on those eyelids! or tonight while i sleep, i think i'm going to form some vocal chords and maybe get a kidney if there's time. it really is a miracle.

all this to say, i'm definitely still in the office, and even though i dream at night about being a stay-at-home mom, it's just not in the picture right now. and i'm ok with that. i trust that God will provide thane with an awesome, high-paying job if we need loads of money and a lazy abby. we'll see.

feels good to be back. who knows? maybe i'll start up a baby blog..

Friday, March 4, 2011

a walking adventure

yesterday, i took a walk during my lunch break. it was a good walk to the boundary of my office complex. exercise and exposure to sun were desperately needed. but, because that wasn't enough of an adventure, i decided today to walk past the office complex. i like adventures, and i think you do, too, if you're reading this. i i'll tell about about my amazing lunchtime walking adventure.

when walking to the end of the office complex, i noticed again (i had noticed it yesterday, too) the train track that runs up a little hill, parallel to the office buildings. so i walked up onto the tracks to see what i could see. and what did i see but a path! a paved path that ran through a little wooded area behind some huge houses. so, of course, i followed it. houses in wayne are HUGE. and at least a few of them have dogs. the fun part was imagining that i was walking into narnia or some other magical world. or imagining the fun conversations i could have with the people who live in these huge houses.

about 15 minutes after finding the path, the alarm on my phone went off, telling me that it was time to turn around and get ready to rejoin reality. of course, as my phone started ringing, i came upon a sign on my path that said that it was a restricted area or no trespassing or something like that. so i had to turn back. but now i'm really interested to find out what lies beyond that sign!

by request, an update

because i love my sister, and because i can't resist a requested update, a few fun quotes from the last week or so:

"we need to know how, where, how and when."

"we have some backpaid bills that has not yet been paid by you guys."

"it's a whole bunch of numbers followed by the letter six."

"So, you know, it does get taken out on a basis."


"All of the notes we have are kept."


"They’re on the west side of the coast.”


and my favorite recent quote:


"Generally, that's impossible, but..."

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

BAIL

aaand i'm back!

and i'm in a whole new state of mind called simplicity. i've been reading blogs such as Becoming Minimalist, Small Notebook, SimpleOrganic, and Zen Habits (and, of course, all of the other similarly-minded blogs branching off from those listed). so i've changed the look of this blog back to its minimalistic state (let's see how long this lasts), and i'm moving into a more purposeful stage of life -- one where i don't get bogged down in the stress of things that don't matter. anxiety is so 2010. it's a new year!

and i've discovered a new favorite website. similar to MLIA, but better! HERE it is!

and i just saw Inception for the first time last night. so well done! and here is my favorite DBPB.com post so far:

Dear Martin Luther King, Jr.,

I have a dream within a dream within a dream within a dream... Now what?
Sincerely,
Leonardo DiCaprio

Monday, November 1, 2010

NaNoWriMo!

today is november 1. november is National Novel Writing Month. this year, i am finally taking the plunge to participate in writing my very own 50,000-word novel. i only decided this about 4 days ago, so i'm really flying by the seat of my pants here. i have a vague idea about plot. i'm writing from the first person because that's what i'm comfortable doing (feels more natural, if you can believe it), and i'm taking my inspiration from this blog, The Office, Outsourced, notalwaysright.com, and mylifeisaverage.com. i think this is going to be fun. i got a decent start this morning (887 words) before work, and i'm really, really antsy to finish up the day with about 850 more (daily goal to get 50,000 words in 30 days is 1,667).

"Today, I was in my car and we passed a hobo with a sign that said "WILL EAT FOR FOOD!". I was hopelessly confused. MLIA"

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

the dead little bird

once upon a time, there was a dead bird. i don't know how it died, but it must have been over the weekend because monday morning, it was lying dead on the office's doorstep. ok, it wasn't actually on the doorstep, which is quite small. it was tucked up against the doorstep so that you stepped over it to enter the building. someone in our office said she thought it was a leaf.

anyway, the dead little bird was there monday morning, and a customer service rep came in complaining about it.  the dead little bird was still there this morning, when the same customer service reps complained about it. seeing as how auditors were coming, we decided to move it out of sight. having a dead bird by your doorstep is not very inviting or professional.

someone suggested a memorial service, so when my manager brought out a dustpan and scooped up the dead little bird, i said a few words. it was a very moving ceremony. unfortunately, it was only a little bit like the episode of The Office where they have a funeral for a dead bird. quote time!

Pam: I'd also like to say a few words if that's okay.
Michael: Yes.
Pam: What do we know about this bird? You might think, "Not much. It's just a bird." But we do know some things. We know it was a local bird. Maybe it's that same bird that surprised Oscar that one morning with a special present from above.
Kevin: Oh, I remember that. That was SO funny. 
Pam: And we know how he died. Flying into the glass doors. But you know what? I don't think he was being stupid. I think he just really, really wanted to come inside our building to spread his cheer and lift our spirits with a song.
Dwight: He's not a songbird. 
Michael: Shhh.
Pam: An impression, then. Lastly, we can't help but notice that he was by himself when he died, but of course, we all know that doesn't mean he was alone. Because I'm sure that there were lots of other birds out there who cared for him very much. He will not be forgotten. 
Angela: [quickly] Amen.
Dwight: [begins playing recorder]
Pam: [singing] Just smile for me and let the day begin. You are the sunshine that lights my heart within... on the wings of love ...


so, it wasn't really like that. but it was close enough.


in the end, the auditors came, and there was not a dead bird there to greet them. they don't even know they should be grateful.


the end. 

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

fee schedule

I just put up this list in my office, so please be aware of the following fees before making any associated decisions:

ABBY'S FEE SCHEDULE:
  • Hugs: 5 cents
  • Proofreading: 50 cents per page
  • Supervisor calls: $5.00 per escalated call
  • Career counseling: $5.00 per half-hour
  • Relationship counseling: $5.00 per half-hour
  • Matchmaking: $20 initial finder's fee (plus 10% of any and all monetary wedding gifts)

Monday, September 20, 2010

moving on... ?

thoughts... what is a good reason to leave a job? and is there a difference in needing/wanting to leave a position and needing/wanting to leave a company? and what is the difference between good reasons and good excuses? hmmm...

i finally caved to the reality of this "economical crisis" when i realized that i've been working with the same people for 2 years. usually, the turnover in my customer service department is 1 year, and sometimes, it's higher than that. so the fact that people aren't leaving doesn't mean that they love the job; it just means that they can't get out. fact. so, even though we're stuck here, are there any good reasons we should all leave when the job market picks back up? i'm sure we'll see a mass exodus of antsy 20somethings such as myself from their current workplaces into other jobs. kind of like musical chairs. but musical companies. i hope they actually play music. that would be awesome.

Tuesday, September 7, 2010

a long day and wanderlust

so today i'm scheduled to work 10:30-7 instead of my usual 8-4:30 to cover for our trusty late-shift supervisor, who is out today. my morning was pretty hectic; i let myself sleep in a little as an indulgence (last night was a relatively late one), and i got myself out the door about 10 minutes later than i wanted. but it's all good: i got to work at exactly 8:00. my manager came to the front door to let me in, and he greeted me with "What are you doing here?" which was not nearly as pleasant as the "Good morning!" i had just given him. and then i realized i was 2 1/2 hours early!! oh well, i'll be working 8-7 today, but i'm taking an hour lunch now and a half-hour dinner break later in the afternoon. now that's what i call balance. ugh.
in other news, it's that time again. i'm wanderlusty, grasping for anything that might add spice to my otherwise stable (aka BORING) routine of a life. i've been living in the same apartment for 2 years now; i've had the same job for coming on 2 years; and i think the most interesting new thing in my life is my parents' new dog, chap (so named for charlie chaplin, who also never speaks) -- but even that newness is wearing off (it's been 2 months since they got him). i'm so ready for december, when thane graduates and we start doing something else.

you can visually see when i need variety because i change the layout of this blog. (btw, what do you think?)

yesterday was a minor holiday, so of course my husband had classes. i absolutely love martin luther king jr. day, labor day and columbus day because i get off and he doesn't. so i get to be a student for those days. i'm not even joking that yesterday was the most fun i'd had since thane's birthday party. i got to learn about early irish society, the military strategy of joshua's conquest of the Promised Land (paradoxical-sounding, i know), and i got a lot of reading time. it was wonderful, and i would love to go to school again. but, you know, the grass is always greener and all that.

Friday, September 3, 2010

one of my favorite things

last night, thane had a night class. my sister brought her roommates over for dinner (we had this amazing thai red curry) and had some girl time. it was cute.

The Finer Things Club meets on wednesday to discuss To Kill a Mockingbird, so after the girls left, i read for a couple of hours. it was wonderful. i think this pre-appointed reading time might be reason enough for me to bring thursdays back.

in case you didn't know, we did away with thursdays a few months ago, when my boss realized that fridays were so much more fun. so, instead of having a thursday and then a friday, we decided that there would be two fridays instead. so, yesterday was actually friday, and today is friday 2.0. i'm serious, it's improved morale by at least 5%. (but that's a lie, because i don't even know what that means. i mean, i know what it means, in theory, but how in the world would you measure morale? how many laughs occur in the department each day? or maybe the average of the sum of smiles + laughs + jokes equals the average morale... i feel like this should be in a chart format. maybe next post, because this is getting far too long to be a side comment in parenthesis.)

BRILLIANT IDEA! so, my manager has been bored all morning. seriously, he's asked me if it's 4:00 yet at least 5 times in the last 2 hours. i'm going to take that as him not having enough to do (don't care if it's true or not) and now every time he steps into my office, i'm going to ask him to do something. at the ready, i have 3 pieces of paper that need to be shredded, so i'm set for at least 3 visits. i'm sure i can think of more tasks if it comes to it. this will keep me entertained for the rest of the day. i think it might become a friday 2.0 tradition.

Thursday, September 2, 2010

theories

there's a very nice, quiet woman who started here a few weeks ago. at first, everybody was confused. when she arrived for her first day of work, none of the managers knew who she was, and the receptionist was very frustrated.

because of this mystery, several people offered their theories. (you'll remember that we're very good at those; just search "theory" in this blog using the box on the right!)


  • Theory #1: she's related to the president of the company, who is paying her under the table.
  • Theory #2: she's related to someone else in the company, and she may or may not be paid under the table.
  • Theory #3 (and my favorite): she's actually the president of the company, a la Undercover Boss, since she and the president have never been seen in the same room at the same time.

turns out, she's an extern! not nearly as exciting as the Undercover Boss theory, but still a little mysterious. i admit that i had no idea what an extern was, so of course i Googled it! here's what i found:


2ex·tern

 noun

Definition of EXTERN

: a person connected with an institution but not living or boarding in it; specifically : a nonresident doctor or medical student at a hospital

but we're not a medical institution. and nobody lives here. well, i can't be too sure about that, because it seems like some people never leave, while others are never here (or so it seems).

anyway, this one was more helpful:

Externship - Externships are experiential learning opportunities, similar to internships, offered by educational institutions to give students short practical experiences in their field of study. In medicine it may refer to a visiting physician who is not part of the regular staff. 


ok, that makes sense. and that would explain why she followed one employee around for days when she started here. i mean, it's normal for a new employee to shadow an experienced employee while they work; it's a whole kind of weird that the new employee shadowed the experienced employee to the bathroom and back... 


word of the day: cacophony 

Monday, August 30, 2010

spell check

dear followers (yes, all 6 of you!), what is up with spell check? seriously, i think we should start some sort of protest. who's job is it to keep the spell checker updated? if bootylicious is in the dictionary, then why is there a red line under it? and how is it that my grammar is better than the computer's? why does it suggest such crazy alternatives that make no sense?

i'm sure i have a ton of examples, but it's monday. oh well.

word of the day: wordsmith

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

news

yesterday, i was abby not in the office. it wasn't nearly as complicated or difficult as i thought buying a car might be, but then again, we bought the car from great people. maybe i'll post a picture or two in the days to come.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

adrenaline-filled wake-up call

this morning, i woke up at 7:00 a.m. my alarm should have gone off at 6:00 a.m., which was actually sleeping in, since i've decided to move my yoga practice from 5:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. i totally need to relax more after work than before it. can i get an amen?

my carpool usually arrives at 7:05 a.m. she actually arrived at 7:13 a.m., giving me 8 extra minutes. i pretty much did everything i usually do in the morning, minus yoga and shower, including:

  • brushing teeth
  • brushing hair
  • washing face
  • applying minimalistic makeup (pressed powder, mascara, and lip gloss)
  • packing lunch
all that, and i'm actually awake! i've been in a better mood starting out my day in an adrenaline rush that i have been in the last few weeks waking up with about an hour to get ready for my day. i think i may be on to something...

online dating sites

online dating sites are interesting things. like, for example, something interesting is that you don't necessarily have to log in to view peoples' picture and info. and that can be pretty embarrassing, to have a picture up so that anybody in the world can see it.

if i was going to put up my info on an online dating website, this is the picture i would use:


see? i'm already winking at you! now you feel this automatic desire to wink back. i read that in a book, The Definitive Book of Body Language. apparently, if you see a picture of somebody smiling, you automatically smile back. so, if you see a picture of someone winking, you can't help it. you just have to wink back.

now, tell me you didn't just try winking in the last 30 seconds.

i'm also watching Lie to Me a lot lately.

urban word of the day: playing the dozens

quote of the day: "So, if we don't have that, we don't have that." - Chip

Friday, August 13, 2010

spelling

spelling words over the phone can be extremely difficult, especially when "b," "d," "p," "t," and "v" all sound the same over the phone.

according to wikipedia, there's a phonetic alphabet for that:



but if using the military phonetic alphabet is too boring, you could always spice it up a little by spelling an english word with words in other languages... again, thanks to wikipedia for giving us this amazing spelling alphabet. it was too big to include in this post, but it's pretty amazing. check it out.

i think i might spell my name in dutch for the rest of the day. "that's a as in anna, b as in bernard, b as in bernard, y as in ypsilon."

quote of the day: "k as in... k" - zeke, the newest member of our team.

Thursday, August 5, 2010

on getting sick

 i'm currently drinking this awesome nutritional smoothie from Bolthouse Farms. it costs about $4, and there are 4 servings in one bottle. each serving contains 1200% of your daily value of vitamin C (hence the name C-Boost). i know i sound like a commercial, but this is seriously the best stuff ever made. it's better (and cheaper) than going to the doctor, and it's a great preventative measure if you think you might be getting sick. plus, it's tasty!

my mistake was sleeping in the same room as justin's bed. because justin has been sick for two weeks, and then his girlfriend jen and his housemate chris got sick. and isn't it just my luck that not only did i sleep in the same room as justin's bed (with thane, not justin, in it) on saturday, but on tuesday, zeke (another of justin's housemates) started working in my department. of course, he lives in the house of guys who are getting sick, and he brought it with him. so yeah, it's inevitable. i'm already coughing a little. hence, my choice of drink for today. yum.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

quotes from this week

"it's like calling McDonald's for a problem with Walmart!" - Lauren to a caller who kept complaining about another company.

"awesome! half of my closet is Ann Taylor." - Brendan, after hearing that his girlfriend got an interview at Ann Taylor.

"your face is freaking me out!" - Lisa talking about Emma Watson.

"is it friday yet? oh wait, yes it is!" - me. because my department has decided to throw thursdays out the window and have two fridays. today is friday v1.0. how do you like them apples?

Friday, July 16, 2010

today's lunch

today's lunch was awesome because i used my hot pot to boil noodles in water. i feel super resourceful.
i wish i had taken pictures, but my hot pot looks like this:


yeah. it was fun, i promise.




word of the day: notate

quote of the week: "my daughter goes to the doctor on a regular periodical basis so she needs the coverage worser than i do."

random urban sentence: that lady got out of pocket, so i got in my bag on her.