Happy New Year--Just Do It!

Every year people make New Year's resolutions. I think it's a bunch of bull--if you really wanted to do it, you would just do it. We resolve to lose weight, eat better, start a business, stop cussing...what else?? Why don't we just do it instead of talking about it?

I am so guilty, not just of the resolution thing, but in general. I always tell people these wonderful ideas that I have and I NEVER follow through, I just talk about it. I heard a man say that he never talks about what he's gonna do, only what he's already done. So, maybe that should be my resolution, oops, there I go, talking about something I'm gonna do, but probably won't do, because all I do is talk.

I have been talking about starting a non-profit for more than 8 years now. When I recently became liberated from a job that I hated (and by the way, I never talked about quitting, really, I just kind of did it) I was so excited about starting my non-profit. I told anybody who would listen that I was about to start this non-profit. I talked about it with such passion and love, but it has been about 8 months and I haven't done a thing. I make so many excuses, "I need the money to file the 501c (3) non-profit application"; "I need to find a board of directors"; "I have to cook dinner".

Before the non-profit I wanted to open a consignment store (which I still want to do), a laundromat, spa, you name it. And actually had business plans for each of them. I never actually did anything with them, just looked at them every now and then, marveling at how brilliant I was. I was all talk (or write) and no action. Maybe writing the business plan was the first actual "action", but it was only followed by talk and fear.

Fear may be the root of all the talk and no action. We are really afraid that if we actually start something, then we will have to DO something. If we do something we will be held accountable. If we are accountable, we will fail, or even more frightening, succeed. It seems insane that one would be afraid of success, but I believe that may be the greatest fear: "to whom much is given, much is required" (Luke 12:48). There is a great burden on the successful. If you are successful in your dieting you have to continue to eat right and exercise; if your business is successful you have to work harder to insure it's ongoing gains; if your stop cussing campaign is going well, you can't cuss the lady out at the fast food place.....and we know how hard that can be.

It is so hard for me to not share the ideas that I have, but I have made a serious effort to not talk about things until they are done. I said "effort", I just told somebody yesterday something I was gonna DO if I didn't get a job by February!!

So let's stop playing these games and just do the dog on thing!! Whatever it is.

Job Hunting

Prior to 2005, I worked at the same place for over seven years, which was such a milestone for me...my past work experiences never lasted longer than two years. Between 1989 and 1998 I had approximately fifteen jobs. I was often asked by my late father-in-law "how's the job?" because he always expected me to have a new job. He was so shocked by the fact that I stayed at a job for longer than two or three years that he gave me a "prize", which I still have, rescued from the waters of Hurricane Katrina.

Now, once again I am in the familiar predicament of having to find a job in the clerical field. I hate interviews so much, because I think they ask stupid questions (remember, I am a know-it-all). Like, "why do you want to work here?"..."because you are hiring"!! Of course I can't say that, although I did on one interview, didn't get that job! Another question that bothers me is "where do you see yourself in ten years?"...Lord have mercy, "I would like to see myself working here in two weeks, can we get to that first?" Remember, I am not trying to be the CEO, I just really need a job right now. Can I type a letter first, send a fax??

Well, that was then, they don't really ask those kinds of questions anymore. Employers mostly ask situational questions, like "what would you do in this situation or that". Which, again, the know-it-all finds irritating. How do I know what I will do if I don't know your policies or procedures. And really, you don't really want to know what I would do, my representative will have to answer that.

Which brings me to my next point about interviewing for a job. Most people send their "representative" to the interview and the real person shows up for the job. What I mean by that is most people are not themselves in an interview. It is best to put on your best face and represent the best of you, but it is usually a façade. People lie about their qualifications, skills, personality and even education to get a job, not thinking about the fact that they will have to "show and prove" once they start working.

I once worked with a girl that was hired based on her resume and interview, naturally, but when she started working she didn't even know how to use the mouse on the computer. She bragged about all these skills that she had and places that she had traveled to, like Chilli (that's how she spelled it on her resume!!). That should have been a clue.

I haven't been sending my representative on interviews lately. I was surprised that I was hired by a university back in July 2007 because I was so totally myself at the interview. There was a committee that interviewed me, which makes most people nervous, but we laughed and had a good time. When a friend asked me if I thought I got the job I said, "no, we laughed and had a good time; I usually don't get the job when that happens". But surprise, surprise, they liked the real me. Unfortunately, I hated that job, freed myself (with the help of my husband) and I am interviewing again.

I am now faced with the dilemma, "do I send my representative or the real me to the job interview?" I don't like being fake because the real me will show her face sooner or later and then it's like "we didn't know you were like that", you know, a know-it-all.

So in the interest of actually being hired, I will do my best to send both, a little of the representative but mostly me.

Peace!

Home

When I think of home, I think of the place where I reside; the place where I lay my head at night; the place where my family is, where my heart is. Although my home is in Texas now, my home-town is New Orleans. I lived there for 39 years, never thinking that another woman would force me and my family to relocate. But Katrina forced me and many others to leave the city that we loved and never really thought we would leave.

Don't get me wrong, I love my new home, but sometimes I miss Home. I will probably never live in New Orleans again, for several reasons. The school system has been in trouble for many years and hasn't gotten much better. The crime rate is among the worst in the nation. I have children and their education and welfare are very important to me. Living in New Orleans for so long, I never really knew how nice other places are. We visited other cities, but to live in another city and see how nice the roads are, how magnificent the schools are, and though I am not a shopper, I have never seen such nice shopping malls. We evacuated to Dallas, TX first, really a suburb called Little Elm near Frisco and Plano. Those towns were so nice I couldn't believe it. When we visited the schools we were in awe: clean, bright, beautiful campuses that looked more like college campuses than secondary schools.

Okay, enough about other places, this is about my hometown. What I miss about New Orleans is the rhythm, culture and hospitality. Contrary to what the movies depict, there is not always a parade going on, but there is usually some sort of cultural festival. My husband goes back often for his business and I am a little jealous when he tells me that there is some festival or when my sister calls me from a festival.

I miss the French Quarter...when I was younger we would go to the FQ EVERY Sunday, and I was sick of it!! But looking back, we had such great times there! It is such a unique place and there is always something going on, something new to see, something new to do. Even if you go every weekend, you will see something new each time you go...a new artist, a band you never heard before, a vendor you missed the last time you were in the French Market, a street performer that you thought was a statue. I miss the smell of Cafe Du Monde coffee and beignets which you can't get anywhere else.

I miss going to my momma's house whenever I wanted to, something I never really thought about. If I wanted to see my momma, it didn't matter what part of the city I lived in (we moved a lot) I was never more than 20 minutes from her. I miss seeing my sister and her kids. I miss seeing my cousins and friends at bar-b-ques that were commonplace for us.

I miss being 20 minutes from everything. I didn't realize how small home was until I moved away. It didn't matter where I had to go, it rarely took more than 20 minutes. A year before Katrina I moved to Slidell, LA, which is, according to mapquest, 31 miles from the French Quarter, and 37 minutes away. That was the extent of my travel time when I lived there. Now, if it takes only 30 minutes to get anywhere I am overjoyed.

There are many other things I miss, but life is about moving on and moving forward. I am happy where I am and feel very blessed. There is a time and a season for everything and my season in New Orleans ended more than three years ago. New Orleans is a wonderful city and has had an impact on everyone that has lived or visited. I know people that have lived there for a very short period of time and still have ties to that wonderful city.

I continue to pray for my city, that it will be the wonderful city that it should be.

Peace

Newbie

I am new to blogging. My former boss and dear friend suggested that I start a blog and to be honest, I really don't even know what to blog about. I guess since I am a know it all I should blog about things that I think I know.



I am not the typical know it all, I don't think that I know it all, I really want to know it all. Whenever people send me an email about a missing kid, someone with cancer, or some crazy email about needles in the gas tank, I always go to snopes.com to verify. I assume that this gets on peoples nerves, but it gets on my nerves when people send me emails advising me to boycott this company or that because they support this cause or that, without any proof, gets on my nerves.



A good example is the time that I was sent an email requesting that I boycott a company that supplies my favorite laundry detergent and other things that I use daily. The reason for this ridiculous boycott was the "fact" that this company was recruiting gays exclusively. First of all, I don't think it would be wise for any company to recruit any group to the exclusion of others. Second, if this company were recruiting gays, who am I to say that gays shouldn't work? The basis of this boycott was that as Christians (which I am) we should not support a company that would recruit gays. I think that is ridiculous.



Anyway, I went to the website of this company and searched other sites and couldn't find anything to support the accusation. Not that I would stop using my detergent anyway, I just wanted to know if they were exclusively recruiting a certain group of people regardless of education or qualifications. Well, seeking knowledge, cause I am a know-it-all, got me into a bit of a SCREAMING match with the person that sent me the email.



So to sum it all up:

a. The company in question was not using questionable recruiting tactics

b. I did not stop using their products (neither did anyone else)

c. My blood pressure was taken to new heights for no good reason

d. I am still researching crazy emails that people send me



So there it is, my first official blog.