Pretty Pictures

I always borrow my brother Mike's camera when I'm going somewhere that I know I'm going to take pictures - my camera is a little outdated and doesn't take very decent photos. So I borrowed his camera to take to Mug and Matt's wedding and reception. I enjoyed taking pictures with it, messing with the color schemes and finding pretty things to take pictures of, which wasn't hard because the bride was gorgeous and the outdoor reception was beautiful.

Then I noticed the "macro" setting on the camera and started messing with THAT.

AWESOME. Needless to say, I bought my own camera like my brother's. I even kept his camera an extra day or two and snapped a few more macro shots, like this one of my favorite thing in the whole world:

Coke with lime. MMMMMMMMM.

Oh man, am I excited to get my new camera to play with!

Pet Peeves

Everyone has things that just bug the crap out of them. Admit it - there's something that just makes your blood boil when you see it, hear it, smell it, or experience it. Since I've already had road rage issues and I've been trying hard (most of the time) not to let stupid drivers get to me, I usually try to try really hard not to let ANY pet peeve get to me.

So of course, it would have to follow that I usually see one of my biggest pet peeves when I'm sitting in the car. This just gets me every time I see it:

In case you're wondering what you're supposed to be looking at, that's a dog in the back of that truck. Several weeks ago, I ended up behind this guy for quite a while on the freeway, as he was speeding down I-215 in the pouring rain, watching his dog pace back and forth in the bed of the truck, jumping up on the sides and nearly falling out twice. We got off at the same exit, and I was behind him until he turned off into a neighborhood. We were stopped at a stoplight when I snapped this photo through my windshield. There was a lady next to me smiling at me, thinking it was funny that I was taking this photo; little did she know, I was snapping the shot with this particular blog rant in mind.

I don't care if people put animals in the bed of their truck; but for crying out loud, tie the animal down! Am I wrong in assuming that if they're putting their dog in the back of a truck, the dog is well enough trained to stay in the back of the tuck? Oh man, it just irks me when I see people speeding down the highway with a dog pacing back and forth, hanging over the sides of the truck.

Okay, I changed my mind - I DO care if people put animals in the beds of their trucks! It's not safe, don't do it! I don't want to be the one who sees the dog jump right out of a speeding vehicle and try to swerve to miss it!

DOH!!

At my office, we have an initiative program called "Above & Beyond." We are given two cards each quarter, and can nominate people we think have exceeded job expectations - or, have gone "above & beyond" in their job. All these nominees' names are tossed in a bowl, and at a quarterly staff meeting, three or four names are drawn and given a $100 cash prize. (Actually, they just add $100 to their next paycheck.) Pretty cool, eh? Then, once a year, the nominees are tossed into a bowl and there is a drawing for even bigger cash prizes - first place being $1500, second being $1000, and third being $500. NICE. We're actually having one of those big drawings on July 21st.
So, we had one one of the quarterly drawings at a staff meeting yesterday. When people's names are read, it's customary (or habit?) to clap for them, as a congratulations. Well, when one name was drawn, there was a horrible and awkward pause (except for one secretary who got really excited that this particular person was chosen, because she is friends with him), before a few people started clapping. It was just awkward! There are several people in the office that have (or have had, in the past) big problems with this person, myself included. But he really tries hard, and apparently goes "above & beyond" for some people because he was nominated for this program.
After the meeting, I had one of those moments you wish you could rewind and do-over. The irony of this is that just before this happened, I read this quote in an e-mail:

"The most destructive force in the universe is gossip."

I was standing at a friend's desk chatting about the winners, and started talking about the awkward pause. "Man, did you notice when his name was drawn? Awkward pause! Wow! That's gonna leave a mark." I forget what else I said, or if she said anything back... I must have blocked it out, because minutes later, my friend told me that while I was talking about this person, he was actually in the next room - and most likely heard what I said. I had no idea he was that close by. OUCH. Now THAT was awkward. I didn't know what to do after that... because I don't know for SURE that he actually heard the whole thing, just that he was close by. So what do I do? Go apologize for my behavior? But what if he hadn't heard all of what I said? Um, that would be awkward too! "Yeah, sorry about what I said..." "Why, what'd you say?" And if he DID hear, how do I approach that?
*SIGH*
I was miserable last night, because I realized that it was MY character that was in jeopardy because of my gossipping, not this person that so many people have a problem with. And I also realized that others know my character and my tendency to gossip - people come to me either with office gossip or to hear office gossip. I usually try really hard to stay neutral, but this place can be a hotbed for rumors. It's tough! But that's no excuse. We are ALL children of God - and I would do well to focus more on unconditional love for my fellow men (and women) and be kind.
I hope I don't win anything in the big drawing. I SO do not deserve it.
(I only have one entry so far this year anyway... someone in the mail room nominated me, thanking me for the laughs they get for all the pranks they pull on me.)

SHOES!!! SHOES!!! SHOES!!!

I love shoes. I love looking at them, I love trying them on, I love buying them. The past couple of years, I've accumulated so many shoes that I've had to set a rule for myself: Every time I buy a pair, I have to get rid of a pair that I don't use or don't need anymore.

So, my friend Mug wears AWESOME shoes to work every day. She told me about this website that has become my new happy place... http://www.gojane.com/ and I'm addicted. I never knew so many cool shoes existed! It's full of shoes that I've never seen before, don't have anything to wear with, but somehow can't live without, now.

There's the "who on earth would WEAR that?" shoes...

"Hey, I can wear these to work" shoes...

"I think I'm working the corner of State and Third tonight" shoes...

The "I have nothing that goes with these but I really kind-of want them" shoes...

And of course, "I MUST HAVE THESE" shoes.

They have clothes and accessories too, but I've been too taken with the shoes to notice. Seriously, girls - visit gojane.com and just stare at the shoes. It's like crack for shoe-junkies like me!

Sometimes I LOATHE Reality...

... Especially when it smacks you in the face. Not a nice "oh, you're so cute" smack, but a full-on SLAP.

As you read on my blog from last week, I took time off work for a vacation. It was NICE - I got to sleep in, lounge around, get a massage, get a pedicure, hang out with Mar and Addie a bunch, get a Slurpee or two, and eat out. A LOT. I didn't have to, I just did. It was just easy to stop somewhere and pick something up. And I had a couple of follow-up appointments with doctors - more blood work, ick. Anyway, I LOVED my week off! But when my vacation was over...

Reality slap #1: Yesterday, the doctor's office called me and told me that my cholesterol was really high. I was surprised - I usually have no problems. Turns out the doc says that my cholesterol is high enough that the wants to put me on medication. Meds??!?! NO WAY!! I don't want to! I told the girl that I was on vacation last week, and ate like crap - that I ate out a bunch, and could that contribute?? "Maybe," she says, "but one week isn't usually enough to drive up your cholesterol like that." CRAP. "Well," I said, "Can't I just change my diet? I eat oatmeal almost every morning for breakfast! Shouldn't that help?" "Sure," she says. "Well, let me talk to the doctor and see what he says, and I'll call you back." So I fretted for a good five hours until they called back. "Okay, the doctor says we can go ahead and see if a change in your diet will help. He wants you to try it for a month, then at the end of July, we want to see you back for more tests. If you haven't improved as much as the doctor would like, he'll put you on medication." "Okay," I say. "Sounds good."

Then I got thinking: I haven't been feeling well the past couple of months. My knees are starting to hurt, I haven't exercised in almost 6 weeks, I haven't been watching my diet as closely as I should, and I learned that my weight is at an all-time high - I'm carrying more weight than my body-frame should carry. Age doesn't do much for me, either - I'm in my thirties now. What's next? High blood-pressure? Diabetes? Back pain? I'm headed down the WRONG road. Just when I thought I was doing okay... reality slaps me a good one. Time to make some drastic changes, and give up the sugar, the fatty foods that I love, and sleeping late. Time to get up early to exercise for at least 30-45 minutes, and eat more carrots, broccoli, oranges, and apples.

It's not just discipline pushing me to get healthy, now. I always cheated before. Now, it's my health, my well-being, my whole physical LIFE. (Sounds a bit dramatic, I know. But if it works, it works!)

Reality slap #2: I came back to work. I was nervous about what the Mail room guys and the IT guy might do to my stuff while I was gone, since (as you know) they love to pull pranks on me. But thankfully, NOTHING happened. My workload was average, and while I stayed busy all day long, it was a pretty okay first-day back. PHEW. I'm clear.

Or not.

I came to work today to find that my mouse for my computer didn't work. What the...? Immediately I became suspicious, and messed around with the cable to make sure it was plugged it. Yep, plugged in! Must be a fluke. So I called the Help Desk, and when I got voicemail, I started leaving a message, while I'm examining the mouse, to see if I can see something that might be wrong. "Hi, this is Melanie. Um, my mouse is not working..." Then I saw it. So obvious. There was a piece of tape over the sensor on the bottom of the mouse. My voice turned angry and bitter. "... and I THINK I just figured out why, because MATT..." Angry breathing over the phone. "Okay, NEVER MIND." Click. I didn't know which Matt to blame it on, Mail Room Matt or IT Matt, but I was pretty sure they were both in on it. Yes, they've done worse things to me, but what was the most embarrassing about THIS prank was that IT Matt turned my voicemail into a sound clip and e-mailed it to a few people in the office!!!

*SIGH* I'm officially back.