Oldness

Lately, I feel old. For so long, I felt like I pretty much looked, felt, and acted like a steady, youthful 20-something female. I was the "young one" at work, I exercised regularly, and I could still relate to students (i.e. jr. high thru college). After all, it was only a couple years ago that one of the students in the jr. high group in California asked me if I was in 8th grade! Ah, sweet memories ...

But lately ... I don't know. I feel like I look old and tired and worn out (which is probably because I haven't been sleeping well lately). And to make matters worse, several months ago I found a grey hair on my head -- a grey hair, people!! And I don't even have kids yet! So I guess this is just a pointless, rambling post, except to say that I'm not ready to get old. I'm not ready for wrinkles and sags and grey hairs and that old-person signature chuckle. So what's a 26 year old girl to do to prevent the onset of early aging? I'm voting for more sleep :)

"Make It Look Pretty"

I'm starting to learn what I do and do not like in a job, and one of the things that makes me cringe most is when someone at work gives me a document and says "Make this look pretty." I'd much rather be the person to calculate the figures, do the research, deduce the outcome ... than to be the person to make the graphs and spreadsheets presentable. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE formatting Excel spreadsheets (using formulas and subtotals, merging cells, adding headers and footers), working with tables and other fun stuff in Word, and the like. But to make it "pretty," especially in PowerPoint, ... just not my thing. Besides, my insecurities force me to provide the requestor with at least a couple of versions of the document because I don't trust my judgment on what "pretty" means in the business world. Luckily, this type of request is just a minimal part of my job!

Wow, this was right on

You Are 27 Years Old

Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe. 13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. 20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences. 30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more! 40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?

Is it weird?

On the counter near the coffee pots in my office, on any given day you can find anything from homebaked goods to an open bag of chips to random coupons that people place there. And I have to say ... just about everything gets eaten or taken within hours, even with our diminishing staff. But recently, someone put a bottle of Escape perfume in the ladies bathroom with "Help Yourself" written on the cap. Seriously? We're sharing community perfume now? Is it just me, or is this stretching the concept of office goodies just a bit?

Promotion!

Well, it's official ... I've been promoted to "Team Leader" of the R&A (Research and Analytical) Operations department of my company. I'm excited that I've been recognized as the most likely person to fill my old supervisor's shoes, but I'm not sure what all this new position is going to entail, as we are going through MAJOR changes right now and have been for some time. Maybe with my new position, I'll be kept more in the loop of the changes than in the past. But whatever the case, I think this is a good move for me and I hope I am able to rise to the challenge ...

ah yes

You know when you're sick and you make all sorts of promises to yourself and/or God about how you'll treat your body right from now on and do whatever it takes to avoid feeling like crap again in the future? Ah yes, how quickly we forget ... It was my supervisor's last day today, so we had a luncheon at work ... and then went out to Jose's Blue Sombrero afterwards ... and naturally spicy Mexican food makes me want something sweet, so I had ice cream when I got home. Wow, my stomach is asking my body, "Don't you remember just a week ago when you felt so queasy you threw up? Are you trying to relive that nightmare?" Ok, it's really not that bad. But I probably consumed at least a few hundred calories more than I needed.

Side note: We just rented Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and recognized the beach in a few of the scenes as the beach we went to in Guadalupe, CA (just outside of Santa Maria). We'd heard they had filmed a POTC sequel there, but it's pretty neat to actually see it in action!