145 - Uncrapped

Lol, just thought I'd let you know that I'm in a much better mood today. We had our holiday party at work and I got to relax and let my hair down. I love being able to talk to people that I don't often get to see... we have a good group. My buffalo chicken dip only got halfway eaten, but that's par for the course... I love dips more than any other food... give me onion dip, or queso, fruit dip, or spinach dip and I'm all over it, but most people want the meat and potatoes... oh well... more for me... At the end of the party we played a couple of videos I made on Jib-Jab's "Elf Yourself" site, and that went over really well. I used pictures of the managers (including myself) and the supervisors, and we looked like complete asses, but that was the point. I think it makes us relatable, and it's good to laugh at yourself every once in a while. I was glad my colleagues were good sports about it, and in most cases, actually encouraged it. I so rarely get to flex my creative muscles at work anymore...

Now I'm at home, and I'm about to go on a cleaning odessy like none other... because people are coming over tomorrow, and I can't stand to have a dirty house (thanks mom...). And I have food to make. I have no idea who is coming, a lot of maybe's and very few people who are willing to commit, but it was kind of last minute, and that's what happens. I've learned, from the dinner parties I've thrown this year, that it really doesn't matter. In the end, large crowd or small, I always have a great time. It's not the size of the party, but how you get down with your bad self that matters (that was for the guys).

And, on another note... Ian has nominated me for best blog of the year in the categories of 'best rant' and 'you think you are having a bad day'. I am nothing, if not good at bitching and moaning, lol. It was kind of fun to go allllllllllllllllllllll the way back and re-read those blogs. But man... I remember those days and they definitely weren't fun at the time...

I'm going to be honest, when I first started writing this blog I had delusions of grandeur... I was hoping I'd have thousands of 'followers' because I had just written a book and (LOL) I thought it might get published, so I wanted a ready-made fan base. On the other hand, as with my old myspace blog, it was first and foremost... my blog... a diary of my life... sometimes it's exciting, sometimes I have nothing to say, but I certainly don't let that deter me.

At first, I was disappointed that the blog didn't take off as I'd originally hoped. But I was thinking about it the other day... and I am far happier with what took place instead. I've taken chances and reached out to complete strangers (and vice versa) and now I have a great group of people who read, and comment, on my blogs and I feel like there's a nice little community of us. A lot of us, as Ian noted, are writers, and as a writer it's always good to get validation that what I'm doing is worthwhile. I enjoy reading about life more than anything... so when I don't have a lot of time, I skip the agent blogs and read the (real) people's blog that I connect to. I don't think I would have been able to connect with anyone if I got 500 comments a day, and I like to be able to interact. You guys have given me a lot of encouragement, and it really does brighten my day. So I want to say thank you to each one of you for choosing to make me a part of your life, and allowing me to be a part of yours.

*cough*

Sappy holiday moment over. =) Shaking it off. lol

The 'best rant' post is actually about to come full circle. I'm going to just come out with it because I've been dying to say it for almost two months now, and since HR told me that 'for all intents and purposes' it's official...: I'm stepping down from management! It was my idea, and I couldn't be more thrilled. I can only put up with so much shit, and when it's an exercise in futility (and the pay is not commiserate with said bullshit), there's no reason to trouble myself. I didn't mind the managing part so much, it was the rest of the bullshit... the meetings... the politics... ARGH! I'll miss some aspects of it, but... it will be over soon, and I will be able to focus more of my attention on the budget, and start learning MS Project. * so happy *

Tomorrow... an article I read about nanobots and the fear it instilled...