When Midnight Comes Too Soon

I know it's kind of long. You'll live, though. I promise. ^.~ Thanks for being an awesome fan.

Started June 25, 2012

I don’t know why I suddenly decided to sit down and write this. In my entire life I had never considered that one of the more important things I would do would be to write a blurb of an idea that set me on my present course. Hopefully important—not only to me, but to others who may have found inspiration, value, or otherwise meaningful emotions from anything I have ever contributed.

Don’t let the title fool you, this is not a love story; this isn’t a fantasy or sci-fi novel—it isn’t even a fictional story. Oh sure, I may recount references of my life; but only for the purpose of exemplifying my meaning. I can only hope they are recollections of a more humorous time of my life. The point is it’s unlike anything I’ve ever written before, or anything I thought I’d be famous for writing to say the least. Not that I’m trying to suggest I’m famous either—except in my own mind. It’s alright to laugh. I hope you do.

It’s a metaphor. The idea of midnight coming too soon. It’s a metaphor that maybe made you think of Cinderella; but like I said, this isn’t a story of some damsel in distress. I certainly don’t consider myself a damsel in distress either. As a matter of fact, I consider myself to be quite awesome. Again, it’s fine to laugh.

Let’s get to it.

Waiting for Midnight

          My kids said something to me. It was something I have said more times than I can count. I said it throughout my childhood, and I realize I still say it several times a day. I’m thinking it right now, even as I’m writing this. Regardless of how long it has taken me to accomplish this much, I shouldn’t.

          How is it that these three little words can cause us to do things we shouldn’t do, or wouldn’t do, or even prevent us from doing what we want to do?

          I can’t wait. This is how my eight year old and seven year old begin so many of their statements. I can’t wait…

-       I can’t wait until I’m old enough to drive a car

-       I can’t wait for school to be over

-       I can’t wait for that cartoon to come on

-       I can’t wait until Daddy comes home.

It’s been this statement that’s plagued my mind so much that in order to “get over it” I thought I should just write it down; write down all of the things I keep coming back to, all of the events that brought me to this whole new philosophy, all of the things I thought I just couldn’t wait for. Of course, at the time I didn’t think it would turn into this.

          Obviously the idea is just an exaggeration. We can wait, and essential we do and will wait. It’s mostly just something we say when we are excited about something. The only problem with this idea is what we fail to realize every time we think we can’t wait; what we let pass us by because we’re so focused on getting to that place we think we can’t wait to be.

          So my kids have exaggerations about being older; and it’s something we’ve all done as children. As we get to that point, though, we begin realizing how quickly time has passed. That’s when we begin longing for the past, longing for opportunities to make different choices—maybe even go back to the simplicity of being a child.

          Do you remember being a kid? No real worries, no bills, much fewer responsibilities. Maybe it wasn’t always picture perfect. Maybe your parents fought a lot, or maybe you were bullied in school, or maybe you had some strict parents (possibly abusive). The point is you had reasons for thinking the future was forever away.

          I would like to think my own kids have a relatively typical life. My husband and I fight—well… we argue. We’re in that bracket of people who get by week-to-week or month-to-month when we’re lucky. We’re not miserable, though, if that’s what you’re thinking (or hoping). We did, however, take our kids out of public school. It was a tough decision, but we made it. The result is that our kids are no longer exposed to the intense bullying of today’s generation. That’s not to give you the impression that we could afford that decision or that we are somehow afraid of bullying. There were other issues we had with the school system that contributed to our decision. The reason I told you this was simply to give you an idea of how averagely we live (or at least, I believe we are average).

          So when I hear my kids say, “I can’t wait…” I try to help them see the things they are obviously missing right in front of them. After all, there are not many people I know that would say if given the chance to go back to their youth, knowing the things they know now, wouldn’t only go back, but would do things slightly different. Maybe they don’t admit they would do things differently, but let’s be honest; there are some choices everyone has made in their life that they change. No one wants to admit that kind of stuff because of the doors it opens (especially with spouses).

          Anyway, I’m not so foolish to think that anything I say to my kids will actually get through to them. Not at this age at least. I didn’t listen to everything my parents told me until it was too late, and I can only expect the same hard-headedness from my offspring. I won’t entirely throw my husband under the bus, but I’m sure there’s a bit of contribution in there from him, too.

In any event, I’m their teacher on top of being their mother. I tell them to stop waiting for midnight; it will come. In the meantime, enjoy right now. Do what’s in your ability to live for this moment, because when it’s gone it’s the only thing you’ll want.

          The first time I said this to them they asked me, “What does that have to do with midnight?” I think this is also the point where they tune me out, but I explain anyway:

          Cinderella was given an opportunity to live a little. But it was a limited time offer, right? She only had until midnight. Now, everyone knows the story—she went out and had a wonderful time, and in the end she married a prince and lived happily ever after. Suppose, instead, that Cinderella had sat around with her rat friends, just watching the clock, and not doing the things that she did with the time she had. Would she have become a princess? Would she be living the rest of her life in a castle? Most likely not.

          Of course, I add all kinds of details about how Cinderella made herself beautiful and made a dress. The result of this is my oldest boy telling me, “yea, but we’re not girls going to balls. And we don’t wear dresses!” Of course my seven-year old starts cracking up because he thinks it’s amusing that his brother said balls. I tend to forget I’m dealing with seven and eight-year olds, but when I remember I try to paint a simpler image. It’s summer break, so they are allowed to stay up until midnight (if they can make it that late). So I say to them, “Midnight is coming and you’ll be in bed soon. What are the things you can do before bed, or before midnight?”

          They’ll give me a list of cartoons they can watch, present the idea of putting on a movie, tell me about toys they could play with, or computer games they could enjoy. They avoid anything like reading a book or doing something productive, because they know I’d encourage that. Next, I’ll say to them, “So what are you going to do?”

          They shrug. Part of me wonders if they do that just to test me, but it doesn’t matter. It allows me to make my point. “So you’re just waiting for midnight, then?”

          For my kids, and for many of us as we were kids (and maybe still), summer lasts forever—at least until it’s time to go back to school. It’s so innocent, so childish to think this way. We think opportunity will last forever and we wait to take advantage of it. The truth is, midnight will come. It always comes. The opportunity to do something will pass, and when it’s all gone all we have to back on is the time we let slip by. Unfortunately, we tend not to comprehend this until we reach a certain age in life. The few of us that can understand and act upon these ideas early on are the truly fortunate ones who tend to generate the most success.

          If you’re like me, though, and this concept has eluded you for most of your life, don’t worry—there’s still time. Thanks to modern technology and science people are living much longer. That may not be very comforting either, especially if you’re still just waiting for midnight at this stage of your life.

          Now, I’m not a liar, and I feel I have to admit certain truths. That being said, it’s important that I admit that much of this philosophy was fueled by greed. I’ve never been rich. My parents weren’t rich growing up, and I certainly wasn’t brought up living richly. In fact, we didn’t live much differently than I currently live. For the most part, my parents kept the roof over our heads, food on the table, gas in the car (which was much cheaper, though), and once in a blue moon my brother and I got a bonus—like a toy or a book we wanted. We weren’t poor. We made it to Disney many times (and only at the expense of paying bills).

          However, my brother and I can recall spending three years in south Florida without air conditioning during the summer and heat in the winter because our dad thought he was sticking it to the electric company. We look back and laugh now, and sometimes even remind our own kids of just how easy and nice they have life; but back then we just sweated our butts off and felt miserable.

          Anyway, having grown up middle-class and continuing to be middle-class made me realize how much I hated being middle-class. After all, I didn’t grow up imagining how nice it would to live like I grew up, or how great it would be to get hand-me-down clothes. I imagined living in a mansion and having fancy dinner parties, always having fabulously new dresses and shoes, and getting my hair and nails done by professional people.

          When I was 27, and out of a job, I began to wonder why I wasn’t any of those things. That’s when I really began reflecting on my life and realized: here I was—a Cinderella (figuratively…mostly). Instead of getting up and going to the ball, though, I was doing the things that would just get me by. I was just watching the clock tick away until it hit midnight.

          As I thought about the time I wasted doing nothing, the many opportunities (oh man, how many there were) I let slip away—it dawned on me that looking back and regretting had to stop. I wish I could say this was a quick process, but it wasn’t. It took time to get over stupid mistakes I made. I still think about some of them. I know I can’t change them, though. What I can do is recall how much it killed me to think about what was gone, and instead of wallowing in self-pity, turn that junk into the fuel that will ensure I never let another opportunity pass again.

          Are you waiting for midnight to come? Are you expecting that once it gets here things will magically get awesome? Unless you’re a character in a Disney classic, or have some kind of big inheritance coming, midnight will come, but there won’t be anything magical. If you want that magical, even fairytale-ish thing to happen in your life, you have to have a big hand in it. You have to make the magic for yourself. If you’re not doing something yet—working towards something—it’s time to start. If you are working towards something—great! I hope this will become something that helps inspire and support you along the way, when you struggle, and when you run into doubt. 

Where have I been?

So it's been such a long while since I wrote to you my lovely following fans. I haven't quit. I never quit. I've been busy. That's all. I started working (like where I get paid in money) again, I'm still acing grades in school. It's summer break for my kids, so there's been a little less school work for them and a little less teaching from me.

So I've had some time open up, but at the same time, I've filled in some time that I didn't necessarily have to fill. In between that, I've been putting together something that I'd like to think is awesomeness in the works. I hope you think so, too.

As I said, it's a work-in-progress. So that means there will be some gaps and time between the postings, but I think you will enjoy it nonetheless. So look forward to that.

Tourist Mode for GPS

So once again, we're talking about things I learned while on vacation. This particular idea was inspired by the amount of wrong turns and signless avenues in the Disney area. Getting lost in Disney was not so bad--there's great sites, and awesome hotels. However, unless you've been there before, or you're from the area, you have absolutely no clue where you are, or what you are looking for. All the while, though, we're listening to our GPS telling us to turn here, and arrive there (where there was absolutely nothing). We ended up ignoring the GPS recommendations entirely and just asking for directions from multiple Disney associates.

 I have to put this out there, too, because it's such a guy thing. The first guy we asked was at the Magic Kingdom Parking gate, he gave us the most exact directions to our hotel. Sure enough, as I'm going the directions the man told us, my passenger-seat-driver (AKA--the hubby), says, "that's not right, look the sign doesn't say hotels that way. Go to the next exit." Why did I listen to him? I dunno, it's really not the first time he's guided me in the wrong direction. The fact is, I did listen. We ended up driving away from the hotel.

So anyway, I haven't been to Disney in--well, since our honeymoon--so I wasn't too familiar with the sites and details. While I'm driving, I feel like Jack--you know, the Pumpkin King--"what's that? what's this? oooh!" And of course, my kids are with us, so I'm thinking, they'd like to know what everything was too. That's when it hit me: GPS should have a tourist mode.

What the heck is tourist mode? Well, it's simple. Like having a tour guide with you wherever you are. You should be able to push a button on your GPS, which will obtain data about the location your in. You should be able to select from options like learning any history related to the area, or buildings you are passing; to just learning what you're surrounded by. Your GPS should be able to say "If you're looking for a great night out on the town, look left--that's Disney Downtown, with shopping, dining, and club-like atmospheres." And maybe, as I'm driving, I'd tell my passenger-seat-driver to, instead of telling me the wrong way to go, click the map and find out what restaurants are in Disney's Downtown. Or maybe, as we're driving past Disney's Hollywood Studios, I might learn a bit of the history surrounding the name change. Still wondering what happened to MGM.

Anyway, Disney is not the only place that could benefit from this feature. There's places all over the country that you don't even notice because you're listening to someone else say "turn here" or "recalculating", or even "don't turn there, it doesn't look right." Personal tour guides will make me feel a little better about being lost, and may even help me to find something I would like to look for at another time.

Vacation from a Vacation

        Whew! Well, welcome back. I apologize for having been stagnant for as long as I have been. Vacation yanno. You go on a vacation and when you get back, you need a vacation from your vacation. I seriously needed one, too. Of course my vacations, as you would expect are not really vacationy. I mean, Disney was great! I had a blast running around the parks and getting on rides. My kids trying to disappear into the massive crowds and the constant sound of my dad telling anyone and everyone with a kid how full their hands were was not at all grey-hair inducing. In all fairness, my dad lost a chunk of his brain after a motorcycle accident, so his actions are very forgivable. That's a blog post for another day, though. Fortunately, my kid's also got tired of hearing me holler at them and soon learned to stay close by. The part of my vacation that wasn't very vacationy was bringing my work with me. Alas, this trip was coordinated just the day after my spring break from school was over. As a result, I was in class while making a splash at splash mountain. I was in the dark of space mountain while in the darkness of confusion in my statistics class. I was enjoying the hard work of costumed characters while describing the motivational techniques that make Disney a successful company for my organizational behavior class. Ok, enough of that. You get the point.

        As many of you know, when I got home, I learned that my cat, Mickey, died. It was one in the morning. I had just done six hours of driving. I wasn't exactly content with seeing my beloved friend having passed. Unfortunately, he was an indoor/outdoor cat. Though we have been in this house for 9 years and he's never had a problem coming and going as he pleased, it was obvious he had come into some trouble that night. The pet sitter had last seen Mickey at 8:30pm and he was happy-normal Mickey. I admit, I am still very suspicious of what occurred that night, but I have since realized that replaying the thoughts do not help me. That explained, we can move on.

       Before I left for Disney, myself and my future self communicated again, and we agreed that it was time to begin our relationship. When I returned home, me and my future self further coordinated the path of our future. I am now in training mode for a long-standing marketing company that is on its way to my neck of the woods (that's in GA for those of you who don't know). I won't drop too many specific details, but the company has been around for over a decade, and the leadership has me blown away. From the first time we spoke I realized this was a person/company I wanted in my life. The only downside is that until this company gets here, I'm still at home responsible for doing my wifely-motherly-and studently duties. No my grades have not suffered any. In fact, in both classes (Statistics and Organizational Behavior) I've gotten 100% on every assignment and test I've submitted. AND I still find time for a hardcore work out and some kntting/crochet. BooYah! That's what I'm talking about. I think someone's getting a new pair of shoes with their first paycheck. Why not? I've earned it!

By now, you probably have a better idea as to why I haven't posted anything in a few weeks. I do, however, have a list of items I wanted to post about. Some ideas, some just random thoughts. The point is: excuse my absence, and stick around--we're just getting warmed up.

A Bit of Free PR Advice

So the video below marks my inspiration for this post. It's only slightly outdated (Summer last season 2nd Atlanta race). That's my man--Tony Stewart--autographing a hat for me. He makes regular appearances at Office Depots across the nation. My husband was awesome and kind enough to go and get my a bracelet on his way to work so I wouldn't have to wait in any long lines with my three kids. Other fans, I learned, had been waiting since 1a.m. to see Tony and snag an autograph.

With kids in tow, we waited outside in a line for 2 hours to see Tony. This was my first time EVER getting to see him in person, and up close (I've seen him at races, but from the stands and while he was in his car). Some of the other fans clued me in to the fact that Tony doesn't come outside, he sneaks in the back door. I was really excited to give him a huge welcome to Atlanta, but no biggy. So two hours of waiting in the blistering heat with kids whining about boredom, hunger, thirst, potty breaks--you know, kids stuff. Finally the Office Depot managers come out to inform us that we'll be ushered in small groups to get our autograph. He also let us know that we could snap shots, but that Tony wouldn't be posing. Again, no biggy.

So of course, the line break lands me right at the entrance--kinda first in line for my group--waiting to go in and see the man who I have adored for the past 13 years (this year makes 14). The friendly associate takes us on a brief tour around the outskirts of the store to meet back up with the line. By now--and I'm not lying--I was about as giddy as a schoolgirl. I've never met a giddy school girl, but that's the saying. The reality was that my eagerness to meet Tony for the first time was embarrassing the heck outta my kids. I might've been red in the cheeks, but I couldn't see me.

So here we are--next in line to see Tony. I've got my camera rolling. I can't speak. Yea, me! Not able to come up with anything intelligent to say. Crap! So he signs my hat, I say thanks, and I'm on my way. -.- Not even a minute has passed, but my opportunity was gone. I ran into another woman who found the courage to cry right there. Thank goodness that wasn't me, but afterwards--on my hour long trip home--you better believe I could have. I couldn't get it out of my head. Before me was the guy I had regularly fantasized racing against (among other things, but that was the cleanest thing we ever did ^.~) and I couldn't say or do anything to get his attention. Not even a glance. He almost lifted his eyes up enough toward the end, but the video doesn't completely catch that he immediately moved onto the next thing to sign. It was depressing--no--DEVASTATING. I was crushed. In my head, I had always imagined he would see me, fall deeply in love and we'd be racing tracks across the country. Yea, a little far fetched, but I don't think I'm the only person (woman) to imagine this about any driver (and of course I knew (know) that will never happen--huzzah for happy marriages); especially after I had been watching him race since I was a teen.

Anyway, the point is, this led to me to look more into Tony Stewart. No doubt he loves his fans. But I have found time and time again, stories of his personal disregard for fans. Obviously, I don't know if they are all true. I would like to believe he didn't really walk by a kid in a wheel chair and say "sorry, late for qualifying," and this post is not about Tony Stewart, per say. He's just my shining example. Sorry Tony (as if he's reading--you can't see my eye roll, but I rolled my eyes at this idea).

The point of this post is PR 101. Celebrities of all venues, acknowledge your fans. Consider for a minute that all women have fantasized about you (this includes the women celebrities, too). A little eye contact, a small smile--it all goes a very long way. Now all of us ladies might not be drop dead gorgeous, or blond, or big breasted, and we may have three kids, and some junk in our trunk, and drive gi-normous vans... Regardless! The things we have done to you in our minds are unspeakable. That little glance, that simple smile, it makes us feel special. It keeps our fantasies alive. It ensures we'll remain your fans. It sells YOU. If you are too busy for your fans, one day they might get too busy to watch you. #JustSaying

I still adore Tony Stewart, even if he does treat me bad (lol, I'm so kidding). I hope that the rumors of his bad PR behavior aren't true. I hope he stops in an Office Depot in my neck of the woods again this year. I might not wait two hours in the hot sun to see him, or I might use the time more wisely to develop a slightly less duh-ed approach to meeting someone I consider a celebrity. I dunno. Maybe, I'll turn my attention to some of these other drivers who have been so awesome as to follow me on Twitter. I'm just saying--go the distance for your fans, they keep you driving. ^.~

Commercials Ticking You Off?

I waited some time before I posted this blog, because I didn't want it to be a series of blasts at people by which I was relatively bothered. However, it occurred to me that I would have to sum up the situation that led to this post for complete clarification. For protection of their identity I am not using names. I will simply use @PeronIDisagreeWith1 and @PersonIDisagreeWithMore. Onto to the post!

So as you know, I'm a racing junky. I get my fix from watching Speed Channel and on the weekend--NASCAR racing (go Tony--by the way!). As of late, there's been all sorts of stuff coming up that stops me from enjoying the race personally, at home, on my couch, on my decent sized TV, maybe with a beer. Today was no different. I had to go get the tires on my van changed. Well I didn't have to... I chose to because my husband said he'd stay home with the kids. That's like a vacation to me. Of course, I didn't expect it to take as long as it did, but that's not the point of this post. Anyway, when these events come up, I stay up to date with the series of posters tweeting on Twitter. In particular, I follow @theNASCARfans and several other accounts whose purpose is to draw attention to companies for gaining more sponsors in the sport of racing.

Now, I think @theNASCARfans started this approach, and I loved the idea. It has certainly taken off, too. David Stremme displayed the logo on his own car. Since then, there have been other accounts arise with the same intention, some for specific drivers, but mostly for the same purpose. Let me be clear, this was NOT related to @theNASCARfans. This was another account of the same intent whom I no longer follow for their--I'm keeping this clean, so I won't finish my thought and we'll just call them @PeronIDisagreeWith1.

Anyway, @PeronIDisagreeWith1 tweeted about the many commercials. The person even counted the number of commercials to laps driven--basically made a math/science and countdown to commercials. I really didn't pay that too much mind. I just shook my head and ignored it. However, @PeronIDisagreeWithMore chimed in with their opinion of the race as "boring" and needing the saving grace of rain. For some reason, this just begged me to chime in. So I kindly reminded the two that they could change the channel if they were so unhappy with the race and all it's commercials. Well @PeronIDisagreeWithMore must be a nutty liberal or something, because instead of coming back to me with anything pertinent, they persisted in childish ridicule and bickering with me. Honestly, with me?! Are you serious? I also reminded @PeronIDisagreeWith1 that the purpose of their account is like that of @theNASCARfans--to get sponsors to look this way, and by bitching about the commercials they were indeed doing just the opposite. These people swore they realized that sponsors are the ones that keep these cars on the track, on our TVs, and thus deserved their air time. But @PeronIDisagreeWith1 insisted that the itty bitty space taken up on the cars was enough commercial for all the sponsors, and we the fans should not have to watch commercials. @PeronIDisagreeWithMore suggested I was overstepping some boundary with a lack of expertise on the subject. Maybe @PeronIDisagreeWithMore should get to know someone before they make such claims. I'm a student of Marketing already holding one degree (not a big one, but probably one more than @PeronIDisagreeWithMore). I have natural awesomeness for marketing in general which is why I have chosen to study in the field. When I bust into the career, I'm going to rock whatever company I work for. But I digress. @PeronIDisagreeWithMore then insisted that the commercials aren't even focused on the teams with lesser sponsors. This is where my post comes from.

It doesn't take a genius or someone with a degree in Marketing to know that you don't bash the sponsors if you want to keep them. Next point, teams have MANY sponsors. Some big and some small. The ones that get noticed are the ones that pay the most. So those teams with small-time sponsors aren't going to have commercials because their sponsors put all the money into the team. They get their shine when the driver wins and thanks those sponsors. Even the big-name drivers have smaller sponsors you rarely hear about, because it's all about the dough. Some sponsors sponsor more than one driver just so they can bring us more drivers. Guess where all their money comes from? Well they don't pull it out of thin air. They most likely don't get it from the government. They get it from the consumers. They get it from the fans who are loyal to our drivers so much that we choose to buy products with the drivers face/number/logo on it. They air commercials that help us remember just who sponsors our teams, just who keeps the race on our TVs, and just who keeps our ticket prices down.

Now, that being said, I agree that commercials can be frustrating--especially when they get timed right before a good wreck or involve feminine odor, penis problems, absorbency of tampons, or other such unmentionables. But you know what? NASCAR does instant replays, and in most cases cuts right back to the race. I remember one station did commercials on half the screen and the race on the other half, which I thought was great. Maybe they (the data collectors of commercials) didn't find this very effective--honestly, I don't know and I'm not going to look into right now. The point is--the sponsors get their air time. They get that time based on how much they pay for it. They bank on our fanship to bring back the bucks they are spending on these teams. They will do it however it makes them money.  There is absolutely no way for all of the sponsors to be given their time as the cars rolls by--the whole show would be focused on the stickers. There's a great idea. -.- The point--if you don't want commercials, go to the race and watch it from the stands. Otherwise, don't make an  account (a copy-cat one at that) that feigns having a mission to acquire more sponsors for the teams and then bitch about the commercials. You are undoing all the hard work that true intended accounts like @theNASCARfans have started.

A Moment on the Injured List

At the moment, I am babying my fingers and hand. The quick story is that I went to move a piece of exercise equipment that I had just finished using. I must admit, I saw it was smoking, and this was not a good enough indication to me that I should avoid grabbing it. So I did... and now it hurts. Duh! I've done worse than this, though. After mowing the lawn I went to put my mower away. I couldn't get it positioned right, so I decided I would just pick it up and move it into the place I wanted. Of course, in that situation, there was no smoke, just the general knowledge about engines being hot after use that should have better guided my intentions. Anyway, since I have to take a moment to pause my workout and ice my hand, I figured I could still type.

So currently myself and many others are following the NASCAR appeal for the 48 team. If you don't follow Stewart-Hass Racing, I suggest you do. If for anything, the user is pretty dern funny.

It's currently raining in my little southern nook of Georgia. It's alright, too, because I hate having to go out and water the yard. However, with all the seeds I sowed, water is kind of important. So yeah, YAY FOR RAIN!

Of course, that is not what I wanted to chat about in this post. I know so far this page has been just a mess of random conversations, and I thought it necessary to clarify my mind-blowing intention (at least this week's) for this site. We all are very aware of my desire to be rich. Just about everyday I come up with my "plan for life" that will lead me there. This is just another one, but it's kind of stuck. Since I can't seem to make a buck being someone else's muse, I've decided I should just be my own. I mean, I'm crafty, sometimes philosophical, witty, bold with expression, and I love to socialize! So I'm going to craft whatever I craft, write whatever philosophical, witty, or fantasmical (yes, I know that's not a word) shtuff (this one, too) comes to mind and I'm going to post it for everyone to enjoy. Probably not going to use Blogger to do this, though. Blogger is a stepping stone. But I mentioned that in the last post. I will definitely keep everyone up-to-speed with what I'm doing (no matter how insignificant it may be). So check back frequently, hit me up on Twitter and Facebook, and be lively here. Otherwise, just enjoy my ramblings :)

Just Awesomeness

It's been quite the week for me here in Snellville, GA. We celebrated my daughter's 2nd birthday just yesterday, in fact. Hooray for terrible twos! If you weren't able to keep up with her while she did all her birthday shopping, just go to my Facebook or Twitter page, and you can see all the highlights.

Anyway, as you can see, my blog page is going through some ch-ch-changes. I was absolutely mystified when Google Adsense wouldn't approve my account because of my page being "too confusing." They also said something along the lines of promoting discrimination, or something. Maybe they were mad that I mentioned bad driving by some of NASCAR's finest. Anyway, I thought this was mostly interesting because this is a Google site and I used all of Google's tools to put it together. So Google gave me the tools to create a mess! Thanks Google. No, it's not their fault. So I spent, probably a little more time than I should have, in re-configuring and redesigning my blog site. I brushed up some of my Adobe Photoshop skills and added a nice new banner. I had a very colorful background for about 4 hours, but it did some real damage to my brother's eyesight. After he recovered, he kindly suggested a  more professionally appealing glow for my page. And since I'm all about being professional (o.O) I went ahead and made some adjustments. If you have any changes or recommendations, feel free to share them. Keep in mind, I'm a rather simplistic person with not too much technological prowess. In other words: Keep It Simple, Stupid. Eventually, when this site starts bringing in the visitor counts that I want, I'll run off to Go Daddy or some other host site to park it in the "big boy" parking lot.

Just so I mention it before I forget it, I didn't get to watch the entire Kobalt 400 yesterday. I already mentioned it was my baby's birthday, but also, I had an assignment that I put off for too long during the week. I did catch the last three laps, and only did so because of the helpful Tweets I received to keep me informed of Tony Stewart's whereabouts on the track. If you haven't watched Tony throughout his racing career you won't recognize just how much he's changed over the years. I am particularly impressed by his running so far this season. I've noticed since he was a rookie that he really did nothing during the majority of the season. Most of his wins didn't happen until they started really counting. This season, though we're seeing him really go for the win in every race. I love it! That's the champion we're looking for in racing. Someone who knows that you race to win every race, not just some. I'm glad Tony Stewart's really shining on the track, and I hope he keeps it up.

On a side note to NASCAR racing, is everyone aware that Trevor Bayne needs a full-time sponsor? You know I'm all about Tony, but Trevor is young, good looking, and he can race! Tony Stewart is still all those things, too, but he's got sponsors. You can follow Trevor on Twitter, and you can show your support for his team by hash-tagging "SponsorTrevor" or by adding @SponsorTBayne21 to your own tweets. Remember, fans are the only ones capable of keeping NASCAR racing alive and well. There's a lot of drivers out there trying to make something of themselves. Trevor is one of the good ones. However, this post is long enough, so I'm going to stop blowing up people's skirts. I will get another blog posted shortly. Sit tight. And as always, thanks for following! Feel free to leave comments.

A Bit Overdue--NASCAR Sprint Cup

    Let me first apologize for the delay in this post. I realize raceweek is over.  If you're anything like me, you spent those days in front of your TV (or if you were lucky--in Daytona) watching Speed Channel and FOX. So what an opener, huh? I mean has NASCAR given us exactly what we asked for or what? We wanted driver skills (or lack thereof) to be apparent on the track. We wanted accidents. Don't lie, you know you love the wrecks. Most importantly, we wanted to feel like we were watching a race and not just a parade of fast cars. I think NASCAR gave us just that. Yet, some people are now bitching. Why? 


  Let's get into this piece by piece. We'll start with Danica Patrick. Look, I love that there's women racing. I don't know if there was a lack of options, but Danica needs a lot of work. Joey Lagano didn't hit the wall as many times in his first season as Danica has in her first three races. It really is a shame too. Now, I'm not saying any of these hits were her fault, but her inexperience certainly didn't pull her out of anything. Mostly, I feel sorry for the wallets of Tony Stewart and Dale, Jr. My main issue with Danica Patrick was that she was crammed down our throats throughout the pre-season and during every single race so far. They altered the "Gentlemen, start your engines"  to be extra clear that there was a woman on the track. We get it! She's here! She can't Steer! Get over it! And then let's get back to racing. Anyway, maybe if Danica spent less time in interviews, and more time behind the wheel of this particular car we wouldn't have seen her wreck in every race. This is extremely important for her too, if she expects to be taken seriously on the track. Let's be honest, she has a great body and she's absolutely beautiful. Unfortunately, that's why most want to see her fail. Those were the assets focused on previous to her being a race car driver. Because of that, no one is expecting much from her. She's got a lot of ability under that pretty little face, though. If she had it to do all over again, I wish someone would have advised her to build up the experience and skill, then sell yourself as a sexual image. We all know sex sells. I would never suggest a great looking woman not use that piece of marketing. The men do it, and so shall the women. However, it comes with consequence for a woman (especially in men-dominated sports) when she can't prove herself on the battle field. Drive first, sex next. That's all I'm saying. 


   And what about my boy Tony? What a teaser! After the great racing in the Budweiser Shootout and the first place finish in the first race of the Gatorade Duel, I was half expecting him to, oh I don't know--RACE--at the Daytona 500. I totally understand that Tony didn't want to waste fuel and energy in pushing from the start, but when did he plan on pushing? Throughout the entire race, he was just there. We kept hearing how he wanted this win so bad, but I don't think the Tony we saw in the Daytona 500 was the Tony that wanted a win. I've watched Tony Stewart since he was a rookie. I know how he races to win, and that wasn't it. That was driving Miss Daisy. Personally, I didn't care to see Jimmie Johnson take so many championships, but I would love to see another driver (more importantly--Tony Stewart) take more consecutive championships. I know he has the skill. I worry more that he's becoming too business-y and "I'm-an-actor" focused. Don't forget your fans Tony. 


Do I really need to mention the strategic approach to racing exemplified by J.P. Montoya. Holy crap! If you can't win--crash your ride into the nearest jet fuel-filled blower. After all the hard work put in by the blowers at Daytona on Sunday and Monday, it's sad that someone would show such disrespect by driving their car into one. However, I'm kind of surprised by JP. In previous seasons we've seen him go head-to-head with some great drivers trying to take that win. Maybe there's was just too big a gap in the off-season.


  I'm torn on this season so far. The drivers were very anxious during the Daytona 500, and this may have contributed to a lot of the action we saw on the track. I hope we did not witness the season to come, though. I hope these boys--and the girl--get their shtuff together before the next race. In my opinion, if you ain't in it to win--you're paid too much. So, boogety, boogety, boogety... Let's go racing boys. Get out there and deliver our season's champion. 

The American Dream: Once Upon a Time

              If you really stop and think about what has been making America such a miserable place--you needn't look any further than your personal mirror. I'm not saying you personally make this country a horrible place, but I dare you to suggest you are not somehow a part of the reason. Think about what you've done in a lifetime. Something? Nothing? No matter how you slice it, your actions or lack-thereof have impacted more than just you. Take for instance voting for the president. You either did or didn't vote. Who cares, right? Your vote doesn't mean something, right? Wrong. It does. It means you either want someone to run this country or you couldn't give a rat's patooty about your own well-being.


              Where am I going with this? Well I recently heard (for the umpteenth time) about big businesses shattering the American Dream (apparently more than our current president). Wait--back up. What the heck is the American Dream? Here's a wiki link that will tell you all about the American Dream if you're confused. The general gist of the American Dream is that anyone from any walk of life can achieve in America, simply because this is America--land of opportunity. By the way, I believe in this concept, and I hope to achieve my own American Dream, but I digress. Some have taken this concept to mean 'land of the opportunity to collect from other hard working citizens.' Again, I digress. Anyway, I ask you this: what is a big business other than a small shop that is living the American Dream?


              People are whining left and right about companies like Wal-Mart, Home-Depot, Lowes, Target, etc. moving in an blowing the mom and pop shops out of the water. Sure some people do something to stop these companies from building in their neck of the woods, but what are they really doing? We'll get into that. First, let me ask this: Does anyone really believe that Sam Walton woke up one day and said "I'm going to open thousands of stores worldwide and kill many small businesses." No. In fact, he woke up one day and said "I can bring products to people for less." So he did. The consumers were the ones that decided this was a good company. The consumers were the ones that decided to go to Wal-mart and begin building the empire that it is today. In fact, I have never seen any company that starts up as a huge entity. If you know a company that made millions and franchised on their first day, please let me know--I'd like to shake that person's hand.


           Anyway, now consumers (no not all) are upset. The evil Wal-mart is building stores, creating jobs, bringing crappy products for dirt cheap, delivering poor service and low wages.  You would think gripes like that would cause any company to fall. Yet, it doesn't... Why? Because that's what the American consumers want! That's what your voice or your lack of opinion contributed to the world. Does anyone cry when Coca-Cola expands its products to the world? No. But what about the mom and pop soda shops in those areas? No one thinks about that, but it's the same: building the business to make larger profits.  Not to be confused with greed, this is living the American Dream.




          So why is it, to the general consumer, that one day a company is great and the next they are just too big. My opinion: Jealousy.That little monster that makes many Americans hate the success of others. It's this same line of thinking that has contributed to the downfall of our country and the election of really bad presidents. I know I'm travelling into those political waters, but I have to go here. Right now, America is completely divided. Partly it's the rich vs. the poor; the black vs. the white; but mostly it's the doers vs. the takers. This country has lost its sense of the America Dream. More people are willing and content to sit on their butts and want so much handed to them. These are the people who think paying 60% of your earnings is not "fair share,"  when they likely put less than 5% of their own earnings into the pot--I'm just saying. My definition of "fair" (which my argument is generally that fairness doesn't really exist as much as it is a concept of "what suits me best") is that all sides contribute or receive the same exact portion. Yet the people crying these ideas of fairness most likely have not paid attention to how much of their own portion is not contributed and how much of someone else's contribution is actually received. Of course, they could just be real Communists, I suppose. What you get with this line of thinking is Obama and companies either scurrying to other places to do business--where they can actually make a profit; or companies who swoop in while the economy is at its weakest to fill whatever needs of the people at better rates than a little guy can. Sorry that was run-onny.


             Anyway, by the logic of such people who have obviously forgotten the American Dream (or maybe never learned it), we want the rich people to pay for everything while we sit on our ass. BUT we don't want mom and pop shops to expand and become big chains, or get rich on pursuing business-like ideals. That's just not right. In fact it's greedy! Yea, that's what we'll call it. Greed! Because if success is not given to me for nothing, no one else should have it no matter how hard they work for it.


              ...Really?... How about we all wake up and smell the reality? America was established on having freedoms; choices. You have the freedom to get off your butt and do something, just like you have the choice to do nothing at all. Stop demanding for others to take care of you, get off your butt and live the real American Dream. Be a voice that says I want my friggin' country back! If you say nothing at all, you are essentially saying that you don't care what freedoms you will have (or not have) tomorrow. So get educated.Get an opinion. Build your voice. And say something worthwhile with it. Do something that makes you as big a business as you ever dreamed of being.


           

Big Dreaming

      My latest assignment in corporate financing fuels my argument that this course has very little to do with corporate finances so much as it has to do with personal finances. Anyway, this task required us to pick an asset we would like to save for over the next five years. Well, I don't imagine I'm too different from the rest of my lower-middle class brethren (if I'm even in middle-class anymore), so the thought of saving any kind of money for any reason was already one that was beyond me. For this assignment I had to use my imagination. You know me by now to know I imagine myself to be quite filthy rich. In my filthy-richdom, I chose this luxurious mansion in Boca Raton, FL to be my future investment. Do I pick 'em or what?! This four-story home looks out over a beautiful ocean (note the sun deck on the roof), has 5 bedrooms and 6.5 baths, an in-home theater, gym, 4-car garage (yanno, for the rides I keep close while the rest are safely tucked away ^.~),THE WORKS! 

   

You know who wouldn't want to live here? The Grinch! That's who! That guy is so content to live in the freeze tundra of Whoville. You know who else? The man I married. DOH! I'm not saying that the powder-white slopes of the northwest don't have their appeal, but year-round cold is certainly not my cup of tea. I'd rather wake up to the sound of waves crashing on the beach, and the sight of hotties with oiled bodies in swim trunks and bikinis. My yacht? It's at the port! And when I want to take a week away from the masses, I jump on that liner and go deep-sea fishing or diving, or skiing, or para-sailing! Why? Cause that's what you do in paradise! Sure you can do all sorts of stuff in the snowy mountains, but for the most part--you just freeze your ass off! Who digs being frozen? Not this gal. 

    So back to this assignment. It really got me thinking, wow, what big dreams I have. The house is currently listed at $7.5 million. Pocket change right? Let me write up a check right now! Haha I wish! So now I have to figure out what I'm going to do to make that kind of money in my lifetime. Short of some heavy criminal activity, I'm fresh out of ideas, because I know that even with the degrees I'm pursuing, that kind of money is going to remain a figment of my imagination. Squatting suddenly sounds interesting. Right? No, squatting is an all around disgrace. I feel sorry for the people that have no other option, as well as angry towards the people who are in the wrong. More than anything, though, I am mad at our country for letting this happen. 

     Not to brag, but this family has managed to hold on during this economic crisis. But many others have not been able to hang on. Unemployment rates are still ridiculously high (not that everyone on unemployment is actually pursuing anything, but still); the nation is torn by hatred and drenched in excuses from racism to political representation. It's a sad time to be around in what's supposed to be the greatest nation in the whole world. I'm just saying! There's still potential though--still hope for us to turn this country around. Still a chance that people like me could live in a mansion like that. However, it means more of the people in this country need to open their eyes and really see what's going on. Quit clinging to the excuses your fed, or the excuses you come up with for accepting this country the way it is. Things are all wrong right now. Only the people can demand changes. What changes will you demand? I for one will demand--from myself--a higher standard of living. That means having the right education, the right job, the right motivation, and the right goals. This is just big dreaming now, but when I hold myself to it--it'll be big reality. What are you holding yourself to?

It might not be about the money

So last night I mentioned an idea after a brief conversation with a fellow interviewee. This idea has me torn. As you know I aspire to be rich. Originally, my thought on richness involved luxury cars, yachts, frequent fancy parties, and the celebrity-type lifestyle. I'm not a shallow person--I just want to be. ^.~

The idea I had really put these desires into question. In fact, this proposition would seriously be more along the lines of "doing-good-things-for-others."  While the idea of that is not totally without its self-fulfillment, I hate to think that a course of action in such a way will ever lead to me being the rich and powerful person I aspire to be. Awww nuts! What the heck am I to do with this?

What value would you place on someone if they were trying to convince you that you, too, could be successful in everything you want? By that I mean, can a really rich and powerful person be an inspiration? Or can they only be envied? Who stands before the filthy rich listening to them say things like "here's how to be successful;" without thinking, yea, easy for you to say--you're already rich. Obviously, I'm ahead of my game. I haven't even landed the first job in my field of choice. Marketing--in case I haven't mentioned. BUT, I'll get there. No doubt.

What's my idea? Well, I can't really expose that just yet. It would take a lot of money to initiate such a large project. I don't have any, nor do I know anyone (personally) that has the resources. Not to worry. I've jotted down some notes. Daringly enough I've even jotted the workings of a business plan. Mostly, I was just calling into question the ability to be inspirational while being completely focused on self. Selfish--I know. But if I said otherwise, I'd be a liar. What's worse? Being selfish, or being a liar? The end result is that I'd like to use my earned riches to do some good in this world. So who's selfish now? If I could do some good without having to be rich, I certainly would. Let's not fool ourselves, though. Money is the driving source of everything we do in this world.

So now I'm considering what to me is 'rich.' Is it the focus on being a positive role model and influence on the world (yes--I said world cause I'm just that bighead--now back off), or do I really want the sexy lifestyle of fast, luxurious cars, and big mansions, bikinis on the bow of my 80ft yacht? Maybe it's not about the price tag. Just Saying.

The First Interview

So here it is going on 9pm on a Friday night. I'm home, trying to finish up my corporate financing assignments. Honestly dreadful. I said I want to be rich--I never said I cared about what to do with my riches. Something happened, though. Today I had a rather successful job interview with a great company. Surprisingly, my interview did not last but maybe 3 minutes at the most--no lie. I'm probably like most people who walk into interviews with their hearts pumping and terrified wondering what questions will be asked. In fact, I didn't sleep much last night. I kept trying to prep myself on intelligent responses. Funny thing about me--I hate talking about myself. Give me a product to sell, and it's as good as in the bag. When that product is myself, though--we're talking a whole different ball game.
 
Today was not completely like that though. I got to the interview about 35 minutes early. I anticipated for getting lost in Atlanta, plus traffic. The GPS also doesn't take my lead foot into account. But shh! Anyway, there was only one other person (a gentleman wearing a fantabulous suit) in the lobby. Seeing this guy totally took me down a peg, but the more I looked at him, the more I saw what I had above him. By the looks of it, I was younger. While he sat, obviously convincing himself how awesome he was (and no doubt he isn't awesome, but you could tell by his face that he was rehearsing in his head) I was watching the sports station on the lobby TV (it was some bloopers show--absolutely hilarious). I also moderately engaged with the (exceptionally sweet--she called me 'honey') receptionist. One of the executives made a point to come out and demand the receptionist call someone and basically tell them they failed to get whatever position they applied for because they did not do what was asked of them. Of course by this time, it appeared that the entire line up of interviewees (about 20 other people--of which only 3 were men) had arrived. So obviously all of us were sizing each other up--trying to determine what made ourselves more special than the next person (who was likely saying the same exact thing). I think my being there as early as I was paid off for this very reason.

The gentleman I first waited with went first--and he went with a male interviewer. The woman who spoke to the receptionist called me in immediately following (aww crap! I got the possibly mean one!). As we were walking into her office, I could hear the men in their interview laughing it up like old buddies at the bar. Please go easy on me, please go easy on me. Before I could get comfy in my seat the fireballs of questions started coming. What did I have to offer the company? What were my strengths? What needs improvement? How would I rate my competitiveness? Where do I see myself in 6 months? 3 years? Each time I answered, she was quick with her pen to circle things on my application and jot down notes (which I couldn't see because I left my darn glasses in the car). Basically, she left no time for me to think about the amount of nervousness I might have had. In fact, I can't recall if I was nervous. I focused on maintaining eye contact and keeping a smile (not a totally idiotic one, either).

Before I knew, she was telling me about how they're asking candidates to come back on Monday for the 2nd stage of the interview--an all day interview--1:15pm-8:15pm (omg, should I pack a lunch? err dinner?). So of course I'm wondering if she's just telling me this to drop me like a sack of potatoes--I mean we've only been in this room for literally three minutes--and she just has to be vile, right? She goes on to say that she would like for me to be there. Well of course I said yes. And that was it! 'See ya Monday!'

I made my way out to the van, updated FB/Twitter statuses, called the hubby and told him the good news (that he couldn't go to work Monday because I needed him to stay home with the kids). As I was pulling out, I noticed one of the other interviewees coming out. Curiously, I asked her how she did and if she felt confident in her interview. She said the same woman told her that would call her and let her know. Well, I'm certainly not one to brag, so I simply said, "yea that's what she told me too." We briefly chatted about the quickness of the interview and bid each other farewell and good luck with future interviews. Anyway, today I certainly got a kick to my confidence considering that I made it to step 2 so quickly. I also got a quirky new idea that put my aspirations into question (that's my next post). In the mean time, I wonder who my competition will be. How excitingly fast-paced (my favorite speed)!

Outsourcing--What's the problem?

     It hadn't really dawned on me years ago, a single thing about business. My dad had a great sense of business (for a born and raised New Yorker). Of course, times have changed dramatically, and I've matured (in a sense) enough to know there are certain aspects of business that just go hand-in-hand. One of the topics that frequently comes up in class is outsourcing. This discussion usually leads me to believe that I'm surrounded by slightly-less-intellectual-individuals.


      The instructor starts the conversation with a question that opens the door for ignorance to shine, though (as if that's justifying the responses). The question is: "How do you feel about outsourcing?" Immediately, it's met with ideas of foreign speaking service representatives with names like "Steve," "Mike," and "Jen." Let's stop right there, I have not once spoken to an overseas representative who had more than a one syllable name--have you? Anyway, ignorance beams like a ray of sunshine on Hollywood Beach. "I can't stand outsourcing, I want someone that I can understand," "Those greedy companies are just looking for more ways to save a buck and lessen the quality of their products!" Sigh. O.k., deep breath. Sure there's a ton of comments spewing from those who think they have a grasp on how business works, but I think I've demonstrated enough. 


     First, folks--wipe the ideas of greedy, corrupt, and ill-performing companies out of your itty bitty heads. I'm sorry, that's kind of mean. Oh well. Not every company is about greed and corruption. Just because a company does well does not make it a bad company. Why do the majority of people believe this to be the case? Anyway, being slightly more savvy than some of my peers (I seriously will not say all of my peers--it's unfair--they don't all show up to class), I dared to chime in with my own two cents. As gently as I can through limited text-based chat features, I explain my view on companies that outsource. Let me first say I adore large companies--especially the ones who haven't engaged in some kind of questionable activity. "Professor," I start, "considering that the main goal of a company is to develop and maintain its customers, I am completely baffled why my peers make the assumption that outsourcing is only for the criminal-minded. Outsourcing is a means of reducing cost, obviously, but it also provides the company an opportunity to focus on other activities." After a bit more wind of speech, I concluded with the points that most companies will pass the savings along to consumers, or use the regained resource to invest in new products; and further that not all outsourcing means sending jobs overseas. 


     To my disbelief, students were still compelled to argue that all outsourcing was a contributing factor to companies getting rich and swindling the consumer. At this point I'm thinking maybe I'm in class with the 99%ers. How annoying. I wonder what will become of these people who cannot unwrap their pretty little heads from the theory that rich people or companies have obtained their status by doing wrong. Is this our society? Perhaps the guilt of their own previous wrong-doings leads them to believe that everyone does bad things. Is there something wrong with achievement--specifically achievement through innocent actions? I'm not rich yet, but I imagine when I get rich my intentions will remain wholesome, or at least focused on building valuable relationships with consumers. I certainly hope not to have any of these people working for me. 

I've finally done it...

     I suppose my first post should be somewhat of a welcome. Once upon a time I was the person who vowed not to have a blog. Mostly this was because I figured I had nothing to talk about. How untrue that was. I basically never shut up. I have an opinion on almost everything. I maybe admit that it was more along the lines of "who would care to see my opinions?" Guess what I realized since then. It doesn't matter. There's a million blogs out there and this is just one more. Right?


     Mostly, I suspect I'll be talking about a lot of non-sense. I go to school--working on my Bachelors in Marketing. Why? Cause in my imagination, marketing/advertising/public relations is all tied to the big time. If it's not, someone please stop me now. Being a long time follower of NASCAR (and Tony Stewart more specifically), my end goal is to (one day) be involved in the promotion of NASCAR.


     Based on that, you can assume I am a bit of a red-neck, and you'd be about right. I wasn't born a red-neck. In fact, I was born in New York (the ghetto--well, one of the ghettos--of NY). I was swept away to South Florida not too long after (Ft. Lauderdale/Miami areas). I grew up in the sunshine state, and when I graduated from high school I ventured a little further. Not too far, though. I only made it to Atlanta, GA (ok, for real, my town is called Snellville, but it's close enough to Atlanta for me to still say I'm in Atlanta. Right?). I've been in GA for about 9 years now. So the twang and style of the red-neck has completely rubbed-off on me.


     I'm here with my husband and our three kids. I homeschool them through a great website (k12). You could say we've really embraced modern technology. You should know, I don't want to stay in this area of GA for much longer. I certainly don't want my kids wasting anymore of their time here. The only way out and onto the things that I believe in, and that I feel are the best options for my kids: get rich. I don't necessarily mean filthy rich, either. I don't necessarily need fame. I just need to do the something with my life that's going to put my family on top of our game. So that's what this is about. You interested in keeping up? Be my guest.