I'm going to go completely off topic again... eh, anyway...

There is a reason for Tylenol, and Tylenol is good... it takes the pain away from banging your head against a wall, something you may decide to do after you do something like wax your upper lip...

It also can remedy the aches of slamming your head into a cabinet door, after you do something like wax your eyebrows...

Prepare yourself, take the Tylenol BEFORE you warm up the wax

        

Today, I embark on a mission... a personal mission to bring good grooming to each of my five hounds of hell puppies. You see, it is a personal mission because there is not a single one of them that enjoys the process of receiving a haircut. It's not a cake walk for their so called stylist either. Instead, it is a battle of the wills... and I am not sure I can win.

It started with the "momma" dog. She was the first, and at the tender age of 6 months, after her fine puppy fur transformed to an adult matted mess, we brought our little cotton ball to a groomer. There is a lot about timing that can make or break you, and our timing was excruciatingly bad. I dropped her at the groomer for an 11 a.m. appointment, and fought my way back to get her during one of the worst thunderstorms/ tornado watches we have had in the last 7 years. After traveling about 8 miles through torrential downpours and non-working traffic lights, I arrived to find a shaking bundle of pink skin, in the groomer's den that had no electricity. Of course they had electricity when they shaved every bit of hair off of her, leaving her to be a tremoring pile of pink skin and bones. Then they put her in a cage to wait for me to come and save her.

A traumatized puppy had realized she was shorn, and refused to move for the next week. This was reinforced by everyone that saw her asking "What did you do to her?" She knew she was no longer the beautiful cotton ball that was brought to the groomer that morning. Subsequent haircuts taught us to tell her how pretty she was throughout the process, and to constantly reinforce that she is a "Pretty Momma".

Now, 6 1/2 years later, she has taught her babies well. They all tremble at the sight of the professional buzzers we bought to make sure her day at the groomer's never has to be relived. We do the haircuts ourselves, in the comfort of their own home. They are free to take needed breaks from the buzzing, wrestle their stylist, play with their "humans" and cry at their loss of hair... and so it begins...

        

How to Pursue Your Dreams and Obtain Them

from wikiHow - The How to Manual That You Can Edit
This is for anyone and everyone who has a dream that they want to pursue.

Steps

1. Remember, everything you do in school is going toward that future dream. Math, English, History, Everything ties into a career. The more good grades that you have the better, so treat that Major Exam like you treat your life.
2. Read, Read, Read books that have subjects that relate to your dream are stocked full of inspiring ideas.
3. Hold on to your dream and never let go.
4. Never let anyone bring you down.
5. Now it gets harder. Figure out exactly what you need to do. College, grades, classes, groups, and run them through your head like a checklist.
6. Always apply for as many colleges as you can, because you can always have more options.
7. Remember: Options are good.
8. Have a fall back plan. A part-time job is a good idea while you are in college.

Tips

• Hold on to your dreams.

Warnings

• Remember to remember the things that are going on around you, no matter how much you want it, continue to live in the present.

Article provided by wikiHow, a collaborative writing project to build the world's largest, highest quality how-to manual. Please edit this article and find author credits at the original wikiHow article on How to Pursue Your Dreams and Obtain Them. All content on wikiHow can be shared under a Creative Commons license.

I just had to see how embedding an article works on a blog So there you have it, what do you think?

        

Last night I had another Continuing Education class over at the college. Instead of learning the valuable information I thought I would be acquiring, the last 30 minutes were dedicated to the adjunct professor letting the students know about the "politics" involved with his role. It seems there had been some duplication of efforts between him and a full time faculty member on some project the college had them both working on. He was supposed to report to this full time faculty member, instead of her reporting to him.

His stance was that he was being treated unfairly, as a result of being an adjunct professor compared to the woman who has made her career the education of others. He was very vocal about all of his "other life successes" and was of the opinion that he should be the project lead, based on experience. Oh, and since he was only getting a "stipend" for this project since he was in a supporting role, and not the lead.

I know, I also feel that I know way too much about this situation. A class of students, who are not in a position to assist in his cause in any way, shape or form, should not be his platform to vocalize this perceived injustice. I know too much about the situation, because he chose to air his situation with a class. It's not just the web where people feel compelled to air their dirty laundry anonymously... it's everywhere!

        

How often do people really know what they want? Maybe it's just me, but right now, it's hard to develop the solid picture of my "dream job" or even what I want for dinner tonight! There is no description of my life's purpose written down anywhere (at least that I am aware of) for me to refer to.

Take dinner tonight for an example. Hubby is going off to watch football at a friend's house. My girl and I are in for a "girls night", meaning there will be the smell of nail polish (and remover) in the air, (which really doesn't go well with the stronger scent of hair dye but I digress...) We can have anything in the house for dinner... from salads (typical girl meal I know), to fish & chips (since Hubby doesn't eat these, this should be my first choice), to grilled cheese and soup, or anything else that is within my limited cooking capacity. 

It should not be this hard to decide what we are having! 

Now on to the dream job. I know there are certain elements that I know must be a part of any position I consider. I am concerned with the commute (although the shorter the better, it has to be under 40 miles...) but other than that, I have to work with nice people. It could be on-site, off-site with some contact in the office, on a team or not, casual or professional office, big or small firm... the list of possibilities are endless! I have worked in different size companies, from small with about 10 employees to large with hundreds and thousands of employees and consultants.

The only part that matters to me is the culture of the office. I don't dream of being in a small firm again, nor do I dream of being in a large corporation again. I dream of actually looking forward to going to work. Most people have it in them to do any type of work. What matters most is working with people that will motivate you to do it, because they are a joy to work with, not because it needs to be done!

So... I guess it would be easier to figure out where my "dream job" is by finding out where the nice people are... Any ideas?

        

Yeah... I need to re-energize myself... One of my podcasts made some suggestions, so I thought I would just get some additional options out before I forgot them...

1. Take some risks
• Not major ones, just minor risks to elevate your excitement
• Find a new place to eat lunch
• Download some new software
2. Change 1 habit
• Should be eliminating a bad habit
• Could be starting a healthier habit
• Could also replace a bad habit with a better one
3. Pamper yourself
• I like this one!!

        

Yeah... it's time to go off topic again...

Why is it so hard to be understood correctly? I can communicate my perspective of a topic effectively, and yet my words are twisted when they are re-communicated to someone else. You know, the old "telephone game", and yet no one seems to be aware that they are the ones doing the twisting. Baffling, but yet at the same time, common.

If I were to mishear, or misinterpret something, I would ask for clarification. If we are speaking of directions, I would clarify that I heard correctly what was being said or instructed. Why don't others clarify their interpretation, prior to recommunicating their new found "expertise?"

Yet again, this was just a bit of my mind wandering off again, but if you have answers, I would love to hear them!

        

It had occurred to me over my morning coffee, while enjoying a fleeting few moments of "spare time" that everyone can offer me their opinions, however, the ones I am most inclined to listen to are the ones that I solicit directly. The problem with this approach is that I am not the type to request an opinion, I want direction!

I will ask, "How do you think I should approach this?" or "Is this the best course of action?" but I don't like to hear about the past tense of a situation. "If you would have done...", "You should have done...", "If you could have done..." are not my favorite phrases...

Sometimes when I am explaining the chaos that is in my head, the first result people have is "Oh, you should have said..." That doesn't help me, the situation is over! There is no going back and changing what has been done, said, ignored, addressed or changed already. Tell me how to handle a situation going forward, and I will listen...

That was my "off topic" rambling for today... now back to the job search.

        

In case you thought it was so I could stay home and watch General Hospital in real time instead of off the DVR box, you thought wrong. I have been laid off. Apparently my position was one of the thousands eliminated after GMAC had a 2.8 billion loss in the second quarter of this year.

For today, I am revisiting what I feel my purpose in life is, and for tomorrow I have already started dreaming of a better one. I'm pretty sure I will be ok, one foot will go before the other and all will work out eventually.

        

I have had a few days to relax and recharge my batteries a little. Vacation is necessary, not a luxury, and it brings so much value to every day you are out of your routine, it can't be measured.

I was running out of steam for about a month before my vacation, and the last week before my vacation was so busy and spent working on catching myself up before leaving the office. People may have thought I was crazy, but I wasn't, just in need of some time off!

When you go through your daily routine, week after week, life just seems stressful. It's hard to escape it when you are doing the same thing day in and day out. Taking some time off even just an afternoon or one day, can help bring your view of life back to a positive one.

I only have about 15 hours left of my time off... so I better go enjoy it! I still have podcasts to listen to and TV shows that I have not gotten to see yet!