Thought of the Day...

Lack of coffee this morning and late arriving employees set me off to a bad start. So today my thought of the day is why is more of a statement and a question…

Why is it that today’s generation (my generation) feel like they are entitled to everything? Office hours don’t seem to matter to them, they arrive late and leave early, they take longer than an hour lunch, and can’t meet the basic goals that they should be each day…

Then when it gets brought to their attention they act like it is a shock they are getting reprimanded for arriving at 8:30am rather than 8 or taking the hour and a half long lunch….maybe it’s just me (and Rene because we converse about it a lot), but it just seems like people now think showing up at all is better than nothing when it comes to their job and they don’t need to put in the work because they are on a salary.

I just don’t get it. You are at the office for 9+ hours a day what else are you doing but working during that time??

I seem to ask myself this a lot now that I over seem a team of recruiters and constantly have to bring this up to them. I feel like today “management” has just become a glorified term for babysitter in the office…

True Blood is Back!

Last night True Blood came back for season 4 on HBO!

I was very happy! This is one of the only vampire themed shows that Rene will actually sit down and watch with me so it's a nice way to end the weekend. I was a bit upset though that I feel like the storyline is nowhere close to what I was expecting from reading the books. The first three seasons seemed to follow pretty much the same story line with a few little additional changes and differences, but I feel like season 4 is out of left field.....

Maybe I am wrong and it's just been a while since I read the start of the series (I'm currently on book 9 of 12). Nonetheless, it was quite entertaining! And add to that HBO got me all excited about watching the second episode online before it airs next week! I quickly went over to the computer and logged onto HBo-Go only to find that Time Warner does not yet offer HBO - Go! *tear*, I guess I just have to wait until next Sunday to see what happens next.

Happy Monday!

My next purchase!

I think that I have found the coolest kitchen item ever!

While I would love to have a Vitamix blender--I can't really swallow th $500+ price tag. However a Yonanas Machine might just be the next best thing for tasty frozen treats!

This was featured in the FoodNetwork Magazine this month and then I did some extra research and decided I want one ASAP! Frozen fruit with nothing added instantly made into a soft serve like dessert? Sign me up! Target will start selling them next week!

What's for Lunch?

Today I decided it was time to try out one of the fun summer salads that I posted about last week. Boring lettuce and veggies just wasn't cutting it! So I decided to go with a chickpea and herb salad.

This was so easy to make!

Ingredients:
Canned or dry chickpeas (soaked overnight and cooked)
Parsley (chopped)
Mint (chopped)
Onion (diced)
EVOO (about 1 Tbls)
Lemon juice from one half of a lemon
Salt and Pepper

You mash up the chickpeas just a bit then add in all the other ingredients to your liking.

I let mine sit for about a day so the mint didn't look as bright green but still delish
!

It was super quick and easy and a nice healthy change from everyday garden salads!

Birds of a Feather

I've recently decided that I really like the idea of feather extensions that I have seen on TV and various fashion blogs. Rene on the other hand not so excited about the new trend that I have taken an interest in, feather extensions. They add a little something to your hair, aren't damaging, and aren't permanent. It's far better than me deciding to color my hair just because I am bored with it....and cheaper too!

So today I did a little research and realized that there are plenty of salons on Dallas that will put them in for you (though it takes all of 10 minutes) and they charge you anywhere from $30-$55 per set (3 feathers).

I was not about to pay that, so I kept looking and came across a website that I could by the hook and beads used for putting the extensions in as well as a set of feathers for around $15-$20!

I figured why not give it a try, you are able to put them in easily (small bead, hook and pliers) and then they are able to be washed, dried, and styled just like your own hair!

I figured going the natural colored route is best for the office....

So now I'll just wait for them to arrive, it's summer why not try something new right?

Tasty Salad Options

While Rene is out of town typically my meals consist of salads for lunch and mainly salads or veggies for dinner with some occasional chicken thrown into the mix.

Well we are back into week #1 of his travel and I am over salads already! Mainly because that's what I have been eating for lunch for the past few months because it's easier that most other options.

Today I came across a post of 101 summer salad options.

*photo credit New York Times*

This got me excited to reinvent my salad routine! I will be trying out some of these for sure, if nothing else because the pictures just look delish!

Putting My Green Thumb to the Test

This weekend I decided it was time to plant something on the back porch. Typically we haven't had much luck making anything grow in the Texas heat so I have stayed away from flowers and most other plants. The exception that we've found is jalapeno peppers (kind of obvious I know) and basil grow really well on the patio.

So this year of course we planted 2 peppers and basil (I also decided to add rosemary and thyme in the herb "garden"). Then I decided I would try something a little different....a little mini vegetable "patch".

Now yes, there isn't a whole lot of room here but in reading the plant card we should have plenty of room to get these little guys going. We have a tomato, zucchini, melon, and another type of summer squash growing in the little box.

What could be better than some fresh grown veggies in a salad right? We shall see what becomes of the little box, it's going strong since Sunday at least!

Feeling Productive Thanks to the Pup!

I am feeling pretty productive this morning and it's only 6:30! I must say that it's all Stitch's doing though.

With the weather in Dallas getting into the 100+ range my 11am daily and well into the evenings past 8pm it isn't ideal weather to walk the little man. However, with Rene being gone this week for work he's a little sad and no walks me even sadder :(

So this morning I decided I would start just getting up about an hour earlier than normal to take him for a 20-25 minute walk before it got too hot. After our walk I was able to enjoy my egg whites and turkey bacon, OJ and a cup of coffee before starting to get ready for work.

Starting the day off with a little mile long walk was really nice because it's super quite outside and it was nice to wake up without any real stress just yet.

It was nice to be able to check in on my email and catch up with my blogs that I follow from home as compared to during the day at work too.

By 6:30 I felt like I was wide awake and ready to go! So I guess this may be a new routine, though who knows how much Rene will like it when he gets home--oh well at least it will last for the 2 weeks that he's gone this month!

Enjoy yourself. It's later than you think. ~Chinese Proverb

Another Step to Further My Career

Add one more thing to my list of “bettering myself”…or rather one more thing where I’m reading and taking a 2 hour exam on my summer break before classes start again for the Summer semester!

Over the past few months I have been highly weighing my options in terms of certifications that would benefit my career in staffing and placement of physicians. I can’t obtain an ASPR certification that they issue since I am not in internal recruiter for a healthcare agency, and I looked into a PHR (professional of human resources certification) but that seemed a little too broad and also over $1,000 which I didn’t think would really “pay off” right now in my career.

My last certification that I looked into was with the National Association of Personnel Services for a CTS (certified temporary-staffing specialist) which also will allow me to obtain a Physician Recruiter Certification after I obtain my CTS.

After talking it through with Rene and looking at the costs: $250 for a yearly membership (required) $350 for the exam and then CMEs each year to keep current. The PRC certification is another $100 on top of everything else and double the CMEs, I decided that this was something I wanted to do.

So last Friday I officially registered for the exam. After a brief and to the point proposal to my director I was even able to negotiate myself the testing fee paid for by him! It was nice to feel that the company was willing to invest in me and my desire to strive to set myself apart from others in the industry! So now starts the ongoing reading of legal documents, requirements for the IRS, and lots of other rules and regulations that are involved in the temp-staffing world.

Hopefully I’ll be able to take the exam sometime in the first or second week of July – and fingers crossed I only have to take it one time!

And of course I'll get some bragging rights with Rene, while he has 2 certifications technically after his name (MAcc, CPA) I am going to be catching up with him (MBA, CTS) :)

NBA Playoffs = catching up with old friends

This week since the Mavs played the Heat here in Dallas one of Rene's fraternity brothers and friends from college (avid Heat fan) was out in Dallas to watch the big game in hopes of the Heat finishing off the playoffs in 5 games....

Needless to say that didn't happen on Thursday with the Mavs come from behind win!! But it did allow us to spend some time catching up with him today around Dallas after we finished running some errands and doing some shopping...purchase updates to follow :)

We hung out on the patio at Mariano's and enjoyed some authentic frozen margaritas before heading to Sprinkles (a must for those that have never had the amazing cupcakes!).

All in all a pretty low key relaxing time, but as always great to catch up with friends we haven't seen in the 4 years since leaving Orlando. Now if only our weekend was longer to enjoy more relaxation, sadly tomorrow Rene will be packing to head out of town for the week and it's back to the grind.

Oh well next Saturday is only 7 days away right?

Stop #3

Our third stop for the day was to a by appointment only tasting and tour at

Del Dotto Vineyards where we were able to tour the caves where they age the wine and taste right from the barrel!

It was really different from the other vineyards, unfortunately due to the darkness we don't have many photos...I would highly suggest that if you take a trip to Napa you make this a must stop on the list just because of the unique experience.
Though we did make sure to come home with a bottle of Del Dotto for the wine rack!

Back to Napa! Recap #2!

So after we left Clos du Bois stop #1 we had some time to kill before our next tasting. We were in Sonoma County so we made our way back to Napa and just picked a random vineyard/tasting room to stop by....stop 2 was Signorello Estate.

We pulled up the drive past the vineyards to the little tasting room and decided to go with the current release flight to taste a little of everything.
Then the man who was providing us the tasting asked if we had been back to the patio yet. Of course we hadn't so he gave us an extra glass of Chardonnay and we walked onto the patio....

The view was wonderful and I decided that when I have a house a pool like this is a must!

I was glad with our in prompt to stop at this little tasting room it was really a nice surprise.

Working to Improve Myself at Work

This week I finished 2 of the books that I had planned to read to better myself in my career. It's funny how "the boss" takes so much notice when you read a work related book at lunch rather than just another Sookie Stackhouse book :)

This week first I finished
Jeffrey Gitomer's Little Red Book of Selling
This book gives 12.5 rather basic telling principles that while yes all of us may have learned them when we first started our jobs, sometimes the little pieces slip past us in our day to day work and we forgot. It was a very easy and quick read that I finished pretty much between Monday and Wednesday of this week.

The second book is one that I had started earlier in the spring semester, then with classes it got book marked and sat on my desk for the next few months. So I picked it up on Thursday and Friday at lunch and polished it off as well!

The second book was
Smart Selling on the Phone and Online by Josiane Chriqui FeigonThis book was much more suited for the inside sales person (hence the title)...but I really thought it was quite beneficial. As I was reading I was able to pick out some of my own recruiters who work under me and pin point some of the things that they do (or don't do) on a day to day basis. Hopefully my use of the information that I have tabbed all over this book will allow me to better develop them in the office.

I would suggest either of these books for those in the sales field. Even if you aren't in phone or face to face sales, either book does have tips, tricks, and "reminders" that could help anyone.

I feel quite accomplished in knocking down a few more of the books from my must read list for the new year! Now it's off to start another Sookie Stackhouse novel (I'm on #8 of 11) ...I figured that I need something to hold me over until the new season of TrueBlood starts!