Goodbye Blackberry

This weekend there was a casualty at the Blanco home. My cellphone completely died. Rene had been telling me for the past couple of weekends we should go to Verizon because my phone had been acting up, but I just hadn't gotten around to it.

Then Friday night my phone just went black and wouldn't turn back on.

Of course I wasn't eligible for an early upgrade so they wanted me to pay full price ($500+) which I was not going to do. I was expecting this so I pulled out the old blackberries that we had to see if they could just re-activate one of those. Once I offered this the nice little salesman offered to let me use Rene's upgrade instead!

Let me say this had been Rene's idea all along so I had to admit that he was right, which I hate doing....nonetheless I was able to upgrade for just a little over $200 much better then $500!

I went with a Droid because Rene can't stop saying how great his is, and I wasn't ready to go to the 100% touch screen just yet.

RIP little Blackberry apparently I'm a Droid person now.....Thanks Rene

One of those days....

Are there some days that just seem like everything that happens during the day just grates on your nerves? Recently I have started realizing that this is happening to me more and more, especially at work. I’m not sure what has changed and I’m not sure what I can do to make my outlook a little more positive but it’s starting to really get to me.

I wake up in the morning and I just don’t want to go to the office because I know that something is bound to happen that I am just going to be annoyed or frustrated about in the next 10 hours while I am there. Our company has undergone a lot of changes in the past year and a half and more is still coming. As of next week my team will start over almost again completely in terms of finding new business because our Director decided that what we thought was true and inpatient medicine is not growing as quickly out the outpatient side of things. So now I will go back to what I was doing in 2009 and focus my marketing efforts on clinics again. I feel like I just can’t get ahead of things in the office right now. Add to that, I know that I have a pretty full plate because in addition to work I have my MBA program. Typically I feel like I have a plan as to how I’m going to accomplish things. And while I still am on track for my tasks (mainly school stuff) there is just something that is throwing me off.

I actually asked myself this weekend (and asked Rene) if he thought that I was making the bad decision in working towards my MBA. I’m not sure why, I know that it was a goal that I have had really since I finished undergrad that I would go back and after the wedding I just felt like it was a good time to start. Work was going great, my sales numbers were above some of the more tenured people and then in 2010 when my team was transitioned into a new direction things just kept falling off and I don’t feel like they’ve ever picked back up.

In the end I am starting to feel like I’ve hit a place in the position that I don’t know where else I will go from here. There are no pay increases for tenure or accomplishment, except in commissions. The position is not one that lends itself to being a parent (though that is FAR in the future its something to think about). And the company does not necessarily seem to invest in the people. I feel like these are all things that I have known and I feel like I’ve known that I won’t be here for the long term (as I approach 3 years with the company) but at the same time recently it’s just really built up and I find myself asking how to get out of this “funk”…..it kind of reminds me of Eeyore on Winnie the Pooh…where’s my little black rain cloud?

Spring finally in Texas?

I know it's been a while since I've posted so I must say sorry!

School has been kicking my butt the last couple of weeks with exams, and group paper in particular so I haven't had too much going on otherwise.

However, the best part of this week has been the weather! It's amazing! We've had temps in the 60's and mid 70's all week!! I am so ready to spring to officially arrive so we can be that much closer to summer.

It has been great to break out skirts and lighter clothes at work though the pale legs are a bit awful, and since I promised Rene no more tanning beds it needs to get sunny out so I don't look like a piece of raw chicken! I will say though that Jergens Healthy Glow is always a good thing and adds a bit of color (thank goodness).

There isn't a lot going on this weekend it'll be lots of school work, Rene hopefully finishing up lots to get his CPA all finalized, and some errands nothing too exciting but they can't all be exciting right?

It's Game Day

That's right, the long awaited day has arrived as the Steelers take their "stairway to 7" with the Super Bowl match up of the Steelers and the Packers.

As you know Stitch and myself will be cheering on the Steelers while Rene will more than likely enjoy cheering for the Packers since the Pats didn't make their way to the championship. That is of course once I finish up with some accounting work for my MBA (not exactly how I wanted to start the day).

Then it's time to make some snacks for dinner! I'll be sure to post up the recipes with pictures later!

--Apps for the Big Game--
Greek Dip with Pita Chips
Bisquick sausage balls (Rene's Choice)
Chicken Meatballs stuffed with Blue Cheese served with Buffalo Sauce
(it's a healthier option than hot wings)

HERE WE GO STEELERS HERE WE GO!

Stitch's Snow Day

As promised I decided to post a little video of Stitch enjoying his time in the snow. This is the first time he's seen it since he was a tiny puppy about a year ago...sadly today the sun came out and the snow is almost gone, but he did enjoy it while it lasted!

I thought Phil said an early spring?

Well typically I would believe what "Phil" says when it comes to his predictions about the arrival of spring, however maybe not this year. After 3 days of ice blanketing Dallas/Fort Worth I woke up to at least 6 inches of snow this morning.

They "said" yesterday that the weather man was expecting a dusting/snow flurries but these are not flurries at all it was a lot of snow....and it's still falling

photo credit WFAA Weather Blog

Here's at least hoping that since there are only 4 of us ( out of about 30) that braved the weather to come into the office this morning that we will head out a bit early--Stitch loves the snow and I know he would enjoy hopping around in it on a little walk later today!

I will be sure to take some pictures when I get home for some reason the ones that I tried to snap before heading out today didn't save...but I'll be sure to add some later!

Now its time to get to work! Keep warm!

Add another book to the Career reading list...

It might feel like a snow day in Dallas but that doesn't stop out office...my national director just added another book to my list of will reads for my career. And since it came from "the big man" I guess it will be making the top of the list...."Smart Selling on the Phone and Online" by Josiane Chriqui Feigon here's hoping that I can get started on this one tonight.....

No Austin for Me!

Dallas got some serious weather last night. Rain, sleet, snow and mainly just ice all over the place when we woke up today. Nonetheless I am here in the office after a very slow drive in on almost completely empty roads. And a really cold windy morning (-4 degrees with the wind chill brrrrrr).

Rene however is at home in his PJs enjoying his breakfast and playing with Stitch working from home because his office is closed today-along with the majority of the metroplex.

The Dallas Fort Worth Airport is completely closed today though which means no travel to Austin for the conference for me! I am quite happy about that as I wasn't looking forward to traveling again with school work due.

Here's hoping that the weather clears up before the weekend and the Super Bowl....Tomorrow's temp at 6am-- zero degrees -- oh the joys of the winter!