Month of September, 2003

Productive

I studied tonight with Amy and what a productive night! I got an amazing amount of finance homework done and I actually understand what I'm doing! Good times.

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A Weekend Alone

Being alone in the house all weekend has been really nice. Don't get me wrong, I love living with my sisters, but I also love living by myself. At the moment Karen is in Peru with Dad and Kristen is in Maine with Mom. Being alone has allowed me a lot of much-needed peace and quiet after a busy week in Scottsdale.

Working in Scottsdale this week was very productive and completely busy. When I wasn't in meetings, I was trying to catch up on regular work. When I wasn't doing either of those things, I was eating with a group of people. I swear, this was the most socializing I've done in months. Sunday night was a birthday party for my boss. Monday night was dinner at Eddie V's, the most fabulous restaurants I've been to in years. Tuesday night was a group of 20+ people at El Paso Barbeque. Wednesday night was amazing steak at Fleming's with a group of 10. Thursday was a casual night of pizza and sitting around the pool enjoying the beautiful desert weather. Anyhow, it was a very busy week and it was good to come home to relax.

This weekend wasn't full of anything too important. I was just doing school work and going grocery shopping and playing with the dogs and talking to Kevin and doing laundry and pulling weeds and playing Grand Theft Auto 3 and finally watching a TV show Dad taped for me over three months ago (Children of Dune on the Sci-Fi channel). It's been quite lovely. If only I could get all my homework finished!

Oh yeah, I broke down and bought a GameCube today. I got it on EBay so it's not in my hands just yet. Hopefully it will get here by the end of the week, and I can spend all next weekend playing.

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Working Out of Town

I'm not avoiding you. It's just that I'm distracted.

Currently I'm sitting in a hotel in Scottsdale, Arizona. Yes, I'm visiting company headquarters again. This week we're having leadership meetings. Good, good stuff is happening. We're getting direction and encouragement. My biggest problem is how do I take all this information back to my team? It'll mean a lot of work on my part to condense it all, but I know it will be a worthwhile job.

It seems like all I've done since I arrived on Sunday afternoon is eat. Sunday evening my boss had a party for his 50th birthday. He and his wife were lovely enough to open their house to a bunch of us from work. For me, the highlight was talking to the install manager and his wife about their son who wants to go into the video game industry. Then last night, I had the distinct honor in going to dinner with a development manager and a couple coworkers. We went to an incredible seafood restaurant where I ate food unlike I've eaten in a very long time. (The bill was close to $400 for only four of us...yes, it was that good.) Today we had more meetings and more food. Then we spent the afternoon playing laser tag, bumper boats, and go carts. You know, team-building. It was a ton of fun; I work with some crazy people. Naturally we finished off the evening with more food. Ironically at a bar-b-que place called "El Paso." Great food, great conversation, and a lot of laughs.

I came back to the hotel room to work on school stuff. Luckily I had an easy time of it and feel like I clarified a few things for my group. (To be confirmed in the morning since I'm sure they're sleeping soundly by now.) I should move on to do emails from work, but I think I'm too tired. Maybe I'll get up early and do it, because I'll be in meetings again all day tomorrow.

This has been a good week so far. I feel like I've made some good connections with coworkers and am getting a lot of good direction from the company leadership. Now it will be my job to take back all these things and make a difference with my team. Good things to think about.

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Find Don

Do you know an African-American guy named Don who lives in or near Jersey City? TomatoNation is looking for Don. She met him two years ago on September 11th in downtown NYC.

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Kevin's Visit

Life is good. I had a really great weekend with Kevin while he was visiting. Friday afternoon, I picked him up from the airport and took him back to work with me. I intended to only stay a couple more hours but as things go at work, I got caught up and stayed longer than I wanted. (Am I becoming a workaholic?) It was cool for Kevin to see where I work. It was cool for my coworkers to meet Kevin and finally know that he's real. I've been talking about him for so long that I bet everyone thought I made him up.

As soon as we got home Friday evening we took a "nap." Of course the nap lasted 4 hours and we only got up long enough to eat dinner before we went to bed for the night. I guess we both really needed it because we slept until morning.

Saturday morning I ran errands while Kevin slept late. We goofed around the house then headed towards Austin around noon. The time in Austin was great. It was a super quick trip, but I got to see a ton of good friends. 20x2 was amazing (though I was disappointed with my own performance...another story for another time). Sunday morning Kevin and I had breakfast with Cindy and got to hear about her MBA program. It's cool that she's going through much of what I went through only a few semesters ago. Later in the day to avoid driving in the rain, we saw Matchstick Men before heading back to Dallas. Wrapped up Sunday night with some homework.

Monday I worked in the morning then took the afternoon off to spend with Kevin. It was great to hang out, do more homework together, and then run errands instead of being at work. Kevin and I got to do actually boyfriend/girlfriend stuff. Wonderful stuff. Monday night we played videogames, talked, played with my new cell phone, and laughed a lot. It was a truly perfect evening.

Unfortunately we're in a long distance relationship and these amazing weekends come to an end really quickly. This morning I dropped Kevin off at the airport on my way to work. I talked to him later and he was safe and sound back in his Harlem apartment. So very far away from here. It would be sad except that I know I get to see him in another month and in the meantime we get to talk on the phone.

In addition to the great weekend, I had a great meeting with my study group tonight. I actually got to show off some Excel skills which always makes me feel good. There's not enough software stuff in the MBA program - I don't get to show off often enough. I enjoyed showing off today. A LOT. But only because I never feel like I'm any good at anything in business. At least not yet.

When I got home, I had the pleasure of hanging out with the whole family for awhile. Mom and Dad were over to talk with the contractor about redoing my bathroom. We all got to catch up before he arrived and I totally enjoyed myself. (As I always do with my family. Have I mentioned the best part of my day is coming home and talking with my sisters every night? I'm sure going to miss it when Karen leaves.) Then Mike, the contractor, came over and we had a great conversation about my bathroom. I'm very excited and am ready to get started! I'll try to do before/after pictures as this all happens. It's a Lucci House makeover starting soon!

Ok, off to bed. One last thought...I'm really glad I don't live in California as this crazy recall election has now been postponed. Can it get crazier? Oh yeah, and cross your fingers for all those people in the path of Isabel.

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Week at a Glance

It's Friday and Kevin will be here in six hours. You can imagine how excited I am. Despite the anticipation, this week has gone pretty fast. Of course, time always flies when you're busy.

Monday night I met with my group and worked on homework.
Tuesday I got stuck in traffic, arrived to the office 2 hours late, so I worked really late.
Wednesday I attended a mentor breakfast at school. It was a chance to meet professionals in the community who have offered to be mentors to MBA students. That night I attended class so I wouldn't have to go on Saturday.
Thursday revolved around meetings at work and recovering from all the chaos earlier in the week. Went to class Thursday night.
Today Kevin arrives.
Saturday Kevin and I go to Austin for 20x2, where I'll be speaking. (I think I've begun to get nervous.) I'll get to see good friends and they will finally get to meet Kevin!
Sunday starts with breakfast with Cindy. It will probably end up with homework once I get back home. (Such a drag to have to do homework when my boyfriend is visiting. Why can't school understand my priorities?)

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Words

At the fast food drive through today, the man kept calling me "young lady." For some reason this really got under my skin.

I overheard a coworker saying, "We were really blessed that we didn't get hit by the Blaster worm." Hmm, having good virus protection = blessed.

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Loitering at the Park

There's a sign at the park that says, "No loitering," along with a bunch of other rules (like "Dogs must be kept on a leash"). But it's the "No loitering" rule which really throws me off. The definition of loitering is "to stand idly about; linger aimlessly. " I didn't realize that the city expected you to stay busy while you were at the park. I thought it was all about lingering aimlessly among nature. But what do I know?

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Quote of the Day

"Sometimes my right brain has nothing left and my left brain gets nothing right."
- Finance Professor

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Home, School, Fall

It feels so good to be home! After traveling for the past two weeks, I've learned an important lesson about myself. I'm a homebody. I need a job that is the same place that I live. I function better when I'm comfortable and I'm most comfortable at home.

So I got home late Friday night and went straight to bed. (Well, after making sure Tiger knew that I still loved him.) Early Saturday morning, I went to class. Finally Saturday afternoon I came home and stayed home. All day Saturday Kristen and I kicked ass around the house. We mowed, vacuumed, dusted, mopped, washed, and laundered. Lucci House was sparkling once again. We finished off the busy, busy day by rewarding ourselves with barbeque. (I was entertained by how many trucker hats I saw at the barbeque place and oddly enough, none of them were on truckers. Instead they were on hipsters. Trucker hats are a trend I will never understand.) Of course, the company was perfect. I love my little sis so much!

Sunday morning meant more work around the house, but the bulk of it was laundry. Spent the afternoon at Mom and Dad's. It was so good to see them after my trip away. I'm so attached to my family! Late Sunday night I worked on pictures from the Alaska trip and finally got them online.

Monday, Labor Day, meant sleeping in and going shopping. (Hey, if it's not a day to work, it's a day to spend, right? I mean, when else would I have time to spend it?) Mostly it was just really nice to have a break. Surprisingly, the weather gave us a break too - it was overcast and rainy all day. It was a hint of fall, reminding us we can look forward to cooler weather in the coming months.

After a very relaxing weekend, I've gotten back into the swing of things at work and school. Work is up and down every day depending on the customers and the size of their problems. School is a new semester and a very promising one at that! My first two classes are Decision Modeling in Excel and Managerial Finance. I didn't think I would enjoy either too much, but I think I was mistaken. The Decision Modeling course is so interesting I'm actually reading ahead of the book and am excited about ways I can use it at work. The finance professor was so enjoyable on Saturday; I can't wait to go back for lecture this week.

I've surprised myself with this excitement. I guess it's because I ended last semester with such a bad taste in my mouth regarding the statistics class (which I ended up earning my first ever C in). The grade didn't bother me as much as the poor instructor and the lack of learning on my part. I know it sounds like I'm just blaming the instructor for my shortcomings, but I'm aware of the studies done on students blaming teachers for their performance and vice versa so I'm pretty sensitive to it. I was at a disadvantage in the beginning by never taking a statistics class before. Plus, I did take a vacation to Alaska, which caused me to skip one homework assignment. But I really did try to learn. I think that it's a sign when before the exam more than half the class shows up to a study session with the TA. I really wish I could have taken video in class; it would have been humorous to show other people how the prof talked to the whiteboard instead of to the class. Ok, ok, I could go on and on with complaints, but that's not the point. The point is I finished the stats class feeling really, really stupid. I didn't feel like I learned enough. I felt like the C+ was a mercy grade and I really should have failed the class. I felt like maybe business school wasn't for me. I spent a lot of time feeling sorry for myself. So I'm surprised that in the first week back in class, I am already feeling excited again.

These classes are interesting to me. These professors are great. The finance prof is already including ethics in his lecture, which is awesome to hear. We shouldn’t have to take an ethics course just to get ethics in this education; I think it should be taught in every subject. (As a reminder to many of us who become so focused on goals that there are some rules by which we have to play.) In Decision Modeling, I’m learning a ton straight out of the book! And I'm already thinking of ways to apply this learning to my job. This is such a relief. I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it a lot longer feeling like I have the past couple weeks. But I think it’ll be ok. I know I’m doing the right thing by being in school even though it means I put everything else on hold. It’ll all be worth it in the long term.

Looking ahead…this weekend should be pretty laid back and hopefully will include some hanging out with friends. Next weekend Kevin is coming to visit! We haven’t seen each other in an eternity (two months straight!) so I’m really looking forward to it. We’ll be going down to Austin for 20x2 on Saturday, the 13th. (I’m performing…but that’s a whole other story.) In a couple more weeks, I have to go back to Arizona for more meetings. In the middle of October I’m going to Lubbock with Kevin to visit his parents. At the end of October I’m going to El Paso to visit Autumn and Ky. Then I’ll be spending Thanksgiving with Kevin in New York City. Can you tell I’ve spent a small fortune of plane tickets recently?

So lots of things are going on now and lots of things are coming in the near future. It’s funny…I’ve begun to see my life in terms of semesters again. For the past years spent out of school, I viewed my life in terms of a full year cycle. Now I’m back at looking at things in threes – fall, spring, and summer. So, I’m in the fall cycle, which has historically always been a really strong one for me. There’s no reason this fall is going to be any different.

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