Monday, February 25, 2008

Mundane Monday.....Or Not!


I knew there was something I disliked about working for a national corporation......DEADLINES!

The end of the month is fast approaching and with the little training I got, my head is spinning.

Not just the deadlines, but due to some unforeseen circumstances, I have to make sure everything gets done, and I also have to hire someone new. My boss was going to do it with me, but due to a family tragedy, she will be unavailable.

And this is my dilemma.

Do you ever wonder just what God's plan is? Why mean, nasty people: thieves, wife abusers, murderers, child abusers live and innocents die? Why does God decide that one can survive to torment others here on Earth and the other, who's life is so valued by many, he takes from us?

My boss has a 19 year old son, who's girlfriend (18) died in a horrific car accident this weekend. She got a call late Friday night that her boyfriend was involved in a fender bender in Tallahassee while he was going to see her. He was not hurt, but the car was, and he was stranded. Being the person that she was, she immediately got in the car for the 7 hour drive to go rescue him. She was just below Gainesville when she encountered some very bad weather, lost control of her car and hit a tree. She was a talented, beautiful and caring young lady. I never had the pleasure of meeting her, but reading about her today made me so sad. Sadder yet (she didn't suffer), for my boss's son who is losing himself in the guilt, thinking this was somehow his fault.

We see so many horrible people in the news and some even in our daily lives. God's way makes so little sense some days.

I will never be so pompous to think that I deserve an explanation, but to see so many people suffer because she was so loved, hardly seems fair.

What think you?

Thursday, February 14, 2008

What a Valentines Day!




Have you ever had a day that, at the end of it, you are not sure if it was good or bad?

Wow.

Today I had one of those days. I had to reign someone in and let someone go. I had to allow something new and disallow something old. I had to get decisive and unpopular, and I got to feel empathy and demonstrate all the qualities I hold dear.


I have very few pecadillos. I know I get pissy about 10 pieces of paper being held together with 8 staples, each one of which cut my fingers.............I digress.


I believe the only thing you can believe in is your own integrity.

I believe that a work ethic is something that is either in you, or it's not.

I believe that everyone has "issues" but if you are conscientious, there should be no conflict.

I believe that you should finish the work. Deadlines should never be an issue if you work smart instead of fast..

(Aside, I had an Eight Grade Home-EC teacher who told me something: I am a lazy person, therefore I strive to do things right the first time, because I am just too lazy to do it over again")

I believe that you work as a team. No man is an island, right?



I believe that if you like what you do, and who you work with, life is just easier. It is up to you, however, to be approachable.

I am so optimistic, and surely know that I have so much to learn. I think as long as my head and heart are in the right place. The "corporate" structure is no different.

Will it make me a better accountant/problem solver/supervisor? Not sure yet.


But you, will be the first to know!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(alright, right after "the other half" has the whole diatribe, in three part harmony).

Happy Valentine's Day!!!!!

Saturday, February 2, 2008

Change at 40! (alright 42)




As many of you know, I started a new job last week, and since it is the Internet, I obviously cannot tell you exactly where I work. I am an employee in the vast media company known as Freedom Communications.

It's been an adventure, and a time of huge change for me.

I have always been a small business accountant. I never had an ambition to work for a HUGE company like this one, because I always thought that I would get lost in the shuffle, my talents wasted.

Yet, as of last week, here I am.


Getting here was an adventure in itself. I felt like my whole life was under a microscope. I had to have a background check done, a credit check, and a drug screening, just to see if I was even remotely worthy of working for this conglomerate.

Then the interviews, the signing of contracts, the endless manuals I had to read, the policies I had to review, and that was before I even STARTED my first day of work!

I was so nervous. How much was I really sure of myself and my abilities and my knowledge. How could I go from managing finances for a small business to manage a department in a network of thousands of people?

I will tell you, it is much easier to tell the owner of a small business that he just doesn't have the funds for his overinflated ambition, than it is telling countless department managers, Veeps and the like, that I need what they have NOW!

I was thrown to the wolves!

Not really, my boss is patient. Being at a remote office from mine, she has tried desperately to get a handle on things. She is my new lifeline and will probably end up being a good ally.

Intimidation aside (all those "really important people"), I have managed one week. I feel good about it. My talents, my knowledge and my sheer skill seems to be what they really were looking for (they didn't just appeal to my ego).

I will continue to ask you my friends and family to pray. At 42, this has been such a change, and sometimes I think I am just feeling my way instinctively. When my instinct fails, and my ability to "speak"accounting falters, I will count on God to show me the way. I have a talent, after all, only on loan from Him (sorry Rush).


I hope all of you have had an amazing New Year so far. May you have new adventures, and people who love an support you as I do.