Thursday, April 26, 2007

Colleagues

“Be friendly with everyone. Don't be proud and feel that you are smarter than others. Make friends with ordinary people.”
Romans 12:16

This was the verse from the daily devotional conveniently emailed to my inbox this morning. Wow. In today's work/corporate environment how easy is it to fall into the trap of thinking you are better than your colleagues? Smarter, wiser, more experienced, more friendly...I have been specially in tune with this in the past few weeks. There are lots of new people I am meeting at work and very few that I have determined "friend worthy". How absolutely horrible is that? Yesterday I began to feel convicted of this after being approached by the one person who has been rubbing me the wrong way since we started (this person started about a month after I did). Every time we would pass in the hallways, or be in the kitchen at the same time heating up lunch I would smile and say hello (or something equally as "appropriate") and would get no response. Except for one time when I was heating up my lunch (a frozen dinner that took five minutes to cook according to the box...I like to follow instructions, especially when meat is involved...) and eventually I got a response from my, "Hi, looks like it's lunchtime!" comment...."Wow you're lunch takes a long time to cook, mine only takes sixty seconds." And that was it. The only "conversation we engaged in...until yesterday.


Yesterday was recruited and accepted the task of helping out another team on my floor. The team that my "new friend" heads up no less (God's sense of humor never ceases to amazing me and it always surprises me in a way that makes me stop in my tracks and think, "funny...very funny" inside my head). I ended up spending the better part of my day, and staying way past suppertime to help get the job done. In the end, I think my "new friend" and I were on solid ground...no longer thinking one was better than the other (although I did question the methods behind the task we were completing...but that's more of an efficiency thing than an I'm better than you thing, so I'm going to let that slide for now)...or that one was a complete jerk (okay, so that was probably more on my end). This lesson was only further emphasized this morning when I checked my email.


I know I still have others that deserve this same message/lesson applied to them, but it was nice to see this one come through...a little boost in morale if you will. A happy ending.

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Hokies


Shocked.
Stunned.
Scared.
Sad.

So much went through my brain on Monday. I kept thinking about living in that dorm (West AJ was my freshman year dorm...) Trying to piece together the events as they unfolded and came to light was heart wrenching. I am so thankful that the people I know at VT are safe, although scared.

Virginia Tech is the most amazing campus with the most school spirit and pride of any place I have been before. And yes, this even means my very own WVU. The campus is surrounded by only the town that feeds off of it. No one in Blacksburg associates the community with anything other than Tech. The community is insanely close-knit which was one of my favorite things about living there. The student body is constantly a sea of maroon and orange no matter what time of year it may be.

I have no bad memories of my time there related to the school whatsoever. My choice to leave was complicated to those not involved and a giant leap of faith recognized by many of my friends and family. It looks like it's time again for those at Virginia Tech to take a leap of faith, to trust that God is in control of the situation and their healing.

I was on campus during the 9-11 attacks and saw how close of a community it really is down there. The way the student body and greater community provided amazing support to all those effected was breathtaking.

I pray that much good will come of these terrible events and that the strength of the Hokies is only even stronger in the weeks to come. I am confident that this campus will survive, heal, and bear the burden of this tragedy in the most honorable and dignified way. The Hokies always rise to the top and I am proud to say I am one.

Friday, April 13, 2007

Lines

Every time I leave the house "late" or try to get to work not at dawn I am reminded of why I choose to leave the house before 7:30am. It took my about 45 minutes to get to work (compared to my normal 25, that's a jump)...traffic just gets insane after 7:30. I hate just sitting with people making up random lanes on the roads when they don't feel like conforming to the traffic lines pre-printed on the blacktop. Apparently they think VDOT makes too few lanes and driving on grass/gravel is perfectly acceptable. I, personally, choose to put a little more faith in the men that draw the lines, perhaps because that's what they do all day.

Thursday, April 12, 2007

Oatmeal

Today I tried oatmeal for about the third time in my life. It is getting better with each try. I know it's full of "good" stuff and is supposed to do everything from fill you up all day to cure cancer, or something like that...

It just is such a strange texture. While wandering around the market last night I spied a variety box for $2 and decided perhaps it was time to try again. I have such a hard time with breakfast foods (you wouldn't think I would have a hard time with any foods...but alas, even I have my food breakdown moments). Today is Maple and Brown Sugar day. I almost exploded the oatmeal in the microwave as I have seen coworkers do so many times before. One minute it's all chill and hanging out in the bottom of the bowl, the next it's crazy reaching for the sky! Insane. How does it grow so fast? Guess once it gets to a certain temperature it just goes crazy. Weird. All in all it's not too bad today for a breakfast choice, especially since it's raining and gross outside...always nice to feel warm on the inside.

The oatmeal is gone and I'm still alive. So far so good...

Tuesday, April 3, 2007

Restraint

The past four days have included huge lessons in restraint. Some of these lessons I have passed and others I have failed. Take Friday night for example. The sheer quantity of food consumed by myself in that one day was ghastly...and boy did I pay for those bad decisions (the never to be seen photo of my enormous belly that could rival a pregnant woman's proves this...but you shall never know). Sometimes I pass though, like not partaking in the Outback Bloomin' Onion last night at dinner. I was pretty impressed with myself...until this afternoon after lunch I downed a bag of Ritz cheese and crackers and a mini bag of Frito's. Awesome. Restraint is a difficult thing to learn. No matter how many times I eat half a pizza by myself and feel like dying afterwards, I still will do it again. Why does it take so long to learn, especially when you encounter intense physical pain?

Then there is restraint in regards to the things that come out of my mouth...or out of my fingers in the case of emailing/blogging. Even with that delete button I find it hard to hold back sometimes. Do I really feel like my feelings, my opinions are really worth spewing out into the open regardless of how they are perceived? Apparently, the answer is yes, I feel they are worth it. So wrong, I know...but sometimes you just want your voice to be heard...even if it's not heard by an actual person...or perhaps even at all. Just knowing that your thoughts are "out there" makes you feel like a load has been lifted off your chest. Weird.

Perhaps what I have learned here is that restraint is an ongoing process...at least until it becomes natural (and who knows how long that might take!) So in conclusion, be patient with people like me...we'll beat ourselves up later anyway, you don't need to do it for us.