work-aholic???

it has been a while.....



and it will be a little while longer....



this will be the fourth weekend in a row that I have to work... that's right fourth.



But with the current state of the economy I am thankful I have a job. I really do love my job there are just times when the 90 hour weeks start to drive you MAD.




I spoke with HR this week as well - I was supposed to roll off my current project in august.... yes august. And to my shock I received a new roll off date of March 2 - LOOONNNGGGG story short. Part of the response - 'we would like to extend you in FL. Ideally, that would be the best scenario since there are fewer openings across the board right now. Given your flexibility though, it does make it a lot easier.'




So maybe I will be here in the south when it gets warm enough to sit out in the sun in February.






PS. the art project that I worked on turned out - ummmm - OK. They kind of look child-like but I think with a good black mat behind them they could turn out.

Finding my Passion

Last week I happened to catch the Oprah Winfrey episode with the Olsen Twins. The episode was very interesting because I rarely take anything away from watching Oprah. I get a bit annoyed by her attitude that she is God and is inspiring the world. However, she made a statement that somewhat stimulated my mind. Not necessary inspired my mind, but stimulated.

She was discussing the start-up of the Olsen Twins' fashion line and how they got started. They stated that they simply just loved fashion and it made them want to join the industry. Oprah then said that "One should focus on their passion and turn it into a profession" That statement really got me thinking about what my passions really were.

Lately I am starting to wonder where I need to go in my professional career. Can your passions be confused for your loves/likes? For example, I love shoes and fashion. Does that mean that I need to try and find a career in the fashion industry? When I entered college, my love of travel inspired me to major in International Business and focus on Spanish. Unfortunately, somewhere along the way, I lost sight of actually using my major and skills in order to just simply find a job.

And now, I am sitting in a cubicle and have not used my Spanish for anything other than evesdropping on the hispanics in grocery store line. (Sometimes I like what they are saying, and other times I don't) I am not passionate about what I am doing and am confused about where to go from here. I am also starting to wonder if it is worth it in this struggling economy to take a step back and evaluate/find my passions?

Reflection starts now. Passion, is it the same as liking/enjoying something? How do I translate my passion into a career? Someone should really write a book on this.

Retirement is a long way away...

The first genre of blogs that I became obsessed with were blogs about Personal Finance. I was so interested to see how people save and spend their money. Since I am part of a generation that will most likely not receive a dime of Social Security, I am very conscious of the importance of "starting early" and saving for retirement.

I decided that I should set a few financial goals for myself for 2009. Here are some of my goals:
-Save 6 months worth of an emergency fund. *This meaning that if I lost my job, I would have 6 months of expenses saved up, separate from my savings. Currently, I have about 3 months saved.
-Start at $500 gift fund. I have several weddings to attend this year and will most likely need a cushion to buy all their gifts. In case you didn't know, bridal registries can be outrageous!
-Take the GMAT. Now I know this is not an actual monetary item. However, going to Grad School is proven to increase your worth to employers, thus increasing your salary and net worth. And since the company that I currently work for offers tuition reimbursement, I think it would be worth it to think about Grad School at some point.
-Reduce the amount of money spent on groceries and eating out. Lately my grocery bills have been outrageous. I think it is because I have a problem of going to the grocery store hungry and then I leave the store with a cart full of ice cream sandwiches and Doritos. That's a story for a different day.

On a lighter note, I stumbled across this article for anyone that banks with Bank of America. If you were charged an overdraft fee between '00 and '07, you may be eligible to receive $78 from a recent settlement. Fortunately, I fall into this category. I attended college during a portion of that time frame. And just about every college student overdraws at some point in their college career because they all need to feed their need for pitchers of beer. Read the article here.

Headlines!

Whew! I have to say, for a short week, it has felt like it has dragged on forever! Since this week was a more newsworthy week I decided to title this post “Headlines” and comment on some of the news tidbits I enjoyed reading this week.

-Fortune Magazine released its list of the “Top 100 Companies to Work For.” Nine of the companies on the list are Georgia based companies. According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, “working here is just peachy” (like the pun). I guess maybe there is hope that the South will rise again? Ha.

-I cannot do a headlines post without commenting on the inauguration. I give the Obama girls the “best dressed” award because they were wearing Crew Cuts, and I am a BIG J.Crew aficionado. All in all, I have to say that I was impressed with the inauguration. Though politically, my views do not completely align with President Obama, I support him as our nation’s leader and am hopeful for the future. There I said it. We can keep track of our President’s work on the “First 100 Days” site on Foxnews.com.

-The Oscar Nominations were announced yesterday. I realized that I need to get my butt in line and see some of these movies that everyone has been talking about. The 2 movies at the top of my list are The Reader and Revolutionary Road. I love Leonardo Dicaprio and Kate Winslet. Slumdog Millionaire looks funny as well. Maybe I just need to spend a day alone at the movies. I have never been to the movies alone before. It would be a big step.

I heart money

You can call me shallow but I do, I heart money. This time of year tends to be the time when you are paying off credit cards with Christmas presents (hopefully you have one with rewards – and you pay it off every month) – bills still stink. Yesterday I was lucky enough to get a reminder of how much money I have earned – will kind of. I would for a public company and in addition to our 401k, we also have the opportunity to buy company stock. Up to 2% of your salary will be met by the company. So naturally I buy 2% and instantly get 100% return on my money – pretty sweet right. I mean who is going to miss 2% - not me. So yesterday in the misted of all the bills and thank you notes, I received a statement reminding me of how quickly that money adds up. Granted – just like everyone else – our stock is down so this year I lost about $600 but there is still more there then I put in and next year I just expect it to grow.

But I many be able to be talked into splurging on a trip. I mean those are good for your mental well being.

Time to be a grown up

I recently received a promotion – well kind of – it is more a new title and responsibilities without more money. I have been looking at it as a resume building opportunity. So now that I have taken over responsibilities I have learned that my old lead pretty much sucked. She wanted to be in charge to say later down the line that she helped out – or that thinks would have fallen apart with out her – but it reality she was only doing what mattered in the moment and all the other things she would brush under the rug until the last second. Well now I am head cleaning up her mess… LUCKY ME!

Lessons learned

1) Ask for help if you need it – better to do it right the first time (or even at all)

2) Leave things completed – or at least with a solid start.

Venting Over.

Warming up my ‘Home’

I think that feeling comfortable in your home is one of the events that must happen before you can call where you live your Home. From one workaholic to another it is very important to me to come home and have a place where I feel relaxed. I want a place where I can continue to work as needed but having my own person time it very important for my emotional well being. Whether it is curing up on the couch to watch The City (I am so jealous I want to live there!!!) or enjoying a glass of wine while catching up with friends or rolling out the yoga mat to do some ‘yoga’ it is important to feel like it is your own. The best way that I know to accomplish this is to put art work up. Now reality check – I am 23 – money to spend on artwork it not a luxury that I have; therefore I find what I like that is simple and I make my own.
So I found this on another blog the other day (I can remember which) and I decided that I would try to make it.
Looks easy enough right… I will let you know how the project turns out. My living room is Brown/Blue/Green so I thought that the yellow would be a nice pop but I may try to make a few different colors and see which I like best.