Still Searching

It is my favorite time of year (well almost). Labor day is over, football has started and pumpkin spice lattes have arrived. As soon as the temperature drops we can officially say Fall is here and it is truly my favorite time of the year. Growing up in Wisconsin Fall meant hayrides, apple picking, visits to the pumpkin patch, trips to Holy Hill during the peak of the color change, hours in the deer stand, and caramel apple pie in a bag. Sadly, it also means many months of cold and snow are around the corner. That snow and cold is one of the main reasons I moved away. For anyone who knows me, i am a weenie when it comes to being cold. You can expect loud whines, many layers of long underwear and requests for hot beverages when the temperature drops below 60! Fall is the one time of the year I really miss Wisconsin. Alabama is where I call home now but Fall in Wisconsin has a special place in my heart and I usually get a bout of homesickness this time of year. I have found many events and activities I look forward to throughout the year here but for some reason there just isn't something I have found yet this time of year that makes me feel the same way as Fall in the midwest does. So Southern friends, help me out here. What is your favorite thing you do to enjoy fall (and please don't say college football - we all know that isn't my thing.)

How do I Choose a Bathroom Stall in Public?

So I have been thinking about this question for weeks now, just ask the Hubby. He has had to listen to more than one tirade from me about the right and wrong way to choose a bathroom stall. Consider this my PSA on how to pick a public restroom stall. This all starts with our ladies bathroom at work that has 4 stalls, 3 regular stalls on one wall and one stall on another wall. Walk with me through this scenario if you will. You are a lady, you open the door to the restroom and you notice that there is someone in the middle stall. No matter which stall you pick you will be right next to someone else when there is obviously enough room for there to be stall between you. Frustrated you turn around and walk out, politely wait until they are finished. Then you walk back in and pick the correct stall in the pattern. Here come the PSA - when you have the option to select a stall, always pick the stall that will allow user 2 to have an empty stall between you and them. Yes, i realize if you have 2 stalls this is not an option. Anything more than 2 stalls however allows you the option to pick. Ok...back to the scenario. You are ready to make your selection, so you correctly select stall 1. This allows person 2 to come in and select stall 3. Can you visualize this? It has left an open space between you two. Then person 3 comes in. Well unfortunately for them they have to pick the middle stall OR they can wait to start the pattern over again. They won't have this option however if you have selected the wrong stall to begin with! The moral of the story here is personal space is always important but it is extra important in the ladies room so always choose the stall with the best chance of giving the other users their space! Thanks for relieving me of this burden. I have been carrying around this important unshared advice for way to long and I feel much better!

Side note - I am not sure what that has to do with living in the south or being from the Midwest but bear with me here. I am working to get back on track, promise!

Coming Back Online

Yep it is true, it has been a few years since I have opened up my blog to write and I have missed it, but I am back. In fact, I have come to miss a lot of things lately. Have you ever felt like you have just lost your way and one day you look in the mirror and you aren't sure who the person is looking back at you or how it got there? Yes, I know that is a dramatic statement but that seems to be my thing as of late. There are parts of me hiding somewhere that I happen to like very much but seem to be hiding lately and no matter how hard I try I can't make them appear. Yes, there is that drama again. There is good news to this story though, things are changing and I like change.

The last few weeks life has changed in many ways. I have had my eyes opened to the very harsh reality that people can really f*cking suck. That people you thought were trustworthy aren't and that sometimes there actually isn't a payoff to hard work. BUT and this is a big BUT (totally did that on purpose) I have also seen people rally around those they care about, seen miracles happen and I have been reminded that all that matters in this world is the relationships we have with people. And you know what, some people out there are pretty freaking amazing! I am going to ask you to stop reading right here and say a quick prayer of thanks. Be thankful for those relationships you have in your life, they are truly a blessing and you never know when they will be taken from you.

So about that change I mentioned before that little detour. For those that know me, you know that I don't do New Year's Resolutions but instead I make to - do lists. I tried something new this year and I made my list but I also picked 3 words that I wanted to shape my year. Shout out to Jess Lawlor for this #getgutsy idea! My 3 words this year are courage, commitment and adventure and I am doing ok on them so far. They have led me to accept a PT lecturer position at a local college this fall and join a board to get more involved with my community. Just having these new things to focus my energy on has been a great way to start seeing those pieces of me that I actually like out and about again. I love a challenge, I love learning and I love to meet new people. True story of this, while on travel earlier this summer I came out of the airport bathroom chatting with a very nice lady and The Hubby made a comment about not being surprised that I would make friends even in the airport bathroom. What can I say, I am chatty! I also decided that it was time for me to come back here again. I spend so much time marketing and working in social that I have come to feel like I don't even know how to be me on my own social pages. I am busy worrying about who will see what I have to say, if I will be judged for it and feeling like it is a waste of time and I am not getting much out of it but yet feeling like I had a lot to say. So here I am! This is my blog, I can write what I want right? I can't make a commitment for how often I will be here but I will be courageous and honest in how I am feeling when I am here. Life truly is an adventure and I am excited to see where it goes tomorrow!

It Is Known As April's Fury

As you have all heard by now Wednesday April 27, 2011, was a record breaking day for Alabama. That day tornadoes hit the state over and over again. The actual number of touchdowns seems to change by the day as does the number of deaths and reports of missing persons. I don't even hear those numbers anymore, instead they just serve as a sad reminder of how one day can change everything.

The Hubby and I were blessed and had no damage and know no one who was killed due to the storms but we were still affected. All of us who live in North Alabama were affected. I have struggled to put my feelings into words since the storms hit. My emotions have gone from fear when the warnings were so many to keep track of, we were just all being told to seek shelter NOW, to shock when we finally heard a complete report of the damage and realized how lucky we were, to sad when we saw friends affected, to relieved it wasn't us, to guilt for feeling relieved, to irritated that we were all having to live 6+ days without power but thankful we were getting our power back when others didn't have a home to power (and of course that darn guilt again) and the list just seemed to go on. While I still don't know that I could ever explain or write my feelings on this event there are a few things that stick with me.

1. These events have made me even more proud of where I live. It was amazing to me how our communities came together to help each other out. I actually (sorta) enjoyed the power outage and have heard that from so many people. I had time to get to know my neighbors, to just simply be with The Hubby, the pets, and our friends without any distractions, and to have the time to reflect on just how busy life can be sometimes and now we were forced to take a much needed time out. The sense of community and togetherness is so strong around here right now. It is a pretty cool thing to be a part of.

2. The media really can suck sometimes but they really can rock sometimes too. Without power we were stuck listening to the radio to get our news. Without all of those people who worked tirelessly to ensure that every single piece of needed information was getting through the radio networks, we would have all been lost. But once we were able to join the rest of the world in seeing the news coverage, so so much of it seemed to focus on Tuscaloosa. It is political, it is the big city, it is an important part of Alabama's culture and they were tragically affected. But so where so many others from small towns all across north Alabama and they seemed to get forgotten because it just didn't have the same affect on the news as the big city does. It is sad and unfair to me. Even so though, I have struggled with wanting to scream about the unfairness of it with wanting to say thanks a hundred times that they were here diligently covering this horrible event at all. Weird I know.

3. No matter how I feel about the news there are so many people I am so thankful for. We survived this event because every single city and state representative jumped in and asked "what can I do". Organizations have opened their doors to offer any type of assistance they can. Emergency and utility officials have worked around the clock to be sure we are all looked after and other states have supplied needed personnel to support this cause. I will always be grateful for each and every one of them.

If you want to read more about the events of the 27th of April here are some links for you. 
Map
Photo Albums (left hand column)
Satellite Images

Thanks to all my friends and family for their concern through those days. You are all amazing!

A Visit to the South

Easter weekend The Hubby and I had company from Wisconsin here. We spent the weekend visiting local attractions, hanging out with friends, and running errands. One of those errands was the usual day before a holiday trip to Publix for groceries. For those who may not know, Publix is an amazing grocery store, and they still take your groceries to your car for you! So this particular trip we get a young, chatty cart boy who talks to us all the way to the car about the weather, the weekend, and his drive home from work the night before. When he is finished helping us load our car, he smiles and says have "a great Easter". We say thanks and get in the car to drive home. Then out of no where, our company turns to me and says, "people here are just to damn nice". I bust up laughing because I remember when I used to think that as well. I can remember the first time someone called me ma'am and I was almost angry. I kept thinking surely I do not look old enough to be a ma'am! Over time I have come to accept the term as one said in respect, though it does still irritate me slightly, but now I just smile and say thanks. I will admit that many of the places I have visited in the south are filled with extremely polite and sometime overly friendly people but then there are those who are just down right rude. The same is true when I go back home though, it is just a different kind of nice and rude. So I got to thinking if people in the south are really that much nicer than people in the Midwest? I say no. I think I was just as nice (at least when dealing with the public) when I lived in Wisconsin as I am now. I understand why we have the reputation of being rude people who are always in a rush; I also know that the stereotypes aren't true of everyone but it is more fun to talk about the stereotype.  So for me I think it isn't about where I came from or where I live, it simply comes down to just treating every person I come in contact the way I would want to be treated and understanding that usually they are trying to do that to, even if it is different than what I am used to. One favor though, please don' t call me ma'am!