Suggestion Box

Summer has come and gone, which means the Suggestion Box has also come to an end. This was something that was started for my Summer Students, but since they've gone back to school...there is no one to make suggestions.

 

L finished a week before N, so all of these suggestions came from N:

 

Use your "love" folder whenever & update as needed. When I was on vacation the two of them cleaned my desk and created a file folder 'For When You Need Some Love'. They filled it with funny things I had housed on my desk and added their own items. I haven't gone through the folder entire folder yet.

 

Have Timbits at Monday Meetings. We had weekly team meetings Monday morning and I always brought Timbits (donut holes, for my American friends). With the two of them leaving and me going back to a team of 1, there was no point for weekly meetings or Timbits.

 

Text N & meet up for Thai food or pizza sometimes.  L went a few hours away for school but N still lives in the area. I fully intent on texting her and meeting up once I have a bit more free time.

 

Find another bowling location and plan another outing. Bowling party was suggested weeks earlier. We went and had fun, but the service was horrible.

 

Try to crush less of your own dreams. This is a reference to an earlier suggestion- which was a joke- but this was a sincere reminder. I needed to hear that. I needed to be reminded that my dreams count too and are just as important. It was very sweet.

 

 

 

They both been gone for about a month and I miss them like crazy. I miss the fun and the laughter and the energy they brought to the office. Of course, I also miss all the work they did, which was a HUGE help to me.

 

Interested in previous weeks' suggestions?

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

 

 

Hey, It's Ok!

To want to read a book. I can't remember the last time I sat down, opened a book and read. I love to read and used to read daily.  

That I have no idea what's going on in the world. I've been so swamped that if I'm not directly involved aka have to do something, I know nothing about it.

 

To be frustrated with people. I say that we're going to order pizza, you have opinions on where the pizza should come from, I ask you if you want to be in charge of the pizza, you say yes and then when it's time to order the pizza, you decide that we shouldn't order pizza or anything and we should just tell people they are on their own and to bring their own food. You are not helping or making things easy for me.

 

That I rant about things. See above.

 

To be dreading the fact that I won't be able to take two consecutive days (or more) off until March.

 

That I have a ridiculous amount of work emails (253 at the time of this posting) to deal with and work voicemail messages (22 at the time of this posting) to listen too. And this pay period, I'm working 90+ hours, instead of my scheduled (and paid) 70.

Inspire Me- Reasons to Cry, Reasons to Smile

The past couple of weeks have been a struggle for me...I've struggled to keep up, I've struggled to be happy. I've struggled to sleep, I've struggled to be motivated, I struggled to... It's been tough. I'm incredibly lucky to have friends that I can turn to, who will listen to me vent, who will distract me, who will make me laugh. It's going to be awhile before things get better...I know that...but I just have to stay positive and keep moving forward.

I had the most amazing weekend!! I started Friday off by celebrating a friends birthday. He hosts a party every year and the same people show up. This party is sometimes the only time I see these people. It's always great to catch up with them. I look forward to this party every year...it's always a lot of fun. It's also a chance for me to escape and to just laugh. 

Saturday I was at Brock University for Homecoming!! I had a fantastic time! It was great to go back to Brock and connect with Alumni- see old friends and meet new people. I'm hoping to write a more detailed post soon. 

Today, I met two of my closest friends for brunch. The three of us haven't been together since just before Christmas! It was so great to see them and spend time with them. I love those girls...spending time with them is exactly what my soul needed.

I know I have a challenging week ahead of me, a lot of hard work and long days. Here is some inspiration I'm hoping will get me through the week:

 

When I get frustrated, I cry. I've spent a lot of time crying the past couple of weeks and it hasn't been fun. Life has given me reason, after reason, after reason to cry in the past two months. I've really tried to start focusing on the positive. I've started journaling; keep track of my daily high/low, 3 things I'm grateful for and a sentence to sum up my day.

I have so many frustrations in my life right now, but I have so many more reasons to smile and be grateful. I'm blessed beyond words and have millions of reasons to smile. It's ok to cry and get it out of your system. But you need to wipe away those tears, focus on the good and the smile will follow.

Hey, It's Ok!

That I miss blogging. Not just coming here and writing, but reading and connecting with other blogs. I need more hours in a day.  

To be excited that salted caramel mochas are back at Starbucks. I know everyone loves pumpkin spice, but I'm all about salted caramel.

That I have no idea what's going on in the world. I'm more consumed with work than every before. I have no free time. I rely on blogs, Twitter, Facebook and reading newspapers online to know what's going on...I've had no time to do any of that.

To be excited for Brock Homecoming this weekend!!! I signed up for a handful of things but I think I'm only going to be able to do one or two things, which kinda sucks. But at least I'll be able to go back to campus for a bit and connect with other alumni.

That I have been watching Suits on Netflix for the past week or so. I had heard a lot about this show, but had never watched it. After randomly deciding to watch it, I am now hooked.

 

Firmoo Computer Glasses

I am incredibly lucky to have decent eyesight. In fact, when I went for my driver's test, the lady kept making the letters smaller and smaller after I passed the eye exam just to see how good my eyesight really was- she was impressed. I think my good eyesight is because I ate so many carrots as a kid.

About a month ago, I was contact by Firmoo- an online eyeglasses store- asking if I would do a review for them. I had heard of them before, and knowing that I don't wear eyeglasses, I wasn't sure that there would be an opportunity to work with them. Before replying to their email, I poked around their website to see what they offered. 

I was surprised to see that besides prescription eyeglasses, they also offered sunglasses, fashion (non-prescription) glasses, reading glasses and computer glasses. While I was tempted to try a pair of Fashion Glasses (I've owned a pair for years), I decided to try Computer Glasses.

Before checking out Firmoo, I had never even heard of Computer Glasses! What are computer glasses? They are glasses that alleviate symptoms of Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS) by enhancing vision, reduce glares and protect against radiation from computer screens. As someone who spends all day in front of a computer for work, and all night in front of a computer as a hobby (hi blog, hi social media), I thought that computer glasses would be a good choice.

And choice I had! Colour, size, shape and frame...so many options!! I ended up going with these:

Full Frame Red Glasses

Red is my favourite colour, which was ultimately the deciding factor.

The verdict? I like them! I have no way of really knowing if they are doing anything to protect my eyes, without seeing an eye doctor for before/after exams. But I have noticed that my eyes don't feel strained or tired after looking at a computer screen all day. Since the lenses are not prescription, I was able to wear the glasses all day, right away...nothing for my eyes to adjust too. 

Don't even get me started on the compliments!! I've had so many people tell me that they love the glasses; the colour is great and they are very fashionable (other people's words...which I don't disagree with).

The glasses also came with a case (pictured...it's a map, how cute is that?!?!?), a bag, screwdriver and cloth. Firmoo also has an option to upload a photo of yourself so you can see how different frames will look on you.

I love these glasses so much, I wear them all the time- even if I'm not in a front of a computer. 

    ***DISCLAIMER: I recieved these glasses complimentary from Firmoo for review purposes. All content and opinion are my own. For my full Disclaimer Policy, please see my About page.***

#IceBucketChallenge

I have not and will not participate in the ice bucket challenge, but as someone who works in fundraising, I wish I had thought of it. Every other fundraiser out there wishes they did too. By now, everyone is familiar with the ice bucket challenge; someone gets challenged to dump a bucket of ice water on themselves and make a donation to ALS, and then nominate 3 other people to do the same.

According to the ALS website from July 29-August 29,just over $100 million has been raised from the challenge. In that time frame last year, $2.8 was raised- so a significant increase. Also a significant increase? They had 2.2 million new donors because of the challenge. The awareness for the disease has skyrocketed, which is also important.

  

There was an article floating around Facebook recently stating that roughly 73% of the fundsraised from the challenge do NOT go towards research- which is what most people thought they were donating too. A lot of people were upset about this and felt mislead, understandably. 

I think the most important thing for donors to know is that you have the right to say how you want the non-profit to spend your donation. Usually donations go into an operating budget and are spent where they are needed. But as a donor, you can direct your donation to specific projects. If you want your donation, 100% of it, to go to research, specify that with your donation. Or if you want it to go towards an art therapy program, education for kids, social programing for clients...you can tell the non-profit how to spend your money and they have to honour that. 

I have nothing against ALS- and I really do think that this marketing/fundraising ploy is genius. But like I said, I will not be participating (beyond watching the ice bucket challenge videos).

Why? Because I have a handful of chosen charities that I support on a yearly basis and I only have so much money to donate. I do not want to pull my donation from an organization I have supported for years and that I truly believe in, in order to jump on the ALS bandwagon. I have made the choice to continue to support local non-profits, organizations whose presence I can see in my community, who align with my personal beliefs and who have helped my family (ex Alzheimer Society).

Now, if someone close to me suffered from ALS or if I won the lottery or if the ice bucket challenge was for an organization I already support, I would be singing a different tune.

I will leave you with what I think is the best #ALSIceBucketChallenge:

Hey, It's

That I missed the Save By The Bell movie. I had NO idea about this until I saw it on Twitter. I'm seriously disappointed that I missed it.

To have taken an extra long, long weekend. I had Friday off (at my boss suggestion), as well as today, It's been nice to have a couple of work free days to enjoy summer.

That I am so incredibly happy that my boss is back from mat leave. I really missed her and I'm excited that she's back.

To have had an ok summer. On reflection, summer 2014 was the summer between political campaigns and the first in 5 years without Daniel. There was nothing significant- good or bad- that happened.

That Chelsea Lately has ended. I'm a Chelsea Handler fan and her show was the only late night talk show that I watched on a regular basis. Hopefully she'll bring her show to Netflix.

Inspire Me- Do It Now

I hope that everyone is having a great long weekend and enjoying Labour Day- yea for not having to work!! I was lucky enough to have an extra, extra long weekend; I always take the Tuesday after Labour Day off and last week my boss told me I had to take time off, so I also took Friday off. I've been up at the vacation home, enjoying the last little bit of summer. 

My dad was here Thursday-Saturday morning. We went out for dinner, the beach and just hung out on our patio. I spent Friday afternoon and most of Saturday at the beach. Between the beach and the backyard, I'm trying to spend as much time as possible outside. 

Here is this weeks inspiration:

 

I thought this was the perfect quote for this week!! I spent all winter counting down the days until summer. Summer FINALLY arrived and it flew by...I feel like I didn't do anything this summer. While there is technically still a couple of weeks left until summer, summer essentially ends with Labour Day. 

I always take the Tuesday after Labour Day off, it's my attempt to squeeze an extra day out of summer. I will be spending the next two days, doing as many of my favourite summer activities as possible; breakfast on the patio, walking around town, reading in the hammock, swimming in the lake, making s'mores, sitting outside and star gazing. 

It is so tempting to stay inside and get caught up in social media and netflix. It can be hard to drag myself out of bed, all I want to do is get caught up on sleep. There are things I haven't done yet this summer and if I don't do them know, I won't be able to do them until next summer. I don't want to wait that long. 

Essentially, if you want to do something, do it. Don't keep putting things off. The next thing you know, it'll be winter again and summer will be a distant memory and something too far away. Don't let these last days of summer slip by without embracing them, enjoying them and celebrating them.