Daily Affirmation

Some days you just need a little extra. A little extra hug, a little extra smile, a little extra sleep, you know, a little extra. I think yesterday Lawrence and I both needed a little extra- he was crazy busy with work and preparing for our weekend houseguests and I was busy with wrapping things up at work and driving back to Iowa. So last night we both needed a little extra. Imagine my delight when I found this artist on flicker who had not only read our minds, he provided the little extra affirmation that I needed to know we are not going to be banished to the warm place down under for forgoing healthy eating for one night and partaking in a good ol' all American tradition- the cheeseburger. Yum. On certain days, it's the best little extra you could ask for.

What does 288 gallons look like...

If you really want to know what 288 gallons looks like I promise I'll show you in the next day or two. For now you'll have to take a look at the weather radar picture that explains exactly why I had 288 gallons of seepage in my basement yesterday.

If you look really closely you'll see the blue and yellow dot in the eye of the storm...yeh, that's our house. That puts us right in the middle of what was the seasons first real tornado warning, flash flood warning, and severe thunderstorm...ALL AT ONCE!

I think this was Mother Nature's way of saying "Welcome back to Iowa Cunningham's...we've missed you!".

You may ask how I determined that I had 288 gallons. Here's my arithmetic:

16 Gallon Wet Vac filled 18 times = 288 gallons

A couple of additional stats:

1 $37.00 fan

1 pair of "milking boots" from Wallyworld

1 clothesline from Wallyworld

2 borrowed fans

1 borrowed dehumidifier

7 hours of squeegeeing, vacuuming, toweling, unpacking, hanging and cat chasing (through puddles)

One sore Lawrence.

Brandy sure picked the right week to be in DENVER. Sheesh!

Matching Buttprints?

Our office has been talking about getting new office chairs for a while. Staff members have been complaining. Directors have been dropping hints. There have been all around grumblings about the sorry state of disrepair our current chairs are in. Buzz words like ergonomically correct and lumbar support were floating through the air. But up to this point, that's been as far as the conversation has gone.

So, imagine my surprise when today a truckload of chairs arrived this morning and were deposited in the mailroom. Wow, I thought to myself, they (you know, the powers that be) must have really heard us this time. They really went all out! And then I went in for a closer inspection...

And yes, while I'm sure they do have great lumbar support and are in better shape than our current chairs, they are USED chairs.



Apparently, we bought them from a big company down in the Springs. Any excitement about getting new chairs went out the window when I discovered they were hand-me-downs. We have received the office equivalent to garage sale clothes or lunch program meals. And have we not asked ourselves WHY the company is getting rid of them in the first place? They are worn. They are dusty. The fabric is a bit faded. AND they have butt prints. You know what I'm talking about. That little double dip on the seat that just screams someone else's backside has been on me for a long time. What if I get a chair who's butt print doesn't match up to mine??? Are we all going to sit around at the next staff meeting and test them all out? And if they don't fit, how exactly do we bring that up to next person trying it on for size? I'm sorry, this didn't fit me, but I think your A** is bigger than mine so it should work for you? Hmm. Does anyone else see the harassment possibilities here? I think I'd rather keep my non-lumbar supporting chair, thank you very much. At least I know where it's been.

Think-tank Tuesday

I just returned from a trip to Dallas HQ where I joined a group of company leaders who focused on ways to build our company for the future. We spent time holed up in the back room of the office for three days pouring over white boards with things like "digital media touchpoints", "company efficiency models", and "new business revenue strategies". Of course there was the occasional off the wall ideas like "Russian mail order brides division" and "sports-themed kegerator sales".

But, what I found to be most interesting this week was the makeup of the team. We had a quality mix of sales people (like me), marcom strategists, ops managers, hr, and one, as he put it, "recovering Vice President" (who showed up in a happy pair of bright customized retro NIKE's). It was a unique opportunity to truly understand what other areas of our company are doing and to comminicate face to face (which doesn't happen much due to our 50+ office locations).

One of the best discussions we had started with the question "What if in two years there is no more advertising"? Since radio broadcasting and sponsorships are the lionshare of our business it took a couple of minutes to really think about what it might mean to our business with the further advent or development of technology that allows the consumer to bypass our placed messaging. (see DVR's, satellite radio and on demand cell phone broadcasting).

Ultimately we touched on some great ideas and plan to sit on them for a few days before we start the upcoming discussions of now whats.

Another thing I realized is that when you are in a room with several other proven leaders and brilliant minds (not referencing myself here) it is sometimes hard to communicate as you might normally do. In this environment you are challenged on any and all ideas you submit and find that immediate acceptance of your idea is not likely without a spirited debate and this is only for the better.

I have long been a proponent of the "think-tank" and this latest experience reminds me of the importance of challenging yourself to think beyond the scope of what you know.

I think participating in this group has recharged me not only from a business standpoint but also in terms of organizations I volnteer with. I am excited to get back in the trenches and start rocking the boat to get operating ouitside of our comfort zone.

Bittersweet

This week I've been in Denver meeting with my collegiate leadership consultants that I supervise as they wrap up their year of travels. After nine months of living out of their suitcases and traveling around the US and Canada visiting our 120 collegiate chapters, they are done. Many of them have described the week as 'bittersweet' in our one-on-one meetings, and I have to say, it's bittersweet for me, too. They are the first group of consultants that I have worked with from start to finish, including interviewing them for the job back in February 08 so we have been through the whole year together and I can't believe it's almost over (although I'm definitely ready for a little break!).

They are a great group of women- amazing, creative, sweet, funny, dedicated and loyal- and for the majority of the year they have a thankless job. I am proud to have supervised them this past year and to call them all my sisters. But now, I am really looking forward to being able to call them my friends.

So, in honor of the CLCs, my newfound old friends, please enjoy this little video I put together.



editor's note: silly youtube confiscated my music for the video. apparently it was too popular or something. silly me. you'll have to enjoy it without the music until I figure out a way to outsmart the system. Any ideas?

Tax Day

Oh, the joys of April 15. Lawrence and I made it just under the wire- we first met with our new accountant on Saturday and finally sent off our check *yes, check!* to the IRS yesterday. Oh the joys of having no kids and renting this past year. We thought briefly over the weekend of having a kid this year to help us out when it comes to tax time next year, but then realized with the timing of it all, it was already too late. So no kids this year. If we get an early enough start on our taxes next year, maybe we'll think about it in time for 2010. That's probably not likely.

On a side note, I truly believe that we should be able to deduct more than only $2500 for student loan payments. Who the heck set that limit? Probably a group of trust fund babies in Washington. What the heck do they know about paying student loans? I think if you pay more than that you should be able to deduct more than that. And we pay A LOT more than that every year. Of course, I also believe dogs should count as dependants, but that's mainly just because mine have been a big pain in the backside lately and there has to be some benefit besides the love and affection they share with us at 6:00am with a big sloppy wet kiss.

On to happier thoughts... my friend Betsy sent me an e-card today (see below) from someecards and it made me laugh. I haven't ever checked out their site before, but it's got some funny stuff. Definitely not Hallmark, so don't say I didn't warn you.

PS- my friend Lindsey went into labor last night so think good thoughts for her and hopefully next year we'll have happier things to associate with April 15 than taxes!

Kibbles and Bits

So as not to look like I'm discrimating among pets, I thought it only fair that I share Harley the cat's latest "accomplishment" - knocking over the newly opened 35lb bag of dog food from the table onto the floor this morning. Quite a feat if you consider she is probably only 10 pounds soaking wet herself.

If you've ever wondered what 35 pounds of kibble looks like sprawled all over your kitchen floor, well, wonder no more.


And if you're worried that I'm getting all the *fun* from being with our pets since I'm the one working from home all day, worry no more. This mess can wait until the master of the house gets home tonight since he was the one who left the opened bag on the table to begin with. Just sharing the love!