Oprah's Creative Minds Challenge

Sunday, November 20, 2011 -- the deadline to enter Oprah's Creative Mind Challenge Oprah posted the question for viewers to share what inspires them. There are 3 ways to enter: photo, essay and video. I've already entered the essay portion and I procrastinated until today to record and edit my video. I experienced the typical procrastinators issues: lighting not right, multiple takes due to blunders and nervousness and the worst possible scenario: the internet went down! Ugh!

Usually, Comcast/Xfinity is on point but today, something went terribly wrong in my house. I was about to panic and give up until my husband saw me frantically running around getting ready to call the cable provider. He reminded me about his AT&T mobile broadband USB gadget!

I was able to use the mobile broadband connection to upload my video. It took a little longer because it was a video but I was thankful that 1. He had the mobile broadband service and 2. My video was SHORT -- less than a minute! I got the video uploaded in time and it is linked here.

Since it's a few days from Thanksgiving, I've decided to ask you, aside from the typical "good health" "family & friends" response, What Are You Thankful For? Of course you know I'm thankful for my husband's broadband service!

The broadband service is available to through many carriers and the prices will vary. It is NOT designed to replace your home service because it can get pricey for the bandwidth. But as a backup, truly mobile situation, it is perfect. I have used it to surf the internet (passenger only) in a moving car and in a rural area. As long as cell phone service is available, the internet will be too! Yay!

Work Rant | Oprah's Lifeclass | Zazzle T-shirts

Today was a rough day at work. I was assigned to a group given the task of completing a School Improvement Plan. Apparently, we did not complete it correctly. We were darn near cussed out by a co-worker. She raised her voice and yelled because she and the admin team were at the school until 9 PM correcting the report. I felt like we were about to get detention! Sheesh!

We are admonished constantly about yelling at the children but here we are, grown ass people getting yelled at? I was able to hold my peace and not speak out because I am very vocal when it comes to BS.

I know for sure that job stress will age you quicker than anything else. Life is too short to be unhappy ANYWHERE!

How do you feel about negative/hostile work environments where you can get yelled at and by, technically, a co-worker while the administration looks on? Comments please.

I stopped at the grocery store for some comfort food: Rum Raisin ice cream!

Fortunately for them AND for me, Oprah is coming back tonight with her Lifeclass on the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN). I got a feeling she will be speaking to my soul while making me check my ego at the door! I am looking forward to her entire Lifeclass series this week! I downloaded the iPad app for free from iTunes!

Check out the reminder email she sent about the class because I had surely forgotten!

I had just been speaking to my husband about entrepreneurial possibilities after watching this video by Borderhammer! She was speaking to my SOUL!

I received my t-shirts today that I ordered from Lisa's Zazzle store!

Today is Columbus Day so the mail was not processed today but the winners of the pendants will have a slight delay.

A subscriber informed me that the Seche Vite polish came with a warning printed on the label. The print was so tiny that I had to break out the magnifying glass.

New Beginnings

Today is my birthday. I normally spend this day sleeping late and and celebrating in a quiet, low key manner. I've never had an official birthday party and I rarely make a big to do about my birthday. Don't get me wrong, I go all out for other people's birthday but I'm very different about my own. I don't require a lot of gifts and noise and people for that matter. I like to reflect on where I am in my life. I'm thankful for the life I was given and the freedom to make choices.

This birthday will be different. It is the first day back to work! Never have I ever WORKED on my birthday but I certainly have never started back to work on my birthday. This confirms to me that school is starting way too soon. The dog days of summer are yet to begin. I remember when I was a kid, school started the week before Labor Day.

But later today, I begin my first day. I am not sure what to expect. But this is a year of new beginnings in many ways. The new answer when someone wants something that I am not able to deliver or have no desire to do, is "I'm sorry but No". I have never been a people pleaser but in my line of work, I deal with a variety of personalities. I'm always in the hot seat and do my best to help all who ask. But today, the game changes.

Dealing with negative people is never my strong suit. I'm such a take it or leave it, that it is hard for me to bite my tongue and keep quiet. There have been times that I have wanted to really lose my cool but I have maintained professionalism and appropriate work behavior.

This is also the first time in 25 years that I am returning to work without Oprah. I have learned so much about myself and life in general from watching Oprah. I hold a special place for Oprah because we are both from rural Mississippi and experienced a Grandmother's Love. When people around me began to say that Oprah was getting too god-like, I refused to argue with them. I've listened to them accuse her of saying that she did not believe in God. I never saw that show and cannot say that she uttered those words. I always appreciated the enlightenment that she shared. As with all things, there is the freedom to choose whether or not you wanted to get on board with it.

Sooner than later, I will begin a new journey. Today is just the beginning.

My Poor DVR

My DVR (digital video recorder) is jammed up with shows that I need to watch. Let me tell you how bad it is. Do you remember 2 or 3 years ago when Three 6 Mafia had a show called, “The Adventures in Hollyhood”? Well, I've watched all the shows but I refuse to delete them. You never know when you’re going to wake up at 2 AM and need a laugh. I won’t begin to tell you what is on my DVR that needs to be watched. Matter of fact, I’ll create a list below and reveal my collection. It is so bad that I have to force myself to delete watched episodes of Oprah just to make room for more Oprah! Hey, she does not have her shows on boxed DVD sets.