this is one of the coolest things ever. at least, so far as i see. maybe you haven't noticed the little clickable map on the sidebar. it's just so rad.
maybe i'm nosy, but i find it really interesting to see who has found my blog and where they are. i put it up about three weeks ago, and it's cool to see hits from all over. i get a silly kick out of seeing a new location pop up on the map. so far i have 8 countries hitting on me. i'm so special.
78% of all statistics are made up.
Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.
Hard work pays off in the future. Laziness pays off now.
Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.
The early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese in the trap.
Light travels faster than sound. That is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.
these are just a few blogworthy quotes from a list my co-worker sent me. pathetically amusing, don't you think? but life is a bit hectic right now, so i'll take my amusement in any form it comes.
i've just gotten home from 'trivia night' hosted by john from my work (the one that sent me the list). my team won last week and came in second this tonight. it was a blast and a great way to meet people i'd never otherwise get to know. and it's nice to make all those times i was called "tidbit tina" pay back a bit. it's a welcome diversion as well, as the lives around me continue to be full of challenges, and sometimes even just plain old drama. i keep my head on as straight as possible, but an evening full of good laughs goes a long way.
work has been good and continues to be very busy. i don't mind this time of year because it's only a few months of insanity and the paychecks are quite fluffy with overtime. this'll go toward finishing paying off a couple of things and, among other things, a trip to the uk in september to spend some time with my edinburgh peeps and the 24-7 gang, and to see about ironing out a few more details before the big move in december.
as crazy as work gets there are always things to keep me smiling. like this email that was sent company-wide from our human resources department:
*****
Sent: Monday, March 27, 2006 11:39 AM
To: All
Subject: Strong odors
As we continue to add staff to meet the demands of high season, there are a greater number of employees working in a limited space. With so many people working closely together we need to consider those around us that share the same space and facilities. In our open environment, strong and/or heavy odors can travel easily affecting co-workers, and aggravating colds and allergies. With this in mind, please refrain from using heavy or strong colognes, perfumes, or other scents. Please practice good personal hygiene and be mindful of offensive odors. With a little conscientious effort from everyone we can make this a pleasant working environment for all of us.
Thank you for your attention and cooperation.
*****
look! it's spring!!
yes, it's still raining, but not every moment. there are a few random patches of sunlight, and bright little flowers showing up all over.
i've stayed busy, but this week was much better than last, and no funerals in sight. but hopefully lots of photo ops.
today i wore a light jacket as i walked to work. nothing feels quite like the first sunny days after a long and weary winter. just that little bit of sunshine makes the air seem more fragrant, people more friendly and life somehow just a little easier.
this has been such a strange winter. things in my life are going well, relationships are strong, i'm growing and reaching goals i was afraid to even set for myself not so very long ago. i love my job and i'm looking forward to my not-too-distant move to edinburgh. but as great as life is for me i find most of the people around me are facing some of the biggest challenges of their lives. where i should be on top of the world, instead i've spent the last six months helping friends carry the heaviest of burdens.
one friend who is like a brother to me has walked away from his marriage to one of my closest friends. he, along with several others, have walked away from God and from those of us that would walk with them as they faced the wounds that have justified these choices. several other friends have lost, or are losing people they love through death, while another friend has had to painfully disentangle herself from a very toxic dependent. but as i've been blessed enough to be able to stand with the ones left behind, wounded and devastated by other people's choices, i have learned more about relationship, commitment and prayerful community than i ever dreamed i'd walk out.
seasons come and go. whatever season we're in we need eachother. we need community. not a group of friends that is all the same, but independent people with a unified heart and focus that can support eachother in laying ahold of that which matters most to us all, and can spur eachother on to continuing love a good works. for years these friends have stood with me as i walked through some very dark things. now i have the honor of standing with them. i'm finding faith well up in some when others are too tired to hope. i'm seeing prayer spring out of people that were never before even comfortable with prayer. i'm watching beauty come from the ashes, as my friends offer their brokenness to God, and others are drawn to Him by watching the lives of my hurting friends. i'm seeing God answer prayers and build our faith in His ability to do more than we could even ask or think.
these last six months have shown me more of the provision of God than i've ever seen, both naturally and spiritually. His faithfulness continues to overwhelm me. i'm afraid to ask what comes next, but whatever it is i know that God will be revealed and it will be worth it in the end.
"Those who plant in tears will harvest with shouts of joy. They weep as they go to plant their seed, but they sing as they return with the harvest." Ps 126:5-6
i never met jeremy's dad, but jeremy is one of my good friends. i went to his dad's funeral today. i wanted so badly to somehow show love and support to my friend. his dad only lived a few months after the pancreatic cancer diagnosis, so i think people there were still a bit stunned by it all. i saw the all-too-familiar expressions of grieving disbelief that this treasure was really gone from their lives. it brought back the ache that surrounded my heart after my best friend's son died three months after his brain tumor was diagnosed. strange how you don't forget pain. even when you've gone on it can be brought right back to your senses in just a moment of reminding.
when the bible talks about heaven it says that there will be no pain or sadness, and that God will wipe the tears from our eyes. my friend that lost her son was recently telling me about how God showed her that her son can't remember pain, and God allowed her to ask if her son remembered his tumor and the answer was that he remembered having it but didn't remember how it felt since God was carrying that part for him. when she told me that it got me thinking about what that meant on this side where we do still feel pain.
if God carries the pain of everyone in heaven forever He must also carry the pain of the loss of everyone that chose their own way instead of Him. the sobering thing is that He will carry that pain forever. it will always be a part of Him. God will always be grieving for all eternity so that we don't have to.
isaiah 53 says that He bore our grief and carried our sorrow at the cross. it says that the price of our peace was taken out on Him and His wounds purchased our healing. it doesn't mean that we don't have any pain in this life, but in romans 8 it says that the things we suffer in this life aren't even worth comparing to what He has for us on the other side. all the reward with no more ache. it seems all the passages i'm drawn to right now talk about endurance in suffering and not giving up. the end of isaiah 40, hebrews 10:32-39, and 11:36-12:14, revelation 12:10-11, all about endurance in the face of pain.
i have never been more aware of my need for God than in the last couple months. in my life, in my workplace, in my community and my friends' lives. we are pressed on all sides, but we can't stop. we must run to Him and find the strenght He gives or we will never make it. but what a mind-blowing thing to know what God feels and carries, even if it's just a glimpse. who better to run to and what better place to find comfort? amazing.
peace has found me sitting in front of the window, trying to find words to tell you about my week. the sunset is making rosy the few lovely clouds i can see from my urban perch, as i'm serenaded by snow patrol. listening to this album for the first time i'm nagged in back of my mind by "these guys are awesome. how have i never heard them before?".
today was a fitting end to my too-stressful-for-words week. as i sneak glances past my monitor to the sunset world out my window i'm in that ache that you sometimes get when you are reminded of how beautiful life is. the colors of the setting sun are reflecting from behind me onto the downtown highrises and i'm just blown away.
work was nutty. we upgraded our reservations system and rolled it on the same week we just happened to get the highest call volume in the history of our call center. by the end of the week people were actually holding for over three hours. i'm sure the only reason they waited that long was because they'd been trying all week and decided just to wait it out. of course nothing on the new system works right because they've never run it with so many people on it at the same time. trains we book all day every day were not even loaded. it was so ugly.
(i really wish you could see this sunset. it's breathtaking.)
thursday was the worst day by far. when travel agents were finally able to get through they were so irritated that they usually spent the first few minutes whining about hold times. every rail booking i made had glitches and needed to be rebooked, and then when i went back to the tour package booking lines that system crashed. kathleen and i went out for sushi after work. i'm so she was free to hang out with me. i really needed the company.
yesterday we got our first bonuses on the new incentive plan. well, some did. i was not one of them. for whatever reason i was only at 20% of my goal. i have never ever ever been below my sales goals, so it was really upsetting. i didn't care so much about the money since i had so much overtime. i just felt like i was getting a failing grade and felt like a big loser. i cried. i sometimes forget what depths of overachiever disease i have. it's always something like this that reminds me. i talked to my manager and we think it was so low because i'm the only one taking latin american line calls for the last hour of the day, and the few calls i do get are usually someone wanting to put payment on a booking before the end of day so it doesn't cancel. no new bookings means no credit for my work. no credit means no bonus.
to get that horrid 20% stat at the end of such a stressful week rocked my world a bit. funny how things that "shouldn't" bother you can so thoroughly overwhelm you. i went to the house of prayer last night and was feeling nearly myself again when i got home. i worked again this morning. it's all overtime, so it doesn't feel like a hardship to plug in an extra four hours on a saturday when i know how pretty that looks on the old paycheck. but straight from work i went to the funeral of my friend jeremy's dad. told you this week was a doozie.
i have alot of things i want to say about the funeral but i think this post is long enough. i'll put it in another post.
i'm a blog slacker. i'm sorry i've been away so long. life's been insane lately with work being super busy. i worked the last two saturdays and almost worked this one as well, but wriggled out of it at the last minute.
not only has it been busy, but the weather has been really bizarre and not at all following the usual pattern. we usually get a week of icy, snowy freezyness in late january and then about two weeks of low to mid 60ºs(that's 15º-16ºc) then rainy and 50ºs(7º-10ºc) until june. not this week. we had snow. in march. in portland. of course it didn't stick, at least not downtown, since we're only fifty feet above sea level.
one other thing. you may have notticed the name of my blog seems to have changed from 'globegirl' to '.', and the reason for that is that the title got in the way of my picture. when i change the banner again i will be back to globegirl. and though i may have been too busy to blog until today, i've not been too busy to keep taking pictures. here are some of my latest (which are much nicer when they're viewed bigger).
we had a delta rep in the office today and he brought merch. i had my eye on the mini delta jet, but since it was a drawing i of course won something else.
the beauty is that i just went to the girl that won the airplane and asked her if she wanted to trade. she did, 'cause what would she do with some silly model airplane?
so here's the photographic evidence that i now have my own jet and keep it on my desk. isn't my life spectac?
this is what portland looks like in the spring. lots of grey, a few raindrops and just a little splash of color to remind you that we only have about four more months of steady rain until the weather changes. last sunday my friend laura
and i went for a nice long walk on the east and west side waterfront parks. i can't help but think how much nicer this picture would be if the sky were a nice deep blue. oh well. can't have it all, i guess.
life's been pretty busy the last several weeks. i've not had time to do much on the blog, but i got sucked into tweaking late last night with some stuff my sister threw my way. she's far nerdier than i, which works out well for me, the beneficiary of her hand-me-down knowledge.
so check out my nifty little drop-menus and tell me if you like them.
