SOME CHILI FUN AT WORK!

Mid winter and TWC's rate increase season can get to the very best of employees, so as a leader, what am I to do for them? I decided to hold 6 weeks of fun times! We kicked off this week with the Bowl of Super Chili Cookoff (can't say Super Bowl due to trademark), where each Supervisory team could enter 3 varieties of chili. Each Customer Care employee was able to select 5 samples and rated those from 1-5 in quality. A special score was provided to any that were deemed super spicy for a special prize.

It was a huge hit! The managers hosted and organized so the employees and Supervisors were able to come in for the fun. Winners are announced tomorrow (well, today since I'm up way to late) and the winning teams get to buy their team members lunch next week.

What's on the Fun Board for next week?! Bring your Pet's Picture to Work Week! I thought, what makes my employees happy at home? Well, if you have a pet, it's likely you really enjoy it, or it's a special member of your family, so why not bring a piece of your homelife joy into work?! We're putting the pet pictures on one side of my giant white board and the employee's name on the other side and we'll have a matching contest to see who can place the most correct pet with the employee matches. Dorky? Yeah, maybe, but you should hear the buzz that was going on today when I sent out the announcement!! I'll post it tomorrow, I impressed myself with my new PrintShop software at work!

Off to bed to get some more creative ideas in my noggin. Z Z Z z z z z . . . . .

...ONE WEEK'S TIME

What a difference one week makes! Last Saturday we had fun in the sun with an over 40 degree day. And this week when Brian was called in this morning to salt the roads at 4am, it was -6 degrees - brrrr! And next Saturday we'll be spending at the hospital with Mom and Dad as she is recovering from her aortic valve surgery. I'm pretty sure I won't make it to the Crop Day at the elementary school, but I hope to pop in and see Mary, Lynn and whomever else is going.

I hope everyone is staying toasty warm and healthy today. I've heard this very cold weather is actually good for viruses, it helps keep people indoors and away from each other which slows the spread!

XOXO

FUN WEEKEND!

We had a nice weekend, other than Brian's back still hurting and him stir crazy that he's not able to do everything he wants to. (He has an appt with Back Dr. on 2/2)

1. Woke up Saturday morning and Brian suggested we go out to breakfast. We used to do this all the time on Saturdays before Katie, and while she was an infant.

2. We went separate ways - me to Wegmans for groceries and Katie & Brian to Walmart for some small odds and ends.

3. Because we got up and out early, I was home from Wegs by 11 (usually after noon sometime) and we had the whole wonderful afternoon in the sunshine.

4. Katie rode her brand new bike from Christmas for about 30 mins. We sat on the front steps in just light sweatshirts and let the sun bake in on our bodies.

5. Made homemade pizza for dinner with help from Chef Katie, with all of the toppings placed ever so delicately...it took about 15 mins longer than normal to get baking :)

6. Sunday we had Church, and helped with the Hope for Haiti collection.

7. Katie and I ran some errands at Eastview - BJs and BonTon - While returning a dress she didn't wear at the Holiday Pageant, we saw some bras in the 7-16 department. She's been complaining that her light tshirt bras might not be concealing enough, so we tried on some new ones. How crazy is this...she's 10 and wearing nicer bras than me.

8. Nice cozy dinner of baked chicken, mashed taters and biscuits

Doesn't get any better than this. We have so much to be thankful for, it was an extra long grace before dinner tonight!

A FEW UPDATES ~

1. Brian's back is manageable, but he still walks crooked and his body aches. He's putting so much extra weight on his hips and knees that they are now starting to hurt. He's going to a specialist on 2/3/10, hopefully he makes it until then without blowing anything else out. Fun times, poor guy.

2. Katie is sniffle free going on the 2nd week since Thanksgiving. It seems as though she wraps up a week or two of sniffles during the day and full blown coughing at night, is good for about 4 days and then it starts all over again. Certainly not bad enough to be home sick, but not sleeping well and grouchy. I'm keeping the vitamin C flowing fast and of course sanitizing everything with Lysol! I think I've washed the color out of her sheets and pillow cases!

3. Mom is going to have heart valve surgery in a few weeks. She's had a murmur for a few years, had a fainting/passing out scare this past summer and they determined she needs one of her four valves replaced. She's meeting with surgeons this week and we'll get more details soon. Sounds like she'll be out of commission for a good chunk of time while she recuperates.

4. Scrapbook day on 2/5/10 is just around the corner, and Scrapbook Weekend is just over 2 months away - can't wait! Bought a cool new book and love the samples so hopefully I'll be planning some very nice pages.

That's all for now!

OUR LITTLE SONGBIRD

I can remember my Grandma Sullivan humming and singing as she worked in her kitchen. She didn't have a license so rarely left her house, and living just up the road from us, I often rode my bike to see her. She had a very old fashioned farmhouse kitchen with little to no counter space so everything was made at the table. She hummed and sang every step she took and then would beat her batter to the song's melody.

Well, our little Katherine Elizabeth is just like Grandma. She can be mad at me or frustrated with something and in little to no time at all, I hear her voice. She sings songs from school, from the radio, from church and sometimes makes up her own. I love to hear her voice echoing through our rooms.

This is a snapshot of her Holiday Concert. She's positioned right in front of her Chorus Teacher, Mrs. Warren, who is the most exuberant conductor you've ever seen. She's excellent for the kids, and I know Katie has more interest in Chorus because of her.

DOWN TIME

Brian's back is getting better, but still not 100%...but he can't stand to be home any more, he's heading back to work tomorrow. We're all just kind of hanging out today, you can see love-bug Millie lazing with Daddy. This back problem has really knocked him for a loop. He used to be up and around within a week when it would happen, but this time it's been almost 12 days and he's not quite up to spec yet. He'll have to play a real foreman tomorrow and not work along side his crew, but give them direction from the sidelines so he doesn't injure it any further. Can he do that?!? I'm sure we'll know by tomorrow night! Good luck honey, be careful!

WOW, SO YOU THINK YOU'RE HAVING A BAD DAY?

A horrible day going down in history - the poor Haitian people and what they are facing. As if their living conditions weren't bad enough, add thousands (100's of thousands actually), of deaths. And closer to home, two twenty-something daughters showed up at my company today, crying hysterically to the receptionist explaining they need to speak with their mom (one of the employees in my department). A safety officer took them into an empty office and one of them blurted out their brother was killed today in Afghanistan and they needed to tell their mom. The officer called me to explain and asked me to bring Lynn over to them. It was the most horrible few minutes that I can remember facing in a long time. As soon as I got her to the office, he and I left while they told her, but just standing outside the door and hearing them all moan in pain was devastating. I can't imagine what their poor family is going through. Her husband has terminal cancer and the 3 of them take turns caring for him at home. Who would have thought she needs to take care of her son's funeral arrangements before her husband's?

So if you are having a pity party for yourself...think about all of the others in the world that have it so much worse than we do today. And then say a prayer for them.