Taco Bell

I have decided that, despite popular opinion, Taco Bell is fabulous. I’m not sure that I’m ever NOT in the mood to eat Taco Bell. I think my passion for the Bell started with their perpetual support of my late-night cravings while intoxicated with my UD cohorts. What can I say- they were always open for me and never judgmental of our idiotic ways.

Their new item, Fiesta Potatoes, are amazing. They are fried potato chunks covered in a zesty nacho cheese sauce and cool sour cream. Magnificent!

Further, those critics who say that there is better quality meat in dog food as compared to my hard taco supreme are crazy. Why be condemnatory of Taco Bell? If they can sell me Grade Q meat and I’ll still like why shouldn’t they reap the margins? Iams is offering Grade A meat that’s more expensive to a consumer base (Piper & Buster) who don’t know any better. If I offered Piper Taco Bell she’d eat it in a heartbeat! People should really shake their heads at dog food companies for wasting money on expensive products that aren’t necessary and that ultimately cost the consumer more.

Can you guess what I had for lunch?

2 New Herwit Babies

Congratulations Herwit Family!

As i mentioned not too long ago, my friend Andrew's wife was pregnant with twins. Well, they have safely arrived in the world: http://web.mac.com/acherwit/iWeb/Madeleine%20&%20Nicholas/January%2029,%202006.html and are beautiful!

Weekend of 1/27/06

Friday was one of the worst work days I’ve ever had. Not that it’ll mean anything to anyone outside my company, but we had 3 cutovers go horribly wrong and I yelled at one of our vendors to the point of having my boss kick me out of the room. UGH. The end of the night did pick up with dinner at Bravo’s and cards with Jim and my grandparents. Good conversation, good company – can’t go wrong there.

On Saturday we went to Erin Kobilsek’s wedding which was fabulous. I laughed, I cried- it was great. She was beautiful and the ceremony was touching. When I asked Jim why he didn’t cry his response was “did I miss a baby animal dying?”. Men… Other great Jim moment: the DJ announced that the dinner buffet would be a Captain’s Call. Quite innocently, Jim turned to me and asked “Captains Call? Does that mean we’re eating fish?”

Finally, yesterday afternoon Mom and I went to see Golda’s Balcony at the Aronoff: 1-woman show, good acting, about Jewish history so not all that enthralling for me. I bowled a 98, 127 and 129 which helped us win ¾ games and kept Jim smiling. We also started in on the 3rd season of 24 where with just 1 miss I predicted all the couples that developed since season 2. I wish I had talents in other, more useful areas than fictional romance prediction.

Alpha TV Sucks

I called the TV Guy yesterday (Alpha TV in Cincinnati for those of you considering a referral – DON’T go here!) afternoon to talk about what the hell was taking five weeks. He said that they got the sound working but there’s still a line across the TV that they’re trying to fix. He ordered parts 10 days ago and they haven’t arrived yet.

I’d like to think I was polite, firm and diplomatic with the man. I offered to call the vendor and be the “bitchy customer” for him (which he declined) and I told him that we were disappointed that we had to be in constant contact with him instead of the other way around (which he agreed and apologized for). I explained to him that we are having folks over for the Super Bowl next Sunday and not having a TV is unacceptable. He offered to give us one in storage in the mean time – a 32-35”, which I told him was going to be at our house on Saturday if our real one wasn’t.

This &%#! drives me nuts because I think about the service that I and my company provide and our retention ratio. Whenever I have clients who think that they can do telecom on their own I laugh because folks like George from Alpha TV are the kind of customer service they’re going to be getting as soon as they tell me good-bye. Cynical I know, but people don’t’ believe me when I warn them it’s a jungle without me because I over-hold thier hand while they are customers. Why don't my vendors want to hold my freakin' hand!?!

Mid-Week Happenings

Class last night was pretty fun. We spent 2 hours doing our business simulator and ended year 3 with the hostile take-over of another company which made our shareholders 297%. SUCCESS! I’m so happy with my group!

Tonight I’m headed out with the girls to celebrate Martha’s move to Oregon. I think there’ll be about 4-6 of us attending (Sue, Me, Mart, Brandy Ott and Jen J) which should be interesting as we don’t get together all that often. I feel bad as Martha’s leaving and I haven’t too much time with her over the last few years even though she still lives in Cincinnati. That’s the funny thing about friends – I can only assume she has a bucket of them that I don’t even know about that have kept her busy – therefore I shouldn’t feel bad! Ah well.

I also am working on finding some free time to verbally kick the TV repair guy’s ass today. He hasn’t brought our TV components back yet and this Saturday makes 5 weeks!!! Jim put it best: “I tried to shield the guy from you but he’s leaving me no choice…” He hasn’t even guaranteed that we’ll have the TV back for the Super Bowl! UGH. How do people like this stay in business!?

Eddie Pico

It happened – my past caught up with me around noon today. Eddie Pico called me. Ironically, when I wrote a few days ago that I’d been thinking about ex-relationships he was the primary person in mind. Fate is a screwy thing.

I haven’t talked to Eddie in about 3 years. Ironically, he called me out of the blue then (a year and a half since we broke up) to see how life was treating me, who I was dating, where I was working, etc. I had just moved in with Jim and getting that relationship kicked off. He was dating some college girl and was testing the waters on a serious relationship. Sounds familiar- that’s what we did for the 9 months we dated.

Today we talked about his work (still Cozymel’s), San Diego, my marital status (“oh, that same guy you were living with before?”) and the bet we made regarding who would be making more money by the time I turned 25 (I won by $3000).

He gave me his email address and I promptly sent him a note with my wedding picture attached. He replied, just 15 minutes later, with “Still as beautiful as I remember”. He invited me visit if I was ever in San Diego (which wouldn’t be a far stretch as Joe Kramer lives there) and to Hawaii if I ever wanted payment on the bet we made so long ago (that the loser would take the winner on a vacation). This interaction is striking because he’s just the same as I remember. I wonder if I am the same person he recalls.

I’m not sure I’ll be able to fully concentrate on anything else the rest of the day.

Baby City

WARNING: Do not read this if pregnancy bothers you!

I’m beginning to think that my friend Lisa was right – there is something in the water because a significant number of people I know are pregnant. Sarah (Wahn) Williams got pregnant before Christmas and is due 8/30/06. Jason, who has the office next to me, knocked up his wife Beth and they’re due 8/28/06. My friend Andrew’s wife is going to give birth to twins in February; and Laci, Jim’s step-sister, just told him that if she has a boy this May she’s going to name him after Jim. Jessy, my amazing friend since first grade who I still remember playing hopscotch with, is going to have her second this summer. What the heck is going on?!

The phrase “I’m at that age” is starting to haunt me. What it’s doing is making the fact that having babies is the next big step for me. Granted a step that I’m happily putting off for MANY more months, but it’s becoming clearer and clearer that my irresponsible years are fading away. Good Lord, Cloppert had it right – I should have screwed around more in my youth- there is no getting it back! holy crap...

Thinking for a change

I’ve been doing a rare thing lately – thinking while driving rather than talking on my cell phone. I’m always trying to pack a million things into the day and the down-time of driving has always been a great way to catch up with friends while I have “nothing else” to do. Lately, however, I’ve been spending my time behind the wheel reminiscing. It seems more and more that songs I hear on the radio are reminding me about people, specifically friends and ex-boyfriends.

With this in mind I think I’ll spend some time journaling my memories. Not to garner new insight but just to put it down so that I don’t forget that it ever happened. I’m debating posting them publicly here or just keeping it to myself, but I’m leaning to here as my blog is becoming the depository for all my thoughts and life updates. I’ll indicate somewhere that it’s a memory versus general comment. No offense or compliment necessarily meant to those I write about… obviously the hindsight is my own and may be tainted after a few years…

Bed Bug

I thought this this morning, but now, after a ridiculously stressful day I’m officially confirming: finding a “sweet spot” in your bed is one of the best feelings in the world. This morning I was so unbelievably snug and comfortable, when, Jim came in and cuddled with me for about 3 minutes which took my bliss about 5 notches higher. Being tangled up in a warm bed with the person you love is proof that there is a lot right with the world. Right now I’d pay big bucks to rewind to 7:30 this morning and drag that feeling out for about an hour and a half.

Spencerville Cats

Spencerville, Jim’s hometown, is quite literally a 1 stop-light town. About 2 hours north of Cincinnati, Spencerville is primarily a farming community with a “downtown” area (2 blocks) that has a diner/bar and some random shops.

About a month ago Spencerville’s Journal newspaper put a front page article on the feral, apparently highly reproductive cats that are roaming downtown and what the authorities are planning on doing about it. I wish Jim had kept the article, but it read something like “feral cats are deemed a clear and present danger and will be managed by police as such. Anyone attempting to support a wild cat will be dealt appropriate action.” I’m picturing a video game where instead of living corpses police are sharp-shooting dirty cats with red eyes who are hissing and surrounding them in the middle of the street.

Last Friday when the Journal was published (it’s a 1/week paper) they had another front page article about some feral cat group that has rushed into Spencerville at the cats’ aid. This group has apparently offered to pay any vet bill, etc. that is required to spare the cats’ lives at the hands of police. Who has time, energy and money they want to spend on this!? I wish I could post up a web page, but they’re not online for me to show you first hand…. I’ll keep you posted.

Weekend of 1/13

Well, this weekend somewhat busy for our standards. Friday night we had my parents over for my mother’s birthday dinner. Somehow the directions on my pork loin package lead to still rare pork even when I overshot the time by 5 minutes. Therefore, my dinner presentation wasn’t so hot because it didn’t all come out at the same time.

Sat. afternoon Lori and I headed up to the Taft Museum to check out their photography exhibit. Lori was kind enough to share her tickets with me so I could get in free! While the exhibit was cool, more fun was the jokes we made over the 17th century Asian pottery that lead to more than one sour look from the curator.

Saturday night we went over to the Boston’s for celebration of Terry’s new job in Charlotte, NC. It’s bitter sweet as all things are – good opportunity for them to move closer to Anjali’s family but it means that they’re leaving everything here in Cincinnati behind as soon as March of this year.

Bowling was a highlight for me as we beat the second place team 3 to 1. I got a 125, 157 and 111 each game – very good considering my 107 average. Other than that, more 24 season 2 which is turning out to be just as addictive as Harry Potter! My new “hot guy list” inductee is Carlos Bernard, the guy who plays Tony Almeida (http://www.fox.com/24/profiles/actor_cb.htm).

UGH. I just went to add the above link to his page and I couldn’t tear myself away from reading his character bio on the 24 site. As I’ve only seen season 2 I just read that his now wife dies in season 5. This FREAKIN sucks as the last episode had me see their first kiss. I just ruined their whole courtship for myself!!!! AUGH! Damn blog, making me f-up my show.

1 Week Lasik

This morning was my 1 week LASIK follow up. I’m still 20/20 in my R and 15/20 in my L. Doctor was really pleased and said I was doing great! I’m off all prescription eye drops now and have to use rewetting drops every other hour. Not shabby. Old habits die hard though, nearly every night I have to remind myself that I don’t have to take my contacts out…

It's Official....

While I didn’t mention it before, Jim formally accepted the finance position on Monday. All parties are very excited and he’s working with his new and current boss to come up with a transition schedule to officially move over to Finance.

Yesterday he sent me a link to a page of SEC trainings that his new boss suggested he go to. Joy of joys the classes are held M/T or Th/F so that you can spend the whole weekend in the destination city. Jim told me that he wants to join him for the long weekend, which of course, I’m more than happy to do. Looking at the list of cities and hotels there are some pretty cool ones: Disney Resorts in Orlando, Wynn in Las Vegas, something in San Diego, Atlanta, Seattle, San Fran, etc. Best part is that I’d only have to pay for my plane ticket and some food – P&G picks up the hotel tab and all of Jim’s amenities! Love this new job already!!

1st Night of Capstone

I had my capstone class last night for the first meeting. This is the class that is the pinnacle of my MBA degree and holds graduation contingent on its completion. The primary source of our grade is based on 2 simulation exercises where small groups make decisions for a shoe company and a bike company. The simulator generates results from the business decisions we make regarding inventory levels, employee count, advertising efforts, etc. I’m very excited because this should be both fun and educational, and, most importantly, because the small groups compete against each other and our grades are based off of our standing in the class.

As my opinion on small groups is widely known, one can imagine that I took special care in forming allegiances last night. Mindy, who I was in a positive sg with last semester, happens to be in both of my classes this semester. We decided on Tuesday night that we’d work together in capstone. We scouted the room for other folks we’d had good experiences with over the last three years and really only found people we knew we didn’t want.

On break the guy next to me started making small talk and we were interrupted by another guy who was in my Tuesday class. Matt, Tuesday guy, was personable and said he had a finance background which is something M and I really needed (we’re both marketing centric). As it became relatively clear Matt was going to join us and M & I were picky about our group, the guy next to me started making some blunt attempts to join in more and more. To make a long story short, Rocko, the guy next to me finally, formally asked if he could join us and we agreed. It was kinda funny because i think it was obvious he needed to make a strong first impression; as soon as we organized he volunteered to record for us and was overly willing to be available for anything we needed. Overall, he seems like he’ll be a good guy and I’m happy with my group in general.

I did find it interesting, however, how people position themselves. Mindy and I were pretty clear we were together and it was flattering to have two other people pursue our company. I did forewarn the group though that I am very competitive and I’ll be really irritated if our group does not place in the top 3. hopefully they aren’t irritated with me already….

First Night of Class

I’m being taught by a George W. Bush impersonator. Really. Last night was my first night of Selling and Sales Management, my second-last class in the XU MBA program. This guy is over the top. He looks like Bush, his mannerisms are Bush-like, he even makes dramatic pauses like the President.

He’s a sales consultant and a motivational speaker in “real life” and it shows through and through. He opened class with introductions where he graciously thanked each of us for being there, and then went on to establish a confidentiality rule for the semester. Then, after each answer we gave he responded with a long-winded answer and finally thanked us for our feedback. What a riot.

Strange thing – he said that our main content for the course will be class participation (worth 30% of our grade) and it will be achieved through reviewing the questions at the end of each chapter. After going through a few last night I’m wondering why you have to read the chapter to be prepared. For example, one question we discussed was “What are the stereotypes that salespersons have in TV, Movies and Jokes? Discuss how you think these stereotypes came to existence and how they have changed over the years”. Really. Did I just pay $625 X 3 Credit Hours = $1875 for this? I’m assuming this will evolve to more as the semester goes on…

Tonight is my capstone class. It’s taught by a prof I’ve never had and one who carries a good reputation. I’ll keep you posted.

Lasik Summary

Hello, world! It is now 23 hours after Lasik surgery and I’m doing well.

Some recap on yesterday: Surgery was scheduled for 11:30 so we arrived at 10:30 as instructed. The waiting room was packed. Jim and I guessed the average age of the patients to be around 57 with me and Jim greatly pulling this average down, and there was an assortment of issues surrounding us. How wonderful getting older must be! *insert heavy sarcasm*

I went under the light around 12:30 and was not nervous at all. Perhaps the Valium did it for me or maybe I just really trusted my doctor, but I wasn’t shaky at all. After seeing Jim’s surgery last year I could recall what each of the steps were as he was doing them so I had a mental timeline of how far into the procedure I was. The 6-pronged marker they used really hurt and caused them to have to numb me much more than anticipated.

I’m not sure how long it took each eye to do, though I taped it and intend on watching it later (anyone is welcome to watch, borrow it if you’d like!). It was not painful, uncomfortable or scary. When it was over I could see fine but like a cloud was over my eyes.

Half way home, however, the pain set in. It felt like exactly what it was – like my eyes had been burned from the inside out. For roughly an hour it was a 10/10 on a pain scale and I was miserable. I fell asleep around 2:30 and woke up to the phone ringing and several folks calling to check how I was. Jim had to go to work so I was surprised to discover that my little brother Greg had come over to baby-sit me. Which was very sweet for him to give up his last day home to sit in a house while I slept.

That evening I was okay to watch 3 episodes of 24 season two with Jim before falling asleep. This morning at my follow-up appointment my goggles came off for the first time since surgery and my eyes touched real air. My eye check produced results of 20/20 in my right eye and 15/20 in my left. Not bad for 18 hours later! That being said it’s possible that they’d improve from here as time goes on.

My eyes feel good right now. A little uncomfortable but that’s understandable since they recently peeled off my cornea. I’m putting drops of some kind or another in every hour and will continue to do so for 7 days. I’m looking forward to being comfortable enough to read again as I’m at a fun part in Harry Potter 6. I’m hoping that recovery is too boring to write about from here on out– you’ll obviously know soon if this is the case!

Jim's New Job

Well, today Jim got the call... He's cleared for Alaska and is on the road to being offered the job again! Last step - a half hour interview with the director. Should be no problem at all! He's really happy to be leaving marketing and I'm happy he's happy though i still have NO idea why anyone would want to do accounting for a living...

Accounting Role @ P&G

Jim is looking to get out of marketing at P&G and into a Finance role. While I have no idea why anyone in their right mind would enjoy the job he’s applied for, he is very excited about a position where the main responsibility is doing the SEC reports for Procter. Yesterday he got a call from the hiring manager who said that Jim is their top candidate for the role and that there are a few odds and ends to clear up before he makes a formal offer.

At this point in the conversation they started talking about periods that are real “crunch times” for their group. Ironically, the biggest one of these is the end of July because end of year earnings announcements are made on August 1. Jim’s question to the guy “so I guess July 22 – 29th would be a bad time to be out?” Manager (John) response: “Yes, that would be the worst time of the whole year.”

Too bad that’s when our Alaska trip is scheduled. : P

Fortunately for me, Jim was very upfront about it and told them that there was no way he could not attend the cruise. John’s checking in with the person who currently holds the role to see if there is any way around this but forewarned Jim that it’s not likely there is.

Fingers crossed for this to work out or for something even better to come along. Hopefully we’ll hear something today/tomorrow…

2005 Review

Here is a snapshot as it stands at the end of 2005, a general re-cap of sorts for reflection in future years…

Age: 26
Weight: 141
Height 5’6.5”
Hair: Red fading into blonde
Eyes: Blue, getting LASIK in 4 days!

NYE Activities: Mike & Susan Ellerbrock’s house with a bunch of HS friends including Jen Johnson, Mark Jeanmougin, & Sean Murphy

Best Of…
Movie: Almost Famous (a surprise great movie)
(Worst Movie: Charlie & the Chocolate Factory w/ Johnny Depp – AWFUL)
Song: Rascal Flatts, Fast Cars & Freedom
Female Friend: Karen Cruse – we talked and laughed a lot in ’05 and she was open enough to let me set her up multiple times. She’s one of the most sincere people I know.
Male Friend: Tom Parrish – a rare gem of a person who makes you feel comfortable to be real with them all of the time
Cincinnati: Bengals headed to the playoffs!

Most fun thing of 2005: Pacific Science Center in Seattle, WA
Most disappointing thing of 2005: Losing touch with Lisa
Most Impressive: Emily Gardner for her manners, vocabulary, and general sweetness

Looking to 2006…
Most Anticipated Thing: 7-Day Alaskan Cruise with family & friends
Most Nervous About: Having my wisdom teeth pulled (scheduled for 2/10/06), the idea that I might intentionally be pregnant by the end of the year
Goal: To get some more friends to move to Cincinnati!
Resolution: To not finish foods that I don’t like just for the sake of finishing it