Wish I had been Drunk Baking but I'm stone sober

I made 13 dozen cookies today.
13 DOZEN COOKIES.
Here was my thought process:
"I want to make VS's Coconut Crunch Cookies."
"Hmm, not sure how many people I want to give them."
"I'll just double the recipe."
"Um, I think I doubled it. Or did I triple it? Hm."
Jeezus, that was a lot of baking. Now I remember why I haven't baked in quite some time.
I am giving each of my coworkers six cookies and a Christmas card. Nice huh? I'm also giving my neighbors a dozen cookies and some people who do the same thing as me but in different regions.
There are a butt load of cookies in my house. I think I'll still have leftovers.
On a completely different note, today was my parents' 43rd Anniversary! Isn't that great? Jon and I took them out for dinner. They're so funny - they didn't want to have a romantic dinner for two, they wanted to go out with me/us. Poor things, they're both trying to get over a cold! Anyway, Happy Anniversary, Ma & Daddy! (Not that they would ever be reading this. I hope.)

I'm still recuperating from the 13 dozen cookies.

It's the little things ... even at work

According to the Myers-Briggs test, I love me some compliments. Which is true as long as they're sincere compliments. But who doesn't?! Even the best of the "I" group can appreciate appreciation.
I keep saying how much I love my job. And even though I know it's still the honeymoon stage and that there will always be things that I won't like or get pissed off about, the ten months I spent at my former job were utterly painful and had made me into a different person. In my previous job, I didn't want to make the time to sustain friendships, enjoy my vices like spa treatments or do any fun things, in general. I just wanted to crawl into bed and sleep because, yes, it was that bad. In the job I have now, I have a sense of purpose and fulfillment. That's pretty freakin' great if you ask me. Or I'll just tell you.
With any great job, there are challenges. I think for most people, including myself, a job that doesn't present challenges is boring. Well, let's just say that I have no time to be bored in my position. I knew this, however, coming into the job. I thoroughly questioned the person who was leaving the position (and, lucky for me, she was also my friend so I knew she would tell the truth) because I wanted to make sure that the position and the organization would be a good fit for me. She and the people I work for now made sure to tell me the good and the bad, like the fact that my territory is quite a challenge. I would never say that I wasn't warned.
I am a little competitive. I don't necessarily want to be better than everyone. But I want to be better than most and be as good as the best. Odd, I know, but I guess that's why there's the term friendly competition. Anyway, this presents a challenge since my territory isn't so hot, my sales numbers aren't so hot. I am happy (as well as my bosses) that I have had growth. And that's all fine and good but when I compare my numbers to my colleague's numbers, it can be a little discouraging.
I have a point to all this background information.
A few days ago, I was flying back from my work conference with a colleague. We were chatting on the plane when a woman from a row over said, "Excuse me, I'm sorry to interrupt but I couldn't help hearing your conversation. Do we work for the same organization?" Thankfully, our conversation was totally PC and we told her yes. She then told us her name and that she was an executive director at a nearby office. We told her our names. When I introduced myself, she said, "You! I know you! I know who you are!"
This is when I was momentarily freaking out because I was frantically trying to recall if I had done anything during the conference that I may not have recalled but would cause me great embarrassment.
I replied, "Why?" (I know, odd reply but I wanted to know why she knew me.)
She said, "You're doing really well! I see your name on the weekly sales reports and you're doing really, really well!!"
OK, this is when I thought she might have confused me with someone else because my numbers were nothing to write home about. I honestly was uncomfortable because I figured I would have to correct her and then feel all stupid because it wasn't me. It didn't help that the person I was traveling with had better numbers than me. See what I mean?
But she swore she knew what she was talking about. She asked, "Isn't your name usually highlighted on the weekly reports?" and I told her that yes, for certain things, my name is listed but my numbers were not the highest in our organization. But she was still really excited and said that the numbers are important but growth is too and that she was particularly impressed by my figures. She knew that I was fairly new to the company and was interested in knowing my strategies so she could share them with her new employee. Foreel?
This made my freakin' day.
Because, like I wrote, I love my job. But I'm not rockin' the charts the way my other colleagues are doing. And I know that I have had growth but the bottom line is revenue. And there are many others bringing in the dollah-dollah-bills, y'all. So I was over the moon that someone in a management position who wasn't my boss was commending me for my work. Hell yah it felt good! Because, like I wrote, I think everyone appreciates being appreciated. Because it feels goooood. And all of us hard workers deserve a pat on the back from time to time. (And bonuses, if at all possible.)

A sweet birthday

I had a very nice birthday yesterday. I didn't do anything out of the ordinary but it was still a really good day.
The Man didn't know what to get me and considering how much he/we have spent and how much we are going to spend on the wedding, I told him I wanted a Christmas Tree for my birthday (we haven't had the time to get one.) I wanted a tree that was smaller than five feet because the house is kind of small plus the pups might freak out and knock it over ... because they're mischevious like that. Anyway, I had a glorified bush for a Christmas tree last year that I set on the table but the damn thing died before Christmas. A Christmas tree would make my day.
Jon was so nice - he got off work early so he could spend time with me. Unfortunately, I had meetings all day but I was able to see him in between when I worked from home. I came home at lunchtime and he had the tree all set up. It was so cute! It was a little taller than me but it's still a small enough tree to fit perfectly in the corner of the living room. I love the smell of Christmas trees!
My dad knocked on the door shortly after I came home for lunch. I was surprised because I didn't expect him to come by - he wasn't puppysitting and I was going to see my parents later for dinner. I opened the door and he handed me a tree stand. How did he know Jon bought me a tree for my birthday? I thought that was really cute and gave him a big hug, thanking him for his thoughtfulness.
He had no idea what the hell I was talking about.
So I walked him to the tree, happily showing off more Christmas cheer in my home. My dad's brows shot up as he exclaimed, "I bought you a tree, too and it's in the truck!" My dad, knowing how much I love Christmas and remembering how I wanted a tree back in October, took the initiative to buy me a four foot tree.
Yes, I have TWO CHRISTMAS TREES for my birthday.
My dad is so sweet. He didn't know what to do. He just shook his had and said he wish he had known Jon was going to buy me one. I told him that I loved having two trees and that I'm making up for the fact that I had none last year. Now I have two! He laughed and told The Man that they needed to communicate more. Fat chance. I didn't mind the predicament. Of ALL the problems a person can have, figuring out where to put two Christmas trees wasn't a big deal. And a gal who LOVES HERSELF SOME CHRISTMAS can certainly figure out what to do with two Christmas trees.
The challenge was that my house is a lot smaller now. I have two bedrooms out of order - one is in the middle of being repaired and even The Man doesn't know the timeline and we had to move everything into the guest bedroom so that's why two rooms are "out of order" - so while I live in a three bedroom home, it's more like a one bedroom apartment. After a great deal of thinking (and me failing to convince myself over three hours that it wasn't weird to have two trees in one room,) I moved the smaller tree into my bedroom. It fits there comfortably and it's very pretty at night with the white lights. I go to bed and wake up smelling a Christmas tree! Perfect.
So that's my little birthday story. I feel loved because the two VIM (Very Important Men) in my life both knew that a Christmas tree would make a perfect birthday present.

ENFP

This past week, I took the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator at our work conference. I've taken this assessment before in college but forgot what I had scored. If you've never taken it before, it's a test (or "assessment" for those who freak out when they see the word, "test") that recognizes type preferences in communication.
I love this kind of stuff. It's kind of like your horoscope but ten times better because it's scientific. OK, so it's social science but scientific, nonetheless.
I know that we all would like to think we're complex people who can't be pegged down by labels. But I like these kind of assessments because it points out your own preferences, lets people know how they should communicate with you and helps you understand how to communicate with others that aren't like you. It can be used in the workplace and in relationships. Foreel. I eat this stuff up.
I wish I could remember what I had scored in college to see if I've changed or am exactly the same. I was a bit surprised when I found out my type -
Extraversion - tend to focus on the outer world of people and things
Intuition (don't know why it's represented by a "N" but it is) - tend to focus on the future with a view toward patterns and possibilities
Feeling - tend to base their decisions primarily on values and on subjective evaluation of person-centered concerns
Perceiving - tend to like a flexible and spontaneous approach to life and prefer to keep their options open.
Here is my description:
Warmly enthusiastic and imaginative. See life as full of possibilities. Make connections between events and information very quickly, and confidently proceed based on the patterns they see. Want a lot of affirmation from others, and readily give appreciation and support. Spontaneous and flexible, often rely on their ability improvise and their verbal fluency.
I was a little disappointed when I saw my description. Truly. I sounded like a gawd damn Care Bear. I wanted to be described as more of a hard ass, someone who didn't take crap and is stubborn because I think a person needs a bit of grit to be a leader in this world. But hey, maybe this is how I really am and this is how the world sees me. I have to admit, though, that I did identify with a lot of my description.
Well, I just HAD to find out what Jon was when I got home. Yes, I love this stuff that much. The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is supposed to be taken in a controlled environment so we weren't allowed to bring the test sheets home. So what did I do? I whited out all my answers and made The Man take it. It may come as no surprise but we are indeed COMPLETE OPPOSITES. I was a little surprised just because I thought we might have two, or at least one, things in common.
He is ISTJ and here are his results:
Introversion - tend to focus on the inner world of ideas and impressions.
Sensing - tend to focus on the present and on concrete information gained from their senses.
Thinking - tend to base their decisions primarily on logic and on objective analysis of cause and effect.
Judging - tend to like a planned and organized approach to life and prefer to have things settled.
Here is his description:
Quiet, serious, earn success by thoroughness and dependability. Practical, matter-0f-fact, realistic, and responsible. Decide logically what should be done and work toward it steadily, regardless of distractions. Take pleasure in making everything orderly and organized - their work, their home, their life. Value traditions and loyalty.
It's so funny because the presenter had said that types are attracted to their opposites and, in our case, it's true! I think it's because we can't always the same all the time. For me, The Man helps me calm down, be low-key and enjoy the quiet. It would be exhausting to be the Energizer Bunny all the time. And I'm sure I add a little bit of chaos to his scheduled world :)

More of the little things ...

I am a happy gal. We cleaned most of the house and were able to put up Christmas Cheer. YAAAAA-HOOOOOOOO!! You know how I love me some Christmas. What was even better was that The Man helped A LOT. He moved furniture, he dusted and he STEAM CLEANED.
Was it no wonder why I said, "yes"? He is a dream.
We don't have a large house but it can be overwhelming to me. When I lived on my own, I would just clean as I would go along so the times of when I would need to do a major cleaning were far and few between.
Now, with two people and two dogs, I should do it every weekend. But I don't.
So I was really irritable this weekend because cleaning the house felt like such a daunting task. And, because of errands, I wasn't able to start until 6:00pm. I have no idea why but if I clean, it must be during the morning and early afternoon. It's quirky but trying to clean at night really irritates me. But when he saw that it was really important to me, The Man manned it up, picked up some paper towels and Endust, and went to work. I vacuumed my little heart out, cleaned the kitchen counters and fridge and cleaned our bathroom (we have two rooms out of order which is another reason I was irritated but that's a different story.) The Man steam cleaned our carpets and moved around furniture to prepare for a new desk. We finished most of the cleaning and I felt a great sense of relief.
The next day, the Christmas decorations went up. I had gone to town purchasing Christmas decorations last year. Wreaths galore, bows and ornaments. But when I pulled out the bins and put everything up, I was surprised to see that it really wasn't that much. I mean, the house is decorated but it's not as Christmas-y (or crazy) as I thought it would be. Maybe it will be different once we get a tree. And I'm just very happy that there is Christmas cheer in my home.
Anyway, I just had to give props to Jon because he feels like I slam him on this here little blog (I thought I wrote something very nice but he thought I made him sound like an anti-social hermit. Oops.) I think we all know I'm not just a huge fan but the fan club president. So just to make it perfectly clear, I really really appreciate him. And it's the little things like helping his woman clean that makes my world go 'round. And I don't mean pansy, pitiful help but full on, moving-the-furniture, thoroughly dusting, getting-all-up-in-the vacuum-to-take-out-a-nasty-clog-for-me help. Thank you!!!