Today is Friday. It is also the "first of many last days," as I will call it. Today is the last day of my current job, and also the first of many last days. I have had a range of jobs in my short years of employment experience, ranging from babysitting to camp counselor to customer service, flight instructing, and restaurant working. I have enjoyed most of them-from their quirky moments to the nail biting times. Mainly, I have been able to look back on each one and see how far I have come in the time I had been in each position.
In my most recent job as an Administrative Assistant, I have gained (really expanded upon) priceless people skills, office skills, as well as the balance of maintaining a certain level of "crazy" yet sanity when nothing is going right. I have met a number of people who have and will continue to be beneficial in our lives, as well as the ones that have come in and faded away as I have grown stronger roots here at Oklahoma State.
The office threw me a "Birthday/Going Away Party" today. The group bought ice cream cakes (yummy!!) and my replacement, Kelly, made cookies and tasty ham rollup thingies (you know those tortillas with cream cheese, some seasonings and ham all rolled up?! yum!). It was more than I expected, as I am really not going FAR-just across the street to my new position as "Graduate Assistant to the Facilities Manager". However, it was a wonderful time and I really appreciated Delton rounding up the group to give me a farewell. They even got ME birthday gifts!!! WOW! Several wrote me nice notes and cards and Delton got a nice black notebook-you know those ones that the "big wigs" always have at meetings with the legal paper pads and pens...? They look really official. I told Delton-"I'm like a BIG kid!"
While I am still working at Oklahoma State, the short chapter of my Admin Assistant days are now closed. I still will drop in and have coffee now and then...and of course come by to say hello. I couldn't help but wonder what the future holds...and how many more "first of many last days" there will be.
So Cheers, my friends, and Happy Friday to you all!
Friday, May 29, 2009
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Biggest Loser Season 7
For those of you who are not big "TV-watchers", today's post is a reflection on the TV show "Biggest Loser".
This show is about people who are overweight and selected to go to "the ranch" (a work-out place/resort)to lose the weight the individuals have been struggling with. With obesity being an ongoing problem in America, this show is a BIG hit. No pun intended! hehe.
Each season, there is a group of people from across the country selected to go on the show, aired on national TV. The season is usually around 4-ish months long, but naturally, they only show one week on campus at a time, so us viewers get to see it all a bit delayed.
I began watching this show religiously over the past year or so. It's not so much that I enjoy seeing people be "tortured" by their trainers, but I enjoy watching people genuinely change their lives for the better. I also think that it is quite empowering to see "real" people tell their stories. There are SO many people across the nation who want to lose weight, but "don't know how." My assessment from watching this show is two things:
1. YOU have to decide you want to make the change.
2. YOU HAVE TO DO IT AND STICK WITH IT!
SO, feel free to read the story below-enjoy!
Click to read full story:
Biggest Loser Winner!
This show is about people who are overweight and selected to go to "the ranch" (a work-out place/resort)to lose the weight the individuals have been struggling with. With obesity being an ongoing problem in America, this show is a BIG hit. No pun intended! hehe.
Each season, there is a group of people from across the country selected to go on the show, aired on national TV. The season is usually around 4-ish months long, but naturally, they only show one week on campus at a time, so us viewers get to see it all a bit delayed.
I began watching this show religiously over the past year or so. It's not so much that I enjoy seeing people be "tortured" by their trainers, but I enjoy watching people genuinely change their lives for the better. I also think that it is quite empowering to see "real" people tell their stories. There are SO many people across the nation who want to lose weight, but "don't know how." My assessment from watching this show is two things:
1. YOU have to decide you want to make the change.
2. YOU HAVE TO DO IT AND STICK WITH IT!
SO, feel free to read the story below-enjoy!
Click to read full story:
Biggest Loser Winner!
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Robin VS the Copy Machine
Final Score:
Copy Machine: 65
Robin 0
This afternoon was an adventure. I ventured over to Iba, a building just across the street and diagonal to the building I work in. I needed to make around 700 copies of a form for students for check out. So, like any person would do, I went to the copy room. From the moment I stepped in there, little did I know that I was in for a battle.
I started the copies and visited with a few people while the copies were being made. When I walked back into the copy room, the copier had stopped. I glanced at the tray, and not even 100 were done. I saw that there was a jam. Oh-no big deal, I thought. So I un-jam section 2 of the copier and it whizzes back into copy mode. *phew! I thought-got it!*
A few minutes later, the copier stopped-again. What?! i JUST fixed it-surely it's not the same thing...oh it was. So I soon got into a rhythm of every 12 papers or so, the copier would stop, give a double, consecutive beep three times (for a total of 6 beeps), then I would un-jam section 2, close the door and the vicious cycle would resume. A couple of times i got anxious to fix the jam and caused a bigger jam, including sections 3, 3b, 4, 5...etc. SO i soon learned that if i just waited for all 6 beeps to go before i opened the side door, i would save myself time and not cause a bigger paper jam.
I thought-this is going to be a LONG process for some copies.
After coercing the copy machine to making all my copies, I was off to the safety of my building. I am thankful that there are copy machines, but disappointed that the technology was not as efficient as i would have liked.
On another note-the things I was making copies for was for the students who are moving out. YAY! Students go home and my office gets quiet!! yay! Well, kinda good, kinda bad. I am sad that it will be so quiet...I might have enough time to keep up with facebook this summer! yikes! I WILL be bored!
Until next time, be ware of the copy machines...they are ferocious!
~Robin
Copy Machine: 65
Robin 0
This afternoon was an adventure. I ventured over to Iba, a building just across the street and diagonal to the building I work in. I needed to make around 700 copies of a form for students for check out. So, like any person would do, I went to the copy room. From the moment I stepped in there, little did I know that I was in for a battle.
I started the copies and visited with a few people while the copies were being made. When I walked back into the copy room, the copier had stopped. I glanced at the tray, and not even 100 were done. I saw that there was a jam. Oh-no big deal, I thought. So I un-jam section 2 of the copier and it whizzes back into copy mode. *phew! I thought-got it!*
A few minutes later, the copier stopped-again. What?! i JUST fixed it-surely it's not the same thing...oh it was. So I soon got into a rhythm of every 12 papers or so, the copier would stop, give a double, consecutive beep three times (for a total of 6 beeps), then I would un-jam section 2, close the door and the vicious cycle would resume. A couple of times i got anxious to fix the jam and caused a bigger jam, including sections 3, 3b, 4, 5...etc. SO i soon learned that if i just waited for all 6 beeps to go before i opened the side door, i would save myself time and not cause a bigger paper jam.
I thought-this is going to be a LONG process for some copies.
After coercing the copy machine to making all my copies, I was off to the safety of my building. I am thankful that there are copy machines, but disappointed that the technology was not as efficient as i would have liked.
On another note-the things I was making copies for was for the students who are moving out. YAY! Students go home and my office gets quiet!! yay! Well, kinda good, kinda bad. I am sad that it will be so quiet...I might have enough time to keep up with facebook this summer! yikes! I WILL be bored!
Until next time, be ware of the copy machines...they are ferocious!
~Robin
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Farewell Boston
On Tuesday, we were happy to sleep in, but sad to depart and end our vacation. We were also happy to not have to ride the subway everywhere around town. And here's one last pic of the subway: )
We were able to have lunch with Larry and Gloria before we left. They were our gracious bed and breakfast hotel, and we look forward to visiting them again.
Here's a picture of them:
Thanks again!! Until next time, Boston-farewell!
We were able to have lunch with Larry and Gloria before we left. They were our gracious bed and breakfast hotel, and we look forward to visiting them again.
Here's a picture of them:
Thanks again!! Until next time, Boston-farewell!
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Our FIRST Marathon
Ok, so we did not actually RUN this marathon, but by the time the day was over, I think we walked at LEAST a half marathon!
We were up bright and early, working on a way to ensure that we would get to cheer on Heath and see him at least a couple of times across the course. The marathon began at 10:00 am. Lovely Kristine, Chris, and I headed to the bus/subway to start migrating toward the proper stop. Unfortunately, the bus we were wanting did not come : ( But that actually ended up being a good thing, as with the massive number of onlookers, we would never have gotten where we wanted to go. SO we made a quick back up plan and hopped on another bus to the subway system.
We were fortunate enough to get on the first sardine-packed subway train. phew! It was seriously WALL-TO-WALL with people-I mean there were around 23,000 individuals competing in the marathon, not to mention the THOUSANDS of onlookers and locals who were there that day too. It took about an hour for us to get to our first viewing point, but we were thinking of Heath right as the marathon was getting ready to start:
(pic of Chris' watch about 5 til the start of the race)
We arrived at our destination, cow bells and camera's at hand. Chris had signed up for a text message update for when Heath crossed certain checkpoints in the race. This message would tell us Heath's pace at the 6 mile point. We would also receive updates at the 10K, 1/2 way, 30 K and Finish line. Unfortunately, we did not receive Heath's first update, so we were not 100 % sure where he was at on the course or what his mile time was.
These are pictures of the "power gel" the runners would eat for energy along the course. Check out that TUB of it!
And all the flavors!
BUT it was not too long before we saw him trotting up the hill, running past us.
Heath (the blond, lanky fellow) was suited up in his unforgettable "America Shorts" and a red t-shirt/tank top. Chris took a video of when we saw Heath run by:
He looked like he was determined and going strong. YAY! but there were SO many people, that he did not see us at that stop. "Oh just you wait"-I thought- He will hear us at the next stop!! And he did : )
Here's another video-this one is actually really good- he had around 1/2 a mile or less (I think) left-so he was doing all he could just to make it to the finish.
AND with a final time of 3:03:05 Heath finished his FIRST BOSTON MARATHON! Here's his final stats:
Pace: 6:58 minute miles
Place: 1673rd OVERALL!
**23,162 total individuals started the race.**
That's a sweet finish-especially for a 1st timer!
(I would like to take a special time to note that Heath was just UNDER an hour behind the 1st place winner-the Ethiopian, Deriba Merga, whose time was 2:08:32 )
CLOSE but no cigar! : )
Chris was reading an article about the marathon as we were waiting on Heath to recover, and the article stated that this year's marathon was slower than the pace of the past years. IN FACT- we are impressed with Heath's finish, as he made a NEW personal best...AND he qualified for NEXT YEAR'S BOSTON MARATHON by his time at this year's race! GO HEATH! Who knows, maybe we will be back there next year...?!
Here are some pictures from the day:
Here we are before the day started, waiting for the bus.
Here we are on the train going between stops after the first time we saw Heath
And of course the runner himself with his fan club.
We were up bright and early, working on a way to ensure that we would get to cheer on Heath and see him at least a couple of times across the course. The marathon began at 10:00 am. Lovely Kristine, Chris, and I headed to the bus/subway to start migrating toward the proper stop. Unfortunately, the bus we were wanting did not come : ( But that actually ended up being a good thing, as with the massive number of onlookers, we would never have gotten where we wanted to go. SO we made a quick back up plan and hopped on another bus to the subway system.
We were fortunate enough to get on the first sardine-packed subway train. phew! It was seriously WALL-TO-WALL with people-I mean there were around 23,000 individuals competing in the marathon, not to mention the THOUSANDS of onlookers and locals who were there that day too. It took about an hour for us to get to our first viewing point, but we were thinking of Heath right as the marathon was getting ready to start:
(pic of Chris' watch about 5 til the start of the race)
We arrived at our destination, cow bells and camera's at hand. Chris had signed up for a text message update for when Heath crossed certain checkpoints in the race. This message would tell us Heath's pace at the 6 mile point. We would also receive updates at the 10K, 1/2 way, 30 K and Finish line. Unfortunately, we did not receive Heath's first update, so we were not 100 % sure where he was at on the course or what his mile time was.
These are pictures of the "power gel" the runners would eat for energy along the course. Check out that TUB of it!
And all the flavors!
BUT it was not too long before we saw him trotting up the hill, running past us.
Heath (the blond, lanky fellow) was suited up in his unforgettable "America Shorts" and a red t-shirt/tank top. Chris took a video of when we saw Heath run by:
He looked like he was determined and going strong. YAY! but there were SO many people, that he did not see us at that stop. "Oh just you wait"-I thought- He will hear us at the next stop!! And he did : )
Here's another video-this one is actually really good- he had around 1/2 a mile or less (I think) left-so he was doing all he could just to make it to the finish.
AND with a final time of 3:03:05 Heath finished his FIRST BOSTON MARATHON! Here's his final stats:
Pace: 6:58 minute miles
Place: 1673rd OVERALL!
**23,162 total individuals started the race.**
That's a sweet finish-especially for a 1st timer!
(I would like to take a special time to note that Heath was just UNDER an hour behind the 1st place winner-the Ethiopian, Deriba Merga, whose time was 2:08:32 )
CLOSE but no cigar! : )
Chris was reading an article about the marathon as we were waiting on Heath to recover, and the article stated that this year's marathon was slower than the pace of the past years. IN FACT- we are impressed with Heath's finish, as he made a NEW personal best...AND he qualified for NEXT YEAR'S BOSTON MARATHON by his time at this year's race! GO HEATH! Who knows, maybe we will be back there next year...?!
Here are some pictures from the day:
Here we are before the day started, waiting for the bus.
Here we are on the train going between stops after the first time we saw Heath
And of course the runner himself with his fan club.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Hello Boston!
We arrived in Boston Saturday afternoon to be picked up by some family/friends. I jokingly said that we stayed at the "Gosier Suites." : o )
We enjoyed Saturday evening as it was nice to sit on a couch (instead of an airport or in the back of an airplane-man I never really realized how uncomfortable the back seat of an airplane was...I definitely want to sit up front next time!! heehe!) We enjoyed visiting with their family. Sunday, Chris got a "bird's eye view" of boston on top of a hill near the city. I went to church at the Basilica and took the camera with me, but Chris did snap a few pics with his phone.
Church:
Hilltop:
I was thrilled to see that Heath made it to Boston too. Heath works for a regional airline, and was going to "jump seat" to Boston. (aka ride in an unsold seat on any airline that was flying to Boston) There was some closures last week in the Denver airport, but fortunately, Heath made it safely to Boston...as he was the one we were coming to watch-I'm glad he made it!
That afternoon, Heath, Lovely Kristine, Chris, and I walked most of the "Freedom Trail." This trail is about 2 miles long and has several historical sites around Boston. See link below:
Freedom Trail
Sam Adams Tomb:
State House where the Declaration of Independence was read. The Boston Massacre occurred where the stop light is in the middle of the street right above our heads.
We also stopped for some food at the "Cheers" restaurant. This was not the original Cheers, but hey-it sure looked authentic to me!
About this time, Heath realized that they needed something else for the race, so they had to run back to the convention center and get tickets. All was well, though, as we had a Lacrosse game to be heading towards. The people we were staying with have a son named Tim. Tim played college Lacrosse for the University North Carolina. Needless to say, he knows what he's doing and he is not shy when those players start smacking their sticks at each other, trying to get the ball and score a goal.
Check out this video of him playing. He is # 6 in the gray jersey:
Heath and Kristine met us at the game and we all had dinner after that. We ate at an "authentic" restaurant on Hanover Street--in the North side or shore area...I'm not a local-I don't remember the name exactly! The restaurant looked like it was called "spaghetti's" or something like that. The streets were PACKED with marathoners and their families all trying to find some place to eat. This location was not nearly as packed. In fact, we walked in and got a table right away. Nice! Well-kinda. W were tired from walking all day and did not mind the slow service. You could tell that the workers were all family and had not had a break all day. We all decided what we wanted to eat rather quickly, as we wanted to make sure that when our server came, we got our order right in.
Needless to say, things were a bit discombobulated, but we enjoyed the meal and service nonetheless. We snickered to ourselves at the way the restaurant was obviously being run-because we were getting dinner and a show. The two servers were "auctioning" off the food (as I liked to call it when I worked at a restaurant)-you know when the server can't remember which table ordered what-and they say "who ordered spaghetti and meatballs?" to the whole restaurant? That kind of thing. There was a table in the corner that must have been locals-as they got our attention and said that this is just the way this place is-it's 'real italian' and if we gave our server a hard time, we would get good service. We laughed a little, but really just enjoyed the slightly crazy atmosphere, as we were all happy to have our orders in and a table to sit and catch up at.
When our food came, we all had different glasses and plates. Well, actually, we Heath and I had plates-Chris and Kristine did not-they ordered pizza and plates were brought over a bit after our server realized they did not have any plates. We were all just hungry, so plate or no plate, we were eating : )
About the time we had finished our food, I noticed the entire family had stopped cooking and serving, and were singing Happy Birthday to one of the family members. They had a cake and all. I was wondering if they were going to share the cake with the whole place!? Sadly-they did not, but we were all pretty full from the "authentic" Italian food. YUM!
Even if it was a bit discombobulated, we enjoyed feeling "right at home" at this little Italian restaurant. It was a good meal, we had good company, and also a good experience. I wonder if we will get the opportunity to go back next time we are there...?
And one final picture to close off the long day:
We enjoyed Saturday evening as it was nice to sit on a couch (instead of an airport or in the back of an airplane-man I never really realized how uncomfortable the back seat of an airplane was...I definitely want to sit up front next time!! heehe!) We enjoyed visiting with their family. Sunday, Chris got a "bird's eye view" of boston on top of a hill near the city. I went to church at the Basilica and took the camera with me, but Chris did snap a few pics with his phone.
Church:
Hilltop:
I was thrilled to see that Heath made it to Boston too. Heath works for a regional airline, and was going to "jump seat" to Boston. (aka ride in an unsold seat on any airline that was flying to Boston) There was some closures last week in the Denver airport, but fortunately, Heath made it safely to Boston...as he was the one we were coming to watch-I'm glad he made it!
That afternoon, Heath, Lovely Kristine, Chris, and I walked most of the "Freedom Trail." This trail is about 2 miles long and has several historical sites around Boston. See link below:
Freedom Trail
Sam Adams Tomb:
State House where the Declaration of Independence was read. The Boston Massacre occurred where the stop light is in the middle of the street right above our heads.
We also stopped for some food at the "Cheers" restaurant. This was not the original Cheers, but hey-it sure looked authentic to me!
About this time, Heath realized that they needed something else for the race, so they had to run back to the convention center and get tickets. All was well, though, as we had a Lacrosse game to be heading towards. The people we were staying with have a son named Tim. Tim played college Lacrosse for the University North Carolina. Needless to say, he knows what he's doing and he is not shy when those players start smacking their sticks at each other, trying to get the ball and score a goal.
Check out this video of him playing. He is # 6 in the gray jersey:
Heath and Kristine met us at the game and we all had dinner after that. We ate at an "authentic" restaurant on Hanover Street--in the North side or shore area...I'm not a local-I don't remember the name exactly! The restaurant looked like it was called "spaghetti's" or something like that. The streets were PACKED with marathoners and their families all trying to find some place to eat. This location was not nearly as packed. In fact, we walked in and got a table right away. Nice! Well-kinda. W were tired from walking all day and did not mind the slow service. You could tell that the workers were all family and had not had a break all day. We all decided what we wanted to eat rather quickly, as we wanted to make sure that when our server came, we got our order right in.
Needless to say, things were a bit discombobulated, but we enjoyed the meal and service nonetheless. We snickered to ourselves at the way the restaurant was obviously being run-because we were getting dinner and a show. The two servers were "auctioning" off the food (as I liked to call it when I worked at a restaurant)-you know when the server can't remember which table ordered what-and they say "who ordered spaghetti and meatballs?" to the whole restaurant? That kind of thing. There was a table in the corner that must have been locals-as they got our attention and said that this is just the way this place is-it's 'real italian' and if we gave our server a hard time, we would get good service. We laughed a little, but really just enjoyed the slightly crazy atmosphere, as we were all happy to have our orders in and a table to sit and catch up at.
When our food came, we all had different glasses and plates. Well, actually, we Heath and I had plates-Chris and Kristine did not-they ordered pizza and plates were brought over a bit after our server realized they did not have any plates. We were all just hungry, so plate or no plate, we were eating : )
About the time we had finished our food, I noticed the entire family had stopped cooking and serving, and were singing Happy Birthday to one of the family members. They had a cake and all. I was wondering if they were going to share the cake with the whole place!? Sadly-they did not, but we were all pretty full from the "authentic" Italian food. YUM!
Even if it was a bit discombobulated, we enjoyed feeling "right at home" at this little Italian restaurant. It was a good meal, we had good company, and also a good experience. I wonder if we will get the opportunity to go back next time we are there...?
And one final picture to close off the long day:
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