Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Happy Halloween!

Some cute kids in costume enjoying the treats! Thanks to the brother and fab friends who sent these adorable pictures my way.

Baby Yoda

Tinkerbell

Buzz Lightyear


Cinderella

Monday, October 30, 2006

halloween prep @ the d's

had a great time last night at the d's celebrating halloween eve. food was great! kids were all so cool in their costumes. mr. wonderful and i are so thankful for fun and friends who don't mind dressing up for special occasions.

awesome job genius!

cute tinkerbell

the scientist (love the hair)

the witch with the coolest socks ever!

Thursday, October 26, 2006

we are the champions (of last night)

last night was awesome! voodoo posse won 4 to 1! by far one of our best games ever. we're on a roll. in addition to mike, ymir and chris scoring a goal, i scored a goal too! it was great to finally get one in since i've had plenty of opportunities but last night, it finally made it in the net (thanks chris).

heading into the playoffs with a winning season. yea!

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

monday night soccer

absolutely wonderful weather for soccer these days. team amanda played last night and tied with team brett. i've played on both teams which is always strange considering i know the names of everyone on the field and what foot they favor. everyone played well overall. too bad we didn't win. we were so close! i had a personal best with this new team so i am looking forward to next week.

Sunday, October 22, 2006

remembering


if the only reason i learned how to play trombone was to create this moment for matt's birthday in january, then it was well worth it. i miss her a lot today.

Friday, October 20, 2006

love my little nephew

that's just fantastic

I was talking with a colleague earlier today about the next few months as we are both in the same boat and trying to paddle somewhere great together. I always enjoy finding a reciprocal connection with another person as far as hopes and aspirations for a certain project or initiative. You just never know what you got with them until you're there. It gets me all happy and compels me to do a great job because someone else is just as committed as I am.

Wednesday, October 18, 2006

don't make GREMLINS

In my opinion, there is information sharing overload and the tools to do it are countless but there are some things you shouldn't share via insert latest gadget and/or form of communication. Such as AND I start with email. You should NOTpress send after typing the following words:

-- I'm pregnant.
-- I'm getting married. (mainly to family and close friends...thinking of you KT ;-) )
-- I'm leaving Las Vegas (the Sheryl Crow song just came into my head...Sorry.)
-- I quit this job! (at least have the decency and take the pleasure out of letting someone you've worked for understand how sincere you are in this decision by telling them face-to-face.)
-- Your mother/brother or anyone your close to just passed away.
-- Your blood work report came back and you should know that you ________
-- I'm getting a divorce. (mainly this one wouldn't be good to your spouse or close relatives and friends. I've received a mass email from a friend who got divorced three months after the elaborate and dazzling wedding. )
-- It's over. (specifically for the dating crowd because you just don't e-break up. I don't care what the culture says or how much change has happened in the last few years. Ending a relationship over the phone is mucho bad...By email, now that's just plain mean.)
-- I'm in the hospital. (prefer to get the call personally to do the quick question and answer thing...it helps get the right information out and not give anyone a cardiac arrest while sharing fthe info with others.)
-- I need to borrow money. (at least have the courtesy to pick up the telephone or better yet, have a face-to-face so that the giver understands what the need is by listening and looking at your expressions.)
-- I won the lottery. (at first this may seem like a good idea BUT the funny thing about email is that it can travel fast to everyone in the world so unless you want to world to know, don't put it in writing via email.)

The list can go on and on...For the most part, anything that is life changing, monumental, that will create a strong response by the person or people you're sharing this information with, is just not appropriate to send by email. Remember that email is technology's version of Gremlins. There's a lot of rules behind its existence in order to maintain some type of control. Feeding them after a certain hour can result in multiple monsters that are difficult to get rid of...Pressing send with a serious conversation involved for any aspect of life should be dealt with delicately, cautiously and personally. If not, you'll end up with a really messed up toy department and a very sad and sick Gizmo who at one time was really cute and cuddly but now, is the creator of a big mistake that will take forever to reconcile.

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

good ole mr. symonds

couldn't help but feel like the following paragraph written by symonds could apply to so many different things --

And need I remind you just how insert whatever got here? We got here by being bold, by having the guts to take chances and by worrying more about conquering new worlds than protecting old ones.

Monday, October 16, 2006

the power of being nice

sent this out to a few dragonFLY friends earlier today...enjoyed the read and hope you will too. :-)
Christian Science Monitor
from the October 16, 2006 edition –
see actual article
here

At work, 'nice' is on the rise
In a huge shift from the 'me first,' 'greed is good' attitudes of the 1980s, corporations seek a kinder, gentler culture
By Marilyn Gardner Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor

Patrick Morris could call it "a tale of two companies." As a new college graduate beginning his first job in public relations at a major cosmetics firm in New York, he knew he would be the proverbial low man on the totem pole.

"You feel you're going to get put upon and crunched and tossed around," he says. But instead of the huge egos and "attitude" he expected, he found himself surrounded by good, caring people. "It made all the difference in the world and helped to shape me into the professional I am today."

By contrast, his next job at a television shopping channel proved to be "an environment full of finger-pointing and backstabbing," he says. "It became a nightmare to go into the office."

In comic strips and movies, tyrannical bosses produce plenty of laughs. Think of Mr. Dithers, Dagwood Bumstead's nemesis in "Blondie," or Miranda in "The Devil Wears Prada." But in real life, managers like these are hardly funny.

Today, in a competitive age that sometimes takes a "nice guys finish last" approach to business, a quiet cultural change appears to be under way. "Nice" and "kind" are becoming operative philosophies in some companies, among them Mr. Morris's first employer. Those adjectives are also showing up in titles of books and organizations. They stand in sharp contrast to the 1980s, when a "greed is good" attitude prevailed in some quarters and business books carried titles such as "Corporate Combat" and "Office Warfare."
"There's a huge shift we've observed," says Russ Edelman, one of the founders of Nice Guy Strategies, a consulting firm in Newburyport, Mass. "Companies are fundamentally saying, 'We need to employ more ethical practices as well as create an environment that supports a nicer mind-set.' Organizations are asking, 'How can we create an environment that is friendly, welcoming, and warm, but also ensure that people in the company are held accountable and can achieve success?' There's a balance people are struggling with."

Workplace observers attribute some of the changes to a reaction against corporate scandals at Enron and Tyco. "In the past decade there have been a lot of egomaniacal bosses," says Tim Hiltabiddle, one of Mr. Edelman's business partners. Sept. 11 also heightened the yearning for a kinder workplace, he says.

Yet that approach is "not about everything being nicey-nice," Mr. Hiltabiddle emphasizes. Nor does it mean being wimpy and naive, lacking backbone, or serving as a doormat. Being too nice, in fact, carries its own perils. "People might take advantage of your good nature," he says.

As one way of framing the issue, Hiltabiddle and Edelman sat down in a restaurant and drew up a Nice Guys Bill of Rights on napkins. Those rights include speaking up, setting boundaries, taking risks, valuing your time, and being accountable.

Studies show that niceness can also produce bottom-line rewards, such as increasing productivity and reducing turnover, says Robin Koval, an advertising executive in New York and coauthor, with Linda Kaplan Thaler, of "The Power of Nice: How to Conquer the Business World With Kindness" (Doubleday). Being nice, she adds, can mean "having the courage and creativity to stand up for what you want, but doing it in a way that is not ugly or threatening."

Women, Ms. Koval finds, are typically taught the importance of being nice. That can produce stereotypes. Noting the popularity of the book, "Nice Girls Don't Get the Corner Office," she says, "We take issue with that. We think we're nice girls, and we have corner offices."

For men, nice is a more liberating idea, Koval adds. "They're the ones who have been socialized to think, 'I've got to be a tough guy, never show my emotions, it's a dog-eat-dog world out there.' "

But "dog eat dog" isn't the only modus operandi. "To be successful in business, you need to have a certain threshold of knowledge of your industry and techniques," says Peter Handal, CEO of Dale Carnegie Training in New York. "But it's not enough just to be good at what you do. In my experience, the people who reach the top are nice. They're people-friendly. They're ones who can communicate with people around them, up and down."

They're also the ones who avoid what Duane Boyce, author of "The Anatomy of Peace," calls "false niceness." He explains the term this way: "If I'm not focused on results, I'm just expecting my friendliness, my politeness to get me by. That's not nice."

In the political arena, this is shaping up to be another season filled with harsh campaign ads as candidates trade jibes and paint negative images of their opponents.

"It's so disheartening that election after election becomes about tearing down the other person," Hiltabiddle says. "It's not constructive in building something; it's tearing down."

Yet politics creates unique challenges. Assuming the role of a politician, Mr. Handal says, "The way I get ahead is either I sell people on me, or I knock you. There's only a binary choice. In business or nonprofits, there are lots of choices.

"Who moves up in organizations? People who are liked."

Customer service is another field filled with negative images. "People are tired of the indifference that we're receiving from so many companies these days in the name of customer service," says Ed Horrell, author of "The Kindness Revolution: The Company-wide Culture Shift That Inspires Phenomenal Customer Service." He notes that consumers want service "peppered with some respect and dignity and kindness."

Mr. Horrell praises companies known for excellent service, such as Nordstrom, FedEx, L.L. Bean, and Chick-fil-A. Their emphasis on core values - dignity, respect, courtesy, kindness - begins at the top and requires commitment from the CEO and managers all the way down to front-line workers. "The way they treat their employees is virtually always the way they'll treat their customers."

For Morris, the publicist who tells the tale of two very different companies, the positive examples set by his bosses and co-workers at the cosmetics firm continue to influence his work as public relations director of his firm in Troy, N.Y.

"If you want people to perform, and you want people to do a good job, you have to treat them nicely," he says. "It's not to say you don't lose your cool sometimes. But if somebody makes a mistake, what's not going to help them is to have an intensely negative reaction to it. What's going to help is to say, 'How do you think this happened? What do you think we should do to fix it? What steps should we take next time that this doesn't become a problem?' That's the way I was taught."

That kind of approach can pay big dividends. Pamela Gregg of the University of Dayton Research Institute in Ohio praises her bosses for "going out of their way to be nice to those around them." In addition to being fair and expressing appreciation for jobs well done, she says, they give employees "free rein to take risks and make what we can of our jobs."

Everyone works hard, Ms. Gregg says, so her bosses often lighten the mood with levity. One employee will soon celebrate 45 years with the institute. For others, 20, 30, and 40 years of service are not uncommon. Last year the Dayton Business Journal rated it one of the Top 10 winners in its "Best Places to Work in the Miami Valley" contest.

In an era of corporate downsizing, even cutbacks offer an opportunity for companies to soften their approach. "The act of laying someone off does not mean you're unkind," Horrell says. "A kind person does not want to do that, but there's a kind way to do it."

Making a case that "nice is very powerful," Koval says, "We all have to network with each other. We all work in teams. Unless you're a chemist in a lab bent over a test tube, nobody works alone. The old command-and-control way of doing business is clearly over." She adds, "Meanness is so last millennium. Niceness is the future."

Saturday, October 14, 2006

cutest baby in the world - check those teeth

Baby and Mommy enjoying a beautiful fall day.

He didn't enjoy eating the snowcone daddy got him. Yuck!
He loved it when Uncle Wonderful let his arms fly like a bird.

Thursday, October 12, 2006

love the thursday

lovely day here in the sunshine state...it's thursday...i am wearing a new sweater (yea, no jokes. it's in the 70's and for us floridians, it's cool out there)...had a great lunch with group team member and talked to several people today via email, phone, im, etc. isn't it amazing and scary sometimes how many people we communicate to in one day? i can be on the phone, have someone in my office motioning my thoughts to and read my email and respond all at the same time. even as someone who is in the communication business, i still am amazed and frightened by it all. i enjoy the opportunity to multi-task but then, i quickly find myself circling the office after a few hours of work just to gain clarity so i can write that feature newsletter article for the entire company of ga-thousand people to skim through. i'm tired. pooped. don't like to use that word but today, it's the best word out there for my current state. plus, it reminds me of someone who makes me laugh daily about the subject. (like i'm gonna tell you who!) anyways, it's chinese night (thank God!) and i couldn't be more ready to just sit back and relax. so, whatever you're doing, wherever you are -- enjoy and for goodness sakes, turn the blackberry off!

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

preciously prego

Love this photo of the Dr. and the Beauty. She's 35 weeks along. Thank God for this Lisa Baker photographer girl because this photo is so precious! It arrived today in my email in-box and totally made my day. To think, I saw Beauty last year get married and this year in NYC and now, SHE'S HAVING A BABY!!!

Saturday, October 07, 2006

the love key

leaving town for a few days to celebrate mr. wonderful and i's second year of being happily married. he truly is wonderful. to prove it, he's planned a weekend of relaxation on the beach and spent last night cooking food (chicken curry) for our trip. we will be in a highly remote area so as long as we have good food, good conversation and each other, we will have a great time commemorating #2!

Friday, October 06, 2006

upgrading your conversation

i have found my new bumper sticker -- upgrade your conversation. absolutely love it and must share it with all since how many times do conversations happen without purpose or love or anything really worth talking about. these past two days have been very different but amazing. the conversations have been so rich. it all started on wednesday during strategic planning. i know that's hard to imagine but really, i am on one of thee most dynamic teams in all of cable world and i found myself completely immersed in the good energy. then, yesterday was a complete adventure of which i am so thankful. i learned that i am someone who takes the bad and makes it fun...keeps glowing (and growing) no matter the obstacle. also, i am okay with disagreeing with people more and more because most of the time, that's what makes the conversation worthwhile. i think the hardship comes into a situation when people are NOT listening and they only hear their own thoughts and bits and pieces of yours which leads to misunderstanding, which leads to frustration, which leads to a confrontation, which leads to more NOT listening, which leads to total explosion and many bad things (especially if you're dealing with someone who doesn't deal with themeselves). been there, done that. so, i am happy to report that conversations that have taken place in the last 48 hours have been solid. like today, i began with a great connection with mr. wonderful about his current office environment. of course, he sees right through a lot of the muckity-muck and focuses on what he does best -- do a fantastic job and not get caught up in the never-ending drama. then, the presidents of the local pr community came together to discuss how to bring everyone together. love those kind of talks. they each are so impressive and strong. i have grown to love and respect my pres. and could only hope to carry the leadership level she has displayed throughout the whole year. after that, i engaged in many conversations at the office. lunch with one of the marketing directors who just happens to be someone i connect with because our paths seems so similar by way of geography and finding the current situation. plus, we share a love for thai food. always a thumbs up in dragonfly's world! during the day, i continued to engage in conversation with my superiors who just happen to be so incredibly in tune with what's happening and how they are a part of moving things forward. after work, and this is where it only continues to get better, i had a great conversation with kathy about life, love and possibilities. she is the inventor of "upgrading your conversation." while we were talking, i made the following notes for myself and since it was an ABC conversation -- A = Kathy and B = DragonFLY and you the reader, are C = not there, you might not be interested in the rest of this...it's for me and my accountability: What's wrong with being selfish? (one of the topics was about taking time for you vs. time for everyone else. trying to fit it in AFTER everyone else is taken care of.) Why can't the weather just be unpredictable? ( i really like this one since just looking at something as what it is instead of putting expectations all over it. Guilty as charged!) How can this represent a life? (we talked about trish's funeral and the photos displayed...they were beautiful photos of her but they're only pictures, not a life, she was so much bigger than a photograph. ) What will represent my life? (inspired by the previous question obviously.) What is the context of the conversation? (really being present to what someone is saying not the words coming out of their mouth.) Where does being upset and disappointed show up for me? (inspired by the previous question) And finally, always a good questions to ask -- In what ways, am I purposely being responsible and not being responsible? Delving futher, how is that effecting my choices in how and who I choose to be?

Upgrade your conversation, you will only become better at you.

Thursday, October 05, 2006

that's information

it's not that you're busy, it's how you're busy.

found my coffee...woohooo! the woman on the mug looks like me except i am smiling much bigger!

talking a lot this week to people who have a lot on their plates. when there's more to do than time will allow. on my way to soccer last night where i was questioning my crazy idea to play two games in a row instead of just one, i heard the song with the lyrics, "it's better to wear out than to rust." seems to be a reoccuring dragonfly theme this week with all that's going on. it's been such a good place. being busy but a good busy. i can't help but wonder what would be a better word for busy...active? involved? energetic? crazy?

Monday, October 02, 2006

no coffee, discombobulating

i am trying the no coffee thing today. why? because i like to torture myself. seriously, i really need to cut back.

does hot chocolate count? one chocolate, two chocolate, three...heheheheee!

in another land of thought -- isn't it amazing what you can get done in a lunch hour? lunch, car wash, tour of old orlando and thoughts of stopping by to get some coffee but resisting the urge since there was a nice piece of sugarfree gum in my purse that won't stain teeth and will keep breath minty fresh.

soccer tonight with team amanda! something new this week. look forward to another adventure at ward field. shannon may stop by...she rocks the library!

Sunday, October 01, 2006

another weekend

my weekend in four words - driving, sleeping, working and relaxing. it was a mixture of all. not well mixed but a lot more of working than relaxing. happy to report, this will be my last complaint about some work since i'm finally letting a portion of it go. it's been two years and i'm ready to just focus on my one job...we'll see how long it lasts since those who know DragonFLY know better.