Jelly Belly evaluations

When I worked at the local ABC affiliate, I always dreaded evaluation time. Not because i thought I had done a poor job, but because it meant a sit down with the boss and a play-by-play of what they believed needed improvement. Again, I don't shy away from hard work or constructive criticism, but man is it tough to sit across from the person you want to impress professionally and listen to all your mistakes! I wish they had had some performance management software when I was there. That way, the boss evaluates you and you can access it online instead of face-to-face! I love that idea. You get your evaluation, then all of a sudden you become to perfect employee overnight and your boss is impressed!

There are a lot of major name-brand companies that utilize this system.

Jelly Belly
"This software helps us to organize and automate our appraisal process and make it more user-friendly and more thorough. Halogen's product completely formalizes and organizes our employee evaluation process. It allows us to standardize competencies across job classifications, add signature and comment sections to make our process more interactive, and increase accessibility for remote managers. More thorough and accurate reviews will also help to clarify expectations and corporate HR objectives, and increase staff satisfaction."
– Jeff Brown, Director of Human Resources

This Old House!

Our new home is the project that never ends!! I don't mind most of the time. But in rare moments, I feel like just throwing up my hands. We want to build a wall in our basement to create a mud/laundry room instead of the laundry just being a part of the basement. We plan to convert the storage room into a bathroom. We plan to replace the flooring in the kitchen and upstairs bath, and we plan to replace the countertops and vanities throughtout the house!

Recently, with the nice weather, we have begun to make a list of the things we want to do outside, too. Uggghhhh! Is about all I can say right now. Our list gets longer all the time. We want to level out a place in the back for a playground set. We want to pave our turn-about, and we really need some additional outdoor lighting too! The previous owners had some lights up but they are cheap and don't give off enough light. They even put motion sensor lights on the front porch. Tell me what kind of sense that makes! When you are turning on your front porch lights, it's generally to invite people in!

The quest continues

In my quest to obtain the perfect figure, I have tried many things. Low calorie, low carb, low sugar. I even tried the grapefruit diet and the soup diet. I've done Slimfast and a vegetarian diet. And, in my most naive moments, I've even tried diet pills. They made me feel sort of funny, though.

Now, I'm ready. I mean I feel mentally prepared to get myself going in the right direction! I want portion control. I plan to eliminate almost all sugar from my diet... and that means sodas! I plan to limit, but not eliminate carbs in my diet. And I plan to try to eat 5-6 small meals a day.

Then I plan to incorpate exercise. Walking to start, at the local park while the boys play. Then I plan to start running. I have a friend who swears that yoga helps her. So she is going to lend me her yoga dvd. I'll let you know how that works into my plan! I'm up for trying anything new!!

Put The Peddle To The Metal!!

I was coming home from volleyball practice last week on the interstate and noticed a great deal of people getting pulled over. I tend to be a 'grandma' type driver and had my cruise set on the speed limit, so I thought nothing about it. Until I look in my review mirror and see the dreaded blue lights flashing. Thinking he was after someone else, I pull into the next lane, and he pulls right behind me... so I pulled over! I was confident I had done no wrong!

The state trooper comes over to my window and asks for my license. I asked him what I had done, and he told me I was doing 70 in a 60. I apologized and he let me off with a warning since I haven't had a ticket in over five years.

Now, I can't say the same for my wonderful husband. He had the pervebial lead foot! He got a ticket a couple of months ago, and I thought for sure our insurance was going to drop us, so I did a bit of car insurance shopping. After comparing prices on a couple of auto insurance quotes, I started praying we wouldn't get dropped! They were so high due to his 3 tickets in 3 years!! He is now restricted to cruise control!!

By the way, I went back down that stretch of interstate the next day, and guess what the speed limit was? 70.

Bathroom Remodel

It's no secret that my dad is a plumber. Anytime I've had a problem with plumbing or heating and air, my dad has been available to help me out! Now that we own a house that needs some TLC, my dad remains on my speed dial!! Our next big project now that the kitchen is in the final stages of remodel is our hall bath. We recently found some great bathroom faucets for it! They are so cute and flow with the feel we want to go for in this bathroom. It's a stainless faucet with white 4-pronged handles that say 'hot' and 'cold' on it. I think it will look super cute with the white tile, tan walls, and purple decor! And once we sand and paint the cabinets, it will be completely redecorated!

Too Much Information?

I am so glad I didn't learn about some of the known cause of cerebral palsy until after I had had all of my children. I was nervous enough abour delivery and the many, many elements of it that could and do go wrong on a day-to-day basis... if I had known about this I would have been more of a nervous wreck than normal! I found out that some causes of cerebral palsy are as follow:
*Failure to order a C-Section in a timely manner
*Excessive use of a vacuum extractor
*Failure to detect a prolapsed umbilical cord reducing oxygen supply
*Improper use of delivery forceps
*Hospital staff may not properly read or respond to the babies vital signs
*Failure to declare fetal distress
*Failure to diagnose and treat jaundice or meningitis

Just knowing that, made me want to know cerebral palsy symptoms. At 3 months there may be a lack of facial expressions, the baby may not respond to some sounds, or is unable to follow movement with their eyes.
The child may not be able to bring their hands together at 4 months.
A child with cerebral palsy may not display the coordination to lift their head, or rollover at 6 months.
At 8 months the baby may not be able to sit up by themselves, or without support. There may be a head lag when the child is placed in a sitting position.
By 12 months the child may not be able to crawl.
Drooling is a common problem because of the lack of facial and muscle control.
Muscle tremor or spasticity may be evident, with a tendency of infants to tuck their arms in toward their sides, scissors movements of the legs, or other abnormal movements.
Feeding may be a continuous effort and problematic.
Excessive stiffness when dressing, changing diapers, or bathing.
It is important to realize that the presence of any of these symptoms does not necessarily indicate your child has cerebral palsy. Children develop on different timeframes, and symptoms are often outgrown. Only your doctor can make an accurate diagnosis and provide you with the information you need to care for your child.

Sometimes being aware of something can make you more paranoid about it. Do you think there is such a thing as being too informed?

Men Are From Mars

I am truly amazed at how different men and women are. Case in point... when something goes wrong with the computer... instead of diving into the sea of fiber cable that live under the computer desk, I simply shut it down and go about the everyday business of taking care of a family of five. That usually entails about three loads of laundry and at least one hot meal a day... so I'm never lacking for busy work. But Hank has to get down to the source of the matter! I can't tell you how often I've found the lower half of him sticking out from under the computer desk and when I ask him what's wrong, he will tell me that he just 'has to know' what it wrong. The same thing can be said of the television or any of the equipment that goes with it! I would rather just watch a DVD if I can't get the cable to connect. But Hank just 'has to know' what the problem is! Thank God I married someone who cares. Otherwise I would be living with no TV and no computer. But I imagine my house would be immaculate!

Savings Diva

I am a shopping fanatic. I have to really curb my shopping habits sometimes! I mean, I try to harness it into shopping smartly most of the time. I shop year round for Christmas and try to do it by bargain shopping and finding unique gifts specific to the person I am shopping for! I do a lot, and I mean A LOT, of my shopping at Kohl's. Usually I have to drive about 40 minutes to the other side of town when I know they are having a super good deal. But, just recently, my city announced that there are plans to build a Kohl's here at our mall!! Can you sense me jumping up and down!! I mean, not only do I get great coupons in the mail, but they have awesome clearance racks!! I've gotten things there for 80-90% off! You can even fo online and get Kohls coupon codes. One of my most recent finds was for my little sweetheart Ava... check it out:I got this cute little boutique dress for $6... and it retailed for $40!!! Love it!

Save The Trees!!!

I've often wondered when the business world will transition and become paperless. We've been hearing about it for years now... a 'paperless society.' If you're like me, you already pay the majority of your bills online, and even receive multiple bills online instead of in the mail.

I don't understand a lot of the techinical side of it, but organizations like Halogen e360 seem to be leading towards a society that will be paper-cut free! Check out this blurb from their website:

Leading organizations in every industry category are using and recommending this powerful, proven multi rater feedback solution to:

* Simplify the peer review and 360 degree assessment process.
* Dramatically reduce resource demands by eliminating the paperwork and automating key aspects of the entire 360 degree evaluation process.
* Create and launch different 360 evaluations for various groups within their organization.
* Provide individual employees and line managers with insightful, 360 degree performance feedback on a number of different attributes.

Maybe if all of the little companies began running self assessment, they could contribute to a paperless society too!!

'Real' Reality

I have a confession to make... I am addicted to watching 'Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew.' I know that is a strange or even ironic choice of wording given the topic... but I am! I watch it every week and find myself cheering on these long-forgotten stars or B-listers. The cast includes former Grease and Taxi star Jeff Conway, American Idol finalist Jessica Sierra, Pro-Wrestler Chyna, Daniel Baldwin, Bridgette Neilson, a musician, and a porn star. They are either their for drug treatment or to begin a battle against alcohol. I was drawn to the show because it is literally one of the 'realist' shows in the reality television genre. Nothing is scripted and its all very raw. You see these semi-celebrities struggling to come to grips with the fact that they are allowing a chemical dependency to rule their actions, lives, words... they are struggling to regain control so they can get custody of their children or they can just live again. I find myself rooting for them and cry when one of them doesn't make it through. Already they've lost Daniel Baldwin and Jeff Conway. I was really rooting for both of them and hate to see them leave the program! You would think I was actually emotionally invested in them personally!

Magic Pill!

When I worked at the local ABC affiliate in the time long ago before I had children, (~Smile!~) the big news at the station was that Oprah was leaving Fox and moving to ABC. I mean I couldn't turn a corner at the station without seeing a poster of Oprah, a life-sized cut-out of her, or see a television running promos for her show. Even now, 7 years removed from those times, my husband comes home telling me what he saw on Oprah that day. So when I learned about the Orovo products and learned that they were developed as a result of a mom watching the Oprah show, I shouldn't have been surprised. Oprah makes everything happen!

This particular full-time Mom invented the Orovo Internal treatment as a result of watching the Oprah Winfrey show on "How to look 10 Years Younger in 10 Days." She went on a special diet eating 10 "SuperFoods" recommended by renowned Dermatologist Dr. Perricone daily to rid Wrinkles. To her surprise, she didn't see a reduction in wrinkles but she lost 10 pounds in 10 days and her skin dramatically improved! It was difficult for her to eat the 10 foods daily so she enlisted her husband's help. He worked for a Nutritional Research Laboratory and was able to help her come up with a pill that containted 10 highly concentrated extracts and the results were IDENTICAL to the whole foods. OROVO is now not only all the rave in the weight loss world but also by athletes, actresses, and celebrities wanting perfect skin. All ten "SuperFoods" are contained in highly concentrated extracts plus 4 additional Antioxidants recommended by Dr. Perricone and a new Top Secret “SuperAntioxidant” first marketed by the makers of BOTOX®. OROVO Retails for $80.00 per bottle making the Orovo 3-piece kit a huge bargain.

I need some Orovo. I would do just about anything to loose this baby weight!! And I can't seem to find the time to do anything but eat my kid's leftovers now that my kids outnumber me!