October at the Arboretum

Before Halloween, Dutch and I joined my sister and her kids and went to the Arboretum to check out the activities and to take some pictures. It was a beautiful day, and the kids had a great time.  I'm hoping to buy a membership for the coming year, because I think Dutch will enjoy it even more as he gets older.

For Halloween, Dutch dressed up as Dennis the Menace.  Not gonna lie, it was pretty easy to accomplish since he already looks like him and we had the items in his wardrobe!  All we had to make was a slingshot.

Exceeds Expectations

Back when I was a new auditor, we used to get performance reviews after each engagement.  The way it was set up was that you reviewed your own performance, based on your perception of how you did, and then your senior reviewed your performance, and you see if they lined up.  The options to choose from were something like, "unsatisfactory," "needs improvement," "meets expectations," and "exceeds expectations." I would laugh because "expectations" was such a funny concept.  If I expected myself to do a phenomenal job on the engagement, and I did, then I would select "meets expectations."  But, that doesn't sound like the best review you can give.  So, should I select "exceeds expectations" instead?  Then I'd be saying I did even better than I expected to do - but why would I have expected myself to do anything less than the best I could??  It could go on and on.

I used to tell my senior that he should just lower his expectations of me, because then I would always exceed them.  For instance, if he would just expect me to show up drunk to work, I wouldn't, and then I would be exceeding his expectations.  He should expect me to work 6 hour days, because when I worked for at least 8 hours - BOOM, exceeded expectations.  I just think it's a rather silly review method, because is the point to have high expectations and the person meet them, or is the point to have high expectations and the person exceed them?  Wouldn't you then start having high expectations for them and they'd only be able to meet them in the future?

The reason this came up recently is because I was meeting a mover at a client's house to give them access. My clients have already relocated to another state, and I'm trying to make this process easier on them.  The mover called me the night before and said he'd be at the house at 9am. It's a 30 minute drive for me, so I appreciated the heads up.  I got to the house at 9am and waited.  And then waited some more.  And then a little bit more. He finally showed up at almost 10am.  I've done enough moves and repairs and remodels to know that contractors are notoriously horrible at being on time.  I get that.  But, when I saw the moving truck, I just had to laugh:

"Dedicated to exceeding our customers expectations"

So, what you're saying is, I should expect you to be 2 hours late.  Then, when you're 1 hour late, you still have exceeded my expectations!  I totally get it.

National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day

October 15th was National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day.  I'll be honest, it was a tough day for me.  The 16th was as well.  I would say that I've handled my miscarriages pretty darn well, considering the circumstances.  I'm not going to rehash all the details - you can read them here.  But, there are still times where they cross my mind, and I get choked up.  These past two days were especially emotional because my dear friends, Brandon and Ericka, have been in my thoughts.  I talked about them last month, when the well we helped build in their honor was completed.  They are ready to share their story with the world, and I would appreciate you taking a few minutes to read it. It can be found here.  

As a reminder, I am always here if you or someone you know needs a confidante.  You're not alone, it's okay to grieve, and it's okay to talk about it.

xoxo

Home

I bought a cool shirt for my German friend, Kim, last month, but I didn't want to post about it until she had received it!  When she was here visiting, we saw a shirt in a souvenir store that had a Texas flag on it, with the word HOME in bold letters, written across it.  We tried to buy it for her, but they only had kid sizes. She was pretty bummed.  After she returned to Germany, I started searching the internets for that same shirt in adult sizes.  I found one, but didn't get around to purchasing it yet.  As fate would have it, I went to Dutch's My Gym class and a girl was wearing this shirt:

Perfect!!  It was way cuter than the one we had seen in the souvenir store, so I found out where the girl bought it.  Check out The Home T.  They offer shirts with your state's outline, with "home" written inside of it. I bought one for Kim, and one for myself!  She was pretty happy:

I think the shirt is such a cute idea for friends or family who have moved away from a state they love, or who really think of a certain state as their second home.  Not gonna lie, some of the states' shirts really make me laugh, though.  Like, seriously, check out Wyoming's shirt.  Who knows what that is referring to??  That's gotta be confusing.  Lol.  I almost pulled the trigger on this shirt too, but refrained:

They've got another cute one where you can get your state outline with just "y'all" written inside.  Check it out!  Great gift ideas...for someone else or simply for yourself!

She's Baaaaaaaaack!

Our wonderful friend from Germany, Kim, came back for another visit last month.  It's hard to believe that it has been 4 years since she was here the first time, as our foreign exchange student. She's in college now, so she could only stay for 3 weeks, while on break from school.  We are happy with any time we get with her, though, so we packed as much as we could into those 3 weeks!  Here are some highlights from her visit:

Waiting at the international arrival terminal is actually a really fun thing to do.  I love seeing all the reunions of people who obviously haven't seen each other for a while!  Our situation was no different.

Kim got to meet Dutch for the first time.  She had been anticipating this meeting for quite a while!  She treated him like her own little brother, and I'm pretty sure she was smitten.  She helped us take care of him, and they had an awesome time playing together. It was very sad to think about them not seeing each other again for a long time.

We took her to some fun spots around town that were great photo ops.  The BIG signs around Dallas, the Trinity Overlook Park, and the Texas flag on the side of the highway in Grand Prairie made for some good shots!  Other notable activities were visiting the Sprinkles Cupcake ATM and taking a quick roadtrip to Winstar for gambling!

One weekend we took a trip to Austin so she could visit some of her friends who go to college there.  We had a great time shopping, sightseeing, and partying on 6th street. We couldn't let her leave Texas this time without riding a bull!

Last, but not least, she spent a lot of time trying to beat the Texas heat in our pool!

The time definitely flew by, and we are hoping we can take a trip to visit her in her hometown next year. Until then, Auf Wiedersehen! 

No Foot So Small

I am honored to have played a small role in the construction of a well in Uganda that will provide safe and clean water to about 2500 people.  My sister and I initiated a fund through Holden Uganda after our friends suffered the unimaginable loss of their baby boy at 20 weeks.  It's hard to accept circumstances like that, and it's hard to know what to do when you feel so helpless.  Our friends are two of the greatest people you'd ever meet, and there's no rhyme or reason why this tragic event would befall them.  All we can do is be a shoulder for them, offer support, and see if there's any way to use the situation for good.  We made a plea to some close friends for funds to build the well, and in a very short time, our goal was met.  We are very grateful to the people who made this possible. Although his life was short, the legacy of Sullivan Gaines Perry will live on.

Each well is required to include a bible verse, so my friends chose John 14:27. "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid."

They were also allowed to include a meaningful quote, so they chose: "There is no foot so small that it cannot leave an imprint on this world." 

Truth.  All my love to you, B & E.

Living Room Makeover

The color on the walls of our living room had been driving us crazy since the day we moved in.  It was another example of the previous owners' obsession with an "antique" look.  They had painted all of the paneling and trim a stain that just made everything look dingy.

It was horrible, wasn't it?  Meezy and I were watching an episode of Brother vs. Brother last month, and we saw a living room on there that had a similar paneling design as ours. They had painted the walls, insets, and trim in a couple of different shades of gray and white.  We decided to give that a shot, so we bought some color samples.  When I went out of town to Austin for the weekend, Meezy surprised me by having his brother, sister-in-law, and brother-in-law come over and tackle the painting!  I was elated when I got home. My friend, Kim (posts about her visit forthcoming), and I put the finishing touches on it that next week, and here's the finished product:

Bit of an improvement, don't ya think??