32nd Brigade

The Wisconsin National Guard is facing the biggest deployment since WWII.

3,200 soldiers from the 32nd Brigade left the States for Iraq recently.

I am so proud of our soldiers and their families.

Job Hunt Continues

With all the excitement in the past couple months, I admit, my job search has not been my top priority. I have not had much luck on finding interesting positions to apply for and it's becoming really frustrating.

Truthfully, I don't know what I want to do anymore.

I was doing pretty generic "marketing" in my prior positions. I found it a frustrating field for a number of reasons, but primarily because most people tend to see marketing as "fru fru" and a position where you don't need any skills or knowledge to "market" a product. Marketing was often the last to hear the news, rather than a co-driver of a new product or service. The marketing department was seen by the rest of the company as a dumping ground for routine, mundane tasks that needed to be completed in order to stick with the competition.

I disagree.

Many marketers are dynamic, innovative and insightful. Ideas are created not only based upon the strengths of the company, but also the wants and needs of customers.

I have found that most companies are focused too much on themselves.

In the world of advertising and promotion, successful companies spend extraordinary dollars on marketing products. Product name, understanding the target market, placement of the product, price points, and so many more details are critical elements to the success of an item. Consumers are bombarded with a ridiculous amount of promotional materials every day. Without a strong marketing plan, your product will be lost in the Profit-Sucking Sea.

Sounds logical.

But top management just do not seem to "get it" at most companies I have worked for. They miss the mark every time by dismissing the marketing department.

Wake up! You have a powerhouse at hand if you would just make use of your employees and allow them the freedom to utilize their talents and knowledge. A good marketing department is not worried about making him or herself look good to the other employees, a good marketer is focused on building the company in the long run.

So, as I struggle to find marketing opportunities, I also struggle with the idea of going back solely into a "marketing coordinator" position. I could pursue public relations, or graphic design, or event planning, which are all "tactical" forms of Marketing that I am experienced in. But would those positions really be any different than "Marketing"?

Maybe I should pursue an entirely new career path. Nanny? Chef? RN? Tour guide?

I'm not sure. But I do know that after my current list of experiences, I'd like to do something good. Something that helps people or makes them smile. Something where my input is actually valuable.

Yard Work 101

The weather has been beautiful and giving me the itch to do some yard work. We had this horrible weed patch next to our garage. It was impossible to control as the summer went on. I decided to tackle the problem before it began this year.


First I raked the area. Then, I dug a "trench". I laid down a weed blocking mat. And finally, topped it off with mulch! Ta daaa!


There is an ugly old stump that I decided not to mess with. My neighbor had a fantastic idea (she's so clever!). She suggested drilling a hole into the stump and then putting flowers in it. I love it! I might ask for help on that, though.


I'll admit, it's not a project done by The Man. His projects usually take longer and turn out better, but I'm pretty pleased. Now let's hope the weeds don't come back! Maybe I'll put in some plants one day, too.

Coaxing Cats

The Man has two cats. Two large, sort of fat, definitely long-haired and shed-everywhere cats. If you haven't guessed yet, I'm not a huge fan of them. I tolerate them. They tolerate me. But when The Man is gone things get ugly. They turn into naughty little creatures who are out to get me.

Usually Sam and Gyzmo get to me by jumping on the counters or tables (where they are not allowed). Or getting into my bedroom (where they are not allowed). Or running away from me when I am trying to put them in their area for the night. But today, Sam has officially beaten me.

He escaped out of our front porch door and he ran away. I searched for him. My neighbors searched for him. My mom came over and we walked around the block searching for him. And he was nowhere to be found.

I left our front and back porch doors propped open. I went out a few times tonight calling his name with no luck. I even left a can of tuna for him.

Finally, I was on the phone with Phil tonight and decided to try once more. Sam showed up - and then ran again!

Finally, I coaxed him (with Phil on speakerphone) out from under our neighbor's deck.

No matter how hard I try, these things aren't going to magically turn into dogs, are they? I keep on hoping...

Update: Kayla's Skittle Jar

Just a quick update: When making a countdown skittle jar be sure to inform everyone in the household what it's for...or Daddy might eat a handful of skittles on accident! :)

Kayla's Countdown Jar

I have been babysitting my niece and nephew, Kayla and Jake, while they are on the waiting list for their new babysitter. They are a riot. Jake is 10 months old. Kayla is 5.

Kayla has been asking a lot of questions about The Man's deployment. She told me she is sad about him going and that she is really going to miss him. She doesn't quite understand time so we decided to make a skittle jar for her.

We decorated a container. Then we counted out skittles - one for each day that Phil is gone. We also filled out a customizable calendar that she was given at his send-off ceremony so if she forgets a day or two she can catch up.

Every day she gets to eat a skittle and mark an "x" on her calendar. As the skittles dwindle, she'll know that Phil is getting closer to coming home!

P.S. I can't take credit for this great idea, I stole it off the internet, and changed a few things to suit Kayla's personality (like decorating the jar and using skittles instead of M&Ms...).




Decorating...





Counting...




Doesn't look so long when you view in terms of Skittles!

Time out to eat a few!

All done!

Fabu-light

The Man leaves in just a few days and I thought he would spend his last couple days relaxing. I was wrong.

I now have a completed bathroom (we remodeled the bathroom awhile back and had some odds and ends that needed to be finished - maybe I'll do a post showing our yucky old bathroom...another time). Among the odds and ends, the light fixture that we purchased didn't work out.

He moved the bathroom light fixture to the kitchen where we didn't really have a light fixture. He bought a new fixture for the bathroom and put that in. Then today he installed a ceiling fan in our bedroom! You should see this place now!

He added a handy little feature to our bedroom fan/light - a remote control. Now I can dim the lights slowly or shut them off immediately. It's pretty cool.

See a few bad pics below...one of these days I'll get some camera skills!

Kitchen...

Steamy bathroom...

Ceiling fan...with remote! It looks okay here, but really awesome in person...next is a new wall color. Any suggestions?