Showing posts with label Charity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Charity. Show all posts

Sunday, September 18, 2022

Time for a catch up

I’ve been typing this for a few weeks now in my head … so below is fraction of the stuff I’ve written in those hours between sleeping and being awake, or in the car on my way to or from work, or just sitting and starring at nothing (literally) on TV thinking I should be writing on this blog. So .. um… Enjoy!

Dragon Con was in short …. Awesome. As always. Granted there was a lot of great Cosplay and even more amazing food, panels, parties but the best part was spending 6 days uninterrupted with my favorite person on this planet. Golden. In short there was over 65K people for this year’s con and they raised over $95K for their charity (Open Hand ATL) – every year they pick a charity and throughout the Con raise money then Dragon Con matches it so that means they raised over $190K for Open Hand ATL! That my friends is beyond awesome! There was a blood drive and in my sleep deprived state I’m sure I saw the final total of donors but I can’t find it. Needless to say Dragon Con is about more than a big party, cos play, vendors, games and yes alcohol. That being said I enjoyed those things as well. We also did a few things we have never done before like hearing the Georgia Philharmonic which let me tell you was a lot of fun. Apparently a very popular event. It was a very chill vacay and much much needed.

Work was great while I was gone. I didn’t really check in like I normally do. I let the guys handle it and they did. We had one or two hick ups but nothing major and nothing that’s going to set the house on fire really. It was nice to know that when I’m not there they can handle it and often don’t just cause I’m there to do so. Now that I know they can I’m going to push for them to do it more often. I usually rush back to work as soon as I return home from Dragon Con. This year I went up a day early (which frankly threw me and Golden way off all freaking week but was nice) and when I came home it was late on Tuesday. Wednesday I was a zonked out mess and Friday we were going out of town for my nephew’s engagement party (that’s right people the oldest nephew popped the question, she said yes and I’ve bought three dresses for the big day (March 2023)). So I didn’t want to come home exhausted, go back to work exhausted, and go to the engagement party exhausted and then come back for a work week like quadruple exhausted (assuming that’s a thing). So for the first time I took 8 days off work. 8 whole work days (granted you’d think I was gone a month the way my co-workers reacted upon my return). I admit … it was nice. My boss told me upon my return he fully thought I’d start working from home and I was like you know I almost did then was like nah. He said he was proud of me for doing it cause he knew I needed it. I said yes yes I did.

While I was gone I celebrated my 19th anniversary at work. In 2 years, my career can legally drink. I can’t believe it’s been 19 years. That’s just nuts to me. When I think back over the years I never dreamed I’d make it to 10 then I thought ok maybe 15 and now I’m knocking on the door of 20. It’s been a long time of ups, downs, horrible bosses, good bosses and a great boss. I’ve come around the block a few times on hating and loving what I do, being frustrated beyond belief about it and also caring so much I made myself sick. In the last year or so I’ve risen to manager of my department with several employees “under” me, lost 2, (one I’m not sure I ever had and another to a growing family), gained one, almost lost another but fought really hard for her cause she’s more amazing than I think she knows. My current goal is to make her see what I see in herself and try to overcome the horrible crap she’s been through over the years and to get the other to understand she’s here to stay and get over the hump of constantly being in fear that she’s not doing enough or will be let go at the drop of a hat. That’s not how we do things at least in my department.  It’s been very interesting being the boss. I’ve never been in that position before and I’m trying to emulate the ones that showed me what to do, taught me my role and pushed me to be the person I am today, as opposed to that Asshat who can well fuck off, she knows who she is. Ha! 19 is something I’m going to be very proud of and here’s to many more. If most people work say 40 years I’m half way there … kind of.

Golden also got a promotion recently at her job and I’m super proud of both of us. We are finally starting to see the results of decades of hard work and dedication and it’s about damn time!

Tomorrow I’m getting up at the crack of dawn, getting ready for work, and then sitting down with my mom to watch the Queen’s funeral. Mom’s been a huge royal family watcher for years I find them fascinating, but mom knows the names and titles and dates for important things. I figure if it starts at 5 my time it will be over in time for me to get to work on time, plus I don’t really want mom watching it alone. I got up with her to watch Diana but as a teen who really didn’t care fell asleep pretty quickly and woke up to mom crying. I couldn’t understand at the time why I mean she didn’t know that lady or her family, but she was connected to the fact that her two boys were now alone in a sea of well … whatever that is. She said it made me think of my brother and I. She appreciated me watching with her even if I did fall asleep.

With the kids back in school, football season getting underway, and fall weather kind of in the air it’s time to turn my attention to pumpkins and calendars and socks ……. Speaking of which I need to finish my laundry. Until next time….. GOD SAVE THE QUEEN and prayers for King as he steps into his new role.

Marcy

Saturday, November 8, 2014

Thankfulness Challenge - Day 8

Shopping with a purpose other than just to get the “right gift!” has always made me a happy consumer. A lady at work was selling coupon books and if her “kid” sold enough books she could win various prizes. The kid wanted some sunglasses that had windshield wipers on them. To get them she had to sell at least 10 books of coupons. When that little girl got her windshield wiper glasses and walked down the halls of our office proudly showing them off and thanking everyone who bought a book it was the best 20 bucks I’ve ever spent. To me shopping is more than just buying something to have a purpose behind the buy is what makes shopping enjoyable to me.

I’ll be honest I hate the physical act of shopping. I hate driving around town, getting out of the car, walking into a store wasting and hour or so of my life finding nothing that interest me and getting back into the car to do it again after a 10-15/30 minute drive to the next destination.  I hate spending all day long in and out of stores with very little to show for it. I only physically shop when I have to. Shoes for instance, I have never mastered the art of buying shoes online because my feet are stupid. They swell at weird times in the day and a size 8 shoe at store A in the morning is not the same as a size 8 at store B in the afternoon and forget about a size 8 at store C needless to say it’s a frustrating process for me.

However I excel in online shopping. I like going through a site and seeing what they have and knowing that at that moment I can click a button, purchase it, and have it winging its way to my house in a matter of minutes. Online shopping is by far the greatest thing that’s come out of the internet. I love having access to artist, writers, and musicians no matter where I live. Let’s face it there are some items that can only be bought while you are walking down the street in New Orleans but the internet has allowed those people to sell their wares to anyone as long as you stumble across the link for it.

One of the best places to shop online is Amazon.com and last year it became an even better place to shop with the establishment of AmazonSmile which allows you to pick a charity that will receive money from every purchase made. It changes nothing about how Amazon works it just connects it to a charity that will benefit from me sitting on my butt while listening to music and shopping. What more is there to love? I’m going to be buying the stuff anyway and now someone else is able to benefit from me buying Pete and Pete Season 1. I’m thankful Amazon Smile gives consumers an opportunity to support a charity , giving them a boost that they weren’t expecting, so that they can continue to spread good in the world. It’s the true definition of Win .. Win.


The AmazonSmile foundation donates .5% of the price of the purchase to the organization selected. Any group registered as a 501©(3) organization with the IRS can sign up with the AmazonSmile site. Consumers can chose from one of the spotlight charities or you can search for your own organization.

I personally chose Kids Need To Read, and organization located in Mesa, Arizona who works to create a culture of reading for children by providing books to underfunded schools, libraries in support of literacy programs and disadvantage children throughout the United States. I think all kids should have access to books. Books transport you to another location, they suck you in and you can’t help but fall into a trance. There is NO FEELING in the world like falling into a fantasy world while sitting in your own chair. I can remember reading a book during my high school years and sobbing at 3am because of the ending was both devastating and perfect for the story I had been reading all day long. I’ve been known to completely ignore the world around me and miss a plane because of it. I’ve been known to unpack clothing to fit in another book for a vacation. Bottom line… Reading is awesome.


So I like to give a little boost to Kids Need To Read as I shop at Amazon and if you don’t pick them that’s fine but as you do your holiday shopping this year and plan to use Amazon please pick one. It takes zero time to select a charity truly the hardest part is picking one that you want to support. The site remembers your choice and when you click an external Amazon link the site will ask you if you'd like to see the same item through the Smile section of the site connecting you back to your charity.
 
The best part is that you are able to support a charity all year long, not just during the holidays or a yearly donation to the charity. Millions of people use Amazon every day, every hour, and if each of those people used Amazon Smile think of how fantastic that would be for the charities on the list. So check it out and talk to your friends and family about using this resource on the site.
 
Resources: 
http://smile.amazon.com -- for when you are ready to get your shopping on. Use this site to get the process started.

http://kidsneedtoread.org/ -- If you want to learn more about this awesome organization.  

https://org.amazon.com/ -- If you know of a charity that wants to research this foundation more.

Happy Shopping!
-Marcy