Long time no talk ….. sorry about that

Good lord, is it really August already? It has been a while since I posted something on here. That’s a bad Marcy. I typically strive for a post a month, or every other month, and frankly it sometimes stretches to “oh crap I forgot the blog” post times but that’s typically when life has frankly …. Gotten in the way. That and my lack of having anything useful to post which then leads me to not wanting to waste yall’s time so … I just…. Don’t…post. Then I feel a little bad about it.

                                      

Golden knows this ….. so for my Birthday/Crimmus gift she gave me a book …..  “A 5 Year Question a Day Memory Journal” cause she loves journaling. I guess I consider this blog my journal and I have started several journals over the years but never kept one going, not really anyway. I think of things to write about all damn day until I sit still long enough to actually write then it all flies out of my brain. Sadly however I leafed through this book and like some of the questions are … well like who wrote this thing?!

For clarity here are a few sample questions ….

• Do you think people really can change?
• Morning person or night owl?
• Describe your worst overreaction.
• My biggest source of stress comes from …..
• How quickly do you get back up when life knocks you down?
• Who was the last person you hurt?
• What is something you would never compromise on?
• What was the last question you asked someone?

Now these are random like I opened a page and wrote down what I saw. Now I’m not saying all the pages are … bad I’m just saying nothing jumped out at me as something to write about or worthy of wasting your eye time with. Then again that’s the point I guess. To get back into the habit of taking a subject, any subject and making it interesting. I’m frankly struggling to find the interesting in anything at the moment. I can’t even call it the can’t help it’s ….. I just have zero desire to do literally a damn thing. I have thought several times about seeking some help and it might come to that but for now I’m trying to get to Dragon Con and hope after a week or so of “chilling” if you can call Dragon Con chilling, that my battery will recharge enough that I reenter society for lack of a better word. Granted I’m not, nor have I ever been, a social butterfly but the idea that someone somewhere might want to do something sends me almost into a blind panic somedays.

A few weeks ago, a coworker said something about not waking up and thus something not getting taken care of and it fell out of my mouth before I even thought it, “I dream about that every night” She was shocked and now “prays” for me and checks on me throughout the day. I really don’t know where that came from but I also realized in that moment I wasn’t wrong. Part of me would love to lay down go to sleep and just call it a day. Hence why I’m thinking I might need to go talk with someone professional.

                                       

It also hasn’t helped that work has just about killed me. I’ve been maxed out on PTO since the first of June but have been unable to take any cause we have had wave after wave of submittals hit us, and you can’t work OT and charge Vacation so on the rare occasions I have taken a long lunch or left early it wasn’t even considered PTO time, plus training a new employee (whose doing an amazing job), it’s just been an onslaught of BS since I’ll say March, and I could likely trace it back further than that if I tried. As a matter of fact when I looked up and realized I missed the “summer” break I was shook. Yet…here we are. August 14^th, just weeks for Dragon Con and yet all of me fears something is going to screw that trip up. Honestly guys at this point I’m not sure that’s something I could handle. That could quite possibly send me right over the edge of this cliff I’m standing on. My boss made a comment about me being gone 2 weeks (it’s just under but who is counting) and when I didn’t respond I think he realized how bad it really is. 

                                            

I’m leaving on a Tuesday to go to Birmingham, then Wed we travel to Dragon Con and I will be coming home from Dragon Con the following Tuesday. However I am taking all that next week off as well cause well damnit I want to. My nephew’s engagement party is that Saturday and I didn’t want to come home exhausted, go back to work exhausted, and jump back in a car to drive up for the party…exhausted. So I’m gonna take a few “me days” to recover from Dragon Con and go back to work that following Monday. It will be by far the longest time I’ve been away from the office and when I tell you I plan to be away from the office I mean it. This is the first weekend in 2 months I haven’t opened my laptop to “get ahead” and all of me both feels guilty about it and also very proud of me. I need this … and damit I’m going to take it. It’s been about 2 years since I had a proper vacation and it’s about damn time!

                                           

So here’s to getting through the next two weeks so that I can enjoy the weeks to follow!

Stay tuned for Dragon Con shenanigans lord knows I need em. 

Marcy

SMPS SERC – Day 2 & 3 Tue. and Wed.

It’s Tuesday….ok it’s really Sunday but I’m gonna take us back to Tuesday to talk about day 2 of the SMPS SERC Conference. Then we’ll get into Day 3, AKA Wednesday. I’ll admit once the conference started it was a whirl wind. It was sessions, then more sessions, then lunch and afternoon sessions before a meet and greet and the nights activities. I will also add I didn’t sleep well Tuesday which didn’t help with my not feeling like I’m in a whirl wind throughout this conference. So let’s take it day by day. 

 

Day 2 Tuesday: 
Day 2 started early, after a very easy going Monday Tuesday hit the ground running. The Opening Keynote/Breakfast was very interesting … Breakfast was kind of blah. It was basically granola, bagels, and some fruit in this weird sauce. I didn’t partake. I did drink some juice while the Keynote speaker was talking but by lunch I was very hungry. I hadn’t run into my group from the Emerald Coast chapter yet this morning, I knew they were in the room but I didn’t know where. I was one of the last in the room so I just grabbed a seat near the front so I could see and hear what was being said.

The Opening Keynote if I had really been paying attention set the tone for not only the day but the next few days as this conference seemed to be about keeping emotions in check, finding creativity and using it, and setting yourself and message apart from the pack. Lots of what I call Cheerleading sessions in which it sounds good and is very inspirational but not so practical. Then again I’m a pessimist so there’s that.

The worst part of this conference was the overlapping sessions that I wanted to attend and having to choose between one vs the other. For the most part I chose well, I think. Only once did I feel that I chose wrong. They had a session about how to read Construction Documents for use in proposals, but the description made it sound like they were going to focus on architectural construction documents, which isn’t at all what I do. However for 2 days all I heard was how amazing and awesome that session was. I can’t wait to download that session. That’s the coolest part of this entire conference, sometime next week SMPS will put all of the presentations and handouts online for us to download.

One session I really enjoyed was about Thematic Interpretation. In which they focused on developing a theme for the proposal and allowing it to take over every piece of the submittal. I wish I had been to this session two weeks ago cause my last submittal could have really used a theme or well anything to make it better than what it was. My issue with these plans is that they assume you have the time to actually build these things into the submittal. I guess one day I will but so far I haven’t see that happen yet.

In the afternoon session I’ll be honest I’m still surprised I didn’t fall asleep. I don’t know if it was a combination of being hot, and not being able to sleep The topic was really interesting it talked to things I think I really need to know but I think it was over my head. I did also enjoy the one about Branding. Our company recently went through kind of an overhaul and it talked about how you can take those elements and use them as a way to make your proposal really pop as opposed to being boxed into something. 

That night we had a social at a local Brewery called New Belgium Brewery. It also happened to be the birthday of one of the girls in our Chapter. So we joined everyone for dinner and drinks at the Brewery. I’m not a beer drinker so I had a glass, and everyone else had 2 then we were told the Bus was going back early if anyone was interested. We jumped on the buss and hit the hotel bar for shots and chatting with others who headed home. I thought for sure I’d sleep great that night but I went back to my room, packed up everything for leaving the next day and then laid there for far too many hours with an Advil PM in my belly. 

Day 3 Wednesday: 
First off let me say if you are hosting a conference at your hotel for a group of people, most of whom had flown in for the conference….how about you allow for late checkouts? I mean the check out time for the hotel was 11 am … the conference didn’t end until nearly 2 so the Wednesday sessions were filled with people lugging around luggage and just made and already packed room even more packed. Just a thought for next year. Which btw will be in Tampa next year! We have an office in Tampa …. Just saying! :D

So first thing first was packing the car since i'd have to checkout after the breakfast/announcements. I really almost skipped breakfast after yesterday’s lame breakfast but was soooooo happy I didn’t when I got there to bacon, eggs, biscuits … everything was yummy. My first session was about mentorships. My boss is definitely a mentor to me, I’d like to be that for my team, or the ladies who work with me. I like to think I am but some days I think I’m just a crutch for them. Often they come to be for advise but sometimes I worry that I’m giving them the answers instead of showing them the process to get the answers. This session was especially interesting to me but I wish it had gone more into how we can be mentors to others as opposed to determining who your mentors are. Then again that’s exactly what was advertised.

My last session of the conference was about infusing creativity into your pursuits which was frankly just fun. The ladies were all dressed like Bob Ross (with a big afro wig on – it was red so it was more Annie than Bob Ross but they were fun, informative, and entertaining so I wasn’t going to split hairs with them). This one also gave me some things to think about for upcoming proposals. I think this was my favorite session of the entire event. I almost went to a different session but went to this one at the last minute instead and that was the greatest decision I made during the entire conference. 

 

Then we had lunch and the close out of the conference with the closing keynote with Danielle Gray talking about how to ignite and sustain passion. I could sit at the feed of Ms. Gray for the rest of my life and live only on the soaking up of her being and be forever fulfilled. She was definitely perfect for the closing keynote. Apparently she’s also an SMPS member and is featured in their new branding that was rolled out late last year. I know a good number of people skipped the closing keynote and those guys really did themselves a disservice cause it was fantastic. After that I took off to Charlotte for a few days of R&R before heading home. However that’s another post.

Have a great week ahead!

Marcy 
@beaslma

SMPS SERC – Travel Day

 

So on Sunday I woke up earlier than normal, grabbed my bag, and headed to the airport for my first ever SMPS SERC (Society for Marketing Professional Services Southeast Regional Conference). Last year my boss got to go in Atlanta and this year is my turn. As I walked out the door the handle on my bag broke and I thought well aint that a bitch. I hoped it was not an omen for the trip. I soldiered on cause I wasn’t repacking that bag into another bag at that point. I mean come on bag that wasn’t cool at all. 

The plane ride was uneventful which is just how I like em. It was my first time traveling American Airlines and no I wasn’t in the 737, I checked that last week. The plane however seemed really really really small. Like stupid small.  I’m usually a Delta girl, I like the brand, the people are always friendly and I just feel comfortable in their planes. However upon booking this flight I realized that my connection in Atlanta to Charlotte (cause you can’t do anything with Delta without it involving Atlanta) would have been taking off in Atlanta at the same thing that American would have been putting my luggage on the carousel for me to pick it up in Charlotte. AKA this time a direct flight won.

Upon arriving in Charlotte I went to find my rental car, another first for me, I chose Avis instead of Hurts my usual go to. Why did I choose Avis …. Cause one that’s what American Airlines was affiliated with, two I was able to get the car I wanted. See dear reader I’m in the process of thinking about my next car. My current Sonata is about 6 years old and while I’m like it to last a few more years I’m starting the process of thinking about it now. I’m ready for something different. I’m thinking Hyundai Kona (cause I love the look of it and the fact it’s kind of a newer car), but have also looked at the Santa Fe (I’d like to stay in the Hyundai family. I’ve also thought about the Honda CRV as an option. So I’m using this trip as a “test drive” of a vehicle of this type. I ended up renting a Hyundai Santa Fe. I do like the car, I liked the way it drove. I spend 90% of my time in my car alone so it’s hard for me to justify a car like this but I think I’m past just having a sedan. I do need to make sure mom could climb into it.  My conference is in Asheville, NC but I have friends who live in Charlotte, NC. So I’m going to spend a few days after the conference ends hanging out with them. I do kind of hate having to rent a car on Sunday so that I can use it Thursday and Friday it’s just chilling in the parking lot for a few days which seems like a waste. Oh well ….that’s adulting.

Upon arrival in Asheville, NC (about an hour and a half from Charlotte) I drove into the hotel resort and was blown away cause it’s kind of tucked away and like crossing a portal to another kind of world. The resort lobby was beautiful, the detail they put into the place was amazing. Walking up to the front desk the guy could have ben a little nicer but whatever maybe he was near the end of his shift ….whatever. He definitely could have told me how to get to my room with a little more detail but I’m sure he’s giving that speech a billion times and just doesn’t think the complex is very hard to navigate cause he does it daily. This resort has different areas that you could be staying it each with a fun different kind of name. However there are ZERO signs, I take that back there are signs but they are very hard to see. I finally found my room and realized that they spent the majority of their money on the lobby. The room is nice don’t get me wrong but this room could have been at any hotel. None of the charm or love that the lobby has was also utilized in the rooms.

At this point I was starving, it was after all close to 3pm and I hadn’t eaten anything yet. So I decided to jump back into the Santa Fe and drive around the area. I was disappointed. As beautiful as the complex around the resort is the area around it left some to be desired. I did make a stop at a local convenience store for some snacks and drinks for the next few days.

Day 1 was just a travel day. The actual conference starts Monday am with registration and some events in the afternoon. So I worked some on Sunday just to put my mind at ease. A few things I needed to get done so that others could do their part while I was around. This made me feel better about sleeping in Monday morning and just chilling a little bit. I think I might need professional help.

This is my first conference I’m looking forward to how it goes, I’m also looking forward to meeting some new people.

I’ll check in a few times this week to tell you how this is going for me …. Giving up Social Media and Soda for lent has been hard. I love getting an Icee on road trips, couldn’t. Just about every drink I like has soda in it. So no drinking. Every event talks to sharing this or that on Social Media. If you are interested they are asking people to use #SMPSSERC in any of their posts.

Marcy  @beaslma

SOCIAL MEDIA BREAK – Miscellaneous Thoughts

First Off .... HAPPY SAINT PATRICK'S DAY! I hope your green kept you pinch free today and if not...well punch that asshat in the face and tell him you were mistaken you didn't think he had on green either. 

So, I have to admit something to you dear readers, this Social Media break has been hard but not for the reason you might think. See, last year I stepped away from Social Media cause I really really needed to then when I got back I made a point of using it to be more social and not just sharing, liking, or RT things and this year I find I really miss the people that I have connected with over the past year in my daily interactions.  Not necessarily the medium used, but the people. It’s been very odd, I have e-mailed a few of the people that I don’t get to see in my every day world and I missed that immediate connection that Social Media gives you. I also decided at the last minute to also give up Soda for Lent and let me tell you I miss that syrup filled goodness in my belly. My energy level is for crap, I have a constant headache and I just feel overall icky. They said most of that would go away after the first few weeks but so far that hasn’t happened for me ye. April Fool’s Day can’t get here fast enough. Ha!

That being said Lent has been filled with a ton of activities and thoughts that I’d like to share here …. So well enjoy, or go get a samache and come back later, the choice is yours.

Someone check on Golden… please

I asked in my initial Lent Post that someone take care of Golden while I was gone and I need to know who dropped the ball … was it you …. Or the guy next to you at the coffee shop reading over your shoulder ….. no it was you….. it could have been that guy, either way one of you needs to apologize. Not only did Golden get the sickest I think she has been in years, NO ONE TOLD ME THAT SHE WAS SICK!? I finally reached out to her via text only to find out she was sick, come’on guys that’s not checking up on Golden at all. I need you guys to focus for the next week or so until I can get back online. My bestie has pneumonia and bronchitis and has very low oxygen, upon checking on her this week she’s also bruised a few ribs from the violent coughing. She is indeed a medical marvel and I pray no one ever has to put up the amount of crap she has to put up with on a daily basis. She’s my hero cause no matter how much live beats her down she gets back up, looks life in the eye and says “Is that all you have … please let’s do this!”

She’s the strongest person I know and I’m blessed to have her in my life. Feel better my amazing friend. HUGS

Funerals

A lady at our church recently passed away from a fight with cancer. This was a true case of the treatment was harder on the patient that the disease. They never found the right combination that would fight her disease without also destroying her. She was the first woman at our new church to welcome our family to the “fold” for lack of a better word. She was really great about being supportive and welcoming without being too overwhelming with it. She was really supportive of me when I taught Bible School last year and was kind of freaking out about it and she told me that I could do it and kept checking in on me. It was really sweet. She was quite lovely. I miss her more than I thought that I would. I’m not a funeral person, I don’t really care for them cause they seem like a celebration that is either insanely sad or that is filled with people trying to pretend that this person was perfect when they had their flaws. It’s almost like when a singer dies and for like 4 days on social media people are talking about what an influence said person was on their life or their Itunes bump is huge. It just seems like that would have been more beneficial when that person was still here to see the influence they have had on their industry. Tell those artists today how you feel about them so that I don’t’ know it will mean something. After the fact it just seems …. Like a waste cause the one who really needed to see it isn’t there to do so. I tell you this cause when I heard Miss. Yvonne passed away there was no hesitation on if I was going to the funeral or not. I not only felt I needed to be there but wanted to be there to celebrate her life.

There was more people at the Church than I have ever seen, standing room only which was really nice to see for such a wonderful lady. She was the woman who taught Sunday School for 37 years, helped with Bible School for just that long, and was always there for every function, it seems weird to think that she just won’t be anymore. It was the first funeral that I have ever attended at that church and to say I was kind of surprised by the service is an understatement. It was nice it was pleasant it just didn’t seem as personal as I thought it could be for someone who was such a part of that building. However during the service a semi-sick-funny thing happened to me. While the preacher was reading the obituary, in full, he got to the part where they list all the people that had gone before her and for a brief moment I had this vision of her walking through a gate seeing all of them standing there waiting on her and her saying,  “well why are we just standing around there’s so much to do and see … let’s go!” As this thought passed through my head I started to giggle. It was one of those giggles that once you start it’s really hard to stop. My mom nudged me and my dad looked over, others also turned and I just put my head down and pretended I was overcome with tears. It was exactly what I hoped happened for Miss Yvonne when she got to Heaven cause there’s no doubt in my mind that’s where she is now. She’s in a much better place than we are surrounded by loved ones and enjoying every second of the afterlife her Christian doctrine had told her she’d have. I’ve never thought of a “preceded in death by” list as a guest list to a party like that. I kind of like that thought tho. I think Miss Yvonne would have loved that idea tho and had she been there would have come up to me at the luncheon and said, “honey you laugh if you need to laugh, cry if you need to cry, God knows what’s in your heart and it’s all ok!” I’m gonna miss you Miss Yvonne …. RIP we’ll take care of Mr. Jim.

Work/SMPS 

I know this is a running theme on this blog but work had just been insane. Like crazy insane, like I tried to quit 4 times last week and my boss laughed at me and told me he didn’t have time for that right now and to get back to it. It’s ok I wasn’t really serious but I have thought several times if they fired me for whatever reason I’d not be too broken up about it. I’d have no idea what to do next but I’m young, smart, and untethered, I’d figure it out. Truth is and don’t tell them please I’d be devastated and heartbroken. That’s just our little secret. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. It’s a long tunnel and the light is very feint but I can see it starting to emerge from the blackness. The problem is that I know there’s another tunnel behind it and another one after that. On the plus side at the end of the week my boss walked in with a folder that said “confidential” and had my name on it. He handed it to me and said, “It’s long over due really.” They gave me a bonus. It was a nice pick me up at the end of a long few weeks that reminds me why I stay where I’m at and why I do what I do. The guys at the top, really appreciate the effort I put into my job. That’s why. When I need a reminder of that please dear reader send me to this blog post.

I am also working towards my own professional certification/registration through the Society for Marketing Professional Services (SMPS) of which I am a member. SMPS is a community of marketing and business development professionals working to secure profitable business relationships for their A/E/C companies. SMPS offers members professional development, leadership opportunities, and marketing resources to advance their careers. My boss is also a member. Last year he obtained his Certified Professional Services Marketer (CPSM) designation and this year has challenged me to do the same. My test is in June which sounded really really far away but now feels really really close. He just got back from the annual SMPS conference in Atlanta and has stated he'd like for me to go next year. He would like ach of us (our team) to attend it at least once for the comradery of it. I'm excited but it will likely end up where I'm one of those in the various panels working on a proposal with both eyes while one ear is listening to the speaker. Something my boss joked about. I told him they should have had a Marcy back home, he said not everyone gets a Marcy. I told him I'm glad to see he realizes that. ha! 

Fun stuff

It hasn’t been all work and no play for Marcy however, tho I admit I have felt like it was.

A few weeks ago the head of our division bought tickets to a local Jags baseball game (University of South Alabama) in which they were playing my beloved Auburn Tigers. As an Auburn fan I got a few of the tickets. My father and I joined the group of office peeps for a night of fun watching some really great baseball. Team building they called it, I enjoyed it and hope we do that more often. It didn’t hurt that Auburn won. WAR EAGLE ! Speaking of WAR EAGLE how about them Tigers at the dance?! I won’t pretend to be a huge basketball fan but it has been kind of AUsome watching this team rise to the occasion. 

I've bought a few movies I wanted to see in the theater and didn't, but haven't watched them yet. I plan to, it's going to happen I'm just not entirely sure when. 

I've had a few meetings at church to talk about the upcoming Easter Egg hunt, Vacation Bible School and other activities. I've also got a few concerts with friends coming up. I hope to have some travel for this summer lined up soon cause I need something to look forward to, like for real.  

So that’s what I’ve been up to during Lent, how about you guys!?

Marcy