Morning Folks 03 27 06

I did a blog last night for this morning's posting but it just disappeared into blogspace. It was about daffodils and I think the blog gods just thought it was too early in the season. At least it is too early for daffodils in New England, but I bet they are in bloom in Tennessee. Anyway, I picked an alternative topic, appropriate for any season in any clime.

PROCRASTINATION

Procrastination is the art of keeping up with yesterday. ~Don Marquis

Only Robinson Crusoe had everything done by Friday. ~Author Unknown

The sooner I fall behind, the more time I have to catch up. ~Author Unknown

If it weren't for the last minute, I wouldn't get anything done. ~Author Unknown

Anyone can do any amount of work, provided it isn't the work he is supposed to be doing at that moment. ~Robert Benchley




The two rules of procrastination: 1) Do it today. 2) Tomorrow will be today tomorrow. ~Author Unknown

One of the greatest labor-saving inventions of today is tomorrow. ~Vincent T. Foss

It is an undoubted truth, that the less one has to do, the less time one finds to do it in. ~Earl of Chesterfield

Someday is not a day of the week. ~Author Unknown

To think too long about doing a thing often becomes its undoing. ~Eva Young

Don't fool yourself that important things can be put off till tomorrow; they can be put off forever, or not at all. ~Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic's Notebook, 1960

Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion. ~C. Northcote Parkinson, 1958
Procrastination is opportunity's assassin. ~Victor Kiam


If you want to make an easy job seem mighty hard, just keep putting off doing it. ~Olin Miller

What may be done at any time will be done at no time. ~Scottish Proverb

There's nothing to match curling up with a good book when there's a repair job to be done around the house. ~Joe Ryan

Procrastination is something best put off until tomorrow. ~Gerald Vaughan


The best way to get something done is to begin. ~Author Unknown

The time to begin most things is ten years ago. ~Mignon McLaughlin, The Second Neurotic's Notebook, 1966

Tomorrow is often the busiest day of the week. ~Spanish Proverb

Tomorrow is the day when idlers work, and fools reform. ~Edward Young

Never put off until tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow. ~Mark Twain


Tomorrow is the only day in the year that appeals to a lazy man. ~Jimmy Lyons

A year from now you may wish you had started today. ~Karen Lamb

One of these days is none of these days. ~Attributed to both Henri Tubach and H.G. Bohn


Procrastination is the thief of time. ~Edward Young


Love,
Suz

Morning Folks 03 26 06 My Muse is Back!

I can't believe that I have gone this long without posting to my blog, but according to the record it has been more than 2 weeks! I didn't' t know what caused me to take this unplanned hiatus, but being naturally curious and perhaps overly analytical, I decided to figure it out.

How do you go over a two week period in your life to determine what significant event might have chased away your muse? E-Mail!

First, I looked at old AOL e-mail. Lots of e-mails trying to get together with siblings for input on the wedding, e-mails with angst about what to wear, logistics of the hall, the menu, the flowers, etc.

Some fun e-mails about a birthday party for my friend Elizabeth and several fun chit chats and jokes exchanged with various loved ones.

Nothing jumped out at me. Then I looked at my work e-mail. And there it was.

The day after I blogged my last blog, I received an e-mail from a committee member with whom I have to work regularly. After I sent him the file of a just published document that took many hundreds of manhours to produce by a team of dedicated employees, containing thousands of numbers and dozens of narrative reports, this man's only comment "After 3 years ...you'd think someone would know how to spell my *?!$&!* name!!!" (He was nice enough to substitute symbols for the word that he wanted to use, don't you think?)

This man, spells his name ending in SON and in the document it was spelled with SEN in error. Many people proofed it before it was published, but nobody noticed. But back to the gentleman...

We exchanged about 3 e-mails on the subject, Mr. SoandsoSON and I. I apologized sincerely and explained that I knew that it could be frustrating, from personal experience since my last name is spelled SEN but seldom is spelled correctly. He replied, ignoring my attempt to commiserate and adding that he felt it was personally insulting and that the misspelling of his name on a document that the whole town would see robbed him of the credit he deserved. The report was 108 pages long. His portion was 1 and 1/2 pages. In his last e-mail he almost apologized for his reaction, but not quite. And to this date hasn't commented on the content of the document, except for that one vowel.

I don't know, maybe it was a bigger deal than I think it was. But, both my first and last names are commonly misspelled. I can't spend all that energy on something so minor and one must be somewhat forgiving and flexible. But here I am 2 weeks later realizing how I allowed his lack of respect and appreciation to shake my confidence and chase away my muse!
Although the old saying "pride goeth before a fall" quickly sprung to mind when I opened his e-mail, that document did represent my last substantive contribution to my job before I retire this summer and I think I was rightly proud of it. But I allowed him to take that away, and shame on me for doing so. I was in the process of letting one little bitty error and one itty bitty man's comments define years of work.

I am proud of the job we did. I am sorry poor Mr. SoandsoSON is having trouble with his vowels. And I pity him because this particular error will be part of the official record, ad infinitum.

But today's blog isn't about him. It is really about me and how I allowed one man's self-centered remarks to affect me. And with the therapy of writing this blog, I can move on and forget about it. With my upcoming marriage I will remove all concerns about SON or SEN from my future. And on retiring I will be removing the plaque from my office wall-That "employee of the year" plaque proudly displayed, given to Suzanne Peterson. And I will take that with me when I leave and that will be proof enough for me of a job well-done.


Epilogue:

I do worry for my sons, though, Norwegians that they are. Will they be able to handle the horrible fate they were dealt of having to deal with people making the mistake of writing their names ending in SON instead of SEN? I have faith in them, though, and I think they will be able to rise above it, overcome the adversity and soldier on!

My muse is back!

Have a great day!
Love,
Suz

Morning Folks 03 09 06

"The surest way to be late is to have plenty of time."

-- Leo Kennedy


So true. So true. Did you ever notice that the person who lives closest to the meeting place is always the last to arrive? It happens to me. I think it is because I always discount the travel time way too much. But I also find the older I get, the later I am.

There was a time when I had to be the first to arrive...anywhere! I think it started when I was a kid and I just didn't want anyone to look at me. So if I was there first, my entrance was invisible. I would never walk into a class if had already started. I would rather die! And my sisters will tell you that I always got to the movie before the previous one ended. Actually, that is one area where I still have trouble and that is strictly a practical solution for someone who is altitudinally challenged. If I get to a movie late, I can't see if I am behind the average sized individual, say nothing of someone with big hair.


But why is it that even when I know I am running very late, I still have to spend that 5 minutes finding the right pair of earrings for the outfit?




Or worse, there are days when I am having trouble with a clasp on a bracelet and no matter how late I am, until I get that fastened, I can't give up on it! I have taken 10 minutes trying to fasten a bracelet. A couple of times I just slipped it in my pocket and had Melinda fasten it for me at work.












I just can't seem to shake that compulsive behavior around my accessories no matter how late I am running! I think that has something to do with the quote from Steel Magnolias: "The only thing that separates us from the animals is our ability to accessorize."















Well, here I am running late and still I have to finish the Blog. I have to find just the right pictures and format them and paste them in and...well, I will probably be a few minutes late to work again this morning.







Have a great day!
Love,
Suz

Morning Folks - Twelve Steps to Robert Louis Stevenson

Anyone can carry his burden, however hard, until nightfall. Anyone can do his work, however hard, for one day. Anyone can live sweetly, patiently, lovingly, purely, till the sun goes down. And this is all life really means. ~Robert Louis Stevenson



















I think I might write this Stevenson quote and hang it up on my wall, if I get around to it.
This Scottish son of a lighthouse engineer was born just about 100 years before I was born and died the year my grandmother was born. He wrote such varied works as A Child's Garden of Verses and the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. He was sickly most of life having battled tuberculosis as a child. He was a lawyer who never practiced law.
He spent parts of his life in Edinburgh, Napa, CA and Hawaii, where he became close friends with the King of Hawaii.





His life ended when he suffered a cerebral hemmorage at the age of 44 on his plantation called Valima in Samoa, where he was as a tribal leader. His tribe had given him the name Tusitala which means'storyteller'. In his will he bequeathed his birthday of November 13th to a girl named Annie Ide who had been born on Christmas Day.



Valima, today



This particular quote makes me think that Bill W. and Dr. Bob might have read Stevenson at some time in their lives. Is there a more beautiful way to say "One Day at a Time? Just for today, I think I will try to live sweetly, patiently, lovingly and purely-especially with myself. I think I can handle that for a day. How about you?

Have a great day.
Love,
Suz

Morning Folks 03 02 06

Houses by Joyce Kilmer
(For his wife, Aline)

When you shall die and to the sky
Serenely, delicately go,
Saint Peter, when he sees you there,
Will clash his keys and say:
“Now talk to her, Sir Christopher!
And hurry, Michelangelo!
She wants to play at building,
And you’ve got to help her play!”

Every architect will help erect
A palace on a lawn of cloud,
With rainbow beams and a sunset roof,
And a level star-tiled floor;
And at your will you may use the skill
Of this gay angelic crowd,
When a house is made you will throw it down,

And they’ll build you twenty more.

For Christopher Wren and these other men
Who used to build on earth
Will love to go to work again
If they may work for you.
“This porch,” you’ll say, “should go this way!”
And they’ll work for all they’re worth,
And they’ll come to your palace every morning,
And ask you what to do.

And when night comes down on Heaven-town
(If there should be night up there)
You will choose the house you like the best
Of all that you can see:
And its walls will glow as you drowsily go
To the bed up the golden stair,
And I hope you’ll be gentle enough to keep
A room in your house for me.


Love,
Suz