Working on the Weekend - Just Say No!

Do you work on the weekend? I hope not. I try to avoid it as I think it sets a bad precedent, but sometimes it can't be avoided.

 Today is not one of those days. It's a beautiful Sunday afternoon and I'm sitting around the house with nothing to do. Blair is off at the land, doing manly things like chopping trees and cutting brush. I got up early and went for a 6 mile run this morning and am now stiff and achy (running hard and not stretching out afterward will do that to you) which is why I opted not to accompany him. I'm running through projects in my mind and kind of leaning toward turning on my laptop and knocking some work out. Except on general principle, if work doesn't HAVE to be done on the weekend, I don't think it should be. Weekends are for relaxing and rejuvenating so we can come back to our desks refreshed and ready to hit it, come Monday morning. If I chose to work today, I may make great progress on some jobs, but chances are I will feel less than excited to be at my desk at 6 AM tomorrow.

(A brief explanation: I often get up and go straight to my desk and start working. That way I get a couple of hours of work in and then I go exercise around 8 or 9, when I'm already 3 hours into the day and ready for a mental break. I also feel less guilty about taking 2 hours out of prime work time to run, shower, and get dressed if I've already made up the time by being at my desk early. A little quid pro quo...)

I have a number of small projects to complete this week. I've got two 500-word business profiles to write up from visits I've made, two 600-word articles on running I'm writing for a web site (LOVE this assignment!), web site content for a very fun new client, and a rough draft to pull together for my next Art Jewelry column.  Plus--augh!--I promised a client a proposal that I have GOT to pull together, preferably tomorrow. 

I love these small projects. It's fun to sit down and finesse 6oo words versus pulling together a 2,000 word article. Time goes quickly and the bonus this week is that I have a real interest in every subject I'm writing on. That doesn't always happen and I'm in the enviable position of being eager to spend time on each project.

I think... no work today. Perhaps I'll try to loosen my muscles with a walk around town. Then there are always cats to be hugged and books to be read and--if I get truly desperate--I've got a closet full of cleaning supplies.  Just call me a girl who knows how to have a good time.

Alas, No Trophy...

While I thank everyone for their well wishes, I'm sorry to have to announce I didn't place in the contest. There were 5 of us competing and the top 2 simply outspoke me--fantastic speeches that just blew me away. Third place was probably up for grabs among the remaining 3, but I would have called it the way the judges did if I had been scoring.

Here's the question we were asked (and btw, I drew the slot to go first): "When we're 5, we dream of being a teacher or a fireman. When we're 15, we dream of being a rock star. Explain to us why you now would choose...to be a shoe."

You betcha. I think I had good energy and presence but my speech organization was lacking as I just kind of winged thoughts out there. Basically, I talked about running marathons and shoe being a support structure--different supports for different people--to take you where you wanted to go in life. Blah, blah, blah.

The winning speech was by an attorney who launched into this inspirational speech about walking in the shoes of the average American and it was/is the shoes of these workers that makes our nation the great and prosperous it is today where ALL men are created equal... you can see why his speech trumped my "like, shoes are like, totally necessary, for real" speech. =)

It was still fun and I'm glad I did it. Thanks for everyone's thoughts and well wishes for the contest!

Table Topics Contest This Evening

Everyone wish me luck! This weekend is our Districts annual Spring Conference, being held in Charlotte. The Table Topics (impromptu speaking) contest I'm participating in is tonight at 6:30. I'm driving down with a friend and we're coming home after the contest.

The great thing about impromptu speaking is that there's not a lot of prep work. I might try to memorize a few all purpose quotes later today, but even that's iffy. I'm not really a quote-spouting type person. I much prefer to use humor. However, not every question lends itself to humor, especially at the higher levels of competition where it seems the questions always focus more on "What 3 things would you change about today's school system?" or "In the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings, what can be done to reach out earlier to troubled teens?" type topics.

This is the last level of competition so win or lose, it ends today. Blair offered to attend the contest but I think having him there would be the one thing that would make me nervous, so he's staying home and just sending me good thoughts, as I know all of you are.

Pray for a question that allows a funny answer. =) - Dena

Paid In Fudge

It's like God dreamed up a work assignment just for me. Tomorrow morning, I visit a homemade fudge/candy factory to write a business profile for an area magazine. How happy am I? Breakfast, Dena? No thank you, I'm on my way to my assignment at the fudge factory.

Of course, there's no guarantee I'll be offered fudge. But I feel a little taste testing is essential to my job of reporting the whole story. I'd hate to come up short.

The store is almost two hours from where I live, but I'm being comped for my time.  Plus, the weather here is fantastic this week--80 degrees, sunny, no humidity. Perfect for a drive to Virginia and a drive back home with fudge.

Hard sometimes to believe I get paid for this...