Well, it's official. I've made it to the big time! I'm sure you've been wondering when I'd get the news. But I did. Finally. I have been invited to be included in the 2012 Edition of Who's Who Among Executives and Professionals. Big. Time. Baby. Cue the applause sign. Lights. Jazz hands. Something. This is big!
This published book is so elite. So competitive. The true "who's who" that everyone wants to be named in. Well, except, it's not so elite. Not so competitive. Not so "who's who." I mean, honestly, I haven't worked full-time in a professional manner for 8 1/2 years. And, I wasn't exactly an executive at that point!
Last year, about this time, I kept getting the survey. You're supposed to fill it out and return it for the book. And send money of course to buy your very own copy. And several for your closest friends and family to see your accomplishment! On the form, I had to document my job. What I did in a given day. I basically had to write a job description. I should have saved what I submitted. It was truly "Who's Who" worthy. Because, I am the president of the Moon Household Enterprises. I am also the chief financial officer, the purchaser, the head chef, activity coordinator, teacher, interior decorator, gardener, event coordinator, nurse, oh, let's be honest, the list is long for all moms. So, obviously, I filled out the form to be funny. To make a point to the publisher. Maybe they should do a tiny bit of research before picking the prestigious group of people to be included. But, get this. The people from Who's Who called me. No joke. They read the submission in all seriousness. Cannot make this stuff up! The man on the other line then began to ask me how much time I spent on each activity. What percentage of your time is spent as the purchaser? CEO? On and on. I laughed and answered him. I finally had to stop the poor guy and say, "Seriously? I'm a stay-at-home mom. Can you not see that?" The guy was dumb founded and just said, "so you were joking on this form?" Um, not really, it's all completely factual. But, yes, can you please remove me from your esteemed publication?
Then, I got the e-mail again this week. I am to be included in the 2012 Addition. Can you believe the absurdity of it? Too bad there's not really Who's Who publications for real things, like Moms or PTO volunteers, etc. Oh, wait, we're all too busy doing the work to take time to fill out the forms to be included.
So, I hate to disappoint all of you. But I will unfortunately not be submitting my information into the book this year. I know, it's sad. But, I'm sure I'll have another opportunity next year. Don't worry, you may still buy the book anyways. It is a premier source for networking, apparently.
Thursday, April 26, 2012
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Revelations of a stay-at-home mom
People nowadays are constantly saying, "kids these days....they're so rude, they don't have any manners." Well, you know what I think? I think the problem is really the adults. And not just young adults - people my age, my parents' age, and my grandparents' age. Who do you think the kids learn these things from? Over the last year it seems like I've seen more of the ugly side of people than anyone should. I will give you a few examples.
* On a side note, I will try to only give "anonymous" examples from people that are not facebook friends that read this blog. But let's be honest, some of the people who are the rudest, who speak to us with such a sense of entitlement and expectations and use that nasty tone in their e-mails are often those facebook "friends" themselves. *
Example 1: At our neighborhood Easter egg hunt we ask that parents drop off a dozen candy-filled eggs for any child who wants to participate. Then we have some great neighbors that don't have young children but still donate extra eggs. By the time we get to the hunt we have enough eggs for each kid to find around 20. Good deal, right? Provide 12, get 20. That's a better investment return than you're going to find most places. There are also 10 eggs with tokens in them indicating the child won a prize (donated by the HOA) Most of the families were happy about that. But one family in particular went away very upset. You see, their children walked away with 20 eggs for one child and 15 eggs for the other. They were sure a few of the children took more than they were supposed to. And yep, that always happens when parents don't monitor their children. But, still that family walked away with 35 eggs after providing 24. Good deal still. But, they didn't win a prize. Most kids didn't. Only 10 did. But they didn't, so they were very upset. Not just the two kids, but the parents too. RUDE. Not grateful that for four years I've taken my own time to plan a neighborhood event - doing something fun that helps create a sense of community in our neighborhood. Nope, they didn't get enough eggs or a $5 gift card to McDonald's. Geesh.
Example 2: Our PTO hosts a 1 mile, 2 mile, and 5K fun run in the fall to raise money for our school. It's our sole fundraiser for the year and it takes an unbelievable amount of hours to prepare for. Seriously. Crazy amount of work. In preparation for the event we send home numerous fliers, e-mails, update our website, etc. with details for parents. And then this year one woman walked up at the beginning of the event and was quite upset. She was bringing a child to the 1 mile event and she wasn't sure what time it started so she showed up at the beginning of the day.
Well, it's August folks. In Kansas. The 1 mile kiddie run is our last event of the day because it's short. And we schedule the longer races for the morning with our more serious runners who will get out of bed early for a run because it can easily be crazy hot later in the morning. Besides, what parents really want their kids to have to be somewhere by 7am? Not this parent! This lady was furious she was early. She said we hadn't done enough to let her know what time to show up. Apparently fliers, e-mails, website updates, newspaper stories, etc. weren't enough. Maybe we should have personally called her house. I don't know. But seriously, she really ripped into some of our volunteers because she didn't bother to look for the details.
Those are just the more brash people who are rude directly to your face. While it's more shocking, it's not as common as the person who is rude over the computer. The person who e-mails you in an incredibly nasty tone when they could have said the same thing a dozen different ways and gotten a much better result. Seriously, don't people reread their e-mails before pushing send? Tone is important. Am I right?
So, the next time you blame the misguided youth on their bad attitudes, lack of respect, bad manners, and general rudeness, think about who they learned that from. It's the adults folks. And be a better example. Be nice. Be respectful. Show a little love. A little joy. Some peace. Patience. Kindness. Some goodness. Faithfulness. A little gentleness, and self control people! It seems like pretty good advice to me!
* On a side note, I will try to only give "anonymous" examples from people that are not facebook friends that read this blog. But let's be honest, some of the people who are the rudest, who speak to us with such a sense of entitlement and expectations and use that nasty tone in their e-mails are often those facebook "friends" themselves. *
Example 1: At our neighborhood Easter egg hunt we ask that parents drop off a dozen candy-filled eggs for any child who wants to participate. Then we have some great neighbors that don't have young children but still donate extra eggs. By the time we get to the hunt we have enough eggs for each kid to find around 20. Good deal, right? Provide 12, get 20. That's a better investment return than you're going to find most places. There are also 10 eggs with tokens in them indicating the child won a prize (donated by the HOA) Most of the families were happy about that. But one family in particular went away very upset. You see, their children walked away with 20 eggs for one child and 15 eggs for the other. They were sure a few of the children took more than they were supposed to. And yep, that always happens when parents don't monitor their children. But, still that family walked away with 35 eggs after providing 24. Good deal still. But, they didn't win a prize. Most kids didn't. Only 10 did. But they didn't, so they were very upset. Not just the two kids, but the parents too. RUDE. Not grateful that for four years I've taken my own time to plan a neighborhood event - doing something fun that helps create a sense of community in our neighborhood. Nope, they didn't get enough eggs or a $5 gift card to McDonald's. Geesh.
Example 2: Our PTO hosts a 1 mile, 2 mile, and 5K fun run in the fall to raise money for our school. It's our sole fundraiser for the year and it takes an unbelievable amount of hours to prepare for. Seriously. Crazy amount of work. In preparation for the event we send home numerous fliers, e-mails, update our website, etc. with details for parents. And then this year one woman walked up at the beginning of the event and was quite upset. She was bringing a child to the 1 mile event and she wasn't sure what time it started so she showed up at the beginning of the day.
Well, it's August folks. In Kansas. The 1 mile kiddie run is our last event of the day because it's short. And we schedule the longer races for the morning with our more serious runners who will get out of bed early for a run because it can easily be crazy hot later in the morning. Besides, what parents really want their kids to have to be somewhere by 7am? Not this parent! This lady was furious she was early. She said we hadn't done enough to let her know what time to show up. Apparently fliers, e-mails, website updates, newspaper stories, etc. weren't enough. Maybe we should have personally called her house. I don't know. But seriously, she really ripped into some of our volunteers because she didn't bother to look for the details.
Those are just the more brash people who are rude directly to your face. While it's more shocking, it's not as common as the person who is rude over the computer. The person who e-mails you in an incredibly nasty tone when they could have said the same thing a dozen different ways and gotten a much better result. Seriously, don't people reread their e-mails before pushing send? Tone is important. Am I right?
So, the next time you blame the misguided youth on their bad attitudes, lack of respect, bad manners, and general rudeness, think about who they learned that from. It's the adults folks. And be a better example. Be nice. Be respectful. Show a little love. A little joy. Some peace. Patience. Kindness. Some goodness. Faithfulness. A little gentleness, and self control people! It seems like pretty good advice to me!
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Easter.
Our Easter day was packed. Completely filled with church and family. We woke the kids up at 6am. YIKES! Who does that? But Chris was giving the meditation for the outdoor sunrise service. It was pretty chilly, so we went in jeans, coats and mittens. As Sam watched his Daddy, he slowly made his way over to him and then held his hand while he preached. Pretty stinkin' cute! Too bad I didn't have my regular camera with me, but luckily a friend's cell camera had zoom.
Then we went home and changed into our Easter outfits and tried to take family pictures. Why does that never go as easily as you would like? Four kids looking at the camera, eyes open, smiling. You'd think you could take one or two pictures and be good. It never works that way. But here are a couple of our better shots.
Then we headed back to church for first service, a breakfast, an egg hunt and second service.
It was a busy day. Frankly, it was an exhausting day. But we spent a lot of time with the kids focusing on why we celebrate Easter. Because it's not about us. It's not about egg hunts or family dinners or any of that. It's about Him. The amazing story of Christmas morning and the birth of that baby in a manger is just the beginning. You need the rest of the story. His life. His love. His grace. His forgiveness. That he would die on the cross for all of us. That he would rise again, conquering death and that one day he'll stretch out His arms and welcome us into heaven. WOW! So, we tried our best not to get caught up in how busy the day was and just focused on Him.
Then we went home and changed into our Easter outfits and tried to take family pictures. Why does that never go as easily as you would like? Four kids looking at the camera, eyes open, smiling. You'd think you could take one or two pictures and be good. It never works that way. But here are a couple of our better shots.
Then we headed back to church for first service, a breakfast, an egg hunt and second service.
Next on to Grammy's house for lunch and an egg hunt. Home for a quick nap. And over to Papa's house for dinner. The kids were practically asleep while we did prayer time, and as soon as their heads hit their pillows they were out.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Newsboys Concert
Last night Chris and I went to the Newsboys "God's Not Dead" concert. Very cool. They were the first Christian concert I went to back in high school. If you don't count seeing Carmen when I was a kid! Who else remembers Carmen and his soap opera song? Good times.
Our youth group went to the Wichita Cotillion and saw them in concert with DC Talk back in 1994. Now, I honestly had no idea who they were at the time. I grew up in Dodge City and we had plenty of country radio stations, but that was about it. For some reason, our youth group got to sit down with the Newsboys and talk to them. How does that happen? I have no idea. Maybe we were just super early sitting around waiting and they humored a bunch of small town kids. But, how cool was that? I was, of course, awestruck by the Australian accents, but still had no idea who they really were.
So, last night we went to the concert. We were in section 1, row B, seats 10, 11. Yep, second row! And, the three seats in front of us were empty. Why? I have no idea, but we had a great view! Here are a couple of my pictures. Since Chris and I are still a few years back in technology, I have an old cell phone (no Internet) and no zoom on my camera. So this shows you how close we really were to the band.
Our youth group went to the Wichita Cotillion and saw them in concert with DC Talk back in 1994. Now, I honestly had no idea who they were at the time. I grew up in Dodge City and we had plenty of country radio stations, but that was about it. For some reason, our youth group got to sit down with the Newsboys and talk to them. How does that happen? I have no idea. Maybe we were just super early sitting around waiting and they humored a bunch of small town kids. But, how cool was that? I was, of course, awestruck by the Australian accents, but still had no idea who they really were.
So, last night we went to the concert. We were in section 1, row B, seats 10, 11. Yep, second row! And, the three seats in front of us were empty. Why? I have no idea, but we had a great view! Here are a couple of my pictures. Since Chris and I are still a few years back in technology, I have an old cell phone (no Internet) and no zoom on my camera. So this shows you how close we really were to the band.
Chris also caught a guitar pick that the guitarist through into the audience. I didn't see any others thrown, so I think this was the only one. Awesome!
What a great evening!
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