Secret Santa Shenanigans

I can't even tell  you how much I love the week of Secret Santa at work.

I pulled the name of the office geek and had so much fun putting his gifts together.  I had help from another geek who had great ideas and I think everything was perfect.  I wish I had taken pictures.  He received Star Wars Duck Tape, a Captain America key chain, a Star Fleet decal, and an Agents of S.H,I.E.L,D,S. patch.  And, the best one of all, Spock socks with ears that stuck out.  They were so amazing.  He has already worn them and he actually had a Star Trek shirt that matched them.

My Secret Santa was Ben.  His wife, Jen, helped him put his goodies together and they did an amazing job!  I can't even tell you.  

On Monday, I received an entire bag of Almond Joys!

There was a questionnaire that asked if you would like one big gift or smaller gifts throughout the week.  I said that I wanted to be surprised.  So, Ben, waited until Thursday and made a big drop. I received all of my favorites -- Mint M&M's (I love these so much), note cards, gel pens, cute socks and a mug.

On Friday, we had our big reveal.  I received a gift card to Chick-fil-a!  Ben's wife, Jennifer, knows how much I love Chick-fil-a!  I eat there so often that they know my order by heart.  (6 count kids meal with a bottled water and BBQ sauce.)

Secret Santa week is the best!  I love playing Secret Santa and I love the sweet gifts that my Secret Santa left behind.

Tacky Sweater!

Friday was one my most favorite days of the year-- Tacky Sweater Day!  It was said that I looked like the mom from Home Alone.  It seems like you can almost hear me yelling, "Kevin!!"

30 Days of Gratitude - Day 18

I am so thankful for Nouveau Eyewear!  I am thankful for the fun projects that I get to work on, the amazing people that I get to work with and for the times that I have been able to travel to fun places.  I have had the opportunity to learn new things and meet new people.

The photo shoot with Logan might be one of my all time favorite projects...

30 Days of Gratitude - Day 15

I am thankful for my planner!  I already have my 2016 planner and I have logged in all the important dates for church, home, work and school.  Now, if I were this organized in ALL aspects of my life.

Me and the Boys

The boys and I attended Fred's company picnic this weekend.  I'll be honest.  I went against my will.  It was at Sandy Lake Amusement Park.  I think they should consider removing the word Amusement from their name.  Seriously.  They should.

In the end, I was glad we went, because I've been on a lucky streak lately.  I've been winning lots of stuff at work. It's been pretty exciting.  I never win anything.  Unless you count the Nouveau bowling tournament the night before Jessie was born.  And, it might not have been worth it. Okay, it most definitely wasn't worth it, because we ended up at the hospital the next morning.  I think we won a gift certificate to a restaurant that we weren't able to use for a very long time, because we ended up with a newborn ahead of schedule.  But, I digress.  Where I was going with this whole winning streak  thing is that we won a 40" Smart TV that we can put in our bedroom, so that I can watch Netflix! 

They fed us barbecue and we sat around talking while there was face painting and games.  Then we were given 30 tickets a piece for rides.  Plus, there must have been extra tickets, because Fred and Jonathan each ended up with an additional 30 tickets.  Jonathan was excited about the Spider.  Let me tell you, I remember the Spider getting closed down when I was young, because someone lost their lunch.  I didn't want to be bad sport, but every ride went around and around.  I don't do those kind of rides because they make me quite sick.  I'm more of a light roller coaster girl.  Think Judge Roy Scream at Six Flags.  I went one time on the Spider with Fred.  There was too much of a weight difference.  Our bucket/car thingy was spinning and spinning.  I think I felt my barbecue in my throat.  Jonathan used all of his tickets on the Spider.  He stayed in and just kept giving the guy ticket after ticket.  I thought I was going to die.  It took me all evening to recover.  I took Dramamine when I got home to help with upset stomach that I still had.  Went in a dark, quiet room and went to bed.  Clearly, I am an old woman.

I hope that I never have to go back to that place ever... unless they're giving away TVs!

CFA Cow Appreciation Day

So... some friends talk you in to doing stupid things.  Usually, that is my friend Angela.  However, when it comes to Cow Appreciation Day at Chick-fil-a, that would be my co-workers.  They look forward to their free food and dressing up all year long.  I don't know how I get talked into this crazy day, but I go... every single time.  All for a free meal.

Twenty and Counting

This picture was taken at a company event just a few short weeks after I started

Today is my twentieth anniversary at Nouveau.  My how time flies.  Don't start doing the math, but here is how it all stacks up.  I had been out of college exactly one year when I started at Nouveau.  One month after I hired on here, I celebrated my first wedding anniversary.  Fourteen months after I started, I had my first child.

I pretty much experienced every one of my firsts right here at Nouveau!  My first time to take a trip on an airplane.  You guessed it.  Headed to Bentonville.  By myself.  I remember being so worried about finding the right gate that I forgot to be worried about the flight itself.  Turns out that I'm not a nervous flyer.  Just one that suffers from a little nausea.  The entire flight I prayed that I wouldn't throw up.

My first time to pass out?  Trip to Atlanta for a Walmart meeting.  We were waiting for our table at dinner and I apparently lost consciousness for a few minutes.  I had a real Steel Magnolias moment, because one of the ladies we were traveling with advised that they have me drink orange juice.  Only, I am not diabetic and I wasn't going all Shelby on them.  I was just sitting there calmly trying to figure out how I ended up on the floor.  I was also checking to make sure that I was not wearing a dress, because that would be so embarrassing.  My co-workers were hungry.  When our table was ready, they just pulled me up off the floor and walked me to the table and fed me some steak.  No visit to the doctor.  They did call my room periodically to make sure that I was still alive.  Oh, and they made me call Fred and tell him what happen.  His response?  "So?  What am I supposed to do?"  I love that man.  He really tells it like it is on most days.

I developed and broke a hard core Coke habit while working here.  We're talking HARD CORE.  I lived for my Cokes.  I don't even know how many I drank a day.  Cokes are a quarter a piece at this amazing company.  They were a quarter on the day that I walked into the old building on Chennault 20 years ago and they are still a quarter today.  Do you know what that means?  One dollar and I have FOUR Cokes, people!  Years ago, I decided to break the habit, because I drank so many it was ridiculous.  Now, I only have an Excedrin habit.   I feel you judging me.  Please don't.

I have seen my babies grow up.  One is about to be 19 and the other is 15.  I have seen my co-workers' babies grow up.  I have seen sweet friends pass away and the family members of friends pass away.

I've said goodbye to so many good, good friends as they've moved on to new adventures.  That is always so hard.  I miss so many of the people that I've worked with through the years, but I know that they are doing bigger and better things.  I am grateful for their friendship and for all the time that we worked together.  I am grateful for all that they taught me.

I said goodbye to Pat and Evan.  The amazing couple that founded Nouveau.  They taught me so many things.  I enjoyed working with Pat and learning from her.  Most everything I know, I feel that I learned from her.  I owe so much to her.

I am so thankful for where Nouveau is today.  For the wonderful people that I work with and the fun projects that I get to work on each and everyday.  I am so blessed to have had the opportunity to have spent the last 20 years right here.

Welcome!

A couple of weeks ago, I had the opportunity to put together a welcome basket for a new intern at my office.  Can I just say that everyone should get a welcome basket when they start at a new company.  I think I got a TorsionBridge note cube.  TorsionBridge was a feature on our Van Heusen men's frames.  They made about 5 billion note cubes so everyone had one at their desk.  We had so many that I pretty much hate those TorsionBridge note cubes and hope I never see another one.

I had so much fun putting Cameron's welcome basket together.  None of us had met her yet, so I just hoped that she liked all of my favorite things.  Fun post-it-notes, pretty post-it-flags, cute sharpies, designer file folders, adorable notebooks and spirals.  And, let's not forget... Flair pens and a welcome card signed by the team.

I wish I was crafty and had tons of money.  All of my friends would receive a gift basket from me pretty much every day.  How fun would that be?

That Time I Lost My Wedding Ring Forever

After I had Jessie, I found that I had about ten pounds to lose.  Then I started taking migraine meds and I gained a ton of weight.  I began a long journey with my weight.  I don't even like to look at the pictures.  Only once have I been truly happy with my weight and that was about 1 1/2 years ago when I was about 11 pounds less than I am right now.  I don't even know how to get there again, so we won't even talk about it.

What we will talk about are my rings.  My wedding band and engagement ring were soldered together, so it was super wide.  My fingers had gotten a little pudgy during my weight battle, plus they often swell at night. When my rings started getting tighter it became really troublesome.  I would wake up in a complete panic, because my already pudgy fingers would be swollen and I couldn't get my ring off and I would just completely freak out.  Finally, I just completely stopped wearing my rings.  At first, I didn't wear a ring, but felt weird, so I started wearing my grandmother's ring that was sized down.  You know, I had to let all those interested men know that I was married.  Because, there were so many that were lined up...

I wore my grandmother's ring until it fell apart, because it was really old. I decided that my fingers weren't so pudgy anymore and that I could start wearing my old set.  I went to pull it out.  One problem.  It was gone.  How do you tell your husband that you lost your ring?  You know, the one that he paid for with a Zales credit card when he was like 20 years old and had no money!  So, we literally sifted through everything in our entire house and it did not turn up.  To this very day, we have no idea where it is.

At the office, we used to have this guy named Mikey that would come by about once a week with an envelope of jewelry.  The women would rush back to where he was and gather around to look at what he had to offer.  So, one day, I bought one of Mikey's rings for about $250 and paid it off in installments of $25 or $50 a week until it was paid off.  It was about a size 10.  It was way too big for my finger and the jewelry store had a hard time sizing it down properly.  But, all the eligible men in town knew that I was taken.

Fast forward to this week, I was at the Walmart with a couple of co-workers on a field trip for work.  We stumbled on some wedding sets.  I kid you not, I tried one on that was $8.88.  Fred Fortenberry can never know that Walmart sells them at the bargain basement price of less than $10.  He would never have let me buy a ring from Big Mike.   Nothing says love like an $8.88 ring, but I guess you're thinking-- nothing says love like a ring bought out of an envelope and paid for in installments, so I can't judge!  Even thought we've literally turned my entire house upside down, I still have hope that my ring turns up one day.

P.S. There are many typos in this post!  So sorry!  

Anne with an e

Kindred spirits are not so scarce as I used to think.

It's splendid to find there are so many of them in the world.

Is it wrong (and just a little bit weird) that I told my family that I wanted the Anne of Green Gables trilogy for Mother's Day?

It all started when a co-worker complimented my personalized note cards.  I told her that we were kindred spirits like Anne Shirley and Diana Barry.  She exclaimed that she loved those movies.  We asked the other women if they knew Anne Shirley and they were confused.  However, one was our kindred spirit.  Not only did she know Anne, Diana and Gilbert, but her husband gave her the set for Christmas.

So, now we go around calling each other kindred spirits -- it's like we're in a secret club since the others don't know what we're talking about.  I sort of want to read the books, too.  Because the books were even more amazing than the movies.

It's like stepping back into 1985 for me.  I want these movies bad.  And, I'm making Jessie watch them, too!  I am, you can bet on it.

30 Days of Gratitude - Day 21

I love this crazy place that I work.  This is an old picture and many of the faces have changed, but I love the people that I work with.  I have been at Nouveau 19 years.  So much has changed over the years, but I am glad to be here.

Just Shoot Me

This is what I did today.  For about two minutes, I accidentally drooled.  Then I remembered I was a professional (and married) and I pulled it together.  And, then I realized I was seventeen years old the year he was born and I felt icky.  The women at the shoot were losing their minds and the ones back at the office were anxiously awaiting pictures.  It was crazy.  It was pretty much the most exciting Friday ever.  I think we should have a photo shoot every single Friday!

Greetings from Texas

What do you do when your co-worker takes a 2-week trip to China?  Send her an awesome email letting her know that the team misses her!

Cow Appreciation Day

Did you know that peer pressure exists even at my age?  Boys and girls, you should not let your friends talk you into anything that you don't want to do.  Otherwise, you could end up dressed like a cow trying to get free Chick-fil-a on Cow Appreciation Day.  Now only do you end up dressed like a cow, but you also end up on your company's Facebook page.  Is it really worth the free meal.  For some of us, we simply used the cow kit that Chick-fil-a offers that you can print out.  Others in the group make this day a huge event.  They invest in supplies to make homemade shirts and cute little headbands. To me, investing all this money defeats the purpose of getting a free meal.  However, this is more than a free meal to them.  For me, it is a day where I completely embarrass myself.

Tie One On

To get this story started, let me give you a little background.  I work for Nouveau Eyewear and we are a licensee of Van Heusen.  You might have seen their men's shirts and ties at JCPenneys and Kohls.

I received this FedEx package at work addressed to me from PVH (the parent company for Van Heusen).  I thought it was odd, but not out of the ordinary.  I thought the tie was for us to use in our display at Vision Expo (a trade show in New York).  The tie would need to be sent overnight for the show and I had already sent two, so I wasn't sure it was all that necessary.  So, I sent this picture to my boss and asked him if he really wanted the tie sent.  The entire time I kept thinking, "that tie sure would match our Easter outfits."

I noticed there was a packing list attached to the outside of the envelope, so I cracked it open and realized that it was Jonathan's Easter tie!  So, I guess that tie really did match our Easter outfits.  I had to text my boss back and let him know that he couldn't use the tie for our Van Heusen display. I guess JCPenney was out of stock and had it dropshipped from PVH.  And, that is what I get for ordering our Easter clothes online and for not paying attention.

Happy Hysterectomy

On January 7, I joined the bazillions of other women that have had a hysterectomy.  I was fortunate to bounce back quickly.  I was back at work one week after my surgery.  However, I am ready to have my energy back and to feel really good.  I am tired of having aches and pains and feeling sluggish.  Although, I shouldn’t complain, because I have had it really easy compared to a lot of other women.  I tried to workout ten days post surgery.  I was proud of myself.  I kept up with the class for the entire hour and didn’t take a single break.  I was careful when we worked our core, though.  And, let me tell you, I was exhausted and tired at the end.  I decided to take it easy since then and just now started trying to ease back into exercise. 

I am so thankful for Fred and the kids.  They were sweet and took great care of me.  By the end of the week, the laundry and dishes were piled up and they seemed very confused.  I guess Mom can only be down for a couple of days.  I had wonderful friends that checked on me at the hospital and dropped by my house.   My parents brought dinner one day and enlisted the kids to help with some chores.  There were sweet text messages and my friends from Nouveau sent me a fruit basket and an awesome card with Brinker’s gift cards.  I am very blessed to have such wonderful people in my life.

The week before going into surgery, I talked to my nurse at the doctor’s office.  Her exact words before hanging up were, “Happy Hysterectomy!”  I don’t know about all that!  I’m just glad it is over and that I am on the mend!  Thanks to my family, friends and co-workers that picked up the slack and did extra work while I was down and checked on me!  I appreciate you.

Team Fitts - A True Story

Sorry for the repeat picture - but I don't have any pictures of myself.

 

 

I joined the Biggest Loser contest at work.  I hadn't planned to, but one of my fellow co-workers, Scott Pitts, needed a partner and asked if I would help him out.  I couldn't say no, could I?  So, once I decided to join, I joined with gusto.  We are less than a week into it and we have a long way to go.  I hope we survive this journey.  There are 7 teams participating.

 

Initial weigh-in was Monday and the follow-up weigh-in was Thursday.  Then we will continue to weigh-in every Thursday through November.  Many of us downloaded an app called "Lose It."  I plugged in my height and starting weight.  Then it asked me for my goal weight.  I decided to put in a goal weight that would be fun to work toward.  Then it asked me how many pounds I wanted to lose each week.  Your choices were 1, 1 1/2 and 2 pounds.  I thought, "What the heck, let's choose 2 pounds."  No kidding, this app told me that I could only have 762 calories!  (Thankfully, I get to add calories in for working out.)

 

So, for 4 days I lived on lettuce, carrots and tomatoes.  I weighed in and had lost 3 pounds.  I had followed my old Weight Watcher tricks on weigh-in day.  Don't eat or drink before your weigh-in and make sure you weigh-in on an empty bladder and wear lightweight clothes.  Scott had a big loss, too.  Therefore, Team Fitts (get it... combine Fortenberry and Pitts to make Fitts) was the big winner for the week. 

 

Okay, here is where it gets crazy.  After my weigh-in, I got busy and didn't have breakfast  Then, I had a late lunch.  When I finally sat down to have my rabbit food for lunch I was starving.  My hands were shaking.  I had my light balsamic vinaigrette dressing in a tiny Rubbermaid container.  I couldn't get the lid off.  I was holding it in my lap trying to pry the lid off when it finally opened.  And, you guessed it, the dressing sloshed all over the front of my dress.  I ran to the bathroom and did a pretty good job of cleaning up my dress, but it had soaked through to my underwear. It felt like I had wet my pants.  I am not sure what was worse.  Wet underwear or smelling like a salad all day? 

 

How do these things happen to me?

My Favorite Things: Duck Commander Sunglasses

If you like Duck Dynasty, and let's face it who doesn't like Duck Dynasty, then you will love Duck Commander sunglasses.  $38 at your local Walmart Vision Center - what's not to love about that?  They feature Realtree camo, because the Duck Commander guys only wear Realtree camo.  All the outdoorsmen and women wear Realtree camo, too.  It's a fact, Jack.  Karin is wearing the D611 in black.  Jessica has that  sunglass and it looks super cute on her.  I wish I had a picture, because it is a-dor-able, I tell ya!  I'm wearing the D610 in gunmetal (also comes in gold).  The other models are all very sporty.  Fred has a sporty pair.  They were in his stocking.  Duck Commander sunglasses make this family, Happy Happy Happy!  (You just had to know that I would get as many Phil-ims and Si-ims in there as possible.)

My Favorite Things: iPhone and Social Media

I can't tell you how much I love my iPhone! It is attached to me at all times, but not in a holster type thing.  I can't rock that look. I love all electronics, actually.  I love my laptop and my Kindle. And, I absolutely love all things Social Media.  I adore my blog.  I enjoy spending time on Facebook and Twitter.  I like to take pictures and post them on Instagram.  And, let us not forget Pinterest.  Oh, how I love to find great recipes and ideas for church on Pinterest.

As much as I love Social Media, is it any wonder that I have been put in charge of our Social Media efforts at work?  For the sake of "work," I am constantly perusing all sorts of sites.  

I guess you could say I am dedicated to my work.  I think my Facebooking, Tweeting, Instagramming and Pinning deserves a raise!

Season of Joy: Day 7

Marketing's "Snowman"

 

Our Party Committee is on a budget, so they decided that a no-cost, fun activity would be to have each department decorate a snowman.  Marketing donated the paper to the committee and they drew out snowmen for each department to work with.  The object was for each team to decorate their snowman and hang them in the hallway outside the break room.  Many of the teams used some of our new brand launches for their inspiration and we chose to do the same.  Yes, our "snowman" is computer generated.  However, if you turn him over, you will find the original snowman that we were given to work with.  Some teams think we cheated, but I think each department worked with the tools that they had available.   We just happened to have a Mac and an artist!