In other news, good things do happen to people occasionally....

I just read this and it is so full of interesting, I just had to replicate it like old school LJ.

From a management perspective, I think Lucky Break is the funnest, most useful employee tool I've ever heard of. From an employee perspective. FUN!!

And while traveling is really not my thing at all anymore, even I could get into One Backpack, X Planes, X Time Zones...

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Originally posted by anigo at In other news, good things do happen to people occasionally....

On Thursday I fly to Morocco. Actually, I fly to Montreal and then to Frankfurt and end up in Morocco Friday afternoon, but those are just silly details. It's our annual One Backpack, X Planes, X Time Zones trip where a friend and I pick an unusual location and go away for a weekend. (OK, weekend plus a bit of travel time.) We've done Paris (true, not that unusual), Guatemala and Latvia so far. Don't knock it. If you go on shoulder seasons and pick cute little boutique hotels it's actually not as expensive as you think. In fact, so far they've all been cheaper than spending the weekend in Vegas - our benchmark.

For this trip, I took Thursday, Friday and Tuesday off as vacation days (Monday's a holiday) for our trip - cutting desperately into my Christmas vacation, but whaddaya do?

Bear with me here while I take you down a seemingly unrelated path for a minute... Our Department at work does something called Lucky Break. Lucky Break is an initiative that awards a lucky employee with 2 days off with pay, and a $50 visa gift card. But you have to take those two days off in the week the winner is announced. This does two things. First, it is a nice present for somebody, and in theory, increases engagement. Second, it also means you can't work in a silo because you HAVE to take those two days off, so you have to make sure you can hand shit off to others when your name is picked. This helps create a nice cross functional team.

This morning I found out that I was our department's "Lucky Break" winner for November. So not only do I get Thursday and Friday back as vacation days, they're giving me $50 to spend at the airport bar while I wait.

The only thing string attached is that I have to document what I do on those two days and share it with the team.

Ahyep, I can do that.

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Monday

I usually have 5-7 swimsuits in rotation at all times. I like the variety. In the past few days, I've had two of the current batch reach EOF (End of Life). The spandex just goes. And one day you slide into the water and just feel the fabric flapping on your ass. Today was the day for the one on the far right. The one next to it is about one swim away from butt flapping.



Periodically spandextworld.com has a sale and I scarf up whatever looks fun and is $8 or less. (It takes one yard to make a suit.) I thought I had a couple of unused yards in the stash. I just looked and I actually have 4! I forgot about the time, not long ago, when Goodwill had a couple of contenders that I picked up for $2 each! I keep lining and elastic on hand. So... one of these days soon, I'll be beefing up the suit inventory again.

But not today. Today I have other projects ahead of this. I want to start the patchwork for the coat. And I need to get my sewing patterns organized electronically. I have been dumping them into a folder on my Google drive but that's kind of getting to be a hoarder's closet floor. I have some ideas but I need to knuckle down and get a system. I got two new patterns this morning and they are going to get lost and forgotten if I don't get my pattern shit together.

I was delighted to discover this morning that the end of daylight savings time did not cut out my comfy dark mornings. For some reason that almost makes no sense, I love my nighttime mornings. Leaving in the dark, swimming in the dark (the pool has gynormous windows on two sides) and coming home in the dark. I was afraid that I'd hit daybreak before I got home. Nope. Yeah!

The non-make things I'd like to do today are:
1. take my ballot to the ballot box or put a stamp on it and mail it.
2. get come ATM cash
3. pick up my hold book at the library
4. make a small grocery store run (I'm running out of hot chocolate!)

Tomorrow would work for any of it. And I may split it up. 1 and 3 tomorrow, 2 and 4 today.

I found a new list of questions for So Susan, entries. I'm getting a little weary of nothing but sewing/knitting/swimming entries. Here's a group that might be fun to write about:

650 Prompts

143.Is Your Bedroom a Nightmare?
144.What is Your Favorite Place in Your House?
145.How Important Is Keeping a Clean House?
146.Do You Need to De-Clutter Your Life?
147.Do You Plan on Saving Any of Your Belongings for
the Future?
148.With Your Home in Danger, What Would You Try to
Save?
149.What Would You Grab in a Fire?
150.What Would You Put in Your Emergency ‘Go-Bag’?
151.Who Lived Long Ago Where You Live Now?
152.What Would Your Dream Home Be Like?

(no subject)

• 08:28: The bathtub of a daily swimmer. #swimming #swimwear https://t.co/w489SfCvvQ https://t.co/dx8z4CbtnQ

LJ serindipity

I was just scrolling down my friends list and hit this...

I am easily amused.

So Susan, Is Your Bedroom a Nightmare?

Nope. Not one bit. And if it were, I'd fix it ASAP.  From the time I was 18 months old until I was 6, I had to share a bedroom with my sister.  Once I got my own room, I dug in immediately to make it my sanctuary. And every bedroom I've had since, except for two, I've done the same thing.

In college, I had a roommate half the time. The other half I managed a single dorm room or, like the last two years, I lived off campus in an apartment. When I was married (briefly), my husband insisted on sharing a room :) so it wasn't my sanctuary. BUT the minute I got divorced I bought a new bed and found a new room and made it my cozy, comfy, safe place for just me.

My bedroom now is also a cozy, comfy, safe space just for me. I have a double bed that is the perfect size for me. I have a TV in there but rarely turn it on. I read, I internet, I play silly computer games and I sleep.

My bed making is simple. I use not top sheet. So I settle the pillow up against the headboard and straighten out the comforter. Done. And I do this before I leave for the pool in the morning. The rest of the room is tidy always. I put dirty clothes in the hamper and the clean ones are in the closet. It's a small room, not big enough to make a mess in.