Meetings Galore and The Times

So I'm a busy person.  And being a busy person means having meetings almost every day of the week.  One thing that I'm still learning it all about is how to rework my schedule when the meeting times get changed.  I'm a person who likes schedules and has problems when my schedule gets changed unexpectedly.  And today would be a prime example.

There was a meeting scheduled on my calendar (a sacred thing to me) for 7PM.  After my boyfriend woke up, he told me that the meeting was at 2:30PM according to an email he had received.  I began to get ready so that we could leave, with it being noon at that point.  Then he tells me that another email had been sent out saying that the meeting was at 4PM.  After calling someone to verify that it was at 4PM, I finally settled on the meeting being at 4PM.  I realize that things come up and that people have conflicts causing meeting times to change... What I don't understand is why people can't email or call to let others know.  Ask why it matters.  It matters because my boyfriend has a very forgetful memory and I have to be the scheduler in this relationship.  And being that I'm a very organized person, having my ducks in a row matters.  So being "left off" and email chain of people who know this really pushes my buttons.

Being able to handle schedule changes like this is a very hard thing for me.  I'm still learning how to handle things like this.  What are your tips on managing schedules and the many things that can throw a wrench into them?

Vacation for Valentine's Day

So this weekend was a Blast for me.  I went on my first vacation in 2 years!  My boyfriend, Jesse, used his birthday gift certificate to his favorite hotel, The Breakers Resort, for our Valentine's Day getaway.  He planned out the whole weekend with things that he knew I would love, and that he would enjoy.  It was wonderful spending two and a half days at the beach.

This is at the Pier

Once we were settled in, we went for a short walk on the beach (something I have never done with a significant other), and we collected a few seashells (pictures to come).  After having a good night's rest, we went to breakfast at a local pancake house and walked down Ocean Blvd.  We went to an arcade, got a slushie and caramel apple, and walked down the boardwalk and Pier 14.  We went to Ripley's Mirror Maze and the Museum.  After enough walking we rode the new Skywheel.  It's an enclosed Ferris Wheel that shows you a 360 degree view of the beach and Ocean Blvd.  It was terrifying going around the first time, but after that, it's very enjoyable.  After riding the Skywheel, we walked back to the hotel and got in the pool and lazy river (another thing I haven't done in 2 years).

The first amazing thing about this vacation was the dinner we got at Carolina Roadhouse.  They have the best crescent rolls, and amazing BBQ burger, and an awesomely huge and delicious "Killer Hotdog."  .  Filled to the brim after eating here, we just headed back to the hotel and called it an early night.

This is the before picture!

This is the after picture.  I marked a line in it to be my goal, and it didn't happen.

Saturday morning we went to the continental breakfast across the street from the hotel (but included in our stay).  We walked down Ocean Blvd and checked out some of the stores.  Again we played in an arcade, got slushies, and walked down the Boardwalk.  We got airbrush hoodies made, and went to the Nightmare Haunted House.  This was the scariest thing I have ever been through... But really funny was that we made it out in under 4 minutes due to us accidentally taking the "emergency" exits out.  So they let us go back through it, and of course this time, we got lost and had to have the "scary" guy help us out.  Had it been a horror movie, we would have died.

After our day out, we went back to the hotel and relaxed outside on the pool deck (it was 65 degrees out in February!) and in the whirlpool.  Saturday late afternoon and night we went to Wonderworks and The Palace Theater.  Being that it was my first time at a Wonderworks, I was like all the little kids running around there.  It was mind-blowing all the things and information they had in that one building.  After spending 3 hours at Wonderworks, it was time for the main show, no pun intended.  We went to The Palace Theater and saw Hooray for Hollywood, a tribute to music in movies for the past half century.  For someone in love with musical theater, I absolutely loved this!  And it was the cherry on top of my weekend cake.

Now I'm sitting in a hotel in Hickory, NC because there was snow and ice on the roads in Boone, so I couldn't get home.  And I'm not going to let a little snow get me down (that's the still learning it all part... the having an interruption in my vacation, even it was the going home part).

Jennifer Michel

Laundry List

Laundry has always been one of my favorite chores (I know, chores having a favorite is a contradiction).  But I am horrible at getting the clothes folded and put up.  Until recently, I would wash and dry the clothes and pile them on my couch unfolded.  I would leave them there and pick out what I wanted to wear based on what I could see.  And this would continue until I couldn't stand to look at the clothes anymore, or until there wasn't any room on the couch to sit.

Being that I work and go to school full-time, laundry took me forever to just get through 3 loads.  So here's how I've made it work in my busy schedule the last month.

I gathered all the clothes laying around the house and separated them into their respective bins.  I started with the laundry bin that had the most in it.  (On a side note, I never knew until recently that you were suppose to put the detergent and softner ball in before the clothes!)  After washing the first load and getting them in the dryer, I repeated this step and worked on something else in the meantime.  After the first load dried, I did my usual and piled it on the couch.  After getting about 5 loads of clothes washed and dried, I would turn on a TV show that I liked and start folding (of course I did this on a day that I had off, or was working from home).  After getting the clothes folded, I put them where they actually belonged: in the closet!

Now I have a nice and clean couch that I can sit on to eat and watch TV shows!  Hope this helps the busy-bees out in the world!

Jennifer Michel

A Late New Year's Resolution

I made a New Year's resolution that I was going to post on a new blog regularly.  The only problem is that I'm late in making this resolution, but I also have a hard time finding the time to actually post.  So here goes my attempt at doing it all while Still Learning It All.  Check out my About Me page here.  I've got so much going on that I've got to learn how to manage my time.  And I have to do this while still trying to maintain my current schedule.  So prayers to me that I can keep up my weekly duties and find the time to have a little fun in between all the work, school, and meetings.  

Jennifer Michel