Inspirational Quote Day!!!

I am feeling very "quotey" today and so now you shall be treated to a compilation of some of the ones going through my mind. I hope you enjoy these lines of inspiration as much as I do.

"The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off" - Gloria Steinmen

"If you can't handle me at my worst, you sure as hell don't deserve my best" - Marilyn Monroe

"You have no control over what the other guy does. You only have control over what you do"  - A.J. Kitt

"Happiness is not a state to arrive at, but a manner of traveling" - Margaret Lee Runbeck

"Find a place inside where there's joy, and the joy will burn out the pain" - Joseph Campbell

"Where I have been does not determine where I will go" - Unknown

"Enthusiasm moves the world" - Arthur Balfour

"If you can't be a success, be a story" - Brandy Broderick

I will stop now. Of course there are more wonderful thoughts that could be shared, but there is wisdom in knowing that not everything can be shared at once. As an inspirational quote addict I can say with some confidence more will be appearing on this blog at some point in the future.

One smile can change the world

PUGS on a Toboggan!!!

I know I already posted today, but I was just over on BuzzFeed wasting time I mean doing research, yeah that's it research and I found this gem of a video of pugs on a toboggan and just knew I had to share it. I personally love the pug in the front who starts to bark around the 40second mark as if to say "let's get the show on the road".

Enjoy!

I Work Part-Time Now What?

I have, like so many people I know, been struck by the part-time work monster. There are many reasons why this is troublesome i.e. having to work more than one part time job, usually no benefits etc, but people rarely sit down and think of the nice things that come with working part-time. This blog post aims to start a new conversation "the things I like about working part-time", these things include;

1. Easier Access to Time Off. When working full-time your employer can require up to 1 full year's notice when you are requesting time off for vacation (I know sometimes you can get a few days off with less notice, but work with me). As a part-time employee I can take time off basically whenever I want and if I want to go away for 4 days or so odds are I can do so without taking any time off and not having to wait for a long weekend.
2. Sleep. This can mean sleeping in more, just because you can or sleeping in because you spent most of last night out (and it was a Wednesday!). This can also mean going to bed early because that's just what you like to do, but you don't have to you just wanted to.
3. More "Weekends" than Weekdays. Unlike your full-time counterparts you don't have to call it an early night or worry about how you are going to feel in the morning because tomorrow is one your many "Saturdays" and you will just sleep until you are ready to get up.

Basically a part-time job means more time, more time to use in any way you would like. I am currently using my extra time to do some long over due writing (this post included) and to start volunteering in an area I have been thinking about going into for a long time. I am making a commitment to do something valuable with all this time I get to have right now. I know some day soon I will have to get a full-time job and refuse to look back wishing I had done more when I had the time.

What do my other part-time comrades do with their time off?

Kick Ass Small Towns

Hello Internets,

I would like to share a story my friend recently told me. One of my dearest friends who grew up in a relatively large city had to move to a very small town about just under a year ago for work and is discovering some of the wonderful things all us small town folks can sometimes just take for granted. An excellent example of this is recently she made an appointment to get her car fixed, on what should have been her day off, but she got called into work so she simply dropped her car off before the shop opened and intended to call and let them know what she had done. The universe however had other plans as she proceeded to be run off her feet at work and only remembered about her car as she realized she was going to have to walk home, by now it was much to late to call the shop so she just walked home. She was finally able to get in touch with the shop about 30 hours after she had dropped the car off and what did she discover when she got in touch with the shop? They had simply assumed that they were supposed to do the work previously discussed and that she would come back and get the car when she was ready. This blew my friend away, the shop didn't even have a number to call her on to let her know her car was fixed, but they just did the work and waited. I should mention at this point she has used this shop for parts and work before, but still it was pretty amazing. So I would like to take a moment to say thank you kick ass small towns for continuing to help people out and for the quiet faith you put in your community it is truly a wonderful thing to be a part of and absolutely the best thing I have heard this week.

Keep finding the joy,
B

Sleeping Pug

Hello Internets,

I took this video a while ago and found it again this morning so I thought I would share it with all of you. For his blog debut please welcome my pug Monster!!! Yay! Woohoo! Much clapping, etc etc etc.

Re-establishing Old Friendships

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Hello again Internets :D,

I know I have been away for a while and could spend a lot of time explaining where I have been, but that really isn't the point of the blog is it? So I shall just say sometimes life gets away from us and now I have returned. Now into this entry's joy re-establishing old friendships.

Recently I had the privilege of going on vacation and firmly believe I could not have used this time better if I tried as I used it to spend two wonderful weeks re-establishing friendships with many old friends from many different times in my life. I marvel every time I see these friends because even though we now live far apart and don't get to talk to each other as often as we would like (forget about even seeing each other as much as we like) once we do get together it is like no time has passed and we are able to step right back into our friendships. I have been back from this 2 week visiting blitz for about 10 days now and am still feeling the wonderful calming effects that only come from spending time with good friends. So while I am still feeling the effects I would like to take this time remind everyone of a few things that we all know we should do, but do not do often enough:

• when you find yourself thinking of someone let them know, this can be with something as small as a quick letter or e-mail or as big as a surprise party I will leave it to you to decide what is appropriate
• friendships are like hardy plants sometimes they can survive if you neglect them, but if you really want them to flourish you have to give them attention
• do not say we need to do this more often, if you find your self saying this stop yourself and pick a date a time, everyone agrees friends should get together more often, but if no one takes the initiative it will never happen
• finally sometimes friendships change do not be afraid of these changes face them head on if the friendship is meant to last everyone will adjust if it is not you will always have those many wonderful memories

(The cabin I spent half of my vacation squirreled away in, with about 10 other people)

Keep finding the joy,
B

Today's little joy is having a good relationship with your coworkers :D

Here are ten reasons why great coworkers spread the joy:

1. Having good coworkers can make the most unbearable jobs bearable
2. They are in a unique position to understand the challenges you face at work, and some times that's all you need
3. Work is never dull
4. When you're in over your head they are always willing to help
5. You have your very own set of inside jokes that can brighten up the worst days
6. Gives you a reason to smile on Monday morning
7. You will do better work (it has been proven that people do better work when the work environment is positive and having a good relationship with coworkers is crucial to the work environment)
8. They can provide honest and constructive feed back when you suggest something new
9. There's no party like an unofficial work party
10. Finally there is nothing like a good bitchfest to make you feel better when someone belittles you or your work