And so it begins...

At 11:36 am an email went out from my boss to the entire company,

I am writing to inform you that Lindsay with be leaving (insert company name here).  Lindsay has been a valued asset to (insert company name here) for 6 years and we are sorry that she has decided to move on.  She has graciously agreed to stay on with us until Friday, September 9 to transition her responsibilities to others.

(Mean girl with a horrible attitude) will continue to do driver payroll, but will assume the weekly mechanic and guard payroll, so please send that payroll information to (Mean girl with a horrible attitude) starting with the next payroll.  For now, everything else should be directed to me, and I will assume it.

Again we greatly appreciate the many contributions Lindsay has made to (insert company name here) over the last 6 years.

And with that, everyone found out...I'm leaving. 
It's possibly the best decision I have made lately.  The stress is slowly (actually very quickly) taking its toll on me.  When my boss said he will assume all other responsibilities, he has no idea what he is in for.  Not only do I handle all Accounting functions, I handle nearly 90% of all Admin and HR functions in our company.  It makes my head spin and I've been under this mountain of work for 3 1/2 years with nearly no time off, no lunches and 9-10 hour days.  Good luck with all of that!  And good luck finding one person to take on all of those tasks.  I am training our new part-time Accounting clerk, who officially was given a full time job when I resigned yesterday, but as a fresh Accounting grad, it's going to take awhile to get into my full on "intense Lindsay mode" groove.  But, I hope that I can train him and pass along as much of this knowledge that is in my ever expanding brain.

It was nice to see some of the replies from my closest co-workers too:

"What am I going to do now!

You will be truly missed and I want you to know I greatly appreciate everything you have done the last year to help me.  You are a great person and I wish the best for you in what ever you do."

"sorry to see you go, good luck. you will be missed by most of us around here.  especially the cool people like me.  keep in touch."

"Hey what the heck????????????  Good luck in what ever you're going to do, I will surely miss you dearly.  You have been a great friend.  Thanks for everything"

"AWESOME FOR YOU, SUCKS FOR US. ALONG WITH YOUR (insert company name here) CONTRIBUTIONS I WOULD LIKE TO EXPRESS MY GRATITUDE FOR MAKING THIS PLACE A LITTLE BETTER LOOKING EVERYDAY, THANKS YOU ROCK. PLEASE SAY YOU'LL STILL POP IN FOR HAPPY HOUR SOMETIME, I'VE YET TO SEE YOU HAMMERED, I HEAR IT'S QUITE ENTERTAINING :)"

"Damn girl, I hate to see you go.  (Boss) let me know earlier and it made me sad.  But I'm sure you are doing what is right for you, and I wish you well."


"I don't get to speak with you very often or see you.  But I wish you the Best of Luck with whatever you do!! Thanks for helping me when I do need something!!"

"WOW..!!!  Really..?? I wish you the best of luck and hope that you are happy with your career change..

I am very happy for you....Just wondering, I was planning on having you do our 2011 taxes..Will you still be available for that??  Let me know, and I wish you the BEST....GOOD LUCK!!!!!"

My response to them and just about everyone else that I talked to today was similar, I'm heading back into the world of being a Staff Accountant.  I will be working in a completely different industry but one that I love and hope I can be successful in.  I am excited for the change and ready to get back to my Accounting roots and I start my new position on September 12th.

Oh and as for happy hours, taxes and keeping in touch, I am planning on all three and hopefully more.  Some of my best friends work at this company and whether I work there or anywhere, they are my friends for life.  I will find a way to make it all work.

Mantras for a happy life

Post 300!  Hard to believe that I've continued to post my randomness for the last 6 years and still find  something to write about on a semi-regular basis.  Things have been a bit out of control around here lately and I have been contemplating many things, much of which affects numerous aspects of my life.  I had to talk myself out of quitting my job, packing up and moving to Memphis/Northern MS and starting over more times than I would like to count over the past 2 months.  It's not because I want to live without all of the good things I have here, but I just figured it was easier to start with a clean slate somewhere relatively close rather than trying to fix all of the stuff affecting my attitude and daily well-being. (Brilliant idea, I know....just keep following me, would ya?)

So instead, I tried to look for other ways to make small changes.  I'm not one that likes to admit failure, but I can tell you, I've failed tremendously at trying to keep my attitude in check lately.  Then I happen to find the two quotes below while researching a happy life online and something just clicked.  I've decided to make these my mantras for a happy, balanced life.

Someone once said..."There comes a time in your life, when you walk away from all the drama and people who create it. You surround yourself with people who make you laugh. Forget the bad, and focus on the good. Love the people who treat you right, pray for the ones who don't. Life is too short to be anything but happy. Falling down is a part of life, getting back up is living."

It doesn’t just end at being passionate about what you do. It’s about taking care of yourself (physically and mentally), striving for happiness in a relationship, and having a hobby or interests that stimulate your brain.

My life is changing at a fast pace and in order to get through everything, I need to accept whatever is thrown at me.  That doesn't mean that I can not still fight for what I believe is right and fair.  I know this change will affect multiple aspects of my life.  It will send me into another unknown phase, but one that I am hoping to bridge with some of what is already familiar.  I've run more ideas by Broccoli and Coco than I thought humanly possible, hoping they can figure out how to decipher all of this.  I've been on a roller coaster of emotions and from one minute to the next I don't know if I'm happy and excited or sad or scared or angry.  Ultimately, I want to be happy.  I want to have that life I've dreamed about.  

I know these changes will make the difference.

Riddle me this....

What is one way to make an extremely overwhelming and stressful Tuesday a bit better?!?! 

How about some Paula Deen cookware?!?!

I know it seems silly, but after being stood up for my consulting gig tonight.  I decided to hit the gym for a little de-stresser elliptical workout and then make my much anticipated cookware purchase.
As of right now, it's still packed away nicely in the box, but I'm breaking these bad boys out tomorrow night!  CAN NOT WAIT!!

Yes, I'm easily pleased.  :)

More randomness

Sorry, right now there is a lack of time for me to formulate a clever post, so I'll just update you on the stuff floating around in my head at the moment.  Ironically, most of it links together is some weird way.
So here we go!

-- Reserved my spot for my 10 year class reunion being held in October this past week.  It's hard to believe that I've been out of high school that long and for me, A LOT has changed in these 10 years.  While I debated as to whether or not I wanted to go back and relive any of that, I decided it may be fun just to check in and see what others have been up to over the years.  We will see what I think after I attend.

-- What's even more crazy is that my dear precious little Nicole starts high school on Tuesday.  That seems darn near impossible.  I felt old when Ryan went to high school, I'm feeling ancient now that its Nicole's turn.  I may just have a mid-life crisis when she graduates.

-- Speaking of age and birthdays, my Mom's birthday was yesterday.  (Happy Birthday Mom!)  I invited her and Michael over for dinner on Friday night and I must say, I was highly impressed with my dinner of strip steaks, roasted sweet potatoes, sweet corn on the cob, salad and most importantly, orange dreamscicle parfaits.

-- Every time I cook a dinner for more than myself, I realize I need to get better pots and pans.  This again was the case after Friday night so I went browsing while I was out running errands yesterday.  I found two sets that I liked and now I'm trying to figure out if and when I will break down and buy a better set than what I currently own.  I'm not sure why I need to justify that this is a good purchase, but I am thinking it over way too many times.  Yes, I need new pots and pans.  Yes, I enjoy cooking and need something better than the starter set I bought when I moved out on my own 6 years ago.  No, this is not a life-altering decision (well, unless you consider the fact that I have to choose between Paula Deen and Rachael Ray).... 
GO BUY SOME POTS & PANS LINDSAY!

-- Tonight is the season finale of Next Food Network Star.  While we are all thrilled Mary Beth isn't competing in the finale, we're torn between the final three.  I'll watch any of the three however, I will be a bit irritated if my signature sammich recipe ends up on Jeff's show.  Of course, then I'll know for sure the casting directors read my 11 page application!

There are some of the highlights of items rattling around in this head.  I'm off to enjoy the rest of the afternoon before I head back into the out of control world of Transportation Accounting tomorrow morning.  Catch ya later!

Matchbox Twenty & Kitchen Gadgets

I'm sure you are aware how much music rules my life and how much I relate songs I hear while working or driving or working out to every little aspect of my life.  This morning was no different.  I was heading home from my Saturday morning workout, feeling a bit over-whelmed by the amount of projects I had to today's to-do list, and all of a sudden a blast from the past came on the station I've been listening to lately.  (St. Louis' own 100.3 GenX Radio for those of you with the iHeartRadio app) -- Matchbox Twenty's Real World.  And then it hit me as I was belting out the lyrics to the song -- I wish the real world, would just stop hassling me.

So rather than letting all of the chores and side projects I felt needed to be accomplish today overrule trying to de-stress from another wild week at work and other things I wanted to do, I promptly came home, handled a few things, showered and did something I felt was more important.  Something dorky you may say, but something I promised my Bro after he helped me through my (unsuccessful) casting call last weekend -- I bought some kitchen gadgets for his new apartment.  Shopping (and not even for myself!) actually calmed me down enough to come back home and finish the next part of the tax project I agreed to work on. 

Household chores aren't finished and who knows when I'll get around to them.  But right this second, I'm telling the real world to stop hassling me.