Another Good-bye

The buffet line of goodies filled tables on three sides of the room, and the big cake was on the fourth side. As I waited my turn to fill my plate from the Crock Pot creations, salads, snacks, and desserts, I said to a co-worker, "We need to plan a pitch-in for all of us who are STAYing!"
"That's a good idea," she agreed.
It seems we've had several goodie-laden send-offs for colleagues leaving for greener pastures. And more than one has left without a celebration.
Today we said good-bye to Bob Wallace who has worked in a variety of sales and marketing positions at Standard Publishing for, I think he said, 12 years. He's excited about his new position at Lifeway's headquarters in Nashville.
"Everyone there treated me so nice, even the HR department."
"They're big on their history. They have a whole section of one floor reproducing the founder's office."
"My boss has been so flexible with me. 'If you need to take a three-day weekend to get back home to  Cincinnati for your kids and do some work at home, that's no problem. If you need to come in late some Monday, that's no problem; just call me.'"
"They're very committed to family. My boss said you need special permission to work in the office after 5:30. The garage is locked and you need to go through channels to be allowed to stay. He said it's not worth it."
"They're all about the business, but there's a sense of mission you can feel in the meetings and conversations."
"They explained to me their two-year and five-year plans for the department where I'll be working."
I'm happy for him.
And for us who remain behind? I'm glad we have such good cooks and generous buffet contributors!

Using Our Noodles

My best days are a mixture of meetings and desk time, and by that measure today was a fine day.
Three meetings--all of them productive and positive, at least generally so. And Robb Faust and I went out for lunch. (I like going out for lunch; it really does help me be more productive in the afternoon. But I don't like taking the time or spending the money every day.)
Meanwhile, I prepared copy for our weekly e-newsletter and wrote a draft of my column that must be posted tomorrow. I got a big boost on that task from Ben Cachiaras's blog post that he copied and e-mailed to me Monday. I'm going to quote a big batch of it. Thanks, Ben!
We're making some progress, and I'm feeling good about that.
Tomorrow I have one meeting, and a phone conference with Paul Williams. Those will be nice breaks in the long list of editorial tasks, article assigning, and correspondence I need to do as well.

Tonight we had leftover chicken and noodle soup for supper. Evelyn made it fresh to greet me Sunday night when I got home from Orlando. Jennifer had shared the recipe with her, and we agree: it's yummy!
"You're going to take a picture of leftovers?" Evelyn said as I snapped this one just before we sat down to eat.
"Yep."
Enjoy your giggle, Bob Wallace.
If some reader would like to try our discovery, here's the link to the soup recipe:
http://www.creativelydomestic.com/2010/10/guest-post-crockpot-chicken-and-noodle.html.

One Day in the Life of an Extrovert

When I interact with people, I feel energized, even if the situation is difficult.
When I sit alone and stew about my situation, I feel negative--either frustrated or worried or afraid, or maybe bored--depending on how negative the situation is. This is a classic description of an extrovert, and, of course, anyone who knows me knows I am a CLASSIC EXTROVERT.
Well, all I can say is that I felt both ends of the pendulum today, energized in some difficult situations and negatively stewing in at least one. If this were a real diary instead of a public one, I'd elaborate. But, once again, "it wouldn't be prudent."
Some highlights:
Spoke with Stephanie Woeste, our v.p. of marketing, about next steps for making the decision to take Christian Standard monthly.
Read two proofs (one for The Lookout and one for Christian Standard), prepared some posts for Jim Nieman to post on the web, worked with him to decide the final layout for our May 27 issue, and worked with him to choose and edit some Letters to the Editor for that issue.
Went with Bob Wallace to have lunch with Larry Collins and Abi Platt to discuss Standard's relationship with and sponsorship of the North American Christian Convention.

Unbeknownst to us, Skyline was celebrating Opening Day by offering a free coney with every order. Lucky we
got there at 11:30 ahead of the crowd. I gave my free coney to Bob Wallace.  :-)

Participated in a conference call with representatives of our printer to discuss a couple of hiccups in their mailing and distribution of our magazines.
Met with Matt Lockhart as we do most Thursdays. Discussion today included how the company will respond to revenue shortfalls and the 9-month projection for the magazines budget. I submitted the budget I had created to the finance department. Handled a bunch of e-mails that I owed, and gathered and planned work to do this weekend.
Arrived home to find Jennifer here, as we planned. Evelyn fixed us a nice dinner, and we've spent the evening visiting, looking at the disc with all of her engagement pictures, hanging out.
Now I'm relaxed and energized. I'll allow the reader to guess when I felt different during the day. When I read this a year from now, I'm sure I'll remember the answer.