Mrs Bales

Gosh - I am a terrible Blogger. Nearly 2 months since my last post....ugh. Well I sure wish I had better news for my first post since June, but I dont. My dear friend Michelle Bales passed away last night. It is so wierd...I just cannot believe that I if I attempt to text her, a smartass, funny comment would not come flying back at me. We loved to shop together, make fun of our husbands, and play board games. She liked buying the best margarita mix and I liked drinking the margaritas. In our earlier days we loved to go clubbing and make fun of other people in the clubs. As if we were so much cooler? Whatever....yeah, that was a word she would always say. She was so scary the first time I met her, and I mean crazy scary. She was this little 95 pound blonde fireball that wore a headset and never stopped talking on the phone. She was a powerhouse recruiter, could nail any candidate into any job....I took one look at all of her trophies and plaques and I wanted to be just like her. She was not nice to me at all. Now I am not saying this to make you feel bad for me, because she was not nice to really anyone at first. You had to earn your respect from her. She made you work for it and the work was worth it, believe me. One day in my first month or so at Culver I was so freakin depressed. The job was tough...I was so green, right out of college. I had no idea how to play the game. I had no idea how to sell or push or persuade. The business of recruiting is a grind and to keep up with pace, you have got TO BE ON every single second. I was on 100% Commission, making maybe $750 a month? Some low number that no one can live off, anyhow.....One Day I was really down and none of my candidates were calling me back. I felt so sulky and kind of wished I had taken another job out of college with perks, like a base salary! The "blonde girl" came over to me and sat next to me in my chair. I was like thinking...."holy shit, did I do something wrong....is this girl actually going to talk to me" You have to realize she never really talked to me before and I was going on 30-40 days with the company, sitting literally 7 feet away from her. She kind of whispered so no one would hear me.....show me your candidates and I will help you with ideas. I almost went speechless. Did she like me? Was she joking? Did she really want to help me? I could not beleive it. I showed her my candidates and she told me which ones to focus on and which ones to ditch because they were losers. She told me ideas of companies to get them into and she gave me names of recruiters to send them to......I still could not believe what was going on. This was just not like her. A couple minutes later she went back over to her desk very slyly so as to not make anyone notice...she of course did not want anyone to know she just totally helped the newbie. When she got back to her desk I tried to look at her eyes and smile, but too late....already back on the phone, face down, hidden from the ridiculously huge golden eagle that took over her whole workspace, back to selling like the Type A we all remember her as.

She was there in so many different phases of my life, her and David were my family, inadvertently guiding me through different paths. They loved me for who I was, never judged, never set expectations on our friendship. HB was my home away from home.

In 2001 we are heading out to Santa Monica to meet up for drinks with one her candidates that she just placed. She took a picture of the two of us (michelle never left home w/0 camera) at dinner and I still have that picture on my dresser to this day. She asked me what I thought of him and i told her I was not crazy about his hair or his fancy rolex watch. She assured me he was not the typical LA guy. I married him 2 years later.

She was there for it all and then some....my little Type A Chicken Hawk, fist waving, wont take no for an answer, Mrs Bales.


My Gosh, what the hell am I going to do without her?

Wall-E

Today is a major day in the lives of the Lasseters'. We took Miss Kyleigh to her first movie! We have been planning this day since the first time we heard about the newest Pixar project, Wall-E. We heard about this movie about one year ago and Kyle and I made a deal that Wall-E would be Kyleigh's first movie. I have a slight obession with Pixar and just when I thought they could not outdo themselves with Cars.....they do it again. They are pure geniuses up there in Emeryville I tell ya! I loved Wall-E. The animation is purely amazing. It looks sooooo real! The storyline is such a great message. To think how far they have come from just a few years ago with Toy Story. Kyleigh was such a good girl!! We got there fairly early so we had to keep her entertained for nearly 45 minutes before WALL-E actually made his grand appearance. When the movie started, she kept talking kind of loud so I had to whisper to her that we don't talk in movies. At this point I was thinking....gee Dara this is a rule you might have wanted to bring up BEFORE the movie started. Why do I assume that she is supposed to just know that she should not talk once the movie starts? Anyhow, she was very quiet and watched closely as WALL-E opened the movie and we learn about his environment and little box home. The movie is very different from other animated movies in that there is very little talking in the beginning....so she got a little sleepy, and FELL ASLEEP! She slept for about 40 minutes of the movie. It was hilarious! I held her hot little head on my shoulder and just kept thinking to remember this moment, it will be gone before you have a chance to enjoy it. She woke up nice and perky, excited to realize she was still on this exciting, dark adventure. She yelled WALL-E right when she woke up and stared back up at the screen like she had never left. Towards the end she decided to start talking some more but the people around us did not mind. It was an amazing day! GO SEE WALL-E!!! You will love it!

Sleepy

As I was driving in to work today, it took every ounce of energy in my body to just keep my eyes open. The sun was glaring into my windshield and my body just did not want to wake up. The Nyquil I am taking at night to sleep is not wearing off by 5am...uh-oh! I stopped at the Sbux in Safeway and even as I continuously guzzled caffeine, the kickstart just was not happening. At the same time, I am listening to JohnJay and Rich (my fave morning show) talk about how they got Ashlee Simpson's husband to slip up and admit they might be having twins. Who the heck cares? Why can't they bring up something interesting this morning, of all mornings?!!! Well I made it safely to the office and my vanilla latte is gone. boo hoo I started reading The Secret last night and it pretty much freaked me out. I was trying hard NOT to think about crashing on the I-10 due to being asleep because I was sure it would happen if I kept throwing it out to the universe. Thank goodness God allowed me to make it here safe and sound. I better go get another cup of the Joe and get back to work. 59 days to go until I am PT!!

Oh one more thing...watched the movie The Spitfire Grill last night. Good flick...I cried a bit at the end. Put it on your netflix list for sure!

Work

I love work. I love working. I love doing a great job and then getting rewarded with money, pats on the back, trips, emails, etc. I love working on projects and seeing successful completion. I love managing people. So you can imagine how hard it has been for me to come to the realization that I need to pay more attention to the other two loves in my life....Kyle and Kyleigh. Trying to balance work, husband, daughter, family, social life, and hobbies has worn me thin. Beginning August 11, 2008 I will step down from the job I absolutely love and work PT from home. I am so blessed to be employed by the most amazing company. They have literally let me create my own job description to work from home so I can still be a part of their amazing organization. I have been working 1 to 3 jobs since I was 14 years old. For 5 years I also managed college on FT basis. I think it is about time I learned to slow down. My friend Lori (similar workaholic peer) told me the other day the hardest part about her becoming a mother (Ellie is 6 weeks old) is simply slowing down and being present. I am sure I will meet the same challenge but I am up for the task. I am ready to make my daughter breakfast in the morning. I am ready to visit family on four day trips. I am ready to puree vegetables and make homemade dinners to I can be sure she gets her daily vitamins. I am ready to spend afternoons at story time in the library. I am ready to save money on gas by not commuting 60 miles in one day! Wish me luck!