I really can't believe that the month of June starts tomorrow. In 19 days I will be married 1 year. Crazy!

Still working on projects down to the wire, but what else is new. I'm back in FL, which I'm glad about and I'm trying to get rid of my adopted southern accent.

Lesson of the day: Run everything past the boss.

Ya'll come back now, ya hear?

Sweet Home Alabama

I've been in Alabama since Friday morning. I came into town for my college suitemate's wedding. It was so sweet to be able to come and see my dear college buddies. I miss them a lot. I want to go home now, but family calls...

I learned a huge lesson last week at work. I can't go into details, but let's just say that I made a huge error in judgment. Looking back, though, it wasn't as big a deal as I made it. However, after I learned of my mistake, I shut down. I was a complete mess. All I could think about was how dumb I felt and how I let certain people down. Unfortunately, I had a meeting to sit through for 2 hours as I was keeping all of my emotions captive. After the meeting I grabbed my husband, went to his office, and unloaded. I hadn't sobbed so hard in a very long time. Part of the sobbing was for what I had done. The other part was because I was extremely stressed. He convinced me that everything would be fine...and, as far as I know, it is.

I hate learning lessons like that. Sometimes I do things without thinking and then it comes back to haunt me later.

The stress factor has not helped. I've had a couple major projects that were done down to the minute before I left for Alabama. These things could've easily been done 2 weeks ago...but I had no control over the circumstances.

Big lesson #1: I can't do everything.
Big lesson #2: Have more of a backbone with getting people to meet deadlines.
Big lesson #3: Just don't be stupid.

This entry might not make any sense at all. It's almost 1am (and I never stay up this late). I'm having a really hard time sleeping...and breathing for that matter. Lots of stuff going on in my head. I miss my husband a lot...and he won't answer his cell. Grrr.

P.S. I attended a church today that was at least 15-20 years behind the average "modern" church. It was almost like going back in time. We sang all six verses of "Just As I Am."

What do I know?

Why am I even qualified to share my knowledge of the real world? What do I know?

Here goes:

• I'm a recent college grad (May '05).
• I have come to realize that my degree means almost nothing
• I was hired at my most recent job without my employer even looking at my resume
• I spent countless hours tweaking my resume to look more "professional"
• I can get paid the same amount of money without a degree than with one
• I have no idea what I'm doing most of the time
• My learning curve went way up when I left college
• Your age/gender/race, etc can work against you at times
• If you just act like you know what you're doing, you'll go far
• No one really knows how to do their job out here (by 'here', I mean the real world)...seriously.

Those are facts. Now for everyone who has just graduated, go look at your diploma and pat yourself on the back. Then, throw it out. It doesn't matter.

OK, not really. Sometimes it does matter. In my case, I haven't seen it work for me yet. But, there's always a possibility that it will.

First post ever

Welcome to my blog!

I can't promise that it will be even remotely interesting at all. No one may ever even read this. But that's OK.

I guess I just want to make this a place where I can share the stuff that I am learning in the 'real world'. I'll try to give wisdom (though I lack in that area) and insight. Overall, this will be a virtual dumping ground of the mistakes I make, the things I've learned from it, and hopefully some bits of advice for others.

It's a rough world out there. This is just the beginning...