March Is The Do-Over Month: Happy New Year 2.0

March 1, 2016March 1, 2016 / Ally Bean / 20 Comments

• I ALWAYS FEEL LIKE January and February are practice months.

It’s during these months that I flesh out how I’m going to do whatever lofty word I’ve chosen for my one word of the year [this year’s word here]. I make my mistakes in the cold of winter when no one will notice.

Or so I think.

• THEN ON MARCH 1, which happens to be today, I start all over again, relying on the wisdom I’ve gained through ~~fiddle-farting my days away~~ failure, marching toward being a better bean.

If you know what I mean.

• THIS IS HOW MY wack-a-doodle mind works, so when I found the following simple Workplace Thinking Style Graph [details here] that leads me to believe I am not alone in the way I do things, I was thrilled.

Coolness. I love straightforward explanations.

• ACCORDING TO THIS CHART, I am an Optimizer. That is because, no matter what I do, my focus is on process; and, despite wanting to be less of a micro-manager, my orientation is on details.

This describes me perfectly. [Read beginning of this post to confirm.]

So it is with this insight, as I move FORWARD into the rest of 2016, that I leave you, my gentle readers, today. Later kids, I’ve got some New Years celebrating to do. 😉

Let The Naming Of Our New Dishwasher Commence

February 6, 2016 / Ally Bean / 45 Comments

A few months ago I shared the story of how it came to be that our dishwasher, Monique, no longer worked. I’m still sad about the turn of events.

CLICK HERE TO READ ALL ABOUT IT.

At that time I asked you for suggestions for a name for our new dishwasher when we got one. You outdid yourselves with ideas, gentle readers.

YOU ARE CLEVER, NO DOUBT ABOUT IT.

On Wednesday our new dishwasher arrived and was installed, meaning that the time has come for us to settle on a name for our stainless steel Bosch baby. Again I turn to you for help.

PLEASE TAKE THE POLL BELOW. THANK YOU.

Breakfast In The Afternoon On The Way To Being Charitable

February 2, 2016January 28, 2021 / Ally Bean / 26 Comments

While I’ve no doubt my readers know what a McDonald’s Egg McMuffin looks like, I present this image for future Historians who 200 years hence will need a visual to understand this post. Historians, you may thank me in the footnotes of your doctoral theses.

I had my first afternoon Egg McMuffin last week.

It was late Thursday afternoon, and Z-D & I were on our way to Habitat for Humanity to drop off our old, but still usable, outdoor light fixtures that have been in my way in the garage for months.

[We replaced them last autumn with new black ones that use LED bulbs, with clear beveled glass– and the value of our home doubled. Really. The improvement is amazing.]

I was feeling peckish as we drove along, and in a moment of inspiration I directed Zen-Den to stop at the next McDonald’s so that I could feast on the one item I like at McDonald’s.

[Also I wanted a cup of black coffee. They have good coffee, which I needed to wash down my formerly unavailable after 10:30 a.m. sandwich delight.]

Hello again future Historians. This logo, which we saw all over the Habitat for Humanity ReStore, was easy to recognize as we followed the signs on the streets through a working part of town. Once at the store a friendly employee helped us unload our donations to the store.

So he did.

And I got an Egg McMuffin, which might have been the best one I’ve ever eaten. A bit of an exaggeration, but it was good.

Especially at the “wrong” time of day.

Eaten in rush hour traffic while someone else chauffeured me around the city on our way to doing good.

Talk about your win-win situation. 😉

This Is Blog Delurking Week? Show Me The Love.

January 8, 2016August 29, 2018 / Ally Bean / 53 Comments

• • •

It has come to my attention that this is Blog Delurking Week.

Apparently this is an annual event which takes place during the first full week of a new year.

That would be this week.

The idea is simple: ask your lurkers to say “hello” in your comment section. Perhaps say a little something about themselves, too.

Naturally I’m late to this party, but thought why not charm you, my gentle readers and lurkers, by making a cute graphic that explains how comments help bloggers stay energized.

See above.

Having created and shared that graphic, I’ll quietly wait for all of you, lurkers, fans, followers, friends + family, to ~~bring me a shrubbery~~ leave me a comment.

One that looks nice and not too expensive. [Extra credit if you know this reference.] 😉