Little Things That Mean A Lot

Last night, I had the chance to speak to the OSU chapter of PRSSA It's probably my favorite group to speak to. They were an awesome audience with lots of questions when we finished.

I discussed making a good first impression, specifically during a job interview (since that is on the mind of most of the students). Here are some highlights.

Be prepared

• If you're job hunting, have a interview suit ready to go, and keep it dry cleaned.


• Research the organization, so you can give specific answers to questions. Everyone knows they should do this, but lots of people skip this step. Use it as an opportunity to set yourself apart.

You had me at hello...

• Know the interview starts the moment you talk to anyone from the organization (30 minutes before the interview or 30 days before the interview).
• Be nice to the front office staff, they can make or break it for you.

You can't predict the future... or can you?

Obviously, you won’t be able to guess every question they are going to ask you. But you can guess a few. Regardless of whether you script answers or basically wing it, there are a few standard questions you will want to moll over beforehand.

The standards include "What is your greatest strength?" "What’s your greatest weakness?" and "Why are you interested in this position?"

Time to turn the tables

You’re going to be given the opportunity to ask questions. If you want to impress the interview you need to prepare something more think-y than "Do you have a dental plan?"

Ask questions that will help you decide if this job is right for you. Just because they offer you a job doesn’t mean you have to take it. You are interviewing them just as much as they are interviewing you. Ask questions about the culture, the job, and goals and strategy of the organization.

Put your best foot, and hand, Forward

The last thing we covered was how to give a good handshake, a key to making a good impression.

• DO stand up and move out from behind any desk, table or chair.
• DON'T be afraid to initiate the handshake.
• DO keep your drink in your left hand so your shake isn't cold and clammy.
• DO grasp thumb webbing to thumb webbing, DON'T shake with just your fingers or the front of your hand.
• DON'T give the "crusher." Press palm to back of hand instead of top to bottom to ensure your shake is firm, but not painful.
• DON'T give the two-handed shake to anyone you wouldn't hug. It's too intimate.
• DON'T give the palm-down handshake, it's domineering.

Make that 5 Weeks!

The 20 minute jog went awesome. Around minute 14, John and I started joking that every step was new personal record. Personal record for distance run, personal record for time run.

You had me at "jog skirt." This is what I look like after running 20 minutes. (I'm probably a bit cuter at the starting line.) How could I not love a sport I can do in a mini-skirt. This skirt is big, BIG part of my motivation.

Special thanks goes to my EVO for the combo of the C25K app and the distracting tunes that helped keep me going (thanks for the tip, Rachel!)

Victory time! I get a high-five from Boogie on my A for effort, then I dash to the L-store in full workout gear.

Including my Buff (a new piece of runner-ly gear, that keeps hair out of my face and breeze out of my dainty ears all while not making me more sweaty). I'm sure the owners thought I was a bit weird, but they are teetotalers who own a liquor store. Who's the weirdo now?

I just couldn't let this momentous victory pass without a champagne toast. To Personal Records!

Four Weeks and Counting!

A month ago, I started a pool: How far into the Couch to 5K workout could I make it and how long will it take me. My bet was "giving up at Week 2, but taking a month to get there."

Well, it looks like I've already lost my own pool, because I have now completed 4 2/3 weeks of the program on track. My record for the most running in my whole life is now 2 8-minute intervals with a 5-minute walk break.

Today I am slated to run 20 minutes straight. If I'm successful (so far, so good!), I will have completed Week 5 in 5 weeks. So, freakin, awesome. Already, I've done so much better than I ever thought possible, and it's been easier and more fun than I expected.

I plan to employ some of the mind games I have learned over the last month to get myself through it. Here are some of the things I tell myself as I'm running.

• I am a runner
• My head feels fine, my neck feels fine, my shoulders feel fine, my arms feel fine...
• Shut up calves! I am in charge of you!
• By the time I reach that tree I'll be done
• I look so cute, I look so cute...
• 1 (step, step, step), 2 (step, step, step), 3...
• Halfway there, one more minute, 20 more seconds...
• Ring, you mother cussing bell, RING!!

I'm Starting a Pool...

I've never been a runner. Dancer, yes; rock climber, yes; mountain biker, yes (although not a very good one); annoying girl at the front of aerobics class who can keep up the whole time, yes. But a runner? Never.

Once every 9 months or so, I see the girls in their cute little running clothes jogging down the road and something inside me clicks on. I think "I have cute little running clothes! I could put them on and run! I could be her!" This is a lie I tell myself.

I put on my cute little running clothes and head out. About 4 blocks later, I head home, dejected and wanting to die. I am not a runner, never have been.

This time, I can't blame the cute little running girls, but a perfect storm of other motivators (not the least of which is my former-runner of a husband deciding to run again) have inspired me to give it a real go.

I wanted to blog this this morning, before we officially get started. (So, you can see how pathetic realistic my optimistic stage is) John and I are starting Couch 2 5K tonight. I am going to try really really hard, honest I am. I totally expect fail miserably. I may keel over and die tonight. And, it will most likely take me 2 weeks of 3 workouts/week to complete the week 1 workout.

Here's where the pool comes in. C25K is a 9-week program. In the comments, weigh in as to how far you think I'll get in the program and how many weeks it will take me to get there. I know I have several lurking friends and family members (Daddy I am looking at you). So everyone chime in.

Will I finish Week 2 in 4 weeks? Maybe, stall out at Week 5 after 2 months? Will I complete the 9 Weeks in 3 months, but never run an entire 5K? Or, can I pull out a personal workout miracle and complete the program in 3 months, and run my first 5K?

Seriously, you won't hurt my feelings. I, personally, am going with giving up at Week 2, but taking a month to get there. I promise to do my best, and really shoot for the goal of running a 5K in 3 months. I may even scrounge up a prize for pool's winner. So make your best guess!

Bad Day to Be Boogie (and Bonnie)

I was startled awake at 4:30 a.m. by Boogie crying and spinning in circles at my bedside. Before I was even conscience enough to comprehend the ruckus and the strange burnt chemical smell in the air, John called it. Boogie got skunked.

We both popped out of bed, but what the heck do you do with a skunked dog? Commonsense would say don't let her run circles through the house and periodically drop to the ground and writhe around like she's been maced. Too late there.

Should you find yourself in a similar situation here's how to handle it with poise and dignity.

1. Feel like a total scumbag as you refuse to cuddle and comfort your traumatized animal who wants nothing more than to cower at your feet.

2. Chase said animal through the house as she ping pongs out of control. Finally, baby gate her in the kitchen.

3. Googled how to de-skunk a dog.

4. Sink into despair as you realize you do not have tomato juice or peroxide and they won't unroll the sidewalks in your small town for another 2 hours and oh-my-god-that dog-smells.

5. Snap into action and attempt de-skunking step one: blot dog with paper towels to remove excess skunk oil pre-bath.

6. Try to cheer yourself when you realize there is no excess oil; your dog must have received an indirect hit (perhaps through the fence?) albeit an indirect hit straight in the face. Despite now feeling like you yourself have been maced, this could be worse!

7. Sink back into skunk fume induced despair as you convince yourself (curse you new Google knowledge!) that your dog could be blind from this face on hit.

8. Go to the living room and call the emergency vet line.

9. Clear head in time to tell answering service to NOT wake the vet at 4:30 in the morning, and settle for just checking the opening time.

10. Snap back into action, and strip down naked (Google told me to!)

11. Whisk the dog into the bath where you scrub her down twice, as if that's not bad enough convince dog she is being drowned as you water-board attempt to wash her face.

12. Open all the windows in the house and try to go back to bed. Fail miserably because your house now reeks of skunk. Tell yourself it could have been worse.

13. Wake up 2 hours later, tell yourself the dog and house don't smell that bad and head to the vet.

14. Pick up the vet approved de-skunk miracle recipe. Sink into despair when the tech explains that you won't be able to get enough of it on her face to de-skunk that area.

15. Stop at 2 different stores to pick up supplies. Return home to resume puppy torture.

16. Realize you were wrong about the house not smelling too bad.

17. Wash the dog again in Head and Shoulders, let soak 5-10 minutes. Dip dog in icy cold mixture of 1 quart peroxide, 1/2 cup baking soda, 1 tablespoon dish soap.

18. Feel like a complete scumbag as your dog loses all faith in humanity and begins crying non-stop.

19. Congratulate yourself when you realize that except for her muzzle the dog smells pretty ok.

20. Spend the next 12 hours sweating it out with every window open as you scrub floors, cover every soft surface in Frebreeze and burn more incense and candles than a Wiccan on Halloween because evidently, that's all you CAN do.

EVO: First Impressions

This week I upgraded my beloved blackberry to the new Sprint EVO. I've only had it for a few days, so I'm still figuring a few things out. Here's a quick run down of the pros and cons I've found as a first-time user.

Thumbs Up:

• Seven home screens mean I have tons of room to load and organize shortcuts. Apps are pretty easy to get to without a shortcut, but I'm using the screens to organize similar often-used apps.
• Apps, duh. The Sprint saleman told me "Any goofy weird thing you want your phone to do, just search the app store, you'll find something." So far, he was right on. An app review deserves it's own post.
• Dual-facing camera lets you see and shoot towards yourself. You can even use it as a mirror. I haven't fiddled with the video and camera much, but I'm looking forward to it.
• The video is awesome. Not only is the screen huge by mobile device standards, but everything loads super quick and the video is so so crisp and clear.
• My phone is as cool as yours and I don't have to use AT&T. I'm doing an excellent job of holding a decade plus grudge-fuled boycott of AT&T, and there's no way I'm backing down for a stupid iPhone.
• My phone is as cool as yours and I didn't have to buy an Apple. I'm a PC. I heart Google, Adobe, and I heart my PC. The Android hearts them too.
• While my Blackberry total changed the way I thought about and used the internet, in comparison, the mobile experience on the EVO is like angels singing. So freaking awesome. See above, I heart Google. If you like Chrome and iGoogle, I think you'll like Android internet.

Thumbs Down:

• Touch keypad is kind of hard to use. I am getting better after just a few days, but texting is a little hard and impossible while you're driving. Um, what? I didn't say that.
• Voice to text, while awesome in concept, is working about 75% of the time for me. Maybe it's my twang. Other voice apps work great for me, but 1 out of 4 voice texts pops up gobblity-gook. The longer the phrase, the more likely this is to happen. But, hey, I have voice text. Sweet!
• I haven't figured out how to delete music in the player. I listen to a ton of podcasts, and I delete them after listening. On the Blackberry this is easily done in the player. For now, I downloaded a file manager app, and I have to exit the player, remember which file I heard, navigate back to it, and delete. There must be a better way! But this is a first-time user review, and this is one of my first-time user problems.

Well, as you can see the pros are definitely outnumbering the cons at this point. I'm pretty happy with my new device.

What kind of mobile device are you using now, and what your favorite thing about it?

Lopped for Locks of Love

A few years ago, my sister Sarah chopped off about a foot of hair and sent it off to Locks of Love. I was intrigued. We're used to giving money and giving time, but this was a new way to give. I decided I would do the same thing.

It wasn't hard work, but I certainly invested more time in this particular gift than I have in anything else I've ever donated. If I hadn't been waiting for my ponytail to hit 10" (the minimum donation for hair to be used in a Locks of Love hairpiece) there is no way I would have put up with it for so long. I'd forgotten what a hassle long hair was!

I was so excited to chop it off in one long ponytail. How often do you get to do that? (about once every 3 years!) I felt instantly lighter. Here's what it looks like after you whack a ponytail off the back of your head. Well, what it looks like when a very talented hairdresser ties it up, then whacks a ponytail off. Don't try this at home! Jeanie has the magic touch.

TaDa! I'm pretty pleased with the final product and I'm excited to have my short hair back. Jeanie even left me room to go shorter next time. (She likes her clients to take a couple cuts to get to a change this dramatic).

You can see here, it's pretty short in the back. Hopefully this ponytail will help a little kid feel as beautiful as I feel today.