Pack it like a pro

My vacation started at 5:36 p.m. That's when I finished work, which was a marathon session because my boss was out today. My coworkers stepped up and helped out though. Even the editor-in-chief was helping out, much to the shock of everyone else. We leave tomorrow night to drive to Orlando to catch our flight to Jamaica. And I've just started packing tonight. One of my friends was in shock that I hadn't started since last week. I have a coworker who feels the same. She started packing a month ago for her cruise... that doesn't happen until May lol

For some reason I've become a pretty good packer since I went off to college. I always forget something, but never anything I can't do without. (It was good Moo and I were only overnighting that time last year when I forgot all her hair clips.) But as my Mom used to say, once you've got the passport and the plane tickets, you're pretty much covered. (This came one holiday when we set off to the airport and realized my passport was still at home. My father was not pleased.)

So here are my packing tips:

1. Lay everything out on the bed, including hair stuff, toiletries, jewelry, shoes on the floor nearby, everything before you start. It's easier to see what you're packing and ensure that you have everything.
2. The earlier in advance you start, the more things you're likely to forget (for me anyway).
3. Wrap any liquid toiletries in plastic bags. Run out of bags? Tape down the tops if necessary. (This also works great to ensure eye shadows don't pop open!)
4. Wrap your shoes, too. Nothing worse than having those road-tested sneakers becoming intimate with your favorite shirt during the trip to your destination.
5. Keep your jewelry with you at all times. I had a lot of mine stolen when I went to Greece because I didn't carry it on with me. Especially because you can't lock your bags in the US anymore, this should've actually been Rule No. 1.
6. If possible, carry a spare change of clothes and your can't-live-without toiletries in your hand luggage. It's not cute when your luggage gets lost and all you've got is what's on your back. If you've traveling with a small child, then you know this is just mandatory stuff. (When she was 6 weeks old, Moo Moo went through 5 sets of clothes on our way to Jamaica — including a set of my clothes.)

More later, I'm going to go to bed and finish up tomorrow.

The black, green and gold

Was surfing the net and came across this and it definitely caught my eye...

Unbeatable Banzuke

Just when you thought Ninja Warrior was a weird but addictive as it gets, G4 rolls out Unbeatable Banzuke. I'm sitting here with a 3,000 word paper due tonight riveted to the television watching the contestants battle the course on their uni-cycles. The Japanese sure do have the knack for getting us hooked on the zaniest things! You should see the sparring matches that go on in here for the Nintendo DS. The most heated ones were over a game called "Elite Beat Agents." Oh, I see you snickering over there, but play it first and then you'll understand. They've got this entertainment thing on lock.

Anyhoo, this is me Saturday night on our way home from a banquet that J' and I got to go to through work. It was great to get dressed up and go out together

Class update

Just an update to my Jan. 19 'Makes it all worthwhile' post... the final grades are out and I got an A for my Transformational Leadership class with 99.5%. So all the hard work and lack of sleep paid off!

Meaningful change

Change your inner dialogue
It’s been said that we teach others how to treat us. If we believe that, the message that comes across to others is that we are not worth being liked, loved, or treated with respect. Most of it comes from what we’re not even saying. Choose to believe that you are worth taking care of and that you have the right to be respected and treated with dignity – and act like it!

I got this one from an article over at SparkPeople.com (my fitness and healthy lifestyle website) and it's kind of stuck in my head. If you think about it beyond face value the concept is pretty interesting. How you act to yourself, can change how others act toward you. Normally, you'd think it's how you act toward others that sets the tone for how others treat you. Of course, that plays a part, but social interaction can present lots of difficulty.

Think about it. Unless you're completely self-absorbed or uncaring, most people try to read the other person, adjust their body language, tone of voice, style of speaking and even word choice depending on the situation. Some people can do this effortlessly, for others it's like a game of chess where they try to plot every move. The problem is that the other person might misunderstand what you're trying to say and generally not cooperate.

I'm kind of getting bogged down here but my point is this: It's actually easy to respect yourself and treat yourself better and with more dignity. A "get your mind right" kind of deal. What's amazing how the whole thing is that this causes a cascade effect — and it does — then before you know it, the way others treat you changes, too. I think the trick is not to expect massive change quickly (which is what society has conditioned us to expect these days!), it'll be baby steps and subtle changes. But they do add up :-)