Working Women Wednesday - How to Deal with Challenging Personalities

by Granny Girl

In the workplace we are surrounded by all sorts of personalities.  Some are easy to work with, some are not.  My work experience has always been in commercial real estate, assisting brokers.   Because brokers work on commission only, a successful one is very driven and hard working. Here are a few things I have learned:

1. Generally speaking, men are easier to work with than women. They know how to check their emotions at the door and focus on the job that needs to be done. 
2. Type A people tend to have a short fuse, but they usually don’t hold a grudge.  If you can deal with the occasional explosion (unless it’s abusive in nature), then this type of person is someone you can learn from because of their drive and hard charging ways.
3. Keep your personal problems away from the work place.  If you’re going through something that you need to talk about then take a workplace friend out to lunch and talk then.  You can let people at work know if you’re dealing with something big if it’s affecting your attendance or your focus, but when you’re at work, be at work.
4. If you work full time, you spend more waking hours at work than you do at home. Nurture a sense of family and camaraderie among your work friends so your time there will be edifying to both you and them.
5. If there is someone at work who is truly mean spirited, keep your distance as much as possible.  Don’t let yourself slip into their negative ways of speech or behavior.  Although it’s very, very hard, pray for them.  The Bible says to pray for your enemies, so just do it.   If the mean person is your boss then pray for deliverance also.
6. I have noticed that people like to be treated the same way they treat others.  If they are confrontational, confront them right back (nicely).  If they are passive aggressive, then never give them a direct answer.  Just keep nudging things forward in the same manner they are using. 
7. If you think that someone is untrustworthy and will throw you under the bus, you are probably right.   Be wary and wise around this type of person.
8. I’m not sure if this tip is constructive or just something that made me feel better, but whenever someone is demanding and rude I put them at the bottom of the priority list.  

That’s all I have for now.    Please share any work lessons you’ve learned from working with difficult challenging people.  

Mama Mabel's Kitchen

by Mama Mabel

When Granny Girl came to visit, we (meaning mostly she) revamped my kitchen.  Lots of dishes washed from the last two boxes to be unpacked.  We attempted to hang a bookshelf as storage out of Ladybug's reach.  Unfortunately, we bought the wrong sized brackets so it's now floor storage.  Fortunately, it allowed me to move a few things around and make everything more organized and Coondog can use the brackets to hang me sturdier (and bigger!) shelves in the near future.

See the red shelves below?  That's my new bookcase/low storage.  I'm currently storing cookbooks, a lunchbox, and Ladybug's kitchen supplies.  She likes to cook with me.  She screws the lid to the empty peanut butter jar off and on, she pours imaginary things from one bowl to another and adds seasoning with her empty pepper shaker.  When she's really lucky, she gets to put her bowls under the faucet while I wash dishes and pour water from one to another.  Oh, how happy she is when I let her play in water!

The metal and yellow shelves hold my dishes, pots & pans, crockpots, toaster oven and hot plate along with Coondog's coffee pot.  Since we moved it under the window, I can now access two outlets from it!  Woohoo!!

The other side of my kitchen holds my fridge and beloved hoosier cabinet.  Ladybug sits on this while we cook together.  It's deep enough that she can sit at the back with her legs fully extended and her feet still don't reach the edge.  Give the kid a measuring spoon and a bowl of flour and she's happy for as long as you will leave her there.  She's completely flour covered by the end of it but she doesn't mind so I don't either.

The floors in these pics are actually clean.  They're covered in drywall mud.  It's slowly wearing off.  Someday I will attack it with a scraper and hope the floor and I both survive.  It's not the flooring I would have chosen but I've found that it has its advantages.  Can you see the spilled pasta, chip crumbs and cheese bits below?

Neither can I.  :)

Four Little Ladies in a Yaris

Posted by Granny Girl

Last summer I drove with my sister and two cousins from Arlington, Texas to Branson, Missouri.  We took my Toyota Yaris because of the fuel economy (and because I have control issues about driving). Fortunately, we’re all small.  The tallest one is probably five feet two.  We managed to get most of the luggage in the tiny trunk space, with a couple of odd pieces ending up in the back floorboard.  A Yaris doesn’t have a hump in the floor so that gives us more room. 

On the way, we were travelling down a winding Arkansas highway in the dark when we saw police car lights up ahead.  I steered into the left lane and slowed down a little to avoid any mishaps when suddenly I saw a deer carcass in my lane.  The policeman had stopped to help the driver that had just killed a deer!  It was too risky to swerve at that speed so I went straight over it.   Just imagine a small car with four screaming ladies in it going over a dead deer.  Thump.  Thump.

We immediately started smelling a bad odor.  At a gas station up ahead we stopped to assess the damage.  Some Arkansans sitting outside the station said the smell was probably from forest fires nearby.  We checked under the car and didn’t see anything, so we headed on down the road.

The next day the smell was still hovering around my car.  I looked under the car, and there was a big blob of deer carcass in the middle of the front axle,  hanging down all glistening and gross!  More smell was coming from all the singed deer hair that was splattered on the back hatch.  Ewwww!  We took it to the car wash and blasted the hanging blob with high pressure water, but it stayed.  At least it quit stinking.

The rest of the trip was fun.  My parents live in Branson, so we stayed with them and had a great visit.  We shopped, saw shows, ate out and just had a blast!

Here's my mom and two cousins posing in the $1 million bathrooms in Shoji Tabuchi's theater.

Garden Grown

Posted by Granny Girl

When I was in Arkansas visiting Mama Mabel (or daughter Mabel?), she gave me some fresh squash and tomatoes her neighbor had grown.  So I called cousin Judy and asked her what to do with it.  Cousin Judy told me to sauté onion and squash in some olive oil.   Once it’s soft, pour in a can of Rotel and add some chopped up kielbasa or similar sausage.  Let it all simmer until everything is steamy hot.  Serve over rice.  Yummy!

I cooked it up tonight and served it to 3 twelve year old boys.  2 out of 3 loved it.  Plus me.  I ate a lot!

Working Women Wednesday: Adobe Reader Shortcuts and Tricks

There are many more tricks for Adobe when you get into purchased versions but there are a few basic shortcuts that help me in Adobe Reader.

Shift + Ctrl + "+" = Rotate view 90 degrees clockwise

Shift + Ctrl + "-" = Rotate view 90 degrees counterclockwise

Ctrl + Page Down/Page Up  = Jump to next/previous page

Side arrow keys = Jump to next/previous page

Edit / Take a snapshot = Highlight a portion of the page and paste to another program

Ctrl + 0 (the number) = View full page on screen at once

Ctrl + 1 = Expand page to full width of the screen

These are just the basics but they've served me well.  Do you have any tips to share?  Please put them in the comments so we can all benefit.

When Granny Girl Came to Town

by Mama Mabel

My mom, Granny Girl, came to visit us this weekend with my nephew Cameron.  Coondog woke up Saturday morning and asked what had happened to his house.  It was my mom.  She woke up full of energy and ideas of how to get our house into shape.  The overflow room off our kitchen where the last owners had left all their extra construction supplies was cleaned out and the floor mopped.  Now it's our dining room.  The porch was cleared and swept.  Ladybug's toad friend that was living there was very put out but found a new home in the few things left on it out of necessity.  The car was packed with laundry and the recyclables that had been piling up in the kitchen.  We girls were leaving for town to get stuff done.

It was so nice to just sit and talk to my mom while Ladybug slept and the laundry was going.  I also got to drive her around the town.  It was such a quick trip, we didn't get to do everything but we sure did a lot!  Hopefully on the next visit, we can walk down main street visiting all the stores rather than just driving by.  I also want to take her all around our mountains.  She said we live in a postcard.

It helped that she came while the mist was coming up over the ridge.  I see this view everyday.  Not bad is it?  On her next trip, we'll have to go to the waterfall and Lookout Rock where you can see the whole valley and several layers of mountains behind it.  It's nice to see something that is becoming familiar to me through the eyes of a newcomer.  It brings back the wonder I felt when we first moved here. 

Working Women Wednesday: Excel Keyboard Shortcuts

by Mama Mabel
 
As women who work outside the home (except for Granny Girl's current hiatus after a recent layoff), my mom and I know that anything that helps maintain a healthy work/life balance is good.  We're starting Working Women's Wednesday to share tips we've picked up that make our lives easier both on and off the job.  First up, we're covering excel tips and tricks starting with keyboard shortcuts.

I use excel at work almost all day every day.  It's part of being an accountant in the Age of Technology.  The people I work with are big on sharing tips for keyboard shortcuts.  If you don't have to move your hand to the mouse, you don't break your flow.  With uninterrupted flow, you finish your work faster and go home earlier!

There are the basic excel shortcuts:

Shift + Ctrl + "+" (the plus sign) = Insert cells, rows or columns.  A pop up box lets you choose which by typing the underlined letter of the appropriate option

Shift + Ctrl + "-" (the minus sign) = Delete cells, rows or columns via pop up box selection

Alt + "=" = sum (___) then select the cells you want to sum

Ctrl + [any arrow key] = jump to next start/stop in data in that direction

The following work in almost any application (Excel, Word, Outlook, Gmail, etc.)

Ctrl + U = Underline

Ctrl + B = Bold (do again to unbold). 

Ctrl + I = Italicize (do again to stop italicizing). 

Ctrl + Z = Undo

Ctrl + Y = Redo (as in undo your undo)

Ctrl + X = Cut (deletes after pasting)

Ctrl + C = Copy (remains after pasting elsewhere to data is duplicated)

Ctrl + V = Paste

Then there are the lesser known shortcuts:

Alt + H + K = Accounting format (this gives you two decimal places and lines up all your numbers neatly)

Ctrl + e = edit highlighted cell

Alt + H + 3 = double underline.  This looks snazzy at the end of a calculation to highlight the final answer.  It only works in newer excel versions.

Ctrl + T = format group of cells into a table

Ctrl + "Page Down" Button = Jump to next tab on the right

Ctrl + "Page Up" Button = Jump to next tab on the left

Ctrl + 0 (the number) =  Hide column

Shift + Ctrl + 0 (the number) =  Unhide column

Ctrl + 9 =  Hide row

Shift + Ctrl + 9 =  Unhide row

Alt + H + V + V = Paste value.  If you cut "=10+10", them paste value, the new cell will say "20" and your formula will be lost.  Sometimes this is desirable.

Probably the most helpful all-around keyboard shortcut is:

Alt + Tab = Flips between multiple workbooks.  This will work with any open program so you can jump between Word, Excel, Adobe, Outlook and Internet Explorer at will.  It goes to the last thing you had selected to work in.

Alt + Tab + Tab = Holding down the Alt key creates a pop up box showing everything you have open.  While still holding Alt down, tab to whichever page you want then release Alt.  Voila!  You're on to the next thing.  The program order will change according to what you most recently opened so be aware.

This is not a keyboard shortcut but is worth a mention:  

If you have multiple monitors and want a spreadsheet open on each, don't choose File/Open from within the first spreadsheet to create the second.  This will keep them on top of one another.  Instead, go back to Start and open excel again from the beginning.


Hope this helps!  If you have any great shortcuts not listed, please put them in the comments for all to enjoy.  Thanks!

How Do I Potty Train My Toddler?

by Mama Mabel

I trying to potty train my toddler.  I've read several articles and spoken to several parents and come to the conclusion that every kid is different and every parent has their own sworn by method.  Unfortunately, none of what I'd read or heard is working so far.  We brought home Ladybug's new training potty Saturday with much excitement.  She now has only sporadic interest in "going peepee on the big girl potty."  At first, she did it for the novelty.  Then she did it because I was using the bathroom and she wanted to be like me.  Then she decided she would rather carry it around than sit on it or at most she would sit on it with her pants on.  That's where we are now.  (That's a lot for 3 days isn't it?)

I don't want to make her sit on it against her will because she can just hold it in until she's back up running around.  That's one thing I got from the articles.  I want it to be a happy experience so she sticks with it.  I've heard that bribery works for a lot of people.  Cookies are probably the only snack she consistently wants that I could use as a treat but do I want to start using junk food as a reward this early in her life?  If it gets her to potty train do I even care?  Am I expecting too much too fast?  Am I way over thinking this?  It doesn't help that she's so skinny that pull ups and training pants don't fit her so she's still in diapers.  I think it confuses the issue.  We've started calling them panties but she's a smart kid.  She knows they're diapers.  Maybe I need to break down and figure out how to sew some tiny panties.  That was my original plan before I remembered how much trial and error is involved in my sewing projects.  I wonder if I can buy some bigger ones (i.e. the smallest they sell at stores) and just bring in the side seams and cut down the elastic.  I bet I could manage that.

She gets very excited when she actually gets some pee into the potty (she did it 3 times Sunday) but she hasn't totally made the connection to what exactly she's doing to get it there.  She'll sit on it for a minute then look to see if anything happened even if nothing has.  I've tried getting excited and walking her over to it frequently but she resists and I think forcing it will lead to intentional accidents later.  She's excited right up to the point when I try to get her pants down.  If she were older or had been potty training longer I might start adding in negative consequences but I think we're too early in the process still. 

Aside from stickers or cookies, are there any other good rewards that you've found to help motivate a kid to potty train?  Any other methods you can suggest or advice you can give me?  I'm open to all ideas.  Thank you.

My Other Daughter

Posted by Granny Girl

Let me introduce my wonderful niece, Nicole.  I call her my other daughter.  She is an amazing woman. 

Nicole came to live with us when she was a teenager, I’m not sure if she was 16 or 17, but somewhere around there.  She was going through a troubling time with her parents and needed some space.  She lived with us until she married (with a short time away when she had her own apartment).   It was during this time that I really got to know her.  She is honest, hard working, inquisitive, and a person of great faith. 

Nicole’s chaotic upbringing left some scars on her soul, and I am so proud of the way she has worked through it and become the woman that she is!  She and her strapping, easygoing husband have a strong marriage, not without its challenges but strong nevertheless.  They have two adorable little boys, ages 4 and 6.  They live in a log cabin in the piney woods of Texas.  She works full time and runs a busy household with frugality and creativity.  She takes online courses and night courses and has earned two degrees.

Nicole is a “gifter.”  On any holiday, I can expect a wonderful gift (or a box full of gifts!) from her.  Being the most amazing bargain shopper in the whole wide world, she shops year round for Christmas gifts and gives something wonderful to every member of her and her husband’s family.  I’m taking shopping lessons from her! 

Nicole is my ex-husband’s niece, but I’ve always thought of her as my own.  Her parents divorced right around the time we divorced, and it really shook her world.  We’ve formed an even stronger bond since then, and I so appreciate having her in my family.  She calls me her adoptive mom, and I call her my other daughter.   I just love her!

Blessings in Abundance (and of Abundance)

by Mama Mabel

Our garden is struggling.  Lack of time and equipment have taken their toll on it.  However, our neighbors' gardens are doing well.  At a small potluck Sunday, I counted at least 3 squash dishes - you can really tell what is in season.  Everyone here loves to overplant and then give away the extras.  Guess who is always willing to take extra fresh-from-the-garden veggies.  That's right.  Me!  So far we've had squash/zucchini/tomato soup and grilled squash.  Stir fry and zucchini bread are in the near future.  If you have any recipes for squash or tomatoes that you feel like sharing, I would appreciate them.

As much as we love squash, we can't possibly eat all that has been given to us before it goes bad.  I paused in my long weekend of kitchen cleaning (my perpetual project) for some veggie processing.  Our freezer now has a little stash of shredded and sliced and actually labelled squash & zucchini for later use. 

Getting them ready for storage plus life in general led to more dishes.  This is Ladybug's favorite activity.  I do my dishes in a plastic washtub set in my bathtub. Ladybug is just tall enough to reach over the side and fill up any container she can find with water to dump out in whatever spot strikes her fancy.  She generally tries to keep it in the tub, especially if I put another bowl in there for her to aim for.  Her child development expert Grandma Honey tells us she figuring out transferring (or transference?) and it's a big step in her development.  I think it's an easy way to entertain her.  That is, until she has an "accident."  Sometimes she pours water down the front of herself and onto the floor.  It occasionally looks intentional but it always surprises her which I find funny.  The frequent floor wiping this requires me to do is not as entertaining.  I was telling my cousin Nicole this and she pointed out that now I didn't have to mop the floor.  That along with my entertained kid makes for a double blessing!

Best Parade Ever!

posted by Granny Girl

On the 4^th I took the grandsons to the best parade in the State of Texas!  The City of Arlington puts on a fantastic parade with about 150 entries.  We saw marching bands, drill teams, antique cars, representatives from all branches of the military, just everything!  This is the second year I have taken them to the parade.  I always took my kids when they were young, and I decided to reinstate the tradition.  It just feels so American!

                                                        Elvis on a scooter.  Cool!

                                                                   Drill team

    Marching band

Tractors

More tractors (It's Texas, you know.)

                                                    Army (WW II era)

Navy

Coast Guard

Marines

And what could  be more American than.......

belly dancers!

Peanut Butter Wars

by Mama Mabel

 

My husband thinks I eat all his peanut butter.  This is laughable since I rarely eat it and I always make sure to leave some for him.  I will give it to our daughter but I think anything snackable for her should be considered fair game. 

 

We now have our own jars and I put a sticker on the lid of mine to avoid any confusion.  If I make pb crackers for Ladybug, I make them out of my own jar.  I expect him to do the same.  He told me if I leave mine at work, I can't have any of his.  This is mostly in fun but deep down each of us kind of wants to prove the other one wrong. 

 

I made cookies for the funeral this week with peanut butter in them.  I'm just waiting for Coondog to start to eat one so I can say, "Sorry, those were made with my peanut butter.  You'll have to make some with your peanut butter if you want any."  Then I'll laugh hysterically. 

 

Then I'll probably let him have one.  After all, it's just peanut butter.

First Funeral

by Mama Mabel

I just got back from the first funeral we've attended here.  Our sweet neighbor Laverne passed away.  She's been in poor health since we met but was doing better so her death at this time was a surprise.  Her daughter lives across the street from us and was one of the first people we met.  She attends our church regularly and brought her mom whenever her health would allow.  Laverne was always happy to get out to see people and praise God with her fellow believers.

Like everything else out here, the funeral and family meal afterward were done with relaxed efficiency.  The family was understandably upset during the service but able to laugh with one another at the meal.  No one cared that during the service, our daughter and Laverne's great nephew hit it off in a little kid way that required them to grunt until they were allowed to touch each other then hide in their mamas' arms.  It was mildly disruptive but they seemed to appreciate watching the innocent fun as a break from the seriousness of the occasion. 

Laverne had told the pastor that when the time came, she was ready to see her Savior.  She told her daughter that she didn't want any slow songs at her funeral.  She wanted it to be lively.  She got her wish.  It was more like a family reunion than a funeral.  There was sadness, but there was also the pleasure of loved ones meeting that hadn't seen each other in years.  There was a strong sense of community as neighbors and extended family (often the same thing here) offered loving support to those left behind.  Her notoriously shy widower even told us to come over anytime.  I feel blessed to be part of such a loving bunch.

Psalm 37 is awesome!

Posted by Granny Girl

I went through a rough patch recently.  Things at work got really, really hard.  I’ve always worked as an admin in commercial real estate companies.  That’s where God planted me, so that’s where I bloomed.  I was hired at my most recent job in January 2008.   Shortly after that the economy went south and the company started laying off administrative assistants.  I became the lone surviving admin in the Dallas office, and after a couple of years was transferred to the company’s corporate office in Fort Worth.  I was then the only admin for the brokerage department for both the Dallas and Fort Worth offices. 

The ladies and gentlemen I worked with were wonderful.  As in most real estate companies, agents came and went, but the core group of them were phenomenal people.  The company itself didn’t function so well.  The president/owner of the company was a difficult man.  He could pass me in the hall several times a day and not acknowledge me.  That was fine.  He was exceptionally friendly to any woman there who was well endowed or young and pretty and completely ignore any female over the age of forty, even though he was over sixty. While that was icky, it worked for me because it meant I didn’t have to deal with him.  But the one thing I just couldn’t bear was the way he belittled all things sacred.   I prayed for protection because I just knew God was going to smite him.  (I was kinda hoping for a lightning bolt.)

A couple of months ago I made a mistake on a leasing report.  It was a minor thing, but it caught the president’s attention.  I was called in for a review and was told my job was on shaky ground.  I knew that intimidation was his modus operandi, so I didn’t worry too much about it. 

Recently, a new President of Brokerage Services was hired to oversee my department.  I could tell from her comments that she had been filled in by the owner about what an “inept” admin I was, and that she had been told to keep a close eye on me and micro manage my work.  When someone has decided that your work is not good they are not going to see any of the good work you do.  No matter what I did, it was wrong.  The whole atmosphere in our department became strained.  This micro management style didn’t go over well with anyone and the agents started working with their office doors closed.   It was hard.  My stomach began to hurt every day and my adrenaline was so elevated I had to cut back on caffeine.  The tension was making me sick.

Then I came across Psalm 37.  It was God speaking to me exactly what I needed to hear.  After one particularly bad meeting in which I was loudly interrupted repeatedly and accused of wanting to start a fight, the Lord gave me this verse which I printed and laminated and kept under my keyboard:

Psa 37:12-13

The wicked plots against the just, and gnashes at him with his teeth.

The Lord laughs at him, for he sees that his day is coming.

And when I would catch myself tensing up as I turned onto the street where the office was located, I would quote to myself:

Psa: 37:7-8

Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him.

Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way,

Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.

Cease from anger, and forsake wrath;

Do not fret – it only causes harm.

When I was called in for the final meeting in which I knew I would be fired (the Human Resources Director only comes to the Fort Worth office on a Wednesday if someone is going to be fired!), the peace of God that passes all understanding filled me.   I was being delivered!  The company gave me a severance package and my unemployment benefits have begun.  Psalm 37 told me it would be okay:

Verses 25-26

I have been young, and now am old;

Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken,

nor his descendants begging bread. 

He is ever merciful, and lends;

And his descendants are blessed.

As soon as I sent out the “goodbye” email to all personnel, I started receiving hugs, calls, texts and notes from my co-workers.  God was affirming my time there and His graciousness in allowing it to end well.

Psalm 37 is still my daily reading.  Now I will

Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.

 Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.  Psa. 37:3-4

Doin' nuthin'

Posted by Granny Girl

I have a day off!  Actually, my days off are kinda unlimited, because I lost my job last week.  But that’s a good thing!  Total blessing, no two ways about it.  I’ll blog more about that later.

Anywho, I just got back from spending three and a half days at the family reunion (more about that later, too) so I’m completely exhausted.  My goal for today is to do absolutely nothing.  I’m achieving that goal, kinda.  I had to pay bills this morning, and the laundry from taking three stinky grandsons to the family reunion has to be washed.  I’m refusing to cook, but meals still have to be served, or at least thought up.  I’m thinking frito pie or a bowl of cereal.  Other than that, it’s HGTV and my easy chair.  Woohoo!

Here’s a picture of me and the three stinky boys at the family reunion: (And, no, apparently we cannot all smile at the same time.)