Sounds Like a Flock of Wah Wahs

It amazes me how negative our world has become. Social media has given people plenty of outlets for expressing themselves - unfortunately, it offers an endless array of options for all of us to complain about every detail in our lives. Now, don't get me wrong. I was once one of those people. I felt I had to update my Facebook status every time something happened, good or bad. Since then, I have realized how incredibly obnoxious that can be. I hardly ever update my status, and when I do, I try to make it something exciting or positive. Twitter is something I am still working on improving, since it's much easier to throw a cryptic message of crabby-ness out there without anyone noticing.

Bad things happen in life. That's just life. We deal with it, we move on, we get over it. Why would you want to focus on everything negative and make yourself miserable? Every day, you have the option of making a conscious decision: either you wake up and have a good day because you keep a positive attitude and don't let yourself get brought down, or you wake up and let every little thing bother you, spend your day complaining, and most likely have a crappy day.

I'm not saying you can never complain about anything. I am the type of person who likes to share every detail about my day with those I am close to. Maybe it's because I want to be a writer, but this is just how I have always been. I would come home from school when I was younger and tell my mom everything. Often times, my dad would eavesdrop and comment, "Sounds like a flock of wah wahs!" to make fun of me for complaining. I never saw it as complaining - I was just being thorough.

This year, one of my goals is to try and be a more positive person. I tend to get hung up on the little things, overreact, and get upset when I shouldn't. That adds excess stress to my life that just isn't necessary. Please see this article for further information on stress: https://www.betterhelp.com/advice/stress/. Life is better when you are thankful for what you have, instead of frustrated over the bad things that may occur. You can have a bad day every now and again, but really, is every day of your life that bad? Do you have a job? Do you have a caring family? Do you have a place to call home? Do you have friends you can count on? Do you have enough food to eat every day? More than likely, you have at least one of those things going for you. Things probably aren't as bad as you are making them out to be, and there are certainly others in the world who have it a lot worse.

Before you jump to Facebook or Twitter to update it with negative thoughts or complaints, take a moment to ask yourself if you are going to look back on that status or update and regret it. Are you going to want to remember it? Or, was it just something else minor that happened that would be better kept to yourself? Are you going to feel embarrassed or uncomfortable when other close family or friends read what you have to say? In the moment, your post may seem like the best way for you to vent, but that complaint could be better suited to be kept private, in a journal or notebook, where you can release your feelings without telling the world about your moment of weakness or frustration.

I don't write this to offend anyone or make them mad. I write this with the hope that even just one person might read it and feel more motivated to have a better, positive attitude. My life hasn't been perfect. I have been through a lot. But, if I woke up every day and focused on everything bad that has ever happened to me, you can bet I would be a pretty depressed person. Instead, I am choosing to wake up each day and hope for the best and to feel thankful for what I have. Your life probably won't ever be perfect and what you imagined it would be, but I find it is most important to be grateful for what you have and remain as positive as possible. Negative people are going to continue to attract other negative people and things around them. Positive people don't want to spend time with negative ones who spend their days complaining.

The next time you go to say or post something negative, take a moment to think about it: is it worth it? Or, in a day, will you look back and laugh at yourself for overreacting and getting so upset? Try eliminating negative posts and replacing them with only positive ones. You will certainly begin to see a a gradual change it your life, even if it isn't noticeable at first.

What do you think? Are you trying to be more positive in your own life? What do you do to limit your negative posts or excessive complaints? Leave a comment below to give your opinions on overcoming negativity and the negative people in your life!

Phone Interview Dos and Don'ts

My job is to conduct phone interviews. Day in and day out, I talk to people throughout the United States to conduct phone interviews. It simply amazes me at the things people tell you on the phone, the personal information they throw out there, and the absolutely awful answers they give for the simplest questions. If you have a phone interview coming up, you may want to take a few things into consideration before you prepare.

• The most important thing is to avoid having a bad attitude. Don't be rude, don't be snotty, and don't be negative. If you want a job, how do you expect to get one if you treat the interviewer poorly? Even if you're having a bad day, you're fighting with your significant other, or if you aren't feeling well, do not tell the person interviewing you about any of these things! Be upbeat! Be excited! Be likable! In the words of my co-worker, your personality should be more than that of a wet blanket.
• Do not ramble or give excess information. I understand you only have a set amount of time to get information about yourself out there and set yourself apart from other candidates, but the second you start to ramble and get off-topic, you are going to lose the interest of your interviewer, and you will quickly join the category of candidates we call "the ramblers." You'll be the one to throw off our interview schedule for the rest of the day because you started talking about your work history dating back to 1972 or telling a ridiculously long story that took 10 minutes and should only have taken two. Keep your responses clear, concise, and to the point. Answer the question you were asked, and nothing more.
• Don't talk about your age. In most cases, your age can't be held against you when it comes to a job anyway, so stop bringing it up. I know that I personally never take that into consideration, nor do I make a note of it in my interview notes. Don't make things awkward by revealing your age or making assumptions about the age of your interviewer. (For example: "I've been working in customer service longer than you've been alive").
• When asked why you left a position, do not launch into a story about how you were taking care of a family member with cancer and that person passed away or how you had a disagreement with your employer. Trust me. (My mom passed away from cancer, so I am certainly not being insensitive here). This will make another awkward situation, and everything can actually be summed up in two simple words: "Personal reasons." That's what we will write anyway, so that's what you might as well say.
• If asked about the job description for the position you applied for, a good response is never that you applied for so many jobs that you can't remember. Read the job description. Know what you applied for. Heavens, take notes if you have to.
• Generally, if you can't answer a question, you probably aren't going to pass. So, you should at least make an effort to think of something instead of automatically saying you can't think of anything.
• Questions are good, but you should never ask too many questions. I would say keep it to five questions or less, unless the phone interview happens to be the very last step of the process. Especially if it is early on, asking a lot of specific questions is unnecessary, because you haven't really made it all that far yet, so there may not be a lot of specific information available at that point.

Once the interview is done, it is fine to follow-up. However, do not check excessively. Try calling or e-mailing one time. In many cases, when you don't hear back, that means they aren't going to move forward with you. In other cases, a decision has maybe just taken a little longer to be made. In any case, do not harass the person you are trying to contact. That certainly will not help to speed up the process, and it is most likely out of their hands anyway.

At the end of the day, we don't want you to fail your phone interview. We want you to pass. So, think smart, don't ramble, and be pleasant. If you don't, you are most likely going to remain jobless, because someone else out there will have listened to this blog post when you didn't. =)

Book Review: Sisterhood Everlasting

**Spoiler Alert: There will be spoilers from the book discussed in this review.**

I have always been a fan of the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants novels. I had an idea in my head of how I wanted my friendships to turn out in my teenage years, and I always imagined I would have three best friends to last me for life, just like Lena, Tibby, Carmen, and Bridget. When I learned a fifth book was coming out very soon, (it was released on June 14th), I hopped on over to the Barnes and Noble website and pre-ordered it right away.

During a weekend up north at my husband's parents' cottage, I thought this would be the perfect time to read my book. I was excited to see where the four girls had ended up in their lives 10 years later. I assumed the book would be happy, and that even though they had drifted apart, they would be reunited and everything would end up just how it used to be and as it should be. I couldn't have been more wrong.

I finished the book within a couple of days, but that didn't stop me from feeling depressed and cranky throughout the two days. The book brought down my mood, and I honestly just kept reading it in the hopes that things would change or somehow get better. Truth be told, by the time the book finally ended, I was relieved. I was slightly satisfied with the endings that came about for Bridget, Lena, and Carmen, but I could not get over the fact that Ann Brashares actually killed Tibby off in the book.

What bothered me the most about this is that enough people have died throughout this series. Even to start this book, Carmen revealed that her father's wife, Lydia, had passed away. In my opinion, there was enough death up to this point in the books. Bridget's mom, Bailey, Lena's grandparents, now Lydia...but to add Tibby to that list? It just seemed ridiculous and completely unnecessary.

I was mad at the characters for just not picking up the phone and talking to one another and for assuming Tibby had killed herself, when (to me, anyway), it was obvious that there was more than likely something wrong with her. I felt frustrated that the four girls never got to say good bye and that they came so close, but it just didn't happen. I was annoyed at the change in Carmen's personality, I was annoyed with Bridget for just running away, I was annoyed with Lena for never doing anything and being so incredibly passive, and I was annoyed with Tibby for not reaching out to her friends sooner and having a complex about telling them everything in person. Most of all, I was annoyed with Ann Brashares for writing this book the way she did.

There were some good moments...oh, maybe in the last 10 pages of the book. I was happy to see Lena and Kostos end up together, to see Carmen break off her engagement, for Bridget to finally come clean and tell Eric the truth, for everyone to finally know the truth and get all the misunderstandings cleared up about Tibby, and for the whole gang to have a place to share together. The one thing that would have made this better is if Tibby could have been there to share it with them.

Overall, I just didn't like this book. It brought down my mood, the characters were frustrating, and this was not the ending I had in mind for the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants girls. I almost would prefer this book was never even written so they could have remained in my head how I imagined, and not down a member of the Sisterhood. It was an incredibly disappointing book.

What do you think? Do you agree with me, or am I being to harsh? Did you read the book? Did you like it or hate it? Will you read it in the future if you haven't already? Feel free to discuss by leaving a comment below!

Why I Decided to Go Back to Work

If you know me, you know that I was laid off from a job I really enjoyed back at the end of January. We lost the client I was working on, and they could only keep some people around. Unfortunately, that meant splitting up myself and the other three people I had grown close to - two of us were laid off, and the other two stayed and moved over to a different client. I went to work at a different branch of the company for a month on a temporary assignment they needed my help on. When they couldn't afford to keep me around any longer, I was laid off once again.

Since then, I have actually been making a living working from home as a freelance writer and editor. I asked a couple of people for advice, and they were each incredibly helpful. I was happy to stay home and work in my new "home office" and make use of my English degree. I was happy to be in sweatpants. I was happy to do whatever I wanted and go to lunch when invited or have the freedom to attend a Brewers game on my husband's day off with him on a couple Wednesday afternoons.

Things were going pretty well last month. I had steady work, I was busy, and I made solid use of my time. Then, my boss from the first place I was laid off from e-mailed me to ask if I would be interested in coming back. I had a hunch it would be coming, as my old co-workers kept telling me about everyone who left working there or was promoted, and no one new ever came in. So, after careful thought and consideration, I decided I wanted to go back.

A lot of people probably think I'm a little crazy. Why would I give up being able to work from home? Well, for one thing, freelance work isn't always the most reliable. I may have been crazy busy last month, but this month slowed down to the point where we wouldn't be able to afford me working from home unless I started to send out more e-mails for new clients. A consistent paycheck will be helpful.

For another thing, I agreed to come back, but I asked if I could work 32 hours a week instead of 40. My boss and I came to the conclusion that I would work half days on Wednesdays and Fridays, and combining those with some weeknights or weekends, I should be able to juggle my workload between everything. I have heard that sometimes, freelance writing dies down during the summer anyway.

I think one of the biggest reasons I was ready to go back to work was probably because I missed it. I missed having a set schedule. I missed having daily interactions with people, as opposed to sitting home alone everyday and debating on whether or not to put on make-up or straighten my hair that day, since the only person to see me would be my husband, anyway. I also missed the friends I had made while I worked there, and I have felt sad that I couldn't be the one to determine when I left this job - they had decided that for me based on my date of hire.

Finally, I was bored and unmotivated at home. In the beginning, I had more work, so I had to be productive. But, as my workload died down, I started to become lazy, lethargic, and a huge procrastinator. I started waiting until the last minute to get everything done, I would put off writing articles as much as possible, and my main focus became checking Facebook and Twitter and clearing off the DVR instead of getting work done. I am hoping that having set times to focus on my freelance work will force me to get it done when I have the time to, because I can't just save it all for the next day anymore.

This past Tuesday, I officially went back to work. I have a new cubicle and don't sit by my friends anymore, but I also have a new computer with a flat screen monitor that I always hoped I would get the last time I was there. This time, I am working on a client where I schedule all of my own phone interviews and decide how many I can handle in a day. The positions are all different, so I won't necessarily be doing the same exact phone screen 16 times a day, which I like. It didn't take long to get back in the swing of things, and today, I decided I am happy to be back. Something about working there and being in such a positive environment puts me in a good mood. Hopefully this time, with such a small team left, I won't even have to worry about the possibility of a layoff again...but, if I do, at least I have my freelance work to fall back on. For now, this is a good balance for me. This is what I want to be doing.

Something Borrowed: The Book vs. the Movie

Now that I have seen Something Borrowed twice, I feel as though I have to write about the obvious contrasts between the book and the movie. While I liked both, I definitely enjoyed the book more, as I usually do when books are turned into movies. There are just so many details within a book that are important to the story that can't always be used in the movie.

**If you don't want to read spoilers about the book or the movie, you probably should read someone else's blog instead of mine. Just a head's up.**

The overall storyline was basically the same. Dex and Rachel hook up after her birthday party, they continue to do so throughout the summer behind Darcy's back, she hooks up with Marcus, gets pregnant, she and Dex called off the wedding, and she finally catches him with Rachel.

Differences:

• In the movie, Hillary's character was completely absent and basically replaced with John Krasinski's version of Ethan.
• Darcy and Rachel's pregnant childhood friend Annalise was also not in the movie at all.
• Marcus' character was a complete idiot in the movie. He is portrayed as a complete pothead skateboarder...and that's pretty much it. Very hard to see how Darcy would be so interested in him.
• Ethan does not live in London the entire film; rather, he chooses to move there as a part of his career as a novelist. During Rachel's visit to him in London, he revealed he was in love with her, which was completely unnecessary.
• Instead of being ultra-snooty, Claire is ultra-crazy-in-love-with-Ethan. She obviously was a completely different person than in the book to add comic relief to the movie.
• The addition of Dex's parents was lame. In the book, it was his Dad and Step-Mom, who were hardly even mentioned. In the movie, they played a central part in why Dex couldn't call the wedding off. Something about how his mom suffered from depression, and the wedding was making her happy? I didn't understand why that was needed. It should have just been Dex's problem to figure out. No pushing from Dad.
• The characters of Rachel, Dex, and Darcy were perfect. Kate Hudson played the perfect Darcy, and Ginnifer Goodwin was just as perfect as Rachel. Colin Egglesfield was great for Dex - gorgeous and charming. It was hard to be mad at him.
• There was definitely much less sex between Dex and Rachel in the movie, which didn't bother me. I just wish their relationship could have been clearer in the movie. Instead of them finding ways to spend time together, their relationship was mainly based upon the feelings they'd been experiencing for each other since law school.
• The sort-of-relationship between Marcus and Rachel really never happened in the film.

What I Liked:
I was happy to see small details from the book pop up in the movie - Darcy not really getting into Notre Dame and the tear Dex wiped from Rachel's cheek while they were studying together during law school were both in the movie. I enjoyed the humor that was brought into the movie, and I especially enjoyed Darcy and Rachel's dance to Salt 'N Pepa's "Push It." I also liked that they backed up the reason Dex and Rachel were so close and gave enough back-story on their lives back in law school. (Not that I condone cheating).

What I Didn't Like:
I hated the idea of Ethan being in love with Rachel during their adult lives. I liked the idea of him being the best guy friend she could ask for, without any other feelings between the two - not the best friend who had fallen in love with her and further complicated the story. It almost made me want Rachel and Ethan to get together, and that obviously wasn't the point, or even a possibility, in the book. As I mentioned, I didn't like the addition of Dex's parents in the movie. I also would have loved to see Hilary and/or Annalise in the movie. Even if they would have just had small roles, it would have been nice to see them as a part of the cast. Finally, I would have liked to see a hometown visit from Darcy and Rachel, just to see where they got their start.

So, what did you think? Did you read the book, then see the movie? Or, are you the type who likes to see the movie before reading the book? Maybe you just like the see the movie and skip the book? Were you disappointed in the movie or the book? Which did you like better? After a lackluster performance at he box office, do you think they will still make the film Something Blue, which they alluded to with a "to be continued" and short scene of Darcy arriving in London to see Ethan during the credits of the film? (I hope so).