I'm not going to lie to you. Fridays at my work have turned into a bit of a joke. The joke is that I'm actually here. 

The first part of the day the residents swarm the hairdresser who only keeps Friday hours. They buzz about outside the salon and refuse to leave their spot in the line in fear that someone will jump in front of them and get their cut in curl 15 minutes earlier. They WILL NOT (for the most part) participate in Activities with me on Friday morning - so I threw in the towel and went ahead and put Hair Salon on their calendar . So what do I do Friday mornings?

Well, here I am.

Perhaps I will actually have a few moments to hack out an actual update.

• First of all. After I returned from vacation I changed offices.Remember how when I transfered I went from a glorious hard wood floored activity SUITE to a desk squeezed in by a copier? Well, two weeks ago I finally found a happy medium. Its an actual office - with a door - that locks. After a few months of copy machine adjacency I am in 7th heaven. And since I now have a glorious door I can shut it and find time to catch up on things (including blogs) in peace. Something I haven't been able to do since November. Its lovely. 
• Speaking of work: things are finally leveling out after the sale and transition. Things are definitely working out in my favor financially. I've taken on another "position" in addition to being the Activity Director which has also increased my salary slightly. I am now also the Front Desk supervisor. Meaning I hire, schedule, staff all of our concierges. It was a source of much stress when I first returned from vacation because I literally accepted the task the day I left for Florida and that same day one of the concierges announced she was leaving for another job (not related to my taking the supervisory position TYVM). So I returned to a vacant spot that I had to staff by the skin of my teeth. It worked out though. 

Me at my desk Monday morning. Not a great picture but I know how boring posts with no pictures can be so here ya go!

• Speaking of the door to my office from the earlier bullet point - the minute I forget to lock it people just barge on in, scare the crap out of me, and bust me not working! Not that this person was my boss - or that I'm in trouble-  but now let be known I slack off on Fridays lol!
• I have not done so well with working out and/or eating well since I've been back from Florida. I may be up a lb or 2 but its hard to tell since I fluctuate so much from day to day any way. I'm very thankful that I've essentially maintained through the holidays and the bulk of the winter. Especially since WW got all sassy and changed to Points Plus completely revamping their entire Point System. I believe in the changes they've made but I was not a "member" before - meaning I used all things that I found on the internet and apps to track points and things. Well when WW changed I no longer had access to pertinent information therefore Point counting basically ceased. I'm thinking if I want to continue to be successful with loss (if I want to get this last 5-8 lbs off) I'm going to have to bite the bullet and join. I also have been jonesing to get outside for work outs and the weather has just SUCKED - unfortunately that has been my excuse to not work out for weeks. 

My planner open on my desk a few days ago. Left side my schedule. Right side trying to track what I ate! Also you can see I PLANNED to go to Zumba Tuesday but I never made it!

• Friendship Realization. This has been hard lately. I have spring fever bad and all I want to do is go out and play. Doesn't have to be a lot or a crazy night out - just want to be around people and do SOMETHING!!! Well Ben works all day Saturday and usually gets off late Friday night. Emily usually does too. And then the crickets start chirping. I have other friends sure. One in California, one in Louisiana, one in the hick sticks of Indiana, and one who is about to give birth. Those are my closest 5 girlfriends. So basically if Emily doesn't want/is not available to do things ... I'm on my own. It seems as though all of my other friends are busy parenting and living a very domestic (read: stay at home) life. And while that makes sense - it bums me out. I'm not ready for that life yet. So what do I do in the meantime and with whom? I'm thinking of taking up a class. Creative writing or something to meet some new people. Its hard after being out of school for so long though. Where do you meet new people?

Well, I've been here long enough now I suppose to fill you in on at least the thoughts in my head this Friday morning. Hope you all had a great week and an even better weekend! I'm still hoping to come back in full force very soon. Just takes.....what's the word again? Oh! Motivation.

Much Love Always!

Mrs. Amber Lane

10 On Tuesday

I have so much to write about but since I can't seem to find a good place to start I thought I would just fill in the blanks! 

10 on Tuesday stolen from Amber @ A Little Pink in the Cornfields

1. How did your parents decide on your name?

I was named after the title character in the novel Forever Amber ; Amber Sinclair - if it weren't for that book my name would be Marci (gag) 

2. Do your initials (First, Middle, Last) spell out anything fun/funny? 

ALL was my maiden name and in middle school I used to say I was, "ALL that and a bag of chips" ( because I was lame) Now its ALS and all I can think of is ALS Toy Barn from Toy Story!

3. Did you take your middle name from childhood or did you take your maiden name as your middle name? (If unmarried, what do you plan to do?)

I took my husbands last name and kept my middle name the same. I feel like my middle name is as much a part of me as my first name I would feel weird without it- and its also a family name. My mom never had a middle name so she took her maiden name as her middle name when she married.

4. Are you or will you name your children thematically (ie. same first letter, all of same origin…)

I might- I'm Amber and my husband is Ben so I thought maybe we could continue the alphabet but then I thought that's dumb because for the most part none of the baby names I like would follow suit and that would be a dumb reason to name a baby something you don't love. More lately I've thought having all As and Bs might be cute because there are several names I like that begin with those letters.

5. Did you decide on baby names as a little girl? Did you stick to them or change your mind?

Sort of. I have a laundry list of names that I love but I'm not sure that I came up with them when I was a little girl or later. I shall share (Middle names are in () ): Girls: Autumn (Lane), Addison (Rose), Bridgette (Audrey) Jolie (Georgeanne) I also like the middle name Grace Boys: Lane, Gabriel, Christian, Dominic, Caleb, Aiden

6. Does your family have any names that have been passed down through generations?

Lane. My grandma's middle name - my middle name - a future middle name of a girl or first name of a boy for me!

7. Do you look at the meaning of the name or just the name itself?

I look at the name's meaning definitely. For example I love the name Addison but it means: Daughter of Adam. Adam was the name of a boy I dated who almost killed me; emotionally and literally. I don't know if any child of mine can have a name that literally translates to daughter of Adam.

8. Do you name pets with human names (Sally, Henry) or with pet names (Fluffy, Mr. Bo Bo)? 

Five cats two have "human" names: Izzy and Zoey. The other 3 are Bryndel, Rennie, and BG Snugs.

9. Are there any names that you have an affinity or dislike for based on a childhood experience/someone you once knew?

See above on Adam. I also don't like the name Maria, Mary, Chrissy and I'm sure if I really thought about it there would be more.

10. What are some of your favorite names? Why?

See above! On another note about names..with a last name like Smith any child we have must have a name that will be strong and stand on its own.