Here we are starting week six and we are half way through the semester already. Man where does time go? I could say that about the whole year; well I could say that about the last five years, but we are going to talk about this semester. I have enjoyed this semester as I am taking a very interest class called Communications. I wanted to update everyone as to what I have learned this far and how it truly is important in day to day life situations.

Thus far we have touch based on several topics including culture and communications, perception and the self, listening, verbal messages and nonverbal communication. Not only have I learned a lot about myself during the last few weeks of class, but I have learned a lot about others around me. We need to understand communication to help us understand our selves, but also to help us in personal relationships and employer relationships to help understand others.

Now for most of us we live in a melting pot which means we are surrounded by people from all over the world. Therefore it is important to know other cultures and how they communicate. For example we shake hands to introduce ourselves, but in China they do not shake hands. So when you shake their hand it is not natural to them and they do not have a firm handshake. We think of it as being weird; until you understand their culture and then it is no longer weird.  Also understanding how we perceive something may not be the same way you perceive something. It is also important to understand how to say things. When telling someone that they make you mad when they do something; you should change the verbiage to “I feel angry when you interrupt me.” It comes across better and allows the person to understand where you are coming from. This is very useful during work hours as we need to be careful when saying things.

So I highly recommend the Communications class to everyone as it is important to know how to communication with your loved ones, friends and co-workers. By understanding people, knowing how to communicate your thoughts and feelings, and interrupting others will add value to your life. So as I communicate with all of you on how I am doing throughout the semester; I hope all of you will reach back out to me about your accomplishments – share your stories – and communicate.      

In Loving Memory ~ Dad  

Well…I hope everyone had a lovely 4^th of July weekend! I had a great weekend and wanted to share it with all of you. I wanted to update you with the news of spreading my dad’s ashes this past weekend.  As I had mentioned in my previous blog; I planned my 4^th of July weekend to spread my dad’s ashes in our old hometown. It was one of his only requests if and when he passed.

My dad took a job offer in 1983 at Ocean Reef’s Resort in Key Largo Florida. He went down there first to assess the position and the living situation. Once he was settled in with the new job; he then started to look for a new home for us. We spoke with him every night and he was so excited about the Keys and could not wait for us to get there. We then followed my dad to the keys where he found a new home for us on Seaside Drive.  We lived directly across from the Atlantic Ocean. It was amazing and we stayed there for a few years.

We had so many great memories while living there. We would go out fishing and had traps set for catching sea food. We use to eat crab, lobster and shrimp like it was chicken. Yum...Yum…I remember it like it was yesterday. That is also the house where we brought my new little baby Brother Rodney home and I got my first brand new Huffy bike with the banana seat. We spent Christmas there looking out the window and seeing the Atlantic Ocean. Wow…so many great memories for me, my dad and the rest of my family which is why he requested that I spread his ashes in the ocean back in Key Largo. Of course at the time I told him he was crazy and I would never do such a thing…

My dad past in October of 2007 and I finally got up the courage to spread his ashes. It was such a great thing for me to do and I finally got closure for the passing of my father. My plan was to take my boy friend and my best friend and her husband. They were there for me when my father passed. I then made reservation for a boat rental so we could go out into the Atlantic and spread his ashes. We got down there July 3^rd early in the morning went to sleep and got up first thing Friday to set out for the hunt of my old house. My mom remembered the name of the street, but that was about it. Well after talking with some locals we managed to find my old house. It was still there and a young couple recently moved into the house. They shared with me some stories of them moving in. I took pictures and reminisced with everyone. There had been some changes to the restaurant across the street and there was another new Lodge directly in front of the house which now was blocking the view of the Atlantic.

We then decided to walk across the street to Snappers which was the restaurant and marina there on the water. After about 15 minutes of walking around and looking at the Atlantic I came to realize it was where the boat rental was located which I had reserved for Saturday. How ironic is that? Everyone got goose bumps as we realized my dad brought me right to our old house and the boat rental place for me to use to go out to sea and scatter his ashes. It brought peace to the whole situation.

Today is the day…We got up early Saturday morning to head on over to the boat rental place. I was extremely nervous and had small anxiety attacks as we were packing up the boat. It was just the nervousness of what was soon to be happening. As we left the boat dock I became calm and felt the comfort of my father.  We went out pass where all the boat traffic was as we wanted to find a nice calm spot to put the flowered lays in the water. I made these flowered lays and attached a collage of pictures of the family and my father. I also had a couple of American Flags attached because my father was a Vietnam Veteran. I placed everything in the water and then I had a moment of silence and then began to release the ashes from my hand into the wind. We shared some memories and another moment of silence. It really felt good and brought a sense of relief to me. We sat there for about an hour as we watched the flowers float away – we also took some pictures for memories and we then began to celebrate the life of my father. We all had a lovely day!!

In Loving Memory ~ Dad 1944-2007

Hello everyone! I hope this New Year is treating all of you well. My last blog I shared with you that I had found a job and I told you I would follow up to let you know how things are coming along. I also want to let all you how school is and catch everyone up.

The new company I am working for is Fabulous! I love everyone there from the top, right down to the bottom. I am also doing very well. I learned the processes quickly and have already been helping private clients. This job allows me to help others and I love helping others. I have worked for small, medium and large companies in my past and I have come to realize the bigger the company the more stresses you endure. The larger companies are in your face all the time wondering what is going on, when the smaller companies are only in your face if the work is not getting done. And that is more my style because I am motivated by working for good people/companies. If you are good to me, I will work that much harder for you, but if you are stressing me out and breathing down my next I loose all self motivation. I know there are people out there who need a drill sergeant to stay on their back or else they do not work, but that is not me.  Company’s loose sight of the real workers out there and at the end of the day they drive them away.

I am only in my first month with the company; however things are going really well. I am going to do everything in my power to make sure this works out for me 100%. I will keep all of you posted along the way to let you know how I am progressing.

 SCHOOL…

School is coming along as I complete courses and gain more credits. It is defiantly a journey, but well worth it. This semester I am having some struggles, but my teacher has been working with me the last couple of weeks. The class is Accounting Payroll and I do not know what it is, but I have so much trouble with Accounting. Since the teacher has reached out and assisted me I have increased on certain areas, but I have a ways to go. We are in the middle of the semester so I have to really focus and dedicate more time to learning it. The funny part is I actually want to learn this class and I want to do well in it. Accounting Payroll is a great skill to have for any management role in an organization.

Recently, I used Smarthinking, which is an online tutoring tool that Rasmussen provides to all of their students. It is a great resource to have. It was late one night and I was working on some payroll problems. I sent in a question and a student started instant messaging me within 5 minutes. He coached me through the problem and it worked out great. Where else can you get that kind of help at 1:30 a.m.? For me I live alone so there is know one to consult, especially at that time.

Well if anyone can recommend some tips on Payroll Accounting I would love to hear your thoughts on what helped you. In the meantime I will continue to plug along and push for a great grade.

Take care for now and will talk with you next week.   

For the first time in my 31 years of my life I made a contribution to my country and it felt great! Whether or not my vote makes a difference I will never know. However to me I made a difference and I am proud of it. It is going to be a long night while waiting for the states to turn in their electoral votes and I can not wait for the results.

I did early voting in the Downtown Orlando Library on Friday last week.  I was amazed to see so many voters there to make a difference in the world. The voters were from all nationalities and all different age levels. There were actually a lot of young voters there not to mention many of them were of Latin decent and African American voters which was great! I wish I had started voting years ago, if only I had a little more guidance to express the importance of it. Therefore I want to express how important it really is to be such a big part of history. Do not listen to the discouragers that say your vote will not make a difference because they are just trying to discourage you.  Obviously it will make a difference.

While standing in line I talked to some nice people with a lot of great points and different views on the US. They all had a lot of anger balled up inside waiting for someone to ask them for their thoughts. I am almost afraid too because everyone has such different views and the average American is truly angry.  One gentleman was a US veteran and he was carrying a lot on his shoulders. He kept on and on about how the government is so money driven that they have lost real sight of the citizens and what is important for them.  It is pretty sad to have a veteran think so un-highly of his country much like this gentleman. My father was a Veteran who fought for his country and they did nothing in return for him. This still goes on as young people spend years in the military and when ready to get out into the real world it is nearly impossible. This is truly sad and should not be allowed to happen. Why would anyone want to support a country that does not support them in return?

November 4, 2008 will be a big part of history and I hope many good things come from it. This country is hurting and it needs some positive energy in the white house. We need someone that is going to commit to their promises and really try to make a difference in the world.  We need someone that honors their citizens and respects all of them for who they are and not what they have. Talk is cheap and any of us can provide that; I could run for president and offer greater support than what has been in the seat for the last 8 years. We need a President that wants to save the world from Global Warming and will do whatever it takes to make it happen. We need CHANGE… My vote is for Barack Obama…Who did you vote for?         

As I said in my last post, I went away to Long Island, NY to attend an Indian Wedding. I had a lovely time and truly enjoyed seeing a wedding from a different culture. They are all about bright colors, fine dining and partying like royalty. 

An Indian wedding back in the village use to be 7 days long pre-wedding with the big day takes place at the end with a 20-40 minute ceremony in their Temple. The reason for this is they have several customs (traditions) that take place between families. I found a website can give you a little more insight on the different customs that take place. The customs vary a little depending on what region you are from in India.

This particular wedding lasted for five days and over three hundred people attended. The amazing part is that friends and family came from all over the world to attend this event. I met people from England, India, Africa, Canada and States. Seeing all of this really made me think about how the American wedding has really lost its culture. Most weddings have been expedited and changed from the original traditions from years ago. I am sure everyone would love to see pictures; However due to privacy there will be only a few I can post.

I am back in town and working on getting caught up on my homework due to the fact that I did not get it all done before I left. My teachers have been helpful and allowing me to turn assignments in late (of course with penalty), but my theory is better late than never.

Do you have any experiences like this?  Let me know, I'd love to hear them.