If I were Ohio's PR agent...

Being the resident Buckeye here in my office at the Pentagon, I frequently come under a lot of scrutiny about my state and a few of the WHACK jobs that live there. It seems that my co-workers love to send me lovely and insightful articles about the seemingly endless idiots in the news that reign from the great state of Ohio. And it's not just the people! I recently was forwarded a column that was written in TIME magazine featuring Ohio. It wasn't about some scientist that had cured some horrible disease. It was about bedbugs, and how the state is seemingly riddled with the sleepy little pests. Just today I saw an article about a pot-smuggling grandpa delivering drugs to his imprisoned grandson, and we all have heard of the serial killer recently detained in Ohio and extradited back to Michigan.

Who does your PR Ohio? Is there a spin doctor in the house? If I were Ohio's PR agent, and here I practically am, I would do a few things to get things back on track.

1. Highlight stories that don't make national headlines but really should like the increase in solar fields across the great state of Ohio. Who knew they were making such great strides in clean energy efforts?

2. The everyday heroes of Ohio making news, like the 65-year-old Vermilion, OH woman who scared off a would-be robber from a convenient store.

3. If these initiatives fail, I could just revert every bad news story back to The Ohio State Buckeyes, and the hopeful season that lies ahead of them. The art of distraction is never below me...

No matter what, I will continue to defend my home state and the people that live there. No matter how many stories I see about Ohioans being pulled over on their motorized bar stools or Ohio families who call police after being trapped in their home by squirrels, I will still stand tall and just be glad that I don't come from somewhere awful, like Michigan.

cattitude

So my roommate's cat Hopper is 1. Adorable, and 2. a complete brat. I give him a hard time ALL of the time. "Hopper don't eat that." "Stop scratching the company." "Don't bite my toes when I'm trying to sleep." I'm such a nag right? My roommate's parents call it "cattitude".

I've just recently realized that we have WAY more in common that I first realized! Recently I have been a complete brat and unfortunately to those I am closest with. I don't know if this happens to anyone else, but do you ever find yourself acting out? Do you ever develop your own case of "cattitude" and take out the wrath on those you just assume will understand?

It's extremely unfortunate that a little stress at work, or a fight with a friend can create such a funk that rubs off on the innocent unsuspecting bystander. Well for all of my innocent, unsuspecting bystanders that may have been a victim to my recent bad attitude I just want to say sorry. And for some that is SO hard to say. It's amazing how two little words can change a whole situation. An apology can change so much, and it's unfortunate when people overlook that fact. If Hopper could speak I'm sure he'd say the same.

I forgot about #1! So yes, Hopper and I are both kind of adorable too... when we aren't biting and scratching of course. :D

Cake, I'm in Love...

Thanks to a great deal from Groupon, I was able to slip into a cake induced comatose with this little beauty. This my friends is a CakeLove creation called "Susie's a Pink Lady. Fresh raspberry butter cream floats between layers of vanilla butter cake. And did I mention it has FRESH raspberries and is baked from scratch that day...yum!

It was DELICIOUS! So if you aren't afraid to spend $40 on a cake (or get a great 50% deal from Groupon) then I highly suggest one of these little beauties. My only complaint was this: If I am spending an insane amount of money on a cake, could you please not let a 5 year-old write the birthday message?

My post-it note organization system

Today I learned a VERY valuable lesson. A colleague called me and asked me for a phone number that I had written down last week. Now what did I do with that? I knew the number was scribbled somewhere on a piece of paper the size of a post-it note. Because why wouldn't it be? Everyone knows that's the most effective way of logging calls. On a 6-inch square of paper with no name or reference to be found. Just a number. Right next to 5 others with the same area code...ahh! As I scrambled through my filing system, and by filing system I mean roughly 34 pieces of scrap paper, post-it notes and two notebooks, I realized something. Although my perception is that I have my organization system completely in check, the aftermath of me searching for this phone number would prove that I am, dare I say, a HOT MESS.

While I mean well writing down endless phone numbers and to-do lists (I'm obsessed) on these bitty pieces of paper, I'm really not doing myself any good keeping all of these scraps piled on my desk. God forbid the fan trend comes back to the office culture. I would be screwed!

So from now on, I will refrain from scribbling on scraps as my main source of call documentation. I hear they have this thing called "e-mail".... Ya, that might be a good start.