signed, sealed, delivered.

I have been thinking about this post in my head for a week. I plan my posts before I write them, because I want them to have purpose. I want you to know how I am feeling and what I think, even if it's just about running or a family of fruit flies that happen to be living in my Christmas cactus plant.

It is important for us all to have memories. I have great memories, although I've forgotten moments that haven't seemed as important. I remember parts of preschool, elementary school, all the way through college. I remember our childhood pets, camping trips we took, dance recitals, swim practices...all sorts of things.

Memories help us to relive moments that have passed. As we grow older, we forget instances from our past. We're heading down the road and "that one time" from long ago seems to get smaller and smaller in the distance, as if we are driving away from it and leaving it behind. We know it's there, we just can't see it as clearly.

Sometimes we need to remember people. We don't live forever, but...we actually kind of do. We leave parts of ourselves - our personalities, our love and compassion, our hope - imprinted in lives of others, and it keeps living through them, and whoever else they pass it along to.

This is the point of the post, folks. A recent loss has gotten me searching for buried treasure, trying to find pieces of my own past that are just far enough down the road that I need to be reminded of what they look like up close. It's not that I'm old or forgetful, but I want to be reminded of people that are gone, and I want something tangible.

So I keep things, in plastic containers and shoe boxes under my childhood bed in my parents' house. Nothing big, and not in a hoarding fashion. I have my set chips from band camps. I have flowers from high school formals. And I have greeting cards.

Greeting cards are a dying art form, just like the post. I love getting mail when it isn't a bill or an advertisement that wastes paper because it is instantly thrown out. You can save cards, and people write messages to you, to tell you they're thinking of you. You sign your name. It's personal.

Greeting cards are not emails. They don't expire, and you don't have to click on them to view some stupid cartoon or hear an annoying song. You can display a greeting card on your desk or on a mantle, and it will keep you quiet company - a constant and subtle reminder that someone has remembered you today, in a way that you can appreciate tomorrow.

Over 1 billion cards are sent for birthdays, and another 1.8 billion are sent out at Christmas (Hallmark). If you sent me a card, chances are good that I kept it. I cherish them. Thank you for wishing me a happy birthday when I turned three... I still have the card and know that you cared about me 21 years ago.

This thought process is all sparked by the loss of a special lady, my grandma Ruth. Ruth was always kind and always listened when you had a story to tell (even if was a terrible story, and knowing me, it may have been from time to time as I am queen at telling bad stories). She was proud of things I'd accomplished in my life. She worried about others, because she wanted everyone to be happy, or at least okay. She sent cards on all sorts of occasions, including Easter and Valentine's Day, and there was always a little note, to describe the weather or just to simply say hello.

Aside from the cards from Ruth (and sometimes my mom and one other friend in Oklahoma), I don't really get greeting cards anymore. My box of cards from years past are from kids whose parents were friends with mine. The neighbor boys. My other lovely grandmother who passed away almost 10 years ago. Now, our generation's idea of a happy birthday wish is a post on a Facebook wall. "Happy birthday." The end. No more thought, no story, no nice note. Facebook even does the dirty work for you and lists birthdays on that particular day. It doesn't really mean as much as people might think.

So here's what I really want to say. It's okay to keep things. Really, it is. And it's okay to hold on to your memories, because they have helped to mold you, and shape you, and you're carrying on the legacy of someone you knew. And it's okay to spend a few dollars on your friends or your family to send them a little note in the mail, even if it's late or isn't considered "green" or environmentally friendly or something. Show that you care and take the time to slap a stamp on an envelope, instead of shooting off an email that takes just seconds to compose.

Who knows, you may be helping someone mark a milestone in their life and it may make their day. And maybe, just maybe, they'll keep it so that they can remember you.

After all, you are somebunny special.

running, running.

It was not all that long ago that I wrote about how I detested going to the gym. The gym was the evil villain of my Disney movie. The gym and I have made amends.

Maybe it's the warm weather. Maybe it's the recent acquisition of social media at work (Facebook & Twitter!), which doesn't pull me off the couch but allows me to ask our members what they're doing and connect with them. When you have a large group of amateur athletes telling you the miles they've run or biked or swam...you start feeling a little lazy.

I have to say, I am not a runner. I swim. I feel comfortable in the water and while I've never been the fastest, I enjoy swimming laps and the smell of chlorine (I know, weird). But I was determined to become a runner recently, and I decided I needed to push through my bad attitude towards running and through my shin splints and just do it. And I did.

You know the feeling. You've had one of those moments in your life. You tell yourself that you can't so many times that you stop trying...and then when you finally try it again, you succeed. Maybe slowly. Maybe in a fashion that would probably make real athletes (or business professionals, or artists, or whoever) chuckle a little.

Here's the point: you have to see your success in your mind before you can achieve it. Success in anything isn't just going to fall in your lap. You have to work for it, anticipate it, almost expect it. Know you deserve it.

I like this article from Nnamdi Asomugha (cornerback for the Raiders), who was dispensing advice to NFL rookies. If you take the advice for what it's worth for anything, not just for first-year NFL hopefuls, he speaks a lot of truth. I'll leave you with my favorite part of his list:

"Be confident in your ability to play the game. I learned from my position coach, Hall of Fame cornerback Willie Brown, that confidence is more than half of the battle. He told me before my very first game as a starter, "If you don't believe you're the best, you'll never be the best." No matter the situation, no matter the circumstance, when you believe in yourself and can fully understand that you made it to the NFL because you have an ability that is rare, you will conquer many of your fears before they even manifest."

So be confident. Believe you can. It may take a few tries, but once you get the hang of it, you'll feel like you're on top of the world.  This can apply to sports, athletic ability (like my running), a job search, a job shift, relationships (friendships and otherwise), saving money...anything.

Run with it.

gimme, gimme more.

I was going to write a post about things I like and dislike right now, but when I first started writing about the first thing, I realized that was enough for a blog post in itself.

So, something I currently like: New responsibilities at work.

This actually didn't happen this week, but I feel like I have embraced my new responsibilities more in the last two weeks. Now our Facebook page and Twitter are "mine" - meaning, I get to update them, monitor them... I am our "social media manager" even if it's not in my official title.

It's a good feeling to get new responsibilities from your supervisors at your job. It's a signal that you're doing a good job on the tasks you're already balancing...and someone is actually noticing. Some people might suggest asking for new jobs, but I think it means more when you've earned it. If you do your job to begin with, and someone notices that you are doing your job and doing it well, it's likely that you won't even have to ask for it.

This is a great article from Penelope Trunk about "managing up" in your job. Mostly it's about how to connect with your boss. Which is important. Not just with your boss, even. You want to have a good working relationship with the people you actually work with.

I actually was asked at one point which was more important to me: getting more responsibility, getting a higher (better?) title, or getting more money? Which order do you put those in if you're thinking about your career? Some may want more money first, or the promotion via title first, but look - you have to start somewhere. More responsibility and success often go hand-in-hand. If you are hired to do a job, and you simply do that job without branching out, using your creativity, or changing and evolving, why should anyone promote you or give you more money? If you are hired for a job, and you actively are involved in changes in the office, your department or your own position, you deserve a little more responsibility, which leads to a better title and maybe more money.

I talk a little about Generation Y, like in this post where I talk about how GenY is different than other generations that came before us. Instant gratification! We've gotten used to it, and think it should apply to all aspects of life, especially jobs. Give me a job, right now. Give me a lot of money. Give me a raise. We're so used to instant success that some don't think that they need to work for it. Not true, folks.

We have to work hard for what we want. And we have to realize that more money and better job titles don't come without hard work and maybe extra duties that we weren't originally assigned.

So keep at it. Yes, I got more responsibility at work, but that doesn't mean I should stop working hard and doing my best. That's the only way I'll keep moving up in the world.

Maybe this is worth remembering:
Good, better, best
Never let it rest
'Til your good is better
And your better is best!