November 2018 Out of Office (OOO)

I like to make feisty Out of Office (OOO) messages for my company people. I mean, who wants to read: "Hello, I am currently out of the office I will return on _____."

BORING.

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Hello friends,

I’m out of ze office for the week of November 19. I will be returning Monday, November 26 to answer you messages.

I unable to take your calls (who calls me anymore?) or emails because I will be knee deep in administering medical support for sick kittens and cats and elbow deep in making some 50+ pies in order to raise money for the Pet Adoption and Lifecare Society (PALS) 

(https://www.adoptapet.com/pals),

Not at the same time.

Fun fact - On Thanksgiving, we will have a full moon, known as the Beaver Moon (aka the Frost Moon or Mourning Moon). To celebrate this celestial occasion, it’s time to unload baggage in your life and home to prep for the coming winter.

If you have a problem that requires the local team here to help you, email them. If you need to contact the person I report to, email my boss. 

Cheers my peers,

Maddie

Training and Talent Development

Mean Girls Week: Friday

A few coworkers decided to do a Mean Girls week from October 23-26 because we all loved the movie and I was down.

Welcome to Mean Girls Week. Here are the Rules:

• Don’t wear a tank top two days in a row
• You can only wear your hair in a ponytail once a week
• On Wednesdays, we wear pink
• You can only wear jeans or track pants on Friday
• Be effortlessly plastic

You must take a photo of your outfit every day and share your thoughts.

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I got this shirt in 2011 on sale to wear while I was scooping poop as a throwaway shirt.

Somewhat lies.

More specifically, I got it for when I was working with kids who were volunteering for school credits or religious reasons, or those with various disabilities who were learning skills, or earning badges and even parolees doing community service. I thought maybe it would make me the “cool (cat) mom, not like those other moms.”

I’d be that chick who was with it. The totally relevant adult. People would want to talk to me and then donate to PALS, to foster and volunteer because we're totally hip.

And I'm in no way a fidgety-lame dictator trying to make community service and feline fecal flinging fun!

The t-shirt-plaid-skirt combo is very fetch and I think a respectable nod to the Plastics style and the characters like Janis – the anti-Plastic rule-breaker.

When I got this shirt I researched Superman so if someone needed it to start a conversation with me, I could reply – I worked with some autistic and really shy kids so having something to make connection less scary is always a plus so, I did some research.

Did you know - the “S” does not stand for “Super__” It’s the Kryptonian symbol for hope.

(Don’t @ me bro, comics evolve. As Damian sang: I am beautiful no matter what they say WORDS CANT BRING ME DOOOOOWWWN!!)

I always thought vanity didn’t fit Superman’s character, he didn’t name himself “Superman,” either. Kent picked a symbol of hope not vanity (and also looks sexy with his hair pushed back)

I wear this shirt when I’m working with last-chancers of human and animal kind as my uniform. Because…well, hope.

The word “hope” appears twice in the Mean Girls script:

• Once when Ms. Norbury learned Cady is really good at math and says: “Cady, I hope you join Mathletes.”
• The second time when the Burn Book is discovered and Principle Duvall says, “You better hope nobody else ever does see it.”

I hope you all join your own Mathletes even if it is social suicide. And I hope when venting or holding other peoples secrets, you find ways to counter with positive.

And this skirt is far too short per the dress code at my office and I don’t care.

Mean Girls Week: Thursday

A few coworkers decided to do a Mean Girls week from October 23-26 because we all loved the movie and I was down.

Welcome to Mean Girls Week. Here are the Rules:

• Don’t wear a tank top two days in a row
• You can only wear your hair in a ponytail once a week
• On Wednesdays, we wear pink
• You can only wear jeans or track pants on Friday
• Be effortlessly plastic

You must take a photo of your outfit every day and share your thoughts.

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I was so obsessed with Wednesday (like, why are you so OBSESSED with me?!) – I didn’t think of outfits for Thursday and Friday.

Mean Girls takes place in Evanston, Illinois and it looks like it's always warm and always happy. And it’s getting cold and dark here.

Did you know, while the girls refer to themselves as “The Plastics” they did not invent the name – Janis Ian (the anti-plastic) did. They took what was an insult from someone outside their clique and owned it. They made it their story so much it was in the Rules.

Yesterday, I got the quasi-confirmation that one of my foster-babies might have a fatal infection called Feline Infectious Peritonitis (FIP). She just isn't bouncing back right now. While her sudden symptoms might also be how she is gaining weight after being starved for all but a few weeks of her life, FIP couldn't be ruled out.

If it is FIP, there is nothing we can do – I just have to watch her and see if she crashes.

Since 2011, by choice, I have worked with last-chancers and those who were dying. I have fostered over 20 felines and I know exactly who I was when the 6 of them died. July 10, 2017 was the last time a baby died wrapped up in my arms. And I have fostered 7 more since then. I can't imagine a place I would rather want to be.

And I know people who do so much more than me with heroic efforts that render me speechless.

Sometimes people outside this world of rescue focus on the death. Death is not the worst thing that can happen - a life without love is.

You become the part of the story that you focus on. If you only focus on the worst parts, you become the worst parts. If you focus on the best parts, you become the best parts. To get to either, you have to accept both parts.

If this little kitten doesn’t make it, it will make her story sad and I will cry. But, that’s not her whole story and not the part I focus on. She is tiny and brave and sweet and has the squeakest meow and loves to be held...

The Plastics focused on the part of the story they wanted. Regina George literally takes the awful (mostly true) stuff people throw at her and owns it. There's a whole montage on it.

I am working from home today and this morning was totally easier to get together than Monday, even if I was working from home. I took the opportunity to hunt for non-black, winter-warm items and I made sure I added some pink accents for the Plastics.

This was a good reminder to me to focus on what I can do and own it.

I was also the fanciest cat-lady at the kitten vaccine bar!