The Never Ending Ending....

Well, I've moved back to Rome for yet ANOTHER semester at Berry.  This will make my, 9th one...you're supposed to only have 8.  Oops.  So far, not so good.  I don't like Berry without my class here.  I mean, I have younger friends, and at this school, everyone knows everyone.  But I miss the people I came in with, the people I experienced all 4 years with, and the people that rapidly became my best friends.  Berry is really different now.

I'm probably not giving it a fair chance, school hasn't even started yet, and most people haven't moved back in - so maybe it will get better.  Glass half full, right?  Right now, I'm walking around like I don't belong, like this isn't MY place anymore...and worst of all, like everyone is staring at me thinking, "why is she still here?"

I know one thing - I will be traveling quite a bit this semester.  Knoxville, Athens, and Birmingham watch out! You'll see me a lot in the next 4 months!!

I miss all of you.

Growing Pains

My dad used to let me watch wrestling with him when I was younger.   That was back in the day when professional wrestling was WCW, owned by Ted Turner, and WWF (now WWE), owned by Vince McMahon. 

Let’s break this down.  WCW came on from 8-11 on Monday nights.  WWF came on from 9-11 on a different channel, and my bedtime was at 9:30.  The back of mom’s chair faced the hallway, but my dad could see down the hall from his chair.  My dad and I had a secret “symbol” for when my mom was going to get up and walk down the hallway.  He would pull his ear, and I knew I needed to dash back into my bed before she caught me watching wrestling after bedtime.

I’m sitting here now, watching wrestling for the first time in about 7 years.  My dad still watches it somewhat religiously, but I have no idea what’s going on.  I’m just as eager as always, for some reason the soap opera aspect of wrestling gets me every time.  My dad however, is not as eager to explain things to me. 

Surprise! This post is not really about wrestling.  I mean, it is – but that’s not the point.  When did we pass the age where our parents didn’t get so agitated with us so easily?  Does it come with being an adult?  Why do my questions now become a nuisance rather than the cute little girl wanting to learn everything about what her daddy loves?  Can’t I be a cute young adult who so desperately wants that connection with her father again?

Early to rise, early to fall I guess.  A I am typing, without so much as a word, my dad gets up and goes to bed, and I’m stuck here, totally taken in by the storyline now (lame, I know) but no one to share it with.  (Anyone who knows my mother can only IMAGINE the things she is saying about my choice of entertainment this evening. 

I long for the days when my dad wanted to teach me everything he knew.  I remember the years when I wanted nothing to do with the stories and the lectures – and now I’d give anything to hear, “I walked uphill in the snow to school and barefoot the entire time!”

Isn’t it weird how you grow up and you’re whole outlook on what’s important changes?  My summer back at home has showed me how much I miss my parents – even their little quirks that annoyed me so much in high school.  Does this mean I’m a big girl now?! 

A Little R&R

I'm laying on my stomach, soaking up rays of wonderful, hot sun, as the wind whips by and I hear the waves crashing against the shore.

That's right! I was able to take two days off from work, and head down to Navarre, FL - a much needed vacation, and a much needed visit to my cousin's house. 

The 7 hour drive was well worth the drive for a moment of battling the waves, soaking the rays and quality family time with one of my favorite cousins, Shane, and his wife Michelle, and their 5 year old, Pierce. 

Today was spent on the water, catching shells and riding waves.  We ate lunch at this shack on the beach (always a favorite, and always delicious) and for the first time in YEARS - I got to take a short afternoon nap.  I love vacation.

The Corporate World

The corporate world is quite interesting, in the way that you meet so many different types of people, and you HAVE to like them. We've already discussed the social networking guy, now let me tell you about the marketing/thinks-he's-a-hardcore-journalist guy. 

I have never met anyone who annoys me MORE than this guy.  Example:  For our Thursday night Legends Racing, one of my many important duties is to find trivia questions for a contest we host weekly.  (That's a whole other story.)  I take my trivia questions down to marketing guy, and he stops all of his work to spend an hour or more on "proving" that my answers are incorrect.  You know what, if that's the way you want to spend your work day and get behind on the REAL work that needs to be done, that's fine with me.  Here's what's not fine with me.  Coming up to my floor into my office to say that after searching for hours you have finally found an article that proves me wrong.  Nevermind the ten articles that prove me right, you found one that proves me wrong.  Congratulations. 

Yesterday, marketing guy was in the Big Man's office (the president of the company) and was told by Big Man to change some statistics in an article.  I don't know if any of you have seen the president of Atlanta Motor Speedway - but there is a reason I call him Big Man.  He could probably kill me with his bare hands.  If he tells me to rewrite something, I do it.  But not marketing guy.  He goes and finds articles online (using wikipedia - an obviously credible source) that will prove Big Man wrong, and takes them to his office, which just happens to be down the hall from me.  Who do you think you are, marketing guy?  You write press releases...that's it.  You are not a hardcore journalist - and you are not paid to "get the scoop" and "crunch the numbers." You are paid to write what is coming up at the racetrack, and to tell everyone what happened at the drag races last Friday night.  I don't care if you did get your fancy degree from the prestigous Georgia State...you are not the end all, be all of Atlanta Motor Speedway.

He really just gets under my skin.  And don't call me "darlin."  I am not, nor will I EVER be, your "darlin."  You can kiss my ass first.

Office Blunders

1. There's a man in the office next to me - our Facebook, Twitter and media guy.  You know the type, too smart for their own good?  Or I should say, so intelligent that there is little room for common sense and public decency? 

As I'm sitting at my desk, listening to "Hallelujah" by the great Rufus Wainwright I hear a loud thud and "I DIDN'T DO IT!" Our leading man has just thrown a book against his glass door, and is yelling back at his wife, who I can only assume is accusing him of ruining an appliance at home.  With many more things being thrown and many more profanities yelled, this ruckus goes on for a good 10 minutes.

2. There's really nothing to do throughout the day.  The salespeople are hiding away in their offices trying to find a sponsor for the rapidly upcoming NASCAR race.  One would assume that in such instances, Facebook and Twitter are acceptable websites to peruse.  Not so my friends.  What does one do when they cannot do anything?  I have seen every NASCAR Youtube video known to man, every crash, every fight, every interview.  I have scrutinized Jermaine Dupri and his father, Michael Mauldin (a client of ours) to decide if Dupri looks more like his mother.  And of course, my blog inspiration, I have read and re-read Jessica's blogs from 2009 forward.

3. Lastly on the menu for today - I am comparing Steve the salesman to Norm Macdonald, a comedian.  My conclusion? I need a real life.

The Intern

I recieved this amazing internship opportunity with Atlanta Motor Speedway this summer.  Anyone that knows me will understand why this is such a huge milestone in my life.  AMS has been a major step in achieving my dream to work for NASCAR.

My first day, I walk in, high heel shoes, cute "business casual" attire and sit down at my very own desk soon to be adorned with photos of my friends and family. I'm so excited I can't even stand it. I imagine days of dealing with sponsors, having meetings with influential people and maybe even meeting some of my favorite NASCAR drivers.

Now a month into my internship, I wonder - what is the point?  Don't get me wrong, I love the people in this office, and I have had some meetings and met with some sponsors. I've also met some of the NASCAR greats. Most of the time however, I'm sitting at my computer and finding contact information for marketing personnel at various companies across America.

Frustration #1: I feel like these small, busywork-like things can be done by the salesmen, by the marketing department, and it would take less time than it does to walk down the hall to my desk, ask me to do it, and then walk back. 

Frustration #2: Free labor.  I am doing everything I do for free.  I could have a paying job this summer - I could be NOT at home living with my parents again.  Hopefully this internship will fast track, or even slow track me on my way towards achieving my dream - but not if I don't get some true, hands-on, sports marketing experiences.

So I wonder - April the intern...is it really worth it?