Feedback and Feeding Frenzy

Well, I don't want to say I told you so, but my suspicions have been confirmed. I really am good at what I do. My District Leader (our district includes all of Utah, Idaho, Wyoming and Colorado) visited this week and gave me rave reviews. While the other departments in my store got tons of things to change, I just got a few nit-picky detail kinds of things to work on. Mainly just suggestions, but nothing that I was doing wrong. The sales in my department are higher than any other Lifestyles department in the District, so I must be doing something right. That being said, I still felt really bad while we were going through things, because it was the first real feedback that I've gotten. Whenever I ask my boss for feedback he just tells me, "You're doing great. Your sales are up and everything looks good. Keep up the good work." So, since this was the first constructive criticism that I got, I was a little shaken. It turns out that all the suggestions he made were easy to do and I finished about two-thirds of them in one day and will have them all done by Monday. Not too shabby. [Side note: the reasons that I am doing so well are two-fold, I think. First, if you work as one working for the Lord, then you are going to give it your all every day. I work really hard and it shows. Second, I just do what corporate tells me to do. If you do everything that they tell you to do, then it really works, as proven by the fact that my sales are up.]

On a completely different subject, I went to two different functions last night that had tons of snacky foods, which I love. I couldn't stop eating at either one and probably had a meal worth of snacks. The first function was a meeting for the small group leaders at my church. Our pastor just announced that he was retiring, so we talked about what that means for the church, things that we need to do, and ways that we can strengthen the congregation during the transition time. It was a really, really good meeting and we all felt a lot more connected afterward. I love my brothers and sisters from that congregation, and by that I mean that it is starting to feel like my family again. For a long time I have felt disconnected from the church. We led our small group, but the people in our small group are kind of outsiders, and we did the music once a month, but our worship team is pretty isolated, too. We're starting to feel more a part of something again, which has been good for my husband and me. The other function was a thesis defense party for our friend. He went to the same college that my husband went to back in Michigan and came here about two years after we did to do a grad program with my husband's thesis advisor. Small world. He is leaving soon and he'll definitely be missed.