Monthly Archives: December 2010

Sponsor Team Trader

Posted in Volleyball and Team Trader by

Team Trader is looking for sponsors and it could be YOU!

Many sports teams have sponsors that pay their membership dues for them and in return, the team wears promotional gear and if it’s a bar/restaurant, eats there after games. Well Team Trader is interested in having a sponsor. Here’s the deal:

Your company will…

  • Pay our team dues for the spring ($306)
  • Buy us team t-shirts that have your logo on them (optional)

We will…

  • Wear the team t-shirt with your logo on it (if applicable)
  • Advertise for your company on this blog (see image in sidebar)
  • Dine at your restaurant/bar after at least 2 games (if applicable)

It really is pretty easy. If you’re interested, contact me at teamtradermom@gmail.com or post a comment to this blog with your contact info.

Thanks!!

Team Trader Thursday – The Pics

Posted in Volleyball and Team Trader by

Well guess what – volleyball was canceled tonight! Boo!! Hiss!! Turns out the courts were double booked or something like that. Whatevs, talk to the hand. But it worked out because that gave us gals more time to chat, eat and drink at Granite City!

The dinner was actually kind of poetic in a way and ended up mirroring our season. We started out with 11 people who were going to come and then throughout the day, one by one, they dropped like flies. We went from 11 to 8 to 6 to 4. Yes, that’s right, there were only 4 of us die-hard Traderettes that ended up at the “last-night-of-volleyball-celebration-dinner”. We had lots of fun though – and the pics to prove it!

So here is the first one – don’t we look all cute?

Courtney, Sara, me and Cindy F.

Now the second one was supposed to be a silly one of us each striking a different volleyball pose – you know, one person setting, one hitting, one passing, etc. Well as I was trying to explain this to the girls, the waitress decided to keep taking pictures!

So we have this one…

Court and Sara look good, and Cindy would too if she wasn’t blurry. I however look like I am pleading with the girls to indulge me and do a silly volleyball pose. “Please? Come on, it’ll be fun! It’s a Team Trader tradition!”

And then there’s this one:

“Look, I’ll show for you how this concept will work. See how I’m pretending to set? Now won’t you guys try it? What? You won’t? Well too bad! I’m the captain and I say we’re gonna do it dammit! Drop and give me 15!!!”

I think the other girls were just laughing that the waitress was out of control at this point, as if her fingers were moving independently from her body and continuing to take pictures.

And finally we get this one:

See, isn’t that cute? It was worth all that we had to endure to get there, never mind that I had to break out the threats.

So that’s it. Volleyball ended on a down note in the sense that we didn’t get to play. But at least we still got to hang out. And in 3 weeks, we’ll be back on the court, ready to dominate!

P.S. No, I’m not wearing Green Bay Packers colors on purpose. We all have Team Trader t-shirts that we were planning to wear tonight. I didn’t want to have to rush and change my whole outfit when we got to the gym so I wore my TT shirt underneath my sweater all day at work. I thought the yellow and green worked but apparently it just made me look like an overzealous cheesehead. Should have worn black over it. At least then I would have been an overzealous Steeler, which I am.

Team Trader Thursday

Posted in Volleyball and Team Trader by

Tonight is the last night of women’s volleyball for the Fall 2010 session (tear). But the good news is that we’ll be back and playing again in just a few short weeks, when the 2011 session starts.

Team Trader decided to do it right and send this session out with a bang. We’re all meeting up for dinner/drinks beforehand and then going to play. And you know what? The gym we’re playing at allows alcohol to be brought in. MUHAHAHAHAHA!!! This could be an interesting night…

This has actually been an interesting season. Here’s a recap of some of the oddities that have plagued Team Trader over these last 4 months:

  1. We lost Marianne right off the bat because she moved to Denver. So we started off with a team of 7 that included: Sara, Courtney, Sybille, Cindy B., Cindy F., Katie, and me.
  2. Before the first game even commenced, we found out that Katie couldn’t play. She is pregnant, which we knew, but thought she’d be able to play for a little while longer. No dice. So now we’re down to 6.
  3. Courtney had to travel for the first 4 weeks. Now we’re down to 5 and had to find a sub each one of those weeks.
  4. She got back and Sybille got sick. At first it seemed to be a cold or something. Eventually it led to surgery and having her spleen removed. 
  5. At this point I had to get more permanent players so Mandy and Megan were added. They decided to alternate early and late nights so when we played at 6:30, Mandy would come. When it was at 8:15, Megan would play.
  6. On the early  nights, we only had one setter (yours truly) so we started running a 5-1 offense. I haven’t been the setter on a 5-1 in  years so it was scary and exciting at the same time. And what a workout! But it was really fun and I hope to do more of it next session, or perhaps even a 6-2.
  7. One night Mandy brought her kids and they made signs that said “Go Team Trader!” It was super cute and awesome to have a cheering section!

Hopefully that’s the end of the craziness and we can stabilize this next session. Sybille will be back and Megan is staying on as our 7th player (those of you who play regularly will know that it’s always a good idea to have a built-in sub on the roster). It’s sad to wind down one session but then again, a break is nice too.

I will take pics tonight and post them tomorrow. Cheers to the women of Team Trader!

Desk Job

Posted in Work and Professional Life by

Today I stopped by Panera on my way to work to grab a breakfast sandwich and some cookies for an afternoon meeting (tip: if you want people to participate, bring food. Works every time…). I found an awesome pull through spot and eagerly pulled in next to a shiny white Lexus. As I was getting out, I glanced in the window and, I kid you not, there were Kleenex EVERYWHERE! They were on the passenger seat, the floor of the passenger side, the console and the dashboard. There were probably more on the driver’s side and in the back but I didn’t look that close. Was afraid the cesspool of germs that are no doubt thriving in that car would seep out and leach on to me if I stood there any longer.

So it got me to thinking how so many of us present all nice and neat on the outside but on the inside are probably hot messes. Or perhaps the other way around – someone could look all discombobulated on the outside but have it all pulled together on the inside.

One thing I’ve learned over the years is that you can tell a lot about a person by the way they keep their desk at work. Our offices/cubes are like second homes and most of the time they end up looking about the same way our houses do, which is often a reflection of us as people.

Let’s analyze, shall we?

Here’s a pic of my desk at The Mall (if you click on it, you can see a larger version with my notes on it). Keep in mind that I’m a contractor here so while I am not employed by the company inside the mall, I have been stationed here for several years, which accounts for why my desk looks so “lived in”. If I was consulting at a company for only a month or so, my desk wouldn’t look nearly this permanent.  

First, let’s dissect the items –

  1. Darth Vader poster: Yes, I secretly work on the Death Star and I  know you are all totally jealous. Bet you didn’t know the Death Star was located inside a mall did you? This whole “mall” thing is just a cover. In fact, Scooter is really R2D2 in disguise. Anyway, the big man himself thinks I’m doing great work and sent me a personalized, autographed picture that reads, “Sarah, Thank you for your hard work on the Death Star. Much love, Darth Vader.” Feel free to worship me now.
  2. Haphazard Christmas Decor: I included this in a post a few weeks ago. I’m pretty much the only one here with any holiday decor. Except for the girl one aisle over who has a dying poinsettia on  her desk. It literally  has one leaf left on it. It’s the Charlie Brown Poinsettia. As you can tell, I didn’t put much time into putting up my holly garland. But at least it’s more than The Strangler has.
  3. Christmas Card from The Strangler: Speaking of The Strangler…she was nice enough to give me a Christmas card. In it she wrote, “Have a great Xmas filled with Scooter fun and don’t eat anything from the candy machines, no matter how tempting it looks!” Words to live by, my friends.
  4. Sogeti mug: as previously mentioned, I am currently consulting at the company in the mall (which shall remain nameless). The company I actually work for is Sogeti. Because a big part of consulting is selling the company, I have my mug front and center! I also have a branded name plate on the top of my cube (which you can kind of see), wear branded apparel regularly, include Sogeti’s name subliminally in random documents and have a tattoo on my thumb so that it can be seen when I shake hands.
  5. Munchkin Desktop Background: Come on, how could anyone resist that adorable little face? It brightens my day every time I see her smile on my computer.
  6. Blog Notes: These are kept mostly for Annexed. There’s so much that goes on during the week that I want to include in each Friday’s edition that I have to keep notes or else I’ll forget. I should save those notes. Someday when I’m famous, those notes could be worth millions! [Sogeti]
  7. Token family pics: see #4. No matter what company I’m at, I like to have a couple of family pics on the wall. Keeps it all in perspective, ya know?
  8. Clorox Wipes: If you worked at The Mall you would understand the necessity for these. They are probably the single most important item in my cube…
  9. Box of cookies: Aforementioned Panera drops of heaven, er, cookies. The second most important item in my cube. [Sogeti]
  10. Random trinkets and junk: various tchotchkes collected over the years. These got reduced tremendously when I moved from the west office to The Mall. I only have a few now that include: a football rubber ducky, an affirmation paperweight, and a green smiley stressball.
  11. Couch coat: …or whatever coat I happen to be wearing that day. Today it was the couch coat, so named by a previous co-worker of mine who said that the pattern reminded him of his grandma’s couch. To which I promptly replied, “Well then your grandma has great taste!” I’ve had this coat for about 4 years and gotten numerous compliments on it. Every time I get a compliment on it, my inner child thinks back to that old co-worker (coincidently nicknamed Scooter) and say “Neener, neener, neener!” [Sogeti]

I know, I know. It’s not the tidiest desk in the world. But it’s not the messiest either. Believe you me, I’ve worked with some messy people…So what does this all mean? What kind of person does this stuff say that I am? Wait for something really deep and profound…

I dunno. 

You tell me – what do you think? What does all this stuff say about me?

[Sogeti]