It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!

As much as I love Thanksgiving, and believe me when I say that I really love Thanksgiving, I can hardly wait for the day after. No, not for the 6:00 am deals at the local Dillard's, for the music. It's the day when it's 100% acceptable to begin listening to Christmas music. Yes that music that no matter what Christmas holidays of past have brought, you believe that this Christmas can be a magical one.

Some people sneak in the Christmas music before Thanksgiving and I completely support that. In fact, I started listening to Christmas music on Oct. 28 this year. Hey, my sister plans her Halloween costume in July and I listen to Christmas music before Halloween. There's no real harm done.

It's safe to say that most don't start dusting off the Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole and Trans-Siberian Orchestra Christmas favorites until shortly after Thanksgiving. At this point, I'm so hopped up on sentimental tunes I don't care when you start the Christmas music. Just make sure you turn it on soon. After all, it is the most wonderful time of the year!

Gotta have good notes to pass the test!

I have rediscovered my passion for outlines. I'm not talking about tracing hearts onto red construction paper for your latest valentine project, I'm talking about informational outlines, aka, notes.

I. How do I outline?
A. General information
1. I prefer the roman numeral (in"capital" form), capital letters, standard numbers,lowercase letters and then "lowercase" roman numerals formatting
2. If necessary to outline beyond small roman numerals, bulleting is preferred
B. Definitions
1. Definitions of key terms are not typically given their own position.Generally they are notated by an asterisk
2. If the definition is included and necessary to the understanding of another key concept, the key term will be underlined.
C. Spacing
1. Spaces are only used in the instance of major breaks in concepts. Typically, I only space between roman numerals.
2. If inserting a table or example problem, spaces are encouraged.

II. Why do I outline?
A. Because organized information is usable information. Who wants to sort through clutter and unnecessary fluff?
B. Helps to visually represent steps or smaller pieces to a larger idea.
C. Because I really like it when people see my notes and comment on how organized and neat they look.

Okay, enough with the outlining. Seriously though, I have renewed my desire to have neat, organized, beautiful notes. Why? Because I'm studying for this little exam to receive PHR certification. That's right, I'd be Christie Horton, PHR. That's a professional in human resources for those of you outside the HR world. What else does this mean? It means that until January 29th, I'm reliving my college days by spending them in Hale Library at K-State or hunkered down in my living room pouring through books full of information.

Although I've rediscovered my love for outlining, I've discovered that I have no desire to head back to school for a masters degree any time soon.

* despite my every effort to maintain the integrity of my outline, blogger simply will not adhere to my desired indents. Alas, the visual beauty of my outline cannont be fully realized in this post.