Major work update!

I have some major work related news... After years of being there, I got promoted to department manager of HBA/cosmetics! I signed the papers (computer?) last Thursday, and I start working with the chick that I'm replacing today.

Even though I'm up and pretty much ready before 6:30 a.m., and I've worked a bit by myself over there last Friday and Saturday, I still can't believe it! I keep expecting to: a.) be a dream b.) or I get in there and they say, "We're sorry, we don't know what we were thinking, you'll just have to go back to being a regular floor minion (as opposed to a higher minion :P)..


And the kicker is? With the exception of my new assistent, my former ZM, my store manager and my mom, NO ONE seems to have faith that I can do it! They keep making negative or snide comments.. Hm. Time to prove a bunch of people wrong, me thinks..

It makes you feel kind've celebrity-ish!

 So, it seems the big topic in the front end was that I got my nails done on my supper break! This actually happens to me on a regular basis, the store really has little to talk about besides gossiping about people, and it seems gossiping about me in particular...

I feel kind've important if that's the most exciting thing for people to talk about-but really, I could suggest much more interesting aspects of my life if asked!

(All in good jesting, this is.. i love my coworkers up front (most of the time ;-) ))

It makes me think that all that's missing is glitzy clothes and paparazzi jumping out at me randomly!

Rare, Unbelievable moment in retail

Three cashiers, one set of self checkouts running and limited staff, five days before Christmas.. And we're doing alright in handling it. I never imagined I'd be saying that!

 

The blizzard seems to be keeping everyone at home. Over FIFTY people in our store alone called in. But, I made it in spite of my pain, and people from out of town made it, so I wonder why the people who live just a few minutes away couldn't attempt it?

Best Friends are the best :-)

Yay! I got surprised with a Christmas present of new shiny pretties today, from one of my favorite chicas in the world.. I love them!

Sweet.. finally got to decorate the department for the holidays!

...and I came up with a (hopefully) much better idea than last year. Double-sided tape and cheap garland was a very yucky combination. But this year, I went with a little better garland, command hooks and white ponseitta flowers...

Trying to give thanks early... or explode

I just looked at my schedule for Thanksgiving week and am now repeating to myself, "I'm thankful I have a job. I'm thankful I have a job."

I understand it's Black Friday and all, but the fact that it now starts on Thanksgiving is ridiculous. And the fact that they gave me a mandatory schedule five hours past the end of my availability is even more so.. especially when I have my availability set for a reason (I tend to fall asleep just wherever I am once my body has decided it's had enough.. Nick's witnessed it at a bar before (When it was only 11-11:30 and we'd only been there an hour or so) and my family's witnessed it my whole life. I've started falling asleep on a register before when they pushed me to work past it..)



I'm thankful I have a job...I'm thankful I have a job....

Work and working out...

Quick update before I crash for the night..

So, not long after I wrote the quick entry about my schedule at work, Store Manager Chad walked by. I told him what happened and he told me not to worry about it and it wouldn't get me in trouble at all, since it wasn't my fault and I had been on vacation. And since I almost always take shorter lunches anyway, not to worry about staying later than 5:30.

Sweet. Now, I want to ask him who he is, and what he's done with Chad. It's weird. He's been nicer to everyone and personable and helpful. And the clipboard that seemed to be permanently attached to him hasn't been in attendance in awhile. It's weird. Unsettling. But we all agree that we're just going to enjoy it while it lasts!

And doubly sweet, it gave me JUST enough time to get to the gym and squeeze in a shorter workout. And by JUST enough time, I mean I was walking my last lap in my cool down period when they started turning off the lights.

Speaking of turning off the lights, it is time for mine to go off for the night and curl up with the already sleeping furballs..

Couldn't I have just stayed under the covers?

Blah! I haven't even finished my first morning back at work yet, and I'd like to resume my vacation already!

I was scheduled 11-8, but apparently someone decided to change my hours for today, even though I was gone all week and don't check my hours at home (because their lovely site attaches cookies and other 'suspicious' items to the browser you use). So I get here, thinking I was fifteen minutes early, when I was actually two hours late! But, I don't know if that really counts, because they scheduled me earlier than my availability. So, I'm not going to worry about it.

Anyway, back to retail joy I go!

Incompetent parenting, Male tact and Cloning needs to happen like NOW!

Such a very looooooonnnggg day at work. Not too hard, nothing too time-consuming, but those two things alone can make a day seem that it drags on and on..and on. The only thing that really sticks out about my work day at the moment is the question: Why do parents drag their sick children shopping??

Come about seven o'clock, I was told to zone Halloween for a half hour before I locked up, took my last break and left. 7:05, and I look up just in time to see a miserable looking little girl getting sick all over the floor. I didn't even have time to react, before a second.. and a third giant mess appeared. And her parent's didn't even apologize or offer to help clean it up. They just took to another area of the store! What the F is wrong with some people? Poor little thing needed to be at home in bed, not dragged around a big box store!

And of course, the only maintenance that was there was the slower one, and the method he was trying to employ to clean it was not at ALL efficient, so his helper had to stop him from doing anything but guarding it and we ended up cleaning it up. Soooooooo what I like doing, I can tell you! Hmmm.. but it did get me out of zoning Halloween for a good fifteen minutes.. so there's the silver lining, I guess.

I got another reminder via text from a friend that Nick either needs to be cloned or somehow overwrite every other man's mental stuff with his. Why do I say this? I got a text from a male friend that said that I seem disinterested in him lately. Self-centered, much?

The only response I could think of was: "Hm. How to respond non-bitchily.. Because I don't really want to be..? How about i just say that comes across kind of self centered regarding your perception of my interactions.. When I've been increasingly and persistently sick the past week and a half?"

His response was, "Ok all you had to say is no just sick? But i understand." (Complete with grammar & spelling errors.. and he's a writer. But no, he is not a reader of this, so I'm safe to vent.) Anyway. Self-centered, much? And not even the cute self-centered!

Okay, onto more cute guy traits, the one that made me laugh today.

The male species seems to have little tact naturally, it seems. One of my favorite co-workers walked by me, and stopped. And after looking at me for a minute, asked me if I was alright, because I look really pale.

Yeah, I'm not feeling the best, but thank you for telling me I look yucky! lol

And he didn't stop there, which made it even better! I'm still giggling now. I said, at least my skin isn't breaking out in spots as bad as it usually is when I'm ill.. and he said, "Well, if it does, then you can just tell people you're trying out different Halloween costumes!"

What?? I just said I'd walk away then, so he wouldn't put his foot any further into his mouth.. and giggled the whole time. lol

I told Nick about it, and he explained it as, " We have male tact. Completely different to female tact. He said that because to a guy that sounds compassionate, but not queer." (Such a way with words, yes? But it makes sense, if you think about it...)

This evening we started painting mom's bedroom, but I'm getting so very sleepy so I'll update on that maybe tomorrow...

Wardrobe wondering..

Hmm.. as I'm arriving home early from work, (another day, I just couldn't hack it as miserable as I feel- which makes me feel even worse that I couldn't do it), I'm wondering: Am I weird and alone in color coordinating my pajamas? They always have to match or have a common color palate. Is that weird? It's not like I actively think about it, I just do it..

Anywho. That's my thought for the moment.. now to make some comfort food, and curl up in bed with some medicine, warm furballs and remote to my DVR..

Unplanned Mini B*tch Session..

I was right. It was a very long, long, LOOOOOONNNNGGG day. Socially, not TOO bad.. well, at least with people at work. But energy/health/physical-wise? Sucked.. sucked big time.

I need out of there. I need a new, challenging, comparable pay job. Where people are treated better, and it's nice and fun, not so rushed. Hmmm... I doubt such a thing really exists.

My God, the interstate is flippin' blaringly loud the last few nights. I can't hardly hear myself think, or hear my TV at a comfortable level. 


And while I'm on a mini complaint-athon, do people really not know that they are annoying? Whether the really loud, obnoxious chattering magpies that always seem to be in the break room when I want to relax and enjoy quiet time, or the customers that make the same old tired jokes, over and over again ('I don't think you can give me the help I need, but I AM looking for... (har de har har har)'.. or the people who keep bringing up the same innuendos repeatedly, day in and day out. Like, yeah, it stopped being funny and in any way interesting/relevant DAYS ago. You'd think after you stopped responding to them and changed topic, they'd pick up on the hint and drop it. Yeah... right. Unfortunately, not so much. For one tiny example: Like the $5 bucks joke charge to use the department phone.. or to throw something away.. yadada.. OLD and I ignore him EVERY time, but yet his little brain hasn't picked it up yet. Threadbare jokes/innuendos/conversations/etc are just such a turn off and instantly make my brain want to automatically avoid any further contact. Is anyone else like this?

And, don't get me wrong.. I KNOW I have my faults, and annoying features.. but we're not talking about me. We're talking about the abnormal people we have to share this environment with ;-)

Anyway, it's late. I'm tir-- scratch that-- I'm EXHAUSTED.. and still sick. So it's past time to curl up with my furballs and sleep, sleep, sleep!


**This entry sort of inspired by the awesome Miss Sara at Sara's Organized Chaos, you should go check out her blog. She's a pretty phenomenal writer, and on my list of blogs I read regularly :-)**

Effects were shortlived :-(

This is going to be a loooooooonnnggg day, I do think. I woke up feeling much better, energy-wise, and thinking, "Yes. I feel good. Sleep must've helped.

Sadly, no.

I've been up a half hour, and after only two trips up and down the stairs during taking care of the animals, I'm already beat. And that is after a two hour nap yesterday, resting for an hour before bed, and sleeping about eight hours. Work is going to suck. I could take another day off, since I already have a point against me from yesterday, but I can't do that regularly the rest of my life. I have to push forward, and only let the worst of the worst days get to me.

Speaking of work, I've gotta go back upstairs, take a shower and get ready to go.

..Or not. Since someone else just told me they had to take one first. I guess I'll be doing other small things before that..

Just another day..

I did something today that I haven't done in at least two or three years.. (if not longer). I called in sick to work. I haven't been feeling well anyway, and my lupus symptoms have been pretty prominent lately--especially the fatigue and sore joints. I had an appointment this morning, and by the time I was done with that, I was dragging, my feet feeling like they were cement blocks. I just couldn't see myself working a shift after that.. instead I came home and actually took a nap for a couple hours! I don't remember the last time I did that either, even though I've been craving doing it a lot.. might have to work that into my schedule more.

(In other news, I think I may have just stumbled across how to fix my formatting issue with my blog.. I guess I'll find out when I publish this entry, hm?)

I feel a little bit better tonight, a little less sniffly and congested, a little more energy.. but still much lower than even my normal. I'm hoping a good, decent night's sleep is ahead of me, so that tomorrow is more productive... and work is okay. I'm hoping a certain coworker of mine either calls in or opts to work in a different area, I just really don't feel like dealing with drama and attitudes tomorrow.

Speaking of tomorrow, it's going to be that in about five minutes, and I want sleep.. so off to curl up I go.

Hmm.. what can I get into today?

Oh, how I'd love to have been able to sleep in this morning! But, nope, the furballs didn't think that was acceptable. Gage actually started walking on me and meowing (that's a first, ever!) for his food, puppy started bouncing around on the bed to go outside. For once, Spaz was the only good, quiet one. That's weird. So, first full day off without Facebook. Let's go see what I can accomplish! I shall update you all on it, I'm sure you're on the edge of your seats in anticipation! :P

T.G.I. (my) Friday!

One more day.. I can't decide if I like my last day of the work week being a busy Saturday or not..

Back to work I go..

I had a marvelous four days off from work.. but now it's back to the grindstone. Yuck! Thankfully I only work four days before I have my next weekend!

Of course, with my earlier schedule for the day, I have a certain song in my head, which is mandatory for me to share with you, wonderful readers of mine!



(Thanks Youtube.. no official video? You suck lol)

The Pivotal Point Between 'Like' and 'Love'

Okay. I've been thinking about relationships, and love. The latter, as you may recall, I am not in a believing state of right now.

More specifically, I've been wondering about what makes a person go from 'liking' someone to 'loving' them? I know it's not a conscious decision or, dear lord, shouldn't be, but what mentally 'clicks' and makes the leap?

Like, my ex-fiance. Nope, never did love him. I think the whole, 'Dating a month, he gives me a promise ring..dating three months he tries giving me an engagement ring (which I managed to refuse for at least a year..), going psychotic and stalking me when I tried breaking it off, yeah that didn't lend well to the cause.

Or the guy I dated before that, which was the complete opposite for me. I had just started working at Wal-Mart. He was an unloader, who I kinda flirted with back and forth with for a little while. Then, I remember it pretty clearly, (scary how so, really,). I was looking at the schedule board after a break, and he came up to me and said, "You know, I've not done this before, but would you like to have dinner this weekend?"

Knowing him since, I totally call b.s. on this one (not doing it before), but I didn't know any better then! Anyway..

A couple months later, we were dating. We went to break together. After break, when we were going in two different directions to work, I wasn't thinking about anything consciously, when I said, "Love you, later!"

And we BOTH stopped in our tracks. Me, because apparently something went haywire in my brain and him, because well, that's obvious. He asked, "What did you just say?"

"Nothing. Nothing at all. I should go to work now.." I tried to just move on from that.. but he wouldn't let me for a few minutes.. evil, evil bastard had too much fun with it. Fast forward a bit of dating history, and..

Anyway, all's well that ends well, I suppose. We're friends now, and it's kind of scary he's evolved into a married family guy.. totally at odds with what I knew him as in the beginning!

Now, back from memory lane to the topic at hand. How does it work for you? Do you sit down and think about things? Do you just follow your heart and exclude your brain?

Are you like me, and don't let yourself believe in it? Or are you the total opposite, and fall right away?

I'm so very curious, and people fascinate me. I'd love your input, dear friends!

Even the voices in my head think I'm crazy!

This was actual inner dialogue I caught myself having earlier today right after I got to work:

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"My OCD is making me crazy!"

"No, my OCD is WHY I'm crazy."

"Actually... talking to myself about my OCD and being crazy is what would classify myself as crazy."

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Isn't that just 'crazy'..? Does anyone else think in complete sentences, much like J.D. on Scrubs? Or is it just me?

Crazy's back in town..

The way my life has been going lately, if I didn't have Dustin & Josh as two of the most awesome guy friends the world has ever known, I would think that the ENTIRE male species was a foreign and odd alien life form.

And I would've become a nun way before now!

I just want one week (at the very bare minimum), where I don't have drama or crazy exes intruding in on my life! It seems lately, that at least one of them are coming out of the shadows to torment me EVERY single day!

Let's delve into my taxing and rather stressful week, shall we? Perhaps I will feel better, and hopefully I don't get on your nerves with things that may seem trivial or annoying to you, dear reader.. if so, feel free to zoom right past this entry.

Let's start with Sunday.. that's the day already outlined in a previous entry, where Derek just flabbergasted me with his closemindedness & arrogant jack-assedness.

Monday, more of the same of THAT.. plus, I found out that my stalker ex, Clint, has somehow convinced the woman he's been dating for about 6 years that they should get married. You would think that would be good news for me, and not be the cause of any legitimate stress on my part. This would be true, and probably should be, except for the fact that I've been friends with her just as long as I've known him. Also, he's the same guy professing his 'undying love' for me.. over and over again for the past decade. He's also drove down from Waterloo (70+ miles)just last week to try to find me at work to talk to me about 'us' and to try to convince me to give it another shot (yeah right!)..

I wouldn't give this another thought, but I'm concerned for her wellbieng... I told her I support her, but I can't back her decision to go through with this. She knows I'll be there for her, but other than that I'm trying to put it it out of my mind where it belongs..

That brings us to yesterday... nothing major happened, just more of the same from Derek. And a guy that I (very) briefly dated earlier this year came in to say hi. Even though he was quite implicit that he didn't want to be friends or talk at all if we were not going to pursue dating one another, he has been coming in irregularly to chat and whatnot. Though, I'm not interested in the slightest & shove him out of the department as quickly and as nicely as I can. Really, nothing major.. which is good, because today had enough to mess with me mentally for both days.

My morning was quite wonderful, and so was my day at work until about mid-afternoon. That was when one of the few 'old timer' associates came into my department and dropped off some not-so-lovely news for me. She's a very no-nonsense, serious person who works in GM receiving- so I was surprised to see her in my department. I asked her what she was looking for, and she said a necklace. But she didn't really look at anything, and while she was busy pretending as she was, she piped up with, "I saw your old Beau the other day..".

I thought she was talking about my most recent ex, who caused a major turbulent time in my life earlier this year, the one that I broke up with last December. I asked her if that was who she was talking about, and she said, "Nope. Josh's brother, Jay."

As a matter of fact, she was talking about my crazy ex-fiance'. The one, if you remember from my dating history entry, was very controlling & wouldn't take no for an answer for ANYTHING. The one who I tried breaking up with multiple times, and he would sit on the hill outside my house, watching me come & go.. the one that followed me to Nebraska, etc..

He apparently was in the store on Monday, and looks a lot worse for the wear. (Which, I don't know if that says much, because he never was much for looking at.) She seemed pretty concerned in her off-hand, unspoken, stern way & the impression I got was that he was trying to find out if I was still around without coming out and asking. I don't know if he's still in town, or if he'll be in again. I haven't seen him in many years, since he moved to Texas & started seeing a psychiatrist. (Which he always blamed me for.. but he was messed up way before I came along.)

I would've normally just taken the news, swished it around in my brain & passed it on through, and would've loved for that to happen. Unfortunately for reasons beyound my understanding, instead of passing it through, my brain swished it around & struck alight remenants of unpleasant thoughts. Thoughts related to experiences & what-not from my past. Which tried to strike an anxiety attack... didn't make for a very pleasant evening at work for me. (The sane part of my brain, however, knows that the chance is very, very slim that he's actually going to look for me at work or even cares in the slightest.)

That, however, brings me full circle to my appreciation for my wonderful best friend! He didn't know what had struck such a bad chord with me, but he tried making me laugh via text messages to distract me- and he was successful to some degree.

Which is good, because I don't think I'd look good in a nun's habit..!

A quick, (but happy) note..

Wow.. I wish today was my Friday.. it was a pretty wonderful day with (just) a few exceptions. Even with those 'glitches' in the course of my day, it was still the best day I've had in quite awhile.