Slowly but surely getting there

Today Im in the process of washing all the laundry and packing up what we dont need for the next few days. On Monday night we'll grab last showers here and I'll do whatever gets dirty from today forward. By tonight the only things that should be out laundry-wise is 2 towels, a dish rag, a dish cloth and 4 days worth of clothes.

No, the picture to the left isnt a picture of ours. I wish it was though as it's so much more organized than the piles we have here. Anyhow today we finished up the little bit that was in the guest room and got all the boxes that were already done in there so we didnt have to keep stepping around them. In the process I found something in the bedroom and livingroom. It was something we dont see normally so I had to get online to check and see if Google had a picture of it. Sure enough the description under the pictures was the following word: FLOOR. Is THAT what it looks like? Damn I had no clue. I thought everything pretty much had gotten the hang of hovering everywhere. Oh and I figured out we actually DO have a closet in the corner! Who'da thunk?

Got an email a couple days ago (can I bop my hubby on the head for not sharing when it came in?) that stated that the company would be calling him with the address a week before we're scheduled for moving in. Someone tell me how helpful this is when address changes at the post office take 2 weeks to go into effect?? *Bites own tongue*. I think at that rate that we'll just need to keep the mail going to his folks' house until we're ready to go into permanent housing because I am NOT going to go through that hassle again. Lord knows what's going to happen to the post after the 9th when we leave as no one will be here to get it. We may have to have the next door neighbor just forward it on to us for a couple weeks. hmmm

Got a call today that the company doing the moving for us will be here on Monday to pack and Tuesday to load. The company responsible for transporting the Gran Torino will be here Tuesday to pick up the car. On Wednesday, Thursday or Friday a cleaning service is coming in to do a "make ready" cleaning for us. We'll be gone by the time they show up but the neighbor still has a key so he can let them in. Hubby's got ahold of all the utility companies and everything will be turned off by the 22nd...this way the house can be shown for about a week in fully functioning order. We'll be having the pest control company come in for one last spraying and the propane company to fill the tank with another 100 gallons so that should be a plus in selling as they wont have to put out money for heating right away.

Guess that's it for today. *HUGZ*

V E T, post office, and packing

Ok, so maybe the dog wasnt this bad but the cat certainly was. We got up and took the "kids" in for a V E T appointment to get their S H O T S and stock up on some Frontline. Kitty did NOT like the ride in at all. Who can blame her? "Mommy" picked up and hugged her and then dumped her fuzzy ass in that carrier...plus it was COLD out there!! Anyhow, we got to the vet and it took a bit to get kitty out of her carrier because she was doing as pictured to the left...2 paws on either side of the carrier door and refusing to budge.

After we got them home, we dropped them off home and then went to the post office to drop off a couple packages. One is going to my SCSis (a cd) and one is headed to my mom. The one going to my mom is a perfume gift set she'd bought me and the spritzer on the bottle isnt working. She's going to do an exchange and then mail me the new package when we get to Virginia. While we were there we did a change of addy and all our mail will get sent on to his folks' house. When we get into our more permanent digs we'll do another change of addy. What a pain in the ass. I'd have much rather had the temp addy a week ago so this could have been done and out of the way. I really hate feeling like I gotta light a fire under people's asses to get things done.

Got all the knick knacks packed tonight and all the crafting stuff packed last night. Im finding lots of loose ends type things Im not so certain what to do with as they arent really used and mostly because they're his "stuff". I think I'll let him deal with them. We've done some talking and I believe we've decided to have a professional cleaning agency come in and do a nice thorough cleaning. He'll be calling them tomorrow for an estimate. Considering they wont have much to do (they wont have beds to make or knick knacks to dust) it shouldnt take them long nor should it cost us much. Oh that reminds me...I better have him call Kiwi cleaners for an estimate on the carpets.

Well I better scoot. It's getting late....not that Im really tired as I got to bed super early last night (in bed by 715pm and asleep by 730pm) and got lots of sleep. Totally unusual considering Im feeling ok. Thank goodness for that. How did a friend put it last year? What you're doing on New Years is what you'll be doing all year. Now let's think back, last year at New Years I was ill and what has been the biggest complaint I've had all year? Not feeling well. Hmmm. This year Im packing and getting ready to move. Looks like I'll be living out of boxes this year....and possibly into the next. Oh well.

My final day at work and getting ready to move

For the benefit of Tori the comic above says:
Customer: I have to return this. I dont have the receipt, but it's unopened.
Clerk: Um, we dont sell this item ma'am.
Customer: Of course you do. Im certain I bought it here.
Clerk: Im sorry , but Im positive we dont carry this item. The register doesnt even recognize the barcode.
Customer: I dont care what your computer says. I found this old Grumbel's bag in my closet, so I MUST have bought it here. What more proof do you need?
Clerk: Let's just skip right to the part where I call the manager, shall we?

Yesterday had its ups and its downs. I was feeling better than I had in a week or so, namely because I'd had 3 days off and my feet weren't killing me like they had been. Basically my day started off great. When I got in, the department looked pretty rough, but not nearly as bad as it had been in the previous days. Within the first couple hours (I started at 5pm), I managed to get 3 aisles straightened up and all the reshops that I had found that were ours (but just in the wrong aisles) taken care of. I was scheduled with 2 guys ( both scheduled at 3pm) and that gay girl (scheduled at 2pm) but she'd been at the registers all day doing returns. The guys, on the other hand, werent register trained and had been trying to keep up with the department. Imagine the surprise that I was able to deal with 3 whole aisles and they hadnt managed to do one each yet. I took the shopping cart of the other departments worth of stuff to the front and sorted it into the proper reshop carts, then brought our two carts of reshops back and had one all put away before the guys even knew I was back. My buddy of the two suggested that I go catch a break so I decided to get my lunch in at 7pm. When I got to the floor redid my 3 aisles in about an hour's time. Again reshopping the stuff that belonged to us but were simply in the wrong aisles. I took the backet of stuff belonging to other departments up front again (boy the people in this store are damn pigs!) and started sorting them into the proper baskets. This trip up to the front really irked the shit out of me though. The main reason why is because there was no one up at the service desk to answer questions and I couldnt get anyone in management up there to save my life. I had a customer twist the hell out of my words after cutting me off as I was talking to her. *ugh* Rude bitch. So I felt no problem in correcting her error in a nice loud voice. Adding, of course, that had she allowed me to continue in the first place she would have known all her facts. Nah, had no problem dressing down a customer when it was called for. I havent all season and especially not on my last night. What were the bosses gonna do? Fire me? Nah, all I'd get is a slap on the wrist and a warning for the first offense. I got back to the department and told the one guy I wasnt going to the front again for the whole night as if I got treated like that again I was gonna bodyslam someone. I made good my promise and didnt go to the front not once the rest of the night. The girl scheduled with us didnt make it back to the department until 915pm or so. It was no big deal as 4 out of the 10 aisles had been clean for a couple hours and well maintained since then (I had gotten bored and not only done the 3 I was responsible for but cleaned up the next one over). I caught a break around 945pm and when I got back took a spin through the 4 aisles again. As I was going through one aisle, something caught my eye. I brought it to the gal I was working with and asked her if she noticed something odd about the product. She saw nothing wrong with it until I had pointed out the little sticker on the item. It was a price tag for $10. Mind you most items arent priced in this store except the seasonal items and the redboxed ones in toys. The particular brand in my hand was neither of those, infact it was a LeapFrog item which never bears a sticker. The sticker wasnt even one our store uses......wait for it.......it's one that BIG LOTS uses. Mind you, this product was definitely a return AND had to go past at least 2 other people before it made it to the shelf....and the newbie...the person who'd only been at the store 3 WEEKS noticed it. *insert eyeroll here* Being that it was a Big Lots sticker, my best guess is that our store had sold it some time ago and it had gotten discontinued as that's how Big Lots gets alot of their merchandise. If this is the case, that means when it got returned, it was no longer in the store's system and the computer had to contact the home office for a price so it'd be on file for sale later. If the returner got what the product scanned on our price checkers...well then they got less than what it was marked for. Oh well....wasnt ours to begin with anyhow.

Around 1055pm or so , I left the sales floor for the night. After punching off the clock, something told me to swing by the personnel office to see if I could catch a manager back there. I was surprised to find 2 managers and a floor supervisor in there. I asked to speak with one of them and explained that I had talked to the assistant over my area and what exactly was going on that that was to be my last night. Thankfully the assistant had mentioned it to the rest of the management staff. I was a bit surprised as I had worked for smaller companies that didnt have the amount of communication that this store has. The floor manager gave me my exit review and on the paperwork checked the box saying I was rehirable. This way if I go back to the same company again I shouldnt have a problem getting a job. I signed the paper and surrendered my name badge. I told her once I got my checks and my hubby came in, I'd surrender my discount card (hubby had it in his wallet) but no one had told me where to go to get my pay. Shoot they were right there in the personnel office.... woulda been nice if someone had said something during orientation about where to go. So anyhow I got my first 2 paychecks yesterday (one was a one day check for my orientation). I'll have another in 2 weeks time that will have 1 week's wages on it. Once we get to Virginia, I'll send the store my new address so they can mail me the check. I went to the front and got them cashed (thank goodness this company will cash out your checks for you). Then I met hubby at the front and while we were checking out, I took my discount card and brought it to one of the managers.

Today I spent the day weeding the junk off my desk and packing what I could. I decided what needed to come with us and what could go into storage. Yes, I did actually have a desk there. I was beginning to believe everything was just hovering there. Once I got that done I finished packing my crafts. Ive got all the plaster pieces ready to be shipped. Tomorrow I will be finishing up packing my crafts (like I only paint...puh-leez). I have to condense my paints and weed out the paint brushes. While Im at it I have to pack all my needle work and sewing projects. With any luck I'll have a corner and part of a wall in the guest room emptied out so we have a place to put all these boxes that are starting to pile up everywhere. Im hoping to have enough sorted by Friday to know what can be dropped off to the second hand stores. We've already decided that the sofa can stay as we'll have no room for it in an apartment. That's ok though as we have the futon that TxSis gave us and it's much lighter to move, takes up less space AND doubles as a bed...so who really NEEDS a sleeper sofa when you have all that. It's not as though either cost us anything anyhow.

I guess I'd better go. I know the time is going to reflect 1159pm but I actually started this around 10pm and it's really 137am now. I guess I ought to get to bed. Im not overly tired though as I caught a couple movies tonight while writing this (Shrek...which was on while I was catching Chicago's stream and A Knights Tale with Heath Ledger) and as such am a trifle keyed up. Ohhh no and the next movie up is one of my all time favorties...The Three Musketeers. What a wonderful cast this movie has Kiefer Sutherland (Athos), Oliver Platt (Porthos), Charlie Sheen (Aremis), Chris O'Donnell (D'Artagnian), Tim Curry (Cardinal Richelieu) and Rebecca De Mornay (Lady Sabine DeWinter). Some of the best lines I have ever heard came out of this movie (especially those voiced by Oliver Platt and Tim Curry...although Rebecca De Mornay's line of "and with a flick of my wrist I can change your religion" is quite priceless too.....). Anyhow I think Im going to catch this movie (for like the 43rd time) which means I may make it to bed around ohhh 4am or so....ahhh well.

Today

Im doing some packing and weeding out of stuff. Right now Im working on my email account which is about 10% full. Normally I like to keep it around 2-3%, but since I've been working and busy doing other things I've been rather negligent in keeping it weeded out. As such, you're likely to find several posts for today as I attempt to bring the inbox down to a manageable level before our move...especially since Im not sure how often I'll be in to read messages and such on our trip. I know once we hit Tazewell TN I wont be in at all for a few days as the net service really sux there. Many that you find in here today will be emails that I felt needed to be shared. I have no special place to put them like I do with the jokes so they'll get placed in here for all to enjoy. If one post isnt your thing just skip to the next. Im sure there'll be something for everyone among these postings.

This first came from my SCSis:


Today...I wish you a day of ordinary miracles-


A fresh pot of coffee you didn't have to make yourself.


An unexpected phone call from an old friend.


Green stoplights on your way to work or shop.


I wish you a day of little things to rejoice in...


The fastest line at the grocery store.


A good sing along song on the radio.


Your keys right where you look.


I wish you a day of happiness and perfection bite-size pieces of
perfection that give you the funny feeling that the Lord is smiling on you,
holding you so gently because you are someone special and rare.


I wish You a day of Peace, Happiness and Joy.



Wishing you the best for 2008!

That, too, is my wish for all my friends.

The last few days

Translation of comic for Tori's benefit: A customer calls a department store and the assistant manager answers the call.

Assistant Manager : Thank you for calling Grumbel's

Customer : What time do you close tonight?

Assistant Manager: We close at 6pm tonight.

Customer: WHAT? I thought you'd be open late on Christmas Eve ! Why are you closing early?

Assistant Manager: So the employees can spend time with their families.

Customer: But what about the customers?

Assistant Manager: I guess they'll have to spend time with their families too.

Customer: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Heh heh heh. That comic strip is called Retail and is to retail what Dilbert is to the tech industry...ooohhhh so damn true. It takes place in a mall store which means the usual close time at the holidays is anywhere from 9pm to 11pm....sometimes later like midnight. But the store does close down for part of the evening. Now imagine the same conversation (if it happened at all) with a 24 hour store...throw in a couple hundred or more ESL's shopping there (assuming they even SPEAK E as their SL) and that would be how my Christmas Eve went.

Friday night the pace started picking up. We had a last minute shopper that had the cheek to gripe that the night crew was pulling pallets to the floor at 830pm. He said it was the wrong time to be doing it. I told him it was a good time as our shelves were nearly empty. He then countered with the "there's too many people in the store to be doing it" and I shut him up with the "but we're a 24 hour store which means we dont ever close so when's the best time TO do it??" Stupid people. *insert eye roll* Ok so he had a point but it doesnt really slow up so when ARE we supposed to restock our shelves??? At that point I was all for selling it down to the bare shelves, then I wouldnt have to tell people we didnt have something, it'd be bloody well obvious.

Saturday was really bad. Im sure I touched on that a bit. It was so busy that 1/4 of the shelves were empty before I even got in at 10am. By the time I left at 6pm, they were nearly 3/4 empty and things were flying off the shelves faster than we could pull them off the risers (the topmost shelves that are labelled "Ask associate for assistance"). Normally, we're told not to fill and stuff just take down what we need and maybe another 2-3 just in case. Nope, not Saturday. The assistant manager over the area cornered me after lunch and said to start pulling ALL the stuff off the risers and just stuff it anywhere there was space (which was pretty much everywhere). Here my feet are already starting to ache, my knee wants to give out and Im not liking heights too well. *sigh* Not about to tell him I simply cant or wont I told the manager I'd go as long as my feet and knees would allow to which I got a fair enough comment. In about 90 minutes' time I managed to get all of one side of the walkway done and decided that it was simply just too doggone busy to do much more. When the assistant manager came through again I told him as much....he noticed how much was down and the shelves were still looking bare and agreed that it would need to be done later. Around 4pm the department manager came in and I thought the poor guy was going to have a stroke. The group I was with, well we were barely keeping ahead of the reshops, and top things all off the group I worked with contained not only myself (who'd been working Saturday nights) but another guy that normally worked Saturday nights. NONE of my department manager's "dream team" was going to be working with him that night. Two of us were on the early shift and the third had been given the day off. He was stuck with the rookie and a few others that dont work worth a damn. Oh he was pissed. heh heh... He'd come up to me and said..."this is what we're gonna do" and I looked at my watch... he asked if I was leaving already and I told him 6pm. The poor dude's head nearly popped off.

Sunday was a 2-11pm shift. I cant remember who all I was working with that day. I know for sure I had the rookie and the one gal (who spent the last 3 weeks dropping the hint she's gay...not that it matters as Im, like one chatter was so fond of saying, stictly dickly). We were told this day to not attempt to clean up, just keep up with the reshops. I am so glad they said that because I would have had a stroke trying to do both. Not 2-3 days prior they'd been telling us things had to be perfect because the night crew didnt have time to reshop or clean up, there was simply too damn much for them to stock for them to bother. We had 5-6 associates in the area and were extremely hard-pressed to keep up with all the customers and the reshops. Again I left out of work having a rough time walking (even though I'd spent extra for supports to put in my shoes...). That place was absolutely trashed and I have to state now that the night crew did a major miracle getting it respectable by the morning shift. It was so bad that it would have taken "Jeanie", "Samantha", the whole Hogworts school (plus teachers, the Ministry of Magic, house elves AND the Order of the Phoenix) AND Merlin to set that place straight. It was so bad we could have applied as a National Castastrophe zone!

Christmas Eve was somewhat better. The customers didnt catch on for a couple hours that we were even open (thank God for small favors), however they figured it out in short order. We had the typical crowd in, the ones who havent even BEGUN shopping and wondered WHY there was nothing left. I took some real pleasure in being able to say no and point out that we'd had most of the goods a week and a half ago....full shelves of the stuff that was needed now. Ok, so, I shoulda got coal for that behavior but it's not MY fault they didnt pick it up when they saw it a week ago! Otherwise the day went ok. We had enough people in the department to get the reshops done in a reasonable amount of time and the 3 aisles I was responsible for were as neat as I could get them. It got to be about 10 minutes before 6pm and they started announcing the store would be closed at 6pm. I personally think they should have been announcing all day we were closing at 6pm and then started the reminders at 530pm at the latest. The hard part is that anyone in the first two aisles of toys simply cannot hear the announcements over the damn tvs in the electronics department (and not to mention the ESLs that dont understand them at all). Then 6pm came and they started with the "We're closing in 2 minutes" BS. They did this for 10-15 minutes....it got so that the L.Ps (loss prevention guys) had to start herding people out like so much cattle. There was a scuffle between one of the customers and an LP...chest to chest (or was it boobs to chest?) like a couple of roosters getting ready to spar. It got so rough they ended up calling some additional security in and had them posted at the entrances. One of the managers came back to toys about 15 minutes later to dress us down about the incident and the dude I was working with at the time told him that it was the LPs that did it...not us. Dude pointed at me and said that even I managed to keep my tongue and he KNEW how hard THAT was...LOL. Smart-ass. Man Im gonna miss him and the department manager. Anyhow as the manager was talking to the head LP dude, I saw the other LP racing down the walkway looking much like a rushing back with a cell phone attached to his ear. The discussion around me was rather animated until I said "and there goes number two at a dead run around the corner". All 3 heads whipped around and next thing I knew the guy I had been working with and I were quite alone. Seems they had not only last minute shoppers but a last minute shop-lifter as well. Good thing we had all the extra security around (including actual coppers) in the store.

Well we were told by management that clean up wasnt overly necessary again and when all the customers were out of the store we had to report to the front end. Once we got all the reshops done we'd be allowed to go home. Everyone pitched in as best as they could and when their area was done were instructed to go to their next favorite department and help out there. The entire compliment of the store was released around 730pm. I was so damn happy to be out of there. Management stood at the front and was wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and shaking hands. The assistant manager over Toys made sure to thank me for all the hard work I'd put in (Im sure he probably said that to a number of others as well though). I made sure to shake the store manager's and the head LP's hands as I doubt I'll be seeing them again before I leave from the store.

Not much else has gone on the last couple days off. My feet still hurt some but not to the extrent they had been. I think I may get through tonight without a pain pill. Good thing as Im down to one last pill and I may need that Friday night. Christmas day we just hung around the house and did not much of anything. The most we did was watch tv and hubby cooked supper. He got a nice winter coat from my mom and dad and I'd given him a couple dvds. Yeah...I was working and still managed to get him a couple small items! Had them the week before I started work, granted, and I didnt get to buy what I wanted to get him but he STILL had something under the picture of ivy on Christmas morning!! Take that last minute shoppers who made life hell for me! Today I nearly finished wrapping my dolls. I ran out of bubble-wrap. We could have gone out today but I simply didnt feel like getting out of my night gown and face the crowds....I've had enough of them for now thanks. The only other things I've managed to do since getting off on Monday night is finish up book 6 of the Harry Potter series (I'd had it nearly finished before I started back to work and hadnt picked it up since), started book 7 and redecorated all my web-pages. All my holiday decor is down now. I didnt really want to take it down until the first of the year but I dont know how busy we'll be and I dont know what kind of shape the net service will be when we first move in to the corporate housing. It's just best to pull it all down now instead of having it still up around February or March. Im not so fond of the decor on this page but I may have time in the next day or so to fix it.

I think that's about it. I think Im going to sign off now, curl up with a glass of egg nog and get another 2-3 chapters read in my book. Maybe I'll tire out enough for an early bedtime.

I've come to the conclusion that

...I'm DEFINTELY too damn old for this shit. It's a week later now and my body still hasnt adjusted to being on my feet for 6-8 hours on a given day. I hurt so bad coming out of work and Lord I could just fall over getting out of the truck when hubby gets me home. Then there are the bruises that started showing up...Im pretty sure they're ladder inflicted though. Top things all off my body's behaving much like a child in their first year of school. Any parent reading this will understand what I mean. For those that are kid-challenged let me explain. A child spends all his or her time with you the first 4 years of their life. The only germs they really come into contact with are mom, dad's and the immediate family's. Once the child goes to school for the first time, they are exposed to germs they havent been exposed to before. When this happens what happens to the kid? They get sick. I've been out of the workforce for 4+ years..... Yeah, that's right, I've come down sick as a dog. Sniffles, sneezes and aches (on top of the aches of using muscles that havent been used in years) like you wouldnt believe. At one point I was sure I had the flu.

Friday I had a doctor's appointment. Not because I was ill but because I'd set it 2 weeks prior. You'd think that somehow I knew this was coming but that isnt the case. I'd originally set it to get one last check-up in before the move, refill my meds and possibly get a flu shot *IF* I was well enough to get one at the time (damn Cigna nurses have been nagging me for months to get one). Well the day before I was due in I came down with the yucks. After a quick look over (temp 97.6F, and 5 pounds heavier than the last time I'd been in *sigh*) they determined that I simply had another sinus infection (thanks to the up and down temps) and placed me on a decongestant and antibiotic. The nurse was a trifle worried about my bp (130/70) because the top number was higher than I normally have but once I explained I was back on the workforce AND in the Toy dept she understood why. I'll need to keep an eye out for that just to be on the safe side.

Saturday was absolutely unreal. There were 3-4 of us in the department and we couldnt keep up with all the customers. It was so busy that the department manager finally told me to just quit cleaning the department and help him keep up with all the reshops. Every 30-45 minutes that poor guy was bringing a cart or two back to our area for us to reshop. By the time 11pm showed up, we'd only *JUST* caught up with the reshops. I asked management on Sunday how well the store did on Saturday and we'd done over $700,000...no wonder we had trouble keeping up. On Sunday we were lucky enough to have 5 of us in the department until 10pm. Unfortunately, we STILL had trouble keeping up. We resorted to keeping up with the reshops and cleaning as best as we could. Customers were still arriving in the department by 11pm. Management was wanting a perfect department because the night crew had too much stock to put up to have to deal with cleaning the department. I doubt they got it. Two of the people we had left at 10pm and of the three of us left only one was a full-timer with any real experience in the department. I stayed until 1130pm and the full-timer was scheduled with the other newbie (newer than me and I dont think English was exactly his primary language..) until midnight. Management was anticipating a $600,000+ day...I wonder if we made it. Over a million in a weekend...not too shabby.

Today was my day off. I was hoping to get some sleep in for the day and try to get rid of some of this cold but it wasnt to be. Hubby had a goodbye brunch to go to (1130am) and he'd also scheduled the lady from the moving company to come in and find out what was needed for our move (she was scheduled for 1230pm). He panicked on Sunday and left a message for her to reschedule because of his luncheon. I asked him where lunch was supposed to be and when he told me where...I told him to call her back and let her know to come on in, I'd stay home and meet with her (the lunch was at a restaurant I am definitely NOT fond of). She arrived at precisely 1230pm and we went through the house discussing what her company would be responsible for packing and what was going on the truck and what we were transporting. It was a really quick meeting. I think I'll have hubby call tomorrow and make sure all of us are on the same page. She'll be sending her report to the moving company and then they send an estimate to the company that's paying for all this. Then they will be getting with us.

I spent the remainder of the afternoon and evening doing the laundry and packing my girls (the porcelain dolls) up. I figured I'd get them out of the way first knowing how time consuming it can be to wrap them up properly. Each limb got bubblewrapped then the whole piece was wrapped again. Hubby had brough home some nice sturdy boxes the other night and plenty of the "poppy-paper" so I could get them packed. I got 3 boxes done at 4 dolls a piece. I have 4 more dolls to do but around 830pm I gave up because I was too tired to do anymore. We had supper and shortly thereafter my NYBro called so I talked to him for about an hour or so. Then I tried to get in here and actually started the blog but around midnight or so my PaSis called with some good news and she wanted to celebrate. She knew I was the only one of her friends awake at this hour so I got to hear it all first....plus she wanted to thank me for the package that showed up on her doorstep. I'd sent her 6 handpainted decorations...3 little snowflakes and 3 teddy bears (1 pink to represent her, a darkish blue for the older son and a baby blue one for the littlest son). As I told her, I wanted her to have something from me that wasnt tied to that problem child (husband)that's been giving her hell lately.

Got a note from mom n daddy earlier in the week and their package arrived. For them I'd painted a mini nativity scene (The Holy Family, a sheep, and 2 Wisemen..dont ask me why they only gave me 2 Wisemen and opted for the sheep...wasnt my idea) and a basset hound for her to leave up all year. Knowing mom the Nativity will be up year round anyhow. The package to my SCSis arrived too. In hers I'd packed a small stuffed monkey for her and 3 snowflakes. For her hubby I'd painted 3 cardinals (he's a Cards fan). They have blue and white winter gear on but I hear from her that he's likely to leave them up all year like he did with the cardinal Christmas ornament she'd bought him the other year.

I think that's about it. I grabbed the idea of the sitemeter from Chicago's site as I liked the idea (thanks Chicago!) of being able to see who's reading the entries. Not that it really matters to me but I just want to see where my general audience is coming in from. I see one on there already that I wasnt expecting to see at all (at least Im pretty sure it's who I think it is...I could be wrong). Canada, I just want you to know you're more than welcome here and can leave a comment when you feel ready to talk.

Well I better scoot. The alarm is going to go off in a few short hours as hubby has his exit interview at 7am today. I'll probably get most of my sleep after he leaves. He'll be going out with his buddy after the "long walk" for breakfast and some time together. They wont be seeing each other much after this as his buddy managed to snag a transfer and will be staying in state.

*HUGS* to all

updates and other mish mosh

Yes, I too have days and weeks much like this. Although the sun is blazing brightly outside, I feel like there's a huge cloud hanging over my head. I've spent much of this week in huge mood swings, one minute feeling fine and the next wanting to lash out at anything and everyone. I even had a couple people (who dont know each other and live in different parts of this country) say I sounded grumpy and they just knew something wasnt right. No, it isnt simply from empty Saturday nights...infact it's nothing from online. For once all the problems are situated very firmly in the homebase and not online.

As we get closer and closer to December, and my husband's release date, Im getting wound tighter and tighter. I've been finding it extremely hard to sleep a whole night without interruption. I suspect it's because my mind is mulling things over constantly and as a result I toss and turn most the night. I know most of this shit is stuff I cant control, but being high strung....it doesnt matter that it's not in my control, I still get uptight over it. I've found out that although he's looking for another job, it's in our best financial interest that he stays for the severance package. With the way the mortage rates have gone up (50%!!!), the house that cost us a little more than $100 more than what we were paying at the apartment complex (just the mortgage payment, not the insurance on top of it) is now costing us much more than our budget can handle comfortably. I knew it was going to get to the point where I was going to have to pull a job eventually (assuming no children were forth coming) just on the basis that I really need to get out and socialize and the exercise was going to do me good. However, in an ideal world getting a job was going to be my idea and come along when I was damn ready for it (ready being the operative word here now I gotta dig and figure out why I havent been ready in 3 years because Im not a lazy person so that aint it). Well, this being reality and all, the choice has now been taken out of my hands. This isnt exactly what had me depressed the last few days (althought the fact the choice was made FOR me and not one I made on my own pretty much upsets me). The depressing thing is that I found out on Monday (last week...not this past one) that things were rougher than I was led to believe. The mortgage payments not only have gone up several times since we bought the house but two of those came just this year since we've been married. Not cool. The last conversation we'd had when he said they'd gone up had resulted him saying that it was up to me if I went back or not. Now, after 3 years he knows I have a slight hearing problem and no it aint "selective". If you turn your back or walk away from me while talking I do NOT hear the last bit of the conversation. The last part of what he said went completely unnoticed by me until just this week when we were discussing it again. The last statement had been "but it sure would help out if you did". So now Im not only upset with him for allowing it to go this long but Im pissed at myself for not noticing. What's a gal to think when some of the same stuff is coming in the house and we havent visibly started cutting luxuries? Instead of paying for the cd in the cart...allow me to take it out of the money in my purse. A couple times of that happening you know Im gonna be more chosey. Or better yet...tell me we cant afford much extra at all these 2 weeks. That'll make the point, trust me. I KNOW what "we cant afford" means. Been there, done that. The only thing I can think of is that knowing where I come from he's afraid Im going to toss him aside and leave. I mean I have done it before. The difference here is the man loves me and has no qualms of saying so infront of everyone.

Hubby went to the ENT last week. From sound of things, all is healing well. The dr had used those dissolvable stitches so there's nothing to remove. Infact, the ones she put in pretty much are gone already. He's got an appointment next week to check the healing. Thankfully, once the pills are gone for the rinse solution he wont have to do that anymore. This is really good because Im really tired of getting up in the mornings to make the solution. Oh I know he's a big boy and can do it himself but I also know he wont do it unless it's made for him . From what he's said the wash tastes nasty and he hates having to do it. A good deterrant so one doesnt get hooked on it I guess. No, you arent supposed to drink it but you squeeze it up the nostril and it runs out your mouth so it leaves a really yucky after taste. Kinda makes me not want the surgery myself and you can guarantee I'm fighting my sinuses tooth and nail to not have to take that option.

Last few days I've been only looking at options for us. Things are so damn expensive. For less than what we're paying on the mortgage we can get a 3 bedroom apartment in a bad section of town. Nope nope not that. Alot of the 2 bedrooms are as much or more than what we're paying now. Even on the low end it'll be tight. A savings over what we have now yes, but still tight. I told hubby if I go and get a job this week we will be staying in this house or at least this neighborhood because Im not going to get settled into a job and have to leave it right away. It's not fair to me and not fair to the perspective employer. Basically I told him if he wants to move to decide now. He suggested that we stay until after the holidays that way I can shoot for seasonal employment with the possibility of staying permanent if we end up staying in this house. He did see a house "down the road" (Ive found that down the road doesnt necessarily mean down the same street here in Texas) that was for rent for less than what we are paying now. It's supposedly in an area near some businesses (one being a Racetrac)....there better be more than convienence marts in the area I'll tell ya. There are a few places I refuse to work at..... gas stations and convienence marts are one because they get robbed regularly and food establishments. I am retail through and through. So I think this week we'll take a look around and see what's available. One thing we need to remember is we have tight funds so the option of setting up in a new place and fixing up this place to sell just isnt feasible. Hmm I think I just proved to myself we aint leaving here any too soon. Maybe we'd better just go job hunting instead. I have a list of some stores in the area close enough where it would be feasible. Just means I am going to need to put out cab money (these places are about a $10 cab ride one way away from me) a few days a week unless I get the HR to arrange my schedule to fall on my hubby's off days. Right now they are Thursday- Saturday and every other Wednesday. Those are days most retail needs the most workers anyhow. It just means if I get a job that streaming is going to be out of the question for a while (well I guess that decision was made for me too...) because I wont know what hours Im pulling on Saturdays and you KNOW as being low person on the totem pole my hours wont be regular (sounds like something else I know).

Come November, hubby will be going on nights again for the reminder of his time there. Yeah, Im upset but this was his decision and I have to agree to why he decided it. With money so tight, it's just beneficial for him to go on night shift because of the 15% differential (more money). Looks like this month is going to get where I wont see him much because he'll be covering for someone as well as pulling his own shift for a week (possibly two). It'll mean more money and I guess he's talking to the boss about going on "bankers hours" on the days he's covering (which in this case would be 8-5pm) so he isnt so whipped. If he does that it means no overtime daily though (his company does overtime as after 8 hours for the day you go on OT and not after 40 hours weekly like most places do it). It still means more money overall though.