My Weblog

Better than I thought.............

Yesterday was the first long shift I'd worked back to back with another long shift. I wasn't sure exactly what shape I'd be in when it was over. Was I tired? Yes, indeed. Did I hurt? Yes, indeed. But I did it. To be honest, if they'd offered me an early out, I think I would have taken it. But that was not mentioned. So, round and round and round and round I walked for another 7.5 hours. 

My back ached but it didn't spasm. It was buttressed by the back brace, but that thing is not infallible. My feet hurt but I was able to keep going. I even "went shopping" after I clocked out. 

One of the girls from the grocery area came over holding 2 meat packages. They were steaks, stuffed with garlic butter and seasonings. And they went out of date yesterday. She was being advised to chuck them in the trash. Each package had been priced at $9.99, but they had been marked down to $5.99. I asked her to hold onto them for me. She put them back where they came from, but turned them upside down. And there they were when I got off work. So, I paid just a little over $10 for 4 servings of steak (I got my discount on them too)! Fancy servings! I brought them home and immediately put them in my freezer, but I'll be pulling one out for dinner tonight!

I bought 2 red long sleeve tee shirts. I had purchased a sweater to wear to work last week. I've worn it twice and decided last night it needs to NOT go to work again. It's a pretty thing and I WILL wear it, but when you "air fold" shirts, everything gets laid up against your chest. And we have a whole line of sweaters that are embellished with "jewels". These sweaters with the jewels are on a front table, near the check out lines, so high traffic. And those "jewels" catch on the threads of that sweater. If I continue to wear it to work, it will be ruined very quickly. So, long sleeved tee shirts to the rescue............. 

I've been wearing sweaters/sweatshirts/layers primarily because I hate wearing jackets/coats. And I go outside for my breaks. But, I do get plenty warm in the store all layered up like that. And I cannot shake the mental image that I look like the Pillsbury dough boy with all those layers on. So, I'll try this another way and see how it goes..........

The parking lot was FULL when I got there again yesterday, but by dinner time, the crowd had thinned out considerably. Fewer shoppers means fewer people fingering the merchandise. I was actually looking for ways to keep occupied there for a while. It was a good chance to sit on the floor and organize the bottom shelves of some of the display tables. And it was a good chance to rest my feet! 

Oh, I also bought some marble "houses". Actually, they are just slabs of marble that are cut to look like houses. Picture a square with a same-sized triangle on top of it. A "house" like a kid would draw it! I am going to use them as bookends. I have needed a decent set of bookends for a LONG time. I've searched various sites and come up empty. So, when I saw these heavy pieces of marble, I knew what I was going to do with them. THankfully, they were still there when I had a chance to "shop". 

I went looking for a Thermos bottle. I found a few but I didn't exactly love them. They were more than I wanted to pay. They didn't fit my coffee cup holder in the van. So, I'm going to try something different and "free". I have multiple travel mugs. I don't use them. Well, actually, I use one of them for my daily mocha frappuccino. But the rest just sit there. So, I'm going to fill one of them with coffee before I leave the house. I don't really care whether coffee is hot or cold. I just need coffee for the caffeine boost that helps give me the courage to keep putting one foot in front of the other. So, I can drink out of that travel mug on my breaks and my lunch and save the money that I've been giving to Starbucks.

In theory I don't work again til Saturday, but I did tell the supervisor I'd work Tuesday and/or Thursday if she needed me. And last week, around this time they called to see if I was available to come in. They may call again.......... So, what I want to do today is whatever needs done that I would otherwise do today or tomorrow. I can't afford to waste the opportunity to do whatever I can.

I will do laundry. I have several "uniform" pieces that need laundered to be ready for whatever comes. That's a biggie!

I will double check and make sure I have backed up all my files for my monthly backup. I think I'm good on this one, but it never hurts to double check.

I will take that paycheck to the bank and deposit it! 

I THINK I may see the doctor today. I hope so. 

I have some half-completed jobs I want to finish. So, I started my major "move everything" and vacuum under what I can move and vacuum the edges around things I can't move. I hope to make a lot of progress on that today. 

I also need to clean out/inventory the fridge. One thing I want to look closely at is what I have in the way of yogurt. I am chafing at the price I paid for yogurt at the store. I know I can do it for half that much if I make my own. I need to make sure I have some unflavored yogurt around for starter though. And dig around to see what I can organize better. 

I doubt I'll get all that done, but I can make progress on it if I get my butt in gear. I WILL wear good supportive shoes because my ankles are angry with me today, LOL. I don't blame those ankles one bit. I put them through a LOT these last two days. I will celebrate NOT wearing the back brace! So far, I've worn that thing every hour I've worked. It will be good to be free of it today.

IF I don't work tomorrow, I'm going to Supercuts and get my hair cut. It still looks good if I go after it with a round brush and a blow dryer, but who wants to spend time on that?

Later, my friends. Have a BLESSED day!

Sunday morning..........

I'm a little concerned about today. It's the first time I've worked 8 hour shifts back-to-back. I am still stiff and sore from yesterday, but here I go again. '"Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit" sayeth the Lord!' Yep, that's how I'm planning on getting through it..........

Last night was a ZOO. There was no keeping up with the damage to the department, given the crowds. On a "normal" night, I walk up to a table with 10 stacks of shirts and I need to straighten one or two. Last night it was 5 or 6. Everything was touched, fingered, rolled in a ball, just dropped back on the table or whatever else you can imagine. I might, in a normal 7.5 hour shift, circle that place 10 times. Last night, I think maybe I only did 6. Hopefully, since the Black Friday stuff is over, today will be less messy, LOL.

EVERYTHING was backed up last night, and the store really does try very hard to see to it that doesn't happen. I needed to get my first paycheck (did you read that carefully? "my first paycheck") through Customer Service, and it took me 3 tries to do so. I needed a "team leader" for that and getting one over there in the time I had available was darned near impossible. But, YES, I GOT MY FIRST PAYCHECK!

I ended up having to do the cashier thing last night. When they get too many customers, they call for backup and someone from the other departments has to come help. I got the short straw last night. I really don't mind it, but you always go up there with insufficient knowledge. For example, there was a coupon in the flyer for $50 off if you bought $100 worth of holiday products. Sure enough, that's the first thing I got hit with and I knew nothing about it. I also had a secured electronic item I couldn't get out of the secured box. And a paper check--it took 3 of us to figure out what to do with that darned paper check! Well, soon, I will have exhausted all of the anomalies, right?

The store has been bringing in food for the employees over the weekend. Thursday night they had Panda Express delivered with about 8 choices of entree combinations. Yesterday it was pizza. I ate for free all day yesterday.......... Of course, I also ate "unhealthy" too........... But, free is good.

I worked in the early part of the day with the supervisor I think wishes I was long gone. However, around 3 the supervisor I like and who seems to think I am a worthwhile person came on duty. Phew! What a relief! I am only scheduled for today, Saturday, and next Sunday this week. I let her know I'd love to fill in Tuesday or Thursday if she needs me. She took my cell #. It would be great to pick up an extra shift--$$$$$$. 

I have decided I NEED a Thermos. At least once in a shift, I NEED coffee. I dwindle down to nothing in the energy department............ If I have enough energy left today, I'll see if I can find one in the store. The search will be good for me. If I don't buy a Thermos, Starbucks (in the store) is going to see way too much of my money! If I can't find one in the store, I'll be ordering from Amazon tonight! 

Gotta run. I still have to do my hair. No one wants to see me the way I look right now. Hey, funny thing. I think I got "flirted" with last night. I never saw a man give such a smile and a lingering look (up and down) that didn't mean "flirt". I'm too old for that! But, it was flattering..........YOU be BLESSED today, and pray for me. Last night I made it through without a muscle cramp. Let's pray it goes as well today! 

 

What's left of today.......

I slept til 1:30PM. That sounds downright awful, right? It's not so when you realize I worked til 3:30AM and finally dragged my rusty butt to bed at 6:00AM. I was one very tired lady!

I am feeling better now, though I may need a nap later......... 

I ended up going in to work early. Thank God I didn't go in earlier than I did. I was ready early and thought about going in early and doing some shopping. I decided against that. So, I went in at about 7:45PM. Turns out I was not scheduled to start work at 8:00 but rather 8:30. So, I grabbed some little folks' clothing items. I have several birthdays and Christmas gifts to deal with. And, I have a good knowledge of the kids clothing department since that is where I worked the first couple of nights. So, that took me no time at all. I wanted to buy a couple of Christmas-y kitchen towels. That would probably have been my one and only not to Christmas decor, but I couldn't find kitchen towels of any kind in the time allotted. So, I paid for my purchases and I clocked in.

The folding table gig was endless. I thought of several analogies: shoveling snow in a blizzard; trying to keep the house neat and organized while the kids are at home; and so on. You organize a table. You fold all the messed up shirts/sweaters/tee shirts on the table. You stack them all neatly. You take a deep breath and before you can move to the next table, someone is digging through your neatly stacked garments. holding them up to see if they'll fit, or maybe just to see the design. And that is pretty constant when the store is busy.

I had thought the store would close at 11PM as usual. No............ The store was open all night. The only saving factor was that Starbucks was open all night too! I NEEDED the coffee, LOL. 

The store opened at 6PM. I was told by ladies who reported to work at that hour that they actually had trouble getting inside the store so they could go to work because the gang of people outside the store, waiting for it to open, was so huge. I know first hand that when I came into the store, near the door by which I entered, there was not a single shopping cart available. Not one. I forgot to see what was going on with the big line of shopping carts that sits outside looks like. I was blessed, though, to find a parking spot reasonably near the front door. The lot was cram jammed with cars, all the way to the end of the aisles. Business finally slowed down a bit about 11, and slowed down more around 1AM. However, we still had shoppers! 

The store operates on Walkie Talkies. With those you can call another employee in any department for help, broadcast a call over the PA system, etc. I have never used a walkie talkie in my life. I was relieved there were none available when I signed in. However, about 3AM I thought I heard my name over the PA system. Though that's never happened before, I knew that meant help was needed at the registers. Ugh! I am so unsure of what I'm doing up there. I went up to the front of the store and was looking for the cashier supervisor who is sweet and kind. I just wanted to know what register she wanted me on. All of a sudden, MY supervisor appeared and told me to go check folks out on register 12. Okay.......... I told her I didn't have a walkie talkie, so she went and got one. OF COURSE, there were walkies available. It was 3AM and most of the staff had gone home, turning in their walkie talkies when they left. So, I ended up dealing with about 3 customers and not feeling like I was doing it well.

As far as I know, I have 2 supervisors. One is a sweetie, easy to talk to, good to work with. The other is not quite the same. I don't know her well, obviously, but she seems very intense, anal, and judgmental. The possibility that she was just trying to be helpful with the walkie talkie thing exists, but I perceived it as disapproving. For all I know, I'm supposed to keep checking every hour on the hour to see if one of those things has become available. It's a mystery to me. Equally mysterious to me is what in the heck I would do with one if I had one, since I've never used one and have never received training on how to use one.  Anyway, I was rescued by the fact that I had to clock out at 3:30. They are NOT happy if you clock out late and there are little warning signs posted by the time clock........... 

The supervisor I'm unsure about just came on duty at 2AM. She was "fresh". I was worn out but still working as best I could. I had worked folding tables all night. At first, they were a sight and every table needed something done to it every time I got near it. Later on, some of the ladies who were working the hanging racks ran out of things to do because business had died down sooner than expected and we still had a pretty full staff. I honestly thought we'd about slayed the table giant by 3AM. Every table looked pretty darned good, I thought. Particularly, considering what it had looked like when I arrived. Miss Supervisor, however, wanted me to "perfect" the tables.......... I honestly don't know what her definition of "perfect" is, I guess. I rarely think anything is "perfect". In fact I have my doubts that any human can achieve "perfect", ever. But I felt bad that I had not lived up to expectations, whatever those expectations were.

In addition to being busy most of the night, I had my first muscle spasm to occur on this job. I have no idea what brought it on, but I ended up with a muscle spasm that started in my butt and worked its way down into the back of my upper thigh. That made every step painful, and all I do all night is walk......... 

I have tried increasing my daily supplements of Magnesium and Potassium, both important in avoiding muscle cramps. Obviously, that has not helped. What I did to set that off last night, I have no clue. I did nothing unusual. It's just one of those things......... I did have a muscle relaxer in my pants pocket and that was my salvation for the night. Thank God for pockets!

There is a rule at the store: no shopping while you're on the clock. That is sensible in that we're not being paid to shop. Rather we're being paid to make it easier for customers to shop. However, at least 2 girls last night shopped on the clock. I did not. One girl, I know, doesn't care whether she keeps this job or not. I wouldn't think of risking my job for a tee-shirt. Different strokes for different folks, I guess. 

Well, that's it for me. I'm going to see how much I can get done around here. YOU be BLESSED today.

What a difference a job makes!

When you are living, as I have been, with less than enough to make ends meet, and then you get a job, it takes a while to realize the possibilities that have opened up to you. At least, that's how it is for me.

I can do things like: buy a new comforter cover that doesn't have holes in it; buy a smartphone; and, best of all, manage to justify and pay the fee for adopting another German Shepherd! 

I have gotten more "junk" in my e-mail today. Included was a Thanksgiving greeting from the President of Overstock. Why she is so thankful for me, I'll never know. The only business I've given them in years was a replacement for my featherbed when it started leaking feathers....... In any case, I noticed that Overstock has a pet adoption site. Actually, I think it is a referral site, just linked in from various other pet adoption sites. In any case, once I noted that, I couldn't stop myself from looking. And sure enough they have at least 2 GSDs I'd love to have in my home. I miss my GSD, Max, so much. I never felt at risk for anything when he was here. Now, don't get me wrong--I don't sit around and worry about my safety. But, Max never let me out of his sight. He picked a central location where he had a direct sight line to me and he watched. I felt a) loved to the excess, and b) absolutely secure. I knew God could use him to make sure no harm would ever come to me. 

Oh, well, not just yet. There are a few other things I need to deal with before that, but it was such a thrilling thought, I just had to share.

I have not made tremendous progress so far today. I decided I was allowed a small celebration. So I took a hot, soaky bath with bath salts. I researched Magnesium a while back. Magnesium has a lot of positive effects in the body. For example, it helps muscle cramps and soreness. And it is essential to the body to make Vitamin D do its thing. And, glory be, magnesium is absorbed through the skin more efficiently than when you swallow a magnesium supplement. My scented bath salts contain magnesium sulfate, and just for good measure, I added some epsom salts. (That way I got plenty of magnesium in the bath water without adding more of my wonderful scented stuff.) 

The dishwasher is running. Once I get the shelves on that garden window wiped down, I can begin straightening the kitchen. Just now, I have moved bazillion things out of the way so I can reach that area to clean it. And, the dishwasher contains a good sized collection of mugs/cups. 

I have also been backing stuff up, deleting stuff from my backup EHD, and making previews for a kit. Busy, busy, busy..........

And, I am already dressed in my work pants and the bottom layer shirt which I will wear for work.

My ham should be ready to be eaten. Hang on Ham, here I come.....

 

Happy Turkey Day!

Let's get the important stuff out of the way first: Happy Thanksgiving Day, everyone! I hope you are all enjoying your day, whether it's a time of celebration for God's gifts with your friends and family or a solitary time of giving praise and thankfulness in an atmosphere of peace and quiet.

I did pretty well yesterday. In fact, I surprised myself when I looked back over my day last night. I "forgot" to take a nap, LOL. I think it was the fact that I got about 9 hours of sleep overnight. In any case, I got this room vacuumed which I REALLY needed to do. 

I got "fly spit" cleaned off the hall bathroom mirror which I've been meaning to do for days. Got the clean sheets on the bed and the bed all made up pretty. 

I made a loaf of bread.

I emptied the dishwasher and started filling it up again. 

I paid bills and worked on the budget.

I got the surface of the desk looking a little better and I filed a bunch of stuff.

And I deleted e-mails and got a bunch more of my backups done!

I bought a small set of pyrex containers on sale at Amazon yesterday. They were actually about 2/3's off! I do not want to take my lunches in Tupperware and then be forced to microwave the food in the Tupperware. So, now I will have glass containers. Whoopee! I also ordered a Christmas present for my younger grandson.  

I have decided today is a day for details. I haven't done the corner tool on the vacuum cleaner for a while and it really needs done. I'm actually going to go beyond that, move furniture, get down on my hands and knees and see what's stashed or fallen on the floor under furniture, etc. I'll start in this room and if I don't get any further than that, it'll be okay. I just want it to be REALLY thorough.

I have a "garden" window in my kitchen. It has prebuilt wire shelves running the width of it. Because my kitchen is SO small, this is where I store my mugs and cups--there is really no room for them in the cupboards. So, I'm going to put all of those mugs, cups, glasses, etc. into the dishwasher to get clean and I'll be wiping down the shelves, etc. 

I don't usually get on a roll with housekeeping stuff til later in the day. However, I work from 8PM til 3:30AM (burning about 1050 calories) tonight, so I have to get started earlier today. 

I now have two kits that are ready for previews. If my design assistant reads my blog today, she'll know what is coming at her. Otherwise, it'll be a surprise, LOL.

And, so, in the interest of getting an earlier start, I'm going to just do that! Talking about it won't help a bit. YOU be BLESSED today. I'm baking a ham which I plan to thoroughly enjoy! 

Not shipwrecked anymore.........

I worked 7.5 hours last night. It was a tough night. However, I woke up this morning feeling almost normal. That is a good sign. Perhaps, soon, I will work a shift without coming home feeling like I'm 90-something.

I talked with my mother today. Actually we spent 1.5+ hours on the phone. I will be busy tomorrow so I called today to wish her a good Thanksgiving. She is failing. For the first time, I heard her say, quite seriously, that she is ready to "go home" to heaven. She says some days she's not, but there are times...... She's had a good long life and I do not want to see her turned into a bed-bound vegetable. And, I know I'll see her again some day...... She says she has been praying for me that I'll have strength to do the job. Well, hallelujah! I'm grateful for that!

I haven't accomplished too much today besides that LONG phone call. My mother is nothing if not predictable. She announced to me today that she was getting tired and was ready to get off the phone. Then she talked an additional 18 minutes........... And so it has ever been. When they used to visit here, I would be ready to run out the door to go to work and she would have 23 questions that had to be answered before I could leave. I'm used to it now, and I allow for it when I call, but it used to frustrate me something terrible and make me late for work......

I did get a new loaf of bread going in the bread machine. It occurred to me that if anyone ever invites me over for a holiday meal, I could take a loaf of fresh-baked bread as a hostess gift. Who wouldn't enjoy that? I spend a lot of energy, going back and forth to the kitchen just to look through the window on top at my bread as it's doing its thing. And once it starts to bake, and the smell wafts through the house, it's akin to heaven. I count the minutes til I can take the bread out of the machine. Then, I count the minutes til it's cool enough to cut, LOL. Then I EAT!

So, what should I do today? Well, I literally made that phone call within minutes of my feet hitting the floor this morning. It's really hard to hit the perfect timing on a phone call to her. First, there's the 3 hour time difference. And then there is her mandatory meal schedule. And, finally, she goes to bed really early AND naps in the afternoons and she's really out of it these days when she wakes up. I looked at the clock and headed straight for the coffee machine and then straight to the phone. So, I need to make my bed first thing. 

Now that I've got that bread going, I need to do some kitchen clean-up. 

The desk...........yes, as always, the desk. I have some things to put away out here. For example, I needed ink cartridges for the printer I bought in September. My Lord, a complete set cost me $99.41. Can you believe it? They'd better last til February and beyond! But, I need to get those off the surface of the desk where I dumped them when I stumbled into the house last night. And I still need to do that general clean-up/straightening of the desk top.

I vacuumed the other day, but ran out of time before I got to this room. So that's on my list for today. Maybe I'll just keep going through the rest of the house.........

I got the household trash out for the trashman Tuesday. However, that bag of shredding still needs to be lugged to the curb. Then I can add a new bag to the trash can and have another go at it.

I am going to inventory the hamper. I need to see what I can legitimately wash. I don't want to waste water by running super small loads, but I work tomorrow night (til 3:30AM Friday), Saturday, and Sunday. I need at least 3 sets of clean clothes for work and right now I think there are only 2.........

And, as always, there are always blogs to read or delete, e-mails to read or delete, files to unzip and organize--all the usual stuff.

So, pray for me. I have a full rest-of-the-day planned.

 

the living definition of..........

Let me introduce myself. I am the living definition of "rode hard and put away wet". I was on the clock 7.5 hours today, from 12 noon til 8PM including the mandatory 30 minute "lunch". Today, most of me behaved pretty well, but my feet were screaming part of the time.

I changed shoes at "lunch". I also put an ankle brace (which I bought in the store) on my left ankle. Remember when I decided to lace the shoes up one eyelet higher? I must have laced them too tight. Anyway, my left ankle was very painful in the spot where the shoe touched it, right below my ankle bone. I tried loosening the laces. That didn't help. 

I was trying to decide what in the world to do about the ankle thing. It occurred to me that if I put an ankle brace on, it would keep the shoe from making contact with the sore spot. Sure enough that worked. But it didn't help the pain in my toes one iota. I prayed to God, praised God, and rebuked the pain alternately for about 6 hours. There were moments when there was literally no pain, but then the pain would return. I don't understand it..........

I was so tired that when I got home I almost lost my balance getting out of the car. I would have expected to run and jump for joy at the very sight of home, but it didn't work out that way.........At this point, silly as this sounds, I want to go stand on the carpet in the living room. That stuff, in spite of the shoddy way it was laid, is so darn thick, it feels like walking on clouds. I could definitely stand to do a little cloud walking about now!

I made a pot of that famous Italian "poor man's" food, "spaghetti with peas", last night. It was quick and easy and cheap and tasty. I took that to work today for "lunch". It never tasted so good as it tasted after 4 hours of walking around that store! If I'd had musicians in front of me, I could have given a loud shout and watched the walls of that store fall down. And that was just the first half of my shift! Yes, I worked folding tables again..........endlessly circling from table/shelf to table/shelf, folding short sleeved tee shirts, long sleeved tee shirts, lightweight sweaters, and some beastly thick sweaters. 

Bulletin: ALL of the store's clothing will be on sale 40% off for Black Friday. If you're the kind of person who doesn't mind the crowds, that's the day to augment your wardrobe........The Black Friday ad has already been leaked online, so I can't get into any trouble telling you that. Anyway, just sayin'..........

I happen to be a big fan of almost anything that is cobalt/royal blue. There's this lightweight sweater that is on sale for $10. I've been eyeballing that thing really hard.......... I have no clue where I would wear it, so I'm working really hard to talk myself out of buying it, even for $10, but it sure is pretty! And very soft and huggable. Of course, there's no one to hug me, but I guess I could always try to hug myself, LOL.

So, yes, I folded stuff for 7.5 hours. Ah, the life of a retail sales employee.........

Shortly I am going to go fall into bed. I don't care even a little bit that it's 2 hours earlier than my new mandatory bedtime. Last time I worked 7.5 hours, I ended up sleeping for 2 extra hours the next morning. I won't mind at all if that happens again. 

One piece of good news: I did find out tonight that I will get holiday pay for the 4 hours I work on Thanksgiving night. And, then I work 3 hours on the "overnight" shift, and that will earn me a few extra pennies as well. Not many extra pennies--I think the overnighters get something like $.25 more an hour. Word is the store will be bringing in food for us. I'm not holding my breath for that. I think I'm going to bake that ham I finally managed to buy and eat some of that as my Thanksgiving meal. I doubt I'll have anything with it, but it'll be a treat just the same.

The aisles of the store, around women's ready to wear are lined with big electronics, just waiting for Friday........

I don't think I told you.......I applied for a store card. It's worth an extra 5% off whatever I purchase there including groceries. Of course, I went for a debit card. I have long since sworn off credit cards.They wanted me to apply through the store, but you have to take your checkbook to the store to do that. I have a hard enough time getting there with the other stuff I have to take. I'm not going to worry about that too, so I applied online. It's only been a couple of days. I'm anxious for it to arrive. I don't like to carry around much cash. But, to get my employee discount, I have to either pay with cash or with the store card. So, soon, store card it is..............

I was talking this evening with the store operator. I worked with her briefly the day I was called in to work someone else's shift. Anyway she stands all day, but she does very little walking. Mostly she answers the phone and picks clothing items out of store carts and refolds them. She says just working there, she has lost 9 pounds since September. I am basically walking the entire time I am at the store. That accounts for burning about 1000 extra calories a day. Maybe, I'll be so slim and trim after a while that I won't even recognize myself. I am sure I have to be building muscle as well. Of course, I am not getting any aerobic exercise so I've made up  my mind I will have to be on the treadmill any day I am not working. I think I am going to have to add some yoga stretches into my routine as well. I am so very stiff and sore.......... I need to work at being more limber.

Well, I give up. I am going to wash my face, brush my teeth and climb into my bed. Good night, all!

Fan mail...........

I have never in my life, as far as I can recollect, written a fan letter. I just watched a video clip of President George W. Bush visiting the troops in Iraq on Thanksgiving Day a few years back. Such a thing is not likely to ever happen again until the White House has a new occupant. That man knew how to treat our troops. Of course, he made a speech thanking them for their service. He slapped backs, posed for photos, etc. I was even surprised when he went behind the serving line and began plopping food onto plates. He'd hand back the plate of food and then take time to shake hands with the person he was serving. I will admire and venerate that man for many years to come..............

Our service men and women deserve the very best we can give them, and if they don't come before "refugees", someone needs to answer for that! 

Okay, off the soapbox now. Sorry, but those are my true feelings on the subject and this is my blog so I get to speak freely on the subject.

I have gotten a lot of unzipping and organizing done. I've deleted around 450 e-mails I'll never have time to read. I've managed to reduce the # of blogs in my blog reader by about 20 which is pretty good in that they just keep coming in. 

I carried in a bucketful of dog food and a gallon of milk and carried out a big bag of trash. I also stripped the bed and have washed the sheets.............time to go put them in the dryer. They're far too big for my little indoor dryer rack. I have made up my mind that I'm going to be policing the hamper more closely. I don't think I can do a load a day--I just don't have that many dirty clothes. But, I want to do a load at the earliest time available, given whatever has accumulated. Waiting and doing more than 1 load a day makes it difficult to use that drying rack and that means I have to spend money on electricity and natural gas. 

I may have a little bit of ease in my budget now, but I want to continue to live as frugally as possible so that I can save. 

Someone commented that they couldn't work in a store like the one I'm working at now as they would shop too much. There are things I want/need. I DON'T need much in the way of clothes, except to insure that I have sufficient to cover my work needs. So far this year, I have bought: one pair of running shoes (for work), one sweatshirt (for work), one sweater (for work), two pairs of pants (for work), and some undies (well, just because..........) But household goods, now those tempt me. 

I will at some point buy a cover for my down comforter. I am currently using one that has holes in it. I make sure the holes are carefully covered by a throw blanket at the foot of my bed, but it's evident it won't last a whole lot longer. And washing a down comforter is a total pain. It needs to be covered! 

I want to get a smart phone. I don't see myself eating/drinking/sleeping with one of those, but I am finding there are a lot of opportunities to make or save money if you have a smart phone. However, I've already picked out where I am buying it and the new service with which I will sign up. One year's worth of bills from my current provider will almost cover the phone and a year's service with the new provider! Seems worth it to me. That will make the coupons, etc., just a bonus. Love that!

I am not getting any younger. There were a bunch of us lined up yesterday to punch in on the time clock. I looked around and decided I was without a doubt the oldest person there, by AT LEAST 10 years. I have no doubt that God will help me do this job. He wouldn't have let me get the job without intending that I rely on Him to get me through it. Of course, He wants us to rely on Him in everything. But, the time may come when this job is gone from my life. With prices escalating as they are, I want to save as much as I can for those days. 

Well, in spite of getting 9 hours of sleep last night, I am going to go lie down for a while. That big bag of trash I carried out was not THAT heavy, but it tweaked my back anyway. I'm not shocked as that's the nature of my back right now. So, lying down and relaxing for an hour may help with that. And I know that the time is coming when my back will be experiencing NO MORE symptoms! That helps me keep going too.

I'll start working more on this house when I get up.

 

 

Wow!

These folks will work me to death if they get a chance, LOL. At 8:30 this morning I got a call. It was the store. They wanted to know if I wanted to work Monday or Wednesday. I'm already scheduled to work Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Next week's schedule reveals I'll be working Sunday. And I just worked yesterday! I think it is probably good that they don't know I'm old and need the time off to recuperate, LOL. Later on, as I get more used to doing this kind of "stand all day" work again, I'll be saying yes!

Yesterday was a rough day. My feet were really hurting by the end of the day. And, even though I wore the back brace, I was experiencing back pain by the end of my shift. My upper back, between the shoulder blades was hurting too. I came home and took my shoes off and just SAT here for at least an hour. And, what surprised me was that my feet continued to hurt while just sitting here! I went to bed around 11 and slept 9 straight hours. I usually sleep 7 hours. Yes, I guess I was tired! 

So far this morning, I feel better. A few twinges in the lower back, but mild ones. Even my feet feel "normal" and my ankles don't hurt much either. So, I'm recuperating more quickly. Eventually, my body will be used to all this and I'll do better on work days as well.

I walked out last night with a young lady who was probably about 1/3 my age. She was actually limping, because her feet hurt. That helped me to keep going. I felt better knowing I'd worked right along with her and I was in (slightly) better shape at the end of it than she was. I think it was probably that I prayed more for God's help than she did..............

I finally got to do some shopping. I went to the store with CASH. That's not something I would normally do, but I NEEDED to hit the grocery aisles. I was out of half 'n' half for my coffee. I still wanted a ham if I could get it. I was dangerously low on Oxiclean spray stain stuff, etc. And, without the the store card, cash is the only way to make a purchase and get the discount. And I WANTED THAT DISCOUNT.

I actually got my employee discount. It was fab! I saved nearly $15. Loved that. But by the time I got home, I was so dog tired I thought I was actually in danger of stumbling. Just exhausted. I did, after recuperating time, make several more trips to the van to collect the groceries. However, there's still a gallon of milk out there. I just couldn't talk myself into another trip.......... I figured it would get cold enough out there that the milk was going to be just fine.

So, I WILL have a ham for the freezer! I'm pretty excited about that. Maybe I'll have enough energy on Thursday to cook it and eat some before I go in to work at 8PM. And, I am taste testing that house brand of coffee right now. It's the dark roast "Christmas Blend" I bought to spice up my coffee routine above and beyond the medium roast I have been ordering from Amazon. It was certainly worth the money I spent on it, considering I got it on sale and WITH my discount. Yummy!

Oh, and if you use Oxiclean --the spray on pre-treater for stains--the store has it for anywhere from 1/3 to 1/2 off the price I've been paying at CVS (which was the only place I could find it when I was shopping at El Cheapo). So, I bought 2! 

Primarily I wanted "snacky stuff" to eat on breaks and some frozen entrees to eat for "lunch" when I'm at work. I bought 5 entrees, 8 yogurts, and 16 packs of those nasty snack crackers with cheese or peanut butter. That ought to carry me through for a while.........

Yesterday I took "lunch" at 4PM. I bought a sandwich and I ate it in the car. I actually sat there in the driver's seat with my legs on either side of the steering wheel and my feet propped up on the dashboard. I'm sure that didn't look very lady like, but I didn't much care! 

Oh, I should tell you that the store has some great deals on lightweight long sleeve knit tees. Also on sweaters. They are 40% off. That makes the price of a tee around $10 and a sweater around $15. These tees are perfect for layering under a sweater, shirt, or sweat shirt. And the sweaters that are on sale are cotton--they add the warmth of another layer but they're not stifling hot. And, if you only do short sleeved tees, they have those on sale too. 

During the weeks that I shopped at this store for food, I had to be very disciplined. I never allowed myself to even walk through the clothing department. In fact I never walked through any part of the store except the food aisles and the cleaning supply aisles. So, I had no idea what cute stuff they have these days. It's been YEARS since I've been able to "shop" for anything. Some of the stuff is definitely oriented more toward the younger market, but I could have carried home a whole lot more than one sweater for work and been thrilled.

Also, I just saw that they have 50% off artificial Christmas trees, both online and in the store. They look pretty darn good. I caught myself lusting over one sale priced at $50 and quickly navigated away, LOL. 

So, what about today. Well, for starters, I want to send out links to my next kit to my creative ladies. Wow, they do beautiful work! 

I have some groceries to put away--dry goods. And I want to run the dishwasher today. Other than that, the kitchen is okay.

I AM going to straighten this desk today. I AM, I AM, I AM. I may not get a lot filed, but it will look better when I'm done just pulling things together.

Maybe I can do some more work on the file cabinets and some more shredding. Tomorrow is trash day so the neighbors can't object too much if I take a bag of shredding to the curb today, right? That would enable me to put a new bag into the big ole trash can that is sitting on the other side of the room and shred some more!  

I noticed spots on the mirror in the hall bath. That totally mystifies me. How do they get there? No one uses that bathroom. Oh, occasionally, I run in there for an "emergency" sit down, but really, on the mirror? Oh, well, no matter how those spots get there, I'm going to clean them off! So, I guess I'll do windows today as well...... It will be a Windex kind of day......

I am still backing up files and deleting e-mails and unzipping and organizing Commercial Use stuff during my "sit down at the desk time". In fact, I'm going to sign off now and get a backup going. I still have several LARGE files to back up before the end of the month. The kind of files it takes 6-8 hours to back up.

YOU be BLESSED today!

7.5 to go..........

I am due at the store at noon. Less than 3 hours from now. Oh, my! I am so not ready for this, LOL. 

I just ordered a sweatshirt to wear to work. I only have 3 items to wear that are big enough to disguise the back brace. This week, I work 4 days. I will either have to wear one shirt twice or do laundry somewhere in the middle of the week. I'm looking forward to receiving my new sweatshirt. I bought a guy's sweatshirt. Since Joe's death, I've become a fan of guy's sweats. (I inherited some.) Men's sweat pants have pockets! Wow, that's a great thing. And I think both the pants and shirts are heavier than what you normally find for women. 

I am going to work with one VERY clean name tag. Yup, I washed it. Fortunately I have a label maker here at home, so even though the name tag came out of the washer "naked", it now has my name on it again, LOL.

I don't feel great about the house, but when I leave here this morning, it will be in better shape than it was Friday. I guess that's about all we can hope for, right? It's never going to be perfect.

I washed multiple loads of clothes. They were small loads so I was able to use the indoor hanging rack for everything. I did tumble them in the dryer for the shortest time (about 3 minutes did the trick) just to get the wrinkles out. In the desert, thankfully, you don't have to worry about your house being too humid to hang clothes indoors, LOL.

I shredded more stuff. I've whittled the pile down again to about 4 inches. I have now filled another big black bag. I really don't want to shred any more til I can take this black bag to the curb. I did make 3 trips outside with trash bags/cans. And I carted a couple of bucketsful of dog food into the house. 

I paid bills and worked on the budget. And I filed. 

I did a lot of back ups last night. I think I will actually be able to do the whole month's backups, even though I was neglectful earlier in the month. I always heave a sigh of relief when I accomplish that. I'll have to be really diligent about it, though. Make sure the computer is running back ups when I leave the house to go to work and/or when I go to bed.

Today.........

Well, I work from 12:00 to 8:00. 

First, I will get ready for work. I don't want to be running around at the last minute wondering what I've forgotten. 

I got one of my double sinks cleaned out and shined up last night. I will hit the other one this morning before I leave. 

I have decided I really am going to have to pull all this stuff on my desk together into one pile. Stuff is splattered all over the desk surface and that's no way to live! Then I'll just file off the pile......

I will not work on the file drawer I've been working on. For some reason, everything in that drawer is really dusty. Once dressed for work, I don't want to get that grimy gritty feeling. I may venture into the "inactive" files. If they're not so dusty, I can pull a lot of stuff out of there for shredding. 

Tonight, I'll try to finish the vacuuming I started the other day. I got all but this room vacuumed and then it was so late I thought it crazy to do any more. 

I also have a kit that needs to be sent out to the Creative Team for next week's release. I've already done all the quality checking, etc., and decided it was in pretty darned good shape. 

As to work, the big puzzle is what I will eat........ I have exhausted my supply of prepared food so I don't have anything I can just nuke and eat. Maybe I can buy something there.......... I bought some Chicken Alfredo in the cafe' at work Friday night and was pleasantly surprised. It was actually pretty good! I kinda think the chicken was that pressed chicken, though, and that doesn't thrill me.....

Tonight, if I have enough energy left, maybe I can pick up a few little things. I am out of half 'n' half for my coffee. I've been surviving on evaporated milk for days and have now opened all the cans I had of that so I must do something about that! Milk is getting low. I am almost out of the spray on Oxiclean and I no longer agree to do laundry without that stuff! And, it would save me money in the long run if I bought some of those microwaveable entrees. I think I am going to have to get busy making some soups again. I could take those to work frozen and 4 hours later, after sitting in my locker, they should be mostly defrosted. 

Sometimes, it doesn't pay to declutter, LOL. I cleaned out the silverware drawer a month or so ago. Now, I find I need some of those plastic spoons I threw away so I can eat the yogurt I take for breaks. Isn't that the way it always goes? You get rid of stuff and then you need it..........

I'm gonna try to do some church now. I could use a little spiritual uplift. YOU be BLESSED today. And, pray for this body I'm trying to rebuild, if you please..........