Ssssstuff?

I have been cranky and feeling mildly crappy for about two weeks now and I DON'T LIKE IT.

And when I say cranky, I mean CRANKY. The little things that might barely blip on the Annoyance Radar have me ready to rip someone's head off...and I've come really close to it on several occasions, when normally I just clam up and seethe in silence.

I've always tended toward a very short frustration fuse, but lately it's been almost nonexistent. I can go from fine to FUCKOFF in no time flat, and I hate it. I've always hated it, and I hate it even more now...which is funny, because do I hate the fact that it's shorter, or is my hating it caused by it being shorter? Whee!

And I'm exhausted and creaky, but what else is new.

I got tomorrow off, so I can go to Emily's birthday dinner. Thursday may be a surprise party for another friend, Saturday is Other Shift's last night before transferring and may end with a few of us going out to say goodbye.

Tomorrow's plan: writing/stuff in the morning and early afternoon, evening spent with Ryan, night spent with friends. Thursday is more Ryan time, probably errands and such. Friday I don't work until 4:30, so more Ryan time or possibly Aurelie time since she's back from her trip.

Next week's schedule is almost all closing, which is confusing since I almost always pre-close. Oh, except for Sunday, when I'm schedule as a mid...okay! o.O

Ummm what else what else...OH! I got up early with one mission today: Get to book store and buy new A Dance With Dragons, the new book in A Song Of Ice And Fire. :D I usually don't like hard covers, but there's no way I'd be able to wait the year or however long before it hit paperback. Plus it's pretty, has lovely maps on the inside of the covers, and I had a gift card from my birthday still, soooo....mine :D

Of course, I still have half of A Feast With Crows to finish first, but that's okay. I'll get through it fast enough.

And on that note...

Arting and Gaga and Chores, Oh My!

Geez, not that I'm bad at updating or anything...

Birthday was great, work on Sunday was fine.

Yesterday was combinations of fantastic and awful. I woke up around 10, and had decided by 10:30 that I wasn't going to sit around until I had to go to work. Hell with that. I got dressed, packed up my camera and a PB&J, and hit a park five minutes away.

It's called Kate's Park, dedicated to a community leader, and it's filled with flowers and little paths and a sculpture called Educators, and it's connected to Riverwalk, a series of paths and parks stretching down the St. Joseph River through South Bend and MIshawaka. I enjoyed my breakfast sandwich on a bench by some lilac and peonies and thought of home for a bit before picking up the camera and having at.

The weather fought back a bit--very windy, sunny but enough clouds that I had to keep switching settings between full light and full shade--but it was warm, the tone of the light was gorgeous, and I had a garden full of beautiful flowers! I spent at least five minutes trying to capture dew on some tall grass (hi Dad!), and another five minutes getting shots with a very photogenic bumblebee. Overall, it felt like some of the most productive shooting I've ever had.

So I went to work with that feeling, and it stuck pretty well--I cleaned the cafe and helped customers and brewed coffee with a smile and some sunshine.

Then Good Shift put on the Lady Gaga promotion soundtrack, since we started selling her CD yesterday. And That One spent the next two. hours. bitching nonstop about how much she sucks, how she's terrible and weird and annoying, how she needs to jut die already, on and on and on and HOLY CRAP SHUT UP. I didn't even care that he didn't like an artist that I do, he could have been complaining about someone I don't like, but it was nonstop and childish and ugggh.

My mood went up again when he left, and Ryan visited me just in time for my second ten, and I bought a CD from a regular couple, a local duo called The Bergamot that played at my store for the 40th Anniversary Celebration, and they were just overjoyed and appreciative and thanked me again and again! Made me feel nice...plus I love their stuff!

Then right before I left I got the most hostile customer I've ever dealt with. He started off the entire transaction feeling affronted, as if he'd been ignored for a long time (except having just walked in), and mocked me as I tried to serve him. He ended up laughing as I made his coffee (for reasons none of his could comprehend), then apologizing repeatedly as he left. It was surreal and mildly traumatizing.

Anyway...that-all was yesterday. Oy. Oh, and I'm mildly sick, with sniffles and pressure and grossness, and I've managed to pass it on to Ryan. Woo! Don't worry, parents, I'm downing plenty of tea and water at work, taking vitamin C and echinacea at home, getting plenty of rest, and making sure Ryan is, too.

Today I woke to find a text message from Da Boss saying I don't need to go in until 3:30 (two extra hours of free time and only ONE hour of That One? ka-ching!), so I have to finish up this entry and get on with my list:

[o] shower & dress
[o] bank
[o] take more pictures?
[o] upload (and edit?) yesterday's pictures
[o] dishes
[o] laundry
[o] maybe even some dedicated reading time!

I am really enjoying Game of Thrones! It's a great story, and a great read--it's hard to describe exactly why the act of reading it is more enjoyable than with other books, but I'm sure the avid readers out there will understand what I mean. It's also helped me with the TV series, which had me a little confused. I'm actually just about caught up to the show, will start hitting spoilers soon...

Right, off I go!

PS--I have 14 fans on my Facebook Page! They're all people I know, but still!!
PPS--I'm thinking of trying this out, except with photography instead of drawing. Thinking it could be fun and challenging, and maybe could work as promotion for the shop and such? Still contemplating.

Okay, going now!

Ups And Downs And Inside Outs.

I'm extremely tired and have to get up on the early side, so here are the highlights:

[o] whoever thought Easter would be slow at Starbucks when Lent just ended and no place else is open and it's a travel holiday GUESS WHAT YOU WERE WRONG
[o] stood up to a co-worker who used "queer" to insulting describe a guest, and told him that shit isn't funny. I had wildly shaking hands and racing heart and felt like puking for a good bit afterward, and he probably just thinks I'm just an over-reactive feminazi who can't take a joke, but it's a start.*
[o] another co-worker brought in her crock pot and made soup for us. ham, cheese, potato, and bacon soup. I LIKE HER.
[o] Ryan made Alton Brown's French toast for dinner. ommmmmm.
[o] watched Easy A with Ryan, BJ, and Sameh after dinner. Very good, very funny, very entertaining, even had a sweet ending that made me smile. :D
[o] watched the most recent Game of Thrones. Spoiler: THE QUEEN'S A BITCH.

Tomorrow is up early for laundry (and hopefully photography), store meeting at 12:30 (yayyyy), eight hour shift to follow. WOO.

*Exact conversation:
Me: Hey. That's not funny.
Him: Why, are you? Wait, of course you're not.
Me: Why does it matter? Do I have to be black to be offended by a racist joke?
Him: Maybe you do.

ERRRRRRRRRRRRGH

I Missed Earth Day. Poop.

My day:

[o] wake up
[o] get late breakfast/visit 933 crew with Ryan
[o] see Ryan off to work
[o] do mini photo session with engagement ring until camera insists that every single battery I put in it is dead. grr.
[o] go grocery shopping!
[o] return home in time for Aurelie to arrive and help me bring up groceries
[o] go back to Target with Aurelie and BJ to get her hair dye (and me candy, and BJ stuff)
[o] discover the Mishawaka Target doesn't have her hair dye
[o] go to Target across town
[o] get hair dye
[o] return home, watch several hours of Say Yes To The Dress, first with Aurelie's company and then by myself after she gets tired and goes home
[o] help Sameh after she steps on sharp tweezers and stabs herself in the foot
[o] eat dinner with Ryan
[o] type up entry

Whee!

I didn't do anything to celebrate Earth Day because, honestly, I wasn't aware of it until it was too late. I am glad I didn't work today, however, as apparently it was insane from Starbucks' policy of giving free coffee to anyone with a mug or tumbler on Earth Day. All day. WHEE.

Tomorrow, however, is back to the grind for another five days. I really needed this day of rest, and I hope I don't need one quite so badly by the time Thursday rolls around. This past week was stupidly busy and exhausting, and I'm not sure I could take another forty hours of it!

Seriously, you people--how does anyone work a 40 hour work week and go to college? Or raise kids? Or, I don't know, do ANYTHING?!

zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Pizza and Bubbly and Grumps, Oh My!

I'd change the time to be posting on Wednesday, but hell with it.

Yesterday (that is, Tuesday) was pretty great. Ryan and I had the day off together to official celebrate being engaged. We went out and did some shopping, I got my ring back from being sized (:D), and the night included pizza and champagne for all (thanks, Mom! :D) while watching Tron: Legacy and episodes of Camelot. Hee :)

Today was...less awesome. I had to get up early (for me) to get laundry done so I could have clean work clothes. Then it was...insanely busy. And understaffed. And co-workers were pissy. And bleh. Then one of my co-worker's roommates, another Starbucks employee, came in completely drunk and hit on me pretty hardcore. It wasn't creepy so much as awkward, and I just know that the two other workers at the time will never let me hear the end of it. Oy.

Next week's schedule looks to be the same as this week, except instead of 40 hours it's 39 hours plus a one hour store meeting (fuuuun). I'm trying to track down my boss so I can talk to her about taking time off for my trip to Connecticut, but she's almost never at the store when I'm there, and it's a bit too complicated of a conversation for texting. Oy. I'll figure it out.

For now: so tired! Sleep...

I NEED A DRINK.

Today...was stupid.

It was generally crazy busy for most of the day, and I swear our store had a sign over it inviting all the high maintenance crazies to come in and make our lives more interesting. But it was really two distinct things that made today just ridiculous.

First, a doctor's office called in with an order of 15 drinks, saying they'd be in for them in 10 to 15 minutes. Someone showed up less than ten minutes later, in the drive-thru, expecting them to be ready. Oh, and this is all while people keep coming in and ordering drinks in the store. G'AH.

Then was the really fun moment of the day. I picked up a coffee urn to move it to the sink, and top completely detached from the body. Crash, splash, narrowly missed my feet but got extremely hot coffee on my left shoe. Fortunately, I was able to get my shoe and sock off before I got burned, but my left pinky toe got the brunt of it and hurt like a bitch for an hour or so afterward.

There were other little things--the woman who didn't actually buy anything, just brought in five bags of coffee for me to grind; knocking the cinnamon dolce shaker off the bar and mildly pricking my finger on a shard as I cleaned it up; the other woman who didn't know what her friend had asked her to get, just the strongest coffee we have, I don't know brewed or espresso, well where's your coffee list, AAAAAAAAA.

All is fine now. I'm home, I've had a hot dinner, tomorrow is a shorter mid-shift...whee.

Climbing Back Up...

Another good day.

Didn't get enough sleep despite sleeping until 11:30, but that's okay. Took some pictures before heading out, since the sun was obliging.

Had just over two hours of writing time before work, and managed to get a good amount of work done. Work was with all cool people, and I ended up being let off early since there would have been four of us there until 9 with everything done at 7. So I got more writing time over at 933! :D

On an odd side note, I left in the wrong direction (the short way home as opposed to the short way to 933), and turned around in the parking lot of an abandoned church I've been eying on the way to work for a while now. There's interesting graffiti, interesting brickwork, nifty-looking banged up and boarded windows and stuff like that...basically, with the right weather, there's a chance this place could be a photographic goldmine.

I know. I'm strange.

I have the same shift tomorrow, with even more awesome people to work with. Yay :)

PEOPLE SUCK. THE END.

Dear cop:

If you the people in a Starbucks to continue to respect you and your fellow law enforcement brethren, please do not:

[o] pull in to a parking lot through the exit-only entrance
[o] almost hit a drive-thru customer as you pull into a parking lot in the wrong direction...
[o]...so you can back into a spot the wrong way...
[o] while talking on your cell phone,
[o] then walk past the huge drive-thru line, through the bunch of people waiting for their drinks, wait in the long line, completely ignore the obvious fact that we are SLAMMED, and question our best worker--who is currently double- and even triple-barring--for 10 minutes to figure out your perfect freaking drink (personal note: 10-shot Venti White Mocha? ICK),
[o] sit at the bar texting and watching her make the drink,
[o] only to get to the register to pay and say "There's ten shots in here, right?"

He didn't even act all high-and-mighty, I-am-cop-obey-me. He acted like a charming regular, all aw shucks, aren't I a stinker? WHICH IS WORSE.

ARGH I HATE PEOPLE.

Thank God I have the next two days off. Tomorrow will be spent doing laundry and researching every last detail to get my Etsy photography shop up and running so maybe I can drop some hours and not want to DROWN SOMEONE IN MOCHA.

Best moment of the day: Co-worker getting distracted by a conversation and answering the drive-thru with "Hi, welcome to face, how can I help you?" I literally fell to the ground laughing.

Yesterday's best moment of the day involves this same co-worker, AD, who happens to be a shark FANATIC to the nth degree. She and I were talking, Shift D interrupted to ask me something, AD said "Excuse me, we were playing a game."
"What kind of game?"
"A guessing game. She's guessing my favorite color."
I pipe in: "I already know your favorite color. SHARK."
Aaaaand AD was unable to work for five minutes because she was in the corner hyperventilating.

I AM GOING TO MISS THIS STORE SO MUCH.

My Mini-Vacation, Day 4.

What I did today:

[o] Futzed with more photographs
[o] Went to my Bux to hang out with people for a couple of hours
[o] Went to Hobby Lobby and dorked around a bit with AD
[o] Made dinner with Ryan (eggs and bacon, yum!_
[o] Attempted to make chocolate cupcakes....

We had the recipe for chocolate cupcakes, we had the ingredients for chocolate cupcakes, everything was peachy...until I went to add the brown sugar, and found that the container we kept it in wasn't even close to airtight, and the brown sugar had turned into rock candy. We chipped out enough to get the molasses flavor before giving up and substituting the rest with regular sugar, but the time it took changed the nature of the batter. So instead of chocolate cupcakes, we have cupcake-shaped fudge brownies. Not necessarily a bad thing, but not what I was going for. I'm a bit disappointed, as I was more in charge of this baking project than on previous ones, but again--fudge brownies. Not a bad thing.

I realized as I was baking, that I am a lucky fool. I'm a fool in that I had a childhood filled with cooking and baking, with my stepfather David doing his best to instill the love for it in me, and it just...never seemed to stick. I enjoyed the time spent with him in the kitchen, but I never had the inclination to do anything on my own. I've always felt guilty about that.

I'm lucky, first off, that I had someone in my life to plant that first seed, someone to coax and urge and gently push, even when I was a complete teenager about it. I am lucky, now, that I'm finally learning the joys of it, and that I again have someone to gently coax and urge and coach and push. Both of them have been extremely patient with my trepidation and second-guessing, firm about my doing it on my own without constant hand-holding or pampering, and encouraging of my successes without coddling. I have been spoiled with these presences in my life, and I couldn't be grateful or happy for it :)

This is the last day of my mini-vacation. I've spent most of it doing errands and chores; I cleaned up around the house, did dishes and endless loads of laundry, cooked and helped to cook, baked and helped to bake, caught up on correspondence, done the budgeting and planning and busywork to keep our teensy two-person "household" going...and I've enjoyed every second of it. It certainly helped that I still had the time to spend on art and socializing, and that I had my favorite person with me for half of it.

I'm looking forward to going back to work--I miss the people more than anything, but I also miss the barring and customer interaction to some weird degree. I blame the brainwashing. Still, it's been a lovely rest, and I can't wait until I get actual vacation time and can do this on a more regular basis!

This Should Get...Interesting.

Today's plans:

[o] finish breakfast
[o] do the dishes from last night's baking & supper making
[o] maybe watch this video again because it is just so. good.
[o] read more of Thud! so I can move on to the next reading project
[o] if I do finish (unlikely for this morning), the next reading project is Found, which is bound up with a red pen in the coil waiting to be edited
[o] go to work at 1 and wait for the coming train wreck

See, today is the first time that Shift A will have an overlap with Shift B. Shift A has returned after being transferred out, and Shift B arrived after that happened, so they have never worked together before, or even met. Their styles, personalities, senses of humor, and views of work responsibilities are complete opposites, and I already know that the phrase "getting along like a house on fire*" may just be literal in this case. I am both terrified and excited in a slightly morbid way, and at least one co-worker who knows both of them (and, incidentally, had to work as a shift with A before and is also completely different from them) has asked me to text them with updates.

After I get out of work, I get to do laundry and hang out with the roommates and the boyfriend and three other friends, one of which I haven't actually met in person! Should be fun :)

*Why is this phrase supposed to mean "get along well?" I mean, yes, a fire gets along through a house pretty well, but nobody is ever happy about it, are they?

Really? REALLY?!

Today was dumb.

It's Christmas vacation. Shopping is over. The first available day to redeem gift cards or return gifts has passed. Why were we swamped?!

And everyone was just dumb and rude for no reason and petty! AUGH.

One customer--a regular who doesn't seem to like anybody--came through in the middle of a particularly bad rush. She was rung up wrong by accident, then I hit the wrong button when showing the register person how to refund. The regular and her boyfriend screamed at me in outrage. I apologized and refunded them correctly, then returned to the fray.

...they then called another barista, one who has no power over us whatsoever, on her personal phone, to bitch about us. Not to try and get us in trouble, not to actually resolve anything or make sure a higher-up knows we done wrong, but just to complain about an honest mistake that was completely fixed.

...what.

I don't currently have a photo link to share because I don't have a photo yet. I took some this morning of the awesome clock Mom gave me for Christmas, but I'm not even sure how they turned out yet, let alone if I want to put one online. We'll see.

Tomorrow I close. The next day is six hours, followed by a 5 1/2 hour day, followed by both New Years days off. Also, our mixer should be arriving in the mail tomorrow. Glee!

Now, to SLEEP!

I Guess It's A Neutral Day, Then?

This day has been all over the place. Starting out pretty rotten, as I got myself into a walloping guilt trip right before going to sleep last night that continued to hang over my when I woke up, Ryan and I were both just off and out of it, and we both left for work with Money Worry Clouds over our heads.

Work helped a lot. My co-workers are awesome. Tonight was Secret Santa, and I was correct that my pick--L, by the way--would like her present. She was very please :D H picked me, and she gave me a beautiful necklace and earring set AND a shower set that included a wire rack, pumice stone, and cherry blossom-scented gels and such. So pretty! So yummy smelling! K said "Oh good, now you can be a girl!" XD

I'm even starting to build a better relationship with the co-worker that always drives me insane. I actually blew up at him a little bit both yesterday and tonight, yesterday about his behavior towards me, tonight about discrimination and such. Oddly enough, both of these things have us in a better place. I don't hate him. I don't even dislike him. I still think he has a lot to learn and needs to be taken down a peg or two, but he's really a good kid.

Then got home tonight and had mixed mail. Cards from loved ones: yay! Credit card offers: Meh. More mail from the hospital that defies something else they said: RAGE.

Aaand that's where I am. Had a festive night at work, want to punch the hospital in the face, am very hungry and tired.

Whee?

Well, I'm Awake, That's A Start...

Days off have become catch-up days for me. I either catch up on relaxing, sleeping in and never getting dressed and spending the whole day playing WoW or dithering about online, or I make a nice list of errands and chores and do my best to check them all off by the end of the day.

Today is the latter. My list:
[o] put check in the mail
[o] pick up packages from post office (hopefully avoid surly lady who was rude to me last time >.<)
[o] buy printer paper and ink
[o] print off at least one copy of Found and see if I'm up for editing it
[o] balance all the money records, which includes moving the messy pile of receipts and things from the right side of my desk to the folders they belong in
[o] discuss the last few presents with Ryan once he arrives home
[o] call Dad while rest of house is raiding, because it has been TOO DAMNED LONG since we had a successful phone call
[o] attempt to wrap some of the presents we already have...may need Ryan's help for this >.<

Also included in the day will be coffee drinking, fruit and veggie eating, and room organizing. Chatting online with friends may also happen, depending on timing. Catsy and Chris and I ended up chatting online last night, and it was...pretty awesome. Made me miss Pub Night hardcore, but it was worth it to catch up and be silly with my friends :)

So far the winning photo blog suggestion is RuPic, although I'm still torn between a Tumblr just for it, or just a page add-on from RuLaReJo. 4 days until I begin! Can't wait!

Uno Dos Tres: The Sequel.

Today was a DAY.

Crap sleep, not enough food, cranky co-worker spent half the shift giving me the silent treatment, other co-worker instigating minor bullshit because he thinks it's funny, dumb or rude customers, I had a whopping case of The Dumbs...and it was only a six hour shift!

AAAA.

*cough*

Anyway. Talked with Ryan about the story a little bit last night, and I'm very glad I did. He has this habit of asking the right questions, seeing the things I missed, stepping out of the story to point out problems. One suggestion he made was a perfect knock upside the head that put it all in perspective, and makes the story much easier to write now. Yay!

As for the photo project, I'm taking the advice of my stepmother Dorita and starting it on the Winter Solstice, December 21st. My friend Rene also pointed out that it's not the day that's special, it's the person, and that helped me put it in perspective a bit. :) That combined with the e-mail I got today from my mother reporting two people who miss me...I feel very loved! :D

The tumblr I post it on will either be a separate url (whateverthenamewillbe.tumblr.com) or a page off my main one (rularejo.tumblr.com/nameofphotothinghere). I'm currently taking suggestions for which it should be, plus names for it. Ryan offered RuClick, but...I don't know. I like it and don't at the same time. RuSnap doesn't work very well, RuPic maybe...

Tomorrow is the Blessed Day off, then what looks to be a particularly frustrating weekend of work. Le sigh.

Uno, Dos, Tres...

I woke up this morning, and it WASN'T SNOWING. True story.

Topic The First: I'm thinking of starting a photo-a-day thing. I've seen them done before, but a friend here in Indiana talked about starting one recently, and it got the idea actively circulating in my head. I think it'd be a good way for me to keep up with the hobby I love, even as I struggle to find ways to be active with it. It would also be fun, and a new way for those of you playing along at home to see the bits and pieces of my life I don't show here on the blog (either because I forget about them or because they're not "blog worthy").

Here's my problem: I'm neurotic. I get hung up on days to start things. I have this hang-up where I feel I should start Important Things on Important Days. Not just any random day; that would disrespect the Important Thing I'm Starting. On the other hand, days I might choose--say, New Years Day, since that's coming right up--seem too easy, too cliche. So I get stuck in this loop of trying to find The Right Day when it's really Not That Friggin' Important.

Anyway. I'll figure it out soon enough, and I plan on adding a page to my tumblr account just for it. I may try and stick it in the entries over here, too, but we'll see.

Topic The Second: The novel is still untouched, despite being past my No Touchy due date. The problems are three-fold: it's 103 pages, we're low on paper, and we're low on ink. The latter two can be solved by a (painful) trip to the store, but the third makes me wince. My original idea was to print out three copies at the very least: one each for Ryan, BJ, and me. But that means 309 pages! All for the sake of editing! My inner hippie can't take it! Even if I spent the time doing both sides, that's still 155 pieces of paper. Ouch!

I'm tinkering with the idea of having one copy with three ink colors, or two copies with the boys sharing and picking red or blue or whatever, but I'm not fond of the idea. For one thing, it'd take forever for the three of us to get through one copy, or the two of them, especially with schedules. For another, I really want completely fresh perspectives, and seeing someone else's notes could be distracting, or start an argument in the columns, and basically isn't constructive.

Then there's the people who have offered to read it who aren't in handing-off distance, such as my friend Chris or my cousin Sarah. Do I print out more copies for them? Is it fair to send them a 103-page behemoth for them to spend paper and ink on? Oy!

This is the time the ever-talked-about Web 2.0 cloud would be handy, where I just stick it up online somewhere and everyone can pick at it in their own views--I'm sure this exists somewhere. But that requires the lovely editors to stare a computer screen forever, and seeing as one of them is having headaches from old glasses, and another is a nursing mother of two small children, and everyone also has these dang-blasted LIVES and all, it again seems like too much to ask.

Again I say: Oy!

Meanwhile, in a tiny Topic The Third, I'm sketching out the next story idea. It's the one that showed up in the middle of the night the second or third week of November, and I get more excited about it the more I think about it. It's also giving me a minor dilemma: do I let Ryan in the loop, getting all the psychological help I can get (and boy howdy will I need a lot of it), or do I keep him in the dark, so I can have his genuine response to the twist? I'll probably cave and tell him the whole thing, partly to get his help and partly because I HATE not talking to him about...well, anything. Shopping for him is kinda hell.

Speaking of which, I have just enough time to go and finally order his presents before I get ready for work. Have a good day, loyal readers! Any suggestions to any of the problems (day to start new hobbies, ways to share & edit, etc) would be MOST loved and appreciated!

First I Was All D: But Then There Was :) And Now I'm All \^.^/

Hoo boy. This day has...it's been a day.

I got to work to find it stupid busy, with my partner in drive-thru in a very bad mood having a very bad day. It's been dark and rainy and gross all day. Customers were mean and rude and stupid and just...bleh.

Then K brought in cupcakes...store manager brought in tacos...and I got home to not only find a whole pile of love on my Facebook, but a Christmas card from Jenna, and a package from Jess. The package included a mongo glow stick, a "dessert deck" of 50 recipe cards, and a big ol' organizer notebook, complete with large notepad, sticky notes, envelope for holding notes, sticky tabs, and a pen. Also an awesomely silly card with a note that made me laugh and cry.

With the way this week started, it's certainly ending on a good note. :)

Now, for dinner...

Mooooooose.

Not a whole lot happened today. I did laundry. I went to work. It was slow. I did some schedule hopping. Whee.

I have a new nickname at work! I was making myself a drink with eggnog, my second in the day. L saw it and said "Eggnog again? Gross." I thought she said something about "moose," so I turned and said "Did you just call me a moose?!" She and D cracked up, and spent the rest of the night calling me Moose. I even found that my name on the schedules for the rest of the week had been replaced with Moose.

I think I like it. :)

I actually have quite a few nicknames now--the ones just at work are Ruthus, Ruthless, Toofless Ruthless, and Moose. Others I've collected include Ruthiebug, Ruchen, RuthAnn (or is it Ruth-Ann? Ruth Ann?), and Ruthiekins (thanks, Mom). Oh, and Gatita and Torto-Gatita. If there others I've collected and don't mention, please remind me in the comments! I love my collection...*heart*

I spent the morning stressing out and violently regretting taking the Friday shift over at Main & Douglas, so I'm glad I was able to switch around with someone at my own store. I've slept extremely crappily the past three nights, which has put me on all kinds of edge. Main is the busiest store in the district, even at night, and the idea of not just losing my second day off, but spending it closing (I hate closing) at the busiest store? Twitch. I'm still closing, and at a later hour, but it's with some of my faves at my own, slower-paced store. So, yay. I was also able to help W out by switching around with her on Sunday, so she can study for her Monday & Tuesday finals instead of closing. Always enjoy helping out a friend, and W is super. :D

Time for dinner and SLEEEEEEEEP and yeah. Night!

Scheduling Is FUN.

Originally I was scheduled to work 1-9:30 on Thursday, with Wednesday and Friday off. This kinda bugged me, so I asked around, and K was willing to switch her Friday for my Thursday, so I took her 1-9:30 on Friday and had Wednesday and Thursday off.

W called me last night to ask if I'd switch with her so she wouldn't have to close. I accepted, and my schedule was changed from 1-9:30 to 4-12:30.

This morning, I get multiple calls: first, my manager calls to ask if I can cover a shift next week for a worker at another store who was in a car accident.

First off, this is...kind of really sad and scary. The worker in question is a good kid, 16 years old, was t-boned by a truck a couple of nights ago. I've heard both pick-up truck and semi, not sure which one. His organs are fine, he's reacting to pain, but his brain has swelling and they've put him in a coma to avoid the pain from it. He'll probably live, but they don't know the full extent of the brain damage. :(

Also, another worker from the same store who was due to give birth in January went into labor on the same night. Both mama and baby are fine.

So, anyway...manager calls me, I take 5:30-11:30 next Friday, which I originally had off. Not long after that, D calls and asks if I can take her 7-3 shift on Monday and she'll take my 11-7 shift, since she has something going on Sunday night and didn't want to work really early. I grudgingly took it because she's awesome and was desperate.

After I hung up, I told Ryan what was up, and he said "Wait, don't you close Sunday night?" I check, and I was...except E had asked me earlier this week if I could switch her, so I took her 11-7:30. Dodged a bullet there.

My manager called again around 1, asking if I'd be willing to come in at 3:30 instead of 4, because R was leaving then and it would just be two people for the after-school rush (which can get pretty intense).

During my shift tonight, I tried to see if someone else would be able to take the early Monday shift, without screwing D or myself over for hours since everyone's kinda suffering in that department right now. It looks like L could do it, then D texts me to say that her Sunday thing fell through and never mind about Monday.

So, since the beginning of this week, I have had my hours for five different days change eight times. And I worked nine hours today. And, even with the extra 6.5 hours over these two weeks, I'll only be getting a grand total of 1.5 hours of overtime on my next paycheck, my hours are that low.

I...go sleep now.

*Pats Self On Back*

Today--well, tomorrow, really, although it's technically 1 am on December 1st and I'm back-dating this entry--marks the end of National Novel Writing Month.

I didn't win. I didn't even crack 40,000 words.

I am so very proud of myself.

I entered. I committed. I planned. I worked. I wrote.

End result: over 35,000 accumulated words and what I hope will be a good story.

The last time I touched Found was Sunday. I'm not going to touch it or look at it again until the thirteenth. Then I'm going to print out at least two copies--one for myself and one for Ryan--possibly more if BJ or anyone else wants to help me edit--and go at it with a red pen. Right now, I'm too close to the story. I can't read it, I get impatient and start skimming because I know what's going on here and I want to get to the next bit, and before I know it I've skimmed the entire thing.

We'll see what happens once I see it with fresher eyes, and once someone else sees it. Ryan may love me and want me to love him back, but he is still honest when he knows it will help me. BJ is my roommate and one of my dearest friends, but he is always, always honest, and he's a reader and a former English major, so I know that he will give me qualified and unabashed criticism.

I want to offer up copies for other people to read through and edit, but I'm not sure I'm ready for that yet. I want the help, and I want the opinion, but I also want a fresh audience for when it's done (even if "done" means "I would send this off to an agent if I thought it would sell" and not necessarily "sellable").

I also want to offer my up my appreciation and heartfelt thanks to my friends and family who supported me and gave unabashed admiration and encouragement. I had not one single person tell me I shouldn't do it, or that I couldn't do it. This may say a lot about my choice of people, but I think it also says a lot about what wonderful people they are. Thank you. Every one. There will be more thanks to come!

The next two weeks will mostly be reading and, you know, living and working. I may start tapping at the other story that infested my head in the second week, but I'm not sure yet if that's a wise idea. Either way, after those two weeks, I will be diving back in, and I'm not surfacing again for a long time. I'm not done writing.

I may not have won NaNoWriMo this year (this year), but I still think I've proven one thing to myself: I'm a writer.

I'm a writer.

(Not Recommended)

How to write a novel:

1) Get up as early as you can stand it in order to get to your Starbucks early and get some hours of writing in before work.
2) Take a hella long time to shower, prep your bag, dress in normal clothes, and altogether get ready because you're still exhausted.
3) Leave late, guaranteeing yourself not even an hour of time between arrival at your Starbucks and your start time.
4) Arrive at your Starbucks and immediately remember that you left your work shirt at home.
5) Pull out of the parking spot you just pulled in to, drive home, change, drive back, and arrive with only 5 minutes to spare before work.
6) Cry.

Actually, today was pretty much okay. I'm hormonal, exhausted, and frustrated with how my kick-off went last night, but I had great co-workers and a fairly good work flow going. I promise, I didn't actually cry.

Now I'm home, and I'm planning on getting more sleep tonight, and I know I can get to work hours early tomorrow, and I have over a thousand words already, and I'm feeling pretty optimistic. Tired, hungry, and cranky, but still...optimistic.

Tomorrow is another day.