Money! Ja Gut!

I've spent the past month bugging the hell out of my superiors at my new store, asking if they'd seen or heard any sign of where my paycheck from Indiana could be. No one had any answers. Finally called Partner Contact Number, just got off the phone--it'll be in tomorrow's check! Woohoo! So tomorrow I'll have 32.5 hours of Indiana pay and 37.5 hours of Connecticut pay, AND I'll finally find out exactly how much I'm being paid here in Connecticut. Oh, and we can finally pay our first month's rent. Huzzah for money!

My First Day At Work Part III: The Caffeinating.

SO. I had planned allllll day to make a long-ish post, mostly paragraphs, talking about my first day at my new story in Storrs. HOWEVER. Two weeks of not working added to a seven-and-a-half-hour shift added to a very late meal added to a long day added to not having anything to eat since a slice of pizza almost six hours ago added to poor sleep last night equals out to a fairly brief entry.

(Note from author made halfway through this entry: apparently it's not going to be brief after all. Consider this your warning, all you readers somewhat new to my blog. For those not new: it's about average length.)

Here goes!

Things that are different at my new story:
[o] Fresh bananas! They're a pain in the ass to peel without touching the actual banana before blending. They actually make it take a little bit longer. They also apparently make for a lot of waste what with store-until dates and times when they've arrived in a...less than appetizing form. I didn't even know bananas could sweat. Verdict: boo.
[o] Recycling! Milk jugs, cartons (soy, juice, dairy), syrup containers, and newspapers all go in a recycling bin! My inner hippie is ecstatic! Verdict: woo!
[o] Ice bin! There's only one! It's like the long one at Ironwood, more of a trough than a bin, but I'm learning how to deal with it pretty quickly. Verdict: meh.
[o] Ice maker! Back to the plastic scoop and no velcro to keep the lid from smashing my hand! Boo!
[o] Blenders! They're attached to a bar at about hip height. And there's only two pitchers, one regular and one soy. Boo.
[o] Boss Man! He's a lot like my dad, an aging hippie just dripping with snark who likes to bust his workers' balls, mutters about customers under his breath on the floor, and outright calls them assholes and idiots in the back room. WOO!
[o] Co-workers! They're very nice and very friendly and very sarcastic. I like 'em. They also take care of each other on the floor. There was never a moment when it felt like someone was being abandoned while ringing or barring or anything else. Support is a given, scheduled in. And with how busy it was, that was really, really nice to have. Woo!
[o] Bars! THERE'S TWO OF THEM RIGHT NEXT TO EACH OTHER. When it gets really busy, you can pour four shots and steam two pitchers AT THE SAME TIME. I'd make a :D face but it wouldn't be a smile, it'd be a jaw dropped from the sheer wonder of it all! WOO!
[o] The order! It gets dropped off in the middle of the store, leaving us to cart it into the back to be sorted and put away. UGH. Boo.
[o] You know all those containers and tools we baristas use and take for granted every day, things like whips and pitchers and blenders? Yeah...as I mentioned, there were only two frappucinno pitchers, plus only four milk pitchers in use at any given time, and I'm pretty sure the store only has a half a dozen whips. And people, I was going through a whip every 20 minutes during the afternoon rush.
[o] And the one we've all been waiting for, especially me, TIPS. Drum roll please......around TWO BUCKS AN HOUR. Once again: :D WOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Ahem. *composes self*

I got to work about 15 minutes early, just in time to go downstairs with Boss Man and another, much newer worker to get our cars registered with the plaza people (and learn that the trees behind our building are getting torn down for the new expansion, grumble grumble snarl hiss). I clocked in, the shift asked if I was up for barring, I said yes and jumped right in. Apart from figuring out where things are, it was pretty smooth, and it was awesome to get in a groove and do my favorite part of my job. It was really nice.

It was also really busy. Or, I thought it was busy, although still not as bad as I was expecting. I spent most of the day thinking: Yeah. I can do this. This is busy, and it's challenging, but my boss and co-workers are assuring me that I'm not mucking things up, and everyone seems really nice, and it's definitely do-able. Yeah! Then I talked to Mom on the phone hours later and found out that E.O. Smith (for those in Indiana, that's the high school di-rectly across from my store) was closed today for some kind of staff work day. That rush? That had no students.

Fuhhhh.

There was one bump today: I clocked in at 11, I got my first ten around 1ish...didn't get my meal until 4:30. I'm not entirely clear what happened, but I'm fairly certain it was a staff problem...either it wasn't done well ahead of time, or a partner mucked it up somehow. Not clear. Anyway. I clocked out for my meal, and I was all cranky about it, and decided hell with it, I'm getting myself a slice of pizza for lunch. The woman at Domino's informed me that the slice lunch special ended at 2...but she'd give it to me for free for the trouble. Then I went to the convenience store, got myself a juice...the clerk rummaged up a .50 cent off coupon to use on it, then gave me a few more for later use. I used the last 10 minutes or so to poke around the Portal and see if I could locate my last paycheck; Boss Man said he'd give payroll a call to help me find it.

Thanks, Universe! :D

Overall, it was a really great day. After work I went to a twenty-somethings women's group my therapist put together, and it was really great. I got to stop by Willington Pizza Too on the way home and correct a tipping error from a few nights ago, which made me feel a lot better. I got home to find ice cream in the freezer because Ryan wanted to get me something nice. :)

The best part was coming home, being able to take off my shoes and relax, having a space that's ours, that I helped put together and make tidy and welcoming and comfortable. And now I've done my required computer stuff and I've eaten dinner; now I can take a shower and climb into bed with clean jammies and a good book.

Happy sigh.

BusyBusyBusy (with a dose of ARGH)

WELL.

I double-booked last-big-hang-out plans with both Aurelie and the rest of Apt 131 for tomorrow. I had forgotten that the apartment had planned a Lord of the Rings marathon (BJ has never seen, we finally own all three, we love them, etc etc) and told Aurelie we could go to Lake Michigan. Figured out my big mistake at the beginning of the week and began the mad scramble to fix it.

Tuesday, That One said that even better than trading his Thursday for my Saturday, he would just takemy Saturday, since he needed the hours. He just needed to talk to his friend who he'd made kinda-sorta-plans with, but he'd call the store that night to let me know!

...yeah, he never called back. Texting him on Wednesday got no response. Fortunately, Diana agreed to trade, so I still got Saturday off! Yay! All I had to do was work her 7:30 shift today!

...UGH.

[o] I closed last night. Left about quarter to 11 (not the best close, whole different ball of WTH).
[o] My sleep was craptastic. I don't think I got a whole hour the entire night. Just awful.
[o] Got up at 6:30, worked 7:30 to 1:30, was a moron the entire time due to sleep deprivation and unhappy stomach not allowing me much caffeine intake.
[o] Get home, get in the shower, have just enough time to get lunch at 933...and not really do anything else.
[o] On the way to Goshen to meet Aurelie, get a text from That One's girlfriend (who I'm friends with) relaying a message from him: he can totally take my Saturday shift! ...yeah, about that. Gave up on that after zero response. Go ask Diana if she wants the shift that is now hers, thanks for letting me know I worked today for nothing, JERKFACE. (I was nicer than that to his girlfriend, obviously).
[o] Hang out with Aurelie at the Goshen Starbucks, good times, good times...hey, why are these ladies setting up candles? Oh, they're hosting a Party Lites event, okay...some of their friends are here, okay...some more friends...now kids....now we're surrounded by a large crowd of loud and excited women getting way too happy about candles and completely ruining our attempts to study/write. FUN.
[o] Get home, open the door to get hit in the face with the smell of cat urine. Horace went in today to get fixed, Ryan picked him up, he pissed in the box on the way home. While he's cleaned himself off (mostly) (he's also adorably drugged), both he and the carrier still reek, making the living area completely inhospitable. So much for watching TV.

Honestly, the only person I'm annoyed with is That One, for obvious reasons. My co-workers today were nice, it was awesome to spend some more time with Aurelie, and I'm hella looking forward to tomorrow's Lord of the Rings-a-thon.

...but MAN. TODAY. BE DONE NOW.

The next week (and then some):
[o] Friday: Lord of the Rings-a-thon, hanging out/baking/drinking with Aurelie and friends in Goshen in the evening, sleeping over to make Saturday an easier start
[o] Saturday: Lake Michigan! WOO! Plus packing in the evening.
[o] Sunday: Last day at Ireland, off at 5:30, may try for another night out with co-workers, but definitely lots of packing after work.
[o] Monday: All-day-come-over-any-time-mostly-933-people party as we continue packing & cleaning.
[o] Tuesday: Scramble to finish shoving everything into the trailer and call to have it picked up that night so we don't have to wait around for it on Wednesday. Bed will be completely packed, so we're spending the night at the hotel next to 933.
[o] Wednesday: Grab breakfast at 933, say good-bye, start driving. End night in Pennsylvania.
[o] Thursday: Continue driving, arrive in Connecticut.
[o] Friday-Sunday: Say hi to everyone, visit my new store, figure out flooring and possibly new furniture, get as settled as we can without 99% of our stuff.
[o] Monday: Trailer arrives, start unpacking.

Meanwhile, my Etsy store is on vacation since (a) we're moving, (b) the listings expired yesterday, and (c) I haven't decided what to list (or re-list) and plan on polling my fanbase (ha) for ideas.

Finally, on a ridiculously sappy note, today is what only I am calling our pre-anniversary. One year from today is Ryan's and my wedding date. :)

Now, back to trying to unkink the stress from my back...

This Past Week.

Saturday, I was supposed to work 12 to 6. I got a call at 8 that morning asking if I could come in at 10 and work until 6:30 for a full eight-hour shift, so someone could go home early. I did.

Sunday, I was supposed to work 12 to 6. I got a call, as I was driving to work, asking if I could come in at 2 instead. "Two until when?" "Close." Someone had called out. I covered.

Monday was a normal eight-hour shift.

Tuesday, BJ, Sam and I left the house at 7 in the morning, picked up our friend Raequan at 7:30, grabbed some breakfast, and headed to Chicago.

Oh my goodness, Chicago.

We went to the Brookfield Zoo first, and were there for four or five hours. We saw almost everything, and I took a million pictures of almost everything. The three best things, that had HUGE impacts on me, were the three things we paid extra for: the dolphin show, petting (de-barbed) stingrays, and the butterfly house. I was exhausted and in pain by the time we left, but I was also excited the entire time, like little-kid excited, it was AWESOME. The dolphin show almost made me cry from pure kid joy, the stingrays were so adorable and wonderful and calming, the butterfly house was a photographic dream, MAN...it was fantastic.

Next was The Chicago Diner, a vegan/vegetarian restaurant recommended to Rae by a co-worker. I want to make this co-worker cookies for suggesting it, because OH. MY. GOD. Some of the best food I have ever had. The milkshake was to die for. The atmosphere was fun and cozy. The waitress was amazing--she helped explain the menu without being pretentious or condescending, answered our questions about the food and Chicago, and even drew us a map of cool places to go within walking distance. The whole experience was...awesome.

Next was Navy Pier, which was basically just shops and restaurants that we enjoyed toodling around in. After that was Mitsuwa Marketplace, a Japanese store BJ and Sam are fond of visiting, and Woodfield Mall.

We didn't get home until past one in the morning, although that was mostly the fault of the GPS on my phone, which is, in a word, moronic. Honestly, the best parts of the trip were outside the car, because being in the car meant following directions from a phone who didn't understand the real world we were currently driving in.

But yeah. That was Tuesday, in Chicago.

Wednesday was Aurelie's birthday. The original plan had been to go to Lake Michigan, chill for most of the day, then go back to Goshen for dinner and drinking. I met up with Aurelie and Allie at Quincy's, gave her her presents, had breakfast, hung out for a bit. She changed her mind about the lake--as was her birthday girl prerogative--and decided on a movie instead.

I was fading quickly at this point, having only gotten about five hours of sleep after 14 hours in Chicago after five hours of sleep, and realized that it was either go to the movies and hang out, or go to dinner and the bar later. I chose the latter, Aurelie said it was fine, and I went home and crashed for a few hours. Sadly, crashing didn't mean sleep so much as not-moving-or-thinking, so it was only half as restful as hoped, but still.

I picked Aurelie up and took her to Buffalo Wild Wings, where a bunch of people came out for her birthday dinner. After that was The Constant Spring, which was full of a different birthday party, all of which were drunk and doing karaoke. Beatles's karaoke. While drunk. I was displeased.

Still, it was good people, good time, Aurelie had a blast. Mission accomplished. :)

Still didn't get a whole lot of sleep that night, either.

Yesterday, Thursday, was an eight-hour pre-closing shift. I started out fairly upbeat and able, went downhill to exhausted and hungry, ate, and became just plain exhausted. I was basically pathetic and whiny from four o'clock on to the end of the night.

Today, I don't go in until 4:30, and I close. I got a text from the Morning Shift asking if I could come in at 2. I might fall have if I didn't have a To Do list that literally can't be done the rest of the weekend.

And then it's four more days of my six-day work week after that. Then three days off. Whee!

There, now we're all caught up. Now if I could just get a couple of hours of time where I'm awake and don't have shit to do so I can call all my parents and not be a terrible daughter...

I Can Haz Transfer!

SO! It's Tuesday. Three days from my last post. I'm getting so bad at this.

The past few days have been mostly good, except when Certain Person is working, of course. They've been good out of work, with True Blood night on Sunday and Design Star last night and hanging out with friends and writing and yay.

Today was looking to be nerve-wracking, and so far, it hasn't. Yesterday, Boss Lady told me that Possible New Boss Man in Storrs wanted to talk to me personally before the transfer actually happened. Apparently they have a problem with people thinking they want to work there, then transferring out, so he wanted to get a better feel for me. I called him this morning, and it went really well. He asked some basic interview questions (worst customer experience and how I fixed it, strengths and weaknesses, etc), he told me a little bit about the store, etc etc. He seemed like a very nice, normal guy, if a bit rambly.

As Ryan put it, though, I tend to do well with rambly people. I wonder why.

Next up I get to call Taco Bell! Last Thursday a charge went through for $11.95 that we didn't actually spend! The bank said to talk to the location, the location said they're not a franchise and it's not possible for them to have done it and the bank or I have to talk to Taco Bell itself. I just know the bank is going to tell me to do it, so that's next on the agenda. Yay.

Hopefully there will still be time for writing before work at 3:30! WHEE!

Whyyyyyy

Bluh.

My days off were good. Busier than expected, but good.

Today was an early day. I was originally scheduled to close, 4:30 to 10:30, but I saw that a co-worker of mine had a 7-1 shift. He usually has late shifts and would be miserable, and I thought about how cool it'd be to get out so early, so I switched with him.

...WHY?!?!?!

I got maybe an hour of real sleep last night, the rest of the night was tossing and turning and not-recharge-sleeping. Getting up was painful.

Got to work, and it was fine...until it got busy. And then it got busier. And busier.

Then the power went out.

It was only for a few seconds, but it meant that everything shut off and had to restart. And the customers either didn't know or didn't care that we had a delay, what with not being able to expedite or ring up any orders.

Whee!

It was only six hours, and the insanity made it go by quickly, and now I'm out and have the whole rest of the day to write...as long as I can stay awake.

My options now:
[o] take a nap, take a shower, go write
[o] take a shower, go write
[o] take a nap, go write, shower before bed
[o] go write, shower before bed

I usually avoid napping, I always wake up feeling cranky and groggy and just...off. But seeing as I got barely one full hour of sleep last night...I might be able to make an exception.

And my bed looks pretty comfy...

Come On Already!

Oh hey it's Wednesday I wonder when I last blogged...WHUPS.

It's been a hard three days, but not in the way you'd think.

Sunday and Monday, halfway through my shifts, something would start hurting. On Sunday it was my shoulder--I'd get spasms of pain either in the joint, down my arm, or, once, up my neck. It also just...hurt, like a bad ache, all down that arm and the back of my shoulder. Started when I lifted something with my right hand, but then the ache was just constant and the spasms were random. I ended up using my left arm most of the night, keeping my right one close to my abdomen to try and avoid using it.

Monday, it was my right side again, but this time it started in my neck. I didn't get the stabs of pain, but my neck and shoulder and back just ached really badly and felt stiff. Occasionally it would really hurt, feeling like someone was pressing down on one spot on my neck.

Both mornings I woke feeling fine, so I don't think I slept on anything wrong, and then yesterday it was fine, so...I dunno. But yeah, two very long and exhausting days.

Tuesday, I wasn't scheduled until 3:30. I slept in a little, and headed to my store to write. I arrived around noon, and settled on in at the end of the bar. I was going to relax and get started on Bronte's chapter and really enjoy myself.

Around 12:30, I notice some trouble going on behind the bar. Turns out That One hasn't shown up for his shift, and isn't answering the phone. I get a text from my store manager (who didn't realize I was in the store) asking if I could come on at 1. ...Yeah, I can, but argh. No writing for me.

I go on at 1, a little while after That One calls. Oh, he overslept, so sorry. Can he just switch with me, take 3:30-9:30, and I can finish out his shift? Yeah, no problem! I'll be out at 6, I can head to 933 and write! Woo! ...Except around 3, we get another call from him. Oh, now he's sick and can't make it. I'm staying until 9:30. >.<

Yeah, normal shift for me, but still really annoying. For one thing, That One was the only one actually angry when I called in sick a few weeks ago, and that was two hours ahead (per the rules) instead of 30 minutes. For another, I had breakfast at 11, planned on eating before 3:30, but because of him didn't get my meal until 5. HUNGRY.

Right. Anyway. Work at one. Time for breakfast.

Work Work Work.

Monday was pretty decent, I got out of work at 6:30 and spent the evening at 933, writin' away.

Yesterday, Tuesday, Ryan and I spent the time before I went in to work cleaning up the apartment. Then work was pretty good, I got out early and spent the evening reading and hangin' around.

Today I work with my four favorite people, and it's my Friday! Woo!

Off I go to dress and prepare!

Must Turn Positive, Must Turn Positive...

Sooo I just called out of work. I've slept pretty shittily the past few days, and today it finally caught up. Despite it being a six-hour closing shift, the idea of keeping up with all the prep and dealing with the urns and rushing around...doing all that with mild nausea, dizziness, and feeling generally unsteady scares me just a bit. I'm glad it was Awesome Shift tonight...he'll pull it together, and he didn't give me any guilt for it. I shall bake him cookies.

Otherwise, I'm pretty okay. I guess. At the moment I'm focused on being comfortable and not moving a whole lot, which will soon lead to me settling back into bed with a book, so trying to find an emotional barometer reading...not so much.

But yeah. That's me today: forced rest so I can work my eight hour shift tomorrow, with some relaxing thrown in for good measure. I think it may be good for me on a few different levels. Let's hope, anyway.

Razz'm Frazz'm.

Ugh. Today was about people being obnoxious.

We have a new Via out this week that we are supposed to sell as much as possible. I'm covering drive-thru while someone's on break. They order iced coffees with caramel, and the new via is Iced Caramel Via--seems like an easy sell, right?

Me: Hi there! Have you heard about our new promotion we have right now? *sell sell sell* AND today is the last day that we're giving away a free tall beverage if you buy a package, so your son's tall apple juice could be free!
Customer: Make one of my grande drinks free and it's a deal.
Me: ...Unnnfortunately, I'm not allowed to do that.
Customer's Wife: Wait, would this help you out, like, do you need to sell a certain amount?
Me: Yeah, actually, we're hoping to sell five more by the end of the night. *hopeful!*
Customer's Wife: Hmm...could we trade this for it? *holds up OPENED box of regular (not iced) Caramel Via*
Me: ...I'm sorry, I can't do that.
Customer's Wife: Okay. Never mind then.

ARGH. I'm sorry the FREE DRINK we're offering isn't good enough for you, and I'm sorry I'm not allowed to take an OPENED PACKAGE OF A DIFFERENT PRODUCT in exchange for something I just told you we have to SELL.

I'd say I want to know who ever told these people that they were better than anyone else...but oh wait. It's Starbucks. We probably did.

Also I had the giant metal ice scoop fall from the top of the ice machine onto my thumb. OW.

If you'll excuse me, it's time for dinner and True Blood and Torchwood...

Whee? I Guess?

Today I did laundry, baked cookies, worked an incredibly slow six hour shift, then went out and drank a bit with some co-workers to see off Zach (That Shift). It was more or less a good day...

...although what does it say that I enjoyed being told my cookies were great more than I did the socializing?

It's not that it was bad...just not what I was expecting, mostly because not everyone showed and it didn't last long and yeah. Probably mostly because I was tired.

Speaking of which, off to bed for me.

PS - Thank you again to those sending me love and support. You guys are all so awesome and wonderful....thank you <3

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...

Zzz?

I am so tired.

So. So. Tired.

Dinner is warming in the oven, then the household gathers for tonight's True Blood. Then I sleep for a million years.

Or until 9:30 AM so I can get to work by 11.

Amusing: My schedule for this past week originally had me at 32 hours. What with switching and subbing and staying for other people, I ended up at 38. Six of those were holiday pay. Ka-ching.

Now for the eating and the watching and the sleeping...oh the sleeping...

Woe Is Me, Day Off Decisions!

Sorry I didn't update yesterday. I spent most of the day driving Aurelie to Chicago to drop her off at the airport, got only a little lost (which is good for me!), and then drove home. That was my day.

This morning I was rudely awakened at 7 in the morning by a phone call from my store asking if I could come in for a few hours to cover someone. It was only until 12:30, so I figured what the hell. All I've done since getting home is get out of my work pants, and I'm still undecided as to what to do next.

I could...
[o] brave the mildly miserable heat and run around town taking pictures (meh, the sun is giving off not only heat but harsh light which is hard to edit for)
[o] go to a coffee shop and bang at writing things
[[o]] 933?
[[o]] Ireland?
[[o]] Quincy's?
[o] stay home and bang at things or bang at pictures or other computer stuff
[o] go someplace or stay home and read (less likely since I still have to make this book last four more days)
[o] stay home and bake
[o] wander around Barnes & Noble with what's left of my birthday gift card

Going out will almost definitely include erranding (gas, trip to bank, trip to P.O.), but beyond that I'm at a loss of where to go and what to do. Le sigh.

Coulda Been Worse!

Today felt long. I got up at 10 and had an eight hour shift and it wasn't very busy and I was tiiirrreeedaaa.

But there were three of us closing and I have three days off in a row starting off with a day with Ryan going out shopping to get me new shoes and pants and sheeit. :D

Then a day of driving Aurelie to the airport in Chicago :D

Then a day of running around being a photo nerd and baking and catching up on stuff :D

For now: soup and getting the hell out of my work clothes.

...Really?!

Happy Independence Day! I celebrated by working. :D

Actually, my "celebration" was to be several cookies brought into work, a combination of chocolate and butterscotch chip, and M&M. I made a triple batch of cookie dough last night (the other third to be used for Rolo cookies for Ryan)...and it all went to hell. Every batch I tried melted into puddles that made me thankful I bought a baking sheet with a lip.

I thought: maybe the dough got too warm in the little kitchen with the oven going and the dishwasher going and I've been working at it forever, I'll pop it in the fridge overnight and get up early to bake them. Do so, go to bed, get up early, let it sit out for a while, first batch: MELT. >.< Google google google...this can happen with too little flour or too much sugar.

FUNNY STORY.

Ryan and BJ were hanging around the living room as I was putting the dough together, and BJ came in to get something from the fridge as I was counting in quarter cups of sugar. Chat chat chat, shovel shovel shovel, chat chat chat, shovel shovel....how many was that? ...CRAP.

Anyway, it took another too many batches, but I finally mixed in enough flour so the cookies actually fucking formed. Out of a triple batch of dough, I got...14 cookies.

>.<

Fortunately, they were good ones, with chocolate chips and M&Ms, and 14 was enough for me to eat a test one, share three each to my three awesome co-workers and myself, and save the last one for the co-worker who promised to visit and drop off some tiramisu.

Also during this morning's cookie adventure, I did four loads of laundry and a load of dishes, and somehow managed a hot shower despite being the last of four people to take a shower within a two hour span.

This is how I ended my day: I came home, took off my left shoe, attempted to take off my right shoe, and had to yank before it came off...and left a wad of insole stuck to my sock. Took out both insoles and found identical holes/major wearing patterns in both under my heels and big toes. Incidentally, my right heel has been hurting quite a bit lately. :D

It should be noted that these shoes have lasted me just over a year of intense use, and this is the first and only time I've had issues. New Balance is The Shit.

OH, then I went to change out of my work pants and tore a hole in the crotch. Not on a seam. Not fixable. Not possible to hide or ignore. It's my last pair of work pants (beside dress pants which I'll have to wear tomorrow and kinda hate). In the space of 15 minutes, I racked up almost $200 worth of work stuff I have to buy veryvery soon.

BEST DAY EVER.

Nature ALWAYS Wins.

Today started out pretty meh, but work made up for it in spades. Tomorrow looks to be a good day, Monday looks to be ker-awesome, Tuesday will most likely be normal, then I have three days off in a row...:D

I made cookies last night. First batch burned (but Ryan still loves them), second batch was just right, and the third batch had butterscotch chips mixed in, and they are redonkulous. Umnumnum.

It was extremely hot and humid all day, then rained a bit in the evening. Around 9 the sky turned this creepy yellow-green, but that cleared up, and it hasn't rained again yet despite the heavy, foreboding clouds all over the place.

I drove home watching the fireworks in some parts of the sky, and lightning in other parts. Nature wins, of course.

Off to soup and time with the man. Tomorrow is an earlier day, so bed before midnight...hopefully.

The Blogger Hath Returned!

I'm back! And alive. And less weird. Well....no, scratch that last part.

I'm currently in my home store (933 will ALWAYS BE MY HOME STORE), just settling in for a few hours of heavy duty thinking. I have a lot of it to do: stories, marketing, moving, wedding, LIFE. I'm armed with a notebook, a journal, the laptop, my printed copy of Found, and a tumbler filled with a Grande Vanilla Chai Half The Chai No Water No Foam Scoop of Protein.

I WORK AT STARBUCKS.

(No, really, the scoop of protein makes it creamy and a little eggnog-tasting-ish. It's delicous.)

Plus two of my faaaaaavorite people are working, so yay for that :D

Work is the same, except for when it's not. We have three new people--not one, not two, but THREE--and they're all reading or training or barring or ringing at different times, sometimes all at the same time on the same day. Oh, and there's two new shifts going through their training, and one not-as-new-but-still-new-ish shift being trained on closing instead of opening...and yesterday had ALL OF THEM DOING IT AT ONCE. Six people training in different things at more or less the same time...oy.

There's not a whole lot else going on...most of the excitement in my life is centered around either other people, with life throwing them opportunities and challenges, or A Song of Ice and Fire, which has swallowed me whole and will get stuck in my head for hours just as well as any song.

Now, off to the LISTS and STUFF, but I'll leave you with some scribblings I just found in my notebook, something that will make a certain parent pretty happy...


If I

Maybe if I broke the inky silence
with a dull light
of humanity
night wouldn't feel so closed

Maybe if I lived
instead of existing
plodding through
someone would hear the footsteps

Maybe i I prayed
in the moment
and not years later
I would see through the distance

Maybe if I loved
that spark of humanity
with a little more of myself,
not yours,
it would light

Maybe
if I stopped
it would finally happen


Prayer Stones

Burning embers
embedded in the ceiling
pressed by my hand
scarring my faith into my fingers

so every meal
every ritual
every turn
bears your weight

embossed in my palm
your proof, your belonging
your words in my tongue

collecting together
like marbles,
leaves,
raindrops,
burning stones
embedded in the ceiling


800 Miles

The tunnel of nighttime
carved out by my headlights
stretches for miles
hours
days

you are farther away
than 800 miles

you are a heartbreak away
a broken promise away
a drastic decision

I carry the weight
of that distance
slumping my shoulders

every step
is one million too short

every day
is not enough
closer

I wish you were closer

the tunnel
of my headlights
the days ahead to you
just stretches on
and on
and on

Things Are Looking Up!...Mostly!

My apologies for lack of updates. This week has just been workworkwork, hustling to get through to my days off...which start TODAY! Ahhhh blisssss...

...of course, this day off started with waking up at 7, when Ryan did, and not being able to get back asleep for almost an hour. After a short night of really crappy sleep. Fortunately I managed to get a good snooze from 8 to 9:30, and now I'm up!

I'm loading up my thumb drive with some pictures, and heading out to FedEx to get a big ol' print done for my friends Rachel and Alex. They got married the weekend before the Connecticut trip, and our present to them is poster of one of my prints (this one, to be exact), which they picked out. :D Have to get it to them today before they pack up and move on Saturday! Shortly before the wedding, Alex got a really good job, and they've spent the past three weeks preparing to move from his parent's house to their own place in Michigan. I'm so excited for them!!

The rest of the day depends on how much energy I have after visiting to drop it off and say goodbye. As I said, crap sleep, up early, blah blah blah.

I've been mildly slacking on some aspects of what I lovingly refer to as the Ruthenium Empire. I'll admit that this slacking is due to a few personal failings; namely, that I'm exhausted, that I've been in a PMS-induced Crank Mood for the past three days, and that I'm getting all self-pitying over the lack of response. I'm trying to figure out how to get more interest going...I started the 30 Day Challenge, and I got a surprisingly fast and thorough response when I put it to a vote over what to do with the gap in posts...but I'm still having a hard time keeping up with it. I've thought about starting a blog that's solely writing about my photography--talking about where I went, the conditions, learning experiences, etc--but I'm not sure I'd get an audience. I suppose I could attempt it on a mini scale on Twitter, but I'm not sure that's the right platform for it.

In short, I'm lost, I'm wallowing in a bit of self-pity, and I'm not in the best mindset. And I'm probably over-thinking all of it.

I just have so many dreams...;)

Anyway, off I go to print and visit and whee!

Check Your Apron!

Interesting tidbit of the day: A couple of weeks ago, I received a letter from our insurance. I had NOT A BILL all over it, but also told me that I owed Memorial Medical Center $xx.xx for my clinic visit back in January. The clinic visit I already paid for...in March. The amount on the statement didn't even match the amount I had owed and paid.

I went over to my banking website, took screenshots of the deposited check I sent to Memorial, and sat back to wait for the actual bill to come in.

Today I got mail from Memorial.

It was a check. For $13.44. The exact difference between the March check and June statement.

.....hooookay. I'll be giving them a call come Monday!

Today at work wasn't too bad (That One didn't work). The biggest problems were the boredom at the end of my shift, and the new person. The new person is fine, she's learning at a good rate and can already help out on cold bar. Really, the only issues are (a) I'm a bad teacher and not very helpful for new people, and (b) she keeps calling frappucinnos frappes.

In case I haven't mentioned before in this blog, WE HATE THAT. McDonald's has frappes, we have frappucinnos. Bad enough that customers get them mixed up, if a partner starts mixing up the terms, it's going to confuse the customers and have the rest of us writhing on the floor in agony.

...Seriously. Go order a frappe and try to watch everyone within earshot. I guarantee that at least one eyelid is going to twitch.

There's not much else going on right now. I'm extremely tired and in need of food. Until tomorrow...