Yippee

My ISE pal received her package. I finally added her blog as a link. I didn't add her sooner because I did not want to give away the secret part of the exchange. I am sure me not emailing her has been excruciating, but from her response, it was worth the wait. Mog's Blog has pics of the finished product.


Work has been pretty uninteresting of late. I have been two weeks with no clients or stylists to deal with and even though the work has been more physical than I care for, it has been a pleasant calm. Transfer stylists started yesterday and Sunday marks the soft opening. The Grand Opening of Memorial City JC Penney is Friday 2/10. Doot do doooooo...

The down side to the move is that knitting will not be allowed on a regular basis. The desk is just configured in a prohibitive way. I have never been one to take my alloted breaks, but I might begin to and just sit in the back and knit for the time allowed. It really does go a long way toward keeping me calm when I can knnit freely. I might test it to see if two 15 minute knit breaks make any difference.


Speaking of work...

Tagged

Tagged!

I got tagged by Kadiddly for this MEME! It's her fault! =)

Four jobs you have had in your life
1. Hair Artist
2. Administrative Manager
3. Ski Instructor
4. Biscuit Maker at McD's

Four movies you could watch over and over
1. Star Wars original trilogy
2. High Art
3. Witches of Eastwick
4. Shipping News

Four places you have lived
1. Houston, TX
2. Norfolk, VA
3. Lake Placid, NY
4. Matawan, NJ

Four TV shows you love to watch
1. Alias
2. La Femme Nikita
3. The Pretender
4. Nash Bridges

Four places you have been on vacation
1. Mendocino, CA
2. Zurich, Switzerland with an overnight to Paris, France
3. Las Vegas, NV
4. New York City, NY

Four websites you visit daily
1. Knitters Review Forums
2. Annie Modesitt
3. Rodney Yee
4. my blog so I can get to the links for everyone else's that I read

Four places you'd rather be right now
1. Atlanta with DSE
2. Skiing
3. Yarns 2 Ewe
4. Vacation

Four bloggers you are tagging
trying to find blogs I check regularly and who haven't been tagged already!
1. Elizabeth
2. Crystal
3. Chapin
4. Weese

irritated

Not my mood, but my eye. I am not sure if it is just allergy and eye strain or if I am getting a sty. Stye? Stigh? Hahahahahahahaha...however it is spelled, do they go away on their own? I haven't had one in so long I just don't remember.

T-I-R-E-D

Maybe I am just too old for this opening a new store bullshit. Maybe I have had the princess treatment at work for too long. I haven't worked this hard at work in about 8 or 9 years. I guess it has been relatively easy going, regardless the job, since I moved to TX.

Tired.

I know part of it is that I have been on my feet pretty much all day each day I have been at the new store. Currently, there is not stool or chair at the receptioist area. This is by design, so there might not ever be one. Tired, I say.

Open house

Today is the day for the salon open house. We are currently, pre-opening, staffed with 25 confirmed stylists. We have 22 stations. yet the powers that be still insist we need to host an open house.

This also means that TPTB will be in the salon today. Ugh. I can hear it already, TPTB asking exactly who placed all the retail product? Specific instruction was left that the retail not be touched until TPTB arrive today with planograms. The site manager for new store setup has veto power ovet TPTB, of course, so 4 young stock girls who know nothing of salon setup placed product. It certainly looks better than boxes strewn about.

Time to go meet and greet.

Yippee.

It's all good.

Omigod...

I left work at 12 and am home, the dogs have been out and have eaten o are eating, I am sitting eating myself and checking mail and it is only 12:15...

And now the real work begins

What a chore work was on Saturday. I worked only 8-1, but Saturday mornings are just chaotic. I actually left close to 130 as the district mgr was coming in to get her hair done and Drayson had to help set up her special room. He came a little early, I stayed a little late. Now I do not have to deal with stylists and clients again for a few weeks. This is where the real work comes in. I t might be a little more physical than what I have become used to. Oh well. It is certainly better than being stuck at the old place. Woohoo.

I go to the Memorial Citry store 9 am tomorrow morning. I will likely get there earlier and I need to get my temp schedule from Sharon tomorrow. If I remember correctly, she said she is off Wednesday and Friday this week which means I will be off those days. I really only care because I want to get to my 35 week average asap so my insurance can switch over. My current insurance is with unicare and it sucks. Still better than no insurance, I suppose, but sucky just the same.

I did an update or two over at the jknit blog, but I am not so sure about keeping up with two blogs. Maybe, maybe not. Time will tell.

I noticed recently that my reading has been cut way down by my knitting. Both are a therapy of sorts and I am not sure how to remedy this. My writing seems very connected to my reading so my writing has also suffered. I am not sure if it is just a matter of discipline or if I should monitor and schedule these activities. That is not too likely to happen, but it's a thought. If everything happens as it is supposed to, and I do support this idea, then I can go with the flow and let my current sparked interest decide what is to be done to occupy my time.

Where are those knitting needles?

Last night closing

And doesn't it just figure that the clients I need to collect from were all just bitchy, bitchy, bitchy...

There have been some re-enforcing of policies which have been in place oh, forever...This is top be expected when there is a management change. The old manager had finely honed what was enforceable and essential, she certainly picked her battles, but her years of experience were in play and that was that.

The new manager, if heBut there are broad common-knowledge-take-it-for-granted sorts of things he has no clue about. This has made some of the staff bitchy, bitchy, bitchy...

Did he tell the new people he hired anything about dress code? No jeans? Umm, no.

Did he tell any of his receptionists that one of the new girls needed off this week a couple of days? Umm, no. Did we book her ass on these days? Umm, yeah. Tomorrow might or might not be one of the days she needed off. She is booked. Am I dealing with the pissed off customers (two rescheduled from her previous no-show days). Fuck no, it's my last day. 5 more hours. And I am not dealing with bitchy, bitchy, bitchy tomorrow. "One moment, let me get you the manager..."

So I have had to mediate for the new guy with a few of his good stylists. I am also encouraging them to come to the open house at the new salon to see what they are missing. Not really dirty pool but preventive maintenance for the company so a stylist producing revenue doesn't walk because the new manager is like coarse sand paper.

So I leave work precisely on time tonight, even having to deal with the bitchy, bitchy, bitchy. I am no slouch and I started my preclose early enough. Then I am driving home and the highway notice board says Beltway 8 North closed 1/13 @8 pm. I got off work at 9. Fuckers.

The trouble with these wonderfully informative signs is that they give you something less than enough information. Is the interchange closed? Is the entire Beltway 8 North closed? Do I know that area well enough to navigate at night? Umm. No.

So my good sense told me to take Gessner. Not a problem as I live off Gessner. But waaaaaaaaay, waaaaaaaaaay, down 35 mph Gessner. My commute home was about double, but I saved the $1.25 toll. I should go splurge on something tomorrow.

Saturday morning, 8-1. 5. More. Hours.

I have a date!

Saturday the 14th will be my last day in Sugarland JCP and Monday the 16th I start at the new store. WOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO...

I suppose I could nowcalculate the hours I will have to work with that SAMF, but I knowit is soon enough that I will be gone. Also, I gave him a little queenmaxine yesterday so I think we have an understanding.

I have some new pics to get up on the yarn blog, and I have new yarn to work with. I might even bring some to work today.

I reserved space at a yoga/writing retreat in April which is at Margaret Austin Center. Shame on me for not posting a link, but it is too early and you can google it if you are interested. It is with Charles MacInerney, a yoga teacher fromAustin who I have had a class with and I like a lot. MAC is only about an hour from here. If I like him for the weekend, I might save for one of his 8 day retreats in Yelapa or Guatemala.

We also made reservations for the October trip to Santa Fe/Taos for the sheep and wool fest there. Unhuh...And E found out it is also the weeks of the balloon fest in Albequerque, so I know it will be a double delight. Of course it is a double delight any time we travel, so another countdown begins.

Oopsie, timeto go...

New day, new year...

I went to Costco for some groceries and I was really good to only get one impulse item. Even better, it is a s'prise for E...Woohoo...as with most s'prises for E, it is really something for us and something in the last week she has said 'I wish we had...' at least two times, maybe three. Score.

As to resolutions, for me it is coming down to resolving to eat only if I am hungry. It is a matter of retraining my hands and distracting my brain, I think. I already have a pretty good handle on emotional eating and can say with confidence I don't do it often. I am however, guilty of boredom eating.

So the over-riding goal in this new year will be to eat only when hungry. Maybe if I wait to make cookies until I am hungry, licking the bowl will not be sabotaging myself. Or not. I can't say not baking cookies because I just enjoy it too much. Last year when baking, I began immediately moving the goods to the freezer and in portions. That helped tremendously. My cookies are loaded with stuff and extremely rich. This makes them easy for me to eat just one. Having them readily available when I want one really reduces my desire to buy a box and overindulge. That takes care of crunchy sweet.

Crunchy salty is taken care of by these chips i like that come in a big bag at costco. I bought a large glass clamp jar which extends the freshness tremendously so a bag last a couple of weeks. I also got some single serve 100 calorie bags of popcorn. Kettle corn even.

And then there is fruit. I am going to try to get fruit if the boredom eating kicks in. Or yogurt. I got some yoplait thick and creamy and I amliking it.

We shall see. I think I will stay away from the scale for a couple of weeks.


And let us not forget, I need to get my ass back on the yoga mat.