To quote Ice Cube...

Today was a Good Day!

After almost being ready to throw the computer against the wall last night, I finally gave up. We went to the old apartment and worked on finishing the cleaning. We were there literally all night. We brought a load of stuff back here and then I passed out for about 3 or 4 hours, only to get up and have to go back and clean some more! I hate cleaning!

The good news is that we are DONE! We officially no longer live there, we turned in our keys, the walls are painted, the rooms are clean, the carpets are shampooed. Everything we own is now in this dwelling! We celebrated by going to Arizona Mills for dinner. We shared some Chinese food and then I bought a cute skirt and two tank tops at Old Navy. Brad got a shirt for work.

When we got home, guess what I did? I SLEPT SOME MORE!!! My sleep schedule is so screwed at this point, I don't know how I am going to get back on track.

So now I am up, and I started playing with my blog template again. Maybe it was all the rest I've gotten, but I got that header figured out in about half an hour! I am so proud of myself! I also changed my template to one I liked better, and I am wondering if that made it easier for me to figure out.

I added a counter yesterday. I don't know why, but it excites me when I see that people are reading what I have to say. Especially if it is someone I don't know! Girlfriend, email me, I'll tell you everything I know, LOL, which admittedly is NOT much. Maybe you can get it too!

All in all, not a bad day, if I ignore the aching in my arms and legs and back and head... oy.

Frustration

AAARRRGGGHHHHH!!!

I have spent the last 3 hours (and I am not even exaggerating) trying to figure out how to get rid of the generic banner on the top of my blog and replace it with a photo/graphic of my own choosing. I am so frustrated! I've done searches on Google, and on Blogger.com, and I can't find ANYTHING! I even resorted to saving another blog as text on my computer so I could read the html code. I literally cut and pasted their html into my template word for word, and still, I got nothing! GRRR.

This is what I want... until I come up with something better:

(edited May 31, 10:33 pm - photo WAS here...but it was too big!)

This will not beat me... I WILL GET IT. Even if I have to ask the peas for help!!!

God, I am turning into SUCH a freaking computer geek it's not even funny.

All Nighter

It's six thirty in the morning. This is the first time I have seen six thirty a.m. in I don't know how long. Why am I up this early, you may ask? (Heck maybe you didn't ask, but I am gonna pretend you did, okay?) Because I have been up ALL NIGHT!!! I slept all day yesterday, seriously. I got up at two, ate a bowl of cereal, then went back to bed at three. I slept until eight thirty! What the hell is up with me?

But, I did have an extremely productive night, I have to say. I got almost everything in my scrapbook room unpacked and put away. I also started in on my closet, getting clothes hung back up on hangers and purses up on the shleves. It's looking really good in there! I also have done five loads of laundry, woo hoo! It's FUN doing laundry when you can do it in your underwear and you don't have to hike up and down stairs.

Today we have to go to the old place and move some more stuff. Honestly, I don't feel like it. Then again, I haven't felt like it all week. It will be nice when it is all done and over with. We really need to go anyway. I have the last roll of toilet paper in my bathroom and we are almost out of paper towels too, all that is still at the old apartment. How dumb are we?

We took the children to the park this morning on their walk. Later I will unpack some more and throw out boxes. I also want to hang a few pictures on the walls. I am really loving it here. :)

Saraland

We are getting settled in to the new place and I just love it! I must confess, I am especially smitten with my scraproom. It's big, it's spacious, it has a lot of storage, plus plenty of room for all of my fun non-scrapbook related stuff too. I've painted two of the walls the same springy, peaceful green as in the last apartment, and it goes great with all the black, white and chrome accents, not to mention the touches of hot pink in the bathroom.

I mean, how cool is that to have my very own bathroom! I have a sink right in the room where I can wash brushes and foam stams, a whole storage closet for miscellaneous stuff I rarely use like art pads and those stacks and stacks of bad wedding photos. I don't have to worry about walking into someone else's bad smell ( I am NOT naming names here, hee hee!), and it's just going to be so PRETTY to boot!

I love that my room will be organized from the very start, not just piecemeal here and there like in the last place. Also, I don't have that stupid brick wall wasting my space to deal with anymore. My walls are painted, my shelves are hung, the tables are where they need to be and the computer is set up! Now all there is left to do is to finish unpacking. Did I mention that my clothes closet is in this room too? This is seriously Saraland in here, poor husband! It's really not THAT girly though, I swear. He'll live, testosterone intact, after walking in here.

I still have to hang all my pictures and "accesories", as they call them on HGTV. Oh, and I want to get one more stamp shelf from IKEA too, as the one I have now is not big enough for all of my stamps. Originally I wanted three so I would have room to grow, but now that the one I already have is up, I can see that the wall simply isn't big enough. Oh well.

I also need to decide where my Christmas tree is going to live. Yes, I have a Christmas tree in my scrapbooking room. It's two feet tall, hot pink aluminum and ALL fabulous! It's simply genious, and I got it for only $10 at Urban Outfitters after Christmas. What a steal for something I love. I keep thinking I want to make it ornaments, but I am not sure what kind yet.

Tomorrow will be busy with more moving, cleaning, and painting in the old place, but tonight, it's all about Saraland!

Moving

Yay for moving!

Fresh start, fresh paint, fresh carpeting, new possibilities for decorating, new possibilities for furniture arranging, ah, I love it!!!

But...

We are moving TOMORROW morning!!! Just over 24 hours from now and most of our apartment still looks like we are here for the long haul. How does this happen? I started out with the best intentions, and they totally with awry.

Last night found The Husband and I out scavenging the backsides of Chandler's strip malls in search of cardboard boxes. This is what I learned:

*Compactors are now all the rage, apparently. You can't pack in compacted boxes!
*Mexican Food places (mom and pop type) seem to throw out icky boxes
*The areas behind stores are eerily cleaner than I remember them being when I was a kid and we would scavenge boxes to move.
*Our car doesn't hold a whole lot of un-broken down boxes in the back seat, ha ha!

So this weekend ends an era. We have lived in this apartment for just under four years. That may not be a long time to some people, but unless I am mistaken, that is the longest I have EVER lived in one place in my WHOLE LIFE!!!

We moved a LOT when I was a kid, at least once a year. To make it through a whole school year without moving was a big deal. It wasn't like we were moving across town or to new cities. Sometimes it was a few blocks. Sometimes we would move and come back. Sometimes we had to sneak off in the middle of the night with just the clothes on our backs and maybe a grocery bag with a few items. I have been enrolled in schools for less than two weeks at a time even! Our lives were that transient.

Even as an adult I have moved a lot. I left home a month after my 16th birthday. I've had bad boyfriends, bad roommates, bad apartments. I've lived alone, I've lived with multiple people, I've lived with men, and I've lived with women. During one point in my life, I moved THIRTEEN times in a span of only four years. Again, not really far, just in the Phoenix Metro area. I've lived in a lot of sections of town.

This will be my first time living in Chandler. I am looking forward to it. I like our new neighborbood, I love our new apartment, and I am looking forward to getting to decorate it and make it our home. Hopefully, living there will break my current record and we will not have to move again until we are ready to own a home (a long time from now!!!) of our very own and have kids and all that stuff I am currently not ready for yet. Right now, this'll do, Miss M, this'll do. :)

This is what happens when you sleep too much.

Nothing exciting to report today. Probably because I did NOTHING today. Not like I did NOTHING yesterday.

Today, I slept.

I went to bed at 2:00am and slept till 8:00 pm when my husband came home from work. There was about half an hour in there where I got up to pee, talked to my friend on the phone for a couple of minutes and played with the dogs. Other than that, it was total snoozeville.

I did have several bad dreams. I don't remember all of them, but in one, I was working in a school and I had quit and they talked me into coming back. Turns out, they only wanted to make me an example. There were all these people in one class room and they were going to have Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen act out "Good Employee Sara" and "Bad Employee Sara". I got mad and told them all to screw themselves and I quit again. I cleaned out my desk and even though it was just a little kid classroom desk I had a LOT of stuff in there! I kept finding all sorts of stuff I had forgotten about. Weird, huh?

MK & A never did put in their appearance. Humph.

Oh, the exciting life I lead!

Today, I did a whole lot of NOTHING!!!

Sometimes, it's really fun to be unemployed. But don't tell my husband that!

I slept in really late with the dogs. For breakfast/lunch I had a Totino's Party Pizza. I'll tell you, I don't know what it is about those things, but I LOVE them. I would rather eat those than Papa Johns or Oreganos or any other kind of Pizza! Well, maybe not instead of Slices Potato Bacon Cheddar pizza, but that's rather different, I think. And they frequently go on sale 10 for $10!!!

I checked my phone to see if I had any missed calls. I've been sleeping with it by my bed, in case the Director of Operations calls while I am sleeping, but last night I forgot. I saw I had a call from one of my friends, so I called her back. She was waiting for her plane to go to New Hampshire to teach at a convention. I chatted with her a bit, then set the phone down on the coffee table so I could rescue my pizza from the oven.

I remembered that I hadn't finished my cute little "We've Moved!" cards that I was working on, so I got to work hammering in eyelets and flattening staple backs with my cute little hammer. After about 30 minutes of working on this, I remembered that I left my phone in the other room. I go and checked it, and damned if the stupid thing wasn't blinking away, telling me I missed a call! Guess who it was? Grrr!

He left me a nice message and said he would try me later. Can you believe that rotten luck? I am so pissed at myself that I left it in the other room and couldn't hear it over the hammering.

Anyway, I then proceeded to sit on my butt in front of the computer for a few hours. I got caught up on Scrappetite, 2 peas, and Yorkie Talk. I had the grand idea of dressing up the dog when I came across a baby tee shirt. I thought it was a bit too plain so I decided to spruce it up a bit. I had this special paper that you can use to make transfers with an ink jet printer that I decided to try out. It wasn't the clearest image when I rubbed it on, but I just went over it with a Sharpie and it was fine. Gotta love a Sharpie!

Now that Gidget was sporting a cute shirt, I decided to take some pics of her. Then the camera batteries died, so that was lame. I checked 2 peas again and another friend called. He asked if I was still in bed or if I was up and dressed. Seeing as how I was wearing a tee shirt and underpants, I told him that I was halfway between the two. He said to put on some pants then and let him in. He knows me so well, ha ha.

We chatted a bit, then my husband (patient, sweet husband) came home. Friend left after a bit, and I had Lean Cuisine for dinner and he had The Blue Box (yuck). I am SUCH a good housewife, I swear.

I just had a bowl of cereal for a late dessert, and I am sitting here with the dog on my lap. She's so stinking sweet, I love her to death. She is the best thing that came out of that job, I think.

Tomorrow... the DMV. I am thinking of taking a notepad to take notes on what/who I see.

Today, I am a new woman!

No, I didn't join a cult. Well, then again, maybe I did.

Anywho....

Today, one year, seven months, and twenty three days AFTER I got married, I finally changed my name. LEGALLY!!!

Sure, I have it splashed all over credit cards and email addresses, but I never actually got around to going to the social security office to make it official. I am shocked at how easy it is to get things in names other than your own! No one even wondered why my driver's licence had a different name. Kinda makes me feel secure and like I look trustworthy or something I guess. Right.

Anyway, I hope I never have to go back to that place again. Talk about depressing. First of all, it's a big place, and 90% of the entrances are marked "Employees Only" but there are no directions to the public entrance. Then you open the door and you are greeted by two burly officers who demand to ransack your purse. You are then directed to take that camera phone back to your car!!! Like there was even anything in there remotely worth taking pics of. Well, except some FUGLY outfits I could have sent to www.honeyno.com, but I digress.

So then I had to fill out a form, which sent me into a panic because I didn't know my mother's social security number (I am pretty sure my dad didn't have one, but hey, you never know) then I had to stand in line FOREVER (at least at the DMV you get to sit while you wait!!!) and wait for my turn. I saw some interesting folks there, let me tell you. I finally got to the front of the line and the friend I dragged with me for company says hey, that window is open so we wander over. The lady in there was like "I am only helping THAT line over there!" Yeah, that's right, only TWO windows for the whole huge line and one where people didn't have to wait. That's fair. Thanks for getting me in trouble with the SS lady dude. Sheesh.

So I get up there and the chick at the window asks for my documents. I give her my marriage certificate, my driver's license, and my application. She says she needs my SS card too.

See, this is what pisses me off. I CALLED to see what I needed to bring and I was specifically told I didn't need it. Dang bureaucracy!!!

Turns out I didn't need it, she just wanted to confiscate it from me! HA! It's all mine now, IN YOUR FACE!!! What does she think, I am gonna go sell it on Ebay? Hmm. There's a thought... Nah.

Interesting fact: I discovered that my father's middle initial was L. I asked her why she put that on there, since I had left it blank, and she was like, I didn't, it was already on your account. So my mom must have done that when I was a baby. I wonder what it stands for. It did make me glad though that I decided to keep my maiden name as my middle name. It kind of honors his memory, even though I don't really have many of him.

So, on Thursday, I get to go hang out at the DMV and get a new driver's license!!! I know I will be getting a photo taken because I will have to resign my name. I haven't told Brad yet, I want to surprise him. I figured that since I have to notify the DMV that I am moving and get a new license anyway, I might as well get off my ass and change my name. It's not like I was sooooo busy with work today that I couldn't do it, ha ha ha. I guess I will even shower and comb my hair that day. With a soap! And a comb! Just kidding!

But still. I wouldn't wish the pale green pallor that is the Social Security office on anyone. *SHUDDER!*

Ah, a better day... sort of

So this morning... oh alright fine. This afternoon, the manager from the Chandler store called me. She was told what happened the other day when I quit and she said that she completely understood why I left, and that she would have done the same thing if she had been in my shoes, and then she seriously made my whole week.

She told me that she felt that I was a very valuable asset to the store, and that she felt that my creativity and integrity were too good to simply throw away, and that if the Director of Operations said it was okay, she would gladly hire me to work at her store in a heartbeat, regardless of what had transpired with Kat.

I cried, it really meant that much to me.

I know that the odds of me getting to go back to be in her store are slim, but to know that she really felt that way meant the world to me.

Then I went to take the chair that I had altered to another store in town. The owner loved it! There are so many cute chairs there now. I am glad to be in such good company! I asked her about open lab, and she said sure, come on in. She asked why I wasn't going to my store and I told her that I quit, without going into too much detail outside that the corporate "thing" wasn't for me, which she totally agreed with. She asked me if she could call me to fill in a shift if needed or to teach some classes sometime, and I told her sure. How cool is that?

Less than one week to our big move! I can't wait! Of course, you can't tell we are moving in less than a week because NOTHING is packed yet! ARGH! My friend is coming by with a roll of large green plastic wrap to wrap the armoire and other items with drawers closed, that will help. I have to weed out my socks and underwear drawers too, ugh.

Tonight I am also working on my "We've Moved!" cards. I am only making ten of them, I think that will be enough. I have to move all the utilities too. I am starting a "To Do" list. So far - ZERO items accomplished. I am such a slacker. I did ask my husband to pick up some change of address cards from the post office though. That's something, right?

See, the plan was to start packing way ahead of time all the stuff we don't use, that way when moving day came it would be a breeze. Of course, it's not looking like it's gonna happen that way. Oh well. Better go and get to work!

INSUBORDINATION

Talk about your crap-assy days... Today, I quit my job. And I cried, I mean bawled, all the way home.

My boss, excuse me, EX-boss, is a headcase. She lies, bends the truth to suit her own means, and is just a bad person.

Two weeks ago, I did a bad thing. I participated in a little bit of the good old fashioned INSUBORDINATION. Now, I have never been a fan of this particular word. I don't feel that it is fair that one person can shit on another simply because they are higher up on whatever stupid ladder (or high horse, ha ha) is involved. People are PEOPLE, no matter what their position, and should be treated as such within reason. At least I think so.

On the night in question, I was given a memo from the corporate office by the Lead Associate at my store, Jessica. It said that a count was needed of Making Memories class kits as well as a response to the KI email. I told her that the Events Specialist Kelly was supposed to keep track of the class kits, as the Assistant Manager and I had discussed that on a previous occasion. Furthermore, I didn’t even know what the KI email was referring to. The Jessica told me that my manager, Kat, had directed me to do it, so I told her that I would speak to Kat. I walked back to the crop area and explained to Kat that keeping track of class kits was Kelly's per the Assistant Manager, and also that I was not aware of the KI email that the memo referred to. She said fine, if I was not going to do it then to get Heather (another instructor) to do it. I said okay and went and gave the memo to Heather and explained it to her. Heather said No, she was not going to do that. I said okay, and went to tell my manager, who had emerged from the classroom, that Heather said that she was not going to count the kits either. Kat then proceeded to say that I needed to count the kits. I asked why I had to do it if it was Kelly's job. Heather came over and said that she would just do it if we were going to make a big deal about it. Kat said no, that she wanted SARA to do it in a loud voice and shoved the memo towards me. I asked once again why I had to do it and she said because she said that she wanted me to do it.

Now, let's give everyone a little background, shall we? Prior to this incident, I had expressed interest in the Events Specialist position at the Chandler store when it opened. Kat has used my desire for this promotion against me on several occasions. She would tell me on one day that our Director of Operations was not allowing any transfers between stores, that I was welcome to apply for a position but that if she were me that she would not hold her breath, that she had met the new manager of the Chandler store and that she did not think that I would like her very much, and other such unprofessional observations, but then when she needed me to come in on my day off or to volunteer for a job that no one else wanted to do(i.e. do a make & take at a resort crop because the Kelly refused to go) that I needed to “shine” if I wanted that Event Specialist position in Chandler. One day it would be that whether I got the position or not would be up to the Director of Operations, one day it would be up to the new manager at the Chandler store (who, incidentally, I LOVED!) and one day it wouldn’t even be worth discussing because no transfers would be allowed. I have even gone as far as to request that my manager allow me to shadow the Event Specialist at Scottsdale so that I would be a better candidate for the position, and also since Kelly was in the Guard, there would be able to be someone to perform backup for her if she got called to duty. Unfortunately, that never happened even though Kat agreed that it was a good idea and also since at my 90 day review I had been instructed to take more initiative toward leadership positions.

Now, I also need to share with you, that the Events Specialist at the Scottsdale store consistently does not perform all of the duties listed on her job description. She was a friend of Kat's before her hire at the Scottsdale store and receives no retribution for not doing her job. Instead, her duties are assigned at the last minute to other associates, including the Assistant Manager as well as myself. Kat simply used the excuse that I need to “step up to the plate” and learn Kelly's duties if I wanted the position at the Chandler Store. Of course, me being the eager monkey that I am, I would jump to do whatever was needed. These duties included writing the monthly calendar on the white board, updating class samples on the class board, updating the monthly contest board, confirming catering for crops, putting together goodie bags for crops, and putting together door prizes for crops. I also coordinated projects for private parties and groups and conducted the lessons when Kelly proved that she was painfully unable to do handle them with our first girl scout troop, hee hee hee!

So back to my "incident". The Lead Assistant was standing behind Kat when I told her that I would not count the kits. She asked whether I wanted the Event Specialist position or not, and Kat said yeah, don’t you want to be an Event Specialist? I was so fed up at this point with the whole situation. I proceeded to inform Kat that it was not fair to continuously use that against me when it was convenient for her desires and then to change her story the next day. She claimed that she did not know what I was talking about and I proceeded to give her examples. She stated that she didn’t see what the “big deal” was as it would only take “a few minutes”. I told her that no, it would not take only a few minutes, it would take at least an hour or two, as I could not reach the boxes on the top shelves and I would have to get the ladder and drag it around. Jessica volunteered to get the boxes down from the top shelf for me, but I refused her offer, as I did not plan on performing the task either way. Kat asked why, and I again reiterated that I felt that she was taking advantage of me by requiring me to perform duties that she paid her friend way more than me (25% more!!!) to perform. I told her that I would no longer stand for it. She proceeded to take the memo and retreat to her office.

Now, I know that what I did was INSUBORDINATION, plain and simple. There is no denying that. I was perfectly capable of counting kits. But it was the principle of the matter. I knew that I had to tell the manager of the Chandler store what had happened with Kat. I knew that Kat would probably call our Director of operations and snitch on what a bad girl I had been. The thing is, I knew that the manager at Chandler was on vacation that week in Disneyland with her family. How tacky would it be if I called her and interrupted her family vacation to whine about my boss? I decided to wait until Monday.

Bad move, apparently. When I finally was able to speak with her, she told me that she had heard about the incident. I figured that Kat had called the Director of Operations, and that he in turn had called the manager of the Chandler store. Oh no, my friends. You guessed it... that COW called her on VACATION to snitch on me in PERSON!!!

I could see if I was a slacker and didn't contribute to my store. I could see if I always acted like a complete ass and refused to do what I was told. But the thing is, I always performed above expectations for this store. I volunteered for jobs that no one else wanted to do, I took initiative in planning classes and I worked hard to sell both classes and products to ensure store success. I have worked hard since the day I was hired with the intention of one day being able to move forward in the company and obtain a full time position with increased pay. I feel that Kat was doing everything in her power to pigeonhole me into this position because I have been a successful instructor for her store to date and she did not want to lose me to the Chandler store. The Chandler store is only going to be 4 blocks from where we are moving, and therefore waaaaay more convenient for me. That was initially the only reason I wanted to transfer, well, that and the promotion. Honestly, I would have transferred without it though.

I resent the fact that the Event Specialist could tell the Manager and the Assistant Manager that she will perform a task and simply not do it, and get no disciplinary action, but when I refuse to allow Kat to continuously take advantage of my emotions I get put on a final written notice. Also, I was not the only associate who refused to perform the requested task, since the other Instructor refused to do it also, but I was the only one who was put on final written notice.

Furthermore, she did not talk to me AT ALL about the incident for TWO WEEKS after it happened. I finally confronted her about it, and all she could keep saying was that she should have fired me. I asked why she didn't and she said that her boss at the corporate office told her that there was no excuse, the disciplinary action for INSUBORDINATION was termination and she said no, she was not willing to fire me. (Funny, wouldn't THAT be INSUBORDINATION???) She said it like she was doing me a favor. I told her that the way I saw it, that she had a choice, to fire me or not fire me but if she chose not to fire me that she couldn't lord it over me forever that she should have fired me, you know?

I also found out that her glowing "recommendation" of me to the manager of the Chandler store consisted of the Chandler manager asking Kat if she thought I was ready for the Event Specialist position, and Kat replying that she "didn't know" if I was ready. Dang, I wonder why she didn't hire me on the spot?

Anyway, I am like, totally unemployed now. This sucks, since we are planning on moving in one week and one day. I need a JOB! I need MONEY!!! *sigh* Some days, it's really hard to be me. How ironic that this morning I was telling my little brother about how lucky I was to have a job doing what I love.

It's THE trendy thing to do!

Doesn't it seem that EVERONE has a blog these days? Now, I like to consider myself a trendy kind of girl, and I don't have a blog. At least, I didn't have one. I mean, who the hell wants to read what I have to say about anything?

The thing is, when I was in high school, I used to keep a notebook. I didn't call it a journal, or a diary (god forbid). It was just a book that I wrote in, first, to be silly, then to let things out. I kind of got out of the habit as I got older though. My doctor recommended to me that I resume the practice again last September, and I even bought the cutest pink notebook for that purpose, but I don't know. It just wasn't the same.

Now, I spend a LOT of time in front of the computer. When I am not at work, I am usually here. So this makes sense for me. Even if absolutely no one in the world reads this but me. I can rant and rave and gossip and celebrate. And if someone DOES decide to join me here, hey, even better!

So I am saying that I am looking forward to this, and I am hoping that it won't become the debaucle that Jamison's blog became what, three years ago now?

Anyway, as a wannabe "trendy" kind of girl, I am joining the ranks of the cool-turned-computer-nerds and posting a blog of my very own. How cool is that. :)