Salespeople...

I planned to post last night, but my dear sweet husband set an appointment with a company because they sent us a card in the mail saying that we had won something. Of course the trick is that you have to watch their presentation first.
What do you think their product was???
This wonderful vacuum cleaner that gets more dirt and germs than you would ever dream of up off of your floors.
How much do you think it cost???
A thousand?
Go higher than that!
Two thousand?
Bingo, you're a winner!
Yep, a two thousand dollar vacuum cleaner... So what do you think my husband did? If you said bought it, you would be a winner right now... Of course, we bought the display model and they let you "trade-in" your old vacuum cleaner, so we only spent $1,100, but after taxes and finance charges as well as all the interest we'll be paying it will be two thousand dollars all over again...
Yay, we're goiong in debt over a vacuum cleaner... Somehow I'm not excited.
Anyhow, I was actually coming to talk about my first day of work... I was just distracted because the thing is sitting right in front of me right now.
Work was WONDERFUL! I had so much fun. There are so many great people who actually show up to work early because they want to be there... Can you believe that??? Sorry, it's just hard for me to after working at Walmart for so long... We have our meeting in the morning, then go out to visit our customers, make some changes in their phone services for them, and at the end of the day, we go back to the office to turn in our paperwork. I know that's not a lot of detail, but I don't have a whole lot to give right now...
Today I will be doing more hands on stuff, really doing some work for the customers and helping them with their phone service... I can't wait. I am really excited!
Well, I need to get going... Talk to you all soon!

Back to work...

Starting with some promised photos!

Kyle being silly... This was a series of faces, but I love his pout face!

Micheal's cheese face!

About half of my family:

The kids "riding" my brother's Harley!

The kids being so cute sleeping!

Today is my first day at my new job... I'm nervous and excited, I'm sure that it will all work out fine though.

I am so tired... I just got my first sip of coffee. I accidentally set the coffee pot for PM, so it didn't fix my coffee for me this morning. That was really disappointing.

Time to get ready for work... Talk to you all tonight...

So good to be home...

Today was my first day back home... It was great! I love being back... I'm much more relaxed now.

I start my new job tomorrow. I can't wait for my first day of work!

Gary and I went to the movies today with his parents. We saw Transformers 2 and it was the absolute greatest!!! Of course seeing it at the IMAX made it much better...

I'm going to have to get off here for now, but I will be posting in the morning...

I apologize...

I am still not keeping up with my end of the bargain. I haven't been posting much at all. I have just been so busy while I'm down here that I barely have time.
Yesterday I got to ride a motorcycle! I had so much fun... I don't have pictures of that, but my mom took some of me riding Micheal around on the four wheeler. He didn't want to stop riding! It was so cute...
Today we are just laying around and vegging out for the most part, the little guy has a bit of a fever and we are just trying to sit it out and not over do it.
My oldest sister is heading down with her family today. They'll be stopping halfway and spending the night at a hotel and then finishing up tomorrow.
Oh, and I should have my van fixed up tomorrow. All the windows should be working tomorrow and I am excited! Of course when I get back to Indiana I plan to trade it in for a Prius... I want something with a warranty and something that gets much better gas milage.
Well, that's about all for right now... I need to do some schoolwork.

I've neglected you all...

So, the weekend went great. We had a lot of fun in Illinois. I came back home and rested for a day and then drove to Georgia. I LOVE being back home.
I'm getting the window on my van fixed today... One of the many perks to having a mechanic for a brother. It's only costing $80 in parts and no labor! Another shop would have cost $400-600, we priced it!
I've got plenty of pictures from Gary's family reunion and from my trip, I'll try to post some soon...
I have to go for now, talk to you soon though!

Just a quick one...

I have been so excited that I forgot to let you guys know what exactly I'll be doing at my new job. Basically, I'll be helping out small businesses. AT&T needs sales reps right now to go out and help them keep their business going. I'll be going out to businesses that have appointments set up for them through AT&T to take a look at their phone and internet bill and helping them figure out where they can save money. It's salary with bonuses too... Which is pretty cool.
Gary and I went out to celebrate last night, I got the call with my official start date and all that information just before lunch time. We went to this really cool restaurant, Fogo de Chao, it's a Brazillian steak house. If you've never been to one, I definitely suggest going! It was the coolest thing ever. And I got so full! The food was a little pricey (Gary didn't let me see the check, so I can only imagine) but worth every penny! After the restaurant, we went to see Night At The Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, which was a decent movie. I have to say that my favorite part of the night was definitely the restaurant, and second best was Gary buying me two new pairs of sandals from Aldo. One pair wasn't in my size, so they are supposed to be shipped here to the house within the week for free!
Well, I got packed last night for Illinois, but I have to go exchange some pants at Kohls really quick this morning and go somewhere to find a swimsuit, so I need to get off here. I will catch you all later!!!

The End...

So yesterday was the end of an era for me. The end of Walmart and all that I fantasized would one day happen. The end of working a crappy job for crappy pay just to be treated like crap. As you can probably guess by now, I quit.
I didn't do anything that I planned. I just went in at 7:30, shopped for my essentials (shampoo, conditioner, and bodywash) and bought Micheal a beanbag chair. I brought it all out to my van and then came back in, talked to a few people, clocked in, went to talk with personel and find out what I needed to do. They told me to talk to Jeremy. He didn't come in until 9:00. So I waited... I saw him as soon as he entered the building. He was in a great mood... Yeah, I was happy, I got to change that. I flagged him down, told him we needed to talk now, it was important. He said okay. I told him that I followed his advice and that I found a new job, a Monday through Friday with the hours that I need, and that I would be quitting, that it would be my last day and what should I do now. He said he would be back in a few minutes for my exit interview........
Two and a half hours later, I was still working. I paged for him. I had the fitting room ladies talk in his ear. He never came over. At 12:00, I finally decided that I was leaving. I clocked out and he saw me. He came running up behind me and asked if I was going to lunch. I said yes. He said he'd see me in an hour... I replied "No, no you won't."
"Why not?" he says.
"Because I quit at 9:00 this morning. You were supposed to do my exit interview and never did. I said I had things to do and I'm not hanging out all day waiting for you to come and get me!"
"You were serious? I thought you were kidding, that maybe you were just upset or something." he tells me.
I wanted to kill him. Now I have to go back in there and sign paperwork when I go to pick up my check.
Apparently later he went around asking some of my friends that I work with if I was serious or if they thought I'd be back. They told him that they were pretty sure I was serious. Then I guess he flipped out and started asking who all I had taught to run the photo lab... That's right! Never thought about that, did ya Jeremy? No one there knows how to do my job. No one there cares enough to do my job. Have fun getting Fuji in there to fix everything and have fun paying those bills!
The kicker is, when I went in last night to do my grocery shopping, I was asked how my mom was... Apparently I left for vacation early because I had a family emergency... He didn't quite think that one through. I will still shop there every now and then, so that lie's not a very good one. He just doesn't want all of them to know what a craooy boss he was is what I'm thinking...
Fourteen months. That's how long I worked there. Fourteen long months. I loved the people though. Most of them, I would take them with me anywhere... I just hope that I find good people like that at my next job.
Man, I can't wait to finish my degree. I can't wait to get started on my career, instead of just another job.
Well, I need to get going. I job shadow today... This way I can be sure that I want to take the position that they're offering me. I'm kind of hoping that Jason's (my neighbor across the street) boss gives me a call though, I think I'd really like a job there...

Soooo...

I went on two interviews today. I got home and had messages on my machine about three other jobs. I was able to set up two other interviews (one of which I called to cancel because I realized it was over an hour away) and I am working on the other one.
I called to follow up on my interviews from today and guess what? I got a job offer! I start out at $2,000 a month for the first three months, and get a raise after that. The really cool thing is that I'll get a bonus after 30 days if I don't miss work and I'm on time or early every day!
I haven't accepted yet. I want to go through my other interviews and really weigh my options first. Gary wants me to accept this one. The raises are definitely worth it. I would earn $3,000 a month after 3 months and $4,000 a month after 5 months. My pay would literally double after just 5 months of work. It's funny that Gary is so much more excited than I am, but I just keep trying to figure out the catch... I'll start on July 1st if I decide to take the job...
I'm quitting my job at Walmart on Wednesday. Gary and I are trying to figure out exactly when and how I should do that. I'm not sure if I want to follow my plan... It was a good one, but I am just not sure that I want to leave on a bad note.
Well, I will let you all know how tomorrow works out... Maybe I'll get another job offer...

Oh so nervous...

I'm really hoping that one of the interviews tomorrow works out. I want to be done with Walmart for good... I don't even want to shop there anymore. I don't know that I won't shop there anymore for sure, but I'm going to try it.
I have intended to start becoming more self-sufficient anyhow, so I'm going to start working harder towards that. We're growing our own vegetables, so most of our grocery shopping that I do there will be over now. Other things that I need can be bought elsewhere... It might now be the most convenient thing to do, but it's the better thing to do, and that's what I need to remember.
Well, I'm going to get back to watching Army Wives... I will write tomorrow after the interviews to let you know how it all goes... Maybe I'll get a job offer, or maybe I'll get two offers! Just PRAY!

I found a healthier approach...

I found a healthier approach for dealing with my anger at work. I worked on a whole new section for my CafePress store yesterday. It may not make me a ton of money, but maybe it will help someone else who feels the same about their job as I do about mine. Heck, I'm even thinking of ordering a few things for myself.
Gary laughed when he saw me making the designs. He gulped when he saw them on CafePress a few minutes later. Of course, he also knows that this is just part of my plan for quitting Walmart.
Oh, and I'm not done with the designs, so check back often!

The whole story...

So here goes. I am going to attempt to tell you what has been going on at work. Most of you who read my blog know that I have had a whole mess of issues there anyhow, so you won't be entirely surprised.
I got my "Decision-Making Day". For anyone who has worked at Walmart or know anyone who has, you know that this is your day where you are supposed to sit at home and write a letter about how you intend to change your behavior so that you will be able to keep your job. It didn't quite happen that way for me...
I'll start by telling you how my day started. I went into work, and for the first time in over a week, my supervisor was actually there! She didn't call in! I was excited. I went straight to work and was trying hard to get along with her and not say anything about her excessive amount of absences. Seriously, this woman should get an award for missing so much work and still managing to keep her job. Anyhow, about an hour and a half after into my shift, I get pulled into the office and I'm told what a bad employee I am. I have missed so much work... I missed April 25th (the day after Gary's surgery), I went home early two weeks ago because I had a migraine that brought me to tears, and I called in for Kyle's doctor's appointment after requesting it off twice and it being rejected twice. Three absences, two and a half if you want to get technical about it, since everything else has fallen off because it was longer than six months ago. Well, while he's telling me what a bad employee I am and all that good stuff, I'm just smiling and laughing... He tells me to consider this my decision day, go home, think about it, and write my letter. I went home alright... I made a few phone calls, decided to go look for another job, and then I wrote A LETTER. Keep in mind, that while I was upset, I was not near upset enough to just quit. So I wrote the "sassiest" (I'm trying to keep the words friendly) letter I could. According to the few that were lucky enough to read it, it was a page and a half of telling my boss off while still keeping my job.
That evening, after driving around with Tabby in search of a new job, I was talking to Gary about it all and we decided that Walmart just was not an option anymore and that I needed to take a more proactive approach to finding a new job. We got on careerbuilder.com and looked at some postings. I made a phone call and set up an interview for next week with one job. I then sent in my resume to about 250 other jobs. Please keep in mind that every time I sent in a resume, I got an email from the website and sometimes from the company. My inbox was full for hours! I called some of the companies yesterday that really peaked my interest. I got three more interviews set up! The best part of all of them is that they are Monday through Friday jobs, so I will have weekends with my family again!
Well, Jeremy pulled me into the office yesterday so that he could read my letter and all that fun stuff. That was an interesting experience. I don't think he liked it and he felt the need to argue back, it just didn't work for me. He then asked me to type up my letter into the computer system. The entire time I'm typing, I'm thinking to myself "Why on earth did I write such a long letter?" It did keep me off the sales floor for a while though. I then got a lecture about how what goes on in the managers' office is supposed to be held confidential and he didn't appreciate me broadcasting what we talked about back there... I'm sorry, I didn't realize that me getting a "D-Day" was such a big deal... Everyone knows anyhow. They see you come to work, they see you go to the office, they see you leave. "Gee... I wonder what happened to them???" It was around this time that I started concocting just how I will quit my job. I came up with the perfect plan. It's completely original and I bet no one has ever done it to my boss before... I promise I'll tell you what it is when I do it, but I just don't want to right now...
I will however post a copy of my "D-Day" letter in a little while. I've got to take care of the kids right now though... Micheal is on his 3rd bowl of cereal, and I'm pretty sure there's something not right with that.
Talk to you all later!

I'm moving on...

After some rather unfortunate events at work over the past few days, I have decided to kick the job search into overdrive... It's done some good. I have several interviews set up for next week, so let's hope I get just one offer. One good offer is all I'm asking for...
I have to call in tomorrow, so I don't expect to continue my employment with Walmart very much longer.
Well, I'll write tomorrow... I'm feeling snackish.

Been a long few days...

Chris has called in sick all week, which has made a long week for me. I worked by myself all day today...
Micheal had his hearing test yesterday. There was not much I didn't expect to hear. He has some minor hearing loss in his left ear and had some negative pressure in the same ear, which just means that he may possibly have an ear infection coming on.
Not much else going on here today. Everyone is getting sick, we think it's a sinus thing... Yay.
Well, I'm going to get back to my school work...

The cookout...

Let me start out by saying that we had a blast at the cookout... Dorsann, Greg, and Jake came over at about 1:45, so Micheal was thrilled... He had his Jake-Jake. Stephanie, Casey, and Brandon came over around 2:00... Micheal was then less thrilled because Jake had someone his own age to play with. Around 2:30, Jason and Julie showed up and the cooking and eating started. We had fun.

I put sunscreen on me and the baby, Micheal flat out refused. Screamed when I tried to put it on him. Said it hurt. I told him that he would hurt if I didn't put it on him. He didn't care. I gave up. Decided to just make sure he wasn't getting too red. The baby and I both burned... Micheal, not even pink.

We also found out yesterday that we definitely have new neighbors moving in down the street. Well, we thought it was the plural form... Until we walked down to introduce ourselves and found a bachelor. We were all disappointed, except for Stephanie... She thought he was cute and can't wait to watch him outside doing yardwork.

Well, here are a few pictures... I didn't get a lot, but I tried.

Kyle eating a piece of chicken:

Gary grilling... I think he was testing the food.
Micheal harassing Jake with the ball... This is moments before he threw it at him.
Julie, Jason, Gary, and Micheal after he got soaked by the big boys...

You should see Kyle... He was up at 5:00 this morning. His little face is red and just one arm. He's fine other than that. Me, on the other hand, I'm burned... My face, my shoulders, my arms, my legs, and my feet..

Well, it's time to wake up the husband...