I just finished my first full week at my new job. I love it. Everyone has been happy to meet me and more than willing to help me out while I adjust. The president said it's rare that someone comes into the company and fits in immediately. It makes me feel really good. The job is busy and pretty demanding, but it makes time go by fast. I did have to take a little bit of a pay cut, but that's to be expected in these times I guess...
Sean also started a new job this past week and he's much happier than he was at the last place he worked (for three years and never got a raise even though he carried the title of "Manager"). His new boss actually knows how to run a business - unlike the people he used to work for. It's not like he has any training or a fancy Engineering degree, he just has common sense. Once again, unlike the people who shall remain nameless but are dead to me. Excuse me if I take losing 3 weeks of wages personally.
This weekend should be nice, I feel like I've actually earned it. We got the new bulb for our television so we've been able to watch movies and play video games, although by the time I get home from work I'm kind of tired and just want to eat dinner and relax and before I know it I'm drooling on the couch. I should probably write something about the UFC fight or the SuperBowl. All I can say is I'm not particularly interested in either sport but I do like big TVs and free food and usually all those things go hand in hand. :) Also, there is a bottle of 'Turkey at BFF's house that I've been helping him drink, so after a few shots it won't matter what is on the television, I'm sure I'll have a great time!
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
I have...
a job interview tomorrow!! Assistant to the president of a clothing printing company. Finally an office job in a creative environment! Construction just wasn't doing it for me... Funny thing is I used to work at the office next door to this place a couple years ago. I'm excited thinking about all the places I used to go for lunch... :) I really hope the president likes me and wants me to be her right hand girl...I could really use a job that makes me feel needed and important after working for my last employer. A huge thank you to my rep at the employment agency for hooking me up. She landed me my favorite job to date three years ago, so I have a good feeling about this one. Let's hope I get a chance to prove myself.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Dear TV, Get Well Soon...
Sean and I were getting ready to have our friends over last night, so I was dusting our furniture....We weren't watching TV, but it was on so we could listen to music through our playstation. I was standing right by the television when I hear a loud POP! and the screen went blank. ?? We have a projection television and the bulb went out on us! Luckily, we have the warranty from Best Buy, so they are sending us a new bulb. It could take up to a week to get, and we only have the one television.....so here we are, unemployed with no TV for a week. Yeah sure, during the day we'll be looking for work (under rocks, behind trees, all the places we have yet to search...) but at night we have nothing to do. No shows, no movies, NO VIDEO GAMES!! It's a sad time.
We do have a few board games that Sean HATES, so that should cut a couple hours off our boredom. Other than that we can watch DVDs on our computer...yeah, 2 people used to a 55" projection TV huddled around a 17" CRT monitor that makes a squealing noise every once in a while. great. I shouldn't complain, there are starving children all over the world who have never heard of TV, but damnit! We've been numbing our brains with movies to keep our minds off the fact that we aren't working and can't pay the bills and all that other scary stuff that comes with a failing economy. Speaking of failing economy, it really makes me happy to read about the hundreds of dollars some women are paying for shoes right now when I'm having a hard time buying food. Not trying to be a bitch, I'm just sayin'...
The one good thing that's come out of all this is Sean and I are getting along very well. They say couples fight about money more than anything else. Well, I can't think of a worse time for a couple to fight then when they're broke and stressed out. Sean and I have decided that the most important thing is to be there for eachother and we're not a mushy couple by any stretch of the imagination. We are not romantic in any way; well, not in any "normal" ways. These last couple weeks we've been together practically all day every day and I feel like our relationship has grown stronger. It's been a nice side-effect of our bad luck. It helps me feel like there really is hope for the future. I can't wait to be working again, then I can look back at this time as when Sean and I took a break to build our marriage up and everything else fell into place. Fingers Crossed.
Another nice thing is our loved ones are taking care of us... Mr. and Mrs. BFF had us over and fed us a few times. SIL and BIL, who are also both unemployed with a baby on the way have also invited us to dinner. People taking care of people, who would have thought? In a dark time in my life where I feel utterly helpless, I still feel loved and it's good.
We do have a few board games that Sean HATES, so that should cut a couple hours off our boredom. Other than that we can watch DVDs on our computer...yeah, 2 people used to a 55" projection TV huddled around a 17" CRT monitor that makes a squealing noise every once in a while. great. I shouldn't complain, there are starving children all over the world who have never heard of TV, but damnit! We've been numbing our brains with movies to keep our minds off the fact that we aren't working and can't pay the bills and all that other scary stuff that comes with a failing economy. Speaking of failing economy, it really makes me happy to read about the hundreds of dollars some women are paying for shoes right now when I'm having a hard time buying food. Not trying to be a bitch, I'm just sayin'...
The one good thing that's come out of all this is Sean and I are getting along very well. They say couples fight about money more than anything else. Well, I can't think of a worse time for a couple to fight then when they're broke and stressed out. Sean and I have decided that the most important thing is to be there for eachother and we're not a mushy couple by any stretch of the imagination. We are not romantic in any way; well, not in any "normal" ways. These last couple weeks we've been together practically all day every day and I feel like our relationship has grown stronger. It's been a nice side-effect of our bad luck. It helps me feel like there really is hope for the future. I can't wait to be working again, then I can look back at this time as when Sean and I took a break to build our marriage up and everything else fell into place. Fingers Crossed.
Another nice thing is our loved ones are taking care of us... Mr. and Mrs. BFF had us over and fed us a few times. SIL and BIL, who are also both unemployed with a baby on the way have also invited us to dinner. People taking care of people, who would have thought? In a dark time in my life where I feel utterly helpless, I still feel loved and it's good.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
I know I said my recent unemployment would mean more blogging, but some news I got last week has made me a little depressed. To add insult to injury, my husband lost his job not a week after I did. So here we are, an unemployed married couple with no savings, no 401k, and no stockpile of food in our pantry or freezer. Our options are pretty limited as far as borrowing money goes.... My dad, a retiree who is barely making it on his own, has offered to float us a loan to help out. I really don't want to take it, knowing how much he probably needs it, but his offer was sincere and I can tell he really wants to help. And boy do we need it. After the holidays we were already a little behind and this...losing our jobs...really didn't help.
I want to be angry and tell our former employers how much they hurt us and what terrible people they are for not giving us some sort of heads up, but hey, it's just business, right? Cold-hearted. I guess it's too much to ask for that personal consideration from your employer. I mean, it's not like we worked for big corporations, we worked for family owned companies. I guess it's true, when it comes right down to it everyone has to take care of themselves. No matter who you may hurt in the process.
Its alright, we'll make it through this together. All it will do to our marriage is make it stronger. Hopefully, in a few months we'll both be settled into great new jobs and making better money and we can look back at this and say "Thank the universe we made it." Anyway I'm trying to pull myself out of this funk and find something good to blog about... it may take a couple days....
I want to be angry and tell our former employers how much they hurt us and what terrible people they are for not giving us some sort of heads up, but hey, it's just business, right? Cold-hearted. I guess it's too much to ask for that personal consideration from your employer. I mean, it's not like we worked for big corporations, we worked for family owned companies. I guess it's true, when it comes right down to it everyone has to take care of themselves. No matter who you may hurt in the process.
Its alright, we'll make it through this together. All it will do to our marriage is make it stronger. Hopefully, in a few months we'll both be settled into great new jobs and making better money and we can look back at this and say "Thank the universe we made it." Anyway I'm trying to pull myself out of this funk and find something good to blog about... it may take a couple days....
Friday, January 2, 2009
New Year's Resolutions
I took a little bit of a break from blogging. Not that I was that consistent to begin with, but still. It started out when I was reprimanded at work for using the internet too much. I think her exact words were "playing around on the internet." lol Yeah, it's kind of childish that I, a quasi-responsible adult was using the internet at work, but hey, I'm not alone, right? When I had work, I got it done quick. I simply had nothing to do. So I guess they finally noticed there wasn't enough work to go around because on Wednesday they gave me my last paycheck. I know I wasn't the only person to get laid off on New Year's Eve, companies all over are doing a little house cleaning before the new year. I suppose I could have been extremely unhappy about it since I am about 2/3 of my households' income, but what good is that going to do me? I've been in situations less serious than this and when I "lost it" things got progressively worse. I am making a conscious effort to stay optimistic and hopefully I'll pull through this with minor interruptions to my family's life. On a positive note, I'll be blogging more; for the next few days anyway. lol
I've been thinking about my New Year's resolutions the past couple weeks, and this is what I've come up with:
1. Be more environmentally conscious. I have been a little lax on recycling, so that's the first thing I'm going to work on. I would also like to do more research on being Green, Green building and the like. If I could get a job somewhere in that field, I would be pretty happy. I'm reading an article on T. Boone Pickens (you know the Pickens Plan commercials where you're thinking "who the hell is this guy?") and his vision to curb our nations dependency on foreign oil and develope better natural energy alternatives. I want to learn about what's in the future of Green Tech, and see if I can't carve myself a niche in that area.
2. Think health, be healthy. I know the cliche resolution is to eat better and exercise more but I've seen what a positive change it can bring about in peoples' lives and I want a piece of that. I'm going to make more food at home and brown bag it when I get a new job. I am going to be conscious about what I buy and eat and feed my husband because neither one of us is getting younger and the better we take care of ourselves now, the easier things will be on us later. That's what I'm going to tell myself to keep my motivation. In addition to better meals and maybe a daily walk and stretch, I am going to continue to work on my positive thinking and self-esteem building. I think I've made good progress over the last few months and I can feel myself changing for good. Maybe I'm going through a maturity spurt or something... lol
3. Save money, shop wisely. I used to be so good about clipping coupons...and never using them. I tend to be more loyal to brands than my bank account. I spend way too much money on not a lot of food. I am going to start picking up the Sunday paper and printing coupons online and organizing them in this little nifty holder I got in the dollar bin at Target. I am going to shop around for good deals and remember that sometimes you have to forgo that juicy steak dinner for some mac and cheese every once in a while. I am against buying in bulk, and freezing meat grosses me out, BUT I know these are things I am going to have to get over to save some dough, so I better start looking into it. I always thought it was strange to buy food anywhere but the grocery store, but you can find good deals on things other places. I know I mentioned Target already but I found myself in their packaged foods aisle and they had a huge variety at much better prices than Vons. They even have specialty foods you can't get other places. Archer Farms makes all kinds of ethnic boxed meals that I wouldn't be able to afford to make from scratch, all for the same price as a Home Style Bake!! Best of all, they're on sale right now...
So there's my short list. Of course there are many other minor things I would like to improve in my life, but these are my major goals for the year. I think as I work toward these, all the other things will fall into place in time. I will also make a conscious effort to blog more. I really do enjoy writing and reading what other people are doing and thinking. It's been kind of my therapy for the last few months and I'd like to make it part of my routine, kind of like at the end of Doogie Howser MD where NPH typed out whatever he had learned in the episode...lol Yeah, you guys know what I'm talking about, you've probably thought the same thing. Anyway, hope you all had wonderful holidays and I wish you the best in this new year.
I've been thinking about my New Year's resolutions the past couple weeks, and this is what I've come up with:
1. Be more environmentally conscious. I have been a little lax on recycling, so that's the first thing I'm going to work on. I would also like to do more research on being Green, Green building and the like. If I could get a job somewhere in that field, I would be pretty happy. I'm reading an article on T. Boone Pickens (you know the Pickens Plan commercials where you're thinking "who the hell is this guy?") and his vision to curb our nations dependency on foreign oil and develope better natural energy alternatives. I want to learn about what's in the future of Green Tech, and see if I can't carve myself a niche in that area.
2. Think health, be healthy. I know the cliche resolution is to eat better and exercise more but I've seen what a positive change it can bring about in peoples' lives and I want a piece of that. I'm going to make more food at home and brown bag it when I get a new job. I am going to be conscious about what I buy and eat and feed my husband because neither one of us is getting younger and the better we take care of ourselves now, the easier things will be on us later. That's what I'm going to tell myself to keep my motivation. In addition to better meals and maybe a daily walk and stretch, I am going to continue to work on my positive thinking and self-esteem building. I think I've made good progress over the last few months and I can feel myself changing for good. Maybe I'm going through a maturity spurt or something... lol
3. Save money, shop wisely. I used to be so good about clipping coupons...and never using them. I tend to be more loyal to brands than my bank account. I spend way too much money on not a lot of food. I am going to start picking up the Sunday paper and printing coupons online and organizing them in this little nifty holder I got in the dollar bin at Target. I am going to shop around for good deals and remember that sometimes you have to forgo that juicy steak dinner for some mac and cheese every once in a while. I am against buying in bulk, and freezing meat grosses me out, BUT I know these are things I am going to have to get over to save some dough, so I better start looking into it. I always thought it was strange to buy food anywhere but the grocery store, but you can find good deals on things other places. I know I mentioned Target already but I found myself in their packaged foods aisle and they had a huge variety at much better prices than Vons. They even have specialty foods you can't get other places. Archer Farms makes all kinds of ethnic boxed meals that I wouldn't be able to afford to make from scratch, all for the same price as a Home Style Bake!! Best of all, they're on sale right now...
So there's my short list. Of course there are many other minor things I would like to improve in my life, but these are my major goals for the year. I think as I work toward these, all the other things will fall into place in time. I will also make a conscious effort to blog more. I really do enjoy writing and reading what other people are doing and thinking. It's been kind of my therapy for the last few months and I'd like to make it part of my routine, kind of like at the end of Doogie Howser MD where NPH typed out whatever he had learned in the episode...lol Yeah, you guys know what I'm talking about, you've probably thought the same thing. Anyway, hope you all had wonderful holidays and I wish you the best in this new year.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Best Friend Friday
My Best Friend is awesome. And for the record, I use the term Best Friend, he does not. That’s fine with me, I know guys can get weird about labels. I just use the term to express the extent of our relationship to people. Sean is my husband; my partner in crime, my support system, my absolute #1 best friend in the world. But he already has a title. My ‘best friend’ is the person I’m closest to out of all the terrific people I am lucky enough to call my friends. It might sound cruel to have a hierarchy like that, but them’s the breaks. It’s not like I said “You! You are now at the top of the friend list.” There is a history there, most of which will never make it to this blog.
We’ve been friends for over 10 years now, and we’ve been there for milestones from getting our driver’s licenses to getting married. He’s a great person. Fun to be around, easy to talk to, intelligent, trustworthy…and he can put up with my shit almost as well as Sean. I love his wife; she and I have become good friends these past few years and I’m so thankful that she is accepting of me. She and I are often the only two women in the group when we’re hanging out, and it makes me happy just to be around her. I’m really lucky to have these people in my life… I don’t tell them as often as I’d like because I’m afraid of sounding mushy, or coming off as codependent or something… I don’t know! I try to show them as much as I can how much their friendship means to me, usually by giving them treats or packing some bowls. I like doing things for them because they’re always so appreciative and it makes me feel good.
To give you a little bit of background, BFF and I went to middle school together for one year but didn’t really talk until high school. We were both in band and our parents were involved in the boosters. We rode the same bus to school. His stop was much earlier than mine and on cold mornings he’d have the seat close to the heater, so when I started sitting next to him I got to reap the benefits. His birthday is the day after mine, which I’ve always thought was cool. For one thing I can always say I’m older than him but the best part is celebrating together. Only downside is we’re both Aries and we butt heads from time to time be we always manage to work it out. Senior year and some time after graduation we didn’t really talk, but I never stopped thinking about him. I’d hear a song that reminded me of him, or see his initials somewhere and wonder what he was up to. A couple times I just called him out of the blue. Probably looked like a stalker, too. lol
When we reconnected as adults, it started out as casual hanging out. Now I see him and his wife so often it’s weird when I don’t hear from them for a day. When they went on their honeymoon I was happy they were getting to take a vacation but I couldn’t wait for them to get back because I missed them! So as you can see, the bond has grown strong. I’ve heard that during your whole life you will only have a few true friends and I know they fit in that category. I don’t know what life would be like without BFF (or Mrs. BFF) and I have a feeling I never will. :)
We’ve been friends for over 10 years now, and we’ve been there for milestones from getting our driver’s licenses to getting married. He’s a great person. Fun to be around, easy to talk to, intelligent, trustworthy…and he can put up with my shit almost as well as Sean. I love his wife; she and I have become good friends these past few years and I’m so thankful that she is accepting of me. She and I are often the only two women in the group when we’re hanging out, and it makes me happy just to be around her. I’m really lucky to have these people in my life… I don’t tell them as often as I’d like because I’m afraid of sounding mushy, or coming off as codependent or something… I don’t know! I try to show them as much as I can how much their friendship means to me, usually by giving them treats or packing some bowls. I like doing things for them because they’re always so appreciative and it makes me feel good.
To give you a little bit of background, BFF and I went to middle school together for one year but didn’t really talk until high school. We were both in band and our parents were involved in the boosters. We rode the same bus to school. His stop was much earlier than mine and on cold mornings he’d have the seat close to the heater, so when I started sitting next to him I got to reap the benefits. His birthday is the day after mine, which I’ve always thought was cool. For one thing I can always say I’m older than him but the best part is celebrating together. Only downside is we’re both Aries and we butt heads from time to time be we always manage to work it out. Senior year and some time after graduation we didn’t really talk, but I never stopped thinking about him. I’d hear a song that reminded me of him, or see his initials somewhere and wonder what he was up to. A couple times I just called him out of the blue. Probably looked like a stalker, too. lol
When we reconnected as adults, it started out as casual hanging out. Now I see him and his wife so often it’s weird when I don’t hear from them for a day. When they went on their honeymoon I was happy they were getting to take a vacation but I couldn’t wait for them to get back because I missed them! So as you can see, the bond has grown strong. I’ve heard that during your whole life you will only have a few true friends and I know they fit in that category. I don’t know what life would be like without BFF (or Mrs. BFF) and I have a feeling I never will. :)
Thursday, December 4, 2008
My other blog....
....has a new entry if anyone's interested. It's kind of long, but if you've got time to kill it's there. :) You can get to it through my profile, if you aren't familiar with Blogger...
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