Thirteen photo's of the tangible talent with-in my family! 

My sister Beth is quite a quilter, not to mention a seamstress / alterator (not an alternator, or an alligator - yes, I said an alterator). She is very talented and full of Love ~ which shows in her work!  Beth has managed to do a wonderful job of providing for herself doing something she loves! Below is just "some" of her quilting work. I was originally going to choose just one, but they were all so pretty, it was too hard to choose, so I created my 13 to show you more.

I've also included some of my cross-stitch creations (plus a few other "artistic" works that I happened to have on hand)!

Without further ado: Here's creativity from our clan! I'm proud to be part of it and hope you enjoy....  

1.

2.

3.  This one I made for my sister Molly

4.  This one I made for Mom

5.  Another of Mom's hooked rugs (see post from earlier in the week for another view of her works).

6.

7. 

8. 

Samantha made this one, at the age of just 12. She was taught by my Mom & they work together on them when Samantha visits Mass. This one is of our kitty, that died after 16 years of being with us. She drew it herself even! It's now complete, but I couldn't find the completed photo. Sam is now working on another, a beautiful red rose that she started on one of her last trips home to Nana's ~ although, the schoolwork & cheerleading doesn't leave much time for it lately.

9.   This one I made for Samantha

10.  Colleen's son

11.  My Aunt, Colleen, the writer!

12.  How do you pick just one?

13.  I made this for Beth

And lastily a bonus photo of a cross-stitch I stitched for my God-Mom, Sherry.

PS. If anyone's interested in learning more about any of the above talents; to buy, learn, or just chit-chat... comment and I'll email you back.

PSS. I didn't hesitate to make my coffee first thing this morning... just in case that water went off again!  HAPPY TT TO ALL!

Hey folks, it feels like it's coming down to the nitty-gritty right now with this economy. Is it not? It's beginning to feel like it's time to go back to trade, growing & killing your own food; everyone back on an even playing field & only the strong survive! Things are looking very Bad (with a capital B) out there, according to the evening news. Thousands losing their jobs, gas prices, bankruptsy, foreclosures, devasting storms, to name just a few. All I can think to say is: Wow! I truly try to look at things with an optimistic atmosphere, but I'll tell you, it's getting really hard to do so. Things have been Bad for me for awhile, but that's lately been my norm. Now it seems others are starting to catch up to me & it's truly scaring the crap out of me. Gas, food, everything is going up....  Being unemployed is freightening enough, but when your hurting so bad you can't even afford the gas to get to interviews and when you finally dig up the money to get there, there's a good months wait before you hear anything from said job. If you happen to luck out and get the job, now your waiting a good three weeks wait for a first paycheck (not that I got one yet, just pointing out the vicious circle) ~ GULP.  

Ok, so I got that little bitch session out and I am sitting here trying to think about something positive to write about, while I'm procrastinating making my coffee. I could write about how much I LOVE the new book I started last night and have read 200 pages of already. The book I Won ~ Made in the U.S.A. When suddenly, I hear my door slam.... Oh No...  a notice is posted on my door ~ never a good thing.  (Ok, turns out It's better than it could be, but still not a great start to my day) 

TO ALL RESIDENTS:

The water will be turned off for quite a while today. At this time we are experiencing some water difficulties. The water will be turned off and on today trying to determine the problem. The water should be back on this evning without any interruptions.

So it is recommended that you set aside some water for the day so you will not run out. If you have any difficulites please contact the office.

Difficulties?  How about the fact that immediately after reading the news, while the guy was still pulling away, I run to fill up my coffee pot that requires water and I've been procrastinating making; and simultaneously run to grab a jug & a large boiling pan to fill, as advised.  BUT.... it's already off!! Happy Day! Can you feel my pain?

I had a dream last night ~ but don't remember it clearly. I do remember saying to someone "Oh, I can blog about that..."  but the more I try to figure out what it was, the foggier the memory becomes. It was one of those dreams that you have to think deeply on whether it really happened, or if it was in fact a dream. I've concluded it must have been, because now I can't remember what I was refering to (if it was real).  Funny how hard it is, at times, to find things to write about and then other times it just comes so naturally. I wonder if that is what writers block is all about. 

This morning, after looking over all the available jobs and sending a few resumes, my Mom sent a beautiful picture of the rug she just finished. Hey, I thought, I can blog about the rug. It's just so pretty and really should be shown! AWESOME, huh?

Mom's big dream is to one day open a rug shop; selling rugs, rug supplies, and other crafts. It's not really that far-fetched a dream, considering she is already giving rug hooking lessons; my sister Beth is a seamstress doing alterations out of her home and quilts like you've never seen; and myself and another of my sisters, Molly, create cross-stitch masterpieces. Between all of us, we should be able to create a shop that "won't stop" ~ but it hasn't yet materialized. Mom also plans to create a rug blog, sometime soon.  

This is also my "Close-up" (even though Mom took the photo's) for Carmi's Photographic Theme this week!

Colleen & I had a great time watching Sami's first home JV Football game last night. We met at the store next to the school a few minutes before it began and Col followed me over to the game. We arrived just in time ~ the girls were lining up and the teams were ready to play! I learned that Colleen wasn't much of a football fan, she never really understood the game, but I knew she would still enjoy it. I, myself, love football, having spent many a Sunday watching professional football with Samantha's father, back in the "ole days". It's even funner being in the stands. As Colleen said, the environment is very nostagic, complete with stadium food, fans, & family members. Many members of the Varsity Team were there to give their support and cheers, watching their little brothers and sisters, their protege's, with much Eagle pride! 

The girls did great! WATCH SAMI CHEER. (This is a U-Tube link, but I unfortunately don't know how to enbed it, sorry... Samantha is the one, if your looking at the screen, to the right of the water coolers).  

The game was pretty close. The visiting team stayed ahead by 6 points for most of the 1st half, but during the last period the Eagles came back to tie it up and it went into overtime. Once it started to get a little exciting, Colleen and I quite talking & I tried to teach Colleen how the game worked, 1st down, 2nd down etc. She eventually "got it", or at least she said she did. The darker it got, the more exciting it got. There's something about stadium lighting that just gives you that special feeling.... don't you agree?  The crowd was going wild as they won the game by a touch-down!

We got home around 10 p.m. Late for a school night, but well worth it! Stay tuned next Friday for Game Night #2.

1. Thursday came upon me very quickly this week, but at least I didn't post this on Wednesday.

2. Tonight is Samantha's first JV Home Game (she's a football cheerleader) and I am meeting My Aunt to go watch her cheer. I'll try to post some photo's tomorrow, if Colleen sends me some. My camera was stolen a few months ago and I'm without a cell phone at the moment.

3. I've been trying to find a job this morning, I REALLY REALLY need one..... A job can't come fast enough at this point. 

4. I've also have been adding photo's to my MySpace. It's about time too, I've had my MySpace for about 2 years with only 2 or 3 pictures on it! 

5. Today is September 11th. I said a silent prayer this morning, when I realized what day it was.

6. I had a pyschic flash of the September 11th tragedy, on my way to work that fatefull morning. It's real scary to think back on that day.

7. A local artist invited me to visit his MySpace to check out his artwork. It's good ~ in a very interesting sort of way!  Check him out!

8. Cheeseburgers for supper.... before the game.

9. My new favorite saying is:  "That falls into the category of Too Damn Bad!" And it really does!

10. Tonight is the 2nd to last episode of Big Brother! I'm hoping for anyone but Jerry. Meaning that I want Dad  Dan (who is a brilliant player) or Memphis (who I have a rather large crush on)!  I read this blog often, which gives me status even on days when there is no Big Brother show, thanks to the 24 hour feeds.

11. If you were given something free at the grocery store, in error by the bagger, would you keep it?

12. I just brought some shoes into Samantha's room and realized she really needs to clean it up!

13. And on the job hunt subject again.....  The other (other meaning not the one I talked about below) interview I went to yesterday went well but they said it would be a few weeks before I heard anything.  How can people wait this long???  I also emailed the person I interviewed with a few weeks ago ~ the job I REALLY want! They responded back to my email that all hope is not lost yet, they are "still interviewing" - two weeks later. I am hoping that maybe I still have a chance! Please keep throwing those positive thoughts out into the universe for me!

Big Brother is truly watching!  Have you heard of the new E-Verify system? How scary is this?

Today I went to the temporary agency interview to complete the necessary and "humdrum, done this a million times" required paperwork. Of course and as expected, the paperwork included the Federal I-9 form and W2, both required to work in the good ole U.S. of A! 

While completing the computerized application, the company (without even notifying me of such...) ran my SS # into a new government / immigration "pilot" system (according to the letter I recieved after the fact) called "E-Verify".  I'm now very aware of this program only because, being slightly dislexic, I managed to transpose two of the numbers in my social security number and after completing my application was confronted by the receptionist that my "name & social do not match"  ~ Oops.  No such thing as a simple Oops these days though!  

I double check my information and find the transposed number, an honest mistake on my part and point it out to her...  "Oh so Sorry ~ too late" is esssentially her respoonse and she procedes to tell me, in an attitude seeming to insinuate that I had purposely gave the wrong information that I now have to report to the local SSA office to explain the discrepancy within 8 business days. 

Are you f'ing kidding me? And YES, she was completely serious ~ with a letter in hand from Homeland Security to prove it.

It wasn't, but it could have easily been a typo from the person entering the info into the "E-Verify" program, not to mention a million other problems with this system.  Now I'm being punished....  by having to drive to my nearest SSA office, which happens to be 40 miles away, one way!  NOT HAPPENING FOLKS!

I feel like ranting and raving over this ~ it's complete Bullshit. But instead, I'll sit idly back and behave. I won't make noise but also won't comply.  I'm going to gamble on this one... there's no way I'm going to the SSA office to explain such BS.  After asking her what would happen if I didn't show up at the SSA office within 8 days, Miss Receptionist' stumbling response was that I wouldn't be eligible to work in the US. Oh really... We'll see! I think it's more like I won't be able to work for them.... but so what. The scary part being that I don't think anyone had ever even dared to ask her such a question! 

My thinking is this: How they would even track such a thing if it wasn't the right social security # to begin with? And.... if I'm not going to attempt to work under that same number again, because it was a simple error, how can they keep me from working under my correct number?  I may be gambling slightly, but those that know me, know that that's my nature and so isn't rebeling against such a program!  How many more ways can they track us? This is beginning to feel like _____! (fill in the blank) 

If.... they try to stop me from working in the future based on this silly error, then I'll go down to the SSA office at that point ~ and not before!

Is my Luck looking up?  Just might be....  I got notified this morning that I won a Book Bag from Florinda! It's funny because I've been going through books like crazy lately and I was thinking that I really had better stock up on books I want to read. It seems each book I finish, comes quicker than the next and most of my books are still in storage. When I finish my book too soon and don't have another to start, it bums me out. Especially if I'm in a good reading mood. Now I have two goodies up on deck! 

Made in the U.S.A. by Billie Letts & Off Season by Anne Rivers Siddons are on their way, via snail mail. My winnings! Both look great. Trust me.... I never win stuff and I'm really thrilled! Florinda has made my Monday morning. Thank you so very much!

My weekend was pretty uneventful. We didn't get much more than a drop of rain from Hanna, so there wasn't much weather watching going on, as I had planned. Samantha wasn't feeling great Sunday, so we didn't sell any cookie dough and overall, the only thing I really did was a little cooking and a lot of reading. 

I haven't heard anything from the the interview I went to two weeks ago. I think I probablly didn't get the job (even though they are still running the advertisement...) I should have heard by now, I assume (but then again, you know what assume means right?).  I was really hoping to get it, it was ideal for me! Onto other ventures...  I have an appointment tomorrow at a local temporary agency and Wednesday morning I have two interviews in one, scheduled for a local car dealership. One position would be handling the financial loan paperwork and the other would actually be selling. I applied only for the loan position, but while talking with the HR lady during our phone interview, she suggested I might want to be considered for the other position as well. I'm not too into sales, but am good at it, and I guess it's worth a shot, you just never know and like I always say, what is meant to be, will!  One of these three new opportunities hopefully will bring results! Maybe my Luck is looking up ~ after-all, I did win something today! I can only hope!

"This week I'm going to use rather obscure song lyrics; you can fill them in with the correct words if you know 'em...but wouldn't it be more fun to do it a bit differently?

And...here we go!"

PLAY FRIDAY FILL-IN 

1. If I was to walk into your life, would you be my caveman?

2. Catch a bright star and place it in my pocket.

3. And you can send me some money.

4. I might be oblivious still, but I'm dealing with a memory that never forgets.

5. I'm the innocent bystander / Somehow I got stuck in my Karma.

6. What's keeping us apart isn't selfishness, it's instinct.

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to tracking the upcoming storm, Tropical Storm Hannah, & wishing it would come just a little closer, tomorrow my plans include watching said weather and Sunday, I want to NOT drive anywhere, but I'll have to because there's more cookie dough selling in my future!

Oh, and another thing....  Visit here for the Book Giveaway I just learned about.

1. My last 13 Thursday was done on my 40th birthday. I enjoy playing 13, but don't have near enough time to give it the justice I should. I do wish I could be more faithful to it.

2.  Life isn't necessarily always going to be a bowl of cherries - It's sometimes the pits. It helps to be the bowl, or at least have a bowl!

3.  A GREAT job that you truly LOVE is very hard to come by. I've been lucky, up till now, in my pursuit of job happiness... or maybe I just love work?

4.  People abuse the system so much that when you truly need help and assistance, it's most of the time not there.

5.  I have two vistors: one from Cary, NC & one from San Jose, CA. Both visit regularly and I have no idea who they are. Care to comment?

6.  Blood is definately thicker than water, friendships Rock and Love is what's important!

7.  Time flies when your having fun. Time flies even when your not!

8.  There are two things in my life that I would never change! Can you guess what they might be?

9.  Worrying doesn't help because what is supposed to happen, will. BUT... things would be much easier if you knew, in advance, what that will will be!

10. Samantha and I can sell the hell out of cookie dough!

11. Sometimes you have to do what you have to do for survival!

12. I can escape, with books! But, is that a good thing? It could be worse, I guess.

13. Yesterday was Wednesday and I thought it was Thursday... a funny little moment, as you'll read below.

Anyone who visited me between 8:30 a.m. and now (9:40 a.m.) was truly confused... of this I am sure! I just created and posted a 13 Thursday and then started searching for other 13's to check out. I couldn't figure out why no one had posted this week!!! I literally visited about 6 blogs before I realized it was Wednesday!  Oh boy, where is my mind? Clearly a Chrissie moment!

I guess I 'll post this then.... which I originally completed in Dec. of 2006 (only a few of the answers have been changed) and had saved in my Draft Entries:

A-Z Meme

Happy Labor Day everyone, for those of you in the U.S. It seems kind of ironic saying Happy Labor Day, as I search for a job... and there are so many people out of work! I'm hoping to hear something back tomorrow on the interview from last week! That, folks, would just make my Labor Day this year, make it very memorable indeed! Some mornings I wake up with a weird nervousness in the pit of my stomach and it's there today, which I don't like in the least. I'm brewing coffee (adding caffeine to the mix probably won't help, but I do love my morning coffee)... so I'll just try to ignore it and maybe that feeling will go away. It's in stark contrast to the wonderful feeling I have when I lay down to read for an hour before bed each night and I can get absorbed in my book and become the story I'm reading. When I wake up, I guess reality hits me like bricks and it's not easy to take.

Anyway, today is Auto Auction driving and Sami again has cheerleading... yes, both on Labor Day. I'd prefer there was no cheerleading on Labor Day, especially since I have to pick her up a half hour into my Auto Auction driving... and normally I'd say "just skip it, because there isn't likely to be alot of kids there on Labor Day anyway", but she gets that uniform (and supplies) that we slaved away selling cookie dough for, so there is no way she's skipping.

Gustav is very close to making landfall in the New Orleans area this morning. I have only seen a snippet of the coverage and it looks like it's not too bad right now ~ lets hope the levee's hold. It's still a few hours away. Most people evacuated on the 3rd anniversary of Katrina, can't say I blame them, no matter how much I enjoy storms!

My weekend, so far, has been relaxing... I've been a homebody, with the exception of Friday, when I spent a few hours over at Becky's. It was nice to see her (them, including 18, 12 & 9). Saturday I spent cooking, which was fun. Becky had given me a few things from her garden (Zucchini mostly) and I made a delicious hamburger stew for Saturday's supper and a sauce for Sunday's (I'm still finishing up those tomatoes I cooked down from a few weeks ago). Sunday I read my book most of the day, which was nice, with a few naps in between. Becky loaned me The Season of the Witch (not to be confused with Season of the Witch, which is different - you have to have the "The" included). I'm about done with it already ~ it's really good! Beck, you'll have to bring me another book to read for the rest of the week!

Happy Friday! And Labor day weekend too....  Labor Day brings Fall - which I love.  Bring it on!

I don't have any special plans for the weekend. This afternoon I'm meeting Becky for a coffee (she doesn't drink coffee, so I don't know what she will have). We haven't been able to get together in a long time and although it will probably be slightly short due to our busy schedules, it'll be sweet. After that I am committed to go sell cookie dough, today being the last day to sell for cheerleading (then we will attack the cookie dough selling for chorus and the upcoming Disney trip). 6 more boxes to sell = zero cheerleading balance! I couldn't be happier with this and really can't believe we did it!!! 

No word yet on my interview..... I'm still needing positive thoughts from everyone, please! 

I thought I might try another Friday Fill-in this morning. I've done the Fill-in a few times before, but not often. Becky does them pretty faithfully. I'm faithful at nothing, in the blogging world, despite my good intentions.

1. When I’m sick I’m missing being home under the care of Mommy - 20 years later, still. 

2. When I take a walk, I think about whether there is a hill in my near future. I smoke and don't do hills. 

3. Money can’t buy happiness but it can get rid of the tension!

4. Cotton makes me comfy and leather makes me sweat - unless it's a jacket, then it make me cool!

5. The strangest person/character I’ve had lewd thoughts about was  John Malkovich, need I say more?

6. My favorite color these days is mauve because thats mostly what my house is decorated in right now.  

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I’m looking forward to more cookie dough selling (am I really looking forward to this?, Yes because it equals money I don't have to pay), tomorrow my plans include taking Sami back & forth to her cheerleading carwash, sending resumes and blogging again and Sunday, I want to hmmmm, I haven't thought that far ahead yet - but probably just relaxing!

Two posts in one day! Miracles never cease! I was visiting some of my visitors and happened upon Carmi, whom I hadn't visited in a long while. Carmi has a new Theme post meme and I thought I'd play.... (even though my photo's could never compare to his georgous photography, you must check him out). 

My Water photo's follow....  This was such a fun night! It was about midnight and we were awaiting a big Nor'easter to blow through. This, was the beginning, middle and end of the storm, unfortunately, as it never did materialize into much more. I LOVE weather and LOVE storms and was quite bummed, especially since this specific (2006, I think) winter had been pretty mild for Massachusetts.

Introducing..... Water!

Yes, I let the kid's get wet.  What would the fun be?

 And... here's my favorite, because of the Mist!

I went for an Excellent job interview yesterday and I'm really excited about it! Now, I just wait and see what becomes of it... I'm really hoping I get the job, but I tend not to do well in face-to-face interviews. In the past, even interviews that I thought I had aced, didn't materialize into a job, so I'm trying not to get too excited, too soon. My new position would be as a bookkeeper for a student housing community at Radford University. I would be running applications for new tenants, handling all rent payments & collections of rent. It's a salary position and is only 3 miles from my house! The environment was really cool too. While I was waiting I delved into their photo album scrapbook it seems like it would be a really fun place to work. They have lots of functions in the clubhouse - radio station competitions and all sorts of things!  The work itself sounded like something I would really enjoy and they insisted that it's a very independent position and you must be able to work well on your own....  Right up my alley!  Please everyone, keep positive thoughts that this one will come to be!

Samantha and I have been hitting the pavement (well... driving from driveway to driveway) after her cheerleading practices all week, to sell that cookie dough. It's going really well - two more days to go and we only need to sell 17 more boxes. Her goal to bring her cheerleading fee's down to 0 was 44 boxes, so she has done really well! 

Yesterday Sami came home with more news. Her chorus class will be going to Disney in the spring. She is real excited about it, I am not. Well, I'm excited for her getting to go, but this means another 500.00 due and another batch of cookie dough to sell, already - so once we finish selling for the cheerleading, we'll begin for the trip! Yikes - neverending..... If I get that job, I'll be so much less worried about all this stuff.

I'm not working at the hotel anymore.

The person to the left, is me this morning! You just won't believe this one!

If you've been reading my blog, you know that I recently started a new job as Front Desk Clerk at a local hotel. Reading below, you will see that things haven't exactally been "hunky dorey", but I've been biting my tongue trying to make it work because I really need this job! I've been waiting patiently for the time to come when GM just leaves me alone and suffering through the two weeks of training. I love the work itself, (when there is work to do, that is) I really do.

I've also been struggling to make my funky training shifts work with getting Samantha to and from her afterschool cheerleading events. Finally... my schedule for my 3rd week is created and it's workable and looking good. I'm only on two split shifts and the rest are normal 8 hour shifts and I spend Sunday arranging with other Mom's the to's and fro's of cheerleading. They were willing to help me out with some rides home & vice versa on the days I could help them too, a little give & take goes a long way...

I get home last night to the news that "work called", which obviously can't be a good thing. 9 p.m. I'm told that my schedule has been changed! I am now scheduled for split shifts Tuesday thru Saturday, 8 a.m. - noon & again from 5 p.m. - 9 p.m.! I immediately call the Front Desk Manager Lady (FDML from here on out) to tell her I just can't work these hours all week. Not only have I already made my arrangements for the week with Sam's stuff, but I also can't afford the gas. I might as well be working in Roanoke because going to work TWICE a day is the same amount of gas. Afterall, I took a 3.50 per hour pay cut to NOT work in Roanoke!! But... I need this job right? So, if necessary, I humbly admit that 'll make it work.. However, because I haven't yet gotten a paycheck, I may need a little help with gas this week. She agrees to talk to GM to see what can be done, either way, and I agree to at least work the split shift Monday, giving her a chance to talk to GM.

I get in this morning, 8 a.m. as assigned, and GM is awaiting. I didn't mention the hours issue to him, thinking it'd be better to let FDML do that and bid him good morning. He tells me to go ahead and get started and to begin with the Housekeeping Reports (essentially assigning the maids to the rooms they are to clean that day). "Ok, Great" I say, as I reach for my notes. "No Notes" he says. I was flaberghasted. For one thing, I had only done the housekeeping reports once, while taking my notes, and FDML, who is trying to fill her day with busy work because we aren't busy, has done them on the other days, while I worked on other things up front. For another, thats how I learn. Everyone has their own way and for me, its writing down each step and following as I do.  I will admit I'm a VERY fast learner and with my notes, I could have run that Front Desk on my 2nd or 3rd day (and both shifts, I may add). I look at him kind of funny.... "no notes? I need my notes... thats how I learn" - "no notes" he says, in his India accent. Sorry, but my Photographic Memory just through me for a loop!  ;-)  After 15 minutes of degrading conversation:

GM: "are we in kindergarden?"

Me: "no"

GM: "are we in middle school"

Me: "no"

GM: "then you don't need your notes"

finally.... I get started on the reports. (I don't think I need to tell you how mad I was at this point, do I? I SHOULD HAVE walked out then...) He shows me how to print the report, with his "photographic memory" and I begin listing the rooms out for the maids. I make a simple mistake and ask for whiteout. He looks at my mistake, looks at me, and says "Just go home for the day, ok Chrissie?" And that, ladies and gentlemen, was the start of my morning!

OH MY GOD! Anyone hiring?

Happy Monday morning! On Monday's I drive for the Auto Auction. Mondays at the Auction consists of parking the cars to be auctioned off as they are brought in by the sellers/dealers and then, after they are all parked, driving them into the bays for the actual sale. The Auctioneers are really neat to listen too and boy can they ramble.... and you really have to listen closely for your que to "drive it out" or "roll it out" (or whatever they feel like saying at the moment) as your signal to bring the car out of the bay and go get the next one.  It's kind of fun and cash money at the end of the day, which is always needed. It's not alot of money by any stretch of the imagination... only about 25 to 30 dollars for an afternoon, but "Anything is better than nothing"! It helps with my gas for the week (and in the case of this week, whatever groceries I can scrounge up too). 

It's been a rough three weeks because I've had to wait that long for my first paycheck, which will finally arrive on Friday (and is already spent, no less). I worked yesterday, and because it's the end of the VA Tech "move-in" week, it was completely dead and boring is an understatement. I'm a very independent, "do what I want as long as the work it done", employee and I've mostly been in job roles where this is the norm. It's real hard for me to conform to anything. I have to stand at a front desk and have to "pretend" that I'm busy, even though there isn't a stitch of work to do, not even busy work. My feet hurt so bad. Even though there is a stool there, you can't sit in it during "day shift", it's only for nights - does that make sense?  Make a person suffer....  It truly sucks. I love the work, when there are cusotmers, but I HATE the down time, which essentially was ALL DAY yesterday. Boy, did the day drag! In addition, I'm still not "on my own"; had I been, it would have been a little better....  but no.... so I have to make what I consider "pretend" small talk with the woman training me and for every customer that comes to the desk, she manages to snag, because she too is as bored as I am! I'm still sending resumes for another office position, my norm., but there isn't much out there right now and unless it's for the "big bucks" or something I would absolutely love, I'm not really into driving the 45 miles (each way) into the so called "city" in our area. Of course, this is where all the jobs are, so it's hard to win, either way. I am holding on, at the hotel, until something else materializes! Anything is better than nothing!

We didn't have much luck selling the cookie dough the other day. It's kind of expensive, 15.00 a box, and my neighborhood is not exactally an affluent area. It's also close to the beginning of the month and most people are ready to pay those monthly bills again, with nothing left to spare. The plan for this evening is when I pick Sami up from cheerleading, we are going to try some of the neighborhoods between the school and where we live. Hopefully we will have better luck. So far, our only orders are from my family members, 6 boxes, 34 more to sell. The only downfall with the family orders.... I will have to ship them to Massachusetts. That's ok though because when the cookie dough finally comes in, I won't be as financially hurting as I am now. Thank you to all who bought so far, At least we sold some...

"Anything is better than nothing", is truly my motto this month!

I have the day off and I'm thrilled! I've got housecleaning to catch up on and my truck is being worked on, so I have no intention of going anywhere today! Which, is actually a very nice feeling.... Samantha is taking a nap. She spent the night at a friends and I'm sure they stayed up very late, only to have to wake up early for competition cheerleading practice this morning. She is slightly worn out, I would imagine. The coaches work them to the bone.... 

Samantha has been waiting forever to get the 4th book in Stephanie Meyers Vampire series, Breaking Dawn. It came out a few weeks ago, but I didn't have the money to buy it for her, especially because it's new it's only out in hard-cover. She brought it home from school yesterday, a borrowed copy from her friend! So this afternoon, she came home from cheerleading, with the intention of reading, and is out like a light! I don't think she made much of a dent in the first chapter.

We are planning to sell cookie dough later today, once she finally awakens. We'll go house-to-house, and it'll be a nice walk, if nothing else. We still owe about 200.00 on her cheerleading uniform & supplies and if we sell 40 boxes, she will have a 0 balance - a very good thing indeed!  40 boxes is a high goal, at 15.00 a box, but I guess we can give it a shot!

As for me, until we leave, I plan to putt around the house.  I've got dishes to do, laundry, and of course there's always a little blogging. I love having no obligations, a very rare happening!

Sami is enjoying high school, so far. I finally got to talk with her some. I've been working nights and she has been at school and cheerleading and by the time I've gotten home she has been asleep. We are "passing in the wind", so to say.  Sami likes the school so far though. She says it's a lot different from middle school and is thrilled that they are allowed to chew gum and don't have the strict dress code that the middle school had. At middle school, Sami's biggest issue were the rules for shorts lengths. As I'm sure you know, they don't even sell shorts that aren't short-shorts, or at least ones that any teen would wear, so it's real hard to find shorts that are at "arms length". If her shorts were shorter than her fingertips, when hanging her arms down straight, then she couldn't wear them. This, however, was middle school, thank god.

The high school has a website and each teacher has a homework schedule posted! I'm in love with this! She won't be able to claim "no homework" this year! I also got to read the teachers bio's, which was enlightening too.

Work has been uneventful the last few nights. I'm wondering how boring it might get when it's not student "move-in" week, because even during "move-in" week, there has been some boring downtime. I do have internet access and plan to bring my book, but only when there isn't management hanging over my shoulder. According to other co-workers, once your fully trained and it isn't any special Tech event weekends, they pretty much leave you alone.

I'm also having an issue making arrangements to get Sami back and forth to cheerleading. I am under the assumption that I'm mostly going to be working 3 - 11 and this kind of puts a snag in her practice pick-ups. The other mothers can help some, but 11 p.m. is quite late for a pick-up from me on school nights. It'll all work out, I have faith.....  

Becky and I like to trade work stories, when we talk. Her "war" stories tend to deal with corporate Bullshit (with a captial B) or irrate customers. I always loved to hear about the irrate customers and her interesting stories and now we can compete!

Working in the service industry is interesting, to say the least. There is never a dull moment and last night was a whopper. Anything that would go wrong, did!

I work at a local hotel and this week is Virginia Tech's "move-in" week. The hotel is completely booked for the week, with no free rooms. With the exception, I should say, of the 3 or 4 rooms that were reserved under the GM's name for emergency situations. I'm still in training, but am more or less on my own now (need I mention I love the work, but already hate the management). Last night I got to deal, on my own.

Story #1: I got a call from another local hotel, asking if we have a room. We were told it's ok to release those rooms under the GMs name at 7 p.m. and give them to "walk-in" customers (at an exorbitant amount, I may add), so I said "yes, send them over, we have a walk-in room available". They came in and were so grateful that we had something available. They had driven from NY State, with their 3 kids, one of which was beginning her first year at Tech, and arrived to the news that the other hotel had "lost" their reservation. Apparently they confirmed this reservation 3 times since they booked it. I made their night!  I got them all checked in, with the woman in tears the whole time, at which point they asked "this is for two nights, right?"  "No, no-one had mentioned two nights at all" Chrissie searches for a room for the 2nd night and Yikes..... The only thing I had were two rooms for the next night, which also had been reserved under the GM's name for emergency purposes only, and were not supposed to be used. Here come the tears again and of course I gave it to them and of course I got in trouble. Can't win for losing!  

So that's Story #1, watch out, it only get's better....  A man and his daughter check in from Maryland, again the daughter is beginning at Tech this week. They stayed at the hotel about 6 months previous and enjoyed their stay. The day they got back to Maryland, they made a reservation for this upcoming "move-in" week at a rate of 110.00 per night. When they arrived last night and checked in, the rate popped up to 159.00! (After the fact I learned that the GM didn't change the rates to the higher amounts until after they made the reservation. You would think that he would honor those reservations already in the system, but no.... I wonder how many other people thought they were paying 110?) Needless to say, the man was quite upset, but because my co-worker (person training me) told him all the rooms in this area were pretty much competative with our rates and were also completely booked, he heatedly went ahead and decided to stay. About an hour later they came back down to the front desk, hotter than before, demanding their money back. Apparently, they went to the room and called around and found that our "sister" hotel, on campus no less, had an available room and it was Cheaper! In my mind, fine, go ahead. In managements mind, he could leave, but he wasn't getting a refund, because he had checked in and been in the room for a period of time, he was getting no refund! The man, understandably still very upset, insisted on talking to the GM (at this point it was 10 p.m.), who stubbornly refused to speak to him (I couldn't believe he wouldn't get on the phone). The man claimed he would make "such a stink, we'd never forget him" (Thank God they knew I was the "Good Guy"). He screamed that the GM is a coward (which apparently his is, hence the photo to the right), called our dispute center for mediation from the front desk phone (with no luck), couldn't get ahold of his credit card company and then refused to leave the front desk until we refunded him the money, which we refused to do! It was a stale-mate. After about an hour he said he would stay in the room, but only so that he could confront the GM in the morning. It'd like to be a fly on the wall this morning..... I wonder if the coward showed up? The general consensus, amongst us front desk people, was that he wouldn't.

Sami is off for her first day of school. She looked very pretty today and was ready to go by 5 a.m. She doesn't like the people on her new school bus, so opted to wake up an hour earlier and ride with her friend Lindsey, who also doesn't like the people on this specific school bus, and gets a ride to her grandmother's every morning to ride a different bus. So Sami rode with them to the grandmother's - she is off and in high school! Good Luck little Girl!  

My house smells like both. Yesterday we happened upon someone who gave us a huge box of each.  Why? That's a question and story for a different day - but they were being thrown away! Both the tomatoes & strawberries are close to perfect and now I've got to make some use of them. I started with about ten 32 oz pkg's and a plastic grocery bag full of strawberries. So far I've froze three packs and gave a few away to neighbors, but I still have 4 packages in my fridge and the bag full. What to do with all of them? I guess Samantha will turn into a strawberry.  I'm glad she likes fruit. I might try to make a pie too. 

We also have about 3 plastic bags full of tomatoes. I made tomatoe & mayonaisse salad with dinner last night & today before work I plan to do some homemade sauce, which I've never attempted, but am looking forward to.  Samantha also likes to bite into a tomatoe and eat it like it's an apple, so there will be plenty of that....

Because of my recent financial situation, tomatoes & strawberries are both luxuries to me. Something I never would buy right now....  added extra's. I'm living off pennies and normally would just buy the main ingredients needed to make a cheap lunches & dinners - so this is definately a blessing!

Tomorrow is Sami's first day of High School! We did the Open House thing last night and went to all her classes, met her teaches and scoped out the school. It's an older school, but I really liked it. The teachers were all great.  It was very nostalgic. Not that I went to this specific school, but it made me wish I were going back there to do it all over again. It's funny how High School comes at a time when kids are only worried about socializing, yet they have so much at their fingertips to learn from, and really don't care, like they should. I also learned that my Samantha is truly a social butterfly... but I know she will succeed!