I have the best boss in the world or at least in my opinion!!!!!!!!

I think that I might have the best boss ever and let me tell you why. I finally got up the nerve to call about a job that I had seen for months and possibly even years in the newspaper when I got fed up with Venture Data's crap and being treated like a drone and like I don't even matter at all. Well, I did and I got a job selling Cutco the best part being that it's all no pressure I get paid just to come over and do a one hour demo if someone buys something cool but if not it's okay they don't have to. I started training and started to love what I'm going to do. Then I ran into a problem I got really sick and had a dilemma before me do I show up and train knowing my concentration wasn't the best or do I risk my job and be sick. I decided in light of the fact that I would be using sharp knives that one time had put my manager into the ER for a day that I would stay home. I called bracing for the worst okay I was thinking bye bye job it was good while it lasted but nope my manager was kind about it and told me to just get better and call when I had and he told me to take my time. I did 4 days later I was over being sick with the flu nasty bug anyway so I called back and he scheduled me again to catch up. Problem arose, the weather I waited outside in 9 degree weather for over an hour for a bus that for some reason never came. Finally hurting all over from being frozen I was in a skirt mind you I went inside and called. I explained what had happened and the first thing they asked me was not when can you come in and work but was I okay. I told them I was and apologized but they again told me I had done all I could do I couldn't control the weather. Then he yelled at me for endangering myself and told me that he appreciated my trying to get there but it was not worth endangering myself to go train. Then I was supposed to go the next day and yea 3 feet of snow came and the buses out here were not running so I called again and left a couple of messages and again no problems. Then we had Christmas and more snow so I am thinking and worrying crap I lost my job. Well, today I called to check in and guess what my manager is the best not only have I not lost my job and I am scheduled to finish the last bit of my training by the end of this week but he is happy that I am okay and that we are dug out for the most part and that buses out here are at least running. I am so grateful now for a boss who actually cares because all the bosses at Venture didn't and I had a hard time respecting them. I am not trying to get away with anything I was really sick and I can't control what the weather does and I'm glad that he knows that and that he showed respect for me in not forcing me to choose being being sick or risking life and limb to be at work no matter what. I can work my butt off for a manager like that because even in the short time I have talked to him and gotten to know him I respect him and his leadership and how I'm actually a human not a drone. I wish more employers actually cared about their employees I think more people would actually be loyal to their jobs and work harder. I know I'm going to because I want to show him that I appreciate that he worked with me and that he let me keep my job.

Christmas Miracle Come Early

Today was my grandma's annual Christmas brunch the same brunch she has had every year and with the same menu and Christmas decorations since long before I was born. As I've gotten older I have realized how warm and comforting Grandma's house is and maybe that's because nothing changes it's familiar and I have tons of memories of that house and things we have done there and family times shared. The miracle is this first off my family has been splintered apart by bickering and fighting and we came together and enjoyed each other. The second miracle is this my brother and Amber not only joined us but they freely gave hugs and handshakes and my brother willingingly helped with the dishes along side me. They are having a baby boy in late February or early March and they were telling us about that I am excited and happy for them. They will only tell us his first name will start with a G and that his middle name will be Wayne and his last name will be Christensen. That made my heart leap that Geoff is continuing that name tradition with his son just as my grandpa and dad had done. Our family has a lot of work ahead of us before we are fully unified but today was a good step in that direction and I feel that at least for Christmas our family is at peace. We also glued together to get Grandma and Grandpa a night out at Black Angus and two movie tickets. Grandma was so elated as Grandpa doesn't like to get out much and Grandpa kinda grumbled about the money we all spent but Grandma and I told him that we all chipped in equally together to get them a nice gift. Sigh!! He'll get over being grumpy Grandma said so all in all it was a good day.

Literally Stranded

All this snow has been real fun out here NOT!! Yesterday thank goodness though I had the sense to look outside and once I noticed that the sidewalks were impassable I made the call into work where I was supposed to finish my training so I can go out and sell Cutco knives and let them know I was snowed in. It wasn't more than an hour later when I learned that even if I had managed to get out my front door and cross Highway 2 to get to Yokes which by the way would not have been an easy task it wouldn't have done me any good bus service out here has been suspended until further notice. Thankfully I wasn't like some of the idiots Damian saw out there waiting for a bus because like them I would have been waiting a good long time. So I called work again and let them know that bus service has been suspended out here until further notice and I don't know when it will be operational again. I didn't get a call back which was unusual so my bet is that they had closed their office as well. So I'm standed for awhile but that's okay we have a warm cozy house, plenty of food and thanks to my brave husband who did so much yesterday to help us and his folks and aunt and some neighbors shovel out plenty of milk because to repay him his dad took him to Wal-Mart in dad's truck and I had Damian get 3 gallons of milk. That sounds like overkill maybe but I don't know how long this crap will last and I was surprised yesterday how much food prep requires you to have milk so I figured between that and drinking it that will be enough until we can get dug out. We were supposed to go to my Grandma's on Saturday and like I told her yesterday we would try but I can't control what Spokane Transit decides to do they have suspended bus service out here because most areas of Spokane have recieved up to about 3 feet depending on where you are in Spokane of snow within 24 hours and they have deemed it unsafe for most buses to travel and that has hardly ever happened as long as I have been alive. Hopefully we all get dug out soon.

My Inlaw's tend to drive me bonkers

This is one of those posts sorry guys but I have to get this off my chest before I explode. Damian's folks drive me up the wall. Sometimes they have their nice moments like how they have taken me to Walmart to get a few things I do appreciate that but most of the time I want to run screaming. For example they have been after me to get a better job so I did and now they are whining about that and whining about how it's sales yada yada yada. I'm sorry where I work and who I work for is not their concern as long as I'm employed. We also worked out our differences with our landlord so we can stay where we are and again you think they would be happy that we don't have to move out of their ward NOPE they started complaining about how we are still going to be living in a trailer stupid since they own one just down the road. Damian also is now working for him for pay doing maintaince and they are whining about that even though they were after him to get a job. It is like they are never happy and it is beginning to drive me nuts. It's enough for me to just pack up and run away but I have other family and friends here so I won't. GRRRRRRR!!!!!! I try to ignore them but what really gets me is how they work for just above minimum wage themselves and own a trailer and it's like they try and discourage their son from bettering himself every time he talks about wanting to get a college education they not only discourage him but they break him down so he gives up that is what really pisses me off. Damian can be a lot of things he is smart and it really irks me when his own parents don't encourage him to do better in life.

Surviving Artic Temps

Brrrrrrr it is freezing here in Spokane yesterday it got up to a balmy 9 degrees here in Airway Heights and it is going to be cold for quite a few more days. I don't mind the several inches of snow outside but I can do without the bitter cold. It makes me just want to curl up and hibernate but I have to get up and get moving. I am thankful I got the last piece of plastic up on our windows just in time we have really felt comfortable in here and haven't had to crank up the heat too much I couldn't imagine how much we would have to turn the heat up if all of our windows were not covered. I offer as evidence that we would not be too comfortable without the plastic the fact that one night part of the plastic on one window was torn and that window and that window only managed to freeze solid. None of the other windows have so I am thinking that if we didn't have the plastic up all the windows would have frozen solid and we would have been pretty darn uncomfortable. We are also celebrating a simple Christmas this year but in light of the current temps I'm not whining anymore to me it's enough to just have warmth and a warm place to live and plenty to eat. It's amazing how fast I get some gratitude when the temperatures drop.

7 Random Things about me

Okay Stephani you inspired me to list seven random things about me so here goes

1) I don't really like watching movies all that much I'm picky about which movies I like and even if I do like the movie most I watch only once it is a select few that I will watch over and over again. By the way I'm the same way with books most books I read even if I like the book I will read only once it's a select few books that I will read over and over.

2) I am a fan of game shows but I really like older ones that can be seen on Game Show Network....my current favorites include Card Sharks, Match Game and Chain Reaction

3) I'm also a fan of quirky shows on BBC America such as Cash in the Attic and Bargain Hunt

4) I like watching ghost hunting shows and shows about haunted places but yet I don't like horror movies go figure maybe it's the gore that is in horror movies now a days yea that must be it I have never been a fan of blood and guts.

5) I love history it doesn't matter what it's a history of, American, European you name it I love it. I also love watching documentaries but my favorite subjects are about Ancient Rome, Ancient Greece or Ancient Egypt.

6) I don't like cream of wheat at all but yet I can stomach oatmeal so long as it is apple cinnamon oatmeal and only apple cinnamon any other kind makes me want to get sick

7) I really hate Top Ramen that stuff makes me want to get sick I won't eat it even if I am about to starve I would rather starve first.

Striving to remember why Christmas is celebrated

This year more than most I am really struggling to try and remember why Christmas is celebrated. I have the gifts bought and waiting until they can be wrapped I have Christmas card to fill out you know the usual but this year I feel empty inside although I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because I am forgetting a crucial element remembering Christ and that he's the reason we celebrate in the first place. I feel a little bit better once I attended a Relief Society Christmas program in my grandma's ward it was really well done and it helped remind me of what is really important. I feel more centered now and less chaotic and hectic Christmas isn't about the gifts that are given or the cards that are made or even about the goodies eaten although all this is nice it is about celebrating the life of Jesus Christ and about being with our loved ones and loving each other. I think as I struggle to make new Christmas traditions and remember some of the old that I will try and find ways to remember this and make it all a part of my future celebrations. Have a Merry Christmas everyone.

It's beginning to feel like Christmas

Yes yes I know Christmas isn't for another several days but to me every year once I get all set to go the Nutcracker then to me that signals Christmas and the Christmas season. It's a tradition that my grandma Christensen started when I was in the third grade and every year with very few exceptions we have gone together along with a few other members of my family. We used to take grandpa and my brother and pretty much everyone but for the last several years it's been my grandma, myself, my sister and if she can make it my sister in law, Amber. Amber can't make it this year since she and my brother are moving that day into their first house but they will be missed. I'm hoping that this year will be just as fun as all the years before. I have seen the Nutcracker so many times I have it memorized but every time I go I still am mesmerized by the beauty of the sets and the dancers and I enjoy myself so much. I'm so excited I get to go this year and I look forward to these girl times with my grandma and sister and hopefully if not this year but next little Lexus will get to join us and get introduced to this wonderful Christmastime tradition that we have.