Ouch

As if my work load isn't pulling me in a hundred different directions as it is, when my assistant and only person who can keep my head on the right way while I'm in the office gets in an accident on her way back from lunch and calls me in tears and screaching sirens are blaring in the distance, it makes me scared. I am slowly gaining an understanding of the Monday-Friday business of it all, but honestly. Luckily, she is okay. Thank God.

And I hate it when it rains, not only does it make me melt when I step outside and my hair frizzy, but it makes already bad drivers forget how to drive.

My VSAs are feeling bad for me, so much so that one is contemplating applying for the weekend manager position because as he says, I am "below E" and I "shouldn't have to do weekend stuff anymore because I am not able to handle it anymore". Ha. I enjoy my staff sometimes. Except for calling me in tears. :(

I have the worst headache today. It started before word of the accident, so I'm sure that stressful trigger made it worse.

While watching House again today, there was a commercial for 24. NOOOOOOOO - Fox is killing me. One commercial or week off at a time.

Thank you and good night.

Religious Connotations

I don't want to call Dr. Wilson Judas.

:*(

What's even worse, I have to wait two weeks to find out.

Thank you, Fox Broadcasting.

Take your thirty pieces of silver and put House on next week instead. December 12 seems so far away...

Not too Bad

Thanks to my handy-dandy Brownie Girl Scout Handbook, I just made the best apple pie since 1988. And it's even better with caramel on the top of it. Yummmmmy.

Even though I hold the right to doubt every ounce of my mad culinary skills, you should not. But the element of surprise when things I make actually turn out good is second to none.

And that is all I have to say for the day.

Go Ahead, Laugh with Us

Friday at work was a slight disappointment after a much-hyped "Black Friday is our busiest day of the year" spin. Good thing I have staff I can laugh - and cry - with.

Alexis, Ray and I are in the gift shop.
This conversation was over the radios:
Evan: Alexis, do you copy?
Alexis: yes, go ahead
Evan: Do you know what drawer these Dossin files are from?
Alexis: It's the same set, J-Lyon. Lyon with a "y".
Evan: Oh yeah, that makes sense...I just finished a file named Lyon.
Amy: starts laughing
Alexis: starts laughing
Ray: Oh my goodness, Evan, you did not just pull a Tiffany
That's when I fell on the floor and could not control myself anymore. The three of us were dying with laughter.

Really, it's moments like these that make being a boss worth it.
Another fun moment from Friday:

Alexis informed me that at the staff meeting on Tuesday that we'll be drawing secret santa names. And that the limit is 25 bucks. I said One - I don't like anyone there that much to buy them 25 bucks worth of anything. Two - I just moved out, so I can either buy someone here something or pay my bills. Um...I wonder which one wins. Three - I was debating what color tea kettle to write down for the longest time, giving Alexis and Ray quite the laugh about it. When I stopped talking about it, Alexis said, watch Ray, Amy is going to ask what colors again. Sure enough I did, then that made everyone laugh too. Fun stuff.

Ray actually greeted a visitor while sitting on the floor. I can't imagine how that looked. And I just laughed at him. After that person was gone, I said, Ray, I can't believe you just said that while sitting down on the floor with your legs crossed. Can you imagine how that looked? He said, no, I really can't. And started laughing.

Since no one actually wanted to be there on Friday and since we only had 207 people, it's a good thing we can all be such dorks and laugh about things.

On the other side of town, a conversation between my mom and the mail lady, after their small talk about how Thanksgiving went:
Sue: Do you have something to tell me?
Mom: No, about what?
Sue: Don't you have something to tell me?
Mom: Um....
Sue: Weren't you going to tell me she moved out?
Mom: I didn't tell you? I thought I did.
Sue: No, I had to find out about it from the forwarding request that I just got today.
Mom: I could have sworn I told you. But yeah, I think it's been about two weeks now.

Some people don't tell friends they are moving and they get upset. We didn't tell our mail lady and her feelings were hurt just as easily. Who says Metro Detroit is too big to know your own neighbor? Let alone your mail lady. It's a bunch of rubbish.

I had my first glimpse of what a weekend could be yesterday. Yes, it was my first Sunday off since September 17th and only my third in six months. I want to call a random person in my stack of resumes and just hire someone. We can go through the technical stuff later. Seriously, if that wasn't already at the top of my list, it is higher than the top spot now. I waited too long on that other girl who ended up going to another department within the Society. I waited too long to second interview any of my first interview candidates. Now I have to start all over again. I wanted six people hired by November 10th - but that was my naivety. Interviewing and hiring is a much longer process than I anticipated it being - but maybe only because I have to hire so many people at one time. Bah humbug.

Saturday is Noel Night. I have to have a plan for my Gift Shop liquidation sale. I wouldn't mind selling all that ugly shit, but then I wonder about having any stock for the rest of December. I will also have to work at least 13 hours that day. Who's excited about that?

Time to get ready for work now. Auf Wiedersehen.

It's On

House is great and all - really, I'm a big fan, but Bauer needs to be back on the air on Monday. Seriously. House is either going to jail or Wilson is going to kill him first. I need to see how Jack coped with the Chinese and how exactly something I found about season six awhile back is going to play out. And I miss Aaron and Mikey. And if they bring Hobbits to the show this season, I will be very disappointed.

Maybe my countdown should have been to the day Season Five is released on dvd. Budget or no budget, Bauer is mine.

Good-bye, Bo

Today was the funeral service at the Big House. Now, I can't stand anything about Ann Arbor or the University of Michigan, and that especially holds true for the athletic teams that reign from that institution. With that said, I'm not sure there has ever been or will ever be a better coach so representative of the university from which he coaches or able to make such deep, meaningful impacts not only to the players and fans, but to the entire sport to which he devotes his entire being. Bo Schembechler, you'll be missed. Even by those who can't stand an ounce of anything involving the Wolverines.

In other news, Detroit was voted by Self magazine to be the unhealthiest city for women in the country. Perhaps I should have investigated a move to Honolulu. But what does Self know anyway?

A Time to Chill

No matter how exhausted I am on Monday nights, I can usually always find the light at the end of the tunnel when I watch my cousins. They can be really bad some nights, but there is always a sliver of hope and happiness as I am reminded of the simplicities that still exist in this big, scary world. When it seems all the piles are stacked up against me and me alone, witnessing the purist forms of innocence and wonder and excitement and learning make me smile. And it makes me feel good. Even more than the glimer of light of watching kids be kids is the knowledge that I have the next three days off of work - and - for the first time in my life, I get a paid holiday. Hell, yeah! I actually do have quite a bit to be thankful for this year, but you better believe that my full-time position with benefits that fell into my lap by the employment gods is high on my list - probably number two.

I talked to my parents for awhile on the phone tonight. It occurred to me that I now have longer conversations with my mom than my dad as of late, which is strange for us, but I'm sure that will all balance out in due course. While complaining to them about some of my coworkers who don't pull their end of the weight (yes, I know it happens everywhere - just shut it for a minute) and understanding my frustrations and empathizing with me, my mom mentioned something about how my life is the epitome of the top stressful things in life. That got me thinking about an idea for a blog, which I will come back to revisit in a minute.

Update on work: I am still stretched thin as I don't yet have a weekend manager. I have exhausted the stack of resumes but am holding hope for one promising candidate. I shall see how it pans out either later this week or next Monday. Keep your fingers crossed for me. I don't have a big head (errr, at least most of the time), and I don't mind saying that I have about the third most important job in that building (1-CEO, COO, and CFO; 2-Marketing and PR). As Manager of Visitor Services, I am it when it comes to the overall experience of the Museum to our guests. When something isn't set up the right way because someone didn't pay attention to the company calendar, it becomes my problem. When someone else goes behind my back and books something without my knowledge and bypasses the entire Visitor Services team, it becomes a problem. When my staff has to write "do not loose mind" on my "to do" lists and then today break the news to me that I am now officially insane, it shows the serverity of the problem. When I have no other way to deal with the problems that surround than to slam my office door, it becomes everyone's problem (at least the three people that work in the same hallway as me). And when I can turn into a bitch in a blink of an eye to those who continuously disrespect me - intentionally or aware of their actions or not, woe be to that poor bastard. Though this might be considered a woman's natural talent, when it comes to my Museum and its operations, do not cross me. Do not cross my staff and do not disrespect us. I take it personally because I look out for those who work for me. I lead by example in hopes that others might catch on and do things in a similar fashion. I lead by example because it is important to me that those whom I lead can follow confident footsteps and know that their boss cares about both personally and their jobs. This, in turn, should make them care more about their job performance in the long run. I'm still learning, but I'm off to a good start and am building a solid foundation from which I can build my career. I don't have enough time to do my own job, let alone everyone else's job that just so happens to fall through the cracks that land directly on Visitor Services's lap. So anyway, back to that stress list....

With some brief internet research, I found the following categories among the top 40 stressful things in life. I am moderately, yet nearly borderline high-risk for stress-related illness. Hence the title of this blog post. The stress measurement is taken over the last year, which, even without my research is fairly obvious:

1) New job
2) New house
3) Change in job responsibilities
4) Change in work hours
5) I've quit three jobs over the course of a year
6) Major purchase: Car
7) Major change in finances
8) Change in eating habits (hello 25 pound loss)
9) Change in recreation habits
10) Minor violation of the law (Waterford >:- )
11) Revision/change of personal habits
12) Change to different line of work

The first four have occurred in the last three and a half weeks alone. If I seem short-tempered, untalkitive, crazy, or exhausted - do not ask for explainations. Having my personal life (coming home to boxes) and professional life in chaos does not help matters. This will all take time to work itself out and I have two full days to help make a dent in the former. But it all must start with a good night's rest. And because of that, now I must leave you all with well wishes for the day in which this finds you.

Wants and Needs

Sometimes, something you want isn't necessarily something you need. But sometimes, they are one in the same. For instance...

I really want a nice slab of juicy, well-cooked, well-seasoned meat and a couple sides to top it off. I also need that...my body is getting angry at the digusting combination of food I find to stuff in it each day, and, I need the nutriants that come with that meat.

It all balances out. I hate this starving artist gig. Add high stress to it and it's just a horrible thing to wake up too and put up with all day. :-/

Bittersweet Bliss

I'm tired. But I have a right to be. Read my day's schedule:

7:30am - alarm
7:50am - get out of bed and shower
8:00am - do dishes
8:30am - move clothes upstairs on bed to force myself to get them put away before I can go to bed tonight
9:00am - get dressed
9:04am - drop off move-in checklist at rental office
9:30am - arrive at parents
10:00am - have wagon packed and leave for target
11:20am - leave Target, bid it a fond farewell...that store and I have many memories
11:30am - home, unpack first load (yes, I made it across town in 10 mins, how? I don't know)
Noon - back at parents, ready for second trip
1:00pm - leave with full station wagon
1:05pm - arrive Mt. Clemens post office. get change of address forms and mail Stevie's retirement newspapers to Christy. It's only been three months.
1:30pm - home and unload second load
2:00pm - at parents, loading up my baby with the last of my stuff that was in my parents
2:40pm - Dad arrives home from work, I stay and chat. Gave better directions to my house. Leave before rush hour starts
3:00pm - home and unpacking car
3:28pm - online and blogging for the first time at my new place.

Plan for tonight:
find a home for some of this stuff so I can stop living like a bum!
eat with dishes, not just out of a pan
put my clothes away so I can start using my laundry baskets like a normal person
watch Lost
Go to bed kinda early since tomorrow is my Monday :-/

"A friend is someone who knows you well and still likes you". So either deal with it or get over it.

Going Dark

I'm moving this weekend. I don't know when I'll be able to log on again.

Until that time comes, good luck and God speed.

Not Politically Minded, but...

Holy Hell! Today is Christmas in disguise.

Per NYTimes.com, "Rumsfeld Resigns as Defense Secretary After Big Election Gains for Democrats".

This is huge.

The Senate must confirm the nomination of his replacement first, and Gates still sounds like a Bush croony:

Gates is the president of Texas A&M University and a close friend of the Bush family. He served as CIA director for Bush's father from 1991 until 1993.

Gates first joined the CIA in 1966 and served in the intelligence community for more than a quarter century, under six presidents.

It feels good to be a Democrat today.

Post-Election

I believe I am 2-2 in big elections now. I'm relieved that both Granholm (better of two evils) and Stabenow (yay Democratic Congress!) were granted second terms. I have yet to win a presidential election - that will be exciting when that day comes. I only think two of the five proposals I voted for actually turned out the way I wanted them too. I know that the eminent domain issue is for the state, but it is also the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. I have a hard time accepting change like that, especially if it means changing one of the Bill of Rights. If this becomes a national issue, I'm going to worry about the foundation of our country's fundamental policy. I know the government is cheap and doesn't pay the amount they say they would if they have to take your property for growth, but I'd be curious to see how often that actually happens, and how successful the lawsuits are if they seriously try to rip you off. Hm.

That's all I have to say about that.

For some post-election celebration or mourning, read this. It is bound to make you laugh. I was nearly in tears for some of these answers. :)

A first grade teacher had twenty-five students in her class. She presented each child the first half of a well-known proverb, and asked them to come up with the remainder of the proverb. It's hard to believe these were actually done by first graders. Their insight may surprise you! While reading these, keep in mind that these are 6-year-olds because the last one is classic!
1. Don't change horses.........................until they stop running.
2. Strike while the..................... ...............bug is close.
3. It's always darkest before ..................Daylight Saving Time.
4. Never underestimate the power of ................... termites.
5. You can lead a horse to water but ........................how?
6. Don't bite the hand that..........................looks dirty.
7. No news is...................................impossible.
8. A miss is as good as a .............................Mr.
9. You can't teach an old dog new ......................math.
10. If you lie down with dogs, you'll ...............stink in the morning.
11. Love all. Trust...................................me.
12. The pen is mightier than the ....................pigs.
13. An idle mind is........................the best way to relax.
14. Where there's smoke there's ........................pollution.
15. Happy the bride who......................gets all the presents.
16. A penny saved is ..............................not much.
17. Two's company, three's ........................the Musketeers.
18. Don't put off till tomorrow what.............you put on to go to bed.
19. Laugh and the whole world laughs with you, cry and........... you have to blow your nose.
20. There are none so blind as ..................Stevie Wonder.
21. Children should be seen and not ..................spanked or grounded.
22. If at first you don't succeed ..................get new batteries.
23. You get out of something only what you..........see in the picture on the box.
24. When the blind lead the blind .................get out of the way.
25. Better late than ........................pregnant.

Yes, It Does

Hard work and frustration pay off. Eventually.

And when it does, it is sweet.

Ahhh, Friday

The thought of skipping out of work early this afternoon crossed my mind yesterday, but I have a full day of interviews and meetings, and am afraid that is simply impossible. I think until I get to a Monday - Friday, I'm going to work a long day on Thursday (because there's nothing better to do on a Monday) and have a short day on Monday (because it's technically my Friday). Now that I've confused everybody before 7am, I guess it really doesn't matter, as long as it all works out, right? Right.

My best friend is in town and I saw her last night for the first time since early May. Before I got the museum job, before I got the Pearl, and before I started this final stage in the long uphill battle to get out on my own. I've decided seeing her and her family is probably in my top five favorite things. And even though I could have gone to sleep at 8 last night, I still made time to go spend time with them. Her newest nephew is cute stuff. I walk in the door and Marissa just throws a baby in my arms. Ha. The other kids were happy to see me too. Kelsey is really cute, at one point she asked if I wanted to know "the whole truth" and then went on to tell a story. It's fun.

Tomorrow is election day. I won't make a pitch about political parties or who is better than the other one. I do know this and ask you to consider the implications. If DeVos wins, not only will we all become citizens of China, my dad will be out of a job. Is my dad's job better than your dad's job? No. Is teaching special needs kids better than working in an auto plant? No. DeVos's top priority is not only to shut down all intermediate school districts, but to start with the Macomb ISD. People move from around the country so that their child(ren) can enroll in our special education programing. We have among the top autistic programs in the country and do a huge service to the other special needs students. The age they would be able to stay in school would be dropped to 21 - currently it is 26 and my dad works in a school for 21-26 year olds. Not only by shutting down the MISD would my dad be unemployed, but by dropping the maximum age, his chances of being employed by a local district would be slim. So the point is - not only would the hundreds (maybe thousands) of kids that are currently enrolled in ISD schools be forced to integrate back to their local schools, and not only would some be forced to the work world earlier (my dad's kids need those extra five years of training and conditioning), but all the staff would be layed off and their futures unclear. ISD's have always been a topic of being cut from budgets in nearly every election, but if DeVos gets it, scary things will happen. And it just won't be to our state's measly industry either.

Re-elect the Canadian. If you don't, in five years, we'll all be blown away.

My stomach hurts and I'm exhausted. Now I get to go do what managers do all day. The good news is: I get to promote someone. At least I get to do this before I have to hire or fire someone. Practice all around.

It's the Cry of the Tiger

With my alarm clock right next to my pillow, I still missed my 6:30 wake-up. But because of my cat's bad behaviour, I checked the time to find out it was 6:33. I thanked her, then reset my alarm so I could get ten more minutes of sleep. Waking up to annoying music is one thing, waking up to a cat pawing at your hair and meowing because she knows you're not up when you're supposed to be is something completely different.

I've been meaning to this for awhile and since my title is a spin on an old classic, it's the perfect day. They have more than just their names in common....














The weather says it's 24 degrees but feels like it's 18. Who's ready for some winter?

When Thursdays are Your Mondays

People I know generally dislike Mondays. I know why. What makes my Mondays even worse is that my five day work week starts on Thursday. While the other staff is winding down and exciting about tomorrow being Friday, it's all opposite for me. Ah well. Soon, it will all be different.

I need out of this house now. Too bad people are being assholes about it. Upon my return yesterday I was greeted with how horrible a person I am, how neglectful I was being to my brother's damn cats, and how disappointing I was being to him. Like he's never been disappointing to me before? And wtf, if it was that big of a deal, go do it yourself. I can't stand it when people bitch and complain about something but don't just fucking do it. Be proactive and do something about it, don't just complain about it. I'm not likely to give a shit either way, but especially so if you can't get off my ass about how much of a terrible person and sister I am. Fuck you.

My interview went well today. I scheduled her back to meet with Michelle next week. I have three more tomorrow and a couple more on Monday. I don't feel like an old pro yet, but I feel a little better about it. I'm glad I did my homework yesterday.

I'm still torn in different directions at work, but I think that things are slowly coming together. And soon, not only will I have a regular schedule, but I'll have some sense of control and organization over my workload. I can't stand being this scatterbrained about everything.

Hitting the Big Leagues

Monday, I had a meeting with my VSAs. We talked about things and trained in the gift shop, and I think we're going to be all right. I said since they have seniority once I hire more staff, I'd take care of them. That was probably a bad thing to do, but they needed to hear something to reassure them that with all the changes that have and will happen(ed), things will work out.

Yesterday, I applied for housing in an area that is bound to drive my parents up to wazoo and back, but is in a convenient location. The only thing that really matters is that it is affordable and I like it. Ha, I should record that conversation and find a way to post it online. It's going to be great, especially if we're approved. Which is when I will wait to tell them. hahaha.

Tomorrow, I have my first interview. Not only is this person interviewing for the weekend manager position, they will be my first. Poor bastard.

Stepping up to the plate has never been so - um - nervewracking or intimidating before. Good thing I'm confident enough to handle it all with flying colors.