As the World Turns...

Still here, but just barely.

Working hard and doing things this body hasn't done in 20 years!
I can't even look forward to the weekend - it's retail, there is no weekend.

Monday my training period will be over and I have more days off and shorter hours, so that's what's keeping me going. That, and lots of Ibuprofen!

As far as learning my department, I'm getting there.
Mastered the scanner and the printer... And once in a while I can lead people to what they're looking for. I still get the deer-in-the-headlights look at some questions, so I'm not quite there yet.

Give me time.

Discovered "shoplifting central" - it's in the Barbie aisle, of all places. Specifically, behind the Monster High dolls. I find more ripped open empty packages stuffed back behind those boxes than one would want to believe!

Getting used to the kids coming in and stirring things up, but I'm getting more and more disgruntled at the number of parents who watch them do it, and then just walk away.
Boggles the mind.

(...And yes, I secretly laugh at the geeky dads who come, unaccompanied by children, and drool over the Star Wars figures and the Matchbox cars.)

Another thing I've learned this week - if you set up ladders and carts and fill the aisle with boxes, people suddenly come out of the woodwork to try to drive through.
Sheesh. Just try to get some work done! Human nature is a weird thing.

One bright spot in the week - Elmo moved to the back room yesterday. No more mocking laughter at all passers by. The barking dogs have taken his place, but for some reason it gives me a kick to set them all off at once.

Hubby works Halloween (till midnight!) - and his birthday, but I have them off.
Go figure. I'll have to think of something nice to do for him on his break.

Life goes on - looking forward to next week, when - maybe - I'll have something more interesting to talk about than work!
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Dreamin'

*WARNING* This post is pure silliness.

I don't believe in horoscopes, but once in a while I read them just for kicks - this one made me laugh out loud - romance is not even something I think about any more.

Not that hubby isn't romantic, but it's never been the "Joni loves Chachi" kind of thing between us, it's more like a Randy Travis folk song - Grandma loves Grandpa kind of thing... (No grand gestures, it's the little daily things.)

Anyway, it read this way;

Cancer
Ready for some serious romance? You'd better be -- and from an unexpected venue, too. Someone you've thought of as nothing but a friend for possibly even years is about to hint that they'd like to change that.

Funny thing is, that night I dreamed that my dream guy (Tony Danza) swept in with his millions and took me away from it all - not in a limo, mind you, but on a camel cloaked in red velvet...
(I've been on my feet 40 hours this week and feeling very weary about having to make a living.)

So, I guess in a way, that one came true - it just didn't mention I would be asleep at the time.

And,

Last night I opted to stay at the store and buy a salad from the deli instead of driving home. (By then, the walk to the outer 40 to the car and back is not an option!) It was some vegetarian thing, not even sure what that shredded vegetable was - zucchini or something, with broccoli, raisins, onions, etc. It tasted ok, but somehow the chemical combination became lethal as the night went on - swollen tummy, and breath that could drop an elephant at 50 paces!
I was afraid to talk to customers, it was so bad...

It was so bad that even in my dreams last night, I was offending people!
There was a huge event at an amphitheater in Washington DC, Obama and Osama were going to meet together and give a speech. I just happened to be there, so I went and got an incredible seat, when who should arrive but my beautiful, stylish sister and her family. She took the seat next to me, and I said something in greeting - she frowned and told me to beat it because I stunk.

(She would never do that in real life, by the way...)

Meanwhile, the crowd was harassing the reporters and telling them to shut up and get out of the way, and I stood up for them. So they signed my shirt. Just mentioning that because one likes to know that not everyone hates them, even if it is a dream.

Anyway, dreams are tellers of the past and the future - the mirror into how we really see ourselves. But oftentimes you have to dig through the crazy to find it.

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Toy Story

...Nothing to do with the movie - it's my new "career."

One week down in the toy department, and it's been a trial by fire.
I went from working 4 hours a week to working 40 - on my feet - and they are rebelling!

I have learned a few things this week:

a) There is no such thing as a straight and orderly toy aisle - it's just like having a house full of toddlers. While you're picking things up, there is always someone following right behind you messing it up again. (job security?)

b) If you think you are buying fresh new toys off the shelf - you are wrong. Unless it is sealed tight in a box with the wrapper intact - trust me, it has been played with. (And not just by children!)

c) Adults are more destructive/disruptive than children (see above.)

d) Tweens travel in packs and do most of the mischeif.

e) Toys don't seem to be selling much right now - it seems like everything that leaves our department eventually finds it's way back.

f) Motion detecting talking toys are annoying. (...And one of these nights I will strangle Talking Elmo in his sleep!)

All in all, I guess it's been a pretty good week. Although I haven't been this tired since... before the heart surgery.
The up-side is that maybe I'll walk off a pound or two(?)

Hubby has had almost as many days off this week as I've had on. He's been the best - keeps the house clean, has lunch ready when I get home, keeps track of the kids and everyone's schedules. I keep telling him he's a better housekeeper, mother, and even wife than I've ever been. He even got up at 3 am and made Jenny her lunch! (she's working the graveyard shift.)
- I swear I don't know what he keeps me around for.

Next week will be as busy as this one, but after that, things will slow down just a bit. I will actually have a few days off here and there.

Anyone up for a foot massage?
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Walking Away...

Yesterday was my last day at my old job.
Underwhelming to say the least. As I left, I told several people that it was nice working with them. ~ Nothing.~ No eye contact, no goodbyes, nothing.

Certainly no remorse on leaving - I don't know what I ever did to spark such indifference, but I must have done it.

I don't think I'll even go back there to shop.

I'm done.
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Work

I started the new job this week, which is good.
I've been excited and anxious to get going, but the dragging it out made me get cold feet. I was about to tell them never mind and stay at my old job.

Wednesday was orientation, and the next two days, video training sessions.
I've got my schedule for the next couple of weeks - and it's grueling!
I've been used to only working one or two days, now it will be the opposite. Instead I will only have one day off during the week, and they are 8 hour shifts instead of the four hours that I'm used to.

Granny's going to be tired.

...But at least the paychecks will have some meat on their bones.
I've got some late nights and some early early mornings - I knew that was a possibility when applying to a place that's open 24/7. That's why I didn't apply there in the first place, but the upside is that so far I have Sundays off. (Yay!)

Jenny got called too - she'll be graveyard shift stocking groceries.
I would think that would be a killer, but those are the hours she's up anyway, so she seems unfazed.

She got a call last week for a job offer, but she had to turn it down. Fork lift maintenance for Sam's Club in SLC! (She doesn't know how to drive one, let alone repair it!)
That's what happens when you don't pay attention to which box you check when filling out online applications folks.

I'm working both jobs today (I'm hoping I'm off the schedule after this!) So it will be a long day.
There were times that I would do both - I've had up to 4 jobs at a time before, but I'm OLD now - I don't even want to try!

Better get dressed and on my way...

Ta!
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*Mphglblp...*

I spent three grueling hours in the dentist's chair yesterday, with my mouth stretched to its limit and numbed to my eyeballs.

Today I'm still feeling the effects - feeling that my mouth has stretched halfway around my head - (picture Julia Roberts doing the platypus face on Runaway Bride here.)


I had been told my appointment was at nine, so I rolled out of bed early and rushed to get there on time, only to be told I was 45 minutes early.
The receptionist gave me the option of going home (not an option - it's 40 miles away!) ...or just hanging out on the couch.

I knew if I sat that long, I would be sound asleep in minutes - so I opted to drive across the parking lot to the mall and join the early morning "mall walkers."
...Get the blood flowing to the brain and all that. I did the whole mall twice in half an hour. I don't know if that's good, but I was impressed with myself!

In fact, I wish we lived closer to the mall for that reason. I've been meaning to start walking every day, but it's always too hot, or too cold - or rainy or windy...
The weather has been my excuse for the last two years.

No excuses needed there - no weather, no traffic - and you can just window shop as you go around.

Cool.

Sunday while the girls were here, Millie asked me to help her make some invitations for her birthday party this week.
She's going to the local beauty school for hair-dos and make up, then they're having a tea party/dress up session at home.

So we had fun for a couple of hours dragging out the paper, ribbon and die cuts and we worked assembly line style with her mom. (didn't have time to grab a photo, sorry!)

It made her day, and that's what it's all about - right?

My Sunday organists go walking every morning at 8, so I invited myself to join them - I missed the wake up call, and didn't see them when I walked around the block, so I just went by myself.

Felt a little jelly legged from all the walking (and the Novocain) from yesterday, but I made it up the hill and back down through the Maples (it's farther than it sounds!)
...But now I have to go to work and run around there for 4 hours.
Hope I can make it!

It's been a nice day so far, tried to catch up on my reading and my facebook games at the same time (my computer is so S - L - O - W that I can do that)

I'm still reading that biography of Thomas S. Monson and Abraham Lincloln, Vampire Hunter simultaneously.
The one is a buffer-zone for the other - I can only take so much violence at a time.

I'm going to have to read a real biography of Linclon when I'm done, for all the liberties the author takes re-writing history. Wow.
Not what I expected - violent, gory, and not at all funny (like I thought it would be.) ...Except for the irony of very little of it being true.


...Anyway, leaving the tracks here.

It's feeling more like November than October - mourning the fall that we will undoubtedly miss again this year.

Gotta go.
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History in the Making

It's been an eventful day today, the ground was broken for the new temple
that is to be built here in our fair city.

I expected to be awakened by the noise of traffic and chaos, but I forgot that the church always does things in a sane and orderly manner.

All roads that led to the site were blocked off - people were directed to the different stake centers in the area and shuttled there and back, so there was plenty of parking and very few traffic tie ups.

It was a cold rainy day, so a lot of those who had tickets to the site were giving them away and opting to view the video that was streamed in to each of the chapels. We were warm and dry and comfortable in our own little church.

Jeff and his family came down to watch with us. It was so fun to share the historic occasion with our little grand girls. Something that I hope they will always remember.

Most of the dignitaries who spoke had ties to our community and shared in our excitement of getting a temple here - one lady even wore her Payson Lions blazer (although it had to be concealed under layers and layers because of the cold!)

Elder Dallin Oaks presided over the event. I wasn't aware of the fact that he actually grew up in this area. He talked with excitement about people who he knew here - people who are still in the area and are well known to most of us.

David Dahlquist led the choir (the city's most admired/feared teacher)
...and my neighbor who works at the local garden shop did all the flowers.
I was so pleased for her that Elder Oaks commented on how nice it looked. He said that it would set the new standard for all future groundbreaking podiums.

One of the first things I noticed when they left the podium to turn the soil was that the soil didn't look right.
I leaned over to Jeff and told him "that is not Payson soil - they must have imported it."
It was too smooth and rich looking. Everyone knows that Payson soil is the color and consistency of cement, and is full of rocks!

I borrowed this picture from the Deseret News website - after all the church leaders and the civic leaders had all taken their turns to turn the soil, Elder Oaks invited all the 12 year old deacons to come and take part...


How cool that the youth were able to be involved in that way!
It's exciting to know that after the year and some odd months wait, the work of building will finally begin!

Just as a side note; this song was one of the ones that was streamed in while we were waiting for the ceremony to start. I love this song, and informed my family that I want it sung at my funeral.
The Mo-Tabs probably won't be available, but my own little church choir would suit me just as well...



Speaking of funerals, we went to hubby's cousin's on Thursday. It was another cold wet day - there was even snow falling in the foothills.
The service went well - some of her closest friends spoke and sang, and I think that it was consistent with the way she would like to be remembered.

I'm really glad that I went and had that glimpse into her life. It put those needed pieces into the puzzle and made some sense of it all.

She's still someone I would like to get to know better, and I still can - through her writing.
She left behind a blog that I hadn't been aware of until after she was gone.
Family reunions will never be the same, that is for sure.

It's been a long week, feeling weary to the bone.

Good night.
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Hump Day

Mid week again, and life rolls along...

Adjusting pretty well to hubby being home - because most of the time, he's not.
Still lots of other people for him to take care of - his mom, his brother, the neighbor down the street who is retired, and thinks that hubby should be playing all day too.

He had all that before, but also the two jobs, so it's seeming fairly normal now - I do get to see him once in a while.

We've been doing some fall cleaning around here - stirring up dust that hasn't been disturbed in years. And both of us are feeling it (allergies!)
That plus all the stuff that's in the air this time of year - Ugh, haven't had them this bad since... EVER!

Something else that is new around here - I'm realizing who the messy person in the family is. My work load has tripled since he's been home! And he actually expects more than one meal a day! ...Very unusual indeed. Life is so much simpler when it's just me. LOL

I interviewed for the new job, and was told I got it, but not much has happened since. I had to go in at 8 am on Monday morning for what I understood was going to be orientation - but after being kept waiting for half an hour, I was handed some papers and told to go have a drug test. If not done in 24 hours, I would have to wait a year to apply again!

I have never been drug tested before, and let me tell you, that is a unique (and most humiliating) experience. I never dreamed there were so many ways to "cheat" on a pee test! They practically frisked me before I went in, and I wasn't allowed to wash my hands or anything until it was done!
Sometimes I think I'm getting too old for this modern world... This stuff is just too inhumane.

I haven't heard anything back yet. My current job is looking better and better to me.

Tomorrow is that funeral in Brigham City. I've had a strange week trying to put some closure on it. Strange, uneasy dreams, disconnected thoughts - I'm beginning to feel that her suicide had to be accidental - too many pieces don't fit.
Hoping to make some sense of it there.

Saturday is the big groundbreaking for our city's temple. Was feeling shut out at first, so few tickets available - but now, I'm thinking I would much rather be in my own church house watching it on the big screen than out there fighting the mobs.
Traffic is sure to be a nightmare, and the area where it will be taking place is so small - the further away we can stay from there, the better.

It is a most historic moment, but laws of safety and civility (not to mention sanity) must still apply.

It's a work day today, and I must be on my way.

Till later.
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October

Mixed emotions this weekend. First of all, I interviewed for a new job - and got it.
Nothing terribly exciting, I am the newest associate in the toy section at Wally-world.
But hopefully, it will be a boost in wages, and I like that it's so close to home. I won't have to travel the roads at all, so the car will be freed up for Jenny.
One step closer to getting her a life...

It's conference weekend, and I'll have to miss most of both sessions today.
Got the A.M. shift at the fabric store.
I have to give my notice today. I'm almost excited about that, but nervous too.
My tummy is a wad of knots this morning.

...Could be partially due to having lunch from the greasiest of greasy spoons yesterday.
Ugh.
I'm feeling like I'm so done with that place - anytime I eat there, I feel like I have to follow the meal with a cholesterol pill chaser!

On a sadder note, have another funeral to attend this next week.
My husband's cousin Lisa. Details are sketchy right now, and there are more questions than answers, but it appears that she checked herself into a motel, and checked herself out of life.

It's so hard to think that anyone could hurt so much that they could feel that was their only option. She had so many friends and people who depended on her - I'm hurting this weekend too, wondering if there was something I could have done or said...

Senseless loss.
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