Work, work, work

I started at a call center about 2 months ago and I loved everyone at the center that I was able to meet. The actual job though... it's rough. I know how rude people can be because I've only ever worked in the mall, but when the person can't see who they are yelling at... oh man! They are just downright nasty! Their problems weren't even my fault and yet they take out all their anger and frustration out on me. I understand that they see me as the face of the company, but chill the hell out people! TV is not so important that you can't miss a few hours, or days. Take the opportunity to spend time with your family. K, I got that out of my system.

Not only was that part hard to handle, but I don't like being confined to a little space like that. Cubicle life is not for me. I don't consider myself being claustrophobic, but maybe I am? Just a little?

I'm still at the bookstore. I'll be there 'til the very end and my manager is very grateful. She was relieved when I told her I quit and would have more time to give her. I'm really bummed that we're closing.

1. I like working there.

2. I like all of my co-workers.

3. I love books. I love to read, and I like helping people find new worlds to escape into.

4. The dress code is casual.

5. I get the amount of hours I want.

6. It's a good company with a great rewards program.

Now, I'll be applying to the mother store (who owns us). They don't have room right now, but maybe in a couple months someone will quit. *fingers crossed*

Thankfully, my husband makes enough to feed us and pay our bills. No extras though. :( The call center pays amazingly well, but it just isn't the right job for me. I was miserable and stressed. I will be applying for jobs around town, but it's not a great time of year to get a job. We'll see what happens. I'm confident everything will work out fine though.

Cookies = Fail

My friend NB and her husband JB have been looking for a house for several months and finally found one! She was supposed to close on it at the beginning of November. Well, the bank didn't have all the paperwork together so she wasn't able to close on the house until this month. We always have work parties at her place, but a week before our party we had to find another place because we didn't think she'd be able to close on the house in time. We were right. She finally closed on it the day after the party. Go figure.

The Monday before the party, we started looking for other places to have our party. Everyone else lives in apartments too small for 15+ people, so I looked into renting the party room in my apartment complex. The problem with that was we'd have to be out of the room and have it cleaned up by 10. Plus, I worked all day that Sunday and wouldn't have time to prepare anything before people showed up. We decided on a nice restaurant downtown. The day before, JO decides to actually call said restaurant to find out if we could reserve the back room for it. No, they close at 2PM on Sundays. Great!

I don't know who decided it, but we ended up going to Perkins. Of all the places in town, someone chose Perkins.

Last year we did a gift exchange, but this year we decided to all make cookies and have a cookie exchange. I called my step-mom to have her send me the recipe for Candy Lasses because it was something new I'm sure none of my co-workers have had. I decided to make them on Wednesday in case I messed them up, then I would still have time to remake them or make something else. I'm glad I did that because I messed them up! Haha

First of all, the recipe calls for crushed peppermint candy. I didn't really have anything to crush them with and I couldn't remember how my step-mom did it. I didn't want to call her and sound like an idiot, so my husband just put them in a bag and beat them with a hammer. It worked, and that's all that matters. Don't judge.

The recipe also calls for molasses and that stuff smells so nasty! I really hope I don't need to use it for anything for a very long time. Anyway, I pulled the cookies out of the oven and they looked perfect! I didn't burn them! I was so happy!

Candy Lasses failed because they were rock hard after cooling. Only after I mess them up does my step-mom tell me to take them out before they look done. She apparently burned them the first few times she made them, too. They didn't look burned, but I guess looks can be deceiving.

All that work for nothing. I ended up just throwing them out. The night before the party I decided to make Oatmeal Scotchies. I trust them, they don't deceive me. They actually did turn out perfect and they were very tasty. I was sad to give 95% of them away, but everyone liked them. (: Steve ate the other 4.9%

Merry Christmas everyone!!!

The kindness of strangers

My husband is a huge gamer. Huge! That's pretty much all he does when I don't drag him out of the house. For Christmas, I was either going to get him a new cell phone or a new PC monitor. He really needed both, but together was out of our price range we set for each other.

However, someone made the decision for me. A stranger. My husband has been playing games online with him for a couple years, but he has never actually met the guy. There's a side forum for one of the games he plays, and he was complaining about needing a new monitor (his was from the 90's).

While I think my husband is an idiot for giving out personal information (our address), something good came from it. One of the guys just up and sent him a flat screen monitor. Steve thanked him profusely and asked him how he could repay him. The guy's answer was to simply do something nice for someone else someday.

Another thing occurred while I was at work today. I had a couple girls (about 11) who didn't know how much money they had, but really wanted to get a calendar for someone. After I told them how much it would be with tax, they went over to a bench and counted out that exact amount and got in line. The lady in front of them was watching and listening to them, bought her calendars and added on two of our chocolate truffles. I thought they were for her and her son, but after she paid she handed each of the girls one. The girls were so excited and thanked her. I thought it was really sweet of her. She said her nieces live in Texas and she never gets to see them, so she bought candy for these random girls.

The kindness of strangers... It's really fantastic!

You're welcome, CEO of Kleenex

I have a theory. The Kleenex, Puffs, and other tissue brands all got together and created the cold, flu virus, and other such illnesses where tissues are required. This year alone, I'm sure I paid the Kleenex CEO's Christmas bonus.

I'm sick again.

I have gone through so many tissues (with lotion) and my nose is feeling pretty raw. It sucks. I'm pretty sure I'm sick because I work in retail and touch money all day. Sick people buy things, too. Sick people really should not touch money while they are contagious. I wash my hands as often as I can, and I try not to touch anywhere on my face, and if I do, I try to use the back of my hand. I still manage to get sick though.

I just felt like complaining. Thanks for listening. (: Hopefully, I'll be better before Christmas. I think the worst is over, I just have a cough and runny nose.

Santa lost weight!

I have been so tired and uninspired. I love making AMVs (Anime Music Videos) but I just can't seem to find a song that inspires me. I've found a lot of really great songs that I love recently, but none that match any of the Anime that I own.

Life hasn't been too terribly exciting. I started and ended a job rather quickly. I'll post about that later this week. I'll also tell you why I fail at complicated cookies.

I did discover that Santa is on a diet!!! He must have finally realized cookies aren't good for you. Especially in the quantity he's been eating them in. No, actually I'm guessing the mall just couldn't find any one fat enough that wanted to do it this year. *shrug* He is super skinny though. It's kinda funny watching him walk around on his breaks because the suit is so big on him! He comes into my bookstore a lot. Too bad I didn't get a picture for you. Sorry. :/

But if you're interested... here is one of my AMVs. It's just a 30 second clip from a collaboration I did with some people.