Know-it-all Lady

Know-it-All Lady

The Know-it-all Lady was in the store today. We see her several times a week. Sometimes every day. When I first started working here she drove me CRAZY. She always answered for me when another customer had a question. She'd come up to the front with a bizarre item from the farm room asking "Do you know what this is..." and then proceed to tell me.

Several times, though, she saved me when a difficult customer wanted to know why I couldn't tell her what something was. As if I'm supposed to have unlimited knowledge of endless nic-nacks and farm implements. She knew that a round, thick glass bowl was actually the base of a chicken waterer. She identified an item that, to me, looked like a bit of rusty metal. I can't remember what it turned out to be, but it was underpriced and quite valuable if the right collector happened by.

Now a day doesn't seem quite right if she doesn't come in for her cup of hot coffee. She's our best salesperson. If another customer is vassilating on whether to buy something, she jumps in with how much of a steal it is, and after all, it's 20% off today (She also knows all of our sales). They usually buy it. And she knows the answer to every ailment. Today she advised washing my dishes with bleach and pouring more down all the drains to keep the "grunge" (the cold I've been fighting for weeks) from reoccuring. And I got to trade cat-keeping-us-up-at-night stories as she walked out the door.

I love the Know-it-all Lady!

Groggy Thoughts of a Saturday Evening

Groggy Thoughts of a Saturday Evening

I took a nap for an hour. First mistake. Now I'm wandering around and crashing into walls. It always takes a while for me to shake off a nap.

This afternoon five of us played two rounds of Trivial Pursuit LOTR. The guys (AKA Mike) won one round and the girls (Sometimes known as Me) won one. Which brings Mike and My total LOTR score to Mike: 1, Me:2. Denise and Nancy both decided to watch the trilogy with Sam again before we play the next round. And The three of us Lamba Deltas are going to play Star Wars Trivial Pursuit tonight.

And I was going to talk more but we're all here now and are going to Borders.

Tales of a lone Protestant

Tales of a Lone Protestant

Another winning day in classes. The kids are not settled down from break yet, and keeping them quiet is a major undertaking. Kindergarten was a zoo. I'd decided over break to supplement the "silly" songs we're learning with a few Bible memory songs -- G.T. and the Halo Express stuff. And those clever songs we all learned in Sunday School to help recall which books go in which order. I put up the "Books of the New Testament" overhead and asked the kids if they looked familiar. Blank Stares. One girl in the back tentatively put up her hand and said that maybe they were stories about Jesus. I asked them how many of them had a Bible. Their parents? Ever read one? Crickets chirping. So we're learning them. And hopefully someday it'll connect.

Speaking of which, I dodged a bullet yesterday. We were singing I Timothy 4:12 yesterday and discussing the word "purity." We looked it up in the dictionary to find out it meant "without sin, innocent." Who is a good example of without sin. "God!" Good. "Jesus." Great. "Mary." Ummm... "Joseph!" Mooooving on quickly before I stick my protestant foot into my mouth and have several dozen parents calling the school.

I'm sick again. Still. About the time I start feeling better I have a busy couple of days and take a few steps back. I am supposed to skiing tomorrow, but with my current energy level, I fear I'll make two runs and be too exhausted to finish the day, and down for the count all weekend. I need to call Amanda.

Work is a mess. We've cleaned up most of the main rooms, but the clothes rooms look like my bedroom after my third clothes change of the day, and the bargain rooms are, literally, a disaster area. I spent several hours reorganizing the book room today (my pet project) and I'm nowhere near finished.

Last night was Bar Study. Another 8 chapters of Exodus covered. We're to the tedious parts now -- post Red Sea crossing, into 10 Commandments, the Law, and everyone's favorite, the building of the Tabernacle. Thrilling reading there. Actually last night we discussed how much of Old Testment Law is still part of our value system today -- for instance, one verse says that if an animal gores another animal, then the owner is not responsible, unless the animal has a history of goring, in which case the animal should be killed and the owner made to make restitution. There were even a few we thought could stand to be brought back -- especially those talking about exactly how much restitution is enough (instead of our sue happy culture).

Then over to Sean and Kris' to watch The Wedding Crashers. Which was way funnier than I expected, even watching the "uncut" version. I like Owen Wilson a lot. And the main girl from Mean Girls was in it. Then some discussion of Final Fantasy, which invariably led to the idiot question by me: what the heck is it. I think I lost some brownie points.

Hurrah for an evening with nothing to do, unless I decide to be social. I love Wednesdays.

Fuzzy Sweater Strikes Again

Fuzzy Sweater Strikes Again

I stopped for gas at Albertson's and decided to do the smart thing and check my oil. As I'm opening the hood and wiping off the dipstick, the guy at the next pump over says, "Need any help there, Miss?" "No thanks, I've got it covered," I replied. Did I mention I was wearing the pink one?

New Year Beginnings

New Year

This year has started off well with a veritable date yesterday for coffee. It was lovely. I so dread small talk with strangers, but he's very easy to talk to. Plus he's from Yakima, lives in LA, teaches and does the acting thing, so there was plenty to talk about.

Last night was ledger extravaganza night. My only resolution per se is to keep doing what I've been doing only more so.

And I'm off now to go register my car in Washington. I've somehow misplaced the title to my car, so I'm going to take a stack of ownership papers and my loan application and see if that will fly. If not, I have to wait until the banks open and get my bank in California to fax a copy. And I really won't have time to do that until later this week. I'd rather just get it done if I can.

Year End Report

Year End Report

For all you Mary Hunt-ers out there, here's my year end debt payoff.

In 2004 I made approx $27,000.00. I paid off $3,213.89 in loans and $783.74 in credit card debt, totalling $3,997.63.

In 2005 I made approx $15,000.00. I paid off $4,704.02 in loans and $1646.53 in credit card debt (Most of which was moving my stuff from Waco. My credit card still exists happily on ice, but I had to use it to buy gas for moving. Once I pay it off again it's going to sit happily out of the way indefinately). So this year I made almost half as much as the previous year and paid off $2,352.92 more in debts than the year before. I am thrilled about that.

My projections for 2006 are: Finish paying off my move by the 15th of January, I should have my car paid off by July or August at the latest ($2,700.00 to go on that). Then I can begin funneling money into the last of my student loans (Approx $10,000 to go of the original $25,000). Hopefully if I really gun it I can be completely debt free by January 2008. My RDRP has it lasting until mid-2009, but maybe, maybe, I can suck it up and get done early! That's where things stand this year. Let me know how you all are doing on yours.

You would think

You would think

That it wouldn't be so hard to pick up the phone and say, 'hey, I'm not coming." How much effort is that exactly? Aarrgh.

It must be Thursday. I never got the hang of Thursdays

It must be Thursday. I never got the hang of Thursdays.

Another long work day. I'm about ready to take my lunch break, but I can't leave until Nan gets back. We have money missing from our register, and until it turns up we've taken our regular employees off the till. This morning was prayer breakfast. As the first Mission function post-rumor I wore grungy jeans, a grey top and no makeup, just to send definate "Not interested" signals. Didn't work though, I got hit on by some random guy on the way in the door. I wasn't even wearing my fuzzy sweater. Maybe just owning them gives interesting luck. Not necessarily good luck. Just interesting.

We're clearing the main parts of the shop of all Christmas. Hurrah! No more chintzy christmas nic-naks. I hate them. Oh the little santas and snowmen running around underfoot. Stupid pre-lit decor. Ugh. I like Christmas, but why do we need all the crap?

I'm starting to get really hungry, but the longer I hold out, the less time I have to work after my break. And I need to deposit my Christmas checks to pay some bills. And I've got to run by St. Paul's to turn in my hours so I can get paid on the 15th. I hate that they've moved our payday. I was all set to have my credit card paid off by the 1st. Messes up my year end report to have that debt.

And speaking of which, January 1st is annual Year-End-Report day. Those of you that ledger don't forget! And if you haven't, you should invest in another credit report to check on any glitches.

Office Romance

Office Romances

So from what I hear, some guy on the program at the mission has started the rumor that we are dating. In spite of the rather obvious facts that 1) I'm never at the mission proper, and 2) I've said hi to the guy once. Nancy wasn't going to tell me about it, but her parents let it slip.

Isn't it funny how I can have whole dating lives and not even know about them.

Bar Study

Bar Study

Another day at work. Another employee calling in sick so I had to work the register. I don't like that part of retail. People are difficult. And I get worn out quickly trying to small talk with everyone. I suck at small talk.

Then, after a several hour nap and a no-cook dinner of crab and cucumber wrap with ranch dressing, it was time for our weekly Bible study at Jackson's Sports Bar. No, really. Denise and I are quite proud of ourselves. We've finished Genesis as of last evening, and will be moving on to Exodus Saturday. Jacksons has good crinkle fries. Needed fry sauce though.

Then kareoke. Another great evening. Minus Mexi-pro getting completely hammered. But Metal/Hella/Pro-pro showed up for the first time in months, which was awesome. He must take naps on tuesdays every week. Hail, hail the gang's all here!

Alright, back to the grindstone.