Happy New Year!!

You know one of the things I forgot to mention in my last entry about my trip was the second best thing about that trip and the greatest gift of all (besides seeing my mom) was being able to talk to my brother. We were sitting eating dinner and my moms phone rang and I hear her say his name. So I jumped up and followed her in the kitchen since none of our family was there...Just me and my mom and after two hours of waiting in line to use the phone he made a call to moms and didn't even know I was there so it was a double bonus! It was pretty short but really great to talk to him since I haven't in a very long time. He's doing well, hanging in there I suppose. They extended his tour till April now. They do that all the time and it sucks! But He's good, He's alive and healthy and he will be coming home.

I left the kitchen crying like a baby and ran to the bathroom to compose myself and when I got back to the table everyone was teary eyed and happy for us. It was really nice.

so its New Years Eve and were going to have a simple evening. I'm taking Sarah and her two friends to dinner and we'll bring in the new year with a good meal and celebrate the midnight hour at home when it comes. I remember last year being really really sick and not even making it to work the next day, or making it and being sick there and going home...Something like that....I know I was really sick. So this year will be better. Still sick...But much better.

so I wish you all a very happy and healthy new year. Be safe be merry be happy and enjoy the day with family and friends. Those who love you most.

Here's to 2005!!!

much love
much hugs
many blessings
always, jeannine :o)
keep smiling!!

Hello from South Carolina!!

Ok so I'm home now but I did write a very long and lengthy entry about my trip while I was there on my moms computer and upon spellchecking I lost it all. Don't ask me how....I don't know...It was just gone. So I'm going to attempt to recreate it and catch the very excitement I was feeling at that time. So here it goes......

Hello From South Carolina!! I can't tell you how great it is to be here and see my mom. Its been way to long. This has been a great trip.

Friday
our flight was at 4:30pm, so we were up half the night cleaning getting things together and making sure the pets were taken care of. We made a deal with the roomies daughter and so she is going to take care of sofie, buster and the fish while were gone. So that's good. At 1:30 the limo came and were off to the airport. Once we got to the airport it was really fast. We checked in (no line) got our boarding passes and still had an hour to kill before our flight, so we got McDonald and enjoyed a meal while we waited. We had a stop in Atlanta but we weren't supposed to change planes. However there was an "equiptment change" and was told that we had to board another plane which was located in another terminal about an hour away from where we were. Not a happy camper. They never told us how much time we had but to "just go" so we went. In our travels I happen to notice the departure board and spotted our flight which was set to leave at 8:21pm. I looked at my watch it was 8:30. So were running and there where other people with us so I was feeling confident that these people know what they are doing and they know that were on our way etc, etc....We finally get there about 10 min later and they were just boarding our flight. I noticed the board and it said 9:00pm. phew!!

so we board. Now the only thing keeping us is the other plane in front of us with a kitchen fire so we had to wait for that situation to get under control before we could leave. It only delayed us about a half hour. We finally get to myrtle beach and there is my mom waiting at the gate like a little puppy seeing its owner and wanting to run but can't because the gate says you can't go any further and she was standing there jumping up and down waiting for us. It was sooooo great to see her again. I've missed her so much. She met Sarah for the first time and I was home again.

we go to baggage claim and to no avail......Our bags didn't make the trip with us. So we had to file a claim and they will deliver them when they get there. Been there done that...No biggie. Were driving to my moms house and I'm looking around. It was dark out but I could still see some things...Like palm trees and tropical plants all around. The weather was cool but not like Chicago so that was nice, it was just really nice. The house was gorgeous and big and new (she just moved in about a month ago) her roommate wasn't there so we got the grand tour, mom made us something to eat and we basically went to bed. It was about midnight and we were tired.

Saturday - Christmas Day
our luggage arrived. It was a rough night for me. We were sleeping on a futon which was comfy enough but my legs kept cramping up. charlie horsed all night long. Even my feet. I'm thinking all the running we did at the airport got the best of me but it was ok. I'm also getting sick. I've got this tickle in my throat that won't go away and I can't stop coughing. I felt bad cuz I was thinking I was keeping everyone up so I had a pretty restless night. When I got up my mom had coffee and breakfast ready and then we ventured out for a little while. My moms roommate was having her family over so we were cooking most of the day but my mom needed help clearing out her place at the resort she was staying at before she moved so we helped her gather a few boxes to bring home. It was pretty chilly out. The weather has not been at all nice.
when we got home we basically cooked all the food and was noshing on finger foods, cheese and crackers appetizer and stuff while we waited. We made ham, roast beef, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce (which never made it out) stuffed mushrooms, bread, salads, gravy, veggies, more veggies and I'm sure some other stuff I'm not remembering at this time. It was alllll gooood!!! Oh and I almost forgot about the wine that we consumed. Lots of wine. A merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

Sunday
we finally had our day of shopping. We started out going to wal-mart of course. My mom LOVES walmart. One of her gifts was her very own walmart holiday shirt which she loves and wore this day as we went to shop. She needed some furniture. Computer desk, night stand and a dresser, she got a rug and some other little things. Me I bought some halls and cold medicine. My cold was getting worse and I sounded horrible. This tickle was not so funny. So she spent about 400 bucks in walmart and enjoy the discount I get and was pretty satisfied. It was pouring down rain when we left and cold. Nasty cold weather. After we dropped off the furniture it was back to the resort to get the rest of her stuff and move her out of that place. This was her last official day there and needed to clear out her stuff. So we did and got that done and went back home. We haven't eaten all day and was talking about hot open roast beef sandwiches and ice cream when we get home and so we did. It was sooo good. Probably cause we were so damn hungry and working so hard that anything would have tasted good at that point but you know how leftovers go. Always better the next day and they were.

after dinner we started putting her furniture together and getting her organized. I got the night stand done first and then tackled the computer desk. It was about midnight when I got most of the desk done and then moms went to bed and I got on the computer to write this entry that I lost and went to bed around 1am.

Monday
today was another day of shopping and sushi. Whenever I see my mom we have sushi. So we went to some shops and I picked up some souvenirs for my friends and off we go to have some sushi. It was all good. The place was small and quaint and poor Sarah was a trooper. She doesn't like it and so she ordered the tempora chicken. I figured that that would be close enough to something she would eat and she did. She ate the rice too but it wasn't enough to really satisfy her so I told her that we would stop at subway and she can get a sandwich and that made her happy. I'm quite proud of her. She tried a lot of things she would never eat and granted didn't like most of it but I'm proud of her for trying. She enjoyed her sandwich a lot. After that we came home and I finished putting the dresser together and we got my mom all set. She went through some stuff, old pictures that she gave me, memories all around me. It was such a nice feeling.

Tuesday
our flight was at 1:30pm so we basically had a nice lunch and got everything together and off to the airport we went. Saying goodbye was hard. I was getting sicker than ever. My cough was getting worse and all I wanted to do was lay in bed and have my mommy take care of me. So we said our good byes and checked in and waited for our flight.

I'm checking out this plane and its one of those propeller planes and I'm thinking....No freaking way". I was really scared. But it wasn't as bad as I thought and all was good. We had another connecting flight in Atlanta and this time we had an hour before our next flight so we took our time getting to the other end of the terminal and actually had time to pick up something to eat and we go to the gate and see they are starting to board and Sarah says......I don't' have my purse. she left her purse on the plane. Technically I never gave it to her. It was in the overhead and I didn't know it and so I only pulled out our coats thinking she had her bag like she always does but this time she didn't. So we had them call the other gate and they had her purse but our connecting flight was boarding and we couldn't miss it so we had to get the information to lost and found and god I hope this works out. Her wallet was in there but there was no money in it. She cancelled her bank card and that was the only major thing in there. Everything else can be replaced. But still. Pain. In. The. Ass. So yes she was upset but not enough to miss the flight so we boarded. We get to Chicago and again....Waiting for our bags which are no where to be found and again we file a claim for our bags and the limo is waiting and off we go.....Home sweet home.

it was around 7pm I guess and buster was just too happy to see us. He missed us for sure. Around 8:30 we got a call saying that our luggage had arrived and will be delivered that night. I thought great. So we waited upstairs around 10 thinking it would take about 2 hours to get here from the airport and 11, midnight, 2am...No bags. I fell asleep on the couch and Sarah woke me up at 5 and I went to bed.

I called in this morning to let them know that I wouldn't be in cuz I didn't have my luggage and well....All my pants were in there so I don't have any pants to wear, they understood and frankly.....I was glad to stay home cuz my cold was kicking today and I needed the rest. The tickle is gone but I'm still congested and my sinuses are bothering me now. Anyway.....They finally showed up this afternoon and now I'm just waiting for Sarah to come home from work.

all in all the trip was great, seeing my mom again was great, and south Carolina was really nice. Really nice. So its back to work tomorrow, it will be nice to see everyone again....I sure did miss them too and now its back to the bump and grind.

Hugs, Jeannine

Merry Christmas to All......

it has been such a crazy last two weeks that i seriously have not has one minute to update here.

seriously.

the last two weeks have been hectic to say the least. this past week more so since it was the last week of layaway and oh. my. gosh. i can't even begin to tell you the havic that broke loose at the store. so much has happened though. the ending of layaway, no sleep, loosing my mind, getting a really wonderful x-mas present, parties, my friends are all pissed at me, and i just found out that my friends dog Berg has gone to doggie heaven. but a really wonderful thing happened too........i will get to that.

December 17th was the last day to pick up your layaway. it was last friday. the week before i was getting really worried cuz there weren't to many people picking up and i was thinking that either 1. they weren't going to pick up or 2. there all going to come on friday. part of me was hoping for 1. but 2. was the reason. at 8am the line started to form. at 1:30 am i took my last customer. the store closed at 11pm. i punched out at 2:01 am. every freaking customer complained cuz they had to wait 3 hours in line. every. single. one. of. them!!! like its our fault that they waited till the last day. its our fault they want to see everything they put on two months ago and pick and choose the items they want from the items they already bought. its our fault they can't make up there minds fast enough. its our fault they waited till the last possible minute to pick up there stuff. its our fault. my bad....is all i can say.

anyway...its done, its over and now i can move on. until Jan. 1. then it starts all over again. im ready.

the department managers all got together and started a secret santa thing. i was a part of it. it was so much fun. a present a day and the big on friday. gotta love it. my SS knew me cuz all week i got chocolate and coffee. i was in heaven. i had know idea who it was until friday. we all got together at ones house and had a party and it was just tooo much fun. the big reveal was there. it was great. when i got my bag i saw more coffee. flavored which is what i put on my wish list so i was thinking that was it and was happy to have gotten it. everyone got a kick out of that thinking they want me next year if coffee is all they have to get. lol well...at the bottom of the bag was a dvd. Taking Lives with Angelina Jolie. yummy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ok its been 2 days and i still haven't been able to finish this....bottom line...work is good, busy as all hell due to holiday last minute shoppers.....we had lines backed up all day long yesterday. ive been up front doing whatever is needed since lwy is closed now. so that was fun.

the best news of all.....my mom is flying us to see her for christmas. i am sooooo freaking excited since i haven't seen my mom in a few years now. this would have been the third x-mas so im soo sooo soooooo excited about that. were leaving today (the 24th) and staying till tuesday in south carolina. she just moved there like 2 months ago and now were going to the beach!! wooo hoooooo!!! i can't wait. ill tell you all about it when i get back.

so everyone have a wonderful holiday, may you all be blessed with love, joy and happiness this holiday season.

there is more to tell but ive got to pack now. love & hugs to all!!

buh bye now

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!

Rest for the Weary...........NOT!

Finally a day off. Good Lord! A day off and NOW at 2pm I can finally rest. Lets see.....

Monday: a complete blur. I know I worked...Not sure how long.

Tuesday: worked a normal day, I had dinner at home. Baked pasta...That's about all I remember. The last time I saw the roomie.

Wednesday: worked a double

Thursday: worked a double

Friday: worked a double.

its pretty bad when you have to go back to entries to find out what you did that day. 5 more days....5 more days. That's all I have left and the madness is over.

so you would think that today would be filled with sleep and rest. No. This morning I got up at 7:30 (late) and rushed to get out of the house to go to my weight watcher meeting. (5 lbs lost...Go me), Sarah had to work early today so I couldn't even stay at the meeting which bugged me cuz the leader was my old leader from my other meetings when I first started and I really wanted to stay but couldn't. grrrrr. So I got home in time for her to leave. To step back a bit...She was supposed to wake me up after her shower at 7 but instead of snoozing the clock she shut the fucker off and woke me up late.

so instead of giving her the car I took her to work cuz I had errands to run. Gas, post office, make sure I put her pants in the wash and have them dry before she gets home, call her debutante coordinator, pick her up at 12, walk the dog. Lovely.

Sarah had a "deb" thing to day today. She is visiting a nursing home and hangin with the old folks. I think they are having a holiday party or something I don't really know. But she's gone now, so I can rest. thankyajesus.

I'm going out tonight to dinner with the roomie and Maria to the Olive Garden for the roomies birthday dinner. At least she didn't have to wait 12 years for her dinner. Both Maria and I waited for months before we got ours...LOL....She only had to wait a week so she she better enjoy this damit! ;o)

I'm listening to Fantasia's CD right now. I have to say...I LOVE IT!! You know who she is right? American Idol winner. LOVE HER!!!

tomorrow (Sunday) were having the kids holiday party at work. (did I already mention this?? Let me scroll up......Nope) this should be fun. It was a hell of a set up. As usual everything got done last minute. I have a lot of stuff going on at work including running a dept. I had a huge fund-raiser on Friday night which I 'LOL get to in a minute....Organizing the kids holiday party for this Sunday and organizing our holiday party next Sunday, getting ready for the big closing of my dept next Friday, etc, etc.
I have a lot to do. Then on top of all that I have to deal with a million phone calls from people wanting to know if they can get a donation for something or another. Fun stuff I tell yah.

last night we had a fund raiser in the store that we do every year around this time. Its called Shop with a cop. Basically the local police dept raises money for underprivileged kids to have a shopping spree at our store. Of course WMT donates money ($2,000) and each kid will have $100 to spend. It was really great. I love doing this too. This is my 3rd year. Its so funny cuz every year there is always one thing that goes wrong. The first year they forgot there tax exempt number, the second year they forgot the credit card (they thought the sams club membership card was also a credit card...That was hysterical....) and this year I had a customer issue. Usually my dept is already closed when we do this but because were closing at a later date this year, I had to shut down the dept at 6pm for customers because they do all the checking out in my dept. Its easier then going to the registers. There are 32 kids and a police officer to each kid (family). The officers take them to dinner (most likely pizza) and then to the store and they shop for stuff that they want. Its really great cuz you will get those kids that buy for there parents and siblings and sometimes it just gets to me. Except those times when the parents go and they are pregnant and you see a bunch of infant stuff in there pile and only a few things for the actual kid...That makes me mad. The whole process takes about about and hour and a half and they spend about $3,000. Its just a really fun and event and we have Santa there too giving out candy bags and listening to all the stuff kids want for Christmas

so last night this customer comes in and I politely told him that the dept was closed for a fund raiser event and he lost it. Mind you there are about 2 cops around him and he's fighting with me cuz he came from bum-fuck Idaho to get his layaway and he hired these two Mexicans with a truck to help him haul his stuff (entertainment center, TV, DVD player and stereo) and nobody told HIM the dept was closing for this event and blah blah blah blah blah. Well sir...My registers are tied up right now and I have no way of ringing you up and......I want to see a manager.....at this point four fingers pointed at me (my girls) as I said.....I AM the manager (with a big cheesy smile on my face, knowing for damn sure I am not the "manager" he is looking for but that is my job and I'm sticking to it) hump!

but then I had a brilliant idea of sending him to the jewelry dept cuz they have a layaway register as well and they could ring him out. Make a long story short...( I know to late) he came back and I got the maintenance man and Sarah to pull his items (both of which don't know anything about layaway, Sarah knows a little about the bins...hee hee) and proceeded to bitch out the customer some more because of his rude behavior in front of all these people who are involved in this event. Then I told him that the people who are getting the bins are going to pull his stuff and I suggested that he wait at the exit doors and they will get him his stuff when they find it....If they find it....LOL

Don't mess with me! I can make your life hell!! And loose your shit buddy. THEN WHAT!! :o)~

I got an interesting letter in the mail today. I have to SAY I am one who usually breaks these things but I SAY to myself....Self.....This is just too damn cute to pass up. I really have to SAY that this is a freaking BRILLIANT idea and I should also SAY that I FREAKING LOVE IT and I'm really excited to see the outcome.

so if you want to know what I got in the mail today....EMAIL me and ill send you one. I will SAY this....You will definitely LOVE IT!!! (hint: its not a chain letter, but don't read the bottom of the page...Its a lie....LMAO!!!)
Still time to get a card....EMAIL me if you want one.

Still no questions, so if you have one EMAIL me and I'd be happy to answer.

and yeah...This is long enough

have a great weekend!!

buh bye now
hugs, jeannine

time check......4pm...And STILL....No nap. arrrrrgh!!!

Day 2 - I'm on a Roll !!

I walked through the doors of work today and saw a few worried looks on the faces of my fellow associates. I say my good mornings as cheesy as I can be and still....Worried looks. So I see my buddy Glow and she proceeds to give me all kinds of excuses and tells me "well...You will see" so I'm thinking...Ok...layaway must have been busy and they didn't get all there binning done which is fine.....I expect it at this time of the season. I see my assistant. He summonds me for a "walk" puts his arm through mine and proceeds to tell me how I'm his favorite and how much he loves me. Now I'm really scared. What the hell could have happened, and why didn't anybody call me, and I knew I should have come to work yesterday and UGH UGH UGH........

my dept consist of 5 HUGE counters. 2 hold the registers and 2 hold the packages and the other is basically my desk which can also hold packages and paperwork and anything else were not sure where to put. Ill have to take pictures one day. Maybe after the holidays when its nice and clean ill takes pics of the job.

ok so I'm walking around the corner getting ready to turn into my dept and what do I see but boxes piles 4/5 high almost to the ceiling on 2 of counters. At first I was completely drained until I took a good look. No labels. "hey these are cancellations!!!" my manager then proceeds to agree and laughs at me. Seems that they had to much times on there hands yesterday to come up with this scheme to try and fool me.

bastards.

so yeah....On of our big due dates was November 30 and I had 169 layaways to cancel that weren't picked up by that date. So they did some yesterday to help me out. They left me around 30 or 40 to do today which was really nice. Were not taking anymore layaways so its been nothing but pick-ups. It was a really nice day.

every once in a while we get that occassional missing layaway. Always a pain. I had this customer come to pick up her package and for whatever reason it was not where it was supposed to be. She was in a wheelchair and I know she didn't' want to hang around and wait so I offered to personally deliver her layaway package. It was found the next day and I delivered it today to her. She was really appreciative and I was happy to do it. She was a nice lady.

as busy and as hectic as this dept can get I really love it. There have been lots of other opportunities but I just can't seem to let go of this one. Its really hard. I keep saying this is going to be my last year but every year I'm still there. I don't know....We'll see. My season is almost over and then its going to be pretty boring for a while. Maybe I'll work with another dept manager in there dept to get some training in and go from there....

oooo I gotta tinkle.......brb
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phew...Ok I'm back. That was close. That is the only thing that sucks about living here. The damn bathroom is upstairs. I can't tell you how many times I've almost lost it on the way up. (for the record...It doesn't suck living here, its just the bathroom that sucks. I love my home :o))

we went to curves tonight. We haven't been there in 2 weeks with the holiday and work......But we got there today and tomorrow again. Boy was I feeling it. But it was good. allll goood!

ok well that's me. Until tomorrow....

hugs, jeannine

Hey want a Card from ME!! Email me with your address and I'll be happy to send you one. Make sure you put something in the subject relating to a card so I don't just delete you.

OK...So I'm going to follow suit here and copy other journalers and try this entry a day thing. I know its not been the case here but damit...I'm gonna try. So if you have some burning question that you would like to ask me....Please EMAIL me and I will grant your wishes and fill your minds with more useless information about my so called life. mmmk, good.

Day 1

Hey want a Card from ME!! Email me with your address and I'll be happy to send you one. Make sure you put something in the subject relating to a card so I don't just delete you.

OK...So I'm going to follow suit here and copy other journalers and try this entry a day thing. I know its not been the case here but damit...I'm gonna try. I'm already 5 days late into this but better late then never right?? So if you have some burning question that you would like to ask me....Please EMAIL me and I will grant your wishes and fill your minds with more useless information about my so called life. mmmk, good.

ok...Now that that is done. Lets see......Yeah. ummmmm.......Ok so I don't really have much to say now. Oh wait!! I do I do....

I pulled out the Christmas decorations today. And what did my wondering eyes did see, you ask...

well...I must have cleaned out my stuff cuz I can't find my tree and I have maybe 2 decorations to put up. I guess I need to get some stuff. The roomie put up her tree and is decorating the house and now I wanted to do some today ( I think this is like copying off your neighbor type thing. She has a tree so I want a tree and lets see how we can out-do one another...lmao...(I'm kidding) but that would be pretty damn funny donchathink. Well..Bottom line is I have to now get some decorations.

I'm not feeling very much in the holiday spirit. I'm not sure why. I'm just not excited about it. I hope this passes. I want to love this holiday and have fun and enjoy the holiday joy....But right now...bahumbug. I think my problem is is that I'm having a really hard time spending money. Its really hard for me. I'm sure that by next paycheck ill be better. I've been working a lot of extra hours so ill have a little extra money to spend on gifts and such. I do love the holidays, I swear I do. It will hit me one day.

I need a haircut bad.

so email me with those questions or leave them in the comments and ill be sure to get them answered for ya.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!
jeannine