OMGsh it's finally Friday!! Is anyone else excited?? Me too!
Here's another Fast Fact Friday post. Today’s theme is work.
I
know, not as fun as play, but it’s something we all have to do, and it's over for this week anyway!
1. How did you learn how to
work? (What chores/jobs around the house did your parents have you do? How did they
teach you how to work?)
I had chores around the house, my job was dishes. Really the whole kitchen and dining room. I always kept my room clean too, not that my parents made me. My sisters and brother did NOT keep their rooms clean. You couldn't even walk in there and touch the carpet! I guess I leaned my work ethic from the chores and by watching my parents. they both worked outside the home. At one time my dad even hold 3 jobs and went to night classes. Not sure when he slept.
2. What was your first paid
job? (What did you like or dislike about it? Describe your duties, and pay if
you remember.)
I did a lot of babysitting when I was a teenager, I got paid for that. I always made sure to pick up after any mess we made while I was there, and sometimes even straightened up small messes that were there when I got there. Not sure what it was about cleaning up at someone else's house that was somehow more fun than doing it at my house.
My first actual real job was a K-Mart in the Shoe Dept. Does that really surprise anyone...shoes?? LOL I was only 15, but lied about my age and said I was 16. Duties were really just making sure the shelves were stocked and straightened up, and being able to help customers if they needed it.
3. List all the places
you have worked. (Record the dates if you remember them (even just the years), salary and
duties that you remember. Add in any co-workers and bosses that you
remember.)
- K-Mart Shoe Dept - My first real job in the Shoe Department. The only co-worker I really remember was a girl named Kathy that worked in the pharmacy.
- Miller's Outpost - I worked this job for about 3 years. It was a lot of fun and the clothes were cooler. Plus we got an employee discount and a credit card that auto drafted the payments out of your paycheck. I started on the floor but was soon lead cashier. Co-workers I remember include: my Manager Al, Assistant Mgr Cyndi, other co-workers were Dean that I had a crush on, and I remember a blond girl I was friends with and a black guy that was really cute too. It's been too long to remember names though and I haven't kept in touch with anyone.
- Temp Agency - I did this for a short period of time after I graduated High School.
- Pathfinders Financial Corp (PFC) - This started as a temp job, but turned into a permanent position I was in the Accounting Department and started out doing data entry and then started learning to do the ledgers and daily deposits. Co-workers I remember include: Bunny, Debbie, Sue, there are a couple more ladies that were in my office that I can clearly picture but cannot for the life of me think of their names.
- The Associates - I got this job and left PFC. I interviewed for 2 different positions before getting on when I was 19. I started in their Support Call Center and moved around about every 2 years before it was bought out by Citigroup.
- AVON, Mary Kay - At different times over the years I signed up to be a representative of Mary Kay Cosmetics and of AVON.
- Chili's - There was a period of time when my husband was out of work that I picked up a second job to help supplement our household income. I was a server. I had a brand new baby at home and it was really hard. I only stayed like 3 months.
- Citigroup - Since this was a buy out, it really isn't a separate job. I had however gotten my layoff notice when an executive in Auto (George) scooped me up and offered me a job. I was able to transfer over before the layoff date and kept all of my seniority and benefits. I have continued to move around within the company and have worked on several projects and in several lines of business. I am currently a Project Manager for the Cards organization.
- The Dinner Station - This was another second job I had to take during another time when my husband was out of work. This place was a meal preparation place where people came in and put together meals that they could freeze, then thaw and cook later for dinner. I became an assistant manager, leading shifts and either opening or closing the store. I think I may even still have the key to the front door! LOL
- Macy's - This too was a second job I picked up after my divorce to help support 2 teenagers as a single mom. I quit right before holiday season while I was dating my current husband.
4. What
tips/tricks/shortcuts did you learn at any of your jobs that you still
use?
Hmmm.....the only thing I can think of here, is the PM skills necessary to organize my time with 2 kids. It also attributes to my list making obsession and helps with party planning. I would also say that I probably picked up some stuff at Dinner Station about spices and customizing meals, as well as shortcuts in the preparation process.
5. Which job was your
favorite job and why?
That's tough, I'd really prefer to be independently wealthy and not have to work at all. But if I had to pick, I could say that Miller's Outpost was fun, I liked working there and everyone I worked with. Or my current job, because it challenges me, has way better benefits and salary than anywhere else I've ever worked, and work with a great bunch of people. Plus I get to work from home and only have to get up 15 minutes before work and commute about 5 feet!
What about you? What's your work history?
Time for another month of pictures of what I was up to last month. It was pretty busy for me, if it's possible, it felt like it went by faster than April! Even with the monsoon!
We went out with our good friends to the local brew house for a cold one and some live music...
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| Me & Sue |
...I got to see Darcy for her birthday...
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| Vicki, Me and Darcy |
...it started raining, so we stayed in for drinks the next week. I tried my hand a fresh pineapple / jalapeño margarita, and it was pretty dang tasty, if I don't say so myself!...
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| Pineapple Jalapeno Margarita |
...we took my mom out for lunch for Mother's Day...
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| Me, Mom & Randee |
...and it kept raining...
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| Downtown Krum |
...we celebrated Mother's Day with a tornado....
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| My front yard |
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| Wayyy too close!! |
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| Storm Damage |
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| More local damage |
...it stopped briefly in time to catch a ballgame with my honey...
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| Elvis at Bat |
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| Me & Studhubs |
...I went out of town for a girls weekend and worked on my blog and some scrapbook pages. After an adventurous 4 hour drive, we finally made it to our retreat. And were treated to a nice sunset...
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| Maypearl |
...back home it kept raining...but a few days later this strange thing appeared in the sky for a few minutes...
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| 7:30 AM |
...then it was gone...
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| 9:00 AM |
...took Studhubs out for his birthday, but came home for cocktails....
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| Fruity Cocktail I Made Up |
...threw a birthday for my step-daughter, now 18!...
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| Jen and her own cake |
...made Jen a monster cake for her party...
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| Piñata Cake |
...my family came...
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| Jennifer, Doug, Lauren and PaPa |
...and all Jen's friends, a rousing game of Apples to Apples ensued...
...love these crazy kids!...
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| Kaylee, Lauren, Josh & Jen |
...it rained here literally 25 days during the month of May this year. There was a LOT of water....everywhere!...
...when it finally stopped raining, Studhubs and I wandered out for a walk...
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| Studhubs |
...we live near the creek and there have been turtles everywhere! They've been displaced by the flooding. One of my neighbors mentions helping a turtle cross the road almost every other day....
...we even found some crawdads...
...I tested my bartender skills one more time with a watermelon margarita...there was nothing else to do apparently, it was too wet. LOL...
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| Watermelon Margarita |
So what did you do this month? Did you stay dry?
I’m sure you’ve heard the saying
that is so popular with weddings that goes, “Something old, something new,
something borrowed, something blue.” Well, this week’s challenge goes right
along with that!
You really could inserts whatever
you want here: something green, something squishy, something metallic, something
cheap, something round, etc., but just to keep it fun, see if you can try to
make it rhyme!
I’m still a newlywed so I went
ahead and did it the old fashioned way.
Here were my something old, something new, something borrowed and
something blue from my wedding in September.
Challenge 12: Find your favorite somethings and
record a little bit about them!
Something...
...Old
I wore my great
grandmother’s necklace. I’m not even
really sure what the center is, but it’s a silver necklace with a diamond in
the center. It’s really pretty and
everyone loved it.
...New
Of course the
dress and shoes were new. Plus I bought
new earrings. The girls of course all
got new dresses and shoes too.
...Borrowed
Really the only thing we borrowed, was the home where we got
married. It was a very small, private,
laid back event, and our good friends Austin and Sue let us use their house.
...Blue
The blue was in
my flowers, and on my cake. And I made
all the kids where blue as well. They
weren’t all formal or matchy-matchy or anything, but ya know….it was still a
wedding.
As I mentioned, it was very small
and informal, but it I still stressed all day to make sure everything was
perfect. And of course it was, I got to
marry the man of my dreams!
So how about you....what are your favorite somethings?
Link up and play along.
It's Friday!! Who doesn't love Friday? It's like the best day of the week, and something we look forward to every week....the start of the WEEKEND!!
Today's topic: The Early Years:
1. Where did you grow up? Lewisville, TX
2.
What is your earliest memory? It seems like everything that comes to mind for this question happened when I was about 5 (maybe 4-6).
- I remember watching TV with my uncle one night and he was eating Doritos. Apparently I wanted some, but rather than ask for some I just went up and took the bag from him. He got really mad and swatted my butt! I think it really hurt my feelings more than anything else, but he was always my scary uncle. It could be too because he always talked so loud. LOL
- I remember when, I think I was 5 or 6, my mom took my to my grandmother's hair dresser and they tricked me and I came out with that stupid Dorothy Hamill hair cut! My hair had been 3 quarters down my back....I was MAD!
- I remember riding home from my grandparents house, lying in the back hatch of my dad's 1966 Corvette at night looking at stars.
3.
What are some of your favorite childhood memories?
- Going to the baseball games with my dad and uncles and cousins. It's part of why I love baseball today! Baseball, Hot Dogs, Apple Pie and Cheverolet!
- Going to the cabin in Lake Tahoe with my grandparents and cousins every summer. My grandfather making pancakes for breakfast, making card houses, getting ice cream on the beach and lying in a hammock under these huge pine trees.
- The tree swing at my grandparents house...and the vegetable garden. Snapping peas with my grandmother while she watched Days of Our Lives. Eating a big slice of watermelon in the back yard in the summer, and juice running down your arms, then grandpa hosing us off before we could go inside. Oh and picking strawberries and eating them right out of the patch!
4. Which
schools did you attend?
- Hedrick Elementary (K-4)
- Lakeland Elementary (5)
- Hedrick Middle School (6)
- Delay Middle School (7-8)
- Marcus High School (9-10)
- Lewisville High School (11-12)
5. Who
were some of your best friends? (Do you still keep in touch with them?)
- My first best friend in Kindergarten was Terri N. (We don't really keep in touch, but are facebook friends).
- Later when I started playing soccer (3rd grade) I was best friends with Amy S. (We don't keep in regular touch, but again are facebook friends, and occasionally do call or text and can talk for hours).
- Through middle school it was Michelle C. (We don't really keep in touch, but are facebook friends).
- The summer before 5th grade is when I met Janice, and we kind of had a rocky start and didn't really like each other at first. But by middle school we were BFFs and have been ever since. We still do stuff together and talk almost every day!
What do you remember from your "early years"? Leave your comments or link to your blog below.
Perfectly Imperfect
This week’s
challenge is another deep thinking one. The
hardest part in this challenge really, is to truly be honest. We are all human,
and therefore imperfect. It’s hard to embrace our imperfections sometimes. We
want others to think we are perfect, right? But it’s okay to embrace our imperfections, as
much as it’s okay to admit that we’re doing pretty good in other areas as well!
What are 5 things you
have (or almost have) perfected? What are 5 things you are far from perfect in?
(almost) perfect…
- Cooking – I like to cook and I’m one of those people
that always use a recipe as a “guideline.”
I usually try to customize it to fit things my family likes, like omit
onions or add garlic, etc. I ALWAYS use
more spices than most call for. It seems
to me a lot of time, especially those you find on the internet or a church
cookbook seem to be a bit bland for us.
I like to bake too, those you can’t play with too much, but my family
loves when I bake.
- Making Lists – I’m a list girl. For one thing, if I don’t write something
down I tend to forget about it. Plus I
love getting check something off that has been accomplished, it makes me feel
productive.
- Crafts – I love crafting. I have gone through spurts where I’ll do one
craft a lot, then try something else and get all addicted to that, then just
stop for a while and not do anything.
But I’ve tried lots of different things, and with instruction I can
usually do a pretty good job of it. Plus
I like being able to say “I made that myself.”
Although I can always find flaws
in my stuff, most people are always impressed with my creations. I guess I’m my own worst critic.
- Washing My Hands – I’m almost OCD about this. I wash my hands at least 20 times a day. Before I start cooking, after I get home from
someplace, after using the restroom, after cleaning. I don’t know maybe I’m a germaphobe, but I will say, I hardly ever get
sick.
- Cleaning My House – I’m not talking about scrub the
baseboards, spotless clean, but I try hard to at least keep everything picked
up and presentable. I cannot stand to
leave dishes in my sink, I vacuum twice a week, swish the toilets often and
wipe down the sink and counters. With 2
teenagers, it’s not always an easy feat.
- Yelling – This wasn’t my answer, I asked my kids for
suggestions while making this list and both of them said this and didn’t know
the other had offered it up. I do not
yell all the time, they exaggerate…but maybe if they’d pick up after themselves
once in a while.
----------
(far from)
perfect…
- Budgeting
– I make a budget every month. My
problem is actually FOLLOWING it. It
seems to turn out more of a track my spending kind of thing. I can tell you where all of my money is going….it’s
just not always where it’s SUPPOSE to be going.
- Exercising
Regularly – I go through spurts, where I will exercise pretty regularly for a
while…then I forget, or get busy and there goes my good habit. Then I’ll go weeks before even doing it
again. I wish this was something I could
get addicted to, like lip balm or baseball.
- Listening
– I think I’m ADD, and I am horrible at actually sitting quietly and
listening. Someone will be talking to
me, and something they will triggers a response and I have a hard time waiting
til the end to give it without interrupting.
And if I do wait….I usually forget what it was when it’s my turn. Or if I’m in the middle of doing something
and someone tries to tell me something, I have a hard time stopping mid-task
and giving my full attention, then I’ve missed half of the story. If you know me, I’m sure I’ve probably done
this to you and I’m sorry.
- Multi-tasking
– I use to think I was good at this….I’m really NOT. I’ve come to realize that when I’m trying
multi-task, none of those tasks are really getting my full attention. So then one gets partially done, while I
start another, then I flip back and forth, taking twice as long to finish….or each
is only getting a partial effort and I’m not really giving a good quality product….like
that listening thing.
- Calling
My Parents – I really stink at this.
They both live within about 15 miles of me, but I hardly see them or
even talk to them. I just get busy doing
my own thing and when I get free time, I don’t usually use it to talk on the
phone. I need to start making more of an
effort. I don’t want my kids to grow up
and ignore me…treat others and all that.
- Cleaning My House – I have 2 teenagers…it’s an effort to
keep the house clean. And I don’t dust
every week or scrub the baseboards. I
have too much stuff in my house, so you run out of places to keep things, or
there’s that spot on the bar that tends to collect mail and sunglasses and
keys. There are rooms I try not to even
walk into if I can help it (the girls rooms), my closets aren’t neat. I don’t know what I’ll do if I ever try to
sell my house…
What about you...what are your perfect imperfections?
Link up and play along.
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