A pretty pleasant day

Got a visit from our district manager. She was fun. I seemed to have run out of steam around mid day. Nothing that a nap after work didn't fix. Dinner tonight was left overs from last night but I also made some chicken salad that I will use for lunch tomorrow. I had dinner super early so I may have to sample the chicken salad before the evening is done. 

  My boss has invited me to spend some time with her and some friends at a cabin during July 4th.  I think I would enjoy it but socializing with one's boss has me perplexed. We shall see. 

Dinner

Tonight the menu is pan seared chicken breast, broccoli and cauliflower medley with cheese sauce and buttered noodles.  Dessert will be vanilla ice cream with fresh strawberries and blueberries.  I would have taken a pic but I was too hungry. 

  I had a shaky start this morning but my day turned out well.  It was in fact a most pleasant day. For that I'm thankful. 

Roses are orange!

The rosebush in my yard was beautiful this year. I kind of hate to see the blooms drop off one by one. Maybe it will bloom more before the summer is over. 

Hello long lost blog

 Five years ago when I first moved to Washington , life had shook me up pretty badly  and I had lost all confidence in who I was.  I was a scared shadow of a person and I just needed some time to heal. My son and his family gave me that safe harbor and for 18 months I hardly left their home.  I was afraid of what might happen, but with time and courage and a push or two, I finally got back to living.
   Every since I was a little girl I've wanted to go to California.   So this summer I'm taking a road trip, right by myself, to visit a really special friend of mine who knows a lot about how to deal with what life can hand you, and who came into my life just when I needed an inspiration. Yep, she lives in California!  So not only do I get to cross off something on my bucket list, I get to spend time with a person I'm so happy to know and love.  I've come a long way in five years!

  Ahhh, I've had a relaxing day today.  I'm off today and the next two days.  Haleigh is going to call me when she wakes up in the morning and I've promised her I'll be right over to watch her open her Santa Claus presents. I've gone to the grocery store, expecting great crowds but was pleasantly fooled.  I've cooked a squash casserole for dinner tonight with the kids. And it has been just a very quiet and peaceful day.
   My new store is going well.  There are things I've got to change and people who have to get to know me and it seems that everything as far as equipment is concerned is breaking down all at once.  But it is a challenge and the drive is wonderful. 
  So, here's wishing you a very Merry Christmas and a good year to come. 
Maybe I'll get my heart back into blogging and maybe not but one thing is for sure.  I'm happy to have a job, I'm happy to be here, I'm happy to be doing well.
Love,
Robbin
  
  
  
 
 
    

My Store

  Oh my goodness, I'm so excited to be home tonight before eight o'clock, I can hardly stand it.    I got home at six thirty!   AND.........I love my new store.  Although it got a little hairy today since I opened alone and didn't know where anything  was,  I made it and at noon I got help and I love love love her.  She was so eagar to please the customers and me!  AND...........sales wise we did wonderful!  I am so happy and think I've finally found a place I can stay.
   It's also a very free feeling being manager again.  It means I can move things and organize things where it is easy to find things.     It is a pretty little store, set up different from any I've seen.  I love it!
   So, I'm very happy and at peace.  It's a good place to be.

Reason number 564.......

.........why I'm so excited to start work in my new store tomorrow.  Friday night it took me two hours to get home and last night an hour and a half.  Time it takes to get home from my new store...40 minutes tops as long as traffic is moving.  The highway I will take is not a big major freeway like I've been having to take so I'm very happy.
   My life has moved so fast lately, there's been much to tell but no time or energy to blog.  Now that I'm working a little closer it could be I have more time of my own to do the things I love to do.  Ok, you know I always am interested in the towns I work in and so I'm now working in Tacoma.  And I'm always interested in who was born or buried in each town.  There are numerous famous sports people who I've not a clue who they are but also Bing Crosby, Blair Underwood, and Dyan Cannon were all born in Tacoma.
   Also the lady which the movie Tug Boat Annie is about was a real person born there and her company Foss Tugboat is still going strong. 
   The city has 200,000 people.  But oddly enough the store that I'm taking over is not a high volume store at all.  Not sure why, hope I can get a customer base.  We have other stores in the city also and none of them do that great!
   On a good day one can spot a killer view of Mt. Rainier.  There's an amazing Glass museum which Amy and Haleigh and I have visited.  ALL in all I'm excited to be there.
  The bad news is for the next two weeks I have limited help, my one major employee is taking not one but two weeks of vacation.  Great timing.  And so I'm pretty much on my own to start with.  I'm sure that will not impress the Dr. but I'm lucky that they share Dr.'s with other stores and I know one of them, he was the Dr. I worked with in Lacey. 
     The kids went and cut their Christmas tree right after Thanksgiving and bought me  a cute little one which still sits over there not decorated.  I think Haleigh is coming to decorate it for me one day this week when I get off early.  I have no day off.  But I'm hoping to be off next Sunday.
   And last but not least Haleigh performed in her annual Nutcracker this afternoon and she was just beautiful.  This year her mom had a part too.  Matthew and I stayed until after their scenes and then we snuck away and had dinner together and watched the Falcons play Tampa Bay. 
   And last but not least, I killed my poor car with all the miles I've put it through for the past month.  It was a 1999 Chevy and I've replaced him with a cute little 2001 Mitsubishi that is named "Mitzi".  We hope she's a good girl even though you never know with used cars.  At least I'll only travel around 70 miles a day instead of 112 miles a day, thanks to my promotion.
   So, that's all my news I'm thinking.   Life is good.  For that I'm happy and thankful.
Have a good week! Love,
R
   
   

An Exciting Week for Me

   I've had quite an interesting week.  First of all I guess I'm what you'd call  a "Fair Weather" employee since I've not been to work since Sunday.  Well, I was officially off yesterday and today but because of our Early Winter Storm, I had an extended holiday.  But I was also going to have the weekend off but since I lost so much time I feel obligated to work on Saturday since it was offered to me.  Our temps got way way down in the teens but today it has steadily warmed up and tomorrow things should be almost normal.  At any rate, I'm proud I survived our first storm and was able to stay home.  Next time I may not be so lucky but we'll not worry about that now.
   The next thing that happened this week makes me very happy.  I did well on the career assessment test and the District manager has found a store for me to manage and the commute is half what I'm doing now.  Like Matthew said earlier tonight, it is the best case scenario. I get more money and drive less, in fact it is the very closest store there is at this time to where I live. I'm not sure yet when it takes effect, really soon I think.  This is such a big  deal for me. 
   IT'S been such a long journey for me to feel somewhat like myself again.  The job helps and the fact that it is a company I'm familiar with makes it all the better.  I've worked some crappy hours, made pretty crappy pay, and drove all those miles but was so grateful to be back to work.  And now I'm not far from being where I was before.  I've never regretted quiting my job, I had to do that.  I wasn't able to work, at least not mentally.  IT was the right thing to do at the time and I'm so grateful to Matthew for allowing me to be able to do that. 
Anyway, I'm rambling now but I am very happy and thankful this Thanksgiving night.  I only hate that I don't get to go with the kids to cut a Christmas Tree! 

My Very First Ever Snow Day

  We've been hit with a really early winter storm.  In fact as I sit here at 4:30 in the afternoon the temp is 27 degrees and snow covers everything.  I did everyone a favor today and stayed off the roads.  I missed work.  And I'll probably miss tomorrow too.  It can't be helped.  But I've gotten such a kick out of watching the snow today.  It is dry fluffy snow for now and pretty as can be.  I watched amazed as people sledded down the street I live on.  I laughed at Sweetie who couldn't quite figure out what in the world all that white stuff was.   
   And...........I'm very close to getting my own store.  I was offered one today but it is a bit too far from me and much to my surprise she said she had a back up plan for me so she is working on that.  If that works out, my commute could be cut in half and I'd love that for sure! 
  The wind is blowing like crazy right now and it looks like a blizzard to me!

   

Where Ya'll From? Peaches & Cream Cottage & other things that make me GRIN

  My accent never goes unnoticed .  Mostly my customers wait until we are done with our transaction and then they'll ask "Where does that accent come from?"  There are those who try to guess and I usually give them three tries.  Nobody ever gets it.  The top three guesses are Alabama, Tennessee, and North Carolina.  And then there are those who leave me with an ever so mild Southern Drawl of their own that they say is quite contagious.  And then there are a few fellow southerners who came here through the military or to follow family.  Those are the ones I share a kinship with and the ones who understand that "ya'll" is plural, not singular.  I had a cute man today who said, "Let's see, where is that accent from, Brooklyn?"  He was kidding me you see and he guessed Alabama and was quite taken aback when he found out he was wrong.  It surprises me that Georgia is so often forgotten or not mentioned.  Georgia  the "Empire State of the South" as I learned in Georgia History.  Atlanta is in Georgia for goodness sakes!   Oh well, it is fun to talk different from almost everybody around. 
   And......Haleigh has wanted me to name my little house for some time now and finally she decided the name for me.  "Peaches & Cream Cottage" because.........this tickles me to death!..........because the outside is Peach colored, the inside is all cream and I'm from Georgia, so there you go, a very smart grandchild I must say!  
  And last but not least,  the district manager that hired me wants me to take a career assessement that all the managers have to take now.  Could I be close to being promoted to management again?  That would be nice for sure.
   So, that's all the news from Peaches & Cream Cottage here in the beautiful Pacific Northwest.   Hope your week is a good one!
  

DID YOU KNOW.........

.......That I have a mountain view from my house?

Feeling More @ Home @ Work

  I don't really know why but when I first started working at the store I'm working in now, I had such a hard time.  Everything seemed so hard.  Everyone's problems were not simple or easy to solve.  This store leads the district I think in managed care which is insurance.  That is hard to say the least, dealing with that.  People seemed unfriendly to me or indifferent.  Slowly but surely things seem a little better.  We had a super busy day today and I love that and it was pretty easy as well.  I especially love easy.  So, I'm not sure what it is exactly but I'm feeling better.
   My accent is always a topic.   One little sweet girl told me she  "loved hearing me talk country", so funny to me.  I guess it does stand out a bit.  I don't mind. 
   Tonight I was invited to go to the kid's for dinner.  It was good and we had a nice visit.  I remember when I was first talking about coming out here that Matthew so hoped I'd get work nearer than I have but that didn't happen.  So we don't see each other so much but I know he is here when I need him and that is a comfort.  I don't feel so alone in the world. 
   And so, here I am, enjoying my job, not even minding the commute much, loving my little cottage.  I am a little scared of the preditions of a very bad winter but I'll take it as it comes. Driving in ice is something I really don't want to do.  Nor snow!  (Don't you laugh my Minnesota friend!")
   Anyway, I'm tired but all is well.  Hope all is well for you too.
Love,
Robbin
 

New Specs

  One of the greatest perks of working for this company has for me always been the fact that we get free glasses.  I've not bought my own glasses for I guess 17 years now.  I thought there for a while I was going to have to and I knew I'd never be able to afford the quality of eye wear that I've become accustomed to.    But the ones I'm wearing now, the ones that I got today are by far the most expensive ones ever.  Prices have gone up it is true but technology has improved also and therefore I have the best progressive lenses available. I have the highest index possible which makes my lenses very thin.   I have transitions, (the ones that change with the light)I have anti reflective coating and a completely rimless frame with rubber like temples that are so light weight I cannot feel them on my face.  And the cost of these glasses had I had to buy them?  Almost $800!  I think they are the most valuable thing I own, I think my car is not worth much more than that!  Very nice.  I like them.
   I'm getting a little more comfortable with the people that are our customers in this store.  They are different and more challenging than any customers I've ever experienced.  The manager, (my boss), is a little depressed with the situation as the sales are down and she has tried for two years to get things going but nothing seems to work.  I'm determined to try and help all I can.
   Friday Haleigh and I are spending the day together and that night we get to go see her mom in a play.  I'm excited about that.  I then have to work all weekend and all next week until Friday and I have three days off right in a row.  That will be nice.
  SO, that's all my news for now. 

Meet Irene

  Irene is the newest addition to my little cottage.  I'm in love with her.  I didn't name her, she is Irene by Lazy Boy.  Her color is crimson and she is one of their smaller models so she fits perfectly and as I said, I love her. 
   Work is very interesting.  As I've mentioned before the people in Renton Washington are a little different.  I'm still finding my footing so to speak with them but I'm enjoying the challenge.
  The commute is sometimes not so fun but I can live with that. 
   Today I have been off and have been quite lazy but it is a rainy day and it is nice to be able to relax. 
So things are going good, even if I don't get to see as much of Haleigh as I'd like, I think she and I are spending this coming Friday together so we'll make the most of it.
   Hoping you have a good week and I'll try and check in more often.  My heart wants to write but by the time I get home I'm so tired.  Maybe I'll get back used to working soon. 

At Last

I have a kitchen table and chairs. My kitchen cabinets are IKEA and so that is also where my table came from. I like IKEA. It fits and matches perfectly. And I love it. Looks very modern.
When I was young I longed for antiques and now that I'm getting older I long for more modern looks, go figure!

Wednesday is my Monday

I worked all weekend and then I had Monday and Tuesday off and I'm back to work today.  I work 1 till 8 which means I will get home after nine tonight. 
  It is a beautiful fall day here in Washington State today.  The wind is blowing, the sun is shining, there is a tiny little chill in the air and everything looks crisp and golden.
   After putting in a full week at the new store I'm quite happy there.  The manager told me she was a little nervous when the District Manager put me there because her store has been down in budget for a while now.  I assured her I was not there to replace her.  I like her a lot.  She is 35 or so and already has invited me to a Halloween party she is giving.  She says she likes to play Martha Stewart and cook.  Sounds good to me.
   So, off I go to start a new week in the middle of the week.  Haleigh spent a little time with me last night and then her parents walked over to get her and visited a little.  I need more furniture, and a kitchen table.  I only have a couch, but that will come in time.

A Little Tired but Happy

  Working in Renton is a little more stressful which makes me appreciate that I started off again in a slow paced store like Lacey.  I wouldn't have been ready for Renton then.  But I am now.  The people are so diverse and that's the fun part. It is rare for a patient not to have insurance so I'm having to get used to that.  We have a lot of Boeing employees, there are high income people and low income, there is a bit of it all. 
   Traffic for the last few days has been a little rough coming home but not too bad.  For the first two days I missed my exit or made a wrong one coming home but finally I got it!  All in all, I think I'll be happy here until I'm moved again.
  I'm tired and still have two more days to go before I'm off for two days in a row so that will be nice.
 

The New Store

  I'm off today and I've worked in the new store for two days and I like it.  The customers are very different, kind of yuppish, professions, in a hurry, that type.  Sprinkled in though are people of all nationalities and walks of life.  It is going to be quite interesting.  My manager is cool, and my co-workers seem nice.  So all is well with that part.
   Anyone who really knows me well knows of my disability of having no sense of direction.  So, though for two days I've arrived there with no problem, coming home I've screwed up both times.  I'm hoping by Thursday I can drive straight home without taking a wrong exit.
  Today I'm ready for a day off.  The new store has put a little stress on me that I hope I'll get over.  I've had to learn where everything is and how this manager expects things.  Her ways are a  lot different from the way I did things and the way things were done in Lacey but I'll get it. 
   I'm up early and have had some eggs and toast and am about to take Sweetie to the park for her walk.  After that I'm just going to do a few chores around here and then not so much.
  

New Start Again

  I'm a little nervous this morning.  I'll be meeting my new boss and co-workers today and I guess that is why.  Also every manager does things a little differently and so I hope this one does things closer to the way I did things.  We'll see.
   The rain seems to be gone for now, it has rained all weekend, real rain, not typical "Washington Drizzle".  It is nice to see blue skies and the sun.
  Well I'll report in tonight with how my day went.

The Day I'd Like to Forget and Am Going to do SO!

  Yesterday was such a bad day for me that we're not going to talk about it, in fact in my world, September18th didn't happen.  What is important is I'm ok, and excited to start my new store tomorrow.  It started off raining this morning but the sun is shining brightly now.  I think I'm going to take it easy and enjoy my day off. 
   Happy Sunday!

Goodwill Find

I didn't even have any vases for my flowers so off to Goodwill I went and while there not only did I buy vases but I couldn't resist this little tea pot.

Fall Flowers from an early morning special visitor.

Work on the Brain

Last night's drive home was long and hard. It rained the whole way but most everyone was driving carefully around me and it is always the other person we worry about right?
I have two more days to work in the Lacey store today. No Dr. today and the manager is working but she will probably leave soon after I get there and I'll be on my own and I do work alone tomorrow. I'm hoping to make a trip Sunday to my new store just to make sure I know how to get there. It is about the same distance that I'm driving now and part of the way is the same way I go now but the route changes about half way.
It looks like I won't get a full 40 hours each week, somewhere between 35 and 37 but I do have the potential to make a bigger commission since it is a busier store and that helps a lot.  I made over 200 dollars this past month in the store I'm at now and so that helps a  lot.
   I've made some special friends in the Lacey store customer wise.  I've not told them I'm leaving and they'll probably ask what happened to me.  The manager told me I wouldn't like the customers in Renton as they were all punks.  I told her I liked punks too.  She is still mad I'm leaving and has said all kind of negative things to me in kind of a tongue in cheek way. 
  The Dr. told me last night he hated to see me go as he thought I was a good influence on the girls there and that the customers liked me.  I told him I would miss him and had enjoyed working with him.  I hope my new store likes me as well.

And speaking of work, this is my new walk way my landlady made.  I love it.

 
 

Not so Newsy

I don't leave for work today until nearly one o'clock. I've been up since pretty early. I've watched a movie, walked Sweetie, taken a bath, had breakfast and coffee and still have lots of time.
I have this same schedule tomorrow.
I've no idea yet what my schedule will be in the new store. I hope the manager will let me know at least next week's schedule today.
My land lady was here yesterday and worked on a walkway from the driveway to the house. It turned out really cool. She is a hard working lady.
Very quite around here this morning, not much news. Hope your day is a good one.
Love,
Robbin

Look At This

The first picture is one I posted a few years back just because I thought it was cool. It is an English cottage back deck. The second picture is my little deck. I'm going to try and make mine as pretty as this one. I just need the right chairs and table and watering can. I think I can do it.

Rain, Rain, Come ON!

  I've overheard different people say things lately about doing something or finishing something "before the rainy season starts."  I'm kind of looking forward to the rainy season for although I love the sunshine and beautiful cloudless days, I love rain.  I've always loved rain and even day after day of it never bothers me much.  I'm not crazy about having to drive in it but other than that, come on rain.  As a matter of fact, it is raining today.  A soft rain.
   I'm off today, the schedule is strange this last week at the Lacey store.  I go in at two in the afternoon for the next few days and then I work by myself on Saturday which will be my last day.
   Renton is about 13 miles out of Seattle.  This is where my new store will be.  One thing of interest I read was that Jimi Hendrix is buried in a cemetary there.  That's cool.  Ann Rule, the crime novelist lives there. 
  I am going to miss my co-worker Shayna.  Although she is 21 years old and I'm ahemah 50thish........we hit it off really good and for that I'm glad. 
  Oh, I got to take Haleigh to school this morning as her parents both had to be at work earlier than usual.  That was cool.  I'd never done that before.
   Ok, I'm off for a nap, on this cool rainy day it seems to be the thing to do.

A New Store

  Well, my time in the Lacey Wa. store is coming to an end.  The District Manager, the one who origionally hired me called me yesterday morning and told me I would be working in a store in Renton Wa.  It is about the same distance that I am driving now, but it is a faster paced store and I will like that.  My hours will be good and I'm excited.  I will start there Monday.
   The manager of the store in Lacey is not happy because she for some reason thought I'd stay in her store but I had told her from the beginning that I was just helping out while she was on maturnity leave.
  So, that is how it goes and I'm happy, we'll see what happens next.

  

It's Monday Once Again

  Well, the weeks just roll by don't they?  This week I will find out if I stay where I'm at in the store I work in now or maybe get to work part-time there and part-time in another store.  I've no idea what will happen, we shall see.
   The little girl I've worked with these last few weeks made me feel so good the other day.  She is only 21 and has worked with the company for a year.  She never once resented me being there and as she helped me learn the things that had changed since I'd been gone I taught her things she'd not known.  So she tells me the other day that she's so glad I came there and that she's learned so much from me.  I know from experience it could have gone a very different way but she is a good girl and I've enjoyed working with her too.
   Every Monday I talk to my mom.  She is fine.  I mostly just listen. 
  Haleigh woke up, we had our pancakes which she made and sausages and then she was ready to go home.  She did come back over in the afternoon to get her left over macaroni and cheese and got mad with me because I wouldn't drive her back home.  MAN...........was she in a mood!  And she's not even a teenager yet.  I'm scared!
   SO, my weekend was interesting and it went way too fast but I'm ready to go back to work. 
Hope your week is a good one.

Her Weirdness

   Yesterday was exhausting for me.  Haleigh came around lunch and around two o'clock after asking if she could paint my nails and I said no, she suddenly became unhappy here and decided she wanted to go home.  Alrighty then.  Her father was working and her mother was getting ready to go to rehearsal for a show she is in  so it really wasn't that good of timing.  After calling her mom, she left.  Hardly said goodbye to me.  I was a little stunned.
   Oddly enough I could also relate.  I was like that as a child.  While her mom thinks she is spoiled and just wants her way, I think sometimes she is just a little weird like I was.  And still can be.  It makes for a hard life at times and most of the time I am a people pleaser which is just as bad but I too can just decide I want to do something, whether it makes any since to anyone else or not.  And I can't explain it.
   A few hours later she called me and asked if she could come back.  I reminded her that nothing would be different and she might be bored or not want to be here again and she assured me she had just been tired and she'd be happy.  I think she had it in her head that we were going out to eat and to a movie and after I'd told her we weren't she was just disappointed.  Who knows but anyway, she came back, was as content as could be, we had supper, watched a movie and she went to sleep and is still snoozing right now, in  her room, on the carpeted floor(I don't have a bed in there yet) with her comforter.   OH, we did have to drive over to her house to get a few stuffed animals last night that she decided she had to have even though she'd brought one with her.  And there was a little discussion over where she'd sleep.  She used to beg to sleep with me when I was living with her but over here she refused to and after being told she couldn't sleep on the couch since I was staying up later than her, she decided to sleep in her room on the floor.
   So......I'm not sure what that was all about and I'm not going to try and figure it out.  I just know she gets her weirdness honestly.

Just a Lazy Saturday

  Today is just a lazy Saturday for me.  I needed that.  Haleigh is here and spending the night.  She is satisfied right now watching the Disney Channel and playing on her DS.  That is good for although I love her company I'm not much for entertaining her today.  I'm hoping she'll learn that sometimes just being together is all there is and that she doesn't have to be entertained all the time.  As she is getting older she is figuring that out. 
   Next week the manager of the store where I work is coming back to work from maternity leave.  I'm not sure what is going to happen to me.  I was hoping maybe to work in another store a little closer but instead she told the other girl that I'm staying and our hours will be cut.  The district manager that hired me is coming Thursday and wants all three of us there so I'm a little nervous.  When she hired me she talked like she could work me in between the stores to have good hours until I ended up maybe with my own store again.  I know I've got to wait and prove myself to them but I am hoping my hours won't be cut too badly.  At any rate, I'm not going to waste much time worrying about it.  I just know that I'll be fine.
   I live right by the park and this morning there was some sort of ceremony for nine eleven and about two hundred motorcycles rode by here.  It drove Sweetie nuts.  She's been jumpy all day but I had a good time watching them. 
   I had planned to make pancakes and sausage for Haleigh and me breakfast and thought she'd be excited about that but she informed me she had pancakes this morning at her house.  Oh well, you win some and you lose some.  Maybe we'll just have cinnamon toast instead.  She loves that.
   So, that's about all I know today.