Weekends

Are often too short.  Had a pretty nice weekend this weekend,.... Friday we lounged, and I got to be extra lazy only doing a few things around the house.  Hubby went and picked kids up and even dropped the girls off for the football game.  Was really nice not having to run around like a crazy mom.  We stayed up watching TV,... was just very relaxing. 

Saturday I woke fairly early,... it's still sleeping in if it's past 6:30,... but 6:50?? Could've done a LITTLE better!?! LOL  I knew I needed to get up though,... house to clean, had to get ready as we were taking Jess and her friend to the movies.

Crawled out of bed, dogs were already in kennels,.... headed to the bathroom and started getting cleaned up and ready to go.  Took the dogs out and then started in on the housework.  Woke hubby and Jess at 9 and by then I had had a lot done.  Once they were awake, I vacuumed,... then did my hair and off we went by 10:30. 

Dropped the girls off to see Frankenweenie.... yup.  Weirdos.  All the good scary/gory movies out and that's what they wanted to see LOL 

We went to Hobby Lobby! I bought BEADS!! I'm going to attempt to make what's called a Nepal bracelet,.... I wasn't sure I was getting the right stuff,... as my noted instructions weren't very clear after all.  Asking for a top stitch thread from these people,... they had NO clue.  So,... I guessed.  Hopefully it will work, I think it will.

We then went to the mall,.... got coffee and an apple tart from the Barnes & Noble Starbucks,... wandered the mall a bit,.... got hubby a couple new tshirts from Hot Topic :o)  Went back through Barnes and Noble and I found a book on crotchet beaded jewelry.  Had the bracelet I'm wanting to make, plus much more!! YAY!! It was PERFECT,... so got it,....  I can't wait to start creating!!!

Picked the girls up, they enjoyed the movie :o) Headed home and I started in cleaning a bit more,... the stuff that the kids (Sydney and Geoffery) didn't get done properly,... started food,.... baked ziti,.... had garlic bread and I baked a cheese cake for dessert,... that's what Jessica wanted :o)

It was really nice, Gina and family came over and we ate and enjoyed the evening,... felt like we'd not seen them like that in FOREVER.  Everyone's so busy with work and kids and all.  Missed my cousin :o) 

Jess got boots the other night,.... and we gave her a $50 Visa card,... she is dying to shop online for stuff LOL  She got a $25 Amazon card from Gina & family,.... so,.. ALL kinds of online shopping now!!  Grandma (my mom) got her a really pretty celtic moon necklace,... VERY pretty.  I think she's had a pretty good birthday :o) Still hard to believe she's 18. 

Today, I'm going to throw in a load of laundry or two,... kids need showers and such,... gotta figure out what I wanna fix for dinner.  BUT! for now I'm going to pull out all the bead stuff and see if I can't get started without too much interruption.  *pokes dogs*

18 Already!?!?

Where does the time go??? It seems like just yesterday I was snuggling my new baby girl. My sweet baby Jessica Lynn. Now today she is 18 and in a matter of months she will graduate High School. Wow. I'm old.

I feel so lucky that *knock on wood* we've never had any major kid issues!! No broken bones, ER visits for broken noses, no visits to the principle, no crawling into the house at 2am glazed over. Granted, we still have 2 more kids to get through but I'm feeling pretty darned blessed. We have wonderful, smart, sweet kids.

Happy Birthday Jessica. I can't wait to see what the next 18 years bring!

Perfection

Nothing is ever perfect. The grass is never really greener. Life is what you make of it.

It can be great, boring, fun or sad. I've had a little of all. I've been sad enough that I needed to walk away. Back then I didn't know if it was the right decision or not. I was scared. I worried about things I wasn't sure I could control or fix. I just did what in my heart I felt I had to do.

I can look back on those days. I can remember making myself sick with stress. Not being able to eat. Just feeling so young, alone and unsure.

The changes I made weren't just good for me, they were good for my kids too. I'm forever grateful for what I have now. Even when the days don't seem so perfect. They may not be perfect right then, but I think I have plenty of almost perfect days to make up for the ones that aren't.

Just feeling fortunate tonight.

All Cleaned Out!

Yesterday I spent cleaning youngest boy room. It took me from about 10am until after 4 to have it CLEAN and organized. During that time I got one load of laundry done. Bleh. Once his room was clean, I fixed us easy dinner of hotdogs. I had a salad.

Cousin came over and brought me a big sonic milkshake. Mmm!! Did her nails all pretty. Really need to do mine!!

Checked on the kids and poor Sydney thought her room was almost done lol uhhhh okay???? She got upset. I've already taken her Xbox and laptop. Cellphone was next. She said I may as well just take it then. After cousin left I saw her light was out. So I went into check on her. She was curled up on the bed had been crying. I felt bad. She was beyond frustrated. I said "come on let's do this, I'll help and we'll get it done in no time!" "No just forget it...." Lol I started in cleaning. Told her I would help. So she got up and we put a good dent in things. Told her we would finish the rest tomorrow.

I ended up watching all 4 Revolution episodes I'd DVRd and it was 1am when I turned the light out! Dang!!

About 4-4:30 I woke to rain pouring down!! It was blowing right up against our bedroom windows. I fell back to sleep eventually, the woke when hubby called as he was pulling in. **yawn**

Got him food, peed dogs and fell into bed. Slept a bit off and on. Got up and fixed coffee. Kids were in and out and finally I started more laundry and got into Sydney's room. It was about 10am when we started? And finished probably about 3-3:30. She still has a few bits to do but she got her stuff back.

I still have a ton more laundry to do, but thankfully I have tomorrow too! Lol with little interruption as well.

Right now though, I am so over cleaning. I should scrub my bathroom. Kids need to do theirs. I'm going to try and really go through stuff between now and the holidays. Goodwill things, Poshmark things. Just get rid of some stuff!! Get the house organized!! One day at a time.

I think I'll read for a bit now 😊

Just One Of The Kids

This will be another long winded posting I'm sure.

Since I'm not working now. And I am over the whole mess with the salon owner I worked with. I think it has left a bad taste in my mouth for sure. I know I'm good at what I do though. If it comes down to it I'll jump back in.

I got a call from the lady from the hospital job I interviewed for. The Dr hasn't gotten licensed for AR yet so all jobs are on hold right now. May not be until after Dec. I guess that's okay. Holidays are so busy!! Just sure do want this job. I love medical work.

It's been a busy couple of weeks. The girls are forever busy. Jess did the chili cookoff with a couple friends. Their chili was GOOD too!! I was very disappointed they didn't win. I was there with Geoff from about 10-1:30. Sydney was there at 7 to pass out water to runners. They had a 5k. We wandered around and ate and listened to music. Charlsy, Abby and Brandon played. Did a great job. At one point I was sitting on a curb and on each side of me I had Sydney's friends. I felt like such a kid lol really was rather funny. I am glad they feel so comfortable to be around me like that. Proud of both my girls because they talk to me about anything. I hope that never changes.

Last night we went to watch the Sr play that Jess was in. Her character was amongst the lead roles. She did a wonderful job. Very proud of her. Maybe I'll figure out how to add pics from my phone here and add them in.

After that, we came home and ate then went back to the football game. Just in time for half time to watch Sydney march. I recorded all 4 songs they did. This year they're doin Michael Jackson stuff.

Well. Today has been cleaning day. All I've done is Geoffs room. Not quite finished so gonna go get after it.

Maybe I can do better blogging. As always, no promises.

Time keeps moving....

How sad it is that I've not blogged in so long.  Now that I have the app on my phone, maybe I'll manage a bit more writings.  No promises as usual though.  I really seem to suck at it.

Since my last post, I have graduated manicure school,.... towards the end of the schooling, I had myself really worked up.  Everyone around me, in their teens/early 20s had a plan.  They were going to a family shop, or they had a friend who had a shop, or whatever!!!  I had nothing.  I was to the point of panic.  It took me a few weeks to remind myself that prior to school, I wasn't working.  So, if I didn't find something NOW, I would be alright.  Duh right??

 

Mrs. Suzette about a week before I graduated, gave me a number to call,... a girl was needing a nail tech,... she was going to be out on maternity leave and needed to train someone to fill in for her.  I was nervous and excited!! I wanted this,.... someone that's been doing nails for so long,... I knew I could learn a lot.  I took the number and while I waited on the kids to get out of school, I called her.  She told me to get through board exams and we'd talk again.  

Chris and I drove to Little Rock for my state board exam.  Met Jenny there,.... she graduated about a week or two before me if I remember right.  I was so nervous for board that the night before in the hotel it took me forever to get to sleep.  Didn't phase Chris of course,... *snooorreeee* LOL  Jenny and I went together to the exam,.... we were in the wrong location ROFL But we made it there in the nick of time.  We literally RAN through the doors,.... and went to the office area,... the door was locked.  We freaked, thought we were that late that we didn't make it.  Thankfully, the testing prior to ours were still in there *PHEW* so we got to sit and chill for about 10-15mins before they unlocked and let us in.

We were assigned numbers,... the tables were set up in a horseshoe setting.  Jenny and I ended up on the ends of the shoe,... so we were looking at each other from across the room.  All total there were about 8 of us maybe? It's hard to recall now.  I do remember that we seemed to really have ourselves organized (Thank you Mrs. Suzette for that!) one gal had so much stuff on her table top that she dropped a couple things.  I felt bad for her, but Jenny and I knew we had it wrapped up.  I did each thing for the exam, with one major catastrophe,.... my sculpted nail.  Something I excelled at in school, I was going to bomb here.  I just knew it too.  It was going really well,... I was about the first one finished each time!! But as I was about finished with that nail,... I rest it into the hot water to cure, and the dang thing bent,.... I was screwed.  I tried again,... but the form wasn't sticking this time as the hand was warm/wet,.... needless to say, I did the best I could with what I had and moved on.  

A few weeks later I got my license number :o)  I had already met with the gal for the job, and we hit it off well enough.  She even had me set up with clients already!! I was so excited.  I would be doing pedicures to start.  Gradually she would work me into the manicure part,.... she was an all natural nail salon which I was very glad for.  Enhancements are pretty and all, but just so rough on the nail! I finally got to learn manicures,... she was due to go out on maternity leave in June.  I really enjoyed my work there, working along side her as well.  It was such a wonderful experience.  The clients were all so wonderful and sweet.  While she was out on maternity leave, I ran the shop more or less,.... stayed very busy and the income was great for us over the summer,... we had a lovely summer!!  Ate out, movies a couple times,... got the kids a pool,... it was great.  I really had an attachment to the clients too,... I learned as much from them as I did from school! Had a lot of insight as to things I could apply to my life,... especially in regards to my kids.  

When she was due to return,... it would be just after Labor Day,... she text me the week before hand.  It's silly that I remember this so well,.... but it really hurt me in the end.  She had prior mentioned stepping the salon up,... making it more professional/spa like.  Us wearing all black with lab coats or scrubs or something,... hair back etc,... I was game.  She had a lot of great plans,.... she was going to bring back facials and all,... be loads busier! I was going to start making up a bunch of fliers now that school was going to be back in, and pass them around to the local schools,... I was excited to start really bringing in some of my OWN clients!!!  Until I got the text that really ended it all.  

"I have a problem,... now that I will be returning full time, the clients are expecting me to do everything again,..."

Meaning,.. when she originally said that pedicures would be ALL mine,.. she wanted nothing more to do with them,... she was taking it back.  I'm out of a job,.... she barely gave me time to even say good bye and thank you to the clients,... but hey,... I learned a LOT,... and it IS her business,... what could I say??  I told her I understood,... she said that maybe when she's really over booked, I could fill in for her,... but I told her I couldn't rely on that,... I needed more income than once in awhile like that.  She understood.  She mentioned a gal that had been looking for a nail tech near where we were,.... I should give her a call.  She'd even get in touch with her and put in a good word.  That would be wonderful!!!  Thank you!!!  I told her how much I appreciated everything she taught me,... how much confidence it gave me to even DO this line of work!!  She was thankful for my helping her while she was out for the 2 months or so.  

Well,... now that I knew my job was coming to an end,... I thought the least I could do is get names/addresses of the clients I knew I'd NOT see, and send thank you notes,.... so that Tuesday I get to work,... I had already bought Thank You's,... and made a list and went to get the client cards,... and they were gone.  She had come to clean and reorganize the shop and all,.... but I found it rather "funny" that she'd take those,.... so that rather pissed me off.  I'm not stupid.  The clients I saw all that week I informed of the change,... they were surprised and sorry,... I got their addresses and managed to google others.  I spent that week writing up a nice thank you to everyone.  I had called the other lady a couple times already,... no return call.  Gal came into the shop with the baby 2xs that week, and once I asked about the other job,.... she said that the lady is VERY busy but to try sending her a message on facebook,.... she'd probably get that,... but as far as she knew she was still looking for someone.

Friday was my last day,... I was gathering up all my supplies,... cleaning things really well,... even wrote out a thank you note for her,.. leaving it in the mailbox with the shop key,... I decided to go see the other lady and introduce myself and maybe she would have a few minutes to talk to me.  When she came out, she was very sweet,... the shop was beautiful,... she apologized for not having gotten back to me directly but that when my former co-worker text her,... she had told her that she already filled the position with someone,.... she again was very sorry.  I was dumb founded.  It was just 2 days ago that she told me she said she thought she still needed someone,... she told me to my face,.... when she knew other wise.  I was shocked.  

I left there,... in a daze.  I couldn't believe it.  Seven months,... I worked hard,... I learned all I could,... I cleaned, and catered and bent over backwards some days,... I was friends with her!?!  This is how I was treated???  Then it all really hit me,... she never intended on keeping me,.....

The drive home was very long. I had worked myself up into quite an anger. I had called my mom, cousin and husband. I was pissed. I couldn't even think straight.

Since then, I have half heatedly looked for another salon. But I know this is "off" season. I applied for a medical reception job. Am still hoping that pans out. If not then after the holidays I will go looking for a salon. Hopefully one where I can really be my own boss and have more control over when I work and such.

Well. I have defiantly rambled on enough about all that. Guess I'll post and share more another day.