All caught on sleep!

I'm feeling well rested today as I got to sleep in this morning. I have to work tonight and then back to work at 6AM tomorrow. Christmas season is upon us and we have a lot to get out to the sales floor. Lots and lots to do!

Next week Scott and I will be attending his ships reunion in Charleston and we are looking forward to getting away from Columbia. We will probably go on our own little adventures during the day as all the "planned" events are things that he and I have all ready done in the past. I'd love to walk on the beach and see the Market down there.

Our 3 cats

Fat orange cat - Mr. Tesla
Long haired orange cat - Little Nickie (son's cat)
Calico - Mistress TARA

All "owning" our bed trying to lure me in for a nap.

Sept. 23rd EXCITEMENT!

I got a call from the store on my last day of vacation telling me I HAD to get up there as there was a FIRE! Turned out a fan motor in one of the A/C units burned up and filled the store with smoke. One of my employees had to be taken to the hospital by ambulance as she has asthma and got a bad case of smoke inhalation. She is OK but had to stay in the hospital til 2 AM and got several breathing treatments. I'm so happy that she is doing all right. We closed the store down but stayed til aout 8:30 PM (this all happened about 4) with doors open and fans running. Yesterday we went in and did some cleaning up and clearing sapce in the stockroom so that we won't get in trouble with the Fire Marshal for boxes stacked too close to the power panel and such. I mopped and mopped to get up this fine sout that was on the floor. I wore a blister in my right hand from using the big mop but it did help to clear out some of that smell. We couldn't smell anything on the fabric so we opened for business as usual on Sunday afternoon. I'll be going in for 4 or 5 hours today to make up for the time I missed yesterday. I've got to wait on the washing machine though as I need underclothes to wear to work. LOTS of laundry still needs to be caught up.

I seem to have a stomach bug of sorts as I keep having to run to the restroom. Hopefully it is something that will pass quickly. Thats the bad thing about the season changes; all the illnesses that pop up out of the blue.

I guess I'll go do some other cleaning while the washer is working on the clothes.

Working vacation!~

Well I actually ended up going in yesterday for about 8 hours. I opened EVERY box in the stock room with any luck they'll be able to get it out before the truck is due today so they'll have room for the 397 boxes that are coming. I am NOT going in again until Sunday evening - the first REAL day/NIGHT back to work. Althou I do have to type up a report and get it to our District Manager today. I will type it up next and then plan to drop it off first thing this morning. I DO have an employee coupon for double my discount thats good only today so I may just go in to shop a bit for Christmas.

Scott was snoring so loudly and deeply that I HAD to get up as there was no sleeping.

No rain yesterday after all

I was going to go ahead and mow the lawn yesterday which needs it BADLY But I couldn't get the mower started so I pushed it back in the shed and did some (again much needed) weeding in our garden. I found one pepper plant amoungst the weeds with some beautiful peppers on it that I will need to pick soon and cut up and freeze for later use in chili and stews. This vacation is teaching me the importance of finding balance in everything and not to focus too hard on my work. My dwelling and hobbies have to find a place in my daily routine again. Somehow I have to learn to do this so that I won't get to feeling so overwhelmed and burnt out.

I've begun reading Diana Gabaldon's book, A Breath Of Snow And Ashes another wonderful book in the Outlander series. So far it's repeating the end of The Fiery Cross to catch people up on the story line but thats ok as it takes me back into the book. I love her books as they always make me feel like I'm "there" hiding behind a tree or a curtain watching the story unwind. Today I think I will read and sew while the rain is falling. I did promise to take Greg to lunch at about 11; he wants Taco Bell. Off to read now!

Looking like rain today~

A good day to stay inside and sew. I'd like to just stay home today and get some projects finished but family and friends may lure me out on other grand adventures. Yesterday was my Friend, Gypsye's big 4-0 birthday so she and I went to lunch together to Nonna's on Gervais St in Columbia SC. ABSOLUTELY delicious! We had their special of pimento cheese, tomato and bacon sandwiches on a crecent roll. YUMMY! Will be trying that out here at home with the guys. We also had some cake for dessert and I had a LARGE mocha coffee. After lunch we went to Target on Garners Ferry Road and soat out there clearance items. All in all we had a lot of fun together. I had to be home by 3 as Sears was to come by to give us an estimate. Well He got here a little after 3 but wouldn't do the estimate as Scott wasn't here. He said we would have to reschedule. I called Scott after he left and told him we would not be buying siding and windows from Sears. He was fuming and called them up AND wrote a tremendous complaint letter... we will be looking elsewhere to replace 26 windows... talk about a screw up on their part.
You'd think in 2006 women would hold more weight in decision making even if they ARE married. We were appauld!

I also had to get Wilson Heating and Air out yesterday as day before our A/C quit working. It was wonderful again by last night. They in comparison to Sears are TOPS with us!

Well if I'm to get anything accomplished today I better get started plus Amelia is waiting on her breakfast.

Day 5 of vacation!

Here it is my 5th day of vacation. I am going into work for about an hour for a conference call and then out to coffee with Gypsye for her 40th birthday! I survived it and so will she and having some iced coffee sounds GREAT right now as our A/C is down and we had a long sticky night last night. I'll call today and see when they can come out and do a seasonal check-up and get it going again. It's supposed to rain today and bring cooler temps with it. I hope thats true as I am more than ready for Fall.

Sears is sending someone out to give us estimates on replacement windows and vinyl siding today. We want to get this house ready to sell so that we can get moved up onto our property. It may take longer than we had planned last year but we want to make a good profit on this place.

I've got blocks pinned together for the 1000 triangle quilt and am hoping to work on it some this afternoon while waiting on the Sears dude. We have to have this quilt finished for the winter as our old quilt is literally fallign apart that my Great Aunt Nellie made us as a wedding gift. I need to copy the pattern down from the few blocks that are still intacked. Then I can make a replica of it to replace it and perhaps frame the blocks that are still in good shape. We've had this quilt for nearly 22 years now.

Scott just called he got a ticket this morning just up the street. The Officer said that Scott rolled a stop. He was not happy when he called to let me know about it. He says he will be going to court about it. UGH!

Well I better see what I can do about getting my window up on the truck... it broke on Sunday! So far this vacation has been nearly more stressful than work!

4 more working days!

Then my vacation starts and I can hardly wait! Especially now that we are dealing with a disgruntled ex-employee. She has become a real nightmare. I need to be focusing on getting the store ready for the Holiday season and now we will have to deal with this mess. Hopefully HR can get things straight and quickly.

As for my vacation I have so many fun projects planned and hardly know where to begin on them. And I want to go up to Spartanburg to visit my folks one day. Got to call my Mom and figure out what day would work best for her. I also have Sears coming out to give us an estimate on vinyl windows and siding on Tuesday. We are working on the house trying to get it ready to sell in the next couple years or so. Scott is talking about buying houses to flip to make some money that way. There are quite a few houses for sale in the neighborhood next to ours that are prime opportunities. But we will see. Not sure how we would find time or energy to work on another house to get it flipped quickly.

Last night we went out to eat at LaFiesta with some of my co-workers and had a good time. My husband and son were the only guys there as nobody else could talk their spouses into coming. It was "interesting".

I'm working closing hours today and am hoping to get some planograms done this evening. I can work on them and watch the front of the store that way. The quilting books will take the longest as they have to be totally re-numbered as we moved fixtures and now the flow is different.

A day off! + ONE MORE

I'm off from work today and tomorrow and plan to organize my wreck of a sewing room so that when I'm off for an entire week (third week of Septemer) I can actually get some sewing done in there and perhaps some scrapbooking as well. My "collecting" has gotten a little out of control as you can see by the pictures adn has spread to the dining room table. Today I will do my best to get some of it organized.