Double Rainbows, Grandpa Pizza, and Dancing With the Hired Help

It's been a rough week. I feel worn out and beaten down. I caught a horrible cold, missed some work, and spent three days in bed. My lungs still hurt and I'm still exhausted, but I'm heading back to work in the morning.

Bear with me, I'm still groggy so I'm having a bit of a ramble today. We all went to the store a few weeks ago. My daughter needed clothing for her new job. It was late in the afternoon and we were lucky enough to get rain. My daughter ran in with the baby and I was a bit disappointed because I wanted to point out the rainbow for him. My husband and I lingered in the parking lot a bit longer to gaze at the rainbow. It seems I saw them more frequently in my childhood. Perhaps that's due to an ever present drought. The rainbow was strong and complete, and became a double rainbow before we went inside. Beautiful.

Grandbaby loves pizza. He doesn't, at his young age, look down on his grandpa for working such a lowly job. One evening my husband called me after work to ask if I needed anything. Grandbaby was sitting on my lap and when he heard Grandpa's voice he smiled and pointed at the phone and said "Pizza." When my husband arrives home at night Grandbaby and dog run to the door to bark together. When I open the door and he sees the car he yells "Pizza pizza!" He also wears the uniform hat any chance he gets. Whenever we introduce a new food to the baby I suggested that we cut it in a triangle shape and call it pizza.

I know I've discussed work before but I've never wanted to get so specific that someone figures out who I am and where I work so I can be fired, but sometimes corporate ideas are so stupid that you have to vent. I take my job seriously. I do the best I can possibly do. I consider myself quick, efficient, and kind, and I have never had any problems or complaints. I work in a grocery store and as I myself am a shopper I think I have an idea of what people want. I want to get in, find what I need and get out. I want fresh product on the shelf, plenty of sale items to choose from, and a quick checkout. I do not want entertainment. I don't want to be followed about while I shop. Get in, get out, that's me.

We have someone new in corporate. He has new fresh ideas to take us to the next level in the shopping experience. He thinks we need a heart shaped bulletin board in our break room to share our great ideas about doing good things at work. He thinks we should do videos and photos of employees at work and post them to the company website. He suggested employees use their smart phones for this which really amuses me because a previous communication warned employees that cell phone use on the sales floor both ON and OFF the clock was forbidden.

They also want us to fist bump and high five each other when we pass on the sales floor. The worst idea ever--they want us to drop whatever we are doing when our new store song is played over the intercom several times a day and dance and sing. I was hired for customer service and cashiering. I will not leave my customers waiting in line while I dance. Fire me. This is not a Texas Roadhouse, or a strip joint. It is a grocery store, ask a few shoppers what they actually want, better yet go back to school.

This is in a store that needs some improvement. Dairy products are often found a week or more out of date, equipment breaks down, proper rotation isn't always followed, sale stickers are left on the shelf from the previous week, and I suspect product in some departments is relabeled with a new date so they can sell it past the sell by date. It's not pretty. You could add a few employees so there would be more time and attention spent pulling products and setting up the sales. You could stop freezing the pay raises of your lowest paid employees. You could hire someone just to inspect the store on a daily basis to ensure there are no out of dates. But no, you have the best idea, a little song and dance will fix all that.

One last note, company loyalty and pride is never forced. It is earned after learning how to treat employees fairly and doing the right thing. It is earned after treating your customers well. Song and dance? No thank you, I'll go elsewhere where I will be appreciated, dignity intact.

All Squished In

Daughter and grandbaby have arrived and son is almost completely moved in. So far so good, it's actually working out. We had space for most of the stuff, and we have a little storage available in the garage thanks to our decluttering and donation frenzy. Of course, there wasn't much because what she couldn't squeeze into that one car she left behind.

Grandbaby arrived cursing like a drunken sailor on shore leave after a year at sea. (Thanks baby daddy.) He's only two so the phase won't last. As soon as we are over our sporadic fits of giggles we'll correct him.

We didn't know how dog and baby would get along. This was a concern because in this small house there are no extra rooms to separate the two. There were a few minutes of sniffing and how-de-do and then baby brought out his play balls and the dog brought out her bone and her favorite squeaky toy. They are instant best friends. Grandbaby grabbed the dogs favorite squeaky toy (a blue football) held it out and said, "Mine!" and then jumped on the bed with it and said, "Ha ha." He held onto that ball all day and went to sleep clutching it that night. She only just got it back today. They are going to be just fine.

With all of this going on, my husband and I haven't much time to ponder anything else. We were excited because I managed to get a Sunday off and were planning to go on a long overdue day out but my brother left a day early and Sunday was the day when they arrived at our house. That's okay, I'm not complaining. It was still a good day. A few days ago, however, my husband called me at work and said, "Hey, guess what we both forgot?" For the life of me I couldn't think of a thing. He then said, "Happy late anniversary!" Oh well, there's always next year.

Doing the One Step Forward Two Steps Back Dance

My son interviewed for a management position at work and received the new position immediately. He just has to get a car in the next few weeks. He's been riding a bicycle to work but since this is a third key position he will have to drive deposits to the bank at night. You can't really ride up to the deposit drop with a bag of money on a bicycle.

Of course it can't be roses all the time. My youngest daughters hours were cut down to thirteen. She only has two days this week. If this continues I won't have my empty nest anymore, and I really like my empty nest!

My eldest daughter is still waiting to see if she can find a job where she's at before she decides to come to Florida. Things aren't going well for her but she dreads paring everything down to just a few boxes to ship down. A bus or train ride with a baby will be quite an experience too. It's a big decision either way, I just hope she finds a peaceful solution.

As long as the children are settled and self sufficient my husband and I do have some plans in the works. March is our target month. We want everything pared down, new jobs, and a new state. I'm not sure where we are going yet. I research different areas, get rid of clutter, and save like mad. Daily. I can't wait until we can make some changes!

I had a chance encounter the other day with a business owner who was having problems with an employee. She vented, and I asked what she did. She mentioned she may be hiring in March. Our month for a change. March. I expressed an interest. She asked for my number. I will tell no more in fear of jinxing it. I just really hope I hear back from her soon because it sounds like it would be an absolute dream job for my husband and I. Did I mention she sometimes hires couples? Sigh, I just hope I didn't jinx it.

It's Been a Long Long Time

The worst news I'll give first. My grand baby had to get emergency surgery last week. My daughter called one morning and said she was taking him to the doctor because he had a gumball sized lump on his upper thigh. She called later that evening and said it was the size of an egg. The next call was from the hospital to let me know it was now the size of two eggs and he was heading to the operating room the following morning and they didn't know what it was. They operated and left the wound open so it would heal from the inside out and wouldn't become re-infected. It took several days for all the tests to come back and it was staph. I don't know how he got it but I am glad they caught it early and he is healing quickly. It is scary to have to go through something like that as an adult. I can hardly imagine how awful an experience it was for a year old baby.

We may have an empty nest but we haven't had any time together because we are always working. I'm just stating a fact, not complaining. I wouldn't dare complain when so many are out of work still. My free time, however, is temporarily missing.

My husband had the laundry all sorted and sitting by the front door in baskets the other day. I grabbed a bottle of detergent and some dryer sheets and the quarters I got from the bank earlier. We were at the front door ready to load everything in to the car when we both simultaneously started to complain about not really feeling like hanging out at the laundromat. It was so easy to get my husband to agree to taking the Lowe's card for a ride instead. Since they were having a six months no interest sale going on, and since I've recently paid off three bills I was able to purchase a washer and dryer. I will pay them off well before the interest starts and now I can do laundry whenever I want. There had to be some good news in here somewhere.