It's over!

Yay! My last retail inventory! And they can all bite my arse from now on, lol.

We still have people trying to return non-returnable items. And I must say, I am incredibly tired of, "Are you closing?" "Where's the store moving to?" "When are you closing?" And my personal favourite, "What are you going to do now?" One of these days the answer to that question is just going to have to be, "Mind my own business..." I find a nice glass of wine at home in the evening works wonder for my outlook. Mostly.

The stupid vacuum at work clogged and we couldn't get it unclogged. Enter the Superman of vacs, my hubby. "Honey, will you come out and fix my vacuum tonight?"

"What's wrong with it?"

"It spits everything back out."

"You guys are morons. Yeah, I'll come fix it." Grumble, grumble.

But he did. Yay, Hubby! And we both decided since we were there, and neither of wanted to cook, that we needed to hit Carino's for dinner. Yum. Two entrees, all the soup, salad and bread you could want, plus a dessert to share, all for $19.95. Brilliant!

Hey! Guess what? I actually knit the other day!!! I knit on the way to Moab, I knit whilst stuck on I-70 on the way back from Moab. And tonight, I may just knit as well! I re-vamped the pattern for the D.D.'s scarf. Revamped for travel through beautiful scenery and a short attention span, lol. I'm going to knit for about 5 inches, then go to the heart pattern. Then knit until I get close to the end, throw another row of hearts in there, and knit for 5 more inches. By then I should have a decent scarf, lol. D.D. doesn't care, she just wants a pick scarf, lol.

I've decided I need to buy a cable needle and teach myself cables. I'm bored, y'all. Bored, but not ready to commit to my lace shawl. Lol. Cables are new. Cables open and entire new world to me ;) Some day, I may even get up the courage to knit the Rogue sweater that has been calling my name for years...

Anyway, off to eat chocolate cannoli. Ciao!

My faith in humanity

was sorely shaken today. Driving along I-70 just beyond Vail the roads got really crappy. Traffic slowed to a crawl. Eventually, traffic stopped and we lost all momentum. We spun and pushed our way to the side of the road and sat there, pretty shaky.

After trying several times we finally gave up and called for a tow. We needed to get to the pass, and we were never going to make it on our own. Meanwhile traffic was still crawling by us. No one even offered us a phone or asked if we were ok.

The screwy tow company went looking on the wrong side of the pass, so they never found us, but they sure managed to charge us $50 to look. Meanwhile, they closed the pass. Another tow company pulled up in front of us. By then a plow had been by and the road had been sanded. They got us back out in the best lane and sent us on our way.

For a while we did fine until we caught back up with traffic and it stopped. At that point we were slowly spinning and making a little headway. That's when a pick up truck pulled alongside us and told us to stop where we were. He pulled in in front of us and offered us a tow. CSP finally stopped around that point and the trooper was all for the tow as long as we got out of the road.

This wonderful man restored my faith in people. He towed us to the top of the pass, even stopping in a rest area so our daughter and I could use the facilities. From there we unhooked, since the worst was over. The roads were snow packed instead of pure ice. We had a few more moments on the way down, but we'd still be on I-70 now if it hadn't been for one very nice Fed Ex driver out to save a foolish family.

So if you happen to know a Fed Ex driver named Ray who was just heading home to his family in Denver over I-70 one snowy Saturday afternoon, pat him on the back and thank him for us. The family in the white Honda will be forever grateful.

Happy New Year

May it be a better year for all.

"JUST FOR TODAY: I will live through this day only. I will not brood about yesterday or obsess about tomorrow. I will not set far-reaching goals or try to overcome all of my problems at once.

I know that I can do something for 24 hours that would overwhelm me if I had to keep it up for a lifetime.

JUST FOR TODAY: I will be happy. I will not dwell on thoughts that depress me. If my mind fills with clouds, I will chase them away and fill it with sunshine.

JUST FOR TODAY: I will accept what is. I will face reality. I will correct those things I can correct and accept those I cannot." --Pauline Phillips, adapted from Al-Anon

Oh there's an idea!

Dear Harlot thinks we should all call in sick to sit around in our jammies, drinking tea and knitting. Now in my case it would be coffee, but I'm all for the idea. Maybe that's what I shall do when I am unemployed *g*

And the number one reason I hate retail is...

The people. Pure and simple. Most people are fine, but some people just make you want to slap them, or worse.

The other day for example. We are closing. There are bright yellow, large print signs up in several places throughout the store stating this and that all sales are final. And there are at least two signs right on the counter by the registers, and another on the pillar next to the register, just in case you missed the fact.

So a woman comes up to the counter with her things and E rings her up. The woman signs the credit card slip and starts to walk away when something obviously finally begins to register in her tiny little brain. She comes back, gets right in E's face and says, "All sales final? What do you mean? Does this mean if I change my mind and want the larger set that I can't come back and change it? That's shitty." And goes on in the same vein, not actually allowing E to speak.

The woman points to the signs on the counter. The one which reads "Returns and Exchanges" in large letters at the top and ALL SALES FINAL in large bold text at the bottom. In between it says that all sales after 12/4/07 are final. Items bought prior to that date may be returned or exchanged with a dated receipt until 12/16/07. But of course, this woman only reads the part she wants to read, which is the first line. E finally gets to speak and calmly reads the entire sign. With a few more swear words the woman stomps out.

An hour later the phone rings. I answer and it's that woman. She begins immediately yelling at me about our shitty policy and states that she's calling her bank and canceling the charge and she'll bring back our crap and dump it in front of the store. Now I am thinking, a) You signed the charge slip, agreeing to the charge. The bank can't do anything, and b) it was a debit, which means her account has already had the money electronically removed anyway.

But I say, "I'm sorry ma'am, but we do have big yellow signs clearly stating all sales final throughout the store. That is our policy and we have to uphold it."

She starts spewing at me again, finally ending with her favorite phrase, "That's shitty." I again politely apologize, but in my head I am getting heartily sick of her poison. And that's when it really got ugly. She then informed me, "then I'll call your district and get your ass in trouble, fucking bitch S___!"

That's when I said, "Oh you're nice." And hung up.

Get my ass in trouble. *Snort* She's not the brightest crayon in the box. What part of store closing, out of a job does she not understand? Oh and by the way, I don't have a district any longer, I have a liquidator who is responsible for my return policy, try and contact him. Call and complain to corporate. They've shut the door on us and hung us out to dry already.

But neither I nor E need to put up with behavior like that. All the woman had to do was be nice about it. Had she not immediately begun spewing vitriol at E. and instead had nicely said, "Oh, I didn't realize that all sales were final. I'm not really sure this is the set I want after all. May I return it and think about it for a while?" And I can promise you E would have said, "Absolutely." And we'd have bent the policy. But you can't scream at someone and then expect them to turn around and put their ass on the line for you.

Holiday Baking List

Even though my Christmas spirit flew out the window recently, I need to try and keep things wonderful for DD. Which means following traditions such as baking cookies.

Apparently my brother in law hates turkey. So I guess I won't buy one for dinner this year. No point, as we can't eat the whole thing, just DH and I. That's one tradition that will have to change.

And because of that, I shall make him join in the cookie making *smile*

I want to try Stained Glass cookies this year. I think they look lovely. And I think that B-i-L and DD will have a grand time with them, haha.

We will likely make regular cut out cookies this year as well. I will cheat on both of these cookies and buy the dough in sheets.

We made peppermint bark last year, and while the ladies at work loved it, we didn't eat a lot of it at home (I was trying to be good and it was too minty for DD). We also made Peppermint Patties, but really, they were soooo messy.

K has a recipe for microwave caramels that were just delicious, so I will try to get the recipe out of her (I asked, but she, like the rest of us, has a lot on her mind right now).

I do think I need to find something with chocolate, as B-i-L loves chocolate as much as his brother, haha.

The rest of the story

Ok, so our former Regional still has 6 locations, she's not doing too badly after all.

But all in all they are closing 30 locations, mostly west of the Mississippi. That's roughly half of all our locations. Of that number, 27 are our company, with 3 being our sister company. That leaves us with 8 locations left in the U.S., while our sister company retains almost all theirs. Favoritism, much?

As of Sunday we became the ugly step-children of the bunch. Left to twist at the hands of a liquidation company, of which we have three total reps for all 30 locations, so we will likely not even see that rep much.

I have however, decided to try and remain until the end, solely because of the severance package. We will each receive a month's pay, plus pay for all unused paid time off. At the end, we become eligible for unemployment, which will actually get me through until we decide where the hell we are going in June. So I'll be a stay at home Mom for a few months. I'll likely go stir crazy on my own during the day, but on the bright side, I'll get some knitting time ;) Maybe I will actually start my Flower Basket shawl.

Merry F-ing Christmas

I just found out about 30 minutes ago that corporate is closing us after the first of the year. Maybe 4 months. Whoopie.

Now mind you, I was planning on leaving this spring anyway. But now I have to find some kind of stop gap to get us through. No, I will not stay 'til the end. I feel bad saying that, because I hate leaving my boss, but I'm not working my fanny off for them for nothing.

And we aren't the only location that got the ax. Both Colorado locations are going. All the Texas ones except for one. Our Regional boss will likely lose her job, since she loses all but 3 of her locations.

Anyway, I'm off to eat dinner. Ciao.

"Simple" Lace

Is there really such a thing? I'm knitting a scarf for D.D. She picked out the wool at the Wool Festival last summer and informed me she wanted hearts. So I found a pattern with three lace hearts at each end, the rest is all garter. Easy enough. I've frogged the bloody thing 10 times.

This time I've set a damned lifeline and I will manage to get at least the first heart done by the weekend, I swear. I guess I am just too much of a perfectionist when it comes to my knitting.

Speaking of... While my mom was here we headed to the LYS and bought her a skein of Cascade 220 so she could try her hand at a ChicKnits Felted Bucket Hat. It about killed me to watch, haha. End of first pattern row, "I've got two too many stitches, what should I do?" And all through the rest of the brim the same thing. She'd miss a decrease here or there and have too many stitches to be going on with. (Yes, 110 stitches is a lot to frog and re-cast on. I'd have done it. And in fact, I am pretty darned sure I did with the first hat I knit!)

When my mom left she was into the simple knitting in the round portion of the crown. I expect to get calls as the decreases begin again for the top *Smile* Look out Roggey, I told her if she really had problems to take it out to the Yarn Shoppe and ask the folks in there. I will get her hooked on good yarn yet, I swear! And yes, she was very surprised that a skein of wool actually cost less than the cheapo acrylic novelty yarn she was using. Of course, I did point out that it's all in the choice. Me, I have caviar tastes and immediately fell in love with the $60 skein of silk ;)

Anyway, it's breakfast time and I need to get D.D. up for school. Ta!

Whew

The week from Hell is nearly over. Today is the last day of the holiday weekend. Mind you, things won't slow down a lot, but at least the evil Black Friday is done and gone.

Now I guess I need to start shopping. What in the world I am going to get D.H. and D.D. I haven't much clue. D.D. is easiest. She wants toys and any clothes in pink, haha. D.H. wants a new laptop, but that's not exactly something I can get him without his knowledge and sneak under the tree.

And this year I have one more to find a gift for. The Brother in law will be here this year and goodness only knows what we shall get him! Something portable, as it has to go in his luggage when he goes home.

My mom is mostly done. Well, at least the gifts from D.D. I still need to find her something and get her a gift card to Borders as well.

Sometimes I wish we could just stop exchanging gifts. She doesn't really need anything and every year I end up returning the items she give D.H. and I. Her taste just doesn't jibe with ours, hahaha. Last year I tried to tell her I didn't need any clothes and that we'd really prefer that she just give us money so we could apply it to a larger gift. She gave us money and still gave me a gift card to Penney's (a place that I just don't shop at often). I finally spent the last of that the week before Thanksgiving!

I know what D.H. could give me for Christmas though... I want this coat in the Crisp Blue/Blue Horizon. I need a new winter coat and if we are going to be moving back to the Midwest, I need a warmer coat than the one I have now. And this one is called a 4 season coat, since the liner zips out and I can wear the outer shell alone in wet weather or the liner in colder weather. Then when it gets really cold I can wear them together and be as snug as a bug in a rug *Smile*

And honestly, I am sick of the bright yellow coat I have now. I've had it for probably at least 15 years and it's just blah. Not to mention the liner for that coat is permanently covered in pet hair and it's kind of yucky. It's also not waterproof, as I discovered on the 4th of July! Plus, I want a more girly coat, haha. I looked at wool coats, but the dry clean only thing lost me. I need pretty and practical.

So Dear Darling Husband, if you read this that's what I want for Christmas ;)

Home for the Holidays

Or rather everyone in my home for the holidays. My mother is here for Thanksgiving this year. My brother in law will be here for Christmas. So we will be busy up through the New Year.

This is the first year I have made big meals at both Thanksgiving and Christmas. For years, we ate at my husband's (and mine for a bit as well) place of employment. They put up a big ol' feast for the holidays and you can't beat someone else cooking for you, lol.

But Mom will help and a good time will be had by all, so it's good :)

Another blog

I've been blogging for quite a while now. I started after my daughter was born (she's nearly 8 now) and I was a stay at home mom who needed an outlet. I thought I'd made some good friends in the Blogosphere. But I recently learned that appearances are deceiving.

So the old blog has been closed and this blog will focus more on the crafting aspects of my life, motherhood, marriage and occasionally just something that sets me off.

Please, expect me to be blunt about things that piss me off. This time around I'm not pulling any punches.