2 Weeks Notice

Well folks, the time has come.

I tweeted a little mention of this, but in case you missed the most groundbreaking news since finding out Hunger Games would be a movie, here it is.

I. Have. Turned. In. My. Two. Weeks. Notice.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You read that right.

As of the 25th, I will no longer be working in retail.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes. This totally warrants lots of exclamation points.

And no, you aren’t losing your mind. I WAS supposed to be staying till July 8th.

BUT, then Mr. A’s bosses realized that he was much more capable than they originally expected a first year student to be, and gave him a huge raise. Boy hasn’t even been there a month!

So, after  laying out for Mr. A that he will be making FAR more than I would be, and since he works 40+ hours a week and I’m barely getting 15, we decided that I could go ahead and turn in my two weeks notice and just be done with the schedule that is already posted.

HECK YES!!!!!!!!!

So I talked to my manager and let her know that I wouldn’t be staying till July 8th like I had originally planned. I explained to her that I was going to ask for time off anyways since I would be moving by myself basically and then would only be working a couple shifts after and it would just be easier to have that whole week to pack and move and give myself some down time.

She took it pretty well. Said she would miss me, but since I have been honest with them, I think it went better than had I been sneaky this whole time about me leaving. She knew it was coming, but she was also happy for me.

And Sunday, I filled out the resignation form and turned in my letter and now I only have 6 shifts between now and the 25th. Between me and freedom from ever working in a retail store ever again.

And while this has pretty much been the worst job I have EVER had, I have learned a whole new respect for people working in any field that requires them to interact with the general public. I am incredibly nice to sales people and waiters and the girl who hands me my coffee at Panera and the guy who gives me my biscuit at McDonalds. I don’t think I was ever rude before, but I now make an effort to be nice and say thank you because I know how great it is to have a nice customer after a long horrible day filled with obnoxious customers.

So, I will have about a month off before GA training starts, so that will be nice to have down time to set up our apartment without being rushed and then I can go visit Mr. A in Other State whenever I want. And then when I get back, I will have about a week to relax and get my head together before training and then school starting. And I feel like I will need that time because grad school is going to be a big adjustment for me since I’ve been out for two years. And I plan on enjoying my time off. And relaxing on my back patio.

And to those of you who have been here since last year and have me so many words of encouragement, THANK YOU and on the 25th, I hope all of you will join me in a round of celebratory drinks because I couldn’t have gotten through all of this without. You lifted me up when I couldn’t see the light and you kicked me in the butt when I was just being mopey. So I sincerely thank you all and we can organize a cross country drink!

Now to get through these last 6 shifts because I will just be thinking, “I WANT TO BE DONE ALREADY!”

A Little Thank-You

***The winner was #5, Legally Married! These were her favorite sports memories: My favorite sports memories (yes, I’m doing two): #1: Beating a top five team in the nation in overtime last season – the first time we had beat this in a ridiculous number of years. I literally had bruises on my hands from so much clapping and yelling. Going to the Sweet Sixteen and Elite Eight games this year and seeing the trememdous amounts of fans that turned out. It was hands-down the best event I have ever been to and I screamed myself hoarse amongst that crowd of 40,000 fellow fans. Oh – how – I – love – basketball!

Thank you all, and we’ll see if I can come up with a good giveaway for Christmas time!!

You guys are amazing.

I never thought when I started this blog that I would “meet” so many wonderful people. Funny, witty, smart, brave, strong, snarky, sincere, sarcastic, wonderful. These are just some of the adjectives to describe you all.

And after this very rough week, I am even more grateful for you.

And to show my gratitude, I am going to do my first giveaway!

I’m pretty excited. I’ve wanted to do one, but couldn’t come up with something anyone would want (that wouldn’t cost me a fortune) until yesterday. And, it will fit in perfectly with the current sporting season.

Because………

I am giving away a sports team tumbler!!!

A wonderful Etsy designer, initiallysmitten, makes these super adorable glasses. She makes all sorts of cute stuff, but I thought the team tumblers would be perfect for football season, college and NFL.

If you win, you get to give me your team colors and what name you would like on the tumbler. As you can see, this Alabama fan wanted Roll Tide, but you could put your school’s name, mascot, professional team, or even YOUR name and colors.

I think these are adorable and I’m excited to give them away to a lucky winner. If I had it my way, I would give ALL of you one, but until I win the lottery, that won’t happen.

I love these and I’m probably going to get a couple as Christmas gifts.

So, all you have to do is leave a comment on this here blog and answer the following question:

What is your favorite sporting even memory?

This could be going to your first professional game, any sports you played in high school or college, or a family tradition of watching games together. Whatever it is, tell me about it!!

You have until Sunday October 10, 2010, at 6pm to enter. I will pick a random number and announce the winner on Monday!!

(Initiallysmitten is not sponsoring this giveaway. I have used images from her shop with her permission.)

Amazed

Words can’t explain my gratitude to all of you.

I never imagined the outpouring of support from yesterday’s post. I thought maybe I came across as a little whiny and you would move on to the next blog you read. But I had to get it out there. I had to write it, and not only write it, but have you read it. Journals never helped me because I knew that it was still inside me, and me alone.

I’m teary eyed and having a hard time finding the words to say to you all.

I know this is a silly blog. Millions of people have them. And millions of people probably have better ones than I do. But you found mine and you read it. And yesterday, you commented. You gave advice. You expressed your support. You gave me warnings. And you sent virtual hugs and thoughts and prayers. You gave me hope when I was slowly losing every ounce I had mustered up to yesterday. You let me know that I’m not alone. That it isn’t my fault. And that you were thinking about me.

And for that, I thank you.

Thank you doesn’t really cut it. It may sound incredibly silly, but all day yesterday, every time I received a comment and read it, it brought a smile to my face and gave me a renewed sense of conviction. You made my day significantly better.

It showed me I can call you guys friends. Again, lame. But that’s how it felt. Still feels.

Maybe it’s the wine, but I’m super sentimental today.

So I’ll quit being a gushing ball of meh.

But I had some questions about your suggestions yesterday. I think every single one of you had amazing advice and ideas, but for some of them, I’m not sure where to look or how to start.

So, I’ll jump right in.

1. Temp agencies. Never really considered it, but I’m all for it. If someone else wants to put my name out there, more power to them. But how do they work? Also, how do I find one? Even more important, how can I tell if they’re shady and should avoid them? I don’t want to end up in a drug house. Or a scam.

2. Volunteering. How did you pick where to volunteer? Where do you volunteer? How do you find places and what types of places, generally, tend to need help? I looked into CASA, but I’m afraid of committing, finding a job, and then not having time to do it.

3. Non-profits. Okay, I understand what that means, but how do you get involved? I know some of you work for non-profits, so how does that work?

4. Political. Someone mentioned political campaigns. Now, I really have no desire to go door to door. That’s so not my thing. But what else might they need?

5. Retail. I worked at a shoe store when I was 16 because two of my friends worked there. How bad is it? Also, and I’m not going to be picky about hours, but will I be working Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, and New Years? The only reason I’m concerned is because I’m a couple hours away from family. So, if I was home and working, no big deal if I have to work because it’s a 10 minute drive and they will wait for me. But if it’s 2 hours, I’m afraid I’ll miss every gathering. It’s something I’m looking into, especially since we live less than a mile from the mall, but just curious. (Please don’t think I’m being picky. Just curious what I’m getting into.)

 

Thank you. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. To those of you who have said you were in my position, thank you for the advice from someone who has been in the trenches and knows the struggle, emotionally and mentally. To those of you with jobs, thank you for telling me how you got those and please don’t think I’m not happy for you. I am. I’m happy you are providing for your family and not having to go through what I am right now. To those of you in my position, know you have a partner in crime. I, logically, know that it’s not my fault and I’m doing what I can. Same for you. We will get through this. No one knows how long this will take, but we will figure it out.

You are all wonderful and know how much you’ve helped someone this week. Treat yourself with a glass of wine or a margarita or a cookie or a pumpkin spice latte. You deserve it.

love you guys.

This will be random

I realized that after my last post, this lack of blogging probably looks like I curled into the fetal position and haven’t been heard from in a week.

I assure, this has no happened.

Truthfully, the post slightly embarrasses me because I completely fell apart to a bunch of strangers. I looked selfish and whiny, especially in connection to the other girl who got the job. I hate that I came off that way. What I hate even more is that is how I truly felt. I couldn’t find a way, at the time, to suck up the pride and be truly and genuinely happy for her.

I’m not completely there yet, but I am MUCH further than last week. I AM happy for her. It still stings a little and I wouldn’t want to hold a full conversation with her about it, but I’m doing better.

I’ve taken a job search break this week because I had reached my breaking point, which was posted all over the internet through this blog, but I will get back to it soon. Probably next week when we FINALLY and officially move to our new apartment in C-town.

Which brings me to another topic: in-laws.

So you know how I’ve said how much I love my in-laws and how my MIL is wonderful and all sunshine and gumdrops??

Yeah, not so much.

Mr. A and I have been living at his mom’s house for the past week because, despite the fact that we moved all our stuff into the new apartment. I still had work in M-town and the mister was finishing summer classes and working as well.

When we decided this, I thought to myself, “Sure. That won’t be so bad. I love my MIL and it’s only 3 weeks, right?”

WRONG. So very wrong.

I married my husband because I love him. Also, because I can spend large amounts of time with him and not want to kill him. This is not the case for most people. Or truthfully, anyone else. I like down time and alone time. I like my space. I like to know where things are. And I like to be left alone.

That doesn’t happen here.

First, there’s my BIL. I may have said it before, but he could be his own post. Mostly me ranting about how much of a waste of space lazy useless unemployed he is.To catch you up, he failed out of college. Twice. (he’s only 20 years old.) He doesn’t have a job. Mr. A and I believe he has been lying about filling out job applications and not actually doing them. He spends money like he works full time. His girlfriend….I won’t even get started because I won’t be able to stop. Every time he talks to me, or more appropriately, about me, he says rude things, and when talking to him mom, he says things in a way as if he’s trying to get me into trouble. Like I’m 12 years old. “Hey mom, did you know Mrs. A made a PBJ with those oatmeal cookies?” Why yes she did because we talked about it the night before while you stayed in your basement room playing World of Warcraft all night.

And the most annoying? He acts like all of this is okay and there is nothing wrong with him draining money from his mom because she can’t seem to tell him no. Yet, she complains to Mr. A and myself about this whole ridiculous situation. I really want the husband to grow a pair and tell her how it is. Tell her to stop babying him, tell him to get off his ass and do something with his life. Get  a job and quit being emo and hiding in his room with his video games.

Blargh.

I won’t pretend I know what it’s like to want to do everything for your child to help them succeed and how devastating it is to see a kid fail, but this is ridiculous. He’s 20, 21 in a couple months. Do you really want him and his gross girlfriend living in your basement until he’s 30? Didn’t think so.

Back to living with the in-laws….

It’s also hard to get some alone/down/quiet time. I feel like I’m supposed to be constantly socializing when all I want to do is go to the bedroom, put on my comfy clothes and read a book or blog or do whatever I want to do. Without being asked to go show an aunt wedding pictures, or help make dinner, or feeling like I’m supposed to be hanging out. It’s frustrating.

I also can’t find anything, so trying to cook is near impossible without me getting completely in a tizzy and giving up.

So, I said this would be random….

The OC series has always been my favorite.

Trashy reality tv? I’m in love. We’ve been without the BRAVO network the whole time I’ve been in M-town, but the MIL has it. It’s all I watch. Real Housewives of any city? I’m addicted. I hate Danielle. I love the rest. Top Chef? I missed you. Teen Mom on MTV? Still a favorite.

Books? I can’t wait to start all your suggestions from GoodReads. However, I am sticking to my goal of re-reading ALL the Harry Potter books before the 7th movie. I adore these books. And no. I didn’t jump on the bandwagon a couple years ago. I have been reading since 5th grade, when I had to wait a year and a half for the next one. It was a part of my childhood and growing up and I love them and I will be so sad after next July and it’s all over. But, I get to relive some of it now. Please tell me I’m not the only one who just loves these books? Or just lie to me so I feel like less of a dork….

Enough hodge podge. Planning on finishing wedding blogging tomorrow. I’m halfway there. Professional pictures take forever to load.

Also, thank you to everyone who commented about the job situation last week. You can’t know how much it meant to me. I needed to hear those words and know that others out there care or are trying to give me advice to get me through this stage. My deepest and sincerest thank you.