Another slow night at work, but I used my time fairly wisely and applied for a job with the Thrashers, an office coordinator position for their practice rink, and looked at a couple other jobs at Georgia State including the Greek Adviser position which has some pretty heinous turnover. It would be a total 180 from what I'm used to at Rhodes, so I'm a little bit uncomfortable because I know E. Berry did a BAD job at Rhodes coming from a big state school, but the difference between us is not only in the pounds per square inch of makeup on our faces, but also that I recognize that there are major differences in the two systems. It also pays between $30-40k per year. Could definitely live on that one.
I'm working Wed and Thu night, and then Saturday, but if we don't get more reservations I might just ask off. There's no reason for us to have extra people there if there isn't money to be made, and since my fiance is coming in to town and I don't work Saturdays... I'm so out first.
Also, I'm not usually about commercials, but these two are crackin' me up-- Hulu Commercial) people are working WITH Alec Baldwin's crazy instead of against it, and Hyundai Commercial) as a Hyundai owner for 11 years... yeah, I totally love it. I do not own a Honda, they are not even made in the same country!
Aaanyway, that's about all for now, just thought I'd let y'all know I'm back in the job search. I'm nervous about it since this may or may not come back like I need it to, and because I don't know if I'll be here 9 months from now. I don't want to not move with Jeremy, wherever he ends up if it isn't in Georgia, it's been long enough already and we still have six months left. The state of the economy is rough, and getting rougher. I'm not saying the new stimulus bill is perfect, but House and Senate opposition needs to suck up that bitter stuff they've left in their mouths and pass it-- the demise of the country is not worth their pride.
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Twofer
Spent the day catching up on laundry, have my delicates (knit dresses, nice shirts, etc) to do tomorrow since they have to hang up to dry, but just about everything else is done! Yay!
I'm almost done with Season 1 of Bones, and I'm not really sure why I didn't like it in the first place. I absolutely love it now, especially the episode "The Man in The Wall". It's about the rap industry and I find that geeks + the rap industry (at least in TV) equals hilarity and awesomeness. Don't believe me? Check out this one or the NUMB3RS episode with Three Six Mafia-- both are classics, and actually give the rap industry its due through the geeky main characters.
I did pick out a china pattern, I went with the Mikasa Cameo Platinum-- I thought the little details added enough cuteness without being overly done. I liked the Parchment one E liked, but it was just a bit too much, I think. With a simple design, it won't take away from whatever I'm serving, but it will be enough to stand out on its own. Plus I don't have to be paranoid about whether or not the raised dots will come off... I also picked out good silverware, Oneida "Jackson" which is quite reasonably priced for the quality you get with Oneida (fun fact, they were originally a small company of silversmiths out of Pennsylvania, I believe Quaker) and they've got a little bit of the curve from the plates.
Work was slow tonight, only one table, but it was a really fun couple from the neighborhood who came in and had a couple bottles of wine and talked to us for like three and a half hours. We talked about airline stuff, dentists, cars, silly things we did when we were younger, living in Atlanta, living other places, college, just about anything you can think of. I don't expect this week to be too busy, since Valentine's Day is Saturday. I brought Jon the cards I did up for Amy (one from him and one from Carter), and though I forgot to take pictures of them, they'd be easily re-doable. I need to remember to send Valerie's card tomorrow-- though at this point it'll be late, so I might just wait and let Jeremy sign it for himself!
That's about all for now, I'm going to pop in some Six Feet Under (since I have seriously under-used my Netflix potential for the month) and keep plugging through my room. I won't have my chest of drawers or vanity back up for another month or so because I'm going to sand them down and re-paint them before I bring them up. I haven't decided what color I'm going to use since I'd like to keep them around for my kids and obviously I don't know if I'll have girls or boys! I'd really like to do red, but that's a given, so if anyone has suggestions other than red let me know and I'll gladly post pictures of the finished product.
I'm almost done with Season 1 of Bones, and I'm not really sure why I didn't like it in the first place. I absolutely love it now, especially the episode "The Man in The Wall". It's about the rap industry and I find that geeks + the rap industry (at least in TV) equals hilarity and awesomeness. Don't believe me? Check out this one or the NUMB3RS episode with Three Six Mafia-- both are classics, and actually give the rap industry its due through the geeky main characters.
I did pick out a china pattern, I went with the Mikasa Cameo Platinum-- I thought the little details added enough cuteness without being overly done. I liked the Parchment one E liked, but it was just a bit too much, I think. With a simple design, it won't take away from whatever I'm serving, but it will be enough to stand out on its own. Plus I don't have to be paranoid about whether or not the raised dots will come off... I also picked out good silverware, Oneida "Jackson" which is quite reasonably priced for the quality you get with Oneida (fun fact, they were originally a small company of silversmiths out of Pennsylvania, I believe Quaker) and they've got a little bit of the curve from the plates.
Work was slow tonight, only one table, but it was a really fun couple from the neighborhood who came in and had a couple bottles of wine and talked to us for like three and a half hours. We talked about airline stuff, dentists, cars, silly things we did when we were younger, living in Atlanta, living other places, college, just about anything you can think of. I don't expect this week to be too busy, since Valentine's Day is Saturday. I brought Jon the cards I did up for Amy (one from him and one from Carter), and though I forgot to take pictures of them, they'd be easily re-doable. I need to remember to send Valerie's card tomorrow-- though at this point it'll be late, so I might just wait and let Jeremy sign it for himself!
That's about all for now, I'm going to pop in some Six Feet Under (since I have seriously under-used my Netflix potential for the month) and keep plugging through my room. I won't have my chest of drawers or vanity back up for another month or so because I'm going to sand them down and re-paint them before I bring them up. I haven't decided what color I'm going to use since I'd like to keep them around for my kids and obviously I don't know if I'll have girls or boys! I'd really like to do red, but that's a given, so if anyone has suggestions other than red let me know and I'll gladly post pictures of the finished product.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Yeah, I know
So, here's my attempt at some better news since the last post was kind of depressing...
Yesterday, I went to go to Em's, but my car's doing something new so I came back home and took mom to David's to help him get his scooter over here, and went from there. We went to Macy's and looked at some china patterns and narrowed it down to about seven patterns (which I have now put down to 4).
Mikasa Cameo Platinum
Mikasa Parchment (I wish I wanted gold on my table, I love this version)
Lenox Opal Innocence
Lenox Lace Cotoure
I haven't gone through and done my pros/cons on all of them yet-- I like simple and clean and classic, something my daughter will like, or that my daughter-in-law won't hold with two fingers when I pass it on! I didn't used to think I wanted formal china, but I remember having nice dishes for holidays and special occasions and I really liked that. Plus, Macy's keeps putting this stuff on major clearance!
After the china hunt (and the turning up of our noses at "designer" china-- I love Kate Spade, but stick to purses, not china) we headed over to the American Girl store which was totally exciting. I'd never been in the store before! I found out a couple months ago that my Samantha is being discontinued, but I found out last night that Pleasant Company apparently hasn't owned AG in quite some time, so my dolls really are collectibles. Addy also is, and would be moreso if they put serial numbers on them as she was in the first batch ever made. I pulled out my stuff and found that there were a few things missing, but overall everything's in good condition and the dolls still look fantastic. I'm putting in for some of Sam's accessories (they're on backorder and being discontinued, so there's no guarantee I'll get them) and I'm going to start building up my Addy collection since she's my other one. I'm dying to get Analia the Josefina doll (since her genetic father was, correct me if I'm wrong, Hispanic) but obviously I'll have to wait a few years for that. We'll put something aside in the special "spoil the niece fund" since Aunt Meg is likely to be worse than most... I'm also eyeing some cute little rompers for Krystal since Cy's due in March and even though they won't need them for a while, they don't have many neutral colored things past about 8 months (they already have a little girl, Gwennie) and could use some. Good news? They're on a military base and Target should ship them, and if not, then I'll just ship it from here since I won't have to pay "real" Japan postage!
After AG, we ran through Target where I got a pepper mix and a pot in which to plant said pepper mix-- I'm extremely excited, I've wanted to do a garden for a while, and though I can't plant anything in the ground here, there's a porch with a railing wide enough to place small pots on, so I can at least have a potted garden. I won't know until they've sprouted, but it's a mixture of Big Red Cayenne Hybrid, Anaheim Chili, Ancho, BIker Billy Hybrid and Hungarian Wax seeds. The rest of the night was watching Bones season 3, so tonight I'm starting from the beginning and I'm about halfway through the second disc of season 1.
Anyway, that's about all. Hopefully, my peppers will sprout and I can put up some pictures of them. Jeremy's hopefully on the way to feeling better and will be on his way up this weekend! Yay! More soon, I'm sure!
Yesterday, I went to go to Em's, but my car's doing something new so I came back home and took mom to David's to help him get his scooter over here, and went from there. We went to Macy's and looked at some china patterns and narrowed it down to about seven patterns (which I have now put down to 4).
Mikasa Cameo Platinum
Mikasa Parchment (I wish I wanted gold on my table, I love this version)
Lenox Opal Innocence
Lenox Lace Cotoure
I haven't gone through and done my pros/cons on all of them yet-- I like simple and clean and classic, something my daughter will like, or that my daughter-in-law won't hold with two fingers when I pass it on! I didn't used to think I wanted formal china, but I remember having nice dishes for holidays and special occasions and I really liked that. Plus, Macy's keeps putting this stuff on major clearance!
After the china hunt (and the turning up of our noses at "designer" china-- I love Kate Spade, but stick to purses, not china) we headed over to the American Girl store which was totally exciting. I'd never been in the store before! I found out a couple months ago that my Samantha is being discontinued, but I found out last night that Pleasant Company apparently hasn't owned AG in quite some time, so my dolls really are collectibles. Addy also is, and would be moreso if they put serial numbers on them as she was in the first batch ever made. I pulled out my stuff and found that there were a few things missing, but overall everything's in good condition and the dolls still look fantastic. I'm putting in for some of Sam's accessories (they're on backorder and being discontinued, so there's no guarantee I'll get them) and I'm going to start building up my Addy collection since she's my other one. I'm dying to get Analia the Josefina doll (since her genetic father was, correct me if I'm wrong, Hispanic) but obviously I'll have to wait a few years for that. We'll put something aside in the special "spoil the niece fund" since Aunt Meg is likely to be worse than most... I'm also eyeing some cute little rompers for Krystal since Cy's due in March and even though they won't need them for a while, they don't have many neutral colored things past about 8 months (they already have a little girl, Gwennie) and could use some. Good news? They're on a military base and Target should ship them, and if not, then I'll just ship it from here since I won't have to pay "real" Japan postage!
After AG, we ran through Target where I got a pepper mix and a pot in which to plant said pepper mix-- I'm extremely excited, I've wanted to do a garden for a while, and though I can't plant anything in the ground here, there's a porch with a railing wide enough to place small pots on, so I can at least have a potted garden. I won't know until they've sprouted, but it's a mixture of Big Red Cayenne Hybrid, Anaheim Chili, Ancho, BIker Billy Hybrid and Hungarian Wax seeds. The rest of the night was watching Bones season 3, so tonight I'm starting from the beginning and I'm about halfway through the second disc of season 1.
Anyway, that's about all. Hopefully, my peppers will sprout and I can put up some pictures of them. Jeremy's hopefully on the way to feeling better and will be on his way up this weekend! Yay! More soon, I'm sure!
Friday, February 6, 2009
The whole story
Got an e-mail from mom about the "restructuring" meeting they were called in to this morning:
We're still trying to figure out how Emory's lost so much money, I think it's because they spend too much and have probably had students leave due to high tuition. Anyway, thanks to all of you for your prayers and happy thoughts and love-- the last day has been a nail-biter and while this obviously isn't the best thing, it's better than being immediately turned out in to the street.
This is one of the kinder restructuring meetings I've attended as these things go.
My severance package is 8 weeks - I can take the package and not come to work or I can come to work and be easily available for interviews and such. If a job is not found by April 3rd then I can use accrued vacation time to take personal leave. After that time I would be eligible for unemployment.
I will be given hiring priority for open positions for which I am qualified. There is one for which I am the obvious candidate but it is not a given.
Recruiting and career coaches were there to tell us what they can do for us and were encouraging about helping us find another place to be and that we would be receiving highest recommendations. There are six of us affected. Our building which is a rental will be vacated after April and other remaining staff will be shipped to other buildings.
I'm okay, I know the senior director of operations and that she will do everything she can to place those of us here who are being displaced. But of course, these things are not easy.
I am grateful for your love and support.
Martha
We're still trying to figure out how Emory's lost so much money, I think it's because they spend too much and have probably had students leave due to high tuition. Anyway, thanks to all of you for your prayers and happy thoughts and love-- the last day has been a nail-biter and while this obviously isn't the best thing, it's better than being immediately turned out in to the street.
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Hitting Home... Again
My mom is going to be called in to a meeting tomorrow morning where she will be given her severance package. With five other people.
Yawn
I've been bad the past couple nights and stayed up late, which I really can't do tomorrow since I made enough money to head to Savannah and back! I'm really excited and though I wish I could trade cars with mom (my radio is busted and I have no CLUE which fuse it is that needs to be changed!) I know the panda can make it down there and back. She's good for the highway driving, didn't give me any trouble on the trip to Morrow, and I probably won't do too much driving when I get down there, so I'm not too worried. Next week is supposed to be warmer than our current subzero week, so maybe I'll get a chance to work on the exhaust and look at the MAF sensor, see what I can figure out-- for Jeremy, it's a $20 part. For me, of course, it's a $150 part... if it has to be replaced, it has to, but I'd rather not fork over another week and a half's worth of pay! Same deal with the exhaust-- David could probably help me replace it, but it would be SUCH an enormous project.
In other news, the Kellys invited me to go with them to the Charleston Food and Wine Festival and stay with them on the Barrier Islands. Bobby Flay will be there, so if I go, Em and I will have to go heckle him. It would be SO much fun, but it's the week I'm supposed to go see Jeremy. I guess we'll see if he has a job that he'll be working, and if so then I'll go another weekend. I mean, if spring comes and business picks up, I can drive down there Friday and leave on Monday which is the entire weekend, so I'm trying to talk him in to a job. He's not quite as bad as I am about getting fidgety and frustrated with nothing to do, but he's getting there!
I got my postcards for the save-the-dates today, which is super exciting! They're even prettier than they were online, so we just have to get the printer upstairs, get the template figured out, and print 'em out! There's a LOT of addressing to do, so that should keep me busy. I'll catch up on my tv shows and write addresses! Since it'll be a couple days, I'm going to go ahead and start addressing them on one side to be printed on the other side, that way I can just stamp and go! Yay!
As sad as some of the Cold Case episodes are, I absolutely adore the period music. It's pretty awesome. Especially the ones from the 80's and 90's.
Not much else going on, still trying to settle in to the new place, and still getting used to the fact that I actually have a place to put my stuff now! It's still mostly in boxes, it's kind of a strange feeling to have adequate space after living in compact, crowded space for five or six years... I miss my friends, even though Em's close, I just don't see her that often because of our schedules. I also don't really have the money to go to lunch with Laura every week like we'd like. As much as I loathe Memphis, I miss being so close to my friends. Oh, well, less than a year now and I'll have my own household.
Now-- more early 90's Law and Order. Oh yeah.
In other news, the Kellys invited me to go with them to the Charleston Food and Wine Festival and stay with them on the Barrier Islands. Bobby Flay will be there, so if I go, Em and I will have to go heckle him. It would be SO much fun, but it's the week I'm supposed to go see Jeremy. I guess we'll see if he has a job that he'll be working, and if so then I'll go another weekend. I mean, if spring comes and business picks up, I can drive down there Friday and leave on Monday which is the entire weekend, so I'm trying to talk him in to a job. He's not quite as bad as I am about getting fidgety and frustrated with nothing to do, but he's getting there!
I got my postcards for the save-the-dates today, which is super exciting! They're even prettier than they were online, so we just have to get the printer upstairs, get the template figured out, and print 'em out! There's a LOT of addressing to do, so that should keep me busy. I'll catch up on my tv shows and write addresses! Since it'll be a couple days, I'm going to go ahead and start addressing them on one side to be printed on the other side, that way I can just stamp and go! Yay!
As sad as some of the Cold Case episodes are, I absolutely adore the period music. It's pretty awesome. Especially the ones from the 80's and 90's.
Not much else going on, still trying to settle in to the new place, and still getting used to the fact that I actually have a place to put my stuff now! It's still mostly in boxes, it's kind of a strange feeling to have adequate space after living in compact, crowded space for five or six years... I miss my friends, even though Em's close, I just don't see her that often because of our schedules. I also don't really have the money to go to lunch with Laura every week like we'd like. As much as I loathe Memphis, I miss being so close to my friends. Oh, well, less than a year now and I'll have my own household.
Now-- more early 90's Law and Order. Oh yeah.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Oh, right, the organizing...
Now I just have to organize all my stuff in the new house... we're trying to figure out the heat because it's doing some strange stuff. Mine and Casey's side of the house is always hot, but Mom and David's side is always cold, which explains the thermostat wars we've been having the last couple nights. We think we're going to get a digital (programmable, hopefully) thermostat to put in so we know exactly what the temperature is-- right now, it's one of those tap the lever just so kinds that you can't really get any accuracy on.
I'm in a little better mood going in to this next week, but still anxious. I feel like my days are an exercise in futility at work, I just don't make that much money. If I make enough to do something to my car and do gas down to Savannah and have an extra $15, I may go to the brandy tasting. I may go anyway since dad's going and it's a nice neutral place for us to spend time and not worry about anyone getting bent out of shape. It's also nice to spend time with Jill, my boss, who rocks my world-- for the vodka tasting we got a free glass of our Prosecco (my FAVORITE of our new wines) which totally made my night! Emily might also get to go, so that would be fun. I need at least one night a week out, but I also can't afford to spend the money. I'll do Savannah this weekend (and may have to miss the staff meeting-- I mean, how often do I get to go to Savannah? Hint: Last time, I was wearing a green Girl Scouts uniform!), then Daytona at the beginning of March, and I need to get to Memphis hopefully by the end of March or April, but definitely in May for graduation-- All my babies are graduating! I can't believe my last little sis and my grand little are seniors!
I don't have any major expenses for the wedding coming up in the near future, but I need to be careful about making sure I save since there's going to be about $2k paid out between October and December. We've kind of come to the conclusion that I'll put my money towards paying down my bills and paying for the wedding, Jan and Marc are giving us some money that we'll use partially to pay for postage (insanely expensive, I tell you what!) and then put the rest in a high-interest savings account for our Singapore/Thailand/Japan honeymoon! Jeremy's money in savings will go towards paying for moving and a deposit on where we live, and then we'll combine our debts and try to pay them all off in the first 8 months after school. This should be utterly feasible with the exception of the student loans which could be done with in two years. Ambitious goals, but we really don't want to end up in debt. It might mean we won't have the fanciest place to live and we'll have to hold on to our dinky old cars, but we want to make sure we can pay for prenatal care when we have kids, give them a good house and get safe cars to drive them around in.
As for the wedding itself, I know TJ's (Trader Joe's) will give me a good price on the wine (sorry kids, no Nobul at the reception!) and there's a great place my friend Julie hooked me up with that will give me a phenomenal price on the beer (since I want to do all local brews- whooo Sweetwater!!) and I've been to weddings without a champagne toast before so I'm not sure it's necessary, and it would save us a couple, maybe a few hundred. I'm doing all the gifts for bridesmaids, family, and groomsmen by hand, and the parts that aren't by hand are either inexpensive or I can get a deal on them with Jill's distributor contacts. I got a Martha Stewart Weddings last night and I'm not that big of a fan; I liked the bit on bows, gave me some cute decorating ideas, and I did find a cool candy site, but everything was so expensive! Come on, this is supposed to be Wal-Mart's chic DIY queen! I think I'm just going to take it back to CVS and see what the other magazines look like. I also found a bunch of silver ornaments that my mom has packed away that are really cute and simple, so I've already got decoration! Next up, white tulle! HEY, DILL! WHAT TIME IS IT?!
As of now, and this will hold if we're living in Georgia, Jeremy's going to bake the cake, and I'm going to make some of Paula Deen's sausage balls and get my bridal party to chop cheese like there's no tomorrow! I think between Costco and the Farmer's Market I can throw a darn good party!
Anyway, it's bedtime. I'm trying to get to bed by 2/230a at the latest. I would like to work my way down to 1a, then to midnight. I'm thinking about getting a second job part time and need to get myself on some kind of regular sleep schedule! Hopefully, I can keep myself busy catching up on my teevee on Hulu (they're running this season of Battlestar Galactica!! Geek alert!!), running through my queue on Netflix, and organizing all the boxes that need to be unpacked!!
I'm in a little better mood going in to this next week, but still anxious. I feel like my days are an exercise in futility at work, I just don't make that much money. If I make enough to do something to my car and do gas down to Savannah and have an extra $15, I may go to the brandy tasting. I may go anyway since dad's going and it's a nice neutral place for us to spend time and not worry about anyone getting bent out of shape. It's also nice to spend time with Jill, my boss, who rocks my world-- for the vodka tasting we got a free glass of our Prosecco (my FAVORITE of our new wines) which totally made my night! Emily might also get to go, so that would be fun. I need at least one night a week out, but I also can't afford to spend the money. I'll do Savannah this weekend (and may have to miss the staff meeting-- I mean, how often do I get to go to Savannah? Hint: Last time, I was wearing a green Girl Scouts uniform!), then Daytona at the beginning of March, and I need to get to Memphis hopefully by the end of March or April, but definitely in May for graduation-- All my babies are graduating! I can't believe my last little sis and my grand little are seniors!
I don't have any major expenses for the wedding coming up in the near future, but I need to be careful about making sure I save since there's going to be about $2k paid out between October and December. We've kind of come to the conclusion that I'll put my money towards paying down my bills and paying for the wedding, Jan and Marc are giving us some money that we'll use partially to pay for postage (insanely expensive, I tell you what!) and then put the rest in a high-interest savings account for our Singapore/Thailand/Japan honeymoon! Jeremy's money in savings will go towards paying for moving and a deposit on where we live, and then we'll combine our debts and try to pay them all off in the first 8 months after school. This should be utterly feasible with the exception of the student loans which could be done with in two years. Ambitious goals, but we really don't want to end up in debt. It might mean we won't have the fanciest place to live and we'll have to hold on to our dinky old cars, but we want to make sure we can pay for prenatal care when we have kids, give them a good house and get safe cars to drive them around in.
As for the wedding itself, I know TJ's (Trader Joe's) will give me a good price on the wine (sorry kids, no Nobul at the reception!) and there's a great place my friend Julie hooked me up with that will give me a phenomenal price on the beer (since I want to do all local brews- whooo Sweetwater!!) and I've been to weddings without a champagne toast before so I'm not sure it's necessary, and it would save us a couple, maybe a few hundred. I'm doing all the gifts for bridesmaids, family, and groomsmen by hand, and the parts that aren't by hand are either inexpensive or I can get a deal on them with Jill's distributor contacts. I got a Martha Stewart Weddings last night and I'm not that big of a fan; I liked the bit on bows, gave me some cute decorating ideas, and I did find a cool candy site, but everything was so expensive! Come on, this is supposed to be Wal-Mart's chic DIY queen! I think I'm just going to take it back to CVS and see what the other magazines look like. I also found a bunch of silver ornaments that my mom has packed away that are really cute and simple, so I've already got decoration! Next up, white tulle! HEY, DILL! WHAT TIME IS IT?!
As of now, and this will hold if we're living in Georgia, Jeremy's going to bake the cake, and I'm going to make some of Paula Deen's sausage balls and get my bridal party to chop cheese like there's no tomorrow! I think between Costco and the Farmer's Market I can throw a darn good party!
Anyway, it's bedtime. I'm trying to get to bed by 2/230a at the latest. I would like to work my way down to 1a, then to midnight. I'm thinking about getting a second job part time and need to get myself on some kind of regular sleep schedule! Hopefully, I can keep myself busy catching up on my teevee on Hulu (they're running this season of Battlestar Galactica!! Geek alert!!), running through my queue on Netflix, and organizing all the boxes that need to be unpacked!!
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