My ghost

Since I can remember, I have always had a feeling of not being alone.   As if someone was watching me, but nothing ever happened, so I've just pushed back those feelings until recently.

At Christmas, I received a Scentsy type burner that turns on by touch.  I put it on my dresser in my bedroom where the dog cant get to it, David doesn't care about it and the cat is never up there.  Recently, Catrina and I broke up, I've been a mess, and this is when I started noticing the burner would be on when I would walk into my bedroom.  For a while I would just assume that it was me turning it on and not remembering, but after it started happening multiple times per night I wondered what was happening.  I don't hang out in my bedroom (no tv, fold laundry on the couch...etc), so it was odd that the burner would be on so often.

One particular night, by coincidence, I was having a bad night and I watched Ghost Hunters when I walked into my room and found the burner on again.  hmmmmm - I thought I'd just try something.  I said out loud:  "Thank you for being here with me, but will you please stop turning on my burner.  It's a little dangerous especially if I leave the house and I don't know that it's on, so please stop."  The burner hasn't turned on since!!  I'm not kidding!  WHOA!!

I thought I'd try something else last week.  I got that "feeling" again, so I said aloud "Hi.  Are you here?  If so, turn on my burner"  Nothing happened.  But the next night I went to go to bed and the burner was on.  Sometime last week, I got into bed and the burner turned on!  Just me in the room....the dog and cat do not sleep in the bedroom.  It never before turned on when I was present.   Apparently me asking it to turn it on has given it permission to turn it on again when it wants.  I have since moved the burner to another outlet to see if it was a fluke with the plug, but it's turned on by itself in that area too.  It only turns on when I'm at home - I've never come home from work and it's been on.

Parts of me just can't wrap my head around the supernatural, but most of me can accept it.  I have been trying to asses my 6th sense on the nights I find the burner on.  Did I get "the feeling"?  Can I feel something around now?  Do I have the feeling I'm being watched?  What did I do tonight that I possibly turned on the burner....  For now, I smile when I find it on and know it wasn't me who did it.

Vertigo

I'm not talking about the Hitchcock movie, I'm talking about room spinning, nausea inducing vertigo.  I'm having it again....yes, again.  I've been having it off and on for a couple of years.  The first time I had it was severe, I was nauseous and could barely stand.  I went to the dr. and he put me through a battery of tests and determined that it was an inner ear infection, wrote me a Rx for antibiotics and told me to also take a Claritin to help drain the fluid.  Within a few days I was fine.  Since then, I've had small incidences of spinning, but nothing that wasn't fixed with some pseudoephedrine.  When the Dr. looked in my left ear, he stated that there was a lot of scar tissue within the ear and asked if I had any surgeries.  His statement has bothered me since then because I do notice that my left ear is weaker and I don't hear very well with it.

For the last 5 days, I've been suffering with spinning again.  This time, allergy drugs are not helping.  I've researched vertigo online and tried the "exercises" to reset the "stones" in the ears - no help.  It's time to find out what's wrong, I have an appt with an ENT on Monday.  I really want to know why it keeps happening (is it stress induced, infection, defect), what's up with my left ear, and get my hearing checked.  I'm DONE with feeling like I'm falling into a hole.  There are times this wakes me from sleep because I roll over and feel like I'm falling out of bed, when I'm not.  

Quality of Life

1 year ago today, I wrote about Oreo and thinking that she was going to die...any day Oreo .  Well, 1 year later and Oreo is curled up on the couch snoring loudly.  I may have written your eulogy a year ago, but how was I to know that you'd defy the odds and still be around!?  And Happy Birthday!  You're 13. 

In the last year, you have become slower, whinier and gassier.  MAN, you can clear a room!  You're funny when you fart loudly and scare yourself.   It's generally the silent ones which are deadly.  You can no longer walk the 2 blocks to the bus stop, the 1 block walk to the dumpster is about all you can handle.  However, you are spunky when you want to be.  You get excited over seeing people, you will run...trot really and you are happy.  Your age is catch up as you like to lay in front of the heater when I turn it on, you sleep more often and you're a bit grayer in the face.

Yes, you still have cancer- although, I really wonder if it's cancer.  Your mammary tumor us HUGE, but it doesn't seem to bother you too much.  We get some funny looks from people when I take you outside and I'm sure that those people are thinking I'm cruel to have this tumor hanging from you, but even the vet says that it's fine to stay and the risks of surgery are just too great. 

You still LOVE to chew on rawhide bones.  Sure, you have your good days and bad, but the good still outweigh the bad ones.  I'm not going to predict the future or whether 2012 is going to be your last year because every time I think that you're a goner, you just prove me wrong.

Black Friday Fun? Of COURSE!!!

After spending the day eating delicious food, I tried to go take a nap prior to heading out to Toys R Us shopping and then to work.  I said I tried, but failed....I was too excited.  Black Friday for me is like Christmas for kids - I LOVE IT!!  I like the crowds, the people watching, the mayhem that happens.  It's just exciting to experience it and watch it all unfold.

At 6pm, Catrina and I headed off to Big Lots because they were open until 8pm and we may as well start our shopping early.  Stuff was purchased, but I cannot remember what....   Once BL's was done we headed across the river to Toys R Us to stand in line and get in early when they open at 9am.  We were in line at 7.  We people watched, made friends with the people in line with us, tried to bribe Portland Police, tried to bribe TRU workers....yea, it didn't get us far.  Then it was 9pm and the line started moving - YAHHOOOOOOO, let the fun begin!

Catrina and I are no longer amateurs when it comes to BF shopping.  This year, Catrina was a organizational guru!  No longer did we have handwritten lists of what we were going to purchase and where, nooooooooo that's too simple.  This year Catrina organized each child with the items they wanted, THEN listed each store where they could be found AND at which price!!!  This way we knew at a glance that the Angry Bird hooded blankets were the best deal at Kohl's for $19.99, plus an additional 15% coupon I had, PLUS my employee discount.

Once in TRU, we stick together for the initial "big" purchase items that we're seeking, then we divide and conquer on other items (when you have boy and girl items you have to split up).  Once we're satisfied with what's in the cart, we had off to get into line.  However, we tag team while in line.  I stood in line first while Catrina went back into the bowels of the store to find more goodies.  Back she came with an armful of stuff, tagged me from the ropes and I was off!  It's like WWE and Supermarket Sweep all in on!!  (Supermarket Sweep - there's a golden oldie)

We were out of TRU by 11pm.  Back to my house to unload the car and go our separate ways.  Catrina was off for more BF shopping, I was headed inside to get ready for work.  Since I had been up since 7am, I  thought it would be wise to shower and brush my teeth b/c I'm not getting that opportunity until after 12pm the next day.

Kohl's was CRAZY!!!  The line snaked through the store, but I have to say people were all very nice.  In the 9 1/2 hours I worked, I only encountered 1 crabby person.  I started at 1am and we were crazy busy until around 3:30am, then DEAD from 4 until around 7'ish.  By 8:15 we were crazy busy again.  That lasted until I left my register at 11:30.  Catrina was there to meet me for some shopping - which she had already started (YAY!! Cuz I was tired) and we were out of there, had lunch and home by 12:45.  I was asleep by 1, but up at 4pm.  What's a couple of girls to do?  Go SHOPPING!!  Fred Meyers, Target and the Mall were all hit.  We picked up some Green Tea Kitchen (Chinese food) on the way home and collapsed in bed for a long winters nap.

Mini promo, BIG compliment!

I have been working at HP for almost 2 months now, fully trained for just over a month.  While I'm still learning some things, I've got things running pretty well in my cube.  My accounts are very very slow and quiet, so I've had lots of downtime which has been noticed by management.  The way our system is set up, I'm not able to walk over to a coworker and just ask if there is something I can help them with because all area's within the system need specific permissions.  I'm only allowed to work on specific accounts - mine.

Today, I was actually working on a claim when the 2 bosses came up behind me and said that they'd like to speak with me.  WHOA - my heart started beating a mile a minute.  I wasn't taken to the open meeting room - the one with no doors where we usually meet for things.  Oh no, I was brought to a conference room that had a door and 3 chairs.  OH CRAP!  We file in, take a seat and shut the door.  GULP.


Tina, we know that your 2 accounts haven't been keeping you very busy.  This is it.  Do you feel that you know what you're doing pretty well?  GULP - yes.  We feel that you are a quick learner and can grasp things pretty quickly, so we've decided that we're going to give you a more challenging account and take away your 2 easy accounts.   AWESOME - gulp.  Sigh of relief!!  The bosses have liked what they've seen so far and have decided to give me a very large account.

HOWEVER....

The account they are giving me is the account NO ONE wants.  From what I know, it's challenging and the people associated with the account are difficult.  Hey, you know what?  I'm up for the challenge and difficult people are my specialty!!  I'm ready!


EDIT:  I should state that I was not given any raise or bonus or anything for this change.  It's just that I was recognized and given the responsibility of a large difficult account so soon after starting.

Who do Voodoo? We do!!

I'm seriously lacking in my blogging!!  I found photo's from this summer that I haven't published yet!

Labor Day weekend, I worked at Kohl's, but also had time to go have some fun in Portland.  After work on Sunday, Catrina and I decided that it was a perfect evening to go meet our friends in Portland for a drink.  A drink turned into an evening of FUN!! A night of fun in Portland is best ended with a VooDoo Doughnut. 

Catrina and Cris

Christian and me

Time to DANCE!!

Christian is excited about what he is displaying!

An actual VooDoo doughnut

Looks DELISH!!

Retail Manners Reminder

It's that time of year again, time to remind everyone to BE KIND to the retail staff at the stores you'll be shopping.   With Black Friday quickly approaching and the mayhem that follows, please remember the following:

* Be kind to your retail workers. We're making close to if not minimum wage and we are just the worker bee's of the operation.

* You're going to stand in line.  I don't make the schedules of how many people are on the registers.  Tapping your foot, sighing or complaining LOUDLY does not help the situation.  The extra minutes that you're waiting in line compared to the whole scheme of your lifetime, is a mere blip, so put on a smile, complain about the weather to your neighbor, play Angry Birds on your phone, or read from your NOOK cuz you're going to be waiting in a line at some point.

* Be friendly when we ask you a billion questions.  Would you like a store cc?  Would you like gift receipts?  Do you need boxes?  One of those questions is MANDATORY and the rest are to make YOUR life easier.

*  Don't yell at us or get angry when you can't find a shopping cart, or when the item you want is no longer in your size.

*  Please be aware of the time.  When you hear the "the store is closing" announcement, please do not grab your stuff and "quickly" go try them on in the fitting room.  Head to the nearest register and put the items on hold or pay for them.  The announcement means that the store is C L O S I N G, not a warning bell of when you need to start trying on clothes.  I'm tired and want to go home and I have at least 30 min of work to finish after you've left the store.

*  If you want to apply for the store cc, then do so.  Don't worry about the people behind you - again, perspective people.  For our store cc, it takes LESS than 3 min to complete the process.  I can finish bagging your items in the time that it takes you to complete the application.  If you want it, then get it.  Our bonus' and raises are based upon our new credit card sign-ups.

*  Please don't come to the register with a cart full of items and THEN decide which items you're going to purchase.  Please make those decisions prior to coming to the check out line.  I realize that we have last minute changes of heart (those are fine), I'm talking about when you have a heaping cart full of stuff and more than 5 items are "I'm not going to get that".   I am the one who has to put all the items that you don't want back onto their hangers or folded  and into their proper place - AFTER my shift.

*  From now until February, stores are going to look messy.  Clothes may not always be neatly folded, buttoned, or tied and random items may be found on shelves they don't belong.  As much as we try, the customer/worker ratio is WAY off and we just cannot keep up with demand.

Have a great time shopping - I know I will, but just remember that the workers in the store deserve some credit for doing their job during the hardest time of the year!  AND, if you see a retail worker doing a great job, let them know - it helps us get through the rough days.  I remember specific compliments I've received from customers - complaints go in one ear and out the other.