Black Friday was wild. It was actually a fun night (Thurs.) with all the busy-ness of getting ready for the morning. We were guarding pallets of stuff encased in black plastic, we put out the apparel on sale then wrapped the displays in black plastic, then I helped a mgr put prices on the bins of $2-$10 DVDs.
Our lunch was actually another Thanksgiving meal....it was hot and fresh and good. Everyone had to take a split lunch as half of us had to guard the merchandise. I almost wonder if it'd be better to do like Meijer which has first-come/first-served after a certain time, they p/u the stuff and hang around until 5 when they can check out.
We stood around for awhile and guarded the stuff so we just chatted while watching crazy people come in, get rude w/ us, find the stuff they wanted most and then camp out. I had people sleeping in the aisles, sitting on computers and other stuff (yes, I told them to get off), etc. Then I had to rush to put together a display in my dept. of something listed in the Fri-Sat ad which no one else saw to do. I was frantic about that for a bit.
Then around 3 a mgr asked me to label a stack of ads (each 27 pgs long!!) with the location of each items on blitz in the store. It took until after 5 so I didn't get trampled on but one of our night shift people had people jump on her. She got a little hurt or scared and was crying on her way out. It was sick! Esp. then hearing about the poor man in NY. Yes, some of our customers acted liked animals but most that I dealt w/ were nice.
I went out into the frenzy and calmly found several items for Austin and then saw an item for Amanda laying in another dept. I got only 3 of the $1.50 towels rather than taking a whole case of them like some. The only thing was the lines were horribly long until the register where I found the self-checkout almost empty. I drove behind the store to avoid the lines of traffic, picked up a McDs breakfast and headed home. Our store did awesome compared to last year's sales, but our shoe dept. did worse. My boss wasn't happy because he counted on several items on sale to really take off over the weekend.
The weekend was tiring. Friday night was busy cleaning up and Sat/Sun was calmer but our backroom is crazy w/ all the toys coming in. I'm NOT going NEAR the Toy Dept. at all until after the holiday.
Ever have a conversation w/ your child that leaves you in stitches and yet is sensitive for them? I had that moment Monday morning. Taking Austin to school we stopped by the gas station to pick up an item. I pull in and dig in my purse for change and noticed that someone's sewer was needing attention. About a minute later Austin says, "Mom, sometimes when I pass gas, it really stinks." I said...."WAS THAT YOU??? Austin, you'd better not do that in school if you can help it. Have you been eating alot of one thing lately?" "Well, I've eating lots of ramen for snacks."
Well, I get in the store and since we know the people there, I asked the cashier about it. She first said that Ramen causes her gas and is smelly so he needs to not eat it so much. (My friend Amy and I had just even had a conversation the other day about how much the kids like Ramen.)
I get in the car and tell Austin what I thought might help him besides Tums. He went to school and he's not said another word about it. We discussed whether it'd be right to turn and look at other people if he did pass some wind. OK, OK.....yes, we dissolved into laughter before he than got sensitive about it.
Monday night was Austin's Winter Concert. It was good. We could hear him well. He's a tenor right now. We noticed that there is a huge amount of girls in the 7th grade choir compared to the boys. Some of those boys have deep voices too! On Mr. Grinch you could really tell.
Tuesday we mostly slept and Austin had a bad cold and stayed in bed. Amanda had a moment to shine at work as everyone was out and no one was able to open the store. So they called her and we p/u the keys and she got there after noon. She worked until midnight. Long day for her.
Yesterday was also my mom's birthday. She had a lovely dinner w/ dad. We talked w/ her for awhile.
I've not slept most of the night but I hope to catch a few winks this morning. Austin woke early and is getting ready for school. I'm not looking forward to the week ahead w/ the loads of snow expected and really cold temps.
I'm not in the best of moods these days and not quite sure how to deal with it. I'm very grumpy and feel kinda cold-hearted about a few things. It seems like nothing is getting better only worse. Almost a grumpy Eeyore feeling. I'm sure this will pass eventually so I just need to hang in there.....but the other shoe seems like it'll drop soon and I wonder how long we can survive. But.....I'm not dropping off the radar as I need my friends and hopefully I can encourage my friends too. It's strange......I feel so w/o hopes and dreams for my future and my family's well being, but I try to think of my friends and encourage them if I can. Isn't that silly???
Well, my cold morning is starting w/ coffee, toast and my 'men' watching "icarly" and spongebob. How funny. Austin is feeling better and I'm glad. He needs to be in school. Jim left for an appt. and I hope to find out if he works today or not. They said they were dropping him to 4 days so we'll see. If we get alot of snow, I'd rather he be home. Amanda went to bed very late as well.
I was beginning to wonder if you had survived Black Friday! Mom worked at Wal-Mart for 20 years, so that whole BF thing is very familiar. Usually, Dad would take her in that morning and then pick her up at the end of the day. Since she was in fabrics, it wasn't usually that wild.
I hope you start feeling better mood-wise soon. I'm well familiar with that kind of thing too (although I'm feeling okay at the moment).
I've never gotten up/stayed up for a Black Friday. I sounds interesting. Especially the "hide it with black plastic" part. Cool.
Maybe you are starting the winter blahs. We always get grumpy and moody when it is dark when we get up and dark when we get home. Hope it passes soon! :)
Hang in there...I get the blues around this time of year also. I get very emotional this time of year too. Everything feels overwhelming. This too, shall pass.
Well, you know how that lake effect can be, hit or miss. Maybe you won't get too much. I think there was something said about us possibly getting some more snow tonight, we'll see.
yes I know who Cecil Belcher is I know his som Jim and Jim's family better. They have all moved away from this area. I hope your Thanksgiving was wonderful!
or any special family gathering that made it to your long=term memory.
Not much today. Worked Hard. It's been very cold in the store.
Watched ALMOST all of "24: Redemption" last night before leaving for work. When I left....it didn't look good for Jack. I heard the DVD for this 'movie' is out Tomorrow! Wow! Looking forward to 24 this January and I hope it's still on Mondays so I can watch it.
After work today, I took Mandi to see her friend at the airport before she flew back to Kansas. Missed seeing her friend off because the flight was earlier than she thought, but treated "taxi-mother" to McDonald's breakfast and then was dropped off at friends to spend the night.
Husband is doing laundry. :D
I'm going to bed.
Dog has been keeping herself busy.....I don't want to know how.
Monk is probably the only show I really enjoy on TV, and I rarely watch that. I used to watch 24 all of the time, but I'm just not into TV anymore. I did watch some of 24 last night, but I probably won't watch the whole season or anything. (The last season it was on, I pretty much didn't watch it at all, I don't think.)
I don't know if I would call it my favorite, but it is a memory lol. one time my dad tried to make me eat sweet potatos/yams or I wouldn't get any pecan pie, I threw up at the table...and didn't get any pie either. :/
No one particular memory of Thanksgiving stands out, I just always loved it when we would get together with the KY relatives. There was always a houseful, but the weather was usually nice enough that we could still eat outside. My grandpa and grandma Turner's anniversary was around the same time as well as my Aunt Lois's birthday, so there was always much celebration.
There's not much more to say. I bought a shovel and snow melt before I left work. Spent a good while cleaning off the van of the 5 in. on it. Driving is okay now tho....I need to get more cleaned off before it dips to SINGLE DIGITS tonight.
They made us push carts in the stormy snows around 2 am. Then I heard that once next week hits....we'll be pushing carts for almost an hour as people are shopping 24/7. AAAAAAAAH!
Looks like we'll be at my mom's for Thanksgiving. I don't know if we'll be able to make it to my mother in laws tho. Bummer!
Our grass is barely covered, but just a half hour east of here last evening I had to clear several inches of snow off my car before I could drive home!
Lasik doesn't correct presbyopia, and it doesn't prevent it. I'm getting fairly close to needing reading glasses, too. They can correct one eye for nearsightedness and the other for up-close reading, and they say that you adjust to it pretty well, but I didn't opt for that. No regrets!
Austin received NOT ONE D or F this go-around!!!!! He made all As, Bs and Cs. happy! happy! joy! joy!
Well, that's the best news of the day. Today I might go w/ a friend to see the new James Bond movie....she's a real fan of the series. I hope we go to a matinee and at the cheap movie place....but I'm also kinda not wanting to go because there is a weather advisory for lake effect snows in the amounts of 2-6 in. today. UGH!!!
I have other stuff on my mind to talk about but I don't have the words put together correctly and I'm getting sleepy so it can wait.
Yay, Austin! Definitely a reason to celebrate. I hate it when I know my kids can do better, but they choose not to. Likewise, it's so gratifying when you feel that they are living up to their abilities.
I am ready for snow. If it's going to be cold, I want lots of snow!
Would you believe that _today_ at 4:30 p.m. I got a notice on my cell phone about having 3 voice mails, and one of them was yours from last week? I had wondered why you didn't leave a message, but figured that you just didn't want to. Besides, I heard from you on Pleo. I had to smile great big to hear your sweet voice! ::hugs::
I really want to come play in the snow with you. I'm jealous!! I was out raking leaves (again!) this afternoon in snow flurries. Might be the last time this year...
