"Saving Grace"

Saving Grace is one of my all time favorite TV shows. It's scary, real, beautiful, frustrating, spiritual, inspiring, and full of everything that is a true life. Despite the fact that Grace is truly frustrating, this show gave me a hope and belief that nothing else has done in my life (except Robert) in the best 3 years. Needless to say I was very disappointed to find out that the show was ending this season. And so suddenly we were left with the prospect of 4 more episodes and no reasonable end in sight. Still, I had faith in the writers because they hadn't let me down so far, so why should they do it now?
The episode "I Need You to Call Earl" gave me hope that all would end with some sort of resolution or new beginning for Grace, but, really, we were left with ridiculous surprise Death and a little bit of nothing for all the other characters. I get it: it started with her sister's death by fire by Hut Flanders so why not end with Grace's death by fire to Kill Hut Flanders, but, really? Does it have to be that way? It's just too sad. They could have left us hanging in another way: with her chasing Death down, maybe getting married to Ham, guiding Clay on his path... SOMETHING. But no. Almost makes me not want to buy the last season.

A house A house!

We have found a house! 207 Old Ferry Road in Wiscasset Maine is a ranch. I never expected to fall in love with a Ranch...BUT it's unique. It has an attached 2 bay garage. It has 2 decks out back (one enclosed, one not), a master SUITE (with private bathroom, walk-in closet-with a window, skylights, and exposed beams), a little room off the bedroom I can use for my workout room (once again with skylights)... fireplace and wood stove AND a "man cave" room built out of old barn boards! It's amazing, interesting, yet open to the improvements we might make someday. 1.5 acres of land with access to a brook that leads out to the river (salt). AND it's only 1 mile from route 1 and 12.4 miles from Lowes, 18 miles from Dammy, and just a little more than that from mom. What more could one ask for?

We've signed the contract for a closing date of August 1st. Our inspectors found very little wrong with the house. The water test was great. We just need to have the house appraised for our Mortgage lender and from their it's all about getting the money organized, which is the part I dread the most. Still, I'm thinking it will all work out. This house has something about it that just makes it meant to be.
Sigh. Life is just really good some days!

Commitment

I can't seem to commit myself to anything except work and life with Robert these days, so who knows if I will come back on here on a regular basis, but I felt inspired today. So, here's hoping that I continue to be inspired...

Promotions

Last week it was announced that a new Zone Manager position was opening up because Eric, our Zone 1 manager, was being promoted to Administrative manager. I have always said that I wasn't interested in moving up in the company, plus we are buying a house, plus Robert might be leaving soon, plus I'm not done cleaning up electrical yet! BUT, after 4 days of listening to everyone, yes, EVERYONE, tell me that I would do such a great job as a Zone...well, I finally decided to apply at the last minute.
I'm good at what I do. I don't have total confidence in myself, but I have enough to know that. I found out a couple days later that I was the only one in our store who got an interview (out of the 5 managers who applied), which also boosted my confidence. I thought I might have an edge because I was a female as well, but not so: all 4 of the interviewees were female!
And the new Zone Manager is...not me. I was told I interviewed really well, but my "attendance issues" were the one thing that kept me from the job. Basically, I'm only allowed 5 absences (even with a doctor's note) in a 12 month period and I've had 10. This is complete and utter ridiculousness in my opinion, but I understand the company has to protect themselves.
I'm not really disappointed. It would have been nice to up my yearly earnings to $41,000, but I would have been salary and I would have had to work at least 50 hours a week. Don't need that right now.:)
So, here's hoping I can stay at work for the next 8 months without getting sick. And then I'll just need another Zone position to open up at my store. RIGHT.:)

I have awesome new friends from work!

These will make no sense to anyone else, but I love my girls!

Spring has Sprung

Spring has sprung in Maine and the world is an interesting and busy place. Nothing too big to report, except that I seem to be getting pretty lazy about the blogging. It's so sad, but true.
We're enjoying the warming weather-70degrees on Easter is an oddity in Maine. We helped mom and Buzz cut down some brambles and rake some leaves and ate some of mom's lovely food.
Robert's arm has finally healed, so we are looking for jobs in MS, AL, an VA in hopes of keeping him close to family and friends. Looks like MS might be promising...we'll just see. I am trying to steel myself against the change that will happen when he leaves for months at a time... trying to see the bright side is easy right now with Spring getting here and work going well and friends close by. So, I'll just keep thinking positive.
We have seen a few houses here and there that we like, but are still looking since we can't buy anything until the end of the year anyway. Gotta save up a down payment on a house... hopefully finding a house and running out on our lease will coincide with each other... once again, positive thinking.:)
Mom took me to see David Gray in Portland last week...it was a great show. LOVE the Merrill Auditorium, but discovered that I'm older than I thought and I have trouble staying up late.:) I guess it's just the way it is when you work and live and enjoy life...who cares if you can stay up late or not, right?
Lots of Babies on the way...none of them mine, but lots of showers and parties happening and I'm enjoying every bit of it. I love having these Life Moments to celebrate with my friends... and I'm HERE for them! I would be so sad if I weren't! Leah's due in a couple of weeks, Jen is due the beginning of June, Emily is due the end of August...It's a world full of babies! Hard to believe that Maggie Lane is all ready 15 months old and little Brady is coming up on a year old in June! We will finally get to meet him when he comes up with his mom and dad for our 10 year high school reunion: another party to have and organize!
See, I'm going to keep busy while Robert's gone.
So, off to watch THE PACIFIC and the many other shows that I love...enjoy time with my honey...and cuddle with my cats.
It's a good life.

In the Vally of Elah

This movie was nothing I expected...I had an image of a historical film, but it ended up being another film about the War in the Middle East. Well cast and acted, I was surprised to find Charlize Theron in a very plain, but extremely passionate role. I am usually not one for the current war movies, but this one was so horrible, but without the horrible images, that I couldn't help myself from watching. It immediately made think of my friend Jason and the time he spent over there. The similarities between what I know of his time there and what the young man in this movie went through were very frightening-because this movie showed me all the things that Jason may have gone through but would never have told me about. The honesty and the matter-of-factness with which these soldiers told the story of their murdering and the effects of the war upon their bodies and minds...I just don't know. It was frightening beyond belief and made my insides turn. And, on top of all that, the plot and mystery pull you in so that you must continue to watch. There are no horrible images, but there are horrible ideas and thoughts. But, it is the most real Present Day war movie I have seen in a long time. OH, I hope these things end soon so that these many men can avoid coming home with their minds a mess. And I truly hope that Jason has not had such a horrible experience and that he can recover better than these men.

BUYING IN

Our landlords invited us over to their house last night-for dessert and tea. We were a little worried that they were going to tell us we were doing something wrong or that they were going to try to pull out of our lease (which ends in Sept). BUT we take really good care of the house and they don't seem like to type to go back on their word...so...
It turned out that they want to offer the house to us if we would like to buy it. This, of course, was the other thought that we had. The market isn't getting any better, so why not sell it now and make a little bit of money, right? PLUS, they really do love this house and they know that we love it to. The sad thing is that we don't want to buy the house. No, that's wrong: if we could move the house out of this neighborhood then we would buy it in a second. Unfortunately, some of our neighbors leave much to be desired and our yard isn't exactly the prettiest in the world. Sure, we could fence it in and make it more private...it is really tempting because I think they would give us a good deal, but, in my heart, I know I don't want to live in downtown Bath any longer than we have to. It's so sad.
On the bright side, it was really nice to spend time with Frank and Barbara. They are really nice people. Very intelligent, very thoughtful and very talented. Barbara is an amazing artist and Frank is an artist in his own right: he can builds beautiful architectural models and does amazing pen and ink work. I think he has been involved in a LOT of things in his life...things he has only alluded to, but he has had a great influence in the world.
They are working with a group that is building a new community in Damariscotta...it's a long term plan, but it's a plan to create a Green community, to bring the community colleges into Dammy, to create an artistic community...it's absolutely amazing and we were the first to see the actual model for it. WOW! I wish I felt I could keep up when Frank talks about stuff like this because it really does fascinate me.
I think the connection we have made with them is a great one and it will be wonderful to hold on to...I just hope that, if we don't buy the house, that we can continue this relationship with them. I'm finally starting to get Frank's humor and understand where they are coming from. It's exciting to meet such interesting new people and to create a new relationship.

Short hair again!

I CUT MY HAIR OFF~! Crazy, I know, but I was getting SO tired of pulling my LONG hairs off of EVERYTHING! Plus, I have to wait for the bleached highlights to grow out before I can donate it. SO I'll keep it short and fun for a couple of years and then grow it out again.:)
I LOVE IT! It's so FREEING to have short hair again!

Sudden Changes

Mom called today to let me know that Bambi is in the hospital and that she has cancer. Bambi has been mom's best friend for as long as I can remember-she was like a 2nd mom to me growing up. She's had a hard life-especially these last 5 or 6 years dealing with an alcoholic husband who can't work and having to earn enough money to pay their mortgage herself. She went into the hospital yesterday for a ruptured tumor in her colon. Mom didn't really have much information to tell me about the whole thing, but it made me realize something about my mother that I find myself doing as well. See, mom had no idea that this was going on and apparently Bambi has known that she has cancer for 3 or 4 months and never said anything to mom-who is supposed to be her best friend. Granted, that's how Bambi is, but I would hate to think that, if one of my friends got sick, I wouldn't find out until the next DAY like mom did!

It scares me so much to think that I would become so embroiled in my own every day life that I would come out of contact with any of my friends-so much so that their significant others and family wouldn't think to call me IMMEDIATELY to tell me that something had gone wrong! Here I will make a pact with myself that I will always make time and effort to be a part of my friends' lives-because having friends and being involved with them is what life is all about. This having been said, I am now going to take the step to be okay with moving 30 minutes from work if it means being 20 minutes closer to my friends; what is snowy drive taken slowly (or getting to work an hour later) compared to precious time spent with friends after work on a long day?

Here's to friendship and the importance of it in a life that can be overrun by "have tos" and "I'm tireds". And, to all those out there who don't think I need a phone call immediately...well, you are WRONG.

Negativity

I have found that, mostly, people like me. OR if they don't, they keep their mouths shut because they know their dislike for me is unreasonable. But, every once in a while I run into someone who really doesn't like me...or, worse, someone who doesn't like me, but pretends to like me and talks about me behind my back. This mostly happens at work.
I bring this up because I Was having a great day on Monday when one of my favorite people in the store was talking to me about something and, without meaning to, he mentioned that someone in receiving had said something negative about me. I had been paging overhead a bunch that morning because I had a lot of customer questions I couldn't answer and needed Rick, the former electrical manager, to help me...and, of course, he didn't have a phone on him.:) I try not to page, but sometimes it is unavoidable. Apparently this person in receiving made a crack about how "If I would do my own job instead of trying to do everyone else's then I wouldn't have to page so much." They were immediately given a talking to by the receiving manager, which made me happy, but it still really hurt my feelings that someone could say something like that about me. I'm pretty sure I know who it was and he is a very negative, completely lazy person who will say anything to get attention, but that doesn't matter to me. The fact that someone found the opportunity to say something like that about me is what really hurts.
Needless to say I tried REALLY hard to brush it off, but was unable to keep it from putting me in a slightly bad mood for the rest of the day. I talked to a couple of the women I work with who are much like me and they were very supportive, but it still doesn't keep me from thinking about the negativity. And then I thought of the Daily Quote that was chosen for that day (we have a book of quotes from which a quote is chosen every day by anyone who wants to), which made me laugh and feel much better. It is my new motto:

"A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort."

Honestly, I think that, because I AM so positive all the time, people DO get annoyed and make comments like the one made on Monday...that's how I'm going to look at it. And now I move on...

Movin' On Up at Lowes

So, about a month ago my zone manager asked me if I would be interested in moving to the Electrical Department. Honestly, I have SWORN that I won't move to Electrical or Plumbing because I have NO knowledge at all about either one of these departments, but, in the last 8 months I have realized that I have enough talent with organization and people to be able to move to a department I know nothing about and LEARN what I need to know. So, when Ted asked me if I would be interested in moving to electrical (preceeded by a compliment about how great Millwork looked on our last walk), I said, "Well, I knew this was coming, so I guess I can do that." See, the current manager of Electrical is older, with crippling arthritis that keeps him from moving very quickly and managing a department with 6 aisles. So, electrical has been going slowly downhill for a while-which is why I had been eyeing the department to see how bad it was. Honestly, I was BORED in Millwork because I was at the point where I was counting jhooks and sidestacks and making lists...so, it was time.
I've been in Electrical for a week and a 1/2 and now I'm finding my challenges to be the people, not the product.:) I all ready lost a part timer (not my fault) and my Electrical Pro is not so great about following directions while my other full timer does not speak my language...which I Find about 30% of people don't. So, these are my challenges and I am ready for them.
On the bright side, the store manager and my zone manager have all ready said that they are seeing improvements in the department and the District Manager is "excited" that I am now in Electrical.
My goals are:
1) Get our sales numbers up to make budget in BOTH departments every week
2) Get a dusting program in progress so our displays are not ALWAYS dusty
3) have 5 sidestacks on every aisle by the end of February
4) Have appropriate Jhooks on every upright by the end of January
5) Keep the lightbulb aisle completely stocked and organized (sans extra cardboard) at all times
6) Completely organize top stock bay by bay
7) Review all planograms so they are correct by the end of February

I can't believe that I actually think this is fun...who knew I would ever enjoy working for a corporation...but, did you know Lowes gets a discount with Verizon AND Mac? There ARE benefits to working for a Big Company.:)

Our First Big Storm

We had our first big storm here on New Year's weekend. It ruined our New Year's plans with Pj and Jesse, but it was kind of neat to go through a 4 day storm...and not be completely freaked out the entire time. The fact that I live 10 minutes from work makes it a lot less stressful for me and I was able to enjoy the beauty of the snow much more than I remember. I didn't even mind shoveling the snow because Bath got mostly white fluffy snow instead of heavy wet snow. I feel so grown up because I actually go out and shovel halfway through the storm now instead of mom having to force me outside to help out.:) Funny what growing up can do. Here are some fun photos from the storm.... I couldn't believe how the snow had drifted up to the bottom of the door and then completely over the back side of my car! Craziness! That never used to happen at mom's because we had such a big driveway, I guess.:)And the snowbanks at lowes keep getting bigger and bigger...I don't know how they don't just take over the parking lot by the end of the winter!