Saturday, May 30, 2009

It took me long enough!

8 or 9 months ago, an Etsy friend of mine came home from vacation to find that a pipe had broken and flooded the house. There was water and mold everywhere, and the lower half of the house had to be torn out and replaced. Gini and Jeff lost a lot of stuff, including all of the shoes she left at home. She's a shoe hound, so that was a loooooooooooooooooooooot of shoes!

The Etsy Hussies got together to send a care package to help Gini through the first shock. Some sent fun gifts, some sent money toward a gift card. I planned to make something but ran out of time, so just donated money at the time.

I didn't forget about my project. Slowly but surely I picked out a design and a form. I
bought the necessary fabric and supplies bit by bit. Along the way I got sidetracked by work, craft fairs, work, Halloween, work, tendonitis, work, Christmas, work, commissions, work, . . . . . . um, did I mention work yet?

About two weeks ago, I finally got everything done and sent it off to Gini. Today I got a note to say she loved it, so it's finally safe to show off my handiwork. :o)

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Who knows where the time goes . . . . . ?

It just doesn't seem like nearly 23 years since we welcomed my eldest niece into the world with a giant fireworks display (she was born on July 4th).

20 years ago I babysat Anna while her parents were at work. 16 years ago I picked her up after a skateboard wipeout, and a few months later watched as she made her First Communion. 7 years ago (or was it only 6?), I watched her graduate early from high school.

And last night she graduated summa cum laude from college.

Where does the time go?

Thursday, May 7, 2009

I don't know why she did it . . . . . . .

One of my coworkers was arrested tonight.


A few weeks ago there was a notice on the breakroom board that we'd had some discrepancies, and a reminder to count change carefully. It stayed up for a couple weeks, so there's no way she could have missed it. I don't know if she stopped for a while, or just ignored the warning. All I know is that I had to watch as a good worker who I'd come to care about was led out in handcuffs.

The internal auditor was here all day, going over things with Cindy, who was the acting manager for the last two months. He went in and out a couple times. Late this evening, he came back in with two police officers. A while later, they came out with Sara.


In the thirteen years I've worked there, this is the third time we've had a problem. The first time, the woman had problems with medical bills. She took a little here, a little there, until one day she snapped and took a couple hundred and got caught. I don't think we pressed charges as long as she made restituiton -- I think she was her mother's sole support.

A couple years ago, a pregnant teenager we had got caught doing credit card fraud. It came out when a woman was charged for a gift card that she hadn't bought and called about it. I guess Destiny's destiny was to have her baby in jail.

The girl tonight is a single mother who's been working two jobs to make ends meet, and hoping to regain custody of her little daughter. Being arrested is not going to make the latter happen anytime soon, if ever.


Why did you do it, Sara? Why?

Friday, May 1, 2009

Look what the cat wouldn't drag in

After 5 busy days in a row, 2 of which we were understaffed and 3 without getting a break, I was so tired when I got home that I started crying. I just lay there in my room waiting for my feet to stop throbbing. :o(

I was supposed to be off last night, but the girl scheduled couldn't work due to her mother's surgery. I don't blame her, but I wish my boss had read the calendar right when she did the schedule last week.

The week isn't over yet. I still have to work tomorrow night (setting the new ad) and Sunday. I swear, if my boss calls me Monday I will scream!

No self-respecting cat would bother dragging me anywhere.