Way Too Busy...

Okay, so this weekend has been really busy, actually. Quick recap, because I have no idea what else to write about.

So, I got a haircut on Friday...just a trim up, nothing more, but it still feels significantly shorter, but I guess I like it. We spent the day running errands, and then my mom and my aunt went to pick up my aunts from the airport. They were flying in from NY for the weekend, to visit and celebrate my mom's birthday and make Christmas cookies. So, then, we visited for a bit, and then we went to bed.

On Saturday, I went in to work to do a party in the morning, and my mom, brother, and aunts came in and had breakfast and laughed at me when I had to get in the kid cow outfit, and the birthday party was kind of boring. Then, I went home for a few hours, then came back to Chick Fil A to do a second birthday party, this one in the afternoon.

Dillon and I both worked it, and though it was supposed to be a large party for 20 kids, only 12 showed, so it ended up being a bit of a bust. Dillon's a very nice guy, though. He's pretty funny...he reminds me a bit of my cousin's friend, Brandon, in that sarcastic way.

So, Saturday night, we went to my aunt's for dinner, opened gifts, and had cake and ice cream to celebrate my mom and my aunt's birthdays (my mom's is the 15th, my aunt's is the 31st). And we spent the evening chilling out and hanging out, which was fun.

On Sunday, we went over to Marshall's to poke around, and my aunts ended up buying me a dress and jacket for our New Year's Eve party at my aunt's house later this month, which was awesomely nice. Then, we went back to the house, had lunch, and then I drove my aunts and Quinn out to the mall, and we poked around and did some shopping, and then went to Kohl's and did some more shopping before heading back home. I got ready, and then Mom and I went to the Chick Fil A Christmas party.

It was a ton of fun. They had a picture area, where they had different props all on sticks (glasses, hats, beards, etc) and you could get your picture taken in this frame thing, which was fun. They had a guessing game out, where you could put in your guess as to how many peppermint candies were in the jar, and the winner got a prize.

Then, we had dinner, and dessert, and then they played a cool little game. Each table got one candy cane filled with Hershey kisses, and the object was to pass the candy cane to the left or to the right every time you heard 'left' or 'right'. Our kitchen manager, Travis, read Twas The Night Before Christmas, but they had added in some 'left's and 'right's to the story, like "the prancing and pawing of each little left and right hoof". Whoever was left with the candy cane at each table at the end of the story got a prize. Miss Lisa, our day-time dining room lady, won at our table.

Then, they announced that Ashley had won the peppermint candy guessing game, and then, Meg and Taylor came up to announce their Team Member awards, which were hilarious. It's not serious at all, it's more just joking around, but it was so awesome. They gave out water bottles as awards, with the name of the award written on a slip of paper inside.

They named Daniel and Matt the best couple, since they're always in the back talking about how awesome their latest workout was or whatever. Lori, one of our marketing ladies, got the Crossover Award, for learning the register. Jonathan got an award for taking a little too long to clean things. Zach got the Whistle While You Work Award, and then couldn't whistle on command when he went up to accept it. Becca got a special award...Ain't Got No Time for Becca, or something like that. My mom got the Show Some Teeth Award. Edgar, one of our kitchen guys won the Mucho Relaxed Award. Jillian won the Probation Award.

And then, Mr. Moore and his wife spoke for a bit, and then we all said goodnight and left, picking up our (what I'm dubbing) cocoa trees (clear glass tree-shaped jars with hot cocoa mix, chocolate chips, and marshmallows in them) on the way out. We came home, and visited with my aunts for a bit before going to bed.

On Monday, my aunts left in the morning, and then I went out in the afternoon to run some errands, and then came home, got changed, and went to work at 4:00. And it was so slow. They had four thousand people scheduled...so many that they sent Tyler home half an hour after he'd clocked in. I was out in the dining room, and I had to find stuff to do to keep busy. I took my break around 5:30, and sat with Jonathan and Kristen in the break area, and chatted for a bit. Apparently, Jonathan was pushing for me to get the Probation Award, which was neat to hear.

So, I ended up restocking the condiment bar, and cleaning tables, and getting refills for the rest of the night, and went home about 15 minutes early because I had nothing left to do. I came home, had a second dinner because Mom had picked up Arby's, and then cleaned Ella's cage and went to bed.

On Tuesday, I got called in to work the lunch rush, because there was a bus of 70 Meadowlark chorus kids coming in at 12:15, so I worked like crazy, and then went home, got changed, wrapped a few gifts, and then took Quinn back to Chick Fil A to get a picture with the Santa Cow, and then we went to my grandmother's to go pick out a Christmas tree and decorate her house with my dad.

Wednesday was normal, except that by the time I got to work at 4:00, I was starting to lose my voice from this partial cold I have, so that sucked. By the end of my shift, I could barely talk, which sucked, and to make matters worse, I woke up this morning and could barely talk at all. Hoping that it comes back by tomorrow morning...otherwise, I am definitely going to have to have someone take my Friday evening shift.

I think my computer has a virus. It is super slow, doesn't do what it's supposed to, and my email is acting up. So, if you get any emails from me asking for money, they're fake. I think I'll end up having to get Mom to call Summit's IT guy to see if he can just restore it to factory settings, and I'll probably spend the next few days saving all my important documents to discs. Sucks.

Anyway, nothing much going on. A couple more shifts at work, then Christmas, one shift at work, then I'll be leaving for New York for New Years...wow, time sure does fly.

The Liebster Award...

My amazing friend, Aaron, recently nominated me for the Liebster award, a sign of appreciation and encouragement for bloggers with under 200 followers.  As part of the nomination, you're supposed to answer 11 questions they post for you, nominate 11 more bloggers (although I won't be doing that many), state 11 odd things about yourself, and post 11 more questions for those people to answer!

11 Questions from Aaron

1. What is your dream job?

My practical answer is something akin to teaching. My ambitious answer is either a writer or an actress.

2. Who, if anyone, would you like to meet?

I'm really hoping to meet Dan Stevens and Jessica Chastain this winter when I go to New York City to see the play they're both starring in.

3. What country would you like to visit and why?

I'd love to go to England. Fish & chips, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace in London, but also to see the English countryside & tour Highclere Castle. Because I'm a giant history nerd.

4. What are you most proud of accomplishing thus far in your life?
Oh, gosh, I have no idea. I try to stay humble... I'm pretty proud of being recognized as a good worker at my job - been given a raise, been told I could eventually run the store, etc.

5. If you could choose one exotic food to try, what would it be?
I'm not much for exotic food...I think I'd like to try sushi, just to say I've had it, but I'm not sure I'd actually like it. Raw fish seems a bit...odd...to me.

6. Do you prefer phone calls or hand written letters?

This is a tough one. I love letters because you can express so much on a sheet of paper, and that feeling you get when a letter arrives in the mail is just the best thing ever. But, there's also something about hearing a person's voice over the phone, especially when you haven't spoken to them in a while. So both?

7. What is your favorite park to go to?
I can't say that I go to many parks, what with the amount of work I put in during any given week, but I do love taking walks at the little parcourse near Bethabara park.

8. What is your biggest inspiration?
My parents - they both work so hard to give my brother and I a better life, which I knows sounds so cheesy, but it's true.

9. What is your favorite place to shop at?

Another toughie...I love shopping way too much for my own good. Right now, a lot of the things I'm wearing day-to-day are from American Eagle. I love shopping at H&M and Delia's for my special-occasion clothes, especially for dresses. In terms of non-clothing shopping, probably Target. I spend way too much time in there.

10. Do you have any siblings?

Yes, one 14-year-old brother by the name of Quinn. The bane of my existence, but also the sweetest guy I know.

11. What is your favorite class in school?

Right now, as a homeschooler, I'd say Language Arts. In public school, it was US History.

11 Random Things About Me

1. I claim to be a clean-freak, but really, I'm more of an organized-chaos person. I cannot keep my room clean for more than a day or two before there's stuff on the floor and papers strewn across my desk.

2. I love to write, although I never seem to finish anything I start. I have several original stories, dozens of fanfiction works, etc, all saved on my laptop, but nothing ever gets completed.

3. I an not ordinary in any way, shape or form. Case in point - my Christmas tree. White 3-foot tree with white lights, and electric blue, hot pink, and lime green ornaments.

4. I depend on lists, post-its, calendars, and reminders to keep me sane, especially since I started working. I have been known to forget things, or worse, leave them until the last minute.

5. I have a love/hate relationship with the holiday season. Some days, I am in such a funk, other days, I love the holiday spirit.

6. [Starting to run out of random facts...this is harder than I thought it would be.] I don't particularly like any sort of change. I have had the same phone for four years, the same two purses for about as long, etc. I do not enjoy learning new things.

7. I'd love to live in a big city at some point in my life. New York or LA or something cool like that, just to say that I have.

8. My impulse-buy weaknesses are dresses and shoes. I have way too many of each in my closet.

9. I cannot go a day without listening to music at some point. In the car, through my iPod, on my laptop, flipping to one of the music channels on tv...it's a bit ridiculous, actually, but that's me.

10. I have just rediscovered my love for origami. I made balloon ornaments and little boxes and things for under my little tree in my room.

11. I love when people make me laugh or smile unexpectedly.

Now, I know I should be nominating someone, and posting questions for them to answer, but I really only have one person besides Aaron who has their own blog and reads mine, and she's pretty busy at the moment. So, I think, unfortunately, I won't be able to pass this on to anyone, but I appreciate the opportunity all the same.

All Kinds Of Things Going On...

Oh, crap...so, it's been awhile since I last posted...whoops. I don't really think there's much to write about, but I wanted to get on here anyway and just post a couple of things, for posterity's sake.

I have literally been working every day. Like, I worked five and quarter hours last Monday, eight and three quarter hours last Tuesday, six and a half hours on Wednesday, three hours on Thursday, four hours on Friday, six hours on Saturday, five hours on Monday, and four hours today. It's been crazy.

Tuesday was especially tough, because I was originally only supposed to go in for two and a half hours to cover part of another girl's shift, but then, my manager called that morning and asked if I could work two and a half hours past my original time, and then, we were so busy that the owner asked if I could stay through dinner because they had family night and Jefferson Middle spirit night going on. So, I didn't even get a break, but one of the team leaders ordered pizza after the chaos had ended, so I got pizza instead.

Wednesday was funny...one of the guys that work there, Jonathan, put me on "Sorry Probation" because apparently, I apologize too many times when I bump into someone behind the counter, or almost hit them with the swinging door to the kitchens, or whatever. So, he was basically watching me like a hawk the whole day, making sure I didn't say it, and catching me when I did. It was hilarious.

I got called in on my day off on Thursday, to work lunch, and so I went in and worked front-line for three hours. Emily sent me back to the fridge to stock salad dressings for front-line and while I was back there, my manager caught me and told me that they were giving me a raise on my hourly wage, so that was awesome, considering that I've only been working there about two months. Also, I learned that "Sorry Probation" does indeed last more than one day, as Jonathan and Emily were still on top of catching me when I apologized.

Friday was supposed to only be a two-hour day. I got in at noon, and did drinks for drive-thru for an hour, which I'd never done before and was really fun. Basically, they have someone outside with a headset and an iPad-thing, and they take the orders outside. Then, you have someone inside making drinks, and they have a headset as well so they can communicate with the person outside, in case someone orders a half sweet, half unsweet tea (which comes up as "sweet tea, split") or a half tea, half lemonade, or if they want a fork with something that normally doesn't come with a fork, or want a gift card or whatever.

So, I did drinks while Nathan went outside to take orders for the first hour, and then I got sent to work front-line and my manager asked me to stay late...I think because the managers were interviewing someone and doing inventory and they were afraid they were going to be understaffed or something.

And so I spent my afternoon taking orders and restocking sauces and cups and occasionally checking the dining room and getting ice. Which leads me to my other funny Jonathan-related story of the week. He was in the back making lemonade, which, since our lemonade is fresh-squeezed, we make in the afternoons, and the ice machine is right next to the station where they set up to make the lemonade.

So, the first time I went back to fill the ice bucket, he dropped/threw a lemon rind at me. Every time I came back to refill the bucket after that, he would offer me another lemon rind, so I got a kick out of that. Oh, the little things that keep you sane at work.

I worked lunch on Saturday, and then hosted a birthday party for fourteen kids, and that was pretty fun. I housesat for Jeannie this past weekend, so I basically spent the weekend at her house, feeding the dog and the chickens and all that. I worked again on Monday, first doing drinks in drive-thru with Jonathan on headset outside, and saw Sylvia out the window, and then on window for a while, and then on front-line. Today, I went in for about four hours, and really just ended up doing front-line the whole day.

Oh! And I bought a car! Haha, so we've been looking around for a while, and my mom and my uncle went to look at one on Saturday, and the guy at the dealership let us keep it for the weekend to get the feel for it, and so, I went on Monday after work to buy it! It's a red 2003 Pontiac Grand Am, and it's pretty nice. So, I now have my own car! Yay!