So it has been about four years since I actually came onto Blogger and posted my thoughts. I'm not entirely sure what provoked me to get back on and spew forth my innermost ponderings, but either way, here we are... So buckle up and enjoy whatever may come your way.
Since my last post, which was sometime in the summer of 2007, I have gotten into, and then back out of some sticky situations. I have changed work locations, though not exactly jobs, per se. I have moved twice. I lost two (and 1/5) pets, adopted two more, had a girlfriend (and a step-daughter), dated a few people, and then got a new girlfriend (thusly the two new pets). My name has changed from "Niss" to "Kid" to "Trophy". I've traveled to South America, Central America, and, most recently, India. And now, for the first time in a long, long time, I am on a most relaxing, agenda-free, jet-lag-free, Homeland Security-approved vacation.
I returned home to Houston from 18 days India on April 3, 2011. I took my Malarone anti-malaria meds for an additional week post-touchdown at IAH. I went back to work on the 6th, and planned to take an actual vacation (ten glorious days of PTO) starting on April 16th. Due to whatever it is that makes heads of corporations focus on certain things, our Hours To Sales Guideline (HTSG) became the Hot Button for the Spring, so we had to cut back on payroll. So, my wonderful team suggested that I just start my vacation early. Awesome! No worries, I will gladly take an extra day off, and kick off my vacation a day early!
My first day back at work is scheduled to be April 26th, which is technically today, as it is now past midnight.
So on Monday morning, as per usual, I took the weekly conference call with the RDO and the other GMs from our region. Once again, we heard about the need to cut back drastically on payroll. A few hours after the conference call, I received a call from work. No worries, I'm sure they're just touching base because I go back to work on Tuesday. Nope. Not at all what I was expecting. In fact, after the conference call, our RDO sent out another email reiterating the need to cut hours, about 40 hours per store, this week alone. So....what did my team do? Well, naturally, they called me and asked if I wanted another week of vacation!!!!
So on the one hand, of course I appreciate taking another week of vacation! I haven't had an actual restful vacation in about a year and a half. These trips to South America, Central America and India are hardly vacations. They're two- to three-week vision clinics in developing countries. That is some hard work!!
And last week, on my pre-approved (sort-of), pseudo-sanctioned vacation, I was able to hang out with one of my best friends, who was off work due to a surgical procedure. And I got to spend some quality time with my Ginger (the "new" gf....we're coming up on 2 years together in August!) and the kids (our two dogs and cat). Saturday I went on some kind of cleaning rampage and cleaned the entire second floor. Maybe that was Friday. But I digress.... Then on Sunday (which was, incidentally, Easter), I took a rubber broom to the stairs and cleaned off all the pet hair, then picked up all the poop in the "yard", and then, because that wasn't enough, I invited Ginger's mother over, and cooked dinner! Granted, it was just burgers that I threw onto the Foreman grill, but it was still cooking...after spending hours doing housework.
Today, after the call about the extended vacation, I went through my Inbox and two bags of old mail, sorted, filed, and shredded about three garbage bags worth of paper that had been following me around for months. And by "following me around", I mean sitting dormant in the living room, just taking up space and waiting to be handled. So I have been super productive in the past week.
On the other hand, I am feeling somewhat under-employed. Not exactly unemployed, as I still have a job, and I am still getting paid....Just, I don't know....less employed than I should be. If that makes any sense. I think it's because I'm used to working all the time. I'm a recovering workaholic, if you will. I used to work all the time, always working late, always thinking about work or taking calls/texts from work after hours, or even working from home inasmuch as one can work from home as a Retail Manager. (Because Acting General Manager isn't a legitimate title where I work.) I felt almost disappointed that I wouldn't be going back to work this week. Don't get me wrong, I love having this time off, and I love that my company gives me five weeks a year of Paid Time Off (PTO)....I actually had six weeks this year, because I rolled over 40 hours from last year. But I think the prospect of staying home for another ten days sucked the air out of my sails for a minute this afternoon. I got over it pretty quickly and got on with the Home Improvement bug (I tried to build a ledge for a window planter, but I didn't have long enough nails, so I gave in to the Shredder Monster and spent my afternoon sorting, shredding, and filing instead of building).
And now, finally, I have no wind left in my sails. No steam left in the engine. No room in the inn?? No, that's a different analogy. I'm pooped! The Almost 1:00AM Gremlin has done a leg-sweep on me, and now I am about to be flat out on the bed.
So, welcome me back to BlogLand. I welcome you back into the day-to-day of a sometimes-mischievious, mostly-friendly little elf.
Bienvenutti! And now, Buona Notte!!
