31
year old Pagan female who lives in Florida with her guy and two
cats, loves Disney, reads fanatically, tinkers in photography and
believes growing up is overrated
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I lost my beloved cat,
Kush, to cancer in 2003. Cancer is the #1 disease-related
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"the sweet taste of summer -
watermelon" ver. 21
originally created 08/18/08 and designed for 1024x768 or larger,
CSS capable browser Like
There are people on
the net that have nothing better to do with their time then be nasty
to other people online. They post rude comments, spend hours a day
talking about sites they hate so much, that they well, spend hours a
day talking about them. (lame) They mock the owners and posters for
their opinions and their right to free speech. They expect everyone
to fit into their narrow-minded little world view or else they throw
a temper tantrum.
To these people I
say
grow up.
Here's a bit of
info people...the web is a HUGE place. If you don't like what I say
here, or who I am, or what I do, or talk about, or what I look like,
or the color of my hair, or whatever asinine thing you dwell on,
go somewhere else. It's really, really easy. Honest. You just
click the little "x" in the corner of your browser and *poof* the
offending, big, mean and nasty site has disappeared.
I pay for this
site. It's mine. That means I can use it for whatever the hell I
want to. Don't like it if I'm bitching about something in my life?
Oh fucking well. Go somewhere else. Think I'm stupid for expressing
my thoughts? Too fucking bad, don't read them. Somewhere along the
line, someone forgot this simple fact: Live and let live
Don't like me, cool, fine, whatever, I don't care. This
journal is NOT for you. It's for me. I'm not in it for popularity or
fame or anything stupid like that. I write it because I need to
write and express myself and get things out of my head sometimes. So
read or don't, it doesn't matter, but don't waste my time (or yours)
bitching about it.
*gets off soapbox*
: : the sweet taste of summer : :
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M. Turner
Po Box 1484
Elfers, FL 34680
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Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Quickie I was out all day with Mom but I did get a few minutes to finally upload, edit and update the two new pieces for PhoenixFire Designs
And here they are:
Tree of Life Pendant - Copper on Copper with Beautiful Red Carnelian Gemstone Leaves
Beautiful Amethyst Gemstone Tree of Life Pendant and Memory Wire Choker
The Red Carnelian is so pretty on the copper. It makes me think of Autumn. And the Amethyst is a full memory wire necklace. All the previous ones I've listed have sold so I figured I'd make another. (I CAN make more of something so even if it's sold, no worries, I can make another.) Anyway, thought they were pretty and I had two secs so I wanted to share.
Why Hello There, Journal I've been talking almost consistently in my entries lately about the new job. I mean, it's understandable since (a) it took so freakin' long to find one and (b) it's a big portion of my life and days right now, but I think everyone must be bored hearing about it since no one's been commenting much lately on the entries. Whoops, sorry I guess. I just tend to write about what's going on and well...the new job IS what's been going on.
Sunday I managed to make it through my shift sans dozing at my desk. Yay me! Of course, I got home and pretty much passed out for almost three hours when I meant to simply take a short nap. Oops. Oh well, I needed the sleep and Love nodded off on the couch at the same time so I don't feel so bad. Later, we went over to the supermarket and got some foodstuff and made egg sandwiches for dinner. (Cheap, easy and filling.)
Monday was a day off! Yay! So I slept in until about 10:15am or so and took some quality time nosing around the net. Took a shower, had the maintenance guy come out and replace our ill-working front door knob (turns out the plate was cracked and the "guts" of the handle were in pieces. Thankfully, the lock mechanism isn't in the door handle, but rather the deadbolt) and caught up on my orders. I packaged everything up AND made two new pieces as well. (A copper and red carnelian Tree of Life Pendant and a silver and amethyst Tree of Life memory wire choker. I'll probably get them photographed tonight and listed tomorrow.) When Love got home we went to the supermarket and got some more foodstuffs and I made us chicken and rice for dinner.
The Rest of the Week - Well, I have off again tomorrow (Tuesday) and Mom's coming by. I hope to get a chance to run by the post office and get a huge stack of things sent out.
Wednesday I open (9am - 2pm), Thursday I'm off, Friday I close (2pm - 7pm) and Saturday I'm off. I'm back in my probably standard open Sunday morning again (the same 8:30am - 12pm shift as yesterday.) Since I'm basically off the schedule for Saturdays, I'm kinda the default for Sunday mornings. (Of course, I'll have to see about either swapping with someone or having someone pick up my Sunday open on weekends that we head out to Disney since we normally get home super late like 1am or 2am at earliest.)
Nanny's 92nd birthday is on Sunday and the family is doing a lunch on Saturday at Red Lobster but I'm not sure we'll have the cash to go. Problem is that yes, I've finally found a part-time job, but I started on their payday. Which means I'll only get my first check this coming Friday and it probably won't be for much if they're a week behind like most companies are. Since this is rent check, it means yet ANOTHER two weeks before we start seeing the extra income to the household. So it's hard basically working for about a month...and still being REALLY broke. I know it'll work out in a few weeks and things will be better for the additional income (especially since I'll still be running PhoenixFire Designs which brings in orders here and there) and in the long-term we can get a little more balanced, but still. Right now? Broke. Painfully so. Which is frustrating. I just want the paychecks to start coming, you know? (And unfortunately, it's the same schedule as Love's. I was hoping we'd get mine on his "off" weeks but no such luck.) It's just more waiting and waiting but at least there's a light at the end of the tunnel finally. And so far - knock wood - I like the job and it's going really well.
*hums*
Alrighty well, I think that was the gist of what was on my mind. I still meant to post a pic of the Gracie cat since it was her birthday last Friday but I haven't had a chance. I need to go photograph the new stuff so I think I'll do that now. Look for some updates probably tomorrow.
Falling Asleep At The Wheel Oh man am I sleepy! First off, 7:30am came FAR too early this morning. I'm on opening shift so I started around 8:30am this morning for our first client at 9am. I'm only here until noon which is great but meanwhile...zzzzz... See, mornings and I don't get along very well. My stomach has always responded badly to mornings. As usual, this morning was nothing different in that regard. So I feel violently urpy because of my stomach and I resort to taking a small swig of Benedryl. (If you don't know, Benedryl is one of the first antihistamines ever invented but it actually does three things: anti-allergic reaction, anti-nausea, and sleep aid.) I had to take it to not puke, but I'm SO sensitive to it and it makes me SO sleepy that now I'm literally fighting to keep my eyes open. (The warm cup of peppermint tea to help settle my stomach probably isn't helping either.)
I swear, I'm going to doze off right here at my desk. I was trying to leave through a magazine left on the desk by one of the other employees, but the words were blurring together so much from my sleepiness and I felt my eyes drifting closed, I had to stop and try and do something else. It's another slow shift - just one client now and another at 11am - so it's even harder not to drift off. Oy! Hell of an impression that'd make, eh?
Eek! I'm on my own as of a few minutes ago. I'm closing by myself for the first time tonight. I got in at 2pm and "A" was here until 3:30pm but she's gone now and I'm manning the store all by my lonesome. Well, I mean, there's some therapists in of course and one of them is the manager of the therapists so it's not like he's not unfamiliar with closing the place down. I closed with one of the other ladies the other night so I've been through the process, I've just never done it myself. It's not hard, it's just more of the, "don't forget all the little details" type worry. Things like unplugging all the massage beds and turning off all the lights - that sort of thing. Not difficult, just a routine you need to get into.
There's only one massage booked so far through close (7pm tonight) so it's going to be a SLOW day. Hopefully, we'll get a walk-in or something but otherwise, I'm just going to be sitting here minding the hours but really, with little to actually do. ("Warm Body in a Chair" syndrome) It's ok, a slow day should be easier in terms of being here by myself. You know how it goes, it's just weird because it's the first time.
In other news, today is my little Gracie cat's birthday! Ok, well technically I have no clue when her birthday is but today is her adoption day and that's close enough so we celebrate her birthday then. We've had the little peep cat for four years which makes her six. Or close enough. Again, hard with a stray to know their exact age, but she was an estimated two years old when we adopted her. I never would have thought that the mangy, half-feral, scared little scruffball would have turned out to be such a complete, sweet and loving kitty. She really is one of the sweetest cats in the world. I'll have to post a picture later since I'm at work and can't right now.
*yawns* Ok, three hours to go. (It's currently 4pm. I've been working on the entry for 20 minutes on-and-off now.) I guess I'll troll the net a bit and try to entertain myself. Maybe more later.
Scheduled to close tonight. 3-8pm. Last client was in for a 7pm appointment. Didn't finish until 8:10pm. Filled out the membership stuff. Then had to close down. (Couldn't run end-of-day reports until she was checked out.) Didn't leave until 8:25pm. And I open tomorrow at 9am.
Oy!
I'm beat and going to bed. Oh, one good thing. One of the owners basically told me to have a massage today. (While on the clock.) The bad thing? It wasn't with my first pick of therapists (she did an ok job but didn't work out my neck/shoulders enough) and I really hadn't been planning on spending $10 in tip. (One massage a month is comped but you still have to tip.) So it was decent and a nice break in my shift, but I was hoping to plan it on a better day. (Being all oiled up for the remaining two hours of your shift...a little weird.)
Shiny, Happy, Updates After working for several hours today to make the new pieces and then a couple hours to take pics, format pics and create pages, my ftp was down. It finally came back up so I can share the newest PhoenixFire Designs creations!
Tree of Life Pendant - Silver on Silver with Beautiful Picture Jasper Gemstone Leaves
Tree of Life Pendant - Silver on Silver with Beautiful Pink Jade Gemstone Leaves
Tree of Life Pendant - Silver on Silver with Beautiful Howlite Gemstone Leaves
Tree of Life Pendant - Silver on Silver with Beautiful Blue Lapis Lazuli Gemstone Leaves
Brown Wire Bird's Nest Necklace with Genuine Agate "eggs" strung on dual strand ribbon and cord.
Bird's Nest with Beautiful Jasper "eggs" on Figaro chain Necklace
Copper Wire Bird's Nest with Light Sapphire "eggs" on matching blue leather cord
Bird's Nest with Chrysocolla "eggs" on matching blue leather cord
Whew! Busy little bee, eh? I'm off to bed now. Night!
Blustery Day I forgot to post earlier today. Sorry about that. It's not because of Fay or any storm activity, it's because I got working on jewelry for a little while this afternoon and didn't think about posting.
Turns out, all we got here is a blustery day. Not really any rain even. It's overcast, but the storm is so slow-moving and heading on such a path away from my part of the state, there's been really nothing to report.
As of 5pm, here's the current National Hurricane projected path. (Again, I'm in the pink square.)
I guess the funny thing about Fay though is that it might continue to be a hassle for many more days. It's projected to exit the state, strengthen back to a hurricane but then make a sharp left-hand turn and come back across a second time, winding up somewhere in Alabama. What a screwy system!
I called my work today to find out about tomorrow and the owner was in undoing the storm prep they did yesterday. She was surprised no one called me to tell me they were closed today and apologized. I told her it was ok, that I had been to the supermarket last night and seen the sign. I'm going to close tomorrow night so I'm in from 3pm-8pm. Weird. I guess "A" hopes that I might be able to close on my own Friday and even open on my own Sunday morning. I'm sure I can but since I've never done either, I'm only slightly aware of the start-up and shut-down procedures. Oh well, guess I'll figure it out!
Anyway, going to run and get some dinner. And hopefully, take some pics of my new pieces tonight (three new Bird Nest necklaces and three more Tree of Life pendants.) I'll post if I get them live on the site today.
Hope everyone else is well. Glad to report, no problems here!
More Updates The 11pm track came in from the National Hurricane Center and Fay is projected to push even further east then before. Which puts us outside of the immediate range and into just the fringe bands of rain and wind. It's also tracking later in the day now. Earlier they said it'd be near us around 2pm but the new track puts it in the evening. I'm the pink box:
We drove over to Publix to grab stuff for dinner and my work was covered up with storm shades with a note they were closed Tuesday and would re-open Wednesday. Guess I have another day off. Sadly, Love's work is open normal hours tomorrow. (Despite the fact that ALL the counties around here have closed schools. I'm not sure how they expect people to all head into work when their kids are home, but, hey, his company never does ANYTHING logically.) I guess it's easier to close a luxury service like a therapeutic massage studio than a company that makes and supports hospital and lab software.
In other news, I updated PhoenixFire Designs tonight with a couple recent custom orders.
Custom Mother's Bracelet Featuring Children's Initials and Birthstones in Genuine Swarovski Crystal
Custom Ordered Chunky Glass Bead and Lampwork Bracelet
(As always, click for larger images.)
I think I might take advantage of another free day off to make some jewelry. I've had the itch lately but with a weird schedule the last few days, it's been hard to eek out some time to do it. Besides, I need to restock. Some sections are getting a little sparse.
Alrighty well, that's about it for now from Florida. I'll probably post again with another update on Fay tomorrow whenever I get up. It'll probably be a rainy day but shouldn't be anything too terribly bad.
Belated Summer Theme So....yeah, technically Summer started in June. And it's now August. I know that. I just never quite got around to changing out my Spring Daffodil theme. So I'm trying it now. (Hey, it's a freebie day off of work - why not?)
Autumn Leaves I miss Autumn. We don't have the season in Florida. At all. We run quickly through Spring and into Summer where it stays through well into October. Leaves don't change colors here, and we don't get the brisk, Fall air. Where I grew up in PA, it was very rural and we had miles and miles of trees around us. Autumn was always my favorite season for the beauty and the colors of the season.
While randomly browsing the other day, I came across this. I was just blown away by how beautiful the colors were and how much it looks like a real leaf. I think I shall have to keep an eye on this seller. I think I may have to treat myself to this when I start getting my first paycheck. (I started basically on the payday, so it's two weeks until the next pay cycle.)
I just thought it was so beautiful though, I wanted to share.
By the way, it's been raining on-and-off already. Even though Fay is still way down in the Keys, there's always bands of weather you get for hundreds of miles around. It probably will be raining rather steadily the next 36 hours or so. Next projected path update won't be for a few hours but I'll make a post later on this evening with updated forecasts.
Watching Fay I was supposed to go into work today from 1pm through about 5pm. But I got a call from "A" telling me that corporate decided to close at 2pm today. I guess to give people prep time for the storm? So today's a free day for me now which is cool. Tomorrow I'm not sure what's going on since the storm will be coming our way then, not today.
As of 11am, here's the projected track:
It's moved the impact to south Florida again, but it did turn and it looks now like it'll hit us as a Tropical Storm almost right on top of us by tomorrow evening. It's already crossed Cuba so these tracks will be a little more likely as we get closer, but there's still always wiggle room. You never can be quite sure what the weather will do.
Anyway, that's it for the moment. Next update should be this afternoon (like 5pm or so) and that should give an even better idea of the time frame, intensity and location of Fay's path.
This and That Just thought I'd do a quickie catch-up since I haven't blogged in a few days.
New Job - Going well so far. My first day was Thursday and then I went in Friday at 1pm as well. Everything is still going smoothly, I'm learning everything quickly, people are friendly and the job is easy and pleasant. I'm looking forward to booking my August massage (I think I'll try and schedule it in the next few days since I'm one big lumpy knot and a massage couldn't come at a better time!) I'm heading in again tomorrow (Monday) at 1pm and probably by the end of the week, I'll be covering shifts on my own. So far, no Saturday schedule issues - everyone seems aware of my availability - so fingers crossed it remains problem-free on that front.
Weekend - Saturday @ WDW So our blackout got lifted on our Disney passed Friday which meant we headed out there yesterday. Love's brother needed to go that day specifically because he too wanted to upgrade his Play 4 Days tickets to a Seasonal and yesterday was the last day to use the remaining day on it. Poor Love fell and bashed his ribs on Friday so he still wasn't feeling good on Saturday and we left much earlier than normal. (Magic Kingdom was open until 11pm with the Wishes fireworks show at 10pm but we only made it until like 8:30pm.) Poor guy was having a hard time breathing and just wasn't feeling terribly well. It's ok though, we all have the seasonal passes now so we can go anytime.
Taken as we were heading out:
Weekend - Sunday Today was official Nap Day. I don't know what's with both of us but neither Love nor I could keep our eyes open today. I slept in, then took a nap a few hours later AND dozed off on the couch this evening. Love's been falling asleep on the couch all day (in fact, I need to wake him when I'm done writing this so he can go to bed) as well. We barely managed to get up and run over to Publix (supermarket) to get some food and bread for Love's lunch and some cereal for mine. It's like we were both just bit by the sleepy bug or something.
Tropical Storm/Hurricane Fay And then there's Fay. Currently a Tropical Storm, Fay is set to be at least a category 1 hurricane in the next day and is taking aim at Florida. Storm paths keep varying but most of them keep winding up point it directly at the Tampa Bay Area (read: where I live) sometime Tuesday. So...I might be out of power, internet and general reach if that happens in a couple days.
Publix was SLAMMED busy tonight and the water isle was totally empty. It's always that way though. Hopefully, it won't be too bad but it's weird to think that I've got a new job and in the first week of working there, we might have to close down for a day because of a hurricane. Odd timing.
I'll keep everyone updated on the path and projections though. We really can't say for sure until it hits and crosses Cuba. By tomorrow night though, we should know pretty accurately where it's going.
Wrapping Up And that's the news from Florida tonight. Hope everyone's had a nice weekend. Thanks to everyone for the good thoughts and congrats on the new job too. It's so nice seeing such supportive comments. :)
Day Two Getting ready to head out the door for day number two at the new job. I just wish my body would stop being such a pain in the butt because I'm actually excited about the job. Yesterday, I got home and promptly got violently sick to my stomach and stayed that way ALL NIGHT. (Put it this way, I took Immodium FOUR TIMES plus Maalox and Tums and I was still in agony. It was like food poisoning bad and I don't know why.)
This morning, I woke up to a building migraine. Took some Excedrin but my stomach hasn't liked that very much and it's still all fluttery and slightly urpy from last night. Something's just WAY off with it and not in the normally bad way for me, but in the did I somehow overlook eating raw chicken or something? sorta way. I think this morning's head issues though were partially to blame on the massive front coming in and the pressure changes from the storms.
Oh well. Now I'm weirdly over-caffeinated, still a little headachy and my stomach's unsettled but dammit! I'm going to work. Hopefully I'll be feeling better tomorrow and a day at Disney will help me unwind.
First Day My first day at the new job went well. It was "A," myself and the other new girl. I need to come up with aliases for people. Anyway, I got there at 10am and we stayed until 2pm today. I go in again tomorrow from 1pm through 5pm or 6pmish.
No one pulled my hair or called me names, so a good first day back to school. *chuckles*
Actually, it went well over all. We had three clients this morning including a walk-in, and I got to check some people out, sign up people for the membership and more. A great mix of things to learn on the first day. Tomorrow, the other new girl will go in for the morning and I'll take the afternoon so we can each have a little more individual time to do all the things ourselves. Today of course, we kinda alternated and each did some of the checking in and checking out process.
I got my employee "handbook" thing as well and it's funny because not only do we receive a free massage every month for working there, but we're actually required to use it every month! Isn't that funny? Oh darn, twist my arm why don't you? :) I guess they want to make sure the environment is as stress-free as possible even for the employees.
Anyway, feeling pretty good about things so far. Hopeful. Seems easy and everyone seems friendly so all-in-all a great first day.
(Of course, when I got home my stomach went INSANE for no reason whatsoever and I got violently sick. I'm just now starting to feel better hours later - I even laid down to rest - but I don't know why it got so bad. I mean, it got like food poisoning bad. Since I don't go in until 1pm tomorrow though I've got plenty of time to let it calm back down.)
