August 11



I met with a number of my friends from Pathways at Barnes & Noble -- one of them lives in Houston and was in town for the day with her new baby boy. It was so great seeing her (and the others too). They all bought drinks and treats at Starbucks - but I'd eaten before I went, so wasn't even tempted (well, maybe the chocolate brownie the one gals son was eating tempted me a little).

After I met with my friends, I went to the library to pick up a bunch of books on hold. Then I stopped at Target because I needed to find something for the head honcho's daughter who had a baby shower this weekend - I didn't go because of the meeting with my Pathway's friends.

So, I did end up spending:
$13.49 - 3 onesies (3mo,6mo,9mo) and gift bag
~$5 - 3 bean burritos, string cheese, coke, candy bar.

August 12

Spent $2 -- Treated my dad to seeing "Oceans 13" at the dollar theater.

We also stopped at Sam's Club and I got a box of Fiber One Oats & Chocolate bars -- they were at least $.13/bar cheaper than a box of 5 at Walmart - and Walmart is way cheaper than Target or Kroger. Dad bought them for me though, so it wasn't me spending any money.

I made a pot of beans tonight which I'll be eating for supper this week. I also made a pot of quinoa which will be part of my lunch.

I'm excited about Thursday after work. I'm going to be taking an introductory class for calanetics. If I like it, I will probably sign up for 10 more classes. It will cost a good bit of money ($160 for 10 classes) but if it actually helps me on my fitness quest, then I feel its worth it. I'll be taking measurements on Thursday morning so I'll have a baseline to compare to. The only problem is that I'll have to leave work at least 30 minutes early in order to make it in time -- so between the cost and the time factor, I'll have to *really* like the class!

After work today I managed to find one of the toll tag stores and got myself one. It will be nice on Monday to not dig for enough change for the the tolls.

I got a bit lost coming back from the toll tag place, but finally managed to make it to Preston - where I thought I found my usual Tom Thumb. After going inside though I realized quickly that it wasn't the same one - much older/much narrower aisles.

I've calmed down quite a bit on my upset from Wednesday - although I am still seriously considering my options.

I hadn't even mentioned to my mom about what happened, but I did tell her about head honcho guy saying that if he knew who had been the one smoking in the bathroom (which started the trash smoldering) that he would fire him. (men's bathroom). Luckily it wasn't the woman's bathroom, because there are only two women smokers between the two companies (there are maybe 5 male smokers - none on our side though.)
Mom called him an egomaniac. (He wasn't going to fire the person for the act of nearly starting a fire - but more because he'd made a HUGE deal about not wanting to walk through smoke to get to his car at the new building -- then one of HIS employees is smoking in the bathroom!)

I got a call from a friend of mine today telling me that a mutual friend of ours will be in town tomorrow with her new baby! So, we're all going to get together in the morning. Normally, I would be in church - but I feel this is a worthy reason to not go - I don't get to see this mutual friend very often, and haven't gotten to meet her new little family member yet.

My dad is coming up Sunday. He's going to change my license plates for me and also bring me some things my grandma and aunt sent for me. I'm really curious to see what they sent.

I haven't been keeping up with my spending log very well --- but here's what I spent today:

Sent $670 to HSBC (5th paycheck + regular savings amount)

Toll Tag: $40 prepaid

Groceries: ~$22

--- Oh, I also want to mention that I think it won't take much more than half a tank of gas each week for my commute - so maybe 2 1/2 tanks a month or about ~$65 - 70 in gas money. Not so bad - especially when split in half with my carpooler.

Definitely NOT worth moving.

I am seriously considering how long I could live without a monthly assured income. I am thinking that I could possibly survive on as low as 1250 per month -- so if I get my savings total over 10k that would give me 8 months to either something new (aka normal job) or find enough ways to make enough money to survive on.

This is day three of commuting. I actually don't mind the commute too much - other than the tolls ($1.75 each way!).

The new office space is ... nice I guess. There were some strange designs that went into outfitting it though.

If it wasn't for move related work details, I'd have very very very little to keep myself occupied.

The one thing that made the day bearable - giving the receptionist her 3 required breaks -- as of this morning -- I am no longer doing it. Not by my choice at all.

Apparently the head honcho of the company doesn't like the way I answer the phone (um . . I answer the phone like I've always done - like how I was told to answer the phone??) He also feels that I'm not accurate enough with names - both in telling him who's calling, and in writing them down. Ok, I'll give him that I'm not 100% on the ball there -- BUT some of these people who call 1)mumble horribly so you have to ask them to repeat themselves a number of times and/or 2) assume that you'll recognize who they are by their voice alone - when you've got 3+ other lines lit up - or 3) Have a very sketchy connection where you can barely hear them in the first place . . . and then of course, there is NORMAL human error - i.e. slips of the tongue - where for example I was asking D if so and so had called and accidentally said the wrong first name (coincidentally, the name of the main character in the book I'd been reading!) etc., etc. Yes, I had been spoken to a couple times about making sure I get the names spelled right, etc. -- which I did do at least 99.9% of the time - just those few times where one of the above happened or for some reason I totally blanked on getting the person to spell their last name for me.

So, I now have another hour+ in my day to have to figure out how to look busy and productive and not pull my hair out in total frustration.

I really like my coworkers - and for the most part the environment is really good. The benefits are really really good. It's also nice to have a steady paycheck. But between the total boredom factor and this latest development not to mention not seeing any possibility of this going anywhere anytime soon - I really am seriously contemplating what else I can do.

One option I'm thinking about is seeing if I can get approved for one of those at home call center places and start to put my hours of training/paying my dues in while continuing with my day job -- all the while working to save the last $3500 - $4000. Then once I'm at that point, going to 25 - 30 hrs a week with the phone center thing, then trying to get some tutoring jobs. Whatever the difference between my minimal monthly outgo and ingo is I would make up via my savings - only until I reach the point where they are equal. I also would cut my hours on the phone as I got enough tutoring clients -- and maybe eventually be just a full time tutor.

To reach that level (where I can quit) will take at least another six months - maybe up to a year or more - which would mean I'd reach two+ years at the company. That is if they don't fire me first because they figure out that there is so little for me to actually do.

I really tried to not let it show just how much this upset me this morning. But when one of my coworkers who has been a really good friend asked me this morning how I was doing, and I replied "ok" she asked me what was wrong. As I told her about it, I started tearing up like crazy, and eventually excused myself to the bathroom.

Later when people asked why my eyes were red I told them my allergies were acting up really bad.

The OM who was the one who told me I was being taken off the front desk completely had the gall to tell me that I shouldn't be upset. (Her office is directly across from my desk with these huge open windows) I didn't say anything back to her because I was afraid of what might come out of my mouth. Its not her I'm upset at though - she was just the messenger.

Part of me wishes I could turn in my two week notice tomorrow morning -- the more realistic part of me knows I'm going to have to put up with this for a longer time period - just need to figure out a really good plan to leave.

Today was our last day at our office building. Both my coworker and I were finished with everything we needed to pack early this morning, so we both were going around trying to find others who needed to help. Finally at 12:30 we shut off all our computers and wrapped up our phones -- and were told to go on home! Yahoo!

After work I stopped by the library to pick up a bunch of stuff on reserve for me, then headed out to the grocery store. After I was finished shopping, I had quite the scary experience.

I needed to turn right out of the parking lot. There was a car in front of me turning right, and an SUV type vehicle on the other side of the car in front of me. When the road was clear, both vehicles in front of me started moving out - only the one on the other side of the person in front of me turned *in front of that vehicle!* I must have been paying more attention than I thought I was, because all of a sudden my foot is slamming on the brake as hard as it can, and my car shakes like I'd hit something.

The car in front of me pulled on out and went into a turning lane. I pulled out after it and went to the lane beside it, because I wasn't 100% sure I had hit them, and wanted to make sure I did the right thing if I had. In the car was an older lady. We rolled our windows down and I asked her if she was alright, and if I had hit her. She said she was fine, and that yes I had hit her. I told her to go into the parking lot of the apartment complex across the street so we could check for any damage. We did that, and neither one of us could see any damage. She had an 89 Lincoln Towncar -- so I guess our bumpers absorbed the majority of the impact.

God was really looking out for the both of us - especially me - because I *know* I wasn't paying enough attention to be able to have as quickly as I did, slam on the brakes unless my guardian angel moved my foot for me. Wouldn't be the first time thats happened to me.

Spending:
~$40 - groceries (lots of frozen veggies, jam, fresh veggies, snacks for work, flaxseed, fresh fruit, etc.)

7/31
$9.63 - milk, water, etc.

8/1
$4.67 - a treat, frozen pizza


Today was a very busy day at work, which I absolutely loved! Something else that happened which just made me so happy was that the man from the delivery place (remember, he's the one who flashed me a Happy Valentine's Day ...etc) was back! He'd been on medical leave since early June. When I walked by and saw him I stopped out of surprise, and then he jumped up and came out the door. We gave each other a quick hug and a quick chat - but I forgot to tell him we're moving on Friday! It was good to see him again.

Oh! Something that happened yesterday. Some of you may remember my tripping myself up with that guy in the elevator who off handedly asked me if I'd like to go to lunch sometime and I replied about only having thirty minutes? (Quite a few months back.) Well, yesterday (Tuesday) we were again going down the elevator together and he actually followed me to ask me again - seeing as how both my company and his company are moving this month. This time I told him that sure, I thought that sounded fun. He asked me for my number, and I gave it to him. I haven't heard back from him yet, but I'm going to let patience rule the day on this one.

Also, I found out today that I had my picture taken at our recent fire drill for the Office building -- and it was on the front page of the monthly newsletter! Even better ... it was actually a pretty good picture.

Ok, its way late and I need to take Millie (my mom and stepdads dog) out for one last walk. She'll be picked up sometime tomorrow - she was nice to have around, but a dog sure is a lot of responsibility!