Love Day

It was Valentine Day last weekend and we had a lot of fun that day! We went to the YMCA to work out and came back home to hang out before venturing out for the night.

And an adventure it was! Our neighbor had offered to watch the girls for us, so we brought them over around 5 that evening. We had talked about going to a newer restaurant called Texas Roadhouse that was wildly popular and looked forward to trying it out. It had been recommended to us to call ahead to get a number because the place was always packed and it would be extremely busy that night.

When Ben finally got through at 4:30 to get a number, it was already a three hour wait!!!!!!! We were not deterred and stopped at Target to do a little shopping before heading over there thinking how bad could it be? If we show up early then we could probably get in early.

That was not the case.

The crowds spilled out onto the pavement and it was a blessedly cold night. After getting in through the door, and making it to the hostess station, it was wall to wall bodies. I have never seen bars that packed in my entire life! Still not to be deterred, we checked in, made it to the bar and settled in (standing) to wait.

And wait. And wait. And wait some more. Finally at 8:30, the couple at the bar in front of us left and we took their chairs. I was getting angry and annoyed plus I had been standing for 2 hours at this point, staring at people and hoping our number was called soon.

We waited for another 15 minutes and finally at 9, we thought screw it, let's eat at the bar. At that point, I was so hungry, maybe 1 sheet to the wind from alcohol (which I don't drink much of these days, so one drink will do it for me) and we didn't want to wait. All I kept thinking at that point was the food better live up to it's reputation.

And it did. I was duly impressed with my ribs because they were fall off the bones finger licking good. And I inhaled them. Was it worth the wait? Still not sure on that one, but I was extremely impressed with the service and willingness of others to wait as long as we did. Once your there for an hour, your kind of committed and don't want to leave.

So our "romantic" date was stuck eating at a bar, which I have never done in my life and crawling into my bed at 10 that night, a little tipsy and promptly falling asleep.

At least the kids had a ball at the neighbors. But even better? Leftovers the next day. Hmmm...ribs.

The Cosmetologist

And following the sledding incident, I went to pick Aliyah up on Friday and low and behold....

She cut her hair.

A nice big chunk in front, almost enough taken off to sport some bangs.

I was pissed. No...furious. Not with Aliyah, but with her teachers. I actually snapped at the teacher and asked why she wasn't being supervised, with scissors of all things. She of course said she wasn't there, and Aliyah was in "the other room" with the pre-2 kids. So of course she didn't see it. Effectively passing the blame, like usual.

I am tired of my kids constantly getting in scrapes or fights or their clothes come home ruined because the daycare people think some projects are fun, even though the kids may get a little "messy."

I might as well take stock on oxi-clean or spray n shout because my kids have ruined more clothes than I'd care to admit. Last week, Aliyah had paint all over a shirt and came home with holes in her leggings. Sure, some of it is the enthusiasm and rough and toughness of playing all day long. But they also come home with glue in their hair and glitter on their clothes. Some days, there are stamps and marker all over their little bodies too. It's like I need a different wardrobe to send them in, considering they wreck half their clothes.

It's a battle I will never win.

Aliyah the Fearless

She has done it again. She is sporting a nice fat shiner right now, with her eye almost swollen shut. She was in a sledding "accident" yesterday, basically barreling down a hill at full speed and clipping another person, thus throwing her out of the sled, landing on the edge and sliding face first down ice. It does not look pretty. And all this because she decided to not listen to her teachers and go before she was supposed to. Typical.

She insisted on going to her swimming lessons last night, ignoring the chlorine and telling me it didn't hurt. However, when she got up this morning she was miserable and crying because her face really hurt. I felt sick to my stomach making her go to school when I just wanted to hold her all day and make it feel better. But I gave her some tylenol, a kiss on the good cheek, and went out the door to work.

I'll post a photo when my camera battery charges up. It's something else!

My Premonition Came True

And so it begins. Our company just got out of a meeting that was called this morning to let us know of people who just got layed off. It's weird because whenever something bad is happening, it's like these walls talk and I get a feeling something isn't right. But people I have worked with for years were affected by the layoff. In a sense, it's like cleaning house and they get rid of the people they wouldn't normally get rid of because they have no reason to. But some of them I was a little surprised and shocked. Fortunately, no one in my department was affected. We typically run on a lean staff, so when this happens we are generally o.k. It's still never good because people's lives dramatically get changed. And in this world where it is so hard to find a job right now it's going to be almost impossible for them in the coming weeks and months. I dislike this part of our business, but it's life.

Slow at Work and our Weak Economy

The economy sucks right now.

And it's affecting my job. Big time.

Three weeks ago, I had about 30 hrs of billable work. Two weeks ago, I had about 10 hrs of billable work. Last week, it was 5. And this week is just as bleak with about 5 again.

Now that, people is scary. One of the bigger accounts I work on just pulled out of a big show for next month and some small ones as well. I bill my work at a hundred bucks an hour, with a 40 hr work week and we need to be at 80% for the week. It's not looking so good for me when you look at those statistics!

However, when there is no work to be had, you can't exactly blame me for not billing at full capacity. After all, the sales people have to bring the work in, right? And our regular clients go to the same shows over and over every year, so there is always a busy time and a slow time in our year.

But I'm worried because it's never slow at this time of the year. Hopefully our company won't decide to tighten it's belts over the next few months and it starts to pick up. Because when I have nothing to do, I get to work on internal projects and even though it fills the time, it's not my favorite work to be doing. I've made it through three layoffs here at Star so far. If there are any forthcoming in the next year, I hope to be spared.

Target and Best Buy just decided to do a bunch of layoffs Friday and today there are hundreds with out a job. Even one of my good friends has been out of work for over a year and I'm anxious for her that things will work out or she finds something. Because you can't live on unemployment forever. If I or Ben did lose our job, we'd be all right for a little while, but we'd have to make a lot of sacrifices. I don't know if I'd recover emotionally or be able to find something in the same industry. I don't even know if I'd want to. My dream job would be to own a bookstore or work at the library, but it probably wouldn't pay the bills.

And you notice the little things too, especially in our small town. Such as all the homes for sale when your going through the neighborhood. Our favorite family grocery store just closed it's doors right after Christmas and I was shocked and saddened to know they are gone. There are endless amounts of retail space available for prospective businesses. People aren't going to the movies, the Target lot is emptier. Where are all the good deals at stores, the grocery stores, etc? We ourselves have cut out going to eat at Jimmy Johns every Saturday and I'm making food for lunches every day. I barely even eat out to begin with, but it saves. When I need a small item at the store, I wait until I need many items instead of going to buy one so I'm not overspending on other items. I waited until my next paycheck to get my contacts and pay cash for them, even though I normally would have put them on the credit card. All of those things hurt the economy and when you not only have my family but countless others doing the same thing, it adds up.

So at this time of uncertainty, I'm trying to keep busy at work with a lot of small projects and staying under the radar. And in my paranoia over losing my job or getting laid off, I'm saving money like mad. Which is impressing my husband no doubt, since I'm typically the one with no financial sense AT ALL. It's not what the economy needs, but it sure it instilling good habits for me. Because there is nothing worse than the thought of losing my home or seeing my children go hungry. I could never imagine living in an apartment with kids, even for a day. The thought scares the shit out of me and that is my driving force for saving up. You know, just in case.