Monday, August 31, 2009

Update

The work woes are still going on, but I am hoping they will rectify themselves soon enough.

Preston got his cast off today...I'll download pics soon. He cried and cried when they started sawing it. He didn't expect that he would be able to walk and was scared to get it off... once it was off, he totally milked it and made me hold him to the car and again when we got home. He wouldn't walk for over an hour, but finally Nick was able to get him to walk and once he got over the fear, he was just fine! When I got home after Picking up Ashleigh from school, Preston was running around all over and said his leg didn't hurt anymore! Yay.

Nick and I have been dealing with some BIG personal stuff the last couple of months and today was an especially hard day for us. Thankfully, my parents were able to watch the kids for us (at the last minute) so we could have a "date" and talk. It was a HUGE help and we are doing much better now.... (please no questions about this part of our personal life!)

Ashleigh just LOVES 1st grade! It's amazing how much she has learned in only 2 weeks! Her reading is improving and so is her math. I love it! We are lucky, she loves going to school, goes to bed on time, wakes up on time, does her homework as soon as she gets home, and never complains. We got SO lucky with that girl!

Anywho....that's about it for now....
I would love it if all you who have blogs would actually update theirs...IMO (in my opinion)
Thanks!


Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Work Woes...

Every 6 months or so, the assistant managers change job positions in the store. For the past 2 months we've known that assistant manager, Vahid, who does our schedules is going to be coming over nights and be the assistant over the night stockers. Personally, I have been dreading it! I don't think his personality will allow him to stay away from the front end "my turf" and only focus on his new job....
I also didn't know until a couple weeks ago, who was going to take his place on the front end doing our schedules. I found out it's TJ (Tawna Jo)....she came to our store from another and has been with the company for 6 years. After she found out that she was going to the be front end assist mgr she put in for a transfer to another store (YAY) because she has already been on the front end at her old store for a year! She's ready to do something else.
TJ is very "by the book", which doesn't bode well for me, since my schedule is completely opposite of being "by the book". Our Corporate offices (home office), about 5 months ago, started what we call the scorecard. Home office generates a report that says what our sales are every 1/2 hour and how many cashiers, people greeters, customer service, CSS/CSM (my position), etc we should have scheduled to accomodate the need. The front end Asst. mgr has to schedule based on what home office gives as options and then stay with in 2% of a 98% perfect schedule in order to avoid being "coached" for not following instructions.
(Does that make sense? Doesn't really matter, since this is really more of a journal entry for me)
Vahid, after a few rocky weeks in the beginning, has been GREAT to work with...he has basically kept me with in the time frame I am available and will schedule me as much or as little as I want. Currently, I work Thurs 9pm-2am, and Fri and Sat 9pm-230am. 16 hrs/week. 2 weeks ago I asked Vahid to schedule me 1 extra night each upcoming week (wed 9pm-2am) so I could make a little extra money...he schedule me as far out as he could (3 weeks), but said I'd have to talk to TJ about any more than that, because he won't be doing the schedule after that....sigh.
I spoke with TJ...explained that I wanted to come in tonight (wednesday) to work from 9pm-2am. She said she doesn't have any extra time available on the score card to hand out for the front end, but I could come in and help CLEAN the back room! Seriously? Clean the back room? Are you kidding me? I am a front end manager....i have a bad back...that's why I stay on the front end! Uh, no thank you! I declined, but asked to talk to Co-manager Mat...he is just below the store manager.
I talked to him about something different first, but then he brought up that I wanted more hours this week (thanks TJ for tellin him!). I explained my side, told him what TJ had said. He said, TJ was right, but I could come in and help stock in HBA, Back to school, Pharmacy,Softlines, etc.. I explained about my back again....he came back saying that if I do softlines (womens apparel) the boxes don't weigh more than 5 lbs and that wouldn't be too much, would it? Sigh...I caved. I am going in to work...to unload socks all night! :-( The only positive is that I get some more hours which equals more money.
I am meeting my c0-worker, Alma, before work to discuss what we are going to say at our meeting with TJ tonight...Alma has found a new job and is dropping down to Part-time evening CSS (currently she is full-time overnight CSS)...TJ is not happy about the change and wanted to talk to me and Alma about our schedules. Oh, and Heather, who they just promoted to be full-time overnight CSS quit yesterday!!! When Alma leaves after this week...and if TJ doesn't give me the schedule I want, they will have NO ONE (as far as I know) to run the front end at night!!! and that is a HUGE deal!
Since I started working at this store almost a year ago, we have always had 2 CSS's at night--until just 3 weeks ago, when they fired one of them. Since then, it's only been Alma and me running things ourselves...and with the help of only 3 cashiers!
Ahhh.....frustrations!
One of my big frustrations as well, is, I was promoted from Cashier to CSS after only 3 weeks on the job. I would love to move up in the company, but all the positions above CSS are Full-time! There is NO way for a "part-time" person to go anywhere in that company! I've talked to the store manager about it, but he says there is nothing he can do...it's all controlled by home office. Seems like they control a little too much now a days!!!
So, I have been applying at other companies, and have been talking to the front end manager at the Saratoga store (which is 5 min from my house) to see if I can work there...the stipulation is, they follow the score card too, so in order to keep the hours I want, I would have to drop back down to a cashier! That means losing $0.90/hr.... But, I won't have to drive so much, so that might make the difference. I really just can't imagine going back to only being a cashier!
I've decided that I am going to see what the new schedule looks like that will be posted on Friday and see just how different my schedule will be before determining what I'll do as far as my job is concerned! In September, there could be a big change in store for me! All I can do for now, is wait and see!

Sunday, August 23, 2009

Random pics

Nick and I went on a drive the other day and came across this little town house community neighborhood in Pleasant Grove. I completely fell in love with it. Most of it looked like Cape Cod style houses...no two looked the same. This one in particular has 6 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms. One was for rent (which I called on just to see how much it's renting for) and there were a couple for sale. I love these houses....
(update: the house I called on is renting for $1700/mo--3000 sq feet, fully finished basement, 4 bedrooms, 3 1/2 baths, den, 2 family rooms, 2 car garage...WOW)

I got home the other night to see this huge rain cloud coming towards our house. We have literally the BEST thunder/lightning storms in our town. I absolutely love our neighborhood.

Nick is AMAZING....While I slept this morning after working last night he got the kids up and they completely cleaned the house so I could wake up to a clean house. The kids love to help--especially vacuuming....Nick got a few pics of Preston helping


And then a couple of Preston playing on him.


At work last night a few of the stockers decided it would be fun to play in the wheel chairs...they pulled out the long pole in front (not sure why that's there) and on 2 wheels, they jousted. it was hilarious!

While out on a drive we came across this strange/awesome thing...a robot riding an elliptical. The kids LOVED it! So crazy!

Preston fell asleep on our drive and when I looked back at him he had his tongue sticking out of his mouth...he looked like a little down syndrome boy...
5 more days til we get his cast off!!! YAY!

Thursday, August 20, 2009

First day of Ballet class

About a month ago I asked Ash if she wanted to do gymnastics again, or something else. She decided she wanted to do ballet. When we lived in Midvale she took 2 ballet/tap classes...Personally, I didn't like her doing tap as much, so I looked around for nearby studios that would ONLY teach ballet. I found one in Lehi...it's about 10 min from my house. It's a cute little studio with a large picture window so the parents can sit and watch the class. Thankfully, Preston was being really good so we stayed and watched the whole class. There was 8 or 9 kids in her class and her teacher was awesome!!!

Ash-facing us, under the clock

Ash--no skirt on, hair in a bun

Ash-first position...no skirt, hair in a bun

After class--the teacher (I think her name is Sherrie) gave each of the girls a sticker and told them each something positive that they did in class!
Awesome positive reinforcement!!!

Snuck a pic of the teacher. ;-)
Sept 1, Ash is going to be starting piano lessons as well--my sis-in-law Jana is going to be teaching her! :-)

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

First day of First grade

Nick and I took Ashleigh to her first day of First grade today! We got there plenty early, so we could drop off all the "required" school supplies, and spend a few minutes with her before we left for the day. In Kindergarten, the kids are taken to a designated area for the parents to pick them up, in First grade, the kids are just let out and are supposed to meet their parents, so we had to come up with a designated "wait for mommy" area. I had her lead the way to her classroom so I knew that she knew where to go, and so she could show Nick. Her teacher, Mrs. Clark, and the room assistant were in the classroom...Ash started to look a little nervous! But we dropped off the supplies, took a picture (tradition)
and since she still had 10 min before school started, we all went back outside so she could play on the playground and find her friend, Haylie B.--who is also in her class. I knew seeing a familiar face would help her feel more comfortable. Thankfully, there were NO tears...she seemed a little sad, and told me that she is going to miss me and is sad that she will be gone all day, (I was a little sad too), but I kept things up-beat for her and told her she was going to have SO much fun and I wanted her to make all sorts of new friends and to listen, be patient, and to learn a LOT! She gave me a big hug and we said good bye!

I do miss that little girl! It's nice having alone/one-on-one time with Preston...he and I get the next 3 years alone together...just like Ashleigh and I had before Preston was born! I am SO excited to have this time with him...but yes, still a little sad that I don't get to be with my little girl as much anymore....sigh. Growing up is hard! ;-)

Robin's visit

Robin and her girls--lindy, Maren, Natalie, and karly (LONG time family friends) came for a visit last week! Robin and I have always had a close bond and she was the one who drove to Utah with me when we moved here over 2 years ago! That's the last time I've seen her! It's been TOO long!!! Robin and her girls stopped by our house on her trip from Spokane area to St. George area. They only stayed a few hours, but it was really nice to visit and reminisc and to see how her girls have grown!!! I sure miss them!


Top L to R: Natalie, Robin, Lindy, Maren
Front: Karly

Robin, Tamsen, Meg


Preston just fell in love with Lindy...and her bracelets! :)

Tuesday, August 18, 2009

Random Pics

Preston showing off his cast

My parents watch the kiddos and they got to do a lot of cooking and baking...Here they are making cookies

And licking the beaters

Ashleigh with the meal she made--she made the entire thing!!!
Tuna casserol, salad, and cookies

We met Ashleigh's 1st grade teacher yesterday. I didn't get to choose who she got (and frankly, I was hoping for a different one), but after meeting her I am perfectly happy with her. Her name is Mrs. Clark

Ash lost another tooth...a basketball hit her mouth and made her top left tooth VERY loose, and then later that night she accidentally bit down on it and then it was ready to come out. I got the dental floss, tied it on, tightened it and it came out, I didn't even have to pull! The tooth fairy came that night and gave her $1 in quarters. ;-)

My kids are little acrobats....

Thursday, August 13, 2009

Pioneer food day

I neglected to blog about this when it happened. My parents had their grand kids over to do a Pioneer cooking class at their house. They made their own meat balls and made Indian fry bread, and then made their own ice cream. It looked like they had so much fun!



Making their ice cream
and rolling it down the street to harden up

When we came to pick up the kids, my mom showed us their basement....it's not finished, so she worked really hard with my nephew Braeden to make it a fun place the other kids could play in.
They made a 4-square play area

A hop-scotch area

And a play house

It's so much fun....and the kids just totally love it! It makes me wish I were a kid again.

Arah's visit

Arah came for a visit last week. It was SO nice seeing her and meeting her baby girl Sarah. Ashleigh and Brinley always get along when they are together, which is so nice! It was a hard week for me...Nick and I have been dealing with some issues, And Preston had his broken leg, so I don't think I was the best of hosts, but it was still fun having them here anyway...and we miss them already!!!








Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Cool Cars in Park City

While in Park City I saw quite a few "nice" cars....just had to take pics of them!