These Last Two Years, Part 2

[For part one, click here.]

In the last part, I discussed what went on with my life in 2009. Now, I'm going to discuss 2010.

For one thing, this was the first year that I started blogging. In January, I started my very first blog RAB-PIA (Read a Book, Pass It Along). It would not be until Feburary when I would begin the blog that you are reading right now. (So far, this is my most frequently updated one.) I would start three more throughout the year.

Another thing I started doing was the "Read the Bible throughout the year" program that the Baptist church I had been attending since my return to Kansas had going. Basically, it's where there are bookmarks each month which list the date and suggested Bible chapters to be on in order to be on the right track to have it read in a year. There were days when I got behind, but I'd make up for it.

I had initially planned to resume my job search the week after New Year's. However, the weather was such at the time that I was told in no uncertain terms not to go anywhere unless I had to. The next week or so after putting in job applications, I still had no luck finding a job.

I don't recall how many days of the week I generally spent on the job search. However, there was one day that I had to take off in February to attend the funeral of my step-great-grandmother on my mom's side of the family. (One of the things that deaths on my mom's side of the family have in common is that they tend to occur in the winter. Not only was it cold on the day of the funeral, but there was snow on the ground.) I think it was that month that I also started attending a Job Seekers seminar. (This lasted until August or September as attendance had gotten low.)

Despite my best efforts, there was only so much I could do towards my job search at one time. Even when I did follow-ups to whatever applications I had out, I was only able to do those so frequently, and there was still some waiting involved. And was it giving me anything to work with to help build my resume? Of course not. So, I applied as a volunteer for Doggie Bag.  This would help fill up some of my time and not to mention build upon some retail experience that I had. I have been working there since. Depending on what needed done that day and whether or not there was someone else to run the register, I would either be on register or in and out of the back room.

During the month of February, my dad finally finished his recovery. Originally, he had thought that after his recovery, he would need me to return from him, and I would not have been surprised if I would have needed to remain with him for as long as he and I were both still alive whether I wanted to or not. Around Christmas time of last year, I got an email from him saying that it was questionable as to whether or not it would be feasible for me to live with him again. Ultimately, he moved into a one-bedroom apartment. He said that the way it appeared then, he would be there for a year before he would be able to move into something big enough to accommodate both of us. However, it would be up to me as to whether or not I moved in with him when that time came.

In March, I started cutting back on my shoe-wearing at home. Up until then, I was the kind of person who'd dress all the way to shoes every day with or without any intention of going anywhere. Shortly before I have moved to St. Louis, my mom had talked about the possibility of having a shoes-off rule. I was not keen on that idea at first, but after a combination of soul searching and visits to a blog advocating the exclusion of shoes from the private home, I decided to take a shot at not always being in shoes at home. Besides, when/if my mom did decide to have that rule, the less I wore shoes around the house, the less of a shock it would be for me to have to not wear my shoes around the house anymore. However, as I wasn't really into be barefooted or sock-footed when up and about, especially in connection to household chores, I bought some ballet flat slippers and started wearing those around the house whenever I was in regular clothes but had not intention of going anywhere for a while. The no shoes rule still has yet to happen, but depending on weather and/or whatever else I'm wearing, I'll usually wear either one of my pairs of ballet flat slippers or my blue "at home" flip-flops which have a fuzzy detail at the V-strap.

It was either March or April when I jumped on the Facebook bandwagon. However, it was in April that I turned 25. During the day on my birthday, I had my shift at the Doggie Bag. That night, though, I had dinner with my mom, stepdad, and sister and went out for drinks with my sister. I had some rounds of Bourbon in Dr. Pepper, which I got drunk on.

The next day, I had gotten an email from my dad reprimanding me for not having my voicemail set up yet. He had noticed this when he had tried to call me the previous night. (I've had the number that I do since October of last year, and my mom had reminded me a couple of times to set up my voicemail.) He stressed  the importance of doing that and said that I could've missed a job opportunity or two as a result of a prospective employer not being able to reach me. Even after I had set my voicemail up, I was VERY remorseful about having put it off in the first place. I expressed said remorse in a forum for a club I was involved in, calling myself a "bad grownup" and expressing my fears of red flags I'd be raising in the eyes of a prospective employer and/or prosprective husband, not to mention how horrible it must look to God/Jesus. I think I also expressed my remorse when I responded to my dad and said how grossly immature it was for me to do that.  (One of the standards he holds me to is that I "act my age" which apparently means that I had better not make mistakes that I could have VERY easily prevented at the time. To this day, I can't make such a mistake and not practically hate myself for it.)

During the summer, I took a break from my job search and the Doggie Bag in order to go babysit my nephew. When I returned to the Doggie Bag in August, it turned out there were changes to the store, such as the break room being turned into a room devoted to children's clothing and toys. It also turned out that someone else took over as manager and most of the people that had seniority over me when I had started were gone. (As it turned out, a lot of people, including the manager that we had since I had started my work at the Doggie Bag, quit during the summer for some reason. There were new staff members after that.) My responsibilities were mostly to inspect, tag, hang up, and price clothing. (Later, that particular manager decided she wanted to take over pricing.) I was put on a co-existing schedule with that manager, and the only time I was on register was when she needed to step out for a bit or run an errand.

In September, the manager we had since this summer got sick one day, so I ended up running the register for the full day.  Some of the people that (so I had heard) walked out during the summer came back to reclaim some stuff that had allegedly been left behind. I found out later from the person who normally did the window display that those people had no right to take that stuff, that surely if they had left it behind, they wouldn't have waited so long to reclaim it.  A few days later, the manager we had since this summer resigned for personal reasons, and our window display specialist took her place. (Supposedly, the latter had worked with the Doggie Bag off and on in the last eight years and even managed the place before.)  The manager that left us this summer now runs a thrift store in which the proceeds (so I had been told) go to private animal rescue shelters or something like that.

As it is at this point, I STILL have no paid job despite all of the applications I've sent out at various times. I'm still with the Doggie Bag though.I'm generally in and out of the back room depending on what needs done on any given day. It's gotten to the point where between that and my sister's house, I'm not sure which I most consider to be my second home. Let's just say I've gotten to a point where I expect more out of myself at that place.

As for my dad, the last time I had seen him was when I moved to Kansas last year (though we have kept in touch since then). There was talk about me possibly going to St. Louis for Christmas this year, but that ended up not happening. I don't know when it is I will see him again, as out the luxury of out of town trips aren't as feasible for me as they used to be. I still haven't heard back about when he will be able to move to a bigger apartment, but I probably won't move in with him unless there's a pressing reason for me to do so.

I don't know exactly what 2011 will bring for me. Maybe I'll get a job. Maybe I'll have a boyfriend. Maybe something else will occur for me altogether. We'll just have to wait and see.

There you have it, my memoirs of the last two years. For my last night of 2010, when my mom and stepdad get home, we will have lobster for dinner. After dinner, I will update my manicure and pedicure (the latter consisting of a pattern of polishes that I got for Christmas this year) and drink the three shots of alcohol that were in my stocking this year.  I hope you all have a Happy New Year, and I will be back in tomorrow, God willing.

These Last Two Years, Part 1

As 2010 comes to a close, I'd like to take time to reflect on how far I've come on life's journey, starting with the end of the last two years.

Two years ago today, I was visiting my aunt in Arkansas shortly after having moved in with my dad in St. Louis. (The next time would be sometime around Valentine's Day.) After I had returned to my dad, I began my one month grace period before I would need to starting taking steps towards looking for a job. Besides settling in to mine and my dad's apartment, I assisted in some building projects, such as a couple of desks and a desk chair. Later on in 2009, I'd help with putting together a kitchen isle and a microwave stand.

I hadn't been to church for a long time. However, as it was something that he and I had both missed doing, we discussed checking out various churches and eventually establishing one as our church home. We started off attending a Disciples of Christ church. The original plan was that we would attend that one for a couple of weeks and then find another church to check out. However, said church had practically grown on us, so we eventually joined it.

In February, per my dad's idea, I started checking out books pertaining to job hunting, resume writing, etc. In late February/early March, he came up with the idea of us having schedules consisting of busywork Monday through Friday. Among this included but was not always limited to, learning programs like Microsoft Word and Excel, anything pertaining to writing, and in my case, looking for a job. However, the way I'd be going about the job search involved assessments of my skills, researching different types of jobs, and writing resumes.

In April, we both did a "practice run" of the writing challenge known as National Novel Writing Month, or Nano Wrimo (which officially takes place in November). I don't know about my dad, but I wasn't able to finish my novel until July. There was a part starting in June when the novel was the only thing I'd devote my day to. However, after that, my job search was to resume.

I think it was in August when my dad had come up with the idea of managing the church library as there was nobody to do so. It was up to me as to whether or not I wanted to do that with him. I agreed to do so. I think there were only one or two days we were able to do so, partly because of my dad's health and partly because of things he and I had to do at home.

Then came late September/early October. I was maybe in the resume phase of my job search. (My dad insisted that I do resumes for every single company I was going to apply for whether or not they necessarily required one.) Another thing I was looking into at the time was writing greeting cards, but that was coming along slowly as well. Around that time, money was getting tight on us, so we would've needed to pay extra attention to getting some income going.

My dad's health wasn't doing much better either. He had the flu around late September, which turned out to be the prelude to some diabetes related infections in at least one leg and foot. He ended up having to go see a doctor. However, since neither he nor I drive and my grandma was out of town at the time, he called Grandpa to come take him. On the day that my dad had to go to the doctor, I had to shut down both of my bank accounts, something I took care of prior to time to go.

When my grandpa came and took Dad to the doctor, I came along. It turned out that the infections my dad had were bad enough that he would have to go to the emergency room that night. It was up to me as to whether I would stay at our then apartment and let it go at that or stay at my grandparents. I opted for the former. My decision went against my grandpa's better wishes, but the way I saw it at the time, I didn't have time to be hanging out at a relative's house. I needed to take care of life within my regular surroundings. The next day though, when it turned out that my dad would be going into surgery, my grandpa overruled my decision to try to fend for myself in the big city apartment, and he came and got me. (At least I got enough of a heads up that I was able to pack a bag.)

My dad ended up have part of his left leg removed (almost to the knee) that night, followed a week later my the big toe on his right foot. (And would you believe that his birthday was during that time frame?) As it turned out, he would have to go somewhere else to recover, and I would have to return to Kansas. I found out about that last part from my sister who had come to visit the weekend after my dad's operation. She told me that my choices were to either move in with her or return to our mom. I opted to return to our Mom. After all, I knew more people in my mom's hometown. I also had a lot furniture to my name. Where was I going to put it if I had moved in with my sister?

I, along with various relatives, got the apartment cleared out and shut down. As it would not have been in the best interest of Dad's cat Gabby take her with me when I moved (at least not in my opinion anyway), my grandma was able to arrange it so that someone my dad and I knew from church could take care of her until my dad was out of recovery.

The day I moved, my grandma, both of my aunts (one of which married into the family), and one of my uncles on my dad's side of the family helped me move. My sister and her boyfriend were at my mom and stepdad's house to help get my stuff in as well. I think after we did that, we all had lunch together there, and then the relatives left sometime after that.

During the first week after I had moved in, I began going out requesting/submitting/checking on job applications. Unfortunately, the places I put in for either were not hiring or they never got back to me.  I took a break from the job search during the window between Christmas and New Year's. (And I think part of it was because of the weather at the time.)

In November, I took part in Nano Wrimo for the first time and met the 50k word requirement to "win" the challenge.. There was a chat room that corresponded to the forums for my home region, where I met a guy who would eventually be one of my Facebook friends. He and I would chat almost every night. (He and I have both admitted to having feelings for one another, but what happens with the two of us in the long run remains to be seen.)

Closer to the end of the year, my mom and stepdad and I went to Wichita to visit my grandparents on that side of the family for a belated Christmas celebration. We stopped by a flea market on the way there, and I was the only one out of us that bought anything. (I bought some books.) We went there the day before New Year's Eve and came back the next day. Needless to say, we didn't go out for New Year's Eve that year.

That was 2009. In the next post, I'll be discussing this year.

Change Of Plans

Normally, I'd be over at the Doggie Bag by now. However, earlier this week, the manager had mentioned something to me about the possibility of me working the Doggie Bag 12-4 tomorrow in lieu of my normal hours today. However, she had to check the HSP on whether or not the store was supposed to open on New Year's.

Last night, I got a message from the manager that the store would be open on New Year's after all and if I could go in 12-4 tomorrow instead of going in today that'd be great. I was away from my phone when she had called, and it was a bit late for me to call her back. So, I called her this morning and let her know that going in tomorrow instead of today would be fine. So, that's what I'm going to do.

This morning, I had some bacon, eggs, and bisquits. After breakfast, I took care of the dishes. I think after I'm done, I'm going to catch up on my Bible reading. (I'm a few days behind on that, and today is the day when I should be done with the book of Revelation.) What I'll do from there remains to be seen.

Doggie Bag Days Season 2: Day 63

As usual much of the time was spent tagging and hanging up clothes. There were a couple of shirts that I had to put in recycling as they had pictures on them that didn't seem appropriate to the store's image. There was one part of the back room that the manager wanted cleared, so one of my colleagues and I moved non-clothing stuff closer to the door, possibly to be taken to the front at some point. Off and on that day I had the song to the JG Wentworth commercials in my head. It more or less drove the colleague that was in the back room with me crazy.  We still have quite a ways to go, but we managed to make a dent in the donations.

Towards the end of my shift, I took down the Christmas tree in the window per the manager's request. We've got a black-and-purple theme in the window now.

Tomorrow is my last day at the Doggie Bag before the New Year. I doubt we'll get caught up in the back room at that time, but hopefully, we'll get more of the donations accounted for.

Doggie Bag Days Season 2: Day 62

I wasn't able to get this post done last night, so I'm doing it tonight.

It was pretty much the same routine consisting mostly of clothes that needed to be hung up and tagged. (The manager wasn't able to stay for very long yesterday for some reason. She was able to price a few clothes before she left. I was able to put said clothes out.) There were two other people in the back room with me that day (one of whom was only able to appear for 2-3 hours at best).  We had managed to make somewhat of a dent in the clothes that had been waiting to be handled, but then we had some donations come in.

Tomorrow's another day. I wonder what all will happen then?

The Day After Christmas

Today was Sunday, which meant church as usual. This afternoon, lunch consisted of tomato soup, sandwhiches (involving rolls leftover from yesterday) and leftover sides from yesterday (mainly veggies and Texas caviar). I've mostly spent my time on the computer.

I had talked with my dad last night, but the call was cut short due to bad reception on his end. He had mentioned possibly rounding up the relatives to call me today, but that has yet to happen. Maybe it'll happen later. If it ends up not happening, so be it.

I'll probably spend the evening watching TV and/or on the computer. This last week of the year will be business as usual (with Doggie Bag AND the job search) in the day. I doubt that I will get invited to any parties on New Year's Eve, and I doubt that I could get away with taking a solo trip to a local bar at night. But that's okay. Part of what I got in my stocking this year WAS three shots of alcohol. I'll just mix those in with my root beer after I update my pedicure with the three small bottles of nail polish that I got this year as well.

My Christmas Today

This morning, when I wasn't asleep per se but not quite ready to get out of bed, my sister's corgi Cosmo was waiting for me outside my room. My stepdad told him that I was sleeping. (I forget if my stepdad's lab mix Layla was waiting for me too.) It was fairly early in the morning when this happened, so apparently Cosmo has not heard of this thing called "sleeping in".

I was up shortly before eight. I got dressed and had some breakfast casserole and coffee. I played with Cosmo at least once and watched some TV.  While we were waiting for my sister and her household, I also had some apple cider with a slice of orange (something my mom had brewed).

When my sister and her household showed up, they had some stuff to put in peoples' stockings, so I stepped into the dining room, continued drinking my cider, and had a chat with my nephew. Shortly after that, we opened presents, starting with the stockings. Mine this year contained chocolate, an orange, three small bottles of nail polish, some gloves, a bag of root beer candies, and for th first time ever, three small bottles of something alcoholic. (I plan on using at least one of them on New Year's Eve.) I think the bra clips I had gotten this year were also included in the stocking, but I don't remember for sure. My other presents included a twin sheet set, a scarf, two necklaces, a throw, a pink shirt, a jewelry box, a purse and some buttons.

After presents was the big lunch, done buffet style. We had ham, cheese, rolls, barbequed meatballs, veggies, chips, and a type of "caviar" with black-eyed peas. My sister and her household had another commitment so they left after lunch.

The rest of the day looks like it'll be a quiet one at home. I'll probably catch up on my Bible reading and then watch TV or do something else until my dad calls.  Happy Holidays to all!

My Christmas Eve After My Shift At The Doggie Bag

The weather today had been predicted to be such that not only did my mom offer me a ride to the Doggie Bag today (which I accepted), but she had also asked me to call her when I was done so that she could come get me. I called her when I was done, but it was my stepdad that came and got me. (He got off work earlier than he originally thought he did.)

I got home, and it turned out that, for the third year in a row, my sister's corgi Cosmo was spending Christmas Eve at our house. (I had wondered if he would.) My mom had been in the process of mopping the kitchen and dining room floors so the dogs were in the laundry room until it dried as a convenience measure.  On the way to my room, I put some of the toys that were on the living room floor into the toy box as they weren't being played with at the moment. (By "toy box", I mean a small basket near my stepdad's dog Layla's bed in the living room. And by bed, I mean an oversized pillow marketed as a dog bed.) Either my mom or my stepdad said that they hoped I wasn't expecting said toys to stay put.

When I got to my room and put my purse down, it turned out that I had two books come in the mail for me. It wasn't too long before Cosmo and Layla came in to my room to see me. Off and on, Cosmo has either been wrestling with Layla, playing with something squeaky, or having me play fetch with him.

For dinner, we had soup. (I don't know if it was chicken corn chowder per se, but it had chicken and various vegetables in it.) Cosmo sat under the table while we were eating. (I guess he does that at home.) Layla knew the drill: when the humans were eating she was to lay down somewhere away from the table until they were done. I think it confused her to see Cosmo under the table, so she was up at a time she wasn't supposed to be. My stepdad told her to lie down and that Cosmo didn't know any better because he was a bonehead.

Sometime after dinner, I guess the dogs were outside using the yard because I didn't see them around sometime after they had left my room and left behind a squeaky bone. I put it in the toy box, and my mom said, "Good luck with that."

Right now, Cosmo is laying near me, and Layla is probably in the living room. I've got A Christmas Story running on TV in the background. (Technically it's on a commercial break, but TBS has nonetheless started on the back-to-back showings on that movie which they do every year. I'm not going to watch all of the showings, though.) I'm going to be playing Facebook's Petville for a little bit. I don't know exactly what all else I will be doing tonight.

Doggie Bag Days Season 2: Day 61

This morning as I was hanging up my coat, the manager said that she wasn't sure if I would be there or not. She said that I didn't really have to be since it was Christmas Eve. (There are some people that work there that are involved in a "training" program for senior citizens who have been out of work for a while, and they are sent to work at one non-profit organization for a while before they are transferred to another, and they get paid for this. There are also people working there that have to do x number of hours of community service per week or altogether for some reason. I am one of maybe two people simply donating their time.) I told her that the last time I checked, the back room was "full of crap." (We have a lot donations in the back waiting to have something "done" with them. If we were caught up or at least near caught up, I probably would've taken the day off.) She was surprised (but not offended) that I of all people used the word "crap", but she thought it was kind of funny. Someone else that was on duty (and apparently put in charge of something in the bathroom) said that they would've used the other word.

As usual much of my day was spent tagging and hanging up clothes.We still have a lot to go through. Whatever pants have yet to be put up for sale are basically taking a back seat to everything else as pants are supposedly not selling all that quickly. (Someone moved whatever pants were hanging up in order to make room for shirts, dresses, and other clothing items.)

Thus has been my last day at the 'Bag before Christmas. As I write this, my sister's dog Cosmo (who is spending the night at our house) is laying on my floor. He might keep me busy tonight.

Doggie Bag Days Season 2: Day 60

There was stuff to be brought out to the front and bags of clothes to go through. At some point, someone had come in to install and extra rack in the back room to allow for more clothes to be hung up. That was done, but according to the guy that installed it, there was no support system from behind the wall. (I'm assuming he will explain the situation to the manager.)

A lot of the day was spent tagging and hanging up clothes. One of the people I was working with went through a bag that turned out to have a lot of outdated stuff which had to be put in the recycle pile. The one cashier who has become recently authorized to price clothing wasn't able to until late in the afternoon as there was to much to price up front. I stayed an hour later than I normally do in order to get the priced clothing put out and put some of the tagged but not yet priced clothing  in the middle room so that it would be ready to be priced whenever it became feasible.

I don't know if I'll be going in tomorrow. I've got laundry to do, but I'll have to make sure there won't be any conflicts with that as my mom will be home. Friday will be my last working day before Christmas unless it turns out otherwise.

Doggie Bag Days Season 2: Day 59

The day started out with a few clothes to be put out. There was Christmas-related stuff to be put out as well. Sometime in the morning, someone came in with quite a bit to donate. One of the items they brought was a pet water bowl (similar to the one that the dogs that my sister and her boyfriend have share), which has been set aside for when/if the HSP comes in and is able to take it to the Humane Society. Later, the table from the bargain room was cleared and moved to the front. After the manager left, I moved some chairs from the bargain room to the bathroom and swept the bargain room floor per her request.

Much of the afternoon was spent tagging and hanging up clothes as usual. At one point, someone came in with bags of clothes, a bag of purses, and some baby-related items. They had offered to take the stuff somewhere else, but I told them that we were willing to take it. (It's against the rules to turn donations away.  Besides, according to Murphy's Law, if we turned away donations, we'd run out of stuff to sell.)

That's been my day. Who knows what Wednesday will bring? 

Wrapping Up The Food End Of A Cafe World Order Today

Today, I'll be serving what is left of the caviar for an order in Cafe World. (I only have to serve it 99 more times.) After that, I will just need to collect a certain number of steam trays and serving plates. But after I'm done serving all of the food that I need to, I think I'm going to stop playing the game for the day.

Been Playing Cafe World Almost All Day

Today, I've been working on a Cafe World catering order. I've finished up serving the "Jammin' Jelly Donuts." I have three rounds of stuff mushrooms still cooking, and the rest of the stoves are devoted to caviar. (I have to serve the caviar 300 times. So far, I have served it 90 times.)

I may be spendin more time on the game tonight. Maybe I'll get it done tonight.

Doggie Bag Days Season 2: Day 58

The day started with getting some empty hangers from the front to the back.

The way that it currently stands, we have purses for sale for a dollar. However, the amount of purses we had  out was not doing the display justice. So, per the manager's request, I grabbed a basket from the back room to put some of them in. Also, a lot of bags ended up getting eliminated. Up until now, they were on some shelves, but this ended up not working out. The bags that stayed were hung on nails on the walls.

Up until now, the manager has been the only one authorized to price clothing. As of today, she has authorized someone else (not me) to as well. Unfortunately, that person ran out of time before they were able to do so. (It's also hard to know what should go out at this time and what should stay back for now.)

While I was in the back tagging and hanging up clothes, I found something that made me think of someone in my family. Even though I've already gotten a present for said family member, I decided to buy this item for them. So, their present will have two parts to it.

That's been my day. Maybe more exciting stuff will happen on Monday.

Went Christmas Shopping Today

I managed to find presents for my mom, dad, and sister. (I won't go into details though.) But I haven't found anything for my stepdad or anyone else in my family. (My stepdad said he wasn't all that sure about what he wanted this year.) It has yet to be confirmed whether or not I will see my dad at Christmas. If it turns out that I won't, I will arrange to mail his present to him.

Now, I'll just need to get the presents wrapped.

Doggie Bag Days Season 2: Day 57

I started the day off with getting some hangers from the front to the back room. I also tried to make the purse section look a little better than it did but no luck. We have a lot of purses, so they're generally a dollar apiece until further notice.

Shortly after that, there were clothes to be put out. A few skirts were wrinkled (presumably through no fault of anyone on the staff). I tried getting the wrinkles out via a method that involved a wet rag per the manager's request, but I might've done it wrong.

We have a section called the "bargain section"" for clothes that are priced at a dollar or less, which was started in the fall. I nearly accidentally put something in that section that wasn't supposed to go in there. The manager had caught me doing that and asked me if the item in question had said it was a dollar. I checked again and put it where it needed to go. This was not the first time I made that mistake. Despite correcting said mistake, I was super mad at myself for having made it in the first place. For one thing, I try to be professional there (even though it's an unpaid position), and I feel that any time I make a mistake of any kind there, I'm being anything but professional. Second, a value that I was raised on was "acting one's age", and part of this meant I was NOT to make mistakes that I could have VERY easily prevented had I properly engaged my brain at the time. (And you would think that at 25 I would be completely on the ball at all times, but I'm not.)

The rest of the day was spent tagging and hanging up clothes.  I, along with a couple of other people who were in, got quite a bit done in that direction. Unfortunately, we ran out of places to hang stuff, so some of it ended up draped over the top of one of the racks.

That's all I have for now. Who knows what Friday will bring?

I Made Today Laundry Day On Short Notice

I saw a copy of my stepdad's work schedule. He works today but is off on Thursday, which is when I normally do laundry. (I have whites in the dryer and colors in the washer as we speak.) I try to do my laundry at a time when nobody will be home or I have to check signals in order to avoid any conflicts.

Besides which, I've got Christmas shopping to do this week. I tried to find something for my mom but no luck. (I found some possibilities, but I'm not going to risk mentioning them here, and I want to check to see if it would be stuff she would like.) I did, however, pick up an application to a store that I had put in for in twice in the past.

While we're on the subject of Christmas, I may or may not be spending it with my dad this year. I haven't seen him since October of last year when he had surgery that put an end to my living with him. It may be that I spend the actual Christmas day with my mom and have a later celebration with my dad. But whatever will happen will happen.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I should probably check on my laundry.

Doggie Bag Days Season 2: Day 56

It's been another day of tagging, hanging, and putting out clothes. Someone else took care of getting the hangers organized. Unfortunately, there were more hangers than places to put them. Nonetheless, I think we're getting more of a dent in the clothes. Maybe we'll get caught up sometime this winter.

That's all I got for now. I'll let you all know what comes up on Wednesday.

Will Be Babysitting The Four-legged Nephew Again

My sister's corgi Cosmo is coming to stay with us tonight. My mom and stepdad will be at a party at my mom's work so I'll be doing it alone...sort of. (No doubt he and his "Aunt" Layla--stepdad's lab mix--will be wrestling at various times. Then again, he'll probably also "ask" me to play fetch. I usually do, but it isn't helping him burn off weight that he needs burned off.)

I don't know exactly when he'll be coming, but until then, I'll probably be going back and forth between reading and doing stuff on the computer. (The latter includes doing stuff for Facebook.)

Doggie Bag Days Season 2: Day 55

My day started out with getting some empty hangers from by the register to the back room. Part of my time was spent tagging, hanging and/or putting out clothes. At one point, I was given the task of stamping some small envelopes for the Humane Society to put into larger envelopes. After that, I returned my attention to the clothes.

One of the things that needed to be done was to organize the hangers. Unfortunately, time ran out before I or anyone else was unable to get to it. I might do that on Monday if it hasn't been done before then. (But it'll have to wait until after the first hour of the store being open unless there's someone else to run the register in my place.)

That's all I got for now. Who knows what will happen next week?

Delay In Doing Laundry Today

This morning, my stepdad discovered that there was no running water. He called the water department, and it turned out that we weren't the only ones, that there was a hydrant that wasn't working. No running water meant I would have to hold off on my laundry. I was needed to stay put to check for when the water did come back on, so going up to a laundromat was out.

The water was back by 10:15 in the morning, my time. I was told that the water would be on no sooner than 10:30. However, I needed to use a bathroom, even if I had to do so somewhere else. So, I had turned the faucet in the bathroom to the "on" position so that when I returned, I could check to see if the water was back. It turned out that the water was running and not even rusty. So, I was able to use the bathroom at home and proceed with my laundry. However, the timing of this was such that I was unable to go to a poetry reading that I had thought about going to. As I write this, my load of darks (last load) has less than half an hour left in the dryer. I'll probably do more Facebook or something after I have all of said laundry folded and put away.

Doggie Bag Days Season 2: Day 54

There's not a lot to report this time, I'm afraid. One of my first tasks was to take empty hangers to the back room. I had three bags of clothes to take there as well. There were some purses I put out. I straightened up the front of the store off and on throughout the day and swept the entryway of leaves. I also wiped down a vacuum and a pair of shoes per the manager's request.

One girl that does her community service with us came in today, but she was only able to stay for an hour. She rearranged some of the books (something the manager wanted done) so that books of a similar theme (e.g. How-to's, cookbooks, etc.) were together.

I had a few clothes to put out, but there wasn't a lot ready to be put out as the prices on them have yet to be determined. I did, however, find some clothes that were stained and/or out of season and thus were to be recycled.

That's all I got for today. Maybe I'll have more to talk about on Friday.

Resuming Around Town Tuesday

The last two Tuesdays I spent at home. I resumed going out on Tuesdays today.

I was late getting out of bed, and it wasn't until late in the morning/early afternoon that I finally got out. I took some recycling to the college campus and dropped off an application to the local Shell Station.

I didn't get home until closer to three in the afternoon. I had a hot pocket for "lunch".  (I wonder if I should've skipped lunch due to timing. After all, three is outside of lunch hours, and dinner hours start at five. There's no telling how big a dinner Mom will want to fix.)

That's all I've accomplished for today. Maybe I'll do more later.

Doggie Bag Days Season 2: Day 53

My day basically started with clearing out-of-season stuff that had been stored under some tables so that said tables could be moved. (The stuff that was cleared out was taken to a storage area in an upstairs area that has to be access from outside. I've been upstairs a couple of times.)

In the past week or two, the fate of the back room fell more or less onto me, if not the manager, as there had been no one else available for whatever reason. However, a couple of girls were in today. (One of them I had met before, but for the other, this was her first day.) Parts of the day were spent tagging and hanging up clothes and parts of it were spent finding places to put things up front (especially that which pertained to Christmas).  I think at least one of the girls was able to put a major dent in the pile of clothes that was behind the counter in the back room. It doesn't look like we'll be caught up any time soon, but I think it's a step in the right direction. (What of it the manager will be putting out this week remains to be seen.)

The dining room table that we have had up for sale as of last week still is, but it's also being used to display some things for now. (Presumably, the chairs that the HSP had brought with said table are supposed to go with it). At some point, a computer chair came in, and that has been put up for sale. (You'd be surprised by some of the things that get sold there.)

Closer to the end of the day, I straigtened the bargain room a bit, putting like items close together on the shelves and putting clothes of the same color of each size together. (The more cohesive the displays are kept, the better.) I think some dents may have been made in that as well, especially the kids' section (unless we haven't had much to put there). We might be able to put more out there. Who knows?

I Might Be Staying Up Late In The Name Of Facebook Again

There has been at least one other time when I have had to stay up late because of the timing of something for Facebook's Cafe World. (Then again, I was basing a scene I was writing on a Cafe World scenario.) I might be doing that again tonight.

I recently started on one of Cafe World's newest challenges known as "Cooking Academy" where I have to spice a certain number of dishes, add certain items to my cafe, and serve certain dishes a certain number of times. The particular stage I am at on it requires that I "upgrade the cafe expansion", earn 5000 coins, and serve triple berry cheesecake 12 times. I've gotten the expansion and coin part done. It's the cheesecake part I'm waiting on. I've already served it five times with the help of some instant thyme spice that makes a dish ready right away. The time that each of the remaining rounds has before being ready ranges from five hours and eight minutes to six hours and twenty-one minutes, which means it'll be sometime after one, if not two in the morning my time before the cheesecake will be all done and I can go to bed. (If I wait too long to take the cheesecake off the stove, it ends up spoiling. I at least have some "salvage spice" to use on it if I have to, but hopefully I won't have to.)

Right now, I'm watching what's left of Grease on Vh1. (I tuned in a bit too late.) I might see what else is on after that. Failing that, I might be doing some reading that I put aside roughly a month ago. (Speaking of reading, I'll probably need to plan another Doggie Bag trip to buy more books. I've got one "current read" and one book waiting to be read at all.)  I may or may not get more of my novel finished tonight as I've hit a spot where I'm stuck. Oh well, I'll think of more things to do tonight I'm sure.

Doggie Bag Days Season 2: Day 52

My morning started out with stuff to bring in. (Someone had left some donations by the front door.) Following that, I was given the task of pulling any books pertaining to Christmas, as well as anything small enough to be a "stocking stuffer" from the shelves so that they could have a special display devoted to them. There were a couple of times in the day where I had stuff to tag, hang, or put out on display. I also straightened the front a bit, per the manager's request.

In the afternoon, I was given the task of decorating the Christmas tree that we currently have in our window. This involved gold and silver garlands, and red, white, and gold ornaments. (The manager did originally have me put a couple of purple ones on there, but later she decided that they didn't fit in with the rest of the decorations as well as she had thought they would. We also have an angel on top of the tree. Since neither the manager nor I were tall enough to get it on top though, her boyfriend took care of that.) Closer to the end of the day, somone brought some Christmas stuff, including a tree.

Maybe given what month this is, we'll sell enough to put a dent in the shelves and racks and we will thus be able to put more of the donations up for sale.

Doggie Bag Days Season 2: Day 51

One of the things I had to do today was move a table outside in the morning and move it back in after closing time. (When someone will buy it remains to be seen.)

Most of my day was spent either tagging and hanging up clothes or putting ones that had already been priced out on the sales floor. (The manager has gotten selective as to what she wants out at this time as there are some items she is not comfortable with selling for fifty cents, which is what a lot of our clothes are going for for the time being.) At one point, per the manager's request, I marked the tags on merchandise in the bargain room with a red pen so that there was no question that said item came from the bargain room.

That's all I got for today. I don't know what Friday will bring.

Doggie Bag Days Season 2: Day 50

Today started out with me on register for the first hour. When I was out front and it wasn't busy, I straigtened things up a bit per the manager's request. Later, when someone else came to take over on register, there were a few clothes waiting to be put out. We have so much clothing right now that whatever of it is in our bargain room is 25 cents and selected items in the main part of the store are 50 cents.

Later, the HSP had brought in a table and some chairs to be put up for sale at some point. For a while, they were sitting outside, but at the end of the day, they were brought inside.

My afternoon was basically spent trying to make the back room less cluttered, including consolidating some of the clothes that were due to be recycled. (And once again, I managed to salvage a few bras that were in my size or that I suspected were close to it anyway.)

That's all I got for today. (Note: I had meant to post this on Monday but forgot to, so I'm posting it today.)

I Did It! I Really Did It!

For the second year in a row, I fulfilled the National Novel Writing Month challenge of writing a "novel" of 50,000 words or more. The deadline for it is midnight tonight, but I was able to fulifill the challenge with roughly three hours and forty-five minutes to spare. It was a good thing that I decided not to go out today. My dad was involved in this challenge too, but the last time I talked to him, he said that he didn't see himself making the 50k in time. I was a bit behind myself, but I told him I could see myself making the 50k in time if I pushed myself, and I did.

Granted, it meant writing over 7000 words (something I don't normally do in a day), but I got it done nonetheless.

Now is the actual story finished? I wish. But that was not a requirement for the challenge. I'm going to see what I can do about wrapping the story up this next month and then see about editing it in the next year.

Thursday, I'll do the out and about stuff that I normally would've done today. But as of next week, I will be back to being out and about on Tuesdays and doing my home stuff on Thursdays.

Switching Around Town Tuesday And HomeGirl Thursday This Week

Last week, I cancelled Around Town Tuesday in order to do things I wouldn't be able to do on Thursday on account of Thanksgiving. This week I'm going to be at home and do my laundry on Tuesday and do my "out and about" stuff on Thursday. This is because Tuesday is the last day of National Novel Writing Month, and I will be making whatever last ditch efforts are needed to get my word count to 50,000 or higher. (With my schedule tomorrow consisting of Doggie Bag in the day and circumstances permitting, the annual Christmas parade at night, computer time will be very limited.) I was able to fulfill this challenge last year, and I'd like to fulfill it again this year. When I do editing and how long it takes me remains to be seen.

I just thought I'd let you all know what all's going on with me this week. I'll let you know how the "last ditch" turns out.

Doggie Bag Days Season 2: Day 49, or My First Black Friday On The Working End

The Doggie Bag opened at eight today. My day started off with getting some stuff put out and/or moved around. The rest of the day was spent tagging and hanging up clothes. I was the only person in the back room all day. I think I was able to make somewhat of a dent in the clothes, but there's still a lot to go.

Supposedly, we got some business, but not as much as one would expect on Black Friday. (I was in the back room most of the time, so I wasn't fully aware of what was going on up front.) Supposedly, a lot of people went shopping in another town.

We do have Christmas stuff. Hopefully we'll sell a lot of that in December.

My Thanksgiving Today

Normally, my mom, stepdad and I would go to my sister's for Thanksgiving. However, my stepdad has to get up extra tomorrow as he works at Home Depot, and they are one of many stores participating in Black Friday tomorrow. (Doggie Bag will be participating as well. I don't know if we'll be doing anything different sale-wise, as we have some discounts going in hopes that it will free up some space on the racks and thus allow us to bring in more stuff in the back to make it less crowded. However, whereas we normally open at ten in the morning, we'll be opening at eight. It'll be my first Black Friday, at least on the working end. I'll let you know how that turns out tomorrow.) So, we spent Thanksgiving at home this year.

For breakfast, I had some breakfast casserole and coffee. Throughout the day, I jumped back and forth between watching TV (including watching movies like Beauty and the Beast, something I hadn't seen in a LONG time), poking around on my novel for National Novel Writing Month, and the Internet (including Facebook).

Our "dinner" happened during afternoon hours. We had turkey, stuffing, regular potatoes (small ones), sweet potatoes with marshmellows on top, green bean casserole, brussel sprouts, and cranberry sauce. None of us were all that hungry for supper in the evening (which would've just been whatever we felt like having). However, we did have some chocolate meringue pie. (I had to consult the Yahoo search engine on the spelling of "meringue".)

As for my evening, I will probably watch whatever I can find on TV, do more Facebook and/or writing, and maybe have a shower. (I might hold off on that last one until the morning given that my stepdad has to go to work far earlier than I do. Besides, since someone else will be running the register and I will likely be in and out of the back room, I probably won't be dealing with customers so much, so it might be forgivable for me to pass on the shower if that's what I end up doing.) Tomorrow, I make extra sure not to get off to a late start as I'm going in for an early day at the Doggie Bag.

Doggie Bag Days Season 2: Day 48

My day started out with clothes to put on display. We have gotten so overwhelmed with donations lately that the manager requested that I hold off on hanging up any more short-sleeved shirts for now. (The other day, someone else on duty referred to the back as "a hoarder's dream come true".)

Much of my day was spent tagging and hanging up stuff. Unfortunately, despite my best efforts, there was barely a dent made in the back. (The cashier on duty, who later volunteered to give me a ride home in light of the weather, said that despite the substantial amount of clothing she sold, it doesn't look like much got sold.)

We're going to be one of the stores participating in Black Friday. (For those of you from outside the US, it's the name for the Friday after our Thanksgiving, which will be this week, when a lot of shopping is supposed to happen in retail stores and put them "in the black" as opposed to "in the red". This will be my first year working a Black Friday though I will likely be in the back at the time.) Hopefully, we'll sell enough then to create more room for stuff waiting to be put out.

Around Town Tuesday Cancelled This Week

This would normally be the day when I'd be out of the house to pick up/drop off applications, take recycling to campus bins, and/or run some other errand, and Thursdays would be when I do laundry and other "home stuff". However, this Thursday will be Thanksgiving. The last two were spent at my sister's. However, judging by things my mom said, it sounds like I'll be home all day this time. Whatever the case ends up being, doing laundry will be out of the question at the time.

Thus, I'm doing my laundry today so that I don't have to wait until Saturday. However, since my stepdad is scheduled to go to work later today and wants a shower before then, I'm holding off on my laundry until he leaves for work.  The other thing I will be doing is cleaning the inside of our old fridge per his request. (We got a new one yesterday. It's a chrome one to match the stove, microwave, and dishwasher that are also chrome.) I may do a few other things here as well.

Doggie Bag Days Season 2: Day 47

Part of my day was spent tagging and hanging up clothes, and part of it was spent getting stuff put out. We have so many pants right now that the manager has opted to make all adult pants a dollar a pair until further notice. (And all clothing in the bargain room is 25 cents for the time being.)

I feel kind of bad about not being in a position to buy some of this stuff in order to free up space. (You don't want to know how much stuff  has yet to be, um, dealt with.) However, one of the bags included a couple of bras in my size. (I'm sure that someone else in my family, such as my mom or my sister, would've just as soon gotten me some new bras themselves rather than hear of me wearing ones that had been worn by someone else. I do still draw the line at used underpants, though.) As we're no longer selling those, they would've been sent to recycling, so I slipped them into my purse. (In case I didn't mention this before, any piece of clothing that is up for elimination is eligible to be taken home by staff members free of charge.)

I'm not sure if we'll ever get caught up or not. The next day I go in is Wednesday.

Doggie Bag Days Season 2: Day 46

We got even more clothes priced and put out. Unfortunately, we ran low on space on the racks. For kids' clothes that are in the bargain room, one can fill up a bag of them for a dollar. (We have a LOT of kids' clothes.) It reminds me of earlier this year when we did that with winter clothes we were trying to clear out at the time. Hopefully, we will be able to get more clothes sold so that we can put more out.

I won't be going in on Friday as I'm going to be babysitting my nephew as well as my sister's dog Cosmo as of whatever time in the afternoon she is in to drop them off.

Doggie Bag Days Season 2: Day 45

As we had gotten new tags as of Friday, getting clothes tagged and ready to be priced is back to being a high priority, especially since we have a lot that need to be inspected and hung up.

I wasn't able to get anything hung up. However, I did get a lot of the pants tagged (among other things). The manager will have plenty to work with tomorrow depending on what kind of space is available on the sales racks. (We have soooo much stuff right now.)

Hopefully things will pick up a bit more into the season and we can get more caught up.

Doggie Bag Days Season 2: Day 44

Much of the day was spent getting stuff put out in order to free up space in the back. Our tags finally came in, so I was able to get some stuff tagged.

Tomorrow the store's having a bit of a "furniture sale". By furniture, I mean chairs, a coat rack, and possibly a tall lamp.

Maybe next week, more stuff can get put out in order to make more room in the back.

Doggie Bag Days Season 2: Day 43

My day was mainly spent getting stuff put out onto the floor. This included stuffed animals to be put in the window display. (I was in and out of that a couple of times today. For decorative purposes, we have colorful sheets over the old white carpet in the window. As a precaution, I generally slip my shoes off before stepping onto said sheets. Let's just say it was a good thing I was wearing loafers as opposed to anything with laces.)

Space is still pretty tight in the back. Hopefully, we will get to a point where that will change.

Doggie Bag Days Season 2: Day 42

The first order of business was to get clothes that had been priced onto their respective racks. There's still clothing that has been tagged but not priced, but there's not as much of that as there is of clothing that hasn't been tagged. (The tags have yet to make it in.)

The manager was only able to stay until noon for some reason. In the afternoon, I grabbed stuff that was tagged but not priced and put it in the middle room for when/if the manager had the chance to price it. Otherwise, I mostly hung up clothes. (I ran out of time before I got them all hung up, but I wouldn't be surprised if there are more clothes than hangers.)

Hopefully, the tags will be in by Monday so that more tagging can be done and more clothes can be put out.

Doggie Bag Days Season 2: Day 41

One of the things that the manager and I did today was box up some of the Halloween stuff (at least in the window anyway) and take it to the attic. After that we put some colorful clothes and stuffed animals in the window. There may be more of the latter going in at some point.

As it turns out, the 25 cent rack that we had outside is no more. Summer stuff is going into storage now. (In fact, part of my time was spent pulling summer clothing from the racks in the back room and boxing it up.)

That's all I have for today. I'm not sure what'll happen on Friday.

Doggie Bag Days Season 2: Day 40

Not a lot of stuff to report this time. The first hour, I was pretty much on register. The rest of the time, I was either putting clothes out, sorting the mens' shirts (in the bargain section) according to size, writing in the sizes on clothing in the bargain room, or washing up some things in the sink.

One guy had come in to do his community service. His task was to clean up and paint the bathroom. (There's a part of it that will be used as a storage area. He was there most of the day, I believe. I don't know when I'll see him again.

That's all I got for now. I'm not sure what will happen on Wednesday.

My Halloween Weekend

I went out of town Friday afternoon to babysit my nephew. He and I went to something that night called "Trunk or Treat" where there were games, candy, etc. We had some chili on Frito's.  He was Luigi this year. There was at least one other Luigi around and multiple Marios. (I have a picture on my phone of him with one of his friends who was dressed as Mario.) He got his face painted twice: the first time being a red-and-white mushroom over one eye; the second time a yellow mushroom with black stripes over the other eye. (The latter was inspired by the Wii game "Super Mario Galaxy".) He talked me into getting a snowflake painted on me as I was dressed as a waitress on her way to work a shift on a winter night. (I was wearing a waitress-like dress with jeans and a jacket.)

Yesterday, he and I had strudels for breakfast and pepperoni mini-pizzas for lunch. He played some "Super Mario Galaxy" which I watched. Sometime during the afternoon, he and I went to the park. In the evening, we went to some festival at the local rec center. There were games, a spook house, a hay maze, and inflatable playsets. I didn't wear a costume for that, but he wore his Luigi costume once again (but minus the gloves he wore the night before as this time, it'd be easier to do stuff without the gloves).

Now, I'm back home. In the next hour or two, I will probably put on my waitress costume in case any trick-or-treaters show up. If I'm lucky enough, I might stay up past midnight tonight to start on the challenge known as National Novel Writing Month, or Nano Wrimo. (I'll maybe type an intro that I have in mind, but then I'll turn in as I need to have some energy for my work at the Doggie Bag tomorrow. It's a good guess that putting away the Halloween stuff, or whatever's left of it, will be on the "To Do" list.) If I end up going to sleep before midnight, I'll see about getting some writing in when I get up in the morning provided I have time. Failing that, I'll start after I get home from the Doggie Bag.

Homegirl Thursday: Week 2

Most of what I accomplished today was laundry, loading/unloading the dishwasher, and sweeping up dog hair from the floor.

I need to do some packing tonight as I will be going to my sister's sometime tomorrow. I've got some clothes set aside for that.

By the way, be sure to catch the premiere of my new miniseries of posts, Miss Scissors: Reading is the Key, tomorrow on my reading blog, RAB-PIA. I'll be sure to let you know when new parts of the series are posted.

Doggie Bag Days Season 2: Day 39

I've mostly spent the day putting out clothes, books and "knick-knacks". The section for Men's shirts that will run for a dollar or less has been set.  Also, the manager has marked some of the clothes as "free" per the request of the HSP.

Normally, I'd be going in on Friday, but as I will be going out of town sometime in the afternoon on Friday, I've gotten clearance from the manager to take that day off. I'm guessing Monday will consist of clearing out whatever is left of anything Halloween to make room for stuff pertaining to Thanksgiving and possibly Christmas.

Around Town Tuesday: Week 2

The only "out of the house" stuff I managed to accomplish today was to get some clothes to Salvation Army that turned out to be too big for me and take recycling over to the campus recycling bins. I know it's going to sound weird to do this in the evening, but I think at some point I will print something out for an application that accounts for periods of unemployment and turn both of those pieces of paper in tonight so that I can say that I did one more thing towards my job search if anyone asks.

Doggie Bag Days Season 2: Day 38

The first major priority today was to get fashion show items onto the racks that they normally went on. It turns out, though, that there will be another fashion show sometime in January (barring unforseen circumstances of course).

After that, my attention was directed to the bargain room. The rack that had been used to hold fashion show items was moved closer to the kids' bargain rack and is now being devoted to pants. Another set of racks is being devoted to ladie's tops. How the rest will be placed remains to be seen.

Some customers checked out the bargain room (though I don't know whether or not any of them bought anything there). One said she'd need to check it out even more when she had more time.

I don't know what all will await me on Wednesday.

Belated Homegirl Thursday Account For Week 1

I forgot to do an account of Homegirl Thursday this past Thursday. If I can remember correctly, I did laundry and dishes, and I think I swept the floor some. I think I also did some stuff on Facebook, but that's all I can recall right off.

I'll try to do better about the accounts from here on out.

Doggie Bag Days Season 2: Day 37

The big priority today was to get some of the displays stocks and the store presentable for a "grand re-opening" we're having tomorrow. (We're also having a fashion show tomorrow.)  Basically, various things were put out, including stuff for the "bargain room". In the afternoon, per the manager's request, I rearranged some of the clothing racks so that shirts, etc. of similar colors were together.

I don't know if I'll go to tomorrow's fashion show or not. It'll depend on what it is I'll be doing. I have no clue what will happen on Monday.

Doggie Bag Days Season 2: Day 36

We got some space freed up in the back room (finally).  Again, some of the clothes have been priced at a dollar or less and thus placed in the bargain section.

There's going to be a fashion show of Doggie Bag clothes this weekend. I don't know if I'll be able to go or not. For said show, some clothes had been set aside, and for now, they are not for sale.

There's still a lot of clothing left to get hung, tagged, etc., but at least it's not as crowded as it had been.

Like My New Profile Picture?

I got it on either Microsoft Works or Microsoft Word. It took a while for me to figure it out, but I had to copy and paste the image to the program "Paint" in order to save it in a format that would be acceptable for Blogger.

I chose this picture partly because of the Halloween season but also because it has a cat in it (and cats are my favorite animal). I will likely change the picture after Halloween.

In case you're wondering why I did this, I was getting tired of the default "blank face" in the picture part of my profile and have decided to try something new.

Around Town Tuesday: Week 1

I wasn't able to get anything job search related done because of timing (though I might do some online applications later). However, I donated some clothes to the Salvation Army (I'd donate to the Doggie Bag if we weren't already tight on space) and took some cans and bottles to the college campus recycling bins.

On the way to the campus, I passed by one of those auto garages. An empty Mountain Dew can was laying just inside said garage on the ground. I initially passed it, but after a few steps, I thought better of it and picked it up. Someone who worked there said, "Thanks. Good call."

Next week, I might do an errand list for just what it is I wish to accomplish when I'm out an about.

Doggie Bag Days Season 2: Day 35

As you may have gathered from previous posts, I'm normally in the back tagging and hanging up clothes. However, I've had a change of pace today.

We've started having the middle room devoted to clothing costing a dollar or less. Any kids' clothing that was higher than that was taking to the main sales floor. The two ladie's  slacks sections have been merged as well as the racks for ladie's medium tops. All ladie's jeans have been moved to one of the racks devoted to ladie's slacks.

Now that the bargain room has been started, I'll be able to get whatever summer clothing has been held onto hung up and tagged. I'm hoping the bargain room does work out.

Went To A Parade This Morning

This morning was my hometown's annual Homecoming parade, with bands, floats, and a lot more.  I happened to run into a former Doggie Bag colleague (who now works at our local branch of the Salvation Army) while I was there and watched the parade with her. 

The first time I went to one of those parades was when I was in fifth grade. When I was in sixth grade, I didn't get to go because my mom had to work. From when I was in seventh grade until I finished high school, I was in marching band and therefore in the parade. The first two years I was in college, I was in Santa Fe with my mom and stepdad and thus didn't get to go to the parade. I went to the college in my current town for three years and got to see the parade for all three of them. When I was living with my dad last year in St. Louis, I didn't think I'd be able to make it to the parade or any more ever again. However, some health problems he developed caused me to have to return to my mom, and I was back the weekend before the parade.

The college Homecoming game is today as well, but I'm not going to that. When I was a student, I was able to get in for free. When I was in high school, I was in one of the bands playing in the mass band at halftime. As I'm not a student there anymore, I'd have to pay my way in, and I can't afford it. I don't care much for football anyway.

I doubt I'll be going out again today, but that could end up changing on short notice.

Doggie Bag Days Season 2: Day 34

One of the most interesting things I did today was stuff a pair of overalls, a polo shirt, and a flannel with some clothes from the recycling pile. It was for the closest we have to a scarecrow.

The manager said that the whole thing with stuffing a scarecrow with clothes came was a tradition that she grew up on, and it was either last night or some other night that she had a dream that involved doing something like that. At first, she wasn't sure where she would put a scarecrow but then realized that it could be done in the window.

In the last couple of hours before closing time, she and her boyfriend and I worked on the window display. It's a Halloween theme with costumes, black shirts, orange shirts, and more. There's even a smoke machine involved. (The person on the register joked that the manager needed to stop smoking. I don't know if she actually does smoke or not.)

We did get a couple of donations today, but I really do think they are starting to calm down. I've more or less run out of clothes to deal with.

Coming Next Week: Around Town Tuesdays And Homegirl Thursdays

If you have been reading my previous posts, you would know that on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, I'm at the Doggie Bag, leaving Tuesdays and Thursdays for other things.

I usually do laundry on Thursdays. Thus, it makes it harder for me to get out of the house soon enough to do anything in connection to my job search. Tuesday is an easier day for it (along with anything else I have to do outside the home that day).

Therefore, I have decided that as of next week, I would have Around Town Tuesdays and Homegirl Thursdays.

The agenda for Around Town Tuesdays would include any or all of the following but not be limited to:

• picking up/dropping off/checking on job applications
• sending things in the mail
• taking recycling to campus bins
• any shopping

The agenda for Homegirl Thursdays would include any or all of the following but not be limited to:

• Laundry
• Load/unload dishwasher as needed
• Other housework indoor and/or outdoor
• Anything writing-related
• Catch up on email
• Job search stuff that can be done from home
• RAB-PIA reading

As an adult, I try to be productive with my days and feel bad when I fail to do so.  So, I'm hoping my new plan will bring some structure into these days.

Doggie Bag Days Season 2: Day 33

This morning, there were donations waiting for us out back. Nobody that was on duty had a key to unlock the back, so one other person and I went around to get the donations and carry them through the front.

I was able to get shirts, dresses, etc. tagged but ran out of the proper hangers off and on. (So, some of the shirts that are tagged aren't on hangers.) After I ran out of shirts, dresses, outfits, etc. to tag/hang, I started working on pants. I put them on hangers, but the last time I checked, they were not to be tagged until further notice. (I hope nobody tags any of them tomorrow by mistake.)

I can't say for sure whether the donations are dying down or not as there could be a lot more by Friday.

What I've Accomplished Today

Today was somewhat productive for me today. Here's what I got done:

1. Took cans and bottles to campus recycling bins
2. Bought Dad a card (birthday in a couple of days)
3. Picked up an application to Bath & Body Works
4. Loaded and started dishwasher after lunch
5. Signed and mailed Dad's card

I don't know what else I'll be doing today.

Doggie Bag Days Season 2: Day 32

I was on the register within the first hour of the store being open as the person who had been scheduled for it was apparently unable to make it for some reason. When I was ringing up the first purchase, the register wasn't working quite right and wouldn't open. It turned out that when I had turned it on, I had it on the wrong setting by mistake. (Bad Moderate Mouse. That I'm not on the register very often these days or that having it turned off upon closing and turning it back on upon opening is a new policy does not change the fact that any mistake that I make there is counterproductive to my attempt to redeem myself within the context of a place of business until my next paid job. In fact, I think it'd be easier on various people in my life if I could get my you-know-what together and learn to stop making mistakes for the rest of my life.)

There is still a lot of clothing left to hang up, but most of it is pants as well as any summer clothing on reserve until the manager is ready to start the bargain section that she wanted to do. We haven't gotten a lot of donations today. One of the few that we got included some used toothbrushes. The manager decided to trash those. (I might suggest mailing them to the military as they like to clean latrines with them.)  We had one small clothing donation close to the last minute. Whoever is in the back room tomorrow will at least have a starting point.

At one point, I stepped away from hanging/tagging clothes as the manager needed the purse section cleared out temporarily to make room for some lamps and the lamps to be wiped down. (There were some individual ones plus two pairs of identical ones.)

Unless we have yet another donation ambush, maybe we'll be caught up by next month.

Been Yet Another Slow Saturday

Today's been a slow Saturday, as a lot of my Saturdays tend to be.

One of the things I did this morning was get some Voodoo Chicken Salad served in Cafe World as part of an order someone else is doing. After that I got some BBQ chicken on the stoves as part of said order as well. It was done in five hours. After serving up that batch, I "cooked" some more. It should be done after dinner tonight, after which I'll prepare another round of the chicken salad, which should be done in the morning before I head off to church.

I skipped breakfast because of timing (though I did at least have coffee). For lunch, I had a piece of leftover Chicken Cordon Bleu and Frito's. For dinner, we're having chili and beer (more specifically, Molson Canadian).

I've been surfing the Net off and on, and I've gotten my bible passage for the day read. That's all I've gotten done today so far.

Doggie Bag Days Season 2: Day 31

It's been another day of clothing to tag and hang up. For the second time (at least for me), the manager wasn't able to make it in right away so her boyfriend came by on her behalf to let me and another person in. (It turns out that the manager is opening up a store of her own somewhere in town as of tomorrow. I guess she had a lot of prep work to do for that.)

Remember that sweater I had told you about from Wednesday. I brought that (as well as a pink collar that someone else had found) to the attention of the HSP, and apparently it will be used for a "style show" that she's planning. She was also in the backroom for a little bit and pulled a few things that she couldn't see selling (such as some out of date dresses).

We have officially run out of space to hang stuff. So, I've had to kind of lay stuff across the racks of the back room. Hopefully, the manager will be in a better position next week to get stuff put out as the donations are just going to keep coming.

Such has been my day. Who knows what'll happen next week?

Doggie Bag Days Season 2: Day 30

More clothes to tag and hang up plus more came in. Hopefully, there will be a lot of clothing sales made sometime soon as space in the back room is tighter than ever. I'm lucky if I don't completely run out of spaces to hang stuff up, but we'll see what happens.

In one of the bags that someone went through today was a white sweater made for a big dog. (Think lab, German Shepard, or something along those lines.) It'd maybe fit my stepdad's dog, my stepdad is SO against putting clothes on animals. The HSP might be interested in it for one of the shelter dogs.

That's all I have to say for now. If you'll excuse me, I have to return to a conversation on Facebook that someone else started that I have been juggling with this post. (Don't want to hurt their feelings, you know?)

Doggie Bag Days Season 2: Day 29

Once again, there were more clothes to be hung up and tagged.  One of the items that came in today was a jacket or vest that looked like something a small dog would wear outside in the winter. (It even had a slit for the leash.) I brought it to the attention of the HSP to see if she'd be interested in it for one of the dogs over at the Humane Society. She accepted it and said something about how there should be some like that with "adopt me" signs on them.

There are still a lot of clothes waiting for me, but this may die down as it gets colder and there are fewer rummage sales going on.

For a while, the theme for our window display has been black-and-white. As of today, the manager has decided to change it to beige or comparative colors. Who knows what the next theme will be?

Will Really Have To Pull An All-Nighter This Time

I've got a project going on in Cafe World where I once again have to serve certain dishes a certain number of times. The only one I have left is called Pastilla, which has to be served 146 times. (So far I've served it 84 times.) I have three rounds of it that will be ready at about 12:30 AM my time and a couple of others a couple of hours after that. I missed the time limit for the three-star rating, which would allow me to keep the dishes for this particular order (which are available for a limited time), but I'm hoping to be able to finish for the two-star rating which will qualify me for another order.

Even though I have church in the morning, I'll have to stay up late to wait for some of the rounds of Pastilla so that I can get those served and prepare even more rounds. I'll also have to find ways to pass the time until then. Maybe I'll find something else to do online.

Been Playing A YouTube Video A Bunch Of Times Today

For some reason, the Depeche Mode song "Enjoy the Silence" got into my head. So, I played the video for it a bunch of times today. There are two versions that I know of, but this is the one I've been playing the most. It's the one where one of the guys is dressed like a king and keeps walking around with a small folding chair which he sits in once in a while.

For some reason, if a song gets stuck in my head, I like to play it a bunch of times on YouTube. Crazy, I know.

Doggie Bag Days Season 2: Day 28

I didn't do my account yesterday, so I'm doing it today.

Another day was spent tagging and hanging up clothes. The manager has decided that anything that comes in that is summery but otherwise in okay shape should stay for now as she wants to have some sort of bargain section.

Some of the bags of clothes that were in the "recycling" corner had to be gone back over in order to salvage items on which the gun had been jumped as well as summery stuff that was still good. (I had originally put a wedding dress in one of said bags because of a spot that was on it. It might pass for Halloween though, and that was one of the things salvaged.)

I guess as of next Thursday, we'll be staying open until as late as eight at night. If that's going to be for every day, I might stay for an extra hour or two on the days that I'm there to better the chances of getting caught up. (For that matter, if staying super late or going in super early was feasible, I would, given how much there is to take care of at this point. I've even contemplated discontinuing bringing a lunch with me and toughing it out until dinnertime at home. I take mainly a sandwich or a leftover with me. The less I have to eat, the less time it'll take to eat it, which means more time to take care of stuff.)

There'll probably still be a lot left me to do on Monday unless whoever is scheduled to work the back room today is able to put a dent in it and nothing else shows up.

Once Again, Another Day Not As Productive As I Had Hoped For

I got some laundry done today, like I normally do on Thursdays. I was going to go do some follow-ups on some job applications, but I wasn't able to because of timing.

I've got projects and challenges going on in Cafe World that involve serving certain dishes or types of coffee x number of times. (The coffee thing is new and requires a certain amount of "energy" to brew. As I type this I'm waiting to have enough energy points to brew a type of coffee called Depth Charge.) I also have a challenge in Petville where I pick up 2000 pieces of litter by clicking on them. (I've picked up over 400 so far.)

I also need to get some more time in on the Bookcrossing read-a-thon, which ends at midnight tonight. I so can't see myself making it to the 24 hours at this point, but whatever I can get is better than nothing.

One thing I did get accomplished is reading my daily Bible passage for the "Read the Bible in a year program" I'm involved in, Zechariah chapters 8-14. Tomorrow's reading is the book of Malachi, and after that, I'll be done with the Old Testament.

That's all the news I have on this end. I might come back in later...maybe.

Doggie Bag Days Season 2: Day 27

This morning I had even more clothes waiting for me to deal with that when I had left. Apparently, a church in the area had a rummage sale, and someone donated all of the "leftovers". I was able to get through some of the bags of it, but once again, I ran out of time before getting through it all. Some of the clothing was stained, out of season, etc. and had to be recycled. There also happened to be a scrub shirt and pants, which I set aside for the HSP to take over to the Humane Society. (The shirt had a few spots on it, but the HSP assured me that it would really show. I wasn't sure if it would matter or not given the probable nature of the work done over at the Humane Society.)

As a rule, we don't use wire hangers for anything that we sell. However, there's something that our current manager uses them for herself, so she took some with her when she first left. I also set some aside for her for the next time she was in. (She came in later to close.)

The next day I go in is Friday. I don't know if more clothing will come in by then or not.

Doggie Bag Days Season 2: Day 26

I had left on Friday feeling pretty good about the dent put into the clothing waiting to be hung up and tagged. However, there were apparently a lot of "leftovers" from rummage sales on Saturday as there were huge donations then and today.  One of groups that came to donate stuff was a couple who donated some of their stuff to us but apparently saw how full we were getting as they decided to take whatever they had left somewhere else. (According to our current manager, who has worked at the Doggie Bag off and on for quite some time, in the past, the Doggie Bag didn't have as much help as it does now, and some of the staff members would resort to turning donations away, which really bothered her. As far as I knew, that was never an option despite how crowded the back room would get.)

One person donated some outdated dresses that could be sold as costumes, if we're lucky. However, I think the manager is going to see if someone she knows in the theater business (or the theater department of the high school or college) might be interested in them.

There's still no word yet as to who is responsible for the break in/robbery that happened on Thursday night. We may or may not ever know, but maybe the tension of it will die down over time.

Doggie Bag Days Season 2: Days 24-25

I went in yesterday to move around a few things that needed to be moved around.

This morning, I was on my way to the Doggie Bag, thinking of all of the clothes that I needed to get hung up and taggged. When I got in, I found out from somebody else on staff that we had been robbed/broken into last night. The only thing taken was the money. (I don't know the amount myself.) However, whoever did it had apparently gone through the back because the glass on one of the doors was shattered. The manager had to call the police. A cop came in to get the fingerprints.

We don't know who it was that did it. It could have been someone who had left during the summer on bad terms and is no longer welcome on the property and is trying to retaliate. The robbery could have been in connection to other ones in town. Hopefully, we'll know sometime next week.

I was able to get more clothing hung up and tagged. I ran out of time before I got through all of it, but at least it wasn't as big as when I had left on Monday. Barring more incoming donations, I might have a chance at catching up at some point.

Pulling An All-Nighter Tonight

I have a catering project that I'm doing on Facebook's Cafe World. The timing on some of the things I'm "cooking" is such that it'll be done at an hour when I'm normally asleep. In order to get them off the stoves in time, I'll need to stay up extra late tonight.  I can't simply turn in for a couple of hours and have an alarm wake me up as Mom is home, and ruining HER sleep could get me in trouble. My phone has changed, so I don't even have the option of a discreet vibrating alarm on that anymore. So, little to no sleep it is.

Despite my best efforts, I may end up missing the deadline for the three-star rating once again. (I have 1 hour and 17 hours left to be eligible for it. I have to have a three-star rating in order to be eligible for a certain recipe. I got a two-star rating last time. Maybe I'll try it again some other time if I fail. But I'll make sure I have more "cafe cash", spices, and/or stoves for my next attempt.)

I'll have to find things to do to pass the time. I have two hours and 23 minutes until time to take some devil eggs off the stove. (I have to serve them 72 times. So far, I've served them 35. They take 18 hours to serve. I have 14 stoves. At the moment, all but three of the stoves are spoken for by the turkey I need to serve a couple of hours after the devil eggs.) I'll maybe get a couple of hours of sleep tonight at best. Oh well. At least I don't have anywhere I abosolutely need to be by a certain time tomorrow.

Doggie Bag Days Season 2: Day 23

Today, I started out hanging up some of the clothes and tagging them. After a while, I switched gears and checked to make sure that the clothes that were already hung up had tags on them. The person who does the window display and is presumably the new manager, has decided that she wants to take care of the pricing herself, and the new rule is that if something in the window or elsewhere in the store doesn't have a price, it's not for sale at the moment, and if someone asks about an unpriced item, we should suggest that they come back at another time. (The presumed new manager also happens to be dating a guy that used to be roomates with my sister's boyfriend, so anything wrong I do in front of her could be used against me in a conversation with my sister.)

A couple of guys from the recycling center came. It's always a relief when they come because it means space gets freed up in the back room. However, after they left, I ended up with a bag of stuff that was stained, torn, or otherwise unacceptable for display for the next time they come.

I may or may not go in tomorrow. I've got a combination of laundry and job search stuff to take care of.

Anxious About Tomorrow

Tomorrow is my next day at the Doggie Bag. I don't know what's going to happen then now that our most recent manager has had to resign (unless something has changed her mind). I don't know if a new manager has been chosen or will be anytime soon or if it'll a be a thing where whoever is on duty at the time is manager for the day.

On the days that I went in, it was usually the manager that opened and closed the store. I'm guessing that, at least for the time being, either the HSP or someone on the staff who does have a key will have to take care of that.

On Friday, someone came on behalf of the manager I had before my haitus to get some things that said manager had left behind. Little did I know that if that was the case it was really their loss and they shouldn't have taken the things they did. (I think I mentioned this story already.) I'm not in trouble for letting that happen (that I know of, especially since it's not a situation I had been warned about or ever had to handle),  but the HSP has gotten the cops involved. Hopefully, everything has been/will be handled quietly, and all of the drama can come to an end.

Again, I'm anxious about what tomorrow will hold for the Doggie Bag, what with all of the recent, um "excitement". Hopefully, things will go smoothly.

Doggie Bag Days Season 2: Day 22

The manager had come in early today in an attempt to get back on top of things as she was out sick on Friday. However, she left within an hour or two after I had gotten in. At first, I thought she was stepping out for a smoke. (While I don't smoke myself, it doesn't seem to really phase me when others do.) However, according to the Humane Society President (who comes in periodically to check on things, and who I will be referring to from here on out as the HSP), said manager has decided to resign for personal reasons. Who it is that ends up taking her place remains to be seen. (This is the second time a manager had left the Doggie Bag since I started. I have thoughts as to who would likely become the new manager, but I'll have to wait and see.) Between losing a manager as of today and the drama that ensued on Friday regarding the manager before her (and which I and at least one other staff member have tried to stay out of but to our dismay have gotten caught in the middle of), things have gotten a bit, um, interesting.

I think I did a bit of hanging up, but I mostly tried to straighten up the back room a bit, per the HSP's request. I've been able to have one side of the room consist of clothes and the other side everything else. I also went through some of the clothes to see what should stay and what should go and put that which was to be recycled in one section of the room. I've also gotten some of the colored plastic hangers (which don't swivel at the head) bundled up as we're trying to get rid of those. That might be one of my projects for the next week or two, especially if there's no room to hang up any of the clothes. (The rack for the pants that are on reserve is basically full.) Even though the manager had left for good, there was someone else to run the register, so I mostly took care of the back room.

Shortly after I had returned in August, I had been put on the same schedule as now ex or about-to-be ex-manager, which was Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, but it may not matter if I go in on the other days as well now that she's gone.  I might at some point end up doing so in order to better the chances of getting caught up on things.

Doggie Bag Days Season 2: Day 21

Today, we were late opening up as the manager didn't show up. One of the people scheduled to work today was around. They went home to check for messages. As it turned out, the manager was sick, and the Humane Society President (who comes in and checks on things) had to come and unlock the doors.

Because the manager was sick, I ended up filling in for her on the register. I won't go into how much was made, but it wasn't all that impressive. One of the things that I did sell was a wedding dress that was in the window. I sold it for $10.00. I found out all too late, from the person who does the window display, that I shouldn't have done that as she wanted to get feedback from the HSP as to how much it should run for.  I apologized and told her that I didn't know any better and that I'm not the one who normally runs the register all day (both of which were true). She said that it was okay, and that 1) she was not in a position to leave any kind of note and 2) the manager probably would've done the same thing I did if it came up.

At some point, the former manager's significant other and another former staff member came to reclaim a chair that had  been left behind over the summer. Later, the FMSO came to reclaim the open/close sign and some carts that the FM supposedly left behind when he had left the Doggie Bag over the summer. (After that, I found out from the person who does the window display that if the manager or somebody else that had walked out over the summer left something behind it was really their loss as it had become store property.)  I had heard all sorts of things about what had happened with the FM, but I was not around to witness any of it so I don't know whether or not it was even true.

That was my day. I don't normally go in on Saturdays, but I may end up having to make an exception tomorrow in order to get back on top of things.

Doggie Bag Days Season 2: Days 19-20

I forgot to do an account for Monday, and I've messed up my account for Wednesday, so I'll do my account for both of those days here. I think basically, there were just some clothes to be hung up and tagged on both days. On one of those days, the manager was five minutes late. I don't remember which one it was though.

At some point on Wednesday, a friend of the manager's had an emergency, so said kids were around for the last couple of hours before closing time.

That's all I have for those two days.

Ugh! Another Barely Productive Day

I didn't get out of bed as early as I had hoped to. (When I get off to a late start, I can't seem to get myself going as much as I had hoped.)

It was raining a bit this morning, but then it dried off, so I was able to get an application to a gas station in. When I left, I realized I made a mistake on a phone number I had put down, but it was too late to correct it. I have more applications to fill out and turn in. I also need to go out and get more.  Next week, I'll probably turn to a temp agency and see if they can't help me out.

Today's been one of my laziest days. Not good. I should be super-productive nearly every single day until I have a job. Maybe Thursday will be better.

At My Sister's House Last Night And Today

My mom, a friend of my sister's and I went to my sister's house for her 30th birthday celebration. There has been some roofing work going on lately, so the only way to get in an out of the house right now is through the garage. The other guests consisted of one other friend, some neighbors, and some guys helping with the roof.

For supper, we had hot dogs with chips and veggies to go on the side. There was also some punch with alcohol in it. I had some of that and some beer, but I don't think I got drunk. There was cake, but because of timing, we didn't have that until this morning. (The cake was a yellow bunt cake with chocolate frosting and multi-colored sprinkles, so it looked like a big donut.)

At various parts of the night, Cosmo the corgi had me or someone else play fetch with him. At one point, he tried to get me to play fetch with part of a milkbone (which is awkward at best in my book). There was also some fetch this morning. It's funny, but despite being up late like the humans, he was very energetic this morning.

In addition to the cake, we also had eggs for breakfast. Mom was the one scrambling them. At one point, a piece of already scrambled egg fell to the floor, and she playfully told Cosmo to get her "mess" which he did. (That dog will eat almost anything offered to him. This includes veggies, which his "big sister" Millie doesn't like. He's also more willing to take medicine than she is when/if it comes up.)

That's been my weekend. Who knows what will happen next weekend?

Going To My Sister's 30th Birthday Party

My sister's birthday is technically on Monday, but it's followed the next day by work for her and her boyfriend.

My mom and I are going to her house in the afternoon. A friend of my sister's will be riding along with us. Due to the timing of the party, my mom and I will be spend the night there and come home on Sunday.

My nephew won't be there, though, as he is/will be out of town visiting his dad. Usually when my nephew is around, he'll want me to play with me. Even though he won't be around, my sister's two-year-old corgi Cosmo (whom I've mentioned in previous posts) will be. How much do you want to be that he will "ask" me to play fetch? (Too bad he's unable to burn enough calories from that to help with his alleged "fatness", though it's a relatively mild case.)

So, that's what I'm up to today. I might be in to post sometime tomorrow after I get home.

Doggie Bag Days Season 2: Day 18

Today, one of the counters and something else in the back room had to be rearranged, so the first priority was to get things moved around in the back room in preparation for this. It happened sometime after noon. We've got more space to work with now.

Another thing that had to be done today was getting hangers that weren't being used to their respective rack. We've got more hangers than places to put them, so a lot of the plastic hangers have been put up for sale.

We also had a lot to send to recycling. It was sometime in the afternoon when they showed up.

There were also a lot of clothes to be tagged or checked for tags. (I ran out of time on one of the racks.) The person who ranks above the manager and comes in to check on things plans on coming in on Sunday to take care of pricing.

In conclusion, it's been a busy day at the 'Bag. On Monday, I'll have a lot of hanging up to do unless someone is able to take care of that in my place tomorrow.

You Know That You CAN Comment, Right?

I have yet to get any comments as of late. For a while, I thought that maybe I didn't have any audience whatsoever, but my Blogger Stats indicate otherwise, and that part of said audience is outside the US.

I don't know if you all simply had nothing to say or if this blog or what, but I would love to hear from those of you stopping by.  Maybe you could tell me a little bit about where you're from and where YOU are on life's journey.

If you're worried about being off-topic by any means, that's okay too, just so long as you aren't exactly posting your memoirs here or posting spam. But anyway, I'd love to here from those of you taking the time to read my blog (or any of my other blogs). I hope you have a good day.

Doggie Bag Days Season 2: Day 17

On the way over to the Doggie Bag today, I happened to run into the former manager and his significant other, but I've been sworn to secrecy as to what they were up to. (Don't worry. It's nothing illegal.)

We still have a bunch of clothes waiting to be hung up and tagged. At some point, some of said clothes had to be priced so that they could be put out on the floor to fill in some gaps in their respective racks.

At some point, the person from the Humane Society who periodically comes in to check on things was in. She noticed that the pants racks weren't as organized as they could/should have been. So, per her request, I held off on putting any more stuff out in order to re-organize the pants racks according to size. This also involved putting some size disks (I think that's what they're called) on said racks. Was I able to get all of the racks organized before I ran out of time? I wish, but at least I'll have Friday to do it.

Another New Blog

In case anyone here is interested, I've just started a new blog called Moderate Mouse's Musings where I will be posting my thoughts on various topics from time to time.

My Day Today

I didn't do much today. I didn't think I'd get out at all today because it was raining this morning, but the rain was short-lived.

I read my bible, read the current novel I'm on: The Eyes of Darkness, worked on some stuff for my Facebook games, loaded/unloaded the dishwasher, took some stuff over to the college campus's recycling bins, and picked up a job application.

I'm still working on the dinner party project for Cafe World. I don't see myself getting done in time for the three star rating (which means I won't get the rack of lamb recipe), but I hope to get done in time for the two-star rating so that I can get the next order. (You have to have at least two stars to qualify for the next order.) I may re-do the dinner party order after I help a friend with her birthday party order. (I don't think anything I do will help get that done in time for the full three-star rating, though.)

That's been my day. Tomorrow, it's off to the Doggie Bag once again.