SEVEN AND A HALF HOURS

On my feet today. It's not a record - that currently stands at 11.45 hours - but it's long enough. I listed only one thing on eBay, then spent the rest of the day managing the shop. I do enjoy my job; I really do. I am just so wiped at the end of the day that all I want to do is come home, take a bath, and go to bed. I'm exhausted.

But it's a "good" exhaustion, you know? I mean, I like being productive and making sales and meeting new people and even dealing with irritated customers. In fact, I think I may actually be pretty good at dealing with grouches - I've noticed lately that the madder they get, the calmer I get. That is totally not my personality, LOL, so I don't know what's going on, but I am thankful for it.

Today I had the following going on at one time:

• One annoyed customer on the phone
• One annoyed customer near the register
• Me trying to ring up another customer's items
  
• A child pulling over a large mirror
• Three customers trying to get my attention for "just one quick question"
  

(Truly, the latter are the most annoying of all. Dammit, wait your turn like everyone else!)

Somehow I handled it all. All by myself. And without losing my cool. I'm kinda proud of that.

In other news, Ry's bus came ten minutes early this morning. Naturally he was not out yet, so he missed it. I swear, I think I have bus driver issues EVERY year. I'm just waiting for the fun day when I get to deal with the bitches in the front office.

Dang, thinking about them killed my good mood. I think I'll go soak my feet now and revel in the warm bubbly water.

Toodles!

WAFFLING

I need to go back to work after K gets home from school. I don't particularly want to, but I *need* to. I'm feeling unproductive because the afternoon dragged - a lot - and so I did not get much done. Except that I did get a lot done this morning. But the afternoon is more recent, so the "did not get much done" feeling is what I've got going on.

Does that even make sense?

I have several eBay auctions to post, but this morning all I did was Craigslist (then hours of store-minding, which is torturous when I need to do my online stuff).

I suppose the world wouldn't end if I waited until tomorrow morning.

Sorry for the rambling. That is all.

AUCTIONEER EXTRAORDINAIRE

That's what they ought to call me. This morning alone I posted fourteen eBay auctions, one Craigslist posting, and helped out in the store. It was a VERY productive day, due in no small part to the fact that most of the customers did not interfere with me while I was working. My desk is at the back of the store, and most people don't really see me back there. And I don't advertise. ;) I guess what usually happens is that they usually follow the sound of the pounding keyboard.

Today was not like that, and I am not complaining. It's nice to be able to get your job done in the time allotted.

Oh, and in other tiny little baby Jesus news - the kids started school today. Yawn.

I am KIDDING! It was a big morning - K had to catch the school bus at 6:45 a.m.; Pey's bus came at 7:45; Ry's at 8:15. The biggest shocker (so far) was that all the buses were within ten minutes of their "due" time - typically, first days of school they run a lot later.

We'll see what happens this afternoon. Wish us luck!

MMMMMMojitos!

Contrary to what you might think, it turns out that I'm not hung over. I did have one drink at the game last night, then dh opened a mojito for me when we got home. That second one went right into the fridge, though, as I was sweaty and tired and really not in the mood for a drink at the time (gasp!).

However, as it is now fourteen hours later and I've cooled off ... ! :-D

The Dynamo tied the Crew last night. The Crew was even down one man to red cards, yet we still couldn't pull it out. I guess I should be thankful for the tie, as Columbus was up 1-0 for most of the game. At least we scored a goal.

This morning I went to my personal hairstylist (a'la "Supercuts" - and btw, I also shop at a fancy little boutique called "Tarjay") for a trim and a straightening. I was hoping for uber-straight - meaning, this suckass Houston humidity wouldn't have its usual fun frizzing my hair - but the stylist said that the flat iron was not necessary. Granted, my hair does look and feel pretty good, but it's not STRAIGHT straight FLAT flat. This picture from last year is what I was wanting:














Instead, I got soft but not stick-straight. It's okay, I guess, but I paid for the styling because I want it to last for several days with no touchups - if I have to work on my hair tomorrow morning, I'm going to be pissed.


















Okay, that's enough gritching. The kids head back to school tomorrow, so we're going to hang out as a family today. I'm thinking lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings, then hours of game playing - XBox, Phase 10, and UNO.

But first, let me get that mojito.

BLOGGING WHILE TIPSY

Woo! Y'all, this is totally fun, and you should totally try it! Whee!

I have inadvertently combined two Sudafed with one (so far, lol) Bacardi Mojito, and it's a wild ride. In fact, it's all I can do to form a cohesive sentence - even harder to form one with non-misspelled words. Yowza. (Took me three tries and a one-finger hunt-&-peck to stop spelling that word "Ywoolza" - ha!)

Yes, I do realize that everything is funny to me, and none of this is eliciting laughter from you. Unless you've also been drinking, which I doubt, as it's only 1:42 p.m. CST right now. It's five o'clock somewhere, I've heard, so I have no qualms about my condition at the moment.

Qualms is a funny word.

I spent the morning (pre-drunkenness; don't worry) trying to round up school supplies for Ry & Pey. I went to Target, whose remaining selection was lacking, then to Wal-Mart, which I hate with the red hot passion of a thousand suns, and whose selection was also terribly pathetic ("Notebook paper? No, we're out. Rulers? No, we're out of those, too.") Who runs out of rulers?

Office Depot was my saving grace. I shall forevermore start and finish my school supply shopping there. Unless I don't. But for this year at least, they were good to me. Hey, maybe I should buy Office Depot a mojito and share the love.

Tonight we're going to the Houston Dynamo vs. Columbus Crew soccer game. I don't really feel like going, as it's hotter than Hades and I'm sick; however, I'm also working on a good buzz, so maybe I won't notice the heat and my clogged nasal passages. (Bonus!) Plus, the games are almost always enjoyable, so I know I'll be glad I went.

SUMMERTIME COLDS SUCK, AND OTHER BREAKING NEWS

I abhor summertime colds; I really do. This one is a mystery, too, as no one else I know is sick. I do work around the general public every day, so I'm sure I caught this from one of them. I'd love to know who, though, so I can send them a big fat "thank-you."

This morning I got the tire fixed on the van, then dh and I took Pey to meet her teachers. She is not happy about her assigned class, as she's apparently heard that her main teacher is "mean." We're trying to tell her to give the teacher a chance and make that determination for herself, and I hope she's listening. I have learned many times over that it's better to judge for yourself than to follow the pack. If only I'd figured that out when *I* was nine...

DH took Ry and Pey to the Houston Aquarium this afternoon. I begged off because I don't really feel well enough to walk that much. Kane begged off because...I don't know why, but I do wish he'd gone with his dad. They don't get much time together, and I'm afraid he'll have regrets. I already regret not going with them, although I know that I'm better off resting as much as possible while I can - Monday I go back to work, and I want to be well by then.

Tonight's plans include watching a "Star Trek: The Next Generation" movie (I forget which one) and eating lots of junk food. Natch, I have no sense of smell or taste right now, so this will suck for me. Or maybe I'll load up on spicy stuff and clear my sinuses...yeah, let's go with that!

I AM HERE, AND I AM SICK

Summer colds suck.

Well, next Monday marks the first time I'll have three kids in three different schools. I am not sure just when my baby Kane got old enough to go to HIGH school, but there he is. I just know it will be like next week when he heads off to college. I am constantly getting teary-eyed about that, and the time hasn't even come yet.

Ry is starting junior high (here it's called "middle school" or "intermediate school" - grades 6 through 8) next week. Tonight the kids got to pick up their schedules and walk the building to get a feel for where they'll need to go when school starts. They also got their lockers, which I think was the most exciting part of all for Ry. It's good that he's a tall kid, by the way, as he has a top locker - and they're in columns of three high. When I was in 6th grade, giving me a top locker would have been a waste. Fortunately, my kids seem to have inherited their dad's normal height, as opposed to their mom's diminutive stature. Whew.

Pey will be in 4th grade at the elementary school. She was tested for the Gifted & Talented program last spring, and she scored a 93! So now we're the proud parents of a GT kid, which thrills us to no end. I mean, all our kids are smart, but I think Pey has something really special - she is the most creative little girl I've ever met. Sometime I'll post one of the songs she's written. You'd never believe what comes out of this 9-year-old's mind.

DH is doing well at work - keeping busy, as usual. A couple of weeks ago, his company sent him to L.A. for a week, and I got to tag along. Man, does that part of California have some beautiful scenery AND weather. No wonder the real estate values are out of this world. Daaaaang. I've decided that when we retire, hubby and I need to move to San Clemente for awhile. Absolutely.breathtakingly.gorgeous.

I'm also doing well at work. I sold over a thousand dollars worth of items on eBay just this week! The boss is happy, and we all know how good that is. I'm going to be auctioning off a bunch more stuff in the coming week, so check out my listings: my seller id is "discjones" and here is one of the neat-o items I've got listed right now.

Tomorrow dh and I both took off work so we could spend one last summer day with the kids. We have "meet the teacher" at Pey's school in the morning, but had planned to do lots of fun stuff after that. Naturally, I left work today to find a very flat tire on the van, so I guess "Go to Discount Tire" has made the "fun" list. That, and "Buy more Sudafed." Woohoo.

I need to upload a bunch of pictures and videos for your viewing pleasure, but right now what I really need is some Sudafed and a hot bath. Then beddie-bye.

Have I mentioned that I hate being sick?