Slacker McGee...

So yeah...I've been majorly slacking off on my blog...I know.  My life has been crazy lately.  I'm doing this mini-post to get me feeling like I'm caught up on something...lol :)  So here's been what's happening lately:

- Made it through another M&T weekend at work.  I bumbled my way through a little...it seems like it's been nonstop since November...straight from Thanksgiving to Christmas to all-store inventory to M&T, and I'm starting to feel like things are slipping through the cracks a little.  I'm hoping now that we're through the craziest of it, things will start to level off, and I won't feel like I'm about to miss something big at any moment.

- Went to our store managers' meeting in Minnesota.  Most notable about this little escapade was that we had a 3 hour workshop taught by...wait for it...Tim Holtz!!!  :)  He turned out to be nicer and more knowledgeable than I could've possibly expected (oh, and cuter too...pics soon, I hope).  Also, I discovered I can make it through 14 hours worth of meetings in a day on about an hour of sleep.  The meeting was great, but hotel sleep was not so great, so I'm happy to be home.

- My dogs are apparently seeking financial retribution for something I didn't know I did.  Millie's been in and out of the vet's office for about 3 1/2 weeks now with some bizarro intestinal situation (fingers crossed that the antibiotics this time are the last we have to worry about for a while), and Lucy wound up at the vet's after getting bit by a spider and swelling up like a little puffer fish.  They're both alright now, but my bank account sure isn't...the things you do for love, I suppose.

- I remembered that when I'm really strapped for cash is when all I want to do is go shopping.  Whoops.  I've been pretty good so far and have been staying the heck off of Amazon, for fear of how easy it is to just click away and have wonderful, exciting things show up at my door.  Yeow.  The good news is all the dog costs should be caught up by next month, and then I'm back on track.  *sigh*

- In current events, I'm excited that Celebrity Apprentice is back on...my one true reality show obsession...I watch some of the others, but as a general rule, I don't care all that much if I miss one (except maybe Project Runway, I guess...that comes in second...I love Tim Gunn too much to miss that one).  I'm rooting for John Rich, loving Gary Busey's crazy ass, and waiting for Jose Conseco to lose it and beat the hell out of Richard Hatch.  As usual, who cares about the women's team?  Not me.  It's not that I'm down on women or anything...but I'd just as soon watch the guys take a swing and be over it instead of all the nagging and nitpicking and general bitching on the women's team. 

- And in a random sidebar:  What the hell is going on with this Lady Gaga/Baby Gaga ice cream thing???  A few things:  1)  Lady Gaga doesn't have the word baby or gaga trademarked so get over it.  The word gaga has been around forever and is universally associated with the word baby (well,  nationally anyway...I'd assume the connection goes beyond the U.S.).  2)  Who the hell wants ice cream made with real breast milk anyway?  Who's breast did that come out of?  Why are you willing to eat something with some nameless woman's bodily fluids in it?  Gross and grosser, I'd say.  3)  It probably won't matter anyway, cuz apparently the food safety regulators in England feel the same way about bodily fluids being in food distributed to the general public as I do.  4)  I'm so over Lady Gaga.  Put on some normal clothes already, ya nutjob!  :) 

Anyway, yeah...that's my life for now.  In the works for the next few weeks/months (or longer, as the case may be):  Easter cards, Graphic 45 vintage designed portfolio/scrapbook, stationary gift sets, wall art piece for my dining room, organizing my scrap nook in my apartment (hopefully with the help of some new furniture), and possibly a major spring cleaning interior design/restaging project at my apartment (mostly to feed my OCD issues...lol).  We'll see.  In the mean time, lots of reading on my Kindle, which is currently more of a presence in my life than my TV, which is a pretty bold statement, if you know anything about how I usually spend my free time.  lol :) 

Anyway, that's all for tonight...hoping to be back on track with my slightly less frantic life starting tomorrow!

Rock lobster...

Back to crafting soon...

M'kay, now I NEVER buy cutesy clothes for my dogs...like, never.  But today...it was like it was meant to be.  I was walking into PetSmart when some lady gave me a coupon she didn't need for $4 off the brand of food that I happened to be going in to buy!  Sooooo...I was wandering around the toy aisle, cuz I'm a sucker and pretty much everytime I'm AT PetSmart, I buy them a toy.  However, on this particular evening, I noticed the cutest little leftover lobster halloween costume on clearance for just $3!  lol :)  Like it was meant to freakin' be...and while I don't really do Halloween, I spent the $3 just to entertain myself and take a couple pictures for my blog and scrapbook.  Hooray!  Lucy's gonna hate me forever now...but...

ROCK LOBSTER!

More later!

But everything was going so well...

Blech, blech, and more blech today.  Isn't it irritating how just when you think everything is finally on track, life pulls the damn rug out from under you?  Every freaking time.  I was thinking about going into the store and cropping today, but I'm in way too bad of a mood now for that. *sigh*  Instead, I think I will take a nap, take myself out for lunch, possibly do a little shopping, make some cute cards, and depending how I'm feeling after all that, bust out the Captain and Coke later.  We'll see.  One more BLECH for good measure, and that's all for now.  If I manage to come up with a happy little card that cheers me up later, I'll post it. 

Finding happy...

Well, I worked an overnight last night with my assistant manager, and man oh man did we get a lot done.  That said, it brought back vivid memories of the time I spent at Kohls, always working, never sleeping (or really having a life, for that matter).  I would routinely get off work there at 2 or 3am and have to be back in at 6am...40 minutes away from my apartment.  Or I'd work an overnight, go home long enough to take a shower, turn around and go back for another 14 hour shift.  The thing that reminded me most of my younger days, when I didn't know when to say when:  I woke up after my 17 minute nap before returning to work this morning, stiff, sore, and just generally miserable.  As I thought back on it, I remember waking up that way nearly every day I worked at Kohls.  I felt like I was 90 years old.  I remember worrying that something was seriously wrong with me back then...cuz a 21 year old isn't supposed to feel that way (at least not without a whole lot of alcohol...lol).  As it turned out, it was just the result of battering my body and not taking care of myself for months on end.  As soon as I got back to a semi-reasonable schedule with a little work-life balance and some semblance of a proper amount of sleep, I bounced right back (with a little additional help from The Walking Company, for which I would gladly do a commercial if I were asked).  It seemed like a miracle at the time...I had spent almost two years like that, and had finally concluded that was just the way things were going to be.  That I was going to just have to live with being miserable and overextended.

Well, years have gone by, and I certainly don't push it to the extent that I used to.  I know better than THAT.  But, I do still have a tendency to overdo it on a semi-regular basis.  Last night was a perfect example...lifting stuff I should've probably gotten help with, among other things...I'm sure there's the writer of a pamphlet about proper lifting techniques somewhere out there who would grimace if there were video footage of everything I moved last night.  Luckily, I found myself another small miracle several months ago...a fantastic massage therapist (who will certainly have something to say about the current condiiton of my back when I go again on Wednesday).  

Now, don't get me wrong, I've always been all for a good massage.  I go on vacation, and someone says: "Let's go skiing," and I hear "Get cold.  Fall down.  Break leg."  Not-so-much...if I want to injure myself, I can manage that on my own, at home or at work.  I'm an INDOOR kinda gal.  Vacation is for sleeping in, eating well, and relaxing..often with a massage, from whatever spa happens to be nearby...or not so nearby, as the case may be.  Anyway, I'd had a lot of massages, and they'd always been nice, but until April or so, I hadn't ever had one that made a lasting impression.  One that actually made me feel better for a few weeks, instead of just relaxed for a few hours.  This girl fixed what I thought was permanent tissue damage from falling down some cement stairs seven or eight years ago (clumsy, not drunk).  It was ridiculous...I didn't even know it was possible to fix something like that.  And for that, I will continue to be a fiercely loiyal customer.

Anyway, I think what I'm getting at with all of this, is that the older I get, the more I realize that it's important to invest in myself...in my health...and in my quality of life.  And okay, yeah...massages cost money...quality shoes cost money...but if it means I don't have to wake up thinking I've aged 60 years overnight, it's totally worth it.    And yeah, if I have to take a job that pays a little less...if maybe I have to move somewhere that I don't know anyone and start over, decide where to cut costs and figure it out all by my lonesome...but I'm happy, and I don't come home angry or go to work depressed...it's totally worth it.  So I'm finding my happy place...in my cute apartment, with my silly dogs, working at a job I love, in an area that suits me, and getting nice shoes and massages.  To each his own though...find your own happy :)

A complete lack of self-restraint...

Okay, so I have a weakness for stamps...and paper...and purses...and watches...and sometimes shoes.  I find that once I start saying "yes" to myself, it just keeps getting easier.  Which is why I have already purchased more Christmas stamps this year than I would need to make cards for the next three years.  Whoops.  But honestly, how could I pass this ONE MORE up?  It's too cute...I couldn't...it is mine now :)  It's perfect!

I'm a sucker.  And I'll be making Christmas cards till the day I die...apparently :)  lol.

Retail therapy...

Okay, so I've been a little remiss in my blog posts as they relate to crafting for the last few posts.  However, I've been extremely busy wrapping up projects with deadlines.  Happily, they've been completed as of 10 minutes ago and will be mailed off tomorrow afternoon!  I did take a small break this afternoon to go get a haircut, do a little shopping, and visit a friend.  All three much needed, since I was a) about to hack my hair off myself, b) missing my friend, and c) needing a little relax and unwind time with just me and my debit card.  lol :) 

I remember once in college, my friend Jay attempted to stop me from going to buy a CD at Target when I had a really atrocious day, saying that it "won't make you feel any better."  I think my eyes may have blazed with fire and smoke may have come out of my ears, because he sensed almost immediately that his conclusion may have been incorrect and stepped out of my way.  Seriously though, it makes me feel better, even if I don't buy anything.  Just to go meander through all the things that are shiny and new and exciting...ahhh...lovely.

I did find one little treasure today when I was at Pier 1.  I'll always have a place in my heart for Pier 1, because it was my first retail job, and it created the obsessive compulsive merchandising maniac that I've become.  Plus, it led to some great friendships AND some great karaoke.  Anyway, here's the buy of the day...very reasonably priced at only $14.95.  It just makes me smile, and it will probably be hanging in my livingroom tomorrow!  :)

That's all for tonight.  Off to the W.B. for a couple of days, so I may or may not have time to post.  We'll see :)