beautiful addiction

So I recently got hooked on Paramore.  And now that iTunes has this program called Genius that recommends music and creates playlist based off of a song you choose, I’ve stumbled upon some new stuff that I love.  Mostly, Secondhand Serenade.  Mmmhmm.  So pretty.  They have a sound much like Dashboard Confessional, which is one of my favorite bands from years and years ago.

“So breathe in so deep, Breathe me in, I’m yours to keep, And hold onto your words, ‘Cause talk is cheap, And remember me tonight, When you’re asleep, Because tonight will be the night , That I will fall for you, Over again, Don’t make me change my mind, Or I won’t live to see another day, I swear it’s true” - Fall for You

“Say my name. I just want to hear you. Say my name. So I know it’s true. You’re changing me. You’re changing me. You showed me how to live. So just say. So just say, That you’ll stay awake for me.” - Awake

I love finding new music.  This new iTunes program kind of reminds me of Pandora to some extent.

Mmm.  Music.

I start work in 6 hours.  And I’m still awake.  Which is bad.  I need to go lay down, but I felt it necessary to write.  And to post this picture, because I love the editing that I did to it.  It make me feel pretty, which makes me smile.  And I’ve been in a very “woe is me” mood lately because sitting on your ass for 6 months without a job is really unproductive and makes you feel lazy.

Classes start in about a week and I’m hoping to make it to the gym on the days I’m there (only two days a week for the first semester, but two days at the gym is better than zero days at the gym).  Ideally, I’d like to lose at least 10 pounds.  Fifteen if I can do it.  We’ll see how that goes.

I remember before I moved down here, Dave and I spent a year apart while he went to college here and I stayed back to finish my degree at our community college where we had lived.  The year we were apart, I lost so much weight and got healthy and felt amazing.  I was at 165 at my highest and made it down to 125.  I’m now back up to my average of 140-145 and I want to change that SO BADLY.

Ok, I’m not sure how this post went from “oh! job! yay!” to “I feel fat and this picture is the only thing keeping me feeling pretty”.  Ignore me.  It’s that time of the month.

So, I’m starting to look into where we wanna go on our next vacation.  Now, I realize we are broke.  But, we have $600 in travel credit for Northwest Airlines that has to be used by June of ‘09 otherwise it expires (due to our having to switch from Myrtle Beach to Las Vegas last week).

So, really…I’m trying to find the cheapest vacation possibility that I can.  $600 in flight credit for two people is not really that much, I’m finding.  And I’m wanting to go in March while I’m on break from college.  And I don’t know where to go.

I thought about maybe just going to Las Vegas again to visit my brother and his family.  But we’d have to get a hotel since they don’t have an extra room or anything, so we’d still be racking up a decent bill.

I thought about Myrtle Beach, but it’s cold there in March.  At least, colder than I want it to be.

And flights to Florida for March are SUPER expensive due to Spring Breakers.

So, I need ideas.  Something that is cheap airfare (and MUST be through Northwest) and cheap hotel and attractions.  For about 4-5 days (over a long weekend so Dave doesn’t have to use as many vacation days since he has weekend off).  Doesn’t even have to be all glitzy or anything.  I wouldn’t mind a mountain getaway or some cabin in the woods as long as the weather is decent and we can get out and see stuff.

Help, please.

Those are lyrics from my newest song addiction “That’s What You Get” by Paramore.  Found it while we were playing Rock Band 2 this past weekend.  I love it.  Led me to download some other Paramore songs, and I am thoroughly enjoying them.

I drowned out all my sense with the sound of its beating, And that’s what you get when you let your heart win. Pain make your way to me, to me, and I’ll always be just so inviting. If I ever start to think straight, This heart will start a riot in me.

So, I think I’m getting sick.  I slept horribly all night, and this morning I kept tossing and turning and waking up in cold sweats.  The weather is changing and I’ve been lucky that I haven’t been sick yet this year (at least not with a cold) and it would figure that the week I’m starting a new job I come down with a cold.  That’s my luck.  I’ve been sneezing all morning and just feel blah.

My friend, Will, who works at the same place I’m gonna be working at told me today that they told him not to come into work tomorrow because they don’t have anything for the team to do.  They’re waiting on some things to be delivered before they can set the seasonal departments, and until that stuff arrives, they can’t work on it.  That’s discouraging.  I’ve always been used to the guarantee of 40 hours per week.  This is going to take some adjusting to…

I have to be at the doctor’s office in 45 minutes and I’m not even dressed yet.  Dave and Will both came home for lunch today (since Will only gets 30 minute lunch and the store is across the street, his choice is either my place or McDonald’s).  I made us all soup and grilled cheese sandwiches.  Now my belly is full and I’m still in my PJs and really should at least throw on a pair of jeans with my hoodie before heading to the doctor.  It’st just to get a refill on my pain meds, but then I need to stop at Rite Aid and get it filled, along with two other prescriptions.  And I have a few other errands to run, which I don’t feel like doing.  I’m ready for a nap and I’ve only been up for 2 hours.

Well, after nearly 6 months of being without a job, I am finally employed again. Now, before you clap and cheer and congratulate me (haha) let’s take a look at the facts.

• I was making $34,000 annually at my past job (salaried) plus profit sharing bonuses (of which my last one was $6,000).
• I am currently making the maximum allowed on Michigan unemployment each month ($1240).
• …but unemployment ends this week.
• I may or may not be getting a full $620 this time when I call to receive my unemployment check. I might only be getting half. I’ll find out tomorrow.
• I thought I would be eligible for underemployment, but I haven’t received the paperwork to file for the 13-week extension from the State of Michigan.
• The new job? Is part time and minimum wage.
• That means 20-40 hours per week, depending how they feel and only $7.40 an hour.
• I am making more on unemployment.
• This makes me want to cry.
• I have an Associate’s Degree in Accounting, 6 years of retail experience (2 of which are in management and Loss Prevention/Shrink Analysis)…and I will be setting modulars (everything has a place on the shelf…I will be on the team that does those resets and changes).

So that means that I will be making $1100 LESS each MONTH than what I was making in my last position. And there is no guarantee for hours since it is part time. And since it is a union based company, everything is seniority-based in order to move up to full time.

Are there pros?

• Less responsibility & stress, meaning I won’t be bringing my work home with me.
• Less hours means that I can focus more on my college classes.
• Raises are automatic. It’s built into the contract or something. You automatically get raises every so many hours worked (first raise after 350 hours, second raise after another 350, and it goes up from there, etc.).
• It is exactly 1 mile from my front door to their front door. Can we say lower gas costs?

All I can say is that I am going to have to get REALLY creative with our budget. This is seriously depressing, but I couldn’t risk turning down the position because there could be opportunities for advancement and at this point (with unemployment ending this week) it’s really better than nothing. And I know I should be thankful for having a job at all, I just don’t know how I’m going to make ends meet.

(And no, I’m not being dramatic.)

Any tips for going from a full-time well paid job to a part-time minimum wage job? The stress about our budget is KILLING my nerves.

Ok, pics are up.  Haven’t captioned anything yet, but you can still look!

We got back from our Vegas vacation yesterday evening and now I’m just settling back into the reality of being home.  Job interview tomorrow morning at 10 (should be the final one, let’s hope I get the job.  Even though I’m way over qualified and it’s only part time minimum wage.  Ugh.)

Uploading pictures now.  Will post link when they are up!

My husband is a computer geek, and has been ever since I met him.  This is a good thing, since it has landed him some pretty great jobs in the past few years.  He worked for IBM for a while and now works for NCR doing practically the same job, but closer to home.

Anyway, back to the computer geek part.  We have a computer room that houses our 4 computers (plus his work laptop, if you want to include that).  One of the computers is a server which we use as a backup device and stores all of our media on it (music, videos, photos) and we feel safer having it on there where everything is protected.

I would reccommend that if you have a lot of stuff you want protected and secure, maybe you should invest in a IBM iSeries eServer.  Over at Performance Data Resources, they have a great selection for nice prices and even have FREE shipping on any product that is under 50 pounds.  These servers are great for personal or small business use and the website is very user friendly and has been around for 17 years.

I don’t know what we’d do without our server!

Well, maybe Hurricane Hanna was a blessing in disguise…if it weren’t for her, we wouldn’t have canceled our trip and would be flying out there at 7am Monday morning and I wouldn’t be able to go to my 2nd interview for the job I interviewed for today. :)  They want me back at 10:15 Monday morning, which works, since we don’t fly out to Vegas until around 5pm.

The only downside is that even with my experience, I’m not sure there are any positions available that suit what I’m looking for.  At this point, I’m just looking to get my foot in the door and hopefully advance from there.  That probably means I will be starting at minimum wage… *worried*  Seeing as my unemployment runs out later this month (1 check left I believe) I guess some money is better than none and if I prove myself, hopefully I can move up from the bottom rungs of the ladder.

The manager who interviewed me seemed really impressed with my 6 years of retail experience (and management experience) and I think he may have hinted at possible management positions, but I’m not really sure.

Get my foot in the door and go from there, I suppose.

Just hard to believe I’m starting at the bottom after 6 years of working my way up…

Just as I was about to book our Dallas trip for $1500, I thought I’d check the Las Vegas prices one last time.  Good thing I did!  They had gone down drastically, so I ended up booking that instead.  Here’s hoping that the Imperial Palace is decent (hey, they have a Luau - bringing a little Hawaii to the mainland!) and we don’t have any problems.

We had to shorten our trip a little, and we really only have 4 full days there (arrive around 10pm on Monday night, flying home around 6am Saturday morning).  But we’ll have Tuesday-Friday for whatever we want to do.  Now to look and see what shows we want to see and what other activities there are that interest us.

Plus?  I’m going to try to get in touch with my brother who lives out there.  I have a niece I’ve never met.  Hoping we can all get together for dinner one night or something.

So, now that it only took me 7 straight hours of staring at Expedia and feeling like the world was hating me…we have our vacation booked.