beautiful addiction

I’m seriously on a baking kick as of late.  There is currently a container of chococonut (chocolate coconut) cookies on my counter that I made the other night at, oh…midnight?  Yeah.  And then last night I decided to make an Andes Thin Mint Ice Cream Chocolate Mousse pie.  And a banana cheesecake.

People…I’m trying to lose weight.  And therefore I’m cooking all these things I WANT to eat but SHOULDN’T eat.  And then I force them on my friends and family.  Mwahahaha.

It must just be this time of year.  Baking is the thing to do.  That, and it’s crockpot season!  What’s that, you ask?  It’s the time of year where I begin using my crockpot waaaay more often to make dinner.  I found a gumbo recipe I’m going to try, as well as an Indonesian Peanut Chicken recipe and many others.  I love letting my crock do the all the work!

I also made homemade black bean salsa the other morning and I’ve been using it in quesadillas with cheese and OMG…so friggin’ delicious. And healthy!  Aside from the fact that each tortilla is, like, 200 calories.  Yikes.

Ok…if I don’t go do my hair and makeup, I’m going to be late for work.  (Which is bad since work is across the street, practically.  From my front door to their front door is 1 mile exactly.  And that includes driving through my entire apartment complex — we live at the back — and through the parking lot at work.  It’s amazing.)

Doesn’t even feel like a weekend.  Yesterday felt like Monday because I had all week off from work, and just went back yesterday and today.  I’m apparently the weekend queen.  So I’m working until 2:30 today (so nice getting out EARLY!) and then Will is coming over and we’re going to play some Rock Band 2 and eat spaghetti and Andes Thin Mint pie.  Mmmm…

Ok, for reals. I have to go!

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.

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…

I got a call today to come in for an interview at one of my last employer’s biggest competitors for Friday morning! Hahahahaha!  Wish me luck, please?