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Archive for November, 2008

Happy Turkey Day!!

November 27th, 2008 at 04:33 pm



I sure give thanks for all my wonderful encouraging friends here on SA! Have a blessed and "stuffed" Thanksgiving!

Where am I going to put all these people??!!

November 25th, 2008 at 05:40 am

Imagine the sweeping verandah, the high ceiled massive rooms, with cozy strategic seating throughout..... and you would'nt be at my house!! We do have a breakfast area and dining room, an office and a family room. We will have 20 people over for Thanksgiving (gathering strays, I am!!) Where am I going to put all these people? I am thinking this is a buffet Thanksgiving year! Perhaps with Chinet instead of Chin-ah! :-) Hope I have enough food too!
I thought about setting up "stations", like a drink station in one room, appetizer station in another, maybe desserts somewhere else? And the buffet in the kitchen. Ahhh!
I give thanks for all the lovely family and friends that will gather here. Lord, please feed them and find them a place to sit! :-) AMEN!

More ecomonic observations

November 16th, 2008 at 08:02 pm

So, still checking out the customers at my lovely second job. It is a store in the mall selling holiday decor and Christmas gifts. I can't say there has been too terribly much I have wanted to part with my money to buy, even with a 30% discount. I think I will get DH a really cool St. Louis Blues plaque as a gift, and I picked up a Mizzou ornament for DD3's teacher, but other than few other small items, nothing I want to waste my precious pennies on.
But anyway... The Customers... Most are still LOOKERS, not buyers and I must say most are paying with cash in exact change. Really odd. I have had a few less than $5 purchases on debit cards??? But other than that... the consumers are still not spending. Bad for my boss! I also ran down to Macys to return something for my mom and pick up a Christmas gift for my BIL. I was SOOO CREEPY!! A Satruday night at the mall, a month before Christmas and there was NOBODY in Macys except for the dazed and bored looking employees! Gives me the willies! On the other hand, when I cruised through the Super Walmart on Friday afternoon, I could'nt get a parking spot!!
Anyway, that is the report from the retail trenches.

I'm down 13.4

November 10th, 2008 at 09:16 pm

Pounds that is! On the Weight Watchers. I'm pretty pleased, that is in 9 weeks. I could do better, I could do worse, I am just doing evenly! :-) It is a bit harder that there is no microwave at the store I am working at. Tempting to go to all those nice little resturants in the mall. Ugh! So far so good though. I did pick up two tacos one day, other than that, I am resisting. I am there to MAKE money. Why ruin one hours pay at $9 by eating out for $8-$12!!

Economic check from the real estate/retail worker

November 7th, 2008 at 06:24 am

I have been so lucky to retain my real estate job, despite my lack of management skills boss. But I am feeling uneasy. Our agents are very seasoned (Remax), but many deals are foreclosures and the ones that do go through are like pulling teeth!! Problems abound that make getting to closing more like a marathon! These people are working for their money, that is for sure! (And most commissions are cut!) The phones are just so eerily quiet. That is what bothers me.

Anyway, I feel bad for the friends I am working for at the mall. I know my friends husband is sweating it. He has owned a sports shop before and it was gangbusters. This is mind boggling for him. The store only made $125.00 today. That is in 11.5 hours. Yikes! He has slashed prices on lots of things. We keep waiting for the holiday spending to hit. I thought it would loosen up a little after the election, but then the stock market tumbled. And judging by the retail losses posted today by so many retailers, I am not feeling too optomistic for them.

Working two jobs is tiring!

November 5th, 2008 at 05:01 am

Thats it. Just wanted to say, hey, I'm tired. Have a good night!

Thank goodness for an Indian summer!

November 3rd, 2008 at 05:38 am



Yeah! We have had temps in the high 70's! I love that we are saving money on gas.

Tomorrow will be an over 12 hour day. Kind of dreading it. Been working with my 11 year old to make sure she is able to act more independently, as DD1 has a job at Steak n Shake now and can't be here to hold down the fort. Unfortunately, DD2 and DD3 (the 11 year old), don't exactly get along. Will see how it goes.

Report from the trenches

November 2nd, 2008 at 05:33 am

I have started on my two job journey. It is very interesting working in retail after all of these years.
Because the store is owned by neighbors (and friends too), I have a vested interest in seeing it succeed. So I don't find it quite as hard not to choke at some of the goofy items people waste money on.
BUT on a more interesting note, every sale I rang up today, was paid for in CASH and most amusingly, most people paid exact change. I wanted to cheer for them and say "Good job"! But they would have just thought I was goofy. So my report is...more folks using cash - YEAH. Will report back the closer we get to Christmas.