Catching Up

Well, I don't really have any huge exciting stories to share here, but I do have a couple little things... something is better than nothing right?

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I went out with my mom for my very first Black Friday shopping experience. I think it went pretty well, we didn't have any big ticket items we were looking for, not 97" plasma tvs for $2.99 or anything like that, and we completely avoided Walmart (thank you sweet tiny baby Jesus for that early Christmas miracle), so all in all we had a pretty easy time. I ended up with a huge king size blanket from Kohls for $19.99, House dvds seasons 1-4 for Kevin for $12.99/each, boots for myself from JcPenneys, regular price $90, on sale for $29.99, a bunch of Christmas/holiday shirts from Old Navy $5. I also know what all my Christmas presents are (from my mom), and lets just say I am very excited for Christmas morning!

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I put in my application and resume for a new job the Tuesday before Thanksgiving and I am still waiting to hear back from the recruiter. Apparently it was a very popular posting, but I think if I get an interview I could do pretty well. Please send some good vibes this way! I really could use the job...

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I have a friend in my new(ish) city! It is Kevin's friend's wife, Kristin. We had a movie date last week and I really like her. It is so nice to have a girlfriend around. I hope we can get together soon!

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Kevin has had a sudden change of heart about babies and agreed that we can start trying! To have a baby! Seriously! Apparently he was talking to a guy at work who is only a few years older than us with 2 little ones, and he said they really aren't as expensive as you think... its just little bits at a time. I want to send this person the best Christmas present ever! Seriously. 

Enjoy it!

20 days

since my last blog, gosh I am not doing good at this. But things have just been really boring here, I guess. Well, I did start a new position (again - for those counting, this makes 3 times in 3 months) at work. I am a coordinator (still part time, and still making a pittance) which is a management position. SO I guess I am on the right track. 

That being said, I don't know how much longer I want to stick with the grocery store. I know that if I can work my way up, I can get to something good. And I am a good employee, so I know I can do it. Its just that.... gosh, I got spoiled working my M-F 9-5 type jobs. I loved having a consistent schedule. Its really cramping my style that I am waiting until Friday to know whether I am working the next weekend or not. For instance, I have a bridal shower this weekend, and one next weekend. I can see the schedule early (now that I am management!) but its not finalized. And since I just started this (and since these showers mean I have weddings this summer, one of which is in Connecticut and means I need more than just the Saturday off), I don't want to be begging for weekends now when I will really need the days later. So I cannot RSVP until the Friday before. So I have to call, making apologies, and say, "Sorry, I'm not sure yet, I will let you know 6 days ahead of time so you can scramble to make arrangements for me."

Other than that, its business as usual. Cats are crazy, friends are crazy, work is busy. 

Alright, since its a day off, I'm going back to chores!

Enjoy it!!!

I kid you not...

This is the phone call I got at work today (Service Desk at Wegmans, for those of you who don't know my sad employment situation)...

Me: Thank you for calling Wegmans. This is Meagan speaking. How may I help you?

Woman: Yes, Meagan. I am sitting here eating my breakfast of Wegmans bran flakes and I could help but notice that Wegmans uses high fructose corn syrup in their cereal and I would just like to ask Wegmans to stop using high fructose corn syrup. It's really not good for people. That affects all you cereal and ketchup and other products too. Can you pass that on to the managers?

Me: Oh yes, absolutely I will pass that on and I would also like to encourage you to visit our website, wegmans.com, and leave a comment there. Thank you for your call. 

The things wrong with this call:

1 - Wegmans does not have manufacturing plants, you fruitcake! Our generics are other products with our packaging. SO no, I don't think I can ask them to halt production because you think high fructose corn syrup is bad for people. 

2 - And do you think I have some sort of bat phone that rings directly to Wegmans Headquarters where I speak with Danny and Colleen Wegman? That is not what that red phone behind the counter is for, sorry to burst your bubble.

3 - Furthermore, did you not see the commercials - its got the same calories as sugar and is fine in moderation! Cripe!

Oh, the life of a grocery store employee....

Fiance from Heaven

Normally I would say I am the weaker link in the relationship. Kevin is so kind and caring and just generally good hearted that I am 1000000% positive I pale in comparison. But I got an oppurtunity to make up some ground this morning...

It all started with the other day. Apparently our landlords at the apartment have had to come out a LOT lately to let people in who have locked themselves out of their apartments. To remedy this, they are now charging $20 for a trip out (they live less than 5 minutes away and the man is there all the time anyhow since his tools and things are in the garage at this property)...which is pretty much highway robbery. We've never locked ourselves out, so it was kind of punishing us for a crime we hadn't yet committed.

But obviously, as soon as it cost money, it happened.

Kevin was on A shift this week, so he was supposed to be at work at 6 am. At 5:25, my cell phone starts going off. It's Kevin, and he's locked himself out. He doesn't want to call the landlady since 1 - she is a huge bitch, 2 - its going to cost $20, 3 - its 5am and 4 - we have two kittens and are only allowed to have one. And so, up I get, put on some work clothes and drive out to the apartment, an hour and a half away, at 5:30am.

The bonus part to this (other than getting to see Kevin) was that since I went to bed around 12:30am the night before, I decided to stay and sleep a couple hours in my glorious comfy new bed and come in for the afternoon at work. I love my bed. And I got to see my kitties. I love them too.

So here I am, at work for the afternoon. I *could* have just turned around when I got there and only been about an hour late to work, but since I have to work tonight until midnight, I knew I would never make it tomorrow that way. So I figured one morning was better than one whole day. And its only 2 more months here, right?


UPDATE - I finished cutting all my invitations stuff last night, stuffed them all in the pockets and almost all of them have an RSVP envelopes (I have about 30 left because I ran out of stamps)....I am inching ever closer to finishing the damn things. My mom's like "They look so beautiful" to which I very crankily responded "I hate them. They look alright, but they were so NOT worth the effort." Maybe I wouldn't hate them so much if I had just a little more time. Gah, the wedding is coming up so quickly and I am so busy!

Enjoy it!!

The thing about...

taking a newly created position is that you walk into other people's BIG messes. Clearly, if things were going fine, they wouldn't have needed to create this position in the first place. Which is just fine and dandy - it means you get a job.

However for me it means I have inherited headache after headache and today is NO exception. Someone emailed me - "Can you please fix this one account, it has the wrong rep name on it?" which I could do very easily.

Until I noticed what the real issue was. And this issue led me to run a report which turned up another 2500 accounts with wrong info, that I will have to change...individually.

So for the next forever, I will be looking up accounts on one system, noting the social security # so I am able to look it up in system #2, correct in both systems and repeat...times 2500. Rock on.

Enjoy it! (cuz I'll be too busy)


**UPDATE - I am now being asked to come in on weekends. Come on people! I have 2 jobs and I'm planning a wedding, don't I sound busy enough? As if the damn invitations weren't enough to drive me to drink...**

It's official...

I am in wedding crisis mode. My mother has now taken control, because I have lost the ability to care about pretty much anything wedding related. My countdown isn't till the wedding - its to the day AFTER.

I don't mind making the decisions, really. Well sort of. But the problem is putting them into action. Like the stupid invitations. They are just paper for chrissakes. I flat out refuse to spend more than $300 for a bunch of papers that will end up in the trash. Personally, I think that is too much, but I know that with all the postage and printing and nonsense, it just adds up.

I have been working at least 55 hours every week, getting up for work at 6:30 and finally falling into bed after midnight. I cried the whole drive into work today. I cried last night because I was trying to fix the stupid registry with the stupid china on it and I can't change the quantity (which I still haven't fixed).

I got into a fight with my friend Carolyn this weekend. She is making me so angry. In case you missed it, this is the same girl who made plans to go visit a friend in Texas when she had already known it was my bridal shower for at least a month. And I know she lives far and it would have been fine if she just didn't want to drive or something. It is that she is blowing me off for her Texas friend.

This weekend, we also fought about her blowing me off. She was fine on Friday because I came out by myself, Kevin just dropped us off and picked us up from the club. Then Saturday came around and she went to the football game with Kevin and I, and another couple - Kelly and Tucker (who were also staying with us at the apt). So she left and went to hang out with our friend Meghan instead of us. Then she invited people over to my apt to pregame without asking. At the bar, she and the other girls kept leaving us (the lepers...I mean, couples) out, not ordering our drinks with their and walking away without us. And then she acted like WE were being the rude ones when we sat at a table next to theirs instead of all milling around them like moths to a flame. So when we were about to move onto the third place of the evening (and one half of our couples were ready to pack it in for the night) I called her out on it. And she yelled at me about how hard it is to hang out with us, and that she doesn't want to be around couples all the time and she's sorry and so on blah blah blah. Then she walks away from me and up to another single friend and starts bitching about me and how I am being unreasonable. How insincere can you be? So I just went home with my horrible couple friends. Sorry I'm lame.

I hate having to worry about whether or not I can bring Kevin to things. They were staying at his apartment. I don't know why it would be expected that he wouldn't come out with us. I sometimes have this problem with my home friends. That is why it is easier and more fun to hang out with Kevin's friends, because they are couples. Actually, they are mostly married. So we are all in the same boat.

I hate having to leave all the time, and I feel like I am always saying goodbye to Kevin. And he'll look at me with these sad puppy eyes and say "I wish you didn't have to leave, and you could stay here with me" and its like a punch to the gut. It's only an hour and a half drive, not very far. But I feel like the way things are is too much. We've had all our weekends booked up since the beginning of June until the beginning of November...and then we'll be getting into the holidays and the impending wedding. It's like we're always playing catch-up, hurry up and wait. I'm just so tired. I'm just SO tired.

I <3 weekends

I was busy ranting yesterday so I forgot to do my little weekend recap. I did some wedding-related things, so that was good.

Friday - work work work

Saturday - appt with Wegmans florist, which went GREAT. They were so nice, and I really liked the things we saw. We are going to one more place but I'm pretty sure we will stick with Wegmans. The only drawback is that they are so far away. Delivery cost isnt completely unreasonable, but it would be a definite possibility to pick them up if it was closer. We'll see how things go. Then I went out shopping and hung out at home, baked cookies, and had Tracy over to watch a movie - "Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day" - which we both loved, and which makes up for the craptastic movies we have been picking of late (ie - In Bruges, La Vie en Rose)

Sunday - my mom and I went to a Bridal Show in the area and booked a limo (yay!) I absolutely HATE bridal shows. People go and get all excited about it and I just think they are hot, crowded, loud and I don't like being bombarded by people asking do I have this, that and the next thing. It just stresses me out. So I was glad we were able to get a deal on something, but of course my mom just wanted to hang out and check everything out. OH the other good thing was we stopped at the booth for my photographer, and discussed sites to take pictures. He had some good things to say, so I was glad we were able to stop there (and I was glad we decided to use them - they are a bit pricey, in comparison to pretty much everything else in the wedding, but the pictures are the thing that is most important to me).

Enjoy it!

Ugh, work...

And for the second week in a row, I have 22 hours at the 2nd job, bringing my weekly total to 62 hours... and hence the return of my arch-nemesis, PermaHeadache! Seriously, my brain is aching (hold your snarky comments about how "its thinking, go with it" please...clearly I have an attitude of my own). The girl who used to do the schedule left and there is someone new, who clearly, I need to have a little chat with. Geez, I bet this isn't a conversation they have very often "Mr. Schedule-Writer, I need LESS hours please..."

Also, I am having a dilemma of sorts. I am really struggling about the stupid invitations. On one hand, they are paper products - people are going to lose them and throw them out and so really I don't want to invest too much time/money into them. On the other hand, they are the things that set the tone for the wedding, the first thing people see. And at least before they throw them out, my guests might look and think "wow these look really nice" or "geez, these look like crap." And I want the first one.

Originally I was thinking of doing some pocketfolds on my own - I made a few mock-ups and everything. But in the end, I have limited time (see - first paragraph) and do I really want to put so much into something that will be thrown away? Not really - and it wasn't going to be any cheaper than getting invitations made. Then Joann's started carrying a pocketfold. And its ok. I mean, the whole thing is white, which is not my fave, but I'm sure I could personalize it at least a little bit. Plus, buying them with the 40% off coupon is a huge perk. But then I found the cardandpockets.com website and thought, "oh, no coupon, a little more $$, but it could be exactly how I want it..." So I guess I have to think about it. Have a little chatski with my mom.

So glad today is Friday!! Tenative plans this weekend include an appt with the floral dept at Wegmans, cleaning/laundry (we'll see what actually gets done here), hanging out with my long lost friend Tracy, who I haven't see in ages, to watch some cheesy movies and relax, plus a trip to a bridal show and hopefully getting some huge checks accomplished.

Enjoy it!

Reading Fiend

Last night I finished yet another book!! This one was called "It Had to Be You" by Sarah Webb, about 3 friends in a fictional Irish village. I really enjoyed it and it was an easy read (must have been, I just started it on Sunday). So that brings me to 3 books in the last 10 days. Watch out!

Today I had a one-on-one with my boss, as it has been about 6 months since I started this job. Seeing as tho I am easily distracted - you know, theknot, blogging, wedding nonsense - I was a little nervy. Actually, whenever I have to meet with a boss I am nervy. I know I have been a little distracted here lately, but that is not to say I am a bad employee. Just have a short attention span, and need something to keep me interested. BUT the point....

My boss <3's me. And told me she thinks I've been doing "an amazing job" and she got "nothing but great comments from others about what an improvement I am and how helpful"....score one, Meagan! At my old job, my boss and I were pretty tight and were friendly but this one is a little more distant, so I wasn't entirely sure what she had been thinking. So this was a wonderful compliment.

Tonight I am hanging out with Kara, my oldest friend. We have know each other since kindergarten - my mom has a home video of me telling her about my first day of school and she asks "Who did you sit with on the bus?" and I said "Today I sat with Julianne but tomorrow I am going to sit with my new friend Kara"... and thus the friendship was born. Its been tougher getting together lately, me with my jobs and her with her bf, but we are usually able to get together once a week or so. Which I love. Today, we are going to look for outfits for my shower - its only 10 days from today!!! For my mother-in-law and her friends and family.

Most of them live about an hour from where I do, and its easier for them to have one out that way. Best part - its at a place called Hawley's Lumberyard, which is actually a really nice restaurant (we've been there before) inside a renovated barn that's been there for approx 100 years. So my friends got the invites and were like, "Um, you shower is in a Lumberyard?!" - Kevin is from the country, so you never really know right? Too funny!!

Anyhow, shower outfits! I need something cute and fall-ish, and Kara is trying to revamp her wardrobe, one piece at a time. Let's see how it goes!

Enjoy it!

Aww I'm a God-momma

I've been working like a fiend this week, FT 40 hours at the regular job and 20.5 hours at Wegmans. Cra-zay! Seriously, I am so wiped and counting the minutes until I can be done with this week. Last night was a complete mess at Wegmans - the regular overnight lady is on vacation in CA and the guy who was supposed to be working didn't show up - in fact, when we called him, he told us he was an hour and a half away. Yahoo! Thanks a lot, since I was the ONLY cashier after 10pm. I got slammed! And then they even asked me "Have you ever worked an overnight? Could you stay?" and I just barely held myself back from laughing in the girl's face. Yes, I've only been working since 7:30 am, but let me stay here all night long and then go to my other job at 7:30 am again. Yahoo!

...crazy people...

Today Kevin got some bad news - apparently he has to work next weekend, which is particularly bad as he is IN he friend's wedding. He finishes work at 2:30 pm, would have to drive about an hour and be in the wedding, party, and be back at work by 2pm on Sunday. Hopefully he can work something out with the managers because he is sort of important here... Plus, if he isn't going to the wedding, I don't know that I really want to go either. His friends are a little iffy on me and that is not super fun. Oh well...

Today I got some super-exciting news!! My cousin Lesley, who just had a baby over Memorial Day weekend (little girl - Hayden Carlisle...don't ask) called and asked me to be her godmother! I am very excited and completely flattered that Lesley thought of me. Of course, she lives in Florida, so I still haven't seen the baby, but they will be coming in next Thursday so we can all meet her and also for the baptism (Sunday, the day after the wedding with the conflict). So now I have to think of a gift to get her...I am thinking about doing a bond, and I want something baptism-keepsake (maybe a Precious Moments figurine?) and a cute outfit. I think that should be good.

In addition to the Florida relatives coming up next weekend, one of my very dear cousins Amanda will be in town for the christening as well, from Philadelphia. We have seen her a lot more this year than we usually do (Easter, her brother's wedding, and 4th of July - not the best circumstances as it was a funeral) but at all these things we hardly get to say two words to each other. So hopefully we can spend some time together Friday and Sunday. We have a lot to catch up on!

Yesterday I got the first part of my orders from VistaPrint - address labels to use on our weddig invitations and RSVPs. They came out super cute and I am very excited! Also, Joann's finally has "print your own" invitations that have pockets, which I am also very happy about. They are all white so I am going to incorporate some color by adding a hunter green belly band. This will also eliminate the need for inner envelopes, because I am going to put a little cardstock square on the front and put the "joe and guest" on there. Yay for creativity!

Ooh, also my aunt has a friend who is selling her house and downsizing so I asked her to ley me know if she would be interested in selling some of her furniture (as Kevin and I have none). SO I heard back from my aunt that she will be selling her furniture, so hopefully I will be able to go and check it out on Saturday. My aunt's like "Oh, it will definitely be in good condition, but I don't know what its like so I don't know if it will be your taste" to which I replied, "if the price is right, it's my taste." We can't really afford to be picky at this point and as they say, "Beggars can't be choosers."

Other plans for this weekend include: going to the fair, making a bachelorette party sash for Steph, getting her a cute gift, working on my STDs (getting the envelopes all together) and potentially getting rid of junk in my room.

Enjoy it!