I'm really not having a good week. On top of being busy with work, I've had 2 people die in my family. The first was last sunday. My aunt Sue just recently made it through emergency surgery only to die about a week and a half later (I think). Although I actually live closer, my sister, who lives in Indianapolis, actually called me with the news. I was very sad to learn that she had made it through and was getting ready to go through rehab, but then died. As I told her children, I will miss her, even though we didn't see each other often. When we did meet, she always made me laugh. Truly, she was one of the most honest people I knew. I didn't always agree with her, but it didn't matter. She was Aunt Sue. I still remember many times when she and my uncle Ed and their kids would come over. I always hurt from laughing. She always had such funny stories. Her funeral was the kind I would want. Laughter through tears. And her children, my cousins, are just as ornery as she was. We told stories and talked of things we would remember about our times together.
The second sudden passing was my Uncle Jim, husband of my Father's sister, Gazella. He really has been well in years and I haven't seen him for quite awhile. He and my aunt lived close to us for a few years. Once I married and moved away, though, I didn't see him at all. Still, I have fond memories of him. When I was a child, my Mother kept my curly hair short. I believe the hairstyle was called a pixie. My uncle always thought I looked more like a boy and called me 'George'. Anytime I would get a pixie haircut, he called my that. He was teasing, of course, and I knew that he knew I was really a girl. Once I was an adult, he and my aunt moved a couple of blocks away from us. They had a dog named Sugar. Sugar got his name because he loved candy. Uncle Jim would go for afternoon walks and sometimes stop for a visit, always bringing the dog with him. My father would give Sugar Starlight mints (those red and white peppermints).
I will miss both my aunt and uncle. I truly wish we had all spent more time together, but, of course, our lives became busy with other obligations. Just like my cousin Susie said on Sunday, maybe we'd see each other at the next major holiday, funeral, or wedding.
There are many other things that have happened with the last couple of days. I'm still waking up way too early and going to sleep either too early or too late. I blame this on the time change and the crazy hours at work. Americans need to get over the idea that they need to shop at such ridiculous hours. When I was younger, stores were only open one night a week until 9 p.m. Even at Christmastime. There wasn't a sale every week--heck there wasn't even a sale every month! I can recall so clearly the jingle for a store called Robertson's in downtown South Bend. They had what they called remnant days every six months. It went something like "save a third, save a fourth, save a half in every department on every floor." Now, it's every weekend during the regular season and almost every day during the Christmas season. And the shopping hours--along with the regular 24 hour stores, during the Christmas season, so many stores are open from early, early morning until 11 or 12 o'clock at night. I always wonder, don't people have something else to do? Where are their children while the parents are out shopping? If the kids come along, they are usually so tired they're screaming or crying. How ridiculous! I talked to one customer about how so many people shop during the day--one wonders how they are working if they have time and money to shop.
Another strange thing that is happening to me lately is that I seem to be missplacing things. A lot. They other day, I lost one of my debit cards. Naturally, I called the debit card company to report it lost. Now, I happen to have 2 separate debit cards with this company. When I spoke to the customer service representative, I told her that one of my cards was missing. She asked for the account number. Since the card is missing, I don't have a clue what the entire number is. I was able to tell her what card wasn't missing and asked if she could please transfer the funds from the missing cards to the account with the nonmissing card. Oh no, she couldn't do that, but she could cancel the missing account and issue a new card with a new account number. It would take about 7 days for me to get my new card. I told her I would need money sooner than 7 days. She couldn't transfer any of the funds to the card I wasn't missing, so no access to funds for 7 days. Irritating as that was, I told her to go ahead and issue a new card. The only problem was that she cancelled the wrong account, so when I attempted to use the card that wasn't lost, it was declined. I called the company back only to be informed that the original lost card wasn't cancelled, but that the nonmissing card was. I told them to please, please, cancel the other card too and send me new cards for both accounts. Apparently, both cards are on their way.
Now, to today's occurences. I went out to my car and found an "abandoned vehicle" on it. I wrote down the phone number, which turned out to be code inforcement. The only thing that was wrong is that I was driving on an expired license plate. I would have 10 days to get it renewed, which I assured the code enforcement officer I would do immediately (at least by Friday when I get paid). He said that would be fine and asked if I lived at the address listed. I told him I did. He said that it looked like we had painted one side of our garage and asked when we were going to get around to painting the other side. Code enforcement had notified us this past summer that we needed to bring the garage up to code, which included fixing the roof and painting. My husband and father-in-law and a friend of ours spent almost 2 months this summer making the necessary repairs and painting both the garage our house. A couple of weeks later, the code enforcement officer called and left a message on our answering machine to tell us what a nice job we had done on the house and the garage. When the officer (who, I swear sounded just like the same person that left the message on the answering machine this summer) asked me when we were going to finish painting the garage, I told him we had already finished it this summer, along with the house. He told me he will be by later to take a look. I swear, if he says it needs painting again, I'm going to go get the paint and the brush and tell him to have a whack at it. While he's at it, he can clean up the mess this time. I am so done with public officials.
Now--on to the next task of finding the driver's license I missplaced while getting my license plate renewed.
Naw--I better get some sleep first. This was just too long a day.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Early, Early, Early Morning
I can't believe how ridiculous my sleep habits are getting. I mean, just because I had to get up early yesterday doesn't mean I always have to get up, does it? Of course, I did actually get to bed early again (due to being exhausted from getting up so early) but why am I wide awake at 3:15 this morning, too. Granted, 24 hours ago I was actually driving to work. That's amazing to me! The fact that I am now sitting at my computer at 4 a.m. is crazy. However, I will probably not even stay up thru tonight's football game. It doesn't even start until around 8:30, I think, so I will probably be asleep again by that time.
The crowds were crazy yesterday, but it actually seemed more manangeable than in the past. We had employees who were just bagging yesterday--a great idea! If we can keep this up, this year should be fairly calm. We really only had one rude customer yesterday. This was because another clerk (oops--I mean sales associate) bent the rules a bit and gave a discount that they shouldn't have. Naturally, the customer demanded the same from my co-worker who was then deemed rude because she simply pointed out that a mistake was made by the other associate. Really, people--YOU NEED TO LEARN TO READ YOUR DAMN COUPONS! Seriously, the first person who acts like that customer did will be told no. I'm really sick of the "customer is always right" attitude. If you are always right, you must be a robot.
But--that was, as I said, only one customer. Out of all the people we took care of yesterday--only 1! The day was really, really, fun and the customers were absolutely terrific! Also, my co-workers rock! I think that they all deserve some kind of award for doing this each and every year. Mostly for having a sense of humor and fun. If any of them are going to read this--(and some will), I want you all to know you made my day by just being you! We laughed much, much more than we cried. Even if some of us were still sleepy by the end of the day. Maybe we should fire up one of the coffeemakers. Hmmm--that's a thought.
The crowds were crazy yesterday, but it actually seemed more manangeable than in the past. We had employees who were just bagging yesterday--a great idea! If we can keep this up, this year should be fairly calm. We really only had one rude customer yesterday. This was because another clerk (oops--I mean sales associate) bent the rules a bit and gave a discount that they shouldn't have. Naturally, the customer demanded the same from my co-worker who was then deemed rude because she simply pointed out that a mistake was made by the other associate. Really, people--YOU NEED TO LEARN TO READ YOUR DAMN COUPONS! Seriously, the first person who acts like that customer did will be told no. I'm really sick of the "customer is always right" attitude. If you are always right, you must be a robot.
But--that was, as I said, only one customer. Out of all the people we took care of yesterday--only 1! The day was really, really, fun and the customers were absolutely terrific! Also, my co-workers rock! I think that they all deserve some kind of award for doing this each and every year. Mostly for having a sense of humor and fun. If any of them are going to read this--(and some will), I want you all to know you made my day by just being you! We laughed much, much more than we cried. Even if some of us were still sleepy by the end of the day. Maybe we should fire up one of the coffeemakers. Hmmm--that's a thought.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Crazy (not too, crazy) Random Thoughts
S0, I'm sitting at my computer wondering why on earth I am wide awake at such a ridiculous hour (5:00 a.m) when it occurs to me that maybe I would like to make a new stuffing recipe for Thanksgiving. I am roasting the bird this year. I love to roast the turkey--that's actually the easiest part. The other day, my husband and I were talking and I decided to make the stuffing separately from the bird. Today, I remembered (at 5 a.m., no less) that I'd seen a recipe for crockpot stuffing somewhere. An internet search turned up all kinds of recipes, none of them for a crockpot cooking method. Then, I remembered where I saw the recipe. It was from Suzanne Beecher. Suzanne is an extremely talented writer from Sarasota FL. She supplies my daily bookclub e-mails. I hope I am right and that she is the one who put the recipe in her daily column for us faithful bookclub readers. I have sent her an e-mail thru Facebook requesting her recipe.
Now what is my problem, you may ask. I really don't have much of one except to find a little fault with search engine results. I clearly typed in 'crockpot stuffing recipe'. What came up led me to a myriad of crockpot recipes and stuffing recipes--none of which combined the two. One search actually led me from crockpot stuffing recipe results to just crockpot recipes. I finally decided to e-mail Suzanne and ask for her recipe.
Once I did this, I decided to give it one last try (just in case Suzanne didn't actually have a recipe after all). Naturally, a recipe finally appeared. Now, I will probably end up with a zillion recipes for the same dish! This kind of ridiculous stuff always happens to me!
On to something else.
I know I will probably be going against the grain for saying this. Why on earth do the stores insist on doing the same stupid things holiday season after holiday season? Naturally, I'm going to be a bit biased since I work retail, so bear with me. I realize all you shoppers love the Black Friday early morning thing. However, it is possible to shop regular store hours and get good deals. Keep in mind that the things on sale will probably not be that great a deal because they will probably be gone within the first twenty minutes to half an hour after the store opens. Also, we only receive a certain amount of items per store. We have NO CONTROL WHATSOEVER over how many we get or if we get any. DO NOT scream at me because we are out of the item you absolutely must have!!! Trust me, some other stores probably have the same thing at the same price. Also, these same items have probably been on sale all month long!
Remember one other thing, please, --READ THE ADS AND COUPONS CAREFULLY!! There are many, many exclusions depending on the brand. I HAVE NO CONTROL OVER WHAT IS EXCLUDED. I also could care less about what other stores do. Trust me. All I want to do is help you get your stuff and get out of my store in a timely manner.
I would also like to thank in advance all the customers who are funny, have a heartwarming story, are so, so, so patient (God Bless you!) and genuinely great to take care of. There will be many, I know. My co-workers and I love you!
Now, one other thing. I think it would be a great idea for stores to have evening specials also. This would be for people who must work the day after Thanksgiving (yes, there are some) and can't be at a store at 3, 4, or 5 in the morning. The store doesn't necessarily have to stay open late, just have specials from 6 until 10, or something. That way, people would still have a chance to shop, just not at such a ridiculous hour. The one thing customers complain about most is missing the early morning specials because they have to go to work to pay for all their Christmas presents.
That's all. At least for now.
Now what is my problem, you may ask. I really don't have much of one except to find a little fault with search engine results. I clearly typed in 'crockpot stuffing recipe'. What came up led me to a myriad of crockpot recipes and stuffing recipes--none of which combined the two. One search actually led me from crockpot stuffing recipe results to just crockpot recipes. I finally decided to e-mail Suzanne and ask for her recipe.
Once I did this, I decided to give it one last try (just in case Suzanne didn't actually have a recipe after all). Naturally, a recipe finally appeared. Now, I will probably end up with a zillion recipes for the same dish! This kind of ridiculous stuff always happens to me!
On to something else.
I know I will probably be going against the grain for saying this. Why on earth do the stores insist on doing the same stupid things holiday season after holiday season? Naturally, I'm going to be a bit biased since I work retail, so bear with me. I realize all you shoppers love the Black Friday early morning thing. However, it is possible to shop regular store hours and get good deals. Keep in mind that the things on sale will probably not be that great a deal because they will probably be gone within the first twenty minutes to half an hour after the store opens. Also, we only receive a certain amount of items per store. We have NO CONTROL WHATSOEVER over how many we get or if we get any. DO NOT scream at me because we are out of the item you absolutely must have!!! Trust me, some other stores probably have the same thing at the same price. Also, these same items have probably been on sale all month long!
Remember one other thing, please, --READ THE ADS AND COUPONS CAREFULLY!! There are many, many exclusions depending on the brand. I HAVE NO CONTROL OVER WHAT IS EXCLUDED. I also could care less about what other stores do. Trust me. All I want to do is help you get your stuff and get out of my store in a timely manner.
I would also like to thank in advance all the customers who are funny, have a heartwarming story, are so, so, so patient (God Bless you!) and genuinely great to take care of. There will be many, I know. My co-workers and I love you!
Now, one other thing. I think it would be a great idea for stores to have evening specials also. This would be for people who must work the day after Thanksgiving (yes, there are some) and can't be at a store at 3, 4, or 5 in the morning. The store doesn't necessarily have to stay open late, just have specials from 6 until 10, or something. That way, people would still have a chance to shop, just not at such a ridiculous hour. The one thing customers complain about most is missing the early morning specials because they have to go to work to pay for all their Christmas presents.
That's all. At least for now.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Great Fall Day
Well, this is probably the last nice weekend we will get for awhile, weather-wise. I got so much accomplished this afternoon, mainly the leaves from our huge oak tree in the back yard. Thank goodness for leaf blowers. What I wasn't able to blow, I vacuumed up, since my leaf blower is both a blower and vacuum. This sure beats raking. Granted, not each and every leaf was picked up, but what was left isn't much.
I had a wonderful breakfast with my girls this morning. We went to IHOP where, naturally, I ate way too much. Why is it that breakfast, no matter what you eat, is always better in a restaurant? I mean, I can make my own pancakes, eggs, bacon, and potatoes. Somehow, it always seems better if someone else makes it. Plus, my kids and grandkids were there, for, I swear, entertainment. They had me laughing till it hurt.
Well, I'd better stop all this for now. I really need to go downstairs and get the clean clothes up from the basement. I know that this time next week, I'll probably still be doing catch-up laundry. O.K.--maybe after work next week.
I had a wonderful breakfast with my girls this morning. We went to IHOP where, naturally, I ate way too much. Why is it that breakfast, no matter what you eat, is always better in a restaurant? I mean, I can make my own pancakes, eggs, bacon, and potatoes. Somehow, it always seems better if someone else makes it. Plus, my kids and grandkids were there, for, I swear, entertainment. They had me laughing till it hurt.
Well, I'd better stop all this for now. I really need to go downstairs and get the clean clothes up from the basement. I know that this time next week, I'll probably still be doing catch-up laundry. O.K.--maybe after work next week.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Last Day of This Year's Vacation Thoughts
This is my last final day of vacation for this year. However, I should note that next year's vacation is probably a mere 6 months away. We are able to put in for vacation at Macy's beginning the first part of the year. I always take one of the last weeks of April off so my granddaughter and I can go to the Blue and Gold Game at Notre Dame. We also walk in the March of Dimes Walk for Babies at that time. Plus, the weather is usually good. It's a great time to take a vacation, providing you like football and walking.
This year, I'm going to try to plan to vacation in August and September, I think. Of course, I also have to plan to take one weekend off in October (I think) because that's usually the time when I go to my only actual ND football game. So, that's pretty much what my entire vacation time is planned around--so far. I got to thinking this year that I'd like to plan a vacation around something other than football. Sooo--this year's vacation will be planned around next year's birthdays--hopefully. I'd really love to take the weekend off when my oldest granddaughter has her birthday, but, I'm never sure when my daughter will be having her actual party. This year, I missed the entire thing due to work.
Work definitely gets in the way of life. It's intruding more and more, it seems. This year, instead of hiring a sufficient amount of people to staff our store during the holiday season, they have asked us to sign up for extra hours during the two weeks before Christmas. The worst possible time, of course. They are paying extra, so I was really tempted. The only thought I had was that this would severely curtail any extra shopping and preparation time I have. (Not that I actually have any, of course) Plus, the only thing I want to do is leave immediately from work when my shift ends. Putting in extra time seems like a good idea now. However, I'm sure that when the time comes, I'm sure I'd be thinking 'why, why, why did I say I'd stay extra?'
Needless to say, I decided not to commit to any extra hours. Plus, I did say I might be willing to stay extra on the spur of the moment if I am needed.
I also can't help thinking that they really should just go ahead and hire the extra people. True, we do have to train them and put up with babysitting them, but, we may also end up with some pretty terrific employees. This has been the case in the past couple of years. I can think of at least 2 people who really worked out for us. These employees stayed on after Christmas and have proven to be an asset to our company.
Also, our company seems to pride itself on helping out in the community, what with various plans to donate to charities. What better way to help out the community than to put people to work. That way, instead of having to go to the food pantry for groceries, they could actually earn money to buy the groceries. I'm just giving my opinion here, but wouldn't most people rather work than not work? Why not offer them work? Makes more sense to me.
Geez--I've really gotten off my original subject. Sorry.
This year, I'm going to try to plan to vacation in August and September, I think. Of course, I also have to plan to take one weekend off in October (I think) because that's usually the time when I go to my only actual ND football game. So, that's pretty much what my entire vacation time is planned around--so far. I got to thinking this year that I'd like to plan a vacation around something other than football. Sooo--this year's vacation will be planned around next year's birthdays--hopefully. I'd really love to take the weekend off when my oldest granddaughter has her birthday, but, I'm never sure when my daughter will be having her actual party. This year, I missed the entire thing due to work.
Work definitely gets in the way of life. It's intruding more and more, it seems. This year, instead of hiring a sufficient amount of people to staff our store during the holiday season, they have asked us to sign up for extra hours during the two weeks before Christmas. The worst possible time, of course. They are paying extra, so I was really tempted. The only thought I had was that this would severely curtail any extra shopping and preparation time I have. (Not that I actually have any, of course) Plus, the only thing I want to do is leave immediately from work when my shift ends. Putting in extra time seems like a good idea now. However, I'm sure that when the time comes, I'm sure I'd be thinking 'why, why, why did I say I'd stay extra?'
Needless to say, I decided not to commit to any extra hours. Plus, I did say I might be willing to stay extra on the spur of the moment if I am needed.
I also can't help thinking that they really should just go ahead and hire the extra people. True, we do have to train them and put up with babysitting them, but, we may also end up with some pretty terrific employees. This has been the case in the past couple of years. I can think of at least 2 people who really worked out for us. These employees stayed on after Christmas and have proven to be an asset to our company.
Also, our company seems to pride itself on helping out in the community, what with various plans to donate to charities. What better way to help out the community than to put people to work. That way, instead of having to go to the food pantry for groceries, they could actually earn money to buy the groceries. I'm just giving my opinion here, but wouldn't most people rather work than not work? Why not offer them work? Makes more sense to me.
Geez--I've really gotten off my original subject. Sorry.
Monday, September 14, 2009
Shopping Thoughts, etc.
It's fairly early in the morning for some people, but for people like me it's mid-morning. My day starts at 6:15 a.m. when my alarm goes off. Sometimes I turn it off and return to bed to finish waking up. Other times, I may be wide awake way before it goes off, so I may decide to get up anyway, especially if it's fairly close to the time when it will go off anyway.
Today was a day when I didn't wake up before the alarm went off, so I find myself still a little sleepy even though I've been awake and active for at least 3 hours. So, this is just fair warning, just in case anyone reading this wonders "what is she going on about?" I'm really still trying to wake up completely.
Although, I did take a mile walk already and drink at cup of coffee. That's more than some people do first thing in the morning. I also, got my husband's coffee for him and my granddaughter off to school before walking.
On my way home from my walk, I stopped at my friend and co-worker's car to chat with her. She had a birthday party for her daughter this weekend that my granddaughters went to. She told me how funny my youngest granddaughter was and what fun all the kids had. That was nice--I'm glad they all had a good time. While we were talking, she told me how work was on Saturday and that I should be glad I missed it. This gets me to thinking about a few things I want to get off my chest, so bear with me while I vent about things that go on during a sale.
The first thing I would like to say is READ ALL SALE COUPONS COMPLETELY! This is for those customers who only read the large print and not the fine print. I realize the print is small, but, like all contracts, it should still be read. If there are exclusions on the front or the back of the coupon or if the coupon is only good during a certain time frame, you will be expected to know this, since these things are on the coupon. PAY ATTENTION! Although it is always assumed by shoppers that the customer is always right, that isn't always true. On the other hand--employees should also READ THE EXCLUSIONS. That way, employees don't give out discounts on things that are not supposed to be discounted.
Also, on major sale days, people have to wait in line. That is just a fact of life. If you are on a lunch break or have an appointment in fifteen minutes, don't shop. Period. We have other customers who also need things right now!! Also, don't expect people to just cater to your every whim, especially if we are already with another customer. I realize you would all love it if you had a personal shopper, but big sale days this just isn't possible. It's very rude to just barge in on another person's time with a sales associate. Especially if you have been told someone will be with you just as soon as possible.
Sometimes I wonder--am I the only person who can shop by themselves without having someone hold their hand and lead them through the store? I have been able to do this since I was 12 years old! Isn't there anyone else out there who is capable of this?
Also, I want to tell people--we do not have everything that Macy's carries in our store. Space-wise, this would be impossible. Especially in the department I work in. For many, many, many years you MUST order things like china, crystal and flatware. Even when I got married 29 years ago, all of our dishes had to be ordered--and they weren't china, they were porcelain. You can't go into a store the day before the wedding or bridal shower and expect to get these things right off of the shelf.
And--surprise--we do have problems with stock that isn't carried by our store at all. Since the advertising is not for only your local store, we may not have the picture item. This is just a fact of life--get over it. We also run out of things, especially if it is within the last few minutes of the sale. Trust me, those same items will be on sale during the next "big sale" again.
Last (but definitely not least) those coming into a store five minutes before closing with a big shopping list should be aware that when the store closes the lights go out and you CANNOT go out the employee entrance or the mall doors. Also--you are a MORON! If you didn't shop early--come back tomorrow.
That is all. Enough said.
Thanks
Today was a day when I didn't wake up before the alarm went off, so I find myself still a little sleepy even though I've been awake and active for at least 3 hours. So, this is just fair warning, just in case anyone reading this wonders "what is she going on about?" I'm really still trying to wake up completely.
Although, I did take a mile walk already and drink at cup of coffee. That's more than some people do first thing in the morning. I also, got my husband's coffee for him and my granddaughter off to school before walking.
On my way home from my walk, I stopped at my friend and co-worker's car to chat with her. She had a birthday party for her daughter this weekend that my granddaughters went to. She told me how funny my youngest granddaughter was and what fun all the kids had. That was nice--I'm glad they all had a good time. While we were talking, she told me how work was on Saturday and that I should be glad I missed it. This gets me to thinking about a few things I want to get off my chest, so bear with me while I vent about things that go on during a sale.
The first thing I would like to say is READ ALL SALE COUPONS COMPLETELY! This is for those customers who only read the large print and not the fine print. I realize the print is small, but, like all contracts, it should still be read. If there are exclusions on the front or the back of the coupon or if the coupon is only good during a certain time frame, you will be expected to know this, since these things are on the coupon. PAY ATTENTION! Although it is always assumed by shoppers that the customer is always right, that isn't always true. On the other hand--employees should also READ THE EXCLUSIONS. That way, employees don't give out discounts on things that are not supposed to be discounted.
Also, on major sale days, people have to wait in line. That is just a fact of life. If you are on a lunch break or have an appointment in fifteen minutes, don't shop. Period. We have other customers who also need things right now!! Also, don't expect people to just cater to your every whim, especially if we are already with another customer. I realize you would all love it if you had a personal shopper, but big sale days this just isn't possible. It's very rude to just barge in on another person's time with a sales associate. Especially if you have been told someone will be with you just as soon as possible.
Sometimes I wonder--am I the only person who can shop by themselves without having someone hold their hand and lead them through the store? I have been able to do this since I was 12 years old! Isn't there anyone else out there who is capable of this?
Also, I want to tell people--we do not have everything that Macy's carries in our store. Space-wise, this would be impossible. Especially in the department I work in. For many, many, many years you MUST order things like china, crystal and flatware. Even when I got married 29 years ago, all of our dishes had to be ordered--and they weren't china, they were porcelain. You can't go into a store the day before the wedding or bridal shower and expect to get these things right off of the shelf.
And--surprise--we do have problems with stock that isn't carried by our store at all. Since the advertising is not for only your local store, we may not have the picture item. This is just a fact of life--get over it. We also run out of things, especially if it is within the last few minutes of the sale. Trust me, those same items will be on sale during the next "big sale" again.
Last (but definitely not least) those coming into a store five minutes before closing with a big shopping list should be aware that when the store closes the lights go out and you CANNOT go out the employee entrance or the mall doors. Also--you are a MORON! If you didn't shop early--come back tomorrow.
That is all. Enough said.
Thanks
Saturday, September 12, 2009
My Own Weight Loss Story
So, after being encouraged by both of my daughters and their own weight loss stories, I decided to join them (sort of) in their activities. Whenever I can, usually a couple of times a week, I join them in their walk. If we don't walk together, though, I still walk almost every day. During the week, I have been walking on my own at least a mile a day. I started sometime in July. My usual morning activity has now been given a walking partner for a couple of blocks. I walk my granddaughter to school (Indiana weather permitting) and continue at least 4 more blocks. Then, I usually turn and head back home, making sure I can pass my granddaughter on her post where she is a crossing patrol before school. I usually can get an extra hug from her and her friends before heading furthur down a couple of blocks past my house. Then, I turn around and head for home. My goal is to walk at 3.1 miles once a week.
I also walk after lunch. On the days when I work, I walk indoors around the perimeter of University Park Mall. That way, I can also window shop while I walk. This satisfies (sometimes) my shopping gene. Of course, I can also stop for lunch if I want. If I do this, lunch is usually soup from Barnes and Noble or the kiddie portion from Panda Express. I can even eat the hotdog kiddie lunch from Dairy Queen (which includes a kiddie portion of ice cream).
Of course, if I'm really lucky, my activity is increased at work because I am on my feet all day at Macy's. This usually happens during a sale day when "weight lifting" is part of my routine. For example, yesterday I loaded a 45-piece set of china on a dolly and took it down to customer pick-up. This, of course, was not conducive to a happy lower back (insert groaning noises here), but I was able to do it. On top of all the other package pick-ups I did, I got a pretty good workout.
I must say, all of this activity has definitely paid off. Although I don't really follow a diet, I do try to watch what I eat (don't want to miss the mouth) and I must admit I drink A LOT of water. The water helps because (of course) we finally have Summer this week. I have lost a total of 14 pounds as of yesterdays weigh in. I celebrated w/ a lot of ice cream and a weight watcher's pizza topped off w/ a wine cooler.
This means I will definitely go back to regular portions and a lot of physical activity today, even though I am not working. It's ND Football day and I am going to enjoy watching my first TV game today.
I also walk after lunch. On the days when I work, I walk indoors around the perimeter of University Park Mall. That way, I can also window shop while I walk. This satisfies (sometimes) my shopping gene. Of course, I can also stop for lunch if I want. If I do this, lunch is usually soup from Barnes and Noble or the kiddie portion from Panda Express. I can even eat the hotdog kiddie lunch from Dairy Queen (which includes a kiddie portion of ice cream).
Of course, if I'm really lucky, my activity is increased at work because I am on my feet all day at Macy's. This usually happens during a sale day when "weight lifting" is part of my routine. For example, yesterday I loaded a 45-piece set of china on a dolly and took it down to customer pick-up. This, of course, was not conducive to a happy lower back (insert groaning noises here), but I was able to do it. On top of all the other package pick-ups I did, I got a pretty good workout.
I must say, all of this activity has definitely paid off. Although I don't really follow a diet, I do try to watch what I eat (don't want to miss the mouth) and I must admit I drink A LOT of water. The water helps because (of course) we finally have Summer this week. I have lost a total of 14 pounds as of yesterdays weigh in. I celebrated w/ a lot of ice cream and a weight watcher's pizza topped off w/ a wine cooler.
This means I will definitely go back to regular portions and a lot of physical activity today, even though I am not working. It's ND Football day and I am going to enjoy watching my first TV game today.
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