The Great Christmas Post of 2006

This might not be a great post as great posts go, but it’s my version of those wonderful brag letters you all love to get in your holiday cards to find out where family and friends have been over the past year. So, here goes.

2006 started innocently enough for me. I was working my wonderful job at Management Recruiters of Las Vegas and just piddling along in life. Then, I decided that it was time to ditch the roommate situation and move to a new apartment. Living on my own is much more fun than having to deal with a roommate, and I’ve been loving every minute of it.

Summer saw me back in New Hampshire to visit family and friends, and to celebrate Bubba’s 13th and Messy J’s 7th Birthdays. I got some updated pictures of the kids, and got to meet my new little brother, Boo. My mom and stepdad are now foster parents, and even though I’m far away I love having a little brother. During that trip I also got to reconnect with one of my best friends from high school, Courtney and meet her new little man. It was a great trip overall and really left me feeling homesick and wanting to move back home.

But, that was not to be. Great changes were ahead for me in the last quarter of the year. I decided that I could not further my career anymore at Management Recruiters, and left in search of bigger and better things. The man upstairs had other plans for me, though. I was involved in a car accident that left my little Kia a total loss and the 5th metacarpal in my left hand broken. As a result, I needed a new car and since I got hosed big time when I bought the Kia, I was not keen on the idea of car shopping out here. Luckily for me, I have a great Dad who just happens to own a garage and dealership, and he came to the rescue. He got me a great deal on a repo, and even rolled my deductible and travel expenses into the loan. Only one little hitch – the car was in New Hampshire and I am in Las Vegas. So, home it was to get my new car and drive it back to Vegas.

Now, on the way back home, I was eating lunch in Washington, DC with a friend when I got a call from my mom that my sister, who was 7 months pregnant, had gone in for an emergency c-section. Since I was in a position to be flexible with my schedule and location, I headed down to Cape Coral, Florida to be with her. Mia Rose was a bit early but is doing well, and is home now to celebrate her first Christmas with her Mommy, Daddy, brothers and sisters. I’m really glad now that I was in that accident and was able to be with my sister when she needed someone around, and to meet my youngest niece. Life’s funny like that.

Upon returning home, I continued on my quest for greatness, but it was not to be. The job I started after my drive was not to be, as it did not make the best use of my skills. At the last minute I got a call out of the blue from a friend I had not heard from in a few months, offering me my dream job – a chance to move up and learn more skills as an administrative assistant while working in a fun and creative environment. But, again, someone had other plans. Due to a situation there, I did not start that job and ended up taking a security dispatch job!!!! on the graveyard shift just to get through. The job shake-up continues as the dream job is apparently back on to start next week, but since I’m not to confident in the security of that situation, I’ll work that part time in addition the security and shoe store job. So, if you don’t hear from me for awhile, just know that I am at work or sleeping. I’ll try to update when I’m coherent enough to do so.

So, that’s the news for now. My busy social life continues, so I must say adios for now. I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and all the best for 2007!

Riding the Roller Coaster

Ok, get this. I go ahead and sign up for more hours at the shoe store. Then I go and get another part time job doing dispatch for a security company on the graveyard shift. Well, today Sparkling Butterfly called we chatted for awhile. She told me the whole story, which is confidential of course but includes major drama at the company. Long story short, she still needs me and wants me to come in next Tuesday if possible. I told her what I went thru thinking I would need to keep my head afloat for awhile, and how I feel about the job after everything that had transpired, but I said that once all the drama settles and things get taken care of it still seems like my perfect job. So, if all goes well I’ll be starting there part time after Christmas, at least until I feel more secure with the situation there. That will allow me to keep my other part time jobs and work around those until it kills me or things get more secure employment-wise, whichever comes first. If it works out and I survive the schedule, it could be very good for me financially. If not, I still have 2 other jobs I can juggle.

In any case, this whole week has been draining for me. I’ve only been up less than 12 hours, but I’m tired so I think I’ll wrap things up here so I can turn in and get back on day schedule until I deprive myself of sleep next week.

Copy, Ten-Four!

I made it through my first night doing dispatch at the security place. It wasn’t so bad, the hardest part was actually staying awake, since I had been up all day and ended up being awake for over 24 hours. It got really boring around 7am, but like I said, I made it through. I’m still looking though, so hopefully I can find something. We’ll see how it goes.

Getting Through, Somehow

Well I did manage to get a few more hours at the store, and there could be some hours available for me at our sister store in the same mall. Also, F hired me at his security company, but since I’m really not keen on doing patrols or anything like that, I’ll be doing dispatch 2 nights a week, starting tonite. I’m soooo gonna love the graveyard shift, but hey, it’s money. At least I’ll have the same schedule every week so I can work around it. I’ll step up the job hunt after the holidays, since no one really hires at this time of year. Also, I do want to wait to see what the situation is where Sparkling Butterfly works. The product they produce and distribute is very much in demand, so I know they can bounce back from it, but once things are investigated further and the severity of the situation is known, then I’ll know for sure if I have a job there or not. And if I do, I’m still torn on whether or not the job would be secure. Anyhoo.

I do have enough money for this month, barely. I get my paycheck from my previous job today, plus I got some money for Christmas. I also have some money coming to me from my old 401K, only about $500 but it will help. And cashing it out won’t make much difference in my taxes since it’s so small an amount. I’m still considering where I can cut back on my monthly bills. Rent, no. Car, no. Insurance, no. Electric – can be more considerate. Cell phone, no, since it’s my only phone. Internet – no fucking way. Cable – well, still working on that one. I don’t watch much tv anymore, but do I really want to cancel cable? I’ve had cable ever since I can remember, from way back when we had the old slider box tethered to the tv by a long cord running across the room. Maybe I can just go down to basic. I don’t know yet. I need to think about it, and catch up on all the programs I have in my DVR.

So that’s the news for now. I need to get a few more hours sleep since I have to work 5:30-10 at the store and 1-9 at the security company. Then I get to do it all over again tomorrow. Joy.

Scared

Just when I thought things were turning around, that they were going to go really well with a new fun job and all that jazz, it blew up. I was supposed to start my new job today, and was just on my way out the door when Sparkling Butterfly called me and told me to come in at 9 instead of 8. No big deal, I’ll go out and have a proper breakfast. She called me back about 20 minutes later (I hadn’t yet left the house) and told me there’s some crap going on and to take the day off. Ok, a little nervous now but fine. So I went back to bed and slept until about 3:30. Much needed sleep, really.

Anyway, I called her back when I got up and she sounded really drained. Lots of drama, and as much as she wants to hire me and really needs my help now more than anything, she doesn’t know if there’s enough money in payroll to pay her, never mind a new person. Yup, it’s the big E word. Soooo, I don’t even know if that job is going to happen right now. She will call me back this weekend and let me know what’s going on.

So now I have no income except for the pocket change I make at the store. I will ask for more hours at the store, but 2 things about that – it won’t be much because the budget is tight and I don’t make that much there, and well, ok maybe that was just 1 thing. I called F – he runs a security company and said he can get me a job as a guard. It still won’t be a ton of money, but it will be something. It’s so not up my alley, but again, it’s something.

So now I’m just really scared, financially, but that affects everything. I need to spend some time tomorrow going over some things and see where I can cut back. This just sucks, and I don’t want to lose anything either, ya know?