Friday, July 3, 2009

Happy Birthday, America!

Yep, it's July 4th. Time sure flies when you're having fun!

I have been quite lax in updating my blog, and I totally apologize. I haven't been able to come up with the time to sit and type my thoughts or happenings. I figured I might as well take the time now though, since I can. So, what has been going on? Let me give you a brief recap.

In May, Joe started working for a new company. He's doing basically the same thing he did before, but for a different company. They went live a couple of days ago, so I haven't seen all that much of him lately. It's pretty sad, but I know it has to be done. He's not happy, and has been threatening to quit. I just hope that he can find something if he does. This economy is not good for jobs.

Speaking of jobs, I have been offered a full time position at macys. It's been several years since I've had a full time job with benefits! I'm hoping that I'll still be able to sub a little. I'd miss seeing my friends at school. Maybe someday I'll get to go back to subbing part time and working at macys part time, but for now I'll be found in the fine jewelry department 38.5 hours a week.

I finished my scrapbook room. I'm quite happy-it's a nice blue color, and this week I worked in there on my book. It was awesome! Hopefully I'll be able to spend more time in there. I do need to clean up the stuff I put in the basement when I was cleaning out the room though. I need to find homes for the pictures that were in the closet and the other random stuff that was there. I tried to sell some of my old scrapbooking stuff at a yard sale and it didn't sell. I can't decided if I should put it on ebay or not. Maybe I will, who knows.

I have essentially been gluten-free now for an entire year. I still have the occasional brownie at Chik-Fil-A, and I have some food I shouldn't, but for the most part I do without. I'm hoping that as time goes on I'll be able to start cooking more of my own food. I really miss cookies! :)

Well, that's the update for now. It's fairly late and I'm tired. Have a great holiday weekend everyone!

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Hello world!

It is I, Amy. And I am alive! :)

It's amazing how fast life moves, even when you don't want it to. Yesterday was Joe's 3,600th and final day at GTECH. (He did the math, not me!) Tomorrow he starts his new job. He goes back to working long days, and in Strongsville to boot! It was nice having him home on weekends and in evenings. Now we're not sure when he'll be home. I think we did figure he'll be here for an average of 8 hours a day, and one day a week.

I'm still attempting to substitute teach, although I very rarely get called. The system is a bit flawed. I've had people requesting me, yet I don't get the calls. And when I do get calls, they're for the days that I cannot work, thanks to my other PT job. That job is a bit crazy too. Yes, it's retail. And yes, there are stupid people involved. I just want the switch to be done. For those of you who don't know-the department I work in is a leased department. The company I work for has decided to pull out of Macy's and turn us all into Macy's employees. Last week we were given the status of of jobs, that we will still have them. (Everyone but our manager, which I think is crap!) I had hoped I would be able to get more hours, given that Joe won't be home, and I know we'll need the money soon. I was told our pay rate would remain the same and that I could have up to 20 hours a week. Totally not what I was hoping for. I know, it's still a job. And I am thankful for it, I just wish that the change was complete. First we are liquidating too slowly, then too quickly, then back to slowly. THEN on top of that they changed the discounts twice in one day. Talk about angry customers. I had a customer call and complain. Woohoo! Gotta love stupid people who think we don't communicate with each other!

Anyway...just thought I'd post an update. In my mind I've posted several times over the past few weeks. Maybe I'll be able to post some of the fun stuff soon!

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Random Pictures

I thought I'd share a few pictures that were on my phone.

This puppy is on 'clearance' at the pet store at the mall I work at. He's down to $650. Still a bunch of money, and definitely from a puppy mill, but he's so cute!!


This was the 'flock' of birds that came by our house in December. I'd told Joe about it, and he didn't believe me. So, the next day they flew through again, so I took pictures. I've never seen so many birds...it was kind of creepy. Not to mention loud! (And, I must say, I was glad I was in the car...)

And finally, a few bowling pictures. We've been going bowling with our friends from the 'Mob, and while I forgot my real camera, I was able to capture a few pictures with my phone.



Ok. That's all for now. More updates later. And who knows, maybe some real pictures from a real camera! :)

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Random thoughts

I still do not like snow. There seems to be quite a bit of it out there. I know, I live in Ohio and should just be used to it by now, but I just don't like it! Yesterday we received about 8 inches of snow or so. I had a snow day (one of the very few days I was actually scheduled to sub too!), and I was off at my other job, so I was able to relax. Good thing since I was sick. I think it's just a sinus thing, but it could be a cold too. It had kept me up all night Tuesday into Wednesday, so I was glad to be able to rest and recoup a bit during the day. I did feel bad for Joe though. He had to shovel the drive so he could go to work, only to find out that they'd sent the Lottery guys home around 10. He left around 2:30 and come home and shoveled the drive again. Yep, lots of fun was had in the Ramey casa last night!

The next topic on my mind is the economy and work. Now, I'm not going to get all deep about the economy, or how a new president is going to change everything. I'm going to talk about a simple observation I've made at work. As most of you know, I work for a large retail department store-the same one that hosts the Thanksgiving Day parade. Anyway. Last week we heard that they let 10 people in our store go, the mens department, a couple of shoe ladies, some in juniors, and then the cash office. It wasn't just our store-it apparently happened at others in the area too. I can understand letting people go because the cash isn't there, but aren't there other ways to cut back too? Say, closing when the weather is bad and no one is going to be out anyway. Or, closing at a decent hour, like 8 or heck, I'll say 9, during the week instead of staying open to 10 when the mall closes at 8. The amount of money that is saved from those hours alone would probably pay for those 10 people they had to let go. There aren't sales-the only folks in the store are the employees!

Ok. That is all I have on my mind right now. I had other things I was thinking about blogging about (like how I really want a dog) but I will save those for another day. Until then check out this book. I'll hopefully have a review of it up on my book blog withing a few months. :)


Thursday, January 15, 2009

Cold.

I don't like it. It's horrible. I don't like it when the high is expected to be 4. It's just not right.

That is all.

Friday, January 9, 2009

Two Days in a Row

I know, it's amazing. I'm doing what I can to keep everyone on their toes.

So. Retail. It's an interesting world. It takes up a lot of my thinking time these days, as I've been there quite a bit. It's fun to watch people. Especially old people. They're all for getting the biggest bang for their buck. Today's sale I'm sure has them coming out of the homes in droves. In a way, I'm happy to not be working tonight. Tomorrow night it's supposed to snow, so there's a chance that the sale will fizzle. Not sure how I feel about that. I would like a sale or two. I'm not being greedy. There are some really awesome pieces on clearance in our department! I have my eye on an aquamarine ring that with all the discounts would be around 100 bucks. With my additional discounts, it'd be more like 75. My eye will stay on it, but I won't buy it....I think I'd rather have a necklace as my next piece of jewelry. I was really surprised how much the sales bring prices down.

Today and yesterday I've been subbing in a science class. We watched Apollo 13 in all 3 classes. I enjoyed the movie when it came out in '95, and it's still not bad now. There are some pretty good quotes that you could take out of the movie. I've found that some of the students just don't get the movie though. Some think it's all a hoax, and it didn't happen at all. Others think that this was the mission that burned up upon re-entry. *sigh* It can be scary sometimes. I worry about what's going to happen when they grow up. They're likely to be the ones that give me problems with the discount system.

Oh. I forgot. This is a fun little story. (Ok, not really, but anyway.) I left to go to work last night, and as a good person does, I closed and latched the door to the house. Only then did I realize that what I thought was my keys was really my phone. Oops! At least it was my phone. So, I made a quick call to my dad and about 5 minutes later, he arrived. I went in, got the keys, and off to work I went. We definitely need a new plan for lock outs, that's for sure!

Anyway...I'm off for now. The movie is almost over, and we're still waiting for Apollo 13 to re initiate contact with Houston....

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Happy New Year

Happy New Year everyone! It's hard to believe that 2008 has come and gone. It's amazing to think back to all of the things that have gone on in the past 365 days or so. There have been changes, some good, and some not so good.

I've started working retail again, and I can't totally make up my mind. I have more stories to add to the previous post-it's amazing how people react to discounts, or lack there of. I must say, my most common question I receive is asking where the bathrooms are. Or if I can ring up socks. I am also no longer working on my online job. That ended as of the 31st. While I'm a bit relieved-I'm also a bit sad. In February it would've been 3 years, that's pretty good for a job for me! (Aside from subbing, that is.) I am happy I don't have to worry about responding to reports and getting x amount done in x amount of time. I'll miss finding out about campaigns, but you know, I'll be ok. I still have the friendships I've made, thanks to blogs and Facebook.

I cannot say that I made any resolutions for the new year. I never seem to keep them anyway. I do hope to better myself though, whether it's through classes-fun or educational, weight loss (I hope!), or just becoming a better person in general.

Well, that's enough rambling for now. (Not to mention, it's lunchtime here at school. :)) More soon!