Life Updates...Long Overdue

As you may, or may not, have noticed, I've been a little MIA here lately. There's been a lot going on since I was let go in July. Actually, there's really only been two things going on, but they seem to be pretty time consuming.

First things first - I HAVE A NEW JOB!!!

As someone who has worked more than half her life, not having a job (even for a month and a half) was very emotionally draining on me. Granted, we could survive without my paycheck, but barely. And, again, there's that whole thing about me having a job for the better part of half my life. I started working for my dad when I was 13 making $3-5 an hour helping him with his deliveries as a route salesman in Alabama. When I was 15 I got a "real" job with a local dollar store where I worked through my senior year in high school. When I started community college I was in the work study program on the days I had class, and was working at K-Mart the days I didn't. When I moved out, I got a job in housekeeping at a beach hotel. I've even done a 2-month stint in the fast food industry. My last job I was at for a little over 10 years. All this work history doesn't include all the babysitting I did ages 10-18 for various families in town we live in.  (FYI...never let a 10 year old baby sit your child, unless they have younger brothers and sisters or they're parents are home with them or in close proximity. I had NO IDEA what I was doing!!) I have worked a lot in my life. If I had to put them in order of worst to best (based on what my experiences were) it would be:
1.  Food Service (AKA - Fast food)
2.  Housekeeping (Cleaning my own mess, no biggie; cleaning another's, DISGUSTING)
3.  Babysitting
4.  Retail, especially dollar-type stores
5.  Anything that requires travel (the scenery and perks are great, but the hassle of security and such, as well as being gone from my husband every other week finally took it's toll)
6.  Office work of any kind

I love office work! Which is what my new job is! I am the receptionist for the Temecula Office of California Baptist University Online and Professional Studies. The office I work out of is a half mile from the apartment, so I could walk to work if I wanted (which I have done a few times now - it takes 15 minutes). It's also located at the mall (which could be very detrimental to my wallet and healthy eating). Right now I am one of two full time workers at this location. The other is one of the admissions advisers who handles the area we're located in and down to San Diego for enrollments. We also have three student workers that rotate throughout the week. Because we are located at the mall, we keep mall hours:  1pm - 9pm. My hours are 12 pm to 9 pm. My coworker usually comes in earlier as she meets with students and prospects throughout the day. I close with a student worker.

I love that I have stayed in the Online Education industry as that's what I'm most familiar with (my previous job was with an online university). It's very different because of various things (accreditation, degrees offered, the campus and/or hybrid options, etc), but I am loving learning these new things. And I really enjoy that I'm not traveling anymore. It's nice to be home every week with my husband for a change.

The other new change in my life is I am officially a college student, again!

While I was unemployed I decided I would start back to school as I didn't know how long I'd have all that free time on my hands. So I started the process with American Military University (no, you don't have to be military or former military to enroll with them) to enroll in a Bachelors program for Marketing. I started my second class today, Intro to Business.

I am so excited about this new chapter in my life too! I mean, I work in the education industry and I don't have my degree yet? How stupid can I be?! But I'm glad I waited...had I gone through my last employer it would not have been an accredited degree. Nor would it have been something I wanted...BS in Psychology. I could have done Marketing with them, and I was going to...but then I got let go and I moved on quickly. (I wanted no ties after the way the treated me.)

So that is the latest in my life. I'm still doing Weight Watchers...and I'm still holding steady at the 15 pounds lost mark. I have started a boot camp class in the mornings, twice a week. I'm hoping that will help kick-start the plateau I seem to be at. I've been doing it for two weeks and there hasn't been much change, but I had a few other things happen this last week that may have derailed it. So this week is the week to see my move beyond 15 lost to 17 lost (or more). I'm ready to do this!

Thank you for your patience with me. Now that I'm officially on my new work schedule and my class has started, I'm hoping to get a regular schedule going so that I can get back to blogging more. Until then...

Cheers, dolls!

It's been a while

I can't believe it's been almost two months since my last post. Yes, I am slacking here, some. But in my defense A LOT has been going on!

October:
I left on the 15th for Florida/Alabama for a week in office and Graduation for the school I work for on the 19th. The 20th, one of my best friends got married and his lovely bride had asked me to be bridesmaid. I flew home on the 21st only to leave again on the 22nd, this time for the Bay Area. While there, my grandmother passed. A quick change of plans had my flying to Arizona on the night of the 24th. I finally got home on Monday the 29th.

November:
I left on the 5th for Minneapolis and returned home on the 9th. Then, on the 11th, Mr S and I left town to celebrate 1 year of wedded bliss! We came home on the 15th. We then whisked away to the in-laws on the 16th to puppy/house sit while they were gone for a week, returning to our own home/beds/chaos on the 24th. And last week was a mix of settling back into the normal routine and getting better from the colds we both had during November.

Needless to say, it's been a little crazy around here lately. And I head out of town again on Monday for our annual week of training in Alabama.

Thank you, to all my followers, for sticking with me in my absence. I'd love to spout promises of I'll do better and it'll never happen again. Okay, well, I will try to do better. But I'm not going to set myself up for failure by saying it will never happen again. We all know better than that!

There will be some changes coming to the blog. The first will be the background. As you can see, I've not had time to create my own so I'll be putting something I like back up here...soon!

I'm also considering changing up some of the things I do around here. I'm planning to keep So What Wednesday and Friday's Nail Files (for as long as they continue, at least). But I'm looking at ideas for topics for Monday, Tuesday, and Thursdays. If you have any suggestions, feel free to let me know. (I'm undecided on if Through The Lense will stick around.) My current ideas are: a recipe testing/review day, documenting my weight loss journey that will beginning after the holidays (like the rest of the world, I know...but I've got to do something!!), a monthly short story or poetry entry, a book review once a week, and maybe even a video blog (v'log) every now and then (should I invest in a webcam).

Anyway...stay tuned for new and exciting things coming to the blog.

Hugs...

Changes

Hey, Y'all!

I'm sure you've noticed my absence. Sorry about that! I just have a lot on my plate right now - September and October are always busy months for my job. But I haven't forgotten about y'all!

As you've noticed, there is a change taking place here. I'm trying out a new project - creating my own blog background!! Until then, you get gray!

I've also stepped into a new business venture, but I'll get you more of that this week. It'll play into my new blog design, if all goes according to plan!

I'm going to try to pick up my usual link ups this week - So What Wednesday and Nail Files on Friday. I got my Julep box today and am excited to play with the new colors. And, since I'm home next week too (shock of all shocks), I hope to back in full swing by next week so I can get back to keeping y'all smiling with my stories!

Until then...hugs....

Weekend Update

I was doing so good the last two months making an effort and actually posting at decent intervals. And then work blew up (aka everyone came to SoCal for a conference) and I got super busy (not to mention my work laptop is a POS). But I'm back now and will be making a few changes to some of the things I post.

No more Sunday Meme (not like I've done one in a month or anything). I just don't have the time to fill those out when I get on here sometimes. I like quick and easy...for the most part.

Starting a new weekly blog, though...either on Tuesdays or Thursdays: Tuesday's (Thursday's) Through the Lens. I'll be posting a picture once a week on whatever day I decide to do it on...seriously leaning towards Thurs as the next two Tues I'll be in the wonderful world of Disneyland! Anyway...the picture will, more than likely, be of my own taking and I'll include a little description if one is needed and, quite possibly, when/where it was taken if it's not a recent picture.

And that's really all the changes so far.

In other news....I realized why I went crazy with the book reading last month...because I knew I'd not get many in this month. It's already 5 days into March and I've not touched a book (other than my Social Psychology book) other than to move it from one place to another.

And...well, that's really it for now.

Hugs...