Slicers, sloppy floors & schedules.

I'm starting to kinda settle into the routine of working now. I miss getting to hang out with my hubby on the weekends though. That is still taking some adjusting but I find we value the evenings far more now. Last weekend I worked a couple of really late (and long!) shifts. Going in at 2pm (which means I leave the house at 12:45) and didn't get off until 11pm (or later) and that puts me home after midnight. Needless to say Monday morning I felt like a zombie and was SO glad I was off.

My first day overwhelmed me like crazy but I'm starting to get the hang of things now and it's not as bad as I thought. I've learned all the front stuff like slicing, packaging, and the hot bar stuff. I've learned how to make sandwiches for the fridge shelves out front, and now I've learned how to do the closing routine. It takes 2 of us about 3 hours to complete everything. My favorite part is sloshing soapy water all over the floor to clean it! Lol! I've had some interesting customers, no one extremely rude yet (except a lady that got made because we closed at 8pm and not 9pm like she thought.). Everyone I work with is pretty nice. There are some I enjoy working with better than others but that's just a preference thing, not because they are rude or anything. It's funny though because even though I've only been working a few days total there I can already see the vein of drama that runs through it all. I'm doing my best to stay out of it because I've got enough drama dealing with people in my own life much less the people I work with. Apparently this Wal-Mart has a hard time keeping employees though. Most departments are very short staffed, including the deli until just recently. Everyone at the deli, excluding two people, have been there 2 months or less! Including the department manager. Yikes. I'm taking it a day at a time. By no means do I plan on being there forever but I'll stick it out unless things get really bad. I'd still love to get on a Target or Old Navy but we'll see.....right now I'm just thankful to be earning some kind of paycheck. And I get my first one tomorrow! Yay!

We are still waiting to hear about our home offer.....I'll admit my patience is starting to wear thin. We knew with it being a short sale it could take a little while but we didn't think it would take this long especially since the offer has 2 of the 3 signatures it needs to be processed and accepted. Every morning I'm praying that today will be the day and every day at 5pm I have to swallow the fact that yet another day has gone by without an answer. The "good news" is we were originally told once the offer was accepted it would be 3 weeks before we could actually close and move in. That gives time for inspections, contracts, the bank, and for the sellers to get moved, etc. But we just found out that the seller is moving out at the end of the month wether it's sold or not. Which means that we can probably bump up the moving time, instead of waiting 3 weeks we might be able to close in 10 days or something like that. I'm crossing my fingers for that and that we will hear from the bank within the next week (pleassssseee!!!).

Summer is going good so far. We didn't open the pool up because we didn't plan to be here much of the summer & didn't want to have to spend all the money on chemicals and such for it. Gigi and I still go out and lay out on the deck and she plays with the hose and buckets of water. It's the next best thing! She's adjusting to the new routine of being home all the time and me working now. She loves all the one on one time with her daddy for three days straight! I'm trying to keep her on a similar sleep schedule like we do when she's in school. I'm letting her stay up till 9pm usually instead of 8:30 but then she's up by 7am usually.

Sorry I've been a bad blogger lately. Just been busy and my "creative juices" just aren't flowing lately. I open up blogger thinking I'll post something, stare at the screen for a few minutes then click off. But I still update my Twitter (@alaythea) and my Instagram (@alaythea) a lot so check them out for more current info and photos!!!

Working Girl

So, it's a official. I'm a working girl again. It seems so strange to say that after being home for 6 years. I literally can't remember most of the details about the last place I worked, that's how long ago it's been. I will admit the one great thing about working as a hair stylist was a I could wear basically whatever I wanted and I could have any color hair, any piercing I wanted and show tattoos all the day long. But I guess you make sacrifices when you have to, huh? But yeah, I'm working at the Wal-Mart deli up where we'll be moving. For now it's just Fri-Sun because it's an hour drive up there until we actually get moved. Saturday I had orientation most of the day, Sunday was my first official day in the deli. The first few hours were pretty quiet and I just followed my trainer around learning the basics and getting a feel for the it all and the other workers. After lunch we got really busy and I just had to sorta jump in there and help. It got a bit overwhelming a few times but I held it together and got through it. I mean, you'd think, how hard is it to slice meat and cheese. That part isn't hard. It's all the rules and policies about what you have to do and how in order to maintain proper health regulations that make it hard. Especially when you have 6 people all standing there staring and watching you work. Luckily, I didn't drop anything although I came close a couple of times (those huge hams are slippery!). But I made it. I don't think it all really hit me until last night when I got in bed and I sorta had a little mini panic attack. The thought of going back next weekend and doing it all again and learning even more just sorta overwhelmed me. I know, people do it every day and I will get through it but it's just a lot to take in.

Fab outfit, huh? Seriously, why did Wal-Mart have to pick khaki? It's not really flattering. I like hair styling "uniforms" - just wear black and you're good. I get to wear a hair net and apron, that's also pretty fab. *sarcasm* But yeah, whatev's. It's a job, for Pete's sake. 

The other part of working at Wal-Mart is a lot of history and policies and terms. So on top of learning your job requirements there are also tons of "overall" stuff you have to learn. We have to take all the "tests" every so often to make sure we are up to date on the ever changing systems. It's seriously SO much to take in. And of course my always present fear of failure makes me that much harder because I'm constantly freaking out that I'll mess up. 

The people I work with are pretty nice, only one person my age and I didn't work with him long yesterday. Thank God because I sorta "threw me to the wolves" yesterday for about an hour and we got really busy and I was freaking out inside the whole time. He doesn't really like working the front so he just kept disappearing in the back and leaving me to fend for myself. Eventually I'll learn to cook all the hot bar stuff and make sandwiches, etc. But yesterday I was just trying to figure out where all the meats and cheeses were and where to put them back.....sheesh. I didn't think a job in the deli would be so overwhelming. Luckily, I have four days at home to sorta re-coop and get myself together mentally.

I feel my husband's pain now driving an hour to work (he's been doing it for six years!). It sucks and now I'm even more ready to be moved up there because then I'll be 5 minutes from work! Next weekend I work closing - the deli closes at 8 but then it takes 3 hours to clean so I won't get off till 11pm then I have an hour drive home......whew.

I had to remove my nose ring which makes me so sad. I can show my tattoos but I can't have a nose piercing and I'm not even allowed to put a clear spacer in it. Grrrr. I was really hoping for a job at Old Navy because you can wear facial jewelry there. But they weren't hiring. I do hope that one day I can get a job somewhere a little "cooler" and fun! But for now I'm thankful to have something. After putting in applications for months and months around here and never hearing back actually having someone call and want to hire me was awesome!

And a quick update on our home buying situation - we are still waiting to hear from the bank. The place is a short sale so the process of getting our offer accepted is a little more complicated then just with a regular seller/buyer thing. The deadline to hear from the bank is this Wednesday and we are praying we hear something before then (like today would be awesome!). We are pretty sure we'll get it though - if we don't we'll all be shocked, including our agent. Once it's approved we'll have three weeks before we can actually get the keys and move in.....three weeks. Boo. But at least we'll have an actually date to look forward and not just feel up in limbo so much. 

So that's about it. My blogging has lacked greatly lately - we stay pretty busy and I also have just felt very uninspired when it comes to blogging lately. I still read my blog feed daily I just don't write as much myself. Hopefully I'll be checking in soon to say we're home owners! Woohoo!

100 Questions.

(Found this over at irocksowhat.com)

1. Are you young at heart, or an old soul? I'd say a little bit of both - I dread the thought of actually being old and I feel young but then I think and act a little "old" I guess. I've always been pretty serious about stuff.
2. What makes someone a best friend? Someone that loves you no matter what and is there for you when you actually need them!
3. What Christmas (or Hanukkah) present do you remember the most? When my hubby got me an iPod Touch! Totally unexpected and I loved it so much.
4. Tell me about a movie/song/tv show/play/book that has changed your life. The Hunger Games. It sounds cliche but seriously, it made me totally rethink myself and life.
5. Name one physical feature that you like about yourself, and one you dislike. I like my legs, and I hate my midsection.
6. Would you like to reconnect with any friends you’ve lost contact with? Maybe, it's easy to remember the good until you're reconnected sometimes!
7. What’s more important in a relationship: physical attraction or emotional connection? Emotional connection, if you have that it leads to a good physical connection as well.
8. Name a movie that you knew would be terrible just from reading the title. Any Sci-Fi channel movie! Lol!.
9. What holiday do you most look forward to? Thanksgiving and Christmas.
10. How is the relationship between you and your parents? Ok, I guess. Not what I wish it was but that's life. My dad and I have always gotten along well, he's easy going and funny. My mom and I don't see eye to eye on anything pretty much so that kinda puts a strain between us.
11. You’ve got the TV on, but you’re not really watching. What channel is the TV on? The Food Network
12. Name a song that never fails to make you happy. That's All You Gotta Do by Brenda Lee
13. You know at least one person named Michael. Tell me about him. He's a fitness nut and he also collects watches. He my hubby's boss.
14. Have you ever read the “missed connections” on Craigslist? Have you ever posted one, or wanted to? Nope. I don't even know what that is! Lol!
15. If you could pick anywhere to live the rest of your life, where would it be? Not sure because I haven't visited everywhere! So I might think I want to stay there the rest of my life but how can I know for sure?! I'm pretty excited about living in Asheville, NC soon!
16. Can money buy happiness? No, it can't. Until you learn to be happy with nothing you'll never be happy with everything. You'll constantly want more. But, it certainly can't hurt to have it!
17. Do you drink? Smoke? Do drugs? Why, or why not? I maybe have a "drink" once a year. Seriously. I've never smoked and I've never done any drug of any kind. And I'm happy about that!
18. Is there anyone close to you that you know you can’t trust? You don’t have to give names. Absolutely!
19. Where was your favorite place to go when you were a little kid? Out in the woods to play.
20. Have you ever spent a night in the hospital? Yes, several times. When I had a c-section and when I had my gallbladder surgery.
21. Do you enjoy being with only one or two friends, or with a large group of people? I like being one on one with friends. 
22. Do you like the type of music your parents listen to? Do your parents like the type of music you listen to? I like some of what my dad used to listen to like Led Zepplin and Fleetwood Mac. I don't know what my mom used to listen to. 
23. Have you ever been bullied? Have you ever bullied anyone else? Not really bullied, I've been made fun of but not in a really serious way. And I'm not a bully at all! Perks of being home schooled I guess!
24. If you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be? Outback's steak and mashed potatoes!
25. If your partner wanted to wait until marriage before having sex, would you stay in that relationship? Yes, of course, but I'm married so that's taken care of! Lol!
26. Do you believe in a God? With all my heart!
27. Of all the social networks in the world, why use twitter? Because I don't have to follow people I don't want to. If they want to follow/stalk me they can without me having to read their crap in return!
28. What’s your favorite hashtag to track? I don't really track hashtags but I like to when I'm watching a TLC show, it's kinda funny to see the feedback.
29. Would you call yourself/your family “middle class?” I think we are considered lower middle class! Lol!
30. Name a TV series you didn’t enjoy until after it ended. Lost but then we never finished it after we started it.
31. Have you ever bought a product from an infomercial? No! Most of that stuff looks like crap!
32. If you could give up your car and never have to drive again, would you? No way, we're about to be a one car family for a month or so and I'm freaking out!
33. If you go back to one point in time to give advice to yourself, when would you go and what would you say? I'd go back to the point where I decided not to have a wedding. I don't regret getting married but I regret letting the fact that some of my family members didn't want me to get married to stop me from having one of the most important days of my life. 
34. What’s your “quirkiest” habit? Twirling my hair when I'm board, nervous or tired. It drives my hubby crazy!
35. What is “normal?” Are you normal? Normal is subjective. I'm normal to me!
36. Someone close to you is dying. You have the choice to let this person live for 10 more years, but if you do, you cause the death of 10 strangers. You don’t have to see them die. Do you take the offer? Sadly, I'd probably say yes. 
37. What is one thing you could never forgive? People who harm/murder children. No sin is unforgivable to God but my human heart has a hard time forgiving people who do that kind of thing.
38. Would you rather be in a relationship after the honeymoon period ends, or be single? In my relationship. Wouldn't change a thing!
39. Is it possible for guys and girls to be just friends? I think so. 
40. Where do you and your friends go to hang out? Restaurants usually.
41. Write the first sentence of your obituary. Alaythea Marie Carroll has passed from this world....
42. What is the best TV theme song ever? X-Files!
43. When you were young, what would you dream you would be when you grew up? A singer.
44. When you’re alone in your own home, do you walk around naked? No! Lol! 
45. What gets you out of bed in the morning? Life!
46. Do you want to have more friends than you have right now? I wish I had a few more, but good ones.
47. What part of the past year sticks out in your mind? Deciding for sure we were moving to Asheville!
48. You win a scratch-off lottery game that gives you $2000 a week (after taxes) for the rest of your life. Do you keep your job? Um, no way! I could easily love on $2000 a week!
49. Could you be in a long-distance relationship? If you’re in one, what makes yours work? Yes, I've done it. My hubby and I did the long distance thing for about 8 months. Lots of wonderful letters and phone conversations.
50. What’s the best route to your heart? Quality time. Spend time with me and I'll love you!
51. Have you ever met someone through the internet, then met them in real life? Yes, when I was younger I met a few girls because we loved the same band. 
52. What is your favorite sport? Football! 
53. What has been troubling you lately? Working out all the details of moving but it's coming together!
54. Did you enjoy your high school prom? If you haven’t gotten there yet, do you look forward to it? If you didn’t go, why not? I went to two proms - one with a friend to his HUGE Sr. prom and then I went to my Sr. home schooler's prom alone but it was still fun!
55. What do you use more often: your intuition or logical reasoning? I'm a pretty logical person.
56. Do you know what makes you happy? I know some of the things that make me happy....
57. Tell me about the last book you read. I'm reading the third book in The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo series. It's been pretty good. Weird but good!
58. What is the nicest compliment you’ve ever been given? That I'm a great wife and mother.
59. Who was your first crush? This guy I went to church with named Matthew. He was a lot older than me but I thought I was going to marry him! Lol!
60. Do you believe that there is life on other planets? Who really knows?!
61. Predict what your life will look like a year from now. Completely different. I'll be living in a new home, I'll be working, and I'll have a "new" car.....It will look nothing like it does now.
62. Often, people will ask how your last relationship ended. I want to know how it began. I'm still in my "last" relationship. But it started when he introduced himself to me at youth....the rest is history. sorta.
63. Where is your favorite place to go out and eat? Outback! That place never gets old.
64. What is something you want to change about your current situation? What my hubby gets to do for a living and having better finances.
65. Early bird or night owl? Early bird! I can barely stay up past 10pm!
66. Are there any childhood possessions you still hold on to? Not really...I have a t-shirt from high school I can't seem to part with but that's about it.
67. Give me an unpopular opinion you have. I don't believe in gay marriage.
68. What was the last song that was stuck in your head? "Gypsy" by Fleetwood Mac.
69. Where do you live? Be as general or specific as you want. Currently I live in an old farmhouse in the country in NC and I can't wait to move!
70. Do you believe in giving kids medals and trophies for participation? No, either you win or you don't. It's not wrong to lose or bad but you shouldn't get a medal for it! Lol!
71. What was the longest car ride you’ve ever taken? We drove from Alabama all the way to upstate NY when I was girl....it took us two days.
72. Have you ever taken part in a protest? No, I agree in standing up for what you believe but protestors are usually kinda kooky.
73. Would you ever use an online dating service? Maybe. But since I'm married I don't think I have to worry about that!
74. What is your ethnic heritage? Lebanese, on my mom's side. Most people think I'm Greek (because my name is) or Italian (because of my dark skin and hair!).
75. Describe a person that inspires you. Determined, strong and smart.
76. If you earn minimum wage doing what you love, would you? Yes, better than minimum wage doing something you hate!
77. Do you believe in luck? Not really. 
78. Describe the last time you were very angry at someone. Well, I was angry! Lol! 
79. Do you want to live until you’re 100? If I'm physically and mentally healthy then yes!
80. Do people change? If so, how do you keep a relationship together when both of you start to change? Yes, they change but when you are in a relationship you choose to change together.
81. Have you ever risked a friendship by telling someone you liked them? Nah.
82. Would you rather be alone doing something you enjoy, or doing something you don’t like with your best friends? I don't know, I hate being alone so I guess doing something I don't like with friends!
83. Do you practice what you preach? Yes, I try to. I mess up but I do my best. 
84. If you take precautions to stay safe, do you ultimately act more recklessly? I am not a reckless person at all. I'm always cautious and think ahead.
85. What do you value more in a significant other: Attractiveness or intelligence? Intelligence.
86. Are you hard-headed? I can be.
87. Have you ever laughed uncontrollably when it was socially inappropriate? Probably but I don't remember an exact time.
88. When have you felt most alive? When I'm doing something fun with my husband!
89. Would you prefer to live? A city? The suburbs? The countryside? The mountains? The city, that's why we're moving!
90. Do you often skip breakfast? Never. I always eat breakfast, it's like my coffee!
91. How do you know what true love is? When you trust that person without a shadow of a doubt.  
92. Would you want to know the exact date and time you were going to die? No way.
93. Where is “home” for you? Wherever my husband and daughter are....but Huntsville, AL will always be what I think of as "home".
94. What song best describes your life right now? Uh, nothing comes to mind. 
95. Do you want to be perfect? Physically perfect yes! Who doesn't want to be perfect?!
96. What have you never tried, but would really like to someday? What’s holding you back? Salsa dancing. I guess money is holding me back. 
97. How do you express your creativity? I'm not a very creative person. The few times I do get creative I usually write a song.
98. Describe your neighborhood. I don't know them. I live in the country and we aren't exactly close to neighbors.
99. Name something you only liked because it was popular. I can't think of anything. I won't not like something because it's popular but I rarely like something because it is popular.
100. Give me the story of your life in six words. Quiet, sheltered, interesting, loved, and great.