Christmas Blues

The Christmas blues have came upon me today. Working in retail the last day of the shopping season is always the worst. It really is funny how people will blame you for ruining their Christmas when you can not deliver an appliance the same day that they purchase it or on the day of Christmas. They don't care if others such as the fireman, police officers, and the medical field work on Christmas but you mention that the store will be closed and it becomes a inconvenience to them. So my current situation is that I am nursing a head cold ( my wonderful husband and youngest son decided to share), three nasty blisters on my poor feet, and a pulled Achilles tendon. So as you can imagine I am on my death bed with my feet propped up and a glass of wine on my bed stand. My family is on stand by for any wants or needs that I may have as they are playing Xbox on a group raid in Destiny. So in reality I'm screwed... So I have resorted to watching Christmas shows in my room while wondering if I drink the whole bottle of wine will I be considered a wino or unstable. Times like this I really miss my mother in law. I can still hear her joyful laughter. She loved having fun and was full of life. I will keep her memory close to my heart and will bring that same light into others. This Christmas Eve take a moment to remember the joy it was to be a child on this special night and to still believe in Santa, Keep those memories close to you and spread that light and laughter to others.

Merry Christmas Everyone,

Candi

Cherish Yesterday, Dream of Tomorrow, and Live for Today

We only have five days before Christmas and the stores are packed with shoppers. With working in retail as I have mentioned in other posts of mine, this week can be pure Hell for the retail worker. The shoppers are tired and cranky from shopping and not finding what they want due to the fact that they waited until the last minute. Please don't blame the worker for that item not being available. With this being said again let's think about other things. As I sit in my husband's recliner watching the flames of our electric fireplace and sounds of Snoopy's Christmas Special playing in the background has made me longing for simpler times when I was a young child. I can really relate to Charlie Brown and how he feels like he can never kick that dang football. I mean seriously I feel that life is a struggle with how much people put on the significance on objects instead of experiences and memories. So with this in mind I have vowed to created new memories and some new family traditions in the process. I always baked the normal cookies that everyone seems to bake where I live for example the cookies with the Hershey's in them, Buckeyes, Peanut butter cookies. So this year I decided to bake some different cookies, I only have baked two type of cookies, white chocolate chip with cranberry cookies and chocolate chip with coconut cookies was the two I have chosen. So far everyone at my husband's work are raving about them. So I believe I will bake these again next year. I decided to use the powers of Facebook and create an event for Christmas. I decided on a Christmas potluck was an awesome idea. This actually took the pressure off of me for making up all the food. We had our potluck Friday and it was a huge success. We had tons of food, Christmas movies for the kids and games for the adults. I find it quite hysterically funny to play board games with grown adult men. They get so competitive and if they don't know the answer the answer suddenly becomes "Debbie does Dallas". My husband used this as his answer quite a few times. They also will use distraction techniques to make one forget what their answer was. These are the type of memories that I hold dear and cherish for all times. Christmas is not about the presents but about the time that we spend with friends and loved ones. About passing on traditions and stories to the younger generations so that we stay alive for many generations to come.

Merry Christmas,
Candi

Simpler things in life

Making merry in this day and age is kinda of stressful. No one wants to stop and just enjoy the little things in life. The people today are too busy, too attach to their phones (I'm guilty of this as well), too worried what the new electronic device is or keeping up with the Jones. I am by no means not guilty of this but have gotten caught up in the hype of things that seems to have replaced my time spent with family but instead to busy playing Farmville or some other game. No wonder why I am pre-diabetic and can not seem to shake this 15-20 pounds that I have put on since having children. Writing my experiences of what I want to do and what I have been doing has helped put some perspective back into my life. I love to spend my time being active and working out by doing Yoga and Pilates. I prefer to cook and prepare my meals at home versus going into a restaurant. Not saying I don't enjoy my date nights with the hubby cause I do especially when we share a small pizza and a hard cider. I feel that this electronic world has advantages and disadvantages. I have found others that love DC and Marvel comics, reading, Lord of the Rings, and Star Wars as much as I do. I am rediscovering myself by writing this and learning that I really do need to learn how to relax.

I spent my afternoon today coloring in a coloring book and I managed to stay away from my phone and laptop for more than an hour. While I contemplated which color I should use next I manage to intrigue others around me to see what I was doing. I managed to make others forget about electronic devices just for a short time. This was not my intentions today but to do something while I sat with my mother who is in the hospital who was resting and I wanted to be quite while she slept. I even had a few nurses give me tips on what color they would use.

So with this experience I give you this idea to pass on to others who need to unplug. Give them a adult coloring book and color pencils. Let's see if we can unplug a little each day to enjoy the simpler things in life.

Merry Christmas.
Candi

Christmas Magic

I remember growing up being the youngest of seven that as most kids I loved Christmas time. Of course I loved getting presents and winter break from school but the thing that I loved  was the magic that Christmas seemed to bring. I remember sneaking down mid way on the stairs and just sitting and just to stare at the Christmas tree in awe of its beauty. I loved all the beautiful twinkling lights and the special decorations that my mom had collected over the years for our tree. I used to sit there and wonder if Santa was real. I used to make the same secret wish to Santa every year. I would sit on those stairs in my strawberry shortcake night gown and wished for Santa to bring me a doll. But not just any doll but a Ballerina doll. I would spend time in my room and pretend I was a graceful Prima Ballerina from the Nutcracker. Which is my favorite Christmas story of all times. Sadly Santa never did bring me that doll. I still to this day believe in the power of the Christmas magic. I love giving the people that I care about presents and trying to bring them a smile upon their face.

This brings me to the point of my story. I would like to know from anyone that may read this, what was your one Christmas wish that never came true? Or even one that did come true. I still believe in Christmas magic. Each one of us has a chance to be Santa to someone and bring a little bit of that magic to someone that needs it.

Candi

Holiday Maddness

This is a service reminder to help you shop and dine:

As many of you are getting ready for your festivities for what ever holiday you practice. Please remember to be a little nicer to the waitress or waiter that are serving you or to the retail workers that are checking you out or looking for that toy you are looking for your loved one. Also please don't be stingy on tipping your wait staff or even hair stylist or barber. The reason I say this should be obvious unless you never held a retail or restaurant job. I have held both types of jobs and know the horrors of customer service. When people say retail jobs is  comparable to Hell, trust me they are not kidding, It is the untold story of Hell. You help people from a large diverse backgrounds of life and religions. The only thing that I ask of any of these people are simple please ensure that you have bathed with soap and water, use deodorant, brush your teeth and use mouth wash. Some of you may laugh or get upset that I say this but when you have a customer that stinks of pee and sweet it is hard to focus on helping them. The only thing you can think of is how fast can you get away from them. On another note ladies please, please do not bath in perfume. I can not explain how many times I have been in another aisle and can smell the sick sweetness of a woman's perfume. As a woman I do like perfume but I always put it on lightly.  The golden rule is less is more.

Yesterday in retail Hell I had several of these events happen to me and several co-workers. Yes, we do talk about the stinky ones and the rude ones. If you become one of these you will be the subject of break room gossip. Sorry if this hurts but it is true. We don't do this to be mean but instead it is comparable to war stories that we share with each other. For in many ways it is like going to war. We have many customers that we love to wait on and many that if we see them walk in we hide. We become ninja like and busy ourselves with task off the sales floor or with other customers. I kind of feel bad for the cashiers since they can not run away but tied to a cash register. But in war there must be sacrifices.  So with this being said just remember to have some fun, relax, and channel your inner kid that lives in all of us.

Candi

Fun during the holidays

The past two days have been amazing. I have spent the last two days with my family. My husband surprised my with a Xbox One game of my very own. He got me the new Snoopy game ( no judging please I have an addiction to anything Snoopy). It is a fun and easy game to get into. The game reminds me of a Super Mario game which I happen to like.

I spent this afternoon with my sister in law. We did some Christmas shopping and manage to act like two teen age girls looking at everything. We even manage to pick up my boss something for Christmas from the OSU store. Hopefully he remembers this during my review.  We passed a new Barber shop and the guy waved to us and asked if we would be willing to get our eyebrows done. So I surprised my sister in law and was like sure. LOL the whole entire time while in the chair I kept imaging that the guy was going to shave them off but atlas he did not. He actually did an amazing job actually better than any female stylist that I have ever been to. He did not use wax but a razor and tweezers and was very gentle. I think I found a new place to go to.

My husband and I went to Pies and Pints for dinner which is amazing. He ordered the Zombie Killer which if you never have tried this needs to be a must. I had Black Cherry Hard Cider which was equally as good. The pizza was sexy as ever. Afterwards with my husband having a slight buzz we walked around and looked at the Christmas light displays which always makes me feel like a little kid again. This time of year is very hard on my husband and his sister with not having their amazing mother around. I am working on building back our family traditions and hopefully creating a few new ones.

This weekend in retail Hell has been just that. I have dealt with employee call offs, short staff, customers upset that we are sold out of the Holiday Projection lights (really should have bought stock in that), and one very pregnant cashier who decided to come to work even though she was having contractions and dilated to three ( delivering babies is not part of my job description). So all weekend long I have walked over 20 miles according to my Apple watch. My legs and feet hurt and currently have them propped up because they looked like two stuffed sausages. I have manage to get most of my Christmas shopping done via online which is my saving grace because I hate going out in the mess of holiday shoppers.

So enough about my job let's discuss some fun topics that can be done in December. Since I have had very little fun the past two days I figure I needed a little me time. I am currently watching the Mickey Mouse Scrooge. I love cartoons and anime. There is something about them that can instantly transfer you to childhood again. I manage to also pick up an adult coloring book with some fun color pencils, I have the next two days off and plan on doing non adult stuff. Do I dare touch the husband's Xbox? Oh I so should and play something like Destiny. LOL I am not by no means a gamer as my husband and kids are but hey when in Rome do as the Romans do. So tomorrow it will be my day to relax and have fun.

Candi

Finding Fun at Work?

Is it possible to have fun at work? This is a question that I asked myself last night while I was at work with me being the only manager in the building and also being very short staff due to call in's. How can one have fun while being here in retail hell and still get ones job done. I think this is possible with little things as everyone wearing silly holiday hats and singing to the holiday music that is blaring through out the store. I manage to do this towards the end of my shift and it actually helped me relax a little so I could think a little more clearly and actually get the store running a little more smoothly. In a world that is becoming crazier with mass shootings and other unknown threats we need to take a step back and regroup to remember what is important. This is creating memories and experiences with loved ones and friends. We need to be a little more understanding of each others differences and enjoy that we all are different in many different ways. As you go out and shop for presents remember to breathe and enjoy the festivities around you. Remember that as you look for that perfect present that it is not the retail clerk's fault that they may be out of something that you really wanted to buy. Christmas is not about the presents or the decorations. It is about being with the friends and family and creating memories. Cherish your loved ones.

Candi

Christmas Inspirations

Christmas Inspirations:

This title is appropriate since today is the first day of December. I worked the wee hours this morning (I'm still not a morning person) and was released from the Hell's of retail. I decided to visit my Momma today. This was a nice visit and one I definitely should do more often, especially when I am bribed by the promises of a lamb roast. I know my weakness is in really good food. This comes to the best part of the visit my mom gave me the most amazing gift ever for someone that is looking to find the fun in life again. She gave me her candy molds and top secret recipes to her chocolate covered cherries and peanut butter cups. I am very excited to start making candy and have dreams of becoming a very famous candy maker in the country. I am starting to dream like a little girl  again and it feels good to have dreams again even if they are that just dreams.

Candi