Busy As A Bee

For starters, I found a job. I'm now working in the offices of Borlind of Germany, a high-end, natural skin care line from...you guessed it, Germany. The best part is that they gave me the schedule I want so Bubba is now in daycare only 3 days a week. Very nice product, very nice people. They're sending me to Anaheim in March to help out with Expo West, a HUGE natural foods/products show. Should be a lot of fun, a lot of work, but a lot of fun. I've only ever worked a show from the buyer's side of the table.

I've been busy on the knitting front. Everyone I know is having babies! A friend of mine just had her second daughter (her first is one of Natalie's first friends, they're a week apart.) I knit her up the little kimono from "One Skein". And two of the girls I work with now are due any day, so I knit up hats for their impending little ones. Also out of "One Skein". I just love that book, especially when I need a special gift that won't cost me an arm and a leg and knits up in a weekend (or an evening.)

One of the ladies I work with is having a girl, the other is having a boy. Hence the Valentine's color scheme...I just couldn't do blue in February!

I also visted my local yarn store...they sent out a "Superbowl Weekend Sale" email. 40% off ALL LOBSTER POT YARNS!! INCLUDING CASHMERE! For those of you who don't knit, or buy yarn, Lobster Pot is a small, small company in Cape Cod that produces beautiful yarns that are hand-dyed in actual lobster pots. The colors have wonderful New England names like "boiled lobster," "drawn butter," "hydrangea," "cape cod sky." I could go on and on. Anyway, I hit the store at 10 sharp and snagged all the boiled lobster and salt rose cashmere I could afford. Two skeins of each! And one each for Mummie, as well as some seagrass. This yarn is soooo soft, I keep rubbing it on my cheeks. I think the pink is going to become a hat, the red? Any suggestions?

I've also been baking. BubbaLou likes to help. Lick the bowl, that is. Chocolate chip cookies.

Speaking of cookies, one last goodie before I go. Sy got this enormous vase for me just before the holidays. It stands about 2 feet tall and about a foot or 14 inches across. I'd been looking for one that wasn't $250, and my bargain hunter found me one. Too late to fill it with pumpkins, I chose to use all my cookie cutters instead. I collect them, but only the all metal ones. I've got snowflakes, martini glasses, flamingos, camels, almost every animal imaginable, a high-heel shoe, a hand, as well as the classics...heart, bell, tree, snowman, star..anything goes, I love them all. These are one of my favorite things in the "whole wide world," as BubbaLou puts it. They are ultimately destined for a special wall in my kitchen, but until then I just love them in the jar on my table.

If we ever get the walls painted, you'll get to see them in all their glory. I'm actually framing them all , like a giant picture. Who says cookies aren't art? And yes, I do use them. Frequently. Bubba Lou thinks its great fun when I have to dump out the entire vase to get one on the bottom!

Unprofessional

I am livid. And I don't care who knows it, including my employer. But let me start at the beginning...

Sy is going back to school in less than a month. Actually in a week and a half. This means I have to get a "full-time" job, put Bubba-Lou in daycare :( and apply to the state of NH for some financial assistance. But we're all very excited he's going back to school.

My current employer is well aware of my current situation, and we have discussed increasing my hours from 16 to 32 a week. Perfect. Work 4 days, spend 3 with Bubba-Lou. And the added bonus is that her daycare is just down the street from work, so I can drop her off right before I go in, and Sy can pick her up when he gets out of school. My current employer and I had an hour long sit down meeting and discussed what days I could work, what responsibilities I would take on, etc. All was decided.

So I thought.

Meanwhile, I called and turned down a job offer (with a past employer) for more money, because the hours would mean Bubba would be in daycare before 9am, and I wouldn't be home until right before her bedtime (not to mention the longer commute and more gas $). More money is not always the answer. My family is the most important thing to me, and I have to do what's right not only for my checkbook, but them.

Jump to today...4 days after the sit down meeting. I get a phone call during which my employer states that after some "soul searching" and "reviewing the numbers", she just can't give me 32 hours a week. I can only keep the hours I'm currently getting. My employer goes on to say how she really doesn't want to lose me, because I'm such a valuable employee, and even though I already stated I would not work 2 part-time jobs she really wants me to work 2 days for her. Oh, and she bets that my former employer, if I called back, would understand and give me the job I turned down. No, I refuse to lower myself and beg, how does she think that is going to make me look? "Hello, sorry but I've changed my mind and do want the job. I hope you haven't hired anyone else, but maybe you could give them a call?" How unprofessional, how imature. I should not have even been told I could have what I needed, if she was still deciding if she could afford me. I was upfront and honest with her about other opportunities I had and that I really wanted to stay employed with her. I'm one of the lucky people that loves their job, and it makes me a better employee. Until I get screwed with only 2 weeks to find a job that is willing to work with a limited schedule (due to daycare constraints) and is willing to pay me enough to survive.

Okay, I understand not being able to afford me. I make more than anyone in the shop, but I also have more experience. Hell, I have more retail, sales and business experience than my boss. And I tell you what, she could afford me...if she knew how to cut corners and make a business run efficiently. She's been in business for about 2 years now and she usually only works in the shop on Saturdays. She pops in and out the rest of the time when she's on the way to her office (that she pays extra rent for, even though I've been told she has a great office at home.) I'm sorry, but if this were my business and I wanted it to be a success, I would be willing to pay qualified help, I would work every day if needed in the store, and I would do my paperwork and bookeeping at home until midnight if I had to to keeps costs minimal. I have worked for some very successful, very dedicated business people and I know what it takes. It takes perseverance, dedication, a very strong commitment, and the understanding that your "free time" doesn't exist anymore. Creating a successful business means that you have to work through exhaustion, burn out and illness because you don't have a choice. If you're strong enough to make it a success, you get a second wind, you don't burn out because you love what you're doing, and you don't get sick because you don't have time. Anyway, if you get burnt out in less that 5 years, why did you start a business to begin with? What were you planning on doing in 10 years? Retiring? Who wants to buy into a failing business, or for that matter, a business that isn't reaching its full potential? No one.

On a happy note, Bubba just informed me she "pooped big" on the potty. Hurray for potty training, it gives me a great reason to applaud wildly and yell "hurray" everyday!