Day Three Hundred and Seven: Head Girl

I am head girl.

Okay, so my roommates and I are Harry Potter obsessed (wait until they see their Christmas presents.) Last night we spent an hour or so sorting ourselves and everyone we know into the various houses of Hogwarts. Then we went as far as to determine which of us would be prefect and which of us would make head girl.

I made head girl.

I know it’s just a fantasy, but I am very pleased with myself. See, my high school was a Catholic high school and they generally do things like prefect and head girl. But they decided not to have prefects when I started there, which sucks. Because it would be awesome.

Anyway, Taylor and Madison elected me head girl. I can be content with that.

Challenge to my Readers:

Be pleased with the honors you friends bestow upon you. Even if they’re not a real thing. 

Day Three Hundred and Six: Non Abrasive

I have so far managed not to kill all my workers at my job.

Last night I got a panicked call from one with an issue that I tried to solve over the phone. She wasn’t listening and wasn’t figuring it out, so I drove all the way back to work in the middle of the night to help her fix it.

I didn’t raise my voice. I didn’t call anyone names. I worked through it with her, showed her what she needed and got out of there without getting angry.

I think I’m going a good job of that.

Challenge to my Readers:

Work is super frustrating sometimes. But getting angry just breeds ill will and makes it even worse. Keep your cool and the solution will be made clear.

Day Three Hundred and Five: Plan-Writing

I have a plan….for my writing.

I’ve been slacking.  Okay, being a manger has made my life hectic and busy in a way I never thought I would have to worry about.  But writing is one of my greatest passions. So here is my plan:

1.       Finish this blog. This was a much greater undertaking than I thought it would be

2.       Finish editing Corner Stone Café 2 (Get excited)

3.       Finish my newest writing project and edit, ready for publication

4.       NaNoWriMo for November

5.       Start Corner Stone Café 3 (last book in the series)

6.       Spend December writing a follow up to previously mentioned new project

Yeah, I know it sounds like a lot. I promise, it is a lot of work. But this is what I really want to do in life. So I’m going to do it.

Challenge to my Readers:

Make plans and follow through.

Day Three Hundred and Four: Plan-Work

I have got a plan.

So, I’ve been whining about how I’m really not liking my job all that much anymore. Well, never fear, irritated readers of my world. I now have a plan to move forward with my working. I’ve decided that if I am not offered the job I just interviewed for (the one I’m over qualified for) then I will put myself back on the Sub list for teaching.

Yes, I will be a substitute teacher. Sounds like hell, right. It is. But it will be a foot in the door into a school I might want to teach in. It will put me in the perfect position to get a real job someday.

That is my plan. When it comes to fruition I will actually be able to make rent without having an aneurism.

Challenge to my Readers:

Make new plans.

Day Three Hundred and Three: Laundry Machine

When I need to get something done, I get it done.

Today I did four loads of laundry, cleaned dishes and the kitchen and cleaned out the fridge. Sometimes I feel like I don’t contribute enough to the apartment cleaning. Taylor does the laundry a lot and Madison almost always does the dishes. I feel bad that I’m not helping out as much as I should be.

I want to be a better roommate and help out more. Maybe next time I’ll get to the dishes before they stink like that. So gross.

Challenge to my Readers:

Be a good friend and roommate and do the dishes. Help out where you can, whenever you can, and you will be proud of how good your place can look.

Day Three Hundred and Two: Over Qualified

I got told I was over qualified for a job today.

Sweet, right. I’m too good for them to hire; don’t you just love that? Never mind that jobs in my field are very hard to find. But It was still very nice of them to interview me. Who knows, they haven’t told me no yet, maybe this will be a good chance at a new job.

I really need a new job.

Challenge to my Readers:

Apply for jobs even if you aren’t qualified. You never know who might take a chance on you.

Day Three Hundred and One: Good fish owner

I’ve talked a lot about how I’m a good dog owner. I clean up Ecco’s poop and take him for walks and all sorts of stuff. But Ecco also has a brother. His name is Ethan and he is a Betta fish. I’ve had him for nearly two years now. Which is crazy for me because fish usually die after a few months for me.

Ethan was a gift from my roommate and best friend, Madison. She got him for me because I had a dream that she got me a fish named Ethan. She’s a firm believer in making these premonitions come true.

Anyway, Ethan had been looking a little green around the gills, so to say. I asked Tony, my friend who works at the aquarium, what I should do. He suggested a bigger tank, a bubbler and some medicine for him. So that’s what I did; I got Ethan a tank about twice the size of his previous tank and it has a bubbler, a light and I got him some medicine.

I love my fish and I want to take care of him and keep him for a long, long time.

Challenge to my Readers:

All life deserves to be respected. Treat it well.

Day Three Hundred: Hypermnesia

I have a really good memory.

Just ask Taylor. I’m constantly reminding him of things. I have funny ways of remembering stuff, little images and bits of strange information. But I have a great memory for events and timelines. Maybe I’m not so good at remembering dates or exact figures. But I have a really good memory for stuff people said to me or things that have happened to me.

And if you owe me money. You know who you are.

Bitch.

Anyway, Taylor has a pretty awful memory, so I guess it’s a good thing I’m around to remind him about the important stuff.

Challenge to my Readers:

Practice expanding your memory. It will help you in the long run.

Day Two Hundred and Ninety Nine: Jackanapes

I am mischievous.

I love a good prank. I feel like life is better when you can laugh at it. I like to make things fun. That’s why I like to goof off so often. I know sometimes it seems like I can’t take anything seriously, but I simply choose not to.

I like my life that way.

Challenge to my Readers:

Learn to take a joke.

Day Two Hundred and Ninety Eight: Misocapnist

 :One who hates the smell of cigarette smoke

I hate the smell of cigarettes.

I bet you didn’t know there was a word for that. There is. Misocapnist, a person who hates the smell of cigarette smoke. I don’t really have anything against smokers on a personal level, I just think smoking is stupid. And here’s the thing about Crohn’s disease; even being around smoke is bad for us. We’re hyper-susceptible to lung disease.

So, I’m a little preachy about it. If you’re smoking near me, I’ll ask you to move. I would say don’t take it personally, except that you should keep your cancer sticks to yourself.

Challenge to my Readers:

Be patient; if you’re a smoker, be aware that health disorders make life hard on us all kinds of ways.

Day Two Hundred and Ninety Seven: Agerasia

  : the state of looking younger than one is

I look so much younger than I am.

Everyone tells me that this will be a good thing in twenty years. I’m sure it will. But I get my ID checked when I so much as walk next to a bar. Hell, I kept getting my ID checked when I lived in Europe, and the drinking age there is sixteen in some places. Mind you, I can’t drink anyway, but it would be nice to be treated like an adult sometimes.

I guess it’s something I can be proud of, because having a young face makes me feel pretty. I’m sure in ten or twenty years I’ll really love it.

Challenge to my Readers:

Love your face, whether it be old or young. 

Day Two Hundred and Ninety Six: Adoxography

 : to be skilled at writing on an unimportant subject

I am skilled at writing about unimportant things.

This is the result of years in academia. Right now I am so addicted to writing about silly things that I’m writing a new thesis about the abuse of employees in modern retail markets. It’s actually been kind of fun; collecting the data and the information from my friends. So far it’s pretty small scale, so it might not ever become something.

We’ll see. If you wanna read it, let me know.

Challenge to my Readers:

Keep writing, even if what you write about isn’t important to anyone but you.

Day Two Hundred and Ninety Five: Dexterous

I can do stuff with both hands!

That sounded dirty. What I meant is that I am capable of multitasking without cutting my fingers off. Usually.
I'm also very good at both working and training at the same time, which is something I have only discovered recently because of my very new staff. I've actually managed to train three of my four new hires and the shop hasn't even burned down yet. 

Challenge to my Readers:

Dexterity is all about practice. Practice.

Day Two Hundred and Ninety Four: Imperturbable

I am cool and calm.

Not really. But I try really hard to at least appear calm and cool.

Notice how lately I’ve been having trouble keeping workers at my shop. Well, the other day my owner complimented me on never losing my cool about it. Okay, so I never lost my cool in front of her. She doesn’t know about the epic breakdowns I had at home or the sleepless nights, but it still felt good to be complimented about that.

Challenge to my Readers:

Keep calm and find a new meme.

Day Two Hundred and Ninety Three: Fervent

I am fervent.

I am zealous and enthusiastic about everything I do. Especially my writing. Recently I have found myself struggling to stay focused on my writing for a significant amount of time. It comes in fits and bursts. I would really like to get into the practice of being able to write when I want without having to fight for it.

So, I am fervent about my work right now; dreaming of making it my full time job.

Challenge to my Readers:

Be enthusiastic about your work. It makes it a lot easier.

Day Two Hundred and Ninety Two: Boisterous

I am boisterous.

I am excitable and bouncy. I am energetic and jovial.

I like life. I try to live it as loudly and completely as I possibly can. Even on days when I’m feeling down, I try to be awake and alive for the moment. That’s why when you see me out walking with my music in and jamming out. Sorry to that biker this morning, I didn’t know I was flailing that much.

Challenge to my Readers:

Be boisterous; enjoy life and enjoy energy. 

Day Two Hundred and Ninety: Insouciant

 This is one of my favorite words.

I’m trying to be more insouciant these days. I feel like one of the causes of my stress is that I am concerned about too many things. I know there are a lot of things I should care about, but sometimes it’s just too much.

I want to start crossing off lists of things I don’t care about. I want to be unruffled by the problems of others and focus on mine a little bit for a while. If you notice me being a little insouciant, please don’t take it personally, just know you might be on my list. The one I’m crossing off…you might be off the list.

Challenge to my Readers:

These days we have a constant access to information, thousands of causes and problems. We’re basically a generation of associative PTSD. Calm down. Care less.

Day Two Hundred and Eighty Nine: Loquacious

Loquacious is a great word for me.

I am very talkative when I want to be. Ask my boyfriend, he listens to me babble on and on all the time. To be fair, it was in the contract he signed when he started dating me. That he has to listen to me talk all the time.

I try to keep my loquaciousness functional, I try not to talk about meaningless things. I feel like that the mistake of newly loquacious people is that they’re talking a lot about nothing. I hope I don’t do that.

Challenge to my Readers:

Just because you’re speaking doesn’t mean you’re worth hearing. If you think no one listens to you, listen to yourself and see if what you’re saying is worth anything.

Day Two Hundred and Eighty Eight: Words

To start off a section of my newly caught up blog, I’m going to do a few posts about words I like to use to describe myself.

Shut up, it’s my f*cking blog and I’ll do whatever the hell I want. I like words, I like big words. And this blog is all about me and things that make me happy. So suck it.

Challenge to my Readers:

Grab a dictionary; this is going to get fun.

Day Two Hundred and Eighty Seven: All Caught Up

As of this blog, I’m all caught up with my blog for the time being.

Sort of. I mean, I getting there. Slowly but surely.

But seriously, I’m actually where I need to be. I’m going to try to stop skipping a few days and then updating. It’s hard, really it is. Blame my agent, he isn’t being hard enough on me. (My boyfriend is my agent.)

Anyway, welcome to the more caught up version of ONE GOOD YEAR!

Challenge to my Readers:

There is always stuff you’re putting off. Man up and do it.

Day Two Hundred and Eighty Six: Yoga

I’ve started doing yoga.

Okay, I’ve done yoga before, but now I’m doing a different kind. Before I was doing it for flexibility. Now my doctor (well, his receptionist, who swears by her yoga routine) says I should do it to relax. You know, distress.

So, if I suddenly strike a pose while I’m talking to you, you’re stressing me out.

Stop talking.

Challenge to my Readers:

Don’t stress, just yoga.

Day Two Hundred and Eighty Five: Patterns

I see things in patterns.

I don’t think I’ve mentioned this before, but it’s this weird thing about me.

When I was a kid, I started walking on every other tile on the floor in my kitchen at home. To this day, my body has an automatic path it follows around the kitchen. I can honestly tell you that I have never stepped on fifty percent of those tiles.

It’s not an OCD thing, I just saw a pattern in the tiles and wanted to walk only on those. I also count by threes instead of fives. I’m a little weird about those things. But that’s just me I guess.

Challenge to my Readers:

Everyone has little quirks. Don’t be afraid of them, embrace them.

Day Two Hundred and Eighty Four: Roll With It

So I got recognized by someone tonight.

It was weird. When I saw her, she did that thing of like “oh hey!” in that tone that means she thinks she knows who I am.

She looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t remember her name, so I just bullshitted my way through the conversation. At one point she started talking about classes I know I didn’t take, so I think she has me confused for someone else. A good person might have mentioned it, but I decided not to embarrass her in front of her boyfriend, so I kept faking it. We talked grad school, plans, graduation and stuff. She said good bye and paid with a credit card.

The moment of truth….never seen her before in my life. I confirmed it by checking the name on the credit slip. Not someone I know.

She was totally very nice. Maybe next time she comes in I’ll just ask her to be my friend.

Challenge to my Readers:

Sometimes it’s nice to be recognized. If you don’t recognize them, own up to it early on and it will be much less awkward.

Day Two Hundred and Eighty Three: Nicknames

I like to give out nicknames.

This is something kind of random. I was thinking about it the other night when I was talking to a friend of mine. She said something along the lines of “hey, remember when you decided to start calling that girl by this name instead of her real one? And everyone at school still calls her that.”

Or when I started calling a guy at the mall Bill Weasley (to be fair, he totes looks like him) and everyone he worked with started calling him Bill Weasley.

It just came to me, I guess. Thought I would share.

Challenge to my Readers:

I love nicknames, but don’t be mean about it. There is nothing endearing about “Whoreface Baboon.”

Day Two Hundred and Eighty Two: Rain

I love the rain.

Colorado has been freakishly rainy this year. As a long time resident, I can tell you that this means our winter will be the worst yet. Wet summer, wicked cold winter. Better get those snow tires out people, you’re going to need them.

On that note, I love the rain. No, it’s not just the author in me (people are imagining me right now curled up next to a rain splashed with a cup of coffee and an extra large sweater while I write.) I think growing up in a desert state has made me very appreciative of rain. Especially after another long summer of fighting wildfires in the highlands.

Hopefully next year all this rain will come early and prevent some of those wildfires.

Challenge to my Readers:

About 6 to 10 percent of people are affected by Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD.) Know  the symptoms and don’t let the changing seasons get you down.

Day Two Hundred and Eight One: Sports fan

Awww, yeah, it’s that time of year again.

As I’m writing this, it’s fifteen minutes to kick off and Broncos’ season is about to begin.

Okay, I’m not actually a huge Broncos fan, but I like football. The Packers are my team at heart, but I think this year the Broncos have a good chance at the playoffs. At least!

So, I’m cheering for my team(s) and showing my Colorado pride.

Go Broncos!

Challenge to my Readers:

I don’t believe in Bandwagons. Whether you’re a fair-weather fan, a diehard devotee or just a sports aficionado, root for whom you want and love what you love.

Day Two Hundred and Eighty: Frugal

I’m trying this new thing where I try to save money.

So far it’s working out okay. It helps that since I have a pretty restrictive diet (no high fructose corn syrup, limited dairy, limited gluten and now no caffeine) so I can’t exactly hop over to subway and grab a sandwich. I’ve been trying to bring my own lunch to work.

Taylor has been doing this too. I have to say that not only does it save us money, but it forces us to eat healthier. I’m still kind of new at it, but I’m really enjoying it.

Challenge to my Readers:

Tomorrow, make yourself lunch. Enjoy the fact that it was something you created.

Day Two Hundred and Seventy Nine: Puppy Time

Playing with my puppy is one of life’s greatest joys.

The other day, Tony and I took Ecco to the park. We ran him around and let him play with a corgi named Templeton. It was super fun, even though it was ungodly hot.

The best part is that when we got back, Ecco passed out and didn’t move for a few hours. Allowing me to get some work done.

I will never understand people who don’t take their puppy out to play.

Challenge to my Readers:

Puppies can be so frustrating, but at their center they’re pure joy. Enjoy.

Day Two Hundred and Seventy Eight: Considerate

The other night I was having a pretty bad night.

As you know, my workers are quitting in droves. The ones who are sticking around are pretty new so it’s a little difficult to manage them right now since I have to keep fielding questions from them at all hours of the night.

Anyway, I ended up with a shift on a Wednesday night. It was about 8:58 and we hadn’t seen anyone for about an hour, so my partner and I started closing up shop. At 9:00 a family came in and asked if we were closed. Most nights I would tell them to f*ck off, but they had kids. So I let them in. They didn’t take too long, but by the time they got their ice cream, it was about 9:05. Not so bad.

Then, descending like the hordes of pests that they are, an entire floor of students came in. I could have told them to leave, but there were about twenty of them. Good sales on a slow day. Plus, aside from the first girl who was a rude little bitch (promptly got told) they were really nice. They emptied out their change into our tip jar so that was very kind of them.

Finally we were done. All students out. I go to grab the sign…and another small group of friends is trying to walk in. I told them we were closed, when a little voice asked me if she could please get ice cream for her interns because they were working all night.

Having been an intern (student teaching) I understood. So I let them all in. And when I found out that the intern girl was paying out of her own money and not a DU credit card, I gave her a discount.

So yeah, I’m a little nice. Sometimes.

Challenge to my Readers:

Sometimes when you have a bad day, you need to do something kind for someone else to make yourself feel better. It works. I promise.

Day Two Hundred and Seventy Seven: New Hire

My newest hire is pretty cool.

He’s an opera major with a second major in English, creative writing. And he’s thinking about adding an Italian major. His FSEM teacher is my old advisor. We have a lot to talk about. Not to mention he’s super friendly and a quick learner.

My shop is going a little crazy

on me right now. I’ve had three people quit on me with little to no notice. I feel a little like I’m drowning because I get absolutely no help from my owners. I’m just so stressed and tired and I’m working a job that really should not be causing me so much stress. I work in a freaking ice cream shop, for goodness sake, why is it so hard? I wish that I could hire people I know; I have plenty of friends who need jobs. Unfortunately, because my owners don’t understand how bad a cram we’re in, I have been forbidden to hire people who are my friends. Once again, I feel like they just want to drive me to quit.

Yeah, if I quit, this whole place would fall in on itself.

Challenge to my Readers:

Take peace in the little things and fight on. Eventually it has to get better. Right?

Day Two Hundred and Seventy Six: Fun at Home

I am a homebody.

Usually when people say that, they mean it as a bad thing. I’m not saying I don’t ever get out of the house, no matter how much it feels that way sometimes. But I like to come home from work and just be with the people I love. I don’t need to go out to the bar or out to dinner or to a movie every night. First of all, I can’t afford that. Secondly, I just like having someplace to rest my feet.

Taylor and I like board games and stuff. So for his birthday, we went out and got Taboo, this very fun game. And we played it with all our friends. Let’s just say for KT’s sake that we tied. It was a lot of fun.

Sometimes it’s just nice to stay at home. Going out every night would be exhausting. Not to mention, that makes going out lose its fun. I would rather go out for special occasions and have it be important than just wander down to the bar every night. Not that I have anything against people who do that, I have friends who go out almost every night, but it’s just not for me.

Challenge to my Readers:

Poor? Stay in for a change and hang out with your family. Whichever family that is.

Day Two Hundred and Seventy Five: Sean Penn

First time playing Cards Against Humanity.

Just to let everyone in on the Sean Penn joke, it goes a little like this:

Taylor draws a card “After the earthquake in Haiti, Sean Penn brought the devastated people _____. “

I don’t recall what Madison’s card was, but mine filled it in as “Sean Penn brought the devastated people Sean Penn.”

Because I had Sean Penn, as a card. This game rocks.

Which leads me to my next blog….

Challenge to my Readers:

Nothing beats coming home to a good laugh, even if the game is only proving that you’re a horrible person.

Day Two Hundred and Seventy Four: New Songs

I’ve mentioned before that I love to find new songs. I really do.

Well, last night at work (I know, should have been working) I found the awesome, end of summer, wicked fun jam. You can’ get it on Itunes yet, but I think it’s on youtube. You’ll love it.

It’s called Be Okay by Oh Honey. Take a listen.

Oh Honey - Be Okay

Challenge to my Readers:

Support the arts by expanding your horizons.

Day Two Hundred and Seventy Three: Surprise!

Taylor and I are good at surprises.

I’ve mentioned my roommate’s Hombre before and how for a while the car had a mustache on the hood, because, duh. But the mustache got stolen off her car!

Who would do that? What mother*cking asshole would take someone’s mustache off a car that didn’t belong to them.

Anyway, Taylor and I got her a new mustache. She just found out about it. She was very excited.

Challenge to my Readers:

There’s nothing to big or too small to do for your friends.

Day Two Hundred and Seventy Two: Business cards

Today my boyfriend surprised me with business cards. I don’t even have a business, but he made me business cards with some of my credentials and my phone and website listed for me to start handing out.

This is why I love my boyfriend. I’ve been complaining about being stuck in a dead end job for a while now. And he goes out and makes something happen for me. I know it’s just a start and that it really doesn’t mean anything until I have someone to give them to, but it means so much to me.

Taylor is so good to me.

Challenge to my Readers:

Do something to change your rut.

Day Two Hundred and Seventy One: House Hunting

It’s that time of year. Our lease is up in a few months and the three of us are considering moving out of our current apartment. We would really like a place with a yard and maybe a little more room. We also want another room so our other friend can move in with us.

Well, I found the most beautiful little place. It’s this cute little house not too far away from where we live now. It’s right in our price range and it looks absolutely amazing. I emailed the guy to see when he was interested in having someone move in and if he was okay with pets. I haven’t heard anything back yet.

I really hope he emails and says he looking for someone in December and loves animals. But I guess we’ll just have to see.

Challenge to my Readers:

Make things happen, start now and get it done.

Day Two Hundred and Seventy: Try New Things

The other night Taylor and I were playing Ask Reddit. One of the questions was “what is a hobby you think everyone should try?” and the first answer was GeoCaching. I had never heard of it before, but Taylor explained it to me.

GeoCaching is pretty much like a treasure hunt. You have coordinates of a place and you use your phone or a gps to find it. Taylor and I found our first one on his birthday. It was near the creek by our apartment. It’s a nice excuse to get out and hike around, explore a place and trek through bushes and stuff.

Taylor and I are lucky because we both love to try new things. I can’t imagine living with someone who didn’t want to get out and do something new. I’m lucky to have him and lucky that he does such things with me.

Challenge to my Readers:

Try new things. Be adventurous.

Day Two Hundred and Sixty Nine: Dips

I love dips.

The other day Taylor and I went to the Taste of Colorado. We were saving money because we’re poor and stuffed ourselves on the dip samples at a few of the booths. They were so yummy.

Then today I decided I wanted to make dip. So Taylor and I went to Whole Foods and got dip stuff and made dill dip. It was very good.

I have a lot of random cravings. I’m lucky in that I know I can give into mine and still be healthy. I don’t crave sweets as often as I crave things like pickles, beef jerky and dip. Plus, we eat them with pretzels and carrots, not chips.

Challenge to my Readers:

Eat what makes you happy, but stay healthy about it.

Day Two Hundred and Sixty Eight: Puzzles

I am good at puzzles.

I got this little puzzle thing from a store today. It’s foam and you try to make a cube out of six pieces. I can do it in about thirty seconds.

Taylor is still trying. God I love him.

Challenge to my Readers:

Exercise your brain with puzzles and games. Way more fun than just parking yourself in front of the telly.

Day Two Hundred and Sixty Seven: Harry Potter

I am one of the world’s biggest Harry Potter fans.

Seriously. Ask me anything. I know the world back to front. It’s actually a little bit ridiculous how much I know about Harry Potter. Those books were my life as a child. They’re still kind of my life today.

The other night I had a kid come into the shop with his family. He was probably close to nine or ten. He was wearing a Ravenclaw hat. I asked him if he had read the books and he told me he had. His mom and I chatted for a while about how awesome Harry Potter was. I told them about Pottermore and said they should check it out.

They left the shop really excited and pretty happy. It made me pretty happy too.

Challenge to my Readers:

Live your passions; they are what make you beautiful.

Day Two Hundred and Sixty Six: Imaginative

I have the best imagination.

In my opinion. I don’t think that anyone has come up with a scale to measure imagination yet, but if they did, I would be off the charts.

My imagination is what makes me such a great writer. I can create worlds from nothing, build characters and really bring them to life. Even though talking about my writing makes me nervous and being an author is a lot of work, I’m very, very proud of myself.

When I can’t sleep at night, which is often, I tell myself stories to help calm down my brain. Sometimes it works, but sometimes it just makes me wake up in the middle of the night, grab my computer and write. These days I’m writing more than ever. Now that I really want to consider it a viable career field, I’m trying my hand at all sort of different styles and types of writing.

All fuelled by my imagination.

Challenge to my Readers:

Keep your imagination strong. Exercise it regularly.

Day Two hundred and Sixty Five: Party Planner

It’s my boyfriend’s birthday!

I woke up around two in the morning on his birthday and put streamers and a banner up in our house and covered the walls with balloons. I have to say it looked pretty good considering I only had duct tape to use to hang stuff up.

He woke up in the morning completely surprised.  It was beautiful and I was so happy.

Then we had an epic birthday bash. Not really, we had a few friends over and played Taboo. Now he’s twenty four years old and so much my man; so amazing and so sweet.

Someday I’m gonna marry this man.

Challenge to my Readers:

Fall in love and do anything you can to keep it.

Day Two Hundred and Sixty Four: Good Guy (girl) Boss

There is this meme going around the internets lately, called good guy boss. It’s kind of a spin off of Good Guy Greg (google it.) It’s usually about a boss doing something surprisingly nice for their workers.

I am a good guy boss.

For example: I worried about my hires (mostly young women) walking alone at night after work if their phones died. So I bought a charger for the shop.

Our neighbors turned into parking Nazis over the summer and told us we only had one spot, so I park down the road every day so my coworker can have the spot.

Even though I’m a manager and can pick my shifts, I work at least two shifts on the weekends and always work both closing and opening shifts so I know what’s going on in my shop.

I do a lot of things in my store to try and keep it the best for both my employees and my customers. I want my store to run smoothly. That isn’t working out so well right now, but I’m getting there slowly.

Challenge to my Readers:

Everything you do for someone else is important.

Day Two Hundred and Sixty Three: Concerned

I helped fill out a missing person report.

So, I have this favorite old customer. His name is Ben. He comes in every day and gets the exact same shake. Some days he can’t come in because he’s doing physical therapy, so his wife, June, comes in for him.

The other day he came in like usual, got his shake, signed his receipt. I walked him to his car and said good bye. A few hours later I was off for a bit and came back in. June had come in while I was gone and told us that Ben was missing. I called her up and talked to her. I helped her through the process of filing a police report since he is an at-risk individual.

She came in today with him and told us that they found him safe, but that he probably shouldn’t be driving anymore. I think it’s sad that a person hits a point in their life when they can’t function alone anymore. Luckily, Ben has June to look out for him.

Challenge to my Readers:

I don’t like old people, they scare me, but you still have to respect them. Sometimes their life is just a little harder than ours is.

Day Two Hundred and Sixty Two: First Aid

I am trained in first aid.

Well, I was trained in first aid, like a few years ago. When I was a boy scout. But I’ve never forgotten. I’ve only ever had to use it on myself or when I’m camping with idiots (More frequent than you would imagine.) But the other day I had to use it in my shop.

A guy came into my shop with a nasty looking slash on his arm. I guess he caught it on something. It wasn’t much, but I cleaned him up and put some antiseptic and a bandaid on it. I also got him ice cream.

What can I say, I’m a girl of many talents.

Challenge to my Readers:

Learn first aid and CPR. It might save someone’s life.