lunch break drive

Viewed on the sidewalk of 86th St. today: a slightly built man pushing a "portly" woman in a wheelchair who was in turn pushing a sleeping baby in a stroller.

another day, another dollar

Today an elderly male customer became somewhat indignant with me when he tried to "cash out" his HPB gift cards and I told him he couldn't do that. Seriously?!

It's been a long haul

This is the post I've hoping to write for the past year.:) Luke received a job offer from Charles Schwab today and will begin his new job a week from Monday. We are very excited and grateful to be able to move on with life. Luke's birthday is tomorrow, so this is probably the best birthday gift ever!:) Thanks for all the prayers and support over the past 15 months!

getting pumped for christmas!

I just work today and tomorrow before enjoying a four day weekend. I can't wait! We have a pretty relaxed Christmas planned that will include some time to ourselves as well as time spent with both of our families. Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year!

the commute

After receiving many frustrated phone calls from me about the irritating traffic patterns that cluttered my normal route home from work (it was taking me nearly an hr.), my very patient and loving husband has found me a new way to get to and from work. This wonderful new route is not only faster (35 min. or less there & about 40 min. back), but it also moves much better and I think it's less miles. Luke may or may not have suggested this route to me before and I may or may not have listened. Either way, I come home much happier than I used to.:)

some collected thoughts on marriage...

Recently a customer at work used our phone to call her husband (she apparently needed picked up or something). After getting off the phone (which she had ended with a cute little french farewell) she turned to my co-worker and me and said: "25 years we've been together and I'm still crazy about that man. He's so sweet and He does just about anything for me. He's going all out of his way for me...":) It was adorable. She went on to share an anecdote about how recently they had just climbed into the car to go somewhere and he looked at her and said: "Is it possible that I could love you more right now than I ever have?"I don't know anything about their history, but I loved hearing her talk about the two of them.

Marriage gets such a bad rap in society these days. People rarely share the happy or positive sides of love and marriage; they typically focus on the difficulties and complain about their spouses. Many even openly mock marriage. When Luke and I got engaged I remember people congratulating me, but also getting that vibe that people were thinking: "hope it works out". How is marriage supposed to be successful when that is the pervasive cultural attitude? It's a truly sad state of affairs. Marriage can be such an awesome thing if those involved can learn to be selfless and to be honest and open with each other. We live in such a selfish and self absorbed society. Luke and I are blessed to be surrounded by many people with healthy, happy marriages and I am so thankful for their examples. My Grandpa and Grandma Cummings are going on 65 years or something. How cool is that?!

I don't know if anyone else happened to be watching tv when they aired parts of Patrick Swayze's audio diary, but hearing him talk about his wife of 34 years or so and how much he loved her was very touching. He said marrying her was the best decision he ever made. Once again, I don't know much about their life together, but I do know that they stuck it out and hung in it together and that when he died, they still loved each other.

I'm going this weekend to participate in and celebrate with my friend of 20 or so years as she marries her best friend and I am so excited. Although marriage definitely has challenges and difficulties, it is an amazing journey. The coolest thing is that you are in it together and that you have committed to one other to help each other along the journey of life. Having your best friend by your side is awesome. I have understood that more this past year than ever before.

I am quite certain that 25 and 50 and 60 and 100 (yes, we secretly plan to be married this long:) years into our marriage, I will still be crazy about Luke. I know things will have changed and that we will have been through alot by then, but having him there and having God in our midst will make it ok and worthwhile.

How is September practically over?

I've been feeling somewhat glum of late, thus my lack of posting. Life has kind of gotten me down for various reasons and I try not to let it get the best of me, but it's been a struggle of late. Luke and I have been working opposite schedules and haven't been able to see each other much, which gets old quickly. He agreed to fill in a position at a different location for what we thought would be about 3 weeks and it has turned into 2 months. Thankfully next week is his last one at that location after which he should be back on a day shift.
Life has changed drastically for us in the past year, and sometimes I can't help but feel quite frustrated at what continues to feel like a standstill. Many goals and dreams have had to be put on hold and I'm just really looking forward to progress one of these days.:)
I know God is in control and has the bigger picture, but sometimes I can't help but feel a bit depressed.
I'll try to work on making my next post a bit more optimistic...:)

i saw a news blurb...

about Gen Con (gaming convention) this weekend in Indy. I guess that would explain why there was a man dressed like a Zelda character milling about in my art section at work yesterday. I pretended like it was normal.

a customer service rant...

-to the customer who was laughing out loud about the book he was reading in the coffee area: please don't, it's awkward.

-to the cutomer who #1 talked on the phone throughout our entire register transaction, #2 took a bag for one book and #3 payed me with money that you pulled out of your bra: #1 that's inconsiderate, #2 that's wasteful, #3 that's disgusting. don't.

-to the customer who rejected my offer with incredulity and anger and cut me off every time I attempted to explain my reasoning: your offer was bigger than I normally would have done for the 3 books you brought in (I was trying to be nice) and I'm especially mad at you because I wanted one of the books you were selling.:)

-to the customer(s) that trashed my section, which I had worked very hard to get in order: you are supposed to be adults. act like it.

-to the customer who had me look for 8 different books via phone (even though I ordinarily only would have looked for 2 and was trying to be nice) and then decided that you didn't want the 2 that I actually did find: that was irritating. I wasted 20 minutes trying to help you and didn't so much as get a "thank you."

-to the customer that was trying to interrupt me while I was helping a customer at the register just so you could find out where V.C. Andrews might be: that's rude. wait your turn.


Maybe I was just feeling extra irritable yesterday or maybe people were just extra annoying, who knows. At any rate all of these minor annoyances took place and I found myself very ready to go home at the end of the day. Don't get me wrong, I love my job. But anyone who has worked in retail has put up with many thoughtless customers and can probably identify. A thank you to the customers that actually patiently wait their turns, ask how my day is, say thank you and show a bit of kindness. You are the ones that can brighten a bad day.

-to any cashier that I have ignored by staying on my phone when I went through your check out: I am very sorry. I don't do that any more. I know what it's like.

-to any store where I have carried something around, decided I didn't want it and then just discarded it anywhere in the store instead of putting it back or taking it up to the register and giving it to you: I am sorry. I don't do that any more either. I know how frustrating it can be to find a parenting book stashed on a shelf in the art section.

a legitimate question...

so I was helping a customer at the register today and he was counting out the change he had dumped all over the counter and he looks down at this quarter and goes: "since when did Guam become a state?"... and I said: "seriously Guam is on a state quarter? That's really weird." And I would have been ok with that being the end of our conversation (especially since the transaction was complete and a line was forming behind him), but apparently this guy knows a bit about politics. He proceeded to tell me how Guam is pretty far from becoming a state, that Puerto Rico is much closer (fyi if they wanted to be a state, our government could vote on it and they'd be part of the union tomorrow... that's how close they are:), and went into several of the logistics of how one becomes a state (something about populations and constitutions and whatnot). Being not very politically savvy, nor having much of a vested interest in the "discussion", my side of the conversation went something like this: "oh, I see... well, that's very interesting... I did not know that... ok... yeah... good work Puerto Rico..."

marge has spurred me on...

Apparently she is tired of the fact that I haven't blogged. I can't believe it's been this long... Things have just been really busy and every time I thought about blogging I couldn't figure out where to begin. So maybe I'll just give a rundown of what's been going on so I can start fresh.:)

In no particular order, here's what's been happening:
~We went camping a few weeks ago, which was a wonderful time. We both love camping and always look forward to these opportunities. We went from a Wednesday to Sunday, which was a nice break. Plus Steph and Jeremy joined us on the weekend; we enjoy having other people to play games and chat with.
~I designed (with her input) Marge's wedding invitations and helped with assembly. We were both pleased with the results.
~I had the opportunity to display a few paintings for about 3 weeks at the new Element Salon & Spa in Lafayette. My sister-in-law let me know about the opportunity and I was thankful for the chance to show some of my stuff.
~Luke was gone all last week helping our friends move to California. It was cool that he was able to help them out, but I definitely missed him alot. I just tried to keep busy and not think about it too much.:) I'm very glad to have him back this week. We can get back into the swing of things and do dishes and watch our art films together.:)
~I've been listening to "Everything is Illuminated" (by Jonathan Saffron Foerr) on my commute. It's been good, somewhat graphic at times, but he has a very unique writing style. The movie is really good. I have previously read his book "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close", which I really enjoyed.
~Luke's job search has been pretty discouraging, so we appreciate continued prayer on that. Remaining patient and positive is definitely a challenge. We have been grateful for everyone's support and prayers.
~We attended "Plan 9 from Outer Space" (an infamous b-movie) at the IMA (as part of their Summer Nights movie program). It did get rained out toward the end, but it was alot of fun and we'd already seen it so it wasn't a big deal. We're going again this Friday (if it's not raining) to see "Fight Club". The summer movie nights are awesome, because you get to bring a picnic and sit outside watching a movie!:)
~Work has been decent. I always have lots to do and not quite enough time, but I'm figuring out that that's just the nature of life.:) And I really can't complain, I have a great job.
~We've been able to spend some time with our families on various holidays (father's day, mother's day, july 4 etc). It's always great to hang out with family and we are so blessed to have close relationships with both of ours.
~On that subject, we have a new niece! Mya Marie was born and she is adorable (of course:).
~Our friends taught us how to play Canasta, and since Luke and I both love games this piece of information warrants mentioning on this post.:)
~I've started several new paintings that I'm working on at my studio. It will probably be awhile before they are completed, but I'm glad to have sone direction and something to think about and work on.

I know we've done so much more in the past couple of months... but these are a few of the highlights. Life has remained insanely busy one way or another.:) I can hardly figure out what it is that keeps us going so often, but life keeps trucking no matter how much I want it to slow down. O well. God is good and always provides and that is something to be thankful for every day. I hope this post finds all of you alive and well. I will attempt to blog with somewhat more regularity.:)

it's been one of those weeks...

I've been feeling decidedly discouraged. No single event brought this on, just all the circumstances of life combined I guess. I'm looking forward to some good news one of these days... and to feeling like our life is in a forward motion and not so much a standstill.

Last week I finished listening to "I, Robot" (Isaac Asimov). It was very good, although much different than the movie. I really don't even see why they share a title. They are both good, but just very different. The book is composed of short stories, some of which involve same characters and all of which have to do with the struggle between robots and humanity to co-exist. It's a very good book. Now I'm listening to "the Colorado Kid" by Steven King; I haven't decided what I think yet.

The "Lost" season finale was last night (complete with a 15 minute power outage during it due to the storm). That show never ceases to amaze me... and irritate me.:) I think every episode creates more questions than it answers. I don't know how they'll possibly ever get everything to make sense. It's pretty crazy and very good. It has to be the most intricate tv show ever created.

At work yesterday a customer sarcastically said to me: "well aren't you friendly and smiley today." Not quite sure how to respond I said: "what do you mean by that?" At which point she gave me this annoyed look and said: "you're just very cold." This was after a very brief buy interchange in which I had just been my normal self and was just doing my job. I found it incredible that she felt she could pass that kind of judgment on me after we had only spoken a few words to each other (not to mention the fact that she didn't seem like much of a peach herself and knows nothing of my personality or my life). I'm not sure what she expected me to be like. I realize I'm not the smiliest or bubbliest person you'll meet, but I always strive to meet customers needs and to be friendly in my own way. I was glad that the other employees standing in the vicinity of the incident had no idea what triggered the woman's statement and thought she was out of line. Customer service is always interesting. People never cease to amaze me.:)

Sorry this is a bit of an eclectic post. I was having a hard time formulating my thoughts so I figured I'd just include it all.:) I'm looking forward to hitting up Chicago and the Green Festival this weekend. I feel ready to get away for a couple days and do something different. Chicago is always a good time and we've planned in some "chilling out" time, so that will be nice.:) 3 days off from work!

the commute...

Now that we're living on the southside, I'm spending alot more time in the car driving to and from work. This is probably the primary downside of our move, but it's a small price to pay to be able to use this house for the time being. In order to make the drive more bearable, I've been listening to books on cd. I've always enjoyed passing time in the car this way and Luke and I often listen to books on cd whenever we are driving any sort of distance.

A couple weeks ago I listened to, "I like you: Hospitality under the Infuence" by Amy Sedaris. It was very humorous and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Amy Sedaris is extremely witty (although somewhat crass at times) and while the book is hilarious, it also offers some helpful tips and interesting party ideas.:) Last week I listened to, "2001: A Space Odyssey" by Arthur C. Clark. It was a great listen. I really like the movie and was interested to to hear the book that it was based off of. The forward offered an interesting aspect to the book and movie combo; apparently Stanley Kubrick (who directed the movie) decided that he wanted to make a sci-fi movie about man's place in the universe and so he came to Clark and requested that he write a book for him to make movie out of. Kubrick was pretty involved in the writing of the book. From what I understand they were writing the screenplay at the same time as the book. I just found it interesting that the book was written in order to make a movie. Anyway, the book is great and it makes a great companion to the movie. Where the movie is somewhat vague and mysterious, the book goes into detail about the thought processes of David Bowman & Hal etc. Both are excellent by themselves, but together they make a great pair.:)

This week I'm listening to "Rosemary's Baby" by Ira Levin. I'll let you kow how it is.:) I love that my work let's us check things; we usually have a decent selection of books on cd, so I should have plenty to report on in the coming months.:)

i realize i'm not always the most environmentally attentive person but...

it irritates me when customers:
-demand a bag for one or two small items
-when asked if they need a bag respond with a cheery, "why not?" (as if they are completely ignorant of today's evironmental concerns)
-buy a reusable bag and then make you fold it neatly and put it in a plastic sack
-require unnecessary double bagging

Because HPB promotes recycling, conserving and general environmental awareness, we encourage customers to decline bags. It's silly, but to help me pass the time at the register I play a little game with myself. I try to guess each persons response to my posed question: "do you need a bag for that?" Over time I've developed my own stereotypes based on my little game. Not in a bad way, just as a way of predicting their answers. I would say I'm probably right about 84.3% of the time.:) Every once in awhile someone really surprises me with their response. I've become so good at this game, that I can even tell by the way a person pauses whether they will respond with a yes, no or why not. The things I do to pass the time.:)

It seems to me that declining plastic bags for small purchases, using reusable bags as much as possible and re-purposing the paper and plastic bags that you do aquire are all simple ways to conserve and to contribute to environmental awareness.

I'm quite certain that only Stephanie can fully realize the magnitude of this...

I AM OFFICIALLY OUT OF THE KIDS SECTION AT HPB!!!
I've been working the kids section ever since I started at Half Price (a little under a year and a half ago). As Stephanie can attest (and most other emplyees would agree) it is one of the largest and most stressful sections in the store, second only maybe to fiction. I didn't mind it that much once I got used to it, but a few months ago I started feeling really burned out and so it was a welcome relief to get new section assignments.:)
These are my new sections:
Art/Photography/Architecture etc.
Travel
Lps
Magazines
I will still be quite busy, but at least it's a change of scene.:)

how great is it...

that on the only night of the week that i work late, we closed the store 2 and half hours early due to "inclement weather". fingers crossed for a late opening tomorrow.:) i love having unexpected time.

this is a bookstore... not a diner

work provides alot of interesting situations customer-service wise. sometimes i find my blood pressure rising and other times i find myself laughing and shaking my head.:) the other day during our 20% off sale weekend a customer approached me and asked me: "what's your special today?" i wanted to say: "well, our chili cheese baked potato is $2.53 with your choice of one side, or if you want a hot dog instead of a potato, it's just 37 cents more.":) i refrained from saying it, tried to give her a look that indicated the strange phrasing of her question and said: "everything is 20% off today."