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Things have been going on!

Last week I started at a new store. And, not only is it a new store, but it's a new position as well. The manager of the store I'm in now is pregnant and has gone off on maternity leave. So I am taking over for a year. Which is very exciting, for several reasons. The first because it's a promotion! (even if it's only temporary) The second, because I got to move from where I was. I wasn't overly happy there, so I was glad to be able to move. My drive is much quicker, and I think all around it's going to be better.

There are still a bunch of things to learn though. I had only one week with the manager before she left, so I'm still trying to figure out where things go.

And next week we're having a bit of a renovation. Well, actually it's being called a remerchandising. Whatever, it's very exciting.

Not only because there will be changes, but everything is going to be moved, EVERYTHING. So there will be a fresh start for me, know what I mean? Everything will be perfect, and I can just go from there.

Anyway, I'm excited, and I can't wait to see how it all turns out.

Spring WILL come

Because I am still living in thie depths of winter, and also because I'd rather not be, I thought I'd post a couple of pictures that I took a long time ago in the botanical garden in Ft. Worth. Just to give me some hope that there will in fact be a spring.

The clouds in the sky

Februarium -- Part Two -- Day Three

When I've loved?

When am I not loving? No, seriously.

I love my parents, I love my brother & sister in law (even though sometimes I claim otherwise), I love my grandparents, I love my aunts & uncles, cousins and second cousins. I may not see all of them very often, but they're always in my heart and I do love every last one of them to bits.

I love my friends. I think I grow more attached to friends than I probably should. Not so much because it's bad, but when they're gone for a while I miss them terribly, it actually will make me sad if I don't get to talk to them for a while. And friends have lives that do not and should not always revolve around me ;)

I love my pets. When I think back on the pets that I had as a child I miss them terribly, especially the dog we had from the time I was 12 until I was well into my twenties. That dog was a terror. I probably claimed to hate him three times a day, if not more. But when I wasn't feeling well, he'd come and curl up with me, and keep me warm and make me feel loved. (Not exactly safe, since he was a very small dog) I even love the cat that I inherited, whom I'm actually allergic to. Who yowls at me randomly throughout the day, I don't know what she's trying to say to me, but it's sort of cute when she does it. (sometimes)

I love my surroundings. As I've already stated, my condo is my favourite thing. I love the city I live in, it's cute, and it's clean. Sure there are bad things about it, but I've lived here my entire life and I couldn't really imagine living anywhere else. Well, except two places... I love my cottage. I've been going there since I was still in the womb, and I can't imagine a better place in Canada than that. It can be quiet and peaceful, as well as loud and fun, sometimes both in the same day. There's a lot of trees, there's a lake, there are boats, there are docks to lie on in the sun. It's fantastic and I love it.

I love travelling, I've been to France twice and would love to go back any time. In fact, I'd live there if it were possible. I love the places I've been in Canada, especially Vancouver. What a fantastic city that is. I love the few parts of the US I've seen. New York City is just mindblowing, Charlotte and the surrounding area is lovely, Chicago is an eye opener (or was to me when I was 13), Dallas was beautiful, and not at all like the Texas I was expecting. There are more places of course, but those are the ones I can think of right now.

I just love, there's probably not a day that passes when I don't love something, even if it's just the sunset, the way the air smells, or the outfit I'm wearing that day.

Februarium -- Part Two -- Day Two

Carrying on!

Day two is easier than day one. For me anyway. The thing that I love.

My condo.

For my entire life I've lived with my parents. First for 25 or so years in the house I grew up in, then for about 2 years with my mother in her house. And that was great, for the most part anyway. There was almost always someone around to talk to, the bills were all paid by someone else, the food was there, all I had to do was cook it...

However, there's something incredibly fantastic about living on your own. The fact that you can leave your dishes lying around for days and days, and that if you don't particularly want to pick up your clothes, it won't matter, because who is going to see them but you, and your cat?

I love my little condo. Yes, it is little, and yes, it sometimes feels cramped, but that's only when I've got it full of people. I always felt lost wandering around my parents houses when I was staying there alone. My condo is just the right size for me. And, even though I joke around about how it's brown, I love how it looks. The lady that lived here before me did a great job decorating, and aside from the bathroom (don't get me started on what THAT looked like), everything was pretty much perfect the way it was, as soon as I moved in.

I felt a little strange being here when I first moved in, sort of like I was playing house, and that someday I'd have to pack everything up and go home. But slowly it's dawned on me that this is home, and I'm so incredibly glad about that.

It's quiet, I don't hear my neighbours like some other people I know do. There's a police man that lives across the road, so I don't ever feel unsafe. The neighbours seem nice (what I know of them anyway), especially my next door neighbour who doesn't ever seem to get angry when my friends and relatives ring his doorbell instead of mine when they come to visit (this happens far more often than you'd think!).

We were lucky to find it when we did, and even luckier that we won the bidding war on it. It's pretty much perfect, and I love it.

Februarium -- Part Two -- Day One

What is this February-thingy I write of? Good question! The answer can be found here! Coleen will explain everything. I believe she's done this before, which is probably why her entries are so much better than mine. That, and she writes better than me anyway.

This is supposed to be a love letter to...a person I suppose. I am not in love at the moment, and so I don't want to write a love letter. However, I am loving a certain someone right now for a certain thing they did for me, so I think perhaps that is where I will draw my inspiration today.

I have just been to the new store. And I am in love. It's remarkably big, there is a lot of room, the bargain tables are the big ones which I like to build, the cash area is huge. Huge. Plus, it's set up like my old store, the one I love and have never quite gotten over being removed from.

So I thank you from the bottom of my heart for giving me the chance to go there and see what I can do, I love that I'm getting the opportunity, and I love that I was the person that sprang to mind when the opportunity arose.

And most of all I love that for a year at least, I'm going to be in charge!!

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you :)

The ice

Last winter we heard there was an incredible snow storm in Charlotte that shut the city down for three days. We knew this because my mom was never home, things at work were insane because the centre in Charlotte was closed. Later they saw some pictures of this alleged snow storm, and they were amused.

Since my mom has moved to Charlotte she's found out that for the entire city, which is slightly larger than half a million people big, they have three snowplows. Yes, that's right. Three. That's just unbearable to think about here, but it doesn't snow much down there, so they probably feel that having three is a waste of time and money.

I went for a visit there this past weekend. I left on Thursday to go, spent Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday there, and returned home on Tuesday. It was cold the entire time I was there, and in fact on Saturday there was freezing rain, sleet and snow. This little bit of weather caused almost panic.

Seeing as how we're used to weather like that, we hopped in the car and drove to the mall anyway, it wasn't going to stop us! Until we got to the mall... Just about half the mall was closed. Both branches of The Gap were closed. Victoria's Secret had lights on inside, but the doors were firmly closed. The Limited was firmly shut up as well. Etc... etc.. I think my greatest disappointments were that Bath & Body Works wasn't open, nor was this store Kirkland's that I'd been hearing much about.

We shopped in the stores that were open. And man was the customer service fantastic! I can only assume that they hadn't actually seen any customers that day at all, so when we came in they fell all over us. As we walked into The Yankee Candle Company the lady said "Ya'll must be transplants!" In one of the department stores (I forget which...there are 5 in that mall), a lady was complaining to her co-worker in a panic filled tone that she didn't even have any bread in her house!!! All the time I laughed quietly, and not so quietly to myself.

But the fact is, they're not used to it, so it's a big deal to them.

This was taken from my mom's patio, the trees in the background are covered in ice, as is the grass. This was taken Sunday morning, by late afternoon it had all melted.