One Foot on a Banana Peel

It’s 10:36.  I should really be in bed (the alarm goes off at 4:00), but here I sit.  I have been on the run all day and just got home at 10:00.  I need a little down time before I can think about sleeping….which is definitely going to come back to bite me in the butt tomorrow.

The puppies went to Cutie Patootie’s for grooming this morning.  The name is soooo embarassing, but they do a great job for an incredible price and most important, the pups like the ladies there.  They even managed to trim Elvis’ toenails, a feat best attempted under the influence of something really, really strong.  The whole adventure wore me out, though, as my boys don’t do so well on leashes and they get so hyper when they get to go somewhere.  For crying out loud, Scooby was so excited to get out of the car that he somehow managed to jump up on my face and I ended up with his foot in my mouth.  Phhtttbbbb!

I convinced myself (like it took a lot of convincing) that I deserved a treat while the boys were being groomed so I went to Barnes and Nobel.  Uh oh.  On the plus side, I did not indulge in anything from Starbucks.  On the minus side, I bought five books and a magazine.  On the plus side, all but one of the books were bargain books and I used my membership card to get another 10% off.

I picked the dogs up, dropped them off at home and went back to work…which is where I was all evening.  See, every four years school bus drivers have to recertify through time in the classroom, a written test and a driving test.  Guess who’s four years are up this summer?  The class wouldn’t be bad but it’s at the main garage which is a good 20 minutes from the garage I drive out of and they choose to hold the darn thing at night.  It took me 40 minutes to drive home.

As for the dieting, I did okay.  I could have done better, but it’s hard when you are grabbing something on the go.  I just tried to pick the healthiest thing I could.  At least I was thinking about every food choice I made.

Well, I am off to bed.  I think I can sleep now.  Thanks everyone for the support and offers to become diet buddies.  I’ll be taking you up on it.

‘Night!

I got the best Christmas present from my boss today.  Yes, we got our bonus checks, but that wasn’t it.  No, what I value the most was the fact that he knew my name, thanked me for all I do, wished me a Merry Christmas, and HE HUGGED ME!  I was literally stunned. 

I just can’t quite lose the mentality of the company I drove for before.  There the Christmas bonuses were a really small gift certificate for a grocery store that was not convenient for me and a mug with the company name on it.  No one ever said "thanks", let alone the owner saying it.  After 4 years, with 2 of those being a top 10 driver (out of over 100) the man still had no clue who I was.  And hug his employees?  You’ve got to be kidding.  He made you feel you were a little less than human.

What a difference a little respect makes.

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We’re getting down to the wire.  Today is the last day of school for all the districts around here.  The one I drive for has an early dismissal.  Nice, since the company Christmas party is tonight.  I won’t have to rush home in order to have time to shower and change.  I’m kind of excited about going.  I used to dread them at the last company I worked for.  Maybe because they weren’t company sponsored.  We had to raise the funds ourselves and most people took it as an excuse to get rip-roaring drunk….which I can live with, but most of them also took it as an excuse to do things that made it real hard to look them in the eye on Monday.  Tonight’s party is totally paid for by the company.  Including the open bar, which most people say they will enjoy but lightly.

Meg and I are going shopping tomorrow.  I promised to take her out to get hers done.  Hopefully, we’ll succeed so I can leave her at home on Saturday when Tim and I go out to finish our shopping. 

I still need to wrap everything, but that’s not unusual.  Wrapping presents is the part of Christmas I like the least.  I always put it off till the bitter end at which point I can make Tim feel sorry for me so he helps wrap.

About half of the cookies I need to bake are done.  I hope to find enough time tomorrow and Saturday to finish.  Last night I made lots and lots of chocolate chip cookies.  I’m going to take some with me this afternoon for the kids on the bus.

Well, I’m off to begin the process of putting Matt’s room back into some kind of shape so he’ll have a place to sleep when he gets here. 

I’m thinking about starting up a little side business ….selling the empty seats on my morning bus run to hunters.  Ok, untwist your shorts.  I’m kidding!  Stillllll, after this morning I bet I could make a go of it.  On one road, in the distance of about a mile, we had to sit and wait for deer, a flock of turkeys and a BEAR to cross the road.  And dummy me, I never thought about my new cell phone having a camera until later.   So, no pictures of the bear.

I’ve made it through three days at the new job.  That makes it sound like a chore and really, it isn’t.  I very much like it.  There is soooo much less stress than at the company I used to work for.  As long as you don’t commit a felony or do something unbelievably stupid they pretty much leave you alone. 

Adding to my good mood is my hubby.  We don’t always have the greatest of relationships…mostly due to his workaholism and therefore lack of time and energy to devote to any kind of closeness, not any major problems.  The one thing he’s always been is supportive of anything I want to do.  He’s always told me to go for it and if it falls through, he never rubs it in or makes me feel bad about it.  The Avon business has been my latest endeavor and he’s been great about me buying demos and promotional packs and whatnot.  His philosophy is that you have to spend money to make money.  Still, I feel guilty when things are a little bit tight for us at the moment.  He could legitimately say it’s costing way more than it’s bringing in, but he knows it takes time to build a business and every time I get another order he makes a huge fuss and tells me how proud he is of me.  Gives me the warm fuzzies and makes me want to do really well.

Well, I am off to find something to feed my family for supper and then…..probably a little television and bed.  I am so unbelievably tired.  My body has not adjusted to the new schedule of up at 4:00 and bed at 10:00 yet.  Probably by next week.  I hope.

Blinkie by LilMsGlitter

The first day of school…..and back to work for me.  With my new job, I have to leave the house waaaay before Megan needs to be up for school, so my mom definitely has to come wake her up and make sure she goes.  Meg is horrible to try and wake up.  It’s best done from a distance with a very long stick, because she wakes up snarling no matter how early I send her to bed.  I came home to an empty house-no sleeping children or carcasses of grandmothers so I guess all went well.  Meg was kind of excited today since she’s starting the sr. high.  Wait a week or so till the newness wears off.

No problems for me, either.  Both of my runs went by without a hitch.  There aren’t a lot of kids on either one and they were all pretty well behaved.  I didn’t get lost and I didn’t miss anyone.  Hopefully it will go as well this afternoon when I run it backwards.  I did get home kind of late, but that’s because unloading the littlest ones is always a nightmare the first few days. 

Drive safe and watch for kids and buses.

Yes, it’s sad but true, this wasn’t the year that I became fabulously wealthy over my summer vacation.  So….I guess that means I’m going to have to go back to work in a couple of weeks.  Back to driving a school bus.  Sigh.  At least I’m driving for a new company in a new school district this year so I’m getting a fresh start with new faces and MORE MONEY!!

I went to an orientation meeting this morning.  Wow, the new company is way more relaxed than the one I used to work for.  Things that were general practice are just suggested things you might (probably) want to do.  The people seem a lot nicer, too.  One of my biggest beefs about the old job was the atmosphere.  The people were a bunch of gossips and someone was always spreading someone’s business around.  A couple were pretty mean spirited about it.  You really couldn’t trust anyone.  All that conflict and drama just wears me down.  From what I’ve seen at the new place, the drivers aren’t like that for the most part (there’s always going to be one or two in every crowd) and the drivers themselves tell me it’s a pleasant working atmosphere.  The manager is funny and really laid back (and a real cutie!).

I don’t have a route yet.  The manager put a couple of runs up for bid today.  Depending on what happens with those and any runs that other drivers give up to take them, I’ll be assigned.  There are 5 new drivers and I have more seniority than the others since I was hired back in May.  So when the older drivers are settled, I’ll get the best run remaining or first choice, if for some reason I don’t automatically want the highest paying run.

Met up with a few of the drivers from the old company I’m friends with for lunch.  We went to the lunch buffet at a really swanky place.  We are not, for the most part, a swanky crowd and we were pretty loud and obnoxious today.  I think we opened the buffet and closed it down. The staff was probably glad to see us go, but we left a huge tip so it should be safe to go back in a month or two.