Holy Crap, The Kids Are Out Of School

Today was the last day of school for my kids.  I woke up on the wrong side of the bed, for many reason, but none that I care to talk about.  Knowing my son Bailey, I asked him if he wanted to ditch the last day of school and HOLY SHIT BATMAN, to my surprise, he waned to go to school!  I had to take his temperature four times just to make sure that he was not coming down with something.  McKenzy on the other hand is my social butterfly and I knew he would never want to miss the last day.  Well fine, I tried to be nice for once.  Off to school they go.

I then sat on my ass waiting for my phone to ring because today was my phone interview with the unemployment office.  Finally that call came and I chatted with the dude, he said that was all the info he needed and now he is waiting for the employer to call him back to get their side as to why I was let go.  GREAT, so my unemployment benefits lie in the hands of an egotistical pompous BASTARD!  So help me that if I receive a benefits denial letter, I will need someone to put me in a straight jacket.

After the call, I then had to start with the picking up of the kids from school, since today was early release.  I drive to one end of the lake to get Bailey, stop at Costco to get gas ($4.09 for premium) then head back to the other end to pick up McKenzy.  I always hate going to Mckenzy's school because there is this man that suffers from little man syndrome that tries to help with the flow of traffic in the parking lot and all he really does is PISS people off.  There is no easy way to get in or out of that place and he just makes it more difficult with those stupid cones and that F'ing whistle!

We are back at home and the kids of course are as ready as ever, to get their weekend started and well, sorry, mom has to shower and prepare for a job interview.  Yes, I agreed to a job interview at 3pm on the Friday before a long weekend!  Who the hell was I trying to kid?  Whatever, mom should be working and this is the company that I want to work for.  Well actually I have said that about all the companies I have worked for, but I really want to work for this one.  The interview went well, of course I said that the last time I interviewed there, but they did call me back for this temp position that they are hiring for so that must be good.  The freeway was NOT moving when I left so I took streets home, from Temecula, which really isnt that bad, it is just a pain in the ass with all the stop lights.

Here I sit, all alone, waiting on my darling Danny to get home.  He has been working some long hours and so I know that he is going to want to have a beer and some dinner when he gets home, so that means we will be heading to our home away from home, LaZey J's.  That place is an odd place so I am hoping to come home with some good pics!

Tomorrow I want to write a piece about depression, I just need to find my Zen place, go there and get all these thoughts out of my head.  No, I am not depressed, well I might be, but that's not why I want to write about depression.

Busy, busy day

Yesterday was such a busy day that I did not even have time to blog.  What is this world coming to?

My mornings always start rough because I have one kid that basically refuses to get up and go to school and the other one is not much of a problem, but then they start to fight and argue and that's when the morning starts to suck.  I am sucking down coffee just so that I can gather my senses and get them to school.  How they find the energy to fight about such no nonsense stuff I have no idea.  According to them, one is fat and the other one is gay.  Whatever.  The brotherly love is there when it is important and when one of them is need of support.  That's all I am concerned about.

Got the kids to school, did a few things online and then got my butt on the treadmill for the SECOND day in a row.  Today I did 30 minutes, so I added 10 more from the day before.  Once done with the treadmill, I went straight to my room and cleaned out my closet.  You can actually see the floor, where as before, not so much!  I don't know how long it will stay that way but for right now I am feeling like I conquered the world!  Ok, well at least I conquered my closet.  Now all I need to do is get the clothes hung up that were recently washed and that is one project I can mark OFF my things to do.  One of the items on my things to do list, is the Tupperware cupboard.  HOLY CRAP.  Beware when you open that thing because something is coming out to get you!

Picked the kids up from school, it was not your normal day because it seems that Bailey is getting bored and so he is letting his teachers know and they are now getting annoyed with him and so I am getting calls from the school to inform me.  Normally I would blame my kids for this, however, this school that he is at this year lacks any sort of organization and guidance and I will so happy when he moves our neighborhood school, Elsinore High!  GO TIGERS.

McKenzy had an awards assembly at school that started at 6 pm and as with most households, my husband works and by the time he got home dinner was ready but we really did not have time to eat.  The assembly started with the school band performing (middle school), they played a handful of songs; a handful too many, we said The Pledge of Allegiance (with the words Under God), the gal that sang The Star-Spangled Banner was adorable and did a fantastic job even though you could tell she was nervous.  FINALLY time for the awards.  McKenzy is in 6th grade so they were first to receive their awards and then we sat, and sat, and sat, and sat......  I was very proud of all the kids, they all worked very hard to earn those awards, even the kid that said he was going to kick my sons ass!  Good job kid with the holier than thou bad attitude!

Ran home, scarfed down dinner then had to head out for a quick "business" meeting.  Yes it involved beer, but we were home by 9.

A very uneventful day, except for the business meeting part, that was hilarious and I wish I could share but I can't right now.

My picture taking skills are rusty and Danny gets embarrassed when I get camera happy so I only took a few photos at the awards assembly.


 

Summer and Work

This is the last week of school for my kids and while I know I won't see them all summer long, I do know that I would love the chance to have another summer off.  Not sure how that keeps happening, but without becoming a teacher, I have managed to have a few summers off!

I feel that I could do a better job at managing the household than I could at managing someone else's company.  As much as I love going to work and feeling like a contributing member to society, I feel I would be a better person if I were home.  At home, I can cook, clean and yell at the kids more often and not have to yell via a bathroom text message.

Me staying home puts a lot of burden and stress on my darling husband and so I am going to try and see if there is something I can do to make money from the house.  I have done it before so I know I am capable, it just means me getting off my Facebook lazy ass and tapping into that network again.  It would also be nice if something were to just fall in my lap, kind of like winning the lottery...  OH WAIT, I forgot to check my lotto tickets.  I, I mean we, could be millionaires and not even know it!

Offer to Trade

Of course I would LOVE to trade my 2000 Audi for your 1975 Ford F-250. I would be foolish not to!

Granted, mine needs to be washed but still!!!!!!!!

Since I listed my car for sale, this was by far the most interesting inquiry I have received yet.  I need to point out that it is listed as a 1975 Classic Ford F250 Camper Special Truck For Trade or Sale.  Camper special, just what I was looking for when I decided to sell my car.  And with gas prices as high as they are, I am sure that this would be the best financial decision I have ever made!

Did I also mention, the camper special it about a 9 hour drive from me?

I don't even know how to respond to his message.

Let's Move....

We live in a town that surrounds a lake, a pretty big lake.  We have lived out here for about 8-9 years now and since day one I have realized how the lake really just gets in the way when you ate out and about.  Just about no matter where you are, you will have to drive around the lake just to get where you want to be.  

Since moving out here, we have moved three times.  Although we live in a cookie cutter house neighborhood with punk ass kids as neighbors, I have decided it would be best if we just stayed put for a little while and get our shit together and quit moving.  This house is literally at the complete opposite end of the lake from where we first started.  That means that my kids friends are a bit of a drive away so I spend a lot of time driving them to and fro.  Most parents (including my husband) think I am stupid for doing this, but we don't have side walks in out town where my kids can just go walk/scooter down the street to see a friend.  I do it because I know they are getting there and home safely.

Today I just about died when I was explaining to Bailey that on the weekends he is on MY schedule if he needs a ride...bla bla bla.  This is when he said "I know Mom and this is why I said we should move back to the other side of the lake!"  My response, :Yes, you are right, we should just pack up our 5 bedroom house and all of its contents and move so that you can be closer to your friends!  Yes, we should totally do that!" 

Rapture Celebration

In preparation of the rapture, a group of us headed over to our local dive bar, that is usually where we can be found.

We started preparing (drinking) for the rapture around 3:30 pm or so.  It was a beautiful rapture day so we sat outside on the patio where we could drink and smoke and soak up the fresh air.  We had a few (ok maybe a few more than a few) pitchers of beer and then before we knew it, it was 6:01 pm and we were all still there.  We were sad, disappointed, mad and happy all at the same time.  We were left on this planet for a reason.  I feel that reason was to drink more beer and eat some grub.  The food people showed up so we did just that.  Had a fantastic dinner at the bar, still on the patio with our beer.  

Boy does that sun drop behind the mountains FAST.  Before I knew it, it was cold and dark.  WE moved the party inside and switched from beer to Red Bull and Vodka.  It had already been a long day of drinking and I was running out of go-go power so figured the Red Bull would help.

We had a table were the 5 of us sat and continued our talks on the rapture and even though we were not part of the chosen few, we decided to build our own Heavens!  We all claimed who (celebrities/famous people) we wanted in our Heavens.  It was a HOOT for a while, then the guys got all crazy and technical and made up rules that just made no sense and it suddenly took all the funaway and building our Heaven was no longer fun.  

All in all it was a great night.  Great group of people, great food and cold drinks!  With all that, I am glad that I was left behind after the rapture!

Pre-Rapture Party Friday Night

I would say we had a fairly successful pre-rapture party last night!  We all had fun, had a lot to drink and made it home safe! Weare all looking forward to the real deal on Saturday.  Going to drink until the rapture and we are all called up to Heaven!

Jack of all Trades

So this morning I was playing computer technician as I was trying to figure out the issues with my printer, so I added that to my resume.  I have now also realized that I can add carpet cleaning because I can spot clean the carpets on an as needed basis.  I should have NO troubles finding a job at this rate!


And yes, er have a drum set and a weight set in the "great room" as some people call it!  I live with all men!

I hope that is NOT a cell phone I hear in the dryer!  I lost count on how many cell phones i have put through the wash!  Oh my bad, I didn't realize I was supposed to check your pockets!  Isn't it enough that I wash and dry the clothes for you!  Can't you at least empty the pockets and put the shit away when I am done folding??

This is just one days worth of dishes!!!!!! We somehow were out of spoons. This is just one of the many tasks of being at home. You get to clean up after everyone. The picture really doesnt do the mess justice, it was me having to dig in the bottom of the sink to locate a couple of spoons! Please add another star to my Mother of the year trophy!

It is finally Friday!!!!!!!!

The end of the school year is quickly approaching (May 27 this year) and in hopes of adding a few more stars to my Mother of the Year trophy, I had the kids take their text books back today.  For Bailey is wasn't a big deal as he only had one.  For McKenzy it was a pretty big deal because  he had four.  He managed to shove them all in his backpack which shocked me because that thing is already so full of crap, I don't know how he found the room.  Once I get Bailey to school, McKenzy likes to jump in the front seat with  me and it also helps to make it look like I am NOT talking to myself as we drive to the middle school.  We pull up to the middle school and I reach to the backseat to grab his backpack and just about pulled my arm out of the socket and told him that he is going to have to get out and grab it from the backseat.  "No problem." he says.  He grabs it and says "holy crap." My thoughts exactly but crap wasn't my word of choice.  I felt bad as he attempted to hoist the bag to his back and as I drove off because my coffee was at home getting cold.

The schools really should think twice before sending so many of those large books home each year.  :-)

A Day of Recovering

Today was supposed to go in for my B12 shot, hit the tanning salon and then it was back to the books to get caught up on my school work.

Instead I spent the day in bed, drinking water and eating saltine crackers.  The flu you ask??  I wish I could say I had the flu.  Instead, I had a rough night.  I started drinking red wine while I was waiting for Danny to come home and while I was cooking dinner (frozen pizza).  Needless to say, I had several glasses of wine.

Upon arriving home, Danny announced that he wanted to go to the bar and have a pitcher of beer and see some people we have not seen in a while.  Sounded like a great idea to me...NOT.  Two pitchers of beer and two shots of Jager later, I was DONE.  D-O-N-E.  I paid the price last night and all day today!

I thought I had learned the lesson not to mix beer and wine and yet I still find myself making that stupid mistake.  I dont do it often but when I do, I sure make up for lost time!

First attempt at coupon shopping....

All week I have been sitting at the kitchen table cutting and sorting coupons.  It is a task that requires some dedication and time and well when I am working I dont have much of either.  Now that I have some time off, I thought I would try and get back into the swing of things.

Yesterday I finished with the sorting and stuffing them into my binder.

Today I went through my weekly Ralph's ad and looked through to see what they had on sale that we use.  I made a list and then went through my coupons to see what I had coupons for.  I pulled out the coupons that I was going to use and put them in my zipper pouch, which makes them easily accessible during my shopping trip.

I went up and down the aisles and collected my goods, checked out using my Ralph's club card and my pile of coupons and I saved a total of $96.18 and received $4.00 off my NEXT shopping trip!  I spent $74.9 which is not bad considering what all I bought.  Here is a recap of the items purchased today:

2 Digorno Pizzas with sides

3 jugs of laundry soap

1 bottle of body wash

7 boxes of cereal

6 boxes of hamburger helper (I know, gross, the kids like it)

2 just of coffee

10 things of Yoplait yogurt

1 small single serving Digorno pizza

1 bag of mini chimichungas

2 bags of check mix

1 box of Nabisco Crackerfulls

1 loaf of garlic bread

2 cans of Pilsbury cinnamon rolls
18 packets of Kool Aid

I have not coupon shopped in a long time and so I am trying to get back into it and I am quite proud of myself!  My goal of course is to spend less and get more with each trip that I make!

Ckick It or Else!

Remember the PSA's and billboards you would see back in the late 80's reminding you to buckle up your seat-belt or get a ticket?  I know the majority of you remember and the rest were too young.  

It has been pounded into our brains, the importance of wearing our seat-belts and yet we still come across the occasional person that, for whatever reason, refuses to wear theirs.  If you are one of those people, whatever the reason may be, please take a second to re-think your rebellion and reconsider.  I am not worried about your adult self, I am worried about the young children's lives that you will be affecting, in a positive way of course.

As adults we set examples for those younger than us.  Even if you are not a parent, an Aunt or an Uncle; you do have someone younger than you that is looking up to you.

The simple "click"of your seat-belt can save lives.  If you don't care about your own, please think of your passengers.

We moved to Lake Elsinore about 8 years ago and when we moved here, it was so foreign to me.  I was used to busy streets, freeways and toll roads.  Out here there is basically two main roads and then a few smaller roads that will connect you with the main roads.  There wasn't much for me to discover.  I quickly found my way around the lake.  

When we first moved here, we both still worked in Orange County and made the commute.  It made sense, the mortgages were less here, we could get more house and still bring home the Orange County pay.  Totally worth it.   (my thoughts on what most people feel about Lake Elsinore will be another blog).  In the beginning, Danny and I did not carpool so we were both making the drive in our cars, separately.

I was a wuss and refused to drive Ortega and so I was taking the "long way" which I referred to as the safe way.  (hang in there, I do have a point.  Or at least I think I do).  

I took Lake Street to the 15 to the 91 and so on.....

What I didn't expect was the one day when I was coming home (while it was still day light) not long after we moved here and seeing a car accident that involved a Honda Civic and a smaller tow truck.  The Civic was wedged into a small ditch on the side of the road and the town truck was parked on the side of the road.  The driver of the tow truck was laying in the road, writhing in pain.  The driver of the Civic was still in the car and what I believed to be injured to the point of death.  

I wanted to pull over and help, however, I don't have any medical training and there were so many people pulled over, I just wanted to stay out of the way.  The scene bothered me for days until I could find the story in the local newspaper, announcing that the driver of the Civic had died of her injuries that day.  I cried that day for someone that I never met.  I cried for her family.  The accident report stated that the tow truck driver was coming in the opposite direction and crossed the line and hit hear head on.  It also stated that she succumbed to her injuries because she was not wearing her seat-belt.

I was not there and I did not witness the accident so I cannot say what happened or who was at fault, however what I can say is that it is imperative that we ALL wear our seat-belts.  

The reason I bring this up is because of something I saw today that frightened me.

I witnessed a Scion Toaster car drive by that had at least three, if not four small children crammed into the cargo area of the toaster (obviously without seat-belts).  How did I see this or know this, you ask?  Well let me tell you.  I saw this because the hatch of the toaster popped open while they were driving down the road, as the children appeared to hang on for dear life.

While this was happening, I was stuck in the exit line at the middle school and could obviously could do nothing but watch.  It seemed that the driver realized what was going on and pulled over to close the hatch.  

What bothers me most about this is that they pulled down the hatch and continued to drive on their merry way.  Those children in the back and possibly a few others were not wearing their seat-belts.  What would happen if they were to be rear ended?  What would happen if they were to hit another car?  Those children would have been hurt or could have died.  All as a result of the driver not buckling the kids in!

Obviously if you don't have enough room in your car for all the people you want to transport, then you need to re-think.

Do not sacrifice another persons life because you are being lazy!







 

Today is day two of staying home, being a SAHM (stay @ home mom) and well today was better than yesterday.  Yesterday was weird and I just couldn't get into the swing of things.  I did virtually nothing other than go tan and then hit the grocery store on the way home (and I only did that so I could say I accomplished something).

Today I have managed to shower, brush my teeth, wash a few loads of laundry, do the dishes and clean the kitchen, sweep/dust/mop all the floors downstairs and get caught up on a few personal things.  I almost feel like I can conquer anything now.  Tomorrow I will aim for putting on real shoes and not living in my slippers.

I partially blame my kids for my mood swings.  I can wake up in a good mood and then the minute I hit their bedrooms doors to wake them up, it is as if I have crossed paths with Satan.  They are whiny, grouchy and much too needy in the mornings.  They are old enough that they should know before they go to bed, if they have clothes to wear the next day.  I don't care if you only have one pair of pants that are cool enough to wear because you have about five pairs hanging in your closet.  If I don't keep up with the fashion trends, then why I should I care to help you keep up with them?  Jeans are jeans.  Levis never go out of style yet you won't wear them because they are too baggy, not the right color, on sale or not purchased from the store of your choice.  I have news for you, you will wear what you have until you can no longer fit into them!

The only thing I ever hear out of their mouths is bitching and complaining.  We never have soda in the house and so they complain about that.  We don't eat out often enough so they complain about that.  I cook them home cooked meals and they complain about that.  The list goes on and on.  When will they understand that it is not all about them and there are other priorities that parents have to deal with?

My kids are awesome and I wouldn't change a thing.

Who Says That??

I should have known that job was not going to work out when the owner's husband came to me and told me that he really did not want to hire me, however, his wife was pushing for me and so he went against his better judgement.  

Why would you even say that to someone and then expect for them to even care about selling you product?

People will not care and will not succeed if they are continually brow beaten but the bosses!

As my mind clears, now that I am home, I know I will start to remember the obscene and rude comments that were made during my last job and I will continue to share.

There is no crying in sales!

I have been in sales since 1999, what I consider most of my adult working life!  I know sales, I get sales and I understand sales!  I have learned from some of the best.  NEVER in my life did I ever think that sales would make me cry.  I consider myself to be a fairly strong person and I hold a lot of stuff in but never did I expect this.  I had been out of work for a few months and although I was enjoying my time home and playing house, I felt that I needed to contribute to the household financially and it was time to go back to work.  I had done the IE to OC commute for 7+ years and frankly, my car and I were over that drive and I just didn’t want to do it anymore.  I realize all the well paying jobs are in OC, but I was willing to cut corners and make sacrifices to be able to work close to home. 

 I had been applying at this company in Wildomar for about a year now and could not figure out why they were not calling me in for an interview.  I had all the qualification they were looking for and more.  I knew nothing about this company, all I knew is that they were close to my house and I needed to work there.  I continued to apply and finally, one day I received an email that they were holding “open interviews.”  They gave me a window of when they were holding interviews and I chose the first available.  I was there bright eyed and bushy tailed the next morning at 10 am.  I walked in with head held high and freshly printed copies of my resume.  What I didn’t expect was a room full of folding chairs and dozens of people filling out applications.  In most cases, I would have turned around and walked out, but remember, I really wanted this job.  I filled out my application and waiting patiently.  I was called in for my interview where I met with Crystal (the owner) and Mike (Director of Sales).  At the time in which I was interviewing I was super sick and had been for months.  I caught a nasty cold and could not get rid of it, but I put on my big girl panties and went in with a smile.  I NAILED that interview.  That was one of my best.  I felt comfortable with them and we all meshed really well.  In the beginning o]f the interview they had said to hang onto the extra copy of my resume because if things went well they might have me meet with Richard.  Well, when Crystal and Mike were done with me, they said they would be in touch and I was on my way home.  I wasn’t sure why I wasn’t asked to meet with Richard, but that was ok.  That same day I received an email from Mike and he was informing me that he wanted me to meet with Richard and so we set a time.  I showed up, early of course and waited patiently.  That day at the office seemed a bit hectic as employees were running around and it seemed all out of sorts.  That was ok, I like chaos and working in crazy busy offices.  I sat and watched people go in and out of the office where I was supposed to be meeting.  I watched this man who I presumed to be Richard get in a car and drive away.  I was perplexed as I sat there.  Why would anyone leave the office knowing that you have a 10 am appointment and it is now going on 11 am!?!?!?

Finally, they call me in and we get started.  I am now meeting with Crystal (the owner), Mike (Director of Sales) and Richard (the owner’s husband).  Richard plops down right next to me and start firing out the questions.  That day was one of the worst days as far as my cold was concerned.  I had never felt worse and I was sweating like a $2 whore.  He kept firing questions at me and I grew more and more uncomfortable.  He kept repeating himself and I was getting frustrated.  I hate when people repeat themselves.  I think he sensed my frustration and he continued repeating himself.  He had asked me why they should hire me, which to me is the lamest interview question ever and tells me that you have nothing better to ask me and so you are just using that one.  I told him that he was not going to find anyone better than me.  I am loyal, dependable, hardworking and I am a woman!  You see, woman in most cases have a better chance in being successful in sales.  He said that was all fine but he needed more meat and potatoes and what I needed was some cold medicine and my bed.  It got to the point where I just laughed, there was nothing more that I could tell him so I just laughed.  We stand, shake hands and he tells me that was a great interview.  I felt it was so/so but if thought it went well then that’s all that mattered.  

I get home and get side tracked with life and I had forgotten to send my follow up thank you email.  Only a day or so had passed so I went ahead and sent it.  A few days go by and I have heard nothing.  I email again, maybe my first email was overlooked because of the chaos over there.  FINALLY, I get a response.  He, Richard, proceeds to tell me, via email, that he was unimpressed with my interview and feels that I interviewed poorly and asked why.  I was dumb-founded, why would someone tell me “great interview” only to them bash me in an email.  I took the professional approach and explained that I don’t normally make excuses, however I was very ill that day and was not feeling 100% and it was not normal for me not to do well at something.

In the same email, of him bashing me, is an offer letter.  Talk about an emotional roller coaster!!!

I read over the offer, the base was lower that I was used to but again it was super close to home.  I signed and returned the offer letter.  Two days later I started work.  I was excited and nervous.  My first day of work was consumed with filling out new hire paperwork and meeting my co-workers.  Everyone seemed very nice and welcoming, my favorite part was the casual dress.  This was going to be the best job ever!  The first week and half was about learning, taking notes and listening to calls.  There was no real training program at this company but since I have been through this before it was not a big deal, I knew what questions to ask and what to pay attention to.  The training part consumed the morning hours and then I was sat at my desk and told to mine the internet for leads.  This is where I became a little concerned.  Here I am just starting a job in an industry that I am unfamiliar with where the bulk of the compensation plan is in the commission and they don’t have any leads ready for me to call on.  I spent hours online searching, printing and data entry of companies that I felt would have a need for low voltage wires and cables.  Next I was tasked with writing my own phone script.  Um what?  I am the new employee and am told to find my own leads and now you want me to create my own phone script?  I did as I was told and I wrote a script and sent to Mike (Director of Sales) to be looked over.  He and I went back and forth with the script until we both felt that is was good enough for me to use when I was ready to start making calls.  I continued to listen to calls, take tours of the warehouse and receive general training on category cables.  After about 2 weeks, I was bored and really just wanted to get on the phone and start qualifying the leads that I had entered into Salesforce.com and turning them into opportunities.  That was of course how I was going to make all my money.  

I finally went live on the phone and figured I would just learn as I go, that is the best way for me to learn, trial and error.  I would come in at 8 am and figure out where I was going to start and then I would start making the calls.  Mike sat only a few desks away so I knew he was there as I would have questions and figured he would chime in as I was making calls and offering me advice on my calls and where I could improve.  I spent a few days on the phone without him saying a word and so I kept on plugging away.  I was keeping track of the number of calls I was making because this helped me know how many I was making each and if I needed to make more.  Mike started to come over to my desk to sit and listen to a call here and there and would give me little tid bits, but was not very hands on with me and I felt that he was not doing a very good job of training me.

It is brought to my attention that I need to increase my number of outbound calls because it seems that when Richard would check the sales cam, it seemed that I was not on the phone, yet I was typing on the computer and he could not understand why.  I explained to Mike that I would make a call and then enter a note so that the next time I would call that company I would know what transpired the last time I tried calling them.  Mike felt this process was slowing me down and advised me to print out lists of companies, call from the lists, make notes next to the company on the list and then at the end of the day I can sit and enter them into Salesforce.com.  This makes no sense to me because it seems to be not only a waste of paper but a waste of my time and I felt I would be more productive if I had all my leads in Salesforce.com and using that to make my calls.  I tried to avoid the list option as long as I could but they started to become increasingly frustrated with me.  Fine, I will print out some damn lists.

I start making calls the minute I walk in the door at 8 am and continue to do so until about 2 or 3 pm and then I would sit and do my data entry. 

About 3 weeks have passed and I have an email from Richard, he has copied Crystal, Mike and the gal in Accounting who also doubles as Human Resources.  In his email he is “sharing” with me what he has seen as successful at all the companies that he has managed and owned.  He then explains why there are cameras all over the building and mainly why they are in the sales room, which is where my desk is.  In all his wisdom he says to be successful in sales it is all about making calls.  You make a call, enter a note, make a call enter a note etc.  And with what he has seen on the camera, I was not doing this. 

I couldn’t believe I was actually reading this!  First off, no shit that calls = equal sales, you dumbass, that is sales 101 and it certainly doesn’t take an experienced sales person to figure that out.  Second, I was keeping track of how many calls I was making each day and I was averaging 75-80 calls a day.  That is a lot of calls, but keeping mind that I was getting disconnected numbers and no answers as well.  I was impressed with my call numbers because when they hired me they said 50-60 calls a day for the first 90 days and then once my pipeline was getting warmer the number of calls needed would decrease because I would be focusing on entering orders.  The last bit that I found interesting was the enter a call, make a note…..  That’s what I was doing and then I was told not to and now I am being told to.   Clearly no one is on the same page around here.

The rude emails that I was receiving clearly were not doing the job so Richard started calling meetings.  It would be me, Mike, Crystal and Richard.  Basically they three of them would sit there and tell me everything that I was doing wrong.  Nothing was ever constructive, it was all just very negative. My 75-80 calls a day was not enough,  I was not asking enough questions throughout the day, I was not picking the brains of the successful sales people around me (including Crystal and Richard), I was not doing anything right.  It was right about this time that this job had brought me to tears.  I would do outside for breaks, call my husband and just cry.  I was frustrated because I was doing everything I could to build my own pipeline and yet in their eyes it was all wrong.  It was decided that we would have meetings every Tuesday and Thursday to sit down and discuss my progress and it left up to me to schedule the meetings.  Ok, easy enough.  I scheduled them in Outlook and put them on all our calendars.  Not one of the others accepted the meeting request and I think that is because no one knows how to use Outlook other than to send emails.  The way meetings happened around there, was 15 minutes before the start of the meeting you were told we are having a meeting and then everyone would scramble around getting their shit together  and ready for the meeting.  My status meetings however, I was told at the exact time that we were having a meeting and so I would go in so not mentally prepared for any of what they were about to hand to me. 

I did however, have time to plan for one meeting and I was damn proud of myself. Danny kept telling me to stand up to this asshole and don’t let him get me so upset.  I created a spreadsheet that contacted the number of calls I made each day up until that day, the total of all those days and an average.  I then had the quotes that I had created, including the company name, the date of the quote and the dollar amount.  The last part of my spreadsheet was quotes that I took from emails that Richard had sent me.  One quote was how he continued to say, as long as I was making 50-60 calls a day and if I had not made a sale within my first 90 days that was ok because he could see I was making the calls and tracking all that in Salesforce.com.  Another quote was him contradicting himself when he was telling me that I need to call from a list and then do the data entry at the end of the day but in one of his emails he said “make a call then make a note….”  He saw that and was a little shocked that I was calling him out.  Before I even got to that part to explain what it was any why it was there, he commented on my quoting him so he knew what it was.  He then proceeded to sit there and bold face LIE and say he would NEVER have said “make a call, make a note,” even though I have it in email and had shared that email with a close friend of mine.  He just sat there saying, no way, no way, no way.  My heart just started pounding out of my chest because at this point I wanted to pound him in the face and tell him to wake the fuck up!  Are you serious right now?  He looked at Mike and said “I would never have said that” and Mike then for once backed me up and explained to him that he did say it in an email and Richard was dead set against admitting that he made a mistake, that he did say it and that he had contradicted himself.  Oh my gosh, ok, whatever!  I can tell he is heated at this point and he goes back to my spreadsheet looks at the quote information I have included and asks me what product I had quoted on each of the 5 or 6 quotes.  Hmmm, well one had some Cat5E, one had some Cat6, another had some coax cable and some other accessory thingys  and ………………  He and Crystal stop me at this point and tell me that I need to know every little item that is on every quote that I ever send out.  By my not knowing item for item of what is on these quotes, tells them that I have learned nothing.  WHAT????  I have barely finished my first month or so of employment in an entirely new industry and you are beating me down because I cannot remember item for item what I have on outstanding quotes.  Go to hell you pieces of shit.

I continue to pound the phones, I am making some good calls and contacting some companies that will make great customers, when they are ready to make a purchase.  You have to remember that I am calling companies that have been buying all their cabling supplies from the same vendor for 10, 15, 30 even 30 years and here I am, calling from Primus Cable and all of a sudden I want you to buy from me!  That is NOT going to happen over night.

I would go into work with the challenge of avoiding Richard.  It was hard to do because his office was right across from the bathroom.  I would only use the restroom a few times a day except for the days when I knew he was not around then I would use the bathroom freely.  I also used the bathroom when I need to check my phone and to reply to text messages.  I personally feel that Richard was upset that I did not worship the ground that he walked on like everyone else did. 

The calls continued and I began to build a few relationships.  A few emails, a few faxes and finally I had two companies that were interested in trying a box of cable and so I had two sales in one day that equaled a total of three boxes of cable.  I was ok with that and I was happy that I was able to get some cable out the door for them to try and knew that it would eventually lead to bigger and more frequent orders.  I had a couple other quality prospects and one that was so close to ordering that they had filled out the new customer agreement.  They finally decided to order and she sent me a check via UPS Red.  The check got lost and they needed the cable ASAP and had to order from another vendor that was willing to pay the freight to send it to them overnight.  She had promised that the next time they needed cable she would email me because she wanted to build that relationship with us and wanted us to become a vendor for them.  Every time they needed something she would email me, but they were so slow in the process that we were always missing their deadline and I was never able to get a shipment out to them.

There was another company that I had been emailing about some outdoor cable and made a recommendation on what they should use and well he ordered online and not through me so I didn’t get the credit for it.  DAMN IT.

Call after call after call after call and I kept hearing the same thing, “Thank you for the call, we will add you to our vendor list and when a need comes up we will let you know.”  Awesome, I felt I was building a solid pipeline that would just suddenly explode and the orders would come in.  Richard would pop by my desk, calling me Katie and changing his original statement of not worrying about making a sale in the first 90 days and now it was time to make a call to action.  Yes asshole, I know.  I knew I had to sell and that was my goal, no one could survive on the base alone that I was bring paid.  I could tell his attitude toward me was getting worse and Mike was being more of an ass than usual.

We would have frequent company meetings so that Richard could remind everyone just how wealthy he was and inform the rest of us that we are losers.  He brought me up again and let everyone know that it was mission critical that I sell something and if that didn’t happen soon, he was going to show me where the unemployment office was.  That was the last straw for me, it was time to start looking for another job.  This guy and this company were crazy and I wanted no part of it.

I continued to come in and make my calls but I just didn’t care anymore and they stopped caring as well, if they ever did.  Friday morning I was called into the accounting office where I was handed my last check and told me that I was not producing sales as fast as they had wanted me to and since it was an at will company, they were letting me go.  That is the end of that.  I came home and filed for unemployment yet again!

Shit your kids say.....

08/16/2011: 

This is McKenzy’s second year of football with the Jr. All America Football league and we have noticed that he has gotten better at the sport and more confident over last year.  The coaches have obviously noticed the same thing because last decided that he will play both offense and defense.  He was so excited to hear this news, that he came running up to me when I was speaking with some parents and said “mom, guess what???  I am going to go both ways!!!”  Imagine my level of excitement!  I knew what he meant and so did the parents I was speaking with, but holy hell, talk about out of the mouth of babes!  I was going to ignore the fact that this comment could have been taken totally out of context, until the mom says “Ya, you might not want to say that too loud.”  That is when I knew this was going to be a great football season and I envision a lot of beer in our future!

05/14/2011:  McKenzy tells me on the way to school on Friday that he feels that he is getting taller (finally).  This is a very exciting time for us because he is always down and out because of his height.  So I tell him that is great news and I always told him to be patient and he would one summer experience a growth spurt.  There is a pause and I figure that we are done with that conversation and then suddenly he says "Ya I figured I was getting taller when I was boob height to this one girl and now I am neck height."


OMG REALLY?????????????????

Stupid Blog

I take the time to sit down and type out my random thoughts and stories only to find that Gmail must have had some sort of issue and all that I posted since May 9 is now gone.  How dare you Gmail!  If you are going to shut down for maintenance, the least you can do is back up all our blogging.

Diary of a Wimpy Mom: Face Cleansers

Diary of a Wimpy Mom: Face Cleansers: "This is something that I have had on my mind for about a week, right about the time I ran out of face wash. I was using Nutragena face wash..."

Face Cleansers

This is something that I have had on my mind for about a week, right about the time I ran out of face wash.

I was using Nutragena face wash, as I use all Nutragena face products and they have worked well for me.  About a week ago, I went to wash my face one morning and realized my bottle was empty and I could not get enough out to wash my face.  I didn't panic, only because I still have some Mary Kay stuff haunting me and I recall seeing a travel size of the Time Wise cleansing bar.  I ran to my office where I was keeping all the Mary Kay stuff and grabbed the bar of soap. 

When I wash my face I use one of the face cleansing scrubbing things, so it has a little abrasion to it.  It also stores make-up and who knows what else in there.  No matter how many times I rinsed that thing out and tried washing it with more face soap, it always had a tint of face powder.  So the morning that I have to use the Mary Kay soap, I went my face scrubber and usual and lather it up.  I wash my face, it feels great and then rinse out the scrubber.  HOLY COW!!!!!!!!!!!!  That Mary Kay soap took my face scrubber from make-up tinged  back to a brand new pearly white state.  I was amazed.

Now I sit here and wonder, if the Nutragena was ever really cleaning my face???  I will continue to use the Mary Kay until the bar is gone and I will consider going back to using the Mary Kay products! I am simply amazed!

Diary of a Wimpy Mom: Behind the Wheel

Diary of a Wimpy Mom: Behind the Wheel: "Well, it is that 'time' again. The time that I have a teenager that is ready, or so he thinks, for behind the wheel. Bailey is 15 and will..."

Behind the Wheel

Well, it is that "time" again.  The time that I have a teenager that is ready, or so he thinks, for behind the wheel.  Bailey is 15 and will be 16 in November and has passed that 15 1/2 mark where he knows that legally he is ready to start the process for his learner's permit.

Mentally and responsibly I think are in need of improvement.  Don't get me wrong, he has his head on almost straight, it is a little crooked and that is what allows him to use bad judgement from time to time.  He knows when he is and has done wrong, I just need to get him to the point where he realizes it is wrong BEFORE he does it and then responsibly decides that is it not a good idea and not worth getting into trouble.

I explained to him over lunch that getting your permit and ultimately your license is a privileged which needs to be earned. I need him to show me that he is ready and that he can handle this responsibility and not screw it up.  Dad has explained that giving him the keys to a car is like handing him a loaded weapon.  Cars can be dangerous if the people that are in control of it are not acting responsibly.  Two of my boys understand this first hand.  Dakota's friends were hit by a car on Halloween a few years back and Bailey's best friend Kayle was hit by a car in March and died of his injuries.  They know this is serious, but I need to know that Bailey is not just telling me what he wants to hear.

I was close to putting this to the back of my mind for the time being and focusing on other stress triggering items and then AAA went and sent me an email, "Equip your teen with essential driving skills!"  Thank you AAA.

Going through this process with Dakota was easy because he was willing to wait until he was 18 to get his license and so we did not have to do the behind the wheel, which ultimately screwed him on his insurance and I regret that, however he was mature and had his head on straight and was ready.

Bailey I think needs to get to that place and then we will see.  I will start to look for the driving schools and quite possibly through AAA this time that way if we add him to our insurance they will offer us a discount.

This people, is why I drink wine DAILY!  Well not the only reason, but that is my story and I am sticking to it!

Shopping under the influence.....

Of kids that is.  Yesterday I set out, against my will to find some sulfate free shampoo and conditioner.  I am very anti beauty supply so I went to Walmart.  I actually got lucky and found the Organix brand.  They had formulas made specifically to use after the Brazilian Blowout however they were all out of the shampoo and only had the conditioner.  What a bummer, but I grabbed their other stuff that was also sulfate free.  I get in the shower this morning to find out that I bought TWO conditioners and NO shampoo!  I panic and then remember I still have some of my Wen Hair Care stuff and I use that.

I totally blame my kid for this because he was huffing, puffing and rolling his eyes as I was trying to shop!  

Never shop while under the influence of children!

Mother's Day

My day started earlier than I had wanted it to.  For some reason I was up at the crack of dawn, so I decided to get started on laundry and drinking lots of coffee.  In between loads of laundry, I have begun changing the bedding on McKenzy's bed, thinking about cleaning the kitchen and I have done some chores in my office.  It is just another typical day in our house, nothing special.  We even had Taco Bell for brunch because I was not about to leave the house and tackle any eatery on Mother's Day!  I will be the first to say, that I cannot stand other peoples children (mostly strangers).  They are always screaming, crying and throwing temper tantrums.  Thanks to todays society it is now unacceptable to spank your children in public and because of that, we are surrounded by spoiled rotten brats!

Anyway, so I agreed to anything that had a drive through.

I thought we had a softball game today and I was so jazzed about that because it brings me joy to get out there and play, then I looked to see what time and well thanks to Mother's Day, we dont have a game.  POOP!  I went to go tell Danny that we dont have a game and I found him taking a nap, well st least he is getting pampered on Mother's Day.  I doubt he has even called his mom.

The highlight of my day will be venturing out to go buy sulfate free shampoo, put gas in my and get McKenzy from his friends house.

I plan to crack open a box of wine when I return home so I am thinking that I will get my ass moving NOW!

Chore Time

So I discovered that McKenzy's idea of cleaning out his closet (which is where he threw all the stuff the last time I told him to clean his room is to take my laptop with him so he can Facebook and clean at the same time!  What is this world coming to?

How would handle their first fight?

Going back to Tuesday May 3, 2011.  I receive a call from Bailey and he is in the office waiting to see the VP because he was just involved in an altercation and the results just might be a suspension.  I of course flip out on the phone, one because I am close to being let go at work because the boss man is bipolar and keep contradicting everything he has been telling me and two because Bailey just finished a suspension LAST week.

I tell him to text me and let me know what the outcome is and if they suspend him, he is going to have to stay on campus until after school because I cannot leave work to go and get him.

The last 15 minutes of my lunch I receive the call from the VP who is a nut job and begins to go back over something that happened as of the last suspension.  Most of you that know me, know I have a short fuse and the fact that I was on the last 15 minutes of my lunch and going back to a job that brings me to tears, I was NOT happy in that moment.  I quickly reminded him that this was the last suspension and could we please focus on this new suspension and not try and throw Bailey under the bus yet again for something in which he already served his time. So he gets back on track and informs me that Bailey is on vacation for the rest of the week because of the fight at school.  I mentioned to the VP that there are a large number of kids that get bullied everyday at school and if I so much get a hint that this is what is happening to Bailey, I will have his job.  He wasn't too happy with me, just as I am not too happy with that school.  And YES I like to take things to the extreme, especially when they involve my kids!

Dad gets home and wants to know what happened and I didn't have a clue because I never discussed the incident with Bailey, I chalked it up as the kid had it coming to him.

Bailey says that they had just finished PE and was waiting in line for lunch and someone came up to him and alerted him that Caleb  (I think that was his name) was talking crap.  Bailey approached the boy, or should I say walked up and pushed the boy ad the ensued.  The other kid got one shot on Bailey and the fight was broken up.

As a mother, I don't ever want my boy to get into a fight because I want to protect them forever and I never want them to get hurt.  However, I also do not want them t stand around while some puck from the dirty IE starts talking shit on them either.  My kids are better than that and if someone is going to talk shit, well then they are going to get what they deserve!

Dad has his pep talk with Bailey and I had mine.  I told him that the only reason this kid was talking shit is because he is jealous of Bailey!  Plain and simple!