Friday, March 25, 2011

panama city

Tomorrow is my last day at Staples. After that I have five whole days off and I am headed to Panama City to see my bestie, Felicia for a few days. I can not wait to get out of here and not have to worry about a thing for a few days.

I am super excited about starting my new job, but I realized today that there are some people that I really am going to miss at Staples. It's been kinda rough saying goodbye to everyone, but everyone has been super sweet to me and some have even said some really nice things to me.

Today I got to meet my Dad's new girlfriend. She was super nice and sweet. My Dad seems to be really happy these days and that makes me happy.

Gah, I'm super sleepy now. It's bed time for me!

lindsayallison

Thursday, March 10, 2011

mast general store

I have a new job! I couldn't be happier right now!



I got the call yesterday morning that the job I applied for about a month ago came through and I will be starting on April 1st! I'm going to be an employee of the new Mast General Store that is opening up in downtown Columbia at the end of May. I'm excited because we're being brought in early so that we can help set the store and get it ready for the grand opening. How cool is it to open the doors to a store that you helped to create? I am SO excited!



I went into work yesterday with my letter of resignation. I knew that it would be upsetting to management because my job is not easy to fill. It's not something you can just jump into, you need a good bit of training for it. What happened next I was NOT expecting.



My manager got pretty upset at the news. I tried to tell her that there were options for who could replace me, but all she could say was that she wanted me at the store because I do a good job. I went back to work and a few minutes later she asked me to come back to the office when I had a minute. She asked me if this was just about money, blah blah blah. I didn't really want to get into everything, but what it came down to was she did everything she could to convince me to stay. She offered me more money and wanted to know why I was unhappy.



I told her I'd think about it, but I knew that my mind was already made up. I just couldn't seem to get her to understand that. Today, my district manager came up to me and asked to speak with me in the office. I asked if I was in trouble, even though I knew what this was about. That's when the ass-kissing started. He told me I was never in trouble that I was great and fantastic and blah blah blah.

He made a strong case (well, as strong as he could) for me to stay with Staples. He offered more money and wouldn't stop talking about all this money I would supposedly be getting if I stayed. He kept talking about how great I am and how I'm one of the best experts he has out of 50 some-odd copy and print experts he has. It was all very flattering, and I know why they want me to stay. But my mind was made up. I sat and listened politely while they talked, but I WANT to leave!

I'm so excited about this new store and I couldn't make them understand that. My DM did NOT have a happy look on his face when I declined to stay. He even said "Yeah, it may be fun but it's still work." If I hadn't already had my mind completely made up to leave, that would have done me in. Because my stress levels and my unhappiness is a much bigger factor to my leaving than the money. There isn't enough money they could legitimately offer me to make me stay. I want to be happy.

My only concern is that I flat out refused them and their offers to keep me here. I really hope that they won't be, I won't say nasty because I don't think either of them would outright be nasty, but I will say rude. I'm hoping they won't be rude or angry with me over the next two weeks.

In other news, I got myself back on my budget. I will be honest. I went on a food bender the past two weeks. I will not divulge how much money I have spent on food, but it's been a lot. I hit such a low point and was so stressed out and depressed that I couldn't seem to stop myself from eating. Man, I was hungry all the time! I knew that I shouldn't spend the money, but the justification to do it was stronger than the justification to not do it.

But it is all behind me. I adjusted my budget to compensate for my...er, problem, and I have myself back on track. The cool thing is, I was still able to allow for more gas money AND I am going to be making more money starting April 1!!

Anyways, I think I've got things back on track. At least, I hope so.

lindsayallison

Friday, March 4, 2011

consistency

It's been such a weird week for me.

Sunday night ended with devastating news about a very dear friend of mine who suddenly passed away. The funeral service is tomorrow afternoon. I think that once I say goodbye, I'll be able to move on and get back to the happy place I've been in recently.

I am having a problem with consistency. It's something I've struggled with for my entire life. I want to do something but I never seem to follow through on it.

The biggest thing I'm concerned about is my weight loss. I have lost (to date) 45 pounds since I was at my heaviest. I know that a big part of this was not eating out so much, and learning to use portion control. My weight loss has plateaued recently and I know that that has a tendency to happen. What I'm concerned about is I can't seem to stop eating. I'm eating out again too much and I'm eating too much in general.

I had started doing yoga. I loved it. I loved how I felt after I did it. But I can't find the motivation to do it this past week. I know that if I go and get food while I'm at work that I'm just spending money I shouldn't be and that it's just unheatlhy. But I can't seem to stop myself. My justification for doing it is stronger than any justification I can think of to not do it.

It's been a very big struggle for me.

In other news, Felicia is in town this weekend and I'm super excited. We're making plans for me to go down and visit in her in Panama City in a couple of weeks. I'm really looking forward to getting out of town for a few days.

lindsayallison