not your ordinary princess: mast general store

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

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What I'm Reading...

Here is the complete honest truth: I have not read a novel in some time. I have a pile of books I want to read. Most are old titles of Karen Hawkins (What did you expect?) that have been collecting dust and diet coke cans for a couple of months.

As I bought three more books today, I realized that I need to actually read these things. It’s important for writers to spend time reading as well. You have to be caught up on what the market is trending, what readers are reading, and what is making and impact and what isn’t.

I have been so bad about this. It’s appalling really.

I used to bring a book with me to work to read during my lunch break. It was great. THEN I got a smart phone and started spending time on that during lunch instead of reading. I think this needs to stop. I really need to spend my time appropriately and reading some of these novels I keep spending money on.

So that’s the new plan then. I am going to pick up that novel I’ve started three times and keep putting down and actually finish it. I think it’s also time that I expand my favorite authors list. I need to read more than two authors on a regular basis I think.

What I'm Working On...

I have been working on lots of different things lately.

January I was working on some old projects that I don't care to spend a lot of time talking about.

As part of a writing group that was formed during last year's National Novel Writing Month, I was part of a writing challenge for the month of February. We came up with a 20K challenge. Yes, that's right. We wanted to write 20,000 words in the little month of February.

I spent most of February working on THE novel, "The Curious Tales of Lost Girls." This novel is a dark piece and it's really hard to get these words out. So the fact that this thing is about half done is quite a huge relief to me at the moment. I have a love/hate relationship with this novel at the moment.

Because it's so dark, that once I completed the 20K, I moved on. I edited/revised an old short story entitled, "Far Away." You can find the short story in its entirety posted on this blog. It's a sappy, romantic piece that I wrote a couple of years ago. I am so pleased with the final product.

After that I moved on to a "novellette" that I started a couple of years ago called "Home for the Holidays." I am happy that it's finished. I am NOT happy with the words it contains. It's currently a piece of crap and so I will let it simmer for a bit before I start the editing/revising process on that one.

Now that March has started, the group has come up with another challenge. Short stories from writing prompts! One per week! I'm currently finishing an old short story (it only had 400 words) while I let my "real" short story for this week form in my head. The first one is another sappy, romantic one about soulmates.

I haven't completely decided on what this new short story is going to be about yet. The writing prompt was "It's 1969, you're 17 and normally quiet and reserved. How did you spend your summer vacation?" I think the title is going to just be "1969". I like the simplicity of it. I know I want to write about a young woman, but I'm not sure where to go beyond that. There was so much going on that year! But what to throw her into?

Character of the Month

Kallista James has been on her own for pretty much her entire life. When Kallista was born, her parents had not been ready for a child. They had been very young and wanted to continue their partying ways, so they did.

At the age of five years old, Kallista met the girl who would become her lifelong best friend, Jade Bennett. It didn’t take long before Jade’s parents realized Kallista’s home life left something to be desired and they took her under their wing. Kallista flourished like never before in the Bennett household. She was close with the whole family, including Jade’s older brother, Chris.

When Kallista was sixteen, her parents were killed in a car accident. In a moment of intense grief, she found comfort with Chris. After sharing an intense kiss, Chris confesses his feelings for her. Before the teenagers can explore their feelings, a fight with his parents sends Chris packing, swearing never to return.

Kallista moved on. She dedicated herself to her schoolwork and to her photography. After graduation, she made a name for herself as a photographer. When she goes home for a summer vacation, she finds herself face to face Chris once more. Now all the feelings she thought she was over have resurfaced and she must find a way to deal with them and him before disaster strikes.