the end is near

Ah, the end is coming!

No, no, no, I'm not talking about the end of the world. I'm talking about the end of all the long hours and hard work we've been putting in at the store to get ready for the opening next week!

I can hardly believe that tomorrow is our LAST day of fixing things up and cleaning before we start bringing "outsiders" into the store next week!

On Monday, we have other businesses in the area coming to tour the store. After that, we have the media coming in to tour the store and take pictures and all that. After all of that, we have a few hours to get ourselves all prettied up before our families get to come in for family night! It's going to be so exciting because so much of the support staff will be there! And our families will get to see all of the hard work we've been doing for almost two months! Plus we get to be the first ones to shop the store and that's gonna be so awesome!

Tuesday we get the day off. There is a big gala that night for big wigs from the city get to come and look around. The managers are going to work that one so us regular kids get the night off.

Then wednesday morning is the big day! Ribbon cutting will happen first thing in the morning and then we are OPEN FOR BUSINESS!!

So all in all, I guess the hard work is really just beginning!

lindsayallison

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

letting go

I have found myself more at ease, content, and dare I say it? Happy the past few weeks. I have found that the simple (not easy, but simple) act of letting everything go has helped my stress level immensely. I simply decided to just...not worry anymore.

It sounds ridiculously easy but it's taken me a long time to get to this place. It's definitely one of those "easier said than done" things.

I don't know how to describe what life feels like these days. I am enjoying life for the first time in a long time. I'm trying have a better relationship with my friends and my family, I have new hope for my financial situation, and I'm taking active steps to have a better professional life.

If you have a great deal of stress in your life, all I can tell you is to let it all go. Just don't hold onto it anymore. The only person causing you to keep all of that crap in your life is you.

Learn to accept people and situations for who and what they are. You can't change anyone but yourself. So focus on you, do what makes you happy. Let the stress go. There is no reason to hold onto it.

lindsayallison

the ups and downs of life

Yesterday was certainly...interesting, to say the least.

Yesterday morning wasn't terrible. I got to sleep in before I had to go to work. I had spent the night at a friend's house and had to go back home for my uniform. Then I found out that my mom was sick and she wasn't sure if it was bronchitis or the flu, so I asked my friend if I could stay for a few days while she got over it. I definitely don't want to get sick and miss any time at work.

On my way to work, I'm sitting at a stoplight and I see a homeless man on the corner. I looked over at him and realized that I had a few bucks in cash in my wallet. I looked up and realized that the light was still red and we weren't moving at all so I quickly reached in my wallet, rolled my window down and called out to him. He asked God to bless me as he took the two dollars I gave to him.

A smile immediately came on my face and I turned my attention to the cars in front of me. I happened to glance up in my rearview mirror and see that the car behind me was also giving money to the homeless man. My smile got even bigger! How cool is that? One person does one good thing (even as small as two dollars) and it's a ripple. Someone sees it and thinks, "Hey! I can spare a few extra dollars too!"

That definitely put me in a good mood going into work.

Unfortunately the good mood didn't last. :(

Work has been a mess lately. We have had a REALLY hard time finding people who are willing to work hard and get the job done. I don't want to get too much into some of the other problems because I don't want to publicly trash people because that's just not good form. But let's just say there is one person who works for the same company I do that makes my job much more difficult (unnecessarily, I might add). This person is causing me great amounts of stress and unfortunately lashed out at me last night, causing my good mood to turn.

I was quite upset on my dinner break last night. But my bestest friend in the whole world heard I wasn't having a good day so he brought me a candy bar on my break. :) That put a smile back on my face and I was able to get through the rest of the night with a fairly even mood.

I think it's interesting how things can turn around so many times in one day. I went out to karaoke last night and am glad that I did. I got to see an old friend I hadn't seen since October. I had a great time and my sisters even came out for a little bit!

Now, I'm off to have lunch with my family and then spend the rest of my day relaxing and preparing for the six day work week I have coming up.

lindsayallison