April Is Winding Down Quickly

April is a good month for us.   Jef and Jeni finally closed on their house.   They were in a limbo until that happened because they really couldn't start building another one while they were paying on the other one.   But on Friday that all changed.  The house in Harvest now belongs to someone else.      So now what lies ahead for them is figuring out just how much house they can afford (or want to be in debt for) and going forward.   


The kids in Morgan County are having their Spring Break this week.  That gives "Mom" a chance to sleep later... until the kids all get to clamoring for something to eat.... or with each other.    Monday, after I had mowed THE WHOLE yard, I took Sam and Zach out to buy some toys soldiers.  (I think their uncle may have given them a couple dollars each, but I'm not sure it was he.  It's just that he did come by on Monday morning and afterwards they had money to spend.  He usually does give them something if he has it.   He used to have more to give, but he "retired" and doesn't have as much money coming in anymore.)  Anyway, we didn't find what they wanted at Dollar General so I decided I would take them to Arab to Dollar Tree.   But by the time we were headed to Arab, we all got hungry.  (It was 2:30) so we went to McDonald's first and ate.   Then to the Dollar Tree, which didn't have what they were looking for either.  I had held off on going to Walmart (because I just don't like to), but I decided it would be silly of me to not go when they were not finding what they were looking for, knowing Walmart probably would have it.    So we went.  And they did have it.   For the price they expected to pay.


At home again, I took a nap.   I'm still fighting off some kind of virus I picked up last week (Wednesday is when I noticed it began) that has had me coughing and caused me to lose my voice.  Some kind of chest congestion. 


Afterward, Jef, Jeni and the boys went to the school for activity... She to walk, he to play ball.  The girls stayed here with me, but they were playing together and I don't think we interacted even one time while all the others were gone.  


Tuesday I was scheduled to work from 9-5.  I wondered why they'd give me that long a day on Tuesday.  It's generally a slow, nothing-in-the-works kind of day, unless there are resets to do.   The only problem I have with the way things have changed on my job now is that no one seems to think it's important to line up work for me to do when I come in.   I never know what I'm going to be doing and, for the most part, I have to find work for myself.   And I do, because I WANT TO BE busy if I'm going to be there.   So normally, I'll try to figure out which department needs some help and line myself up to help them out.   Then I go to the manager and say,  "Unless there is something else you have for me to do that is more important, I'm going to be....."  and tell them what I lined up.   Usually they just let me do what I planned to do.  On Saturday it was covering fabrics, so the Needlework person could get her order done (because she was supposed to be covering fabrics).  And I found out that day that she was working on a Needlework reset, so when I went in yesterday, I said, "I'll be working on the Needlework reset unless you have something else lined up for me to do."   Well, as it turned out, only one cashier was scheduled and  only me and one other employee covering the floor.  "Covering the floor" excludes fabrics and frame shop because the people covering those areas are not available to cover the floor.  They  have to stay in their areas to serve the customers who come to them.  But he and I were the two who had to cover the circumference and middle of the store.   That means doing price checks, taking phone calls and finding out what customers want in that way, and helping customers on the floor.  AND, it means we were the only back up cashiers.


As it turned out, I really didn't need to look for work.  I tried to start on the Needlework set but I was first on call to the registers and went back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, more times than I can come close to remembering to cashier.  In three hours, I had only finished one section.  But after twelve, they didn't call me as much and I had relaid most of the other two sections that were left before the Needlework employee came in at two. 


At two I went off to find other things to do.   I decided, without asking, since no one was in Art, or Jewelry, or Wearables, or Cards and Party, or Floral that I'd just start recovering those areas before I left so it wouldn't be so hard on the people who had to close to recover them.  When the co-manager walked by, I told him what I was up to and he said,  "You want something to do?  I'll give you something to do."  I said, "If it's not cleaning bases."  I still remembered the Saturday I spent the day "standing on my head" cleaning bases all day long  and I wasn't eager to repeat that.   He said, "It's like cleaning, but it's not that."   He wanted me to change out glass in the Craft Department.   (In doing some resets, instead of using glass that was not already labelled, whoever did it just turned the old labels to the other side and put new labels on.   Or they used labelled glass in places where there should have been no labels at all.)   So, I spent the next hour doing that.     Afterwards, I was headed to the clearance wall to be sure it was recovered and picked up another job.   Replacing back tags behind the stickers while the scrapbooking person-- who was working on that-- went to lunch.


I like the variety.   The only thing I really don't want to do is clean.    Of course, we all have to do it.   But it's just something I don't like to do.   "Cleaning" generally involved dusting bases and spines of the counters,dusting tables, sweeping out in places that the dust broom doesn't get to when the stockmen sweep at night,  cleaning tape residue off of side panels which has been left by putting up ad signs, and -- as I did that one Saturday-- actually cleaning the spots and dirt that get on the bases because kids walk on them, people spill stuff and spots are left, scuff marks from dragging furniture across them, and such like.


I've blogged my "free time" away.  I need to be getting ready to go to work now.