What I Do

I was just thinking - there are probably a few people who don't really know about or understand my job. So I thought I would try and explain it a little bit - even though I myself don't know what I'm doing half the time!

I work for a Wine & Spirits Distribution company. I am in the Chains , which means I drive around and visit grocery stores all day. When I first started with the company, I was a Sales Rep/Merchandiser. So I would take all the information I had on the brands that we represent (like Bacardi or Jack Daniels) and try to sell displays into the grocery stores. We have quotas we are supposed to attain each month - which means we need to sell in a certain amount of cases and have a certain amount of displays in our stores. We also merchandise the displays to get them looking fancy and hopefully grab peoples' attention so they buy the stuff.

After about 1 year as a Sales Rep, I got promoted to a District Manager. Now I run a team of 7 Sales Reps and make sure they are taking care of business. Sometimes I think Manager is just another word for Glorified Babysitter, but it has its good points too. The #1 thing that keeps me working is the fact that during the slower times, my schedule is really flexible. But when we are not going through a slow time, my schedule is nothing if not HECTIC. And besides being hectic out in the field, I get to come home and do paperwork for hours on end. Not every day, but enough days that it gets old.

The company also does what they call Surveys. Oh, the dreaded surveys. Basically, one particular brand will give you a date (usually a week or 2 in advance) and then send its people out to your stores to make sure their displays are the biggest and the best in every store. Now, in the real world, there's no way everyone can have the biggest and best display in every store. Its completely impossible. So we fake it. Literally. We use empty boxes to make our displays look bigger. We move things around to different areas of the store to make sure we have the best location. It is very, very time consuming and draining. I won't go too much more into detail, but it is just a lot of work. A lot of 12-hour days leading up the survey to make sure everything gets done. And now that I'm a manager, I don't just worry about myself. I have a whole team whose stores have to look great. If the stores look bad, it is ultimately my fault.

I have had 1-2 of these stinkin' surveys every month for the past 6 months, so my schedule has not slowed down. Honestly, I am exhausted. I am thinking about moving on to something new, but I just haven't decided what.

So that's it in a nutshell. It's really weird. (And pretty funny considering that I don't drink.) It is something that I never knew existed. A friend introduced me to the company and I just hit my 3-year mark there. I have been trying to hang in there for my 5-year (so I can be fully vested in the company) but don't hold your breath!

Design On A Dime

All of a sudden, I had the urge to redecorate a little bit. I didn't want it to be too expensive or take too much time, but I needed a change. So after a couple trips to Macy's and Target, I was able to change around some things to liven up the house.

In the living room, I changed the curtains from an eggplant purple to a golden yellow. I also added a couple new yellow throw pillows and an old yellow blanket that used to be in the guest room. The living room was decorated in such dark colors before. So I like the mix of the original purple and brown with the new pop of yellow thrown in. Looks much brighter in here!

For the master bedroom, I changed the curtains from an ugly cream to a carolina blue, and bought a new bedspread. Actually I bought two bedspreads because I couldn't decide which one I wanted. There's a blue one that is a little more fancy and really makes the room look nice. I also got a thin quilt (pictured) that is a little more casual, and perfect for summer. I love both of them for different reasons. And I was smart enough to buy the curtains that match both, so that didn't help me decide.

This is typically how the process goes. Whatever the decision might be - where to eat for dinner, what color eyeshadow I should get, which fashion magazine I should subscribe to - I can usually narrow it down to 2 choices, but have such a hard time making the final decision! Hopefully the husband can be of assistance on this one when he gets home.

Or maybe I can keep both and one day when we have more than 2 rooms, I'll put all my bedspreads to good use!

7th Annual Cabin Trip!

What a fun and relaxing weekend we had! A big group of us do this every year. And for 2008, we stayed in a new cabin. Not newly built, just one we had never stayed at before. I'm not really sure why they call it a cabin though. It's really just a big house in the overly-developed wilderness. But regardless of whether it is technically a cabin or a house, Lake Arrowhead is a great place to stay! (I am a walking postcard.)

A few weeks ago, we had a huge rain storm - which meant TONS of snow in the mountains. So we were all very excited that there would be lots of sledding and snowball fights going on this year. But for the next couple weeks after the storm, the weather was unseasonably warm. In the upper 70's and even the 80's a couple times. So we gave up our dreams of seeing any snow in Arrowhead. We left our hats, gloves and sleds behind and figured we'd just enjoy the nice weather as it was.

As we drove up the mountain, we were not surprised to see green hillsides and trees. Until we actually drove into Arrowhead and they had PLENTY of snow left. Piled up on the side of the road. Stacked on rooftops. Covering perfect sledding hills. DANG! Duped again by Mother Nature! (And by the way, it is snowing there as we speak!)

So instead of sledding, we mostly hung around the house, ate a ton of food, played poker and watched TV. We waited all weekend for the American Gladiators Finale (love Crush) and the Knight Rider movie (worst thing ever). We did get outside a couple times. We had a nice walk down to the beautiful lake. It was seriously picture perfect. And of course visited The Village to shop the outlets and eat candied apples. I slept in until 10:00 a couple times. I needed that fo' sho'! And besides, it was just really nice to get out of town for a few days.

Maybe next year, we will plan it right and actually take advantage of some snow. But then again, we say that every year...

Pooh Talk

Even though I am 29 years old, I still think talking about pooh is funny. Do you ever grow out of that? The Poopie List is one of my favorite lists ever. It also makes me laugh that my cute little nephew poohs almost every time I pick him up. And if he doesn't pooh, he definitely toots. Tooting is also something that never fails to give me a giggle. Plus, the word "toot" itself is just awesome.

So I found it extra funny last weekend when the group of friends got together for a housewarming party and (after a rousing game of Cranium) the conversation somehow lead to pooh. We talked about how many people have accidentally poohed their pants as adults (Also known as The Surprise Poopie). It's crazy how often it actually happens! Disturbing, but true. It was interesting to hear everyone's embarassing experiences.

I guess we were in a sharing mood that night. Lots of laughs as usual. One of the best housewarming parties I've ever been to. Not just because of the pooh talk. (The food was delicious too.)

Fatty McGee

Today was a really nice day again. Didn't need a jacket or a sweater. Wished I was at the beach instead of at work. I even went so far as to run to the gym instead of walk. But after the all the harrassment I got, I decided I will never run in daylight again.

After the first block, a couple guys drove by and started cat-calling and yelling "Hey baby! Woo!" Probably because my boobs were bouncing around like a couple water balloons. I'm sorry, but sports bras don't do that much - just makes them bounce in a synchronized fashion.

After the second block, I ran into a few teenage boys sitting on the corner. They were not so nice as to cat-call though. One of them actually said, under his breath, "Yeah, run fat ass." Now, keep in mind this is not the first time that has happened to me. When I was living in Glendale, I tried going for walks occassionally and there was a time that some kids drove by and shouted "You better start running, fat girl!" I ignored them, but I was BOILING inside. I said so many swear words in my head that I offended myself.

This time, I didn't ignore them. I stopped running. I turned around. I said, "Did you just say something to me?" After a moment of silence and some wide-eyed stares, once of them said, "Uh. Oh, no. We weren't talking to you." I gave them a look and a Mmm-hmmm. And kept running.

It's amazing. No matter how nice of a day you are having, or how confident you might feel about yourself - if someone calls you fat (and you actually hear it) that can really get to you! Even though they were just a few stinkin' 13-year olds. So, needless to say, I had a great workout because I was pretty heated. I didn't swear in my head as much, but I told Hubby that if our kids ever call someone fat so they can hear it, they WILL get smacked upside the head.

Damn kids.

The Rascal

Today has been SUCH a nice day. A little on the chilly side, but sunny and still warm enough to roll down your windows while you drive. It's the kind of day that makes you want to go for a run or get your car washed. Or maybe shave your legs. I didn't do any of those things, but you get the idea.

Gadoo loves these days too. I usually open up the back door and he will just sit there for hours feeling the breeze and sniffing all the new smells from the outside.

Funny story. I was cleaning out my work van and had the trunk door open. I bent over to pick something up and heard a "WHOOSH" over my head, into the van. It scared the heck out of me and I figured it was either a bird or a REALLY HUGE bug. So I glanced inside, but couldn't really see anything. Maybe I imagined it? But then I heard the pitter-patter of wings against the window. So I walked up to the front of the van and sure enough, a little bird was in there trying to figure his way out. I was freaking out because I wanted to help him and didn't want him to hurt himself, but what if he was a psycho?! So I cautiously made my way to the side door, hoping that if I opened that, he would fly away. As soon as I got it open, he flew right out the back where he had come in. Phew! But he left a little turd as evidence on my dashboard. Rascal.