PMA/jobs

Today was one of those days where I woke up on the right side of the bed, and everything was wonderful. My last post and all of the (wonderful) comments really had me thinking about positivity. I don't know if I made it clear, but my positive outlook is still here, just my outlook on people is a little more realistic. Upon examination, I think where I am is a good place to be. Realistically optimistic.

I haven't been taking very many photos this week, I'm not sure why, but I have a big event Saturday that Hank and I are dressing up for, so I'm sure I will update my Flickr then. About 5 months ago we also received an insanely amazing, brand new Nikon D-SLR, which I am focused on learning to use by our East Coast 3-week extravaganza. We will be in many, many beautiful places and I am looking forward to extensively documenting our trip, both through blog and photo.

And speaking of documenting, lately I have really, really been loving that I have so many photos from almost everyday of my life. Some people may find it odd that I take photographs of myself a lot, photographs of Madeline, photographs on our walks, love photos, sleeping photos...but I appreciate life so much, and I love that I have all these little snapshots of everything, everyday. I will never stop doing that. I just need to work on photography more, and taking different types of pictures. I am so excited for Hank to teach me to use the new one.

It's weird how time goes by. Because I am a teacher, time is set into neat little boxes for me, which makes it fly. It's put into quarters and semesters, days and periods. There is always something coming up- a holiday, a vacation, a progress report, a summer break, a bell. In a weird way I love this- I have always loved the structure of being in school, the idea of working hard for awhile, then getting rewarded with a huge break. And obviously it's no different as a teacher. I work for awhile, and get that same long break. After being a teacher, there is no way I could ever go back to a normal job- and really, I've only worked a few normal jobs in my life, for a couple years right after college.

I've become inspired to list all the jobs I've had, lucky you!

First of all, my parents never insisted I worked in high school, and in fact frowned upon it because I was so busy- they wanted me to have fun (and oh, did I). So I ended up taking weird jobs so I could work with my friends! Here's my timeline, the best I can remember. Due to many wild choices (including too many parties and too many raves in the mid to late nineties) I don't have the best memory of age 14-18. Oops.

I don't know the order of these jobs, but here are the places I worked in high school-

Subway- I don't remember much about this job except we used to steal the big bags of mayo and throw them out of our moving cars at people. Yes, I know that's horrible, but my guy friends were all crazy skateboard guys who liked to have "ruckus" night, which also included launching these bags, and balloons full of who knows what at cars from my backyard. Also, stealing golfcarts from the golf course I grew up on, one of my guy friends jumping into the lake during the old folks concert, and pretending to drown, and another golden time, going in to the JC Penney Home Store at the mall and hiding behind the shower curtains in the model bathrooms and jumping out at old, old people and screaming at the top of their lungs...all caught on video. We were 16 and stupid, what can I say?

And speaking of JC Penneys, I worked there for awhile with tons of friends. Shawna and Kara worked in the Home section, and I spent hours folding those shitty Arizona brand jeans and mens shirts upstairs. I don't remember much about this place either besides all of our friends that were there too.

Some weird telemarketing place- I worked here for about a month before I realized how fucked it was. They would put us in a back room, with no ventilation, and make us cold call people for hours without a break. Sweatshop anyone?

Home Plus- I worked here with my very best guy friend Ryan for awhile. I think we got fired? I don't remember.

And I think that's it for high school.

In college, I worked a few steady jobs throughout my four years at NAU.

Granny's Closet- My good friends Susan and Alyssa had gotten jobs here the summer before sophomore year and got me a job here serving. This was the weirdest place I have ever, ever worked and I can remember so much about it, so vividly. From the bulldog in the kitchen, to the huge vat of ranch, from the penny tips from the drunk Native Americans, to serving wings in the disco, setting up and taking down that godforsaken salad bar, it's so fresh in my mind. I dated some dude I met there for awhile. He turned out to be a total creepie, and I should have learned my lesson about dating restaurant guys. But nope. Stay tuned for that one.

Aveda O.P.O. Salon and Spa- I loved this job. I don't remember if Barb or Autumn (she was just graduating massage school) got me this job, but it quickly became a huge part of my life for all four years of college. It was a family owned salon/spa in downtown Flagstaff, and a wonderful woman Jennessa owned it. She treated her employees so well, and soon I was not only an assistant manager, but became the "Wedding Planner" extraordinaire and had so much responsibility. And I loved it. This is where I first fell in love with Aveda. We had so many good times there and it will always have a special, special place in my heart.

The Cracker Barrel- That's right, the mother-fucking Cracker Barrel kids! Shirley and I decided to apply here where a million of our friends got jobs here. They told us all about the big tips on Sunday mornings from the church-goers...and they were right! Cracker Barrel is a super weird place though, the training alone scared me so badly, but I stuck with it and somehow ended up loving it. We had to wear ridiculous aprons, and memorize all of these weird abbreviations and number codes for ordering. Example: a country-fried steak, white gravy with mashed potatos, brown gravy, and a side of carrots and fried apples looks like - CFSw 8b, 3, 9. Seriously weird, huh? And the longer you work there and take these little tests, you get a star (par level) on your apron. We would work a few nights during the week, and always Sunday morning. We would go to bed at 3 or 4 in the morning, and drag ourselves to work still drunk or hungover and serve all morning, until we go off around 2 or 3. Shirl and I would usually go to Cafe Express for lunch and then head to our house to nap all day, and usually find Autumn still in bed, sleeping away! I also met a guy who shall be called "T." at this fine establishment, and ended up dating him for a long time. He moved to Florida and we consequently parted ways. Somehow he lives in Prescott now. Odd.

So those are three places I have worked in college. After college, I kept just two jobs until I became a teacher.

Aveda- I was the assistant manager at the Aveda store at the Scottsdale Fashion Square Mall for almost two year. After being around Aveda products for all of college, I couldn't be away from it and took this job. It was either that, or manager at Sephora, and I am so glad Aveda won out. Anyway, I met so many wonderful girls at this job, and had a blast. I was working here when I met Hank, and I can still remember telling Rosemary (the head manager) all about him. My main responsibilities were to open/close the store, stock inventory, sell, typical retail stuff. The employee discount though was 74%, which is unheard of, and I loved it. Overall this was probably one of my most favorite jobs- I was required to wear black all day, had to look good (makeup and hair since we were selling beauty), and could show my tattoos. Awesome.

Barnes and Noble- I worked at B&N for a short while up in Prescott to make ends meet while I was student teaching. I love books, and I should have probably just become a librarian. This job was heaven! Coming in an hour early to sort and put away books, talking about reading all day, and a great discount? If I would have gotten laid off, this would have been my back up plan. Barnes and Noble is the jam...besides it being in a mall and always full of my students. Hmmm.

So anyway, now you know my work history. Did anyone even read this far? I feel insane for typing it all out, but I also feel very accomplished. Go me.

And go me, to bed. Goodnight lovelies. xo

PS. Where are some of the weird places you've worked?