Successful Cooking and Another Good Book

I'm sure I've mentioned in the past that Carlos is a really good cook! He makes just about everything that I eat and he likes feeding me. I've encouraged him to go to culinary school. I think he would do great! Carlos likes to cook according to how he is feeling. He has never used a recipe ever! He reminds me a lot of Ratatouille! Me on the other hand....I'm a horrible cook. I don't know what spices can be mixed together and all that jazz. I'm a recipe follower all the way. Several days ago he told me he was hungry and he asked me to make him some eggs. My eggs have never turned out good and I don't mind eating my own catastrophe but I would never subject anyone else to them. So of course I declined to make him some eggs that day. I don't think he was too happy with me cause I think he wanted me to take care of him for a change. On Sunday he asked me if I would make him some breakfast and I declined again knowing all we had was eggs or cereal. He didn't seem too happy with me yet again. I felt bad and so I stormed into the kitchen and cracked him some eggs. I added some milk and cheese and a pinch of garlic powder and started to scramble away. He came into the kitchen and asked me what I was doing and I told him I was cooking his breakfast. The biggest smile spread across his face. I warmed up a tortilla and slapped the eggs on top and served it to him with a glass of juice! I was super nervous that they would taste horrible and so I grabbed a small portion of the egg to taste before he ate the disaster. It was delicious!! I was surprised that it was good...my eggs turned out great. Carlos loved them too!! He practically breathed them in! Later that night I cooked lasagna for dinner and invited my little brother over. My little bro had really helped me out the last few weeks when my car was getting some repairs done and I wanted to thank him for his help. I decided that my brother would enjoy a little taste of home so I pulled out my moms lasagna recipe and got to work. My mom is not a gourmet cook or a good cook at all really but her spaghetti sauce (which is used for the lasagna) is the best sauce I have ever tasted. I grew up with it and I will never love another sauce as much as my moms. But being a little biased I was nervous that Carlos wouldn't like it with his gourmet taste buds. I served up the lasagna and to my surprise....Carlos had 2 more helpings after the first. He loved it. He even took a few pieces to work the other day to feed one of his employees and everyone at his work wanted a bite! He has begged me to make it again but add some more vegetables. I'm so happy that my meals satisfied him so much!

A while ago I mentioned that I read a book called The Girl Next Door. It was so good that I finished it in two days. Right after I finished the book I started reading another one by the same author, Lost Innocents!

This one took me a while to get into and I didn't read it as fast as the first. The other book captivated me on the first chapter but this one was a little slower in introducing the characters. In fact there were too many characters and each chapter introduced someone new. But by the middle of the book in started to get really good. I was finally satisfied with the book and I

couldn't put it down. I finished it last night and I loved it.

PS I started this post on Monday but finished and published on Wednesday Sept. 2!

Nurse Jackie

One of my favorite shows, Nurse Jackie, just had its seasons finale earlier this week and I'm very sad. I have to wait until 2010 for the next season to start. Not only do I have to wait until next year but I don't even know what month it will be starting. I guess I could always google it and find out. Carlos really likes Weeds and I like to watch it with him. Some days he doesn't get off work until midnight and so I have to record it for him. Nurse Jackie is on right after Weeds and I decided to watch it one night. I became hooked and now I enjoy it over Weeds.

Jackie is basically living a double life and sometimes I just want to slap her. She is married and has two young daughters. She seems to have a loving husband and it appears that she loves him too.

But at the hospital she is dating the pharmacist Eddie,

and the only person that works at the hospital that knows about Jackie's marriage and children is Dr. O'hara.

I love the characters but I don't always like what they do, especially Jackie!

The Girl Next Door

I just finished reading this book and it was AMAZING!!! I read another one of her books about 6 years ago and I loved it so I decided to try some of her others. I bought 4 of her books and I chose to read this one first. I couldn't put it down. I finished it in two days (it wasn't very big) cause I just loved it. I started reading another one yesterday. So far I'm not liking it as much but I can tell that it is picking up a little. Not that it is bad or anything but the other one captivated me on the first page! So far I can tell that her books are murder mystery with a little romance. I thoroughly enjoyed The Girl Next Door and Not Guilty (which is the one I read 6 years ago). I recommend reading this book if you think you would enjoy reading something like this.

Thanks

I just wanted to thank a few people for the dog advice they gave me. I've never had a dog so any advice you can give me will be much appreciated. Carlos grew up with dogs so I think we will be fine.

I do have a name picked out but I don't want to tell anyone the name until I have held her in my arms. We also plan on having her spayed but we are waiting until after she has her first period. Carlos told me that if she gets spayed before she has a period then she will always be a puppy and her body won't go through that change. Not sure if that is true but anyway!

Thanks!

A Baby Is Born

Take a good look at these adorable little angels!

I didn't want to tell yet but I'm just so excited that I can't wait anymore.

A couple of weeks ago Carlos bought me a puppy! He has a friend/co-worker that has parents that breed 3 different types of dogs: Pugs, Boston Terriers and Portuguese Water dogs! He asked me to pick one and I picked the pug. I looked at google images all night of all 3 breeds and I couldn't get over this adorable face!!

Too cute if you ask me!!

The mother was still pregnant but she went into labor today! Carlos just texted me and told me that our baby was here and we only have to wait 8 more weeks before we get her! Yes I chose to have a girl! I don't want to deal with male doggy parts hanging and stuff. Grosses me out just thinking about it.

I can't wait till we can bring our little girl home! Kittie probably won't like it but I'm sure she will get used to having a little sister around the house before long! I think it is cute that our children will have the same coloring! Both have part of their father's dark skin and part of my light skin...lol ;-p

Worthless

I've always thought that I was a good person but lately I feel like I'm a worthless piece of crap! I've always been a perfectionist and I've always been my worst critic. I was that girl in school that people always came to to copy my homework! I always did my homework and I always studied for tests. My papers were always a masterpiece and my grades always reflected my hard work. When it came to my household chores I always did them when my parents asked and I made sure that it was done right the first time so that I didn't have to do it again. I practiced my music in my room so that I was perfect for the concerts AND I practiced extra hard in ballet rehearsals so that I would be the shining star on stage! I've always brought my hard work to my jobs as well. I'm not the type of person that wants to get paid for nothing. I always do what my manager asks of me. I do EVERYTHING that I'm supposed to do and then some. For some reason Macy's is completely blind and they don't see the things that I do for them. Ever since we got our new store manager I always seem to get in trouble. Our old manager loved me and I got so many awards and lots of recognition. No one seems to care that I bust my butt for that company. Ever since I got my DML (third write up mentioned in some previous posts) I have worked EXTRA hard to make an impression on management. I've tried to prove that I'm a great employee and that I take my job seriously. My sales have improved and I've been working really hard to increase my loyalty (credit apps) as well.

Today the store manager called me into his office for a little chat. I was freaking out cause I thought they were going to fire me for something stupid. I sat down and the first thing he said was that I wasn't in trouble and I didn't need to worry about that. He mentioned that he heard that I received a DML and that I chose to come back and work on my mistakes. He also told me that he has heard great things about me since I've been back. But then he had to go into my history. He told me that when he started out as our store manager I was one of the best employees. He told me that my sales were great and that he personally saw me as a strong sales associate. Then he mentioned that since I've been in shoes my sales have dropped and the sales in the shoe department all together have dropped drastically. He suggested that maybe I'm miss suited for the shoe department and that I should probably go back to working in the clothing. I told him that I liked working in shoes and I that I didn't want to work in clothing again. He told me that they really needed the sales in shoes to improve and that they needed their best employees in shoes. I asked him if I was the reason that shoes was doing bad since that was what I was getting from the conversation. He told me that it wasn't because of any certain individual but that my sales reflected that I wasn't helping!! This really hurt me. I felt like I was being stabbed in the heart over and over again with a sharp knife. You may be thinking, "This doesn't sound all that bad! Why is she feeling so hurt?" I couldn't possibly answer this question without going back to a year ago when we got our new store manager. I couldn't even answer it without writing a whole novel. But I can say that Nic Delgado (the store manager) is a Homosexual, Sexist Bastard! Since he has been our manager, ONLY male employees get hired above the standard starting wage. ONLY male employees get invited to go to lunch with him. ONLY male employees get recognition for their hard work and most of the male employees are homosexual. There are about 12 male associates (that I can think of) and 6 of the ones I can think of are gay. I don't have any problems with homosexuals since I have a very close relative that is gay but I have never worked with so many gay people before. Before I mentioned that Nic was homo but he actually is married to a woman with 7 children. But most of us woman at Macy's think he is a homosexual hiding from his real sexual preference. We just had two management positions open up that Nic filled with men!!! My real problem is that the application states that you must work with the company at least six months before you can be hired as management. Neither one of these men have been with the company that long. In fact one of them has only been with the company a month...maybe two. I know of some really well qualified woman that applied and were denied because they have breasts instead of nuts!

Back to my woes: I have been suspicious of the fact that Nic is trying to replace me for a man for a couple of months now! I first got the impression back in March when my homosexual co-worked was invited to a shoe meeting and I wasn't! My co-worker texted me later that night and warned me that Nic wanted to get me out of shoes. He told me that if I wanted to keep my job I needed to start doing more work in the stockroom. I immediately started doing more stockroom work but that didn't seem to impress Nic. Then I started getting written up for the lamest reasons in the world until they finally issued my DML. (Let me just say that I have been with Macy's 2 years now and I didn't get a single write up my first year. In fact I didn't get a write up until Nic came around)!! It became very obvious today that Nic's real intentions are to get me out of his store so he can hire a whole male store. I feel like I will amount to nothing in this world and that nothing I do will EVER be good enough!! I guess I truly am a worthless piece of crap!!!

My Show Is Over

Usually I would be watching So You Think You Can Dance right now but last week was the finale and America voted for their favorite dancer.

Say hello to Jeanine Mason....

America's favorite dancer!

Jeanine was one of my favorite female dancers so I was happy to see her win. I had really wanted Brandon to win and I was pretty sure he was going to but turned out to be Jeanine!

Anyway...I'm sad that my show is over and I don't know what to do with my Wednesday and Thursday nights. Good thing I only have to wait a month for the next season to start. I'm also excited that Dancing With The Stars is on Mondays and Tuesdays and that won't interfere with SYTYCD!!

Saved By An Angel

Carlos finally got home from work on Saturday around 4:15 pm. He walked through the door and saw me sitting on the couch with my makeup all smudged and my hair all over the place. He asked me if I had been crying and I reminded him of the BUG that was taking over my bathroom. He busted out laughing, "You mean to tell me that you haven't gone in the bathroom all day because of a little bug?" He went into the bathroom and looked all over the walls and looked in the cupboards. He couldn't find the bug anywhere. He started picking up clothes that were on the floor and then he decided to take out the trash since it was full. While picking the trash can up he saw the bug crawling around inside. So I went and got a huge garbage sack and he emptied the trash and the nasty bug inside of it. I was finally able to shower because my brave man came to my rescue!

Two Stories

I wanted to share two stories with everyone that happened recently!

Sweet Story

About 1 year and 10 months ago I helped a lady and her daughters and granddaughter buy clothes for the funeral of the lady's husband. I was working in the Women's Clothing Department at Macy's at that time and I was a fairly new associate. I remember helping this lady cause I could tell that she was really having a hard time with her husband's death. Her daughters came up to me and told me that their mother was really taking his death hard and she needed my help finding a suit for the funeral. I probably helped them for about an hour. They were all pretty indecisive and didn't know what suit would be best for the occasion. So after servicing them for the longest time they finally made up their minds and made their final purchase. This lady has come into Macy's a few times since her husband's death and I always remember her. I have even helped her on some of these occasions. She of course doesn't remember me but I always remember her. Yesterday she came into the shoe department wanting to replace the shoes she was currently wearing. I of course recognized who she was and offered her my assistance. I brought out some shoes for her to try on and those didn't work so we kept on looking. We finally came across a orange pair that she really liked. She tried them on and decided she liked them enough to buy them. She was taking the shoe off when she noticed a small damage on the heel. I offered to give her 5% off (since the shoe was already on clearance) but she wanted 10-15% off. I finally agreed to give her 15% off. She asked if she could wear these shoes with black. I decided that giving her my honest opinion would be better than getting a $30 sale. If the shoes had only been orange then I would have said yes but since part of the shoe was orange and other part was cream I decided to tell her no. I told her that with the two different colors in the shoe they would look best being worn with neutral colors. She then proceeded to tell me that she only wore black these days.

*Now remember she doesn't remember me but I remember her*

She then told me that 1 year and 10 months ago to the date was the day she took her husband to the hospital. She started to get emotional and I just remained calm and let her cry. I told her that the orange shoes came in black and I went to the back to grab her size. Unfortunately we didn't have her size but I brought her the size smaller and larger for her to try on. To make a long story short, she ended up buying the size larger!!! While I was ringing up her shoes she continued to cry and talk about her husband and how hard it is having him gone. She told me that she came to Macy's to buy clothes for his funeral. I informed her that I was the girl that helped her and her daughters. She couldn't believe it. She started to cry some more and she reached over the counter and grabbed my hand. Being on my period and being extremely emotional myself I started to cry with her. She just held my hand for a minute and thanked me from the bottom of her heart for all the help I have given her! I told her to go to our website and tell about her "Outstanding" service and she assured me that she would since I provided more than outstanding service. She finally left after about an hour of shoe shopping with me. Even if she doesn't go to the website I will know that my service at Macy's really was OUTSTANDING! Let's just hope that she really does so I can rub in my managers face just how amazing I really am!

Scary Story

I woke up this morning and proceeded to the bathroom to take my morning piddle. I was sitting on the toilet when I noticed this massive bug with millions of long legs staring at me from the wall across from where I was sitting. I grabbed my cell phone and texted Carlos immediately. His response was an lol. I didn't like that so I texted him again stating that I had never seen this bug before in my life and I didn't know if it was fast or if it could jump at me. Again....lol!!! I quickly wiped, flushed and washed my hands. I ran out of the bathroom screaming and ran toward the computer. I googled the stupid thing and the first picture that came up was the picture of the monster in my bathroom.

Behold....I give you the House Centipede!!

I texted Carlos:

"It's a house centipede!!! I just googled the nasty thing. I need you to kill it babe. I can't get ready with that vile creature sharing the bathroom!!"

His response:

"OMG"

I decided to do some research on the little devil since I now knew what it was. I mainly wanted to know if it was poisonous! I went to ask.com and it brought up a story. I read the story and it didn't give me any info but then there were comments below the story. One of the comments was about how centipedes were predators and that they were poisonous. I kept reading the comments while beads of sweat dribbled down from my temples.

I texted him again:

"Internet says it's poisonous and the bite feels like someone is trying to extinguish a cigar on your bare skin!! Sorry to annoy but I'm too scared to kill the thing and they supposedly run wicked fast!! I'll get over it but if you come home and I'm paralyzed or dead you will know who the culprit is!"

He responded telling me it was one of God's creatures and that I would be fine. I continued to read the comments on the Internet and finally there was one that said that this was only a house centipede and that if it was big enough to bite it would only sting like a bee sting and only if you were allergic to it's venom would anything happen to you. They continued to state that the house centipede fed on bugs and wouldn't want to harm humans. I began to calm down a little bit but that didn't eliminate the the fact that they run super fast and could bite me at any given time. I decided to get over my fear and go back into the bathroom and face the demon so I could get ready for the day. Good thing I was off work today or I would have had to miss work cause a bug was on the wall. Anyway...I pushed the door to the bathroom open very slowly not to scare the thing. I then flicked on the light and examined the mirror to see if it was on the ceiling at this point. I didn't see anything so I continued to creep inside. I noticed that I was barefoot so I ran into my bedroom to put my slippers on. If I had to step on it suddenly I didn't want to feel it on my flesh. Especially foot flesh!! The cat was curious as to why I was creeping with slow movements and she decided to check it out with me. I could see this being a bad thing if the cat saw it and decided to play with it so I screamed and the scared the cat out of the bathroom before she walked to the whereabouts of this long legged troll. I walked in further and slowly turned my head around the corner to the piece of wall across from the toilet. IT WAS GONE!!! I ran out of the bathroom screaming and jumping in circles and the cat ran around too in confusion. I wish I had been video taped cause it was probably hilarious to behold. Since the bug had moved I decided to send the cat into the bathroom again to be my guard while I carried a bottle of Clorox bleach spray. It was the most toxic thing I could find. We started creeping in again slowly and this time I found it. It was on the same wall as before only this time it was closer to the ceiling. It was another repeat as before only this time I was crying in fear as I ran around screaming. I've decided that I can't get ready today until 1. Carlos kills the beast or 2. Carlos inspects every square inch of the place and then protects me from all threats. I can't eat or drink in fear that I will digest and the toilet will be my only friend. I can't shower to get away from the place. I could call for help but I didn't wash my face last night and my hair looks like I went through a tornado or something. I pretty much look like a zombie right now. I'm a prisoner in my own home and my stomach is growling. Carlos is supposed to get off work at 2 today and it is after 2 now so hopefully I won't have to wait long for my knight in shining armor to save me from the house centipede. I wanted to take a picture of it but I'm scared that the flash will freak it out and I can just see it jumping on the lens.

Hope you enjoyed my stories and got a kick out of my scary story. Believe me when I say everything is true. I have not exaggerated anything. I really am scared of bugs!

Warning: If you find the sudden urge to research the house centipede...be prepared for a most gruesome sight. I screamed and squirmed on the couch when all 10 images of the same bug displayed on the computer screen. You have been warned!

3's of Me

Three Names I go by:

1. Goo
2. Babe
3. Pumpkin

Three Jobs I have had in my Life

1. Macy's
2. Dillard's
3. Office Depot

Three Places I have Lived

1. Midland, TX
2. Humble, TX
3. Orem, UT

Three Favorite Drinks

1. Wild Cherry Capri Sun
2. Java Chip Frap
3. Orange Juice...

Three TV Shows I Watch

1. Weeds
2. Nurse Jackie
3. So You Think You Can Dance or Dancing With The Stars when in Season

Three Places I have Been (not sure what this means but here goes)

1. Disneyland
2. Pennsylvania
3. Some LDS Temples

Three Of My Favorite Foods (lately)

1. Pulled Pork Sandwich
2. Chicken Sandwich from Wendy's
3. BMT from Subway

Three Things I am Looking Forward To

1. Possibly going back to school
2. Getting a better job
3. Having a stronger relationship with Carlos

Three Things I Do Everyday

1. Check my blog
2. Check my bank statement online
3. Cuddle with Carlos

Rainer Cherries

Carlos bought these cherries and forced me to eat one. I hate regular cherries but he assured me that I would like these ones. I took a small bite and SURPRISE they are delicious. I think I have a new favorite fruit. They kinda have a mixed flavor of the peach and the cherry. They really are good. I think everyone should try some. If you are like me and hate cherries....I promise you will like these!

Warning: Be careful of the pit!

Singles Wards

On Sunday I made a comment on Facebook about how I hated Singles Wards and I thought I would share my reasons on why I made that comment.

Carlos isn't a member of the church but he is a very spiritual person. He believes in God, Jesus and the Holy Ghost. He believes some of the things that the church teaches but he also has problems with some of our beliefs. He has urged me to go back to church several times but I always tell him that I will go when I'm ready. I think he thinks that I will be a happier person if I attend my church meetings again. I'm just scared that I will lose him if I start going back to church. Anyway....Carlos has been praying that God will send me a worthy man OR that God will make him, Carlos, the worthy man that I need. He got an invite to go to church with one of his co-workers. He decided to go and he told me that he wanted to do this alone cause he has THOUSANDS of questions to ask and he doesn't want to make a fool out of me by asking away. I told him that his questions wouldn't make a fool out of me but he still wants to go to church alone for the next few weeks.

Sunday came and he got up and started getting ready for church. He told me that his friend attended a Family Ward which is what Carlos preferred anyway. He didn't want to deal with single girls hitting on him and stuff. He left and little while later I got a text from him saying that this was a set up and that he wanted to leave. I asked him why and he said that his friend lied to him and took him to a Singles Ward. He told me that the girls were dressed like they were going to a club and everyone was texting during the meeting. He said that this girl kept looking at him and trying to get his attention. He told her that he was trying to listen and she better cross her legs cause her skirt was too short for worship. He also told me that he wanted to sit by a group of boys but his friend told him that no one sits over there. Carlos asked why only to hear his friend say that they were losers and none of the girls sat over there. Carlos was disappointed with his experience and I tried to tell him not to blame the church for how these people acted. He finally agreed that it was the people and not the church. After the meeting they had a Break the Fast meeting where more testimonies could be given and a light brunch was served. He told me that all the so called "Cool" people left and that only the "losers" and people already in a relationship stayed for the brunch. Even Carlos' friend left leaving Carlos alone. Carlos told me brunch was a better experience cause all the fake people left.

I'm outraged cause these stupid single fake people made our church look bad to someone who was investigating our religion. All Carlos wanted was to worship and feel the spirit. He didn't want some slut Mormon girl to hit on him. I concur with Carlos. Church is a place of worship and when we are there we need to be reverent. Just because it is a Singles Ward doesn't mean that worship should stop. I'm annoyed with those girls that use church as an excuse to get pretty and show some skin. I'm annoyed with those boys that only acknowledge the girls that have skirts 4 inches above the knee with stilettos and a matching handbag. I think the single people in our religion forget the real meaning of attending our church meetings. I'm one of those girls that likes to look nice and dress up. BUT....when I was attending my singles ward several years ago before my marriage, I was the strongest I had ever been before in the church. I still wanted to look nice and I still wanted the boys to check me out but I still went to church with the sole purpose to worship my savior. Getting a guy to ask you out is only an added bonus. I think that if you worship and are reverent in church meetings the right guy will notice you and that right guy will be worth your while. Those guys that only want a girl that looks like she is at a club instead of church probably aren't worth any ones time. They only want a piece of a** and those slut dressers are no different.

Carlos and I have agreed to go to a Family Ward this Sunday. I told him that he would most likely have a more positive experience and that he would probably feel the spirit more. Hopefully he will go through with it and we will go.

I almost want to write the church and tell them about this story. I want these stupid jocks and sluts to know that investigators look at their actions and think poorly of the church!

So Lame

I was so excited to go to work this morning to see if I won one of those drawings and it turns out that I didn't win either. Just my luck....I NEVER win anything EVER!!! Stupid drawings!! I should have won something for opening 5 accounts! Macy's sucks! So Lame!!

Since I've Been Back

Since I've been back to work this week things have gone really well. I was really nervous that I wouldn't get my job back in the first place. So when I did get my job I was expecting them to fire me for the first bad thing I would do. I felt like I was walking on egg shells all day on Tuesday. I've tried really hard to make a good impression and change my behavior at work. So far I have been a success!

1. I have exceeded my sales goal everyday that I have worked!

2. I have gotten so much accomplished on the sales floor and in our stockroom!

3. My manager has seen my improvement!

4. I've become more interactive with my customers and actually have some nice conversations with some of them!

5. I opened 5 accounts this week!

That last one is probably my greatest accomplishment this week. Getting our customers to open a Macy's card has become very difficult with the economy being so bad. Not many people want to open another credit card, especially a department store card that has a higher interest rate. I am extremely lucky when I open 1 account per week. The fact that I did 5 is freakin amazing!! What's even better is they did 2 contests this week. For every account that you opened you got to enter your name into a drawing for $50. For every 5 accounts that you opened you got to enter your name into a drawing for a free handbag of your choice!

So my name is in the one drawing 5 times which makes my chances of winning the $50 dollars greater! When I left work today at 5 pm my name was the only name entered into the drawing for the handbag!! Hopefully I'm the only employee that opened 5 accounts! Fingers crossed cause I really want a new handbag!! That would be totally awesome if I won both!

I would love to have a Coach handbag (not necessarily the one above) but our store doesn't carry Coach!! You can bet your bottom dollar that if I win...I'm picking the most expensive purse in the store!!