I'm Glad This Day's Done

Here's a picture of the first computer I ever owned. They gave me a whole box of them for free my first  day at Harris Street School in 1965. Back then it was called grammar school not elementary school but we always just called it Harris Street School.

Computers got really big (and I mean literally) in the early to mid seventies and some covered an entire wall. By the time I was a sophomore they introduced a reading lab at our school.

I never owned a computer until I won a lap top off a radio contest  seventeen years ago. Tim worked in downtown Atlanta at the time and picked  it up from the radio station. I opened the box and thought I had received the wrong package, surely this had to have been addressed to George and Jane Jetson,  not me.

One of Tim's friends came over and got me started. Seventeen years later and I'm still getting started.

This week I've felt (and looked) like the woman in the above photo. Starting this mid week manager job has stressed me out beyond belief. I'm great with the customers, talking is my number one forte'. I've gotten better at learning what they need and steering them in the right direction and have made a few pretty decent commission checks. It was great because I worked with  two seasoned employees who could help me with any problems. Now I'm on my own three days a week and the only thing that terrifies me is the computer system. I've never done some of these programs and am terrified of hitting the wrong key and doing something that can't be undone or fixed. Actually I have seen  the "Illegal Operation" notification a couple of times already and about peed my pants both times.

When I got my first computer I squinted at  the screen  for years before I learned I could make the font size bigger. That's how computer savvy I was.  I've learned a lot by trial and error and even more by hunt and peck  but that was on my OWN computer. Now I am a manager and working solo on a corporate computer. So far I haven't done anything that couldn't be fixed but it still makes me nervous.I did better today but when I was running closing reports at the end of the night got all confused thinking I had done something wrong and panicked. I picked up  the phone and called my BFFL at  corporate and left a message. I called the other manager at  home and asked him for help. Turns out I was doing things right, just freaking out. I need to have more faith in myself, slow down and take a deep breath. I am a worrier by  nature and the past few years haven't helped cure me of my flaw.

Tomorrow I am a server again and know how to do that with my eyes shut. Saturday I go back to selling furniture but will be with my two co workers and am doing every stinking thing that needs to be done on that computer while someone is there to watch me. I wasn't sure about this new job at first, but think now that it is something I could really be good at, I just have to step out of my comfort zone and apply myself.

Moving on... (I gots a busy life)

Massey had cap and gown pictures made today at  school as you  can see, and "No" these aren't them. She looked beautiful when I dropped her off for school. She's a good girl and although sometimes needs to  be taken down a notch usually takes her dressing down pretty well. She's still my BFF and I wouldn't have it any other way.

She chose a weekend trip to Destin with  a friend from school to stay with her aunts over going to the prom and don't blame her one bit. I was nervous about them driving down but spoke with them every few hours and they made it safely. I won't have to worry again until they drive back on Sunday.

Spoke with my sister a couple of hours ago. I wish Massey had a sister.

 My sister tried to make a fake call to the furniture store yesterday. I stopped her in her tracks once I  heard her fake voice. We have a thing called Klick Klacks. It's like a futon without the rails. When Cin came into the store for the first time she noticed  them and said she would love to have one for her home office. They are inexpensive and something I would buy for Massey's dorm room at college when friends visited.

Cin called me yesterday with her fake phone call and had it all planned out. She would say she just bought a home in an upscale community called White Water and only wanted to furnish her home with the finest furniture and wanted to know if we sold Klick Klacks?

She made  the mistake of calling when no one was in the store  and once I realized it was her, cut her off after saying "I just bought a home" and volleyed back "I don't give a sh*t where you bought a house."

I called her house tonight on the way home from work and left HER a fake message. I said I was calling on behalf of the Home Owners Association in White Water and she needed to get that Klick Klack off her front porch, it was a code violation.

It may not make you laugh but it made me laugh and made my sister laugh.

My point is...I'm still able to laugh. The opposite of laugh is cry and I'd much rather laugh than cry. I'm making strides here. I'm moving up albeit nervously but at least I am  moving in the right direction.

Shout out to my younger son, Zach. He has me totally hooked on his "A Game of Thrones" book. I have never hated and loved more characters in a book. It is a must  read and I am an avid reader.

So life is looking up and I need to quit looking down. As Forrest Gump said "I may not be smart but I know what love is."

I am loved by family, I am loved by  friends. I am loved by many and need to start believing  they are right. I'm an okay person.

Huge shout out to Vicki for getting me this new job and giving me this chance. I truly think it may be something I can be successful at...until I am discovered as the next  female David Sedaris !!

Til next  time...COTTON