Anne's Place

Working For Walmart

2009-03-21T13:32:00.006-04:00

Ok, so I've been working at Walmart for a month now. I'm really trying hard to figure out why so many people hate Walmart.

I know, I've read the stories about the lawsuits, bad working conditions at some Walmarts, etc. They were some time ago and obviously those particular stores have gotten their acts together, whether they liked it or not. I blame most of what happened on the store managers of those stores.

What I'm trying to figure out is why people are picking on Walmart in particular about pay rates and what country the merchandise coming from.

As for pay rate, I was offered a job at J.C. Penney's with a starting rate of $7.15 an hour, that less than what I was offered at Walmart! From what I've learned the starting pay rate at most major retailers is around the same. Why is it that no one picks on Penney's, K-Mart, Target, etc.?

They do offer medical benefits and while they are kind of stinky, I'm finding that's true of many places. I previously worked for a home heating oil company and was not even offered them. The only time I had decent benefits was years ago with the first oil company I worked at for 13 years. Not one job since then has had decent medical benefits. I'll also be entitled to a store discount and quarterly bonuses after I'm working at Walmart long enough. I also get two 15 minute breaks and a one hour meal break. The 15 minute breaks are paid, the one hour meal break is unpaid. However, if for some reason I do any kind of work during that time, I must put in a time edit so I'll be paid for that time.

As for not understanding when something comes up in my personal life that will interfere with my work? When I applied I gave them the hours and days I was willing to work. If I need to change that, it's my problem not theirs. I don't know too many companies that would not feel the same.

Now the countries where the merchandise comes from. Show me a store, a major chain, that actually carries a majority of products that are made here in the U.S. You're not going to find one and you know why? We don't have any! I hear people tell me they go to the dollar store, Target, etc. instead of Walmart because the products are made in China. Have these people ever read the labels of the stuff they are buying elsewhere?

Don't get me wrong, the work is hard. I'm on my feet 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. But, I'm finding that I really enjoy it. I like helping people find what they need. Each person is unique and different, each coming from different backgrounds, cultures and financial situations. Helping them decide what works best for them really makes me feel good. A recent example was helping a young woman pick out pillows and a mattress topper for her grandmother who is sick. She didn't want the cheapest ones because her grandmother was very uncomfortable with the cheap ones someone else had bought. We managed to find something very nice and more comfortable at a price the young woman could afford.

Now, if I could just convince people not to take curtains, sheets, etc. out of the packages! Please do us associates everywhere a huge favor... don't do that! It's very difficult, if not impossible, to get them back in the packages the way the factory does. And, even when we do no one wants to buy them because you can tell they've been open.

I won't even discuss what some people do to the aisles! I spend a majority of my day putting back stuff left all over the store and cleaning up what has been thrown on the floor!

Found A Job!

2009-02-17T22:13:00.004-05:00

Now that I finally found a job hopefully I can get my scrappy goodies out of my sister-in-law's garage! I've been too busy "pounding the pavement" looking for work.
Well, that and I spent the weekend with my Little Lady.
I have to get scrapping since I joined a challenge for this month! Hmmm... I could still do a digi in the meantime. It's been way too long since I scrapped and I do have a new photo of my Lady.

Sound asleep! I do have to admit that I miss having Anna living with me! But, I'm really happy that my daughter seems to finally be settling down and being the mother she should be. At 46 years old I'm too danged old to be chasing after a toddler on a daily basis!

Boredom and Needing Work!

2009-02-09T11:30:00.003-05:00

I really hate being laid off (as I'm sure so are millions of others!). Of course I need the money but I am so bored. I like working and can't stand sitting at home bored out of my mind! I feel like screaming. "Okay vacation is over! Where's the work"!
I do have an interview this afternoon, and I'm praying it goes through.
I also really, really need to get my stuff out of my SIL's garage. That's a hint son of my mine! All my scrappy stuff is in there and I'm have scrap withdrawl!
Okay enough rambling. You can tell I'm becoming brain dead by how well this post was written...

Facebook!

2009-02-08T22:13:00.001-05:00

I now have a facebook profile. Been there all day. I am so bored!!!!!!!!

No Sleep!

2008-07-08T02:34:00.004-04:00

Ahhh another night of fun-filled insomnia. NOT! I should try to sleep again because getting up at 6:30 a.m for work with only an hour or two of sleep is so not fun.
I did edit my last post though. I forgot and added a couple of layouts twice. Ahhh, fibrofog strikes again!
I'm doing a circle journal for a great bunch of ladies on a thread I belong to at Scrapbook.com, just thought I would share them here. It's not the usual circle journal though where you end having to send an entire album. I like this idea because we're making 2-page layouts for each person using the theme they have chosen. This way we all end up with an album full of awesome layouts from our friends.
For someone who does not like to have her picture taken I have to scrap an awful lot of photos of myself LOL! I'm not even half way done either! YIKES! I really, really need to come up with another photo. Heck, maybe I'll give in and actually put on make-up. I normally wear minimal make-up, never really been into it. I'm not exactly a spring chicken at 46 years old though and I'm definitely needing something LOL!

Stranded Page 1
by Anne1701
Scrapbook.com

Stranded Page 2
by Anne1701
Scrapbook.com

Rock Star Pg1
by Anne1701
Scrapbook.com

Rock Star Pg2
by Anne1701
Scrapbook.com

Favorite Quotes P1
by Anne1701
Scrapbook.com

Favorite Quotes P2
by Anne1701
Scrapbook.com

Bucket List Page 1
by Anne1701
Scrapbook.com

Bucket List Page 2
by Anne1701
Scrapbook.com

Musical Memories P1
by Anne1701
Scrapbook.com

Musical Memories P2
by Anne1701
Scrapbook.com

Upate finally!

2008-07-05T23:39:00.005-04:00

I keep telling myself I really need to keep up with this blog, and well life gets in the way LOL!
I took Anna to Eastlake tonight and she had an absolute blast!! I swear that child could not get out of her stroller fast enough so she could dance. She certainly has the right name that's for sure because I can remember my Mom liked to dance just as much, especially if it was for the New Year's Parade on Broad Street. The pictures are really blurry though because my camera is ancient and a piece of you know what! Oh well, at least I got some pictures though. Oh, and of course after all that dancing Anna fell asleep and slept right through the fireworks. She woke up after they were finished!

Dancing fun!
by Anne1701
Scrapbook.com

Fireworks 2008
by Anne1701
Scrapbook.com

I hope everyone who lives here in America had a wonderful holiday weekend! And God bless all those who have served our country and those who currently serve our country!

New Layouts!

2008-06-11T00:10:00.008-04:00

I just finished up a new layout for a challenge at Scrapbook.com. I have to say... I HATE USING ALPHAS!! They are a PITA! It was still fun to do though.

I also did this one for a scraplift challenge. The original can be seen here: http://www.scrapbook.com/galleries/228483/view/1490117/-1/0/1.html
I did this one of my sons, they've been kind of getting left out lately with all the layouts of Anna I'm doing! Ahh they're all grown now, Buddy will be 30 in November and John will be 28 in October. They will always be my "little men" though no matter how big they get :) This one is done on paper.

More of My Little Lady!

2008-05-28T00:28:00.005-04:00

Heather took Anna to Wildwood about 2 weeks ago and Anna loved the beach! Well, the sand anyway. Anna is not fond of water although Dom did manage to get Anna to actually sit in the pool at my Aunt Jen's this past Saturday! No worries while it was a little cool in my opinion for swimming, my Aunt's pool is heated.
Dom is so patient with Anna. Anna was looking at the kids playing in the pool and jumping up and down getting all excited, clapping her hands and saying "hooray". But, when they tried to get Anna to go in she freaked out. So instead of just putting her in there both Heather and Dom sat at the edge of pool and dangled their feet in. Anna must have thought that wasn't such a bad idea and tried it out. Eventually Anna made her way over the steps of the pool and sat in the water and played! Anna seems to be the type of kid that needs to slowly make her way to doing something she's afraid of and it works better if she thinks it's her idea to do it. Of course my camera batteries died and I have no pictures!
I do have some pictures of Anna down the shore though! And of course I'm posting them!

Sand is a wonderful thing to a 2 year old!

I really like this one.

Heather said Anna was wading at the edge of the water but learned real fast what waves were! Whenever she would see a wave start to come in she would take off and run like crazy so she wouldn't get wet!

Busy Busy

2008-05-24T22:41:00.006-04:00

I've been busy with Heather and Anna moving back in. I haven't had time to breath! I did do a couple of layouts. Since I'm so tired tonight, that's all I'm putting here tonight.

This one is digi and all supplies came from Scrap Girls:

For the May Scraplift the person before you challenge at Scrapbook.com. I lifted Fallingpants. This one is paper.

Being A Kid Again!

2008-04-27T23:27:00.004-04:00

I took Anna to the playground this Saturday. I have to say I think I had as much fun on the slides as she did!

I can't remember the last time I slid down a sliding board! I probably looked like a big goof but who cares, it was fun! I did manage to take 2 photos of Anna on the smaller slide. She was afraid at first but it only took one time going up and then down for her to decide it was fun. They have several slides at the elementary school's playground. I think Anna thought I had lost my mind when we got to the twisty slide and I sat down, put her on my lap and we slid down together LOL! Then she decided that she liked the idea of Mom-Mom going down with her. She kept grabbing my hand for more! After 2 hours of running around a playground though, I was exhausted! I need Anna's energy LOL!

Maybe I'll take her again next Sunday, it won't be Saturday. I love watching Anna on the weekends but May 3rd is National Scrapbooking Day and I plan on sitting here at home on my butt scrapping and being online at Scrapbook.com! I don't have much in the way of scrap supplies but I really enjoy it. Which reminds me I still have to mail out Zach's (Anna's Dad) mini album! Argghhh my daughter was supposed to give it to him when they had Anna's party and of course my daughter forgot! It's been sitting in a car trunk! I'll have to put a sticky note on my brain and take it tomorrow. Heck it will only cost about $2.00 to send.

Well, here are some pics of Anna having fun!

A boring weekend!

2008-04-13T21:37:00.009-04:00

Well, Anna had her birthday party at Chuck E. Cheese yesterday. My daughter said Anna had so much fun! I had been so looking forward to going but I sent myself into a really bad FMS flare and could barely sit.

I went to Michael's on Thursday to pick up a few things. I really, really needed adhesive but of course bought a few other things too. I spent my bad habit money (cig and soda money) but I figure scrapping is a lot more healthy than smoking! I'll smoke OP's I guess this week LOL!

I rarely get to spend any money on scrap supplies so it was fun. What wasn't fun however was getting home from Michael's! Mind you if you drive it's only maybe 10 minutes away. It's actually easier to get to Michael's from work (which is a lot further away!) than it is from my apartment! I use public transportation since I gave up my car to help support Anna, blech. Getting home from Michael's I would have had to take the 109 bus towards either Chester and get the 114, or towards Clifton, then get the trolley and then the 114. Either way I would have had to wait an hour for the 114. No way I'm waiting an hour at night in either Chester or Sharon Hill! Sharon Hill is better but no thank you.

So I got the happy idea to walk home from Michael's. I figured, heck it's only 3 1/2 miles. Well, I made it 4 1/2 miles after deciding I knew a "short cut"! I also need to get it through my thick skull that I'm 45 years old now and not 25 and have a harder time dealing with my FMS pain. To heck with the heart disease, as long as I take my meds I keep that in check. The FMS however is another story! Anyone who has to deal with it can understand what I mean. So I missed Anna's Chuck E. Cheese party, I really wanted to go too. I hate FMS!! Oh well, at least my daughter and Dom took loads of pictures! I'll get them developed on payday, I can't wait to see them!

I did keep myself busy with scrapping though. This one is a digi one that I made using the pics of Anna and her birthday cake. All the digital elements are from Scrap Girls.

This one is paper and was for a Scraplift the Person Before You challenge at Scrapbook.com. I lifted from SandiLL and of course I did one of Anna!

And, I also made some cards! I'm really enjoying making cards. I joined a card challenge at Scrapbook.com and I'm so glad I did. It's been really inspirational seeing all the gorgeous cards everyone is making.

This one is for my Aunt Jen

And I made this one for my friend Margie who's birthday is coming up. We've been out of touch for way too long! I miss Margie :(

Now to go find my stamps and mail them!

Anna Is Officially 2 Years Old!

2008-04-09T23:20:00.005-04:00

Yesterday, April 8th, Anna was officially 2 years old! Even though the party at Chuck E. Cheese is on Saturday, I still like to have a cake and some fun on the actual birthday. As the kids get older they think it's cool that they get to have 2 birthday cakes. You know of course that I had to get photos and of course I will on Saturday too.

This one self explanatory. Anna was all smiles when she saw the cake and I lit the candle. I wanted a candle with Elmo on it but he's on the number 3. I guess that's because Elmo is 3, and since Zoe is 2 she's on the number 2.

Anna tried so hard to blow the candle out. Shhhh don't tell her Mom-Mom helped.

We always let the little ones take a big bite of the cake! My Aunt Lynn is a bad influence on my kids... right after Heather took this photo she smooshed Anna's face into the cake. LOL Anna thought it was funny as heck.

And of course the best part of birthday... eating it!

Anna's Birthday Is Coming!

2008-04-05T23:01:00.007-04:00

Anna's 2nd birthday is Tuesday, April 8th. I can't believe she's going to 2 years old already! She's growing up so fast!
I wanted to get her something nice for her birthday so I bought her a tricycle. When Anna was in daycare she loved riding on the tricycle. I found a nice Red Flyer trike for $40.00, a bit expensive for me but Anna is more than worth it. LOL now my wallet is empty, so empty even the moths have left! Here she is trying it out:

We're going to have a cake on Tuesday for her birthday here at my place. On Saturday though she's having a party at Chuck E. Cheese that her Dad and his parents are throwing for her. I can't wait to go, I know Anna is going to love it!
Of course she here's for weekend :) I really enjoy my weekends with Anna, she such a little sweetie. She's starting to talk more and more now. I let her watch some TV today and she was repeating songs she was hearing on Sesame Street, singing and dancing away.
She refused to take a nap today. I put her in the bedroom but she did anything but sleep. At least she had some quiet time and I had a much needed rest. I took her outside after dinner in the hopes that I could tire her out. It was more like she tired Mom-Mom out! Here's Anna checking out her favorite tree in her jazzy sunglasses that she insists on wearing when she goes out:

You gotta love those "jazzy" sunglasses!

It's Been A While!

2008-03-31T22:56:00.006-04:00

Wow! I've definitely been busy, it's been almost a month since I've posted anything on here. Not that anyone reads it! LOL

March has been a crazy, bittersweet time for me. Anna is back living with Heather again. I miss having Anna living with me all the time but at the same time I'm filled with joy that Heather is ready to be the mother she needs to be. When I see Heather and Anna together my heart fills with joy. I love both my daughter and granddaughter and I want nothing more than for them both to be together and happy.

This weekend I babysat Anna while Heather and Dominic went out and had some fun. Anna is such a little sweetie and we had so much fun. I took outside to play on Saturday afternoon and she spotted some birds, I managed to snap a photo. I did a digital layout of the photo and well I'll let the journaling speak for me. All the elements are from Scrap Girls.

On Sunday Anna gave this Mom-Mom a run for her money, she was getting into all sorts of mischief! I was in the kitchen making her apple pancakes for breakfast and Anna was in the living room. I kept peeking to make sure she was okay. Well, I got a little involved in making the pancakes and when I looked to make sure she was okay discovered such pretty colors on my white walls! Thank goodness for washable crayons! Anna sure likes to draw, but I need to keep reminding my little sweetie "on the paper Anna, on the paper"! Well, she is only 2 years old, she'll figure it out soon.

I got the happy idea to keep her in the kitchen with me. When Anna is in the kitchen she always takes all my spice jars off the shelf and likes to pretend she's cooking. I didn't pay any mind as she couldn't hurt herself or do any damage. All of a sudden I noticed a rather strange smell and heard Anna saying "caca"... she found the balsamic vinegar and managed to get the cap off! The funniest part though was Anna dipping her fingers in the vinegar and saying "caca" but she went back for more! It's a good thing I don't keep alcohol in the house and the cleaners are locked away!

Well, off I go. It's late but I might scrap first. I want to make a card for my Aunt Jen. I've been thinking about her a lot and would like to make her a nice little card and send her a picture of Anna with the Easter Bunny.

New Start

2008-03-06T21:13:00.004-05:00

Okay I have another blog here somewhere and I wanted to delete it. It's too full of all the drama going on at the time and quite depressing. So I'm starting new.

I think I'm going to keep this a happy blog. Maybe just gripe once in a while LOL. I get tired of hearing myself complain so I know others do too.

Here's something that always makes me happy... a recent layout I did. This one is digi and of course is my little lady Anna!

This is what happens when Mom-Mom is sick and Anna finds my choclate stash! You gotta love her though, especially since she loves chocolate as much as I do!
I used the following from Scrap Girls
MAD_Sketch4
BVA_Grungella_BrushSet_Paper_Special
USC_SSPaper_Templates_Shapes_Scalloped_circle
ASO_TexturedCardstock_Browns_1
VRA_MissionEmbossable_Tex-Scroll-Jumbo3
MRE_SS_EmbTemp_Lifted2
ASO_Appassionata_Embl_Brad-Pink
BHA_Stylize_Embell2_Beads_Brown
Ro_Neutral_Shadows2801
Font: LD Grunge

I'm kind of tired and feeling icky so I'll fix this up some more later. Besides I feel like scrapping right now and since Anna is asleep now's my chance!