The coworkers have started adding funny quotes to my calendar

- which is a thing I started doing this month, when I was teasing Ryan that I was going to call HR and report him for some imaginary offense and he popped off with "Like HR is gonna take a call from you". 

Kid's pretty funny, just like the entire department. So I began gathering funny things they say.

This morning I noticed I had more sticky notes with new quotes. I LOVE IT. It's like the fridge in my kitchen, peppered with the kids' latest accomplishments and artwork. 

Going in late today

There's a Running Start thing happening at the college tonight (Running Start is a program where high school students can attend Clark and school simultaneously, and if they play their cards right, they'll graduate from high school AND from Clark with an associate's degree) and The Funeral (this nickname is clunky and awkward - might have to ditch it, but it's just so appropriate) decided to keep the store open while the event is happening, but not advertise it anywhere to anyone. 

So, like, people will just be in the building tonight, and hopefully happen to notice that the bookstore is open for some reason, and possibly wander in through our giant open door and be like, "Are you guys open?" (We've had this actual scenario happen in the middle of the morning on a weekday during normal business hours, so I can only imagine what goofy queries my coworkers will get this evening.)

(Perhaps I use parentheses too often.)

So, for you stalkers, long story short, my shift will start at 9:30 and go till 2:00 today. I will have nothing to do, since my morning paperwork has already been commandeered. This will give me ample time for hatching evil plots and committing acts of goof-off-ery with my cohorts. And chatting, we always love chatting. Yesterday we were talking about Benjamin Franklin and the fact that Kyle doesn't like The Office.

For our after work activities, I have already purchased a new cardboard box from Shmed Shmeyer, and will be using it to declutter, I haven't decided where yet. B went out and killed himself a new apartment to rent last weekend and has been slowly moving his stuff into it, including stuff from the storage unit, which has freed up all kinds of lovely space, and I'm feeling inspired and motivated to keep decluttering the rest of the house. It's been a slow movement, but now that he's heading out soon, things should ramp up considerably. I could work in our room, or possibly clean out the coat closet and only put back what we will actually use in the upcoming colder months.

I've also been working on joining some groups around the area, and will be updating the blog about these efforts. It's time for Mom Me to become Community Me, a phrase that just fills me with joy. Why? I don't know, it just does. 

Tonight, I will pick up Hubby from work, then head to the mall for our Wednesday night dinner meetings. Yes, we actually have those, each with our own group of friends. It's been happening for a couple of years with Taylor and me, and now Ryan has joined us (he can't go tonight though, because of the bookstore being open). We usually eat sushi and then head down to the French Door and buy some cute, weird stuff. Stalkers, please join us, but don't be weird about it. 

Tomorrow will be hot and I plan to stick my feet (or more, we'll see) in a nearby river. 

And now... off to work.

That Weird Old Hovering Weirdo

Can't believe I haven't blogged yet this month. Guess we've been busy.

The weirdness hasn't stopped. I dubbed the store manager "The Funeral" because she kills every room she walks into, mood-wise, and also because up until Thursday of last week, everything she did was so stupid that I would start giggling uncontrollably (as one would during a funeral, when one is REQUIRED to be dignified and stoic and quiet). 

Last Thursday, she pulled out every weird stop, and she pulled it on me. 

Kyle was home sick with an ear infection, and I did what I normally do - cope with being alone up here until Ryan shows up, with Dan backing me up if I need a drink or bathroom break. I end up being alone maybe 1.5 hours at the most, and it happens once a month, maybe. 

Unfortunately, until Thursday, she was unaware that this was how we were handling it, and of course as soon as she heard about it, it pissed her off because what doesn't. So, she griped at Heidi about it (and made Heidi come talk to me about it as opposed to handling ANYTHING herself), and Heidi very nicely let me know that from now on, I need to let her know when my cashier calls out sick. That was fine.

BUT. Then, I suppose because the whole point is that I can't be up here by myself for "safety reasons", Stupid Monica came back here, sat down in Ryan's chair, and used his desk to do her work for the better part of an hour. It was nasty and gross. I felt babysat, and it also felt like a pissing match, a territorial takeover, a violation of privacy, and every other wrong thing I can think of. Ryan was extremely unhappy to hear that she would feel free to commandeer his office space, even though technically, it's her store and she can do whatever the hell she wants with it, anywhere in the place.

One good outcome of this was that it gave me the opportunity to wonder what she must have thought of the informal decor back in our office space - the goofy photocopier cutouts of Dan's and Kyle's faces, the quotes I've written down from my coworkers because they were funny, the "Taste Like Burger" everywhere (would take too long to explain), the pictures and notes we've drawn and left for each other. It's very teamy. I'm proud of the way we all like each other and get along and share silly jokes. 

There is NOTHING like that in her office. I can't even imagine her knowing our last names, let alone our partners' or kids' names. I think she thinks of us as this obnoxious, amorphous blob with seven heads, not one of us a human being - just this THING she has to do battle with every weekday of her life. I don't think she likes us, individually or as a group, and I don't think she wants to know us. 

Yet, she hovers around us constantly, when she's not back in her lair. I think it's because our fun and warmth and team atmosphere make us irresistible and she'd love nothing more than to be part of it.