Catching up.

Okay, I thought I'd actually blog more often, but I haven't.  So here I am catching up.  Since I last posted, I've quit my job at Target, am joining a charity costume group (more on that later), started taking a class on Oracle Databases so I can become certified as an Oracle Database Administrator Associate, which will eventually lead to my becoming a Certified Oracle DBA Master and hopefully a big paycheck.

Okay, the charity costume group.  I am working on becoming a member of the 501st Legion, 70th Explorers Garrison, 149th War Wolves Squad.  We are a group of Star Wars geeks who like to dress up as characters from the Star Wars Universe and raise money for charity.  Yes, we also go to Comic Conventions, and to Star Wars Celebrations, but most of the events are charity based.

Just this past weekend we "trooped" at three events starting with KC Light the Night on Friday night where we raised money through donations for pictures with us for Lymphoma and Leukemia research.  Saturday morning bright and early we made our way to Arrowhead Stadium (home of the Kansas City Chiefs) for the Step Up for Down Syndrome Event.

Just some of our group that morning.  We were there for Team Evan as one of our members has a nephew with Down Syndrome.  Prior to the event we had raised $600.00 for our team and we raised more money through donations at the event.  It was a lot of fun, and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.  At least it wasn't 95 degrees with 96% humidity like it has been at other events.  We also got a chance to pose with the Children's Mercy Lifeflight Helicopter and the crew.

We also went to Build-a-Bear at the Oak Park Mall because they released the licensed Special Edition Star Wars Bear for the 30th Anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back.  We had Boba Fett, Darth Vader, and a Jedi Knight to help draw attention to the store and hopefully influence people to purchase the bear or some of the costumes.  The costumes they had included Vader, Han Solo, Princess Leia (including a wig with the double buns), C3PO,  Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker (from the Clone Wars) and Captain Rex (Clone Wars).  All in all we had a lot of fun.  I was the photographer handler for that event.

I discovered something really interesting.  I don't mind standing around with my feet hurting when I'm doing it primarily for charity, but when it came to the Build-A-Bear event, I really couldn't wait for it to be over.  Yes, we were getting a donation in our name to a charity, but our primary goal was to draw people into the store to purchase the SW Bear/Costumes.  So I think I learned something.

Okay, I'm going to post again later.  Need to finish working on my resume and a cover letter for a job I'm applying for. 

TTFN!  Ta ta for now.

Can I say that I'm glad the Holidays are over?????

Normally, I love the holidays.  I love the decorations, the buildup to Christmas...etc.  Everything about it.

This year however, I've been working at Target.  Yes, the retail store Target.  So, let's travel back to Thanksgiving.  What time did I go to bed you ask????  Try 8:00pm.  Why so early?  Because I had to be at work at 4:00 a.m. because Target opened at 5:00 a.m.  I was positioned in front of the iPod lock case with a set of keys, a walkie-talkie and (hopefully) a lot of holiday cheer.  Flash forward the next 6 hours because it was all a blur.  I remember that after about oh say, 1 hour my walkie battery died, and I had to send someone clear across the store for another battery.  I was innundated with shoppers looking for iPod Nanos (do you want the 8GB or the 16GB?)  and the hottest item of the season????  The iPod Touch (now in 8GB, 32GB and 64GB).  Target did cater lunch for us (Papa John's Pizza) which I thought was really nice.

What amazed me the most was people coming in at noon asking if we had any of our door-buster TVs left...um, no.  They were gone within 1-2 hours of the doors opening.  And don't even ask if we had any Zhu-zhu pets (those annoying but charming mechanical hamsters) because we were out, and had been out since October.  I'll never look at Black Friday the same way again.  The only saving grace was the great people I was working with.  The whole team did their best to have fun, even joking that next year we're going to wear armor.

Okay, skip over the next month and it is the weekend before Christmas.  I'm in Electronics again, and oh boy, talk about crazy.  I never thought about it before but I'm never again going to leave any shopping until the weekend before Christmas.  It was a madhouse, at times almost as bad as Black Friday.  And Christmas Eve wasn't much better.  Even with the nasty ice/snow storm, the store was packed.  I missed going to a friend's house for dinner with my sister, but oh well,  that's life.  So if you've seen my sister's blog (There's no Place Like Home) there is a reason I look the worse for wear.

Had to work the day after Christmas (remember we've had a huge snowstorm, that created blizzard conditions in many areas) and we are sold out of most items.  So when a guest informs me that it is "unacceptable" that we are sold out of PlayStation 3 game consoles the day AFTER Christmas well...inside I was fuming but outside I just apologized and blamed the storm.

All in all though it was a good holiday.  Christmas Day was a lot of fun with the girls.  Even if I did escape downstairs for a nap.

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

I've surrendered to the blogging bug.

Okay, I've finally given in. First it was Linked In for work, then Facebook for my friends, and now...I'm blogging. I can't believe it. I always wondered who would blog and why. After watching my younger sister blog about her children and all the goings on in her life, I decided, "Why not?" So here it is, my first post. I don't know how often I'll actually keep it current, but who knows, I might find it therapeutic. Besides, since I'm reinventing myself professionally, I might as well do so here on the internet as well.


Cheers!