I work in retail. For me that means a lot of long hours, a lot of rude people, and usually not enough time available to do things for the people I love. So many corners have been cut over the years because after working all day I am just too tired to do all the things I would really like to do. This year for the first time I have had some family living close enough to me to spend a holiday with and as usual, nothing went as planned but we survived. Our holiday was cut short because both my cousin and I had to be at work by 3 AM this morning to take care of Black Friday shoppers. I was having a lot of fun this morning because it was busy, people were decent and generally happy and everyone was on their turkey hangover and generally feeling genial. Then the bomb dropped when our loss prevention manager called me to tell me that my car had been broken into. They smashed my back window and took a bag out of the back seat that they assumed had something good in it. It did but not anything that they would ever want or need. I am a needleworker. In that bag was a couple hundred dollars worth of hand dyed fabrics, threads, beads, charms. patterns and books. Nothing they will ever want. Nothing I can replace. what is worse though was in the top of that bag were my families' Christmas stockings. Each one stitched over the years, my oldest sons' I started stitching for him when I foind out I was pregnant. This would have been the 21 Christmas it was hung. It makes me sick to think that these thieves will open that bag, find out they really didn't get anything worth anything to them and they will discard it and some of my children's history is gone forever.

So I am sitting here being mad and depressed and I go to one of my favorite blogs Pioneer Woman and I realize that what I lost are things. No I can't replace them exactly but I can replace them. God gave me that talent. There are so many things I can't replace like
The memory of my oldest son graduating from boot camp.
or my youngest son following in my father's footsteps an being in the color guard (and meeting the governor and his wife)

Or my brother and his family especially

these sweeties that I love as much as my own kids

my mom (and cousin Lois in this pic)

My hubby



My nutso family members old, young and in between.

So they got my things, and they took away part of my day, they damaged my car but they don't get me, they don't get the folks I love and well, I can always hope they can't sleep well at night. I have a lot of things to be thanksful for! Thank you Ree for helping me remember that.

Don't think I have written here since I took over as team lead for Produce. I miss my friends in the meat room but I don't miss the cold and I like the group I am working with now. I am having one spot of difficulty though. I have one part timer who is giving me fits.

He likes the ladies, particularly some in the neighboring departments.
He likes to visit them.
He likes to help out one the floor.
He likes to wander.
He likes to text at work.

He doesn't like to follow the directions I leave.

This morning was especially bad when I got to work and discovered that there were several major things left undone. Fixing what he didn't do put me behind in what I had to do. Me being behind put Andy in the position of finishing what I didn't get done and the wanderer works again tonight. The cycle repeats unto infinity so in the end, we end up with major problems.

We have a program in place to deal with this called coaching. You get coached and it stays on your record for 1 year. If you get coached 3 times in the year period you are on what they call a decision day or "D" day. This means you were given your last chance and your next required coaching means you are terminated. Guess where the Wanderer is. On a "D" day which means if I coach him, I have to fire him. a week before Thanksgiving, 5 weeks before Christmas. I wouldn't want to do that to someone even if they brought it on themselves not to mention, it leaves my department chort (ok, considering his work ethic maybe that isn't a big deal). So I have to make a decision and I thought I had until my manager told me to kind of postpone it until after the holiday. OK. Then I started thinking, why should I? Shouldn't he be held responsible for his lack of attention to the department he is being paid to work in? Aren't I responsible for holding him accountable and setting a precedent for the rest of my workers?

So now I am going to go get a shower, get dressed and go back to work to talk to him tonight before someones rumor mill gets rolling. I can't wait to see where this goes. :-(