Apple Crisp topped with cookies 'n cream....

Yea, I went there.....its delicious, thanks Bridgette!

Its been ages since I wrote a real post, and believe it or not a few weeks ago I actually was going to get caught up on everything I had plans to write about. Then again, thats when I thought I was unemployed and would have waaaaayyyyy too much free time. Turns out being unemployed lasted a whole two hours into a normal work week. I got to sleep in at least.

To fill all of you in, not sure how many that exactly is or even if you care (haha), but up until almost 6 months ago I was working at an injection molded plastics plant. Yup, super exciting stuff. Actually, it wasn't that bad. We made the hard plastic handles you sometimes see at Costco on the 2 or 3 packs of ketchup, or about a million other things that require them. Here, check out a couple pictures....

I made those. We had huge 2 to 6 ton machines/presses that melted the plastic beads in a barrel and then shot them into these molds and they went out on conveyor belts and were sometimes run through machines that put barcode labels on them. Not that complicated really. MY job there was as a material handler. I operated a forklift, wrapped huge pallets full of boxed handles, and kept track of colors and jobs that we were running at any given time. It was a pretty stressful job. I liked what I did, but had a hard time dealing with the fact that everyone else around me was mother f-ing lazy. I was constantly cleaning up after people, finishing things they should have done and fixed their mistakes. The shift supervisor was a jerk and I just never felt like he was there to back me up. I worked my ass off for that place and when I asked for a raise they told me I had to wait 3 MORE MONTHS for my yearly review to get it. So I started looking for another job. They could just get f-ed for all I cared.

Here are a couple pics of what we did when we got bored....yes thats about the size of the pallets I had to wrap and store in the warehouse.....

Well my friend Rochelle knew how frustrated I was with my current situation. Since I was actively searching for a new job, she proofread my resume before I sent it out anywhere. I'm not gonna lie, its pretty good. Being the WONDERFUL friend that she is, she asked if I was okay with her slipping it to her general manager to see if he'd be interested in me. She worked at a local big corporation scrap metal yard and a girl in the sales office would be going on maternity leave soon. It was right up my alley, considering I had worked in parts sales at some local quad dealerships in the past. To make a long story short, they LOVED my resume. I mean, who wouldn't? They had me in for an under the radar interview and evidently I impressed the pants off the GM and after a few weeks they gave me a call and had me in for a 2nd interview. I met the steel sales manager, who is now one of my all time favorite people in the world, and he seemed to like me too. Within a week or two they offered me the job, with the understanding that it was just temporary. Prego girl would have her baby and eventually come back. But who cares! I was getting out of that hell hole and going somewhere I wasn't going to beat the crap out of my body anymore. And there was hope that I might end up getting a permanent job with the company by the time prego came back. I gambled on it, and gave up 3 years of steady employment, vacation pay, and quarterly bonuses on the chance I might not have a job in 4 to 6 months. Pretty much the dumbest thing you've ever heard of right? I think so too. But I did it anyways.

Making that gihugic (giganticly huge) leap into the unknown might have been one of the best decisions I've ever made. Other than marrying my husband, that is. I had a great time working in that scrap yard. I met some wonderful people and learned alot of things that I can use in the future. I also realized that in my last job, I'd been a stark raving bitch. I was over worked, over stressed, and I was taking it out on other people. Its amazing my poor husband put up with me. Then again, we work opposite shifts so we never saw each other. This new job, which basically consisted of me sitting on my ass, turned me back into the person I once knew. If my work didn't get done, the only person it affected was me. I could leave something on my desk at the end of the day and know that the next morning it would be exactly as I had left it and if anything had been screwed up, the only one I had to blame was me! It was great, and I learned to enjoy going to work again. (Yea, weird concept)

Evantually though my little story book romance with my job had to come to an end. I applied twice for internal positions at this place and twice I was turned down. There wasn't any specific reason, it just didn't seem to be in the cards for me. Then the news came. I had 5 weeks to find another job. Prego (well not so prego anymore) would be back Oct 10th from maternity leave.

I started trying to sell myself again. Unsuccessfully I might add. And the panic started to set in. Not sure if anything would come of it or not, I called the temp agency that I was working through for the scrap yard and told them my assignment would be finished soon. The woman that answered seemed extremely excited about the fact I was so proactive about finding a position and said they would work hard to find me a job. I emailed her my resume and crossed my fingers. After about a week or 2 I emailed her again to touch bases. Turns out she was the Operations Manager for the ENTIRE company and the manager for the Springfield branch wanted to interview me. Holy sh*t! I think I almost peed myself when I read the email. Basically, to sum it all up. We met, they loved me, and I got laid off a week early at the scrap yard. The following Monday, without having made an offer, the manager at the staffing company called me at 8:30 am (yep I was still sleeping. Isn't that what the unemployed do?) and asked me to come in. I've been there ever since and absolutely love it. My coworkers are great and my manager cracks me up. I'm the front desk receptionist at this point, aka The Director of First Impressions. Funny sh*t huh? But I'm good at it and I anticipate better things in my future.

Okay I'm working on a follow up on my fear post, so hopefully in the next few days. I'll try to be a better blogger, I promise! Thanks for the kick in the butt Angel, I needed it! Oh, and I apologize for the cursing. I tried to edit but you know.....