Let me just start by saying, today has been one of those days where I can just inhale and exhale w/out feeling like I'm going to be so overloaded that I can barely stand it.
I got a job last week with Abercrombie and Fitch! I am a processor within the warehouse and have my orientation tomorrow afternoon. I hadn't formally really announced that on here but I have been so busy with tying up loose ends that I haven't had much time to do so. So, tomorrow I have orientation and will likely start working on Thursday, my regularly scheduled time which is 7a-3p, Monday through Friday. Wow, a set schedule! A schedule that allows me to be here for my child in her time of need instead of a job that requires evenings all of the time. I'm making decent money through Abercrombie, plus the discounts that come along with it, which I will know further in detail how they work out soon. I placed my brother on the list of receivers for this discount so that he can reap in the rewards too. That's a huge thing to me. I've never worked in a place where I could have anyone other than myself listed for the discount within the company before. I'm really looking forward to this change. I think it's better for me than being in a medical office right now. I was lucky enough to get into the company because of a friend whom I met through the kick-ass girl I worked at from UPS. We went out for Happy Hour one night and all had a great time and have been in touch ever since. Autumn informed me that they had open positions at her job (Abercrombie) and that I should come in and fill out an online application in the warehouse. When I went in I found out that they were having open interviews! That was a HUGE step for me because I had no idea. There were several classes before us (the class) and a lot of the positions had already been filled. I wasn't optimistic about getting a first shift, but I figured I'd give it a shot and work there if it was meant to be. So we had a group interview where everyone within the class was being interviewed by 2 managers in a lunch room setting. We all sat around this table as they threw question after question at us to see how we'd react. I must say, I hate being put on the spot with difficult questions, but I was able to pull off some pretty good answers, thanks to my Medical Assisting Program that I was previously in. Many questions were about how I had reacted in the past about certain topics that I was a firm believer in and how I didn't back down because of my beliefs. Well, that's an obvious program to refer to, because in honesty, I really stepped up and didn't put up with many aspects within that program and I didn't care if others pinned me as wrong for believing such things because it was my choice, my belief, and those are two things you can NOT take from this gal. When he went around to ask which shift would best suite us, I told him either 4 days a week 1st shift or 5 days a week 1st shift, but nothing other than that because of my daughter. He explained prior to allowing people to share when they'd be able to work that first shift if VERY limited because many people wish to have that schedule due to other priorities. I was one who couldn't picture myself away from my daughter for the evenings and worry about her eating, showering, doing her homework, taking care of the animals, etc, so I was very honest about my intentions and they granted that for me. So, I have a friggen set schedule! I am more thrilled by this than anything else. The fact that I can still have a life and take care of things needed around my house and hold down a 40 hour a week job is GREAT to me! Plus overtime is allowed! How crazy is that word, now a days? That's like impossible to hear anymore, unless everyone got laid off or the world was ending.
So that's new job related information.
Onto my current job with Columbus Dispatch. I have given up my Wednesday/Thursday route. I think this is best! With the scheduled hours I'll be committed to with Abercrombie, I couldn't think my ability to get the midweek delivery done properly. Sure, I could go out there and just wing the hell out of the route and probably take a chance of messing it up to get it all delivered by 6p on Thursday, but honestly, I don't want to take the chance of losing my job because of being too tired or just too rushed. So, last week was my last Wednesday/Thursday delivery. I gave my 30 days last week but my manager found someone who can start on the route tomorrow, so I don't have to live-out the 30 days because someone else was willing to take it over for me quicker than my 30 days! They signed the contract last night and start tomorrow, thank goodness! I'll keep my Saturday delivery route because I think it's important to keep myself active and this is something that will allow me to do so. Plus I really like the Saturday delivery route because I'm less constricted on time frames in regards to delivery times. I get all of my supplies delivered to my house on Thursday and then I'm able to package them Thursday night, Friday night, and deliver them on Saturday and Sunday. Those are much broader time lines for me that don't overload myself too much.
Okay, so that's all of my job situations that are happening.
Now onto school. I have decided to drop all of my classes today so that I don't have to worry about overloading myself with concern to drop them later. I hadn't dropped them as of yet because I was concerned about financial aid and me having to find a job to repay my loans. But, now that I've found a job that I intend on sticking with for a while, I feel comfortable with dropping everything and walking away without any kind of worries! With keeping my Saturday route, just working 2 weeks there will pay a monthly payment for my student loans, which is my incentive to keeping my Saturday route.
Okay, so school and work has been touched on.... Now lets talk about Claire.
I had a conference with Claire's homeroom teacher last week and it was quite eye opening. Her grades looked pretty good on paper, but well, that's not the entire case that's been going on. Claire has been withholding homework that she is to be taking home daily and return the day after. She claims to have forgotten to take the assignments home, however, these assignments added up to nearly 2 weeks worth of homework that were stored in her desk. This does not include the homework that she HAS brought home. She has been having a lot of behavioral problems in school and we need to nip them in the butt now.
On Halloween, Claire was sent home with a note from her Reading teacher in regards to Claire decided to write on the inside of someone's desk instead of participating in the reading that she was supposed to take part in. She took the person's marker and began writing within the desk. The teacher took recess away but I wasn't going to stop there! Claire had lied about having the note (or anything) in her book bag when she came home from school and when I decided to look through her book bag she quickly responded with "I got into trouble today." She went on to say that it was due to talking. I later read the letter and it stated that she had written in a desk during Reading. Man, was I ticked?! I think I was more angered by her lie than the actual act of doing the, what I consider, vandalizing of the desk. After I read the note, I wrote to the teacher, stating that Claire needs to be punished for what she did by cleaning all of the desks within the classroom and that loss of recess doesn't cut it! I asked Claire that evening, "When were you going to show me that note, since it needed to be signed?" She responded with "After we went Trick or Treating." Infuriated was an understatement at this point! I ended up dropping off the letter to her school directly because I did not trust that Claire would turn it in. Needless to say, she did not go Trick or Treating that night and stood in the corner for what would have been the time going trick or treating. So, yesterday she was kept after school to clean all of the desks within that classroom. Boy, she was an unhappy camper by this, but I told her perhaps next time she'll take this into consideration next time she thinks it's necessary to act badly in the classroom.
She has been punished for many acts of lying but we have worked on a new reward which will make her think twice about lying... This includes going to Sea World on her 10th birthday! She's in love with Dolphins and Orca's and additional to the fun, it's educational! So, we as a family sat down and spoke about what needs to be improved on, not only from her, but from us as parents and I wrote up a contract last night for both her and us as parents so that she sees what she has to work toward and so that we can stick to actually doing something about improving her lying and our reactions to them. So this house is going to be changing pretty rapidly and I think overall it's going to work out for the best. However, if Claire has one slip up, we're taking the trip away from her. In the meantime between now and the trip, she will have the opportunity to earn many other great things. Things really need to change here at the Eshenbaugh household because if it doesn't our communication level is going to be thrown down the crapper and that's not fair to any of us. The trust level has to be rebuilt and we need to show that we can confide in one another instead of have the constant fear of what will happen if things ARE shared.
Thankfully we have a great family member who is easy to talk to about things like this because she's been there and is also a teacher. These things have been very helpful. Plus I have a friend who is going through the same stages with her daughter(s) and we're able to discuss our horror stories and success stories too. With those people here to help, I know that we can work toward a successful future. Because face it, we're new at this and Claire is an only child who is easily manipulated by older kids so she's able to "fit in". We are going to work long and hard at making things work better for all of us.
With that being stated, Claire has been taken out of Swim and Tae Kwon Do so that we can take the time she would've been in the classes for her additional homework and study time. They have a website where she's able to test her skills and improve on them as needed. I think this will help improve her scores in school and also build her confidence levels within the classroom. Once she's back on track, she will go back into the extracurricular activities, but for now we need to work on improving her skills in the classroom. Her and I will take some time out to practice swimming, but on our own times, instead of scheduled times. With my Wednesday night/Thursday route, this is something we can manage in once she's done her homework.
Things are getting in order, and there's no better time than the present to make everything work out great for us as a family!
Alright, I think I've touched on every topic there is to touch on that I've left everyone out in the dark about.
Happy Tuesday everyone!
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