It's almost Samhain, or for the rest of you ... Halloween!

So KoM has been after me for the last few days to post - he's taking this "I'm posting every week and so should everyone else" to new levels. But true, it is time for a posting to update the world. Where to begin?

Well the reason for the delay has been that I've booked myself in to see a personal trainer 3 days a week. I thought I needed the jumpstart to shed some dress size(s) before the inaugural trip to Honduras --- 7 weeks as of this FRIDAY!! --- and it seems to be working. Already down 1 dress size, striving for at least one more before I go. I would please me to buy a whole new wardrobe for the spring, although it would be better if I could con the money out of someone other than myself. Aside from a personal trainer 3 times a week, I'm also at the gym other days doing classes or simply cardio; I've decided to slow down this week, since I've gotten shoved to nights again while our most recent hire in appliances quits. More about that later.

Still on the workout level -- it's funny how you never realize how strong your body can be, until you push it into something. KoM, take my advice, you may not like the gym atmosphere, but if you can stick to it, I think you really might like the results. Actually, the results are starting to annoy me -- pants I just bought like, 2 weeks ago, are already starting to sag. Grrr, I have to buy MORE pants?? Damn. I'm guessing that if I'm shedding sizes this quickly just by the exercise, I could *really* shrink if I started following the precise nutritional plan issued by said personal trainer. The biggest issue I'm finding with that is that each meal takes soooo long to prepare - I get home from work, and the last thing I want to do is spend an hour and a half cooking something I don't even know will taste good. It's a gamble - some recipies from the book I've tried and they were ok (chicken marsala, for instance), and some were just... (the marsala part, I think the wine was funny). But since the plan's seems mostly designed for people who were eating pizza and nachos every night, I'm not too worried about it. Just by my normal eating habits, I've already been following it pretty well.



Oww, that's hot. And we're not talking Paris Hilton. Anyways, back to another facet ... I do have a slightly funny (well, it wasn't at the time) HD story to share. I had a customer who's bought over $5,000 in flooring installs come in on Saturday, to ask why the hardwood being installed on Monday wasn't in her house already. For those of you who don't know, hardwood flooring has to be in the house pretty well 4-5 days before it's installed -- it needs to acclimatize to the house's humidity, so it doesn't crack when it's installed. Her install is in 2 days, and she just happens to come in. As soon as I realize this, and I discover I can't reach the guy who's installing it to point out a few well chosen four-letter words, I'm quietly losing my mind. After about an hour, it ends up that we commandeer the truck of one of the associates, load up the 52 cases of hardwood flooring (frick, those were heavy!), and send him along with a Department supervisor and one of our Assistant Store Managers to deliver the hardwood to this lady's house. She's thrilled, we're exhausted, but it was my friday and she didn't leave screaming and yelling - a big point in my book. Turns out I go into work Monday to get a call from said installer --- yes, the hardwood was only being *delivered* Monday, and installed later on in the week. I managed to refrain from screaming, but only because there were customers around. All that stress and work could've been avoided, if said installer had just turned on his frickin' cell phone. But anyways ....

Oh yes, the appliance girl. Well, we must seem like a hard bunch of people to break into as a new associate, with us having gone through training and everything together, but we did (briefly) have a new girl working in Appliances. This, of course, thrilled me, because it meant I could stop working there and concentrate solely on Installs (rather necessary, since I'm in charge of all installations in Millwork [doors/windows/etc] and Decor [anything with window treatments]). But, I have just been informed that she's quitting for a better job in Red Deer, as of this Saturday. So, back kicking and screaming, go I to Appliances, every moment hoping they'll hire someone to replace her as soon as freakin' possible. I've decided that, if I can get away with it, I'm foisting the Kitchens associates into working Appliances, so I can be working in Installs -- if they need me, they can call me and I'll come out, but I won't be wandering uselessly on the floor for several hours. It has worked in the past.

Oh yeah, and I did some fun stuff to my room. No KoM, not fun stuff like cleaning - only you would call that fun. But I bought some of those wire cube things. You know, with a little cardboard support at the bottom, they make really nice bookshelves, and you can move them around/build them differently when the mood strikes you... as it did last weekend. I moved them around, and now I have room for a little desk with my couch. Sure makes it easier to write....

So it's time to wrap up. I hope you all read carefully, cause there may be a quiz next issue. Keep watching .... and someone tell me if "The Prestige" is worth seeing. I'd go just to see Jackman and Bale alone, but I'm hoping the story is decent as well. Going to see "The Illusionist" tonight - Woot!

It is that time of year ... NaNoWriMo!!!

http://www.nanowrimo.org/modules/cjaycontent/index.php?id=2

I'm sure some of you (aside from KoM) are wondering what the hell NaNoWriMo is. Don't worry, I asked the same thing last year (or the year before, don't remember) when my good friend High Priestess of the Puck mentioned it. Turns out, there's an international group of people that get together for a month (November) and write themselves silly.

The rules: 50,000 words by midnight on November 30th. Yep, that's pretty much it. The link above gives more "Abouts" and the evolution of NaNoWriMo, but KoM and I have gotten into a little contest about who can actually cross the finish line, desperately clutching their 50,000 words. I say I can kick his ass, because on any given writing day, I can turn out more words than he can. And that, dear readers, is pretty much the only point of NaNoWriMo: quantity - quality comes later.

My one concern in this comes from the fact that (ok, so there are more than 2 rules), in order for your epicurean output to count, it must be a new story. And I have just done the tally: I currently have 25 stories sitting open, waiting in various states to be finished. 25. This goes beyond ridiculous into insane. Keeping in mind some of these stories are older than the lappytop here - at least 7 of them evolved through the various (3) laptops I've had over the years, starting out as poor "paper and pencil" stories. Look where we've come from there. I think I still have the original hard copies around here somewhere, condensed into the largest binder I could find at the time (4"). Yikes.

So I guess I have less than a month to either finish a story and make room in the pantheon for the new NaNoWriMo story, or simply shove everyone else aside and start another story. At least this one will have inspiration to be finished; inspiration, deadlines, whatever. I want the little gold star that says, "You finished." Whether the story actually gets read or published is never my concern.

Let's go, KoM.

NaNoWriMo: Kali_Ma.

http://www.nanowrimo.org/modules/cjaycontent/index.php?id=2

Just because I like it ...

Your Element Is Fire

Your passion and emotion are as obvious as the brightest flame. You make sparks fly, and your passion always has the potential to burst out. You are exciting and creative - and completely unpredictable. You sometimes exercise control, and sometimes you let yourself go. Friends describe you as sensitive, spirited, and compulsive. Bright and blazing with intensity, you seem mysterious and moody to many.

What's Your Element?

Like this was any surprise ...

You're Totally Sarcastic

You sarcastic? Never! You're as sweet as a baby bunny.Seriously, though, you have a sharp tongue - and you aren't afraid to use it.And if people are too wimpy to deal with your attitutde, then too bad. So sad.

How Sarcastic Are You?

What Kind of Soul Are You?

You Are a Dreaming Soul

Your vivid emotions and imagination takes you away from this worldSo much so that you tend to live in your head most of the timeYou have great dreams and ambitions that could be the envy of all...But for you, following through with your dreams is a bit difficult You are charming, endearing, and people tend to love you.Forgiving and tolerant, you see the world through rose colored glasses.Underneath it all, you have a ton of passion that you hide from others.Always hopeful, you tend to expect positive outcomes in your life. Souls you are most compatible with: Newborn Soul, Prophet Soul, and Traveler Soul

What Kind of Soul Are You?

Virgin post of the HMS Orange Apron

Greetings, it's WWoN again with a new blog. Since leaving my previous position with the pseudo-eBay company, I've decided to start up a new blog dedicated to my current occupation - bringing my faithful reader(s) (I know who you are) new tales from Behind the Orange Apron.

Can you guess what company this refers to? For abbreviations' sake, we'll shorten it to "HD".

Many of you have visited my little (or not so little) domain once or twice, in your never ending search to beautify and fix your homes. To that, I say "C'mon in, and come buy stuff". I may not know exactly what you're looking for, but I'm happy to help you spend money on whatever you see and like.

Now, what do I do there? As a matter of fact, I'm not just another face on the floor, hawking products. I carry the emminently important-sounding title of "Project Coordinator" - which basically means I deal with all the little bumps and hiccups (cause no project is without them) for most of the installations we handle. Yep, I sound important, I get to run around with files and yell at people, and I even have business cards. Life is good.

Due to the fact I enjoy being important in my job, I've also been promoted to a post of Kitchen Designer - one of 4 that will be on staff. If I ever get around to finishing my training. With a new store opening in Westbank, myself and 3 others were supposed to spend 2 weeks going back and forth from our little hamlet to the store for the class; however, circumstances (and Westbank being idiots) have changed. The class has been cancelled, and I may be getting a paid 2-week trip to Squamish or Cranbrook to complete it. Woo hoo, I think I can definitely find better places to spend 2 paid weeks for a company-sponsored trip than Squamish or Cranbrook.

Also, what else do I do? To the surprise of most, I don't work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at HD (although I think if they could, they'd try to schedule me). Aside from my vast and terribly complex plan of world domination and enslavement, I have my upcoming trip to Honduras to plan. Well, "plan" is a bit of a misnomer - the trip's already been booked, scheduled, and paid for. The planning is mostly for what I'm gonna do once I'm there. I believe so far there's: sleeping, swimming, and scuba diving. The holy trinity of "S". I'm also currently in the process of dragging my friend -- let's call her Grey, for her addiction -- to come out with me. In my experience, it's always handy to have a nurse nearby when I start doing stupid things.

Well that's good enough to start with so far. Since my blogging buddy KoM has decreed he will write in his blog more than once a year (yes KoM, it was dragging on that way), so will I. I won't say how often, because that traps you, but it will be more than once a month. Any good story, any good run-in with a customer ... you can be sure it will publish here. Until next time .....

WWoN, Dark Goddess of Home Improvement.