We Did It!!!!

We made incentive!  That means that I get a 5 day weekend!  Wow, you have no idea what that means to me.  I have busted my butt to get my customers taken care of, and I have gone above and beyond more than once.  They said they appreciate me, and have proven it.  I'm done.

I'm done.

Yeah, I've made it all happen through the miracle of Christmas Magic.  I'm nothing...just a voice on the phone...yet....there's something.

Something makes customers brag on me in my boss's voicemail.  Something makes customers cry when I tell them that a last minute order will arrive on time. Something makes other reps ask my advice.  Something makes me drive home singing....something....something.

I am in the right field.  I wondered whether or not I was doing the right job for...well... for my whole life.  I love daycare, but there's no money in it.  I love receivables, but I don't get to talk to PEOPLE.  I love being a housewife, but I need to DO something...something else.

I am in the right job.  I'll retire from this joint.  I love my customers and my customers love me.  Damn, I'm on such a high right now.  Let it ride, baby.  I will turn off the phones by 3 tomorrow (probably earlier) and will have a FIVE DAY WEEKEND!!!!!!!

Life is good, and I'm happy.  I love ya man...I love ya!

P.S.  See ya Monday, Russ and Sim?

Almost there, and sliding down hill

"It's all downhill from here."...or so they keep saying at work.  Yeah, it's slowing down, but there are so many last-minute stress-out moments, and they keep me stressed.  Every order we shipped yesterday got delivered today....some of them with problems.  That means, I pull the file, have something reprinted, and ship it out.  They still get it before Christmas.

We made the second part of our three-part incentive.  All local orders were finished today.  That means that they are on deliveries in the morning.  Only one part to meet.  We must not go over 4% remakes by Friday.  Let's all hold our breath!

Today, I received another cool gift.  I HUGE cheesecake, in a styrofoam cooler on dry ice, all the way from Georgia....McDonough, I think.  It got stowed away in mom's freezer for my houseload of company New Year's weekend.  I also got two cans of Pringles from my secret santa...boy, they know me pretty well!

We will go Christmas shopping Friday night.  We have a sitter and it's all planned out.  We are limited enough on funds that we were going to grab a cheap burger for dinner...but not now!  Another customer sent me a $50 gift card to the Outback.  WooooHoooooo!  Now we get a dinner that we can NEVER afford on our own, and we don't have to pay.  Thank you, dear customer in Texas.  What a sweetie.

Yeah, people are letting me know that I do a good job.  I appreciate it.  I appreciate being appreciated.  ROFL  Life's good, and I'm almost done...almost there....2 days from a 5-day weekend.  Ahhhhhhh.

Oh, and one more thing.  I found a funny site.  Have a hi-res head shot handy somewhere, and visit this site.  It seems to think that I resemble Charleton Heston.  WELL!  I NEVER!  Oh well, it's the internet, after all.

Neat gifts

We have a customer in Anchorage, Alaska.  She told me that she was sending me "a little something" for being so awesome. (all smiles, here.)  I got a package today...it was, well, quite interesting.  The contents were:
A box of chocolates
A packet of smoked salmon
A tiny jar of spicy honey mustard
A tiny jar of sweet honey mustard
A tiny jar of firewood honey
A stick of Teriyaki Salmon jerky
A stick of smoked salmon jerky
A stick of Teriyaki jerky with Arctic Ox
A packet of Teriyaki Sticks with caribou meat
A package of two Hunter Sticks with reindeer meat

Wow, I am so midwest and naive.  Who knew they had jerky with caribou???  Not me!

We shipped out all out-of-town orders that were due for Christmas today.  That is part one of our three-part incentive.  Tomorrow, all in-town orders must be ready for delivery.  Finally, we must not go above 4% remakes.  If we meet all of those goals, we get paid for Tuesday.  Everyone is off that day, no matter what (YEAH! for 4 day weekends) but it's yet to be determined if we're getting paid for Tuesday. 

If we MAKE the incentive, I get a FIVE day weekend!  I have to go in on Saturday the 31 to run statements, and must lose the extra time earlier in the week.  If we don't make incentive, I'm not short on hours.  If we do make it?  An extra day off.  PHEW!  I need it, let me tell ya.  I'm sick of being crabby for no reason.  My poor kids.  My poor husband.  My poor dog.  I got some makin'-up to do around here.

"The Final Countdown" (remember that song, by Europe?)

Well, we're getting down to the wire.  All orders for Christmas must be in our customer's hands by the week's end.  *sigh*  It ain't easy, folks.  Not with orders that came in late, orders that got there early...and wrong, and orders that just don't cooperate.  I ran hard from the time I got there until the time I left...harder than usual.  The phone is ringing off the hook with just "1 more little request" (yes sir, that's the 25th one I've had this morning...go ahead?)

OK, no more bitching about work.  By Friday, the phone will almost stop ringing all together.  I'll sleep in late on Saturday, and have a grand ol' time lying around on the couch, thankyouverymuch.  I have a 4 day weekend for sure, and possibly a 5 day weekend.  I need it.  I need to get together with friends for drinks (wink wink, Russ and Sim) and I need to watch movies and eat too much.

I am getting through this.  I got a gift from a customer today.  It's called "a Taste of Texas"  and has a trio of goodies.  Honey Toasted Pecans, Chocolate Amaretto Pecans, and Roasted Salted Pecans.  Kevin and the kids have declared it a good gift!  It's nice to be loved and appreciated for the hoops that I jump through.

4 days to go, and only 3 of them will be hellish.  WooooHoooo!

My Friday Memory

Let's talk school lunches, shall we?

I loved school lunches.  While most people make bad jokes and complain about school lunches, I loved them.  Yes, I'm weird...we're beyond that now, aren't we?

The leftover burgers with gravy on them became salisbury steak.  Yummy.  The pizza was square and soft and could be folded nicely.  Yummy.  The bread with peanut butter was a tricky situation....the peanut butter was on the bread in a little ball (from a melon baller) and was tough to spread without ripping the bread, but I managed...Yummy.

I liked the jello, even though it had shredded carrots in it (to meet the vegetable requirement, I'm sure.)  I loved the pears...ahhhh, the pears.  I loved the "spaghetti red" even though it was NOTHING like the real spaghetti that mom made.  Some times we had no-bake cookies....ahhhh, it was like Christmas!

Many people gripe incessantly about school lunches, but I loved them.  I can't think of a single thing that I hated...honestly!  Oh, and on very special days?  We had Jello Pudding Pops.  OMG!  That was like a piece of heaven.

I didn't get caught up in what table I sat at.  I didn't care what the cool kids ate.  I didn't give a rat's ass...just so I got some of that wonderful food.  MMMmmmmmm.  I even volunteered in the lunch room for 2 years.  Those women were the best, and I enjoyed living their lives for an hour a day.  Golly, I'm a sad individual, huh?  I don't care!  I loved it, and I'm not afraid to admit it. 

I'll trade you my jello for your salisbury steak!

still pluggin' along

Well, there's a week of madness left.  I'm dealing with it.  Lots of stress, but it's still not getting me down.  I leave work feeling satisfied, and knowing that my customers are taken care of.  It's a great feeling.  A customer sent me a tin of butter cookies for Christmas.  I'd feel special, but he sent one to all reps and both receptionists.  LOL

Here's a funny.  I was waking the girls up on Tuesday morning.  Monica woke up saying "awww Mom, I was eating a pickle!  It was a big dill pickle and it was gooood."  I laughed, then moved on to wake Natalie up.  Natalie said, "Hi, Mom.  I was having a stupid dream."  I said, "that's funny, your sister was eating a pickle."  Natalie said, "oh MAN!  I didn't get a pickle!  I want a pickle!"  Yes, she's even jealous when it's a DREAM about food.

That's all I've got tonight.  I'm beat.  I'll be back tomorrow for my Friday memory.

10 down, 9 to go

I'm gettin' there.  My new attitude is working nicely.  I'm stressed and over-worked and freaking out to make sure our customers are taken care of.  Here is my end of a typical call:

"Hi, this is Rachel, can I help you?"
"I need this order by Christmas, no matter what!!!"
"So, do you want me to add a rush to the order?  So you can have it by Christmas?"
"No, HELL no!  I can't afford a rush...just make it happen for free, ok?"
"Well, I can't promise it without a rush, but I'll do everything in my power, ok?"
"As long as you promise it'll be here, that's fine.  Thanks."
"But, I can't promise it.  I'll try, but if you don't want to pay a rush, I can't tell you that you'll have it...are you ok with that?"
"yeah, that's fine.  Just do what you can......just so I have it by Christmas."

ARRRRGGGGGGG!

Also, there are folks changing shipping methods, folks cancelling orders, folks changing services, folks wanting someone to yell at and, finally, folks who want to tell me that I'm good at what I do.

Know what?  I am DAMN good at what I do.  My loyal customers love me, and tell my boss so.  I do my best every day, and do what I can to help them.  Sometimes even their most unreasonable request is made to happen by me.  Sometimes I can help them talk it out....meaning that they don't need anything, but need someone to talk to.  I am DAMN good at what I do....have I mentioned that?

I had not one...not two....not three...but FOUR...count them....FOUR customers tell my manager that I helped them, and that they appreciate it.  FOUR!  I'm so happy.  I have 9 more days until a day off, but I'm happy.  I'm good.  Damn good.