Update

I just wanted to do a quick update on my job situation. I had an interview on Tuesday and they called my recruiter immediately in order to set up a 2nd interview with the Controller. So, they seemed to really like me. I had an interesting 2nd interview with the Controller this afternoon. My understanding is that they are making me an offer, but it was kind of late when I realized I had the message, so I'll call back to tomorrow to see what's up. Pros: great location (like 2 seconds from church), nice people, seems like a stable company, I think it will be challenging. Cons: I don't know if they'll offer me what I'm worth. I have other recruiters that I am dealing with as well and they are sending my resume around. The drawback to most of the jobs is that they keep sending me leads for places that I really don't want to drive to every day. So, we'll see. I have a phone "screening" with a company that's in Suwanee tomorrow morning (more on the John's Creek end).

As for what's up at my current job (if you can call it that at this point): I think that tomorrow is my last day. This has been a big question mark for me all week. No one had said anything to me as of Tuesday afternoon (irritating). Basically, no one in accounting had been talked to beyond our initial "get-to-know-you-meeting" that we had (nice way of saying that they were interviewing us for jobs we already had, CA people are so PC). I knew that on Monday some people were offered jobs, but everyone's pay was being cut significantly (like 4-20%!). On Tuesday, I spoke with a lady I work with who said that her understanding was that we were all being terminated that day. So, I just made the assumption that my job would end Tuesday since no one had talked to us about anything. SO, I started packing up my stuff. My supervisor, Michelle, came in and was all upset that I had packed up some of my stuff and said that she had to wind things down and wanted me to stay on and wind things down for at least 2 weeks, maybe 3. Then, the head HR lady came in (also upset that I had taken down my personal stuff) and said that the reason no one had talked to us is because they were going to keep 1-2 positions and they were going to offer it to Michelle first but that if they did offer me a job it would be much less than I was currently making (like 20K less, whatever!). So, I told her that they needn't bother. I would stay on with Michelle as long as they would pay me or I could find a job. This was all yesterday. They had already told the A/P people at this point that they would not be needed unless they would consider moving to CA (again, possibly at a pay cut - to move to CA, again, whatever!). Okay, so after all this - you should just prepare yourself because you will be surprised - we had a "wind-down team meeting" with the current President of Pike (who was also let go, no big surprise, don't they always do that?). In this meeting we were told that we would only be paid through this Friday. They didn't know that until right before the meeting. So, we should "work as hard as we can and as long as we can to get it all done." HA! I mean, the hourly people can and are so that they can get paid overtime. But, what incentive is there for me? I don't mean to have a bad attitude, but I have been working overtime for a company that hired me 1.5 months before they declared bankruptcy after they told me that they worked very little overtime. HA! HA! HA!

So, that's the story. Sorry for the rambling. I am very tired. But, while it has been stressful and an emotional rollercoaster in some ways, it has been fun in others because we have kind of been silly since we didn't have to worry about impressing these new people. It is sad that I have grown close to all these people and now we won't be working together any more. It is also sad for the group that took jobs with the new company because such a big cut in pay is bad for morale. Some of the people took jobs because they have been with the company for so long the thought of trying to find something else is too scary for them. Some people took jobs because they love the industry and the Pike family name and they are loyal to it and want to see the company do well. Plus, I think they were told that when the drought clears up, they may get a pay raise. Others took the job to have a job and insurance and I feel that they will be looking and leaving soon. (Yeah, the kicker is since the old company will no longer exist (an estate will apparently be formed), there will not even be any COBRA offered!)

So, there we go. That's what's going on. On a happier note, I did buy a new workout program called the Firm, which came with DVDs, weights, and a calendar for my workout and eating tips. It came in the mail today. I am really excited. I hope to lose all the weight I have gained lately so that I can fit into my summer clothes by the time it is hot enough. So, you should all keep me accountable by commenting from time to time and asking me if have been doing my videos.

I am sorry I don't have any pictures to post. My De Oro lilies have more than tripled in height since the other day when I posted pictures of them coming up. I will take pictures soon and show you how big they are. I am really excited!

Bizarre Week

So, things have been kind of weird lately, but last week was kind of bizarre.

On Tuesday, there were torrential down pours on our way to work. It started raining just as I was leaving the house and as I was driving down Pleasant Hill getting into the turn lane to turn left onto Club, it started raining so hard I couldn't see or hear anything but rain. Rain was coming from all directions. Scott was actually going in early, so he was in it too, right next to me. It slowed down just as I pulled into the parking lot at work so that I could run in and not get too wet. Not fun.

Then, Wednesday, I was pulling out of the garage, and I realized it was snowing. How bizarre. It always seems to kind of warm up when it rains, so that's why I found it so strange. It stopped snowing just as I was about to turn from Pleasant Hill onto Club. Hmmm...

Well, Tuesday was the day that Pike got auctioned off to the highest bidder. So, we had a kind of party day. Of course those of us in accounting were still very busy, but we still had some fun with the rest of them. Everyone dressed very casually, most people watched movies. We had pizza and snacks and we played with nerf guns. Those nerf guns are still floating around the office, so you never know when you'll be pelted. Then Wednesday the news came that the company has been purchased by two different buyers: Armstrong Nurseries bought the entire retail part of the company (they are a huge nursery in California) and then three others purchased parts of the wholesale side of things. So, all the people who actually work in the retails stores will probably keep their jobs. I, however, probably will not. So, if you know anyone hiring a CPA that is in the Gwinnett area, that keeps a good work/life balance, please let me know. No public accounting please. I am just very frustrated because I left a very stable job to come here 1.5 months before they filed for bankruptcy. I know that they knew they were on the rocks. I could have kept looking and found a job with a much more stable company. But, that's all in the past and here I am...job hunting. And the worst part is, no one knows for how much longer we'll have jobs...one day...one week...one month. Erg.

Oh, and for those of you NOT in the Atlanta area, it is in the 60's today and it is beautiful outside. We have the windows open so the cats can look outside! Craziness!

Yesterday, Scott and I went to a GA Force game with some friends from church. Once again, Callie had the hook-up with some great tickets! Arena football is interesting. It was our first game. It was really weird to see a football field in the middle of the Gwinnett Arena. It was so tiny compared to a regular football field. We had fun. The GA Force lost, so I was kind of bummed.

So that's it for now. Please be praying for my job situation. I also have several other friends that are in the job market, so please be praying for them as well. It is a tough time right now.

Prize!

One of my few blogging friends that I have never actually met, Midlife Mom at Home on the Range, is having a drawing in celebration of her 250th post! You should check out her blog and enter to win one of her two prizes! How fun is that?

I stumbled across her blog while looking at the comments on a blog that I found through the comments on someone else's blog! She lives in Maine and has all kinds of four-legged friends with whom she shares her piece of land. Reading her blog makes me want to visit Maine and the rest of New England...but maybe we will do that in the summer, because if you know me, you know how much I hate cold weather!

Online Etiquette?

I happened upon the Miss Manners section on msn the other day, and found this article about online etiquette and whether or not it is okay to post pictures of people on the internet without their permission. From the sounds of this article, the lady may not have liked anything her step-daughter did, or she may have been drunk in the pictures and doing unsavory things. I don't know. But, it made me think about the repercussions of having your picture on the internet. First of all, I would never post a picture of someone that I really thought showed them in a bad light, because I do realize that it's not nice and lots of people could see the picture. Also, I would hope that if I did post a picture of someone that they did not want posted, that they would tell me and ask me not to post any more pictures of them, or to remove that particular picture.

So, anyway, I was just kind of curious what you all thought about that. Does it make you mad when someone posts a picture of you on their website or blog? If you thought that a picture or story about you that someone posted on their blog might show you in a negative way or hurt your chances of getting a job in the future, would you simply ask that person to remove it? Or, would you just complain to all of your friends that they did that and never mention it to the blogger? I am just curious.

After saying all of this, please note that if I ever post a picture that you do not want to be on my blog or if you think that something I say on my blog is inappropriate, whether it is about you or not, PLEASE tell me! I do not want to say something that could scar children or in anyway reflect negatively on anyone.

Happy 100th Post!

This is my 100th post! Wow! Now what? I have been blogging for less than a year and already I have done 100 posts. Does that mean that I am spending too much time blogging? Possibly.

So, what to talk about? Did I tell y'all that I finally finished our "engagement scrapbook"? Yep, it's done. The only thing we didn't have any pictures of for me to scrapbook was Scott's bachelor party. I don't think anyone took pictures, unless Johnny did. I have asked Scott to email him. So, I may end up adding another page if he does. That was a lot of fun. But, I'm glad it's done. I found a bunch of pictures the other day that I failed to put in our wedding album...and I used up some of that paper that I had bought especially for that, so now I am on the lookout for that particular paper to be on sale. They had it at Michael's the other day for $0.59 per page. Whatever!

Anyway, I have moved on to scrapbooking about other things. I have so many ideas for pages. I have been working on this page for a couple of weeks now, as time permitted. It has taken me quite a while as it was very labor intensive. But, I am happy with how it turned out. What do you think?

Scott has really been enjoying his Wii, too. He completely finished Super Mario Galaxy and has now moved on to a game he borrowed from a guy at work called Meteoroid, or something like that. It seems very boring to me, but Scott seems to like it. Scott was watching a GT basketball game today. He said that they lost. I can't remember the last time he told me they won. Hmmm...that's not good, is it? What a bummer.

We did a little work out in our garden yesterday! I pruned our shrubs and monkey grass and Scott cleaned up the area under our front bird feeder and pulled up the dead Lantana that was around the air conditioner that I should have pulled up months ago. Next weekend we are going to prune our Crepe Myrtles. Working at Pike does have its advantages. Our VP of Learning, Wayne, has started doing lunch and learns about gardening and the first one was about pruning. I felt very empowered after having the class. In the three years that we have lived in this house, I had never pruned our shrubs. We have pruned the Crepe Myrtle before, but I have an article from Southern Living called "Crepe Murder". I thought it was very helpful. If you want to prune your plants, the time is now. Anything that flowers in the summer (May, June, etc.) should be pruned now. Anything that flowers in the spring (February, March, and I think April) should be pruned after it flowers (like azaleas). Some plants grow off of new wood and some (like hydrangeas) grow off of old wood. Wayne gave us some handouts, so if you want me to scan them and email them to you, just let me know. I'll post some before and after pictures of our pruning. Oh! While we were cleaning up the yard, I pulled the dead stems and leaves off of my Stella De Oro lilies from last season and found the tips of the new growth peeking up at me! How exciting! It is also time to prune your monkey grass. I have liriope, so I gave it a crew cut (like, to the ground). If you have mondo grass, you should just leave it alone. After you prune, you should feed your plants so that their first growth spurt in the Summer is huge. And, while you are at it, you should put out Preen, too for weed prevention. I just mixed fertilizer and Preen together and used my hand-spreader to do it all at once. I love my hand spreader, it has a wrist support and everything. I think it is made by Scott's. It was well worth the extra $5 for the wrist support!

Before pictures.

Here are the after pictures. You know, it's kind of hard to tell the difference. But, I filled up an entire garbage can with clippings. (Do you see the cats in the window, they watched us the whole time.)

Here's the De Oro lilies before and after. I can't wait until they start blooming!

This is what my spreader looks like. I really like it.

I LOVE my Southern Living subscription. I may be revealing what a nerd I am, but this is what I do when I find a good article or a recipe I want to try: I pull them out and put them in a book. For the recipes, I have a manila folder I leave them in until we try them. If we don't like it, we throw it away. If we like it, we put it in a three ring binder down in page protectors. I have a separate three ring binder with gardening articles in page protectors. I have referred back to these articles many times. That's how I learned how to divide lilies and hostas, which has proved very useful!

So, that's it for now. Have a great week!

Time For Ice

I think that I have posted before about how smart and talented our cats are. They know so many words, I think they are above average for the feline persuasion! Maxwell loves ice and he knows that word. I actually think that they both know that word, but Sampson just doesn't get as excited about it. Here is a video of what happens most of the time when we toss Maxwell a piece of ice. (Please excuse our messy kitchen!)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Another Cat Video

A while back, I posted a really cute video of Sampson and said that I would post one of both of our cats watching birds later. Well, it's later. Here it is. Super funny. Super cute.

Millie's Spinach Rollups

Millie's Spinach Rollups

Source: Alice Perrins (wife of a former co-worker)

10 oz. pkg frozen chopped spinach (thawed and well drained)

1 c. mayonnaise

8 oz. sour cream (reduced fat is fine)

1 bunch green onions, chopped

1 pkg ranch dressing mix

3 oz. bacon bits

9 10-in. flour tortillas

salsa

Combine first 6 ingredients and spread thin layer of mixture on tortillas. Roll up tortillas and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Chill 4-6 hours before serving. Serve with salsa.

NOTE> I have made these a couple of times and I have always put a strip of the mixture in the middle and then rolled it up, but I realized this last time that the directions actually call for you to literally spread it out so that when you wrap it up, the mixture is between all the layers. You may have picked up on this, but my picture is showing it the way I actually prepared it instead of how I think it should actually be. I also think that it looks pretty with the thing of salsa in the middle, but no one really eats it with the salsa...so you could leave that part out. Also, I never use an entire bunch of green onions. I only use about 4.

Mint Brownies

Mint Brownies

Source: Beth Thompson (one of my former co-workers)

Brownies:

Prepare a brownie mix (the fudgy ones and the chocolate chip ones are best!), following package instructions (I made a 9x9 batch). Allow to cool.

For mint layer:

1 1/2 c. (approximately) powdered sugar
1/3 c. margarine
2 ½ tbsp Crème de Menthe (get the green kind, or buy some food coloring)

Melt butter and mix all 3 ingredients together (I suggest that you add the butter a little at a time because I usually don’t end up using it all). The mint mixture should be thick, but pourable. Spread it over the top of the brownies and put in the fridge to let it stiffen while you prepare chocolate layer on top. You can taste it and make sure it is minty enough before you spread it on there.

Chocolate topping:

1 cup chocolate chips
6 tablespoons of margarine

Melt together in a double boiler. Let it cool for a couple of minutes (keep stirring it). Spread over top of mint layer.

Refrigerate until chocolate topping is stiff (not runny) and cut later.

As you all know I have difficulty following a recipe if I feel that I can improve it. I do not think that the mint layer is enough to fully taste the minty fresh flavor of the Crème de Menthe. So, I usually double the mint layer. Also, when I say, "add the butter a little at a time," I mean it because it usually does not take it all. If you want to make it a thicker mint layer, I would use 3 cups of powdered sugar and start with 2 1/2 Tbsp. of Crème de Menthe and then add more to taste. I am pretty sure that the other day I used about 4 1/2 Tbsp. I think that I do stick with the 1 cup of chocolate chips part, but I may "accidentally" let my cup runneth over.

Another note that I will make is to buy the smallest bottle you can get of the Crème de Menthe because it gets more alcoholic and less minty as time goes by. I would also suggest storing it in your freezer if you have space.

One more note: they will turn out much prettier if you turn them out of the pan and then cut them. I just run a butter knife around the edge and flip them onto aluminum foil and them use another piece of aluminum foil to flip them right side up. Use a sharp knife to cut them.

In case the above picture was not enough to convince you that you want to try these brownies, here is a close-up. Click on the picture to make it full screen.

Have mercy.....