Moving Forward

I haven't posted in a while. But to me, that's okay.
I knew that when I gave up posting at the other place that it would be a challenge to keep up my posts here, not as much readership. But again that's okay. It seems my readers here will eventually read what I write, even if its sporadic. :)

I've been busy in the past month. I finally finished my Masters! And I did extremely well in that. 9 out of my 10 final grades from the entire program were in the A range (A- to A+), with the last grade being a B+. That's the best I've ever done, and I feel I can pat myself on the back proudly for this achievement.
Now hopefully I will be able to find work in this field. I've applied to a couple jobs here and there, but so far no biters. I will keep looking though!

I also decided to move in the last month. Since I finished school, I thought there was no point in me staying around Halifax. I was extremely lonely. So I moved back with J, and I'm glad I did. I'm just happier here in Moncton. I was not happy in Halifax at all. I was alone, and I felt lonely. Even though I had J's support with me while I was there, it wasn't the same as us being together in person. Now we'll never have to say goodbye to each other again, at least for the time being.

 I guess with the new year rolling around, I'll be doing more planning for the wedding. It's hard to believe that the last 9 months have flown by so quickly. There's now only about 6 months left before the wedding (well, 5 months and 3 weeks now!). I'm sure it'll come in no time. But now I'm starting to feel the pressure of the tight timeline. I still have bridesmaids dresses to order, and a florist to book. J still has to get his tux for himself and his groom's posse. It'll all come together I'm sure. I'm trying not to stress out too much. I want to enjoy this whole wedding planning process, and prepare for my marriage.

Anyway, I best be off for now, have packing to do for my little trip to my hometown tomorrow (if the weather holds out that is!).
Until next time,

xoxo
Swimmy.

Tension

For the last couple of months since school started up again, I noticed I was having a lot of tension in my back.
I would wake up for the day and my hips and joints would be completely stiff, and would go on like that for almost the entire day.
I did go get massages at the student clinic a couple times, and that helped a bit for a few days. But that tension would eventually return, sometimes with a vengeance. And sometimes leading me to tears. Now if anyone knows me, I rarely cry over physical pain, because physical pain seems to be fixed easier in my opinion.

I thought part of the stiffness in my back was due to my crazy schedule. Wake up at 5:30am, go to work until 2 or 3, rush home to get changed, then rush off to class where I would sit in an uncomfortable chair for almost 3 hours. And it probably was.

But since last Friday, I've realized that I've been waking up without pain or stiffness. Last Friday was the 2 week countdown mark to my big move. Perhaps the end of my current job was in sight. The end of my time away from J was in sight.  And maybe, just maybe I finally started to relax again.

Moving on

Well folks. I am proud to announce that I'm finally in the home stretch of my Master's program!
I only have three weeks left and then I'm done!  Of course I don't really graduate until May of 2013, but the classes, assignments, and stress will be finished. Caput. Fini. Donezo!

When I moved here, I seriously thought that it would take forever to be finished. I missed J quite a bit and counted down the days/weeks until I would see him again. Now there is light at the end of the tunnel.
I made the decision a couple weeks ago that when I finish my classes, I would be moving back to Moncton.
Which means I'll finally get to be with J again! No more long distance! No more dropped phone calls because of terrible service in my apartment. No more missing him.

I still have a bit of journey ahead as I will be looking all over Canada for a job/career that I can put my education towards, but in the meantime,  I will be in Moncton!

Just wanted to check in and let you all know!
Hope things are well!

The Bridal Show

Last week J and I reached the 9 month mark in our countdown towards the wedding! It's absolutely crazy how fast time has flown since we got engaged. It's already been close to 6 months already.

I'm beginning to get a clearer vision of the day in my head. I've actually accomplished a lot in my planning of our big day, such as getting my dress, booking our venue, sending out save the dates, and booking our photographer.
There's still a lot to get done, such as booking a DJ or hiring a florist. But that will come soon enough.

Last weekend I ventured into the Bridal Showcase put on by Atlantic Wedding Showcases. I had to go alone since my mother was booked in for a previous engagement by the time I found about about this thing, and my bridesmaids were also busy. But that's alright, I found it to be a wonderful experience. There were over 100 vendors at this showcase, so I tried to stop by most of them.
I created my registries with some vendors. Sought out coupons to get J's tux at other vendors. Filled out ballots for other vendors so I could enter draws with them. Received a complimentary massage at other vendor's booth. And possibly found a florist and DJ for my wedding.

In the last week since that showcase, I became very popular. All the vendors I had left my name, number and email with had contacted me at different points throughout the week. Some I had forgotten I had left my information with, but it was nice to hear back from them. They seemed really enthusiastic about being in the bridal show, and I enjoyed that they followed through with creating new contacts.
I have a meeting next week with one vendor to throw a "PartyLite" party with some of the girls. Also have another meeting with the Investors group to go over financial planning.

All in all the bridal showcase was a success. It made me very excited about my upcoming wedding. In January there will be another one, so hopefully I can go to that one as well. I may be dragging J this time though.

Working my butt off

Literally.

About two weeks, a representative from the gym around the corner came into my workplace. This is an all women's gym, so she asked if any of us would like to get a coupon for a free trial at the gym.

I had been wanting to start working out. Hula hooping, was toning my core, but I felt it wasn't doing enough. And that feeling was verified by my mother's voice. I was discouraged and lacking a little motivation. But then this representative came in, and gave me my "in".

I went into the gym the next day to get a brief tour and talk with the sales representative who gave me the coupon.
And then I officially joined.

The first day I was a little nervous. I haven't been to the gym to work out since I was in Grade 12, and at that time I was going with my best friend. It was more of a social thing for us, since right after we usually ended up at KFC getting free food since her mother was the manager.

Anyway, this time around I'm going solo. I have goals to work towards, and I really want to be at a certain weight by the time my wedding rolls around. My first goal is to get under 200 lbs by December 1st.
I'm proud of myself to say, but within the last month, I've lost 7 pounds! I actually weighed myself at the gym on my second day there, which is when I found out I had lost 5 pounds. But I'm guessing that most of that was lost prior to my joining the gym and keeping up with my daily hula hooping.
So I'm slowly yet surely working towards my goals!

I think I can give myself a pat on the back right?

Maybe I shouldn't...

...Talk about weddings so much?

I've been reading a lot of the message boards on the wedding site I recently joined. It's supposed to be a website for wedding related questions to be answered and discussed. But in the last couple of days, it seems like the responders to the questions think that a bride shouldn't be excited for her wedding. Or want things a certain way. Or "shame on you for even asking that".

I don't quite know how to explain it, but that's the feeling I'm getting.
Do you know how hard it is for a newly engaged girl to not bring up weddings? It's a big part of one's life.

But I realize I should tone it down. Might be depressing people around me for discussing it all the time. lol (that's the idea I'm getting from reading these message boards). I actually wanted to write a blog there, but it denied me access. So sorry for dumping this rant on here. lol.

Some of these women have also said (repetitively I might add) that the only thing a Bridesmaid has to do is buy the dress and show up at the wedding, and that they owe nothing to the bride. Somehow I think this view is a bit.. distorted. Maybe I'm biased for being a bride. But I was also a bridesmaid twice. When the bride asks the bridesmaid to be in the wedding, they are hoping to have a support system that will help them get to the altar.

But they should also know the plans as well. Of course that doesn't mean I have to talk weddings all the time. I know that. But when I do, I want my girls to be there for me. 

I'll admit, since I got engaged, the topic of weddings has taken over my mind. I'm excited. This is a big step in my life. And I want to get on the ball with planning. During the prime planning period (which is 6-8 months prior - when ordering of dresses should be done) I'll be in school, and busy with that. So I want to at least get an idea of what my bridesmaids are going to wear before school starts again in September. 

Is that a crime? 

How do you treat someone in the food service industry?

Last night, after a long tiring day at work, I came home and thought about my day. It led me to write the following post over at the other place where I blog. 


"Had a customer today, who was very particular about her order. And wanted a certain person to fill her order. So I honoured her request and mentioned to my coworker that the customer requested his service. Then I went on and helped to gather the orders for other customers. Meanwhile, my supervisor went and got the product that this other customer asked for. And she says its the wrong thing. I rang in what she asked for originally. I can't help if someone changes their mind afterwards and doesn't tell the person who is trying to serve the customer. When my supervisor said what I had rung through, the customer rolled her eyes and said something like "Well that's no surprise". 

I was a little offended. But I ignored what she said and kept on doing my job.

Yes, I work in the food service industry. But that does not indicate by any means my intelligence level. Just because I didn't hear through somebody's mumbling, does not mean I'm stupid.
I've only been working at this place for a little over a month, but in that time I managed do my job well. So much that the supervisor I work with the most considers me one of the best front people he's ever had.
I work hard. I try to go above and beyond what is expected of me. I listen to the customer and repeat their order back to them to confirm that's what they ordered. And if I maybe misheard, I apologize and fix that mistake before it's too late.
And yeah, I'm doing all this on very minimum wage, while trying to pay for school so I can complete my Masters.

I know I shouldn't dwell on these kinds of things, but it just bothered me a lot today. I've already had some hang ups about taking this job, and dealing with difficult customers was one of them.

I guess the best I can do for now is just try harder tomorrow to make that customer happy.
Not that I really need to prove anything to her. I just want customers who frequent fast food places to have a little respect for the workers there.

I mean, you shouldn't bite the hand that feeds you right? lol.

I know that customers most definitely keep the business running. Without them, there would be no point. But I have a hard time agreeing with the mantra that "The Customer is always right". Everyone makes errors. Both customers and employees. It happens. But when an error like that is made, insulting another person's intelligence should not be the default reaction. It's rude and uncalled for. The person making the error should take responsibility and apologize.
Even though I feel as though I wasn't actually in the wrong, I did apologize to the customer. I really try to treat others with respect because that's how I want to be treated. Especially in my job, although it usually doesn't happen.
Some people just want to complain and take their angst out on others... most often customer service representatives.

Let me tell you, my patience was definitely tested at that point, but I think I passed lol. All I can hope for is a better day tomorrow. "

I then asked my readers how they would have handled a situation like that. Hoping for some assurance that I did the right thing. 

I honestly don't dwell on miniscule situations like that. But the customer returned today. She actually asked again for the same person to make her coffee. But he was unavailable at the time. And since I was working the coffee station at work this morning, I ended up making it. 

The customer actually refused the coffee I made for her. Which was made to her liking and using a fresh pot. 

My supervisor was available at that time, when she demanded he make a new one, without even tasting it. Just assuming I got it wrong. 

What's funny was my supervisor had to ask me what the customer asked for in the coffee because I had already cleared my screen. 

It really makes me wonder if she's just cranky like that with my other coworkers when I'm not there, or if its just an unreasonable dislike for me. Because she's seriously testing my patience with that behaviour. NOBODY should be treated like this at their jobs. Especially when they haven't done anything wrong. 

It just makes me shake my head with shock and mutter "some people..." to myself. 

I think my supervisor actually picked up that I looked a little shocked when the customer refused the coffee without even tasting it because he said he trusted me and understood I made the coffee right. So that was nice. 

Anyway, how do you treat people who work in the food service industry on a normal day to day basis? And what happens when they make a mistake - how do you handle that situation?  

How would you like a fast food employee to behave towards you when you go in?