No Rest For The Weary

 On Wednesday morning I got to work and found out that the new collection had arrived. There were loads of boxes to unpack so we didn't waste any time getting to work. After slaving away in the sun for about three hours we managed to unpack all of the kids girls clothes and I acquired a bit of a farmers tan. The sun was being ever so persistent so we decided to move inside to unpack the kids boys clothes. A couple of hours later we ready to start on the next set of boxes and I remembered that I had meant to take a picture earlier in the day but decided that "better late than never" and took a picture of what was left. I know that it doesn't look like much in the picture but I promise you that there were a heck of a lot more boxes!

I took a picture of the ones that we had already flat-packed just in case you didn't believe me... 

After a loooooong day of unpacking boxes and trying to organize the stockroom I headed home and got straight into bed.

This morning I got to work an hour early after mistakenly agreeing to it early Wednesday morning. There were plenty more boxes to unpack and the entire stockroom was in dire need of organizing. The shelves were stuffed to the brim and at some point I knocked against the locker doors and the manager started to panic, thinking that I was trying to store clothes in the lockers due to the lack of space. I assured her that I had no intention of storing merchandise in our lockers and she returned to her work. Ten very long hours later the store was looking great and the stockroom was semi organized. I was tired and hungry so I waved goodbye and hopped on a bus home. It was the bus drivers first time driving the route and we took the senic route home after he managed to get himself lost and confused. After driving through town three times someone went to give him directions and I was thrilled that he managed to find my stop.

I'm working on motzash so I have tomorrow off. I think I'll sleep in and catch up on some TV. :)

Adventures In Adulthood: Prodigal Salesgirl

Friday was a good day. The morning didn't get off to the best start, everything that could go wrong seemed determined to wrong.

I woke up late and had no interest of ever leaving the safe confines of my warm and comfy bed. after going through every possible excuse in my head and debating whether or not I should call the manager claiming to have come down with a rather sudden case of rocky mountain spotted fever I determined that I wasn't really in the position to start ditching work just yet. I somehow managed to coax myself from under the covers and sat up to face the morning.

Due to my laziness and reluctance to get out of bed, I was running a bit behind schedule. Breakfast was rushed and I barely made it out the door on time. The bus picked a superb day to show up on time and appeared to belong to the most cautious driver in the city. We ambled through the streets of bet shemesh at a snails pace and I wondered if we would ever make it to the mall.

The bus finally reached it's last stop and I skidded into the store at exactly eleven o'clock. The manager took in my slightly disheveled self and commented on how quiet the store had been all morning. She told me about how she had considered calling to tell me to stay home and wondered if I might "be interested in a relaxing day off". My appalled expression of utter dismay must have tipped her off and she said "but you're welcome to stay if you'd like.." with a tight smile. I quickly recovered and flashed her an award winning Polly smile "I think I will stay. Today's gonna be a great day!". She did her best to nod reassuringly and sent me into the back room to drop off my bag and phone before starting my shift.

I wandered into the desolate store and wondered why I had bothered getting out of bed when the day seemed to be so vehemently against me. Sales seemed to be a little hit and miss (emphasis on the miss) but I managed to convince a few people to part with meager amounts of their money.

My luck seemed to turn when a nice english speaking couple came into the store with their two sons trailing behind them. The elder was too big for gap kids but after a bit a persuading the younger agreed to take a look around the store. In a remarkable feat I managed to cajole the kid into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt that actually looked quite nice on him. He bounded over to his dad with a big grin on his face and his father sighed as he pulled his credit card out of his wallet. Things seemed to be going well so I thought I'd push my luck and see if I couldn't get him to buy a membership card. Gods countenance continued to shine down upon me and he was only mildly reluctant to shell out the cash.

Feeling good about my sudden change in luck I smiled wide at the next customer that came into the store. I didn't know it at the time but it would later be revealed that the sweet older woman was my guardian angel.
She wanted a present for her granddaughter and I led her to the baby section. She noticed an outfit on the wall and stated "that one looks nice." It was a three piece outfit which is a nice sized sale and would cost at least 400 shek but my adrenaline was pumping and I was determined to have the best damn shift so in a fit of possible insanity I asked "would you care to see some of the adorable outfits in the toddlers section?". She didn't seem too enthusiastic but allowed me to lead her into the other section. I pulled out a cute dress and waited for a reaction. "Yes." I was a little surprised but didn't argue and quickly found the right size. "Don't forget the jacket..!" she kindly reminded me, I nearly passed out from excitement.

We continued through the section and she happily accepted every outfit that I suggested. When I was holding three full outfits and a bathing suit she beckoned me towards the desk and I followed her wondering if the whole thing was a wonderful dream or some form of cruel joke. Would she weed through the things when we got to the cash register and pick her favorite or did she honestly plan on buying the whole lot?

We got to the register and it became apparent that she was going to buy it. All of it. I saw her eyeing a little tote bag and had the audacity to pick it up and try to convince her to buy it. To my continuing surprise, she made no objections and let out a little laugh "It's just money, right?" I tittered nervously and did my best to look like I knew what she was talking about.

The manager came to check on things and was slightly shocked at scene unfolding before her eyes. The woman waited patiently for the cashier to ring her up and passed the time by lavishing praise on me in front of the manager. I tried to smile modestly and gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek as she was leaving.

Everyone gathered around to see her off and as soon as she left another woman walked up to me and the manager and said "you're the one that helped me last week! I came back to buy the stuff that you recommended, thank you so much!". I asked her how her son was doing (despite the fact that I couldn't really recall if I had met him or not) and she promised to come back when the new collection came in.
The manager congratulated me on my sales and the rest of the shift passed by in a whirlwind of even more sales.
I guess its a good thing that I didn't come down with any sudden exotic diseases after all...

I Wanna Say, Larry?

Last week was rather uneventful. In a surprising turn of events I spent Monday (my day off) doing laundry and attempting to somewhat straighten things up.

Work was pretty boring and sadly there were no shoplifting grandmas.....
On Friday gods countenance shined down on me and despite the fact that I had the shortest shift I made the most sales and got the receipt of my biggest sale yet (over 1000 shekel) hung up on the cork board to help inspire the other employees. (OK so anyone that makes a sale over 1000 shekel gets there receipt hung up but I still feel pretty dang awesome..).

Shabbos was quiet but fun. After lunch today I played settlers and banana grams with The Crazy Lady and Frank before heading over to Lorble's place. The apartment was bursting with people and fun. Eventually the people trickled out and we hung out until shabbos ended. After havdalah I walked home and made some pizza. Now we're hangin out eating pizza and having a dance party courtesy of Frank's mad DJing skills.

Thanks to the managers over hiring and the fact that americans are incredibly cheap and stingy, shifts are a tad sparse. I have off tomorrow and Monday, I wonder what kind of shenanigans I'll manage to get myself into... :)

People Smell Better Than Raindeer

Yesterday we went to the Freddie's to celebrate The Little Munchkins birthday in the form of our Purim seuda.

Buzzy Bees

Freddie made an amazing spread and I ate way more than I should have. For dessert The Little Munchkin was presented with her chocolaty and delicious birthday cake.

After the meal we sat around schmoozing and boozing until it was time to go home. 

Frank and I tried to hitch a ride home with the Nemdy's but ended up getting kidnapped for an impromptu movie night and general debauchery. Good times were had by all before Frank and I decided that it was time to make our way home. 

Today I have off from work and I'm still debating what course of action to take. My room closely resembles the remnants of devastating war zone in the post apocalyptic era. 

Perhaps I shall consider cleaning it (or at least find a bottle of air freshener)....

  

Wigging Out

Shabbos was fun. We had a bunch of yeshiva guys over and The Mad Man was delighted to have such a captive audience.

The Nemdy's knocked on the door during lunch and despite having eaten at home, decided to treat themselves to a second breakfast that would have made any hobbit proud. After the feast came dessert which was as delicious as always. The afternoon was spent schmoozing and reading in the comfort of the living room with fuzzy blankets all around.

After shabbos ended we rummaged through the purim box to find some costumes for magilla reading. We found Oscars favorite hat and a dinosaur costume for Buzz(OK so "favorite" might be a bit of a strong word but the dog humored us for all of two minutes before he flung the hat off and made for the dinosaur tail).

Frank found a wig and proceeded to put it on his head while doing some form of tribal dance around the dining room table. The Dibble walked in the front door just as Franks dance was reaching its peak and stopped to take in the scene before asking in a most incredulous tone of voice "What are you doing with my beard!?".

Frank stopped dancing. "Beard?" he asked. The Dibble nodded, his face still in a state of shock and disbelief seemingly unable to grasp how we had managed to make such an obvious mistake. Frank slowly removed the beard from his head and handed it to The Dibble who promptly stuck it on his face.

There were some oooh's and ahhh's as well as an "oh, now I see it" from the slightly befuddled crowd that had gathered to see what the fuss was all about. The Dibble made his way downstairs to find the rest of his outfit leaving Frank to come up with a new costume.

Outfits and ideas were thrown about until we looked at the clock and noticed that we had almost missed magilla reading. We ran out the door and made it just in time to hear the brachot. After magilla reading we went home to say good bye to our shabbos guests and to start getting the mishloach manot put together.

Well, Lori and The Crazy Lady are getting the mishloach manot together while I'm sitting on the couch blogging and watching a movie but same difference.... Right?

Adventures In Adulthood: Retail Woes

Wow. It's been a while since my last post! As you can imagine, I have spent most of my time at work. The grand opening was on Thursday and although it's only been four days, I've already learned that:

• People do not like to part with their dearly beloved money.
• Americans are cheap.
• Folding the same pile of shirts twenty times per shift is a lot less exciting than the manager seems to think it is...
• I'm not particularly fond of people.All complaints aside, work is all right. Mostly I wander around pretending to fold stuff and look busy.

I wish I had exciting stories to share with you but so far it's been highly unentertaining.

Here's to hopping that we get a shoplifting grandma or something else exciting!

Doodlesack

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday were spent traveling back and forth between Bet Shemesh and Tel Aviv for training in Azrieli. I folded exorbitant number of shirts, hung up countless pairs of pants and attempted to learn the art of convincing people to buy things that they didn't necessarily want or need.

Shabbos was nice and relaxing. On Friday night we ate and then went to bed early for some much needed sleep. Shabbos morning we had a quiet lunch and then later in the afternoon we decided to go on a family stroll, we even brought the doug with us. The Crazy Lady, The Mad Man, The Dibble, Oscar and I were walking up the hill when we noticed some familiar figures in the distance. It was the Nemdy's! We all headed over to the new park to see how construction was coming along before heading back to the Fambily house for refreshments and a short lesson in family history.

This week we start putting together our store for the grand opening on Thursday. Today we sorted through fifty some-odd boxes of merchandise and attempted to start putting the store together. The baby section is almost done and I am one very tired employee.
Here's to hoping for a productive and successful (but not too tiring) week!!!!