work

some of you have been asking about my store so i thought i'd give everyone a little update. i'm over there almost every day cleaning, sorting, organizing, and moving everything. the place was so disgusting when we first got in...i can't even describe it. i've recruited anything that walks and breathes to come help me get the store ready to open, and after 5 weeks of scrubbing and filling the dumpsters about 200 times, it finally looks like we've actually done something. tomorrow we're power washing the floors...yes, "we". my boss says it's because "we" are cheaper than "they". my computers are coming on tuesday, and we should also have phone and internet service by the end of the week and i think by then we should be almost ready to open.

since i'll be managing the store, i decided to try and meet all the store owners in our strip and be really nice to them. i've learned that it's a good idea to make friends with neighboring businesses, because if you run out of pennies or toilet paper, you might have to go beg. most of them are really sweet, middle-aged, self-employed people who probably have no lives outside of their little stores. they all congregate during their "lunch breaks" and talk (read: gossip) outside about the landlord, how "hot" the ups and fedex guys are, their arthritic cats, the mean lady at "curves" who will never come out to play, and debate whether they should ever eat at taco bell again. when they see me scrubbing down shelves or kicking over buckets to make sure there are no mice, they will bang on my door and motion for me to come out and talk. i usually welcome the break and go unlock my door for them. since they are all in their 40s and have all been there for 20 years, i'm kind of like new meat for them. they all want to give me advice and warnings and phone numbers and "secret passwords", but always seem to work the stories of their dying cats and boyfriend problems in there somehow. while i'm standing there listening i can usually hear the voice of my brother in my head saying, "you have no life! haha!"

anyway, enough about midlife crisis drama. my favorite people are the ones who own the bookstore right next to me. they're hilarious and frequently come hang out in my store where it's quieter. (quieter than a bookstore?) one of the ladies there started a ministry where she ships boxes of clothes, books, and toys over to the ukriane to missionary families there. she wanted to know if we'd be willing to help, so i've been giving her all the clothes and toys i can't sell. so far she's picked up three truckloads of stuff, which really helps me out because i don't have to cart it all over to goodwill. in turn, the bookstore gives me all the parenting and children's books that they don't sell, and i put it on my shelves where it will probably sell more quickly. and, they have free coffee. who doesn't love that?

so...that's about it. i'm still trying to get used to the fact that this is my job and this is what i'll be doing for awhile. it's probably one of the last things i would have chosen to do. in fact, i remember telling my parents "that is the last job i will ever take. it's a complete last resort." if i'm still honest, it's not what i really want to be doing with my life right now, but it's what God's given me. so...a lesson in being content? probably. and another lesson in trust, which i think is God's favorite one to give me.