Old dog, new tricks

Whew. What a couple of weeks it has been! I started my new job on March 11th. When I walked into the store on the first day, it was a huge empty space, full of contractors doing the finishing work. There were boxes all over, and my manager and I spent the week receiving and tagging all the incoming merchandise. We have a beautiful, sunny - and that first week - EMPTY space that needed to be filled with goodies. The fixtures arrived on that Thursday, so we had more boxes to unpack.

Last Sunday, the people from the home office arrived to set up the store. I was amazed at how, after three days, it was absolutely beautiful and looked like a real shop. The transformation was incredible. My real training as an Inventory Specialist was last Monday and Tuesday. O.M.G. Let's just preface by saying that I have been using a Mac since 1985, and now I have a PC at work. Right click? Huh?

Except last Tuesday I wasn't smiling. There were tears. Lots of them. Poor Emily and Tony, who had come home in time for dinner Monday night and were staying till Wednesday. They got me at my worst. Sorry Tony - welcome to our house. And Emmy - thanks for pouring the wine. When I got home from work on Wednesday (w-a-y better day), the kids had already gone back, but there was a lovely bouquet of yellow roses (my fave) on the table to greet me. What a lucky mama.

Wednesday was good (opening day!), Thursday was better, and Friday was great. Either I am getting the hang of it, we didn't get much merchandise in, or I am totally missing something. I think it's a combination of the first two, though. I had time to do some organizing and poking around on the computer so I feel more confident there. Baby steps. Except for me, the past few weeks have been great big huge giant steps!

And I'll tell you what is good for weight loss: starting a new job! My hours are 11-3, and if I want to get done, there isn't much time for a real lunch. I've been taking a bottle of water, a good meal-replacement bar (~200 calories), and some carrot sticks. I drink the water throughout the day, eat the bar when I'm doing receiving, and have the carrots on my drive home. I try to have a normal breakfast,

Like you've never seen this before

a snack before I leave the house, and then something when I get home. String cheese and turkey jerky have been the norm, but as the jerky makes me so thirsty, I am going to have to switch that up. I think maybe some veggies and hummus, or a green monster smoothie. Any other suggestions?

I made the best dinner last night: chicken tamale casserole from Cooking Light. (If you click on the blue link, it will take you to the recipe). Emily has mentioned it on her blog a few times, and since it looked pretty quick and easy, I thought I'd give it a go. It was so good! Dwight mentioned several times that "this is a keeper." I had the exact same meal for lunch today, except subbed out the veggies for an apple. And it was still delicious.

Mmmmmm.....

[Just a quick plug for Emily's blog, The Swallow Flies. She is on the same healthy lifestyle journey that so many of us are, with the added benefit that she is an incredible writer. (You know those English majors....) Anyway, her posts are full of recipes, fitness inspiration, and motivation. I printed out the one titled "Naturally Thin" and pinned it to my bulletin board.]

Erin is coming home tomorrow for her spring break and a week of wedding preparation. This girl is the mellowest bride. So far, her biggest issue is that the red rose "love" stamp looks like a vagina and she doesn't want to put that on her wedding invitations. Luckily, she found a more tasteful one with white roses. Whew. Otherwise it was going to be Pixar stamps.

As I am in my yoga pants and baggy top, it is a snowy afternoon (still - I am SO OVER winter), and basketball is on, I am going to curl up on the couch and undoubtedly fall asleep.

Here's to a good week!