A very good question!!

My best friend brought up a very good point on one of the comments she left in my blog. Why are people so angry??? I have noticed lately, especially working with the public, exactly how angry people really are. Working with the public you do notice an upswing of angry people several times a year. The beginning of spring, as people are sick of the cold and are ready to once again venture out into the world. The end of summer - this is especially true of people who have school age children, they are more than ready to send them back to school, and during the holiday's, I don't think that you all need me to explain why people are angry during the holidays. Given that this is a holiday weekend, generally this is a good time to be in the hospitality industry. For the most part people are extememly happy as they are once again able to travel and have some much deserved time to relax. However, due to the recent events at work I worked the front desk all weekend. I came home both Saturday and today just emotionally drained. I got my butt chewed on all weekend!! Everyone seemed as though they had an axe to grind and I was their target. Being a manager you expect the occasional chew out session from a guest, but hey back off a little people. I am a reasonable person and I understand what it takes to provide great customer service, but I cannot do anything about the decor of the room, and I also did not know that you are allergic to feather pillows, especially when your reservation states that you want feather pillows. Do you ever just feel as though people are bitching just to bitch. I know that it is not personal, but sometimes it feels like it. Take for instance last night we had a guest who got married and decided to use our hotel as their own personal wedding reception at 3am. They threw a cranberry vodka bottle off of their balcony at my Night Auditor and then demanded that their room be free because they clogged up the toilet, and in all of our physic ability we did not foresee that. She seemed very disturbed that I refused her request and stated why. She did admit that they were throwing the bottles off the 12TH FLOOR BALCONY, but still could not understand why I would not give her, her money back!! Do people just have no respect anymore. Whatever happened to the people of the world like myself, that are more than happy to step up and say. HEY WORLD I MADE A MISTAKE, I SCREWED UP, I LEARNED MY LESSON AND IT WILL NOT HAPPEN AGAIN? When did admitting your mistakes become so taboo? Now when we make a mistake we get angry at everyone else? WHY?? THIS IS SUCH A WASTE OF ENERGY!! Now I am not one of those preachy people "Everyone love one another", heck no, there are just some people I don't want to love, or even like for that matter, but I can at least commit myself to be civil. I just wish everyone else would adopt the same attitude.

My Son's green thumb part 2

Well I went to check on my son's garden today, considering that we had some nasty storms last night, I wanted to make sure everything was still there. Everything seems to be doing quite well. The broccoli is getting a bit yellow on the ends, but the peppers and tomatoes are doing well. We have 3 pumpkin stalks, and 5 corn stalks growing. Hopefully, this year I will not have to buy anything for the Halloween decorations, we will have grown them ourselves. Next year we have already decided that strawberries will definitely be in our garden.

A New Beginning

Well yesterday at work was a very interesting day. I had found out several days before that the Supervisor who works in my department has a very deep seeded hatred for me. Such a hatred that she felt it necessary to voice this not only to the rest of the department, but other departments as well. To make a long story short, I found out and the Director of Human Resources and I decided that we would speak to her about this. To make a long story short she was given the choice of either putting this nasty situation behind us, or stepping down as a supervisor. She chose option number 3 and chose to quit. Her reasoning is that I, being the horrible manager that I am, have been making her work 1 weekend day a month. How dare I expect a supervisor to pull her own weight in an industry that is 7 days a week and 24 hours a day to work not every weekend, but only 1 weekend day a month. Good riddance!! What really made my heart flutter, was that during this discussion with this employee she had stated on many occasions about how the staff felt exactly the same about me as she did. Funny, how when ever employee from my staff was told about her leaving they all had the exact same thing to say. "Thank God, I was so sick of listening to her gripe about everything." Everyone was incredible happy about her leaving. Now we can move forward without all of the negative energy. Hooray for us!! Wish us a smooth transition everyone!!

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Happy Mother's Day to all the Mother's out there. I hope you have enjoyed your day today. Allow me to tell you about mine. My wonderful husband when into work around 2am so that he could be home in time to fix me breakfast this morning. I had pancakes fixed just the way I like them with lots of butter. My son had made me a book of Mom poems and a very pretty plant in a pink planter that he had painted himself. He also got me a very pretty diamond and blue topaz heart necklace and a Curves pedometer. My husband got me a Notre Dame T-Shirt. Notre Dame anything is always a hit with me. My Mom got me a candle warmer which I have been meaning to pick up for myself for quite a while. I want to thank everyone for making this a wonderful Mother's day and I hope that everyone else had just as great of a day as I did. Thanks guys I love you both!!

Work News

Well we had a surprise audit today. (Insert Drum Roll here). We failed!! Not my department. We received a 98.7% out of a possible 100%. I AM GOOD. Well my staff and I are good. Even though my department passed with flying colors and I still am extremely disappointed. The only reason we failed is because of a few standards that were not met, and some control issues. In our defense we need money to fix the current problems and don't receive that from corporate. Welcome to corporate America. Maybe now they will listen. We have been sending them bid after bid for the immediate repairs that need to be made. Maybe this is the wake up call they needed. It is just so fustrating to work your tail off, and put so much energy into something, just to have it fail. Regardless of the reason.

Nothing new here

Well I really don't have anything new to post. I am afraid not to post for fear that Susan will go into another one of her withdrawal fits and it will be all my fault. I did however find myself one whopper of a cold. Wouldn't you know it that all winter long I stayed very healthy. I do believe that this is due to the vitamins and herbs I take daily. I had to stop taking them because I had two wisdom teeth pulled, and we did not want some sort of reaction to the medicine the dentist gave me. So not only did I have the pain from the teeth extraction, but now I get a nasty cold on top of it. It figures. Now I can't sleep and there are all sorts of nasty things coming out of my body. Maybe this is my body's way of telling me to slow down. Alright already you have my attention and I am listening!!

Learning a new culture.

I had the pleasure over the weekend to learn about a new culture. I was witness to a Hindu Wedding Ceremony. Although I could not understand a word of what was being spoken, this was by far the most beautiful wedding ceremony I have every seen. I was so happy that the guests invited me in and actually took the time to explain what was happening and then thanked me for taking the time to learn about their culture. Believe me I enjoyed the experience. I also actually got to take part. There is a custom where the grooms men take the grooms shoes and hide them, and it is the brides sisters job to steal the shoes, then the groom has to pay a significant amount of money to get them back. One of the guests had the shoes and asked me to help hide them. Since I was MOD again this weekend we hid them in my room. I was pretty sure that the brides sisters would not find them there. I am very happy to report that the groom did receive his shoes without having to pay for them. What a beautiful culture, I can't wait to learn more.

My Son's green thumb.

I have always been told that certain family traits skip a generation. My Grandma could grow anything. It seemed that as long as a plant was in her presence it would grow. I on the other hand - well not so much. I have found a few plants that I am pretty good with and I am sticking to that. Jake on the other hand has been asking for a small vegetable garden for the last couple of years. I have decided that this year he is responsible enough to try. We went out yesterday and he picked out Sweet Peppers, cayenne Peppers, Broccoli, and Sweet Cherry tomatoes. These are the plants he picked. He also planted some seeds. He chose Pumpkins and Sweet Corn. I can already see that we will be extending this garden very soon. We also planted some mint to keep the deer away and put up a small garden fence to keep out the bunnies. Already today he came home from school, did his homework, and immediately went to his garden to see if it needed some water. So far so good. As we progress I will add new posts and pictures.

Taking a page from Susan's blog.

I was reading on my best friends blog and she had seen on another's blog the question of "What is our real impression of ourselves?" I thought how profound, I think I will play along. This proved to be much harder then I thought, because as I was thinking about what my impression of myself is, I couldn't shake the "how do other people see me" feeling. It made me wonder what I thought was more important, who I really am, or who others think I really am? I have reflected and decided that I am who I am and what other think doesn't matter. Easier said then done? We shall see. Well I know you are all asking yourself what is my impression of myself? Here goes. I know I take on the world, both at home and at work. I am a self made work-a-holic. There are never enough hours in the day. I am very lucky that I have a family that understands my obsession to work. Next comes the declaration of my spiritual freedom. I searched high and low and found the right path for me. Without a doubt. The announcement of my conversion was not easy, and is still not as accepted as I would like, but I don't hide my religious beliefs and invite questions and probing of my new lifestyle. Being Wiccan or a Witch is not horrible. We have one rule and one rule only. "Harm none and do as you will", this pretty much covers everything don't you think? I do know that there are lots of things that I wish for myself. I wish I was more organized, crafty, intelligent, and a better cook. I also hope that one day all of the hard work and dedication will pay off for myself and my family and friends, and that all my literal blood, sweat, and tears, were not just a way of making a living. I hope that some but not all of my work ethics rub off on my son. He is well on his way. I hope my family and friends know that they are loved and adored, even if I am not always home on time, or I have to move "heaven and earth" to get to a friends daughters birthday party and can only stay for 1 hour. I also understand that I am a work in progress. In my years I have learned patience, tolerance, and an understanding that if the laundry isn't done everyday, and the house isn't spotless, that it is okay and that the world will not come to an end. Come everyone walk with me in this journey we call life. Allow me to learn from you and you learn from me.

My interview.....

Well I had my interview today for that job I posted previously about. Everyone kept asking me the same question. "Well how did it go"? "Do you think you got it"?. My answer is NOT A SNOWBALLS CHANCE IN HELL!!! Although the job sounds like I could work in the position for 20 years and never get bored, I do believe that they are looking for someone with more training experience. Which is okay with me. Nothing ventured nothing gained. You wont know unless you try. And all the other cliques that I can think of. I do appreciate just being considered.

Upward and Onward....

Well not much happening in the world of all things Shannon lately. Nothing really to post anyway. My best friend Susan has become some sort of blog freak and has sent me a desperate plea to post something, anything. Where do you find all this time Susan? Do you ever sleep? Well two things have happened in the last month. I had to have 2 wisdom teeth removed. So now my intelligence is now back to just ordinary. HA!! Also, I am interviewing on Wednesday for yet another position in the hospitality industry. I would really love this job and it would be much better for my family. Please everyone send your "new job" energy my way. Other than that nothing much is going on. We are all gearing up for baseball season. My son had his first practice today. That will keep us extra busy for the next 2 months or so. My son has also expressed an interest in attending the elementary school football camp. YES THAT IS CORRECT HE WANTS TO ATTEND FOOTBALL CAMP. (Imagine Shannon and Grandpa doing a dance of joy.) He has a definite quarter back arm on him. We made a deal that he can attend camp and if he likes it we will sign him up for the season. Well I guess that is all I have for now. If anything else comes up I will be sure to post it as to keep Susan from going into some sort of detoxing fit.