Woes of management

Wow, I've been managing my salon for just over 2 weeks now and I'm started to 2nd guess my decision. Management is so hard!! So many responsibilities - so many problems to deal with. Did I make the right choice?

Its been such a learning experience for me. I've already had to let one person go, hold a monthly meeting and I've had 3 "manager to stylist" chats. Its just so uncomfortable sometimes and I'm taking work home with me. I think Joe knows just as much as I do about what goes on in that place.

I do love being back in Riverton. Don't get me wrong. Plus it's a promotion for crying out loud. Its a good thing and definitely a good step in my career. But I'm thinking I might not be cut out for management. I'm emotional. I'm a push-over and I care too much. I need to learn that "tough love" my managers always had. I need to acquire that intimidating feeling I always had for my previous managers. Do they sell that online? Can I purchase courage? Subordination? The Wrath of Erica Black? Instead of gaining new personality traits or work ethic, can I just buy them or borrow from someone else?

This is really hard for me. I'm not sure I can overcome this obstacle in my way. I want to run a successful salon and have kick butt stylists that are yearning to further their careers. I want my cake - and I want to eat it too.

Its still a work in progress - I've only been there 2 weeks. But man I'm stressed out. I had my nails done, just so I'd stop munching on them. I'm full of anxiety!?!

On a positive note, I started working out to alleviate some of my stress. I might actually lose some weight with all this chaos.....could be a good thing. Take out all my anger and irritation on a treadmill. (or Andee's exercise bike!! Thank you Smalls!!)

Along with my big purchase of "management material" online, can I buy some perspective too?

Robbed, aggrivated, violated...etc

So much for my toast to the new year! Joes truck was broken into last night. His work truck - full of work tools, keys and whole bunch of other elevator related items. ALL WERE TAKEN!!

I'm upset right now. Joe's worse and I don't even want to know his boss' reaction!! We both feel so violated. We live in such a great neighborhood...or so we thought!! There is an apartment complex at the end of our street that is a little questionable and a neighbor that doesn't take care of his yard...but other than that, its so quiet here.

We did have an incident about 2 months ago. There were 4 cars on the street with broken windows...Joe's truck being one of them. After talking to the police and hearing the other cases, it sounded like a group of kids going up the street busting windows on all the cars parked on the street. Kids are kids. Stupid kids, but a windows a window. Not a huge hardship and easy to replace. But breaking the locks and taking everything out of the truck bed - that's a different story!!

Ewww! I'm angry. What jerk did this to us? Sure insurance will cover most of the valuables, but my heart is sore. Our sweet neighborhood, isn't as innocent as I had thought. We are surrounded by the elderly and older couples whose kids have grown. No one I would ever accuse of stealing. Guess I trust people too much. Or it could just be someone wandering through our cozy neighborhood. The perfect spot for a naive victim. They found us!

I don't know what we're going to do now. Joe's truck has been vandalized twice in the 4 months we've been here. Is it just part of life? Were we just extremely lucky in years past to have never experienced something like this? Do I just except the fact that there are slum people surrounding me and just get over it?

Urr...so much for a "great" 2009. Its been a "great" start... :(

Yeah for 2009!

I'm so excited for this new year! I'm not sure, exactly, why...its just another year. But the beginning of the year is always a fresh start and the beginning of new experiences. I just love that!

We brought in the new year with a bang. And I mean a bang from the Rockband drums!! :) We had plans for new years with some friends, but at the last minute - literally - 70% of our friends bailed. LAME!! So instead of going to Geoff's parents house to party it up, we had him over for some killer Rockband!! We had a lot of fun - playing all the way up to 3:30AM!!! In fact we almost missed midnight. We were in the middle of a song set and finished right when the clock struck 12:00. We hurried and switch the TV to cable to watch the ball drop, but we missed it and only saw the people in NYC celebrating. Bummer. But it was a kick butt song set and totally worth it! We're pathetic!!!!

Now the holidays are over and we're back in to the swing of things. I started my new position as manager, on Friday the 2nd. Its been really cool so far. I've only worked 2 days and was crazy busy re-organizing things. I see so much potential in that salon and I hope everything goes smoothly. Yeah right! ;)

Happy New Year to all!! We're pumped up for all the great things that 2009 has in store for us. Like Andee said last night, "we bought a house in 2008; what could happen in 2009 to top that?" Good question...but I'm anxious!!

Merry Malibu Christmas!

Joe and I finally bought a new car!! Merry Christmas to us!! We've been wanting a new car for so long, but never got around to actually going to a car lot. Joe has been researching cars online and driving by dealerships for the past 2 months; yet nothing ever came of it. Well our friends, Dan & Elizabeth went and purchased a freakin' nice Subaru last week and we got to ride in it this last Tuesday. It was awesome!! Its such a nice car - you can go to her blog - she's got a picture. It had so many buttons and cool features. I had to push every button - literally!!! It annoyed AND distracted her! Anyway, seeing how nice a new car is and how smooth the ride was, got me thinking. And since Joe and I both had today off, we decided to go looking....and we purchased!!! A brand new 2009 Chevy Malibu!! Here's a picture: Ours is called Imperial Blue. Its like a metallic navy blue and it looks black in some light. Its just gorgeous! Neither Joe or I have ever had a new car, so its been very exciting. We have loved our "certified pre-owned" vehicles, but this is MUCH better!!

I am not the cleanest of people, when it comes to my car. (Ask Andee or Kalie - they constantly make fun of me. I'm sorry, my car is my second home. And sense there aren't any shelves or closets, my floor gets a little cluttered.) Now that I have a new, CLEAN car I have promised Joe to keep it looking spotless. Okay, not spotless, but semi-clean. Now eating aloud and I'm going to keep a garbage bag in there at all times. Other than that, I'm sure Joe will take care of washing the car. He's more OCD about that than I am...and since its a dark color, it will need to be washed frequently. So here it is Joe - in writing...sort of... - I'm vowing to take care of this car. No crumbs or garbage. Now makeup messes or clutter. Let's see how well I do! :)

Anyway - just wanted to share the news. We are so excited and thankful to Dan & Elizabeth for kicking off this motivation. Yeah for NEW CARS!!!

"Oh the places you'll go..."

Alright, so lets talk about the "Tetter-totter Salon" game. Its the funnest game and all the rage!! Unfortunately you don't win any prizes, but your income decreases, increases, decreases and then increases again...plus you get to confuse everyone you know! You get to meet new people and say goodbye to others and you get to enter each situation, like time was never lost! Its amazing. Now, I'm sure you are asking yourself, "where do I sign up to play this fun game?" Well the answer there is - you can't...this game is MY LIFE!!!

So starting from the beginning, you all know I switched salons back in July. Trying something new and possibly a better opportunity. Well you may not know...because believe it or not, I didn't blog about it...I moved back to my old salon in West Jordan. I switched back at the beginning on November. As awesome as the new salon in Riverton was, I just wasn't making money. They were good weeks and bad weeks, but the "cons" from that salon made life difficult and caused issues at home. Well, I thought long and hard and decided West Jordan was the moneymaker choice and I headed back. My WJ co-worker, who I love, Aaron is now managing that store and he is great to work for. Its been nice being back - I'm working in my old station and with some of the same people. Its like I'm part of a Twilight Zone episode...its like I never left. Kinda strange.

Alright, now fast forward 4 weeks and that'll bring us to December 3rd. Out of no where my area supervisor called to inform me that my manager at Riverton had put in her 2 weeks notice and she wanted me to apply for the position. No interview necessary, just saying yes got me the job; now I start training for management on January 2nd!! YES, I'm going BACK to RIVERTON!!! See where the Teeter-totter game comes in! My clients are so freakin' confused! Every time I see one, I let them know I'm headed back to Riverton and they just laugh. Most of them are cool with it, because its a promotion and they're happy for me...but some are still torn. I lost a lot of my clients when I moved in the first place and since coming back to West Jordan, I've gotten a few back. Now some realize how silly it was for them not to follow me - they've had some bad cuts/colors since I've been gone - and now they actually want to come with me this time. Others are still not convinced. I guess its just too far. We'll see how things go!

But YEAH ME!! I'm going to be managing a salon! I'm pumped! I'll still be doing hair, but I will now have other responsibilities. Hiring/firing - eek, training, ordering, scheduling etc... I even have to "recruit." Its going to beauty schools and putting on an hour presentation about our salons. Its so scary to think of me doing that in front of strangers, but I know it works. That's how I got signed on to work for this chain in the first place. They did a presentation on my last day of school! It was fate!!!

Anyway, sorry this blog is crazy and all over the place. But I just wanted to inform you all that I'm headed back to Riverton...I'm sure some of you didn't know I left in the first place!! hee hee

Thanks for stickin' with me!

Our new addition!

Welcome SIMON!!

We're suckers! Even with Edison's passing, I still find myself addicted to dogs! Knowing that I may have to go through the same thing with Lucas one day, I still couldn't fight the urge to get another one! I've heard from a lot of people that its very common to acquire another pet, shortly after losing one. It definitely makes coping easier! It completely takes your mind off of it, actually! Joe is doing well with the grieving. Simon really takes all of our energy right now. Running after him and jumping when he squats is our only focus it seems!

After only 2 short days I "casually" started looking for puppies via ksl.com. To my surprise there were thousands of dogs listed!!! More were added every minute. I found this cute little guy, the last of his liter, on my first search. Something just kept bringing me back to his picture! He's exactly what I wanted. He's a miniature dachshund, just like my Lucas. However his coloring is different. He's black with "dapple" markings and brown paws. (I didn't know what dapple meant until after I bought him.) It wasn't really the deciding factor! ;)

So here Joe and I are...puppy parents again. We haven't had a puppy for almost 3 years and we've forgotten how complex they are. Chewing EVERYTHING, potty training, whining and that constant need for attention. Guess we weren't really prepared! But you forget all that once you see him. I think he weighs about 2 pounds right now. I've posted a picture with our Lucas (weighing in at around 15 lbs) you can really tell the size difference.

On the right, is a good picture of his coloring. The breeder says these spots will get lighter as he grows. I'm hoping most of the black stays, but who cares!! He's adorable!

I guess we're just dog people. We love them!! Even through the sad times! I can't wait for you all to meet him. He'll melt your heart!

P.S. - THANK YOU TO EVERYONE for your loving words of support. Edison was a joy in our lives and having us in your thoughts, means so much. I'm so glad you all stop by my blog, even in its silliness. You guys are fantastic and really put a smile on my face! (My wonderful aunts, Sharon and Lori - thank you for commenting. Its wonderful to hear from you and I appreciate your kinds words - much love) LOVE YOU ALL!!!

Nelda

I was just notified that Nelda Jensen passed away this week. She was the previous owner of our home and the reason for our house title "Villa de Nelda." Here is a link to her obituary. Our condolences go out to her entire family. They are in our thoughts and prayers.

http://www.legacy.com/saltlaketribune/Obituaries.asp?Page=Lifestory&PersonId=121030916

You can also read more about Nelda and our new home from a previous blog I wrote back in August, titled "Villa de Nelda." I was lucky enough to get a comment from Nelda's grandson Mike Parker, who shard the sad news.