Simple question

I forgot my grocery list when I left the house this morning. I called Joe to see if he wanted to go with me to the grocery store, or just give me the list over the phone so I can stop on my way home.

J: I don't care. It's up to you.
C: Well, do you want to go or not?
J: It really doesn't matter.
C: OK. Just read me the list.
J: (Read the list, talked about a couple of other things.)
C: OK...I'll stop on the way home then and get the groceries.
J: OooooKaaay.
C: Do you want to go?
J: Do you need me? I can meet you there if you want.
C: Joe, I don't care if you go or not. Do you want to go? Yes or no.
J: I don't know...if you need me I can be there...
C: That wasn't an option. Yes or no.
J: Well, if you want...
C: (cutting Joe off) Yes or No!
J: O.K. Yes I want to go.
C: O.K.
J: But no I don't want to go.
C: Argh!!!!!!! OK. I'm hanging up now.
J: Don't be mad at me!
C: I'm not mad at you. I'm going to go. I love you. Have a good afternoon.

This could have been such a simple conversation.

Hey. Wanna go to the store?
Sure! or, No thanks.

It doesn't have to be this hard, does it? HA!

You should have heard the conversation about where to meet for lunch...

Meet Maizy

This is Maizy, our "little" puppy. She'll be 11 weeks old tomorrow and already weighs 22 pounds. her mom was a boxer (65 pounds), and her dad was a mastiff (150 pounds, but only 1 year old so not full grown). That's not exactly what they were aiming for at Maizy's first home. They were looking for a boxer mom and a boxer dad. But this just goes to prove that unless you can watch a dog in heat 24/7, you may not get what you expected. A DNA test proved Daddy was the Mastiff. HAHAHA~

Day Three on the Job Hunt

Joe's company unexpectedly closed his store. I say unexpectedly, although there were some signs. Other stores in the chains have been closed, but only when their contract at the mall they were in expired. Corporate was telling Joe's store that they had nothing to worry about because Joe's store is consistently #1 or #2 top sales in the company. Joe's store's lease doesn't expire for more than a year.

But last Tuesday one of the mall managers came in asking for the general manager to discuss the lease renegotiation. Joe knew then he had to start looking for another job, even though everyone was telling him not to worry, everything is good. Wednesday, Joe learned the owners were scheduling a meeting for Thursday or Friday to discuss the fate of the remaining 5 stores in the chain. We updated Joe's resume that night. Thursday, his boss called and said the store was closed as of that day, come get anything you might have left at the store.

No severance pay, no warning, no compassion. They even told Joe they weren't going to pay him for his vacation time, or the commission he had earned since the last pay period. It would cost a lot more in attorney fees to go after them than it would be worth.

So, after a brief mourning period (like a couple of hours), Joe started to work on looking for a job. Yesterday he applied for other pet store jobs. He's going to take the tests you need to take to get into some of the factories around here. His resume is ready to go and he's applied for some jobs on-line.

I told him that he just has to realize that his full-time job now is to look for a job. I think he's pretty motivated. Especially when I made it really clear to him how much money we don't have without his job. =) And how, TV, cell phone, lots of running the kids around in the car (gas) and other "necessities" of daily life are going to come to a screeching halt if he doesn't get a job soon. You gotta get 'em where it means something. TV and cell phone are huge to Joe. For me, it's more like eating out, buying books on tape and Starbucks. HA!

Onward and upward! God has something in mind...