Work, work, WORK

For those that haven’t heard yet, I GOT MY JOB! I was tremendously excited and then began to panic a little. I’m a worrier, and I never believe in myself as much as other people. So far it has been good. The first day was a little crazy and I was a little freaked out, but then the next morning my manager acted like I had already learned all the computer junk. (Except for special things). So today I started learning how to change film! She showed me how the day before and I really wasn’t sure about it, and then today I made myself practice once while not looking at it, and then she stuck the stuff in the dark bag and I got to change it in there. It’s sooo hard because you can’t see where any of your stuff is, where any of the tiny slots are, and if everything is good, and you MUST NOT OPEN THE BAG until your film is firmly in the canister. I did it very well though, and she wanted me to change the real roll tonight but we didn’t have time. Next Saturday though! YIKES. I will be so glad when they move into the 21st century and get digital. Good grief. EVERYONE went digital YEARS ago!!! Anyway. That’s one of the many things I don’t understand about this job. That and the fact that they STILL USE DOS. How insane is that? Windows has been around since before I was born. Ok folks? We are now in the 21st century. MOVE ON. Haha, sorry, I had to rant a little there.

The hours have been…much. Which is fine but just looong when

• You haven’t worked in almost a year and:
• When you did work it was THREE HOURS A WEEK. (Which was why I no longer work at the Horrid Chicken Place)

I got to move on to the picture taking portion of the training! That was cool. My manager showed me how to work everything (it is the easiest part of the job…I think if a job is that easy it shouldn’t have so much paperwork and codes and blah blah blahs! Hehe, another vent there!). She assigned me three shots of a “non-sitter” (baby who can’t sit up), three “sitters” (baby who can sit up), and one whateva’ shot. So it was my job to practice on a teddy bear. Absolutely fun except I made the mistake of doing a cute pose for the package and so that makes less in the optionals that people would pay the big bucks for. (I could majorly vent about that one!) My manager said that when I was done she would “tear the pictures apart” and tell me what I did wrong. But when we looked at them she was really impressed and said that I could definitely pose. Woohoo! I almost asked to buy the pictures of the teddy but decided I didn’t want to pay that much money. All in all it’s been fun and today was not as stressful as I thought it would be.

The things that have made me smile after a long day at work are:

• Friday: Knowing I made Kaysie’s day
• Saturday: Watching this video:

Welcome to My Life

My life hasn’t changed that much. I’ve still been sick (yes still), and I have been keeping busy with church activities. I have recently become intriguged with the country of Bulgaria. From what I can tell they are a lot more open than Russia, but still have the same sort of culture. Some interesting tidbits:

1. The entire country has only 7 million people. That is a lower population than New York City alone.
2. It has a parliment, along with a president and prime minister
3. The capital is Sofia (cute name!)
4. They have a mixture of religons that include Islam, Orthodox, and Protestantism. Many mormons and Jehovahs Witnesses have come to Bulgaria as missionaries.
5. Bulgaria is a major crossroads between Europe, Asia, and Africa

I want to go now!  Unfortunately the only missions trip I could find cost over $3,000. Yikes. Someday…

Birthday lasts

I normally stretch my birthday out as long as I can. (Which reminds me I have yet to post the birthday post I had planned!) But today my mom suprised me. An entire week after my birthday she brings me home a present. She had been eyeing a certain deal at a certain local supermarket. She managed to snag an amazing pair of gloves (to replace the ones that I ruined on my photoshoot with Louisa ) and the sweetest hat.

Oh Joy

Joy of joys. I am sick. Again. The day before my birthday. Life is so tragic. But we’ll make the most of it!