normal work schedule

This summer I have been graced with a "normal" work schedule. Basically 5 days a week, 9-5. Probably will keep this schedule till the end of august. I have had it for a week now. It is nice having those extra 2 hours or so a day not at work. Very nice to experience a normal person's 40hr work week. Seasonal jobs blow. Well, not the slack time in the winter. LOL. Honestly tho- I would give up that slack time in the winter to have a consistant 40hr work week year round.

working mom

It was hard to leave my little angels today. Even though B is sick, I had such a nice day off with him yesterday. And Parker, well, it's hard not to have an enjoyable time with that little guy. ugh. damn work.

some things I am not cut out for in a job

1. Working side by side w/ the same person monday-friday every week. ACK. I seriously dont know how people do it without going postal!
2. Working strictly Monday-Friday. Its depressing to me to waste sunday dreading monday. Then all I do is look forward to fridays. For the last 6 years I have been working a mixed up shift including some weekends, and have never worked monday-friday like I am right now.
3. Working mixed up shifts. :p
4. Working in family businesses. My bloggy friends probably dont know this about me. I grew up in a family business. Earth moving, construction. Think dozers and dump trucks. Everyone in my family works there now but me. My dad is the big cheif, my mom works in the office, so does my sister. Her hubby is an estimater, so is one of my brothers. My other brother is a truck driver. I dont know how they do it every day and remain civilized at family functions. But now, I find myself a non-family member in a family business.

what's your opinion?

This is quite approriate for Labor day weekend. What is your opinion on paycuts and furloughs? some companies are taking the route that there are pay cuts, but no changes in the hours people are working. Others are going the route of furlough days- so they are telling thier employees to take off so many days in the year, so in the end it is similar to a pay cut however they are getting these days off unpaid.

What's your thoughts? What is your background? employee, employer. family business, small company, large company, union...

sunday fun for B

It was so hard to come to work today (sunday). Not only is a so nice out, but Chris bought Brady some cool new toys... sort of a 1.5 yr birthday thing. There were some toys we really wanted to get him, and with him being an x-mas baby- we didnt have a better excuse!

So, when Brady finally woke up at 9 (I needed to leave by 9:15!) Chris had his new "little quad" all ready . It is a battery powered 4 wheeler that is the perfect size for brady! He was so excited! huge smiles and giggles as he drove it around the house. We have pictures and video to share sometime.

Chris also got him a sprinkler, and they are going to try that out today since it is so warm.

I had tears on my way to work. I dont want to miss out on these giggles and smiles, and family time too.

just sit down, and dont do it!

So, I told the bossman today about the 40/wk work weeks. His responce was comical. He asked why I just dont sit down in the garden center and check people out and let my staff do all the physical work. Logical question, right? Extremely not practical though! We are so short staffed, and we are all running around like chickens! Not just me!

Here is the perfect example! Just a couple hours after this meeting, someone came in needing to be loaded with Mulch. I was the only person on the entire property capible of driving the loader. The other person of staff at the GC isnt loader trained, nor will she be, she is just here for the summer. Our transportation is broke down..... so that is usually what I do. What options did I have? No sir, there is no one here to load you- come back again later. Or, me just hiking the 150 yards to the loader and doing it? You guessed it, I picked option 2.

Another great example. Last week 2 full trucks of flowers came in. We had just 2 people on staff, and we went from truck to customers, back and forth for 3 hours! What other option did I have? I asked for help 3 times- no one was available!

So to me.... cutting back to 5, 8 hour days is the best solution. If I am here for 5, 10-12 hour days I wont just be sitting on a stool checking people out. I admit, part of it is me, I am a "get er done" sort of girl. I think having me here refreshed and happy for those 8 hours capible of moving around instead of me being here exhausted for 10-12 hour days is the best option for all of us.

oh what to do

About work of course. I'm not exactly happy. I have to work so many weekends that it is hard for me to have any family time. Also, over half of my shifts are closing so I dont get home until after 8pm. Night time routine is messed and B isnt sleeping well.

This, combined with other things to do with my job are causing extra stress on my marriage. I cant just leave when my shift is over. I'm manager and often there are things that just need to get finished up before I leave. This makes Chris mad. And of course all the weekends I work make him mad too.

Obviously I want to be fair to work too. My heart really isnt in this job anymore. I am not that person that goes the extra hundred miles for her job, I am just doing what I have to do to get the job done and get home to where my heart really is.

To top it all off, this has been the most stressful year that I have ever had. (and this is my 6th season) We are too lean! I am no longer into manual labor sort of work and that is what most of my days consist of because there is no one else to haul things around. 30yo, pregnant mommy.... just isnt working for me anymore. It is too exhausting.

I really hate making this sort of decisions. I used to LOVE my job. I think that is why it is so hard to decide what to do. I think I would be an excellent SAHM too.

this damn economy

One thing I think of often when I hear of companies laying people off is that the people left still on the job are expected to pick up so much more work and get nothing in return... except for keeping thier jobs. No raises, even pay cuts. But they have to run thier asses off to keep up with all the work they have to do. Insanity. Chances are some businesses may lose some good employees because of the stresses they feel.

too freaking lean!

I am hogging down some food while I type.... just finished returning 12 phone calls and got rid of all the customers. Sorry, shall I rephrase? helped all the customers. :-) I am covering the garden center alone today from about 8-5, and have some appreciated help from 5-7ish. I need to take some photo's of my work place-this place is HUGE and I am one of 3 people working onsite. The other 2 are in the main office being bombarded with phone calls and ppl stopping in up there.

Seems to me that we are running just a bit to lean. Some of the phone calls took my 4 hours to return- gotta help the ppl staring at me first! Soem ppl were mad it took so long. I dont blame them- they are calling a retail store, I would expect a return call sooner then later too!

my purpose

For 2009 season I am trying not to work way too many hours- previous years spring has consisted of 60-80 hours/week. 50-55 a week is what will make me the happiest. I intend to work just 5 days a week as much as I can too.

My life revolves around this 16 month old and my purpose in life is to teach him to be the best and most rounded person he can be. My purpose is no longer running a garden center.

It does make me wonder, at what point in time do I resign my position to let someone else who may be more passionate for the job take over?

Lean and Green

Lean and Green is our 2009 theme at work. Lean means save $$$ to hopefully survive this hard economic time. (I manage a garden center, but primarily my workplace is a landscape design/build business). Green... besides the fact that we sell green goods I am not sure what the green part entails. Green to me means basically "save the planet!". Believe it or not, this company is not very green. We are making changes though.

Will Lean work for me in my life being a mom? I have been here 5 years, and aside from last year- work was most important in my life. It isnt anymore. Last year was incredibly difficult. I had no balance and was very unhappy with work/home because there was NO BALANCE at all. I am interested to see how 2009 plays out. I pondered going PT, but dont think that is an option anymore...... We will see. I am aiming to work smarter, not harder. Hopefully that will make me more effcient.

enonomy and work complaints

Many businesses are needing to downsize because prices are going up. In the case of business I work for, we havent lost work in comparison to the last 3 seasons but we have decreased the amount of staff working. Prices of fuel have gone up, plants, products, everything has gone up. So..... less staff, and same amount of work...... It makes no sence! People are being pushed to work harder, longer hours. But now we are doing the work of 2 or more people. No raises are in sight either, and our cost of living is skyrocketing.

What irritates me, is that I am salary. No one here has job descriptions, because everyone works together to get things done (my bosses idea). But we are all strapped, and trying to get our own departments work done..... and we are supposed to help each other? When I bring up that I am unhappy with the hours that I am working, I am told that I am not getting paid for the hours that I work, but the job that I do (salary). Ok.... no job description, not enough staff.... how do I know when to end my day? In previous seasons it was when the work was done I left. This season, I just leave at the end of ~my shift~. Because if I wait till the work is done, I aint never leavin!

With the economy in this scarey state that we are currently in- I am unable to make a decision. We would like to move, maybe build, maybe buy land. Scared to do that right now! Will jobs be available in 5 years? I am starting to wonder. I'd like to make the sacrifice (live simply) and either go PT or get a new job (maybe even be a SAHM)- but to scared to make that move with how the economy looks.

So I guess I will just hang tight. Try to be as happy as I can be today, and tomorrow. Hope our economy shapes up so I can make some changes in my life.