Whirlwind

Our lives have been crazy the last month or so.  It seemed like everything happened all at the same time: I got a new job, Zak lost his job, we decided to move, my aunt passed away, my brother came to visit, I went home for a few days, Zak got unemployment benefits, Zak got a new job, we moved, finals week for Zak....It's hard to believe that it's May, and we are in our new place that we just love.  April absolutely flew by and we are still trying to maintain any semblance of normalcy and structure in our lives.

Let's see, I've already talked about my new job, which is still going well.  I've mostly got the hang of things, but I'm constantly learning something new every day.  But I enjoy it for the most part, and it's a good job, so can't really complain.

Zak was told he was let go from his job about two days after I got the final word about my job.  I was pretty shocked, and so were all our friends.  We initially suspected it was because of Zak's numbers lately, and he had been pretty apathetic for the past few months while he was focusing on finding a job more related to his field and school.  I was pretty annoyed, because the company is run so poorly that if it was because of his numbers, why wouldn't they have given him a months' notice or something?  Surely, a man who has spent 2 years at the company, got certified in diamonds and gemstones and has been a foundation to the store is worth the company's time.  But, nope.  And what even angered me further is that Zak's boss, and our ex-friend Mat seemed not to even care or have fought for Zak at all.  And Zak was always supporting Mat, defending him when other co-workers complained.  Zak was a great friend who always had Mat's back.  But it seems like Mat didn't feel the same way.

Well, after a week or so, Zak was contacted by one of the Department of Labor workers, who notified him of the real reason he was let go: Harry Ritchie's claimed he stole about 5 - 6 books of stamps.  Ridiculous.  True, Zak has used stamps in the past for personal letters, but it wasn't a big deal--even Mat and the former manager were fine with that practice, everyone has used company supplies for personal reasons at one time or the other.  It turns out that a few days before Zak was let go, Mat accused him of taking the books of stamps, he said there should be 5 or 6 books and that there were only 2.  Zak was closing that night and took a picture of all the 6 books of stamps, and a piece of paper with the date and his signature, and asked the new girl to witness the picture.  He sent it to Mat and it wasn't brought up again.  So, having found out the real reason Zak was let go, the agent told him if he could get some letters from former co-workers verifying the use of stamps for personal use now and then, he would do his best to get Zak his unemployment benefits.  Luckily, we have awesome friends who wrote some great letters backing up Zak, saying he would never steal from the company, and all of that.  Two days later unemployment was granted, BOOM.  What we think happened is that the branch manager and Mat conspired to get Zak fired, which is actually something they would do.  Mat has no back bone and has completely changed in the two years we've known him.  Obviously, we are no longer friends with him or Erika, as I am still in rage mode whenever I think about this.  They have been crappy friends for the past year and we don't need them.  The friends we do have would never betray us and in short are awesome.

So then the day after Zak got unemployment benefits he got the word that he got a job!  It is at a seedling nursery that is an extension of the U of I, and will be great for his future career.  He'll be growing and taking care of trees and doing forestry-related things.  I'm really excited for him.  The nursery is about 2 miles out of town, but he will be able to ride his bike there, in normal clothes, so that is good news.  They will also be able to work with his school schedule for the fall so he can work part-time.  His first day is the 14th and we are really excited!

This past week we moved (I will expand on a different post) so it was another week of craziness for us.  We were able to move a day before, so we actually slept at our new place a night before our lease started.  We mostly spent the next day cleaning our old place.  It's funny how this move has affected me and Zak differently, he was much more relaxed and for some reason, I was really stressed.  I think it was because I couldn't control a lot of the packing and cleaning since I was gone all day, but I knew he would do a good job.  He did do a good job and I was so glad he took care of most everything.  It's like releasing a big breath, unpacking and setting up our home.  I can actually go through boxes and get something.  I'm still adjusting to everything, mostly the kitchen and bathroom, but I love it here.  We both do.  I think I did like, 5 loads of laundry our first night, I am so stoked to have the washer and dryer!  Pictures and further elaboration will come later this week.

In short, we are in a happy and good place right now.  Things have started looking up and it's a good feeling to not have so many things hanging over our heads.  Things to look forward include: actual spring weather (beautiful skies, but with wind and 50 degrees simply doesn't cut it in May), bbq with our friends this weekend, Zak starting work and ending school, and planting things in our backyard!  Hope this update helped fill the gap in your hearts for information about our lives!

Our Weekend Away

Last weekend, Zak had his custom design shows in Coeur d'Alene and Spokane. I was allowed to go with him, but couldn't hang out in the store/around it; basically I was to be a ghost. But I was ok with that, because I got to be out of the house and with Zak in the mornings and evenings. It was not exactly the most relaxing trip, but we did have a decent time.

We drove up Thursday night to Spokane. We walked into the hotel, and were pretty impressed and excited. Too bad the guys at the counter told us they couldn't find our reservation, or that they didn't even have a corporate account with Harry Ritchie's. Right as my brain started to fry, they asked if maybe the reservations were at the hotel in Spokane Valley. We didn't know, so they called and said yes, we had reservations at that hotel.

the nice little lobby

our room

figuring out all the channels

Fifteen minutes later, we arrived and were still impressed, it was a pretty nice hotel; plus they gave us evening reception drink vouchers, breakfast vouchers and there was a pool/hot tub/sauna/steam room. We knew what we were doing that night.

sweet desk and coffee table

the view from our room, we were on the 4th floor

We got dinner and then headed down to the pool. We had it all to ourselves, and enjoyed swimming and the hot tub. Zak really loved the steam room. It was pretty neat, but so weird to breathe in, because the air was hot. I couldn't last as long as he could in there, so I swam around for awhile.

before heading out that morning

The next morning, Zak woke up with swimmer's ear. We had ran to the local Safeway the night before, so we knew where we could quickly get something for him on our way to Coeur d'Alene, which was about a half hour drive from the hotel. We were doing fine, until we had gotten back in the car, and Zak started reading the instructions for the ear drops. They were homeopathic, and if you know Zak, he is 100% against that stuff and insisted we exchange it quickly. That would've been fine if, in the hurry and scatter-brained-ness of my head, I hadn't locked my keys in the car. And Zak's were back at the hotel, about 5 - 8 minutes away, over the interstate. We ran back into Safeway, I exchanged the drops (the lady was awesome), while Zak contemplated between breaking the window/calling a mechanic or someone/to finally calling a taxi. And then the taxi took about 10-15 minutes to get there, and by then we were running late. $25 and 10 minutes later, we were on the road, with Zak holding cotton balls against his ear, and I driving as quickly and safely as possible in unfamiliar territory.

Zak wanted to be there at 9:30, which is a half hour before the store/mall opens. We got there at 9:40, so still not bad. But man, did I feel awful. I have never, ever done anything like that, and of course! it's on a day where we don't have time for that. But thankfully we had each brought our keys, so it could've been worse.

I spent some time in Target, thoroughly enjoying myself (we don't have one that I can hang out in nearby; Zak doesn't get it), and I bought Tina Fey's book Bossypants, so I would have something to do while waiting for him, when I got bored later. I also walked around the mall for awhile, and then went to the downtown part of Coeur d'Alene. CDA is really pretty, it's on this huge lake, and it was a gorgeous day out, so I was happy to walk around the downtown section. But everywhere was construction, so I had to keep my wits about me as I drove around. Right as I was ready to head back to the mall and see if I could steal Zak away for lunch, he called and said he'd get a break in a little bit.

the Coeur d'Alene resort

walking around the resort

a boat was about to pull into the dock

I guess there is the longest pedestrian water-bridge off of this area? I don't know, I just took some pictures and didn't venture too much further.

I quickly drove back, stopping at Jamba Juice (another place we don't have around us, for some dumb reason), and met him for a little bit. His day wasn't too bad, he at least had people show up, and made a sale...with one of the girls who worked there. But a sale is a sale. I spent the last few hours laughing and reading Tina Fey's book (I finished it), and then picked up Zak and drove back to the hotel.

I couldn't help but take a picture at a red light; those spikes were super tall!

I found this cute pin at the antique store

where I read Bossypants while waiting for Zak

Saturday was a little bit better, since no keys were locked in the car. And we knew Spokane a lot better, so it wasn't as nerve-wrecking getting there. Once I dropped Zak off, I headed to the park and read for awhile in the sunlight. I ended up getting some color on my body, so that nice, too. Then I hung around in the mall, and shopped for a little bit. Then I read (I started & finished Return of the King that day) and now and then, Zak would step out for a break, or get lunch with me. He had a sale early on and a few that he was very confident would come back. After all, $3000 is a big decision, I can't blame some lady for waiting to talk to her guy before going for it. By 7, Zak was pretty burned out. It didn't help that he had apparently OD'd on caffeine pills, either. We headed back to the hotel (his regional manager called earlier and told him if we wanted to stay another night, we could) and got a pizza. It was nice to relax and to be done with the stress of the past two days.

loading that huge box into the car for the drive home

We headed back the next morning, and Zak set up his early anniversary gift. He has wanted a chair forever, and he couldn't really find anything he really liked that would be within our budget. But the last time we were in Spokane, we were at Cost Plus World Market, and he found what he wanted, and what our wallet wanted, too. So while Zak was working, I headed over there and picked up the chair and some fun pillows (and assorted treats for us) for him. He set it up and relaxed for awhile when we got home; he keeps telling me how much he loves it! It's a pretty nice chair, and comfy, too.

pretty sweet, huh?

Overall, not the best weekend, but not the worst either! This weekend he is off to Oregon to do his last round of shows. The stores he'll be at are some of the nicest in the company, so wish him luck! Unfortunately, he has to fly out of Spokane tomorrow at 8 AM, and doesn't return until noon on Sunday. So I have to find something to occupy my time!

Rachel and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Blah. I woke up at 4:30; as I was returning to the bedroom, I heard lots of hamster squeaks [let me preface: they were fighting a lot, we clean their cage with some pet cleaner stuff, separated it w/cardboard, reunited them after five days only to have them fight again, but once the cardboard was back in, they discovered they could tunnel under it to get at each other]. I reluctantly went downstairs, grabbed a hamster and put it in a ball and let it roll around.

complete with demarcation line

Of course I couldn't go back to sleep. So at 5, I went downstairs and read for a bit. A few hours later, I noticed that the ball that once held Tesla was vacant. He had knocked the lid off and was no where to be found. We searched in vain for him, under the stove, fridge, couch, back behind the water heater, etc. Zak set up a little hamster trap in the hopes that Tesla would be hungry and come searching for food.

hamster trap

Fast forward to 10:15, I took Zak to work [another side note: we got our car back on Friday from the shop, fresh with new tires and a power steering system that actually works! the joy] and went to get some much-needed groceries. I won't go into detail about the frustration shopping at Winco with lots of slow-moving people, because it will go on forever. Shopping took a bit longer than I would like, but it was ok. I quickly ducked into the Co-Op for ground beef (it's so amazing), only to discover that my car wouldn't turn over/start.

Zak sent Mat, our wonderful friend who is a car genius, to figure out what the problem was. It turns out it just needed to be jumped (thank heavens), which Mat did for me. He advised me to drive around for about 10 minutes, and let the battery warm up. We didn't drive the car for about two months, so it was probably just sleepy and not very lively. I followed his advice and drove on the highway south for about 7, 10 minutes.

I found a place to turn around in and all of a sudden, the car just stopped working. The steering went out and I luckily, made it to the turn area and got it into park, etc. I got Zak on the phone, and told him what happened. Mat came to the rescue again! He is great. He got it started up, and said the problem was either the alternator or we just needed a brand new battery. He made sure to follow me home.

A few minutes in, I felt the car quit, and thankfully, there was another turnoff (just for me!) to safely turn off into. We got it going again and drove back into town. I panicked at a light, worried that it wouldn't start again after, but it did. And then right as I turned onto the road that is JUST BY OUR HOUSE, it died. Up a hill.

This all took about 30, 40 minutes. Mat started work on the car, only to be frustrated. It turns out the battery is under the wiper fluid ..container thing. I don't know, he is dealing with it. It looks like we just need a new alternator. The guys at O'Reilly's are doing a full charge on the battery. I am a bit scarred and don't want to drive the car for awhile. We are not friends.

I found the hamster. He was making some noise under the stove, so I pulled out the bottom rack and saw him sitting there, calmly. I tried to lure him out with some food, but nope. He kept going into this tiny crack that my fingers couldn't get to. Zak suggested a broom, so I ended up just scaring him enough to get him out from under the stove (after battling with him for about 10 or so minutes).

please excuse the utter grossness under the stove; I promptly swept the floor after I caught him

tricky little guy

He is now in solitary confinement. I am not as angry with him as I was initially, but still feel justified in my decision. He has a dish of food and that's all. Stupid little hamster, being a total punk.

So that has been my day so far. Oh, and last night as I was pulling homemade biscuits out of the oven (they were scrumptious), I burned a good part of my arm. Here is a picture because I have to share the pain. It hurts a fair amount, and some of the skin is trying to peel, revealing really tender parts. I apologize for its grossness; you may skip this picture.

yeah this boy hurts like crazy. it kind of looks like an eye...I have to be careful to not let things touch it, etc.

Hopefully the rest of the day will be better!