me and my bed

For the past week, I've been robbed of my bed due to a prolonged painting project. It began with "we should paint our bedroom and the stairway during my week of vacation"....which morphed into needing to re-plaster our entire stairway and then also sheetrock the ceiling of our bedroom. Fun times. In my head, I planned on being done painting by Tuesday, meaning I would only be separated from my bed for a mere 4-5 days....not an entire week. Needless to say, I'm ready to reunite with my oh-so-comfy mattress tonight! ...Finally. And I'll have a grand new view to enjoy with our lovely "Berlin" colored walls (that's muted green -- kind of sagish -- for those of you who are wondering...).

a new niece!!

I must say that the best way to start out a vacation is with the arrival of a new, precious little niece only hours after getting off of work. That's right, I'm an aunt again, but now I have a niece!! And she's absolutely adorable....someday when I get pictures I'll post them. :) I am so blessed....and it was a GREAT way to start out my vacation. :)

ahh...vacation...

Earlier this week I woke up to my hubby standing in the doorway saying, "Liz...??" I glanced at the clock and to my chagrin it said 7:32 am. I'm supposed to be at work at 7:45 am. And it's a 7 minute drive. And I hadn't showered for 2 days. Wonderful combo...and so I called work and told them I'd be late, then raced through my morning routine and managed to make it into the bank just as it was turning 8 o'clock. Apparently I work best under pressure. Good thing today was my last day of work for 9 days!

Yes, you read that right, I'm taking off 9 days from work -- a week long vacation (paid, mind you) so I can accomplish some things around our house -- like FINALLY painting our bedroom and stairway! It was so refreshing to walk out the door of the bank and know that I don't have to go back in to Monday's craziness after the weekend! I get a whole week off -- and I get paid for it!! I've never had a paid vacation before...but I know I'm going to like it. Especially not having to be anywhere before 8 am. :) Sweet sleep, here I come...

finances & felines

Although my last post concerned the banking world, I'm going to bring it up again in this post, just because we have added a new member to our staff. He's a black and white, 2-week old kitten. Here's how he joined our ranks:

A week ago, my boss, Big D, surprised us all by entering work with a scrawny, teeny-tiny, rodent-looking kitten - with its umbilical cord still attached. He had found it just outside his shed, a few blocks away from the bank, on a blistering hot August morning...on the concrete. Ouch. And so we did what any office of four women would do -- we nursed it back to health.

It started with a call to the vet and a side trip to pick up a kitty bottle and some kitty formula. I had never heard of kitty formula, but apparently they need it. :) We designated E to take care of him overnight, as she already had 4 cats (what's another when you already have that many?!), and she also had a heating pad and the tender heart to fuss over it throughout the night.

Sure enough, the kittycat joined us at work the next day in an ice cream bucket with a soft and cuddly blanket to snuggle in. The day was spent waiting on customers, but more importantly maintaining a 2-4 hour feeding schedule -- during which everything stopped. If you were a customer, you were lucky you got waited on.

At this point, I mentioned that the kitty really should have some kind of a name...some suggested "Lucky", but that reminded me too much of 101 Dalmations. Then I had an "aha!" moment - I suggested "Moses", since he was "found in the bulrushes of King D's shed", and the name stuck. So today, when it was mentioned that he was possibly a she, my heart sunk. I've grown fond of the name Moses -- in fact, probably one quarter of our bank's customers have now been introduced to Moses and frequently ask how he's doing and ask to hold him or feed him. And they've all had the story of his name explained to them, so to change it now would be traumatic - if not for little Moses, at least for me! So we'll see what happens....but back to the story...

Moses has survived well. He's grown a bit and his eyes are now open -- piercing blue-gray eyes in a tuft of black fur. He's so cute. And I don't even like cats! Although I must admit that it's been entertaining to watch the way E dotes over him....she fusses and fusses, coaxes him to poop (as he was a little constipated at first), rubs his face and belly, feeds him, whispers to him, and is often blessed in return as he piddles down her blouse. Aren't little ones great? :)

So far, Moses has been kept a secret from the other branches of the bank....who knows what would happen if THE BOSS ever found out about it. We'd all be fired for sure, if not for violating the appearance of professionalism, then at least for all the times Moses has piddled on the carpet or stolen sweet E's time in feeding him. Because of this, we probably won't buy him a cute little sweater, nor promote him as our mascot. But as long as we can get away with keeping him in our little ice cream bucket as a secret attraction for our customers, we will.

To be continued....

Correction: Big D was not the one who actually brought Moses into work...it was E...my bad! I guess I wasn't actually there - I was on my lunch break, so forgive me for my ignorance...

What I've learned from working at the bank...

(Disclaimer: Note that these comments are all in fun, and a large part are inside jokes, so don't take them too seriously...)

When in doubt, "Lizzie did it"

When blamed, always claim, "It's not my fault"

No deviating!!

Don't pick out a wedgie in front of the security cameras

When Jacki (my co-worker) asks you to look at her -- DON'T. It inevitably involves broccoli in the teeth or a chap stick tube stuck up her nose. :)

Dark chocolate is the answer to all of life's problems.

When drinking that afternoon soda, always smack your lips and sigh "Ahhh!" loudly

Large amounts of money can always be split in half ;)

Don't yell at someone when they're in the soundproof room...THEY CAN'T HEAR YOU...

Never answer the phone by stating your address. ;)

Never plan on a pen being available when you need it.

The best way to avoid "grazing" at the "grazing table", is to get rid of the evidence by eating it. :)

Putting on lotion is a sure-fire way to cause customers to come in.

Never go to the bathroom in the guest bathroom if someone is in the employee bathroom. You're likely to get the feeling of a bidet.

Bank Teller's eat healthy: Diet Coke with vitamins & minerals, and dark chocolate with antioxidants. :)

"Initials" is pronounced: "Hinitials"

It's not right until it's "Zack-a-lack-ally" right.

We're "Jest Kitting" :)

...we just want a chance!

You can't see the customer's when you're craning your neck to see what's out the window...

When at the drive-thru, always plan on being shushed

"Wanna count?" "Sure....1...2...3..."

When feeling stressed, throw your head back and laugh deeply with no abandon -- similar to how the Cowardly Lion on the Wizard of Oz laughed.

Chanting "Baby Jesus lost & found" will always seem to help you find what is lost....if you look hard enough! ;)

When you leave the money in your trunk, you cannot be relied upon...

There's always a tip for the teller!

...and last but not least....you don't have to be crazy to work at the bank, but it sure does help! ;)