Danger... Men Working...

Whew... Getting back into the swing of things at work (post vacation) can be exhausting... The company has changed the way we normally change up the floor (showroom) for the Fall. This year we are doing it in two phases rather than all at once. For us, it makes it much easier as we are still operating with one less manager than a "normal" store. The missing manager is our Sales/Merchandise Manager, the one responsible for the Spring and Fall floor sets, in addition to a magnitude of other things that we (the remaining managers) are handling. Thank goodness for our awesome Decorator. She has stepped up and taken this bull by the horns, phase one of the floor set is complete and the store looks terrific!

During the above process, we were told that we should expect our newly appointed Regional Director to stop in for a store visit (aka: inspection) followed by a visit by the COO, CEO, and DOS (Director of Stores) two weeks later. Needless to say, we have been inspecting ourselves from different perspectives every day. Changing lighting, replacing stained ceiling tiles, painting, cleaning, tossing old parts, etc, etc, etc... For the past three weeks...

Then came the realization to the financial wizards of our company. Our fiscal year ended 8/1, it would make more sense to have all this travel expense booked into FY2010 rather than 2009. "All travel cancelled" until August. But our store looks beautiful, and we spent all the money in FY2009 to fix it up... Oh well...

In the meanwhile, my man has gotten himself a promotion. He spent last week in training for his new position and will now oversee 3-4 Department Managers in his store... He was so worried when he first transferred down here in April. Worried that he would have to re-prove his worth and abilities to a new management team, and what happens? Less than four months pass and he gets himself a promotion and a nice raise. How can I not love this man? He so undervalues himself sometimes, and is so humble about his abilities...

We have managed a couple of days off together since returning from Florida, mostly spent cleaning, gardening, and managing the things around the house we neglected before leaving. Oh, and speaking of gardening, Michael's vegetables are looking grand! Peppers, Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Green Beans, etc... We had fresh green beans last night as a side to dinner... Yummy!

That's all for now in my new life... Over and "Out" from Portsmouth, VA