Christmastime is Here...

I know you're probably thinking, "Enough already!" but I'm in the mood today because I spent some time this afternoon creating a card with my friend Melissa. She's hosting a workshop with me next month, and she wants to inspire her neighbors and friends to make their own Christmas cards. So, we thought we'd show them what can be done by creating an invitation using the Christmas stuff.

Melissa had a sample that she wanted to duplicate so our layout was decided for us. Then we got to work measuring and cutting and stamping, and we're both pleased with the result! We used the Sidekick Sayings Level 1 Hostess stamp set, another stamp set for the interior stuff (sorry I can't recall the name!), Dashing designer paper, Old Olive, Very Vanilla, River Rock, and Real Red card stock, and Real Red 1/4" grosgrain and River Rock double-stitched ribbon. I think this really shows off how well the colors are designed to coordinate. Besides that, it was just fun to stamp with someone today!

A few of you have inquired how work is going, and so I'll share what I did yesterday. I went to work and was all set to make coffee drinks when the shift supervisor told me to sign in as "non coverage." What that means is that I was not going to be on the floor helping customers. Then I remembered that the words "clean sweep" had been written by my name. What this means is that, for your entire shift, you work through a list of cleaning jobs that the asst. store manager provides.

That's cool with me; I like to clean (thanks, Mom!) and create order. Here's what I did yesterday:
--cleaned and sanitized the large plastic rolling trash can
--mopped the back hallway and washed down the walls
--pulled the dishwasher/sanitizer out from the wall and mopped behind it
--wiped all the baseboards around the store with a wet rag
--cleaned all the windows in the store inside and out

That much took me 3 hours. Then I found other things to organize and clean for the remaining 2 I was there. I'm looking forward to making drinks tomorrow, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. We've had partners for a new store that's opening down the road from us training in our store, and it has been a bit crowded behind the counter. They'll be moving on soon to train at other stores that have drive-thrus, so we'll be back to normal before long.

Oh, one last thing: I passed my test and I am now a certified barista. In order to do this, I had to answer a bunch of questions about the company and correctly make 6 drinks. Look for the pin when you see your barista next.