I forgot what this feels like

It's damp, overcast and windy here, which means it feels cold (as cold as Hawaii can feel, anyway). I actually had to turn off the fans and put on a long-sleeved shirt. It feels really weird, I haven't had to wear long sleeves in a looong time. I even had to pull out the quilt for the bed (I usually just sleep with a sheet). I know I'm not going to get any sympathy from those of you back home in Wisconsin, but I thought I'd share :P

Best Buy orientation

I had my orientation with Best Buy yesterday, and it was...interesting. It was extremely high energy. When they opened the doors to the (very large) convention room, all of the supervisors were lined up on both sides of us and all of them gave us high fives and hugs. Very weird. They had some "pump up" music playing, like the Venga Boys and stuff. They played that music all day. Throughout the day, they made us do these cheers. If we weren't loud enough, we had to do it again. Stuff like "BEST BUY" and "PROTECT THIS HOUSE" and some stuff in Hawaiian. Again, very weird.

Of course, they made us watch a bunch of videos on how great Best Buy was and we had to listen to each manager give a speech on what their department is and why it's important. They also had us do some creative activities like make a styrafoam ball into a head and explain what it means to our group. Since I'm on the geek squad and we are all geeks, ours naturally looked like a geek and had no other meaning than that. Then we had to come up with a departmental cheer. None of us were really into it other than the two supervisors.
They put a lot of effort into this "culture day," but there was something very fake about it all. I am not getting good vibes from most of the supervisors. I could tell that the GM (general manager) was genuine and seems to be a really nice guy, and one of my supervisors seems like he'll be cool. As for the others, I have a feeling they might turn out to be jerks.
I did actually enjoy interacting with people. I guess it's obvious that I'm not from Hawaii, because just about everyone asked me where I'm from. I was one of the few "howlies" in the group. Just about all of the rest of them were from southern California. It's kind of cool to be in someplace so culturally diverse.

I'm really not convinced yet that this is for me, though. I think I actually prefer working in a cube farm (office). The store doesn't open until Nov 18, which means that we'll be doing training and helping to get the store set up until then. My sisters come out on the 23rd, and I would like to spend time with them rather than work. Plus, they've already told us that there's no way we'll be able to get the Friday after Thanksgiving off, which is the day that we're going to the UH-Badger game. I really want to go to that. I'm torn - I know that if I'm not going to stick this out, I should just let them know now so they don't waste their money on me, but at the same time, it seems like easy money - not really work, just training. I think that I am going to quit before my sisters come out, since I'd be quitting before Matt got home, anyway. What would you do?

Torn

So tomorrow I have my first day of orientation with Best Buy. Truth be told, I really don't want to work. It's probably just laziness on my part, as I have let myself get lazy in nearly every respect of my life except for EverQuest2. I turn in my homework assignments late, I have slackened up my regular cleaning routines, I forget to eat sometimes, etc. I have thought about just not going tomorrow and letting it go at that.

However, there still seems to be this little spark inside of me that won't go away. It makes me do my homework, albeit late, makes me clean the apartment (I never let it get to messy status, less than neat, maybe), it makes me pay the bills, and now it's making me go through with this job. At this point, I'm just doing it for the experience of doing it, I really don't care about the money. I have never worked in a retail environment, and I think it might be interesting. I really don't have an interest in meeting new people, I don't want new friends and the employee discount will probably cost me more money than not having it (I'll justify spending money at the store "because I'm saving so much money!"). I don't need anymore darn DVDs lol.

Anyway, this might change between right now and tomorrow morning (I am praying that they don't make me work days), but for the time being, I'm going to go through with this for now. If I don't like it, I'll quit, simple as that :)

Time heals all wounds

So they say, anyway, and I am already feeling much better. It was a rough couple of days, but thanks mostly to EverQuest 2, I am feeling much better about my current situation. Matt and I have already exchanged a couple of emails, which is the highlight of my day. Today I took a break from gaming to buckle down and do some homework which was long overdue. I have my first day of orientation this Saturday, which I anticipate to be 8 hours of "Best Buy is great because blah blah blah", but at least I'll be getting paid to listen to the blah blah blah :)

I see that Matt included my website address, so for any of you that might be first-time visitors to cheyster.com, welcome! Take a look around and enjoy the pictures and stuff :)

The end of chapter 1

One thing that Matt and I realized before he left is that with his departure, we are officially closing chapter 1 of our lives together. Things are going to be very different when he gets back. He will never have to go to sea again, not have to work for the Navy, I will be working, and we'll be spending time preparing for the next chapter of our lives - Florida and Matt's time in school. It's both exciting and a little scary. I think I'm putting a little too much pressure on myself because I know that I'm the one that's going to have to be making enough money for us to make ends meet. It'll be a tough four years, but it'll be worth it.

I went to the picnic yesterday for the boat's departure, and I also realized just how lucky I am that Matt is only gone for three months. Most of the guys are gone for six months, and it was depressing to see all of the families there, many with small children, saying goodbye. There weren't many dry eyes leaving the pier.

And he's gone

It's not forever, but right now it sure does feel like it. I just dropped Matt off at his pier. It wasn't our final goodbye, because they're having a boat picnic on the pier in two hours, which I'll be going to. Part of me doesn't want to go because I'm pretty emotional right now and I don't want to have to be around people. However, I will take any chance that I can get to see him before he leaves this afternoon.

I know that before I know it, it will be December and he'll be back home - for good. I keep trying to think about how happy I'll be when I pick him up from the airport and get to give him the biggest hug he's ever gotten. But I also know that with separation like this comes a form of grief, and that being emotional right now is a normal part of that process. That doesn't mean I have to like it, though :P

Love hurts

Matt leaves for three months on Thursday (tomorrow). It hadn't really hit me until a couple of hours ago that I would not see him for a long time. We both cried together for a bit, and I think we got most of it out of our systems. To help him pass the time a bit and help to curb his homesickness, I made a notebook for him. On each page I put a picture and wrote some of my random thoughts, made some puzzles for him, or just a weird and funny drawing. I also count down how many days he has left on each page. It's not much, but I know he'll appreciate it. I did get that job with Best Buy, and I have my first orientation day on the 24th of this month. That will really help to pass the time for me. My sisters are coming out to visit for a week over Thanksgiving, and Tony was hinting today that he and Chris need a vacation. I hope they decide to come to Hawaii :)

It's the most wonderful time of the year

That's right, it's football season again! As I've mentioned before, I really enjoy football season because of fantasy football. This year I am in three leagues - one from back home and three free ones that I found online. My first week was a good one - I won all three games. I'm not sure if my teams are strong enough to keep it up all season, but it's fun to watch.

I also follow college football a bit, mainly the Badgers. It kind of stinks, though, because in the rare chance that the Badgers are on TV, I have to watch at like 7am, but that's ok. That's what the internet is for!

Road trip!

I'm excited about an upcoming road trip. Originally, Matt and I were going to meet my parents in Las Vegas while we were on our way from Los Angeles to Colorado to pick up our stuff there after Matt's done in the Navy. We have made a slight revision. It dawned on me that it's just going to be me and Matt moving all of our stuff by ourselves once we reach Florida, and my mom had mentioned that she wasn't all that keen on going to Vegas again.

So I had a brainstorm. I called and asked my mom if they would be willing to drive from Wisconsin to Florida with us and help us move and get settled and stuff. I have to say that I was surprised at her enthusiasm! Anyway, that is now the plan and it should be as much fun as driving for 20 hours can be :)

He's home!

So yesterday as I was about to go to bed at noon (I'd been up for quite a while) I got an email from Matt saying that he'd be ready to come home around lunchtime! I was so happy and went to pick him up. He's home now for the next week and a half, then he's off to sea for three months. I'm so happy to have him home and we are both going to make the most of time that we have together.

I have my fourth interview with Best Buy, and I'm guessing that this is the final one because a lady called me yesterday asking me about the references that I had provided her. I am expecting to walk out of there with a job today. Finally.

It's just not the same...

Tonight I decided to treat myself to some ice cream. So I went to my favorite place, Coldstone Creamery, and ordered one of my favorite dishes. However, as I was sitting there alone in the mall eating it, I found that it just isn't enjoyable alone. Usually Matt and I share a dish, and it's just not the same without him to talk to while we eat. Instead, it was just me and my thoughts, which are quite boring to me. So, I decided that I'll skip the ice cream from now on and just stick with what doesn't depress me - staying in and either watching TV or playing some video games :)