Life in Texas

Well I think my last blog was about our moving to Texas. I can't remember exactley where I left off in that one but I will start with finding our house.

We found a house to rent that is about 15 minutes from base and just 3 minutes from the mall. Its in a nice cul-de-sac neighborhood that is very quiet and made up mostly of military people - active duty and retired. Our house has a huge privacy fenced in backyard that Skye just LOVES! Its 3 bedrooms and 2 full bathrooms with a 2 car garage. I really like the house but the landlord doesn't seem to want to do any upkeep or maintanence on it, which is really frustrating. Because our rent is right at our cap we are having to pay for all utilities out of pocket, so to help out I decided to get a job. I started thinking about working at JCPenney's when I was back in MI and I was shopping in there one day and the girl at the customer service said she really liked it and the discount was nice. So I thought, why not? And I applied at the one right down the road at the mall, just 3 minutes from our house. I got a call back for an interview that week, which was a surprise to me considering I didn't have my car yet. We were still waiting for it to arrive off the boat from Italy. So I got hired before I could even start. I started working there the first week in August as soon as my car arrived!

About two weeks ago I got called into the boss's office and offered the holiday job of being MOD (Manager on Duty). Basically what I do is walk around the store with a phone and a list of everyone working that day and the department they are working in. I make sure breaks are covered and lunches are scheduled and covered and multitask everything that is going on or needs to be done in the store. Its a little difficult since they don't want me to be behind a register. So when extra help is needed in another department I need to know who I can pull from another one without leaving that department empty, while keeping on top of the dressing rooms and answering that phone with all the calls of questions and help that is needed all around the store. Its a little crazy at times but I actually like it. I like to be able to get to know everyone else that works there and interact with them. With the new job comes more responsibility and more hours! I am working 40 hours a week, but its good to get out of the house and help with the income!

I like it here in Abilene, its a nice area and the shopping is good. I mean its great compared to the online shopping that I had in Italy, haha. I like being able to go into a variety of stores to find what I am looking for!

Julia and Gary came down to visit and stayed on base one night and we had about two full days together, it was really nice catching up with them and getting to spend some quality time together. We went to the historic Buffalo Gap Village and it was really cool being able to walk into buildings and homes that were built in the 1900's-1950's. I am planning on going down to San Antonio this weekend to see them and let them show me around their town!

Well thats about all I can tell you for now. Hopefully I will have more news to share soon!