she works hard for her money so you betta treat her right

I've been wanting to do this for a while. People give me a hard time when they find out I still work at Mrs. Powell's and I've learned to purposely keep it a secret. Yes, I have been held captive for almost 7 years, but trust me, I have branched out and have experienced some of the crappiest jobs ever!

The first time I quit Mrs. P's, I was still a senior in high school. After graduation, I got a job at Elmer's diner as a hostess. It wasn't hard initially, but the staff was a little on the hagard side. Oh, and the boss was a witch! I survived about 30 days of smelling cheap perfume and wearing a cheap salmon colored polo purchased from a bin at Albertson's and classy black pants that I refused to wear up to my waist. My boss didn't approve of my "hip huggers." What can I say. I don't abide to 80's attire. Pants that don't outline every detail of your bum are more flattering than the pants they expected me to wear. And sorry, I refuse to wear a one-size-fits all fry sauce colored polo day after day. So I quit and got my job back at Mrs. P's to recover emotionally. It was a traumatizing experience for me.

Then I quit Mrs. Powell's in March of last year (2008). It was time to move on and get a real job at 23 years old. I took a few months off and did other things. I mostly slept in and thoroughly appreciated my sleepy time. I did a lot of stuff for my sister Jenna. She needed a full time personal assistant with all her activities (she was 17), and I had always wanted to participate in the things she was doing (jr. miss, trouveres, plays, recitals, etc) so this helped me experience those things through her. But around August, I was beginning to panic because I was going broke. My friend was currently working at another bakery in town and convinced me to apply. Biggest mistake ever.

I got the job at Geraldine's as a baker. I felt like a Benedict Arnold the entire time, but I needed money. I typically started my shift at 4:30 am and left around 8:00 am. Crazy. I don't remember much about the beginning because I was sleep-working and liked not having to really deal with customers. Just roll, roll, roll. But then the holidays came around. AND, I got engaged. Not a good combination. IT WAS HORRIBLE.

I remember one morning in November I couldn't wake up. I was too exhausted from studying and planning my wedding the night before. I went back and forth in my mind that I should just quit, but I needed every penny I could get. So I went to work 45 mins late and I apologized and carried on. Then later that night, I experienced something I hoped to never experience; my boss called me and chewed me out. She knew I had a lot going on, and we enjoyed working with each other. It totally changes things when you get reprimanded. I should have quit then, but nooo..

I fought through it and held on for dear life. Stupid. Thanksgiving weekend was literally three nights of 12 hour shift torture. TORTURE. Then the morning that I was supposed to take out my endowments, I showed up for work at 5:00 am and no one was there! So I left a note, went home, and went back to bed. Got a call at 6:00 from my boss. Whoops, she was supposed to call me and let me know not to come in til 6:00. Her bad. YEAH her bad. So I rush to work, rush through my work, doing the job of three other people, with a smile on my face, and miraculously left in time to make it to my 10:00 am session in Idaho Falls. I dropped dead when I got home and slept for a solid 14 hours, which didn't even begin to make up for the lost sleep I accumulated up to that point. But it felt nice.

So I took a 2 week break for my wedding (Dec 6th) and got back to the grind and endured the torture of Christmas, which wasn't as bad as Thanksgiving, but it still sucked the life out of me. I started getting less and less hours, and in January my boss "laid me off" due to the economy. I truly don't remember what I said or what she said, but when I hung up, I felt like I had been given a new lease on life. Glory Hallelujah. What a dreadful, horrible experience. Note to future employees: Don't try to work there when trying to do anything else productive with your life, ie-school, marriage, family, etc. They don't mesh well. Lesson learned. Sucks for me.

So, I was thrilled when I was offered a job back at Mrs. Powell's. It's not perfect and the pay isn't anything to brag about. But the morale is incredible and it's nice being treated with respect. Oh and it helps that my boss is like my mother and she treats me like her daughter. It's magical. Even though Geraldine's makes bangin' crescent rolls, Mrs. Powell's is hands down the better business. If I believed in tattooing my body, I would tattoo a cinnamon roll somewhere near my heart to show my appreciation. But since I won't go that route, I'll just work there instead. I start Next Monday at 6:00 am. Can't wait!