Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Overload

Phew! These past 2 weeks have been stressful. I've been learning how to do someone else's job in the Project Managment department. She's worked for Warmington for over 9 years and has been a life saver to all the guys there. For some reason they decided to let her go...and are now realizing (2 days before she leaves) all of the things that she really does for them and how she keeps them organized and up to date.
Donna and I will be splitting/assuming the position on our own starting this coming Monday. One man in the department can't seem to get it out of his head that we'll continue doing everything for him. The fact of the matter is....we have no experience in PM, so we won't be much help to him!
In the meantime, it's been a struggle to try and get our own work done while learning how to do other tasks. Phew! I feel like I need a vacation.

To add to the frustration....we're STILL waiting to hear about the house. Cuong said that if we don't hear anything by tomorrow, he's going to call another agent to see if we can check out some other homes in the area on Saturday. Kind of sad to look at other houses, but maybe we'll find something better! Then the only trouble is...getting back the $10K from the escrow company that they've been making interest on for the past 3 months!! UGH!

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

More Responsibility

So I was right about the changes at work! There were 2 people in our group that were notified on Friday that they'll still be here for 2 more weeks.
I got pulled into a meeting to let me know that another lady and I will be splitting one of the lady's job.

The lady who is being let go isn't taking it too well. It's really sad. Meanwhile, we need to try to learn her job in the next 2 weeks!!

So not only am I going to be working (and backing up) with the Contracting Department, but now I'll be working with Project Managment! It'll be interesting to see how this all pans out while trying to do my own job too!


In the meantime, we're still waiting to hear about the house. They said that it should be sometime this week. We let them know that we're getting pretty frustrated with having to wait so long and that this deal is looking less desireable. HOpefully that pushes them along!! We want the house already!

Thursday, January 17, 2008

On my way to work….

I wasn’t totally set on doing the 365-picture challenge. I think it’s a really cool idea, I just don’t know what to take a picture of every day. So...I decided to document a little of my morning the other day.
When I got outside to get in my car, the sun was starting to rise and it made the sky a beautiful range of colors: blue, pink and purple.


My car is usually pretty cold in the morning, so I’ll sit and warm it up for a little while. I’ll make my music selection for my ride to work and then I’m good to go.


By the way, I have all of the Colbie Caillat songs on repeat right now....and in my cd player at home. I really like ALL of the songs!
(Yes, my low tire pressure light is on…and has been for about 4 months now. It’s possessed.)
I generally try to leave around 6:40am or so….but sometimes it slides a little past that.
It usually takes me about 10 - 15 minutes to get to work. I love the commute for now!



Once I get to work, I come into my office (yay for an office!), turn on my computer, and get ready to start the day. On my monitor stand, I have a cute little picture of Cuong.

I’ll bring my chocolate soy milk in my pink Starbucks mug, or just have water or make some hot chocolate.
Behind my desk I have a table that I can lay plans out on when needed. On that table I display some of our wedding/engagement pictures.
I’m so glad that I at least have a nice view from my office. All of our offices have HUGE windows looking out into the hallways. The people across from me have a huge floor to ceiling window at the back of their offices. It definitely helps to be able to see the outdoors. I feel so bad for the people who are stuck in the little cubicles or in the middle of the building with nothing to see.

Well, that’s going to work…and at work in a nutshell!

Monday, January 14, 2008

Lots of closed doors meetings around work…never a good sign! Whenever you see meetings like this, rumors and speculations start flying.

We currently have 21 people in our “OC/LA Division”, within our Corporate office. Rumor has it that about 30% of that group could be laid off in the coming weeks. That means that the people who are left will be taking over the responsibilities of those people.
It’s been pretty quiet in the office lately. The phone doesn’t ring as much, there aren’t as many emails to answer…all signs of times slowing down.
They say that when the bad times hit, they try to hang on to their best people to ride out the tough times. I’m happy to know that I’m one of those people, but it is still a little nerve racking when there is so much uncertainty!


On the scrapbooking side of things....I've really wanted to scrapbook lately, but my stuff is in boxes and semi-hidden away. I don't really have a place where I can spead it all out and organize it. I would just love to have our offer on the house be accepted, that way I can have my own scrapbook room and REALLY get organized!! I've been seeing lots of good ideas lately!

Sunday, January 6, 2008

Yes, STILL waiting!!

On Thursday evening we got a call from the loan officer at Countrywide. He told us that he only verbally heard that Countrywide wanted to write up a counter offer $20,000 more than our original offer. The house is probably worth that, but we weren't too happy about that news. $20,000 could be a new car!!
On Friday I gave the real estate agent a call to fill him in, if he hadn't heard. When he answered the phone he immediately told me that he heard from Countrywide and told them that there was no way we'd accept that counter offer and that they needed to look their numbers over again. I was a little worried at first, but he sounded pretty confident that they might come down. I would hate to put our offer in, wait 6 weeks and then have them just turn around and walk away.
A few minutes after I talked to the real estate agent, the loan officer from Countrywide called Cuong. He explained to him that the real estate agent asked for them to look at it again and that they would do so. He said that if we get our loan through Countrywide instead of Edward Jones, he thinks we have a much better chance of them accepting our offer.
Countrywide sent us a quote on the special interest rate they'd give us, and it looked great!!

We're hoping to FINALLY hear something this week, but you never know, the way things have been going.
We drove around the area of the house again. It's a little further from grocery stores, etc than we're used to, but it's just something we'll have to get accustomed to. There are all kinds of little pockets of shopping. I think I'd have to make myself a little map or list of where things are. They're really all over the place.

My Very First Sewing Machine

Today I purchased my very first sewing machine. My mom found an ad in the newspaper for Big Lots. Apparently a representative from Singer sewing machines was going to be at the Big Lots in Huntington Beach from 9am-1pm selling sewing machines that were left over from a school. They were brand new and in the factory sealed boxes.
They had 3 models available: Student, Teacher and Professional. The student was $199 and the Professional was $399. Considering I know almost nothing about sewing, I figured I'd better stick with the student model. My mom went for the Professional...the "self-threading" needle was what sold her!
In anticipation of the bank accepting our offer on the house, I figured I'd need a sewing machine to make some curtains or pillows. I made some with the help of my mom and Cuong's mom for the house in Norwalk. I had to borrow their sewing machines to do that, so hopefully I'll be able to do it on my own now! :)
After we made our purchases, we headed to Walmart to buy a Singer hard case for storing the sewing machines!