So I've been at American Flooring for almost two months now :) And I'm still loving it :) I think I may have finally found at least a little niche in my life that I can get comfortable in for a little while. And that, my friends, is a huge answered prayer in my life. I've been a little lost thing wandering around in search of a direction, a purpose, an anything really, for a very long time now.
Being able to have a routine is such an under-appreciated thing, y'all. Now I am not a morning person. Quite the opposite - I'm at my peak between suppertime and when the sun comes up. I'm willing to get up at whatever hour is necessary, but I'm usually going to need a good thirty minutes to an hour of minimal human contact for me to get the day started off right. My dad is great at respecting my morning-ness - if he needs to tell me anything he usually just texts me from the kitchen rather than testing how awake I am yet lol.
But just being able to have a reason to set my alarm clock for each coming day, to pick out my nice clothes each night, to fix my hair and makeup all pretty and know I'm confident in myself when I go out the door, it just makes you feel so much better about yourself. As my aunt Ann Russell once said (in her sugar sweet Southern accent), ''If you'll just get up evrah mornin' and just brush yo' hair and put on a little lipstick, why, you'll just feel so much bettah about yo'self.'' Well Aunt Ann, you sure are right. Now most days I get to all the makeup except lipstick (Burts Bees, anyone?) haha, but it's so great to have a reason to get fixed up everyday. You really don't realize it until you go without that for a long time.
As far as the job itself goes, I don't think I could have made up a better job if I tried. I have a great boss, very laid back and easy to learn from. Our office environment is pretty relaxed, no big deal if you have to take a cell phone call (if you're lucky enough to get signal in our big metal building) or if you need to run an errand to the post office or bank. We even get to wear jeans one or two days a week. Gotta love that! I love the lady I share my office with, Angela. She and I get along really great - there are rarely any dull days with the two of us! She's been really great about helping me learn as well, especially with all the many ins and outs of the computer system, pricing, dealing with suppliers and installers, all that jazz. Just about everyone I work with is super nice and fun to be around, always coming in with a new crazy story of what happened on the job site or what client of ours did something nuts. We even have an office cat, Trouble, who has already decided he loves me and comes around me when he thinks he's desperate for attention.
He was keeping me company Saturday while I was pricing new carpet samples. Fat little kitty, no?
I really enjoy what I do, even the sales part that I was worried about at first. I love the interior design part of work, all the picking out backsplashes and tub surrounds for people. The office work isn't bad to do, mostly it's just straightforward sales paperwork, so nothing complicated at all. And sales, I've decided the key to that is basically just smile, actually listen to what they want, and be basically so sugar sweet they can't help but like you. Most of our clients are just regular people, nice and normal, easy to work with. We only have a few customers that we fight over not answering the phone for, but there are those types in every business. The too-picky people, the complainers, the ones who call just about every single day for no reason whatsoever. We have those caller-ID numbers memorized!
Funny how everything works together, even when you never thought it would. I actually originally went to college to study interior design. I spent two years in MSU's program, then changed my major because their program didn't really fit my idea of where I wanted to end up as an interior designer (I wanted to stay around here and just be a home designer, while their program was more geared to those who wanted huge salaries and to live off in NYC or LA and design for huge firms with even bigger projects. I decided I could live without all that.). After trying out a semester at MUW in art education, I just settled on getting an AA in business. I just wanted something quick, something useful in a wide variety of jobs, and something I could combine with my art, cooking, or whatever later on.
The job I have now is such a rare thing for me, in that it combines all of the things I went to school for and like to do. I set out looking for a job I could tolerate doing every day, just a job to make money, stay at for a couple of years until I made a more permanent decision about my career path. I never thought I'd see a want ad needing office help, good with computers and bookkeeping, but also good with colors and decorating. But, luckily God watches out for even the different ones of us out there, and even though we may have to walk a longer, more twisted winding path at times to get where He wants us to go, once we get there it's pretty darn sweet. I can't guarantee that I'll stay at American Flooring forever, but for now I'm as happy as can be, and I can't ask for more than that :)
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