Moving On

Well, it's over.

We tried contacting coffee boss Mandy to work things out.

We waited and waited and waited.

No response.

And then we were taken off admin on the Facebook page.

We figured this was her way of telling us she was done and that she didn't want to talk to us anymore, so we started to move on with our lives.

Mona was offered a full time promotion at her other job, working the hours she normally worked at the coffee shop, and she took it. I started looking for another part time job and put my applications in a few places.

I was having way too much fun looking on Craigslist. I could shave my head for $500 dollars, be a part of a local gang like movie (there was lots of drinking and swearing in the promo video), or become someone's sugar baby.

While all of those sounded appealing, the one that really caught my attention was a person looking for someone to write a screenplay about their life. How fun would that be? I love writing and it sounded so intriguing, how could I not respond? So I did. (I am still waiting to hear back)

Mom was yelling at me about looking for jobs on Craigslist, especially with the ones I was suggesting as good jobs. She was going on about the Craigslist Killer and how I shouldn't even be looking for jobs on there or responding to ads. She thought I was going to be killed, just by sending an email.

Craigslist people can be nice! I once watched a documentary where a guy lived for a month just off of Craigslist and the kindness of people he met through it. He had no money or contact with anyone he knew. He even found his camera man through Craigslist. The way people were willing to connect and help this guy was amazing. He only spent one night without someplace to stay. I loved it and thought for awhile about giving it a try, but I would be killed by Mom before the Craigslist Killer could ever get to me, so I didn't. If you want to watch it was on Netflix and called Craigslist Joe. Mona, of course, hated listening to me talk about it, but you might like it.

Mandy, the coffee boss, did end up responding eventually, but by then it was too late, we had already moved on. Mona really wanted to send her the video of the song Gotta Go My Own Way from High School Musical. She said the lyrics fit perfectly with what she was feeling:

But, Mona didn't think Mandy would appreciate it much, so she just went with "We didn't hear from you and we moved on"

Mandy had lots of excuses for everything and made everything seem like Mona's fault. She ended by saying it was for the best that we didn't come back.

So this part of our coffee shop journey has come to a close, but that doesn't stop us from moving forward.

Eventually we will have our own coffee shop.

Integrity

Thank you guys. For listening to my vague problems and letting me vent about everything that has been going on with the coffee shop and for taking the time to be apart of my life by offering such great support for Mona and I.

After countless hours of Mona and I talking about what to do with Mandy, we have decided to go forward with the coffee shop at this point in time with a reevaluation come January. 

We made a promise to Mandy to help her open downtown. Even though she has not treated us the best over the last two months, that does not void us of our promise. 
If she chooses not to keep us or schedule us hours, that will be on her. 
And, on top of not breaking our promise, ditching her right now could be detrimental to our reputation in the community and might hurt our chances of having a successful business down the road.

You may think us idiots for sticking it out any longer, and I may be with you on that, but it's more than just about Mandy, it's about our integrity.

in·teg·ri·ty

noun

1. 1.

   the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness.

   "he is known to be a man of integrity"

   synonyms:

   honesty, probity, rectitude, honor, good character, principle(s), ethics, morals, righteousness, morality, virtue, decency, fairness,scrupulousness, sincerity, truthfulness,  trustworthiness

We want to have strong morals and be fair and decent and trustworthy. And to do that sometimes it means doing the thing you want to do the least. In this case staying true to our word and not throwing Mandy out to the wolves. 

And even though we are staying things will be different. She has lost our trust completely and we will be watching her more closely. And If things still seem bad, come January, we will gracefully make our exit.

Another thing with Mona and I love is...we love the coffee business. We love making coffee and most importantly we love the customers who come in for coffee. They are like our family.  

We can't, financially, open our own coffee shop yet, so this is as close as we can get to the business for the time being.

Now we just have to see if Mandy still wants us around or not. If not then it's out of our hands.

Bitter Cup of Coffee

I've been trying all day to explain exactly what happened with Mandy and the coffee shop yesterday and today, but I just don't have the words.

So much has happened I just can't wrap my brain around it.

The jest of it is that the coffee shop (you can read about our last coffee shop problems HERE and the follow up HERE) reopened today without us and things are not good between Mona and I and the coffee boss. We have been trying to work things out since the last incident, but things seem to have only gotten worse.

It's so bad, that after yesterday, Mona wants to puke.

Coffee boss, Mandy, is not treating employees or her customers with any respect. And, with the way she is heading right now, she is going to ruin this coffee shop. She is not a good business owner and she seems completely oblivious to the damage she is causing. It's a hard situation, because we really like her as a person, but, as of right now, Mona and I are seriously thinking about leaving because of the environment Mandy is creating.

Mom thinks we are in an abusive relationship and we should get out now and just leave her without looking back, but we are trying to do things in a respectful and civil manor and decide what is best for our future.

OH VEY! We really don't know what we should do!

I know you don't have all the details, but if anyone has any helpful life advice it's more than welcome right now...

Doctor Who and the Biffs

Mona, Becky and I have an on going Facebook Chat appropriately named Biffs.

We basically talk to each other all day long.

Becky and I like to use it to send Doctor Who pictures back and forth to each other. Mona tolerates our Doctor Who obsession, because she doesn't want to be left out of the conversation, but most of the time calls us freaks. (We are slowly winning her over to the dark side...the other day I was talking about Alex Kingston being in another show and just called her River Song and Mona knew what I was talking about. Mona hates it when she gets Doctor Who references)

Anyways we had this convo via Biffs yesterday:

Becky

Luna this is you!

Luna 

Am I Donna or Katniss?

Becky

katniss

but charles is david tennant (Charles from The Accidental Date)

Luna

puke

That is just sick

How could you even compare charles to david?
Becky

because you love them both?
and Charles kinda looks like he could be british

Luna

I would be donna to charles and Katniss to david

Becky

fine
charles is like...micky

Luna

no

Becky

and you bilie piper

Luna

charles is like the master
no lower than that

Becky

thats a horrible thing to say
he is the rory to your pond

Luna

PUKE PUKE PUKE!!!
I am thinking about permanently leaving this conversation

Mona

Did Luna just say Charles is her master?

Luna

You did not take that in Doctor Who context

Becky

yeah...i think she's been reading a little too much 50 shades of grey...

Luna

shut up. shut up.

He's more like the silence. 

I try to avoid him and forget about him

Becky

yeah but even tho you try and forget he just keeps coming back...typical romance

he is the  craig to your sophie

the pete tyler to your jackie tyler

Luna

The pete who was a jerk and died

Becky

buuuuuut took her with him to the other universe

Luna

that was a different peter

Becky

that's the one im obviously talking about!

Luna

it's not the one i'm talking about

Exterminate me now

Mona

you freaks

Becky

YOU'RE A FREAK

Luna

you know you like it

you're drawn to it like a moth to a lighted ood brain

Mona 

Luna

maybe your just drawn to the idiot's lantern

Italy In Transit

Italy.

This May. 

Yes, please!

I was planning on not planning a trip or vacation this year to save money.

Then, last week, an amazing opportunity came up for me to go to Italy on a volunteer trip this May.

At first I was like, "ABSOLUTELY!" 

Then I was like, "No Way! I can't afford to go to Italy and I probably won't be able to get time off from work."

Then Mona was like, "Don't be an idiot, this is Italy!" 

Winter Palace of the Bogd Khan

Last time I was able to go on a trip like this was quite a few years ago. I traveled to Asia to teach English as a second language in Mongolia. I loved everything about it! The culture and the people I met were amazing!

 I stayed in the capital Ulaanbaatar. We saw the Winter Palace of the Bogd Khan and the Zaisan Memorial which was surrounded by poles covered in blue rags to bring good luck to those who tired them. 

I've been crammed into a taxi car with ten people and survived their insane traffic. 

We rode Mongolia horses across the grassy mountains and flew over the Gobi Desert. 

I've listened to Mongolia throat singers and was entertained by contortionists. 

Gher in Mongolia

I drank Airag, fermented mare's milk (an acquired taste), and shopped at the Naran Tuul Market (the black market). 

I've been inside a Gher and even learned to speak a few words in Mongolia.

But, I have to say, my favorite thing about this trip was the people, the Mongolians.  My favorite memory is when our bus broke down on the way to the country. We all sat, Americans and Mongolians, on a grassy hill beside the road with smiles on our faces, laughing and joking, as we waited for the bus to be repaired. The connections I made there, with these people,  I will never forget. I will never forget these people. 

I will never forget this trip.

How could I not jump at the opportunity to do something like that again?

Then I was like, "You're right, Mona, I'm in!" 

I put in my time off slip yesterday. 

My bosses are still doing all of the other employees priority vacation time (which I missed the deadline by a few days), so I will have to wait a while. But according to one of my bosses the middle of May (the trip is the 8th-20th) wasn't looking too bad for getting my request approved! 

FINGERS CROSSED!!

Will all this travel talk, what has been your favorite traveling experience? 


{update: moments after hitting the publish button of this post, my boss came up with my vacation request slip. I was APPROVED!! They even drew a little picture of Italy on the paper!! I LOVE MY BOSSES!! ITALY HERE I COME!!}

Super Nerdy Geek

Mona always says that when she leaves me alone too long I turn into a super nerdy geek.

She always scolds that she has to stay around to keep me grounded and somewhat human otherwise I would turn into a completely insane hermit.

RUDE MUCH? 

Well anyways, I've been dog sitting since the day after Thanksgiving and it is now the...oh what day is it even...lets just say it's been "too long" according to Mona.

I only have two dogs, the internet, and Netflix documentaries to keep me company.

I have been watching things like TED Talks, Hey Boo: Harper Lee & To Kill a Mockingbird, and a very interesting show about stripping human and animal bones for science.

I think the main problem Mona has with leaving me alone with my documentaries is that I want to share all the information...with her.

scienceblogs.com

I don't see why she doesn't want to talk about me watching a lion (who died of natural causes in a nature preserve) get skinned and gutted and then it's bones cleaned with flesh eating beetles and extremely high doses of peroxide? It's a true art form trying to pose the bones afterward!

And this documentary is the only way I could ever see this process...the government won't let people visit this facility due to a very high factor of emotion damages.

She also didn't appreciate the fact that I am now going to drag her to Monroeville, Alabama to see the courthouse museum that inspired the courtroom for To Kill a Mockingbird. I was quoting fascinating tidbits and facts to her about the author, book, and movie. 

Did you that Harper Lee considered herself to be Boo? Or that she was neighbor and friend to Truman Capote who is the inspiration for Dill Harris? Also, according to Harper Lee's 99 year old sister who was still practicing law at the time, Truman Capote and Harper Lee lost their friendship due to Capote's jealousy over Lee's fame! 

To Kill a Mockingbird is my all time favorite book, which Mona has never bothered to read (she tired to start once). Let's just say Mona's not much of a reader. She couldn't even make it through Twilight and she just barley scraped by the Hunger games at my enforcement. I bribed her with something or other (I can't remember what exactly) so she would finish it. 

I was also telling her about TED Talks and these head games that make you happy when your depressed and how faking it till you make it really works according to science (this is one of my life motto if you didn't know)!

I just don't know why Mona doesn't like to listen to me talk about these things? 

It could be the fact that when I'm left alone for a few days I talk about documentaries at a hundred miles per hour and don't shut up for hours. 

You guys probably don't know this about me, but I'm not much of a talker. Hard to believe I know, but it's true. So, when I get in this nonstop talking for hours mode, I've done a complete 180 and Mona thinks I've gone mad. 

According to Mona, Mom was even talking about how I was messaging her more on Facebook.

That really surprised me due to the fact that this is the conversation my mother calls messaging "a lot": 

Mom: Do you miss us yet?

Me: I'm going to be there tonight.

Mom: Yeah I get to see you! Do you look the same?

Me: Nope. I grew two feet and turned into a bleached blond.

Mom: Just like momma

Me: I also have 3 tattoos and 16 new piercings.

Mom: Sweet!! Are you girls watching Haven there so we can delete?

Me: Don't delete!

By this point Mom must of been sick of me talking because she never messaged me back. 

Gosh! No wonder I don't talk much! My family hates listening to me!

Although, Mona did kinda admit she finds me absolutely hilarious when I get like this. I of course took off running with that. 

And she is in luck, because I've got one more week of dog sitting solitude to go!! Mona's going to be in stitches when I get home next week!! 

(P.S. My family really does love talking to me. I just like to give them a hard time about it.) 

The Hills Are Alive!

If you were one of the cool kids last night...you were watching The Sound of Music Live!

If you have absolutely NO idea what I'm talking about, you are not only not one of the cool kids, but you are also living under a rock. #SoundOfMusicLife was blowing up all the social media networks last night! It was "it" social event to attend in the comfort of your living room. 

It was brilliant! 

First of all, I am a sucker for all things musical. There's just something about people bursting into song and dance instead of just talking about their feelings that makes me giddy. I sometimes wish real life was a musical. 

Second, I love live theater. Every show is different. You never know if they are going to trip and fall or miss their high note or forget all of their lines. Like last night when Carrie Underwood almost fell down the mountain! I literally gasped out loud! But thankfully Carrie caught herself just in time and the show went on! It's the suspense people!

Third, I love The Sound of Music. If you don't like it, I may be reconsidering our friendship agreement. Who doesn't love The Sound of Music? 

I knew it wasn't going to be Julie Andrews movie quality, but I went in with excitement and an open mind. 

And I loved every moment of it!

Well, except where they left out the young love gazebo dancing and the goat herding marionettes yodeling, but I can get past that. 

There was dancing and singing some of my favorite songs and the classic story we all love. It was wonderful! 

Some of the cast, especially Carrie, seemed a little nervous during the first few scenes, but they settled into it nicely. 

It wasn't the best live performance I have ever seen, but, if you know live theater, I would attribute this to an opening day performance. Everyone's nervous, it's the first time in front of their audience (in this case being broadcast live on TV) they don't have all the kinks worked out yet. It's not like you would see a few months in where they are a well oiled machine. 

That doesn't mean it wasn't amazing or worth watching. It just what live theater is! 

Mona and I were singing and waltzing around the living room and reading the hilarious #soundofmusiclive twitter feed along with the show. 

Afterwards, it wan't enough, we cranked the movie soundtrack with Julie (yes, we are on a first name bases) and kept the party going. 

Mona recorded me a vine of Climb Ev'ry Mountain to help encourage me this week. 

And we ended the night singing So Long, Farewell, as Mona walked out the door. 

It was an all around magical night! 

(yes, that last line was over the top cheesy, but I warned you from the start that musicals make me giddy)