A Day in Hanna's World

Happy 4th of July

  Didn't do anything for the 4th of July really (I worked from 9 till 2) but that's ok because next weekend I actually have off (the first weekend in weeks) and we are planning a little getaway which will be nice. Our wedding anniversary (well our American one since we had two ceremonies) is on July 12 so it will be nice to get away and celebrate. We are going to Plum Island, MA which isn't terribly far away (about a 3 hour drive) but looks really nice. We booked a room at a lovely inn and our room even has a jacuzzi tub - how cool. :) It's only for two nights (Fr-Sun) but it will be nice to get away for a few days. 

Not too much else new really. This past week was fairly busy with the holiday and all. Next week will probably be pretty busy too since I have a new employee starting to replace a girl who is leaving in 3 weeks. But it's not all that long now until my trip to Austria. I'll be on a plane July 22. Yay. :)

Mail update: Tomorrow a letter is going out to: Celia/MA. Received letters from/still owe replies to: Jessica/DE, Charles/TN, Kimber/Canada and Tiffany.OK. 

Austrian weeks at the Food Emporium

Here I am again, of course it's been ages again but that just seems to be the way it goes these days. Been working pretty much every Saturday for the past few weeks and have only been able to take 1/2 days off during the week to make up for it but I guess 1/2 a day at home is better than no day at home. :) I am not sure if things will get much quieter before I go on vacation July 22nd but we will see. All in all I am doing ok with my staff/temp employees/etc., it's just that there is always something to do, somebody to train, somewhere to fill in, pretty much a neverending story.

But anyway, enough complaining. Yesterday I worked until 1:30 pm and after that we went down to NYC to have a late lunch/early dinner. After that we went to the Food Emporium (a grocery store chain) to check out the Austrian weeks. Just like last year they are carrying a bunch of Austrian products for a certain time span which is pretty cool. If you want to check out the flyer click here. I bought some blueberry jam, pickles and chocolates. :)

Today we are home, relaxing and enjoying a lazy day at home. Let's see what else have we been up to. Not all that much I suppose. Last weekend I worked till 6pm on Saturday and Sunday we went to NYC to eat at the Austrian Cafe Steinhof. June 16th was Mike's niece's High School graduation which we attended. Time sure flies.

Mail update: Since the last update letters have gone out to: Emilia/Finland and Caroline/Scotland. Received letters from/still owe replies to: Kimber/Canada, Tiffany.OK and Celia/MA. 

It's been a long time

  ....  I know, I know, it's been ages since I last updated. Work is still really busy. Had somebody go on early maternity leave which meant more unexpected training and dealing with my scheduling and day-to-day work. Right now I am working 6 days at least for the next three weeks. I am waiting for somebody else to come back from leave and hopefully then things will at least fall back into place a little bit. The summer months tend to be at least a little quieter so there is some hope. :)

The weekend before last I was actually off which was nice. I am trying to remember what we did but can't seem to come up with anything. This past weekend I was working Saturday and off Sunday. Mike put my new computer together for me and I was able to install the Sims3. I am totally hooked. :) So I spent most of the weekend re-installing programs and putting everything back into place on the new computer. I am very excited about it though, now that everything is working the way I want it to (for the most part). It's amazing how fast everything runs and installs now. It's definitely nice to have new technology. :)

Mail update: Since the last update letters have gone out to: Jessica/DE, Carmen/Malta and Celia/MA. Received letters from/still owe replies to: Emilia/Finland and Caroline/Scotland. 

Is it the weekend yet?

....  I feel like all I have been doing is complain about work but it's definitely been nutty lately. Can't seem to keep up with my staffing. You would think it wouldn't be this hard in this economy. I mean I do have a few great people but it just seems like there is always one position that I am having trouble with. I can't seem to keep up, covering all sorts of shifts, staying late etc. The distribution department is struggling badly too, drivers quitting, not working out, managers having to cover routes. My situation seems to usually go hand in hand with that as well since the more routes are having issues the more customer call and complain. I am hoping for a better week next week but we will see. This all seems to go in cycles so hopefully we will hit an "up cycle" again soon.

On a more positive note we did go for a nice long walk in NYC Memorial Day weekend. Got sunburnt but other than that it was a beautiful day. Walked all along the riverfront, starting around 57th Street down to Battery Park.
Then last weekend I worked Saturday but Sunday we went to NYC again, this time to see a baseball game. Was the first time this season we went so we got to check out the new ballpark the Mets are playing in now. Had a lot fun and the Mets even won. Yay. :)   

Well, we will see what the rest of the week brings. Still behind on my letters too but trying to catch up. Also have had barely any time to read lately. Defnitely need to try and make time for at least a few chapters soon. Well, enough complaining for now. Right now I am REALLY looking forward to my trip to Austria in July. No responsibilities, just being lazy by the pool, eating all my favorite foods. :)

Mail update: Since the last update letters have gone out to: Becki/KY, Celia/MA, Tizz/Holland, Charles/TN and Lotte/Dennmark. Received letters from/still owe replies to: Jessica/DE, Emilia/Finland,  Carmen/Malta and Caroline/Scotland. 

Finally ....

....  I am just glad it's Saturday afternoon and this week is finally over. I am at home now and relaxing. Had to work today but got out at 2:30 which was good. And I am actually off on Monday (Memorial Day), believe it or not. I am usually almost never off on the holidays (well except for Christmas, Thanksgiving & New Year's). Monday will be my scheduled day off for the week since I am working Saturday again next week so I will also get a floating holiday out of the deal. Not so bad. :)

This week was definitely a killer. The week prior to a holiday is usually very busy and on top of that I was way short staffed on the two busiest days. Fun fun. But as always we got through it so it's all good. And now I am home and off for two days. Yay.

As long as the weather cooperates we are thinking about going down to NY tomorrow to take a walk along the riverfront. It's fleet week so we might get to see some cool ships too. The weather has been absolutely gorgeous this week and I didn't get to enjoy it at all with all the work so it would be nice to be outdoors in the fresh air tomorrow.

Not too much else new other than that. Planning possible (?) vacations in my head every day to distract myself from work, looking forward to summer & wishing we lived somewhere with a beach. I am hopelessly behind on my mail once again after doing pretty well for a while. So if you are expecting a letter from me I will do my best to get to it soon! 

Mail update: No mail has gone out. :( Received letters from/still owe replies to: Charles/TN, Lotte/Denmark, Emilia/Finland, Celia/MA, Tizz/Holland, Carmen/Malta, Caroline/Scotland and Becki/KY. 

Relaxing Sunday & Dublin photos

Returned back to the US on Monday and it's been back to the daily grind since then. Work has been busy and hectic, partly from catching up after the vacation, partly from being a tad short staffed and partly from the upcoming holiday (Memorial Day) next week Monday. I am already in need of another vacation. Ha ha. 

I managed to index all of our photos today. There aren't that many since it was a short trip so it was fairly easy.If you are curious just click here. (** edit - updated link to hopefully make it work now **) We definitely had a great time and I would return to Dublin again in a heartbeat. Would love to see more of Ireland, drive around the country and stay at various B&B's. Well, some day. :)

Not too much else new or going on. Tomorrow is another Austrian meet-up at the Wharf Bar in NYC so we will probably go to that. Should be fun. Working 6 days next week because of the holiday so by next weekend I am sure I'll be ready for another relaxing day. :) 

Mail update: Letters went out on Tuesday to: David/IN and Nina/WA. Received letters from/still owe replies to: Emilia/Finland, Celia/MA, Tizz/Holland, Carmen/Malta, Caroline/Scotland and Becki/KY. 

Hello from Dublin

 Just a quick post as we are getting ready to go out for dinner in a few minutes. Arrived in Dublin yesterday morning and are really enjoying ourselves so far.

Yesterday we mostly just wandered all around the center of the city, exploring and taking pictures in an effort to shake off the jetlag. :)

Today we went to the National Museum and Gallery which were both really neat. Had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe. Tonight we will probably check out some of the pubs in the Temple Bar area. It's amazing how many pubs there are in this city. I love Bulmer's cider even though it's called Magner's everywhere else (how odd). The brightly colored doors are really neat too. Tomorrow we are going to see Malahide Castle.

Mail update: Since the last update a letter went out to: Celia/MA. So far a letter is going out to David/IN when we return back to the US. Received letters from/still owe replies to: Nina/WA and Emilia/Finland. 

Yay for Dublin .... not long now

5 more days. :) I am very excited. :) Still A LOT to do before we are ready to leave (especially at work) but I am excited nonetheless. Maybe it will make my remaining days at work a little easier knowing that I have a fun trip coming up. We are only going for 4 nights but that's ok. Of course I would love to take a longer trip but I doubt that would be a good idea with work. Plus it means we will get to take another short trip sooner. :)

This week actually went by sort of fast which is good. I still have to work today and tomorrow but at least there is an end in sight. Can't believe it's May already. This year is just flying by way too fast.

Mail update: Since the last update letters went out to: Tiffany/OK and Jessica/DE. Letters are going out today to: Sarah/Canada and Tizz/Holland. Received letters from/still owe replies to: Celia/MA, Nina/WA, David/IN and Emilia/Finland. 

Hello from Philly

Just a quick update from Philadelphia. We totally lucked out with the weather this weekend. It's in the mid 80'ies (29C) and sunny. It's weird going from early spring to summer overnight. But hey, I am not complaining. I'll enjoy it while it lasts. In the beginning of the week it's supposed to go back down to more seasonally 60'ies (15C). So for right now I am enjoying the summer dresses and a mini weekend vacation. :)

Got here around 11 and walked over to the Hard Rock Cafe to have lunch. After that we went to see the Galileo exhibit at the Franklin Institute which was really neat. Now at the hotel relaxing a bit and picking out a place for dinner. There is a really neat wine bar not far from the hotel so we might check that out. Tomorrow we are seeing the Cezanne exibit at the Museum of Art at 11. Definitely a nice weekend. And yay for the weather. :)

Mail update: A letter is going out on Monday to: Jessica/DE. Received letters from/still owe replies to: Emilia/Finland, Tiffany/OK and Sarah/Canada. 

Weekend Update

And another week has gone by. Seems like the weeks are just flying by but in a way that's good because it means our Dublin trip is getting closer (only about 2 1/2 more weeks to go now). Next weekend we are off to Philadelphia, just a short Sat-Sun 1 night trip but it will still be fun to get away for a tiny bit. Going to see two exhibits that are currently on display in Philly. A Cezanne one at the Museum of Art and a Galileo one at the Franklin Institute. Looking forward to both.

On a different note: I am really ready for spring. It keeps getting warmer and then it gets freezing cold again - it's like a tease. Grrr.
I mean today isn't all that bad but compared to yesterday's almost-summer weather (first time I wore sandals this season) it's chilly. And tomorrow it's supposed to be even colder and raining all day. I am so ready for some nice weather !!!

Mail update: Since the last update a letter went out to: Celia/MA. A letter is going out tomorrow to: Lotte/Denmark and Charles/TN. Received letters from/still owe replies to: Emilia/Finland, Tiffany/OK and Sarah/Canada.