Thursday, July 19, 2007

Cakeworthy at last!

This just in...

Just two weeks shy from her two year anniversary at B.J. Alan Company, Kim Wetzl has finally become CAKE WORTHY! At 3:33 p.m. on July 19, 2007, Kim was summoned into the BJA breakroom where a delicious IGAwhitecakewithwhippedcreamfrosting was awaiting her with this inscription:

Congratulations, Kim!
You ARE Cakeworthy!

All my friends and co-workers were there to wish me luck, and it was a very nice surprise. Bruce and Alan (Zoldan, the owners) were there, as was Jerry (the VP) to see me off, give me their best wishes, and to thank me for all my hard work. Alan even gave me hugs, and I got a kiss on the cheek from Bruce. I'm positively blushing!

I have to say, I'm going to miss the people I worked with. I really am. I've made some really good friends here. As I'm writing this, I'm actually tearing up a bit just thinking about all the good times and laughs we've had. It's a happy and a sad day. Wow. Who would have thought? I think I'll miss it.

Good bye, B.J. Alan. It's been swell!

Monday, July 16, 2007

It's been a long time

It sure has been a long time since I last updated you all about all my goings on. The most major change in my life right now is that I am currently working my last week at BJ Alan. No more fireworks for this girl! Starting on August first, I will be the Director of Marketing and Communications for the Mideast Baptist Conference. This will be my job for two days out of the week. The rest of my time will be spent as the worship leader for The Gate Church. For now, I'll be based out of my house :) I'm so excited about all this and can't wait to see how it all unfolds. I've been witness to some amazing things in the life of my little church lately, and this is just another huge blessing that has come my way of late. Too much to comprehend, really.

Sam, I've got tomatoes! O how glorious it was to see that bright red fruit hanging from my plants. Lots of green ones, too. I'll call you about the beetle problem. It seems to have passed, and my lettuce fared pretty well, considering the damage those awful bugs did to my rose bush. I would still like to talk about the problem for future reference, however. Oh yeah! I have some hot peppers, too! And beans! And cucumbers! It's all so delicious - I've been feasting on a lot of salad lately :)

I have to tell you all a little bit about my time at the fireworks store. I worked ten days there, 12 hours every day, so I got to see a lot of interesting folk. It didn't turn out so bad for me because two days before I started my stint at the store, I broke my toe during an especially hard-fought sparring match when I kicked my opponent with a devastating turning-jumping roundhouse kick to the head! (The truth doesn't sound quite as good.) :) Because of my broken toe, my job mostly consisted of sitting on a stool at the front of the store handing out stickers to little kids. Kind of like a Wal-Mart greeter. When I got bored of that, I'd help people pick out fireworks to buy. I had three customers I helped buy over $2,000 worth of fireworks. The biggest sale of the season was a whopping $13,000 followed a few days later by a $9,000 sale. Amazing, huh?

Hey Elizabeth, here's a story idea for you:
A West Virginia family travels five hours to Boardman, Ohio to buy fireworks. They sell their kids' shoes and the family's food stamps, and pass on the dental visits so that they have enough money to have the best damn fireworks show in the trailer park. On July 3rd, they pile the four kids, mom, dad and grandma into the pickup truck and head out. Upon entering the store the shock on the face of the girl who was kindly giving stickers to the kids didn't even register; so intent were they on having the best damn fireworks show in the trailer park - shock at the copious amount of black hair spanning the expanse of ma's barely-covered, three-hundred-pound chest, and shock at the equally thin and hairless pa...

So E, think you can take it from here?

I have come to the conclusion that the caliber of customer that comes to the store lessens in direct correlation to the proximity of the Fourth of July holiday. The closer it gets to the Fourth, the drunker, higher, smellier, dirtier gets the customer. I could use so many more adjectives.

I have to say, I just might miss all the entertainment. The hairy chest lady is REAL!