These pics were taken on Aug. 27th...the day before opening. Notice all the stuff on the floor in the kitchen--I was pretty surprised when it all came together at the last minute. On the night before opening we have a private party. Those invited: new hires and their families, other store associates and managers from the area and their families, people from the shopping center we're in. There was a pretty good turn out. The all-stars (those who come from surrounding areas to help open the store) run the kitchen and everyone eats for free. It's kindof like a dry run to make sure all the equipment is working. It's a great time to visit and get to know the families of my new hires.
My friend Cathy and I

This is "mini-me"...Alicia, my assistant manager

Our little INO family

My beautiful store, 221
This is my shift team (l to r):

Alicia-2nd manager

Tommy-4th manager

Joe-3rd manager

These last few weeks have been pretty trying. It's hard not to see my little girl--I miss her lots. My crew is doing great and I've already given out about 14 raises. The kids were pretty excited.

Ok, enough about the store... my dad just told me that he and his girlfriend broke up tonight. :( His heart hurts, but he's a strong guy--he'll move on. His words, "There's other fish in the sea." Everything happens for a reason and I think part of this happening was to get him back to Arizona where he's closer to family.

Well, it's late and I've got to hit the hay.

I'm tired...

Today is my 11th day straight working and I still have 2 more to go til my day off. It's been a busy week with the store opening. It's been fun, but definitely a challenge. There have been a lot of equipment issues...a lot more than expected at a brand new store. I have a great crew, and it's fun to train them and see their excitement. Several of them already have aspirations of going into management...we'll see which ones last!

Our house is still underway. We are still in the paperwork process, yet we found out yesterday that the flooring we chose is going to be delayed :(

Baylee girl is doing great. She had her 4 mo check up last Thurs. She weighs 11 lbs. 8 oz and is 24 in long. Doc said she's ready for some solids, so Lui bought some gerbers and we've been giving them to her. The 1st few times were a little rough cause she couldn't really understand what was going on. But last night and tonight she ate the whole thing! Lil Miss Piggy!!! She's the cutest thing ever. She rolls over all the time now and is so strong holding her head up while she's on her tummy. Grandma was here for 2 weeks, but this past Sunday went home to mexico :( Baylee had so much fun with her and was sad to see her go. She went to the sitter for the 1st time on tues, and she did really well. They said she was so good. She always is. She's our little angel. She still sleeps really well. We put her down around 8 or 830 and she'll get up around 730. wow!

My dad was engaged a few weeks ago and they had decided on dec 27th for the date. They recently agreed to postpone the wedding, but my dad is still going to move down to az to be closer to his hunny.

Well, that's about it for now. Life is good. I miss my baby cause I've been working so much. :(