Happy Hump Day! I’m halfway through my very first Week in the Life. I can’t tell you how much I’m enjoying this project and how much it has changed how I view my world. The lessons I’ve learned about myself and what is truly important has been eye-opening. I can’t wait to sit down at the end of the week, look back, and give voice to some of my revelations. But right now, I’m still going forward, taking pictures and making notes.

Another night of closing, means a little sleeping in. The Service Department opens at 7:00 am, but I don’t have to be in until 9:00. I’m a hit snooze kinda girl and always set my alarm for at least 9 minutes before I actually have to get up. I am so not a morning person and refuse to get out of bed before I actually have to.

Still haven’t gone to the grocery store, so it’s a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for breakfast for me. Quick, easy, and delicious a good ole PB&J reminds me of my childhood.

I’m not the only one who needs breakfast. One of the things that make having geckos so convenient is their food. It’s a powder that you mix with water that smells like fruit. They don’t eat much so I only have to feed them every couple of days.

Work has been extremely busy this week, so we instituted the “Flood Warning”. It’s not often that we get behind, but there are times of the year that everyone decides to get their vehicles fixed at the same time. When that happens, we post these signs throughout the shop and pay our technicians extra to stay a little longer or come in on their Saturday off. We all know when we see these bright yellow papers that it’s time to kick it into high gear.

One of the first things I do every day is figure out and post our daily numbers. People come in and out of my office all day and I want to make sure everyone is aware of what we’re working toward and how we are doing. CSI stands for Customer Service Index and it’s a number I’m particularly proud of. We had a rough streak a couple of months ago and have worked really hard to get it back to where it needs to be. We may fix cars, but it all comes down to people in the end.

See that red light on the upper right corner of my phone? That’s my voicemail light and it’s lit about 80% of the time. Someone is always calling me for one reason or another. I’m the complaint department, the GM Case Handler, and right now, I’m trying to hire a couple of people. There’s always someone trying to get ahold of me and I love it!

Writing has always been important to me. I can be very forgetful and lose things every now and then. But never a pen! A great pen is my crack. I have dozens of them- in my purse, in my desk drawer, on the coffee table. People at work make fun of me because I’m the only one who ever runs a pen out of ink. This one happened to die on me during a meeting, but a pen lover always has an extra close at hand 🙂

Here I am driving to lunch. Well, not actually driving because that would be dangerous. While I was still in my parking spot, I used the timer and leaned my phone against the instrument cluster. I feel it’a a pretty accurate representation of what I must look like when I’m driving though and that’s good enough for me.

Another work day done. I kind of like being in the shop at the end of the night by myself. It’s quiet and peaceful and the rush of the day is over. This is the only dealership I’ve ever worked in, but I’m always proud of how clean it is here. Every year we all come in on a Saturday and spend several hours cleaning and painting and scrubbing. It’s not my favorite thing to do, but every time a customer comments on how nice our shop is we feel pride knowing we made it happen.

Lately, one of the first things I do when I get home is walk around the yard and look at my flowers and tomato plants. For the first few years after my divorce, I lived in an apartment. Now that I’m in a house with a yard, I look forward to having a garden. Daisies are our family flower. It reminds me of stories of how my parents met and it’s my mom’s favorite flower. I have a daisy tattoo and my daughter is planning on having daisies in her bridal bouquet.

I’d been home for less than an hour when an incredible thunderstorm hit. It’s tornado season here in Indiana and storms can put a lot of people on edge, but I love a good downpour. There’s just something hypnotic to me about the rain beating down on the pavement and the flashes of lightening. I stood on the front porch for quite a while watching the show.

Only three more days left in the week. I’ve been trying to evaluate what I’ve documented so far and what else I want to be sure to get pictures of. How has your week been going? Is your family tired of your camera or have you found yourself forgetting to take those pictures?