Giving thanks and a 1-year work update

Text message sent at 8:45pm last night: "Hey, sorry to bother you, just got back in town from Stephenville, Tx. What time do I come in tomorrow? I forgot to print my schedule out."

I got the message at 9:45 this morning, as I was heading into my Pilates class on my day off/Vacation Monday. It's from my assistant. My first thought was- I hope he didn't open the store on time, because he will be fired. My second thought was- how irresponsible do you have to be to not look at your work schedule?

Since my first post about becoming a store manager and my initial struggles with my assistant correcting my every move in the first week, certain things have improved, but overall, they are just as bad as that first week.

Soon after I started, he asked me, "Don't you think it's weird that they put you and Stefanie (another store manager) at two smaller stores within a short time? It seems like they are really trying to put women in as store managers." I brushed it off.

Then a customer came to me, concerned about some comments my assistant had made. Namely, calling me stupid and saying I don't deserve my position. I had to confront him about that. He had some excuses, but ultimately knew he had been caught.

He was almost fired for opening the store late over 20 times in a couple of month span. I had to research each instance and write him up; plus my boss had to come in and talk to him. He was offered a full-time position (demotion) at a different store, and he opted to stay where he's at, with one condition- if he opens the store even 1 minute late, he is fired.

The only way I can manage the situation- where he is my assistant and therefore our schedules do not overlap very often- is to come up with daily checklists to be completed, that keep everyone busy all day long, so there is no time to hang out. But it seems like there are lots of excuses going around, and lots of things being checked off the list but not completed.

My new part-timer helps a little bit, because he has a fun personality that goes well with mine, and he's a hard worker and wants to be there. He even told me that my assistant was telling him bad stuff about me. My part timer told me, "Watch out for those haters, they try to bring you down".

Bean's advice is either to yell at him, or fire him. Neither of which I can do. My boss' advice is to stick with it, don't let his negativity bring me down, and to write him up for anything he does. He also mentioned that there are 'certain situations' with 'certain employees' where he feels like they should have been fired when the opportunity first presented itself, but he decided to give them another chance and he's regretting it now. I think he was talking about my assistant.

I really don't hate my job- I like my responsibilities and some of my customers. But I can't say that being around this negative energy for most of my 48-hour workweek EVERY week hasn't worn me down. A lot.

I'm thankful that I have a wonderful husband who doesn't get that mad when I stress about work a lot. And my friends still care about me- they ignore the complaining that takes over sometimes. I'm thankful that I even have a job, when I have friends that were laid off and one that's still on unemployment. I'm thankful for my family who worries about my stress levels, and my babies, Eucie and Brooklyn who don't care about anything except me being there to hang out with them. I'm thankful for my house and the fact that it doesn't have popcorn ceilings anymore.

I'm thankful that we have worked hard and will reach our 8-month savings goal by the end of the year. I'm thankful we have a tenant at our rent house and that we are building equity and wealth every day. I'm thankful for my favorite holiday, Thanksgiving and eating a TON and talking to my cousins who are now in high school (!). And finally, I'm thankful that I write this and someone out there will read it.