Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Christmas Cards & SICKNESS
Saturday night I came down with what could have possibly been the WORST flu / stomach virus accompanied by pain only mirrored by being in labor that i have ever had in my life. I joked with Aaron that if we didn't get the Christmas cards done he would probably get my sickness. We didn't get them done and sure enough Aaron got sick!
Needless to say.....we got Christmas cards done today! YES!!! the wife wins another battle!
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Being an HR Manager has it's advantages...
"Ms. Hambrick can I leave early today?" "Why" "Well the lights in the store are too bright and I think I need to go home and recover from that...." "Mr. Harris, you may leave and recover from that if I get to leave and recover from you asking me that"
Mr. Harris finished his shift
"Ms. Hambrick I need help, I cut my finger!" (Kate grabs the first aid kit and begins to perform first aid) "Mr. Ramsey (who is 46 years old) how on earth did you cut your finger" "One of the teenagers asked me how bad it hurts if you cut your finger on the meat slicer and I told them I didn't know how bad it hurt so I tried it to find out" (after bandaging his finger that did not need stitches thank heavens! and in a calm voice) "Michael, don't ever let me hear that you say or do something that proves a 17 year old is smarter than you again" "Well then Ms. Hambrick you won't want to hear what I told him it felt like" (internal thought-OMG!) "What did you tell him" "I told him it felt like getting drunk and zipping your who-how up in your pants because my buddies and I do that for laughs when we get drunk on the weekends" "Mr. Ramsey-forget my previous statement about being smarter than a 17 year old."
(phone rings in Kate's office) "Ms. Hambrick, there is a person here who would like to get a job." "okay, bring them to my office" "OK-where is your office?" (internal thought-did you come to work stoned or stupid today because I can't really tell the difference) "Never mind I will come get the applicant" "OK" (approaches applicant) "Can I help you" "yes ma'am I need a job" "Why are you looking for one" "Well my brother is the guy that just called you on the phone and I lost my job this morning because I did not pass a surprise drug test." "Why is that" "Because my brother and I smoked pot with our friends last night at a party" "Well then I am afraid you will not pass my pre-employment drug screen and your brother will need to visit me in my office-the one he can't find because he is working while under the influence of drugs" "Oh that sucks!"
(No kidding!!! that employee was let go after I drug tested him. He went home with his big mouth brother)
(called an employee in my office for discipline) "Miss Lee I asked you to visit me today because we need to talk about the piercings you have. As we discussed in your interview and twice after being hired, if you want to work here you may not have the eyebrow ring, the nose ring, the tongue ring or more than 2 piercings in your ears of which you have 5. Do you understand why we don't allow pierces at work?" "Yes Ms. Hambrick" "Why is that" "Because you don't want the customers to get jealous that we look better than they do" (such a bold statement for a little girl about 21 years old who has more holes in her head than a block of swiss cheese) "No Miss Lee that is not why.....there are several reason, food safety, consistent appearance of all employees but most of all your safety. " "Oh (she thinks for a minute) well if I promise to have some other people in my department get piercings can I keep mine" (i kid you not I just put my head down and thought to myself....seriously! is it that had to understand and who the "blank" hired you because it wasn't me.....you would never have been able to pass the count to 10 and tie your shoelaces portion of my interview process! that is me blowing off steam mentally) "Reece, lose the piercings or I will ask a member of management to let you go.....you have had several warnings and I don't appreciate you trying to get out of this by giving me smart mouthed answers." "Oh Ms. Hambrick I wasn't trying to be smart!--I was trying to get out of following the rules" (internal thought-no kidding! Reece did not make it too much longer after that. She was let go when her nose ring got caught on the handle trigger of the deli slicer she was cleaning and ripped it out of her nose.)
"Ms. Hambrick.....can I go home?" "Why" "Because I had a violent explosion of diarrhea before I could make it to the bathroom and it's all over me and I tried to clean it up but it just smeared all over my pants and....." "STOP! that's enough! you may go home" (why couldn't you just say you were sick? do i have a sticker on my forehead that says give me the graphic details!) "Well I thought if I didn't tell you exactly what happened then you would make me stay and then I might crap on the floor in front of a customer." (again-DIDN"T NEED TO HEAR THE LOGIC OF WHY YOU SHARED SO MANY DETAILS) "Nope-I going to let you go home"
There are several more that I could dish out but these remain a few of my favorites! AWWW! The joy of working with people! Young or old-doesn't matter! I have some really charming people!
Christmas Gifts
So my thought this morning as I roled around in bed was about Christmas presents and how extremely HARD it is to find something or make something that is going to be well received and not end up in a garage sale of Goodwill within the next season's cleaning out. Laugh but it is true! I have had it happen! I made something for a person and when shopping in DI in Utah about 3 months later saw the gift that I made......tragically funny when I purchased it back and re-gifted it with the price tag on it from DI to the same individual for their birthday. I KNOW!!!! It was not very Christ-like but I thought it was a more productive way to put my hurt and anger to use!
ANYWHO!!! Where I am so new to the Hambrick family I just don't know everyone well enough yet to see exactly what I can get away with in terms of homemade gifts vs. store bought! HA! Not to mention that I'm so jealous of how beautiful Shanen's Stampin' Up stuff is gorgeously made and how Teresa can find like the perfect bargin for everyone so I am at a loss........then the thought hit me this morning that maybe I could do a combo of everything so below is Kate's imaginative recipe for the PERFECT family gift: (watch out family members! your stocking are going to be filled to the top)
1 part stupid, breaks in 2 seconds, made in china, oriental trading company catalog, paid too much for it gift from the dollars store!
1/2 part amazingly wonderful, sparkly, bought it in a set and broke up the set and gave each person just one piece because that was all I could afford, high-end, name brand, suppose to be so amazing label, department store gift!
2 parts Michael's craft store competing with AC Moore coupons and on clearance and the clearance was on sale, hot glue, lots of acrylic paint to hide the chips in it, fuzzy bows & clear tape gift that you will be obligated to keep until I die homemade gift!
and the last important ingredient:
Endless parts of deep down, grown in the trenches, harvested with the snow that we don't have for Christmas but cooked in the fire of love burning in my heart gift--the gift of love that I have for a wonderful family who probably won't care what we give for Christmas as long as we have moments of fun that we will string together to make the best Christmas ever!
So there you have it! My Christmas combo gift recipe that everyone will love and I'm hoping I can get a way with not just this year but every year to come!
Merry Christmas! :-)
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
OK, OK! I'm updating already!
Here is our update:
-I FINALLY FINALLY FINALLY found a job that I started in June! YaY!!!!!!! I am the HR Manager for a new Kroger Store in the Roanoke valley! I have about 200 employees that I help look after as well as a management team. Can I say that babysitting for over 40 hours a week should come with a better pay scale BUT in these VERY uncertain times I'm just so happy to have a job! I go back to school in January.
-Aaron has quit Foot Levelers and is now working for Kroger in their pharmacy technician program. He is on his way to being certified by the summer! Once he is certified he will go back to school in the fall.
-Life is absolutely not the same without our little Maysie but we are finally adjusting better than we have before to the massive life changing first part of the year. We miss our little girl very much but we are trying to be great parents here on earth to our tiny baby while she is waiting for us in heaven.
-We have both had a brithday since our last update. Aaron is now 20 and as I have been informed by my darling hubby I am now old at 29!
So that is about it for the Hambricks right now! We are breathing, finding joy with each other, remembering why we got married to each other (since we got married, had a baby, lost a baby and jobs all within 35 days of getting married) and loving the fact that life is getting back to some kind of path!!
I WILL GET better at the updating thing! I need to put new pics on the blog too! I'm such a slacker!
Saturday, April 26, 2008
Life goes on....AGAIN!
As for us, we are trying to move on! Slowly but surely! Aaron and I find it hard to fill our days with things to do. I was let go from my job the day after Maysie died because of not being there so I am looking very hard for employment. Aaron and I have decided to work an extra job each this summer to save enough money for Aaron to go back to school in the fall. Now that we don't have Maysie, our whole plan has changed once again and that takes a lot of getting used to.
We can not thank everyone enough for the love, prayers and support that were said on our behalf and that are continue to be said! In the short time that Maysie was on this earth, she touched us so much! She made Aaron and I a family and even though we can not be parents to her now, we will continue to parent her memory; the memory of the most beautiful, active little "adult" (she reminded me of a little adult instead of a baby) that for 8 glorious days defied all the odds and lived! I have pictures of her funeral but chose not to post them as there may be some who it would shock but please know that Maysie felt loved while on this earth by all those surrounding her and extended from her!
Our love and thanks to all!!
Aaron, Kate and Maysie Hambrick!
Friday, April 4, 2008
The AMAZING Maysie!
Here is her home! I call it her hotel! She has several lights on her to keep her billi count down-it's the stuff in your body that creates joundice (I hope I spelled that right). She has tons of pumps too but you can see the little pink flower on her front and the blanket made for her top. Aaron and I put our picture in her incubator so she can "see" Daddy and Mommy!
It's hard to see but she has dark brown hair just like her Daddy! But her little features and especially her ears look so developed!
Her feet look small but really they measure 1 1/2 inches! She has big feet for a baby her size! AGAIN-she got that from Aaron! I don't think she really got anything from me!
MORE pics to come! Thank you to everyone for all your prayers!! We thank God for our little girl and every moment we have we cherish!
Monday, March 31, 2008
Our "Little Bit"
As I mentioned above I went into pre-term labor on Tuesday the 25th which earned me a night's stay in the hospital being released on Wednesday....not to be my last visit, I ended up back in the triage center on Thursday evening with labor pains and was sent home because I wasn't changing and we were trying to keep our little bundle of joy in there as long as possible! Friday night by around 6:00PM I was in so much pain I could barely move so Aaron but my to bed with my legs and feet in the air....NOW the GOOD STUFF!
I was laying in bed, hungry around 9:45PM on Friday the 28th...Aaron went to make me a sandwich and I settled into an episode of The Golden Girls. No sooner had I felt my contractions going away, that I felt the HUGEST burst and water GUSHING out of me. I gasped and screamed for Aaron along the lines of "AARON, AARON, AARON, AARON!!!!!!!" He came running into the bedroom-I was crying and breathing and yelled that my water just broke. He helped up out of bed, threw a robe on me and held my hand as we flew down the stairs. AMAZING SKILLS this hubby of mine has because he was running down the stairs, me in one hand, calling the hospital in the other and then calling his parents. We made it to the hospital and we were told that I was 6 centimeters and would deliver within the hour. We were also told that our little girl was too small and would most likely be born either not alive or take a few breaths and pass away. Aaron and I burst into tears but somehow found strength to take about funeral arrangements and sign paperwork for her pending departure. We asked to speak with the neonatal team to see just what our chances were for our baby. The doctor that spoke to us was set on not trying to save our girl but after pleading with him he agreed that if she came out a weighing at least 1 pound his team would attempt to save her!
Once transfered into a delivery room, I was given pain medication and announced to everyone in between contracts that I was starving. To my surprise, my OB team allowed me to eat-very unusual! I had a little pizza from the cafeteria and fell asleep no longer in pain and with a full tummy. Around midnight, I noticed that my contractions were gone COMPLETELY! I had nothing! I slept intermittently until around 9:30AM Saturday morning when I awoke to a contraction--I was so good at pushing the button for pain meds that I think I pushed it in my sleep! My contractions progressed steadily through out the day all the while SHOVING MY FACE with every fatty, forbidden food known to mankind! The routine was, pain meds, food sleep for most of Saturday..... by the time 8:00PM rolled around, I had the most HORRIFIC contraction to date! It lasted 5 minutes and I thought that my entire body would leap of the bed. I called for the nurse and screamed that the pain wasn't going away! I was checked around 8:45 and was told she was coming and get ready to push! WHAT I'm still trying to deal with pain here! I can't concentrate on pushing out a baby! Needless to say I screamed and pushed not really knowing I was pushing and out came our little Maysie!! The only thing I remember while they were taking her away from me was WOW she is so LONG! I waited patiently for a number........that special little number.......her weight! It seemed forever but all of a sudden we heard 1 pound 1 ounce and she is intubated! I CRIED SO HARD!!!! Our little dream was breathing and made the cut off by 1 miraculous little ounce!!!! No wonder I was starving! She was gaining that little ounce so she could come into this world and have her life saved!
So the moment we are waiting for.........Introducing Maysie Diane Hambrick

Believe it or not.....she looks just like her Daddy! Dark hair and features....she did get Mommy's mouth and chubby little toes and look how long she is!!
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Newest Update-SURPRISE!
Our Family!
So I'm getting used to posting on the blog after several attempts but I thought it would be nice to put pictures of Aaron's family on the blog. Once I get pictures of my family I will post them too! So here goes.....
I don't have a picture of Jake and Shanan yet but when I track that down I will post it!
Kate's family to follow soon! My family is not the best about taking pictures but I'm sure I can find something! :-)
Wedding Day
and our YUMMY CAKE!!
Aaron and his mom Teresa! Don't they just look awesome!
We will post more photos when we get them! We all had a GREAT time and it just turned out beautiful! Many thanks to everyone who came and sent love and support!



