Millionaire

If I could make money from my ideas, I would be a millionaire.  It would work if I could just find someone who needs them!  Or, as my loving and supportive husband says, if I someday had a good enough idea!

I'm always brainstorming, always the entrepreneur, trying to advance up, invent something, change the world!  Ok, that last one went a little far (little bit TOO optimistic there, Naomi!), so moving on... to my next idea!  

It's not even about the money, though unfortunately most of my ideas require some!  I have a passion for children, for learning, for teaching, for seeing wives and mothers live out their Godly calling.  I just need to wrap it all up in a self-supporting (doesn't necessarily have to make money, just has to support itself) practical lifestyle that I could start NOW!  Patience, as is probably typical (though still not justified), is not a top trait of an entrepreneur.   

In the second-half of the chapter we read from Dave Ramsey's book EntreLeadership, he introduces the word "Mompreneur" (moms who are entrepreneurs, working from home or a variety of other ideas and the like) which is my coolest new word of the day and set me on fire all over again!

Poor Ben, he is so patient with me as I jump from one inspiration to the next!  It is a roller-coaster of an adventure - the ride of a lifetime! (who wouldn't want to come along, anyway?!) - that starts with one idea that leads to the next to the next to the next... "What about the house!!!?????"  he cries, as we go flying off.  (Our long-term taking-a-long-time-project that needs to be completed.)

"Don't worry, it'll still be sitting here when we come back around someday!"  (Envision something like Santa's sleigh flying back to the house and swooping round it.  Also, a play on words that someday I'll come down from the clouds back to my senses and do something practical!) 

Currently I work at Pizza Ranch, which is a great place to start!  I really do like working there, so I'm aiming to work my way up to manager.  I just found out that MN is one of five states left that still hold the minimum wage at $7.25 for waitresses PLUS tips!  We could save a lot more money faster if I worked at a full-service restaurant such as Perkins.  So maybe I could get an evening job there.  After working at the front counter at Pizza Ranch for the lunch hour.  Or the Bistro, a super fancy restaurant in the downtown.  At up to $40 a plate, probably the people frequenting there would tip even better for exceptional service!  It would be top-notch of course, because when I decide to do something, I am going to do it WELL!  Coinciding with whatever food service job I may have, I could take a short course and test to become a first responder serving the small town of Tracy (one of the ideas of this week).  With just a little more training (about 3 months) I could be certified as a basic EMT.  I loved the drills on the ship, having responsibility and being prepared for emergencies, (and have dreamed of being a first responder to worldwide disasters) so this would be right up my alley!  Just today we took the class and did some shooting to get our Permit to Carry...  and now I have learned one more thing!  Ever learning, ever onward.  Which reminds me that I would like to be a teacher.  To home school our kids, and if I studied for and took the Pre-Professionals Skills Test (PPST, now called Praxis I, I think?), I could homeschool other people's kids.  My dream would be to run a one-room schoolhouse!  Upon considering that idea more, it might be better to adjust it slightly, to be a sort of on-call person who could invest in helping mothers teach their own children.  I could be knowledgeable about a lot of curriculums, do lots of research, be a great encouragement, write a blog for these moms and tonight I started writing a book to that effect!  Be prepared, long-time home school moms!  Some survey questions might be coming your way soon!  These latest ideas are after we've narrowed down my vision and goals through writing a life mission statement.  Which helped me say "no" to several job offers I've received lately:  Three times I've been asked/told I should be a car salesperson, offered a $30,000/yr + full benefits full-time job with Schwans as a Route Sales Representative Trainee, and the latest, a Mary Kay professional beauty consultant.  This was after wondering about being a photographer and initially getting a job at PictureMe!  I almost forgot the things I'm working on right now, that would be Medical Transcription courses, learning about and implementing interior design for our house, and teaching Sunday school.  Of course, my life dream to be a wife and a mom haven't changed; I figure I'll just do more things along the way!    

Whew!  Did that tire anyone else out?  And these are just some of my ideas from the last, oh, four months or so.  I come up with an average of about three new ideas for my life per week, and a new revelation this week has proved that when I drink coffee (caffeine) it can jump to as many as 3 per DAY!!!  The Energizer bunny on steroids - an understatement.

"Hang on, Benjamin!  We're in for the ride of our life!!!"  You are the most understanding fun man I could ever spend it with! <3

And from today...

      

On the Pizza Ranch blog!

It is really special to be featured on PizzaRanchServes' blog today!  You can read it HERE. :)

P.S.  Don't forget to come visit me at work!  Marshall, MN between Walmart and Menards~

Pizza Ranch

The continuation of my crazy job-story, Part 2.

Of how I came to work at Pizza Ranch instead of PictureMe... it still starts with a "P"!

(Didn't that sound like a Winnie the Pooh title?)

          I woke up on this dreaded Friday morning and dressed again in classy black and white.  It was only my second day at work - and I hated my job.  (I am sorry, kids who might be reading this - that is a very strong word... I should say greatly disliked my new job.)

          I had five minutes before I needed to leave out the door and I needed something that would make me feel a little more cheerful.  So I decided to look up Pizza Ranch's website!  At the bottom they had a button that said "PizzaRanchServes", I clicked it and it was a link to their blog.  This is what I saw:

Go to HERE to read it

A devotional???  A link on the left that says 'Prayer' and they will pray for your prayer requests?  I clicked on the 'About' and it listed their Vision and Mission.  The Vision?  "To glorify God by positively impacting the world we live in."  Glorify God!?  How cool!  And what on earth...???

          But it was time to go, and face the dreaded job and tell them I'm sorry, it's just not me, and I need to do what's best for me - it is not worth the physical and emotional stress/damage except maybe for a much higher pay wage and for sure confirming time off at Christmas.  Both were impossible to grant. Legally they must give the new employee the choice after two days of video training to take the job or not.  I said I'm sorry, but no, I cannot stay; I have no peace about it.

          I wasn't sure why God had it be this way.  I had been excited for working here, I worked hard to get accepted and I tried my best to like it even when negative aspects came to light.  I thought it had been God leading up to this point!  So why was I here and it didn't work out?  Maybe God was trying to show me that the working world is not all it's cracked up to be and I should be content to be at home.  That sounded great to me - anything besides working at a job!  If this is what jobs are like, I was scared away from wanting any job.  For now, I was jobless and FREE, and couldn't have been happier!           

          I called Ben when I stepped out of Wal-mart, "Ben!  I DON'T HAVE A JOB!!!!  And I'M SO HAPPY TO NOT HAVE A JOB!!!!!!"

           

          An hour later I texted Ben:  "I'm HIRED at Pizza Ranch!  Doing training the rest of the day!"  What happened between then and then, you say.  That morning - by faith - I had brought along my cowboy boots, work appraisals and resume from the ship, and the checkbook (in case of direct deposit).  I was thinking that if the job didn't work out, I could at least hope to get called for an interview for Pizza Ranch that day so that I wouldn't have to make another trip to town.  Well after I didn't have a job anymore, I decided to go over to Pizza Ranch to follow-up on my application and amend the date I was available to start work.  Instead of January, it was now!  Anytime!  I am here!

          I went in and once again, many happy people in a very busy/fun atmosphere!  They found a manager who happened to have a little time open so they could interview me.  First, they had to find my application in the stack... they hadn't even looked at it yet.  Eventually the guy dug it out and we sat at a brand new table for an interview.  Basically they wanted someone cheerful with a positive attitude and a smile, who could work in a team and also interact with people (customers) well and could handle it being very busy/hectic.  I said THAT'S ME!  Wow, what a perfect fit!  My favorite foods?  Spaghetti, PIZZA, and lasagna (no correlation there, is there?!).  And I love a western theme (see the boots?)  They saw enough from my work appraisal on Deck and my initiative trying to get this job even though I was a latecomer and my smile, that before I had time to even talk to Ben about working here, I was hired!

          But there was no time to lose!  The rest of the new crew who had been hired over the past two months all had started work with orientation on Wednesday and training on Thursday.  Now, it was Friday.  The miracle about it was, all the training that had been given on Thursday, was repeated Friday.  Today.  NOW!  They ushered me quickly into the first session of the day, and on I went on this roller-coaster of a whirlwind from training to training and in between I would run back, fill out more paper work, and back to class!  Then I would dash out, they threw a uniform at me, I changed and back into training session I went!  The next in between time, I was registered into the system and there I was, clocked-in for my first day at my second job in two days!

          There was only one little breather of a break between two of the sessions, after everything had been sorted out paperwork-wise, so I had a little time.  It was late afternoon and I hadn't had any lunch yet so I drove across town to grab a bite, gas-up and had just enough time to stop at Goodwill.  My dressy clothes weren't quite right for a restaurant!  By now I was partly transformed; a Pizza Ranch visor, name tag and T-shirt that was too big for me (they didn't have any more smalls), along with my dress slacks and white cowboy boots!  I had 5 minutes to find the perfect pair of jeans at Goodwill.  I ran in, grabbed two off the rack, tried them on, one pair fit and I just left those on and went up to the counter and said, "I'd like to buy these jeans that I'm wearing!  I'm in a time crunch and it's part of my uniform and I just left them on!"  Poor lady, she must have been confused.

          Back I went to the brand new restaurant, one article of clothing at a time getting the right dress code on.  At least I didn't stand out so badly now from the rest of the crew!  All that was different now was I was still wearing white cowboy boots, which unfortunately I can't wear for work because I have to have slip-resistant shoes.

          By Friday night I was caught up to everyone else who had been working on applying for the last two months.  It was definitely a God-thing to walk in and walk out with a job!

          I feel so privileged to get to work in a brand new restaurant that still smells like wood and fresh paint, to be part of the team that gets to set high standards in this not-even-open-yet franchise branch, and to work in a place where God is hung on our walls right in the front door where you come in, big and bold in our vision statement.  God is good.  I get to sing along to my favorite Christian artists (Casting Crowns) as I clean the buffet glass because we play either country or Christian radio.  I work in a team, and I am getting to know some of the other girls.  I work in an atmosphere where we smile and build each other up.  I work in a family-friendly restaurant (that doesn't serve alcohol) where I'll be able to interact with lots of kids.  I get to serve people and make them happy!  I get to bring out their favorite kind of pizza!

          We have a higher calling than just making pizza and chicken.  As we learned when we watched a video made by Chic-fil-A - on a computer that was on a chair which was stacked on top of a table... great makeshift movie theatre there! - it's about serving, about making a difference in our communities.  As our mission statement says, Pizza Ranch is a ministry opportunity to give our guests our very best - Legendary service!  And I get to work in such a place as this.  God is good!

We open on Monday.  

I get to be the first one to welcome the guests to Pizza Ranch!