I thought 7 was supposed to be a lucky number?? Sept TR **Life & PTR Update 5/11**

[PhoenixStrength]

Hi all! For those of you who didn't read my last TR or PTR, I'll tell you a little about myself.

My actual name is Stephanie, and I'm a 29 year old single gal from Maryland. I'm still living in MD currently, but plan to move to Florida later this year, the Bradenton/Sarasota area. This is me during this trip:





I am, somewhat obviously, a Disney freak! I have always loved everything Disney, and this trip will be my 7th trip to WDW, and the fourth solo trip.

I have a dog, Phoenix, who is a 9 year old Beagle/Belgian Malinois mix.

And 4 cats:
Jag, an 11 year old Maine Coon/Ragdoll mix (here with his best buddy Phoenix). He was a rescue from the local animal control when he was 11 weeks old.

Turk, an 11 year DSH. His momma was found, while pregnant, by a woman working in Baltimore who was very allergic to cats. She didn't want her to give birth in the city, so she caught her, brought her home, put her in the basement, and told her husband that he had to care for her and the kittens once they were born . She gave birth a few days later. I got Turk at 8 weeks, and she had named him that as all the kittens had been named after Disney movies, so I kept it!

Jynx, an 8 year old Torti with white. She was found by my parents with 4 of her siblings at around 6 weeks old. Their mom had been hit be a car and passed away. I kept her, my sister Lisa kept one of her sisters and my parents kept one of her brothers. They found homes for the other 2.

And finally Sweetie. She is a 7-ish year old DSH tabby. I found her when I was living in the boonies, and she adopted me. She went from injured and feral, to healed and sweet as can be in 2 weeks. She is difficult to get pictures of as she never stops moving, but here she is with Jag.

I have two younger sisters and my parents are still married. We all love Disney. One of my sisters, Heather, got married in 2011 to her boyfriend of 5 years, Jimmy. He is not as much of a Disney freak and has never been to WDW. But he tolerates Heather's love of Disney.

I volunteer a lot with animal rescues but am currently jobless, which I will discuss in more detail shortly!

Well, enough blabbering about me. If you have any questions please ask, otherwise let's get this TR under way!

​

 

[PhoenixStrength]

links

 

[SAT887]

I'm in! Is that picture from this trip or the last?

 

[KatMark]

I'm here, Stephanie.

Great intros...can't wait to read all about it.

 

[saintstickets]

I'm in. Looking forward to your TR...as usual!!

 

[mickeystoontown]

I'm here! I'm here! I'm here! Oh yeah baby! I'm here! Can you tell that I'm a little bit exchited to hear how you liked the trip?

 

[Pluto0809]

Made it! I love your Mickey Mouse shirt in the first picture!

 

[wiigirl]

Following along.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

I'm in! Is that picture from this trip or the last?

Hi Sarah. That is from this trip!

I'm here, Stephanie.

Great intros...can't wait to read all about it.

Hi Kathy, glad you are here. I'll get started on the trip itself very soon.

I'm in. Looking forward to your TR...as usual!!

Thanks for joining in.

I'm here! I'm here! I'm here! Oh yeah baby! I'm here! Can you tell that I'm a little bit exchited to hear how you liked the trip?

Hi Lisa!!! Glad you made it. I'm excited to let you know about the trip and CBR.

Made it! I love your Mickey Mouse shirt in the first picture!

Glad you made it Ariana. And thanks, I got that shirt a couple of days before I left for the trip.

Following along.

Happy you made it!

 

[afwdwfan]

I'm here. Sorry to hear about your less than stellar welcome home. I hope you can find something soon!

 

[taaren]

Hiya!

I'm in, and reading your PTR/TR gets me more excited about my upcoming trip (though for some reason my ticker is off, wasn't when I created it; it just didn't lose a month last month).

So sorry about your former boss being a jerk. I'm sure you'll find something soon, and hopefully in Florida!

 

[PhoenixStrength]

I'm here. Sorry to hear about your less than stellar welcome home. I hope you can find something soon!

Glad you made it, and thanks! I hope so too!

Hiya!

I'm in, and reading your PTR/TR gets me more excited about my upcoming trip (though for some reason my ticker is off, wasn't when I created it; it just didn't lose a month last month).

So sorry about your former boss being a jerk. I'm sure you'll find something soon, and hopefully in Florida!

Yay for an upcoming trip!

I hope I can find something soon too, and Florida would be the best.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

LIFE NEWS:

So, I put something about it on my PTR, but I'm not sure everyone say it, and I also said I would elaborate here anyway.

When I got home Saturday evening from my trip I found out I had been fired from my job while I was on vacation because a client complained about me, claiming she had video proof that I wasn't in her house as long as what she had paid for. I found out from my youngest sister, Lisa, who also works for the same company I did and was actually doing my job while I was away. My boss had her tell me as he thought it would be kinder to me. He didn't bother to call me while I away so maybe I wouldn't spend the money I now so desperately need, he told everyone else before me and he stressed my sister out terribly by making her tell me versus telling me himself. Needless to say I was extremely mad about this.

He had told her to have me call him to talk about it after 7pm that evening, so I did. Of course the conversation did not start well as I was very angry and he immediately got defensive and started yelling so I hung up on him. He called me back, surprised I was angry about what happened. After explaining to him that I was angry about several things, like how I was never given the chance to defend myself, see her so-called proof or give my side of the story, or how he told everyone but me that I was fired, or that he stressed my sister out to the point where she was not eating or sleeping by making her tell me and he was shocked I thought he acted unprofessionally for those reasons. I did really lay into him for a while and he changed his story several times. First he changed from saying he was firing me for the client complaint to saying it was because business had been declining for 2.5 years. That was news to me as he and I had a long talk about the state of the business in June and he told me that business had been improving by 1-1.5% every year and he was hoping for 3%. We agreed we would talk after the busy summer on how to bring the increase up even more. When I asked him why he lied to me and why he was blaming me for something he never told me, he just made excuses about not wanting to blame me and how it was at least half his fault but that I should still take the blame and be fired for it. I pretty much ran every single aspect of that company, except for marketing. That was fully their responsibility by their choice, but they decided to fire me because they were doing a bad job at it.

Then, when I told him it was bull to fire me because he was a bad owner he admitted that it probably was, because I was the best employee they every had and went above and beyond what they asked of me and lots of other great stuff about me. BUT because of the decline in business they could no longer afford to pay me so they needed to fire me and hire someone cheaper and that was the real reason I was being let go. He apparently had known that for months but still let me go on a vacation and spend a bunch of money that I now very much need, without giving me any heads up, then fired me when I got back. I told him he should have let me know earlier so I could cancel the trip and he just said he had hoped things would miraculously turn around and he could keep me.

So, I'm now jobless and very close to broke. I've spent all day Sunday, yesterday and today starting with filing for unemployment then submitting my resume to tons of places. Oh, and putting up everything I don't need on EBay so I can try to get a little money. I would love to use this chance to make my move to Florida, but seeing as I have no money to move and get a place I cannot see how to make that happen. But I also don't like getting a job here just to quit in a few months to move. So for now I'm filling out applications in both states while I figure out what to do. Just really frustrated with the whole situation and how they handled it, but I can't change that now so I'm trying to remain optimistic and hope someone I know wins the lottery, as I can't afford to buy tickets myself!

So, that's where I am now. Hoping that something good comes up and just doing what I can until then. If anyone has any ideas, advice, etc I am all ears!!

Thanks, and I will be back soon to start the actual TR, which I now have more time to focus on.

​

 

[Pluto0809]

What a rotten situation. I have a few words for your boss but I can't post them here without getting in trouble! I will definitely keep you in my thoughts and hope something works out for you really soon.

 

[afwdwfan]

That just sucks. Definitely not a professional way to handle it at all, from start to finish. If it was due to declining business, he should have just let you know before hand so that you could plan accordingly. He definitely doesn't sound like a very good businessman anyway if he was just hoping things would get better.

But putting your sister in the middle... wow. That's just awful. I'm sure she doesn't want to be jobless either, but I'd like to see her walk out on him and stick it to him when he needs her.

 

[KatMark]

I cannot believe the whole situation...from how it was handled to the lies. The man obviously does not have a clue what he is doing.

I truly hope something opens up for you soon; and don't worry about taking something for only a few months until you move. You have to do what is best for you.

 

[cheekypoppins]

oh my goodness Girl I am so sorry that you've had that to deal with ,that stinks! On a happier note I hope you get to move to florida and that you find an even better job that you love

 

[mickeystoontown]

I said it on facebook and on your pre-trip report but I'll say it again....I think that your boss was really crappy for firing you the way he did. Actually, he didn't have the nerve to fire you and had your sister tell you. What a wimp!

I've always said that those of us who work our tails off for a company are the ones who get bit in the behind in the end. The ones who just sit around and play all day (okay, so forget the fact that I'm on the Dis while at work ) are the ones who get all of the praise or get a pass when caught.

I'll keep you in my prayers and hope that you'll find something very soon!

 

[PhoenixStrength]

What a rotten situation. I have a few words for your boss but I can't post them here without getting in trouble! I will definitely keep you in my thoughts and hope something works out for you really soon.

Thanks. I used some of those words while talking to him.

That just sucks. Definitely not a professional way to handle it at all, from start to finish. If it was due to declining business, he should have just let you know before hand so that you could plan accordingly. He definitely doesn't sound like a very good businessman anyway if he was just hoping things would get better.

But putting your sister in the middle... wow. That's just awful. I'm sure she doesn't want to be jobless either, but I'd like to see her walk out on him and stick it to him when he needs her.

Yeah, he is not a great businessman for sure.

She actually took over my position (after making sure I didn't care) and then they have already screwed her over this morning by changing the hours they want her to work from the ones she agreed to over to ones she told them she didn't want.

I cannot believe the whole situation...from how it was handled to the lies. The man obviously does not have a clue what he is doing.

I truly hope something opens up for you soon; and don't worry about taking something for only a few months until you move. You have to do what is best for you.

Thanks. I'm hoping to get a specific position I applied for at a local rescue. They are only looking for someone for a few months, so it would work perfectly on both ends! But I haven't heard back since I emailed them my resume yesterday and their website says they are looking to hire immediately.

oh my goodness Girl I am so sorry that you've had that to deal with ,that stinks! On a happier note I hope you get to move to florida and that you find an even better job that you love

Thank you so much, I hope so too!

I said it on facebook and on your pre-trip report but I'll say it again....I think that your boss was really crappy for firing you the way he did. Actually, he didn't have the nerve to fire you and had your sister tell you. What a wimp!

I've always said that those of us who work our tails off for a company are the ones who get bit in the behind in the end. The ones who just sit around and play all day (okay, so forget the fact that I'm on the Dis while at work ) are the ones who get all of the praise or get a pass when caught.

I'll keep you in my prayers and hope that you'll find something very soon!

He actually said flat out that was afraid to tell me I was fired and scared of how I would react since he knew I didn't expect it.

I agree, the hard workers don't get recognized and those that do little get promoted! And we all know you work your tail off, so you deserve some DIS time too!

Thank you very much!

 

[SAT887]

Performance punishment... Happens every where.... What a piece of junk boss though. I really hope this turns into a golden opportunity for you... You deserve it. I would tell your sister to start looking!!


Also love your opening intro picture - I don't know how I didn't catch you wrote that it was from this trip! It's really great.