I have been working at Lewis Drug in Sioux Falls for almost three years. Some people don't really understand why this is a big deal, but to me, I feel like this should be celebrated. Some people don't even make it six months at Lewis. Example: I met the two new people at Thanksgiving time and by the time I came back for Christmas they were gone. Since I've been working there all of my mangagers have been replaced. So in most cases I not only know more than the managers I have to teach them how to do things.
Today I found out that cooperate is cutting part-timer's hours. I was "given" three days of work of the next week. Thankfully one of my co-workers realizes that Lewis goes on these time limit kicks and she gave me another day, but I think I deserve better than this. It is not fair to me since I'm only back for one ,more week. Plus, I have a running bet with one of my other coworkers on how many times I will be called in this week. The count is already up to one but I WILL be in White that day so I had to refuse. It always makes me made when they decide to cut the part-timers. During the summer, I work just as much, if not more, as the full time people. I have also taken on shifts when they need help which result in 10 to 14 hour days for me. I don't even get holiday pay.
To many, this is blog is just a bunch of whining, and really it is, but I feel so attached to this company that it feels like a slap in the face to me. Lewis gave me a job when I really needed it. My job at CJ Callaways was not in a very healthy environment. I did many illegal things there. Such as using a knife and working past seven before I was sixteen, using the mixing equipment before I was eighteen, and there was an problem with the staff. One day, after the police first visited us, we no longer had any dishwashers. (They were all illegal immigrants.) And there was the incident when I was sexually assaulted by one of the other employees, but that really wasn't that big of a deal. I never told anyone about that part, not even my parents. (The guy was like a foot shorter than me too and it didn't happen again.) After I wasn't scheduled for over a month I decided it was time to quit. Of course my parents wouldn't let me quit without another job so my dad pulled some strings with a guy from our church and he got me an interview with the head manager at Lewis. After landing the job, even though it paid less, the first thing I did was quit CJ"s.
I worked hard for Lewis right from the beginning. I slowly learning all of the departments. I was the youngest person to ever be trained in Customer Service. And now they let me come back and work when I can. So I should be grateful that they even gave me any hours over Christmas but I can't help feeling that I've worked very hard to get where I am.
So now I kinda don't want to go back. With all the crap that they have put me through in the past year I really don't want to be there anymore. Every time I walk into that place I feel this wait on my shoulders. It's almost like an obligation to still be at Lewis. It could also be that I've changed a lot in the last three years. But of course I can't quit because I have way to much experience there and they do give me great hours over the summer. That and I should be getting a raise in the next week.
Don't get me wrong, there are some good things about working at Lewis. I've learned a lot and I even get a discount. I enjoy working with (most of) my coworkers and the customers aren't too bad (when they get what they want). I'm pretty good at my job.
In other news that kinda relates to Lewis. I had to work today so now Kevin is stuck in Vermillion and I'm stuck in Sioux Falls. We were going to drive to White tonight but now that the interstate is closed there is no chance of getting there until tomorrow. I can't help but feel guilty since the only reason Kev isn't in White right now is because I worked so late. I feel terrible. Kevin told me not to worry but I still can't help but feel bad. I feel a little better after calling him. I just can't wait to see Kevin's family. I know it's weird for the girlfriend to want to see the boyfriends family but they are so much fun to be around. Plus they are way different from my family. As Kevin pointed out after our trip to the Hills, my family likes to argue...a lot. We don't really spend time together, we just spend time in the same house. We just happen to be around each other. Now don't get me wrong, I love my family, but things are just different in White.
I think this is a long enough blog
later
Ash
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Sunday, December 19, 2010
grrrrrr....
Today was a day that just pissed me off. I have never wanted to physically hurt someone outside of my family before but I seriously considered slapping a woman upside the head.
It all started Friday night when I was on facebook. I got a chat message from one of my bosses informing that I was scheduled for 10:00 am on Sunday. I had already been to Lewis that week and one of my other bosses had told me that I wasn't on the schedule. I was mad cause I wanted to spend more time with Kevin before I had to start working again. But Sunday morning I got up at 7:25 to drive back to Sioux Falls. Leaving Kevin and friends behind. When I got home, I went looking for my Lewis Uniform. I look for almost a half hour before I finally called my dad. He told me that if I couldn't find it just take Taryn or Ben's. Since Taryn's room looked like something had exploded in there I took Ben's shirt. I was thinking on the way to work what if my boss was wrong and I don't have to work today? Then I could go home and sleep. When I got to work I was greeted with the news that one of my coworkers was sick and they couldn't find anyone to work for her. That's when I got the look. Every time one of my superiors needs something from me they all get the same hopeful look on their face and then turn to me and say we could really use the help... And like the idiot I am I said yes. SO I worked from 10am to 10pm today...and Tuesday.
And it gets better. I had probably the worst customer ever today. This person called ahead saying that she didn't have her receipt and wanted to return something. My manager for the night said yes but he would have to return it to a gift card. She came in after Customer Service had closed for the day so I had to do the return. It was one of those Vick's humidifiers. I needed the manager keys to do this so I called him up to checkstands. Once he got up there and I started the paperwork, Dav opened the box to discover that it had been used! There was hair all over it. He even asked her if she had used it. This woman said yes and it gave her walking pneumonia so that's why she was returning it. I finished the paper work and Dav told me to make it as damaged. Then I gave her the gift card which had almost $25.00 on it. She asked me where the pop was and I told her about two rows down on the left. She came back with a 12pack of Mountain dew which I scanned and was reaching for the gift card that I had just giving her when she said, "oh yeah I need three packs of Marlboro 72 menthol and one pack of Marlboro reds." I almost flipped shit!!!!!! This woman just told me that one of our products had given her pneumonia and then was buying cigarettes!! I was SO PISSED!!!!!!!! I thought about refusing but then I decided to be professional and try to get her out of there as soon as possible. I wanted to not only slap her but punch her in the face. After I looked at her paper work again I saw her name, Maria Berry. Then I looked at the reminders around my register to discover a note saying not to return anything to Maria Berry, especially OTC. Now I'm not only pissed I'm furious!!! and a little disappointed in myself for not catching it.
So after that I had three hours to stand at my register and think about how stupid I am.
Now I'm tired and pissed and I don't want to be here. I would like to escape to Vermillion.
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..
...
..
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Sorry I'm being annoying.
I must be crabby
And you all probably didn't want to read all of this......
So to sum things up, if you ever meet a Maria Berry from Sioux Falls and she is an older woman who kinda smells, please punch her for me.
well, back to work tomorrow. At least I have Wednesday off.
hopefully by then I wont be so crabby
sorry for putting my readers through this.
On another annoying note, I found my shirt...my sister stole it. I'm not happy with her. She has dropped from favorite sister to least favorite sister, and I only have one sister. I think she bought me something as a piece offering. I even told my dad this morning I bet she stole it. I think she should be grounded and I know this seems like a harsh punishment but she has been doing this since we were little. She will steal my stuff and then when I need it I can't use it. Examples: my red shorts for soccer, my choir shirt, my pants, my underwear, my SOCKS!!!! and I know this my look selfish but it gets really old after a while. My mom is starting get a idea of what I've gone through since Taryn started stealing her stuff after I moved out. I hope she realizes that next year she will be all on her own and her roommate will not take her shit. I really hope she starts understanding soon, especially if she decides to come to USD next year and I'm still not there to bail her out....
Ok enough of my bitching for one night
later
Ash
It all started Friday night when I was on facebook. I got a chat message from one of my bosses informing that I was scheduled for 10:00 am on Sunday. I had already been to Lewis that week and one of my other bosses had told me that I wasn't on the schedule. I was mad cause I wanted to spend more time with Kevin before I had to start working again. But Sunday morning I got up at 7:25 to drive back to Sioux Falls. Leaving Kevin and friends behind. When I got home, I went looking for my Lewis Uniform. I look for almost a half hour before I finally called my dad. He told me that if I couldn't find it just take Taryn or Ben's. Since Taryn's room looked like something had exploded in there I took Ben's shirt. I was thinking on the way to work what if my boss was wrong and I don't have to work today? Then I could go home and sleep. When I got to work I was greeted with the news that one of my coworkers was sick and they couldn't find anyone to work for her. That's when I got the look. Every time one of my superiors needs something from me they all get the same hopeful look on their face and then turn to me and say we could really use the help... And like the idiot I am I said yes. SO I worked from 10am to 10pm today...and Tuesday.
And it gets better. I had probably the worst customer ever today. This person called ahead saying that she didn't have her receipt and wanted to return something. My manager for the night said yes but he would have to return it to a gift card. She came in after Customer Service had closed for the day so I had to do the return. It was one of those Vick's humidifiers. I needed the manager keys to do this so I called him up to checkstands. Once he got up there and I started the paperwork, Dav opened the box to discover that it had been used! There was hair all over it. He even asked her if she had used it. This woman said yes and it gave her walking pneumonia so that's why she was returning it. I finished the paper work and Dav told me to make it as damaged. Then I gave her the gift card which had almost $25.00 on it. She asked me where the pop was and I told her about two rows down on the left. She came back with a 12pack of Mountain dew which I scanned and was reaching for the gift card that I had just giving her when she said, "oh yeah I need three packs of Marlboro 72 menthol and one pack of Marlboro reds." I almost flipped shit!!!!!! This woman just told me that one of our products had given her pneumonia and then was buying cigarettes!! I was SO PISSED!!!!!!!! I thought about refusing but then I decided to be professional and try to get her out of there as soon as possible. I wanted to not only slap her but punch her in the face. After I looked at her paper work again I saw her name, Maria Berry. Then I looked at the reminders around my register to discover a note saying not to return anything to Maria Berry, especially OTC. Now I'm not only pissed I'm furious!!! and a little disappointed in myself for not catching it.
So after that I had three hours to stand at my register and think about how stupid I am.
Now I'm tired and pissed and I don't want to be here. I would like to escape to Vermillion.
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..
...
..
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Sorry I'm being annoying.
I must be crabby
And you all probably didn't want to read all of this......
So to sum things up, if you ever meet a Maria Berry from Sioux Falls and she is an older woman who kinda smells, please punch her for me.
well, back to work tomorrow. At least I have Wednesday off.
hopefully by then I wont be so crabby
sorry for putting my readers through this.
On another annoying note, I found my shirt...my sister stole it. I'm not happy with her. She has dropped from favorite sister to least favorite sister, and I only have one sister. I think she bought me something as a piece offering. I even told my dad this morning I bet she stole it. I think she should be grounded and I know this seems like a harsh punishment but she has been doing this since we were little. She will steal my stuff and then when I need it I can't use it. Examples: my red shorts for soccer, my choir shirt, my pants, my underwear, my SOCKS!!!! and I know this my look selfish but it gets really old after a while. My mom is starting get a idea of what I've gone through since Taryn started stealing her stuff after I moved out. I hope she realizes that next year she will be all on her own and her roommate will not take her shit. I really hope she starts understanding soon, especially if she decides to come to USD next year and I'm still not there to bail her out....
Ok enough of my bitching for one night
later
Ash
Friday, December 10, 2010
mushy
so the end of the semester is quickly approaching. but that is not what i want to talk about.
Today is Kevin and my 6 month anniversary. It truly is a mile stone for us. I have never had a relationship that has lasted this long. Normally I would be so bored by this point, or not in love with the person anymore. But I still want to see Kevin. I am so exited to come home to just be with him. He is so funny and smart. He makes me smile when we are together.
I was thinking back to our first date this summer. A lot as changed since then! We started dating when I am the most relaxed. Yes I work a lot but it's not the same as during the school year. When I'm at school, I am running around trying to get so much stuff done and getting ready for juries that I barely have time to think. I say, if he made it through a semester with me, and still likes me, than he must be a keeper. We have made it through the transitional period, but now I'm a little worried since I wont get to see him that often over break.
I never thought I would be so attached to someone that I don't want to go a day without them. I am a very independent person. I could go days without seeing anyone and be totally fine. In fact, during the summer that's what I tend to do. If it hadn't been for Kevin, I probably would not have come down to Vermillion at all this past summer and every time I hung out with other friends it was because they texted me. I was like this a lot in high school. My mom thinks I'm ashamed of her and that's why I never invite people over. Honestly, I'm just fine on my own. But now that I have Kevin, I don't have to be. I love spending time with him.
Kevin I LLLLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEEEE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I can't wait for you to meet the rest of my family;)
time for rehearsal...
later
Today is Kevin and my 6 month anniversary. It truly is a mile stone for us. I have never had a relationship that has lasted this long. Normally I would be so bored by this point, or not in love with the person anymore. But I still want to see Kevin. I am so exited to come home to just be with him. He is so funny and smart. He makes me smile when we are together.
I was thinking back to our first date this summer. A lot as changed since then! We started dating when I am the most relaxed. Yes I work a lot but it's not the same as during the school year. When I'm at school, I am running around trying to get so much stuff done and getting ready for juries that I barely have time to think. I say, if he made it through a semester with me, and still likes me, than he must be a keeper. We have made it through the transitional period, but now I'm a little worried since I wont get to see him that often over break.
I never thought I would be so attached to someone that I don't want to go a day without them. I am a very independent person. I could go days without seeing anyone and be totally fine. In fact, during the summer that's what I tend to do. If it hadn't been for Kevin, I probably would not have come down to Vermillion at all this past summer and every time I hung out with other friends it was because they texted me. I was like this a lot in high school. My mom thinks I'm ashamed of her and that's why I never invite people over. Honestly, I'm just fine on my own. But now that I have Kevin, I don't have to be. I love spending time with him.
Kevin I LLLLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVEEEEEEEEEEE YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I can't wait for you to meet the rest of my family;)
time for rehearsal...
later
Sunday, November 14, 2010
out of character
so Kevin and I have been dating for just over five months and last night we had our "first" fight. We have had disagreements before, like we can't decide were to eat or who will pay, but never an "I'm mad at you" fight. The worst part is that I totally started it.
We had just gotten back from the Mozart concert in Sioux City and Kevin had to go to work. I decided to go out to Pro's with some friends. We then decided to go back to the house and hang out. I thought it would be funny to text Kevin at work pretending to be smashed. Then he texted Chris asking if I was really drunk. Chris trying to make a joke texted him back saying "yes she's so drunk she's in bed with Tim," which was totally false. I love Kevin. I would NEVER do that to him. I was trying to get Kevin's attention because I like to have conversations with him while he is at work but Kev really doesn't text well. (no offence honey(;) I'll start texting him and then he'll stop. Anyway, unfortunately for Chris, Kevin did not take this text very well. He kinda got mad and ended up calling me wanting to know what was going on. I'm not going to lie, I was pissed. I was mad because he wasn't trusting my judgment.
But I could also see his side. He was probably upset for not being able to spend the night with us and I wasn't helping. I miss him when he's at work. Thankfully we both understood that this whole thing was stupid and we made up when he got home. Though I was kinda glad he had seven hours to think about how stupid he was being. (it's selfish of me but really don't care)
We are good now and it makes me happy.
but Chris is still an ass (; jk.
Other than that things are getting better. I'm still stressed out but Kevin, friends and ultimate Frisbee are helping. Juries are coming and I really want them to stay away. My mom keeps calling me. Sometimes she calls and I'm watching a movie or out with my friends so I plan on calling her back after that but then she will call me again that night and again in the morning. I keep telling her that I'll call her when I get the time which is when I'm not out with my friends and not asleep. She can be very impatient.
Thanksgiving is coming up. I'm super excited because Kevin will be coming with me to my grandma's and I'll get to see all of my work friends at Lewis. Yay!
peace out
Ash
We had just gotten back from the Mozart concert in Sioux City and Kevin had to go to work. I decided to go out to Pro's with some friends. We then decided to go back to the house and hang out. I thought it would be funny to text Kevin at work pretending to be smashed. Then he texted Chris asking if I was really drunk. Chris trying to make a joke texted him back saying "yes she's so drunk she's in bed with Tim," which was totally false. I love Kevin. I would NEVER do that to him. I was trying to get Kevin's attention because I like to have conversations with him while he is at work but Kev really doesn't text well. (no offence honey(;) I'll start texting him and then he'll stop. Anyway, unfortunately for Chris, Kevin did not take this text very well. He kinda got mad and ended up calling me wanting to know what was going on. I'm not going to lie, I was pissed. I was mad because he wasn't trusting my judgment.
But I could also see his side. He was probably upset for not being able to spend the night with us and I wasn't helping. I miss him when he's at work. Thankfully we both understood that this whole thing was stupid and we made up when he got home. Though I was kinda glad he had seven hours to think about how stupid he was being. (it's selfish of me but really don't care)
We are good now and it makes me happy.
but Chris is still an ass (; jk.
Other than that things are getting better. I'm still stressed out but Kevin, friends and ultimate Frisbee are helping. Juries are coming and I really want them to stay away. My mom keeps calling me. Sometimes she calls and I'm watching a movie or out with my friends so I plan on calling her back after that but then she will call me again that night and again in the morning. I keep telling her that I'll call her when I get the time which is when I'm not out with my friends and not asleep. She can be very impatient.
Thanksgiving is coming up. I'm super excited because Kevin will be coming with me to my grandma's and I'll get to see all of my work friends at Lewis. Yay!
peace out
Ash
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Wishing you were somehow here again
I don't know who said it first but I think they were right, "God must have needed a drummer." Aaron Hohwieler was my second cousin, and just because I know families can be confusing I will explain.
YOU CAN SKIP! This is my family tree. If anyone is actually reading this and doesn't care just skip this part.
There once were three brothers and three sisters. The brothers names were Jerry, Eldon, and Rollie. The sisters names were Karen, Jan, and the third has never been introduced to me so I have no idea who she is or if she is still alive. I also don't know who is the oldest of the first two in both families but the oldest brother married the oldest sister and the second brother married the second sister. Rollie married a girl named Dianne. They had two daughters named Abby and Tiffany. Abby got married to some guy I can't remember and had their daughter Libby, Abby and what's his name just got divorced. Tiffany also got married but I don't remember what her husbands name is either or the name of her son who is about 3 years old. Jerry and Karen had two children, Chad and Tanya. Chad married Suzette and they had two children, Aaron and Jessie. Tanya married Tim and they have two children, Bailie and Logan. Eldon and Jan got married and had four children. First was Tammy who married John and they have four children, Phil, Maggie, Jack, and Paul. Second was Terri who married Randy and had three children, Ashley(me), Ben, and Taryn. Third was George who married Nancy and they have three children, Andy, Brad, and Jordon. Last was Lyndon who married Shannon and they have four children, Chris, Ryan, Laura, and Luke. The oldest of the grandchildren in my section of the family is Andy and he is 22 while Luke is the youngest at 8. I am the oldest girl of all the cousins and second cousins and for this honor I got a special plate that my great-grandmother left me in her will. Note my enthusiasm. woo-hoo.
BACK ON TRACK. (You can start reading again.)
Aaron, Chris, and I were born within three months of each other. Chris and I went to the same elementary school until his family moved away. Aaron and I went to the same middle school and high school. Since our last names are so similar, we always ended up in line together for the important stuff. In high school, before they changed the system, we had lockers right next to each other. Once my brother and sister came to high school, we would see him and his family at all of the band concerts and marching band competitions. Every semester our school had a list of the people who made the honor roll. If you made it you got to miss class for about an hour for a little ceremony. There was always a speaker who took way too long and was not very interesting. My dad always came to see me or my siblings since each grade had a different day. Sometimes I would get to see Aaron at these events as well as his mom or dad. At graduation, we sat right next to each other and complained about how our mothers were driving us insane with all the open house crap. We were both excited to get out of the house. Ben and Aaron were really close because they were both in SuFuDu. I loved getting to see them perform. Aaron was so good on the snare.
Aaron and Chris were roommates last year and this year at SDSU. They were really close and always got into so much trouble. Last year Chris "fell asleep", more than likely passed out drunk, and Aaron shaved his head. According to my mom and Aunt Tammy, they still hadn't gotten in as much trouble as George, Lyndon, and Chad when they were in school.
I found out about Aaron's death at work. My mom called me but I didn't answer cause I thought she was just calling to check up on me. But then my dad called me right after that so I thought it might be something serious. I answered and my dad was crying. The first thought that popped into my head was I hope its not Grandma. This was worse. When he said Aaron my mind went blank. I thought he was joking. Aaron was my age there was no way he could be dead. I stayed at the bump for two more hours. The whole time I was still in shock. My mind kept saying there's no way this could be true. After my shift got over I called my mom. Once I heard her voice the tears came very quickly. I couldn't even talk I just cried into the phone. Since Kevin didn't get off work for another hour I went over to Kayla and Brianna's place. They were really nice about everything. Kayla had been in band with Aaron and was going through almost the same thing. She got me to calm down. After Kevin took me home, I couldn't stop the tears. He didn't know this but I was up crying for most of the night. I tried not to wake him up. He has been so good to me through this whole thing. I know Chris, Laura, Kayla, and Brianna all told me not to go to class the next day but it was really Kevin who convinced me to go back to Sioux Falls. I didn't want to miss Chamber though. We were getting ready for our concerts. Plus I really didn't want to give some of the people in the group more reason to dislike me. I cried through Abide With Me.
Going home was a good idea. It was nice to be with my family even though we all just sat around crying. My Great-Aunt Karen was the first one to hug me when we got over to the house. She said to me, "He was your age. It's so scary when he was only your age." Chad, Suzette, and Jessie came home later. They had to pick out a grave site. Seeing those three come through the door was horrible. Soon after that my family had to go to the chicken dinner at WHS. All of the band members were waring green ribbons on their uniforms. I decided to stay the night. The next morning I went back over to Chad and Suzette's. It wasn't any better. The worst part was hearing Jerry tell my Great-Aunt Dianne that he wished it could have been him instead. We found out that Aaron's heart must have skipped a beat or gotten out of rhythm. He had an episode seven months ago were his dad had to give him CPR to bring him back. As Aunt Karen said, it was lucky he had seven months without brain damage. This time he wasn't as lucky. The doctors said he had actually died Saturday night but Chris was on a hunting trip with his dad, brother, and our grandpa. Chris didn't find him until Sunday evening around 6:00pm.
There was a prayer service on Wednesday but I had to work. My dad spoke at it. He talked about someone from the bible, who's name I can't remember, who walked with God and one day was no more. The story goes that that one day they went out walking and God said my place is closer would like to go there? Dad said what if God visited Aaron in March and came back for a talk and said you know my place is closer. A lot of people said Dad's speech/sermon was very good. There were 1500 people at the prayer service and 800 at the funeral. The funeral was on Thursday morning. I'm not sure if I would have made it without Kevin. I didn't want to force him to come, but I was so grateful that he did. One part that was kinda funny that shouldn't have been was when my aunt Shannon hugged me and then yelled at me because she was crying so hard and didn't want to meet Kevin that way. I couldn't help but giggle. My mom tried to get me to go see the body but I didn't want to. He was buried in his SuFuDu uniform. So many people kept saying he was never really a suit kind of guy. He always had on his baggy khaki pants with the giant pockets. The service was very nice. The singer was ok. A lot of people liked her but I thought she took the music way to slow and changed some of the melodies in a way that I didn't care for. After everything was done and the family walked out, SuFuDu was outside the church. They played part of their show. Every one of them was crying. Aaron's drum was set up in the middle with a flag in the middle. I cried even harder when I saw that. The SDSU drum line, the Pride, played at the grave site.They were all crying as well. I don't think I'll be able to listen to a snare drum in the same way again. Chris spoke at both the service and the site. His biggest regret is that he wasn't there when it all happened. He said, "I'm sorry you had to die alone." Those words carried so much weight in them. I just wanted to run up and hug him.
One of the things I really need now is for everything to go back to normal. Thanks to all of my friends, this is starting to help but sometimes when I'm all by myself I can't hide from the pain. No matter how you look at things, Aaron's death was tragic. It is going to take some time for this to heal. What I really need is to be with the people who love me. Our little Vermillion family is helping. Hopefully I can get past this soon. Aaron was a great kid. He touched so many lives and will be missed very much. His life was cut way to short.
Rest in Peace Aaron, I miss you very much.
Aaron Hohwieler August 9,1990 to October 25, 2010.
YOU CAN SKIP! This is my family tree. If anyone is actually reading this and doesn't care just skip this part.
There once were three brothers and three sisters. The brothers names were Jerry, Eldon, and Rollie. The sisters names were Karen, Jan, and the third has never been introduced to me so I have no idea who she is or if she is still alive. I also don't know who is the oldest of the first two in both families but the oldest brother married the oldest sister and the second brother married the second sister. Rollie married a girl named Dianne. They had two daughters named Abby and Tiffany. Abby got married to some guy I can't remember and had their daughter Libby, Abby and what's his name just got divorced. Tiffany also got married but I don't remember what her husbands name is either or the name of her son who is about 3 years old. Jerry and Karen had two children, Chad and Tanya. Chad married Suzette and they had two children, Aaron and Jessie. Tanya married Tim and they have two children, Bailie and Logan. Eldon and Jan got married and had four children. First was Tammy who married John and they have four children, Phil, Maggie, Jack, and Paul. Second was Terri who married Randy and had three children, Ashley(me), Ben, and Taryn. Third was George who married Nancy and they have three children, Andy, Brad, and Jordon. Last was Lyndon who married Shannon and they have four children, Chris, Ryan, Laura, and Luke. The oldest of the grandchildren in my section of the family is Andy and he is 22 while Luke is the youngest at 8. I am the oldest girl of all the cousins and second cousins and for this honor I got a special plate that my great-grandmother left me in her will. Note my enthusiasm. woo-hoo.
BACK ON TRACK. (You can start reading again.)
Aaron, Chris, and I were born within three months of each other. Chris and I went to the same elementary school until his family moved away. Aaron and I went to the same middle school and high school. Since our last names are so similar, we always ended up in line together for the important stuff. In high school, before they changed the system, we had lockers right next to each other. Once my brother and sister came to high school, we would see him and his family at all of the band concerts and marching band competitions. Every semester our school had a list of the people who made the honor roll. If you made it you got to miss class for about an hour for a little ceremony. There was always a speaker who took way too long and was not very interesting. My dad always came to see me or my siblings since each grade had a different day. Sometimes I would get to see Aaron at these events as well as his mom or dad. At graduation, we sat right next to each other and complained about how our mothers were driving us insane with all the open house crap. We were both excited to get out of the house. Ben and Aaron were really close because they were both in SuFuDu. I loved getting to see them perform. Aaron was so good on the snare.
Aaron and Chris were roommates last year and this year at SDSU. They were really close and always got into so much trouble. Last year Chris "fell asleep", more than likely passed out drunk, and Aaron shaved his head. According to my mom and Aunt Tammy, they still hadn't gotten in as much trouble as George, Lyndon, and Chad when they were in school.
I found out about Aaron's death at work. My mom called me but I didn't answer cause I thought she was just calling to check up on me. But then my dad called me right after that so I thought it might be something serious. I answered and my dad was crying. The first thought that popped into my head was I hope its not Grandma. This was worse. When he said Aaron my mind went blank. I thought he was joking. Aaron was my age there was no way he could be dead. I stayed at the bump for two more hours. The whole time I was still in shock. My mind kept saying there's no way this could be true. After my shift got over I called my mom. Once I heard her voice the tears came very quickly. I couldn't even talk I just cried into the phone. Since Kevin didn't get off work for another hour I went over to Kayla and Brianna's place. They were really nice about everything. Kayla had been in band with Aaron and was going through almost the same thing. She got me to calm down. After Kevin took me home, I couldn't stop the tears. He didn't know this but I was up crying for most of the night. I tried not to wake him up. He has been so good to me through this whole thing. I know Chris, Laura, Kayla, and Brianna all told me not to go to class the next day but it was really Kevin who convinced me to go back to Sioux Falls. I didn't want to miss Chamber though. We were getting ready for our concerts. Plus I really didn't want to give some of the people in the group more reason to dislike me. I cried through Abide With Me.
Going home was a good idea. It was nice to be with my family even though we all just sat around crying. My Great-Aunt Karen was the first one to hug me when we got over to the house. She said to me, "He was your age. It's so scary when he was only your age." Chad, Suzette, and Jessie came home later. They had to pick out a grave site. Seeing those three come through the door was horrible. Soon after that my family had to go to the chicken dinner at WHS. All of the band members were waring green ribbons on their uniforms. I decided to stay the night. The next morning I went back over to Chad and Suzette's. It wasn't any better. The worst part was hearing Jerry tell my Great-Aunt Dianne that he wished it could have been him instead. We found out that Aaron's heart must have skipped a beat or gotten out of rhythm. He had an episode seven months ago were his dad had to give him CPR to bring him back. As Aunt Karen said, it was lucky he had seven months without brain damage. This time he wasn't as lucky. The doctors said he had actually died Saturday night but Chris was on a hunting trip with his dad, brother, and our grandpa. Chris didn't find him until Sunday evening around 6:00pm.
There was a prayer service on Wednesday but I had to work. My dad spoke at it. He talked about someone from the bible, who's name I can't remember, who walked with God and one day was no more. The story goes that that one day they went out walking and God said my place is closer would like to go there? Dad said what if God visited Aaron in March and came back for a talk and said you know my place is closer. A lot of people said Dad's speech/sermon was very good. There were 1500 people at the prayer service and 800 at the funeral. The funeral was on Thursday morning. I'm not sure if I would have made it without Kevin. I didn't want to force him to come, but I was so grateful that he did. One part that was kinda funny that shouldn't have been was when my aunt Shannon hugged me and then yelled at me because she was crying so hard and didn't want to meet Kevin that way. I couldn't help but giggle. My mom tried to get me to go see the body but I didn't want to. He was buried in his SuFuDu uniform. So many people kept saying he was never really a suit kind of guy. He always had on his baggy khaki pants with the giant pockets. The service was very nice. The singer was ok. A lot of people liked her but I thought she took the music way to slow and changed some of the melodies in a way that I didn't care for. After everything was done and the family walked out, SuFuDu was outside the church. They played part of their show. Every one of them was crying. Aaron's drum was set up in the middle with a flag in the middle. I cried even harder when I saw that. The SDSU drum line, the Pride, played at the grave site.They were all crying as well. I don't think I'll be able to listen to a snare drum in the same way again. Chris spoke at both the service and the site. His biggest regret is that he wasn't there when it all happened. He said, "I'm sorry you had to die alone." Those words carried so much weight in them. I just wanted to run up and hug him.
One of the things I really need now is for everything to go back to normal. Thanks to all of my friends, this is starting to help but sometimes when I'm all by myself I can't hide from the pain. No matter how you look at things, Aaron's death was tragic. It is going to take some time for this to heal. What I really need is to be with the people who love me. Our little Vermillion family is helping. Hopefully I can get past this soon. Aaron was a great kid. He touched so many lives and will be missed very much. His life was cut way to short.
Rest in Peace Aaron, I miss you very much.
Aaron Hohwieler August 9,1990 to October 25, 2010.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
This blog is of no importance to anyone who follows it but I can't sleep so I'm going to write.
I was thinking tonight about how thankful I am to have Kevin. (This is why some of you can stop reading.) I have had such bad luck with men. My first kiss didn't happen until I was almost 16 and the next week the guy ignored me at school and then dated one of my best friends. He was later charged with sexual assault by one of my other friends. My first real boyfriend was a drunk college drop out who worked at Lewis full time and cheated on me. Another guy, who I wasn't dating, got me to kiss him and then got back together with his ex-girlfriend less than four days later. I'm the kind of person who puts my whole heart into everything so for these guys, and others who have not been mentioned, to screw me over I was hurt. At the end of last year I was ready to give up on men altogether because none of them seemed to be able to care about me. And then Kevin came along. He was nice and sweet. He cared and is still caring. We can be having the most random conversations and still be having fun. I love him so much and I wish I could show him how much he truly means to me. I can't imagine life without him:)
Well I guess that's it since I'm tired again.
Later
Ash
I was thinking tonight about how thankful I am to have Kevin. (This is why some of you can stop reading.) I have had such bad luck with men. My first kiss didn't happen until I was almost 16 and the next week the guy ignored me at school and then dated one of my best friends. He was later charged with sexual assault by one of my other friends. My first real boyfriend was a drunk college drop out who worked at Lewis full time and cheated on me. Another guy, who I wasn't dating, got me to kiss him and then got back together with his ex-girlfriend less than four days later. I'm the kind of person who puts my whole heart into everything so for these guys, and others who have not been mentioned, to screw me over I was hurt. At the end of last year I was ready to give up on men altogether because none of them seemed to be able to care about me. And then Kevin came along. He was nice and sweet. He cared and is still caring. We can be having the most random conversations and still be having fun. I love him so much and I wish I could show him how much he truly means to me. I can't imagine life without him:)
Well I guess that's it since I'm tired again.
Later
Ash
Friday, October 1, 2010
It's been awhile...
It has been a very long time since I've blogged. This summer I really used it to tell my friends whats on my mind. Now that I'm living in Vermillion, I can just tell them. This is what is happening so far.
I totally predicted the fact that my group of friends would need some transitional time for me and Kevin but I didn't think it would be that bad. The thing that pissed me off was that I felt as though everything I did was being looked at again. I spent so many years having to dress perfectly and say the right thing and be the perfect student and the best kid in sunday school and I hated every second of it. If I did anything wrong it was brought up in my dad's staff meeting for the week. I felt like Kevin and I couldn't do anything right. Thankfully I think we have gotten through the hard parts and I understand their side of the situation. (For those of you involved I'm sorry for the mess I caused.)
School is INSANE!!!!! I'm taking 18 credits plus three class for no credit. Plus lessons have studio classes added on so really when you add everything together I'm taking about 25 credits this semester. The one class I can't stand in Para. For this class I have to decide whether or not I really want to become a teacher by doing fluff work and 30 hours of observation time that we have to do on our own and be in class every friday at noon. (aka no lunch for me on mondays wednesdays and fridays because of foundations of american education, we'll get to my bitching about that class in a minute.) My teacher placed me in SIOUX FALLS. Freaking one hour away when I don't have time to get everything done for the stuff I'm doing in Vermillion. So the plan is that I'm going to take an incomplete in the class and do all of the observations over Christmas break. Merry Christmas to me. Foundations of American Education in my second worst class. To sum up what we have learned is being a teacher sucks because you have to deal with kids and you could get sued. TET is the only ed class that I kinda like. I say kinda because we are going through how to use a computer in teaching. So I go on facebook for an hour and then go see Kevin for breakfast.
I thought Theory was going to be my favorite class again but I was VERY wrong. We had our first test this past monday and I got the worst grade I have every gotten in my entire life. Less than 50% on something I consider myself good at. Wyatt and I would compete for the best grade in the class last year. I don't know what happened. I thought I was doing really well on the test but apparently I had everything wrong. Though I did get the hardest chord that we had to spell out right. Which makes absolutely no sense to me. After getting my test back on Wednesday I spent twenty minutes crying in Dr. Yarbrough's office and begging him for a second chance. He told me that I had to come in for an hour private tutoring class. Then he told the entire class today that we would have a make-up test next week. I almost started crying again I was so happy! Things are starting to look up for that class
Diction is by for the hardest class I have this semester. You have to find the correct pronunciation of words. We use IPA which is really cool but also very subjective because everyone pronounces words differently. I've studied more for this class than anything else in my life.
The main problem for me this year is my stress level. Thank God I have Kevin. He keeps everything in prospective for me. I love him so much!!! I don't know how I ever could have possibly live without him. Whenever I'm with him I feel relaxed. Like there isn't anything else I need to worry about or plan or write, I can just be his girlfriend. I have never felt this way about anyone. I just love him:)
and now I'm gushing sorry
That's about it for right now..
Later
I totally predicted the fact that my group of friends would need some transitional time for me and Kevin but I didn't think it would be that bad. The thing that pissed me off was that I felt as though everything I did was being looked at again. I spent so many years having to dress perfectly and say the right thing and be the perfect student and the best kid in sunday school and I hated every second of it. If I did anything wrong it was brought up in my dad's staff meeting for the week. I felt like Kevin and I couldn't do anything right. Thankfully I think we have gotten through the hard parts and I understand their side of the situation. (For those of you involved I'm sorry for the mess I caused.)
School is INSANE!!!!! I'm taking 18 credits plus three class for no credit. Plus lessons have studio classes added on so really when you add everything together I'm taking about 25 credits this semester. The one class I can't stand in Para. For this class I have to decide whether or not I really want to become a teacher by doing fluff work and 30 hours of observation time that we have to do on our own and be in class every friday at noon. (aka no lunch for me on mondays wednesdays and fridays because of foundations of american education, we'll get to my bitching about that class in a minute.) My teacher placed me in SIOUX FALLS. Freaking one hour away when I don't have time to get everything done for the stuff I'm doing in Vermillion. So the plan is that I'm going to take an incomplete in the class and do all of the observations over Christmas break. Merry Christmas to me. Foundations of American Education in my second worst class. To sum up what we have learned is being a teacher sucks because you have to deal with kids and you could get sued. TET is the only ed class that I kinda like. I say kinda because we are going through how to use a computer in teaching. So I go on facebook for an hour and then go see Kevin for breakfast.
I thought Theory was going to be my favorite class again but I was VERY wrong. We had our first test this past monday and I got the worst grade I have every gotten in my entire life. Less than 50% on something I consider myself good at. Wyatt and I would compete for the best grade in the class last year. I don't know what happened. I thought I was doing really well on the test but apparently I had everything wrong. Though I did get the hardest chord that we had to spell out right. Which makes absolutely no sense to me. After getting my test back on Wednesday I spent twenty minutes crying in Dr. Yarbrough's office and begging him for a second chance. He told me that I had to come in for an hour private tutoring class. Then he told the entire class today that we would have a make-up test next week. I almost started crying again I was so happy! Things are starting to look up for that class
Diction is by for the hardest class I have this semester. You have to find the correct pronunciation of words. We use IPA which is really cool but also very subjective because everyone pronounces words differently. I've studied more for this class than anything else in my life.
The main problem for me this year is my stress level. Thank God I have Kevin. He keeps everything in prospective for me. I love him so much!!! I don't know how I ever could have possibly live without him. Whenever I'm with him I feel relaxed. Like there isn't anything else I need to worry about or plan or write, I can just be his girlfriend. I have never felt this way about anyone. I just love him:)
and now I'm gushing sorry
That's about it for right now..
Later
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