flowing in 2011

Ah, the requisite New Years post.

How did I do on last year's resolutions? I kind of exercised, I kind of cooked, my self-confidence pretty much stayed the same, and I've started to spend more time with friends now that I'm not in school and I have slightly more energy. This working weekends thing is killing me. I need my day to sleep in and laze around! Fortunately tomorrow is the last weekend I'll have to work in a while. Yes, I'll be ringing in 2011 while I'm sleeping.

I figured I'd also see how I did on my list:

I've since realized that I will probably never become a runner. I'm okay with that. Mountain biking never quite happened either. I still think that'd be fun. I didn't visit 5 new places, but I made it to three. I'm also okay with that. Overall, I had some fun completing those tasks.

I even accomplished one thing on my list of things to do before I die. (I now floss very regularly, haha)

I'm making the same resolutions I make every year, but they're less like resolutions and more like life aspirations.

I also feel like it's time to shift gears in what's important to me. For the first time ever, my focus is not on grades.

I'm in a whole different age bracket and a whole different agenda. First of all, I need to be organized financially and set a budget instead of pissing money away on whatever I want. I admit, it's been fun, but I can't do it forever. I need to pay off as much debt as I can now while my bills are still minimal. Is it ironic that on my new list of stuff I want to do in 2011, the first thing is gamble in a casino? Maybe.

But anyway, after I get stable financially, I don't know what else I'll feel like I need to do. Just going with the flow...

Happy New Year!!

old

Added to the list of things that are freaking me out because it means I'm getting old:

Old-lady chest.

Suzy took a close-up picture of my necklace while it was on the other night, and it was then that I noticed freckles and wrinkles. Oh my gosh, I have old lady sun-damaged cleavage! It's not noticeable unless you're up close, but it's there and it's only going to get worse.

WHY didn't I wear more sunscreen when I was younger?

Do you think they make wrinkle cream for cleavage? Ashley- this is a job for you. Find me a product!

In other awesome news, my diploma finally arrived. No pictures yet because I want to get a badass frame for it.

Also, in more old-people news, I checked out my statement the other day and I've paid $500 in credit card INTEREST last year. I've stopped using the card since last year. It's pure interest. I was horrified and put paying that damn thing off on the top of my disposable income list. Credit cards are EVIL.

Of course it was handy when I had no money as a student, but then it comes back to bite you in the ass. Evil.

Like the dishes waiting to be washed in my sink. I wonder where Suzy is...

*update a few hours later*

I'm having the best time drinking wine and baking cookies for a fun work lunch tomorrow while Suzy pops in every so often. About the fun work lunch: my boss likes to throw "just because" lunch parties. Like nacho Friday. I'm SO EXCITED.

hmph.

There is no light in my kitchen and it's raining in my bathroom. It was -supposed- to be fixed and I JUST paid a bunch of money to get it re-painted! NO!

This is what I get for living in my parents' garage.

I have to wash my sheets again, and my mom is making me go work out.

Crab. Sauce.

oOooOo sparkles

Opened my Christmas gift from Chris this afternoon. It was a little awkward because I opened it in front of his mom and because there was a shmoopy note that I was scared to read in case it was really good and I got teary-eyed and that would be just really awkward.

Who needs a shmoopy note to get teary-eyed?

I was not expecting diamonds this year.
It's absolutely beautiful and sparkly and it couldn't be more perfect even if I'd picked it out myself.

It just ups the missing-ness like 5000-fold.

antics

I was making cookies in my new toaster oven (what a great invention btw) when Pumpkin came running in with something in her mouth. Another lizard! The one from last week is currently living underneath my bathroom sink and sometimes when I pee I catch it peeking its little head out. Pervert.

This one she brought in, chased under my desk, and came tearing out from under it in a crazy cat frenzy. Now she keeps looking at me in that crazy cat way and tearing around the place.

I just hope it doesn't crawl up my leg or anything weird.

Trying to convince my mom to go shopping because I'm stir crazy. I would use my fun new cooking appliances some more but we had a fiasco on Christmas Eve and the light switch for the porch light (and a few of the Christmas lights) and my kitchen light is out.

So it's very dim in my kitchen and very annoying to cook. It's actually annoying to do anything in my room because I like a very bright room and the light on the fan is just not cutting it. I keep thinking to myself, "Man it's dark in here" and I'll flip the switch out of habit before I remember that it's out.

Any bets on how long it takes my dad's friends to fix it? I swear I'd rather pay someone to come and fix it in a day than wait 3 weeks to get it fixed for free.

dear 6lb 8oz baby jesus...

Happy Birthday.

If the majority of the family wasn't hung over this morning, you'd think we were all still under the age of 10.

Out of bed before 7am in a joyful unwrapping frenzy. Much laughing, many thank yous, some spiked coffee, A Christmas Story marathon on tv, and by 830 the living room was destroyed.

The rest of the day we lay around in gluttony, sloth, boredom, or a mixture of the three.

We all got some exciting gifts. Luke got a new alien-something-or-other brand laptop. Sue got the new camera she's been wanting. Frank got the bowl tickets. Ash and I didn't get anything super big or expensive, just thoughtful and fun gifts. In my pile:

• socks (I needed some!)
• a long beaded necklace from Suzy that I can't wait to wear
• Xpress Redi-Set-Go (YAY!!! I'm so excited) and a Twin Draft Guard- needed for my bathroom since it's not very well insulated.
• Frankish got me a toaster oven that seems like such an adult appliance and I've always wanted one, especially because heating up the oven in July sucks balls. I can even make cookies in it!
• a label maker! Everything's going to be labeled...
• new robe and slippers which I'm currently rocking.
• a foot spa. This is a running family joke because one year we got one for my mom. When she opened it, she looked less than thrilled and said, "Is this really what it is??" Apparently she'd had one before and hated it, and needless to say it was returned. Usually we're pretty spot-on with her gifts (Fiestaware is always a winner), and usually she's pretty grateful, but for some reason that foot spa struck a nerve. Anyway, I've been wanting one to soak my poor tootsies after being on my feet all day, so I was pretty happy.

I'm very lucky to have such a loving awesome family, even if we manage to cancel Christmas every year. I hope you all had a Merry Christmas!

it's the...

night before the night before Christmas!

I don't know why I'm so not into food lately. It's very un-me. My cupboard and fridge are stocked full of ingredients and I just open the door and look... and don't want to do anything with them. Then I pop some popcorn or grab a carrot.

Been a brutal week at work. Not even worth going into all the crappy things that happened this week, at work or not at work. I come home just drained. It's almost over, then it will be Christmas.

And I have a fresh clean bed again, down to the insanely-hard-to-get-on zippered mattress cover. Because of something shitty (cat pukey?) that happened last night. But I'm glad I have it because it soaked all the way down but didn't get on my brand new mattress. That would have really sucked.

It's also getting cooler again. Which improves one of the crappy things at work- the AC is out and it gets really warm and uncomfortable in there, which only makes smaller crappy things much worse.

Here's to Friday/Christmas eve! Let's hope it's a mellow day.

wham bam

Running on two hours of sleep last night. Frank had people over and I could hear talking until 2am. Too bad I still had to get up at 4am. Not his fault, I don't think he realized how easily I could hear them. 

Tonight was our annual "Whole family goes out to get mom's gift."

As usual, it was a little chaotic. We all piled into my car and headed to the mall, stealthily avoiding most of the traffic. Once we're in the mall, Frank announces that he's nauseous which has me nervous, because I've narrowly avoided several frank-almost-puking-in-my-car situations.

Anyway, we power through the mall, dodging miserable person after miserable person, zipping by clueless wanderers who think they're the only person in the word, and pick up my sister at the chanel counter in Dillard's. We already know what we're getting, so we loudly clamor and pick out her gift, buy it, and head back through the mall. But first, we had to avoid a clueless old asian couple standing directly in front of the down escalator. Without missing a beat, we maneuver past much like a Flying V pattern and get the hell out of there.

Hit up another store, knowing exactly what we want. No-nonsense.

We've got this down to a science. We were back home within an hour. No one fought, no one canceled Christmas, and no one puked in my car. My mom thinks we have some master plan and the trip to the mall was a fake-out. I think it's fun to let her think that we do. :o)

Overall, not our funnest trip, but also not the worst. I can't believe Christmas is only a few days away. And I need some freaking sleep.

herm.

So I haven't talked to Ashley in a few days and I feel like the universe is off-kilter. I smell a makeover in my future. :o)

My white elephant gift for the Christmas party at work tomorrow is: a pineapple and a bottle of my favorite wine. Props to Sue for the pineapple idea that I stole. It was only 99 cents at Randalls!

Also, is alcohol inappropriate for a work event? I mean, the bunch I work with are not exactly teetotalers and it's not like we're going to drink it at work. And it's not like I bought a six pack or a 40... actually that would be pretty hilarious and possibly more appropriate for a white elephant. Meh, whatever. It's already wrapped!

Oh yeah, Padre won Best Lighting again this year.
It really is a cool experience walking up towards the door.

+

Clean sink, you are my favorite.

funka mess

My coworker uses that phrase and I think it's hilarious. Thank goodness for awesome coworkers, am I right?

No appetite lately. I'm hungry, but have no desire to eat. Unless it's random snack-age that's sitting out and requires no preparation and I eat it just to make the hunger go away. Like those damn chocolate covered cherries on the kitchen table. Or the chex mix I made last weekend. I can make a meal out of cherries and chex mix.
I also have been wanting unusual amounts of wine. I usually crave a glass a week, if that, but I've wanted one every day this week. All wine and no food... hm.

This may just be me, but do you ever over-analyze your interaction with people? Not talking about people you know well- like your friends and family, but people who you only sorta know but still have to cultivate a friendly relationship with. Like coworkers or a new boyfriend's mom.

Well, there's a person in my life who falls into that category that seems to not be digging me that much. I can't help but feel that the 'love' is just not there. There's no downright rudeness or anything, just a connotation. Maybe it's for real and maybe I'm just feeling down and over analyzing everything, but it's certainly not helping my mood. I can't think of anything I did to provoke the non-likingness. I've been perfectly warm and friendly. I guess if they truly do not like me than there's nothing I can do about it and they can suck it. If only it were that easy, haha.

Work tomorrow morning. I just want to crawl into bed and stay there for a while. And for nutritious food that I want to eat to magically appear.

Also, I need this.

And no, don't buy it for me.

I can't wait till Christmas is over and I can post "I want this!" guilt-free without feeling like I'm hinting at gift ideas haha.

Bummer dude.

You know what the biggest bummer of today was?

How about spilling coffee all over the center console of my car? Of course I add sugar so now it's sticky coffee all over my center console.  Which reminds me- I should go clean that up.
No, it was not the biggest bummer.

Was is the chemistry analyzer freezing for no reason, mid-aspiration, during a hectic must-get-results-out time, that required a complete restart including calibration and qc? Needless to say I did not meet my deadline.
Nah. That wasn't it.

Was it accidentally stepping in a mysterious sticky spot on my kitchen floor without realizing it, and tracking it around everywhere?
Nuh uh.

Standing in the unreasonably warm and painfully slow post office line for 45 minutes?
Not really.


It was why I was at the post office.

It made me so sad to have to mail Chris' Christmas gifts. I don't want to have to mail them; I want him to be here.


I love this time of year. The cold days, the snuggly nights, getting excited over gift giving and Christmas parties and cute things like mistletoe and hot cocoa and the cozy glow of christmas lights at night time.
This year I'm surviving off of text messages that I get while I'm asleep in my huge empty bed, and trying not to be jealous of couples walking blissfully hand in hand while I'm at the mall shopping for and thinking about the one I'm missing.

It sucks. (45 seconds in)

Toooos day

All day long I kept thinking it was Wednesday, and I kept thinking that yesterday must have been a day some time last week. No WAY it was only yesterday. But it was. Busy days. I am quite tired.

A hot cup of extra strong coconut chai tea (decaf, of course. It's nearly bed time!) with a splash of soymilk and a spoonful of sugar. Mmm. For some reason I enjoy soy milk better in my tea than regular milk.

I was chatting with my mom while she wrapped some of my siblings' gifts, but I've now been banished to my room while she wraps some of mine. She keeps yelling, "Don't peek!" even though we both know I won't. Then as they are wrapped, she peeks her head in and shakes the gift in front of me going, "OooOOOOo I wonder what it iiiiisssss." Then she closes the door and yells, "Don't come in!" and puts it under the tree. And the cycle continues.
I just love Christmas.

I love hot showers and glorious beds too. Maybe I'll get lucky and catch some How I Met Your Mother reruns before I conk out.

here comes mom again... I need to record this, hahaha

adult-ful-ness.

The favorites party was a success! All of my pictures were taken hastily with no one paying attention, so everyone looks like tards, haha.

But it was a lot of fun and everyone left with an assortment of goodies. It felt like my birthday!

Been checking into figuring out how much I could (hypothetically) afford if I were to purchase a house. Not something I plan to do in the near future, but I figure I'd better start planning and saving now so I can be prepared when I decide to do it. I definitely don't want to rent once I move out of my parents' garage. No sense wasting my money when I can afford to own. Plus, it's a good time to buy.

But anyway, that means more saving and less things like big girl beds and shopping trips. I plan to implement a more stable savings plan once my student loans go into repayment in February. Eesh.

Ok, time to drink wine and get ready for tomorrow.

hoo boy

Tell me why I still woke up at 4am on the dot on my day off- more wide awake than I'd ever be when I actually have to work. I couldn't fall back to sleep for about 45 minutes.
Oh my gosh, I've turned into one of those people!

Off to meet my weekend goals- after a bowl of cinnamon chex and a large cup of coffee. Gotta wait for traffic to die down.

I have also decided that I love this etsy shop. SO cute!!

boomchicka

I had to laugh... Thanks Akhtar



I have tomorrow off since I worked on Sunday. It's been a tiring week training but I think my job was made easier because my new coworker is just so awesome.

I can't WAIT to sleep in! My amazing new bed is very hard to vacate in the morning, especially since it's gotten cold. It will be glorious to lay in it as long as I want to tomorrow.

Got the lab results back. Goodish news! Since my last tests done in October, my hemoglobin is back up at the low end of normal, but my red blood cells are still on the small side and my average cell hemoglobin is still low. However, it shows that I'm improving. My cholesterol and LDL are both still above normal, but my HDL is 69, which is pretty kickass. So it's not perfect, but at least I'm seeing some improvement after all the changes I've tried to make.

My goal this weekend is to:

-complete my Christmas shopping, including stocking stuffers

-Throw a great Favorite Things party (complete with yummy snacky menu) (I also have to figure out what I'm bringing)

-Finish my Pay it Forward crafts (about halfway done)

huh?

• So apparently turning 26 has automatically given me under-eye circles. I've never had them before, but on my birthday makeover at Chanel, Ash busted out the under-eye cover up. And over the past few days, people have commented on how tired I look. First Lomas  and now dark circles? NOOOoooo. Next thing you know, it'll be gray hairs and wrinkles! I'm WAY too close to 30.

• We finally got someone hired! She's a sweetheart with a great personality, a quick learner, and she's efficient. I really like her, and I hope she doesn't leave like the last girl I trained!

• I just knew they were going to pick the Skeeters for Sugar Land's new baseball team. My parents have figured out what the slang for "skeet" means and I think I've heard my mom say "ejaculate" enough for a lifetime, LOL!

• Today I got measured as part of the Curves program, and I found out that my seriously keep-them-put sports bra takes 2 inches off my chest. 

• By this time every year, I have tons of gift ideas. I have hardly any this year. Especially for the boys. Why??

• I can't figure out what to eat for dinner. :o/

dun dun dunnnn

I woke up this morning with my lamp still on, in the same position that I fell asleep in. I didn't wake up once last night. I slept through 6 text messages, 1 phone call, the lamp, the cat, and the fact that I still had my glasses on.

I'm still tired.

Ugh, second Monday. Which I just realized is the first Monday of the month which makes it extra busy. Also, I'm out of cinnamon chex. Also, I feel this headache that I've been battling all weekend trying to come back.

Today, your omens are not looking good.

dejavu

All day long today felt like Monday, because I had to work today. I keep catching myself thinking it's Monday.
Tomorrow is really Monday.

How not fair is it to have two Mondays in one week?

Quick pics of the awesome gingerbread houses Akhtar and I made yesterday, from scratch. Gluten free baby. They taste delicious.

Mine:

Akhtar's:

horrifying

Oh my gosh.

Not again. I can't even begin to imagine what this must be like for her. Newlywed and a baby on the way, she was so incredibly happy. And that poor child. My heart is breaking just thinking of how she must feel.

You're going along, living your life, blissfully happy, and BAM. Tragedy.

How do things like this happen?

tea for one

I have started taking my afternoon tea in a stacking tea pot. Mine looks very much like this:

It was a gift from Robert's stepmom many years ago. I suspect she liked me more than she liked her stepson. Not hard to figure out why...

But anyway. I've had this cute teapot tucked away for years, never used, and suddenly one day I thought of it. Perfect for my afternoon tea. It's working out for me quite nicely.

I haven't worked out in several days, since before Thanksgiving. I wanted to get back into the swing of things today, but instead I went to the doctor. My main reason for going to the doctor was to get a prescription for Prilosec OTC. My new prescription plan covers it with a $0 copay, but only if you have a written prescription... for an over the counter product. Regardless, I use it regularly and I'm going to take advantage of the free-ness.

I was getting pretty sick of my old doctor's office and their nonsense. This new doctor came highly recommended to me by my mom and brother and sister, who have all seen him recently. He's one of those hole-in-the-shopping-center doctors, but I was pleasantly surprised. He had a no-nonsense attitude, and had no problem writing the prescription. He also, UNLIKE ANY OTHER DOCTOR EVER, took notice of my chronic anemia. Most doctors just tell me take iron pills, which don't work even if I do take them. Then after it never fixes itself, they just kinda shrug it off and tell me to keep taking them. Because that makes sense...

One of the major things they taught us when we learned about the anemias is that there is always a cause, and you have to find the cause, not just leave it alone.

Baffling, huh?

I have long suspected that there might be a more relevant underlying cause, but it's pretty well compensated so I figured I'd just leave it alone until I got better health insurance and keep battling it myself. Well... I have better health insurance. So let's go.

But anyway. I had to fight with the pharmacy, call both my insurance company and the affiliated prescription plan with their respective retarded automated systems, and drive back to the pharmacy and do some more explaining before I got my free drugs. But dammit, I got my free drugs. Lol. WIN!

And I also bumped into Madre and Luke at the Walgreen's checkout buying me a [surprise] birthday bottle of wine that's as long as my freaking arm. ROFL I love it.

So how is it already 5:30?

Mustache necklace!

My sister Suzy has a thing for mustaches. In fact, she's having a mustache party. For her birthday, I wanted to get her a mustache necklace, such as this one or this one.

However, time was not on my side.

So, I decided to make one out of the cornstarch dough I used for beads and ornaments.
I just found a shape I liked on the internet, printed it out, and used it as a template for the dough.

I let it dry for a few days, and gave it a few coats of shiny black acrylic and a coat of clear acrylic paint.

I found the rings and the chain in the jewelry aisle at hobby lobby.

Silly and cute.

Story Time

When I was a little kid, in about second grade, I had a loose tooth. One day at the lunch table, my friends and I started discussing whether or not the tooth fairy existed. I can't remember which side of the debate I was on, but I do know that I was old enough to start doubting the fairy that comes into my room in the middle of the night.

So I devised a plan.

I was going to lose the tooth and put it under my pillow without telling my parents. If the tooth fairy was real, I'd know the next morning.

Eventually the tooth fell out, and I nervously avoided my parents for the evening. I didn't want them to notice that it was gone. That night, I put it under my pillow and fell asleep. The plan was in action.

The next morning, I was so nervous to check under the pillow. Did I really want to know? Was I ready to handle the truth? I nearly shit my pants when there was a dollar bill where my tooth had been. I was shocked.

I went to school the next day and excitedly told my friends the story- the tooth fairy must be REAL! I still was a little confused and doubtful, because again I was at that age when I understood that the tooth fairy story just didn't add up. Not like Santa Clause. But, the facts were right there in the form of that dollar bill and there was no other way it could have gotten there.

Years later, my mom and I were talking and somehow this story came up.

I told her what I did and she started laughing hysterically.

She told me that the night I lost the tooth, I left a tiny spot of blood on the bathroom sink and she saw it. For some reason (mom intuition?) she knew I had lost the tooth and hadn't told her. So that's how the dollar got there.

My mom uses this story as an example of how sneaky I was, and still am.

afternooning

This afternoon:

Lunch = Cranberry nut bars. OMG. AMAZING. Amazing.

Random citrus that has accumulated on my counter top. Also, lemon meringues. Take that, scurvy.

Kitty who can't decide if she's more curious or annoyed.

Devil egg nog. My mom and I cheerfully poured a glass, grated some fresh nutmeg on top, said "cheers," took a sip, and at the same time started coughing and gasping. Damn, that shit's strong. Might even be stronger than yours from last year, Akhtar.

Got a fabulous-looking pumpkin pie in the oven that I can't WAIT to eat, and mom's got her famous nut cups baking in hers. Glorious things are happening in our ovens today. And the smells... oh, the smells.

I work tomorrow morning, but I get off early.

pretty things

Some things that have been on my mental wish list lately.

And NO, this is not a subtle hint at a certain someone's upcoming birthday or Christmas gift ideas. Just stuff I've been thinking about. Seriously. Think of it as an homage to Oprah's favorite things, but way cheaper and much less varied.

• To update my new, crisp, slightly classier bed, I'm thinking a glass lamp on my nightstand. 

However, it's hard to find one that's not 100 or even 50 bucks. Heck no, it's a lamp and I'm not paying that much. I shall continue to check out the clearance racks! It makes it that much better to say I got it for a deal.

• I love putting my dish soap into an oil cruvet. 

There are no finicky pumps that get lazy, sticky and drippy, it's prettier than a bottle of dish soap, and it's easy to pour just the right amount. Downside: The metal spout tends to corrode, so I have to replace them fairly frequently. Currently on the lookout and I love this shape.

• Pin-tuck. Absolutely gorgeous. I love the simple elegance.

Too bad the one from West Elm only has a thread count of 230. Psh.

• I love these soaps. Dayna showed me these a while back and I've kept them in my bookmarks. Check out the streaking technique and accurate representation of the bugs. They're even in Houston. Loves.

• Also, loving chandeliers. I want one in the kitchen of my future house.

• Pea coats. 

I adore how they look... on other people. They always look funny on me.

• Diamond confetti. Need I say more? 

 I'm so glad we're having it at Ashley's wedding. It's just so darn fun.

Well, now I'm hungry and need to eat something other than snacking on Kinni-toos.

ahhhh.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SUZY!!!

I have this waiting for you:

It's so darn cute and I'm pretty excited about it. But that's a post for another day.

Full of chicken and corn chili and ready to take a shower, climb into my massively amazing big girl bed and watch How I Met Your Mother reruns.

I freaking love my life.

BIG GIRL BED

Today I went shopping for these, and instead ended up coming home with a BRAND NEW BIG GIRL BED!!! (!!) Unexpected and quite exciting.

We didn't find the shoes I wanted, so we headed to another store and there was a Mattress Giant in the same shopping center. Just for shits and giggles, I convinced mom to head in and do some price shopping. Little did I know, they were having a great sale and I fell in love with a bed. And bought it.

A frenzy of tearing apart the old one, vacuuming, putting together the new one, buying new sheets, and re-organizing to accommodate the bigger bed ensued. It's SO GLORIOUS!

It's much bigger than the last one. I can spread out and not hang off at all. I feel like it takes up about half of my tiny room, haha. But it's very comfy and will transition nicely into an apartment or house when I move out.

It's a Kingsdown mattress, and I got it for half off. Hellz yeah. Even with sheets, I was still under-budget when it was all said and done. Now my savings account is a little lighter, but I definitely have made an investment.
I decided not to get a headboard/footboard yet because I feel like there's just not enough room and I'd like to stay flexible if I decide to get a bedroom set in a few years. I also need a bed skirt, but I'll get that eventually.

Horray for big girl beds!!

BEFORE

AFTER

The picture really doesn't do its size or its comfiness OR its adult-ness justice. Feel free to come over and flop on it. After you shower and put on clean clothes. :o)

Going to see Harry Potter tomorrow night. Excited!!!

chicka chicka

I love that I cleaned out my closet. Today I came home from work, grabbed something to eat, and very hurriedly changed out of my scrubs into something more appropriate for court. Before it would take me 30 minutes of trying things on, but everything in there fits now. I was dressed (very cutely) in 5 minutes. No more thinking, "Ooh, this would be cute," and finding out it's way too small or fits funny and having to take it off again and find something else. Love it.

I was halfway curious and halfway dreading jury duty. Turns out I just sat there for 20 minutes reading Harry Potter and then a cop came out to tell us that they were all done for the day and they didn't need us. Sweet.

Then they told us that we were going to get a $6 check in the mail, and to be sure and cash it otherwise it would mess up all their books, haha. I guess lunch that day will be on the city!

I think that I'm going to start drinking a daily cup of green tea again. Right after work, so the little bit of caffeine won't keep me up at night, but it will keep me going through my work out. Besides, it has a tendency to [ ** TMI ALERT! ** ] keep me regular. Gotta love that.

Speaking of keeping me up at night, nothing's been doing that. I've been going to bed at 7-8 and not even stirring until the alarm goes off. It seems so early, but it doesn't bother me because nothing really happens in the evenings anyway.

P.S. Canned air is so fun. Also, I should stop eating at my computer. I cleaned it (and my desk) the other day because I noticed it had gotten really gross. It is now cleaned and sanitary again. *loves*

P.P.S. I need two more new places to visit by the end of the year. Suggestions? I'm thinking cheap day/weekend trips to some place interesting. No flights or anything. "Place" is flexible- it can be a town or something like an attraction.

blahness

Sorry, Ashley and Suzy, the only two people that read this, haha... I haven't been a very good blogger lately.

I've had fun stuff happen (Trip to San Marcos Oooh OOOOHHH!) Cracks me up every single time.
Gorgeous bridesmaid dresses marked originally at $70 and I got them for what? 30 bucks a pop. Yes ma'am.

I have a project/idea I'm working on and I'd like to talk about it but I can't because 1. Not sure if it will work 2. I can't give away gift ideas ;o) But I'm still excited.

Still wishing I had a bathtub.

Also, I must have been stocking up on cans of pumpkin more than I realized- I somehow have 9 cans of pumpkin in my pantry. I do not remember buying that much!

gluttony

Does this not look amazing? Seriously, my mouth is watering.

disappointingish

Today was kind of crappy.

I've spent the last three days trying very hard to, 1. Train my new co-worker and 2. Get results out on time. I think I did pretty well with juggling the two, but it's been very tiring and stressful. Too bad she came in today telling me she got another job offer and she's taking it. Sonofabitch wasted time.
I also have to spend time doing the maintenance on two extra machines because the person who usually does it over the weekend is no longer working there. I also had no one to tell me how to do it- hello instruction manual! Those things are surprisingly helpful.
For the record, even when it's stressful like this, I still love my job.

I also had a splitting headache. Majorly. Since when do I leave the house without magic pills??

Crappy lunch because I was too tired/lazy to pack one last night.

I was hungry before I went to work out, so I had a small bowl of cereal. During my workout I got a little crampy, but it wasn't till the drive home when I was all cooled down that it really started to hurt. Bad cramps all up and down my abdomen, and a lump in my throat that felt like I might puke, but I wasn't nauseous. It still really hurts. I'm not supposed to feel worse after a workout!

I think the time change is affecting me, too, kuz I'm majorly worn out. I'm so ready to chillax. I'm seriously looking forward to this weekend.

I have found myself wishing more and more lately that I have a bathtub. No, the gnarly one upstairs doesn't count. :o)

...

Oh my gosh.

The girl what was my roommate my first semester at UH is dead.

She was such a sweet, sweet girl.

I'm so shocked. This is awful.

Rest in peace, Delissa.

odd n end

Did you know that there are entire websites dedicated to bath robes? They even have bath robes for dogs, which is weird. Also, I don't like terry cloth bath robes. It's time for a new one, and there are a lot of terry cloth bath robes out there.

Ashley's future mother-in-law grows herbs and gave me some!!
Basil and chocolate mint. I'm very excited.

I need a basil-heavy recipe. Pesto?

Also, I do not enjoy being ignored. All my feelings turn into a great big giant FUCK YOU; I don't need this shit. How many times have I had this argument? Too damn many.

meh?

Unhappy and full of wishing-ness.

It was a good day, though.

Happy Robot Cake

With any cake I make, there are ALWAYS setbacks. Always some kind of problem. So I always start early and try not to panic.

I have realized that my new job has taught me patience and problem-solving. When the machine screws up, you can't yell at it or get mad- you have to troubleshoot and figure out how to fix the problem or work around it. I've been staying a lot calmer when things go wrong, not just at work.

I made the first cake and realized that it came out way thinner than I anticipated and the cake would not be as tall as I'd like. So, I grabbed the extra cake mix that I bought just in case, I avoided a problem. I'm now enjoying some coffee while the second cake cools. Good thing I got started early.

After the baby shower fiasco, I'm really excited to make this cake for Stephen's first birthday. I can't believe he's a year old already! And he's cute as freaking pie.


Some sneak peaks and in-progress photos:

Fondant pieces that I cut last night:

Robots in progress:

happy drag

Glorious day.

I didn't sleep well last night. I kept thinking about how I needed to rock today.
My least favorite person ever coworker was terminated yesterday, and I guess I felt the need to prove that I am worthy and can kick ass at my job? Anyway, I kept thinking tense thoughts about the next morning and and I couldn't stop, so I didn't sleep much and when I did it wasn't restful. I wasn't really worried, just mostly excited to kick some ass.

I did rock today. Every result was finished before deadline, and things went relatively smoothly. I love my job.
After work I picked up 3 more boxes of cinnamon chex (gotta have my 4am wake-up motivation).

Then, I headed to Curves. 30 minutes later, I committed to spend 40 bucks a month for a year to work out. Much more expensive than 24 hour fitness, but I hope it will work for me. I hoped to be more motivated and excited about it, but maybe I'm just really tired right now and working out is the last thing I want to do.

I wonder if a nap before bed will ruin another night's sleep... should I just tough it out?

heyheyhey

I come from Alabama with a banjo on my kneeeee.

omghiccups.

Good stuff happening.

LOVE the weather. Cold, dreary, misty, the kind of day that makes you want to stay in bed all day and snuggle. Been a while since I've had one of those days. Someone won't be home for Thanksgiving or Christmas and I don't get time off work to fly to Hawaii. Very bummed about that. I might as well get used to it, though. Can I really hang in there for that long? We'll find out, won't we? One day at a time...

ANYWAY, I have leftover pizza to eat for dinner, and an early day tomorrow.

Random video of pumpkin, who is loving the attention:

my car is rapidly turning suckier.

I must vent.

Tonight, after a long, super-busy day at work and very nice dinner with Akhtar, I stopped to get gas.

I stuck the nozzle in, decided to treat Jake to some 89, and squeezed the nozzle. The next thing I noticed, gas was pouring out. Not in.

Um.

I repositioned the nozzle and tried it again. Same thing.

I looked inside the hole. I didn't know what it was supposed to look like, so if something was wrong, how would I know??

I called Dad. He said to come home.

I stopped at a different gas station first and tried again. Spent 28 cents on gas to find out that the same thing would happen.

Son of a bitch.

Dad checks it out. Apparently some cheap-o plastic thing inside the hole to guide the nozzle into the gas flap thing broke off and got all cattywonker and now the flap won't open and the gas won't go inside. And yes, it helps to picture it with a dirty mind.

My thought: WHY THE FUCK DO YOU USE A CHEAP-O PLASTIC THINGY INSIDE WHERE THE GAS GOES?? and, HOW THE HELL DOES IT BREAK?? It's not like I abuse it!  [More dirty mind thoughts]

So Dad goes with me to the gas station, fiddles with the cattywonker plastic thingy, and gets the flap open so that we can slowly pour gas inside. [Don't even Think about dirty mind thoughts. That's my dad!]

Then, the damn flap won't close. So I'm imagining firey gas-tank death, while in reality it will probably just evaporate and I'll have to fill up sooner. Firey gas-tank death is still a very real thing in my mind.

Anyway, I have a feeling that, with all things car-related, it won't be under warranty (but it damn well SHOULD be), and it will be a $400 part and I'll have to get a rental car while it's fixed. At the very least, I'll have to go to the dealership. I fucking hate going to the dealership. Even with an appointment you're there for at least an hour until they have time to even look at it. I loathe dealerships. And it won't even be a Saturn dealership because they all went out of business... Hmm, wonder why...? Pieces of shit.

UGH I hate stupid car shit like this that is a giant pain in my ass, that never should be a pain in my ass to begin with, because it should have never so cheap that it's broken to begin with!

It's times like this that I wish Chris was here because he'd totally have a genius answer or he'd know how to fix it or he'd offer to go to the dealership for me, or at least with me.

Well, now I have to get up EARLY to go sit at the dealership for an hour tomorrow for them to tell me if they can even fix it.

Fuck.

I miss Pedro. :o(

enough!

I don't know what came over me. I need to make some changes in my life, with my appearance.

This morning I canceled my hardly-used, non-satisfying gym membership. It doesn't work for me and there's no use wasting money on it. Then I went home and tried on every single piece of clothing in my closet. I'm so sick of nothing fitting.

I ended up with a pile of giveaway clothes that included several hardly-worn pairs of slacks, my favorite pair of khaki capris that were always borderline too-tight but are now a camel-toe fest, a brand new dress that ended up being too short, lots of too-tight clothing that I have no idea how I squeezed into, and several things that I have just grown out of, like my snoopy t-shirt.

I ended up keeping a pair of both brown and black slacks that fit nice, as well as some skirts. Everything in my closet now fits. I also ended up with a lot more closet space and a ton of hangers!

...and a cat who is annoyed that her naptime turned into a clothes and hanger frenzy.

Next on the agenda is to go buy some new pairs of jeans that aren't too small. The ones I have now are digging in and uncomfortable. Ugh I hate jeans shopping, but it must be done.

I think what's happening is that my body is changing. I feel heavier, but the scale says otherwise.
I'm realizing that I'm getting more hips and booty, and my figure is becoming more woman-like.

That, I like. I just have to figure out how to dress this newish body, in a way that is age-appropriate: modest but flattering.

As far as my workout options go, I think I'm going to utilize our neglected treadmill and take advantage of this absolutely gorgeous weather and try to get back into running.

I also think that I'd like to try Curves. I used to love working out there, and I know it actually works for me. I just have to find a convenient location.

Ch-ch-ch-chaanggeeesss

happy list

Tough day at work. Two instruments down for the second day = not a very happy camper. No one was. Especially the nurses in ICU. But I managed. It was better than yesterday. I got a little overtime this week (which has become a no-no), so my boss let me go home early. Sweeet. I was and am so very tired and headache-y.

But let's focus on the positive!

Things that are making me happy right now:

• The smell of chex mix in the oven. I always love that smell.

• A full pantry. Sad pantries are just, well, sad.

• The fresh parsley and oregano in my fridge. Fresh are much tastier than dried herbs and well worth the extra cost. I think next year's garden MUST include herbs. Herbs!

• The fresh clean sheets I'm about to put on my bed. I'm still waiting for a nice cushion in my savings account before I get my big girl bed. Fresh clean sheets always make me happy.

• Cinnamon chex. Mmm. Can't wait till breakfast.

Of course, all these things are related to food or sleep. Does that mean I'm a lazy fatty? If that's wrong, I don't want to be right. ;o)

i hate car problems that don't make sense to me.

This is the weirdest thing.

My car has abruptly stopped making noise. Now, I know most people do not complain about the lack of noise coming from a car.

But it's really annoying.

See, when I turn my blinker on, there's no clicking noise. When I open the door with keys in the ignition or the lights on, or if there is someone not wearing a seat belt, it does not ding to let me know. It also does not alert me when I'm low on gas, or if coolant is low, or whatever else it beeps for. What a random thing to go wrong with a car!

I want these noises back.
I like the, "Oh shit you're about to leave your lights on!" warning.

I've tried the fuse panels, but non of the labels describe, "Noises your car makes." That, and nothing else is really going wrong, so if it was associated with a fuse that also controls something else, I'd know it.

Super lame.

weekendness

The weekend:

Trip to Lake Livingston for a friend's birthday. Beautiful, relaxing.
Add another place to my list of new places to visit this year.

P.S. Missy and I make a great foosball team. I now want a foosball table.

Laundry, chinese takeaway in lieu of groceries, snuggles with pumpkin, and sketches for Stephen's first birthday cake. Can you guess the theme? ;o)

I can't watch Charlie and the Chocolate Factory without thinking that his mom is just Bellatrix Lestrange in disguise.

As always, another weekend that seems way too short.

TA-DA!!

Isn't it beautiful??? So shiny, new, and nice and tall and curvy so that even when the sink is piled high I can still get water. Porcelain washers that are guaranteed to NEVER LEAK. I'm so smitten with my new faucet. I literally giggle when I turn it on.

Early in the day they had replaced the leaky one with another cheapy faucet that looked exactly like the original. Except. Mom happened to mention that it didn't have a connection for the sprayer.

That was a problem. Seriously, a major problem.

See, I love that sprayer. I use it constantly. When I told this to mom, she said that she didn't think it would be a big deal because she doesn't even use the one in her kitchen. Then I reminded her that she has a dishwasher. It's a different story when you have to hand-wash your dishes. I really do use it ALL the time.

So then I had accepted the fact that I was just going to have to be sprayer-less, when I came home to the guy installing a whole new faucet. Then I felt like a brat for complaining, but mom said that if we installed a cheap faucet it would just end up leaking again.

So I have an awesome new faucet (that was $80, by the way, I had to pay for it lol) and it doesn't leak and it's just so... awesome. *sigh* Well worth the money.

Oh, and I was also super-productive this afternoon. I switched over my car insurance, and finally sat down and read through and filled out all the paperwork for the health and vision benefits that I now get through work. Then I canceled my existing expensive health insurance, which was literally a 3-minute phone call. Easy peasy.

Oh, and I also managed to spend a freaking thousand dollars in 10 minutes today. I paid the 6 months car insurance and then paid mom for half of the repair bills. Since I don't pay rent and I regularly "shop" in the fridge and pantry, I figured that was fair. We had them fix my bathroom ceiling and faucet, and then replace the leaky (eew) toilet and faucet in the hall bath. The hall bath and my parent's bathroom AND the entry way were painted, as they've been sitting there in mid-paint for about a year. I swear, the trim has been taped off and the paint cans have been sitting in the entry way for over a year. So, now it's done and things look much nicer.

Like I said, productive day. Cereal for dinner, then bed. I'm TIRED!

hey there

Good morning, cinnamon chex. You make 330am happy.

I woke up to pee about 45 minutes before my alarm went off, and I think in my intense desire to fall back to sleep, I thwarted myself. I got up a little earlier than I'd normally do to make sure my breakfast dishes were washed and put away and there was no underwear on the floor-- new faucet today! AND, remember the bathroom ceiling damage from Ike? Getting fixed too. Holla.

But I'm still ready way too early to leave for work. And I can't go in early to get a head start on things because they're cracking down on overtime. Which doesn't bother me one bit because I like leaving on time.

I hope things go smoothly today. Our chemistry analyzer is older than dirt, and it's been giving us problems lately. Today I'm by myself, which I love, but I just hope things go smoothly. Nothing like a problem with chemistry to stress out my morning.

Shit, I still have 30 minutes.

FEED ME

If you know me at all or read this blog, you know that I don't like to be hungry. At all.
Hungry's just not my thing.

Today I was hungry.
A lot.
It was just one of those "hungry days."
It sucked.
BUT I drove home eating an apple and some leftover dry cereal to hold me over, and made myself an awesome dinner.
Fish that I finally learned how to cook. (One type of fish, cooked one way. Hey, it works.) With leftover rice, some steamed broccoli and carrots.
And now I'm not hungry.
Just full. And happy.

...With a sinkload of dishes- but I'm so happy about being not hungry that I just might do them.

And the word Hungry starts to look very strange when you look at it for a while.

Also, I love my toot. Just sayin'.

'Nuff schmoop.
Time for dessert!
Frozen peanut m&ms
:: big huge lazy smile ::

Weekend comments

I'm really feeling this purple argyle cardigan at NY&C. I don't like the way it looks on the model though.

I'm glad that Sam Moon's is a 45-minute drive. Wall-to-wall handbags, jewelry and accessories is SO MUCH FUN and I came home with a new bag and several bitchin' and cheap pieces of jewelry. I actually did not purchase this one, but I do like it.

Rock band is still not my favorite game.

Puzzle mats are both good and bad. Good because they do roll up, but bad because the mat comes out of the box creased and the pieces kinda get wonky.

Massive 2-story Forever 21 stores are amazing. It was like a whole other world in there. I could easily spend hours in there (the one in the Woodland's Mall). I should have taken a picture; words cannot describe.

Bargains: $20 Calvin Klein dress that fits me great. Originally $70.

French onion dip and Ruffles are irresistible. I simply can not say NO.

The Garden Ridge in the Woodlands is SO MUCH BETTER than the one that turned shitty in Sugar Land. 

Boo, Kroger does not carry cinnamon chex.

My mom wants me to buy my mattress at Big Lots. I'm sorry, but I just don't feel right buying a mattress at Big Lots. If I'm going to spring for a new bed, I'm getting a decent quality one. Big Lots doesn't exactly scream 'quality.'

I still have to do dishes :o/

and.i'm.out

What a friggin' week.

Looking forward to Huntsville!!

car insurance

Oy, car insurance quotes.

It's time to break free from the nest and get off mom and dad's policy. Our local Allstate agent will not return my phone calls, so I got a quote from the 1-800 number. If I switch to my own policy, I'd pay $200 more every six months. I hate to part with them, after they treated me so well after the accident, but our agent pissed me off and they're simply more expensive.

Farmers was even higher- they quoted me DOUBLE what I'm paying now. I mean, I want full coverage, but sheesh.

I also checked out AAA. Yeah, apparently they offer auto insurance, not just roadside assistance. The guy I talked to was super nice, and unless I misunderstood, you have to get a membership to get the insurance. Which is kind of cool, but I don't think I need quite that much, as I rarely go outside of a 30-mile radius of my house, haha. Anyway, they quoted me about the same as Allstate.

Then I called Progressive and they totally rocked my socks. The premium is only a few bucks higher than I'm paying now, and I get the same coverage, and this is with the accident on record (almost exactly 3 years ago) and without all of mom and dad's multi-car discounts. I'm pretty pleased about that.

So it looks like Progressive is winning the quote battle. Not that I plan on making claims *knock on wood*, but does anyone have any good/bad experience stories to share?

Also, I'm surprised at how easy it is to get a car insurance quote. I hope it's not making little dings on my credit score or anything, haha. Not that it matters anyway.

AND, AND, more adult-ful-ness: I start getting benefits at work soon. Hel-lo better, cheaper health insurance! Hel-lo vision! and my mom might force me to get dental since I have no intention of doing anything dentist-y any time soon.

Oh, oh and also, my dad is going all Steel Magnolias and lighting firecrackers to scare the birds away while he changes his oil so they "don't shit on his truck." Classy. I love it.

fratastic

Text message at 3am (or 10pm his time?) from Chris: "The barracks have turned into a frat house."

There are many things I have imagined the barracks are like, and a frat house was never one of them! You know it's got to be bad for him to be disgusted.

I'm sorry Ash, that's all I have for you today. My life goes like this: Wake up, contemplate working out but go back to sleep, eat breakfast + check email and facebook, go to work, come home, eat dinner, shower, go to bed.

I guess I have to live vicariously through other people again, unless you want blog entries that say, "This morning I ate chex instead of corn flakes." (Which I did.)

Also, my afternoons are livened up a bit by trying to figure out my coworker's sexuality. I just can't pin it down, as this person is a rather odd individual to begin with. Nice enough, but odd.

saturday

I came home to fabulous GF "poo" cupcakes, made by Suzy. <33

Long, tiring week. I crashed HARD last night and I feel a little better today. Still headcoldy/allergies-y. I can't tell. Didn't really get my list done. Meh, next week.

Today = UH FOOTBALL!! My house has been taken over by MS State fans. Oy.

Been getting pictures of paradise on my phone from Chris. It looks sooo beautiful.
Except they deploy for Afghanistan soon. NOOOO I thought it would take much longer.

Anyway, festivities are gearing up for the game, it's gunna be a beautiful day.

my mom is AWESOME

Today, after a long and tiring day of work (which included screaming doctors), I came home expecting the aforementioned disgusting pile of dishes and instead saw this:

Oh my gosh!! Even the super-grody crock pot and blender were cleaned and gleaming! You have no freaking idea how happy this makes me. Like seriously. I'm so happy I could just cry. Because I know how huge and disgusting the dishes were, and I know it was a huge gesture.

Then, I opened the fridge to this:

 

(except it wasn't half-eaten.) It's delicious and I don't have to cook. 

It makes the fact that there is no more pumpkin pie a little easier to handle ;o)

I love my mom. 

bed-maker?

I feel like this is going to be a week of  procrastination.

Let's add to the top of the list: dishes and laundry.

I don't know what happened; I was super-exhausted when I left work yesterday. I was fine until about 3 when I wanted nothing more than to close my eyes and conk out. The traffic-y drive home was horrible. I kept wanting to fall asleep.

When I got home I packed my lunch for today, ate some cracker jack for dinner, showered and went to bed.

I hope today is better.

A conversation yesterday made me wonder just how many people make their bed every morning.

I, for one, never make my bed. I can honestly say I haven't since I was about 10 and my mom stopped making me. Even when I change the sheets I don't really make the bed- I just kind of lay out the sheets and if I have to make it look decent, I spread out a big blanket on top of the mess and smooth it out. No tucking things in here. It just doesn't make sense to me.
But I know there are hard-core bed-makers out there. It's interesting to guess which of your friends are bed-makers and which aren't.

So, which one are you?

week to-do

Yesterday I spotted pumpkin in the store and bought a couple of cans. Yes, I'm going to go back and buy 5 cans so I can have pumpkin pie when I'm craving it in May.

Anyway, so at some point during the day Chris texted me and asked what I was doing, and I told him I was making pumpkin pie. His response: "U better not eat that whole pumpkin pie u little shit."

He knows me too well. It's already half gone, and I'm not going to share. I am sticking with my story that pumpkin pie is healthy. It is!

Anyway, the real reason for this post: My to-do list for the week.

• Research car insurance. Who do you use? Do you like them? I currently have All State and I like them but it's very expensive. The only company I will not use is State Farm.

• Grocery shopping. Yay!

• Wash my disgusting car. Inside and out.

• Renew my ASCLS membership, or figure out why I should. I'm not exactly sure what the point is, unless I get some free CEs.

• Make my way up to UH and get some new garb for the game. GO COOGS!

cleannn

So I lied. I cleaned my floors. I even washed the rugs. I couldn't help it, it was SO gross.

It was SUCH a beautiful day. I got up early and got new tires. The guy helping me even removed the disposal fee; he was totally flirting and I just smiled and stayed friendly. Hey, it saved me some cash. Chris said the kind of tires that I got are softer so they'll grip the road better, especially when it's raining. Sweet, I've noticed some serious hydroplaning during these crazy summer storms. New tires = good.

Then I changed my bedsheets. Don't ever underestimate the power of fresh clean sheets. I can't wait for bed tonight. It's going to be awesome.

Flipping between Legally Blonde, Good Burger, and Little House on the Prairie in my pjs until it's time to get ready for Tosh Tour.

Aloha!

Well, it looks like Chris is scheduled to be stationed in Hawaii. For the near future at least. He'll be there in a week or so. He was upset because he thought he was going to be in CA and that meant a plane ride for a visit was doable. To Hawaii is obviously a little harder.

While he and his mom were upset about this, I was pretty darn happy. The farther away from those homemade roadside bombs he is, the happier I am. I don't know why but they seriously scare me. I do hope he gets to go somewhere cool in the future, just not in the thick of it.

He actually called last night and we had a nice chat. I miss just talking about nothing with him. It made me feel more connected than a text message. Not that text messages are bad, but I'm a chick; I need something more than that. Anyway, I'm happy with Hawaii. Plus, my mom is the cheap airfare queen and I've always wanted to go to Hawaii... Hey, I still think it's doable.

Tonight is Tosh Tour 2010!!

lame laze

No wine tonight. The intentional glutening episode is still giving me lingering troubles, only made worse by wine. NEVER AGAIN!

Kinda bored but too lazy to get up and actually do anything.

And Ashley's wanting to name her new cat Tobediah. I think that's a terrible, horrible name! I also think that the more I hate it, the more she likes, it, lol.

I like the idea of re-naming the puppy Slav and calling the kitten Veter.

cupcakes & cleaning

I'm really glad nobody watched me eat that last cupcake. See, they're just barely too tall for me to bite into without kind of cramming them into my mouth. Oh, they were so good.
Life's too short to deprive yourself of cupcakes.

My floors need cleaning. Well, actually everything needs cleaning. But the floors are especially gnarly. I probably won't do it today, tomorrow, or this weekend.
Life's too short to worry about the floors.

Going to soak my feet- some days they hurt after work and others they don't. I think some wine would help that, also. ;o)

All day long I thought it was Friday and I was disappointed every time I realized it was Thursday. At least tomorrow if that happens, it will be for real!

pears

Ugh, pears have such a weird texture.

uneventful happies

I don't know why I'm so happy right now.

Maybe it's this amazing cupcake from Whole Foods. I'm still really feeling cupcakes. I was originally going to just take a quick taste and fulfill the craving, but I keep going back to take a bite. It's So Good.

Other than cupcakes, my day/week has been fairly uneventful. Gym, work, home, bed. I have a TO-DO list of things I've been putting off for weeks, and it's going to get done this week. Mostly boring stuff.

Also, I got my scores back from the board of certification exam and I did really well. Not that it matters too much now, but it's still pretty awesome.

As I sit here after a busy yet fulfilling day of work, my cat sleeping in her box while I catch up on my blogs, a happy belly and a nice breeze outside, I know exactly why I'm so happy.

sunday wine

I know why I always have a drink on Sunday nights. Shit, Gotta think positive thoughts! It's too early in the game to let it get me down. That which does not kill me, makes me stronger, right? Bring on the future. (Seriously, let's not dawdle.)

Also, I want to have a favorites party. The question is when to have it- my weekends are booking up pretty quickly- every Saturday and most Friday nights in October have plans. Gosh, it's pretty much October already??

Supposed to have a cool front tonight. *crosses fingers*

And, because I love this song, enjoy some George Michael.

wine fest

Wine fest was a big fat WIN.

I had SUCH a good time. I hardly took any pictures like I wanted to, but picture a huge, nice park (with nice grass), full of tents. Wineries, jewelry, wine accessories, painting, chocolate, and some random food. You just went up to the various wine vendors and gave them your ticket for 1/2 glass of wine.

Then we walked around and checked stuff out, sat in the grass and drank our wine. The atmosphere was perfect. It cooled down a bit in the evening so that it was really very pleasant, and everyone had a nice buzz on. The crowd was great too. No obnoxious people; just mellow, good moods all around. They had different people playing music, and I got a HUGE turkey leg for dinner.

I'm definitely going again next year.

Oh, and by the way, I'm never eating gluten again. All day yesterday I could feel the effects of that damn cheese stick.

lovely

The other day I accompanied my coworker to do a draw on a patient, and the patient's family member asked me if I was a student. I said yes, and caught my coworker looking at me funny. I didn't realize it until a second later when it came to me that I'm NOT a student anymore. It didn't even occur to me because I'm just so used to being a student. Just one of those moments.

You know what I'm NOT doing this weekend?
Studying! A-hahahaha!

I'm going to investigate the most awesome gifts for the Pay it Forward project from this summer, and then enjoy the wine fest. Maybe go to Whole Foods and get some groceries. I'm seriously craving cupcakes. I think it was because the ones Missy made were so damn good and now I've eaten them all.

I ate gluten last night. On purpose. I was tipsy and mom ordered food and there was this huge platter of fried mozzarella sticks and I just HAD to have one. It was delicious and my belly only hurt a little bit. But I think I need to re-create them GF because now I'm craving them. One was not enough! Ashley, I think this is a job for your fryer.

hcisgif

Holy Crap I'm So Glad It's Friday.
So it's FINALLY Friday. Oy, it's about time.

Today I got to eat lunch, even though the before-8-am-crunch-time this morning was crazy.

This afternoon wasn't so bad. Except. I was happily labeling tubes, the machines were whirring and humming problem-free, and I was watching a storm come in real quick- I could literally watch the sunny blue sky become swept with dark rain clouds.

There was heavy rains, then about 1/2 second of power loss.... and all hell broke loose. I could hear patient monitors beeping all down the hall, then one-by-one my (yes, my) machines aborted their mission. Computers shut down, results were lost, and I stayed calm. Except then they all had to be started back up, initialized, primed, and samples in progress during the outage had to be manually programmed. But I managed. Because I'm kind of a badass.

Also one of the QC parameters wasn't coming in at ALL, and I couldn't figure out why. Then I realized that I was using the wrong control all day. Oops. Shit. Chalk that up as another learning mistake that I never repeat.

Anyway, leftover chinese + wine = bliss. Debating on another glass of wine or a redbox movie. I can't do both, as the wine will prevent the safe driving but I kinda want that movie. But I really want more wine.
Movie? Wine?
Movie? Wine.
Movie... Wine!
Movie then wine!

Also, Wine Festival tomorrow! I told you, Missy, that I'd end up buying my ticket Friday night.

Except I can't print it because my printer is a FUCKtard and won't let me print in black and white even though I have plenty of black ink, but am out of fucking cyan. Infuriating.

Also, what the fuck kind of name is cyan? Why don't they just call it BLUE?

Ok, I really did just get all worked up over a stupid printer. More wine. :o)

Man.

Hoooo, man.

What a day. I started work at 5am and did not sit down or stop moving until 9 hours later. I didn't even eat lunch today, which everyone knows is next to impossible for me. Every time I tried to go eat, another stat came in the door and I had to stop everything and get it done. Not that it was a bad day; just busy. By some miracle I didn't hit that dizzy, shaky hunger point. Pure adrenaline, baby.

As soon as my coworker came in at 2ish, I brought him up to speed and flew out of there. Luke and I went and ate chinese food- absolutely delicious. Being famished probably made it taste better, but it really was great. I had a tapioca slush, too, and now I'm going to rest a while till my food baby goes away. Bliss.

Since I've graduated, oh hell since I started CLS school a year ago, my days have consisted of going to school/work, coming home exhausted, and crashing early. I think I'm finally coming out of that rut- I want to go out to dinner or hang out in the afternoons/evenings instead of flopping on the couch and falling asleep. Although, right about now I wish I had a nice clean bathtub to soak and relax. Or a hot tub, but only if it was cold outside. I'm not trying to have a heat stroke, haha. I wonder how much hot tubs cost?

Umm, apparently you can buy them at Walmart. Wow. As for myself, I want this one:

 :o)



Also... are you serious?? Someone's getting paid to write articles about facebook being down?? No wonder we haven't mastered time travel or cured aids yet.

ahem

I have 15 minutes before I should leave for work. Got a little bit of a schedule change a few days a week, and I gotta say it might be harder to wake up at 8 than it is to wake up at 330. I've gotten semi-used to the early time, and I think when I sleep in my body thinks it's the weekend and I should get to sleep until 10. So it's been interesting.
I think to combat this, I'm going to get up at 6(ish) and go to the gym before work. It worked today, except my toe hurts and maybe I should have stuck to weights.

I think I should clarify on my last post- I know what he's doing is a selfless, honorable thing. I'm extremely proud of him and I know it's not an easy accomplishment to become a US Marine. I sound selfish and bratty when I say, "why me?" when he'll be risking his life. He loves what he's doing and he's damn good at it. I'm supportive because I want to be; because he deserves it.

I don't think he'd understand if I told him my concerns. I think he'd take it as an attack because he's the one living it, every day, the physical and mental exhaustion. I think at this point in the training they have to think about themselves, to keep themselves going. I get it, I do.

Not that I'm going to say anything yet- it's not that definitive in my mind. It's just something that I'm slowly becoming aware of as every day passes that I'm waiting. I don't even know what I'd say if I brought it up. I try to be positive on our brief talks because I can imagine the taxing world he's immersed in right now.

If I try to ignore it, I'll just end up full of resentment and nobody will be happy. That's why I'm glad I have a blog- to sort things out. I think it all boils down to I miss him a lot and there's not a damn thing I can do about it.

honestly,

I never wanted this.

This affects my life, every single day, but I never had any say in it. Instead I'm supportive while it's the little black cloud being annoying and following me around everywhere. I'm ready for my life to move on, not hang in the balance of text messages and 10-minute half-assed phone calls every weekend. It's just not very fulfilling for the sacrifice I feel like I'm making. I guess that's part of the sacrifice, or the commitment, or whatever you want to call it.

I like my job, my family, my friends, and pretty much every other aspect of my life- except my love life. I want to be happy, not waiting around to be happy. It's all wrapped up dormantly, buzzing to be opened up. I sound like a broken record, but I'm just not a very patient person.

The question is, how long do I let it affect my life? I don't know, maybe I'll feel differently tomorrow. I can't be optimistic and perky all the damn time. I'm allowed to be a little resentful every once in a while, right?

Oh, and my toe freaking HURTS! Tomorrow should be interesting.

Oh, and I think I'm going to start going to church again. With Missy. With the Catholics. Oh, the kneeling! But I feel good about it.

dirty dishes & good books

HOW does this happen? I didn't even cook that much this week!

I'm running dangerously low on forks and rather than do the dishes, I'm seriously contemplating just going and buying some new forks. I hate doing the dishes SO MUCH. This is probably why I don't know how to cook- I avoid practicing because I know THIS will happen.

I woke up to the glorious light streaming into my window at 7am, and I felt ambitious so I got up and paid some bills. Then I went back to bed for 3 hours and pumpkin snuggled up under my arm. I broke down and gave her whining ass some wet food last night so now she's happy with me again. Until the wet food runs out, of course.

Chocolate chip muffins for breakfast. <3 Saturdays.

Oh, the library finally called for the book I requested months ago: My Sister's Keeper. It's so good it's hard to put down. I peeked at the end so I know how it ends, but I'm still going to read the whole thing.