Wednesday, January 18, 2012

and with it comes a belly ache...

At some point last night, I started feeling not so good. There are some pretty nasty gastrointestinal things going around right now, so I was REALLY hoping it wasn't what I was getting. I finally managed to fall asleep around 3AM. Woke up at 8AM, and yup...I got the stuff that is going around. It's been along morning already, and I still have to work tonight.

I finally managed to venture out long enough to check some things online that I needed to check. I'm so over winter already. I have friends coming to town this weekend, and we planned on doing some geocaching. I'm sure we still will, but it's not near as fun in this cold weather! Also, my father and step-mother are coming to town Sunday for our "Christmas" with them. I REALLY need to be better by then!

This weekend was our company Christmas party. I had a great time, not getting home until nearly 1AM, and having to be at work by 7AM. I ended up only running about a half hour behind, so I was pretty impressed with myself. I wasn't, however, prepared for what Sunday had in store for me.

I was greeted at work by a dog that took it upon himself to do his own leg amputation. Followed by a puppy that had died overnight from Parvo. (that is a story I just don't want to get into, as I am REALLY bitter) Another dog vomited everywhere, and we had a dog die during surgery. It was a LONG day. Managed to make it through though, and Monday went much more smoothly.

Now I will just spend the rest of the week trying to make myself feel better so I can hang out with friends this weekend! Here is to hoping the snow stays away until AFTER their visit!

Friday, January 13, 2012

ahh, there she is....

I've been strangely absent, in case you hadn't noticed. Laptop crashing, kindle pain in the assing, and stolen neighbors wifi vanishing. I've been unable to blog, and it's actually been driving me nuts. Even without much to say. It had become something I was relying on, even if just an attempt to keep my mind in check.

So, nothing new to update. I'm still only able to get access to internet when the neighbors connection is strong enough. We are in the middle of our first snow storm of the season, so that isn't helping the internet situation. I'm going stir crazy. No television, no internet, too cold to be outside...ugh. I am SO ready for summer!

On the bright side...there is an upcoming geocaching event, the 21st. It's one of my favorite of the season. Brad, who is hosting it, has told me that I am not allowed to attend, either is my best friend, Katie. If we wanted to fight it, we could, because Groundspeak has a rule stating that events must be open to ALL public, and you are not allowed to exempt anyone from attending, or they will not allow your event to be listed on their site. However, we have decided to take the higher road, and allow the event to remain published, and simply not go. Instead of attending, our group of friends (who make up a large majority of those that attended anyway) are going to just get together and spend the day doing other stuff. Instead of their money going to the park, it will go to a local hotel, and we will be doing some caching, shopping and just hanging out. Everyone was planning on making the drive up here anyway, so anything he decides to attempt to do to cause drama isn't going to stop us from having fun!

Tomorrow is FINALLY the Christmas party for work. I went last year, and had a lot of fun, though I'd only been working there a month. Unfortunately, none of the other kennel crew is attending....AND I don't have a date, so it's me, stag, walking into a room of people I don't know too well. And for any of you that know me, you already know this means no good. I HATE walking into rooms like that....the whole pathetic "who will I sit by, who will I talk to..."ugh. But, I will go, and I am sure I will have just as much fun as last year.

Other than that, nothing new. Hope all of you are well, and will update as soon as I can.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Wanted: man willing to rub feet!

I.AM.BEAT. Today was my first day going into work at 2, instead of 4. We weren't terribly busy, but I busted butt getting some things stocked and doing a few deep cleaning things. My feet and ankles are killing me. After work, grabbed some dinner and then to Walmart to get some things we needed here at the house. Saved $20 in coupons, felt like a champ! But what should have been a 20 minute trip has me getting home at 2AM. I just walked the store looking at stuff, not really wanting to go home and too tired to drive.

But Tuesday is my first night out with the girls since I lost my kmart job in July, so ism REALLY looking forward to it. Just wings, but the company, and keeping my mind off of things, will be a welcomed change. Just wish Katie lived closer so we could drag her along too.

Sunday, January 8, 2012

oh so little sleep...

Headed my behind to work at 6:30AM, with little more than 2 hours sleep. Thank goodness my mother is an early bird, she is the person who kept me awake,via phone, while I drove in. Relatively easy day, which was much welcome. It let me catch up some of the cleaning and sanitizing that needed done there.
Came home and vegged on the sofa wth Mackensie while we played games on the kindle. Snuck in a quick 20 minute nap, read some, and after dinner it was movies and a LOT of progress on my secret project!! I'm having fun with it, but I am so ready for it to be done.
And now its nearly 2AM, with the amount of sleep I didn't get last night, I should have passed out hours ago. This insomnia is really beginning to take its toll on me. So I am off to curl up in bed and watch some television. If I am lucky, I wont even make it to the first commercial break. Wish me luck!


p.s. this entire entry was done on my kindle fire. compaired to my last attempt, this one looks great!

and then...

and then...

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Chick, your pork is a little...dry.

January 5, 2012
 What is the hardest part about a beginning? 


I guess it would be the "unknown" part of it.  While I am super spontaneous, I like to know how things are going to turn out.  Taking that "leap" is a struggle in some situations.  


Didn't do much of anything today.  Finally got to sleep in a little bit, which was wonderful.  Kids' first day back to school.  They were all pretty tired when they got home, but finished homework quickly.  We got some Wii time in before Brad got home and I had to retreat back to my bedroom.  It's just too stressful to be in the same room as him, and being as he camps out on the sofa, it doesn't leave me much option.  But lately the kids and I have been cuddling up in my bed and watching movies, and it looks like we might have some time to do that again tonight.  Oh, and...Seth was actually EXCITED to do his reading homework tonight!  That NEVER happens!  His class is reading "The Outsiders", which is one of my favorite stories.  It reminded me that I haven't seen the movie in forever, but we will hold off on watching it, because he is going to have to watch it in class.


Tried a new garlic pork chop recipe for dinner.  It sucked.  Pork was so dry we had to drown it in butter.  Can cross that one off the list, I suppose.  We now have some vanilla ice cream going in the maker.  We got some mint chips to stir into it when it's almost done.  I can almost hear it calling out to us now!


Back to work tomorrow.  Fridays are a busy night for me, so that is good.  Have been managing to pull about 8-10 hours more a week.  I wish I could get 40, but I know it's just never gonna happen.


I came across a website that is doing a Photo A Day Challenge.  They give you a topic, every day, that you have to take a picture of. I thought it might be fun to incorporate that into this blog.  That way on the days I don't have much to say, I can at least post a photo.  I can't, and won't, promise that I will stick to it every day, but I will do my best.


Todays Photo Challenge is "Something that you wore".
This is an owl pendant I bought to wear during our owl-banding season.  I just love it!

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

What is a "pumpernickel" anyway?

January 4, 2012
Are you superstitious about beginnings? Anything you do to start out on the right foot?


This goes right along with my "spontaneous" personality...meaning, I don't ever do things to prepare, etc.  Because I usually don't know what I am doing from one day to the next.  I don't have any New Year rituals either.


Another boring day in the condo complex.  It's days like this that I REALLY miss living at the Nature Preserve.  Things were just so much simpler there, and life was just so much...happier.  Our little cabin in the woods.  And on a day I didn't have anything to do, I could step right outside my door and be in Nature.  I could grab my camera and explore, hop on the tractor and toy around, or just sit on the back porch and listen.  I'd give anything to be back there again.  sigh
Worked a little bit more on my secret project.  I don't have much time to get it finished, so I'm doing the best I can to stay on it.  Kylie has been trying her hand at cross-stitching, so I've been helping her with that too.  Kids go back to school in the morning.   I'm kind of sad about it.  I've really enjoyed spending some time with them while on their break.  I don't get to see them much when they are in school, because of my work schedule.  I just wish it was different.  
The highlight of my day was finding a new snack food.  I stopped by the grocery on the way to work to get something to snack on tonight.  I decided on pretzels and came across these "Pumpernickel and Onion" ones.  I have no idea why I bought them, as I have no clue what pumpernickel even is. (I wikipedia'd it, so now I know the answer)  But I was distracted with a phone call, so I will just blame Jenn for my random purchase.  Turns out to be a good thing, as they were DELISH!  (don't tell Jenn)  I guess they make them in a variety of "shapes", but I got the twists.  I would certainly recommend them!  
Worked this evening.  Nothing too exciting there.  Found out a dog I spent a little time with the other night is in heart failure, and that really made me sad.  He's just a year old, and a very sweet boy.  So I sat in with him tonight for a few, and loved on him good.  He probably will be humanely euthanized tomorrow, so I'm kind of glad I don't have to work.  I guess that is the one thing I hate about my job, the ones that don't make it.  Some of them just really get to your heart.  If by some miracle he makes a huge turn around tonight, they won't do it, but I just don't see that happening.  My prayers are going to his family tonight.
I have tomorrow off.  I don't have much planned, other than catching up on laundry.  So you can look forward to another lame post from me tomorrow night.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

Oh, that was some good steak...

January 3, 2012
What is your favorite start of the year tradition?

I can honestly say, I don't have one.  I don't do resolutions, so those aren't even an idea to blog about.  I'm more of a spur of the moment and less "planning it all out" type of a person, so I don't even have goals set in place at the beginning of the year.  This question is a REALLY bad one for me to answer...sorry to all that were hanging on to the edges of their seats waiting for an answer.

Today Kylie and I went grocery shopping.  I was UBER excited to find my 2 favorite K-cups on sale, for $2 off a box, at the local grocer.  I stocked up with 6 boxes!  I've been drinking a lot more coffee now that it is so much easier to make...lol.  I'm sure that isn't a good thing, but I'm not drinking it all into the night, so it's not likely to keep me up at night.  I already do that well enough without coffee.  Also, I heard on the news the other day that women who drink 4 cups of coffee a day are 20% less likely to suffer from depression.  Right now, with everything Brad is throwing at me, I could use all the help I can get.  So, thank you in advance, coffee, for helping me be less depressed!
We also scored an EXCELLENT sale on roast, buy one get one free.  In addition, they had $12.00 steaks on sale, plus a coupon for $4 off each one, so we got $12 steaks for $4!!!!  We had them for dinner tonight, and they were....incredible!  Possibly the best steak I've ever made.  I also stocked up on after-school snack food for them, as mini-pizzas were on sale 10 for $10, along with a few other things.  Got some things to try as "mix ins" in the new ice cream maker too, but we have to wait for the canister to freeze, so possibly Thursday, as I work tomorrow.
After grocery shopping, Kylie and I fooled around with the clay, I helped her with a craft she is working on, we made some ornaments I got on clearance a week ago, and then us girls cuddled in my bed for some chick flicks.  It was a great day, all and all, despite a few bumps tossed in front of me.
The good/bad news of the day is that Brad deleted me and blocked me on facebook.  I am certain that he will still use the kids accounts to access mine, or just flat out log into mine, as he has seemed to do in the past.  But I got to thinking today, he blocked them from accessing the internet, so I don't think he has any right, whatsoever to monitor what they do on their facebook/email accounts anymore.  So, I will be working the next few days to get that switched over.  I was going to not do it, for fear that he would shut Kylies phone off on her, but she told me today that he already was going to, because she texted Tennyson.  I can't afford to pay her phone bill too, so I don't know what she is going to do now.  Ahh, the life in this house....

Monday, January 2, 2012

Predicting the future...

Todays NaBloPoMo was:  What did you do on New Years?  


I answered that yesterday.  So, I'm not going to bore you with the details of that night again.  If you missed it, you can go back and read it.


As for today...not much happened.  Got a little laundry done, worked some more on my secret project, and went to work.  3 of the recently adopted dogs got picked up, so that was a great feeling!  We also got our first snowfall of the year, and I quickly remembered how much I hate my commute to and from work in the winter.  It made for slow-going, but I managed to get home safely.  AND...by the time I got home, Brad had gotten the Christmas tree taken down and everything packed away.  That was a nice surprise, because I was REALLY dreading that job!  It's always fun to put it out but the packing it all up part SUCKS!  


Still no cure for the laptop blues.  I'm thinking that when the issue gets straightened out with the gift card my mom gave me, I will look into buying a Kindle Fire.  I REALLY want an iPad, but I don't have that much money on the gift card, and now that I have to use taxes to buy a new laptop (and a computer desk since this one got broken today), and probably a hotel room for as long as it's gonna take until I can figure out how to get a place with my credit and poor rental history, AND a car, cuz I'm sure Brad will keep the one I have been driving for the past 5 years, since he is now all of a sudden calling it "HIS" van, an iPad is once again not in my future.  It doesn't look like my level of stress is going to back down anytime soon.


On the bright side, I've been managing to get a few more hours in at work the last few weeks.  With my rate of pay, it still doesn't add up to much, but it is a little bit more.  I'm still not full time, and doubt I ever will be at this rate, but until I can find something better paying, the extra few hours are a blessing.  Maybe now I can afford the small things I need, like toothpaste and deodorant, and not just gas to go to work.

Is it 2013 yet?

January 1, 2012
Weekend Free-Write!


I had a VERY rough start to the New Year.  I started out ringing it in with a group chat with some people from the Single Parents Group that I belong to.  Within the first hour, I had spilled a drink on my laptop and dropped my computer twice.  Some time back, I dropped it, and lost the "power" button to it.  This is okay, as long as you don't shut it down.  Well, it overheated and shut down.  Now I have no way to turn it back on.  I guess I know what I'm doing with some of my tax refunds.  It really needed replaced anyway.  It was slowly falling apart, and the battery only lasted about 10 minutes on it.


New Years Day, I had to work in the morning.  Then my friend Daryl met up with me and we cached our way over to visit Gisela and her new son, Alex.  He is SO cute, and he even had on an elephant outfit when I got there!  That kid has good taste already! We spent quite awhile visiting with Gisela.      It's been awhile, so it was nice to see her again.  After we left there, we cached some more.  It was SO cold and windy out, but we managed.  Neither of us was really ready to call it quits, but it gets dark so early this time of year that we had to.

After that I came home and Kensie and I laid in my bed and watched movies all night, and ate popcorn, while I worked on another secret project.  I let her pick the first one.  She picked out Harry Potter.  I've avoided these movies up to this point, because from what I have seen, they just looked really stupid. But I love her, so I suffered through it.  I will admit, it wasn't bad, but it's not something I would sit and watch again.  Then I picked a movie I bought over a year ago and had yet to watch.  It ended up sucking, but I got more of my project done, so it was ok.  Kensie picked the 3rd one, and I don't know how far into it I managed to stay awake.  Maybe 10 minutes?  LOL...it was a fun night.



We are supposed to get some nasty weather, which I'm not looking forward to.  Hopefully it misses us so that I won't be forced to drive in it.  Happy New Year everyone!