Just A Blip

I'd love to post more but it's hard to eat and type. So much to do lately and not enough time in the day. Pilates class tonight so I have to eat and then run. Title and registration did not come today so I get to go to the dealer tomorrow and get a sticker that lets me drive legally until the new one comes. Sigh. I should have just gotten one when we bought it but we all figured it would be here by now. Oh well. At least my new AAA stuff came. Yay for Plus!

Books Books Books!

I am a bookworm. I’ve always been a voracious reader, ever since I figured out that hey, these words on the page actually mean something. Once I started, I was hooked and I’ve never looked back.
I like to read by myself. I hate being read to- no one ever goes fast enough for me. I like to devour my books and being read to just doesn’t work for me. (I’m a visual learner so I’m sure that has a whole lot to do with it also.) This fact greatly disappointed my mom when I was younger, as it was the end of reading bedtime stories to me. Once I could read on my own, it was all I wanted to do.
I have my phases and obsessions with books and authors. I was, and still am, a Laura Ingalls Wilder fan. Those books brought the past alive for me and I was obsessed with the time period for a long time, to the point that I even dressed like the women for a while. I credit those books for creating in me my absolute love of history and the past. LM Montgomery, the author of Anne of Green Gables is my absolute favorite author. Her books are also set in a different time period, in the late 1890s, early 1900s. I really and truly enjoy reading and learning about that time period, and it’s all thanks to my precious books.
Bookstores are my favorite stores. I love to shop and I love to shop for books even more. I have a hard time passing a bookstore without going in, especially if it’s a used/discount store. Libraries are basically like second homes to me. I spent so much time in my local one growing up. I always amazed the librarians with the amount of books I took out each time, and they would be all read before or by the time they were due back.
I am also the nerd who carries a book or magazine wherever I go. Just in case I am stuck somewhere, I have a book. I read when I am bored. I read when I’m not bored. If I could read all the time I probably would. I have no problem walking into a restaurant by myself and reading while eating my meal. In fact, that’s rather normal for me. Don’t get me wrong, I love going out with other people, but I’m also comfortable being alone too. It’s ended up being a sort of Saturday lunch thing for me. I usually end up at the boy’s restaurant and sit at the counter reading while munching on a yummy pizza. I don’t even have to order anymore, the Boy puts it in as soon as I walk in. On weekends when the Boy is in the country, I go for Pho. (Though it is difficult to read and eat Pho at the same time, it can be done. Magazines are best for this but I’ve done it with books too.)
Now I can’t wait to get home and read some more.
Current book: The Wicked Day by Mary Stewart
Just read: Garlic and Sapphires by Ruth Reichel

Damn, bad things really do come in threes. In my office, I have 3 coworkers who have sick moms. One mom is getting her hip replaced after the pin she got pin in last year started causing her pain. Another mom has cancer and is in the hospital. She hasn’t really done much for treatment but she’s been doing ok. And the third mom was just told yesterday that her cancer is terminal and there’s nothing more for them to really do. It just sucks all around.
That just makes me thankful that my family is in relatively good health. For now anyway.
This whole mom with cancer thing is nuts. That makes 3 coworkers that have moms with cancer and 1 coworker whose husband is in remission. Yeah. What are the odds for that?
In other family news, my aunt may be finally moving out into a group home arrangement. She’ll have her own apartment and all that but will do meals in a communal setting. My aunt is 63 and has lived with either my grandmother or my mom all her life. This will be a change. She’ll fight it for a bit but she’ll be ok. She can handle most stuff on her own, with lots of direction. She’s like a 4-5 year old that will never grow up.
I hate to blame my grandparents for her attitude, but it’s all in the way she was raised. Grandma raised her with the idea that there were lots of things that she couldn’t and shouldn’t do. She did have her small tasks around the house but she wasn’t self-sufficient at all. It was a huge struggle when she moved in as she felt that she couldn’t and shouldn’t do anything, but my parents felt otherwise. Plus she could do it, she just didn’t want to.
Understandably, this has cause a whole lot of friction in my family, especially when she first moved in after grandma died. Anthony had just left for college and my parents had just gotten the whole empty nest thing. And then came the perma-child who worships the ground my mom walks on but doesn’t give a damn about anyone else really. It was an upheaval. They had to fight to get any sort of help to deal with this. It was over a year before they could get her put into a day program so she wouldn’t be home alone and watching tv all day while my parents worked. Another year later, they managed to get a helper in to teach her skills that they couldn’t. Plus there was counseling for everyone to deal with it. Needless to say, it put a strain on my parents marriage. But they managed to weather through it and deal with everything.
Hopefully this will go through this time. She was supposed to be in this summer but the people handling her case screwed up big time. She was initially rejected because the dumbasses didn’t do their job. They didn’t read her doctor’s notes, her files, or anything really. They hadn’t even met her and talked to her, and they just rejected her, which is not the proper process. Mom was stunned to find out about the rejection, and when she had a meeting about the appeal, she was told that they messed up and they messed up bad. In fact, the people in charge told her that she had a lawsuit if she wanted to sue. (When people are telling you that you should sue them because you have a really good case, there’s a problem, doncha think?) So much fun.
So Aunt is on a waiting list right now, which is strange as there are open spots so there really isn’t a waiting list so we’re not sure what’s up. But hopefully she’ll be in soon. If she’s not, I’m not sure what will happen.

After the long weekend

Coming back to work after a long weekend is so hard. I just didn’t want to get up this morning, even though I knew that I had to. My alarm startled me, which in turn scared the heck out of Gabby, who fell off the bed. (That is the chance she takes for sleeping at the edge but hee…) Punk was in the window, as usual. This morning, they were even more vocal than usual about the food thing. They were both meowing from the moment I sat up. Pumpkin was even meowing at me while I was in the shower. Normally she waits patiently on the toilet but I guess she really wanted her tuna this morning. (Normally the boy feeds them first but it’s his day off and he wasn’t getting up just to feed the girls.) It was just a fun morning I tell ya.
This weekend was also a test for the kittens. As Thanksgiving was such a beautiful day, we had the doors open to the back yard. This also meant that the girls could wander in and out as they pleased. This was Gabby’s first time outside (not counting her escapes, which are now so common that we have to close the door within seconds or she’ll be out.) and it was Punk’s first time out at the new house. It took them a few minutes for them to realize that yes, they could go out and no, no one was running after them to shove them back inside.
Things went well. Gabby stayed near the doors for the most part and hid under plants, while Punk did a little more exploring, but still stayed in the yard. She ended up sleeping under a favorite plant for a while, and then being chased by Gabby. Then the dogs next door came out and it was over for Punk.. She tried being all brave by walking halfway to the fence, but ran as soon as the dog noticed her. She hid in the house for the rest of the day and wasn’t too keen on going back out. Gabby however, got up the nerve to do a lot more exploring. The dog had no effect on her. She chased loads of butterflies and birds and had a few adventures. One of these included climbing the fence and trying to escape. As Gabby still needs her rabies shots (getting this week as she needed to be 4 months before they would do it) that was not good. We had to grab her off the top of the fence 3 times before making the ultimate wise decision to shut her inside. It was starting to get dark anyway, so we moved inside.That Gabby, she is going to be trouble. Punk wasn’t even considering climbing the fence at that age. This worries as I think Gabby might actually do the tree climbing that I thought Punk would do. The boy thinks that Punk will follow Gabby most everywhere, and while that is true, if there’s a dog, Punk will run. Gabby does not have that fear yet. So we’ll see. I guess I have to go get a kitty door this weekend. Le sigh. I just worry about the little one. But she’ll be back for food at least.

Sunday Blah

Today we were supposed to arrange and clean stuff. We got some cleaning done but took a look at the room we need to tackle and said no way. The converted garage is the space where we just dumped everythng that doesn't fit anywhere just yet. It's also the spot where all of our plants go at night when it freezes. Suffice to say: it's a mess.
So we're just leaving it for now.
I wanted to cook somethng today but we still have so much freakin' leftover food that it's sort of dumb to. We're going to be eating leftovers for a while. Not that they don't taste bad at all, but it gets old after a while. I do plan to make fried mashed potato balls with maybe some mozzarella inside and all, but I'm stuck on what to do with the stuffing. I might do something with the pies, not sure what but it'll involve cream and a blender. Or some rebaking. Who knows.
Right now, I'm just reading all the books I scored for $1 apiece yesterday. Yay for thriftstores.

Shopping Madness

Like an idiot, I went out shopping yesterday. I left later than I intended to because first I had to hook up a newish printer to my computer and it decided not to cooperate. (I needed a coupon to NY and Company- my fave store.) After an hour of issues, I managed to print it out and rush out. First stop was Kohl's. I think I lasted 10 minutes there. I found a watch I needed and some stuff for my mom but the lines were like 2 hours long. So I just left. It was easier that way. My next stop was the mall. Ah the mall. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going ot be. First stop was JC Penney where I scored stuff for my mom, a great shirt, and fuck me boots for me. I've been looking for great boots that will fit my calves and voila, I did. And for $30 to boot. Yay for good deals!
Then it was off to NY and Co. Way too much money later, I had got some great stuff. And then it was off to the bookstore for some fun and to the restaurant to eat. Then home.
All in all an interesting day.

Happy Turkey Day!

Ah the calm before the storm. I'm just finishing up breakfast and have to go shower and start the rest of the cooking. I've started the bread and just have to mix up the green bean casserole and make the stuffing. Then when the turkey goes in I'll start the mashed potatoes and the savory sweet potatoes. While that's cooking I'll do the salad. Everything else is done and easy and whew. This hosting Turkey day is insane!
Ok, I need to go do stuff so later!

The calm before the storm

Right now I'm just relaxing for a little while before I start the flurry of fun. I have 3 pies to bake, a casserole to prep, veggies to slice and dice, dips to create, and other things that I'm sure I'm forgetting.
I really would rather nap and all but that's not going to happen. Well, maybe for an hour or so. Ok, naptime it is.
I'm so easy.

No time to post

I'm just sitting down for a quick dinner in the midst of cleaning. Thanksgiving has ballooned to at least 8 so far and maybe more. Some arrive tomorrow so I must finish cleaning. So much to do. Plus there's the prep work. Oh my. I'm cooking so much food.
Anyway, love my new truck.
More when I have time.
Ciao!

We're in more debt now

But it's all for a good cause. I have a truck now. We bought a white, '01 Chevy Silverado. We had to finance part of it but whatever. We needed a vehicle and needed a truck, so we bought one. Oh my god. It's crazy.
I love driving it though. It's so different being up so high but I love it. And it's so nice having an automobile that you aren't wondering if it will break down, but when. Wheeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

More later as I have to go clean now. People coming!

Oh this is so much fun

Yay. Went to the famer's market this morning. Got some lovely stuff to use for Turkey day. Apparently, it's not going to be just me, the boy, and his bro, it's going to be a party! We're deep frying a turkey and our chef friend is cooking a goose. So yeah. I'm planning a salad, mashed taters, green bean casserole (don't judge, it's the only time I ever eat green beans), homemade stuffing, 3 pies, bread, and whatever else. Oh yeah, apps. I need apps. I think we'll go low-key with chips and dips, hummus, cheeses, and crackers.

As for the truck search, I went to a dealership this morning. It's a small, used dealership, that has tons of trucks in our budget range. We're going to have a huge down payment with some financing. The sales are no pressure and the guy took a lot of time with me, showing me the trucks. I've got about 3 choices, all reasonable and really nice trucks. I even test drove and have decided that the truck will be mine for a while as I loved driving it. I have driven my parents 7 passenger van before and used to be a driver in college for the 15 passenger vans, so I can drive big trucks. I loved being up so high. And thank goodness my parents taught me how to mirror drive. So we'll see. The dealership is not open Sundays, which sucks, as the boy is at work still. So we're going to go over there tomorrow anyway, just to look, and then the boy will go in on Monday and talk to the salesman and we'll make a decision. Hopefully it will be good.

Still Nothing

Car searching sucks. We've seen 2 trucks and they were not great. THere's not much in our budget range for trucks. We're starting to look at dealers and maybe finance a bit. We can do that. But urgh. This sucks so much. We have a huge down payment.

I just want a vehicle. Right now, I'm not caring whether it's a car or truck. Of course that's not how the boy feels. But he's not the one without a vehicle.

Bye by Bonnie

So the car is dead. Long live whatever vehicle we get next, that is whenever we get it.
My car died Wednesday and we made the decision not to revive it for the simple fact that we wanted to blow it up for New Year’s. The inspection ran out in December and as it just wasn’t going to pass again, no matter whom we bribed or whom the boy knew, it was time to lay it to rest. Except that it beat us to the punch.
The car had been leaking all sorts of fluids, brake and transmission, there hadn’t been washer fluid for years, there was an awful clanking sound, a huge crack in the windshield, and so forth. Apparently there was also a power steering leak, which must have been a new one because it wasn’t an issue before. A bearing froze up, which meant that no belts were running, no power getting to the battery, no cooling system working. I also lost power steering which meant no actual driving. And all this happened while I was sitting at a stop light. Thankfully, I was near a gas station and could pull in.
We called AAA and arranged for a tow. We looked at the car, realized that it wasn’t a fix we could do ourselves, and decided that the car wasn’t worth the little fix. So we’re junking it. And I need a new car. Now.
But my version of now is yesterday and it seems the boy’s version is sometime. Which is fine for him, as he’s driving the car I OWN but the car I can’t drive because it’s stick. We’ve owned it for 3 years now and he still hasn’t taught me how to drive it. 3 years of me begging once a month, but it was never a good time. Well, it’s not a good time now either but it HAS to be done. Personally, I think he didn’t want me to learn because he didn’t want me driving it. Well too bad now.
The second we got home from the gas station on Wednesday, I was on the computer looking at want ads. The boy, he decided to take his time finding the perfect music channel to listen to and just sat on the couch listening to music. The problem with this is that the plan is to buy a truck FOR HIM to use and I’ll take over the Civic. So the vehicle is going to be his. Yet he hasn’t done anything to look for one. Nothing. I looked all Wed night. I spent what little lunch break I had yesterday looking. I looked when I got home. I made tons of printouts and notes. Did he do anything? Nope. He fell asleep. I could understand it and all if he had gotten up earlier and had done other stuff but no, I got up at the same time, managed to rent a car (which was actually a pretty impressive feat when there were maybe 20 cars available in all of Austin yesterday.), and still did some cleaning and research for a vehicle. I can’t exactly go to the dealerships as arriving in a cab or by bus is an automatic target. So I’m stuck. If he doesn’t make a move to even talk about stuff, which we were supposed to do last night, except that he kept getting annoyed and saying I don’t care every time I mentioned something. Next time he says I don’t care it’s not going to go well. I know of 2 cars, in good shape, for less than $3000. It’s not the truck he wants, but it’s something. One is a Ford Ranger, which he doesn’t want but hell, I’ll take it.
I’m the one depending on the kindness of a co-worker to take me to work. I’m the one who can’t get stuff done, like the grocery shopping for Thanksgiving. He was talking about going out somewhere this weekend to look at some guy’s plants. If he wants a Thanksgiving, that’s not going to happen. Hell, if he wants a truck that’s not going to happen. I have our Sunday planned. It includes shopping for necessities and stick shift driving lessons. Saturday is out as he works from 11-6, which makes it really sucky because dealers aren’t open on Sunday. We better do something tonight or I’m going to be even unhappier than I am now.
I need help on this car thing but I’m not getting it from the person who is actually involved in the decision making. If he doesn’t start helping soon, he’s not going to be involved.

My car she is dead

Car stopped driving last night. Got a tow from a cool AAA dude, thank god for that. Now we must search for a new car. Yay. More details later. But oh the joy.

Cock a strangle doo

Holy hell, one of my neighbors has a rooster. If I chance to hear it crowing on the weekends, there will be hell to pay. I don’t know who it is yet, but I plan to find out. It’s not right to have a rooster in the fricken’ city! Not when you’re close to your neighbors like this, and not when your neighbors might not want to be woken up at 5 am by the crowing of a loud rooster.
Yeah, 5am. That’s when it starts. I heard it this morning. (First hearing was yesterday.) And it was still crowing about every 10-15 minutes when I left around 7am this morning. Not fun. It’s the alarm clock that you can’t shut off.
If we go out on the weekends, chances are we don’t get home until 2ish and don’t go to bed until 3ish or later. I don’t sleep well as it is and I don’t need a cock-a-doodle-doo waking me out of whatever little sleep I got at 6am. I don’t go back to sleep once I wake up like that.
There has got to be some sort of city ordinance for this. I’m not one to make trouble and all usually but if it’s something that disturbs my precious sleep, I will raise hell. It’s not right. Plus I’m sure the other neighbors aren’t exactly too thrilled about this either.
I could understand if we were out in the country because that happens there. More land, more space, way more animals. But we’re inside city limits. Way inside. Downtown is 3.5 miles north. Roosters do not belong here. Not when there’s an excellent chance that you have neighbors who are still sleeping when the rooster goes off. What about those who work nights and don’t get home until midnight, 2am? They don’t usually go to bed until 3 or 4. I mean seriously. (That was the boy until recently.) Grrr.
I’ve thought about setting the kitties on it but I don’t think they’d know what to do. I can see them thinking, ooh a moving toy! They’re pretty nonplussed by the noise- just another normal noise to them.
In other notes, I’m now receiving religious emails of sorts from credentialing contacts that I work with. Not exactly appropriate to be sending to strangers and stuff from your workplace but whatever. There’s always the delete button.
Current song on Mp3 player: Whistling in the Dark by TMBG.

Mah babies

I don’t actually have kids yet but there are days when I sure feel that I do. My kittens can act like kids on their worst days. They are such handfuls. Gabby is a ball of energy, as only a 3 month old kitten can be. Punk follows Gabby and does the Mama Bear/Sister thing, depending on what’s needed. Together they’re just trouble. (But so freakin’ cute when they’re asleep, no?) When they’re cooperating and playing together, it’s insane. We’ve gotten used to hearing random noises and crashes. Someday those noises might be something else but we’ll just probably chalk it up to kitty play. Our blinds will never be the same. We also have random bags and boxes littered around the kitchen that get used as cat toys. The Calaphon outlet bags are the best. They’re made of a stiff material that the cats can’t scratch up. They spend hours playing in them and trying to mutilate them. Yay for cheap cat toys!
They’re now double teaming the morning wake up. It used to be just Gabby who jumped on me. Now the Punk is in on it too. I try to ignore it for the most part, but it’s hard, especially when there’s 2 cats fighting/playing on top of you. I’ve taken to sleeping with the water bottle right next to me for maximum protection but even then it’s not a sure thing. Gabby still comes right back. Punk runs, she hates the water, though she does sit on the side of the tub, in between the curtains, while I’m showering. Her tail gets rather wet. Gabby is still meh about it, though she has just discovered the wonders of the toilet bowl.
Last night Gabby discovered the joys of burrowing under the covers. She’s so different than Punk that way. Punk HATES feeling trapped and does not like being under the covers. (Can’t see a way out.) I think she may have been trapped once as a wee kitten and that traumatized her. She even tried to break out of the car. (A hyperventilating cat pacing around the car and throwing herself at the windows while driving home is well, interesting. That was the Boy’s marvelous idea.) Gabby on the other had doesn’t care. She’s fine with being under the covers and in her carrier and all that. Plus she can attack feet much easier under the covers.
I talk about my kitties all the time. They’re always up to something and/or always getting into something. There’s always a story.

My first spam

I got my first spam. Aww how sweet. That means at least someone can find this blog.
Argh, I forgot to post yesterday. Oh well. It was a lazy day too. I got up, did some cleaning, and then got out of the house. The library around the corner closed just as we moved in so I've been mourning the loss of my library but I did some research and found a library that's not to far away. Happy me! I love free books, the only part I don't like is giving them back. Ah well.
Then I went up to the restaurant and got a pizza- margharita, garlic, extra tomatoes. Yum. I love pizza and I really do love the pizza at Cipollina. Then came back home and did some more cleaning and stuff. Took a bit of a nap and then made dinner. God, I was lazy. But that's ok with me. I need that every once in a while.
Today is another slightly lazy day. I'm baking a cake because well, I feel like it, and catching up on all my DVRd shows like Gilmore Girls and Ugly Betty. It's 2 and the boy is still asleep. Late night- a friend came over after work (midnight) so they were up for a while. Me, I conked out. Weekends are sleep time for me.
Anyway, happy lazy day!

TGIF and all that!

Yay for Friday! Weekend! It’s Veterans Day and of course I’m at work. I need to work for the government man. Oh well. We’re having an ice cream party this afternoon. That will just have to do.
No real plans for the weekend. We’re pretty much broke so anything we do will have to be on the cheap. I have stuff I need to do at home but I’ll probably end up reading or something. It’s so easy to just put it off.
I do need to start prepping for Thanksgiving. The boy’s parents won’t be here so it’ll probably be at my house this year. Last year we went to chef friend’s house but since his wife and kid will be gone… I don’t know. I’m not going all out, just simple stuff really. I just want to enjoy the time off and then go shopping on Friday. Oh yeah the shopping, but that also depends on what the sales are going to be like. We’ll see.

Sleep, I need sleep

I need to sleep. I don’t know why, but I just can’t sleep through the damn night. No matter what I do, I wake up around 3ish or so. I pass out by 9-9:30pm and going to bed earlier won’t work, as that doesn’t leave me enough time to do anything. I fall asleep easily as I’m exhausted because I didn’t get enough sleep the night before. It’s a vicious circle.
I don’t eat after 7 or 8 pm depending on the night. No drinking of any kind either, lest I have to get up to pee in the middle of the night. I only really sleep in my bed with maybe a little reading and TV watching, which usually puts me to sleep. I sleep with a mask and earplugs. My bed is comfy and warm. I exercise daily. I eat a relatively balanced diet. I’m not sure what else I should be doing. Oh and warm milk is just out as that will just make my stomach do more flip-flops. Lactose intolerance and all.
I really don’t want to take meds for this as I took them before and I hated it. Plus it didn’t stop the waking up in the middle of the night completely. I still got up and peed when I had to, and let me tell you, that was not a fun thing. Body feels like lead when you do that. I’m just frustrated. By 3:30 pm I’m crashing hard. I come home and want to nap. I struggle to stay awake past 8 sometimes but if I want even a semblance of a life with the Boy I need to. This is so frustrating. It got better for a bit but now I’m back to the fun of 3am waking.
Someday I’ll get the sleep I need. It’s not doing me any good not to though. I’d love to be even able to nap but 1) there’s this work thing that prevents me from doing so and 2) I can’t sleep during the day for some reason. Even when I’m sick I have issues with it. Weird I know.
Damn Gabby didn’t help with the sleep last night. The bedroom smelled stale as we have no screens on our windows yet so we don’t open them. I sprayed some Febreeze to make it a bit better. Well it smelled ok but it must have triggered something in Gabby, because no sooner had I gotten into bed than, boom, kitten pee in between my legs. (Seriously, that’s her spot to snuggle anyway.) Urgh. I did spray around the litterbox so it had to have something to do with that. Plus I used it the times she peed before. She avoided me and the bed for the rest of the night. Thank goodness for Nature’s Miracle. That stuff does work. But sigh. The sheets needed to be washed anyway but I wasn’t planning on doing them at night.

Bit of a Rant

This morning: woken up by boy’s alarm even though he and it were downstairs. I know he came to bed at some point but I didn’t hear the first alarm go off while in the room. I only heard it from the living room. Go figure. About 2 seconds after my alarm went off, the wake up crew bounded upstairs to make sure that I was getting up soon. They were both meowing, which is unusual. Gabby was in my face and Punk was at the side of the bed, on the floor, and both were meowing. What a way to wake up.

Cooking has been sort of boring lately. Monday was veal (yeah I know but it’s good) with pasta and a wine sauce of sorts. Not bad but I can do better. Yesterday was chicken quesadillas made with the leftover chicken from the roast I made last week. Tonight is Brats and potatoes. Tomorrow I think tacos or something easy. I’m just not in the mood to cook and take out is on hold this week until we figure out the budget thing. This whole mortgage thing has blown our budgeting and we’re still working everything out. If we didn’t have to have a month’s payment ahead of time, we’d be signed up for biweekly.

As soon as we figure out the car thing, that’s next. The Boy wants a project truck. I just want a truck that we don’t have to throw money at all the time. (We’re getting a truck because we need one to haul all of the plants) Boy wants something to work on. I want something that runs and won’t need all sorts of expensive parts to fix. Boy doesn’t seem to care. He’s drooling. I think a hit over the head with the reality frying pan is in order. I found a really good used truck for sale yesterday, in excellent condition, with lots of new parts and for a very reasonable price. But it’s not a project truck so the boy was like meh. I know it’s going to be his truck to drive and all but still. We can’t be just hemorrhaging money to keep fixing the thing. We do that already for the damn car I drive. I want that to change. I’d like to save money for once, instead of having to wipe out whatever we saved to fix something again. But of course that hasn’t gotten through to him as all he can see is the fun of fixing up a vehicle. It’s the driveway syndrome. We have a driveway so he must do car stuff in it.

Why do all the good sales have to happen when I’m broke?? Arghhh.

Weirdness

Oh this was a weird day. My boss is leaving. I’ve been here about a year and a half and this will make boss #4 now. Yeah. I wish I were surprised at this but I’m not. Head of Marketing is a really good stepping stone to other positions. (Ok, so one got promoted, one got fired, and this one got a new job.) At least his replacement is someone I actually respect, so I’m happy about that. Poor new girl though. She just started yesterday and her boss is being promoted. Eeeks. But the new boss deserves this job. She should have gotten it before almost former boss. (Ok does that make sense??) I’m actually looking forward to seeing what she does with this job. She knows her stuff and is a much better leader.
I am looking for a new job anyway, just haven’t found one I like yet. I’m allowed to be picky now. I don’t have to take the first few offered to me because I’m unemployed and need a job. My resume is out there and I’m getting some calls, mostly from recruiters. I really need to call some of them back. I just don’t like the jobs they’re offering, but they are contacts and all. I just hate meeting with the staffing agencies and doing all the testing and stuff. Oh well. I really need to get my ass out there and apply for things. At least I can ask almost old boss for a reference now and not feel weird about it.
I just hate staying at a company that’s having a hard time staying afloat. It was even mentioned in a meeting today that we were able to get cash for 5-6 months and all but who knows after that. I didn’t know the extent of the money loss before, but damn, it was big. Basically we lost some big state contracts through crappy politics and Haliburton-esque stuff. (Thanks Gov. Perry.) Although big boss did make a mention of long overdue raises, I just don’t see that happening for a while. Urgh. It is nice to know that he realizes that we do deserve them. Our department is what keeps the company running- we are the ones who create the network.
In other happy fun news, I got my Mp3 player fixed last night so that’s happiness. It took some finagling and fun downloads but everything is cool now with that. Note to self: keep connected while updating firmware. Damn cats. I stepped on Gabby this morning too. She was sleeping at my feet, as she loves to do, and I didn’t realize she was there so, oops. She’s still small enough to curl into this itty bitty ball. She really has this thing about sleeping at feet or in the space behind the knees. Other cats sleep at the head, Gabby sleeps in the middle. She’s really a strange little one with attitude.
Shit is about to go down at the boy’s restaurant. It’s going to be interesting to see how it all plays out. Let’s just say that hiring your wife to be a manager is NOT a good idea, especially when she’s a harried new mom and is just not a restaurant person to begin with. (The owners have gotten so many complaints that they’ve sent in people to spy on her service. And the reports aren’t good.) We’re giving it 2 weeks until she leaves to visit family for Turkey Day and is gone for 10 days. They’re betting on a huge difference in how things run. The scary thing is that I haven’t heard this just
This is something that’s hard to deal with as she’s the mom friend I posted about previously and is a friend and hubby is a friend and also boy’s boss. It’s going to get bad and we don’t know what to do. We can’t do anything really. All we can do is just let it develop. I mean, how do you tell someone, especially your freakin’ boss, that he has to fire his wife, especially when it’s the wife who runs the show in their relationship?
Seriously, the one good thing about this is that it’s made the Boy and I talk about things more and realize that we really believe in the same things and we agree on the important relationship stuff- like it’s ok to say NO to your SO. All we can think is we’re glad we’re not them. We’re not perfect in any way but from this it seems as if we have a much more solid grip on reality than they do.

Monday, Monday

Blah, I hate Mondays. Especially overcast ones. I just never want to get out of bed. Of course there’s the alarm clock, and I could hit snooze, I just never do. Plus there’s my other 2 alarm clocks, and there’s no snooze for them. They sometimes quit after 2 hours but it’s not as easy as just hitting a button. (Weekend mornings they will quit eventually once they see that we’re not moving anytime soon.) Plus Punk has started to meow just as often as Gabby now. It’s just crazy in the morning. They both weave in and out of my legs and watch me shower. Then they get on the sink and try to interrupt me from doing my stuff. Gabby especially- she tries to rub against me in hopes that it will make me go downstairs faster. Punk just sits at the top of the stairs and meows.
As soon as I get downstairs, all hell breaks loose and both start meowing like crazy until they get their food, even if the Boy has given them their treats before he left. Oh no, they still need more. I just give them regular stuff. Gabby gets hers first, as she’s the loudest and most annoying. Plus she’ll try to eat the stuff out of Punk’s bowl if I do that first. Punk seems to understand, as I think she realizes that she’ll actually get to eat her food if I feed Gabby first. Of course, if Punk takes her time eating, Gabby will come over and try to eat that too. Oh well. Crazy kitties.I’m tired this morning. Don’t know why. Can’t seem to wake up. Have too much to do. But just want to go to bed. The weekends should be longer somehow. Still didn’t get everything done that I wanted to do. Of course the flat tire didn’t help. Oh well.

Go Pats!

Indy vs New England tonight. I'm a Pats girl. I mean I grew up a couple towns away from the Stadium and a bunch of players lived in my hometown. (They gave the BEST candy on Halloween.) So GO PATS!
Car is fixed. The boy went out and got a new tire. We had to move the car out into the street in order to change it. That was fun. Our driveway is on an incline so the car kept moving forward. So we gently and slowly moved the car to the street- not fun when you are basically driving on the rim and the tire isn't doing much. But it's done and driveable. For now.
Mp3 player will be fixed soon. I found the CD after much digging. I really need to organize everything now. Things are just everywhere. We'll get around to that. We are such procrastinators- the both of us.
Oh gotta go, Gabby is attacking my kitty necklace.
I'll leave you guys with a cute kitty pic of Gabby in a bowl.

Arghh

That describes my day yesterday and why I forgot to post. The tire on my car is flat- so flat that it's off the rim. Have no idea why. It wasn't low or anything before. Sigh. Couldn't do anything because boy was at work and he said he'd fix it. So everything I had to do yesterday was put on hold. I did get some stuff done but ugh.
Then I decided to put new music on my Mp3 player. That did not go well. I need to reinstall the drivers on the player but I can't find the CD it came with. It's here but I don't know where and we don't have lightbulbs in the rooms that I need to search in. (Also the boy's fault as he took the bulbs out for something else a month ago and has yet to replace them. It's his thing and I'm not doing his work for him. ) So fun fun fun.
And then I passed out around 8 because we had gone to bed at 5am and the cats did their wake up call around 8 or so. They waited a bit longer than usual. Sigh.

Cold hands and Cold Feet

Daylight savings has ended and I'm still adjusting to it. I'm still having issues staying asleep so this sun coming up at an earlier time thing is not helping me. Making the room darker won't really work, as the cats have ways of letting in the light with their affection for sitting on the windowsill. Plus they, well Gabby mostly, start whining once they determine it's time to be fed. I've just given up. With the light change also comes cooler weather. Of course this hasn't affected the temperature inside the house as the Boy likes it on COLD. Me, I hate it. We have thermostat wars all winter long. He says I can put clothes on. I agree but I say that I shouldn't be freezing inside my own home. I also state that I shouldn't have to wear freaking gloves in my own house. I have this same problem at work too. Can't win either way. You see, I have Reynaud's phenomenon. It's a circulatory disease that basically means that when it's cold outside (and in), the arteries and veins in my hands and feet constrict making it difficult for blood to flow to my digits. This results in pain and numbness in my hands and feet. They turn a blueish tinge first and then turn white, which is almost frostbite. This happens at 65 degrees. Easily. I can't even hold a cold drink in my hands without it hurting after about 15-20 seconds. I always keep a coozie with me now for this purpose or I use a napkin, wrapped around the drink. Rummaging around the fridge and freezer is hard. I usually have something like a towel for grabbing things. I mean, it hurts. I remember one time, when I first started issues with my hands, I had to drive my boyfriend home. It was about 40 outside and my hands just went nuts. I had gloves on but it didn't matter. My hands hurt so bad I could barely move them. All I could do was clutch the wheel. I was crying because it hurt so bad. Warming up was even worse. It took me a while for me to be able to move my hands. When the blood starts flowing it starts to hurt too. So for me COLD=PAIN. It really stinks. There's no cure. It's a tissue thing, which means I should see a rheumatologist eventually. It's also potentially linked to Lupus as about 25% of those with Reynaud's get Lupus, for which there is also no cure. But I also think it's hereditary, as my mom has it. I know of 3 other people who have this problem. And we all have different symptoms. One of them, S, her hands just turn purple. They've never really been a normal color. She isn't as sensitive to cold but her hands are just funky. She has the link to Lupus as it runs in her family. Another girl just has cold hands. Another one actually has Lupus. Me, I lose feeling. My hands and feet also go numb when I cross my legs for too long, sit cross-legged, sit with my head on my hands, lean on my arm, stuff like that. I mean my arm goes completely numb, to sleep as most people would say. It really stinks but you get used to it. It really sucks that there's not much you can do about it. There's little medication out there and it helps about 3% of the people who have it. (I'm not one of them.) Exercise helps but trust me, it doesn't do as much as I'd like. The best solution is to keep your hands and feet warm. The feet are easy. It's the hands I have issues with. I have really good gloves, but I can't wear them all the time and they don't always work as well when it's colder. Mittens are the best but have you ever driven or tried doing lots of stuff with mittens? Not much mobility in the hands. I'd wear gloves to work, but even the thin ones inhibit typing and stuff. People have suggested I wear the ones with no fingertips, but that just means that my fingertips go white and numb. It's a no win situation. I've learned to sit on my hands when I need to and even stick my hands under my armpits to warm them up. I know it's weird and all Mary Katherine Superstah and all but it's one of the warmest places on your body and it works. I'm also rather good at one-handed typing now. My gloves are already out for the season. It's hard. I feel so weird wearing just a long sleeve shirt and gloves but I have to. I carry them everywhere now. That's about the only thing I can do to make my hands and feet feel better: keep them warm.

Halloween

So Halloween is over and the Christmas things are out. Then again, the Christmas stuff has been out since sometime in September, and in some stores I think August. That’s just scary. (I was wandering around Target looking for simple Halloween decorations that don’t seem to exist anymore and boom! It was Christmas all of a sudden. Ugh.)
We didn’t decorate for Halloween this year but we plan to go all out next year. We want to be one of “those” houses, ones that people want to come to. We love Trick-or-Treaters. We couldn’t wait for them to come around this year. And they didn’t disappoint. I even had to send the boys (Boy’s brother was here) on an emergency run as we started to run low an hour into it. It was great. The kids (and parents) just showed up in mobs and most were polite and did the trick or treat thing. Lots of cute little ones and some creative costumes. We ran out of candy at about 8pm. I hated having to turn off the porch light but we weren’t the only ones. The other houses on the street were slowly going dark one by one.
I can’t wait for next year. Kids! And Candy! It’s seriously one of our favorite holidays. Next time we’ll be prepared with twice as much candy and if there’s any left over? Darn, guess we’ll have to eat it. Terrible.
I do have more pictures of the kitties. Some are already uploaded to my yahoo photos site. I’m switching to flickr eventually, but like most things, I just haven’t gotten to it yet. Gabby is a little diva/attention whore so it’s hard to capture her when she’s sleeping. She wakes up so quickly. Punk is much lazier and is now a total lounger.

Not a very interesting post today. Too much to do, not enough time. Halloween was fun. Lots of trick or treaters- so many that we had to make an emergency run for more candy and we STILL ran out. Not bad that.
Kitties are still crazy- the spent the night on the stairs, freaked out. All the kids saw them and kept commenting but the girls wouldn't go anywhere near all the strangers. Rather funny.
Anyway, more later.