Green Finds

Bargain Hunter said to show our green finds because St. Patty's Day will be coming. Well, I don't have a lot of just green finds, very few actually, so most of my pictures are of things with green. Hope that works, and I have commentary not about them, but about my dreary thoughts lately. I figure you can read it or not, but at least you have some pictures to look at.
First, here is my newest most coolest find: It's a small quilted wall hanging measuring about 21inches by 18 inches, I could only find a 6inch ruler, so I kinda guesstimated. I love seeing quilts everywhere, I've been wanting a quilt for awhile. So, when I saw this at my local antique mall marked down to $9.00, I couldn't help myself. The tag says it's a Sunbonnet Sue pattern.


OK , so I was reading some blogs this morning, and they had questions, and I love answering questions, so here they are:
What's the first thing you would do for yourself if you won 100 million dollars. Note this question is specifically for you...what would you do for fun after the family and the bills and serious stuff were taken care of?
The first thought that popped into my mind was: pay my bills, then I read the note. Well, the next thing that popped into my mind was move. Go somewhere where people don't know me, and I can create a new life. I feel as if my job is the only thing keeping me here. I would love to move to California where it's always warm.

This one is green and white, crocheted (?) doily, also found at the antique mall. I won't say the prices on the rest of my items, but I usually only buy something if it's about a dollar or less. Or a great deal as I thought above.

Are you dating anyone?

Not anymore, obviously. Though the thing that's still getting me, is why. What changed that he decided he no longer wanted to talk to me. I really should go to the street I know he lives on, and look through the parking lots for his truck and then wait til he leaves for work, that's the only way I can think of to make him talk to me, but I bet he still won't.

These are a few pins that I found at garage sales. The top one (not the ship that jumped in the picture), is cross stitched, and the bottom is just painted, both found at garage sales.

I remember, he used to tell me I was being so immature, when I would ignore people when I was mad at him, so I totally feel he needs to grow up and talk to me. I can't think of any reason why he can't come over or pick up the phone. Especially when his phone varies from being off to on.

This is a 3 leaf clover with gems in the middle, found at a church sale.

What are you most thankful for?

I have no idea.

This is some kind of trim, found at a garage sale.

Last night I was wishing there was someone to cuddle with in bed. That's the thing I miss the most, having someone to cuddle with. Someone that will call you when you text them that you don't feel well.

This is a tiny teacup with brown flowers and green leaves, found at a garage sale.

And then I think about all the things I'd have to get used to with a new person, and I hate that.

Another tiny teacup found at a garage sale.

I miss going grocery shopping at night after he would get off work and there'd be no one in the grocery store.

And another tiny cup (do you see a pattern here?), found at a garage sale.

I miss going on hikes in the Ledges when we had nothing to do. I loved wandering through the water, or the mud, when we went through after the floods.

Another very tiny teacup found at a garage sale.

I miss antique stores. There was one we went to in a town about 15 min north of here, that was just ours. I never wanted to go with anyone else.

A hankie found at an antique mall.

Unfortunately, I think it's sort of been growing in him since last spring when I got so upset (and reasonably so), when he went tornado chasing after we had made plans and I took off work for those plans. I keep wandering if he hates (I'm sure he does), that I want to spend time with him when I don't see him that much (because of his work) instead of him going tornado chasing, or hunting, or hanging out with friends. I recall around the 4th of July I could tell he didn't want me going home with him, and it felt he didn't really put thought into my birthday gift. He knew he could always take me to the car show and I'd be happy, but I like substantial gifts. And if I had a choice about when to go to the fair grounds, I would rather have gone when the state fair was there.

Another hankie found at an antique mall.

I swore it felt like someone was in my apartment this morning. I know he still has a key, but I'm not worried about him coming when I'm not home and taking his stuff, though I do check to see if it's still there when I get home.

Another hankie (see another pattern?) found at an antique mall.

I moved most of the stuff he's given me: the cars, some frogs, even cards out of my sight. I moved his grandmother's TV, that I would love to throw out the window and watch it smash in the street into the closet. I tore up his picture when I figured it out on the 4th. I figured if we still were in a relationship, I could always print out another one.

And another hankie.

I still have some frogs, which are covered at the moment. Most everything is out of my sight and that helps, but I can't stop my mind from wandering. Thankfully, I've been able to work a lot and that helps.

A hankie.

Hankie found at a garage sale.

Another teacup.

One of my sundae dishes found at a garage sale.

A frog

The focus here is supposed to be the napkin, but you can also see another sundae dish, both found at the antique mall.

Close-up of the sundae dish and some buttons, can't pass up old buttons.

Well, that's it, and hopefully my ramblings for awhile. I hate to post this stuff, but it's bouncing around in my head, I'm ok if people don't want to follow because of the depressingness of my posts, but that's where I'm at now.

Stuff

I finally got through all the OWOH blogs yesterday. Last year I commented on and visited every single blog, and I won a couple things I wasn't that excited to win. This year, I went to all the blogs, but I only commented on the items I wanted to win. So, if I win I will be very happy with what I receive.
I got some more swaps in the mail. This one is My Valentine Swap from Allenaim Photography.
She sent me a container of tea, some vintage linen napkins, a head scarf, a bird, a fabric flower and a bunch of Hershey's Bliss.

Here's the close-up of one of the linen items.

I am happy with most of the items. I don't like tea, but I love the roses on the top of the container, so I'm not sure what I'm going to do with that. I received this package last week sometime.

The next one is from my Healthy Valentine Swap partner, Lisa Anspach.

So, there is a cute stamp, some apple smelling hand soap, a caribbean smelling candle, a "W" journal, some emery boards, a set of notecards, a bar of soap, a set of tags, and a very cute egg. Lisa posted my package on her blog, so go ahead and click her name above to see what I sent her.

I was so happy to see this package on my doorstep on Wed. I finally decided that Kevin and I are broken up on Monday night. I felt that if you don't call your "significant other" on Valentine's, no matter what you're going through, they aren't your significant other. So, it massively helped to see this gift with items picked out just for me, Thanks so much Lisa.

Since I didn't get any Valentine gifts from Kevin, Tuesday, I decided to wander down to Walmart and Target and buy something for me. I ended up spending about $25 dollars on stuffed animals and chocolate. I originally planned to buy one of Walmart's $10 alien/monsters I had seen, but they didn't have any left, so I got a big pink teddy bear, and it has definitely helped me lately.

At Target, I bought 2 boxes of chocolates, one Russel Stover with a very cute "ugly doll" on the front, and one Ghiradelli. In the future, I will not waste money on Russell Stover, out of the 10 chocolates in the box, I ate 3, the rest tasted like crap. The Ghiradelli on the other hand, is splendid, but I have been rationing. I also bought a puppy dog, which is extremely cute, and a pink lion.

I decided today, that stuffed animals get me through everything. I have tons from places I've been and important times in my life. I have a bunch of stuffed frogs that Kevin got me, most of them in the closet now, so I don't have to see them. And the pink teddy bear, is really helping when I have to curl up and cry with it.

I also finally took all of Kevin's Christmas presents and put them in the closet so I didn't have to look at them.

I would still love to know why out of the blue he decided I wasn't worth talking too, or having as a girlfriend anymore. I don't know if I can really talk to him, should he ever decide to call, I'm just so upset over it. I would love to get my Christmas presents, since he decided to stop talking to me before I could have them, plus I want my things back. I did text him before I realized we were through saying I wanted my stuff back if we weren't together. I think that's reasonable.

I'm not ready to talk to my family about this yet. I changed my status on Facebook Monday night back to single. I've told people at work, but I still have an incredibly hard time, not letting my voice crack. I moved most of the stuff he's given me, out of my site. I stopped wearing the ring, and am thinking about investing in a nice peridot ring for myself. Though, it's been nice not having a ring on my finger anymore.

I wish I had friends closer in mileage to me to hang out with. I've been working a lot last week and this week, because when I'm at work, my mind's on other things, and it doesn't wander. I really need to take a nice long walk with my headphones and music, since it's been nice lately (better do it soon, as I've heard there's snow in the forecast), it was 50 degrees before 8Am this morning.

I would just like to do something with friends for me to get my mind off him. Thankfully, he doesn't need to come to this part of town for anything, so hopefully I won't see his truck. But, I'm coping. He was my first boyfriend, and I've never broken up before, so I don't know what it's like. Any suggestions on coping would be great.

And now that I've bored you all, I'm signing off. Thank you for all my new followers from One World, One Heart. I hope you'll stick around awhile, but my posts jump all around on emotions. I will be posting something I found at an antique mall soon, I just keep forgetting to take the picture when it's light out.

Thank you all for reading.

A good day

I had a good day yesterday, my friend Loretta and I went to Ankeny to Micheal's and the dollar general store. I needed to shop for myself and to get away from my life (more on that below).
Here are the great things I found:
This is a solar dancing flower. The leaves and the stem move around when it gets solar energy and it definitely puts a smile on my face when I see it dancing.

This is just a cute stuffed lady bug.

Here's a frog mug.

A Christmas stocking that was part of a $2.00 Christmas Grab bag at Micheal's, I've decided the rest of the items in the bag will be in a Christmas giveaway this December.

A nice notebook to match the mug above.

The box of gifts for My Healthy Valentine partner. I found some great things and I hope she'll like them.

A stuffed teddy bear. I've been drawn to teddy bears lately, I don't know why. Maybe there's just too many frogs in my life.


I've been pretty depressed the last few days. If you haven't talked to someone in over a month, haven't seen them in 7 weeks, do you still consider you're in a relationship with them? I'm not sure, but I'm thinking the relationship is over with. He won't answer my phone calls, or my texts. I sent him an email the other day and a message in facebook, but I know he doesn't check those that regularly. I know he's been around his phone, because it varies from going straight to voicemail, to ringing a few times and then going to voicemail. I'm pretty sure I haven't done anything wrong. I did send him a text complaining that he was picking hunting over me. He called me on Jan 13th, but didn't leave a message. I wished him a Happy Birthday in a text. I also again complained about the time I wasn't spending with him. I don't know where he lives, so I can't hunt him down. He moved from a previous address and I hadn't had a chance to know his new address as he's been busy working. I know where he works, but I'm not going to cause a scene at his work.

I don't know if it's worth it to keep calling and hope he picks up, or to just wait until he calls.

I never got to spend our "Christmas" with him, so (hopefully) we both have presents for each other, plus I have birthday presents for him. Though, I am seriously considering just opening them and saving them for myself, since some of them are things I like.

I didn't go to a neighborhood soup supper last night, as I wasn't ready for people to ask me questions about my life including my boyfriend. I keep wearing the ring as I'm not ready for those questions either. I keep wanting to go buy a peridot (green gem) ring for myself, and once I do that, I plan to switch out rings.

Today, I'm hoping to wander down to a few stores looking for more gifts for my healthy valenting partner, and my cheer up swap partner. It's supposed to get pretty cold again this week.

My weekend

OK, this might turn into a long post, now you're warned.
My birthday wasn't as exciting as I hoped it would be, got myself all psyched up for nothing.
Mom and I ended up going to Perry, had to go a different way as there was water over Hwy 30, we had directions, but mom decided to veer off those directions and get us lost a couple times (if we had followed the directions we would have been fine). We get to Perry and go to a couple shops before it was time for our reservation at the tea room for lunch. The one thing that was really good at the tea room was the drink I had, which isn't saying much for them, I guess the soup and the cream puff were pretty good too. I had a quiche which was lukewarm, but since I was so hungry, I didn't complain, then I had bread pudding for desert (if you know me, I LOVE bread pudding), unfortunately their bread pudding had pretty much no taste to it.
After lunch, we hit a few more stores. I was looking for something really cool to buy (I had taken out $75 from my bank acc't and my dad had given me $40), unfortunately I didn't find it. We finally decided to hit an antique mall in Boone before heading home. Now, I did find a few cool things there, including some stuff that I'm adding to the giveaway.
I bought a jar full of jewelry misc for $7.50, this pile is what I'm keeping for myself.

This bag is what I'm adding to the giveaway. There's quite a few brooches, a bunch of metal watch links (this lady must have really loved these because she had at least 2 jars full of just these). GIVEAWAY ALERT

I also bought a jar of old buttons for $5.00. I haven't sorted them out yet, but I guarantee some of them will be added to the giveaway. GIVEAWAY ALERT

I also bought this cute pink silk handkerchief for $2.00, and some green tatting for $1.00

After we got done in Boone we headed home and decided to go to Red Lobster for supper, which was great. I had a mudslide and lobster and shrimp.

Saturday, Kevin took me to the Good Guys Car show, I will add the very few pictures I have from that to my Sweet Rides blog. Very few because even though I brought all 3 of my batteries, when I had to change one, I found out the others were dead. Needless to say I was a little annoyed, though it was kinda fun to wander around and not worry about taking pictures of all the cool ones like I did the last time I went.

After the car show, we went to his parents house in Cedar Rapids and stayed there until Tuesday, having a nice relaxing few days. Sunday, we went to eat at Hu Hot, and then watched the fireworks. Monday, we went to eat at Pei's and then traveled to Kalona for cheese, of course the cheese factory wasn't open, so we headed down the road to an Amana store where I bought dried mangoes and papaya, some caramel puffs, and some multi flavored twizzler things. When I was in Hawaii, I bought some dried mangoes and they were really sweet, I was thinking these might be the same, but they are soo good, I wish I'd bought more than one bag. After that we headed into Riverside and to the casino. This was my first time at a casino, I played some Blackjack and won $20.00. After that we headed back to his parents place.

Tuesday, we basically got up and left, more or less. And then of course we both had to go to work when we got back here.

Wednesday, I got to hang out with my friend Loretta and her puppies, we went to Ankeny to Petsmart. We also took a jump over to Micheal's and I didn't spend any money. That's a huge first for me. I guess I'm still looking for that something really cool to buy.

I know I shouldn't really complain, but I'm little disappointed in the gifts I didn't get for my birthday. I guess the trip to Perry along with some clothes (which to me, coming from my parents are never gifts) were my mom's gift to me, plus going out to supper. My brother sent me a $100 gift certificate for amazon.com, which I sent him my wish list for amazon, he could have picked out $100 worth of stuff and sent it to me, though it is nice to pick out my own stuff, as I did already order a book that wasn't on my list. Kevin took me to the car show and bought me lunch, but still. Ya know, it's a little more fun when you get actual presents. I think I'm just moody, because I did get to do fun things, but I don't know. Maybe it's just because I haven't found that really cool thing yet. Who knows. I also didn't get a single piece of mail on my birthday, it would have been cool to get something unexpected. I did get a card from my aunt, who by the way is great at remembering my birthday (probably other people in her family's too) and sending out cards.

I feel as if I haven't really had much time to pause since I got back from my mini vacation. I got home, had to go to work, went to bed, got up did laundry, mowed the lawn, jumped in the car with Loretta, went shopping, went to work, went to bed, got up this morning, went grocery shopping, went to work, came home changed clothes, went to my other job, and now I'm relaxing a bit in front of the computer.

my weekend

This weekend was Kevin and I's 3 year dating anniversary. We set the date for May 1st, because neither of us could remember exactly when we actually started dating. We didn't get to see each other on the first because I had to work that afternoon and he had to work that night.
Sunday morning I wake up to him coming in my door with bags full of things. In these bags were:
A 5 quart Dutch oven

A 12" Frying pan

A 2 quart saucepan and

A 3 quart saucepan.

I've been wanting some better cookware for awhile now, and Kevin will probably say I don't have any reason not to cook now.

We then went to Ankeny and ate lunch at a Chinese buffet. After that we stopped at Walmart where I picked up:

Some wooden spoons and

a spoon rest.

We then headed south again, stopping to look at some car dealerships on our wat to Des Moines where we went to Bass Pro Shop. I've been wanting to go to it ever since it opened, and I was a little annoyed when he went with his friend on Labor Day. That was pretty cool to go into and look around, I would have liked to stay longer, but he did promise a friend he'd help with some truck maintenance.

After we got back, he dropped me off and went to help his friend.

I had planned on cooking him supper for my present to him, and those pots really came in handy.

I cooked Lemon Dill Bluegill (that's what I had in the freezer) and loaded mashed potatoes. I unfortunately forgot about the prep time, so I started at 5:30, thinking I'd have everything ready to eat by 7. It didn't really happen that way.

I started peeling potatoes, and realized I didn't have a potato peeler, so I had to borrow one from my parents. I used my new dutch oven to cook them, which took a bit longer than I expected. But, while waiting for them to cook, I did get the rest of the ingredients for the potatoes and the fish ready. After cooking the potatoes, I realized I was supposed to mash them up in an electric mixer, which I also didn't have, so I mixed them in a bowl with a fork, to squish them. Then they were supposed to bake for 30 minutes.

While they were baking I got started on the fish, all that turned out OK, and I got to use my new fry pan for it. I should have taken a picture, it was pretty cool looking with the water in it, and the lemons floating on top and then the bluegill on top of that.

But, it all turned out ok, and it was a really nice anniversary.

Here are the recipes if anyone wants to try them out.

Taken from Taste of Home's Contest Winning Annual Recipes 2006, Loaded Mashed Potatoes

5 lbs potatoes, peeled and cubed (I used about 8 potatoes)

3/4 cup sour cream

1/2 cup milk

3 TB butter

salt and pepper to taste

3 cups (12 oz) shredded cheddar cheese blend, divided

1/2 lb sliced bacon, cooked and crumbled

3 green onions sliced

1. Place potatoes in a Dutch oven and cover with water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer until tender. Drain and place in a mixing bowl. Add sour cream, milk, butter, salt and pepper. Beat on medium-low speed until light and fluffy. Stir in 2 cups cheese, bacon and onions.

2. Transfer to a greased 3-qt baking dish. Top with remaining cheese. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until heated through and cheese is melted.

Yield: 14 servings

Taken from Taste of Home magazine February/March 2001 Lemon Dill Walleye

1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced

1 TB butter or stick margarine

4 cups water

1 TB snipped fresh dill OR 1 tp dill weed

3/4 cup fat-free milk

2 medium onions, thinly sliced

1/8 tp pepper

2 lbs walleye, cod, halibut or orange roughy fillets (I used quite a bit of bluegill)

In a large skillet, saute onion in butter until tender. Add water and dill; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 4-5 minutes. Add milk, stir in lemons and pepper. Top with fillets. Cover and simmer for 12-15 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork.

Transfer fish to a serving platter and keep warm. Strain cooking liquid, reserving lemons, onions and dill, serve with fish.

My weekend

I am not a very happy person.
My plan for this weekend was to leaver Thursday night after work to go to my boyfriend's parent's house for the rest of the week and Easter and to return this afternoon in time for me to work. That would mean I took off Friday night and this morning from working at 2 of my jobs.
I called my boyfriend Wed night after getting off work to find out he was going storm chasing with his friend and was coming back on Saturday. I was upset to say the least. So I got to have a few personal days to myself.
Saturday comes, I keep waiting for him to call. I called him once asking what the plan was, and didn't hear back. I called him later in the day to find out he was working on his roommate's deck and that he was planning to leave again that night and go storm chasing again. I hung up on him and threw my phone across the couch. I was so pissed I was shaking.
He called me back and left a voice mail saying it was storm season and he would be doing this, and I knew this , that's the way it always was.
I called him back saying I was more pissed this time because I had been looking forward to this trip and that I took off work for it. I don't make a lot of money, so I can't really afford to take off work, but since it was for a nice trip, I decided I could.
So, I got a couple more personal days to myself. I did have a good cry in the shower that night. Sunday, I went out to brunch with my parents, and I was in a very bad mood. I have a tendency to zone out and be in my own little world when I'm pissed. I was on the verge of tears the whole time. I did go into work, when I found out my plans had been cancelled, I called the library and asked if they still needed people for Sunday (even though it's closed, people still come in to take care of items coming in and other things that need to be done), so I did get to work for 3 hours and that helped me take my mind off things.
Today, I moped in bed until about 11AM, then I hung out with a friend until I had to be at work at 5.
I'm still on the verge of tears, I'm still really pissed. I've tried listening to music, eating comfort foods and hanging out with other people, but I'm still pissed. Tomorrow, if it's not raining, I'm planning to go for a walk. If that doesn't help my mood, I don't know what will.

I hope everyone had a better Easter than I did.

Long busy week

This week has been crazy busy so far, and it's looking to be busy for the rest of it and into Sunday.
It's spring break for the college kids and below. I honestly thought everyone got a spring break week, but as I was hanging out with Kevin yesterday, he said they got a couple days around Easter, but never a whole week. People have been saying at the library how it's so nice and quiet with the college kids gone. Anyways, Monday, I worked at the library like usual, got done around 1PM, found out I had two movies waiting for me to check out: the 2nd Transformers and Star Trek, so I checked those out and popped the Transformers movie in when I got home, had to stop it to go get my hair cut. I got 8 inches cut off. I'll see about getting a picture taken so you all can see before and after shots. Started off in the movie where I left off when I got back home, had to go to work, and watched the rest of the movie when I got home again. I really don't like watching movies in segments, so I'm trying to find some time to watch it in full, but I know it's going to have to be soon, as I'm sure someone else is waiting down the list for it and I won't be able to renew it.
Tuesday: went to work at the library, when I got done, I found a text from Karli, asking if I wanted to go to lunch. We went to Pizza Ranch and then to Kmart and Earl May afterwards. Got back home about 3 and worked on my one world one heart art piece until I had to go to work, head over here to see it. Went to work and came home.
Wednesday: Kevin showed up about 3AM, I woke up kinda early and did my laundry, also scanned some ATCs (artist trading cards) for my collageatcs Yahoo group. Kevin got up about 1pm, and we went to a restaurant with some friends for lunch. Afterwards we went to Lowe's to get a present for his brother, who's birthday was yesterday. Then we went to the mall to get my ring fixed, the sapphire was a little loose. Finally we had just enough time to go get a DQ blizzard and drop me off at work. Work was pretty busy, then I went home to bed.
Today, I found out I won Susan's giveaway on her blog. I have to open the shop at 9:30 this morning and afterwards get to go on a picnic lunch and play with my friend, Loretta's puppies. Then we're going to go to PetSmart, after that I'm not really sure.
Tomorrow, I have to open the store again, and then sometime in the afternoon, my dad needs some help with computer stuff. There's also supposed to be a storm bringing rain and snow Friday night into Saturday morning. I read in my daily weather email that it's looking like 3 to 5 inches of snow.
Saturday, I have to open the store again and then I have the rest of the day free. Somewhere between Fri and Sat I need to work on some Trivial Pursuit ATCs for another Yahoo! group I'm in. I was thinking they were due in the middle of April, but was kindly reminded the other day, that they're due on the 1st, OOPS! I also need to finish up my one world one heart art piece so I can get it in the mail on Monday, I believe it's almost done, just needs a little more texture.
Sunday, I have to work at Hilton, the NCAA women's tournament is going on Sat through Monday, so I'm working some practice security from 8 to 1, and then a game from 4:30 to 6:30 that night.

I really hope next week slows down a bit.

What happened this week?

I feel I've been pretty lax in posting lately, and I really don't have a good reason for not posting, especially with as much time as I seem to be spending in front of my computer.
This week has been pretty busy though, Kevin (my boyfriend) came back on Sunday and we spent quite a bit of time driving around and buying stuff we didn't need. By the time we got back to my house, the Super Bowl had already started and I decided to make hamburgers with the ground beef that desperately needed to be cooked, except I didn't have buns, so we went out again and ended up going to the SuperWalmart and getting food and other stuff we didn't need. By the time we got back and got our nachos (they sounded better than burgers) fixed, the Super Bowl was pretty much over.
Monday, I had to get up and shovel snow and then venture to work, got to eat lunch with Kevin after work and hang out a little before I had to go to another job.
Tuesday, got up and went to work, came home and shoveled snow again. The news people said we got about 10 more inches of snow with that storm that lasted from Sunday until Tuesday afternoon. And we're supposed to get more tomorrow. I'm really getting sick of snow. Went to work again that night.
Wednesday, woke up and pretty much messed around all day on the computer (I'm blaming it on the One World One Heart giveaway, there were over 1100 blogs on that list). And went to work that night. I got woken up about 3 AM to Kevin trying to bury me in frogs (I love frogs), and he spent the rest of the night cuddling with me.
Thursday, got up and did my laundry, Kevin and I went out to breakfast (or lunch for him), came back and had a birthday lunch with my dad. Don't remember what I did with my afternoon before I had to go to work.
Friday (that's today), wasted a ton of time on the computer again, went with dad to the grocery store, and spent more money on stuff I didn't need. Went to work, which is where I am now, and it's not very busy (which is why I can update my blog).
My weekend's not looking THAT eventful, I'm going to my cousin's wedding tomorrow, we might stay over because of the forecast of the winter storm, don't know how that will turn out.
I should really work on art projects tomorrow during the day, I have my Yahoo! group's neon cards due at the end of Feb, a bird collage swap due the middle of March, but I have to mail it to the UK, so I figure I need to be done at least by the 5th, 13 inchies swap for the same group due in March, a puzzle piece swap for that group due in March also, and a trivial pursuit swap due in April, plus my group's Girly cards for March and fabric cards for April. Of course, I can't do my group's stuff until those months as people are still sending me stuff.
I'm also planning to make/alter something for my One World One Heart giveaway on my other blog as I have over 200 comments on there, and I figured I'd do something for every 100 comments I got.

Oh, and Sunday is not looking very exciting either. Kevin's in Colorado at a Storm Chaser's convention until then and he goes back to work on Monday night, so I'm guessing he'll try to stay up on Sunday night to get back in the swing of things. I'm thinking of going downtown and purchasing myself some Valentine candy or something, and then watching movies with my frogs, or working on art that day.

And that is the update in my not-so-exciting life. Maybe I'll have something more exciting next week.

Also, a question for my readers, what's a good horror movie?
I've been drawn to horror movies lately, which I find strange as when I was little they always scared me. I think it's because I used to watch Supernatural and some of the things they showed on that show were pretty creepy. That's used to because when they started to go on about good and evil and God vs the Devil, I became disinterested. Granted they still have the cool car and the good looking guys (pretty much the reason I started watching it), but I don't know how I feel about that stuff and I'd rather figure it out before I start watching shows/movies about it. Plus, I work Thursday nights (when it's on), and I close the store at 8, which doesn't get me home until about 8:30, by that time, it's half over with.
Some movies I have already watched are: The Orphan, Case 39, The Omen, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Skeleton Key, The Last Winter, The Ring, I know there's more, but I can't remember them now. Any really good ones that will really scare me?

Where have I been?

Alright kids, I'm sorry I've been so lax in posting lately. Here's what's been happening since I last posted.
12/19/09: was supposed to work graduation for Hilton, instead woke up with stomach pains and felt crappy all day, drank lots of water, stomach pains went away by bedtime.
12/20/09: Worked two basketball games
12/21/09 - 12/24/09: worked and got ready for Christmas.
12/24/09: worked a 2 hr shift at library, went home had a quick Christmas lunch with Kevin and my family, opened my family's Christmas presents, went home with Kevin to his parents house.
12/24/09 - 12/27/09: Was home with Kevin ignoring the rest of my life, had a nice Christmas with his family.
12/28/09: Came back to Ames and worked
12/29/09: Worked at the library in the morning, took care of stuff at post office, went out to lunch with Karli, finished packing for vacation, worked at store.
12/30/09 - 1/12/09: Hawaii vacation.

I will be posting my 'journal' entries about Hawaii very soon. Also will be adding all my pictures with descriptions to my picasa online album and will put up a link here. That might not happen for about a week as I have been working at the bookstore since the 13th and will be there until the 22nd.

Hope everyone had nice and happy holidays

We're shovelin' shovelin' shovelin' all day long

Ya know, I used to love snow as a kid, but now that I have to shovel it, it's not nearly as much fun, not even today where pretty much all the city is getting a snow day. Of course, the reason they're getting that snow day is the blowing snow, the fact that it's +8 (without windchill) and the fact that we got somewhere around 11 inches of snow. That, is not fun conditions to be digging out of the 11 inches of snow. It took us (mom, dad, me and Kevin) about 2 hours to get all the sidewalks shoveled, the porch cleared off and the driveway cleared off. Kevin was using the snowblower on the driveway while dad and I shoveled the sidewalks. Right about when we were done with city sidewalks and going up to clear off the porch mom came out and said she would do the porch. After dad and I did all the heavy lifting, but of course that's what mom does.
Afterwards, Kevin and I went out to look for some food. We found that the bank, Fareway, McDonald's, Walmart, the Chinese Buffet, HyVee and Village Inn were open. Everything else we passed was closed. We didn't go to the west part of town, so I don't know what was open over there. It was so weird to be driving around in the middle of the day and there were at most 20 cars on the roads, though there were quite a few people out walking around, mostly college students.
Tonight the low is -14 and tomorrow the high is 10. I hate winter in Iowa, but like someone told me yesterday, you deal with it or move. I choose to deal and complain when we get stuff like this.

New stuff

I've been a little busy lately. I've been working at my new job, which I love, though my legs are not happy with the constant squatting, I'm figuring they'll get used to it. So, I have that every morning for about 4 hours, then I come home and do other stuff, which lately has been making cards for birthdays, and then at 5 I'm at my other job. I love this new schedule, it makes me get up early in the morning, which I've kinda been doing anyway since I was working at the bookstore and had to be up for that, then we had the roofers who were here bright and early and you can't sleep through that. Now, I have something to do when I get up early. I can slack off in the about 4 hours I have in the afternoon, or do whatever.
This past Sunday was my grandma's birthday party. Her birthday was on the 15th, she's 93. My mom had this idea that we should send her a birthday card everyday of the week, so I did. Plus, I made her a present. I also was in a swap with someone from one of my yahoo! groups this past weekend and had to make fall cards for her, which turned out pretty cool by the way.
Saturday, I went with my mom to the mall to get some black pants. My old pair was getting worn between the legs (yes, my legs rub together when I walk), and I was wearing them for both the Hilton job and the games store job. I was hoping to find a nice pair of other colored pants to the games store, but I either found pants that were too tight in some areas or showed these nice creases in my crotch area. Not a bonus.
That afternoon, dad and I cleaned up the leaves from the yard, not that you'd know if you looked at it now. Stupid trees.

Unfortunately, I haven't seen Kevin since last Sunday and I'm hating it. We kinda started a nice weekly thing where he would come over after getting off in the morning and sleep in my bed, so I could at least see him and cuddle with him. Since, I went to my grandma's on Sunday, I didn't get to see him this week, and I think I'm regretting it. I did have a pretty good time at the party, but this year it wasn't as fun. I don't know if I got used to him being at my family get-togethers or if I was just preoccupied because I didn't get to see him.
I hate not being able to see him. He used to get Sunday nights off and we'd hang out for a little while on Mondays, but he hasn't had a day off since Labor Day, and the word is they will be working 7 days a week until December. Neither of us are happy with that.

Between work and work, I've been keeping busy and I love it. I really love having something to do every day. You never know how much you miss that until you don't have something to do during the day. It's nice for awhile, but then you get really bored. If my body would have let me, I would have slept more, because some days it's like why get up when you have nothing to do?

Darling, I love you

I wanna go shooting. So much. I haven't been shooting since April, of course if you stop and think about it, the first time I'd been shooting since 2002 was last fall. But, I know when I miss something like this, I really like it. And I love shooting my rifle a lot better than shooting handguns. Probably because it has a scope on it and I can hit things with more accuracy.

I'm so jealous that Kevin got to go shooting on Labor Day. I'm also jealous that he got to check out the new Bass Pro Shop in Ankeny. Actually, I'm kinda pissed he checked it out without me. I so wanted to be with him when he got to see it, just because it sounded really interesting to me. I don't like sporting goods stores that much, but when they had a sneak peak on a local news station, it looked pretty cool. Actually I'm kinda pissed about what he did on Labor Day because between those 2 things, that would have been a fun day. But he was thinking about us and needed a couple days with his guy friends. I get that too, but...

What a beautiful day

My mom kept saying this afternoon what a beautiful day it was. I agree with her now that my day is pretty much over.
It started at about 7:30 AM when I got up to check email. Kevin called me a little before 8 and asked if I wanted to go to HyVee's breakfast, we went, ate and came back. He took a shower and we entertained ourselves with a little extra curricular activity then he went to sleep and I went to mow the lawn. At about 1:15 when I was done with the lawn, I took a shower then me and dad went on the local home tour. We got done about 4 with that, I took a nap and then woke Kevin up and we had some more extra curricular activity and a shower. About 6 we picked dad up from campus and went to supper at Valentino's. Kevin left from there for work and dad I just got home.
Yes, it was a very beautiful day.

Driving and Jobs

Ya know, I don't mind getting up early when I have somewhere to go, but getting up at 7AM (or like today, getting woken up by pounding at 7AM) is not working for me.
Our house is getting a new roof, and in order to not be on it when it's wicked hot out, the guys are here at 7 every morning. Since I live on the 3rd floor, there's no way I'm not waking up at 7. I miss having to be at the bookstore at 8 every day and being busy all day. Granted I did not like getting home and falling asleep shortly thereafter, but I love being busy all day. I am searching for a full-time job, but I don't know what I want to do, I know what I don't mind doing, but I don't know what I want to do with my life.
Last Monday, Kevin and I had a talk, I had a gut feeling he was going to dump me. He didn't, he said he felt like I didn't want to do anything and that I needed to find a full-time job that was a career. He said I wasn't pushing myself very hard work-wise. Which is true, once I found the job at the games store last summer, I was just happy to find a job and kinda backed off on my job search. I am very happy to have the part-time job at the bookstore, but it's only 2-3 weeks every six months. And I really do love being away from my house every day. My mom said maybe I needed to do some career placement tests, sure why not. I love how Kevin told me I need to be looking at jobs outside of here, but I'm sure if I found a really cool one across the country, he wouldn't want to move with me. I think that would be really cool though, find one in a place I've never been and have to move and start all over in a new place, I'd love that challenge, but I'd also be afraid to do it.
Also, in order to be looking at jobs outside of here, I'd have to get a driver's license, which Kevin really wants me to do. So, I went driving with my mom last Saturday, it was fun, but my mom still had that tone, the irritated but I can't say too much tone because then she'll think I'm mad at her tone. I was going 14 as my top speed around this parking lot, and I thought that was fast. It reminded me how much I don't like driving, but I'd do anything for Kevin. Plus, just because I get the license, doesn't mean I HAVE to drive. I don't have a car, and I don't really have money to get a car, so....
I was actually thinking, it'd be so fun to get an old Nova or Mustang and fix it up so it was gorgeous again. That would be sooo fun.
I was thinking that I doubt Kevin would consider doing art a real job, even if I did get to the point where I could pay all my bills and have money left over. I think to him, it would require someone else paying my health insurance and getting out of the house all day. Though I would love to get to the point in my art that I could pay all my bills that would be great.

I can't be held responsible, she was touching her face

It's been a very exhausting day. I feel like I've been crying for 3/4 of it.
It was supposed to start out with Kevin coming over this morning. But, he never did, I think he went and partied with his buddies. I hadn't talked to him since Saturday night. I was worried, figured something happened to him, so I took the bus over to his house, where both of his trucks were sitting. He wasn't asleep on his bed, his roommate's girlfriend said he left in a red truck (one of his friends). I walked home, on the verge of tears for 3 miles. I called him during my walk time (probably the 6th time this morning), he finally picked up saying he was at his friend's house, and I knew the only way he was there at that time with both his trucks at his house was if he didn't have to work last night and hung out with them. When I told him I went to his house because I was worried, he didn't say anything, I let him go so he could sleep.
By the time I got home, I was exhausted and pissed. I'm not quite sure what I did all afternoon. I called him again at 4 asking if he planned to go to a picnic in my neighborhood that I mentioned this morning. I called again at 5, 5:14 and then 5:30 when he finally picked up. I asked him about the picnic to which he replied he'd forgotten all about it. I found that hard to believe seeing as how I left him a message at 4, but didn't say anything. He said he was in Des Moines hanging out with his friends again. He said he might come over tonight. I don't believe him, that's what he said about this morning on Saturday.
I know he's been brooding over something since he got back from an offroading excursion last Tuesday, he's been different. He hasn't said anything, but you know about that female intuition thing.
I had a horrible dream last night about how he was going to break up with me and he didn't give a damn about my feelings. I started thinking this morning it was true when I couldn't find him at his house.
I bought this cute little butterfly thing for us to enjoy, I was waiting for him last night and this morning to show it to him, and then again from 2 to 5:30. I don't know if he'll get to see it.

I understand he wants to hang out with his friends, but what's so hard about picking up the phone and telling me that? Why can't he say he's sorry (even if he's not) for making me worry, for "forgetting" about the picnic. I don't know if I'm being paranoid or not, but it really hurts.

No need to worry, no need to cry

I am so sick of people telling me I need to find a full-time job. As if I'm not looking now. I found a posting for a full-time temporary job for the middle of Sept to January, that I'm planning to apply for, but people never seem to be satisfied with me. If it makes me happy why can't they just back off?
I'm done at UBS now, hoping to help out next semester. I was complaining to Kevin about how sick I was of the students swiping their debit/credit cards before I was ready for them. The cash registers don't take the card until we get to the end and tell it debit or credit. He was saying how I needed to find a full-time job so I wouldn't have to do the job anymore, I love the job, but some things just bother me, especially when I get it every day. I don't understand why he gets to complain about his job and I can't. I love it how when I worked at the art shop it was ok, because I had a steady paycheck, I might not have always happy with it, but I had a paycheck.
I'd love to have a lot of temp jobs like JLo has in Monster-in-Law. I love how she's set up in that movie, and she's happy with what she does. I'd love to have that, like now, I like what I do in all 3 (2 now) jobs, but because it's not full-time, it doesn't count I guess. Is it possible to be happy with your job and make enough money to get by?
I do want to be independent, I don't want to depend on other people. And it's not like I'm not trying to find a full-time job, it's just that there aren't a lot out there right now. And I don't really want to work in some other town (granted I can't right now because I don't have a driver's license, but I don't want to drive quite a distance to work anyway), but I really don't want to have to do that.

I hate how Kevin always tries to change me. Granted it's worked for a few things, I'm eating healthier, I'm drinking way more water, I'm spending less money, and at the moment, I'm working on cleaning my apartment and I would like to keep it clean, sometimes it just doesn't seem to be enough. Why do people insist on trying to change me? Aren't I good enough for them?

So tired

If you need a good laugh, go here.

I've been working full-time at a temp job the past two weeks and will continue until the end of next week. Plus I've been going to the games store as usual, and I had training at the hilton job and a volleyball match last Saturday. So, I've been very short on time. Basically, my day is get up, eat breakfast, check only my email (usually I read blogs in the morning), make my lunch, pack my bag for the day, catch the bus, get off at work, work for a few hours, have a break and eat a yogurt, work some more, eat half of my sandwich and chips, work some more, eat my pretzels, work some more, clock out of that job for the day, go catch the bus, get off at my other job, eat the rest of my lunch and zone out for about 30 minutes, work at my other job, clock out, walk home by way of the grocery store, have about an hour to watch TV, read mail and blogs, and then go to bed.
It's been that for the past 2 weeks. Next week, I'm taking cookies for dessert and somehow making my lunch more exciting. I'm so tired at the end of the day, I usually fall asleep on the couch and don't know what happened in the last 30 minutes of the show I'm watching. Then I wake up, generally around 10 and head off to bed. I've been waking up naturally around 6AM lately and getting up then, I've noticed I'm more awake in the mornings.

Other than working, I really don't have much to say. This weekend I have to mow the lawn, do my laundry, go grocery shopping, and go to Walmart for more guinea pig bedding. And somewhere in there I'm going to try and work on my ATCs for my collage group for the August swap and clean my apartment. I am a huge slob, basically because I'm lazy. Kevin has been hinting pretty strongly lately how much it bothers him. So, I thought it might be a nice surprise for him when he has Labor Day off next weekend to have my apartment WAY cleaner, and I'm planning on working on keeping it cleaner as well. If I got in to the habit of throwing stuff away instead of leaving it on the floor my apartment would be probably 80% better, I also need to get in the habit of putting things away and doing my dishes more often.
I am so ready to fall asleep right now and I have an hour and 45 minutes left to work.

I can't help it

I can't help it. When he tells me he has to work Sunday again, I catch my breath and feel the tears welling up in my eyes. I want to cry for the next hour, but I can't because I'm at work. I want to revert back to destructive habits, but I can't because they take too long to heal. I want to get drunk, but I can't because it costs money that I don't have. I'd love to have the tears rolling down my cheeks on my walk home, then I won't care who sees them but I will hope someone sees them and cares, but no one will. By the time I get to close the store and walk home I'll still be hurting (that will last all weekend), but the tears will have passed until later at night when I'm crawling into bed to cuddle the frogs he's given me, then I will bawl until I fall asleep.
I know it bothers him too, he had to work last Sunday night he hasn't had a day off in 12 days and he won't have one for at least 20 days. He is very tired and it seems he never gets to sleep extra.
It always seems to be the weekends I actually have something planned for Monday. I wanted to go to the State Fair, because that would be the only time either one of us would be able to go, but I knew in the back of my mind it wasn't going to happen. You can't have a life when your significant other/spouse works there. They don't have a choice when they work, they're lucky if they only get a 6 day week, and 11 hours a night. Lately that hasn't happened, he's had 7 day weeks and more than 12 hour nights to work. The company doesn't care whether their workers are happy or not, they have so much money that if someone gets fired or leaves, they can just hire another worker without much effort. They pay enough to deter their workers from looking for other jobs or they just work them too much, so the only free time they have they sleep.
I can't cry at work, but the tears drip down my cheeks anyway. I can't help it.

Underneath this Amarillo Sky

Reading one of the blogs I follow got me thinking on something today. The author talks about how his wife and he talked to his daughter about sex.
Kevin and I were discussing a few things the other day, one them being how my parents never talked to me about anything serious. I never recall my mother talking about relationships with guys, periods or other stuff that goes on with a girl's body as she gets older, sex, not even a simple thing as credit cards and dealing with money.
I was telling Kevin how, when I was around 11 or 12, my mother gave me a book called What's Happening to my Body Book for Girls, that was written the year I was born. The day I got my period, I asked her what it meant, she told me to go get some pads out of the bathroom closet, and I think we went out to dinner that night. Outside of school sessions and health class I never learned any of that stuff. I don't understand why (OK I do, but I don't agree) getting your first period is so exciting and wonderful. My parents never talked to me about relationships with guys. Granted I never went out to do anything in middle school or high school, OK there were a couple times my senior year when I snuck out close to 11PM, but it was only to watch the cops at shift change. I was never encouraged to wear cute clothes. Everything I wore in middle and high school consisted of jeans and medium t-shirts and none of those form fitting t-shirts. I don't think I really started wearing cute clothes (or at least ones that showed my figure) until my sophomore year of college, when I moved out from under their roof. I know I wore a pretty cute summer dress for my high school graduation (which I can still fit in to today), but beyond that I didn't wear any cute dresses. Kevin was saying maybe it was because I didn't show an interest in them, but when you're not encouraged to wear anything like that, even dresses my mother bought me, were more like shapes that she would wear, she's just now beginning to buy me cute clothes (when she buys me clothes). When that's all you know to wear, I think it's kinda hard to be interested. I guess I sorta started branching out my senior year, for Winter Formal that year (dance), I wore a velvet skirt that had slits up both sides to my hips. I love that skirt, wish I had something to wear it to now. My senior prom dress was kinda like a Cinderella dress, not a very full skirt, it was periwinkle and laced up in the back. I loved that dress too.
I've never been in a reltionship until I started dating Kevin, and that was a lot to get used to. I had a few crushes throughout my school years, but nothing beyond staring at and wishing. I do find it pretty cool, that the first time I saw Kevin, I thought I'd love to date that guy. When we got further in our relationship, my mother dropped off an ad for planned parenthood, that's as close as she's ever gotten to talking about sex with me.
And the money thing, my parents never really talked about money. I do recall when I was pretty young and delivered papers (I started in 2nd grade), my dad saying every other paycheck had to be deposited. And then as I got older I was expected to pay for certain things. They never talked to me about credit cards. I got my first credit card sometime in my 2nd year of college, by filling out one of those things you get in the mail. I figured it was time I had my own (my parents gave me one in my name of their account for emergencies and paying for books), and thought I'd fill it out, what was the worst that could happen, they could turn me down and I wouldn't be any worse off. When I was pondering it, the only advice I got was from my roommate at the time, who told me she always made sure she had money in her bank account to cover whatever she wanted to charge.
Kevin mentioned that maybe my mom wanted another boy since she never talked about anything girly with me, not even makeup or how to wear my hair. I had short hair (around my ears or above) until middle school, when one of my friends had long hair and I decided to grow it out. I was never encouraged to dress up in high heels, (my mom didn't own any) or makeup (she also had very little of that) when I was young. I was given Barbies and dolls, and dress up clothes, but she never really encouraged me outside of those things. Looking through my old toys a few weeks ago as we were cleaning for the garage sale, lots of the things I had somewhat paralleled what my brother had. We both had small animals we played with mixing them with our legos and model/diecast cars. We both had K'nex when they came out, my favorite to build was the off-road jeep/vehicle. I loved getting the 1/24 scale cars at the toy store. I loved climbing trees and jumping off the playground equipment at school.
It makes me wonder if that's why I'm always so intrigued about the little girls in the store I work at and how recently I've been thinking if I had kids I want a little girl. Not to totally enamour in pink or girly stuff, but to just experience being a little girl again.

It has been a long week. Every day I got up and worked on garage sale stuff. And apparently standing for 6 + hours on concrete in flip flops doesn't make your feet happy. They still hurt, especially since I spent all day walking around Adventureland on Sunday.
It turned out to be a good garage sale, we made well over $300. Originally, my dad had said if I organized a garage sale, I could have all the profits. Well, mom decided that since she helped out so much, she needed a cut. I don't think she helped out a ton, she seemed to be complaining more than helping out, oh well, I still got a nice chunk of change. I want to go and spend it on something huge and cool, but I'll probably just end up sitting on it in the bank. I deposited it yesterday. I needed to get it out of the house, so I didn't spend it. I was thinking of transferring some of it to paypal so I could spend it at Etsy, but I don't think I'm going to spend it there either. I am going to transfer some though, I found some cute Monoply board coasters, that I think my brother might get a kick out of. His birthday's coming up in September and it would be nice to get the present out of the way, he's a hard guy to buy for anyway. I know what he likes, but he usually wants stuff that's kind of expensive.

Sunday, Kevin and I went to Adventureland. Every year the mine does this nice thing for their workers, just for fun. We met up with one of his co-workers and his wife and pretty much wandered around with them all day, it was pretty fun. Somehow Kevin managed to spend $20 or so that day, I haven't quite figured out how yet. I guess combining the food/drink he got and the games we played, it kinda eats it up. I did get some cute stuffed animals though. We were riding the train and someone walked by with a giant banana (it was probably 4 or 5 feet tall) and one lady said "what are you going to do with a giant banana", Kevin and I laughed and I whispered to him "what are you going to do with all the other stuff you get here?" Like anything's really gonna be done with anything you get that you're not gonna eat. We went to Kokomo Cove this year, but I remembered how mean the kids were last year, and I really just wanted to go swimming, not wandering through the water slides. I sat on the chairs and soaked up a little sun, Kevin went on a water slide, he said he had more fun last year, he kept saying because it was hotter last year but I know part of it was because I wasn't enjoying it with him. Kids are so mean when they don't have anyone to tell them no, when you have giant waterguns and buckets of water that you can just throw on people, they do whatever the hell they want to, I just didn't want to deal with it this year. It would be way better if there was a pool.
I also got up the courage to try a roller coaster this year, I went on the Outlaw, their wooden one. After we got on it, Kevin said he remembered it was the one with the most bumps and turns and stuff, guess I picked the wrong one huh? I didn't like, granted I didn't get sick, but all those quick turns, ups and downs, and bumps didn't help me any. But, at least I can say that I know I don't like roller coasters. When I was little, I went on a mini one at Arnold's Park, and I got sick on that one, so I'd been using that excuse ever since. But, Kevin was so bummed last year when we got up to the roller coaster and I chickened out at the last minute I thought I'd try one this year.

On the 18th of August, I start back at the University Bookstore, I'm looking forward to that. This year I'm working 3 weeks. I can't wait, we're generally pretty busy the week before classes start (the 17th through the 23rd), I don't think the week of classes will be too bad (24th through the 30th), I think it's busier than winter RUSH because any new students are most likely going to start at the new year rather than half year. I'm not quite sure what the last week will be like (31st through the 4th), In January, we started getting slow at the end of the 2nd week, I bounced around and helped in textbooks, because I wanted to keep busy. It's pretty boring if you can't keep busy, but you deal. I just keep thinking I have to save all my money for Hawaii. Add the money from the garage sale and then what I get at the bookstore, and money from events at Hilton until I have to leave, I should have a nice chunk of savings to take with me. Hopefully I won't spend it all, I'm hoping I'll be pretty smart with my money, though I love getting souveneirs at places, and I don't know if certain food will be extra on the boat or not. If I stick to my water routine, I should save money there, but I'm gonna be on vacation, it'll be some hard choices. Hopefully, I won't have some emergency that I'll need the money for between now and hawaii, but if I do, I'll have extra money. I feel so much better when I have a nice buffer in the bank in case something happens. I've always been a big believer in having things even if you don't need them at the moment.

This week, I have to make it to the post office today and get my hair cut, I have an event on Thurs at Hilton, and hopefully on Friday I get to get together with my friend, Loretta, and her puppies and have a picnic. I'm really looking forward to that, I haven't seen them since the middle of July.

My hair cut is one of my extra spendings. My hair is so full of split ends, the place my mom always took me costs $20 per haircut, but you get used to a certain person cutting your hair. Anyways, I was thinking last night as I was picking off my split ends, that I should wander over to Great Clips and get it trimmed, then I thought, now that I have a little extra money I can afford the more expensive place, so maybe I'll just go there. I'm not getting anything drastic, no new hair style, just a nice trim. As many split ends as I have, I'm thinking she's taking at least 3 inches off, so it'll be a little different. It always feels like a new start when I have quite a bit taken off at a haircut, course I usually wait a while for my haircuts, so it's always a new start. Someday I think I will get a new hairstyle, but I'd have to research and really think about it. Sometimes waiting the 2 hours to have my hair dry is a little annoying (I don't have or like hair dryers), and after being outside in the wind it tangles easily (course part of that could be the split ends). I did get a layered look one time, but it grew out and I didn't get it again, I also grew out my bangs awhile ago, that was the best decision in hair other than growing my hair long that I made. I just wish I knew more things to do with my hair that didn't take a lot of effort, I am basically a get up, brush it, and throw it in a pony tail kinda girl. If I take a shower in the middle of the day, I usually french braid it, just so it's not so messy the whole time it dries, and I get the cute little crinkles the next day. I also wish there was a way to enhance the subtle wave I have. I've found out if I take a shower at night and then sleep on it, it really shows, but I haven't found any other way to coax it out.
Now that I've rambled enough, maybe I'll get dressed and meander over to the post office.