Some Memes

Found some new memes to play with.

The first is a fill in the blank. I found this one on Little Owl Arts
1. The first thing I do in the morning is Roll over and wish my boyfriend was in bed with me.
2. Every night before bed I Set up my music to listen to
3. My favorite thing to do when I'm having a bad day is Listen to music, always calms me down, especially Bruce Springstein, or Bob Seger
4. Something that makes me cringe is Millipedes, we had one on the wall by the bathrooms the other day at the library, and I sure didn't want to go near it.
5. Social situations Something I really need to get used to.
6. I like to collect Hot Wheels/Matchbox cars, art supplies, frogs
7. Weekends are for Relaxing, hopefully with warmer weather going to garage sales, and of course because of warmer weather mowing the lawn

And the next one is called the five Spot. I found it on So Completely Random.
5 family members you can't live without?
1. 1 aunt on my mom's side,
2. 1 aunt on my dad's side,
3. my boyfriend (that counts right?),
4. my guinea pig,
5. because of financial situations my parents
5 girlfriends you can't live without?
1. Karli,
2. Loretta (I don't have 5 girlfriends)
5 foods you can't live without?
1. Pizza,
2. donuts,
3. ice cream,
4. water
5 favorite movies? This will be hard, how to narrow it down to 5. Umm,
1. Die Hard movies (I know that's 4 different movies, but it's counting as one),
2. We were Soldiers,
3. X-Men Origins: Wolverine,
4. SAW movies (also counting as one),
5. Finding Nemo
5 favorite TV shows?
1. Third Watch,
2. Supernatural (or at least the first 3 seasons of it, I could care less about the 4th season),
3. Angel,
4. The Amazing Race,
5. New York Undercover
5 biggest pet peeves?
1.People who smoke,
2. people who call voicemail/answering machines and either hang up after the message has gone through, or talk like you're going to pick up,
3. People who are too lazy to park or do other things legally,
4. People who can't come to the library and pick things off the shelves themselves,
5. People who suck at driving
5 places you visited and loved?
1. Hawaii,
2. Lake Okoboji,
3. Kevin's parents place,
4. Washington D.C.,
5. The Ledges
5 places you want to visit?
1. Ireland
2. California
3. Texas
5 memories that you will never forget?
1. When I first saw Kevin
2. My first motorcycle ride
3. Hawaii vacation
4. The first time I went to D.C. and we got to see the Darwin's Rhea (big bird kinda like an ostrich) dance.
5. Childhood vacations at Lake Okoboji
5 things you love about your house/location?
1. Love my neighborhood (within walking distance to a lot of things)
2. Love that it's an old house (very gorgeous)
3. Love that I'm close to work (within walking distance to my jobs)
5 things you wish you could change about your house/location?
1. Wish I lived farther away from my parents (live on the 3rd floor of their house, and we are way too close in distance, and not far enough away in relationship)
2. Wish I didn't live in an old house (they have a lot of problems)
3. Wish I lived in a different town (should have gone away to college, and experienced somewhere else)
4. I'd love to have a bathtub (my bathroom isn't near big enough for one)
5. I'd love for my bedroom to not have windows facing east (it's kinda hard to sleep in that way, I even have mini blinds and very dark chocolate colored curtains, they still don't shut out all the light)
5 projects you are working on or want to accomplish this year?
1. The constant of my collage group atcs
2. making money (that counts right)
3. paying off my medical bill
4. hoping to become more creative, or do more artwork
5. Cleaning my apartment
5 material possessions you can't live without?
1. My ring from Kevin
2. My mp3 player (I couldn't live without music)
3. Chapstick
4. My wallet, that counts right?
5. My cell phone, though I'm noticing not as much lately
5 reasons you blog?
1. Hope someone else likes reading about my life
2. Like sharing my art with people
3. Like meeting new people I never would have otherwise
4. A good way to get advice
5. I've always found it's easier to write than to talk about certain things with people.

I've been very disappointed with some things lately.
One, I don't think I'm buying Levi's jeans again. It used to be I could wear a pair of jeans practically every day and they would last a year or so. In January, I needed some new jeans to wear to one of my jobs, so I bought a pair, there are parts that are already wearing through. That's not acceptable, especially considering I paid about $25-$30 for them.
Another, I bought some bagels at my grocery store last Saturday, I had eaten 2 of them, today I went to eat another, they were moldy. They weren't very expensive, but I would think they should last more than 5 days. They were bakery items instead of trucked in, but still. I had 4 I had to throw away today, it was very disappointing.

What are people thinking?

For one of my jobs, I work at at toy store in a strip mall, and right next to the toy store is a Pizza Hut where you can only pick-up your pizza or have it delivered.

Tonight it's raining, and sometimes pouring. I have seen 2 people pull up and park (in the fire lane), leave their kids in their car, leave the car running and go in to get their pizza. This is the perfect crime of opportunity for a person. It makes me wonder if the parent/adult would think it was worth it to stay out of the rain, if their car happened to be stolen. Now both times these people left their car, yes they could see the car, but they were also away from the car for at least 5 minutes, and if the person was walking toward the car, and then walked in front and got into the driver's door, I highly doubt the adult would notice, I'm pretty sure you could do it fast enough if you wanted to.

Unfortunately, I know this doesn't just happen here. I've seen people do it down town as well and pretty much anywhere in town. Now, I know we don't have a ton of crime in our city (most likely more than people think), but we have had armed robberies at gas stations, one just a block away.

Not that I'm wishing something would happen to anyone, but I really wish there was some way we could get people to realize that cons will not outweigh the pros in these situations.

A few weeks ago, when I was working at the library, one of our full-time staff comes inside the library with a kid screaming his head off. We found the mother, but she didn't seem in the least bit concerned.

I got my degree in criminal justice and I have read about what people will do just because there's an opportunity. I don't think in any way there's an excuse for them doing these crimes, but I do think the victim is partly to blame in these situations.

Trouble in Paradise

He didn't call me in-between 7 and 8 on his way to work, he probably just forgot.
But, my mind kept telling me, I'd see his truck show up around 8 and we'd get to hang out tonight. That didn't happen, so I figured, maybe he's sleeping.
I missed a call from him at 8:30, that had to mean he wasn't at work, right? I called him back and he answered, he couldn't be working if he answered, right? No, he was just able to talk for a few minutes.
They said they would be working less, but already working 4 days didn't last a week, now it's 5 days of one thing and 1 day of another, unless he misspoke and it's actually 4 days of one thing and 1 day of another, but I doubt it.
You never can believe anything they say. They said last year after the workers came back (after a 3 month lay-off) that it wouldn't happen this year, well it didn't, they laid them off for 5 months this time.
The things I would love to do to the people that make the decisions. They wonder why they're such in a hole after the workers come back and why they have to work them 7 days a week, 12 hour days when they lay them off for 3+ months in the winter and know they're going to be selling a lot and need the workers there.
He hates what he's doing now, I started hating his job when it meant he had to work nights, and then more when he had to work 6 days a week, and if possible, even more when he had to work 7 days a week.
But they have all this money, so they can treat their workers like crap and they don't give a damn.

So, tonight instead of cuddling with my boyfriend as we would both like to do, I have to settle for a giant frog and The Boss on my stereo.
Of course, The Boss does wonders when you're pissed or sad or whatever. I grew up listening to him, Born in the USA can soothe the most annoying feelings I have, and tonight I need that soothing feeling.

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.

Pizza Dip

Saturday, I went to a Trivia Night with my dad's side of the family and my dad said to bring along snacks to share. I've been toying with the idea of trying this recipe I found in a December 2009 issue of Family Circle, so I decided it was the perfect time to try it.
It has pepperoni, olives, tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, cream cheese and mayonnaise. Basically, all I had to do was mix it up and throw it in the oven. Here's what it looked like before I baked it:
And here is the picture of it on the table ready to be eaten. Sorry about the poor quality, but my aunt was itching to try it out, as she had smelled it the whole 20 minute drive to the trivia place.

Everyone said it was really good and I had to post the recipe on Facebook. It makes me want to make more recipes.

Anyways, here it is for you all to try:

8 oz cream cheese, softened

3/4 cup light mayo

1 cup moz cheese

8 oz sliced pepperoni, chopped

10 large black olives, chopped

2 ripe plum tomatoes, chopped

4 crusty Italian loaves cut into 1/2-inch pieces

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Mix all ingredients except bread in a medium bowl. Spoon into a 6-cup baking dish.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until lightly brown and bubbly.

Serve with bread for dipping.

Now, I didn't use light mayo, put in more than 1 cup of moz cheese, only used about 4 oz of pepperoni and got sick of chopping so I ripped them up, I used a 2.25 oz can of sliced olives, and I picked up 2 small tomatoes at the grocery store. I also think I could have baked it a little longer, I just mis judged the time it would take to bake and what time we had to be out the door.

If you try it, let me know what you think.

Who Wants Free Paper?

I am giving away this giant pile of paper. Go here and here to read the details.

Welcome Spring!

It's the first day of spring and this is what I saw when I woke up this morning:

SNOW!!! About a couple inches covered everything, the sidewalks were icy on my way to work. Thankfully, by the time I got off work, most of it had melted away. Now there's just a tiny bit to remind us all, you never know what Iowa weather will bring

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.

Hawaii 1-7-10

Great day today. Woke up early to go snorkeling, which was great. Got to see sea turtles and lots of fish.

Came back to ship, had lunch and a nap. Got dressed to go to manor house for a tour and see a lu'au. Got to the manor house, got picture taken, took train ride around compound. Came back had a great supper of chicken, salad, purple sweet potatoes, pork, beef, mahi mahi, and lilikoi (passion fruit) chiffon pie. Went shopping in stores. Bought flower earring for $3.70 (I had originally seen earrings like these when we went to Pearl Harbor, but had told myself I didn't need another pair of earrings, and later, decided I did want some like that and had looked at pretty much every shop we went for some I liked), and a frog for $5.21.

Watched the Lu'au. Very cool day.

The lu'au was so cool, it was a bunch of people doing a dance about a guy leaving his girl to go to a new land and hardships that happened inbetween. Ross said not to take any pictures as we weren't supposed to use our flash and they wouldn't come out, but all my pictures turned out rather well, some of them look kinda like they're glowing in the dark. I'm very glad I didn't listen to him.

UGH!!!

I love it how my parents think I have no life. If I'm not working (and they always want to know my schedule) than I'm obviously not doing anything else. I must just be sitting here and doing nothing. My dad got a new computer recently (it was supposed to be a birthday present, his birthday was in Feb, and it finally came on Wed), anyways, Kevin came back and we spent Wed afternoon and Thurs together, but my dad calls on Thurs in the afternoon, and I happened to be in Des Moines and not hear my phone ring. Then he calls last night after I get home from work, and my phone was in the other room and I still didn't hear it ring (I wasn't ignoring him, I really didn't hear it ring), and then called about 10 minutes ago, and was annoyed when I told him I had something else going on this morning. You'd think they would want me to have a life. But, I've noticed my parents tend to have that effect on me, they love saying things that would get me upset. On Wed, when the computer was supposed to be delivered, they wanted to make sure I was downstairs (I live on the 3rd floor of their house), waiting for it, because it would have to be signed for. Granted I was downstairs doing laundry IN THE MORNING, any time after that, they would have been SOL, but since I wasn't working, I obviously had nothing better to do with my time.
Today, I do have an art project I am way overdue in making (it's from the OWOH giveaway on my other blog, that was almost a month ago, and my life got in the way, I've finally started it, go over to that blog to see how far I haven't gotten, it's at the bottom of the post), and I need to do something at the mall, plus I need to go grocery shopping. My parents are only happy that I work part-time, when I can help them with stuff, they'd be so screwed if I worked full-time (which I'd love to do if I knew what I wanted to do).
OK, now that I've ranted and gotten that out of my system, I have stuff to do.

Hawaii 1-6-10

Too much moving around today. When we can feel the boat moving, I feel like I'm drunk. It's weird when the floor moves.

Got up pretty early, had breakfast and went to get in line to get on the boats that would take us to shore. We got in line about 8:50 and finally got ashore about 9:50. It was an experience I'd like to pass on in the futres. Found out later that because the swells were so bad, they stopped letting people off at 10:00. After getting to shore, we went to the seahorse farm tour and found out the glass bottom boat had been cancelled. The sea horse farm was pretty cool. We got to see little baby seahorses, seadragons and even got to hold seahorses.

The best part was seeing the frog fish.

Went back to the dock and decided to eat fish for lunch and go to the local farmer's market. Had shrimp, crab stuffed shrimp and coconut shrimp. Wandered through a very hot farmer's market. Stopped at the Whaler's General Store, found Kevin a Ford truck with a Hawaii surfboard. Also bought a seahorse keychain and poster at the seahorse farm and collected coral at the beach.

Got back on the boat about 3:00, relaxed for the rest of the day.

Hawaii 1-5-10

Nice day today. Got up pretty early to go on Volcano and Rainbow Falls. Saw trees planted by famous people and big Japanese garden. Went to Rainbow Falls, didn't see any rainbows by tgot some nice photos.

Went to a botanical gardens, not very neat, but got some great pictures.

Went to see volcano. I didn't find it very exciting. Bought a postcard and postcard book fo $5.50. Walked through lava tube, that was the coolest. Went to Mauna Loa macadamia nut factory. Bought milk chocolate Toffee macadamias for myself for $3.95. Bought Macadamia nut white chocolate flavored chip cookies and dry roasted macadamia nuts for Kevin for $4.17. Had vanilla macadamia nut ice cream, not that exciting. Got back on bus. Got to wear one of my new dreses and new shrug today, I thought I looked pretty good thought they made me look bigger (that could have partly been because I had a bikini underneath and the ties on the bottom made the dress fan out a little). We went tot see the lava flow, also not that exciting.

Hawaii 1-4-10

Nice day today, Woke up late at 7 this morning. Mom and Dad were already out. Went to the Aloha for breakfast, had tomato with cheese, cottage cheese, pastries, waffle and milk. Went back to room to found out Atlantis submarine excursion was cancelled (we were supposed to go down in this submarine and look at stuff on the ocean floor and underwater) due to wind. We decided to go on Lahaina On your Own tour instead. Got on bus at 9:30, reached Lahaina about 10:20 (I saw a whale jump out of the water and flip over on the bus ride there, it was pretty cool). Was greeted at Hilo Hattie's store and received shell lei. Bought very cute dress on sale for $9.99 instead of $34.99 and beautiful postcard of Olowalu for $.25, total was $10.67. Walked to Hard Rock Cafe and bought Hawaii pin for $5.21. Wandered on to another shop where Sharon bought me a nice crocheted shrug and some more cute postcards (I have found on my vacations, some of the cheapest and best souveneirs are postcards). Went to oldest banyon tree and decided to split up for lunch. We saw this cool shipwreck on our way to the banyon tree.
Mom and I went to Pacific'O where we had fish . Went to Whaler's General Store and bought underwater camera, water, and dolphin pin for Karli. Wandered past beach and saw crabs. Went to a couple (3) local galleries. Bought 3 postcards of banyon tree for $1.88. Went to get gelato, got a bunch of tastes before finally deciding on mango and passion fruit lolikoi. Went back to ship and found these towel creatures on our beds.

Dad and Ross, who don't like just wandering around, didn't enjoy the day as much as Mom and I did, I think it was a nice substitution for our submarine dive. It was better than sitting on the ship and doing nothing all day.

Hawaii 1-3-10

Well, I have no pictures from the 3rd of January, most likely because it wasn't that great of a day, so I'll post January 4th right after so you can enjoy a picture.
Not very exciting today. We didn't have anything until 3:45PM today. So we got up, ate breakfast, went to sun on the deck, planned to go to a movie at noon, but at 12:30, the movie still hadn't started, so we left to have lunch. After lunch, we went back to sunning on the deck. At about 3:30, we left the boat to go get on a bus for our sunset cruise and whale watch.. Twenty minutes later, we arrived at the boat dock and boarded. Unfortunately, it was very rough and windy and everyone except Ross got sick. I was only nauseated. So, none of us ate the included dinner. I did see some whales, but mostly I sat with my eyes closed at the back of the boat. After arriving back at the cruise ship, Don, Ross and I had supper. Then we watched TV before heading to bed.

I love my house

I was reading this blog today, and I left a somewhat long comment on this post saying how she will definitely get through restoring and fixing her house.
I kind of know. My parents bought our house in 1987 when I was 3 years old, and it was in need of restoring. A picture on the wall of their dining room shows it shortly after the purchase. It is a 3-story Victorian built sometime in the 1890's, when my parents purchased it, it had a regular front porch covered in vines and was white, and very noticeable that it needed some love. It was rented out by the room back then, I remember moving some furniture in through a door in the corner of the house that is not there anymore, I remember when we took out a wall and found our oval window in a closet (of the room my brother wanted because of the oval window), I remember when we took down another wall and found stairs leading up to the 2nd floor (from there they did continue up to the 3rd floor). What I don't remember is the state of the inside of the house and the horrible tenants my parents had to deal with until their leases were up, or the countless hours we all spent restoring the house. I have seen a picture of my mother and brother working and me holding a box of graham crackers.
Now, I believe our house is as done as it's going to be, it's got a wrap-around porch like it used to, it's got original paint colors, we have beautiful wood floors, all of them varnished, we have a gorgeous fireplace surrounded by tile and a beautiful wooden mantle, we have built-in shelves, we have a marble sink on the second floor with a claw-foot bathtub in the same bathroom.
As I was typing my comment to Paula, I thought I should go around and take pictures of my house, so everyone could enjoy it, I'll work on that this week. I'm pretty sure you'll like, I do (but I'm bias).

It's coming!

Spring that is. Yesterday, I heard birds singing, and as I walked home from work (after the sun had been shining for 2 days), I actually saw grass poking out. YAY!!!!

My dad said the weather people said we had gotten 70+ inches of snow this winter, and the snow from our first big snowstorm in Dec, when we got over a foot, is still hanging out. I am so ready to get rid of it all. BUT, it needs to melt slowly or we are going to have some major flooding this summer, and considering Iowa had a bit of flooding a few years ago, no one wants more, some cities haven't even fully recovered from that flood.

I'm pretty sure everyone's ready for more sunshine and warmer weather, which I've heard we're getting next week.



Anyways, I was thinking about my birthday the other day (because my friend Karli's is next Sunday and she was planning a get-together). I was thinking it'd be fun to do something extra special for my birthday this year. Of course, it's not like it's a big birthday, I'm turning 27, but still. I haven't really done anything big in the past few years. A couple years ago, Kevin, Karli and I went out to the ledges for a nice afternoon in the water and some food. I don't think I did that much last year, Kevin did come over and give me this nice computer. We were going to go to the Good Guys Car show that weekend (my birthday is July 2nd, and they always come to Des Moines the weekend around the 4th), but he had the whole weekend off, so I said we should go to his parents house, cause he doesn't get to see his family that much when he's working.

Anyways, anyone got any suggestions for something fun I should do? I don't know how many of you know much about attractions in Iowa, so generalizations will be fine. I do have some time to think about it.

Hawaii 1-2-10

Pretty slow day today. Slept in until 8:00, went to IHOP for breakfast of french toast. Walked around a bit, I wanted to go to this gelato place I had seen a day or so ago, but when we finally found it, there was a sign in the window saying it was closed for business. Went back to the hotel and finished packing, then went to Duke's for lunch. Ate cold nachos (not very good), checked out of hotel and went to Na'uana Pali Lookout:
Left there about 2:00PM, drove to the boat dock. Got on the boat and have been here exploring since. The staterooms are very small. With 4 of us in here, it's very cozy. I'm also disappointed in the pools, they're very small, but we also don't plan to be on the boat that much. Tomorrow, we have a whale watch scheduled for 4:30PM, but nothing other than that, so I figure it will be a very relaxing day.

And we danced all night

Big mail day for me today. I received both my prizes from the OWOH giveaways. This nice bear from Kathy and a picture book from Twinkietinydog. Also received my UHU sample of the month, a star box, that I need to decorate, write a review and send them a link to my review.

As I've been sitting here at work, I've decided I really need to clean my house (OK, I always say this, I pick up a few things and call it clean, but this is different). I am a huge packrat (I think most artists are, because we see something and think, oooh, I could use that in something someday), anyways, I think part of the reason I find it so hard to get myself going on my projects (of which I have a ton of this month, is that I have to open my tiny closet (it is tiny, I live on the 3rd floor of a Victorian house built in the late 1900's and my closet is stuck under one of the eaves), drag everything out into my hallway, and trip over everything until I have finished the project I'm working on, and I usually just shove everything back in the closet and shut the door. I am in the process of putting together my supply package for Jules, that she won on my other blog, and I think I can put quite a few things in there (it's the medium flat rate box from Priority mail). I think if I cleared out enough room to actually work in my closet (which isn't that appealing now that it's cold), I might get more inspired to start on stuff. And I sure need to extend the less of a packratness (new word) into the rest of my apartment. I also need to buy less stuff, I have a tendency to buy a lot of material things when I go anywhere (though I didn't buy that many in HI), and if I stoppped buying, not only would I have less stuff, I'd sure have more money.
Now, since all I really have to do this weekend is work tomorrow morning and go grocery shopping, I'm sure going to put in the effort. I have no excuse for not cleaning, though lately, I've been watching one of the seasons of Bones, because I got this wild idea to put hold requests on all the seasons they have at the library and watch them, and since they only check out for a week, I have to watch them quickly. I also need to NOT turn on my computer in the morning, I don't know what I do, but I waste SO much time in front of it. Kinda like now, but I'm at work, that's different. OK, not really, I should really be reading all these books I also checked out of the library. But, I can blame my wasting time on computer in the evenings on the One World One Heart Blog event, I found so many new neat blogs through that, that I added way too many to my blog roll.
I know Kevin totally hates my mess, and I know my parents would love it if I got tidier. I currently have over a week of dishes soaking in my sink now, and of course way too much stuff on my floor.
I really shouldn't keep things I know I'm never going to use, or the completed Greatest Dot-To-Dot books, I mean really, what am I going to do with them now?
I really need to get rid of some of my old college books too, I had this thing where I underlined a LOT when I was in college and I highly doubt anyone wants me books.
I also need to throw away magazines I've read. How much can I really get out of old Glamours? Reader's Digest and Real Simple actually have useful things I can use later in life.
I need to stop picking up the free books at the library and things I may alter in the future, I have so many things that fall in that category, but just pile up in my closet.
I need to learn to get rid of clothes I'm never going to fit into or never going to wear and just keep because someone gave them to me.
Also things I'm never going to use, but keep because someone gave it to me.
I need to get rid of all the old toys from when I was a kid that have a little sentimentality.

Now if I could just stick to that list. Anyone got any ideas about organization and what one should and shouldn't keep?

Hawaii 1/1/2010

I can't believe it's the new year already. I'm a little buzzed from the drink I had with supper, so I hope this still makes sense. I woke up way too many times because of people celebrating. My MP3's batter finally went out around 3AM, so I attempted to plug it in and in my quest found out that the outlet my phone was in didn't work, so I plugged them both into another outlet and got them charged up.
Mom and I caught a bus to the zoo, and the driver wouldn't let us pay, we were all ready with our money out and he wouldn't take it, so that was cool. We got to the zoo too early, so we went out on the pier at Wakiki Beach and watched swimmers in the water. When we went back to the zoo, I found this really cool leaf (which you can't see and now isn't very cool anymore), but it was an oval leaf, probably about 8 inches long with pink and green on it, it was pretty neat. We got to see birds and monkeys and zebras and lots of animals you'd normally see at the zoo, unfortunately they didn't have their lion exhibit open (I always make it a point to visit the zoo and see the lion, or the aquarium when we go on vacation). This monkey below was one of the ones we saw, actually I think it was a lemur, but I really don't know. Anyway, he was just sprawled out in the morning sun like he was tanning, it was so cute.
Mom took a picture of me with a giraffe statue and I think it's pretty cute:

Also, Kevin called me and that got me happier. Ross picked us up around 11 and we went to the Dole plantation where we ate lunch, took a train ride and a garden tour. I didn't find it that impressive, we also ate some pineapple ice cream. That was pretty good. I bought a couple of postcards including one with a train that I sent to Kevin. We then went to the North Shore and watched the waves. We then decided to go back and deal with supper. We wandered down the beach and went to one place where we were suppoes to cook our own food. We all decided against that and went to the restuarant next door. I keep seeing all these people either doing a little cuddling or holding hands and I really wish Kevin was here.

Tomorrow we get on the boat for our cruise.

Whether I stay, whether I go, depends on whatever you say

*NOTE* Pity post for me, don't read if you're already in a bad mood.

I am so sick of snow, I want to go back to Hawaii where it's warm and brightly colored and warm and not snowy.
I hate shoveling snow, it feels like I've been doing it every day for the past week.
My arms hurt, and I'm very sore.
I hate change, I hate the fact that my boyfriend has a job where he works usually 7 days a week, or like now he's on layoff and decides he needs to go home for a month. I've seen him maybe 4 days total in the last month, because there's nothing for him to do here except hang out with me and I guess that's just not fun enough.
I want flowers or candy or even a night out to a nice restaurant and a movie. Instead I get to cuddle with a giant stuffed frog in front of my TV.
I hate growing up, I loved high school: all I had to do was get up and go to school, I didn't have to worry about paying my own bills or making enough money to live.
I hate that I have over $1000 in medical bills to pay right now, which isn't a ton by any standards, but it's more than I can afford.
I hate where my mind wanders too all the time and the fact that it always puts me down when I mess up in any way.
I hate that I suck at making friends and that I don't have any close friends to chat with here in town.
I hate that I'm in a bad mood and don't really have any outlet for it.

One World, One Heart giveaway

Well, it's been a fun few weeks, but the One World, One Heart blog event is now over. There were over 1100 blogs when I visited the site last Monday night and I visited all of them, read all the posts and entered (mostly) all the giveaways, a couple were for things I wouldn't be able to use like a fishing trip in Canada, and some I could quite see the link to add a comment. I had a ton of fun and plan on going back to quite a few of the blogs and reading them again, I have added at least 10 new blogs to my following of blogs and you can see them all on the sidebar, check them out, they are very interesting.
I got an email (post on The Frog Palace) about me winning a very cute bear today, though I didn't go to these blogs to win, it's always fun to win things (and I secretly hope I win more). I also got an email from Twinkietinydog about winning a cute picture book, can't wait to see it. And, I have picked the two winners for my prizes on this blog (The Frog Palace's winners are already posted, hop over there to see who they are), so here they are: the winner of the scarf is FairlyGirly and the winner of the movies is Linda. I will be going to their blogs momentarily and adding a comment telling them they won.

I have had a lot of fun with this and I hope you all have too.

Congratulations to the winners.

Hawaii 12/31/09

I woke up at 3:00AM, 7:00AM Iowa time, found my MP3 player, stuck it in my ears and floated back to sleep until our wake-up call at 5:30AM. I ate the rest of my croissant from the night before and some water for breakfast. We went downstairs and drove to Pearl Harbor. We waited in line for awhile and got some tickets for 11:00AM, that was about 2 hours away, so we drove to the Bishops Museum and walked around there. We saw some historical Hawaii stuff, and some very cool replicas of dinosaurs. Besides the picture below, there were T-Rex, Brontasaurus (will probably butcher the spellings on these), the things with the plates on their backs, velocirapters, and quite a few others that I have no idea what they're called. They all moved when you walked past the motion detector. I also wondered through the lava exhibit.
When we finished there, it was time to go back to Pearl Harbour. We got to watch a short documentary on it, and then got on the boat to go out to the memorial. I was too busy taking it all in to get any pictures, but I know my brother got plenty. We got back on the boat and went through the museum and gift shop, I bought some postcards. We went back to the hotel and decided to walk down to a deli for lunch, I got a vegetarian sandwich and some water. Mom, Dad and I decided to walk to the aquarium and Ross decided to relax by the pool. It was quite a bit longer walk than we thought (or were led on to believe by Ross), but very enjoyable, we walked by Wakiki Beach. At the aquarium we got to see quite a few fish and seahorses, etc. We also got to watch them feed the sharks, that was pretty cool. At the gift shop, I bought a fish magnet, some postcards and some fish stickers. We stopped at the zoo to find out their hours for the next day before we headed back to the hotel.
On our walk back, we passed by a Harley-Davidson shop, so I had to buy a cute pink T-shirt with butterflies on it. I'd noticed how the prices were higher in HI, but the prices at the HD store seemed to be about the same as they would be in Iowa. We also walked by quite a few ABC stores (their convenience stores) and I bought a really cute green tube dress, some scotch tape and deoderant. We also picked up some food items for breakfast the next day.
We decided to go across the stree to IHOP for dinner as Ross was eating with his friend and we didn't really have anything planned. I was really hoping to find some authentic Hawaii food at that point. I fell asleep watching TV.

If you want to see all of my Hawiia photos, go here.

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?

Hawaii, Day 1, 12-30-09

I got up at 2AM, crawling back into bed until 2:15, packed the few things I had left to pack and made sure things were unplugged. Mom made sure we all packed boots and a heavy coat in the car, so if we had any probelms on our way back we'd be ready. We left home about 3:30 arriving at the airport fhortly after 4. We had to ride in a tiny pnae, but got to be in first class, which pretty much consisted of extra drinks.
We got to Chicago about 7:30 and waited until 11:30 before leaving again, we were supposed to leave at 10. There were problems getting the plane in. I got sit in business class with Ross and his friend. It was soo cool:
The seats could recline into a bed, we had blankets and pillows. There were little TVs where we could watch movies, TV, play games, listen to audio books and music. We also got lots of extra food: warmed nuts in a little ceramic bowl and drinks in real glasses. For lunch we got some kind of salad with some kind of really good cut of beef, so tender and spicy walnuts with rolls and a warm chocolate chip cookie for dessert. We got real cloth napkins and warm towels. Later we got grapes, pineapple, honeydew melon, swiss cheese, cheddar cheese and crackers. I watched Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, Orphan, and Case 39 and most of Up! I really hope we get business class on the way back. For some reason, my phone wouldn't turn on after we got off, and we haven't been able to figure out why. We finally got in to Hawaii about 5, Iowa time. It was about a 9 hour flight. We found our rental car and drove to the hotel. After somewhat unpacking, we wandered around looking for food. Unfortunately, we ran into too pricey, dark, and too long of a wait. Finally we stopped at a food court.
After eating, we went back to the hotel and collapsed into bed.

Double post

Here's a question for all the people in the US that sell stuff on Etsy: do I have to worry about the income I make from etsy on my taxes? My dad usually helps me with all my tax questions and has said in the past that I don't have to worry about my profit from Etsy, but I was on Etsy today reading this article and it says I have to file a form for my profits on etsy. I know I've made barely over $100 with both of my stores combined, and I sure don't do it full time, so it's not like I'm really investing a lot in it (I know, I should be doing more).

Any comments would (hopefully) be helpful.

UGH

Alright, I'm sorry it's been like a week since I posted, and I honestly have to reason to not post.

Except for yesterday, I was plagued with severe abdominal pains and pretty much spent the whole day at the doctor's today figuring out those are from a 3mm kidney stone. YEAH! So, at the moment, I'm drugged up on Ibprofen, cold and tired.

Let's hope the upcoming days are much better than today, and I hope all my readers are well.

One Heart One World

***EDIT*** Posts for this post have now been closed. I have 156 comments on it, but I only picked from 149 because some people didn't have blogs and some people didn't have active blogs. Without futher ado, the winner for the scarf is #26 which is Fairly Girly and the winner of the movies is #11 which is Linda . Congratulations you two, I will be adding a comment to both of your blogs and please get back to me by the 18th or I will pick another winner for your prize.
Welcome One and All to another snowy, cold and gloomy day in Iowa.
I know that's not somewhere you'd really want to go on a Magic Carpet Ride, so I'm sorry about the weather. But inside it's warm, somewhat bright and I have Chai. Plus, you can always cuddle with my guinea pig and that always cheers me up.
As you can probably tell, I'm participating in the One Heart, One World International Blog Event, and I hope you all are having a wonderful trip.


If you look around my blog, you will notice my interests are very vast. I graduated with a degree in Sociology and Criminal Justice from college about 3 years ago and have yet to really do anything with my degree. At this point in time I have 3 part-time jobs which I love (I just finished a temp job last week, which I also loved). Even though I have those 3 jobs, I still have quite a bit of free time which I spend on my artwork, exploring Etsy and getting reacquainted with leisurely reading.
One of my jobs is working at our local library and it've very hard to work there and not check out books.
I'm still pretty interested in Criminal Justice, I just don't know what I want to do with my degree (or my life), if you look at my blog list, it's mostly a mix of art blogs and cop blogs, and I'm always interested in adding more. I love learning about other people's lives.

OK, now that you've hung on this long, I'll tell you about the give away. If you're participating in the One Heart, One World Blog event, you know already, but for my regulars or anyone just stumbling in here, I'll explain:
In 2007, Lisa Swifka started this event to "bring bloggers together from around the world who may never ordinarily meet. It closes the gap of the blog community and enables us to interact, discover new and wonderful people, and in the process possibly win a prize or many prizes along the way." (That was copied from Lisa's website, which you can get to by clicking on the picture at the top, the picture in the sidebar, any one of the OHOW words, or here.

I found out about this from a fellow blogger and artist from my collage group on Yahoo! Thank you Ms Paper Princess. Yesterday, I spent a good chunk of the afternoon and evening flying from one blog to the next.

MY GIVEAWAY
Here in Iowa at this time of year, you need lots of warm clothing, so to help some people out and because it's composed of very bright colors (we all need those right now), I'm giving away this beautiful scarf, that I acquired in October. I already have a scarf and I've been meaning to do something with it, this the perfect something.

THE RULES:

Please leave me a comment in the comment section about anything.
Please make sure you leave me a way to contact you in your comment, whether it's an email address or blog site.
You must comment on THIS POST ONLY to be entered.
ONLY one comment per person
ONLY bloggers can win, since this is a blog event. You must have an active blog.
This runs from now (6:46 AM Jan 26th) through midnight February 15th (that's 12:00 AM).

I will use a random number generator to find a winner.
Once I pick a winner, I will mention it on this blog and contact you privately.
The winner must get back to me by noon (12:00 PM) February 18th, if I have not heard from them by then, I will pick a new winner.

***EDIT*** Now that I have over 100 comments, I'm giving something else away. It will be two gently used movies: Universal Soldier: The Return and The Grudge. For everyone who wants to enter my giveaway, but doesn't want a scarf, or for the people that like action movies or horro movies, or Jean Claude Van Damme or Sarah Michelle Gellar, or for people that want to pass it on to their SO's that would like it, or whatever.
I believe I'm close to 200 comments, I will be adding another giveaway if I am, every 100 comments I get, I will add another giveaway, granted I have no idea what I will be adding, but I'll let you know.

Also, check out my art blog for another give away.

I hope you all are enjoying your ride, I hope our cold weather hasn't frozen you too much, maybe you're next stop will be somewhere warm.

Thanks for stopping by,

WW

Hey hey here we go

I meant to do this earlier, but I really haven't had time, so here's the 2009 end of the year meme:

1. Will you be looking for a new job? Not new, but maybe another one.
2. Will you be looking for a new relationship? Of course not.
3. New house? Would love to get out of this one, but don't know.
4. What will you do differently in 2010? Work more, since I have more jobs, other than that I don't know, I'm trying to eat healthier, but that's been an ongoing thing.
5. New Year's resolution? I don't make resolutions.
6. What will you NOT being doing in 2010? Won't be going to Okoboji most likely, other than that, don't know.
7. Any trips planned? Not at the moment.
8. Wedding plans? Not for me, but my cousin's getting married in Feb.
9. Major think on your calendar? Don't have anything really big.
10. What can't you wait for? Warmer weather, and more color, I'm so sick of white and gray.
11. What would you like to see happen differently? I've got some things in mind, but not going to share.
12. What about yourself will you be changing? Still working on eating better, hoping to get back on my walking plan.
13. What happened in 2009 that you didn't think would ever happen? Went to HI, ok technically that was more in 2010, than 2009, got a job I've been wanting for awhile.
14. Will you be nicer to people you care about? Maybe.
15. Will you dress differently this year than you did in 2009? Feeling more girly, so maybe.
16. WIll you better your relationship with your family? Maybe.
17. Will you do charity work? Probably not.
18. Will you go to bars? Maybe.
19. Will you be nice to people you don't know? Maybe.
20. Do you expect 2010 to be a good year for you? I hope so.

And I have a question for you all: What do you get a guy for Valentine's Day, other than the obvious?

Pics & a weird commercial

I've uploaded my pics from Hawaii to Picasa, go here to see them. It keeps popping up with a message about stack overflow or something like that, I thought it meant I had too many pics, but I deleted some, and it keeps doing that. So, if you get that message, just click ok until it goes away, if anyone knows the secret to get it to stop doing that, I would love to know how.

Also, I was watching TV last night and saw this commercial. A guy wakes up to a not so pretty overweight snoring girl, he looks over at the nightstand and sees a bottle of alcohol with a glass next to it. The voiceover says something about how people can forget a one-night stand as the guy slips out of bed, grabbing his clothes and wandering downstairs. Then he sees a wedding picture of him and the chick, and the voiceover says something like unless its every night of your life. Then it flashes to a black screen with a site name with an O, the o being a gold ring falling over and underneath it says life is short. Have an affair. I'm curious what's on the site, but I don't want anything like that on my history. But, who advertises for someone to be unfaithful in their marriage on TV? I thought that was the weirdest thing.

randomness

I've noticed lately, I'm becoming more girly. I believe it's because of a mix of Kevin telling me I look hot in certain things and me having more confidence in myself.
I have been buying more cute/sexy lingerie, and saying I'm buying it for Kevin, but I feel so hot and in a great mood when I wear it. I was JCPenney's yesterday and picked up a cute baby doll/thong sleepwear set. Kevin at the moment is at his parents home, but I told myself it was an extension of his birthday gift. I tried it on last night, and it put me in a really good mood, I looked pretty damn good in it too.
Also, while I was in HI, I kept saying how certain dresses and skirts I saw in store windows were really cute. I even bought myself a couple, and I really like how I look in them. I feel really girly.
And today, I think this is a huge step, I bought myself this wallet. OK, this isn't just one I can stick in my back pocket, this is one that I have to carry in a purse.
My wallet that I carry in my pants pocket, is way too big, now that I re-stuffed it with all my essentials after getting back from vacation. It's way too packed full, and kinda makes my butt go numb when I sit on it. Not a nice combination. I have been eyeing this wallet on Etsy for awhile now, and considered it when I bought the one I have now. I told myself when I had the money I'd get it. Well, when I had the money I kept telling myself I didn't want to be dependant on a purse. I still don't, but with all the extra stuff I carry around (sunglasses on sunny days, my calendar, my checkbook, and at times my camera), it's way too much to shove in my pants and coat pockets.
I also got a pretty cute bag from Glamour when I renewed my magazine subscription with them, only problem: it's got one huge pocket and no closure. I'm looking into sewing (obviously not professionally) a zipper into it, I figure, as long as I put a black zipper in with black thread, it shouldn't look too bad. I had bags with no closure.

I've watched a few good movies lately. My parents got me G-Force for Christmas, the real reason I wanted it, was because it had guinea pigs in it. I finally watched it the other day (sometime last week), and I really liked it. Sure some of the scenes where the government is chasing in their SUVs guinea pigs in guinea pig balls aren't really realistic, but how realistic do you think you're going to get with talking guinea pigs as government agents?
I also watched X-Men Origins: Wolverine, that's also pretty good. The only thing I really didn't like, is when Logan is looking at his "claws" in the mirror at the old couple's house, they look really fake. You can very well tell in that scene that they're CGI'ed in. I loved the story line and the new mutants they introduced. It was also nice that Logan's loss of memory was explained, though it was hard accepting him having a normal life and a woman he loved.
I watched Monsters Vs Aliens as well, that one wasn't as good. It was still good, but with all the previews, you knew what was going to happen for about half the movie.

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

UGH!

It hasn't been a fun week, well, except Sunday, Sunday was fun.
Sunday was my mother's family Christmas, and that was fun, with the food, the family, and the activities.

Monday I check my voicemail after work and find out my dad's in the hospital with kidney stones, and of course it's crappy weather outside.
Tuesday it's still really cold out and decides to snow while I'm at work, not a lot of snow, but with it being so cold I wasn't going out to shovel.
Wednesday, my dad has surgery to remove kidney stones.
Thursday I got to scrape the 1+ inches of packed snow off the driveway for 2 hours, that wasn't fun.
Friday, I don't really remember Friday except that the store had a really good day.
Saturday I was woken up early with abdominal pains, so painful I couldn't go to work and had to try and find a sub, but it being the Sat before Christmas, everyone who wasn't already working was busy. So, today I get to see what that does to me. I had pretty severe abdominal pains until about 3:30 pm, they'd come for a few minutes and be so painful, I'd double over and then they'd go away. Since kidney stones were on all our minds I was drinking lots of water and peeing a lot. Around 3:30, dad and I went grocery shopping because I needed food, and the pain was not going to get in the way of that. Then mom and I went to the mall to find a present for dad. I didn't really have any pain until maybe after 6pm, but it was very tiny, and I try not to make my parents worry, so I didn't mention it.
Had a few small pains for the rest of the night and then went to bed. Woke up at 2AM with a severe pain, went the bathroom and did some not so nice stuff, went back to bed at 2:30 and haven't been in pain since, though I did do some more not so nice stuff in the bathroom this morning.
I'm thinking it was food poisoning, because I had a frozen dinner of salmon on Fri before heading to work, and the salmon didn't cook all the way through, but I was impatient and ate it anyway. I was thinking it was kidney problems before this morning. Personally, I have no idea, but I have decided I will be going to work today. I missed out on 4.5 hrs pay yesterday and had no one to fill in for me, that's not happening today.

Hopefully, this next week will be tons better. It's gonna be Christmas, it has to be better.

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.

Hello Winter

It is officially winter, not technically, but I think it is. We had our first snow (OK, not first, but first that stayed on the ground), and temperatures below freezing, and (I heard) plenty of accidents from the snow.
I also just finished shoveling (more like moving) the snow off the driveway.
I was thinking as I finished shoveling, I like this weather. OK, not the snow turning to slush and then ice on the streets, but the temperatures in between 21 and 34 degrees F, when it's calm outside, its beautiful. Don't let anyone know, but I love how I get all hot and sweaty shoveling, and then I'm not cold when I get done.

Please take a moment today and give some prayers to the families of the 4 officers killed in Washington over the weekend. It's a horrible tragedy and I hope they catch the asshole who did and I hope he resists arrest cause he really needs a beating.
My mother's reaction to this story was that they needed to do away with all guns. But, if we're going to get rid of all guns what about the police officers, what do they use to protect themselves. I realize (at least I'm guessing here), she didn't mean their guns, but the criminals will always find a way to do what they want. And that means taking the guns away from the law-abiding citizens that use them to protect themselves. My parents and I very much differ on our opinions of guns, I hope someday to have a safe full of guns in my house with one either under my pillow or in my bedside table. As long as you use your gun for legal activities, there's nothing wrong with owning one, of course you also need to know how to use it, I wouldn't recommend anyone just going out and getting a gun for protection if you don't take the time to learn about and how to use it, that's an accident waiting to happen. I think (purely speculating here), that my parents don't like guns is because they know next to nothing about them, my mom did shoot a gun during the citizen's police academy, but as far as I know that's the only time she's shot one, I don't think my dad's shot one at all. But, time and again my dad has said he does not want guns in the house. I bet he'd be thinking something different if someone broke into the house and assaulted one of us. I don't want that to happen, but in today's world, it can easily happen. My parents still believe that my town is safe enough to leave your doors unlocked and you don't have to worry about anyone breaking in or anything bad happening. Getting my degree in criminal justice taught me a lot about crime and knowing the officers and having my boyfriend who used to work with them, I have learned a lot about the crime in my town, and it's not tiny town crime. We still have armed robberies and domestic assaults, unfortunately, people like my parents feel that if they ignore it, it doesn't actually happen. Minds like those I believe make things worse in my community.

Didn't mean to ramble, the reason for my post was to get you to think about those officers. It's sad they can't sit down and do work without having to worry about an idiot coming up and shooting them. Keep them and their families in your prayers and thoughts.

I'm so pissed at myself. I was in a hurry rushing to work today and I dropped my cell phone in the toilet. I quickly fished it out and dried everything out, but I turned it back on a little while ago and I had troubles hearing in the ear piece and the connection between the SD card and the phone seems to be a little off.
The Verizon people said, just let it dry out for a couple of days and it should be fine. Thankfully, it's the weekend and the only person that would be calling me is Kevin, I really want to talk to him, but I guess I'll have to dry my phone first. I shouldn't have anyone else calling me, but anyone else that would, that would be important (close friends and family) have my home number, or they'll just leave a voicemail and I'll get back to them.
I know people have dropped their phones in water before, but I'm so totally pissed at myself, and of course we didn't get insurance on them, we just got the phone in Aug, so I feel extremely bad cause it's a pretty new phone and if it does dry out and work fine, I don't want it to die before it should.
So pissed at myself.

Is it Christmas yet?

WOW! I am so ahead on Christmas presents this year. I was wrapping some the other day. I have had mom's presents since January (and I didn't lose them, go me), I've had one of Kevin's since the middle of October, and the other day I went to Target and Walmart and saw some stuff for Kevin, Ross, and chocolate for the family. I decided I was already there and, unlike some of the people that come into the store where I work, I bought it then.
I don't get why people go into little locally owned stores to get "ideas" for Christmas. We're not the big stores, there's no guarantee we'll have those items when they come back to buy them. We hope we will, but we're always selling out of things and then we order new ones, but who knows when they'll come in. What's so wrong with buying them now, you can do what I did and wrap them as well and then you're way ahead of the crowd. I always wanna say something snooty when they don't buy at that moment. I have had a few customers come back with their lists and then the thing they're looking for isn't there and they get all upset. I completely understand little kids with their lists, but when it's grandma making the list (and of course, I know nothing about the customers), I don't see why you can't buy now. But, oh well, we get a lot of business around Christmas, because everyone buys toys for kids for Christmas.

I realized the other day, I am so ready to get away. For some reason, patrons are annoying the heck out of me. Like yesterday, I was working a bball game, and I watched a lady get out on one of our busiest streets. It was a totally reckless and stupid thing to do, the car stopped, in the middle of the street (next to the sidewalk, but in the middle) and the lady proceeded to get out. Thankfully, the person behind them stopped quite a ways back, but how lazy do you have to be to put so many people in danger just to drop someone off at a game. How hard is it to drive around the corner and do it at a safer place? I was completely appalled by it, and was tempted to say something to the lady once she got up the stairs, but we were busy by then and I didn't. If I had, I could just see her getting all upset with me and need to chat with my supervisor.

I just want to use your love tonight

You really can't explain some things to some people. I had a lady in the store tonight, and I said how it would be a good night because a local radio station was playing 80's Friday Night. And she gave me the weirdest look. I tried explaining it to her, but knew it was no use.
I grew up with music. If I have a bad day, I have certain songs to listen to. When Karli went through her cancer, I had certain songs that would console me if I was bummed. If I really want to listen something that always sounds good, I listen to Bruce Springsteen, he can brighten any day. I think my favorite of his is Untitled or Stolen Car or Brothers Under the Bridge. There's so many that are soo good. Some songs just fit any mood. But, some people just don't get that. Every time I hear Time of Your Life by Green Day, I think of my high school senior picnic. Run by George Strait immediately makes me think of 9/11. I'm brought back to my childhood by Don't Stop Believin' by Journey or Right Now by Van Halen or Welcome to the Jungle by Guns N Roses. Welcome to Jungle also reminds me of when they came here for their concert and I didn't go home until 2:45 in the morning.
I've kinda run into that with Kevin, he never understands why I'm always listening to music. He listens to it, to have a background noise, but rarely does he say anything about a certain song.

What songs remind you of events in your life or soothe you?

Haooy 234th Marines!

Is it bedtime yet?

UGH!! I have been so tired lately. Unfortunately, I don't know why, so I can't fix myself. It's been for the past two weeks. I don't think it's because I'm working too hard, though my body is getting used to about 4 hours of actual work in the morning. At the library, I shelve books, cart books (put them in order on a cart), push around full carts of books and other things. I have also been working at the games store, but I don't do much there. Also, basketball season started and I worked on the 1st, the 7th and the 8th and walked home those days as well, but I wouldn't think it'd be that either.
Last Sunday, I fell asleep sometime in between 8 and 9 on the couch, woke up sometime after 10 and went to bed. When I get home from work, I sit on the couch eat a microwave dinner for supper and watch Law & Order, usually falling asleep during law & order. I then get up and go to bed sometime after or around 10. I get up at 6:30, but I'm usually wake up pretty easily.
Yesterday I went to bed at 9 and still slept through the night. I've been pretty tired since about noon today, I went to the doctor and even though it was nice out I rode the bus home (I usually walk when it's nice out). No, it wasn't a dr's appt for this, I'd have to go to my other dr for that and I don't want to spend the money on that.
I'm wondering if I'm getting sick. I don't usually get sick. I do have a cough that comes back every winter, and I get my allergies about this time of year, but other than that I don't get sick.
I really wish I knew why I was tired all the time, cause I really hate it.

Fun computer issues

I must apologize for my lack of posts lately, as I said before I started a new job and I'm loving it. Last week, I turned off my computer Sat night and when I went to turn it on Sun morning, it wouldn't turn on, so I called Dell and we did some things. Finally they told me that they would send a tech guy out to replace some parts. Monday I got a recorded message following up on my call, saying the tech guy would get the part on Tues, call me on Wed to set up an appointment. Wed morning, the tech guy calls me and sets up an appt between 1 and 2 pm. Thurs he shows up at 2:05, which was annoying, granted I didn't have anything planned, but what if I did. He immediately takes out the power supply, puts a new one in and it works, I could have kissed him.
I found it kinda annoying how he couldn't fit his big hands into some of the spaces in the computer and I had to unplug and plug a couple things in. I also found it quite annoying when I told him the computer was only 3 months old and nothing should be wrong with it, that he replied that with computers you never really know. I'm pretty sure that's the line Dell told him to tell people. I have never had any other computer have troubles after 3 months. One of my laptops that was about a year old had to have a hard drive replaced.
After having this problem, I have decided to get an 8 or 16 GB jump drive to back up my computer. I didn't have anything backed up and thankfully everything's still here, because like I said, it's only 3 months old (that's what pissed me off the most), and I didn't think I needed to yet. I was very surprised to find a 16 GB jump drive is only about $40 on Amazon, while an external hard drive is much more expensive.

I had to hook up my old compaq which is pretty slow, plus I had reset it back to its original settings and had to do updates and a lot of stuff to get it back to the way I wanted it to be. I'm glad I kept it, and will plan to keep it as a back-up if anything happens to this one again. I was thinking if I couldn't survive 4 days without a computer, how was I going to survive 2 weeks when we're in HI, but then I decided that this time it wasn't voluntary. I always survive fine on vacation without a computer, and will probably be too busy to wory about computer stuff. I think it'll take me at least a week to get through everything I missed while I'll be gone, but I can handle it.

Beyond that, I haven't had any problems, just working.

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?

Getting to know me meme

1. What time did you get up this morning? 7:30, it's the first time I've been able to sleep in, in over a week.

2. How do you like your steak? medium well, I hate bloody steak

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Paul Blart: Mall Cop

4. What is your favorite TV show? one that I actually watch: Amazing Race, of all time: Supernatural. I get home about 8:30 at night and have a tendency to fall asleep on my couch watching Law & Order

5. If you could live anywhere in the world where would it be? somewhere that I'm close to civilization, but far away from people (with Kevin of course)

7. What is your favorite cuisine? American hamburgers

8. What foods do you dislike? certain fish, asparagus, other stuff that's not coming to mind now

9. Favorite Place to Eat? family get-togethers

11.What kind of vehicle do you drive? I don't

12. What are your favorite clothes? jeans and a comfy shirt

13. Where would you visit if you had the chance? Ireland

14. Cup 1/2 empty or 1/2 full? depends on the day

15. Where would you want to retire? Okoboji, IA

16. Favorite time of day? early afternoons, I'm in-between jobs and can do other stuff I need to do

17. Where were you born? here

18. What is your favorite sport to watch? I don't watch sports

19. Bird watcher? sure, from a distance

20. Are you a morning person or a night person? morning lately, because I have to get up earlier for work and I fall asleep too early to be a night person.

21. Do you have any pets? Yes a guinea pig

21. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share? I just got a new job that I love and I'm going to Hawaii in Dec

22. What did you want to be when you were little? A cop

23. What is your best childhood memory? Playing in the mud hole at my aunt's or playing king of the mountain in the snow in the ditches in the country, pretty much any memory of my mother's side of the family get togethers

24. Are you a cat or dog person? dog

25. Are you married? nope, wishing

26. Always wear your seat belt? Yes.

27. Been in a car accident? Yes, very minor ones

28. Any pet peeves? of course

29. Favorite Pizza Toppings? cheese, mushrooms

30. Favorite Flower? bird of paridise, iris, rose

31. Favorite ice cream? mint chocolate chip

32. Favorite fast food restaurant? McDonald's

33. How many times did you fail your driver's test? Never failed.

34. From whom did you get your last email? my yahoo! group

35. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? Hobby Lobby or Micheal's

36. Do anything spontaneous lately? I bought myself a couple card games. Unfortunately, I have no one to play them with

37. Happy with your job? Yes, love my job

38. Broccoli? yummy

39. What was your favorite vacation? the last time I went to Okoboji, Kevin went with me. It was only for 3 days, but it was so much fun, I wish we had time to go back.

40. Last person you went out to dinner with? my parents

41. What are you listening to right now? the hum of the computer, the ticking of the keyboard and my guinea pig gnawing on something

42. What is your favorite color? blue green

43. How many tattoos do you have? 3

44. Coffee Drinker? no

Happy Dance!!!!

So, I got another part time job today. I am very excited about it. It's at my local library, where I formally volunteered. I have worked at a library in the past, so I know what it entails. Like I said, it's part time, but I love all my part time jobs. I wish I could just have a whole bunch of part times, but then I'd have to continue to pay my own health insurance and there's no set retirement plan. I did a little happy dance when I got home today.
But, I am kinda reluctant to tell Kevin and my parents because they're so pushing me to find a full-time job and adding another part-time to my schedule means I'll most likely have to drop one if I find a full-time and/or schedule around. I'm pretty sure I won't be able to schedule around. They're all about me finding a career, which I totally get, but at this time with the economy and the fact I have no idea what I want to do with my life, it's a little tough. Now, I know that people are saying that the economy's getting better, but with what I've found (or not found as the case may be) lately with the economy, I think it's better to say yes to something now, even if it is another part-time than wait until I find a full time.
Now, I asked my dad to chat with him when I got off work tonight because I have to fill out some tax forms and something about if something happens to me, who do I want my stuff to go to. I was kinda thinking about that tonight. I really don't have anything to my name, I don't have a spouse, I do have a boyfriend that I'm totally in love with, but it's not like we're engaged or anything, and if for some reason we don't get engaged or married.... I don't have a house or any property to my name, so I can't say to leave it to my estate. The only thing I really have to my name is my art and my guinea pig. I'm guessing by the time something happens to me, my pig will be dead (hopefully, meaning nothing will happen to me anytime soon), and what can I leave to my art? So, that leaves my parents, which I don't really have a problem with, I just, I don't know.
Anywho, I'm heading home from one job. I can always put off talking to dad until tomorrow night as I don't start at this job until Thurs morning. We'll see.