My Life

On The Move Again...

2006-12-31T18:11:00.000-08:00

I've moved my blog again to Passions of My Heart.

2003-09-11T04:26:00.000-07:00

I've moved!!!!!!!!!! Here's my new URL: http://www.ailurophile.com/karen/ Please update your Blogrolls and bookmarks! A HUGE thanks to Christine for all her hard work in moving my site and hosting me!!!

2003-09-10T16:20:00.000-07:00

Things went well at my doc appt. Details on my Health Log. I'm off to study for my Org Beh mid term test! Hope everyone has a great night!

2003-09-10T08:53:00.000-07:00

I finished formatting, printing, and putting the workshop materials together by 9:15! YAY! I just handed them off to Debi so she can take them to Kinko's. We both are sighing with relief that its done and before 11:00. I'm taking a short break before starting the couple of other things I need to do before I go today. I busted my ass all morning, so I deserve it, right?! I've had one hell of a time with my hip today, its been bad. I'm OK as long as I either sit still or stand still. It hurts like hell to stand up after I've been sitting a while. After I start walking, the pain lessens. The doc will be able to see my flares today, so he can determine how to deal with me. tee hee Isn't he lucky - to have to deal with me?! I best get back to work... hope everyone has a great HUMPDAY!!

2003-09-09T18:05:00.000-07:00

Work was nuts today. I was given some workshop materials (mostly slides) to reformat for a workshop next week. We have to take them to Kinko's by tomorrow noon in order for them to be done. These slides have got to be some of the worst I've seen as far as formatting goes, they're a complete mess. There are 13 files, most with 60-80 slides so its taking me forever! I am on the 9th file and then I have to print all the exercises, appendices, etc., before I leave at 11:00am. So, I'm going in at 4am to make sure they are done in time. I'm actually hoping I'll have them all done by 9 or 10am because I have some other stuff that Timster will need to have done before I go too. I have my accounting class at 11:30 as usual, then I have my Remacade treatment (for my RA) at 1pm. So... if you don't see a post tomorrow morning, you'll know why! I most likely won't have time - maybe not even time to pee! *snicker* I'll be busting my ass on those slides. I really am hurting this evening - my shoulder and wrist were this morning, but as the day went on, my hip and both hands decided to join in the fun. So, I just took a pain pill and I'm headed to bed with some ice packs. Hopefully tomorrow I'll wake up and feel better (if I can get comfy and sleep tonight!). I don't have time for this! UGH!! I WILL be OK and it WILL get BETTER. Think positive, right?! OH! I just heard from Jeff! Shocker... we just chatted for a minute though cuz I told him I was beat and needed to go to bed. As we were saying good night, I told him to have a good night, and he said "you too babe." OMG, he called me "babe"... tug at my heart strings!!! *sniffle* I always loved it when he called me that! Damnit!

2003-09-09T05:01:00.000-07:00

Warning!!! Christine will be hosting my blog . She's in the process of moving the entries, archives, etc., so this site may look a bit wonky... so don't be alarmed. I'll post the new site URL as soon as its finished!! YAY!! I will have comments again too - through MT so I won't have to deal with the flakiness of YACCS and better yet, blogger!!! Thanks again Christine! You're the best!

2003-09-09T04:16:00.000-07:00

can I go home?? LOL! I'm gonna whine... I really don't feel like being here, but I am. Damn Rheumatoid Arthritis just won't leave me alone. I'll be fine, just waiting for my morning meds to settle before I take a pain pill. I can't go home, I can't miss my classes today. We're doing an exercise in Accounting (and if I don't see how we do it, then I will be lost with the homework assignment) and then in my Org Beh class we'll cover 2 chapters and then have a review on the first 10 chapters for the mid term on Thursday. So, I've got to suck it up. The night was so cool, it felt wonderful! 55 degrees when I came in this morning. Fall is on the way! The high was 80 yesterday too, which felt so great not to be so hot! We're supposed to have isolated thunderstorms today (and only a high of 64?! woohoo) and rain tomorrow. We need it! Well... enough talk about the weather and my pain. LOL! Here's something that cheered me up - thanks Colin!!

2003-09-08T15:44:00.000-07:00

Here are some pics I took yesterday of my niece Elyssa's 2nd birthday.

What a day for shitty drivers! On the way to my accounting class, some jerk ran a stop sign and pulled right out in front of me, I had to slam on my breaks to avoid hitting him, then he goes 10 miles an hour BELOW the speed limit. Shithead. Then 2 blocks later, a "safety truck" pulls right out in front of me. Then on my way home, on a road going 50, some shithead pulls out in front of me (no car behind me for at least 20 car lengths), I slam on my breaks again and had to swurve to miss her, I honk my horn and she flips ME off! I took down her license plate number... its against the law in Utah to flip anyone off, shake your fist or anything else that is considered a threat. I'm turning her in. Bitch. I don't know if anything will ever come of it, but she pissed me off!

2003-09-08T03:58:00.000-07:00

Well... damnit... Monday is here again. Why does it keep coming? It reminds me of sand in my underwear. Just when you think its gone, it comes back. So, being that it is Monday morning... we all need some cheering up. Something to get us through the day... For you men, you might want to go check out Colin's blog, I'm sure he has something at his to cheer you up. He's always got some great pics and funnies there.

2003-09-07T16:03:00.000-07:00

I'm terrible... that no-good-for-nothing BIL of mine is here. He was in the living room upstairs putting together a toy for his daughter (its her 2nd birthday today) and I was coming downstairs, and I said "asshole" just loud enough for him to hear but soft enough for him to wonder if he were hearing things or not. *snicker* I just couldn't help myself. OHHHHHHHH I just can't stand the man (cough, cough, cough) Or should I just say MALE because he certainly ain't a man. But do I really want to lump him together with all the males? No... that's not fair to the males. Hmmm... what would be a good category for him... something that is lowest of the low... kinda like a cancer or nasty growth on your ass. I'm surprised he's here at all... he must have run out of money and it happened to be on Elyssa's birthday. He was here Friday when I got home, he was in the garage when I was backing my car in, and I almost didn't see him. I wish I hadn't seen him - not necessarily to run him over (I wouldn't want the lawsuit) but just because I hate seeing him period. OK, done bitching. I feel better. I had an uneventful day... just studied. I'm caught up now though and feeling a little less stressed. I talked to that Robert guy from Idaho a little bit Thursday night and Friday morning. Poor guy - he's really having a rough time. He really misses his ex wife and is very lonely. He's said a few times that he wished we lived closer, because he thought we'd hit it off since we're quite a bit alike. Hmmm... is 2 hrs really that far? I didn't think so... but if he does, then I'm not going to tell him its not. Its obvious he doesn't want to put the effort in as far as meeting so I'm not. He keeps saying how damn busy he is, everyone is busy. Its a matter of prioritizing things. I'm not a priority and that's really OK with me, I'm not *that* attracted to him. Finally heard from Jeff - for a minute. He popped online and said "hi" and "I'm going to go put my jeep top back on, I'll be back in a few minutes." I replied that I "wasn't going to be online long so if he wanted to talk to me then he should hurry." Then he replied "I'll hurry, and I hope I catch you tonight, if not maybe tomorrow." whatever... that was 20 mins ago and he's not back yet... I'm going to finish this post and visit a couple of blogs then I'm outta here. MEN.

2003-09-07T06:40:00.000-07:00

I'm so tired!! I think I could have stayed in bed all day... wish I could have but I've got a lot of studying left to do so I dragged my ass out of bed, got in the shower and got dressed. Now I can't go back to bed. Well, I could... but I won't. I actually am not in much pain today! Shocker! Not sure how that happened... but am going to enjoy it. Days like this are few and far between and I do sooooo appreciate the break! Our power went out about midnight last night and didn't come back on until 5am this morning. I was woken up around 2:30 by loud clashes of thunder, and rain. A nice cool breeze came through my window. It felt so great, I snuggled down in the covers, one of my favorite things to do - just wish I had a sexy man there with me . I just love thunderstorms and the smell of the rain... mmmm... nothing like it!!!

2003-09-06T17:28:00.000-07:00

Mr Ed is now on TV Land... how excited am I? More excited than that. I love that show! Its on for an hour each night at 6pm so I'm taping them. It take so little to please me... really it does. *snicker* I spent most of the day in my recliner reading my Organizational Behavior book. I'm now done through chapter 10. We'll cover chapters 9 and 10 Tuesday then have an in depth review of chapters 1 - 10 for the mid term Thursday night. Yikes. I'm nervous about that! I've got to go through the book and make study notes on what he told us would be on the test, I'm half way through chapter 2 doing that. I had to quit though, my brain was turning into mush. I'll finish tomorrow - as well as do my accounting homework and some exercises from the book on the balance sheet that I shouldn't have messed up on (yes, still beating myself up over it!). tee hee Anyhoo... My Mom has started her canning. She's made peach jam and bottled peaches and bottled a few tomatoes. She's been so busy today, and I feel bad that I can't help her. Mostly because I had to study, but also because of my health. I told her I'd help her for an hour or so, but she wouldn't hear of it and booted me out of the kitchen. She did let me make dinner tonight though. I was going to order pizza, but then we remembered that I had bought some pizza crusts at Sam's Club last week, so I made pizza. It was pretty good - the crust came with the sauce (not too spicy) and we had pepperoni in the freezer. Put toppings on, put in oven for 10 minutes and voila... pizza! I've found that my stomach can handle pizza once in a while. I made a couple of pieces without pepperoni though, I didn't want to try eating the spicy pepperoni just yet. I learned my lesson after the nachos last week. Tummy is not ready for spicy foods yet. Like you wanted to know that... I'm rambling aren't I?! See... brain is mush. I'm off to do some visiting now since I didn't get to visit many this morning because of Blogger being down.

2003-09-06T09:09:00.000-07:00

OK, so is up with Blogger today?! GRRR! Took me forever to log in, and blogspot pages aren't loading all the time. Had a great time yesterday with the girls. We didn't get out of control like we have in the past, we just vistited and had some laughs. We only stayed about 1.5 hrs so I got home early. I had an early evening and just relaxed and puttered. I started watching Kangaroo Jack but fell asleep... was very tired! I'll have to finish it sometime this weekend. I also have Old School I want to watch. I'm off now to visit some blogs and then get back to

2003-09-05T13:51:00.000-07:00

Musing for the day. Why men named Richard like to be called Dick. Why not Rick or Rich? Dick? It always struck me as funny and I have a really hard time calling a man Dick. Hi Dick, how are you today? Have you seen Dick? I saw Dick today. I haven't seen Dick in years! Dick is over there. He looks just like Dick, don't you think? Is Dick there? Do you hear what happened to Dick? Dick is a big guy! Dick didn't come. Dick is coming. Dick really screwed me over. (my personal favorite) I could go on and on... I just snicker everytime I hear the name. And well of course the word too.

2003-09-05T12:08:00.000-07:00

Just got back from my accounting class. We got our tests back, and I did fine! Whew! I missed two multiple choice questions, and the balance sheet that I sweated over he only docked me 5 pts on (so I got 15/20 on that section). Ended up with 87/100 which he graded as an A! YES! So far I've gotten 100% on my homework assignments so I'm maintaining the A. Cool. I do want to stay on top of things though, and do some extra worksheets and examples to really hammer this stuff in my head. The balance sheet stuff I should not have messed up on. There are so many examples in the book that we don't go over in class and I do learn better doing "hands on" type things instead of just reading. One other source of stress this week has been me getting turned down for the cash advance to pay for my tuition from the company. Corporate policy says we can have cash advances, but each sector, group, and division can make their own policies. Well, the group I'm in has a policy of no cash advances. Period. I was absolutely livid when I found out. My boss and division manager went to the group manager and he wouldn't make an acception. Makes me feel like my company doesn't give a shit about the "pee ons" who are hardship cases. I am very appreciative that they are paying for my tuition - eventually - its just hard to come up with $1100 up front. We have to submit our grades (has to be above a C or they won't pay for it) with our expense report then will be reimbursed. This was not stated or at least clearly in the tuition assitance policy, because we all found out after the fact that this is how it worked. We still can't find where it says it exactly. My boss put the tuition on his credit card to begin with, and he said he can wait until the end of Oct (when I get my grades and reimbursed when I submit the expense report) for me to pay him back. Timster is just the best. Anyway, we have a challenge for next term which is coming up in just over a month that I'll need an additional $1100 (this includes tuition and books). Tim and I talked, and decided the best thing to do would be to take out a loan against my profit sharing. They'll take payments out of my check, and its at a 5% interest rate, which is lower than any credit card. Anyway, I'll get he money, put it in an account and withdraw it when I need it, then when I get reimbursed put it back in. I really hate taking out a loan, but we don't see any other way around it, and now that I've started back to school, I do not want to stop. I need to do this, and can't let anything stand in my way. Hopefully next year the company can continue to pay for it, especially since they'll benefit from it as much as I will. I'm going to make an announcement... I'll be moving my site soon. The wonderful, generous, marvelous, sweet (and any other wonderful word I can think of!) Christine will be hosting my blog and moving it all to MT! I'm so excited!!! I will let everyone know the new URL when its all set up and ready to go!

2003-09-05T05:47:00.000-07:00

I'm feeling kinda today for some reason... I DO have a lot to do but should be able to do it all in the time I have. Maybe all the stress from this week is finally catching up with me, who knows... anyhoo... I need to get my cleaning done, dash off to class, work for a few hours then meet up with the girls. I really am looking forward to that. I have a TON of studying to do for Org Behavior this weekend, and that is a source of stress too, but I know I need to calm down and relax, and just study or else I won't absorb anything. We had an informal review last night on the first 10 chapters, and then Tuesday night we'll have a more indepth review... then next Thursday is our mid-term. I also have to do a paper on my own, as well as help with a group presentation. This class is definitely more involved than I thought it would be, but its very interesting. Anyhoo... I best get my moving. Have a great day!

2003-09-04T13:45:00.000-07:00

I took my accounting test today. There was one part I really got frustrated with. I *thought* I had it down pat, but obviously not! We had to create a balance sheet, with a list of assets and liabilities to get the info from - but the kicker is that not all the assets and liabilities are listed on the balance sheet. The things I *thought* were to be put on the balance sheet didn't balance. I spent well over 30 minutes on that portion. Finally I ran out of time and had to turn in what I had. He said that he'd give us credit for the bits we had right, so I won't be out the full 20 points it was worth. Whew. I think I did well on the rest of it though. We'll get our tests back tomorrow so I'll see how I did.

2003-09-04T04:33:00.000-07:00

Thanks for all your comments and all your well wishes on my Zonk board! Really wish YACCS will be up soon! It was up for a little while the other night, then down again. My foot is feeling mucho better, am walking instead of hobbling. Shoulders and my right thumb aren't liking me but are better than they were last night. Mr. Rheumatoid Arthritis is sure loving me lately. Sheesh... I went home early yesterday, got in my recliner, propped my feet up, and studied for my accounting test. Pretty soon, my cat came over and had to jump up on my lap... she's such a snuggle bunny and knows when I'm not feeling well. She purred and purred while I studied (had to have one hand on her and rubbed her head and petted her). Its funny how that always calms me down and makes me feel less anxious about things, and the love just radiates from Ashley. I don't know what I'd do without her. She's my baby! After I studied my accounting, I decided to start reading a chapter for my Org Beh class tonight. I didn't get too far though, maybe only one of the two chapters we'll cover tonight... oh well... more reading to do this weekend ;-). Tonight we're going to cover two chapters, watch a video and then start the review for the mid term that is next Thursday. UGH. I'm not sure I'm ready for this one... I'm really glad its Thursday, this week has breezed on by. I am going to work for a few hours tomorrow afternoon, to make up for yesterday. I also have my accounting class that ends at 12:30, then its the Girls' get together at 3:30 (right after everyone gets off work) and its a long drive home, so I figure I'll just stay in the area and work. I'm so excited to see everyone and get caught up on things. Its been way too long. Have a great day!!!

2003-09-03T03:59:00.000-07:00

Happy Hump Day!!!!!!!!!!! Here are a few precriptions I'd like to take... ... yummy... great way to start my day... gets me going. *snicker* (click your mouse on the screen to bring up the text and change pages) I forgot to mention yesterday that there are some customer funded tasks that I will be working on as well as the database and financial stuff. We have customers that we need to support, and one of our customers is another organization on base that we're doing a series of workshops for. Plus any support that Tim and Greg need for the customers their supporting. Anyhoo... not much happening yet... the RA in my left foot flared during the night, woke up feeling like someone hit me with a sledge hammer. Pain pills are helping, I can't walk very well but can hobble. I've decided to take half the day off today, will go home after my accounting class. I want a little extra time to study for the test tomorrow, as well as do some reading for tomorrow's Org Beh class. Also, if my foot is feeling better I'd like to stop off at the grocery store on my way home and get a couple of things I'm almost out of. TTFN!!

2003-09-02T14:38:00.000-07:00

Tim just got out of the meeting. There are two main tasks I can do - the database/customer service and contract management (my finacials, and reporting). Our support to the helpdesk has been cut - totally. Tim and Greg answered a lot of requests so that really cuts into that for them, but for me, it means no more tracking of the requests and beating everyone else over the head to make sure they answer the requests. I'm not too upset over that part of it, it was always a HUGE pain in my ass tee hee. So, that's part of the problem resolved, now we have to figure out what to do with the rest of our time. Tim is on the phone now with our Div Mgr Mike but I'm sure it will take more than that to get things settled.

2003-09-02T13:50:00.000-07:00

Its been a pretty blah day here at work. I've been working on tasks that could be considered "overhead" tasks and not my usual duties since Tim's meeting this morning was postponed to this afternoon. He's finally there now, didn't go in until 2:15 or so... its now 2:40. So he should be out soon and we'll know more of what our situation is. I've pretty much ran out of things to do now... and still 1.5 hrs left. I'd go home but I have my Org Behavior class at 4:30. So... I'll stick around. My buddy Larry M just stopped by to say "good-bye". Its his last day, as he's retiring. I'm gonna miss him, he's a great guy. The girl's (aka the Motely Crew) are finally going to have a get-together this Friday! Its been AGES since we've gone out together... so I'm looking forward to it. We're going to meet Friday after work at a local restaurant. Hopefully we'll laugh and carry on so much we'll get dirty looks from people - NOW that is how we guage the fun. LOL!!

2003-09-02T04:43:00.000-07:00

Snagged this quizzie from Rilana
"Sweet Dreams" (by Eurythmics) Sweet dreams are made of this...Who am I to disagree? ...Travel the world and the seven seas... everybody's looking for something ...Some of them want to use you ...some of them want to get used by you ... Some of them want to abuse you ... Some of them want to be abused
Which 80's Song Fits You?
brought to you by Quizilla

2003-09-02T04:16:00.000-07:00

Oh man! The Tuesday after a Monday holiday always leaves me feeling like this! Anyone else??? Well, today at work will be interesting. Our funding for the day-to-day tasks has been lost (I've mentioned this before) and we don't have another sponsor, after several attempts. So... we're essentially out of funding - as of last week actually. The incremental funding we have now has been spent. The gov't is supposed to give us more funding to last until November, but its not looking that way. My boss Tim has set up a meeting with the gov't this morning to see what specific tasks we can work on with the remainder of our funds. 80% of what I do rely on these funds. So... it looks like I'll be changing jobs a lot sooner than we thought. Not quite sure what the other job will be yet, Tim has to meet with our division manager Mike today to get it all sorted. We're pushing for the job in our main office helping the financial guy Bart out. I will go into work this morning (2 hrs later than normal) and work on "overhead" tasks, then this afternoon, hopefully be able to work on my regular tasks for the gov't org. If things work out the way I'm thinking, I'll be working half time at the gov't org, and half time at the main office. Then when funds run out, full time at the main office. There is another contract on base that they were considering me for, but its in configuration management (which I have no experience) and I would require a security clearance to even step into the building. Which is no big deal to get one, but it takes time and we really don't have time. I've also heard that is a bad place to work - a bunch of back-stabbing gossips. So, I'm definitely pulling to work in our main office AND it will help me advance in the career path I want, and with me taking accounting classes, it would work out really well. So, fingers crossed! I had a good day yesterday, I was going stir crazy so Mom and I went to Rainbow Gardens shopped and ate lunch. It was nice to get out. We went to another store where I got me a couple of bargain DVDs (Evelyn and Lemmon Drop Kid) and a video Super Troopers. I came home, finished studying and then had an ealry night watching the movies. Have a great day!

2003-09-01T07:49:00.000-07:00

Happy Labor Day!!! My attitude about Jeff today is...or should I say the attitude I'm TRYING to have today is... Have a great day everyone!

2003-08-31T15:21:00.000-07:00

Yeah... OK... spoke too soon about YACCS being back up! GAH! At least the Zonkboard is working... I really got thrown for a loop today. The guy Jeff, that I was involved with for 2.5 years that I broke up with this past May, contacted me on Yahoo. He wanted to see how I was doing, and to tell me he was really sorry for treating me like shit. Whoa. We chatted for a bit, and got caught up on things. He was really worried when I told him about all my health probs lately, and was excited that I've gone back to school, etc. He told me that he's ready to settle down. I asked him to clarify that, and he said "ready to find love again." I didn't ask him to elaborate, and I have no clue whether this statement includes me at all. For all I know, he was just writing to apologize and to see how I was. I made the decision to break it off completely and not have any more communication, it was a tough decision but I knew I had to do it for my heart's sake and to truly move on. So I'm really blown away. To be honest, I miss him like crazy. He asked if we could talk again, (he had his kids and needed to go get them lunch) maybe tonight... if we were online at the same time. I told him that would be nice if we connected, if not we could talk another time. Am I nuts to let him back in my life? Or maybe I'm jumping the gun a bit and he really doesn't want to be "back" in my life, but just chat buddies or not at all?! Shit! I thought I was really calm about this, but now that I'm writing it down, I'm starting to freak out. I really thought he could be the one, that's why I hung in there for so long before. Long distance relationships are so hard, and if it weren't for the distance, and for the fact that we didn't think things could work out because of the distance... we might be together now. Shit! I know in my heart that he was a soulmate, and when I fianlly met him in May, it was like I'd known him my whole life. Never was more comfy with anyone else. Shit! It was so great! What am I gonna do?! I know... just see what happens...

2003-08-31T07:34:00.000-07:00

This pic is of my Mom and a very special tomato from her garden. I asked her to pose with it, and was giggling. It was a very weird looking tomato, but it was just exactly WHAT it looked like that I was giggling about, and her holding up close to her face like that made me giggle even more. Mom asked me what I was giggling about, so I told her what I thought the tomato looked like - the male anatomy. Mom called me by my full name, and told me I was rude and my mind was in the gutter! Then she giggled too.

2003-08-31T06:13:00.000-07:00

OK... here it goes... here is the the pic of me and my new do. WARNING! This picture also shows the ill effects of PREDNISONE, a medication that I have to take for my Rheumatoid Arthritis and Ulcerative Colitis... not a pretty picture. It makes faces puffy and causes swelling. I KNOW I look awful. But it will go away when I'm off the medication (they're slowly taking me off of it). CHIPMUNK!!
This is a picture of my niece Elyssa. She'll be 2 next Sunday, isn't she a cutie?
These are pics of my cat Ashley... on catnip! The picture with her wrapped in the rug, she does this on catnip or not... she actually thinks she's hidden under the rug if just her face is under it. She really thinks I can't find her. LOL!

2003-08-30T18:02:00.000-07:00

HEY! Comments are back!!! YAY for YACCS!!! Finally! Mom, Dad and I had a great day today. I took them to lunch to the diner where my sis Susie works and makes the BEST food. Mmm... I had my usual, the bacon and cheese omelet and hash browns with cheese. I have half of it left over for breakfast tomorrow. We decided to go to Sam's club where I needed a few things, I was going to wait until next Friday when I got paid, but decided I'd do it now since I had the time and Mom needed to go there too. I spent $100 on 17 items. Man... it adds up fast but I also got a lot for my money. I splurged and got me a bag of Runts. I love those things. Then we hit Wal-Mart. I found my niece Elyssa a really cute outfit for her 2nd birthday (that is next weekend). Its a Winnie the Pooh purple shirt and knit pants. Of course its Winnie the Pooh coming from me. I also found her a Winnie the Pooh ball. She loves balls. *snicker* she must take after her auntie. It was just nice to get away, and spend time with both of my parents. They enjoyed the afternoon as well, and told me how much they appreciated all I do for them and how nice it was to get away with me today. They really needed the break from the whole situation here. When we got home, Kathy was pacing the floor. Wondering where we were all that time. She said that she was really tired and needed to take a nap but couldn't because Elyssa was awake. Like that's Mom and Dad's problem?! We just looked at her, set our groceries down on the counter, and went outside for another load. Then Mom came back in after the second load and told her that there were many times when she needed a nap when we were growing up, but didn't get one. Life's tough. GO MOM! LOL!! Kathy just "humphed" and walked into her room. Grow up Kathy. I'm off to study now! I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

2003-08-30T09:10:00.000-07:00

I just finished chatting with Robert on Yahoo. He was really glad that I sent him that e-mail and was honest with him. He said that he really doesn't know what he wants right now, he's been thinking about his ex wife and he still loves her, but then again he wonders if there is someone else out there for him. He's just really confused. I can understand that... so I told him that we could be friends if he wanted to. He said he's a little leary of being friends with women on the net because his experience has been one-sided friendships. They have problems, unload on him, then don't let him unload his problems on them. I told him I didn't work that way. I believe any relationship there needs to be give and take, two way streets. We talked for a while, about what he's gone through, etc., and he was so grateful that I listened and cared about his feelings. I think I blew him away. I really do like helping people, it takes my mind of my own problems and makes me feel good.

2003-08-30T06:24:00.000-07:00

I got a very quick, short e-mail from that Robert guy in Idaho in my e-mail this morning. He said that he's sorry he's been really busy and would be spending the weekend with his two kids, which is great. I'm happy for him. But ya know, I really don't feel like he's making much of an effort to get to know me, so I put it to him like this: " I understand what its like to be busy. I work full time, going to school full time, have health issues, and deal with every day life, yet I still make an effort to try to get to know you. I was wondering if you really do want to get to know me, since it seems like you're not making much of an effort. I don't want to waste your time." ( I almost wrote that I didn't want to waste my time either but decided against it) Then I told him I'd leave it up to him, and wished him a good weekend with his kids. I figure if he's really interested then he will make an effort, if not... I am probably expecting too much from people. I know everyone has different personalities, different traits, different priorities, but with guys that I potentially will have relationships with, I want them to put as much of an effort in as I do. Is that too much to ask? I've had too many experiences where I bust my ass to be there for them, and they don't do the same. It leaves me feeling empty and drained. So, I've come to the conclusion that if they aren't putting any effort in then I'm not going waste my time and energy. Does that make me a bitch? Sometimes I feel like one when draw the line like that, but I've learned some hard lessons and am tired of being let down and hurt. All was quiet on the Western Front last night. Mom said that Kathy is being nice, and I said "Yes, too nice... because she knows she's in deep and is kissing up." Mom said "I know." the we giggled. Ellis isn't here, he's where ever he stays when he's not here and God knows where that is. He only comes here when he's out of money and needs food. I'm really not going to worry about things too much though, I can't. Its not good for my health to get stressed out over it and I've got a lot of studying to do. So I'll just stay down here in my basement and do my own thang. I was toying with the idea of taking Mom and Dad to lunch or even a movie today, after the day they had yesterday they deserve a treat.

2003-08-29T16:36:00.000-07:00

I did it - I got my hair cut! About 6 inches off the length so it hits the very tippy top of my shoulders, but curly is about half way up my neck. My Mom and Dad really loved it, and I like it too, just will take some getting used to it being this short. I will wear it curly mostly, which will save on the curling and blow drying damage and get it healthy again. With my body going through so much, its taken its toll on my hair. I've been losing a lot of hair lately too, but Melany said there's a lot of new growth so that's a good sign. I think this is all linked to being anemic. I am on meds that can cause hair loss (methotrexate), but I take mega doses of folic acid to combat that part of it. Anyhoo... new haircut! YAY! Melany is my Ex SIL. She's done my hair since she and J Dee first got married back in 1979. She has been involved with the whole Kathy situation all along. She's been a support to Kathy, and that's great. Melany also sees what Kathy has been doing, and she has been very supportive to everyone else too. Anyway, Melany told me that she got a phone call from Kathy this morning, Kathy whinging about what's going on around here. actually told Melany that the meeting last night was all about her and how we're all ganging up on her, and that she wasn't "invited" to the meeting so she couldn't defend herself. I busted out laughing! How utterly ridiculous! I told Melany the "meeting" was about HOW TO HELP MY PARENTS. It just happened that Kathy and Ellis were discussed because they are a huge part of the problem. Besides, Kathy should have been home. She had an epidural shot yesterday at the hospital for her back, and should have come home right after, which would have been around lunch time yesterday. Kathy didn't get home until 2am this morning. Yes, 2am. She left her child with my parents for 16 frickin hours while she was out messing around. She kept calling and saying "I'm on my way home". choke, cough, choke. Which is the norm. But not any more. My parents have FINALLY reached their limit. Then she had the NERVE to tell Mom this morning that she was in sooooo much pain that she couldn't take care of Elyssa. She couldn't feed her, get her dressed, nothing. Mom had to do it. Mom was furious. That is when she let into Kathy like you wouldn't believe. I wasn't there to witness it, darn it, but Mom told me about it. Then Dad got his turn. HAHAHAHA. One of the things Mom told Kathy is that Ellis is no longer welcome in this house until he gets a job and contributes both monitarily and helping around the house. I think Dad is going to be the one to break the news to Ellis, unless Kathy has already told him. Melany just loved hearing the whole TRUE story. She told me all that Kathy had told her and it was one big pile of bullshit. Its amazing how she either views things, or will say anything to make sure that Melany is on her side. When I got home, Kathy asked how Melany was... I said "fine." Then Kathy said, "Oh, I guess I did know that since I talked to her earlier on the phone." (to test me and see if we had talked about her) I just said, "Oh really? That's nice you talked to her." tee hee Like I knew nothing. Then she just went on and on about my hair and told me how much she sympathizes with me being in pain. Then she had to tell me how awful her epidurall was, yadda, yadda, yadda, like I care... She was soooo trying to kiss my ass... and ya know what, she can literally kiss my ass. I'm not falling for it. Does she really think I'm that stupid?!

2003-08-29T05:29:00.000-07:00

What an afternoon I had yesterday with my right wrist. Holy shit. Details on Health Log. Org Behavior class was pretty good last night. We went over leadership and types of motivations in the workplace. We were done by 6pm, going over the stuff pretty fast because everyone was anxious to get started on their long weekends. We skimmed over most of the two chapters but its OK because I had planned on reading it all thoroughly this weekend anyway. My group (for our group presentation at the end of the term) got together and chose the topic of "Leaders, are they born or made", and we're arguing that they're made. We're going to start gathering info now which is good - I like people who don't put things off to the last minute. When I got home last night, Kathy and Ellis were gone (YAY). Susie, J Dee and Bob were here (my other 2 siblings) talking to Mom and Dad. It wasn't that I was not invited to this meeting, but they forgot I had school and it was pretty spur of the moment. Anyway, I got there just as things were getting settled. Mom and Dad are in financial trouble because of all the shit Kathy and Ellis have put them through the past couple of years. They're a huge drain on all aspects of my parent's lives. So, they all met to see what they could to do help them out financially AND to discuss the whole K & E situation. They filled me in on everything when I got home. Mom and Dad were pretty embarrassed that they all came over, but Bob pointed out that we're all in this together, we're family. There's nothing that my parents wouldn't do for any of us, and now its our turn to really help them out. I'm so relieved that they all came over and talked things out. Especially about K&E. I've felt so alone in the battle against them taking advantage of Mom and Dad all this time. I've talked to them about it but they've never talked to Mom and Dad. Finally they have told Mom and Dad that they feel the exact same way as I have all this time - it has got to stop. K needs to get rid of E is the #1 thing. He's dead wood, he lies, cheats, steals, and has convinced K to do the same. They've sold prescription drugs, and God knows what else. K has this thing where she calls the doctor in pain because of her knee and/or back, gets pain pills, then says they make her ill and so he calls her in something else. Then they sell them. She is in pain, no doubt about that but she's using the pain for pills and for manipulation. She is a player. She's always been able to manipulate my Dad and he's finally starting to see it. Especially after the little chat last night. She plays Mom and Dad against each other, and she always had, she's just gotten more crafty about it... but the jig is up. Bwwahhahahaha. She needs to grow up. She's 40. I will say that I know a lot of what she's doing now is E's influence. She's scared of him. He's beaten her down emotionally (she's unstable anyway) into thinking that she can't do any better and that she needs him. She has said she wants to get rid of him, but she hasn't gone through with it. He's threatened to take Elyssa back to Ohio, but he doesn't have the balls and would have to go through everyone in this family to get that little girl out of this house. He doesn't realize that we are very nice people until you mess with one of us, then we rally around each other and protect our own. He's the biggest dumbshit and the laziest ass. We know one of the reasons (besides being a lazy ass) why he's not getting a decent job. He's probably got people looking for him. He's got two other kids in Ohio somewhere and who knows who else is after him. So... we need to help these people find Ellis. Does anyone know how to find out if someone is looking for him? Either for financial reasons or for an outstanding warrant perhaps (one can dream that he does have one, and most likely does)?? J Dee and I will be looking on the internet to see what we can find, but any tips would be much appreciated. We need to get rid of Ellis Ringwood Jr. That's all there is to it. They also discussed having Kathy giving guardianship of Elyssa to Mom and Dad. If anything ever happened to Kathy, Ellis would get her and we fear for her welfare. Elyssa has some physical problems (she's almost 2 and isn't walking yet, and just learned how to crawl about 3 months ago). She does therapy a lot, and is making a lot of progress. They have done so many tests but can't find out any cause. She's soooo smart though. She gets really frustrated trying to talk too, and can't. They're teaching her some sign language and that's helping a little. She says a couple of basic words, Mama, etc., so we know she has the ability... she's just slow. Elyssa also needs to be around kids. She hasn't really been exposed to other kids, other than J Dee and Patti's grandkids at family gatherings. She doesn't know what its like to "share" toys, etc., K&E are supposedly going to put her in a play group but E is afraid that the other kids will pick on her. They probably will, but that's life. We think that she'll progress even further if she sees other kids running around and walking. It will be good for her, but E is being an ass about it and K is being lazy and won't just go put her in the play group. It looks like once again Mom and Dad will have to step in and take her. I think last night was really a new starting point. Dad finally understands that he's been taken advantage of and manipulated. I'm sure it hurts him to no end that its done by his daughter, but now he can put a stop to it. He said he was going to give E an ulitmatum to have a job, etc., in 90 days or he's outta here. We all told Dad 90 days was too long, it should be a week. So we'll see what happens. I hope Dad stays tough on this. He tends to get fired up about things, lays down the law, and then mellows out and lets things slide. They can't slide anymore in this case. He's got to stay tough. I'm going to get my ass busy now, pain pill is working so I should be able to get my cleaning done. No errands to run today - they'll have to wait until next week, pay day! I am getting my hair cut though, I'm excited... something new! Have a great day - and more importantly a great Labor Day weekend! This doggy is ready for the BBQ!

2003-08-28T04:06:00.000-07:00

I had a pretty good night, didn't get any extra sleep but it felt so nice to relax and just lay still and not have to move about much. My joints thanked me. I'm soooo glad its Thursday! YAY!!! 4-day weekend is almost here! Its going to be a long day though. I've got my Thurs night class tonight... hopefully he'll let us go an hour early tonight like he did on Tues. I won't hold my breath though. Nothing else exciting going on, I've got some busy work to do. My uncle sent me some fun pics, this is one of them. I'll post the others on another day.

2003-08-27T13:22:00.000-07:00

One more hour of work today then I'm headed for home. I have a plan: drive home, make myself a cheese omelet (craving it today!) for dinner, check e-mail, get in my jammies, go to bed. I need to do some reading for school and then will watch a movie until I fall alseep. My pain is tolerable this afternoon. YAY. I only had to take a half a pill. Improvement. On moving to our new cubicals on the other end of the building, I found out that I am not getting that luxurous cubical that Randy wanted me to have. *sigh* I am going to be put in a 4-cube space with the Timster and Greg again. Oh well... short time here most likely anyway. The 4th cube they'll let me use for storage and my customer service stuff. Not sure when the move will happen yet. The carpets still need to be cleaned and the cubicals need to be finished being moved about and furnished. Sometime in the next couple of weeks, I'd imagine. My buddy Larry M. is retiring. They had a luncheon for him today, as well as a small reception. I'm gonna miss him, he's a sweetie. He's been with the gov't for 37 years, so he's done his time. LOL! I was thinking earlier... what is it about some people's laughs that grates on your nerves? There is one guy here that has the most horrid laugh. I don't know what it is about it, but it makes me want to pull my hair out when I hear it. Its not goofy or obnoxious, just irritating. Come to think of it, his voice and the way he talks is very irritating. I wonder if I'm the only one it bothers, or if its a personality thing? Does anyone voice/laugh ever just bug you like that and you have no idea why? He's a nice guy... nothing personal against him. ??

2003-08-27T04:17:00.000-07:00

I just got these in my e-mail and had to share them, they made me giggle a bit. These are things taken out of actual patient's charts. Gotta love the medical profession... * The baby was delivered, the cord clamped and cut and handed to the pediatrician, who breathed and cried immediately. * Exam of genitalia reveals that he is circus sized. * Rectal exam revealed a normal size thyroid. * She stated that she had been constipated for most of her life until 1989 when she got a divorce. * The patient was in his usual state of good health until his airplane ran out of gas and crashed. * I saw your patient today, who is still under our car for physical therapy. * The patient lives at home with his mother, father, and pet turtle, who is presently enrolled in day care three times a week. * Bleeding started in the rectal area and continued all the way to Los Angeles. * She is numb from her toes down. * While in the emergency room, she was examined, X-rated and sent home. * The lab test indicated abnormal lover function. * Occasional, constant, infrequent headaches. * Examination reveals a well-developed male lying in bed with his family in no distress. * Patient was alert and unresponsive. * When she fainted, her eyes rolled around the room. * Male patient insists that his HIV was inherited, and not from sexual activity. * The patient was to have a bowel resection. However he took a job as a stockbroker instead.

2003-08-27T04:02:00.000-07:00

Happy HUMP DAY!!!! The weekend is fastly approaching! Last night's Organizational Behavior class was pretty good. The teacher is a guy that I worked with for the first 3-4 years here. Cool. He's a really nice guy. We covered the first two chapters last night, and will continue to cover 2 chapters a night from here on out. UGH. I will have a lot of reading to do this weekend. I will read 1-4 to catch up on this week's stuff, then I will probably go ahead and read the next two. We will have a group assignment as well as an individual case study paper and two tests. I think it will be an interesting class. He let us go an hour early last night because he really skimmed over a lot of the material in the book. I think he wanted to go home too after the long day. I didn't argue! LOL! There wasn't any cute guys that I could scope out, damnit. They were either young (in 20's) or older and married. I was really grateful to go home early because I was totally hammered. I hurt everywhere or so it seemed. I took two pain pills when I got home, did a couple of things then crashed with my cat. She was a little pissed at me for being home late (she's so bossy tee hee) but then she warmed up to me when I gave her a treat. I'm not above bribary! LOL! No, really, she gets a treat in the evenings when I get home normally, and after I get out of the shower in the mornings. I slept good and really didn't want to get out of bed this morning, felt like I could have slept another 10 hours. OK... going to start my day now!

2003-08-26T12:39:00.000-07:00

Update on Health Log Accounting class left my head swimming today. What I thought I understood yesterday kinda blew me away when we started to apply it in a practice exercise. He made the announcement that we WILL have Friday off! That made everyone smile big! We'll finish the practice exercise tomorrow, then he's assigning homework that is due next Wednesday... then next Thursday will be our 1st test! ARGGHH! A test!!! Do you have any idea how many years its been since I took a test?! Test anxiety here we come. Can you tell I don't want to work on the database? But I better... TTFN!

2003-08-26T06:18:00.000-07:00

Not to be a whiner... but I had to share this, whether you like it or not. tee hee My right hip is in the middle of a flare, but the center location of the pain is in a interesting place. Its on the inside of my leg, at the very top, towards the back. Which is... right in my ass. So I'm sitting here thinking to myself, "hey, you've got a real pain in the ass." Then I giggled at myself. Yes, I'm on pain pills...

2003-08-26T04:04:00.000-07:00

YAY for Tuesday... one day closer to the weekend. Not that I have big plans for the Labor Day weekend, I'm just looking forward to the time off. I will have some extra days to study, especially because I've got my first accounting test next Wednesday and I want to know the material inside and out. The teacher is giving us a list of what will be covered on the test this week. He's just so cool. I start my Organizational Behavior class tonight. I'm looking forward to it, but it is going to be a long day, especially cuz I'm still in quite a bit of pain. The pain is subsiding though, along with my sore throat (which usually means the RA flares are calming). My weird immune system. If they can just figure out what makes the immune system go haywire and starts attacking the body, they could cure so many horrid diseases. Anyhoo... it shouldn't be too bad of a day today. I've got things to keep me busy but nothing stressful. Mostly database work. Fun, huh? I got a couple of DVDs yesterday. One was "Bringing Down the House" and I watched it last night. That movie was really funny, I laughed right out loud in a few parts. See it if you haven't already. The other DVD I got is "Old School" but I'll watch it this weekend.

2003-08-25T15:52:00.000-07:00

Stupid hand... I left work early this afternoon because my hand flared. It was hurting anyway, but by my wrist. My fingers started hurting and then an hour later it had turned into a 3-alarm flare and my knuckles were 2 times their normal size. Bam! That fast. So I took 1/2 a pain pill and headed for home. I'm going to ice it, take another pain pill (or two - its hurting THAT bad), and go to bed. I don't really know why I'm typing cuz it hurts like a bitch! I'm a blog and internet junky, that's why! tee hee TTFN!

2003-08-25T12:59:00.000-07:00

Snagged this from Mama Moon
You are an Elementalist. Your magic stems from the forces of nature. You might be a forest nuturing Druid, a storm-creating Weather-Wizard or any of the many Elementals, but one thing is sure-- your bond with nature is strong. You can rely heavily on nature to support yourself aesthetically or physically for it lends you both comfort and strength. Your instincts rarely fail you. You are vibrantly passionate but are sometimes carried away by your own emotions. Which Magical Order Are You In?
brought to you by Quizilla Whoa... hit me right on I think!

2003-08-25T08:20:00.000-07:00

OK, this really chaps my ass. Long lost friends who come out of the wood work (so to speak) and expects me to go to her baby shower. Pisses me off. I absolutely loath bridal and baby showers and this friend as well as all my other friends know this, but yet she assumes that I will come?! Grrrr. Guess again.

2003-08-25T05:32:00.000-07:00

Hmm... just got an e-mail from Robert in Idaho (the one I hadn't heard from in a couple of weeks). He has been without the internet due to getting a new provider. He asked if I were still around and wanted to talk still. So I wrote him back and told him yes. We'll see what happens.

2003-08-25T04:06:00.000-07:00

I had to stop off at the local Chevron station this morning to put gas in my car. The main part of the station was closed of course being 4:00am, but the pumps were open and they have the "Smile you're on Camera" signs all over. Well, I get out of my car, get my credit card out of my wallet, run it through, put the nozzle in my tank and start filling it. All the while, thinking, "Wow, what a nice cool morning we're having..." then I look down and see that my blouse is half open. (I'm wearing a skirt and blouse, the blouse has two ribbon ties, one under each arm, each wrapping around) I'VE BECOME A FLASHER!!! I'm showing my right black lacy bra-d boob to the world and to the camera. Hmmm... I wonder if they think I did it on purpose! But hopefully they saw the embarrassed expression on my face when I discovered it. LOL!!! Yup... its a Monday! This pic is fitting for today. Although I wasn't exposing myself to art, I was to the Chevron cameras and to the many people who will look at the tapes.
How is it that Mondays seem to roll around so quickly?? Doesn't seem right. My boss is out of the office this week, but I have to still deal with Greg. *sigh* I hope he has plenty to keep him busy and doesn't irritate me too much. Last night I was just about to drift off to sleep, and then I got a flash of the possible solution to my question about my accounting homework. I drug my painful body out of bed and got it all out... sure enough, I figured it out! It balances now, so I hope its right! I have a pretty busy day ahead, so I better get to it! Have a great day!

2003-08-24T06:22:00.000-07:00

What a night I had... stupid Rheumatoid Arthritis... its driving me nuts. Details on my Health Log if ya wanna hear/read me whine. Its going to be a busy week and I don't have time for this shit! UGH! I was supposed to be getting better, not worse. I didn't get the studying all done yesterday, so I will finish it today. I want to make some notes on the key points because it helps the concepts sink in. I got the homework done, but have one small question I need to ask the teacher tomorrow. He gave us a hint on Thursday on how to deal with it, but if I deal with it the way he told us to, then I'm $80 off from balancing. So I must have either misunderstood or its a different type of transaction and is OK to be $80 off (which I doubt because accounting is all about balancing). Anyhoo... other than that I want to watch a couple of shows I taped last night and get a few other things done to prepare for the week. Oh shit... day too! I don't have a lot so I guess it won't be *too* bad. That guy Steve from Idaho (that disappeared last week and that I was bummed about) came back last night. We chatted for a while, and he just wants to flirt, not have a relationship with anyone, so we're not wasting each other's time. I also had three other guys that contacted me who just want lovers. Which is their choice, and am glad they're up front and honest enough to say so at the beginning. I'm looking for more and I'm not settling. Even though the horny factor is always there . *snicker* I best be off! Have a great Sunday!!! Just in case you're having a BBQ today and run out of propane, you might want to call this guy... LOL!!

2003-08-23T06:14:00.000-07:00

Good morning!!! I hope everyone had a great night last night and are doing well this morning! I had a pretty good night's sleep on the Ambein stuff, but it makes me feel a bit oogy. My RA pain is virtually gone today, just the usual aches. See what the power of what hugs do? Even cyber hugs help! Not too much planned for today, first and foremost I will come around and finish visiting everyone! Then I plan on doing some studying and my accounting homework. I don't want to put it off until tomorrow like I used to do when I was a kid! LOL! I like my Sundays to be as "free" as possible. I'm also hoping to maybe get a little nap in. Here's a very yummy picture that a friend sent to me...mmmm... GIDDEEEEEEE UUUUPPPPPPPPPPP!! Gotta get me some of that!

2003-08-22T17:44:00.000-07:00

Whew, what a day. I got everything done I needed to (for today!) done. I don't know how, but I got my cleaning done and managed to lay down for an hour before going to the doctor (my general doc for my blood thinner check). Once at the docs, they poked my finger and tested my blood. The thinners are right on target so I don't have to go back for another month. I also talked to him about not sleeping well, so he prescribed Ambein. I'm going to try it tonight to see how I do on it so there won't be any surprises if I take it on a week/work night. I really don't want to take another medication, but I need my sleep. I think my lack of sleep lately is behind my RA flares. Anyhoo... I came home and picked Mom up and we went to lunch. I was craving an Arby's Beef n' Cheddar like mad so... against my better judgment and not being able to eat red meat I gave into the craving. I was bad, but it felt so good to be bad and tasted soooo good. As for ill effects from my stomach, so far so good. So... things may be healing better than I thought... or maybe it hasn't hit me yet! LOL!! I gotta push the envelope though, don't I? I need to test things out. The next thing I test out will be a tomato out of my Mom's garden. Damnit, I'm gonna have one... or at least a wedge! I've had one bite of watermelon, one bite of cantelope this whole summer and I'm tired of being deprived! I want fresh fruits and veggies!! I've gone without them since January! ARRRGGHHH!!! Do you know how bad I want a salad?! *fit over* LOL!!! After lunch we headed to the grocery store, pharmacy, then to Wal-Mart. Tomorrow is Mom and Dad's 46th wedding anniversary and I wanted to get them something, or give them cash to go to a movie. We made our way to the movie section where we were looking at all the movies tosee if there was something my Dad would like. I found Dad a war movie and then found Mom a CD set of Glenn Miller. Her eyes just let up when she saw it. She said "now I have something GOOD to shake my fanny to while cleaning!" LOL! She cracks me up! We got home, and I call the mechanic to see how my car was coming along. He was able to get the digital display replaced, and was working on the emissions test. It wouldn't pass the first go-around but he knew what to tweak to get it to pass, so he told me to come get 30 mins later. He said the "stalling" was due to the odometer/dash not being hooked up and was confusing the computer. So... no more repairs! Woohoo! Which is good, cuz $653 busted me! Most of it was the digital display and he gave that to me at his cost which I was so grateful for. He's one good mechanic and will definitely go back to him if I need to. The car ran soooo good coming home and the display lights up like a Christmas Tree! Now I just have to wait for my tax bill to come and I'll be able to renew it for another year. Last year the taxes were a wopping $35 LOL! I can handle that! I need to do some studying this weekend, on the first two chapters of my accounting class. We covered the stuff in class, but I really want to grasp every concept and retake some notes. I also have my first homework assignment to do. We did an example in class yesterday so we'd know how to do this homework. I should be able to do it, I understood everything we did in class. Its not due until Wednesday. I really like this teacher ;-) He gives us plenty of time to do things. He even said we might have this next Friday off too if things went well during the week, and especially since it was Labor Day weekend. I'm feeling so much better tonight, even after having such a busy day. The pain is almost all gone, and I'm not feeling quite as weak. But...I better get my butt away from this computer and into my recliner now and rest so I don't have a relapse. I don't want to push too hard. I've been around to visit some of you, but will finish tomorrow morning! Good night!!

2003-08-22T04:42:00.000-07:00

Thank you, everyone for the get-well wishes!!! I'm in the land of the living more than the past couple of days. I still feel yucky and still having some pains but they're subsiding as time goes on. I have so much to do today, but really don't feel like doing any of it. UGH. I feel awful that I haven't been able to get around and visit anyone, I WILL be by either tonight or in the morning. I've missed everyone! Have a great day!

2003-08-21T04:07:00.000-07:00

OMG, yesterday was a day from hell. I had the stomach flu on top of one hell of a bad RA flare. My left ankle and right foot flared so I couldn't even walk, had to crawl. Then my hips, shoulders, wrists, hands, and elbows were flared too. My knees were OK though. I was in so much pain all I could do was lay there and not move. I couldn't take a pain pill cuz of my stomach being upset. I'm here at work now, but don't know for how long. I have to go to my accounting class and get some financials done. I think I'll be going home after class though, I'm feeling pretty shitty. Still in pain, but at least I can walk without screaming! Stomach still yucky but not throwing up. I'll try and get around to visit all of you later today or tomorrow. Thanks for all the comments and support! *hugs*

2003-08-19T09:24:00.000-07:00

OK... got a plan to get the money for my car repairs. I guess this is the one good thing about being a worry wart and obsessive about not letting things drop until I have figured out a solution, despite getting stressed out. Now, the only thing that would blow me out of the water is if there is something really wrong, but its running good now (after the cracked spark plug was replaced) except for the occasional stalling and he's going to look at that on Friday. It did this exact same thing about 6 years ago and it was pretty simple but I can't remember what it was. My goal is by this time next year to have a new car (or at least newer!). If this one can hold out that long I should be in good shape. Its a 1987 Chev Cavelier Z-24 and its been such a good car, I really hate to get rid of it... who knows, maybe I'll just keep driving it until it dies, but be "prepared" to get a new car if something major goes wrong. Hmmm... maybe that's a better plan. tee hee My medical bills have been so much this year. I looked at my last explanation of benefits and over $33,000 in claims have been paid out (them) which is 1/3 of my lifetime max. Holy shit! I'm guessing that about $28,000 was paid out this year alone, not including prescriptions. I've paid out about $3000 this year in medical and probably $1000 in prescriptions plus who knows about the office visits at $15 a pop. I'm going to claim every last cent paid out on my taxes and should get a good refund. THEN use that money to help cover my expenses for next year. My company offers a flexcomp type program where I have money deducted from my check, put into a fund that is not taxable. I submit receipts (for any medical expense not covered by insurance) and get reimbursed, taxed free. I elected $1250 for this year and am thinking of doubling it next year. They take $48 out per check (every 2 weeks), and I turn around and submit receipts for $48. The only bad thing is, if you happen to not have enough medical expenses you lose the money, but between my my Remacade treatments and all the prescriptions there is no doubt that I will not use up $2500 next year. My financials have arrived so I need to get started getting the spreadsheet sorted so I can do my thang.

2003-08-19T04:15:00.000-07:00

I am so tired! I think I only got about 3 hrs sleep last night between my hip hurting (RA flare) and my mind not shutting up again. I'm stressing out about my car, finances, etc., the mechanic called me yesterday and told me that my digital display (that we've been waiting to come in from the exchange place for over 2 weeks) was going to cost me an additional $200. Shit. They need to do the safety and emissions tests as well on Friday and I sure hope it passes. I'm not worried about the safety but am about the emissions. Just call me a worry wart cuz that's what I am. I hate being a grown up sometimes. If its not one thing, its another. I was going through my prescriptions and noticed its time to get the 90 day supplies again... yes, shit again. That will cost me around $350 (saving a bundle getting the 90 day supply - and you all know how I LOVE a bargain LOL!!). I need that Publisher's Clearing House Sweepstakes van to pull in my driveway on August 28. Gimme that million... I could use it, and I'd use it very well indeed. I have a pretty busy day today, my to-do list is pretty long in my planner. We'll start actual work in my accounting class today, and then my Organizational Behavior class starts tonight right after work. My boss will be out of the office at noon and irritating Greg is in Wash DC (but will be here tomorrow, damnit! I tried to schedule his trip for a longer period of time, but it didn't work out tee hee) so I'll have the cubical allllll to myself this afternoon. So if I get busy and get all my work done, I can cause some trouble or at least do some serious blog hopping! Here's a cute pic... have a great day everyone!

2003-08-18T13:15:00.000-07:00

Whew! What a day its been! I'm taking a well deserved break. I got so much done this morning - the priority stuff anyway. I went to my accounting class and I really liked the teacher. He's laid back, but organized. He told us what the class will be like, and when the tests are and he even said that he likes to take as many Fridays off as possible ! My kind of guy... We were only there a half an hour, since it was the first day and he covered all he wanted to. So we'll start in on Chapter 1 tomorrow and won't have any homework assignments until Thursday. There were a couple of cute guys in the class, but unfortunately I didn't get to sit by any of them and won't because we have assigned seating. *sigh* Most of the guys are military and kinda young, but there was an older guy (about my age) that caught my eye... but I was on the wrong side and couldn't see if he had a wedding ring. I was nice and let him cross in front of my car as I was pulling out of my parking stall in the parking lot. He smiled and waved... and I smiled back. I came back to work and Tim had just got back from talking to our Div. Mgr. Mike about our job situations. Mike said that he's got a position for me in another building, and Tim told him that I had an idea of working at our main office with Bart, the financial guy. Mike thought it was a really great idea and "took note of it". So, there's a couple of possiblities. Nothing is settled yet, and we're still not sure if this organization will need us longer than November or not, it really depends on when for certain the funding/money on our contract is gone - or if by some miracle, we find a sponsor for our information services between now and then. I just found out that our shipment of monthly software journals are due in either today or tomorrow, so I'm getting the envelopes ready now while I've got some time and have my priority stuff done. Putting these damn labels on takes the longest. Stuffing the envelopes goes pretty fast. Tomorrow is when I start my financials, which reminds me, I need to bug Bart about them. He loves me to bug him. Toodles!!

2003-08-18T03:55:00.000-07:00

School starts today! I'm quite excited, but also a bit nervous! Starting back was such a big step for me, I just hope I can keep up with it all and work too. I'm sure I'll be fine though, once I get the routine down. Today is going to be one CRAZY day. I've got so much to do this morning to get ready for my boss since he'll be out of the office for the next two weeks (after today). I'll post more later. Have a great Monday everyone!!!

2003-08-17T10:59:00.000-07:00

I found some great code at Meg's site (thanks, Meg!!). I got a bunch of pics from a friend and decided to put them in this grouping. Just click on a pic for a larger view. Don't know what to do about the blank space, its how it is posting! Grrrr! What am I doing wrong?? Anyone know? The cell padding, spacing, and border of the table are all zero. Grrrr. These things are what happens when you party too much and don't have friends you can trust! LOL!!

2003-08-17T07:43:00.000-07:00

*snicker* here's a cute little smilie that of course I took as looking naughty... woohoo

2003-08-17T07:14:00.000-07:00

I've declared today, August 17, 2003 a pajama day. About the only constructive things I'm going to do is my and get my lunches ready for the week. I was contacted on Yahoo IM this morning by a guy named Steve. He lives in Idaho and seemed really nice! We chatted for about 10 minutes then all of the sudden he was gone. I'm bummed! Maybe he just had to go and I didn't scare him off... Yes, I'm having fun with new smilies today that Colin put on the server... LOL!!

2003-08-16T07:17:00.000-07:00

Snagged this quizzie from Beverly
YOU ARE ROSEMARY

What herb are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

2003-08-16T07:04:00.000-07:00

I think I could have stayed in bed all day today. But I needed to get my ass out of bed, for no other reason than to get out of bed and get moving! I'm feeling pretty rotten today, so achy and very tired. Showering and getting dressed almost did me in, but moving around tends to help me be less achy. I will take things easy today though, and will probably take a nice long nap this afternoon. The thunderstorms fizzled out last night, I wanted rain, damnit! Nothing much else to write about... I could bitch about a few things my sis Kathy and her asshold husband have done the past few days, but I won't! They're not worth my energy. LOL!! So...I'm going to sit here at the computer for a while and visit all of you instead, THAT is worthy my energy. Enjoy your Saturday!!

2003-08-15T18:45:00.000-07:00

Mom and I had a good time today. We decided that we'd go to the restaurant where my sis Susie works for lunch. She fixed me my usual - a bacon/cheese omelet and homemade hashbrowns topped with cheese. Ohhhh so delicious. I have half of it left over so that's my breakfast tomorrow! How is it that when you only need a couple of small items at the grocery store - planning on spending under $15 on said items, that you come out with $40 worth of stuff? LOL!! It just amazes me, but there were things that were on sale plus having a coupon, I couldn't pass the deal up. Mom just laughed at me, but ya know, I'm just like her and that is what made her laugh the most! I got so excited when I saw that the Rice-a-Roni was 4 for $3 and then I had a $. 75 coupon so I got 4 boxes for $2.25. Not many people get excited over things like I do, do they? Do I need to start worrying about myself? Do I seriously need to get a life? Doesn't take much to get me going... I'm so easily entertained, passionate, and excitable any man would be lucky to have me... *snicker* see, there goes my mind into the gutter again, but the gutter can be a very nice place if you're with the right person. Looks like we've got another thunderstorm moving in... with lightening! I better shut this computer off just in case. Toodles!!

2003-08-15T05:41:00.000-07:00

Hooray for Friday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There are some days when I feel like I'm just barely hanging on... And then all of you come along and show me such support and give me encouragement that I need to keep going. Thanks so much for all your support - always! *HUGS* I'm so fortunate to have so many great friends! Don't know what I'd do without you all! I AM feeling so much better about things today, a lot less stressed and I'm starting to relax some about worrying about the cash advance for my tuition. There's really no reason why they couldn't do that for me. I've worked for them for over 8 years and have more than proved myself a valuable and worthy employee. Timster will certainly raise hell if they don't give me the advance, and I'm sure Mike will too. We really had a bad windstorm during the night. Lawn furniture is strung out all over (it even tipped over my Dad's swing, which 3 people can sit on and as soon as the wind started up, he was smart enough to take the canopy and cushions off so they wouldn't get lost.), tree branches everywhere... what a mess! Its just starting to die down now. There's a "chance" of more thunderstorms today, so maybe this wind is blowing them in. Hope so! That's all for now... I need to get busy and get the rest of my cleaning done, then run my errands. I will see if my Mom wants to go along too and have some lunch - since this is the last Friday for a while I'll be able to take her to lunch. We could perhaps start having our lunch and errand days on Saturdays while I'm in school, but we'll have to see how that goes. Have a great day everyone!

2003-08-14T18:10:00.000-07:00

It was one hell of a emotional roller coaster ride today! Well, this week actually, but especially today. Ride #1: I checked my voice mail this morning and there was a message from a lady named Diane from our corporate accounts payable about my tuition expense report - the one for $1100 which I submitted last week. (I've been waiting for this expense report reimbursement so I can pay my boss back since he had to put my tuition and books on his personal credit card.) Diane asked where my grades were and that I had put the wrong dates on my expense report, or if the dates are correct, and I haven't even attended classes yet, I'd have to wait until the term is over then resubmit the expense report for reimbursement. So, in other words, I have to come up with the money first and then be reimbursed. Who the fuck has $1100 sitting around? I sure don't! So, here I am owing my boss $1100 that I do not have for tuition that the company is supposed to pay for. I wanted to break down and just cry. Tears broke through but I composed myself and told Tim what was happening. I didn't know what to do - I was thinking this is over, I'd have to drop out before I even started and take the loss of 10%, etc., but Tim said he had a meeting with our Div Mgr Mike and he'd see if there was anything they could do. In the meantime I took several deep breaths and cried on Colin and Emma's shoulders via e-mail (THANKS!!!!). Then a last minute meeting was called (see Ride #2) that I had to go to. After the meeting, I came back to my desk and called Diane. I explained the situation but she said there are absolutely no exceptions. You do not get reimbursed until the grades are in. Period. There was no policy that said anything about this in all the policies on our Intranet. The only thing it did say was "You must get a C or higher grade or you will have to pay the tuition back." What a crock of shit. Then Diane asked me "Why don't you just ask for a cash advance?" Cash advance???? I had no idea that we could do that and it sure as hell wasn't stated anywhere in the policies or tuition assistance stuff. So, I asked her what I needed to do and she directed me to the link in our intranet. I told Tim about it, got all the documentation together and filled out the forms. Mike has to approve it, but that shouldn't be a problem since it was all approved before... but there's still a slight chance the treasury dept (who gives out the advances) will deny it. I feel some relief, but I won't rest easy until I have that check in my hands and can pay Tim back. At the end of the term, I'll resubmit the exp. rep. with my grades and note that I got a cash advance already so it will "zero" it out. If the treasury dept doesn't approve it for some reason, I'm sure that Mike can ask his boss to get involved and get it approved. After all, I am definitely a hardship case! LOL!! Tim's meeting is on Monday, so he'll sign the forms then and see that they're sent off to the treasury. I called Natalie (Mike's assistant) at the off-base office to let her know what's going on, and she said "they don't do cash advances." Ohhhh yes they do and I have the policies to back it up. Natalie and I came to the conclusion that they most likely don't "like" to do them, but they DO do them. Tuition advance was specifically named and an entire section was dedicated to it. They don't advertise it and make it difficult to find, but its there. Ride #2: Our gov't organization that we're contracted to (Tim, Greg and I) has lost their sponsor for funding (this happend a few months ago) and we've been trying to find another sponsor for months. Nothing has panned out, so we had a meeting today and they told us that this funding will run out about Thanksgiving time. The first to go will be the contractors. We have customer funding that will cover consulting work, workshops, etc., but our information services and customer service areas will be cut unless we find a sponsor for them. Guess where the majority of my workload comes from? Yup, CS and IS. So... the main reason Tim is meeting with Mike about is "if the gov't doesn't find a sponsor, what happens to Karen, Tim and Greg?" Tim and Greg are consultants, but they don't work on customer funded projects 100% of the time either. So really, all of our jobs are in jeopardy. Our company does have other contracts on Hill AFB, as well as some work that could be done at our off-base offices. When I went to the company picnic a couple of weeks ago, I was talking to the financial guy, Bart from our main off-base office about the state of our gov't org and he said "we'll take care of you." I'm not sure exactly what that meant, I'm sure they'll do everything they can to place us, but I kind of had the feeling that Bart has talked to Mike about perhaps having me come and work him at that office. Just a weird feeling I had, not sure if it was my 6th sense or just a weird feeling. I've been concerned about this, obviously for months but I had a feeling that it would all work out fine and we'd find a sponsor... but after today's meeting I'm not so sure anymore. The gov't head honcho has one more advocate that may be able to sponsor us, so there's a glimmer of hope, but no one is really holding their breath. There's just so many budget cuts and programs that are being abolished. Its so scary to think of what is happening to our defense system. They need to put more money into it, not cut it. By this time, it was time for lunch and ooohhhhh did I need those cheese enchiladas! Big time. Sheri and I had a really good time, she's such good company and we both had a lot of things we needed to talk to someone about. So, good food, good company and we both felt so much better after lunch. I came back from lunch and had a card in my e-mail from Annie... Thanks, Annie! You sure know how to make me laugh! Ride #3 is on my Health Log if ya wanna read it. We just had a huge thunderstorm! The power was out for about 45 mins and it rained like crazy. It was so nice! I wish it would keep raining but its has stopped now. While the power was out, I took a nice cool shower and I'm feeling mucho better. I was all hot and sweaty because I cleaned the hell out of my bedroom after I got home from work. It needed it, and I needed the stress relief of cleaning it. Well... I am going to go really relax now and watch a fun movie to get my mind off things and destress. I'm soooo glad this week is over! This is my last weekend before school starts so I best make the most of it!

2003-08-14T03:49:00.000-07:00

Today is the day Colin is to return from his trip! I went and filled out a report about my car being "keyed" yesterday. I knew they wouldn't be able to do anything but I wanted it on record and they need to be aware that its happening at least at our building. It could be happening at others and no one is reporting it. Yesterday afternoon was calm - Debi and I met the deadline for those workshop materials and everything is set. There was a meeting about this whole thing, but Debi and I weren't invited - which was OK with me. I was likely to have blown my top at Jim. I saw him in the hall as I was about to go home and he said, "thanks for all your help with the materials." I just said "You're welcome" as I walked out. I went home and just pretty much crashed, I was so tired. Still not sleeping well, if it keeps up I'm going to ask my general doc next week if I can get something to help me sleep and stay asleep - or at least be able to go back to sleep if I wake up in the middle of the night. I woke up again at 1:30 and couldn't go back to sleep... so I got up at 3 and came into work early. I'm making up time anyway, for the lunches I've had as well as going home early on Tuesday. We finally got funding for a series of workshops yesterday (we've waited for about 2 months to get approval for these) that will be taught to people here on Hill AFB. I've been asked to handle the registrations and coordinate all the materials and facilities. This will keep me pretty busy, but I like to do stuff like that. I'm hoping my car's digital display is in at the mechanics so I can get it fixed before I start school next week. I called them yesterday to see if it had arrived yet and they were going to call and see where it was, but they never called me back. So I'll call again this morning. I also need to get the safety and emissions done as well. It better pass or I'm in deep shit. ;-) Have a great Thursday everyone! Its my Friday! Woohoo! 3 for Thursday is up - go play!

2003-08-13T07:21:00.000-07:00

I just found out that someone came along yesterday and scraped a car key across the hood of my car. It happened to two other people so far. WTF is wrong with people?! The cars that were "keyed" weren't parked next to each other, so we don't know why it happened. We were all parked next to the building, on the same side of the building. The only thing we can think of is that maybe we were parked a little close to the "white line for the parking stall" in front of our cars and the person didn't appreciate it? Its not a "walkway" between the parking and the building anyway. GRRRRRRRRR! The first guy who noticed it yesterday reported it to the security police and filled out in incident report, and I will be heading down sometime today as well as the other guy to fill one out too. I sure hope no one else's car was keyed. The security police said the only thing they can really do is patrol the area more often... so thank God for Karma. No kids are around, so we know it was an adult - or at least an adult in "years", in mentalility about 3?? Or is just plain malicious and twisted... I've just handed off the materials to Debi, she was so grateful that I came in earlier than normal to get it done, to give her some extra time to do what she needs to do. Poor Jim hasn't shown his face yet... tee hee

2003-08-13T05:34:00.000-07:00

Some things in life are just so sweet that I can't help but smile. Now, there are really two kinds of "sweet" I'm referring to. Number one are incredible, supportive friends that are there for you no matter what - no matter how difficult their lives are, they always take time to make a point to brighten your day. The second kind of sweet: I get a voice mail from Tracy, the manager in charge of these workshops this morning (she left it last night) instructing me to not do any work on the workshop materials except get them ready to be printed. The rest was up to Jim. I got in this morning, and yes, the files were in my inbox and in the proper format!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If I hadn't been sitting down, I would have fallen on my ass. Anyway, there were a few minor changes I had to make because he wasn't sure how we wanted certain things formatted, but that's OK, I don't mind little tweaks here and there (I really - wouldn't mind a tweak or two in other ways *snicker* sorry... my mind just went there). I'm waiting for the printer to get done now, make one final sanity check, then I'll compile everything and get it ready for Kinko's. I'm guessing that Tracy had a nice little chat with Jim last night... and THAT is what is soooo sweet. Another sweet thing, was the e-mail he sent with all the files was time stamped at 2am. I still don't feel the least bit sorry for him. He should have given the stuff to me last week and this whole thing could have been avoided. Live and learn, asshole! OK... I'm done being a bitch. Things have worked out OK now and we'll meet our deadline. My day should and WILL get better from this point forward, whether it likes it or not.

2003-08-13T01:55:00.000-07:00

Well, its almost 3am! I've been awake since 1:30 and couldn't go back to sleep so I decided to get my ass out of bed, and go in to work an hour early to get started on those workshop materials. I'm still so pissed - and I know I should just let it go because its not doing me or my health any good at all to be this upset. I guess the main thing that upsets me is Jim's total lack of respect for my and Debi's time and our jobs. Although the things we do may not be as "important" as his job (being a consultant), he doesn't realize all the work that has to be done behind the scenes. Most everyone else knows this and really appreciates what we do, but assholes like Jim have to ruin it. It really makes me thankful that I don't have to work with this jerk all the time. I'm going to try reformatting one section (since I'm going in early) and see what is involved. I may be able to have time reformat it all, depending on what a mess it already is. We'll see... if its going to be a big problem, then I'll just let it go as is. I also had a dream last night that I told Jim off royally... it felt so good. LOL!!! We'll see if this dream comes true ;-) Anyway, enough bitching. I hope everyone has a great Wednesday! I know my day will be better once I get all of this workshop stuff done and I promise to try not to let this get to me more than it already has. Its just not worth it! Off to work, I go! Hi, ho, hi, ho.

2003-08-12T17:03:00.000-07:00

Just heard from my doc's office and I'm finally being referred to a hematologist to find out why I'm anemic! I'll call and make an appt first thing in the morning. As I was going to talk to that asshole Jim today on my way out of the office I decided I was still too pissed off to talk to him, so I went over and talked to Debi. Debi said that she'd talk to Jim again and tell him that we have to have his materials tomorrow - and they have to be in my e-mail by 5am. He told her that if we put his materials in the template, it would mess up the formatting. DUH. She told him that is WHY WE NEEDED THEM last week so we'd have time to reformat all of it. Dipshit! Debi called me a few minutes ago and we got managment involved in it. The materials are supposed to be uniform to other workshops we've held but since Jim has put this off, then we have no choice but to go with what he has. BUT I still need the materials in the morning so I can get them ready to go to Kinko's. Kinko's has to have them by noon. I haven't heard Debi so pissed - ever. Jim needs his ass kicked and I do believe he will. Anyway - Jim mad a point to call his wife while Debi was standing there to tell her "Honey I'll be working late tonight." Expecting Debi to feel sorry for him?! Nooooo I don't think so! I sure as hell don't! He can burn the midnight oil for all I care. He didn't do his job and its made it impossible for Debi and I to do ours. AND it is going to make our organization look unorganized and unprofessional because of him. Rant over. I need to calm down and go to bed! G'night!!

2003-08-12T12:30:00.000-07:00

I think I'm going to be bad and take a couple of hours off this afternoon. I'm done with all my database work, and other work - at least the stuff that I had to work on. I'm really tired all of the sudden and my hip is bothering me. I am waiting on some asshole named Jim to get some workshop materials to me to reformat and of course he's waiting until the last minute - he's know about this workshop for 8 frickin months, and was supposed to get the materails to me last week, but did he? No... did he get them to me yesterday? No. Will he get them to me today? No. Will they be in my inbox tomorrow morning? They better be. He said he and another guy would go through them this afternoon and asked "is that OK?" I replied "No, not really since I needed them last week and now you've put me and Debi (who I have to give them to NLT tomorrow) in a real bind." The asshole had the nerve to just shrug. I mean, who the hell does he think he is?! I walked off at the point, I was FUMING. I know the materials are going to be a complete mess, and I have to put them in a common template (in PowerPoint). He's going to have a hissy fit that I've reformatted his stuff, but that's too damn bad. I have management to back me up on any changes I make - and they're just formatting, I wouldn't dream of touching his content. I'm outta here... but not before I go over and tell him the files better be in my e-mail when I get here at 5am tomorrow morning. I'll decide if I'm going to be nice or not while walking to his cubical. ;-) TTFN!

2003-08-12T04:11:00.000-07:00

Good morning! We made it to Tuesday! YAY! I had a hell of a time getting home last night. There was a big wreck at a junction of two freeways. Luckily I heard it on the radio that all 4 directions were closed so I was able to get off on an earlier exit, but then had to deal with traffic in town which is normally heavy anyway, but was pretty much at a stand still because a lot of other people had the same idea I did. Anyway, it took me 30 mins longer to get home than usual, an hour total...in 103 degrees. Too damn hot. I was soooo ornery and exhausted by the time I got home. I felt sorry for all the people stuck on the freeway though, with no escape but to sit there and wait it out. I was really shocked that someone actually reported it to the radio, since Ogden isn't always covered on the traffic watch, usually Salt Lake is the only area. So, once I got home, I grabbed a sandwich for dinner, checked my e-mail and watched Days of Our Lives that I'd taped. I went through my mail and then started watching an old Disney movie called Gus with Don Knotts. I didn't get too far into it until I fell asleep. I was in a nice slumber when a stupid telemarketer called at 8:30. That pisses me off to no end. I cannot wait until that law takes effect for the "do not call list". I told them to take me off their list AND I didn't appreciate being called so late. She said "Well, ma'am the law states that we can call until 9pm." I replied, "Well how would you feel if you had to get up at 3:30 am and you were woken up by some irritating bitch trying to sell you something?" "Click" tee hee I'm sure being telemarketer really has to be one of the suckiest jobs in the world, so frustrating, getting rude people on the phone, getting a lot of rejections, but ya know... its also an invasion of MY privacy. I pay to have my number non-published and non-listed for a reason. I do not want to be called by anyone that I don't give my number to. Plain and simple. If they want to sell me something, send me something in the mail. I'm having lunch with my friends Linda, Gordon and Brian today. This is will be my "last week" for a quite a while that I'll be able to go to lunch with friends since I'll have lunch time classes starting next week. We're going to Famous Dave's BBQ and I'm hoping the ham sandwich will be something I can eat. I'm really looking forward to seeing all of them... and who knows, maybe I'll get another boob smooshing from Bri. tee hee

2003-08-11T13:39:00.000-07:00

I'm taking a break! Its been a pretty crazy day but not really a bad Monday. It started out with a lot of things being thrown at me to do, but I was able to get them done and work on my database. There were a ton of records to be inserted that we found. Our data port was shut down since last Wednesday so everything piled up and was recovered today... so I was a busy girl! I just finished inserting about 75 records and processing their requests... so I deserve a break! I decided to let my hair just dry this morning and go curly. I've had a lot of compliments on it, so I may just do this more often! I'm still looking for a new hair style, so I'm thinking maybe I'll find one that I can use my natural curl with. Maybe a style that is just wash, a bit of styling and go. The really weird thing is - that I've slowly got natural curl over the past 3 years. I NEVER had one wave before that. Truly weird how things can change in a person's body, whether its from medications, or just changing. My X SIL who has done my hair since I was 13 still can't get over the fact that I've got curly hair now.

2003-08-11T04:08:00.000-07:00

Monday had hit us in the face once again, hasn't it?! I actually slept like a rock last night. I went to bed early, and fell asleep between 5:30 and 6:00pm and woke up about 3am, still propped up on 2 pillows, still wearing my glasses. I hadn't moved all night long! LOL!! I didn't even have to get up and pee which is really unusual. Anyhoo... Feeling pretty sore today still but haven't had to take any pain pills yet. I imagine if I do have to take a pain pill, I'll just take a half. I got a lot of rest yesterday, and was just a bum... got caught up on some shows I taped (Monk, Wild Card, and 1-800-Missing). I was also able to talk to Connie on Yahoo yesterday morning for a while - its been ages since we've been able to chat. My bud Colin had to go to Dayton, OH for work and won't be back until Thursday - miss him already!! Did anyone notice that beautiful full moon?! I saw it as I was driving to work this morning and it was incredible! OK... time to get to work! Have a great day!

2003-08-10T08:08:00.000-07:00

I had such a GREAT time last night!!!! Dinner was a lot of fun, there were about 11 of us and the food was really good. The play was absolutely fantasitc!!! My cousin Kelsey did such a fab job as Annie. Her character was just a riot, her accent was a hoot and her singing was excellent. She looked like she was just having the time of her life up there on the statge. We're all so proud of her!!! Its so cool to see someone you know up on the stage, it makes the play all that more fun to watch. My asshole BIL Ellis decided to come home this morning after being gone a week. He just turns this house upside down when he's here - brings so horrible vibes with him. Mom and Dad aren't happy he's back, they've actually started to admit they like him being gone. But Kathy has to be the one who tells him to get lost once and for all. My Aunt Lou Jean was going to stay until tomorrow, but she told Mom this morning that she felt like she needed to go home a day early. Mom felt really bad, and after Mom went upstairs, Lou Jean talked to me about why she felt like she needed to go home. She thought my Mom had too many things going on with Kathy, Ellis, and the baby. I told her that having her here has been such good medicine for Mom and asked her to reconsider staying until tomorrow. I changed her mind, and she's going to stay. She just came back downstairs from telling Mom she decided to stay - and Mom was really happy and Lou Jean said that she almost started to cry because she was so happy. Makes me feel good too. I'm not going to do much of anything today, I'm really exhausted and have a sore throat. My shoulder and wrist are feeling better (haven't had to take pain pills today). So... rest for me! I hope everyone has a great Sunday!

2003-08-09T11:20:00.000-07:00

Got this link from Ulrika
You are an angel.
What legend are you?. Take the Legendary Being Quiz by Paradox Got this one from Brian
Pirates of the Caribbean!

What movie Do you Belong in?(many different outcomes!)
brought to you by Quizilla

2003-08-09T10:30:00.000-07:00

My SIL Patti was in a car accident yesterday! She was going through an intersection on a yellow caution light when she colided with a guy coming from the other direction. She is certain the light was yellow and even had a guy behind her but he fled the scene, and the guy that she colided with wasn't even stopped at the light (his red light) when he claims it had just turned green as he was driving. Patti got the ticket though, for "running a red light" sounds awful fishy to me... Anyway, she wouldn't go in the ambulance (stubborn!!!) so my bro J Dee took her into a clinic to get checked out. She broke her ankle, and it sounds pretty serious. They have to see a specialist on Monday. She's really sore across her chest and also bit her tongue. The airbag didn't deploy either, and it should have so J Dee is checking into that! She's so mad about the whole thing, but also so grateful that she wasn't hurt worse, as we all are! Anyhoo... I just sent her some balloons and with some M&Ms and hopefully that will cheer her up a bit. Not sure what she's got against ambulances, I'm going to have to get the story there. She told my Mom one time that she would have to be "out" or dead before she'd get in an ambulance. LOL!

2003-08-09T08:38:00.000-07:00

Last night I watched part of the Piglet movie (finished it this morning!). Its soooo cute! There's something about Winnie the Pooh and the gang that just soothes me. Makes me feel good. The relatives decided to invade again last night. Even though I felt like shit, I decided that I really wanted to be upstairs with them. The pain pills were doing a pretty good job and its not like visiting was physically straining! LOL!! Mom and I threw together some hoagie sandwiches, chips, fruit, etc., and we all ate together. There always has to be food at family gatherings... its part of the enjoyment of life I think! LOL!! People: my aunts Jan, Linda and her hubby Dale, Lou Jean, cousins Dana, Teria and her hubby Jeremy, my nephew Travis, my parents, niece Elyssa and my sister Kathy (she was actually decent to me and everyone else - shocker). After we ate, we decided to have a rousing game of Dominos, a game called chicken scratch. Its a riot! We were all crowded around the table and we laughed and played until about 11pm. Travis had me in tears a couple of times making jokes, he's so funny. He knew I was in a lot of pain, and on pain pills so he really took advantage of the situation - he was getting quite a kick out of making me laugh - I even snorted a couple of times (which made everyone laugh). I even got a few quips in, and cracked Travis up. Our sense of humors are a lot a like. We just all had such a great time! I'm so glad that I joined in the fun and didn't stay down here and suffer - being with all of them really took my mind of my pain. I had a rough night, as far as my stupid shoulder. Every time I moved I woke up UGH. Its feeling slightly better now... I'm staying on top of the pain and taking things easy. I don't want to miss dinner and the play tonight so I'm staying home and resting all day. Mom and Lou Jean are going shopping and wanted me to go too, but I'm staying home. They can go and have some quality time together. In the meantime, I'm going to come around and visit all of you... I may not comment (typing still hurts a bit) then I'm going to eat lunch and take a nap so I'm well rested for tonight. Have a great Saturday everyone!!!!!!!!!!!

2003-08-08T15:37:00.000-07:00

I don't know what the hell happened, but I've been attacked by RA today, big time. I started hurting so bad and feeling so shitty that I had to come home from the galavanting before the galavanting was done. More details on my Health Log. I didn't feel totally guilty though because my Aunt Lou Jean was really tired too... in fact she's snorning on the couch right now as I'm typing this! LOL! She's quite the snorer. My Mom and Lou Jean may go back to galavant some more later on with my Aunt Jan and her friend, but for me... its rest, ice, and pain pills. Oh! I can watch The Big PIGLET movie!!! I'm set!

2003-08-08T09:35:00.000-07:00

I took my car in to Midas to have the exhaust leak fixed (the one the mechanic told me I had last week). They didn't find one! I'm confused... there is a possibility that the mechanic thought a hole where the moisture escapes could be the exhaust leak? That's how the muffler/exhaust was designed. I dunno... anyway... nothing was found so I went on my way. Got the lube job *snicker*. I took it to the place where my nephew works, although he was off today, they gave me a family discount which I thought was cool! Saving money today! I've got just a few mins before heading off to galavanting with the Aunts and Mom. My Aunt Lou Jean wants to go to my fav Mexican restaurant for lunch - twist my arm. She loves the restaurant too. So hopefully it will be agreeable to everyone else cuz it sounds *really* good to me... cha, cha, cha!!

2003-08-07T19:31:00.000-07:00

Today's Remacade treatment went well, and the details are on my Health Log. I ran my errands, came home, and then...Holy shit! Relatives invaded for dinner! 7 cousins, 3 Aunts, 1 Uncle, 3 friends, 1 sister (Susie - my fav came over!), and two parents and me (I almost feel like bursting out it song here, the 12 days of Christmas). We had pizza and salad. It was a lot of fun, but man it was crowded! Fantastic to see all of them. Tomorrow will be some galavanting with 2 of the aunts, possibly 3, my Mom, and one friend. I've got to get up early and take my car in to get the exhaust leak looked at, and if I have time before the galavanting, it needs a lube job too. If I don't get around to it tomorrow, I'll do it Saturday, when everyone else wants to do it too - (that is get their CAR lubed) tee hee I thought that sounded kinda naughty. OK... inside joke or I'm so damn tired that I find myself very amusing. It was probably the "lube job" that got me giggling... yes, I need a lube job. Everyone needs a lube job from time to time. I just finished dusting and cleaning my bathroom. The rest is just gonna have to wait until tomorrow night or Saturday morning because I'm just too tired to do any more. I'm going to bed! I hope everyone has a great Friday!!!

2003-08-07T10:53:00.000-07:00

Here I am... working away on some database stuff. Actually what I'm doing is deleting people and updating addresses of returned brochures we got in the mail. My question is, why do some postal workers and/or mailroom people find it necessary to black out the person's name or put a sticker over the person's name? Do they not realize I can't delete them without seeing the person's name? DUH people!! Come on! Gimme a break. I have to really do some work on some of them to get the names. There's been about 10/100 that even the entire address is blacked out and I can't see shit. See, "common sense" isn't all that common, is it? tee hee I e-mailed a lady in our corporate credit card dept about the problem I had with my corporate card paying for my tuition. It seems I've got one of the two types of cards - the travel expenses only cards. She said that I'll need my division manager to fill out a form saying its OK for me to have the second type of card, in which other expenses will be approved. So, I've sent an e-mail off to him asking him to do it for me, so next term I won't have to have Tim put it on his credit card. So... it should be sorted soon! Well, I'm outta here! Going to go relax in a nice comfy reclining chair, pillow under my arm (where they put the IV), blanket on my legs and my book. I'll be set. I may even take a snooze! TTFN!!

2003-08-07T04:13:00.000-07:00

YAAAWN! Another rather sleepless night... woke up at 1am to muscle cramps in my feet and legs then my mind wouldn't shut up again. Took muscle relaxants so I'm feeling nice and goofy. Weeee... Today is my Friday - YAY! I will only have one more entire Friday off (next week) while I'm in school so I gotta enjoy these last two Fridays. I'll have class and I will probably have to work a couple of hours before class on Fridays to make up for travel time to my class, etc., I'll survive though... LOL!!! I've been spoiled for quite some time. I haven't taken any lunches this week, (worked 11 hr days) so I'll be off at 12 today... then I've got a 1pm doc appt for my Remacade treatment. So it will work out good. I've got a book with me, and should finish it today while sitting there with the IV. Then I'll run a couple of errands and head for home. Can't think of anything else to say right now... hope everyone has a great day... and go play 3 for Thursday.

2003-08-06T13:40:00.000-07:00

Found this quizzie via Alexia
You are Peace. You are at peace with your self and the world around you. You have balance in your life and exude tranquility from every pore of your body. People are constantly asking you "what is your secret?"
What Emotion Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla

2003-08-06T04:07:00.000-07:00

Thanks to everyone who commented about me going back to school! YAY! I still haven't come down from my cloud quite yet... such a huge thing for me. Geez, I'm tired! I didn't sleep much past 2am because I woke up and my mind was racing about everything you could imagine. I hate that! Anyhoo... I'd hoped to get some extra sleep last night by going to bed early but it didn't work out that way. Oh well... my weekend is almost here. Its going to be a crazy weekend though, lots to do, and relatives (Aunts) will be in town. My Aunt Lou Jean will be coming tomorrow from Idaho for the entire weekend, and she always likes to stay downstairs with me. Having her there is always great, but its really going to cut into my early morning schedule since I get up early and get my cleaning, etc., done... not to mention reading my blogs Saturday mornings. *sigh* But she doesn't come often and she's fun. It will also be good for my Mom to have Lou Jean there with the bad week she's having. We've got tickets to a play that my cousin is in Saturday Night (Annie Get Your Gun, musical) that she has the leading role in. Looking forward to that. My other Aunt Jan will be in town for the play as well, and we're supposed to all get together sometime Friday. There will be lots of fun, but I'm already stressing about how I'm going to get all the shit done that I need to (cleaning, having my exhaust leak on my car checked and fixed, errands, pay bills, etc.) ARRRGGHHHH here comes my OCD rearing its ugly head a bit! LOL!! The errands I could run after my doc appt tomorrow afternoon and will probably have to clean tomorrow night since I have to take my car in Friday morning). OK, I'll quit rambling... Have a great hump day!!!

2003-08-05T14:13:00.000-07:00

I DID IT. I registered for two classes today. I?m now officially a college student at a university here on Hill AFB, where I work. Close, convenient, and within my training budget at work. AARRGGHHH can you believe it?!! LOL!! It all started last week when I was talking to my boss about what training I could attend this year. He said I had a registration, travel and a 40-hour budget. I searched the internet and couldn?t find any courses that really fit my current position that would be worth while, and others were beyond the scope of my duties. I could have continued taking the one-day courses down in Salt Lake, and get my MS Office Professional Certification, which would certainly look good on a resume and be helpful in my job, but I wanted more. I want something that I could use in life and use to grow. Then it hit me. I?ve been wanting to go back to school, and my boss has supported my goal and has wanted me to go back. There was so many reasons that I felt I couldn?t go back before, health issues and financial. The financial was once approved (by our previous division manager) but I would have to come up with the money first, then be reimbursed which was not possible for me, and then all my health problems hit. There were also personal issues for a long time before all of that though? the bottom line was I just wasn?t ready. For the past few months I?ve felt quite restless and not really knowing why. When the idea of using my ?training bugdet? for school tuition hit me last Thursday night, all the pieces just started falling into place. Things started making sense. Its time for me to do this. I know my health issues are far from over, but they shouldn?t stop me from living life and getting my education. There will be more stress, but a different kind of stress. I?m going to be learning and using this knowledge for my future. I talked to my boss, Timster yesterday and he was so excited! He immediately called our division manager and got his approval for me to attend two terms this year. There?s a possibility that I can continue with school after that, still company sponsored. The other terms will come out of a different ?pot? of money. Tim and I need to talk more to the DM about it later. When I went to pay for the fees today with my corporate credit card, the charge didn?t go through. I about died! I called the customer service line and they said that ?tuition isn?t one of the covered expenses on the card?. Shit? I called Timster and told him what had happened and he offered to put the charges on his personal card and I?ll pay him back when I get reimbursed. I?d come too far to back out ? and he knew it. I was so relieved and am so grateful. He?s such an incredible man! I ended up having to do the same thing with the books that I ordered too ? so silly that these things aren?t covered since its CORPORATE SPONSORED! Registration fees, etc., would have been covered! Sheesh! Anyway, I?m going to send an e-mail to the corporate card people at my company and see if they can fix my card so I can use it for tuition next time. There?s got to be a way around it. So, anyway? I?m going for a BS in Management/Accounting. I?m starting off with Principles of Accounting I, which is 11:30a ? 12:30p M-F, and then Organizational Behavior T & TH 4:30p ? 7:15p (perfect class for ME if I do say so myself, but it sounds interesting and will go towards my human resources part). Classes start August 18 and will go through October 12. Weeee!!! I am so excited yet so a little scared and nervous. Getting back into studying will be tough, but I know I can do it. Just a matter of self-discipline. Right? While I was out, I decided to stop by my old building to see Linda, my buddy Brian, and Sandi!! (Sandi is still over there on temp assignment) I first stopped by Brian and Linda?s office and saw Brian first. He was sitting at his computer, looked up at me and then did a ?double take?. Then he said my name and I went over and gave him a side-ways squeeze and he of course moved his head right into the side of my boob and smooshed it, then grabbed me and put his face right between my boobs! ROFL! I think he was happy to see me! Then he stood up and gave me a proper hug, but with more boob shooshing. I can?t say that I didn?t enjoy it too? tee hee? I?ve missed his harrassment/teasing. He couldn?t get over how good I looked, which really made me feel great! Despite my chipmunk face. Linda was in her cubical and I called over to her and she came running over? she didn?t recognize me from behind (even though I saw her just 2 weeks ago!) She made some comment about my skinny butt. LOL! Not really? not quite but skinner than it used to be! We visited for a few minutes, then I wanted to go see Sandi. Brian gave me another good boob smooshing before I left, and Linda and I went to see Sandi. I almost gave Sandi a heart attack, she was so surprised to see me there! She couldn?t stop grinning and was to tickled to see me. I?ve REALLY missed seeing her every day. We talked for a while, then Linda had to get back to work and so did I. Sandi walked me out, and we kept chatting? and then I ran into my friend Nancy! It was so great to see her too! I need to go visit them more often, its so hard being away from my good friends there. So, its been a really great day!! I?m really pumped about starting school and know I?m up for the challenge! The only draw back is that its going to cut into my internet/blogging/crocheting, reading, watching tv, etc time! Withdrawls!! BUT I can juggle and who knows organize my time better than ever and get more out of it. Oh, another challenge!

2003-08-05T05:14:00.000-07:00

Cindy has stopped blogging, I'm terribly sad about that!!! I always looked forward to reading her site... Good luck Cindy, I'll miss you! If you read this, I'd love it if you kept in touch! Lights are back on now - how many software engineers does it take to turn the lights on? 3. The main breaker was switched off for some odd reason... what really took the longest was for them to find a flashlight and then the right breaker box. Before they found the right breaker box, the let me use the flashlight to use the restroom - I had to pee BAD. My heroes.

2003-08-05T04:14:00.000-07:00

There are some people in our lives that are so special, so incredibly generous and thoughtful that we can never express our gratitude for all they do for us, nor express just how special they are. There is one friend of mine who I'm talking about. His name is Colin. I came home yesterday to a big box that came in the mail. This box contained some CDs he'd burned for me, as well as a t-shirt and a mug. I'd mentioned to Colin last week that while I was in Boston, I'd heard of a t-shirt that said "I got scrod in Boston" (scrod is a fish, and although I didn't have scrod, I had to have the t-shirt because I thought it was really funny) but alas, we could never find one. Well, this man went out and had the t-shirt and the mug (also personalized with my name on it!) made for me. Colin and his lovely wife D totally spoil me! Not just with presents like this, but especially their friendship, warm hearts and generosity. Thanks, Colin and D! I can't tell you how much you both mean to me! I got sort of a strange call from my Dad yesterday. He called and asked if I had eaten some of a coolwhip/jello salad that my Mom had made on Sunday. I hadn't, although I wish I could have because I LOVE the stuff but can't eat it anymore because of my diet restrictions. I asked him why and he said "I'm just doing some detective work..." OK... well, later I found out why he'd called. I was talking to my Mom last night and she'd had a really bad day. My heart just broke for her, she had such a hurt look on her face. I guess that Kathy had eaten two big helpings of this salad on Sunday (she shouldn't for one thing, she's diabetic!) then Mom had just a little of it. Yesterday morning, when Mom got up, she found the empty bowl in the sink, unwashed with a eating bowl and spoons in the sink. Later on in the day, Kathy asked if there was any more salad left. Mom said no, and that she'd found the emty bowl in the sink. Kathy said, "Well, did Karen eat it?" (Like that would have been a crime!) and Mom said, "I doubt it, she can't eat it and she wouldn't have left the dirty dishes in the sink." That set Kathy off big time and she verbally attacked Mom like she's never been attacked. Kathy yelled and yelled. Mom remained calm for a few minutes, then she yelled back. All my Mom does for her and Kathy treats her like that. What an ungrateful bitch. Anyway... Mom handled herself well from the sounds of it and told Kathy off. Kathy is just plain ill. Mentally and physically. I think she needs to be put away. She's the only one that could have eaten that salad. The only one who would have or could have (her husband was out partying with friends so wasn't even home.) I really thing the "Karen wouldn't have left the dirty dishes in the sink" is what set her off though, because it really bothers Kathy that I know how to clean up after myself (she thinks I score points with Mom and always have or looks at it as I'm kissing ass) and am considerate enough not to make any extra work for anyone. I just take after Mom that way... I hate leaving things messy and like to have things clean. Susie is the same way - and actually so are my two brothers. The only pig in the family is Kathy. Anyway... enough about Kathy... after Mom and I talked for a while and I gave her lots of hugs (which made her cry and me cry a bit too) I headed for bed and started watching My Big Fat Greek Wedding until I fell asleep. Then my brother J Dee and his wife Patti stopped in! YAY! J Dee came downstairs and installed a new water filter system for our drinking water, and then Patti came downstairs too and we visited. I didn't even get into bed until 9! Which is pretty late for me, but it was worth it. I'm not too sleepy today... or at least not yet. When I came in this morning, the building was totally dark, no lights on at all, not even the outside lights (I'm the first one here) but all the computers work... maybe the lights breaker switched off... so I'm sitting here in the dark with just the "under counter lights" and the light from my monitors on. Ooohhh... now if I only had a really cute guy in here with me we could have some fun! *snicker* Here's the pic of the doily I made - and will be making several of (its pinned and drying). Well, I best get to work! I've got some reasearch to do on my "secret" and hopefully this morning I can go do my "secret" thing and tell you all about it. Have a great day!!!!

2003-08-04T16:14:00.000-07:00

YAY, Monday is over... well, the work part anyway!! Busy day, but ended up to be a good day because a proposal I made to my boss has been approved. Not an indecent proposal or anything like that but something I've been thinking about doing for quite a while now. Its a secret until I get all the details sorted because I don't want to jinx anything. I'm really excited about it, but also nervous and scared. This is a huge step for me... OK... I better shut up before I give it away or jinx it. This project/proposal may be settled tomorrow, and I'll do my best to see that it is. The sooner I do this, the better. Lets see... what else happened today... hmmm... had a good phone chat with my bud Linda while I was doing some of the database work. We giggled and chatted about what's been going on the past week or so. She's going to England on Friday for a couple of weeks with her hubby to visit their friends. I wish I could go with them! Do you think I could sneak in one of their bags and no one would notice? We'll have to have a girls' night when she comes back, its been waaaay too long. I feel so good being able to put all the stuff that happened between Linda and I in the past and behind us. Although we may never be as close friends as we once were, it feels good to have her back in my life. She's is being so compassionate and understanding - even more than I've ever seen her be. Its funny how such bad things can happen in life, yet so much good comes out of it. Life is too short and we need to cherish the people in our lives before we lose them. That's about it really... me thinks I'll take a nice soothing shower before heading to bed. G'Night!

2003-08-04T04:04:00.000-07:00

Monday came whether I wanted it to or not! I've got a load of e-mail to go through this morning, and a lot of database work to do today and over the next few days. I don't really mind though, it will keep me busy, it's just repeticious. The RA in my wrist decided to flare, so I've got to baby it and wear my wrist brace. I better get to work... Have a great Monday... I know it's gonna be tough, but I think we can get through it! LOL!!

2003-08-03T16:09:00.000-07:00

We had one big storm move through here, for about 30 mins it was a major downpour, with lightening and some pea-sized hail. Its been sprinkling off and on the rest of the day and its been so great! It can just keep on coming, I don't even mind... even though I'm a hell of a lot achier than I was earlier! I'm hurting so much that I'm actually going to take a pain pill and head for bed. I also think I over did the crocheting today, or was at a weird angle or something because my lower part of my hand and wrist started bothering me. But I finished the doily... I took a pic and will post it later after its up on Colin's server. I finished watching Gangs of New York - good, good movie. The Emporer's Club was a pretty good movie too. I taped two new shows from Lifetime last night, and watched them today too. Wild Card and 1-800 Missing. Both really good shows! Its about time they had some decent shows on Saturday nights. There's another show on Friday nights that I discovered on the USA network, called Monk. If you haven't seen it, check it out! Its funny and a good detective show. I really don't want this day to end... because that means it will be Monday. Don't want Monday to come. Don't want to face Monday... yes, I'm being a whiny assed boob.

2003-08-03T08:28:00.000-07:00

I'm having a nice day so far, despite feeling really achy and tired. I watched the first half of Gangs of New York this morning (its 2-DVDs and about 167 minutes long!!! ) so I took a break and got on line. I chatted with Colin for a little while, then Glovefoxon Yahoo!! Its overcast outside so I'm hoping it will rain... ohhh... that could be one of the reasons I'm achy... a storm is moving in... anyhoo... I watched another movie last night. Phone Booth with Colin Ferrell... he is one fine man. It was a pretty good movie, not quite as "good" as I thought it would be, but it really makes you think about life and what you put out there. RAIN IS FALLING! Keep coming, rain, keep coming!! I want a downpoor! Anyway... I've also rented the Emperor's Club so I'll watch that after I finish Gangs of New York. Its a good movie so far, but very violent and bloody. Soo... I'm off! Hope everyone has a great day! Still raining! YAY! Its just not teasing me! Ohhhh, love that smell!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2003-08-02T07:08:00.000-07:00

Good morning everyone! I'm in a pretty good mood today, despite being achy from yesterday's fabric closet cleaning ;-) I'm looking forward to a relaxing day and am going to come around and visit all of you this morning. I do have to run to the bank and to the grocery store a bit later - I forgot one thing yesterday (hate it when I do that). Other than that, I'm free to do whatever I feel like. I found a doily pattern last night that I think will work for my Xmas gifts. The pattern looks easy and shouldn't take long to make each one. I started the doily last night, and perhaps will finish it today. If I like it, then I'll start making them in mass ;-). Update on that "Ellis" story... no one believes he was hit by a car. We believe that he got the shit beat of him, and someone either stole my Dad's bike, took it for money Ellis owed them, OR Ellis just out right sold the bike for his own profit. Kathy doesn't even believe he was hit by a car. He's such a dip shit. I really wish my Dad would take him by the ear, drag him outside and kick his ass to the curb. Or if he'd let me do that, it would be even better. tee hee TTFN!!!!

2003-08-01T16:03:00.000-07:00

I got all my cleaning done, and my fabric closet cleaned out. Wow - its really amazing how much fabric I have. I found quite a lot of smaller pieces of fabric that I can't see a use for (for me) but my Mom could make some shorts and t-shirts for my niece Elyssa. Mom was really thrilled about it, and she said that Kathy would be really grateful as well. After Mom and I got our stuff done, we went to lunch, we decided to do Mexican and had cheese enchiladas (cha, cha, cha!). I had a coupon (yes, I love coupons!!!) to buy one dinner and get the second one free. So, we ordered dinner sized portions and brought half of it home. Worked for us! Not bad - basically 4 meals for under 10 bucks, and that included tip! LOL!! Then after lunch we did the usual errands to the grocery store and then to Wal-Mart. As soon as I got home, the mechanic called and told me my car was ready. I about SHIT when the mechanic (Kyle) told me what he found wrong (its been running rough and miss firing). It was a cracked spark plug that was put in when I had it tuned up by the first place (Big O-Tires - who my Dad trusted so I took it there) back in April. I was furious! All the worry, all the stress, all the work my friend Robin's husband Jerry put all that work into it, trying to find the problem, and changing modules, etc., cost me about $125 then it was $80 labor to diagnose the problem at Kyle's today. So... I took my spark plug, and went and had a chat with Big O owner Mike. (He is a friend of my Dads so I was polite.) I took my receipts in, and explained what went on. Mike said "Well, you know that when you first brought it in, that I told you and your Dad that we may not be able to fix your car." I said, "I understand and remember that. You thought that a tune up would fix the problem so I had you do one. You were right, the tune up would have fixed the problem if the spark plug that you put in wasn't cracked. " He had an "oh yeah..." look on his face. "Then when I came to pick my car up and it was still running rough, you told me that you couldn't do any more for me and sent me on my merry way." Then I told him that I didn't want to make trouble, but it wasn't right that one of his staff's incompetence - or mistake caused me to pay nearly $200 and all the trouble Jerry went to. So we struck a bargain. He gave me a refund of $80, which paid for today's labor. I thought that was fair. I thanked him and was on my way. My car isn't totally fixed though... there are other things going on, one knew about (the digital display is going out again) and then there's an exhaust leak. I was expecting around $400 for the digital display (I had to have one 5 years ago) so that wasn't a surprise. Kyle has ordered the new display but it will take about 2 weeks to get it in so I'll take it back when its in. The exhaust leak I will take to Midas since I've got a warranty on my muffler that I bought 2 years ago. Its not a 100% coverage warranty, that only lasts 12 months so I'll have to pay for labor, but the muffler itself is covered. THEN after all that stuff is done, it should pass both safety and emissions tests (fingers crossed!) that are due in Sept. And fingers crossed again - my car will last me at least another year... If it lasts me another year, I'll hopefully be in a position position to get a new car. Its a 1987 Chevy Cavelier Z-24 but only 151,000 on it. Its been a good car really and I've done my best to keep it in good shape... and its still fun to drive. Even if I have to shell out about $1000 in repairs each year, its less than a car payment every month! Now I'm going to eat some dinner and relax!

2003-08-01T05:12:00.000-07:00

I had a good night last night! I got to talk to Annie!!! on Yahoo! She's so fun and such an incredible person... so positive about life no matter what she's faced with. Fastly coming one of my top heroine of all time!! HUGS Annie!!! You can't tell me there's not a bit of justice in the universe. My Mom told me a story of what happened to my asshold BIL Ellis. He "claims" he was hit by a car while riding my Dad's bicycle, left on the side of the road for dead. He's got a split lip, large bump on the head (which he claims rendered him unconcious, and no one came to help him), large gash on his leg and hand, road rash on one side of his arm and other leg. He said that my Dad's bike was trashed, but yet Ellis failed to bring it home. He doesn't remember where he left it. There are "holes" in his story and of course things don't add up. Even Mom even picked up on this. Sounds to me like perhaps he was knocked off the bike, got in a fight and someone either stole the bike or Ellis sold the bike. Dad told Ellis he want his bike back no matter the condition its in, but he'll never see it. The bike is probably long gone. Ellis never called the police to report the incident... wouldn't you call the police if you were hit by a car? I honestly think he was NOT hit by a car. I know I should be sympathetic to his injuries but I find myself not giving a shit. In fact, I'd actually like to see him, take a picture so I can have a good giggle. Most of the giggling is coming from his creativity in making up such lies, and we've all caught on. I better stop now though, because I could be creating bad Karma for me ;-) I'm feeling stronger today, and am getting my postitive energy and fighting spirit back. I'm still working through things, but I'm gonna be fine. Getting rid of all the pent-up stress is really helping. I did half my cleaning yesterday and will finish it this morning... then I'm going to tackle my fabric closet and clean it out and reorganize it. Therapy... OCD and stress therapy. I just love the vaccum sealed storage bags, I'll be able to make lots of room in that closet. I've got so much fabric its not even funny. I worked at a fabric store for 4 years and stocked up big time. I think I've got enough fabric for about 10 quilts plus a buch of odds and ends. I really should get back into sewing, but haven't been in the mood for a long, long time. I have one pieced quilt that has the blocks done, I just have to put the blocks together with the borders between the blocks, then the main border. I have 2 quilt tops totally done (one I made for my Mom, the other for my sister) that need to be quilted. We don't have the room to quilt them so they've been sitting for years - at least 11 years. I'm thinking of seeing how much it would cost to have them machine done at a quilting place. That would be excellent Xmas presents if I could afford to have it done. I dropped my car off at the mechanics yesterday afternoon, so I should hear something from him today if he can figure out what's wrong with it. I'm hoping its simple (so he can fix it today) and not too much moola. I think my Mom and I are heading to lunch and to run a couple of errands this afternoon, but am not sure. Happy Friday!

2003-07-31T04:46:00.000-07:00

One of the guys here has this beautiful Hibiscus plant in his yard. Every morning, he goes out, pics the flowers and brings one to each of us. Beautiful, isn't it? Always makes our day...

2003-07-31T04:10:00.000-07:00

I feel like I've been hit by a big emotional truck this morning, but am feeling better than last night. All this stress and turmoil just isn't worth risking my health over. I need to draw the line and not cross it. I am human though, and I go along dealing with things pretty well on a daily basis then all of the sudden BOOM it explodes. I wish so much I felt strong enough to work out again, that sure helped get my stresses out before and I know it will do it again. So frustrating. I'm also so tired of being tired. I still haven't heard from my RA doc about my hematocrit blood levels so I'll call today - we've got to find out what's causing my anemia. I won't let any of this beat me... I may have had a bad day yesterday and will probably still have a bad day today, but its getting better and it WILL get better, one way or the other. I need to keep my fighting spirit (its still there, I can feel it, its just taking a beating right now) up. I sound brave, don't I?! I'm also trying to convince myself even as I'm writing this that I'm so brave and can handle anything. Really though - I've been through so much in my life, I'm not giving in now. Just having some set backs this year. *Concentrate on the good things, concentrate on the good things*. I have such incredible friends and family to help me through things and am never alone. I'm so fortunate to have all of you in my life. No matter how much I bitch you're always there, sending hugs and leaving supportive comments. I have 7 hours to work today, will be off at Noon, then will take my car in to the mechanic. Dad is meeting me there and will take me home. If I'm feeling up to it, I've decided I'm going to clean the hell out of my room. It needs it and I need the therapy ;-). Have a good day everyone and thanks so much for listening and your support... and if you want to play 3 for Thursday the questions are up!

2003-07-30T16:11:00.000-07:00

I thought my day and emotional state were improving... then I got home. The long awaited decision on Kathy's disability claim has been extended another 6 months. I could look on the bright side - at least it wasn't denied - yet, but I'm just too upset that it wasn't settled today. Its just prolonged for another 6 fucking months. I don't know how much more of her and her situation I can stand. I don't know how much longer I can see my parents being dragged down financially, emotionally and physically. I don't know how much more I can stand of her so-called-husband not getting a job to support HIS family before I am going to beat the living shit out of him. I just really don't know how much more our family can take. I'm at a loss. I'm going to go have myself one hell of a good cry and take a Xanax or two (its allowed).

2003-07-30T04:15:00.000-07:00

I hate waiting... I'm waiting for my RA doc to call me back with my blood test results and he hasn't yet. Usually when I have blood drawn on Fridays, they call me Tuesday evening to tell me the results. No phone call last night. So, this could mean two things: he didn't get the results or he is deciding what to do with me. Hopefully I'll hear something this evening. As I got in this morning, another guy, Kasey came in right after me. He's in the next cubical over the wall, and said, "Karen?? is that you?" I said, "yes..." Then he said that he and other people are starting to wonder if I've started living here - sleeping on a cot. LOL!! Ummm... nooo... I told him I'd just gotten here and was just a few mins early. He's in here about 1.5 hours early himself. He and his wife have a new baby and he was up anyway so decided to come in and get caught up on some work. But no, I definitely don't live here ;-) In fact this week, I'll have my 40 hours in by noon tomorrow since I haven't been taking any lunches. Today is the day for my sister Kathy's disability hearing. I am praying to God and anyone else who will listen that she will get it. The house will come tumbling down if she doesn't. Her lawyer (at her meeting last week) didn't sound as optimistic as he has in the past, but we're hoping he's just being 'realistic' and trying to prepare for her for the possibiblity of not getting it. Since her first go-around, she's developed other physical disabilities (her main claim now is mental as if anyone couldn't guess that) so we're hoping those will help. Not much else to say right now... feeling kinda grumpy today since I didn't sleep well, and I'm really worried about a lot of things. Car, my test results, etc., I really wish I could have just stayed in bed today and hide from the world, but I won't do that. I need to keep going... but I am going to let myself be grumpy that's the only way to get rid of the grumps and get back to myself. Hope everyone has a great Hump Day though!! *hugs*

2003-07-29T14:00:00.000-07:00

I've run out of the creativity and motivation that I had this morning about my financials... I started to plan out my idea, then I asked myself if it was really necessary. No, can't say that it is. I can still extract the data I need in another way - a couple different ways actually. So, there ya go, I've talked myself out of doing it. I've worked on the database all day long but I'm finally caught up on everything! YAY! Its nice to have the time to do this stuff so I'm not complaining. There will be some more stuff coming in on Thursday that I'll have to do for sure, but I think tomorrow is going to be one of those "gimme something to do before I die of bordom" days after I get my regular/daily stuff done. I hope not, I hate those kind of days. I've made and appt with a mechanic for my car on Thursday afternoon. Its been running rough for quite a while, and its due for inspection in September. My friend Robin's hubby Jerry fixed what he could figure out on it back in May and he recommended a mechanic that he trusts (which is a very good thing). So, I'm going to bite the bullet and get an estimate, and hopefully its nothing *major* and can get it fixed and tested for safety and emissions. I can't afford any repairs, but then again I can't afford not to have my car! What do ya do?! This car really needs to last me at least another year. One hour before I get to go home... YAY. Its hot in here yet again... the air con is partially working and it stays kinda good until 1pm then it becomes an oven in here. UGH. A nice cool shower will be in order when I get home. Have a great night!

2003-07-29T07:52:00.000-07:00

I had to do it... I just had to do it. I had to order this today. I just love Piglet, Pooh and the gang!!

2003-07-29T04:08:00.000-07:00

I don't know where yesterday went! It just flew right on by... I had a break yesterday afternoon and was able to blog-hop for a little while which was nice. I had a ton of database stuff to do yesterday, and still have some to do today but I've got all day to do it, unless something else more important comes up. I also had an idea as I was waking up this morning on one more way I could sort my financials to make things a bit easier. So I may work on that this afternoon... when these brain storms hit, which I might add isn't very often, I better take action. tee hee I heard from a guy on that match thing I'm doing, and he sounds really nice. His name is Robert and he's from Idaho (about 70 miles away) and we've started e-mailing. We've exchanged messenger IDs but haven't chatted yet. Its worth a shot... I'm not expecting to be swept off my feet (by what I've seen so far), he may just be a good friend, but we'll see what happens. I've got to quit jumping ahead of myself and just let things flow! LOL!! I think and analyze things too much at times... got to quit that. Fun pic of the day:

2003-07-28T04:36:00.000-07:00

I just found the BEST thing in my Inbox today. It was my annoying cubemate Greg's timecard (which isn't due until the end of this week). Its all filled out for this week with LEAVE HOURS! He's going to be out of the office and I didn't even know it! Oohhh... this is looking to be a good week already!

2003-07-28T04:11:00.000-07:00

Well, its Monday... how did it come so soon again?! Time just goes by too quickly on the weekends. I've just gotten to work and am settling in. I see all the e-mail in my inbox and want to cringe, but I'll take one at a time. This week shouldn't be too crazy, unless something comes up that I don't know about. I forgot to write about the excitement in my neighborhood (well, this IS exciting for my neighborhood) over the weekend. When I got home on Thursday, there was a policeman sitting in front of my neighbor's house across the street. I thought it was odd, thinking maybe something was really wrong. So I told my Dad and he went over to see what was going on. Apparently my neighbor had seen a bobcat in her garage. The policeman couldn't find it, so he sat in her driveway for a while and kept watch while filling out some reports. After a couple of hours, he gave up and left. He thought my neighbor had lost her mind and was seeing a stray, wild cat. She asked him if stray cats have pointed ears, spots on their back and brilliant yellow eyes... Ummm... no. Saturday rolls around and the bobcat decided to show up again (or he could have just stayed and hid in their garage). It was indeed a bobcat. They had animal control come out and get him, tranquilize him, etc. Luckily no one got hurt. We live close to the mountains - probably about a mile or so from the base of the mountain range but we've never seen so much as a deer in my neighborhood, so this was really strange. Well, I better get to my e-mail! Have a great day everyone! Chant for today "We love Mondays... we love Mondays."