My weekend

So, Julie had to work on Saturday and Sunday, so Saturday morning I woke up and went with the Men@Work group (that's not really a link, so don't click it) and helped a lady paint a bedroom in her house. Simple, right? WRONG! It was her daughter's room and it was painted purple with craft paint artwork and oil pastel drawings all over the wall. It didn't take us long to realize that the oil pastels were mixing with the primer, giving the whole wall a rainbow effect (which judging by the girls artwork, she would have LOVED.) So, we had to send one of the men to the Man's Store to get something to get the oil pastels off the wall. I said specifically what he should tell them, because they would know exactly what to get it off with. He didn't ask anyone (go figure that!) and came back with a huge tin jug of Acetone. So, yeah, acetone gets the oil pastel off the wall, along with the paint...and the primer....and the sheet rock. :) After 4 hours of scrubbing we were all high as kites from the fumes and all the oil pastel was off the wall. We started priming, but since the room was pretty small there just wasn't enough work for 5 people to be doing. So, I did what any good city worker does everyday...i stood and watched. And occasionally I pointed.

Once that was finished I drove home with my windows down, because it was one of the most beautiful days I've ever experienced. Then, when I got almost home, i decided it'd be a good idea to go to the library and get some books to read while Jules was working. So, I got one Karen Kingsbury book and two Fannie Flagg books.

Then I went home, had some Ramen Noodles for lunch and took a shower. Jules got home around 5 and we had to leave at 5:15 to go to church. When we got there we met another lady who was also from Alabama and we discussed whether we thought Bama was winning at that precise moment. We had to do a singles event, and it pretty much stunk. We were promoting our Community group and that pretty much bombed. I thought people would really be interested in our group, but they really weren't. It turned out to be okay, though, because we already have a "core" group that attend the community group. The only thing that really stunk was that while wasting 3 hours of our time, we also missed church and the bama game. :(

Sunday morning Jules had to be in very very early. I woke up at 8:15 on my day off, and got up and read the Karen Kingsbury book I checked out on Saturday. I read it all. All day. That's all I did. Then when Jules got home she ate Ramen Noodles (notice a theme here??) and we watched the Bama Game and screamed our heads off at how EXCITING IT IS FOR BAMA TO BEAT GEORGIA!!

Then Erin and Sass called and said they were making Homemade Doughnuts and asked if we wanted to come over. We did. They made doughnuts and I made some glaze and they were pretty good.

Then we went home and went to sleep around 9:45.

This morning I woke up with a really dry, scratchy throat. YAY. I've started one of the Fannie Flagg books and it's hilarious!!

OH, another exciting thing of the weekend. I made plans with Catie Grace to go see HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL 3 with her when I'm in town later this month! yay!!!!

Anyway, that's my weekend, and now, Heather, I bet you feel like you were actually there!! :)

The Alpha Gam's would not like this post...

So, I hate squirrels. They are like little furry rats. They are fast, unpredictable, and armed with rabies and sharp claws. They can climb trees and attack from above. On my work campus people feed them, and that makes them unafraid of humans. They don't run when you stomp your feet. They stand there and stare at you, daring you to make a move towards them. They will purposefully run in your path so that you have to stop dead in your tracks, and then try to find a way around them. You go left, they go left. You go right, they go right. They stare at you with their beady little eyes, just daring you to test them. They perch on their hind legs, just waiting to spring into action and bite your face off. They run across the window ledge in my peripheral vision, just to make sure I know they're watching me. I won't walk through the grass once it starts getting dark earlier because I know they're waiting in the shadows to make their silent attack. They chirp and squawk in their little squirrely language telling one another, "Here she comes!! The scared one! Let's go get her!!" and they do. I honestly have no idea how to get around them. They know I'm afraid of them and they love to prance, as slowly as possible--mind you, right past me just to make me stand there, frozen in fear and wait.

I think I'll start bringing Westin to work with me so he can attack them.

Or at least bark at them and be more intimidating than I am!!

That Heather!

So, heather called today and said she was at Sam's and she found a bottle of 350 Zyrtec for $17.00. It's the generic, but who cares! $17.00. One month's supply of the real stuff is like $30.00. This is a whole year's supply for half of the cost of one month.

Heather can go to a garage sale and spend exactly 57 cents and get a new car out of the deal. She can walk into a store and load her buggy with $150.00 worth the stuff and only pay $8.00 because she has a coupon for EVERYTHING.

Heather can look on Cr*aig's L*ist and find a brand new San Pellegrino Stroller, or a perfectly un-used carseat, or a bra that turns into a stuffed animal all for $2.00.

Heather can go into an oil change place with a coupon for a free oil change and end up with that free oil change AND another coupon.

Heather can buy 25 pair of underwear from a L*ane Br*ant and them OWE her $2.00!!

Heather can go to the thrift store with two dollars and leave with more BRAND NEW stuff than she can fit in her trunk AND a free full tank of gas.

So, how is it that I had a free flight and ended up paying $200.00 for it anyway!?

That Heather!!!

VICTORY...at least halfway!

So, those stupid flyers I've been rambling on and on about for weeks?

I finished about half of them. We are sending them in two batches because sorting 1,000 flyers in zip code order is much much easier than sorting 2,000. So in that box is about 1,000 flyers that are stamped with the return address, labeled with the mail-to address, University stamped on them, and sorted, boxed up and FINALLY ready to go.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have ONE MORE 1,000 set to finish. Then I can be rid of those flyers forever.

Surrender

So, Jules has been trying to get a job working with a lab doing tissue analysis and using a microscope and squeezing pipets and slicing and spreading and all that stuff that lab people do. She has had 4 interviews for lab jobs. All 4 have been the best interviews of her life. At all 4 she was told they would like to hire her, they love her, and they'd call her back. She hasn't heard from any of them.

When she first became unemployed she applied for a job at Southwest Airlines. She didn't know if she would get it or not, but it was worth a shot. After a long process of about 3 months of interviews, stacks and stacks of paperwork, background checks, fingerprinting, meetings, and such, Jules got offered a job with Southwest.

She starts on the 17th. While she was in the hiring process with SWA I was just not sure that it was the right thing. I wanted her to have a lab job. That was what she wanted to do. The SWA job was supposed to be a "fall back" job.

Monday she applied for one last job at a great lab that processes donor tissue and organs. On Tuesday they called her back and said they would love to have a phone interview with her. On Wednesday they called to say that the shift had changed from Day to 3pm-1am. Working night shift is not really a possibility at this time, so unfortunately Jules had to tell the woman thanks, but no thanks.

So, she's back at square one.

I, being a Christian, believe that God is in control over our whole lives. I have struggled with anger issues with God lately, but that's okay, because I'm pretty sure God is big enough to handle me being mad at him. But, even in my confusion and frustration with the whole situation, I think I am at a point now where one fact is staring me in the face.

I think Southwest is where Jules is supposed to be.

Every interaction with the people of Southwest has been extremely positive. Jules is excited. There are good benefits. She will be treated like a human being, not just a robot filling a position. She will have a very good opportunity to advance in Southwest in very little time. She will be appreciated. All the signs point to this being a good thing.

I wasn't excited. I wasn't happy about it. I wasn't supportive. But after all that has happened...I had to remind myself that God IS in control. All those great interviews ending in NOTHING has to mean that God is clearing the path for her. Southwest MUST be where she's supposed to be right now. I have resigned myself to that fact.

So, stay tuned for a more supportive, more excited, happier me! Things are going to be okay. NO..they are going to be GREAT! And I'm feeling hope and optimism about this Southwest thing.

Watch out life....I'm BACK!

Hallelujah!

So, last night Jules and I went to this Chorale thing. *why do they call it a chorale? Is that different than a Choir? or a Chorus? Hmmm..* anyway. It's a whole collection of about 19,875 songs that make up "The Messiah" or something. It's by some guy named Handel or Mendel or something. (don't ask me, I'm no musical expert). We went with Mike and Erin because they kept talking about it last year and how fun it was and how much they enjoy it. So, we thought it would be fun for us to take part in too. Basically, you go, you learn the songs, and there's a concert towards Christmas. One of the songs is the Hallelujah Chorus...you know? "haaaaa-leeeeh--looooo-yuhhhhhh" you know? Angels singing and such? OK...well, last night, since it was the first night of the "season" they traditionally went through all 19,875 songs. Quickly. Without teaching anything. You were just supposed to either 1. Already know the music. 2. Be able to sightread music. If you did not fit into either of those situations then you were pretty much going to sit and listen. Guess what me and Jules did?

Did you guess Sit and listen?? Yeah.

It was pretty overwhelming. Intense. I messed up loudly once. Jules just moved her mouth to look like she was saying the words, but no sound was coming out. I leaned a little too close to the woman beside me in order to hear her angelic sounds...which turned out to be not-so-angelic. I sat when I was supposed to stand *hey did anyone else know you are supposed to stand when the Hallelujah Chorus is sung? I had NO IDEA!* I stood when I was supposed to sit. I giggled and grinned, if only to cover my embarrassment. It was all-in-all a below-par experience except for the fact that next week they start breaking down the songs, part by part, song by song. That will be better. But let's just say that if the performance had been last night....I would have been front-and-center in the middle of a very excruciatingly embarrassing experience.

It might have been ALMOST as bad as when Buzz puts the candle-lights behind Kevin's ears and such in Home Alone 2.

Almost.

Saturday through today...

So, I haven't been doing very good with posting. DUH. I'm just going to catch you up on what I've been doing lately. Nothing very exciting, but I figure writing about what's been going on is better than not writing at all. Plus, I mostly write this for heather and I'm sure she really does care about what I do durin the day, just like I care about what she does. So...

Last week I was sick for about half the week. I actually ended up having to call in to work on Tuesday and Wednesday. On Thursday I wasn't feeling great, but I knew I had to go back to work. So, I pushed through the day. We were quite busy, actually, so I didn't have a lot of time to think about it. On Friday I worked almost the whole day, which is unusual for me. Usually I get to leave early on Fridays, but this one I stayed until like 4:30.

On Saturday, I slept until like 10, which was GREAT! Jules and I couldn't figure out what we'd like to do that day, but since Jules is cooped up in the house all week, we knew we had to go SOMEWHERE. We watched a few episodes of Friends and then decided we'd splurge a little and go to the movies. We saw H*ou*se B*unn*y and it was pretty good. Not as funny as I expected, but still pretty good. The overall message was nice. Plus we got some popcorn...and that can make ANY movie bearable. :)

After the movie we went to church, since our church offers services on Saturday night, Sunday morning, and Sunday night. I prefer the night services so we don't have to get up early on a "day off". Church was good. It was about not letting anger and bitterness rule your life. I thought about sending the message link to my mom, just because I thought it would be encouraging for her..but there's just no way to do that without sounding judgemental. Ya know? I mean, you can't say, Hey, mom...i heard this message and I think you should hear it too. HA! YEAH RIGHT!!

Sunday morning we got a text message from one of the girls who comes to our wednesday night group. She wanted to hang out so we told her to come on over. It was 11. She stayed until 9:30 pm. She ate lunch AND supper with us. She watched every episode of the first season of G*rey's An*ato*my. We were very tired and actually had some shows we wanted to see on Sunday nights. That didn't happen. We were very glad for her company...don't get me wrong. She's a great girl...but when we're on a budget and she eats TWO meals at our house, that's a lot of our scrimped and saved moo-lah. Plus, she drank two of my flavored waters and left her trash and stuff all over the house. She used our computer and desk and left her stuff everywhere. I was just tired and ready for her to go. :(

Monday morning came way to early. I had a hard time getting up, but I still made it to work on time. Work was busy and the Dr. was behind so people kept getting ill at me, asking, how much longer?? or Do you know we have another appointment to go to at *** time and we're going to be late??? OKKK>>>tell the Dr about it when he comes in...because honestly, I have NOTHING to do with the fact that he's not here yet. I have done my part...I have done every procedure and test I can do...now you just have to wait on him. Maybe if you complain to him, instead of me, something might be done about it. GRRR.
Oh...and a toddler wrote on our white wall with blue dry erase marker. And no one said anything to us. The parents just acted like it wasn't there. I saw the kid with blue marker all over his face when they were leaving and I thought..."hmm...that wasn't there before...where'd he get that?" So i went in the exam room and looked and sure enough he had marked on the wall. it's a big scribble mark about 8 inches by 5 inches. HOW ANNOYING. now we have to paint the wall to cover it up!! The least the parents could have done is tell us.

Today I am seriously dragging. Jules had to fly to phoenix today for some orientation stuff for her new job so she had to be at the airport at 5:30. YIKES! So it was an early morning for her and for me...so hopefully I'll make it through today without falling asleep. Really my main problem today is that I'm STARVING. I need a breakfast sandwich or some oatmeal from Starbucks!!!!

I have some pictures to upload. I'll put them up later. :)

Camping, Jobs, and Illness

So, on Saturday we went camping with our community group. Mostly? It was a disaster. I learned lots of things about myself though. Things like, I don't like to sleep on the ground, and I don't enjoy 32 degree nights when sleeping outdoors. I also learned that it's difficult to hold your poop for that many days. And that it's hard to change clothes in a tent. I learned that not taking a shower for 3 days does something to your confidence, and that roasted marshmellows are the best food on the planet. So, aside from my self-enlightening experience, i didn't sleep...i froze to death...i got a sinus infection which left me miserable for a good majority of the trip. I was so annoyed with some people's inconsiderate-ness that I was sure my head might explode. It rained. Mice got into our food storage and ate some of it. People fussed the whole time. I was very glad to go, and learn lots of things NOT to do if I ever go camping again...but I am not sure I've ever been so glad to be home!!!

Jules still hasn't heard from the interviews that went sooooooo great last week. It's a shame because she really deserves one of those jobs. :(

And, finally, the reason I haven't been writing is because I have been really sick. I got some stupid sinus infection while camping and it has knocked me on my behind. I had to take two days off work, and although I'm back at work today, I still don't feel 100%. So, that's why I haven't been writing. That's why I am not my normal upbeat self. I'll be back to normal as soon as I can get the 25 pounds of cotton balls out of my head and sinus cavities. :)