KrustyLynn

Ahoy, Matey!

2011-10-25T14:06:00.006-06:00

hahaha, ohhhh, I haven't written here in FOREVAH! :) Not much has been going on since I last posted. I still have the same job. I live in the same apartment with the same roommate and same sweet puppy (most of the time).

I DID have surgery last month. To repair a really painful bunion on my left foot. I have to have the right one done too, but not for a while. I'll upload pictures soon...that is unless I drop off the face of the blogging earth again. ;-D I'll try not to do that. In fact, I'll devote tomorrow's post to my surgery. Before and after pictures! Although, my foot still looks like I have sausages for toes. Anyway...

Also, I just recently got rid of Zorro:

I traded him in (sad!!!) for Sylar:

And Sylar is one BAD kat! (Also, didn't you LOVE to HATE him in H*eroes???)

heheheheheheh! And I can honestly say that buying a car was the scariest thing I've ever done! I mean, it's such a scary, grown-up purchase! But, I knew what I wanted, and I knew what I wanted to pay and therefore I was able to get what I wanted.

We are also supposed to get like 8 inches of snow tonight. *sigh* I guess it's that time of year again. AT LEAST I HAVE 4WD NOW!!!! yay! :)

OK, maybe if I keep my posts short and sweet I'll actually stick with it! :)

Talk to you tomorrow!

My last post was brought to you by Depression and Desperation. Today's post is brought to you by hope and happiness. (Thank Goodness!)

2010-10-06T09:45:00.007-06:00

Hi.

Thanks for sticking with me through that last post. I know it was rough. Rest assured that those kind of times don't come around that often.

It might be unnecessary to say, but I'm feeling much better.

I found someone to watch my dog. That was a major stressor for me. And, as it turns out, it's not P. P will never sacrifice anything of her own (including her time) for me. I'm adjusting to that. Basically, I'm going to let go of my hurt feelings--understanding that this is just who P is. But that also means that I'm going to adjust my BEHAVIOR towards her. I won't keep putting myself out there for her to just hurt my feelings over and over.

Also, the Bachelorette weekend went perfectly and didn't end up being that expensive, so that was a GREAT relief! Everyone kept saying it was the one of the best weekends they've ever had!! One of the things we did was this place called Canvas and Cocktails. It's a place where you go and have a painting class and they sell glasses of wine or whatever. I don't drink, so I was mostly interested in the painting class! Here's what we were painting:

Here's my painting:

I am no artist, but I had a blast!!! :)

Anyway, I'll just wanted to thank y'all for being there for me when I was so down the other day. I'm feeling much much better!!

Talk to y'all again soon!

Strenght will rise as we wait upon the Lord, Wait upon the Lord...

2010-08-26T09:59:00.002-06:00

There are so many things in my life that I feel like I'm waiting on. Small things and big things alike. My cell phone, for instance, has been broken for like 3 months!! I purchased insurance at the time I got the phone, so I took my broken phone into Best Buy and they whisked it off to be "repaired or replaced." It's been gone for like 3 weeks. I've been using a phone that my sister lended (or is it lent?) me like 2 years ago. That phone gets the job done, but it has NO signal at my work. Zilch. So, I can't really do ANYTHING with my phone at work. So, I'm just WAITING on BB to call and say my phone is ready.

No kidding, my phone just rang and it was BB saying my phone is ready. Maybe whatever I type here will come true...Like a wishing well.

And then I got a call that I won the lottery without even playing **eyes closed, fingers crossed...waiting....**

.....

well, that didn't work. SHOOT! ;-D

I'm waiting on someone to call me about a thing that's very important. WOW! Was that the most vague sentence I've ever muttered in my LIFE?? I think so!

I'm waiting for football season to start. If you're not new to this blog (and let's face it--why would you be??) (and if you ARE new then I'm sure you didn't even make it this far in my ramblings!) then you know that I'm not just talking about ANY football...I'm talking about Number 1 Ranked, National Champions--University of Alabama Football. ROOOOLLLLLLL TIIIIIIDE! :) It starts next weekend...but the game is Pay Per View. So, I guess we'll be hovering around the radio like people used to do before TV was invented. Oh well. Last season I went into work to listen to the game on my work computer b/c the one at home wouldn't pick up the radio station! So, I sat at work on a Saturday and did a little work and every once in a while you'd hear "YESSSS!" echo down the hallway. Oops.

Then there are bigger things I'm waiting on. Things that I just have to trust God for. Things that I know will come eventually, but aren't here yet. And things that I don't want to RUSH, but I just get curious about. Like who I'm going to marry. I wonder who that will be. I wonder what he'll look like and what his name is. I wonder (and hope) that he makes me laugh all the time. I wonder if I'll know right away (like people always say) or if I'll just grow to know. I wonder if he's going to be outdoorsy or indoorsy. I wonder if I'm going to have kids? I wonder if I'll feel like I have to RUSH to have kids b/c I was "older" when I got married. I wonder how it'll feel to be a mother. I wonder if I'll be as good a mother as my sister is.

Almost everyone I know (from my past or even from my present) is married. Now, I know that I don't want to rush into a marriage. That married life is hard and I want to take my time to make sure I make the right decision. But now things are shifting to where everyone I know who's married is now having a baby. I can honestly say that I'm nowhere near ready to have a baby...but I wonder how different my life would be.

ANYWAY, I know that God has a plan and I'm not worried about it. I'm just curious.

Take a Bath! Wash ya'self! Take a Bath!

2010-08-18T09:13:00.007-06:00

Y'all know that song that goes "Shake ya' ***, Watch ya'self! Shake ya' ***! Show me whatcha workin with!" ?? Ok, It's a vulgar song and I don't listen to that kind of music, but it's been in TONS of movies and so I know it. It's a stupid song anyway and the only reason I bring it up is because me and Jules were talking about how she never wants to get up in the morning even when she gets "enough" sleep (whatever that is). I was telling her that I think like 88% of the human population feels that way. Everyone except those freaks who wake up bright-eyed and whistling some sort of happy song about sunshine and rainbows. Those people are just unnatural. So, basically I was telling her that I thought she would feel better if she showered in the mornings before she goes to work instead of at nights. She said, "but I don't want to shower twice--at night AND in the morning."

duh! Only those Freaky Morning People want to do things like wake up and jump right into a cold shower and sing showtunes at the top of their lungs!

I explained that I meant that she could just shower in the mornings. She said, "but I'm so dirrrrrty from work!"

That's when (before I could help myself) I said, "just take a bath at night. **pause** Take a bath! Wash ya'self! Take a bath! show em what ya' workin with!"

And we both busted out laughing. At 5:30am! Maybe we are those Freaky Morning People sometimes. (that is why we are best friends! If I hadn't made the joke first, she would have. )

On that note I'll leave you with a Top 5:

Top 5 Crazy-Fun Experiences with Jules in the 8 years we've been Best Friends

(Photo Version)

**after posting this I have decided to tell several of these stories in posts to come soon. Stay Tuned!**

This was a Murder Mystery Dinner we put on called "Lethal Luau." I was supposed to be a tourist in Haiwaii who's bags were lost by the Airline named "Les Baggs." Jules played a Pro Golfer named "Birdie Putt". hahahahahaah!

This was the first time that me and Jules went skiing. I cannot believe that I haven't posted about this experience!! Seriously, THAT is a good story! I guess stay tuned!

This was a picture taken at the Keith Urban/Sugarland concert, 2009. Also known as The BEST Concert Ever (TBCE)!! Me and Jules can't help ourselves! We love to make silly faces in pictures, especially when the other person in the picture doesn't know! That's lovely Jen, who was unaware of our little antics!

This was Halloween, 2007. The first year at my current job, Jules worked in the same building. We were two of about 10 who dressed up for Halloween! I was a basket of laundry and Jules was a Frazzled Housewife. Keep in mind that we both have lost at least 50 pounds since this picture was taken!

This was a hike Jules, Jen, Brock and myself did at Hanging Lake. The website said "Easy Hike." The creators of that website are a bunch of bold-faced liars straight from the pits of Hell. Just kidding--sort of. That hike was NOTHING like "easy". I have never been so mean to Julie in all my life as when I was hiking that trail. (I tend to get mad when I do strenuous exercise. I know...it's a fault). That's another post for another day, but stay tuned!

New Computer= posting at home!

2010-08-16T15:42:00.002-06:00

So, I got a new computer for my birthday from my mom and sister. I think I'm gonna name it Happy Top-Lappy. Anyway, You know what that means?? Not feeling so much rush to try to get a post in at work.

That means (hopefully) more posting than i used to do! :)

Stay tuned! HTL and I will be coming at ya soon!

~K

It's my Birthday!

2010-08-11T09:34:00.006-06:00

Well, today is my 26th Birthday! I don't think 26 is a very big deal, except for the fact that you're turning the corner from early twenties to closer to 30. That's okay though, because Heather is already 30. She turned 30 this year, so ha!

So, I went home for a Whirlwind Birthday Weekend last weekend and although my trip lacked a certain element of sleep, it was a really good time! Saturday I got to play all day with Mom, Heather and the kids and then we ate at O'Charleys (one of my favorites!) and then had ice cream cake! YUMMM!

The family also went WAY above and beyond and gave me a laptop (they said they got a really good deal) for my birthday! Since the computer I have been using is about 60 billion years old it was the perfect gift! I have been spoiled by the Acer. :)

Also, the family gave me a Nalgene bottle that looks like this:

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a HUGE Alabama fan. Living where I do, bama fans are few and far between so I love to show off my Bama Pride as much as possible. So, i LOVED this bottle! And who knows--maybe this will actually prompt me to drink more water! (I'll probably end up filling the bottle with Diet Coke instead! haha! just kidding---sort of.)

See the little slice of cake sitting there next to the bottle? That would be Banana Nut Bread. Brian (my boss) makes it for me on special occasions because he knows I love it! So this year he made me some for my birthday! Isn't that thoughtful? I know, I am lucky! I have the best boss in the world!

Also, not for my birthday but just because I she's nice one of the administrative assistants brought in these flowers for me today! I LOVE brightly colored flowers!!

Isn't that beautiful? They're in an Izzie soda bottle with a little twine bow at the top! Aren't they lovely?

Well, I suppose that's all for today. :)

Hello Again

2010-08-09T13:06:00.004-06:00

Hi.

It's been almost a complete year since I last wrote. I was going to start using a different blog, but Heather and I never found the time to create it. So, here I am again.

I got a little burnt out on the whole blogging scene last year. I felt like I had nothing good to say and for some strange reason I felt pressure to put out good material. And, let's face it, I'm constently mediocre at best. So, I took a break and I'm feeling much more like myself. Let's see...what can I tell you?

1.)I have moved. I still live in the same city, but I moved to a different suburb and I'm so happy about it. We finally got out from under our (CRAZY!) landlord and moved into an apartment complex. It's very nice and has painted walls.
Yes, you read that correctly. I hate white walls. They make me feel like I'm in an institution.

2.)Jules and I have started running. We began our jogging journey in about February, 2010 and we're still working on it. Our goal is to do a 5k race in November. We'd LOVE to run a 10k, but considering we started running 30 seconds and now we're running 20+ minutes at a time, I think we'll just be proud of whatever we can finish!

3.) I got my hair cut. And Highlighted. See Picture at top right to see new hair.

4.) I turn 26 tomorrow. Well, that's not really new news, because my birthday hasn't changed. I just thought I'd share.

5.)Zorro (my car) broke down and was fixed by my friend's husband. I call him Hunky Julio.

6.)I passed my test to be a Certified Paraoptometric. yay!

I hate to stop on a weird number like 6, but I can't think of anything else to say.

Today a patient that might just be the man of my dreams is coming in. So, I'll let you know if it's love at first sight! haha!

:) Talk to you again soon!

okay...I'm back.

2009-11-02T10:44:00.002-07:00

Sorry about that brief moment of weirdness. You know what I'm talking about.

Anyway, I'm back and my blog is back available to anyone who wishes to read about what I ate for lunch two days ago, or how many days I've gone without hot water. :)

So, I'm thinking of moving to a new/different blog. I will let y'all know for sure. Sorry for all the changes. I haven't been doing very good with this blog lately, and I really want to get back into things, but for several reasons I'm considering changing things up a bit.

Bear with me while I figure it out. I'll be sure to let you know, asap.

Thanks!

We interrupt your regularly scheduled program to bring you this news:

2009-10-27T08:20:00.003-06:00

This is what I awoke to via text this morning.

WINTER STORM WARNING IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 6 PM MDT THURSDAY...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW... WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM MIDNIGHT TONIGHT TO 6 PM MDT THURSDAY. THE WINTER STORM WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT.

RAIN SHOWERS WILL DEVELOP THIS EVENING AND THEN CHANGE TO SNOW AFTER MIDNIGHT. SNOW WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE AREA INTO THURSDAY. SNOW MAY BECOME HEAVY AT TIMES FROM LATE TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY. SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS WILL RANGE FROM 8 TO 14 INCHES WITH HIGHER AMOUNTS POSSIBLE IN SOME AREAS. GUSTY NORTH TO NORTHEAST WINDS WILL PRODUCE AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW AND REDUCED VISIBILITIES FROM WEDNESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
PEOPLE PLANNING TRAVEL ACROSS NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR HAZARDOUS DRIVING CONDITIONS. ROADS WILL BECOME SNOW COVERED BY HEAVY SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW. CHAIN LAWS WILL LIKELY BE REQUIRED OVER THE HIGHER MOUNTAIN PASSES FOR SEMI-TRAILERS AND BUSES... AND ROADS CLOSURES WILL BE POSSIBLE. TRAVEL WILL BECOME VERY HAZARDOUS OR IMPOSSIBLE. IF YOU MUST TRAVEL WEDNESDAY OR THURSDAY... TAKE ALONG A WINTER SURVIVAL KIT.

More Information
... EARLY SEASON WINTER STORM FOR NORTHERN COLORADO TONIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY...

A STRONG STORM SYSTEM WILL DEVELOP NEAR THE FOUR CORNERS WEDNESDAY AND THEN MOVE SLOWLY EASTWARD ACROSS THE SOUTHERN COLORADO--NORTHERN NEW MEXICO BORDER AREA THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT. THE STORM SYSTEM WILL THEN SWING NORTHEAST ACROSS EASTERN COLORADO THURSDAY. THIS STORM SYSTEM WILL BRING SEVERAL INCHES OF SNOW TO THE MOUNTAINS... FOOTHILLS... URBAN CORRIDOR AND NORTHEAST PLAINS. IN ADDITION TO THE SNOW... GUSTY NORTH TO NORTHEAST WINDS WILL ALSO DEVELOP WHICH WILL PRODUCE AREAS OF BLOWING SNOW AND REDUCED VISIBILITIES.

ohhhhh, GREAT! Looks like it's going to be me riding the bus for the next several days.

cuts, wedding stuff, and other random adventures**

2009-10-21T08:00:00.010-06:00

**and by adventures I really mean totally boring and only slightly interesting information about what's been going on in my life. :)

haha!

So, Saturday I was cutting the plastic vacuum-sealed wrap from a turkey breast that was being marinated in cajun seasonings. I was cutting towards my body, which my mama always taught me NOT to do, but either I was having a momentary moment of rebellion (YEAH! TAKE THAT, MAMA!) or I was having and idiot moment. Sure enough, as soon as the though popped into my head, " you shouldn't be cutting towards you're body, the knife could slip." guess what happened?? The knife slipped. OOPS.

I felt it cut my hand in between my pointer and second fingers, but I wasn't sure how bad it was. I grabbed my hand and ran over to the sink, expecting blood to start pouring. But, it didn't. I rinsed the cut and finally built up the courage to look at it and it was not THAT deep. Deeper than a regular cut, but not deep enough to need stitches.

Oh, well, lesson learned. Mama laughed at me when I told her that I knew I shouldn't have been doing it. I think she was just so surprised to hear that something she taught me stuck with me. haha!

Also, I had a wedding to help produce/co-ordinate. Here are some pictures. I was pretty proud of myself...and of course, Jen, who was the co-coordinator. haha.

This is the mantle/mantel (I never know how to spell that word) that Jennifer designed. I thought it was really lovely and rustic.

These were the little hay decorations we made. :) hehee

And Jennifer made these signs that showed the wedding route. They were just like this one but said "wedding" on them. soo cute!

Here's one of (L to R) Jules, me and Jennifer. I have no idea why I don't have one of the three of us with the bride.

And this is Jodi, the bride. She was truly beautiful!

We had a great time! The wedding was in NC and it was really lovely that time of year in the area. Aside from the supposed bears lurking in the mountains, I can see the appeal of living there!

Anyway, I'm going to try to get in a habit of blogging again, so check back and check often!

Talk to y'all later!

I have not abandoned you!! (nor made my blog private!)

2009-10-15T10:39:00.002-06:00

I've just been a bad, BAD girl when it comes to blogging!! OOPS.

Anyway, I'm back and I have a funny story to tell. If you have facebook you probably already heard about this, but I thought it'd be funny to tell the whole story.

So, on Friday, October 2nd I was running late to work that morning. I remember that I was going to text my boss and tell him I'd be a few minutes late but when I picked up my cell I saw that I had a text waiting. It was my boss texting me to tell me he was going to be late. OOPS. I guess that means I had better be on time! So, I rushed to work and made it with 10 minutes to walk to the clinic from parking and get everything open before patients arrive. I remember pulling into the parking garage and looking at the time and it was 7:50 on the dot. I noticed as I was getting out and putting on my coat (yes, it's cold in the AM's in Colorado!! brrrr!) there was a man who looked as though he didn't belong in the garage. He was at the far end of my level and was wearing a big, bulky blue jacket and a blue "toboggan" (winter hat) and was walking reeaaaaaally slow and whistling. I remember thinking that he didn't look like he was supposed to be there because I work in a professional/medical setting, so everyone is either wearing business clothes or scrubs/medical attire. He was wearing neither. And I remember thinking how odd it was that he was walking SO slow when it was so close to 8 am. Anyway, he walked into the stairwell about 5 seconds ahead of me and I couldn't tell if he went up or down, so I took the elevator. I didn't want to risk running into him if he WAS up to no good.

So, I rushed into the office and didn't think another thing about it.

Jules came and picked me up at work at 3 because we were going to look at this apartment complex that we LOVED and if we were happy with it we were going to go ahead and get the paperwork started to move there. Well, of course we loved it and so we were there from 3:30 until about 4:45. At that time we headed back to my work (which, by the way, is going to be about a 5-7 minute drive!!! instead of the 45 minute drive I have now!!) So, I go get my car and Jules is following me out of the campus and she calls my cell and says that my rear license place is missing. I was like, WHAT?? so I pulled over and sure enough the rear plate is gone! So, I go back to the parking garage where I parked that morning and call the campus police and they come and we file a report and the policeman is going to look at the surveillance tapes for that day and see what he can find out. So, I go home (Friday) and I'm totally not worried about it because it never occurred to me that that crazy man from that morning might have taken my tag.

Saturday I had to get up and come into work to finish up some things that I didn't get finished. I also wanted to listen to the Alabama game and I couldn't get the Internet radio to work at our house. So, I came into work for about 4 hours and then went to the grocery store and then went home. When I got home my tag was laying up against a column on my porch. I immediately got scared thinking that that crazy man had found out where I lived. I called the city police (remember that the police who originally filed the report were campus police) and asked the city police what they thought about it. They said, "we do not take these things lightly." They filled out paperwork to have extra patrols drive around our house daily and nightly and also have an officer come by the house. Feeling a little relieved I locked myself in the house and started thinking. Well, after a little while it started bugging me that the plate just "showed up" so I started knocking on neighbors' doors.

Oh, by the way. Have I mentioned how nice our neighbors are?? No?? well, that's because THEY'RE NOT!! I knocked on every single door and even though I COULD SEE THEM IN THE WINDOW, they wouldn't open the door.

Well, I was thinking if one of my neighbors found this plate and put it on my porch then they might see me outside and come out and tell me they did it. So, I walked around our part of the complex like 15 minutes--around and around and around and around. Hoping that someone would see me and come out! I looked pretty silly just walking around. I tried to seem more casual by looking at the ground as though I was looking for the screws that went with my tag. (oh, I'm sure that looked SUPER casual!) Anyway, there is one lady who lives like 5 doors down who is friendly. We've seen her a few times when we've been apoxy-ing jules' side-view mirror back on or trying to pull up the broken window on her passenger side. (wow, that was a very redneck sentence!) Anyway, she came out (finally!) and told me that she found my tag FRIDAY MORNING right after I pulled out of my spot! oops!

So, I had to call the campus police and tell them to "please don't waste man-hours on looking at surveillance...there won't be anything there!"
I had to call the city police and tell them that they can better spend their time on real criminals instead of my make-believe ones.

OOPS.

I was supposed to be born on Labor Day...

2009-09-08T09:24:00.002-06:00

Did you know that? Probably not. But, yes, my due date was labor day back in 1984...but my mama had me 3 weeks early. Thank goodness for that, too, because I was already 8lbs 9oz. I would have just about killed my mama. She would have thought she was birthing a baby pig!! :) haha, maybe that's why I liked pigs so much growing up.

Anyway, I had the BEST labor day weekend. On Thursday (which technically doesn't count towards the weekend) me and Jules went had had our hair(s) cut. **i never know how to write that when I'm talking about two people getting hair cuts** ANYWAY...they looked really good, and even though mine is not quite what I was looking for..it's still pretty. Over the weekend I worked on how to fix it and I think I've got it figured out now.

Friday we went to a couple apartment appointments to check out new places to live and we found THE ONE. We loved it...I'll include more about that when it gets closer to time, but just know that we are SOOOO excited to move now!

Saturday I did a little grocery shopping so that we had food in our house again and I just did a few things around the house. I laid out a little bit, but it started getting rainy, so I logged in some time on the weeeeee.

Sunday I made Taco soup...which basically is a million different types of beans, corn, and ground turkey/hamburger. And lots of taco seasonings. It's soooooo good, but it gives your intestines a nice little workout (if you know what I mean ;-D) Then, I did a little laundry and went out to the pool. I read and relaxed and did a whole lotta nothing...

Then, MONDAY! oh, lovely Monday! I found a new heavenly past time! I got in the pool...right at the 4 foot mark, and I stood at the edge with the water right below my shoulders and I read on the side of the pool! it was soooo wonderful! I did that for about an hour and I only got out because my stomach was eating my backbone (I was starving!). That's all I could think about--how lovely reading from inside the pool was!! But I got a little sunburned and thought it best to NOT go back out into the blazing sun.

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is I had a lovely weekend...the only thing that would have made it better would have been if it were Memorial Day weekend instead of Labor Day. :(

Weeeeee have fun.

2009-09-02T09:04:00.002-06:00

So, for my birthday my mom and sister bought me a W*ii. And I must tell you--I LOVE THAT THING! Heather has had one for a long time, and every time I went home I would play it every chance I got. I am seriously amazed by the technology. So, then she sold it to Stevie, and this last time I was home I played "his" every chance I got. So, they surprised me by buying me one!

I had to hook it up in Jules' room, because the TV in my bedroom (which rarely gets used, so I'm really not sure why it's even in there) is from 1982. It still has the wood paneling on the sides. Nice, eh? Anyway, it doesn't have the correct hook-ups. The TV in the living room is hooked up with Ti*Vo and they say that you shouldn't hook the "weeeee" up with Ti*vo because it will cause a 1-2 second delay in your movements. That's just what we want, right? To swing at a baseball and two seconds later the bat actually swings. STRIKE THREE...YOU'RE OUT!!

So, anyway. It's hooked up in Jules' room and she's kind enough to let me sit in there and play. Sometimes she's even asleep and I play. You'll hear me in there grunting or yelping at my fights in Indiana Jones...or whatever game I might be playing. It's so fun!! I have the best time. Too bad the money in Deal or No Deal isn't real, because I'd be sitting pretty right now. Anyway, my point is that I am enjoying the Weeeee so much!!

Me and Jules play shooting targets or balloons, we play bowling, baseball, golf. It's all just SO FUN!! I just don't see how I'll ever get tired of it! I feel like a 13 year old boy who just got his first X-box. haha!

I'm movin' on up...

2009-09-01T09:32:00.002-06:00

Ever since it was raining in our kitchen we have been having landlord issues. He's such a nice guy, and for the first two years we lived in our current residence he was beyond helpful. But this last year has been hard for him...hard on the economy...just plain hard. He lost his job in like December, right before the flood, so he was equally stressed about the water problems. The flood stuff is taken care of, but the way that it was handled by the HOA and HUD was sub-optimal. Anyway, since the flood we've consistently been having trouble getting ahold of our landlord. We only had a cell number, because his email address was through his previous job. He got another job fairly quickly, and was apparently busy busy busy at work. We called him on his cell several times and left messages regarding the hot water heater not working (this was around Feb/March.) It took him several weeks to come fix it...meaning several weeks of waking up at 3:30 am to make sure the pilot light was lit, so that I'd have hot water for a shower before work. Several weeks of never being sure that we'd have hot water for anything, and several weeks of the heat being hit or miss. It was really frustrating. Finally he came and fixed it.

In May, when the pool opened we called him about getting the pool pass and code. They give the info to the owners, and it's the owners' responsibility to pass out the info to their tenants. Anyway, I couldn't ever get him to answer the phone. I put a note in the rent check. I called several times. I spent at least 3 weekends inside at the beginning of the summer because he wouldn't even call back. Instead he came by, didn't ring the doorbell/knock and stuck a newsletter with two ladies phone numbers on it on the door. Those ladies ended up being the ones to call about the pool.

Lately, the hot water heater is fritzing out again. This morning I took a very very cold shower. One thing people who know me well know is that I don't like to be cold. So you can imagine how well the shower went this morning.

Anyway, all this is to say that in the past culmination of events we've decided to move. I know what you're thinking: I thought you were moving back to AL???

The answer is simple: we are. But it's not the time, right now. The economy...my job is going really good...it's just not right. When it's time, God will let us know. So, for now, we're staying. And moving.

We live right now about 45 minutes from my job, and about 1 hour from Jules' job. When it snows this is just doubled so we've decided to move closer to our jobs! I'm really really excited about it.

Our first meeting with an apartment complex is Friday. I'll let you know how it goes. I'm SO excited!! :)

Gooooaaaaaaaaal!

2009-08-31T11:17:00.006-06:00

Ok, so this will be my last (hopefully, because I'm sure you're tired of hearing about it) post about my weight loss. I just wanted to post because I have officially reached and passed my goal.

So, I have lost a total (as of today) of 44.6 pounds. I am going to keep losing until I reach 55 pounds total loss.

Anyway, here are the inches lost during these past months:

Neck: lost 1.5 inches

Bust: lost 8 inches

Waist: lost 11.5

Hips: lost 10 inches

Thighs: 5 inches each leg

That equals a total of 36 inches in my whole body. I moved from a size 20 jeans to a size 14 and I'm working my way to a size 12.

I'm really proud of myself. I feel like for the first time in my life I'm actually doing it! I thank God for that study that got me started on this journey!

Anyway, here's a before picture:

And here's a current picture:

I'm so much happier! I feel much more like myself now. When I look in the mirror I'm not disgusted anymore (and that's somethin', y'all!).

So thank you for your encouragement. Thank you to That Chick, who inspired me to try. Thank you to God for keeping me motivated. I'm just so much happier! I feel like nothing can hold me back now...So thank you, guys, because your support has meant more than I can say!

Random Ramblings...

2009-08-26T15:43:00.003-06:00

A patient asked me today if I cycled. I laughed and had a flashback of my first and last cycling adventure.

When I told him the story he laughed really hard. Apparently he's an avid cyclist and that was just the funniest thing he'd ever heard. I told him the fact that I have a bicycle seat permanently lodged in my hind end might sound like an advantage, but oh no--it's not.

Also, I feel like I might be sick and because of that I took some chewable pepto bismol and that made me feel even worse. So right now I am waiting on the time to tick away until I can go home and hopefully not throw up.

And lastly to report today, I did another inpatient study yesterday where they took some fat from my hip/lower back. I told her she could just keep on sucking it out if she wanted, but now that I can feel how sore I am, I'm glad she opted not to suck ALL my fat out. OUCH! i don't know how people actually have REAL liposuction.

OK, i really am feeling kind of sick. Perhaps heather passed on her virus to me. I better go. Post more tomorrow. :)

un-bee-levable

2009-08-20T11:08:00.002-06:00

Yesterday I forgot my breakfast. Since I've been changing my eating habits, one habit I've had to add is eating breakfast. So, sometimes when I forget my breakfast I have to run across the street to a "cafeteria"-type building on campus and I just stop by there on my walk in to work and pick up a little to-go bowl of cereal. Yesterday's choice was plain Total cereal with a little skim milk. So, I get my bowl of cereal and I'm walking to my office when I (stupidly) walk under what I call the "bee-tree." I have no idea why, but there's a particular tree here on campus that is SWARMING with bees. I mean, that tree looks like it's moving because there are so many bees flying in/around it. I typically avoid the tree altogether by walking on the other side of the street. My only past experience with bees was getting stung on the buttocks while attending a Hot Air Balloon Festival a few years ago, so I wanted to avoid any future run-in's with The Bees. Yesterday morning I suppose I was so enthralled with my yummy cereal that I moseyed on under the tree while in route to my office. BIG MISTAKE.

As I passed under the tree a bee started buzzing around my face and I immediately lost my cool. Since I had my big heavy purse on my shoulder and my cereal in my one hand and my spoon (of course!) in the other, i started BLOWING at the bee. So here I am, standing still as a pole, blowing at a bee, trying to get it to go away. Then when that didn't work I started taking steps backwards--while STILL blowing at the bee. Needless (probably) to say neither of those things worked, so I dropped my purse and set (calmly) my cereal on the ground and then took off running. I zigged and zagged and weaved and bobbed....and that darn bee was keeping up with me the whole way. In fact, he was flying circles around my head and I am pretty sure I heard him saying, "HAHA! YOU THINK YOU CAN OUT RUN ME?? I'M GOING TO STINK YOU IN THE BUTTOCKS!" It was really scary. So here I am, in my professional environment, with my stuff splayed on the sidewalk running, ducking, and zig-zagging, while trying to get out of the grasp of this stubborn bee. I'm pretty sure I was the picture of competence for all my eye clinic patients.

Well, regardless of how stupid I looked, it worked, because eventually the bee was no longer buzzing in my face. I calmly straightened my shirt, brushed the sweat off my brown, and walked back to my purse and cereal. I picked up my purse and slung it over my shoulder...picked up my cereal and began eating as though nothing had happened.

I *might* have put a protective hand over my buttocks the rest of the way to my office. Once you get stung in the butt, you don't risk it again.

Please excuse my absence...

2009-08-19T08:15:00.004-06:00

Ok! Hi...remember me? My name is KrustyLynn and apparently I have dropped off the face of the Earth this past month. OOPS. Sorry!

Anyway, I'm back in the swing of things and I have lots to tell about. The first thing I want to tell you about is...

(drumroll please...)

...no seriously...drumroll.....

OK, I reached my goal of losing 40 pounds and am currently sitting at 41 pounds. I was at 42.2, but I had a bit of birthday cake...anyway, I am going to do my measurements and then do ONE post about the differences and such...then hopefully you won't have to hear me talk about it much anymore. I am going to keep trying to lose until I've lost 50-55 pounds, so that I have a little bit of leeway towards staying under a particular weight over the years. But that will be a more gradual loss...

Anyway, that brings me to my second announcement...I had a birthday!! I turned 25 on August 11. Yay! It's really not that big of a deal, but I got to spend my birthday with my family and that was really fun! I had a great time with them! I would also like to announce that Heather is basically on the brink of needing a walker because she's so elderly and frail. Ha! just kidding, Heather! Just had to throw that in there since you turned 29!!! this year. haha!

Business at work has really really picked up. I typically blog while I'm at work (shhhh!) but lately I have not had a spare minute to blog...which is why I have been absent for almost a month. But I now have my old laptop back from heather, on which I can use at home to blog! So, yay! hopefully no more slacker Krusty. :)

This weekend we have company coming into town--friends. I'm excited about it...but there's LOTS to do. Jules has been working like 10 or 11 days straight with no day off, so she's been trying to rest whenever she can--poor thing. So there will be mass cleaning and laundry efforts over the next two days. I have no idea why I didn't work on some of it over the weekend! duh!

And, soon I am going to start reading the Ha*rry P*ott*er series. I have checked out the first two books from the library, but I haven't gotten a chance to start them. I have been told that if I enjoyed T*wili*ght then I would enjoy these, so I'm really excited to start them.

And I have a patient coming in now, so I have to go. But I promise I will make a better effort to write every day if possible!! I miss you guys!!

Just Plane Scared

2009-07-27T13:15:00.003-06:00

I used to hate to fly. Now I fly enough where I'm used to it and I guess I'm a little less nervous each time I fly. The first time I went home to visit my family (after I moved to CO) it was a surprise for my mom. My sister told her they were going to pick up a friend of Heather's and then instead it was me! Mom loved that! Anyway...So, this was like October of 2007 and it was the first trip home I could make since moving in January 2007. I flew with NW airlines I think and the plane was very small. Two seats on each side of the aisle. So, the first leg of the flight was to Memphis, then from Memphis to North AL. My assigned seat placed me right next to a very attractive guy about 3-4 years older than me. I remember he had some faint tropical accent and he was very nice. Once I got settled he made small talk with me and we chatted about where we were headed. He, too, was headed to North AL. Neat! I thought.

I had brought a book to read to try to take my mind off of being scared of flying. I hadn't started reading yet, mostly because Mr. McFriendly next to me was just chatting me up. So, about 45 minutes into the 3 hour flight we hit a little turbulence...it was out of the blue really. I had no warning (not even the seat belt light) that the plane was about to feel like it was plunging to my death.

Without warning (did I mention there was no warning?) the plane takes a serious nosedive and my wonderful knee-jerk reaction was to GRAB THE LEG of Mr. McFriendly.

Now, hold up. Let's pause for a second. I am a very shy person when it comes to men/boys. I get embarrassed and flustered. In fact, I get flustered when a boy has his shirt off, mostly because I don't know where to look. I don't touch boys, or hug them unless I have to because I feel shy and embarrassed. So, keep that in mind as we go back to our story...

I GRABBED MR. MCFRIENDLY'S LEG--no, no, not just his leg...his thigh. I saw what I was doing and my brain was screaming, "LET GO!!! LET GO OF HIS LEG!!ahhhhhhhhhhhh!" but I couldn't force my hand to actually let go. All of it happened really fast. Before I knew it the plane was horizontal again and all was good...except, I very quickly snatched my hand back, turned towards Mr. McFriendly, and said, "Oh, gosh. I'm so sorry. I'm really sorry." And you know what he did? He smiled his McFriendly smile and said, "Oh, that's okay. That was pretty scary for a second." and I swear I heard a {ping} off his teeth when he smiled at me. Well, I was humiliated. I mean, utter embarrassment. I grabbed my book and started pretending to read so he would stop looking at me and talking to me. I am sure my face was beet red. And what did Mr. McFriendly do? OH, he kept talking to me. He wanted to make sure I didn't feel embarrassed or flustered OR he wanted to make sure I continued to feel embarrassed (I'm not sure which one) because he WOULDN'T! STOP! TALKING ABOUT IT!! oh gosh!

So, when we stopped in Memphis he said to me, "maybe we'll be assigned seats next to each other on the next flight too. That way if you get scared there'll be a friendly face."

I smiled, praying, "God, I know you have a sense of humor, but please don't let it be in the form of sitting next to this guy again!" Thankfully, I was not seated next to him on the next flight. He looked genuinely disappointed. CRAZY!

Now when I fly, I only fly South*west. Luckily with South*west you don't have assigned seats--so you know what I do? I look for a seat next to an empty one, or if I have to sit next to someone, I try to find a woman. (or at least an older guy.) There's no way I'm going to have some Friendly thinking I'm making a move on the airplane just because we're dying again!

Sleepy Sweet Home Alabama, Roll Tide Roll...

2009-07-22T08:14:00.002-06:00

That title doesn't really have anything to do with anything, except my post is going to be about the dream I had last night (sleepy) and there's a song that says that in the chorus. Me being an absolute UA fan loves it because it says "roll tide" in it. :)

Anyway, occasionally I have dreams that haunt me a little bit after I have them. They'll be the kind that you wake up during and you vividly remember and they won't leave your head all day! I hate that! Especially when they are about something you try not to think about. Sometimes I dream about my dad and that makes me mad b/c I don't like devoting any brain cells towards thinking of him.

Anyway, (side-track sally) Last night I dreamed about having a boyfriend. I am not really looking for a boyfriend...I'm not really worried about boys/having a boyfriend. I don't decide my wealth/worth based on a boyfriend/boys. I am trusting God for my future...and that includes boyfriend material. But. Yesterday there was a little bit of drama in Jules' family life that included lots of talking and thinking about fiances and boyfriends. I devoted a lot of thought to these particular subjects yesterday and I think that's why I dreamed of them.

So, in my dream I had this boyfriend and everyone liked him. Jules really liked him, and they were really good friends (which is perfect). And in the dream i was taking him home to meet my family. His name in the dream was Mike, but he wasn't any Mike I've ever met, so I wasn't projecting anyone from my real life into my dream. Anyway, we went to introduce him to my family and they hit it off immediately. Him and my brother got along, he played with my nieces and even played basketball with my nephew (who was like 8 in the dream, so it was far in the future. funny that I just remembered that part!) He chatted it up with my mom and sister and they really liked him. I remember he was a really good guy who had a healthy fear of God and I remember in one part of the dream him making me laugh so hard I had tears rolling down my face. I think he prayed to bless our meal at suppertime.

Most of the time I (thank God) don't spend much thought on my future boyfriend/husband. I truly trust God to take care of that area. I'd rather wait (and possibly be single for the rest of my life) than to rush into something and it not be what God had planned for me and me be either miserable or get hurt. I honestly don't worry about it. I have full faith that God has my future in his hands. BUT, when I dream things like that...and it was so perfect...it makes me think about it too much. I don't like to think about it b/c when I'm thinking about it it makes me feel like I'm not trusting God to take care of it. Isn't that crazy?? I'm crazy. Much too hard on myself most of the time. I mean, really--who has control over what they dream!?

Anyway, my point (oh, you HAD one?? i had no idea!) is that I think that God was using this dream to show me what I might have if I just keep trusting him. I think that it was a picture into how happy I can be if I allow God to bring that person into my life. So, although the dream got me thinking about boyfriends and stuff...it also reminded me that God is in control--and if I trust him, I can truly have something spectacular!

I think I'll hold onto that, instead of the dream. :)

Wongs, Pancakes, and (FINALLY) the dancing Grandma!

2009-07-15T10:38:00.003-06:00

I'm sorry I haven't been around lately. I just haven't gotten back in the swing of things. I'm trying to get back to things...

So, today we saw a patient who had to come in to the office fasting, so she had to eat her breakfast before we could start the visit so that her blood sugar didn't go low. So, she pulls out her breakfast while I'm taking her history and she's got CHOCOLATE CHIP PANCAKES!! oh my.

I very calmly and nicely told her that I might hip-check her and steal her pancakes. She laughed...until she realized I might be serious, then she just gobbled her pancakes down. I think she really was a little nervous.

Then while we were doing a visual field test she had to wear what we oh-so-very-professionally call a "pirate patch" and her mom got out her camera and the girl posed and said "arrrg" to the camera! it was sooo funny. This girl was like 18 and such a good sport!!

Tonight I'm going to the Sugarland/Keith Urban concert! I'm really excited. If i get any good pictures I'll post them. I still have yet to figure out how to post that video of the granny dancing. I'll try to post it in this blog, but if it doesn't work someone tell me so I can take it off. :)

So there go...we'll see if it works. There's lot of me and Julie laughing on the video...and the main voice you hear is Jules. She was holding the camera.

In other news, poor Jules has been having lots of trouble with her carpal tunnel or whatever the problem is and last night she only slept a couple hours. I would wake up and she'd be just bawling her eyes out because of the pain. The only way she could sleep was sitting up. Isn't that just the saddest thing you've ever heard?? Okay, not the saddest you've ever heard, but still. She's going to go to the Workman's Comp doctor as soon as she can file a report at work. :) Poor thing!!

And the last thing that is probably WAYYYYY too much info, but it made me laugh:

I wore pants the other day that were the kind of pants that you can REALLY see lumpy underwear lines on. I typically don't care, nor do I worry about that sort of thing...but these were the "weight-loss pants" and I was really excited to wear them...but they weren't very thick pants and you could see my lumpy behind and my squishy panty-lines...So, I don't own the kind of underwear that you need to wear for that sort of problem. You know...Wongs. (go with me...I don't want people googling that other word). I don't own a wong. So, you know what i did? I took my current underwear and I gave myself a wedgie. I walked around with yards and yards of fabric tucked into my...umm...bottom. All day. I have never felt such sweet relief as when I un-wedgied myself that night when I changed clothes!

Ok...enough of that. I hope that was funny and not offensive. Sorry. :)

Marco?

2009-07-08T11:48:00.002-06:00

Hi.

Someone from Corinth, Mississippi visits my blog.

Um, hi. Who are you?

The reason I ask is because I know people in Corinth...and I wonder if you're them.

I'd just like to know.

If you don't want to comment and leave your name, please email me and tell me who you are. If you want. If you don't want to, then I'll just pretend we never had this little conversation.

Thanks! Tootles!

Big News

2009-07-07T16:05:00.002-06:00

I have big news. So big, in fact, that I forgot to tell you!!

I went to the doctor just miserable the other day, saying that they had to help me with my allergies or send me to a specialist, because I was literally SICK everyday from them.

They upped my dosages, added new meds, and put me on short-term steroids. And guess what?

I haven't sneezed in 4 days. FOUR DAYS!? If you know me, and know that I sneeze like 150 + times a day, you know how huge this is. Heather can attest to the fact that I have been a high-number sneezer since I can remember. As far back as my memory goes I have sneezed and sneezed and sneezed.

There's not a time in my life I can remember going more than hours without sneezing. It's a big deal, y'all!

the 4th of July was FUNNY!

2009-07-06T15:42:00.002-06:00

Oh, man, I had a great 4th of July! I really didn't do much...went for a swim that morning and then it clouded up so I just went back inside. Then I lounged around and read for the rest of the day until it was time to go to the Community 4th of July Celebration! yay! It's illegal to have/shoot fireworks here in CO, which is totally foreign to me because in AL you can shoot them anytime you want...heck! You can shoot them at each other if you want, and no one cares. But here, I guess it's too dry and the potential for wildfires is too great, so you cannot shoot them off. Thus, all the different suburbs have these community celebrations. Ours was so nice and relaxing.

It had rained most of the afternoon, though, and I forgot about the ground being wet. So, instead of going to walmart or something to get a plastic tarp, we just put trash bags down under our sitting blankets. It worked out pretty good, but the plastic made the blanket really slippery and so everytime we moved we were shifting the blanket or the plastic. It started raining again during the thing anyway, so it didn't matter...we all ended up damp.

A funny thing happened while we were at the celebration. We arrived around 6:30 and placed our blankets in an open space right behind a family that was having a cookout. The rules say that you cannot bring grills to the celebration but people did anyway. This family was a grandma, about 4 daughters, one of those daughters brought her husband and son. They were all, let's say, 25ish and older (except the son, of course, he was like 13). And let me tell you! Grandma was getting down!! We secretly took a video with my digital camera of grandma dancing, and it was SOOOO funny! I'm not really super-techno-savvy so I'll have to figure out how to upload it, then I'll show y'all. This family was sooooo funny! they were just getting down! But, you know what? They were just having the BEST time with one another! That's what was important!

There was a family behind us that had three small dogs...two yorkies and one cha-weenie and they just barked and barked and barked at people walking by. It made us feel better because Westin is such a sweet dog, but he barks his head off at people! it's really embarrassing! So, we made sure these ladies knew we knew how they felt, and not to worry about their barking bothering us.

I started this post on Monday, and now I can't remember what the point was.

Sidetrack Sally.

A really funny thing happened at work today, in regards to a service dog that a patient had with her, so remind me to tell you that story tomorrow!! It'll at least give me something interesting to write about and it'll give you something to look forward to. :-D

Oh, and P.S. I've lost 33 pounds. :)

So True...sooo true.

2009-06-25T13:23:00.002-06:00

I can almost see it
That dream I am dreaming
But there's a voice inside my head saying"You'll never reach it"

Every step I'm taking
Every move I make feels
Lost with no direction
My faith is shaking

But I gotta keep trying
Gotta keep my head held high

There's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be a uphill battle
Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose
Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb

The struggles I'm facing
The chances I'm taking
Sometimes might knock me down
But no, I'm not breaking

I may not know it
But these are the moments
thatI'm gonna remember most,
yeahJust gotta keep going

And I, I got to be strong
Just keep pushing on'

Cause there's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be a uphill battle
Sometimes I'm gonna have to lose
Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb, yeah!

There's always gonna be another mountain
I'm always gonna wanna make it move
Always gonna be an uphill battle
Somebody's gonna have to lose
Ain't about how fast I get there
Ain't about what's waiting on the other side
It's the climb, yeah!

Keep on moving,
keep climbing
Keep the faith,
babyIt's all about,
it's all about the climb
Keep the faith,
keep your faith.

--Miley Cyrus, "The Climb"

I couldn't have said it better myself, y'all.

Single at 25?! that's crazy! (not!)

2009-06-24T14:36:00.004-06:00

Do you know--as a child/teen I always thought I'd be married by 25. Seriously. I just thought that would be the absolute oldest I'd be when I married. But honestly, I thought it would happen MUCH before then.

But I also thought that if I could just get Lance Bass to meet me once then he'd fall head over heels in love with me.

Turns out that wouldn't have worked anyway. hahah!

God has taught me in a very personal way that He has someone special for me...that he's being molded and fine-tuned specifically for me and I for him. So, it's not that I am afraid or even worried that I'll never have my day...but it's really funny to think about. It's funny to me that I just knew I'd rather die than be single at 25 (like that was sooooo old).

I also thought that I'd never be fat, then metabolism caught up with me.
I thought that Colorado was under 6 feet of snow all year-round.
I thought that the Everglades were the Alps.
I thought that if I stuck my key in the cigarette lighter in the car that it would heat up my key (let me tell you--i was wrong about that one! POW!)
I thought that Billy Ray Cyrus's mullet was just the cutest thing.
I thought that if I put my finger in the same hole we had just spent 30 minutes getting my finger out of, that this time it wouldn't get stuck.
I thought that flannel shirts over overalls was the cutest thing I could wear.
I thought that Mark Chestnut waved at me at a concert when I was like 11. I swore he did.
I thought that me and my siblings would never get along.
I thought I'd never grow into my teeth.
I thought that the worst thing that could ever happen to me was getting "pantsed" at soccer practice.
I thought that if I prayed hard enough then Cissy wouldn't die.
I thought that my problems stemmed from my small town in AL, and that if I just moved away then life would be different...better.
I thought that high school was the best time of my life.
I thought that college was the best time of my life.
I thought that Guy Williams was the man I was meant to be with, and that he was just born a few decades too early.

It's funny how things you're just sure of sometimes turn out to be CRAZY later.

You're everything I'd hoped for....You're everything I neeeeeeeed....

2009-06-22T13:33:00.002-06:00

I have wanted to see T*he P*rop*osal ever since I saw the previews in the theater back in April. I remember each time I saw the trailor after that first time I laughed as though it was the first time! I have been so excited to see it, and I worried that because of my excitement and anticipation that I would be disappointed.

I went last night to see it...

I was NOT disappointed! It was SO good and sooooooo funny! I laughed so much.

I think it even moved up into my #1. favorite movie. Bumping T*he H*oliday and H*ann*ah Mon*tana back a few spots! It was so good.

And because I hope you'll enjoy it...here's the trailor. I hope you laugh as much as I did--and if you do think it's funny please consider going to see it--because (if it's possible) it's much funnier in totality. :)

Very Funny<--click here!

Posting from my phone

2009-06-20T11:29:00.000-06:00

Since i got this new fancy phone, i have been slightly intimidated by it and afraid to use it for anything besides calling and occasionally texting. I'm really trying to learn how to use all it's features and applications and I've finally gotten over the dear that the cell company is going to charge me 10 cents for enery minute I use the internet...

I got a call while i was typing that and now I cant remember what I wanted to say. Side-Track Sally.

I think I was going to say that im just now learning how to use all the stuff on my phone and i feel like an 80 year old woman trying to figure out how to use a computer for the first time! YIKES!!

Groceries Galore!

2009-06-17T08:34:00.002-06:00

Yesterday was the first time in 2 months I've had to go shopping for groceries. I remembered (rather quickly) why I don't like to go grocery shopping. This time wasn't SO bad because Jules had cooked a wonderful supper before we left and so we were full. Also, we had written out a list, that sort of comprised of foods that we can make several meals out of. :) It was a very productive trip, but we walked around a lot and the little incision where they did my muscle biopsy was getting really sore. To ice that cake, when we got back to the car we noticed that someone had hit Julie's side-view mirror and knocked it off! She was not very happy about it (as you can imagine.) Unfortunately for Jules, I had been bitten by the ticklebug and couldn't stop laughing about her mirror just hanging there by it's wires. I really thought it was funny. She REALLLY didn't.

So, today she'll be calling the insurance company to see if they'll fix it since someone hit it and didn't leave a note or anything! RUDE PEOPLE! Also, she's having a little trouble with her BRAND NEW cell phone, so during my lunch break we're going to take it back and see if they'll give her another one. I am going with her because she's not very assertive and I can be if the need arises, so just in case "Punk Kritty" will be on standby. :)

**Punk Kritty is my alter ego. The assertive, slightly irritated, and a little bit pushy side of me that comes out when people are being rude. Or when standing up for yourself or someone else is warranted. ***

ha. I really am a little weird.

There are people interviewing for a couple open positions in the clinic next door to mine. I feel so sorry for them!! I've had some really good interviews and a couple really bad interviews. I am just so thankful that I have a job and I don't have to interview right now. Interviews are so nerve-wrecking! You sit there, trying to seem casual and confident, and flip through an educational magazine that you care nothing about. Then they FINALLY call your name and you jump up as though you're names being called for a lottery prize! You follow the person into a room full of strangers just waiting to pick you apart. And those are the GOOD interviews! hahah! I'm just kidding. sort of.

The worst interview I ever had was before I got this job. I was trying to get a job doing office supply/purchasing and although I didn't have any experience they thought that I was teachable and wanted me to come in for an interview. I answered all the questions and was very nice and polite and I thought things were going really well. Somewhere along the way the woman interviewing me decided that I was not right for the job...so she interrupted one of my answers to a question she had JUST asked and tells me that she's not going to be hiring me. That I'm a nice girl but just not right for the job. And because I was caught completely off guard I started tearing up. I was embarrassed and just wanted to leave, but OH NO! She had other plans. She proceeded to tell me every little area that I was not qualified and goes on and on about how I'm so nice and she's just sure I'll get a job somewhere! Thanks a lot, lady! I was totally humiliated!

Interviewing is really hard anyway, and here they make it even harder. The doctor next door (not the one I work for, thankfully) asks you weird questions that catch you off guard in an interview. How would you like to be sitting there, confident and prepared, and get asked, "Do you love your mom and dad?" or, "Do you think women can be as good a doctor as men?" SERIOUSLY??? those aren't interview questions. And he might even ask where you live, so that he knows how far away you are and he might not hire you just because you live more than 10 miles from work and traffic or whatever might cause you to be late.

I didn't have to interview with him, because I don't work for him. But my roommate did and I feel so sorry for the little chaps sitting in the waiting room right now thinking that this is the opportunity they've been waiting for.

Is it wrong to slip them a note that reads, "RUN AWAY!!!" :) hhaha. just kidding.

sort of.

Hi. Remember me?

2009-06-16T13:22:00.003-06:00

Hey Y'all! I'm so sorry I've been so absent! I hope each of you are doing well! I've missed you, but life has just caught up with me and it took me a while to get on top of things. I'm finally getting back into my routine!

So, yesterday was my final day of my weight loss study. In total I lost 27 pounds. YAY! Here's a picture so you can see the before and after. If you have Facebook then you've already seen this, but just in case. :)

Anyway, I feel pretty good about the progress, and I hope to continue my weight loss journey. The truth is that I'm having a hard time reminding myself that I CAN do this. That I've BEEN doing it and I can KEEP doing it. Just because the study is gone. That's the factor that's trying to trip me up. But I'm going to do it. Watch and see...

And stay tuned...I won't disappear again! :)

it's raining...it's pouring...

2009-06-02T09:42:00.002-06:00

I wish I was snoring!!!! I am so sleepy today!! And it's so rainy outside. I love rainy days, and they really are few and far between here. The only downfall is they make it hard(er) to get out of bed in the mornings. It's just so dark and cozy because its rainy and it sounds nice...oh how much I'd give to go back home and crawl into bed!! :)

Anyway, Yesterday was the last day of the "diet phase" of my study. Now I move on to the "maintenance phase" where I cannot gain or lose more than 2 pounds from my weight on the 31st. So, in total since I started I have lost 26.6 pounds. I am really really pleased with that amount!! :) And once I'm done with this study I'm going to try to start another one where I'm getting paid to exercise! :)

I also want to say that I LOVE the H*anna*h M*ontan*a movie. :) I know. That makes me approximately 13 years old.

And I saw the new movie with Matthew McConaughey and I HATED his character for the first 40 minutes or so. I was so mad. Julie kept saying, "it's just a movie...calm down." but i couldn't because I was FUMING!! But, once the character's story started to affect him, he changed and I didn't hate him anymore. :) That's good...because I'm pretty sure there's no use in hating an unreal, non-existent character in a movie.

Also, my friend Jennifer just got engaged, and her fiancee used MY idea to propose!! :) isn't that just lovely. I can come up with great proposals for other people. lovely. :) I'm just kidding...I know my day will come.

Well, I had better get back to work. It's taken me several hours to write this tiny, mediocre post about nothing, because people keep walking by and I have to minimize quickly! ha! See ya!

Oh, man! What a lot to report...

2009-06-01T11:46:00.009-06:00

Well, lets see...I supposed I'll just go in Chronological order...

The trip to the beach was so wonderful! It was just the relaxation I needed. I got to see good friends and had a really good time. I literally spend almost ALL my time laying on the beach reading and napping in the sun! There really truly is NOTHING better than that!

Here are some beach pictures! (Heather, I forgot to show them to the kiddies when I was there, so you'll have to show them! I think if you click on the pictures they'll show up bigger. And yes, there are beaches in AL. The southernmost part of AL is these two little "feet" and those feet form the border between florida and AL and lie on the Gulf Coast. Gulf Shores/Orange Beach is my favorite place to take a vacation!! :)

Here's one more of me and Jules on the beach. Notice we're both covered up...we didn't want to get sunburn on top of sunburn!
Then I went to see my family and that was just wonderful! I got to spend lots of time with everyone and I was sad to go. I got some good pictures of Sarah, and I took the BEST picture with connor, but it was actually on film instead of digital. Anyway, here's one of the ones I took of Sarah:
She's too cute! :)

Then I came back to work and was swamped and swamped!!

But now I'm caught up and I'm getting back into the routine of things. And friday was my 2-year upgrade on my cell phone, and this is the phone I got. It's fancy and I've never had a fancy phone before!

yay! So, anyway. I missed y'all and I plan to spend lots and lots of time on Friday catching up on reading your blogs! :) Hope you're all doing well!!

WHEW!!

2009-05-28T09:44:00.000-06:00

OH, man! I had the BEST vacation...

Unfortunately being gone 8 work days has put me underneath a mountain of work to catch up on.

So, for now I'll just tell you that the beach was awesome...my family was awesome...and more info will be coming soon...

So stay tuned!! :)

I missed y'all by the way...all except Heather...because, well--I saw her. :)

It's not 'Goodbye,' it's 'Talk to you Later'

2009-05-14T13:35:00.002-06:00

I'm not coming to work tomorrow (Friday the 15th), because my boss said I could take the day off since he wasn't coming in and we don't have any patients. Yay!!

I will be a the beach first...then I'm going to visit my family on the 20th. Unless I get to write from my mom's house (which I probably will) then I'll be silent until the 26th when I return!

have a HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY! and I'll see you guys later!!! :)

The Smallest Winner!!

2009-05-13T09:05:00.003-06:00

Okay.

One of my favorite favorite favorite shows is The Big*gest L*s*r. :) I think it's one of the most inspiring shows I've ever seen! I have watched like 4 seasons in a row! Last night was the season finale. It was the longest running season, the season with the oldest contestant, the youngest contestant, the sickest contestant and the heaviest man and woman ever on the show. It was the most inspiring, wonderful thing to see what these contestants accomplished in 18 weeks! I felt like a proud mama while watching how good everyone had done!

The three who were in the finals were all people I really liked. I did want two of them to win more than one of them. There was a pink team, a brown team, and a green team. I really wanted brown or green to win, because they had really worked so hard during the season. Pink won. You know what...she looked great. And I was really happy for her...but I felt so sad for the green member. Because Ms. Green literally dominated during the entire season, and she deserved to win. You could see the disappointment on her face. But you could also tell that she was just happy to have lost the weight. So I don't know...I felt sad for her, but happy too.

And that brings me to my weight loss update. I have been eating the same...still doing the study...but I think my body has hit a plateau. I have not lost weight in like a week! It's very frustrating!! Tonight I should get a good bit of walking/running around at the Photo scavenger Hunt we're having with the CommUNITY group and that might boost a little weight loss. Also, when I got to the beach I plan on swimming as much as I can, because swimming is EXCELLENT exercise. So hopefully I'll catch up on my weight loss, but MAN! It's pretty frustrating to get on the scale and see nothing!! Unless, of course, the scale actually said "0" then I might freak out, because although I want to weigh less I don't want to weigh nothing. :)

Be thankful I'm not your mom!

2009-05-11T08:46:00.003-06:00

It's no secret that I'm not exactly sure what to do with babies. I learned this lesson when Catie Grace was like 6 months old and Heather went out of town and asked me to babysit. I think I kept her during the day...and when mom came home she helped me with her. I can remember that I didn't know how to get Catherine to fall asleep, and she screamed a lot. A. Lot. And so I would drive around in my car, with her in the carseat, just to get her to sleep. And I can remember using like a whole tank of gas, because I was so tired and I just needed her to sleep.

I was 16.

I wasn't really a kid who babysat for people either. I remember I used to babysit for one of my teachers. Her son was named Jack. I remember thinking it was the cutest name ever for a little boy. Anyway, he was like 9 months to a year old and I remember not really knowing what the heck I was doing. I also remember that the family had just gotten a little white kitten. And since we all know how I feel about baby cats (SATAN!!) you can just imagine how thrilled I was about the baby/cat combo.
One of the Saturdays I was babysitting Jack we played outside for a while and then we went inside because it was the summer and it was in the south and the heat and humidity was stifling. I think it must have been lunch time, because I put Jack in his high chair and went to the kitchen to get some food for him. I can't imagine that I'd give him food to pacify him if it wasn't lunchtime, since I have superior skills with kids. ;-D
Anyway, I remember I warmed him up some little raviolis. They were little bitty and just right for his little hands to pick up and put them in his mouth. But I was afraid of a mess, so I proceeded to try to feed him with a spoon. He did okay at first...then he started grabbing at the spoon instead of eating, thus getting ravioli sauce all over his hands. Then I'd put the ravioli down (on his high chair tray, of course!) and go grab a napkin and he'd be elbow deep in ravioli. He must have been trying to make my life a nightmare because then he started flinging ravioli all around. He was waving his hands in the air like he just didn't care. I remember that the carpet was bright white, and there were little drops of ravioli all over it. I'm pretty sure I decided that Jack had had enough ravioli and I picked him up (probably with two fingers on each hand--he was DIRTY!) and carried him into his bedroom to change his clothes. I knew I was risking major damage by leaving that ravioli to sit for even a few minutes, but I felt like if I let Jack go he'd just make little orange hand prints over the walls, carpet, couch and me--when I fainted from the stress. So, I take him back to his room, take off his clothes (probably spattering ravioli sauce all over the wall) and change his clothes, wipe him down, and then go back to the kitchen to clean up the carpet. I remember someone telling me that baby wipes would clean almost anything, so I came armed with baby wipes to try to clean ravioli off the white white white carpet.
When I came back to the high chair...I couldn't find any ravioli spots. All the spots were gone! What happened??
You know what happened? That devil cat came behind us and ate every bit of ravioli off the floor, and he must have really liked it, or been really hungry (maybe I was supposed to feed him too!!) because he sucked all the sauce from the carpet. Not a spot was left.

Turns out that baby cats ARE good for something.

Oh, and on a side note...I don't think that family asked me to babysit again after that.

Not so exciting events of yesterday...

2009-05-08T08:28:00.002-06:00

The ballgame the other day was just the BEST weather I've experienced at a game before! I only wished we had been sitting in the sun, so that I could get a little color on my lily-white skin. But nonetheless, it was glorious outside! We were in the shade, and there was a breeze the ENTIRE time, and the temps stayed around 60's-70's until the sun went down. Even then the temps were really nice. I ended up putting on a sweatshirt towards the end, but that was just because the breeze was cool. And the Rockies won! 11-1. Only to lose to the same team the next day 6-3 or something. ( I never did understand how you can slaughter a team one day, and the next day get beat so bad yourself!) anyway. The game was great...the weather was to die for...and the tickets were free!!

Yesterday after I ate lunch at work, I was sitting outside with my boss just for a few minutes to soak up the nice weather. We were out there, and there were three other people from another department out there. Two boys and a girl. One of the boys was on a bench, the other boy was lying under a tree, and the girl was sitting on the grass under that same tree. She had her back to us (me, my boss, and the guy on the bench) and her pants had sagged in the back. I'm going to assume she was unaware of her bottom showing, and I wasn't sure what to do. I thought about telling her, but there was no way to let her know without causing a scene...I can just imagine that. "hey, um, so-and-so. Your, um, bottom...um. Yeah, you might want to...um. Hey. Okay, see ya!"

Riiiiiight.

So, I didn't tell her. It turns out that she got up like two minutes later to go to the post office, and therefore her bottom was no longer in view. That was good.

Yesterday morning I had a rough morning because I was in a horrible mood from gaining a little bit of weight back (the ball game--sabotage!) Then I read the post on Heather's blog where she talks about the "weight/math exercise" in Catie Grace's class and I got so upset I really needed to cry. I kept thinking.. "okay, I have 11 minutes before this patient shows up, I could run in the back and cry for a minute..." but I knew my face would get splotchy and then everyone would ask "what's wrong!?" and bring more attention to my splotchy face. So I held back the tears.

After talking to Heather and hearing that Catie Grace was doing fine, I felt better. Our clinic is getting busier and that's always good. That takes less stress off my boss and less stress off me...to know that we're hitting our patient quota everyday! yay!!

For lunch we walked down to Subway. (don't worry...I ate my study lunch...the other girls ate subway). You know...Subway where Gary works. Yeah. I had to buy a drink...so I had to stand in line...and try to avoid his gaze. Even after the very embarrassing, cowardly delivery of his phone number to me through his employee, and even after I haven't called him or shown interest in him romantically (other than gazing at his subway sandwiches like I haven't had food in 10 years) he still proceeds to try to stare at me or talk to me or breathe. hah, just kidding about the breathing part. sort of. No really.

Sort of.

Speaking of Gary. The guy who was laying in the grass (above) said to me the other day, "Krusty," (except he used my real name) "why do all these guys like you?" I was like, "Gee, Pal, I have no idea. When you figure it out why don't you let me know?!" Geez! Who asks a question like that. That's just the sort of thing that makes me feel insecure and uncomfortable. I know he didn't mean it like it sounded. I know he was asking in reference to Gary and to another guy who's a patient here who inappropriately tries to give me gifts and hold my hand and such. I know that he didn't mean it to sound like he was asking "Krusty, why would ANY guy ever think you're ATTRACTIVE and want to ask you out??" But that's how it sounded. I wanted to punch him in the head...but I didn't.

I'm a walking example of restraint. ;-D

Anyway, hopefully today I'll be getting off early and going shopping with Jules. She needs a bathing suit for our upcoming Beach Trip. What? What's that you say? I haven't mentioned any impending Beach Trip??? Well, then you'll just have to come back to find out more about it, won't you??? :)

Update...

2009-05-06T11:16:00.002-06:00

So, yesterday my roommate was reading my blog for the first time in like a month and she said that I needed to update y'all on how some things are going...

She said this right after she caught me sticking my finger in my belly button to see if it had gotten any smaller.

You know. because I've lost weight.

What? What's that you ask?? How much weight have I lost so far?? Oh, about...twentypoundsthat'salll. :) I can't tell yet. I don't feel smaller. I don't really look smaller...but the numbers say 20 pounds. I'm halfway done...so who knows--maybe I'll lose 20 more before June 15th when the study ends.

I guess that was update number 1.

Number 2 is the book study. We've really been wrestling through a lot of tough emotional issues during this study...and I am getting so much out of it...I think i MIGHT be starting to see myself the way that God sees me, instead of the way I or the world see(s) myself.

Well, that's all the updates I have. I suppose that numbering them was useless, since there were only 2. Y'all probably could have counted to two by yourselves. Oh, well.

In other news: I'm going to the Rockies game tonight. YaY!! :) I'll take pictures!

Friends

2009-04-23T16:05:00.003-06:00

When I started blogging here, it was just so my sister could read about my daily life and know what was going on with me, since we live about 1,200 miles apart from one another. Heather had me on her little blogroll thing on the side, so the people who read her eventually ended up here. (I'm sorry). I really mostly talk about nothing. I like to tell funny stories about the things that I've done that have been less than wise, or the things that have happened to me. Weird stuff happens to me a lot. Most people think the stories are funny in real life, so I figured I'd entertain my sister with them too. Then people started sticking around. They started commenting and laughing with me and it was like I had made new friends.

One of my new friends, Della, just found out that she had a miscarriage.

I don't have children. I have nieces and nephews who I love more than I thought I could like a snot-vomit-poop machine...but that's not the same. I have never had to experience the excitement of finding out you're pregnant, then the devastation of something going wrong.

All I can say to Della is that I'm so sorry. You are my friend and I'm sorry. I know it's not enough...but know that we (your online friends you may never meet) love you and we are thinking and praying for you. Because that's what friends do.

Post number 102!

2009-04-22T14:13:00.004-06:00

About a week ago I noticed that I was getting close to post number 100! WOW!

But then I forgot.

It was clearly very important to me! :0

So, today, when I signed in to post, I realized that I missed post number 100 so instead I'll just celebrate post number 102.

Seriously...I can't even imagine that I'd have enough to say to fill 102 posts. errm. riiiight.

Today is Administrative Professionals Day, and although I serve mostly as an Ophth. Tech, I also serve as our Administrative professional. The Clinic Manager got every Administrative professional a little flower-boutonniere-corsage thingy to wear. Lucky for me, I wore the junkiest scrubs I could manage today. I feel sort of like I'm wearing a crown encrusted with 1,000 diamonds in my pajamas. yay! I do appreciate the gesture. It's nice for someone to thank you for how hard you work...but my boss (in my department) thanks me for my hard work at least once a week. I'm lucky that way. Also? Flowers make me sneeze...so the idea of having a little bundle of flowers approximately 5 inches from my nostrils doesn't exactly make me excited for the onslaught of sneezes that are in my future.

In other news, there was a very interesting lecture on eating disorders during lunch today. I was actually pretty impressed by the information presented. It was very thorough. I quite enjoyed it as I crunched on my salad while everyone else was eating Indian food. It was okay though, because I find most of the offerings of Indian food catch up with me soon after I've swallowed.

Tomorrow I have a dentist appointment. I'm not very excited. I always thought that dentists, proctologists, and gynecologists must be major sadists or something. And seriously, can you think of 3 more horrible places to have your hands in? Mouth, bottom, tootie-ta. See! I told you. You're snarling your nose up now, aren't you?

Speaking of tootie-ta's. I have one more story before I go. When I was about 18 I was having some sort of kidney pain or something. It was only on one side (which pretty much rules out kidneys) and it wasn't constant. It came and went like the north star. (well, honestly, I think the North Star is pretty constant, isn't it?) Anyway, I went to the doctor and after a series of questions they decide they need to do a pelvic exam. I was like, umm okay? Thinking that I would just lay down and they'd just poke on my belly or something. NOPE. The nurse pulls out a sheet and says, "Take your clothes off and wrap up in this sheet." I was like, "Take what?" She looked at me--clearly unamused by my shyness--and repeated "Take your clothes off and wrap up in that sheet." I said (probably a little more panic-y than I meant) "what clothes?" and she so kindly informed me that she meant MY clothes. I said, again pulling her from the door she was trying to exit, "Which clothes?? ALL of them???? WHY???" The nurse informed me that the doctor wanted to "invade my private space and make me horribly embarrassed then talk about me when I left." OK. maybe that's not exactly what the nurse said. But I was not having it at all. I waited until the nurse left and counted to ten. Then....I gathered my things and RAN out of that doctor's office.

Funny thing was I never had anymore side pain after that.

I SO wasn't trying to be secretive...

2009-04-20T12:42:00.002-06:00

The study I'm doing is measuring the effects of "undereating" on Insulin and Glucose in your body. It's basically Nutritionally-induced Insulin Resistance. They give me my food...I eat only and all of the food they give me...and then 3 times over a 12 week period I go into the hospital. The hospital stays are the worst! At first, while you're unpacking your little overnight bag and you're setting out your phone charger and you're fluffing your pillows and you're looking out the window at all the wonderful city lights you think, "Ahhhh. This is niiiiiiiice." But then, when they wake you up the next morning at 5:30 and start shoving needles into your veins and drawing blood every 5 minutes and injecting you with all sorts of things you start thinking that it's not so great. Then, when they start cutting into your leg, all the way down to your muscle and take a piece and you can feel that the doctor has gotten the instrument she's using stuck inside your leg and is tugging and tugging but can't seem to free the cannula, you start thinking...WHAT DID I SIGN UP FOR?!

But once it's over, you forget how bad it was...sort of like childbirth (or so I'm told). You'd really have to ask someone like Della about that.

Anyway, one of the side effects is losing about 10-15 % of your body weight *yippee!* and then I get paid at the end also. And let's not forget how much I'm saving by not having to buy groceries.

But I have been hungry. I'm not going to lie. And sometimes it seems that every stinkin commercial on TV is about food. I don't even like chocolate-covered brussell sprouts in a yam and coffee sauce, but when I see a commercial for chocolate-covered brussell sprouts in a yam and coffee sauce my mouth starts watering.

And in case you're wondering, no. that's not a real food. At least I hope it's not. Unless, of course you're the maker of chocolate covered brussell sprouts with a yam-coffee sauce...in which case...YUMMMM. ;0

Anyway, so, I'm holding steady at the 12 pound weight loss mark. (also just in case you're wondering...that is NOT 10 percent of my body weight...but thanks for thinking that!) I think my body has gotten used to the amount of food I'm eating now, so I just have to step it up with a little activity! Then I should start shedding some weight!

So, that's the study. Not as interesting as cancer research or trying to find a cure for a disease...but still...more interesting than chocolate covered brussell sprouts. :)

Insert cute and catchy title here...

2009-04-14T08:21:00.002-06:00

Good Morning. Yesterday I was in a horrible mood, so I didn't post anything. I started posting a whiny little rant, but I deleted it and went about my business of being mad and looking at people meanly.

Today, I'm feeling much better.

Also, yesterday, I forgot to eat supper. That has never happened in my life. I've never forgotten to eat a meal. never. But yesterday I did.

Also, I have found my love for Christian music again. I stopped listening to it for a while because I swore they never played anything you'd ever heard before. But yesterday I turned it on again, and every song was one I knew and liked. So I jammed to K-Love all day! I danced and sang and had a good ol' time while I was cleaning last night. If anyone could have seen me through the window, I think they would have thought I was crazy!

My study visit on Friday (last week) was okay. It's never fun, but once it's over it's not that big of a deal. The incision from the muscle biopsy isn't as sore this time, which is good. Last time I was limping around like a hobb-along.

Church for Easter was really really good. I really enjoyed it...but MAN was it crowded. They had also scooted the rows together a little more than they usually are, so I literally had my knees butted up against the seat in front of me. But it was good, nonetheless.

And, in other news...So far, since the beginning of the study I've been doing, I've lost 11.6 pounds. :) yay!

It's Friday, But Sunday's coming!

2009-04-09T08:29:00.002-06:00

I know...it's only Thursday...but I have to go to the hospital again tonight for an overnight stay for my study...so I won't be posting tomorrow.

Tomorrow is Good Friday. When I was growing up I knew what Easter was about, and why we celebrated. I understood that the sacrifice Jesus made was for me and I was thankful. And I celebrated Easter like any kid would.

Last year was the first year I really considered what Easter is. Last year was the first year I really tried to think about how it must have been to have been a disciple of Jesus when He was crucified. I tried to think about how God must have felt allowing such horrible things to happen to his son, so that we can life. I tried to ponder how Jesus must have felt, knowing the horrible things he was about to endure.

And it overwhelmed me. I spent most of last year's Easter weekend mourning Jesus' death. I spent lots of time sad and guilty about what I caused Jesus to go through. Then the Children's Pastor at our church sent out an email to all the volunteers. It said something to the effect of "some of you might be tempted to be sad today, because of what Jesus went through for you...but remembering what Jesus did for you be thankful. Be grateful and celebrate that you have life abundant now! Thank God for what He did, instead of being sad about it! Jesus WILLINGLY made the sacrifice for you, because he loves you!"

It was just the reminder I needed. So this Easter, I'll be celebrating that I have life abundant because Jesus willingly made a sacrifice of his life! I just needed a different perspective!

Random Ramblings...

2009-04-07T15:25:00.002-06:00

So, since Sunday, (which I know has only been 2 days) I've lost 2.6 pounds. I hope that means that the rest of the 2 months are going to go exactly as I would like. :)

Also, I am starting to get not one, not two, but THREE fever blisters on my bottom lip. I felt them starting to come up before they actually appeared, so I think I might have knocked them out with Abreva. Man! that stuff is good!

And they're saying that it's going to RAIN on Wednesday. I cannot tell you how happy I am for two reasons: 1. It's not snow. 2. I love the rain and it rarely rains here, so I'm really excited about it! I might even have to play in it!

Yesterday was such a productive day for me. After work I went to Petsmart to get some dog food. I usually get the little bags and they don't last that long. I saw that they had the bigger 20 pound bags on sale, though, so I decided to live large and get the big bag! Super size it, please! So, then I started thinking on my way out about where/how I was going to store all this dog food! I ran over to Target and found this cute green rubbermaid-type containter for 4.99 and it worked gloriously. I was really proud of myself. :)
Then when I got home there was A TON of work to do in the house. About 10 years worth of laundry was calling my name along with a dirty house that I didn't get motivated and clean over the weekend. So, I worked and worked and worked my tail off yesterday. I didn't finish until around 8pm. WHEW! But when I did finish, it looked so nice! I also changed my roommate's sheets into some new ones she got as a gift and she didn't know. So when she got home from work last night at 10:30 she was surprised that her new sheets were on her bed! :)

Also, I think I am going to ask the girls' book group that we're doing to start meeting at a Star*bucks close to home, b/c it's just soooo much to have people over two nights in a row, and sometimes people linger too long and when we have stuff we need to do and don't want to shove someone out the door, it gets a little tricky. I wonder if that's rude or not...to ask everyone to meet at a central location instead of one person's house. hmmm.

Anyway...people here are wearing shorts today. The high was like 70. It's such a perfect day here today! Thank you GOD!!!

P.S. Thanks to everyone who reads here and comments. It's really really nice to have people respond to you. Y'all are becoming such nice friends! :)

Changes are going to come...

2009-04-02T09:56:00.002-06:00

So, Sunday I start this "diet". It's actually the second phase of a study I'm doing. But the short-story point is that they provide me with (real/regular, low-fat) food for two months...free...all my food. No groceries will be bought for two months. It's low calorie, low fat food. Portioned out for me...prepared and packed for me everyday. The main effect is not weight loss...but a side effect is. So I hope I lose some! I'm going to maximize my efforts to lose as much as possible during these two months...and then hopefully I'll have created healthy eating habits and continue eating right at the end of their two month period.

Also, I'm starting this Book/Bible study with some girls in my CommUNITY group. The book is, "Do You Think I'm Beautiful." by Angela Thomas. The gist of it is that God desires a relationship with us that is so intimate that we begin to see ourselves as God sees us, instead of defining ourselves by the "world's" standards. I mean, let's face it...I have terribly poor self esteem. There are so many things that contribute to this fact...and this study forces you to come to terms with the things that are hindering you from living a full life. We're just in the first week...and it's already good. I'll pass along what I'm learning every once in a while. :)

And lastly, I'm thinking about school more and more lately. I know I'm not quite ready to go back...but I think I'm starting to narrow down what I'd like to do. I used to think I wanted to do School Counseling...but the more I research the more I think I don't want to do that. For a long time I have entertained the idea of doing Occupational Therapy, but I've always told myself that I'm not smart enough to handle the science classes that OT would entail. After working where I work for so long now, and learning so much, and seeing that I can excel at science-y things...I'm starting to think I can do it.

Sorry for the boring material today. I just thought I would share what's going on in my life currently. :)

The Best April Fools Joke EVER!

2009-03-31T08:36:00.003-06:00

**~*~I finally had to delete the Orange Scrubs post. It was leading so many people, especially in other parts of the world, to my post...and people who were NOT searching for my story. So, sorry! That post is gone!~*~**

In honor of April Fool's day I wanted to tell you a story about the best practical joke I've ever played on anyone in my life. Okay, maybe I built it up too much. But, it was gooood.

When I was a sophomore in college I had some friends from back home who came to the same school I went to. They were freshmen and lived in the freshman-only residence hall. They also lived in the same "suite" as their RA. The RA was a junior, so only a little bit older than me. He was this South African guy who just KNEW he was God's gift to the world. He was nice enough, but he was fullllll of himself. We'll call him Chapstick. (go with it). Chapstick had a little South African accent that sort of sounded British, but not as heavy. He also had lived in the US for a long long time, so he had lost a lot of the thickness to his accent. In fact, when he was around people he was totally comfortable with, his accent sort of faded into nothing. But let some pretty girl come around and he would totally play it up. He'd say something in an accent so thick you couldn't even tell what he said. I used to call him out on it. If it was just us hanging around, he'd talk almost completely normal. When some blond beauty walked in the room, he'd start talking and all you'd hear was, "whytcha duoinnnaya turrbuylleasr." I'd say, "Chapstick...No one can tell what you're saying. All of the sudden your accent is SO thick." He'd get pretty mad when I did that. ;0

His roommates (my friends from home) were so nice. We'll call them J and B. Anyway, one day I was over at J, B, and Chapstick's dorm room and Chapstick tells me that he can make a piece of hair stand up in water. I'm an idiot apparently, because I believed him. He pulled out one of my hairs...OUCH!...and tore it into little pieces. Then he filled a large plate with water. He poured salt in the plate (which was just for show) and then sprinkled my little pieces of hair in the plate. He told me I had to get really close and look from the side and I'd see the hair stand up on end. So, I got really close, looked from the side, and WHAM!!! he slapped that plate of water so hard, I was drenched. My whole face got soaked! I like jokes...and usually can appreciate the humor even if it's done to me unless it calls for me losing some article of clothing...that's not funny. So, I laughed it off, but reminded myself that I'd get him back later.

A few days later I was walking back to my dorm after eating supper at the Student Center and my roommate was with me. It was dark, and we went to an Urban University, so you had to be careful about your surroundings. My roommate noticed a car full of boys/men staring us down. They were parked under the dark part of the street, so we couldn't see their faces. Steph, my roommate, suggested that we not walk past the car. Just as we were waiting on the light to change, so we could cross to the other side of the road, I noticed the men getting out of the car. They were looking straight at us...and not in a good way. We couldn't tell who they were, but it was clear they were up to no good. They began walking quickly straight toward us. I started getting nervous saying, "Steph...they're coming here. They're coming. Come on light!! come on!!" I was genuinely scared. Suddenly one of the men began running at me. I had a juice bottle in my hands. In an instant I threw the bottle, started screaming and took off running past the guys! I knew that was going to be the worst night of my life. Just as I tried to run past the guy running at me, I noticed his face. Chapstick. He grabbed me and hugged me really tight and started laughing really really hard. I was so mad. They had really scared me (which was their objective all along!! It was J, B, and chapstick!) So that night I plotted a master plan to get this boy back!

It was right around April Fools Day. I wrote a simple letter that read,

"Chapstick.

I think you're hot. I've seen you around, and I wish that we could get to know one another more. It's a shame for someone like you to be alone. Think about it.

Don't worry. I'll introduce myself soon enough."

And I stuck it on his car window when he was in the Baptist Student Center. Don't throw stones. You have to seize your opportunities when they present themselves!!

So, I didn't mention anything about the note to anyone for a few days. Then I told J and B about it, and swore them to secrecy. They said that he'd been playing jokes on them too, and they wanted in on it. So, we planned a very elaborate scheme.

I began writing more and more notes. I would make each one a little more aggressive than the last. I began getting information from J and B about Chapstick that no one would know unless they were really following him. Stuff like what color boxers he had...or how his room was decorated. Things like the funny way he stacked peas on the back of his fork with his knife. Things like exact times and places that he'd been recently. Things about his past...about his family. I started confessing my LOVE for him. I started telling him that we WOULD be together...and that I couldn't stand by while he chose someone else. I kept telling him that I would introduce myself soon enough.

I had J and B come up with creative ways to present the letters. Sliding them under the door late at night...putting them in his closet...dropping them off at the RA office for him. It was GENIUS. He didn't tell anyone except J and B about it. He was totally freaked! We carried the charade on for about 3 months...then I wrote a letter telling him I wanted to meet him. We planned it out where I said I would be at a Bible Study he attended that week. What he didn't know is I already attended the Bible Study, so me being there wouldn't be a give-away.

He told J and B that he was going to confront this girl and tell her to leave him alone, and if that didn't work, then he'd have to do something a little stronger. Good thing I decided to tell him that night that it was me...before he turned my letters over to police or something!!

Anyway, that night at Bible study I noticed he was a little on edge. He did keep looking around the room at the people who were there. I kept asking him what was wrong...are you looking/waiting on someone?? heheheeh! I'm so bad!

After about half the night went on, and as far as he was concerned she hadn't showed...he calmed down a bit. Once I was sure he was convinced that she wasn't coming, I walked over to him and sat down next to him.

"Chapstick." I said. "I need to tell you something."

"Alright." he replied, oblivious.

"Chapstick. I just love the way your scrape your peas onto the back of your fork with your knife. And I looooooove that you wear red boxer shorts every Saturday to play football at Greensprings Park. And I loooooooove..."

His face went blank. I thought for a moment he might pass out. Instead he stood up.

"YOU???!!! How..? When?? How did you...?" Stuttering. He couldn't even get the words out.

Me, J, and B were laughing so hard we ended up in a heap on the floor. Chapstick just kept going on and on about how I was supposed to be so sweet and nice and innocent! Hahahaah! We had gotten him GOOD.

Of course, he wanted all the details of how we pulled it off. I'm pretty sure that J and B paid a much higher price than I did for the joke. I think there was talk of several "antique-ing sessions". But I would have spent the next year with flour caked over my face just to see the look on his that night!

Snow Day

2009-03-30T13:12:00.005-06:00

I haven't posted since last Wednesday because of The Blizzard of 2009.

Being from Alabama...I've never experienced an actual blizzard before, except for the kind you might buy at Diary Queen.

But last Thursday--I experienced one.

I'm going to let the pictures speak for themselves.

That picture is about halfway through the storm. There was a break in the snowfall, and I was finally home and safe (a story for another day) and we measured it to be almost 9 inches.

The snow was blown right up to my front door.

Puppy didn't like it.

It was the most snow I've seen fall in my life. I mean, of course I've seen a lot of snow at ski resorts, etc, but this was major. This was right in my front yard. It was amazing!

We got a total of about 15 inches. It was crazy!!

Google

2009-03-25T09:52:00.003-06:00

Someone located my blog by searching for "University of Alabama Panties".

They're not here...but if you find them, let me know. I love me some Bama.

Roll Tide!

Mixed Media

2009-03-23T09:55:00.002-06:00

I love TV. Throw stones if you like...I am easily entertained. I like books and movies too. I am a bit more particular about what I read than I am about what I watch. I can see just about ANY movie and really enjoy it. I don't so much love those movies that are like "spoofs" or whatever...but most other movies I really enjoy. Even the "boy kind"--you know, the action-packed muscle-man running through the forest fighting off elephants and lions and linebackers. I still like those. I have an assortment of TV shows that I really enjoy, an assortment of those that I like okay and will watch if nothing else is on, and then there are TV shows that I really just don't like. I watch things like The Biggest Loser, American Idol, and Grey's Anatomy. I haven't missed a season of Survivor in about 4-5 years. I love Supernanny.

I am particular about who I'll read tho. I pretty much stick to a couple authors, my favorite being Karen Kingsbury. I have read just about EVERY single book she's written, with the exception of the brand new ones I've yet to buy. And then of course, there's that author that writes *skylight*. I got sucked in to reading her saga. And loved it, of course, like the millions of people across the country who are also a bit obsessed.

My top three movies are Pride and Prejudice (the most recent one), The Holiday (with Jack Black, Jude Law, Cameron Diaz, and Kate Winslet), and The Wedding Date (with Dermot Mulroney and Debra Messing). Those movies I can watch over and over. I like Pride and Prejudice because when I read the book, I pictured the characters in my head. And then when they came out with the most recent movie, the pictures in my head matched the pictures on the screen! It was as though those characters were straight out of my brain!! And I love Mr. Darcy's transformation. I like the other two movies b/c they're brilliantly happy and lovely and fun. And The Wedding Date has some of the BEST lines!

I love to find out what someone's favorite TV shows and movies are. I think it speaks volumes about their personality. So, please, if you have time, tell me your favorite TV show(s) and favorite movie(s). :)

**~Mystic~**

2009-03-19T14:04:00.004-06:00

We had a discussion last night about tanning. I am a pasty, pale white girl...but sometimes in the summer I can tan pretty good. I don't really like to use a tanning bed, b/c it makes me have headaches and that makes me paranoid that I have a brain tumor. So, mostly, I lay out when I can.

Anyway, last night some girls were talking about using Mystic Tan, which is a spray tan thing. You go and pay money and they spray your body tan, and it looks fairly real. I did it once.

When I was a sophomore in college my roommate was very commercial...and she was always up on the newest on haircuts, and tans, and clothes, and shoes, and teeth whiteners, and such. So, she talked me into driving to Cullman one Saturday and having a spray tan done with her. It was the same day our university had a football game. The plan was to go have the tan done, and be back in time for the game, only a little more bronze. :) From what I recollect, it down something like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YQFYRJiHyNE

I ended up with splotchy, muddy goodness all over my skin. It turns out there are several steps you should follow BEFORE getting a spray tan...one of those being exfoliation. Oops. I paid the price. I turned out very uneven and splotchy. It looked as if I had rolled in dirt.

I still had a good time at the game though.

And whenever someone asked me what was different, I simply smiled and said I got my hair trimmed ;-D

Over the shoulder boulder holder

2009-03-17T08:19:00.002-06:00

Sometimes when kids go to college they rebel against the way they've done things according to their parents for the last 18 years. Sometimes, if they were raised to have their own morals rather than just following their parents' then they make good decisions and probably don't rebel too much (or at all). I was one of those kids. I didn't care much about drinking or partying...I was never tempted by sororities or flirty boys. But I did struggle in one specific area: Bedtime. Growing up we were forced to go to bed at 8pm until about high school. My poor older sister was forced to go to bed at 8pm even in high school. Poor thing! Anyway, bedtime was pretty strict at my house, so when I got to college I rebelled majorly. I stayed up as late as I wanted just because I could. Most of the time I'd stay up too much and after a few days I'd swear I was going to set a sensible bedtime. 11. 11pm was PLENTY of time. So for a few days I'd go to bed at 11, then get tired of that and stay up until 3:30 or 4 AM. Back and forth. Back and forth. I actually felt guilty like I was doing something wrong by not going to bed at a sensible time.

I never quite achieved a sense of balance with the bedtime thing. It was the worst my first year. I would stay up until 3 or so each morning...either playing or studying. I was a HUGE fan of the Instant Messenger at that time, and would talk to random people until the wee hours of the morning. I am not really a "morning" person, so I never scheduled a single class until the final semester of my college experience before 11 AM. NOT A SINGLE SEMESTER until the very end. So, I might go to bed at 3 am, and then get up at 10 to get ready for class. That still gave me 7 hours of sleep so I was usually good to go. (the whole idea seems ludicrous now!) Anyway, sometimes I'd drag out of bed a little late and have to rush around. I was so scatterbrained and never fully prepared for the day that I'd forget things constantly! I'd forget the text on my desk...I'd forget my notebook...I'd forget to brush my teeth. Don't throw stones.

So, anyway, one day I was walking to class. I remember that it was getting close to summertime, so I was probably sweating away with my long, very dark hair pulled into a ponytail most likely. I always felt like I was rushing around trying to get where I was going. I probably looked like the most awkward kid! Anyway, that day, as I was walking, I realized that something didn't feel right about my clothes/body. I started surveying myself as I walked. Shoes?? I looked down and there they were. Pants? Yes, I didn't forget to change out of my pajama pants. Underwear? Yep, no problem there. Shirt? Yep. A real shirt too, not even a t-shirt. Then it hit me.

I forgot to put a bra on.

I was humiliated. I was walking around ALL DAY with no bra on. all day. ALL DAY!

I never missed a class until my Senior year of college. I never skipped. So, I was forced to make a decision: continue my day with no bra on, or go home-change-and miss a class.

I chose to keep going to class and just cross my arms all day and PRAY no one noticed.

I should have been awarded a diploma that day.

Books that rhyme with "Sky-Light*"

2009-03-16T15:30:00.003-06:00

*so, I am going to be referring to the series of books that rhymes with "skylight" as the skylight books. Simply for the sake of 1,000,000 google searches that will lead unsuspecting skylight fans to my blog.

So...I got "sucked" in. HA! that's funny! Sucked right into Skylight. I have heard people like Michelle say that these books were STINKIN GOOD! (though she probably used a different word other than "stinkin".) and then Jules' aunt was here and she was going on and on about how the skilight books appeal to readers of all ages--not just teens. I had been skeptical until that point, but I decided to give them a try. I picked the first one up at walmart for about $7.49 which i thought was A STEAL!!! I read it all on a Saturday. I am a little ashamed to say that I loved it so much that I got up on Sunday and the FIRST thing I did was run to Walmart to get the second one. I read it all on Sunday.

Sunday night I went to get the 3rd and 4th but Walmart didn't have them. I had to go to Target and pay a little more (they only had hardback). I read the 3rd one in like 2 days inbetween patients at work and during my free time at home. I started the 4th one 4 days after starting the 1st one. I stretched it out, however, knowing that I had to stay in the hospital for that study and would need a source of entertainment.

Now, I am finished with the skilight books, and honestly, I'm sad that it's over. I loved them and was so entertained by them! I read them much too quickly! I think I got so attached to them b/c I need to believe that a love like **Della and Studward's** can withstand anything...even if it's only in a book. And you know what...I was superiorly pleased when it did.

**substitute the "D" with a "B" and the "Stud" with "Ed". :)

Flashbacks!

2009-03-10T14:27:00.002-06:00

Oh, man! Tonight, I will spend my first night EVER in a hospital (except for, you know, when I was scooping poo and such working at one). This is my first night ever as a "patient". OOOH. The thought makes me shudder. I'll tell you one thing...NO ONE will be helping ME use the bathroom. NO. WAY.

So, before you get all worried you should know that it's just for a study visit. I am participating in a study that's (for lack of a better word) studying the effects of undereating on insulin and glucose in your body. It all sounds complicated but here's the jist/gist: I eat the food they give me, and only the food they give me for ____ amount of time. Somewhere in that time period on a scheduled day I spend the night in the hospital and they do study stuff like draw my blood every 30 seconds or something the next day. I'm pretty sure I'll have to be waking at the exact butt-crack of dawn. yay.

Anyway, I've started to think about all the memories I have of the hospital stuff. The good things, the bad things...the gross things. All the people and the fun we had! Oh man!! It was such a good job for me.

I've never broken any bones. I've never had to have surgery. I've never been ill enough to have to do anything besides drag myself to the doctor to get meds. Only one time I had to go to the ER because I was having an asthma attack. I don't actually have asthma...which is probably an important factor in having an asthma attack. I think the problem was that I spent the whole day with my dad and his new wife and her children, who I now believe after reading Twilight might've been warewolves. Anyway, I think I was allergic to them not whatever else they said caused my "allergy-induced asthma attack." But even then I just had to sit in the ER and do a nebulizer treatment and go home. So it feels weird to have to go to the hospital and stay. Even if I won't have to have anyone coming in "q4 hours" to check my vital signs. Oh well.

Think of me tonight while you're enjoying your families and your laughter and your pets. I'll be alllllllll alone at the hospital. :( (how was that for a pity party!?) HAHAHA!

So--anyway, I'll be out of work tomorrow, so I won't be writing...but I'll be back on Thursday to report how it went! :) Hopefully it will not be a poo-tastrophe. ;-D

Lazy-Day Picture Post :)

2009-03-05T13:59:00.011-07:00

I'm just going to do a lazy-day picture post! Enjoy:

This picture was taken outside a little farmers market in the very small town my family lives in. I thought it was funny.

This is me and my best friend at work on Halloween. ha! She was a "frazzled housewife" and I was a basket of laundry. Someone guessed that I was a dryer sheet, and since I was wearing all white, and since I was INSIDE the basket, i suppose you could say I was a dryer sheet too. (Look at my headband! it's used dryer sheets tied together!! hahahah!) This is how big Westin Puppy was when Jules first got him. Julie's arm is in the picture to give you a frame of reference. HAHAHAAH!

This was Westin Puppy's first experience with the snow. This was like the 2nd day we lived in CO. He did not like the snow.

When no one is around, I take pictures of myself. Don't throw stones...we all do it!

Me and my niece, Catie Grace, had a make-up party. :) wooo doggy.

This is my sister when she was pregnant! I love her very very very much!

This is a picture of me and Jules dressed up for a Mystery Dinner Party. She was playing an Older, Italian man, so she has a gray mustache. I was just having a little fun with the 'staches.

Sorry for the cheap post. :)

Google Searches

2009-03-04T09:57:00.003-07:00

So, when you use words like "panties" and "bedpans" I guess this is what you can expect from the ol' google searches. These are things people have typed in and ended up at my blog:

inmates scrubs--I'm not sure if this person is looking to buy them, or what, but I don't think they found what they were looking for here.

buy orange inmate jumpsuit--again, no inmate jumpsuits for sale here. I wonder if these people are looking for new or used inmate jumpsuits?

pantyshow--umm....gross.

inmate panties--umm...even grosser.

julie gross just farted--ok. seriously?? What was this person expecting to find???

inmate jumpsuit yellow--I've heard of orange. I've heard of pink. I've heard of blue. But where do they make inmates wear yellow? The sunshine state??

scrub jumpsuit--it will be much easier to do your job if you buy a separate scrub top and bottom as opposed to a jumpsuit. It's awfully hard to empty a Foley catheter when you can't bend down.

stinky sniff smell fart panties--really? really?????

the correct way to place a patient on a bedpan--don't worry, honey. You get used to it. Trial and error. That's the best way. Just make sure you have a pair of gloves handy (see Bedpans for Broken Hips are very Shallow Post for more info).

Tennessee volunteers panties--I've always been an Alabama fan myself

shallow bedpans--Oh, poor thing. I wonder why someone was searching for Shallow Bedpans.

It's just amazing what people will type into the little blinking text box of a search engine.

My Bottom Will Never Be the Same:my first and last cycling adventure!

2009-03-02T09:26:00.002-07:00

Saturday the 6 of us (me, Jules and our 4 house guests) rode up to another city to rent bicycles and ride around. The other city is quaint and unusual, and interesting. So, we thought it'd be fun to rent bikes and just ride around a little bit of the city and see the sights.

Perhaps I need to preface this story by saying that I haven't ridden a bike since I was 13. Well, that's not entirely true. You see, I've ridden a stationary bike, for maybe 3 miles. For a tiny bit of exercise.

Don't throw stones. You have to start somewhere.

Anyway, so. I was a little nervous about this "ride" because Julie's aunt is a cyclist for real. And the girl we were meeting in the little town rides her bike everywhere, so I guess you could say she's a cyclist too. I am not a cyclist.

So, we go and rent our bikes and I knew that there would be a problem the INSTANT I got on my bike because immediately my butt felt like I was sitting on the bike pole with no seat attached. OUCH! (you got a mental picture, didn't you?) I figured maybe it would be okay. Maybe one of two things would happen: 1. my butt would get used to the seat and it wouldn't hurt anymore. 2. My butt would go numb from the pain and I just wouldn't feel it anymore.

Neither of those happened.

As we began our not-so-leisurely ride I became certain of how big a mistake this was going to be. We had only been riding for about 20 minutes when I was almost in tears. My bottom was hurting so bad!!! Also, we were basically right on the edge of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, and there were very many problems with this: 1. The air is very very thin. This makes it hard to breathe when you're gasping for air while riding up 17% grades. 2. When you're that close to the mountains everything is uphill. This caused my legs to burn on fire, my butt to hurt b/c my weight was shifted towards the back, and caused mucho issues with breathing (see #1.) I knew about 35 minutes into this trip that I was not going to enjoy the rest of my day. Once we got to about 7,000 feet they decided that we had better turn around because, "the rest of the way is pretty steep." I wanted to throw one of the boulders at the girl's head and scream, "What do you think we just traveled??? a tiny hill?????? are you CRAZY!?" but I didn't. Mostly because I was too tired to try to pick up a boulder. I should have thrown a tiny pebble though. I can't be sure, because I was so tired, but I probably could have lifted one of those.

Anyway, the way down was obviously easier since it was downhill and all. I didn't really have to pedal and because of that I could lift my bottom off the seat some and get OH! SWEET RELIEF!! for my bottom.

The rest of the story is a whole lot of the same. Mucho mucho butt pain....mucho leg pain...mucho gasping for air. Except the rest of the story doesn't include the sweet relief of a downhill ride.

6 hours later.

15-20 miles later.

Many, many curse words thought in my head later.

We FINALLY turned in our bikes.

I couldn't get out of bed yesterday. My bottom was so sore. My legs were sore. My knees (one of which is bad anyway) felt like I had torn every ligament and tendon there and my lower half of my leg was only attached to the top half by my skin. I felt like I had been hit by a car.

I think being hit by a car would have been more fun. Mostly because it wouldn't have taken 6 hours.

Unless, of course, I was dragged behind the car for 20 miles through a quaint and unusual little town a little northwest of Denver.

I hate to be choosy

2009-02-26T13:27:00.002-07:00

So, on campus here there is a variety of restaurants to eat. Two of my favorites are Subway and Jimmy Johns! yumm! I have really gotten attached to Subway, mostly because I don't feel guilty after eating there and I'm full. I have been buying my lunch a lot lately, because I have been so tired I hardly get out of bed in time to put on shoes much less pack a lunch. So, I've been going to Subway a lot lately. Today, I was there in line and I was the second person in line (about to pay). I noticed the man at the register was looking down at my chest/stomach area. I wasn't sure which one he was looking at, but I wasn't too happy about either option. My chest, which is fairly large, well, we all know why I wouldn't like him looking there (pervert). My stomach is fatter than it used to be, and a huge source of insecurity for me, so I didn't want him looking there either. I said, "HEY!" What are you looking at??" and he snapped out of it and said, "oh, sorry. Your nametag." okay. So, I eat my lunch and throw away my trash. I went to fill up my Diet Coke one more time before I left and one of the workers walked up behind me and was like "psst. pssssssst." I turned around, thinking that SURELY she was not "pssst-ing" me. OH, SHE WAS!! I turned around and she handed me a little piece of paper and said, "this is Gary's number." I said, "GARY?? Who's Gary??" I guess she was trying to make a speedy getaway, so she said (rather impatiently) "the guy. THE guy!" and pointed towards the register where the man who was staring at my "nametag" was standing. OHHHH. great.

I politely said thank you and quickly scurried off.

I should mention that he's approximately 49 years old.

I should have told him that my mother is single.

My Snooze Addiction

2009-02-25T08:25:00.002-07:00

No matter what time I go to bed at night...it still happens. I CANNOT get up when my alarm goes off. I set it MUCH MUCH MUCH too far in advance just so that I can hit that stupid snooze button approximately 1,000,000 times. I've even tried setting it closer to the time I have to get up and saying, Ok, I will only snooze 3 times. YEAH RIGHT! I have no idea what the obsession is!

The truth is, if there were a sport in the Olympics for who could sleep the longest, I would take home the Gold! I tell you what! nighttime is a marathon, not a sprint, people! Although lately, it's been far too much of a sprint--and we all know how sprinting makes us feel: tired, sore, and a little cranky.

So, that's what I've been. The past 4 nights I haven't gotten good sleep, much less enough hours logged in the bed, so each day I wake up more and more tired than the last. Today, I am right on the brink of being a zombie. I had a venti iced coffee with 3 sweet n' lows and cream this morning just to get me through the morning. I confused poor Deborah by ordering Venti. She didn't even know who I was, therefore I didn't get my normal, "good morning, Kristi! How are you today???" from sweet little deborah. Isn't it funny how much things like that can affect your day/mood.

I had a dream last night that we had mice in our walls. Hundreds and hundreds of mice. There was a hole where they were coming into the rooms so I stuck some sticky traps up against the hole. In my dream, hundreds of mice kept running out of that hole and getting piled up on that sticky trap. I kept putting fresh sticky traps up against the hole but they were "filling" up as fast as I could place them. And little mice were running all around me and i was screaming. I might have been screaming in real life. No one woke me though--so i guess I wasn't.

So, even when I am asleep I'm dreaming of mice running all over me. Even when I finally get rest It's just not enough. I'm running on empty, and I still have two more work days left. I just don't think I'm going to make it!!

Tonight we're going to a friend's house to watch a movie. Ten bucks says I don't see the end.

Or maybe even the middle.

Lights off: Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

whooo hoooo!

2009-02-24T15:23:00.005-07:00

I started this post about all my pet peeves and about 2 hours later when I finally finished my list I realized that the list was way too long and i should be ashamed of myself. So i deleted it.

I know---I've been far too absent these past few days...

We have company in town. And I've been working on this project at work. So, don't worry. I'll be back. And i'll try to at least post something small each day! :)

See you soon!

Since we've been on this topic...(JELLO LOVERS: DON'T READ!)

2009-02-18T13:31:00.005-07:00

I started working at the hospital at a nurse's aide for two reasons: I needed a job and also my best friend worked there doing the same thing. I requested that I work on her floor and they hired me based on her good recommendation. I really was good at my job. I busted my butt and gave 144% everyday...even when I was exhausted. I tried to make sure that every one of my patients were taken care of and that when they left they wouldn't have a single negative thing to say about my job performance. I worked very hard and I was very good at my job.

But I didn't start out that way.

After going through the intensive 2 week classroom training, we were assigned to our floors and we had a preceptor. Jules, my best friend, was my preceptor. I was expected to go through the motions with her and see what all she did...take notes and ask questions...and just get to stand back and watch. YEAH RIGHT. Apparently everyone and their mother knows that hospitals are shorthanded so when they get fresh meat they put you to work FAST! So, I switched from observing to a little more...hands on.

One of my first hands-on "lessons" was changing an adult diaper. I figured that I'd done the kid ones before and honestly, NOTHING can be worse than some of the kid diapers I've changed.

I learned very quickly that I was very wrong on that point.

The man we were going to be, um, working on was about 75ish and he was in the hospital for none else: persistent diarrhea. YAY! So he was on a clear liquid diet: Jello, chicken broth, sprite. That's about all you have to choose from, and when you're hungry there's only so much chicken "broth" (which consisted of a bullion cube in some hot water, stirred.) a man can take. So he ate a lot of jello. A LOT.

Does anyone see where I'm going? extra points if you do!

So we go in there and it's literally my first day. I already had gotten a little tickled because the man looked like an African American Albert Einstein. His hair looked like he went digging for some food with his metal spoon in the electrical socket. So, I already had the chuckles, but I managed to just turn them into a smile. Julie had given me the run-down outside the door so I would know what to expect. I was fully prepared.

We went inside and Julie introduced us to the gentleman. We'll call him Albert, for all intents and purposes. Albert said hello and informed us that he was very sorry that he was having to use a diaper and he was very embarrassed that we would have to clean him up. He continued to say that he wanted to just use the toilet but couldn't seem to get there in time. Imagine that. Persistent diarrhea mixed with 75 year old bones. Not a good mixture. Anyway! So we begin work on Albert and take his diaper off. Jules is on one side of the bed, I'm on the other. Albert is laying on his side facing me so that Jules can clean him up. Albert is laying on his side facing me. With no diaper on. OKAY...let me interrupt myself and say that up until this point I had never seen a boy part before on anyone over the age of 2. MAYBE 2 and a half. But definitely not an adult. But THERE it was. It caught my eye and I couldn't look away. I was so bothered by how disgusting boy parts are that I just COULDN'T LOOK AWAY. Jules started clearing her throat...I knew she was trying to get my attention. I tried to look at her instead of this nasty thing starting at me. Jules kept clearing her throat louder and louder and louder...

With a shake of my head I was finally able to look at Jules. She swears I was only looking at his boy parts for about 3 seconds, but it felt like a lifetime. Also, I learned that it was not only his particular boy parts that I found so disturbing. It's all of them. They just look so gross.

Ah, judge me if you want! They ARE gross.

Anyway, so I angled my body back towards Albert's face so that I didn't even see the "parts" in my peripheral vision. I began quietly chatting with Albert for a few minutes to relieve his embarrassment and also to keep me from staring. Then it came time for Jules to roll him over just to make sure she got him clean. So, he rolls his bottom towards me and he's facing Jules. It didn't take long--something about laying on that side of his body shifted his intestines/colon/whatever and he started yelling, "uh-oh! OH NO! it's coming! I gotta go again!" And we heard Pbbbbttttttttt...ttbppp...pppttbbb...bbbb...ptttbbb....

And guess what happened? He pooped JELLO! There were actual jello chunks in his poop! Red and orange! I know that's gross, but it's not the point of the story. The point is, I got tickled. Ok, actually, I laughed out loud. Jules snapped her fingers once, pointed to the door, and I ran out. I felt so bad for laughing and I went back and apologized later, but at the time, that was the funniest thing I'd ever seen! I've always been a girl who thinks Farts are Funny (as long as you're not farting in my face.) So, I guess I can blame it on being so new to nakedness, farting, and all the bodily functions that most people do behind closed doors. This poor man (and every patient, for that matter) couldn't help it. But I laughed so hard and so long!

It took me weeks where when someone farted (by accident only. If they did it on purpose it wasn't that funny) I could hold my composure. I had to leave the room so many times.

But, you'd think it was funny too if you saw jello confetti coming out of someones inadvertent fart!!

It's Friday, Peace Out!

2009-02-13T11:07:00.000-07:00

Well, since I have these people who actually read my mediocre ramblings here, I figured I should tell y'all who don't already know that I don't write on the weekends. I'm leaving today at 1:00 for a dentist appointment and so this is the last thing I'll post till monday!

See y'all then! have a great weekend!!

The Blame Game

2009-02-12T14:35:00.002-07:00

So, let's face it. I'm gassy.

Yes. You heard me right. Gassy. I poot like you wouldn't believe. I swear that I must not digest my food correctly and that's why I'm a fart machine, but there's nothing that helps. Don't judge. Everyone poots at least once in their lives. Even YOU!

So, when I'm at work, the gas just builds and builds because I have no outlet. I cannot run outside every time I have to poot...aside from the fact that it's WINTER here and people would probably see steam coming from my pants in the frigid temperatures. Nothing screams, "I JUST FARTED!!" like steam coming from your butt. Also, I cannot run to the bathroom each time I need to fart either. This is for various reasons: 1. Have you ever HEARD a fart in a toilet??? The toilet just causes an echo effect letting everyone in a 75-yard radius know that you just farted. 2. By the time I actually get to the bathroom, the gas has already worked it's way back up into my digestive tract and I won't feel it again until I sit down.

I have tried to come up with creative ways to relieve myself of my excess gas. When it's just me in the clinic, I just let it go. Not at my desk, because I am out in this "main hallway" where people would walk by and smell my toxicity, so I go in the back of the clinic and just let 'er rip! But when my boss is here, that's clearly inappropriate, mostly because it would KILL him. Anyway. My desk is butted up against a medical records closet and the door has a little keypad lock thing on it. It also has it's own little air vent. I thought it was an air vent that sucks air up...because I'm a moron. Guess what!? It's an air vent that pushes air out. See where I'm going??

One day I thought I might EXPLODE from my gas so I just popped right in that closet and farted and farted and just farted some more. When I was "done" I snuck out, trying to open the door as little as possible so that no gas escaped. I went back to my desk and got to work. After a few minutes I smelled faintly a stinky aroma. I sniffed the air and my eyes popped open so wide because I realized that if I could smell the farty-ness then it was very close to my boss smelling it!!! I jumped up with some spray and just then my boss walked out of his office. "Do you smell something?" He asked. JUNK!!! "I do." I said...and then I said the first thing I could think of:
"it's that patient in exam room 2. She's kind of older and I think she just couldn't hold in her gas. Old people have trouble with that, you know?"

I blamed my disgusting gas on a harmless, oblivious old lady! I'm sure my boss thought she was just gross the whole time he was examining her. I ought to be ashamed of myself.

But I guess you could say she took the fall while I came out smelling like a rose.

One of the many resons I live in CO

2009-02-09T12:55:00.007-07:00

Oh, isn't that just lovely!? I'm no photographer--which is why the mountains are fuzzy, but Hey, I do what I can. This was the scene leaving Sweet Tomatoes (my fav. restaurant) on Saturday night on our way to church! OH, how lovely.

Oh, and as for the Rain in the Kitchen a few MONTHS ago...

We are now officially fixed. I am a moron and didn't take pictures of the final product...but you get the idea:

It's good to be back to normal. AND the best part...the WONDERFUL company that took care of the water extraction came in and cleaned our apartment and MAN DID THEY CLEAN! they even steam-cleaned the carpet...which it REALLY needed! yay! I will recommend that company to anyone who will ask! they were wonderful!!

And I'm including these pictures because I just think this is the FUNNIEST thing ever. I was home visiting my family in AL and we were driving down the road and I saw these little horses. They're adult horses, but they're miniature! isn't that just the funniest thing? All these little squatty horses milling around. It's so funny to me!

Notice the wide-open country. yes. Thankyouverymuch.

Okay..i know this is a cheap post...b/c I'm not really telling you anything, but I'll post another funny story tomorrow. :)

Bed Pans for Broken Hips are very shallow.

2009-02-06T09:53:00.002-07:00

So, as I have mentioned, I used to be a nurses' aide for about a year. It was the job that I had before moving to CO. I worked there while I was in college, but once I graduated I started picking up some extra shifts. I was trying to save up money to move across the country. I think most weeks I worked about 64 hours. I know. It's a lot. I spent almost all my time in a zombie state from lack of sleep. But it was all for a good cause, so I pushed on. I worked a lot of double shifts...3-11 was my normal shift, then I'd work 11-7. Go home, sleep from 8 to 1. Get up, shower, go back to work in time to clock in at 2:38 and do it all over again. It was crazy now that I think about it. Anyway, most of my really funny stories come from this time. There was another guy who worked with me named Hunter, and for some reason we were the ones who worked the most hours. He was saving up for nursing school. Gosh, he was such a good guy. :) Anyway, the particular story I'd like to share with you today is about a time when I let a 86 year old lady poop in my hand.

Yes. You read that correctly.

I did have gloves on. Don't judge me. :)

So the story goes like this:
I worked on the floor of the hospital with Orthopaedics, Neurology, Urology, and Plastic surgery. I have many a story about the Urology part *hence me helping that man urinate* but that's for another day. anyway. When patients have broken hips, they basically cannot get out of bed for a while. That means that when they need to potty they have to use a bedpan. They make special bedpans for hip patients, because the normal one is so painful for a hip patient to use. Also, when a patient wets/soils their linens they cannot just get up and you change the bed. You have to change the bed with them in it. Sounds fun, right? Just stop and think about that for a second. It's lots of rolling and smooshing and pulling. Rolling on a hip that is broken. Does that sound like something you would want to do? NO WAY! And mostly because I am not Satan, I don't like inflicting pain on others either. So, you tried to avoid soiled linens at ALL COSTS. Do you see where I'm going with this story??

So, this little old lady, who's having a tough time in the hospital because she's got a low pain tolerance, she doesn't have a husband or family there with her, and she's obviously used to using the bathroom without assistance, calls because she has to use the bathroom. Number 2. And because she was embarrassed she tried to hold it. Now she has realized she cannot hold it anymore and she needs help NOW. great. So, I ran down to her room to get her situated on a bed pan. Usually two people go to do this, because it's difficult to roll a hip patient on their side, HOLD THEM UP, and place the bedpan. But the only person available was Hunter. This lady did not want Hunter's help...so it was all on me. I rolled her on her side and held her there with one hand (probably arm shaking like a leaf) and tried to place the bedpan with the other hand. All the while she's screaming like a mad duck. "Ohhh, you're hurting me!! Ouch! Let me go! OHHH!!" and so on. You get used to that, unfortunately. So, i place the bedpan as best I can and roll her back on her back. It was obvious that I missed but she had already started to use the bathroom. Without going into great detail (too late!) let's just say that I had a choice to make, very quickly: let her bowel movement happen on the sheets....or catch it. I KNOW BUT I WAS UNDER A LOT OF PRESSURE AND I WAS SO SO SO SLEEPY!!! Don't throw stones. So the choice I made was one I think I'd still make today. I grabbed a latex glove from the little box in the wall...quickly threw it on, and caught the line drive (or whatever baseball analogies you want to add in here. ) As I went to...empty...my hand the little old lady yelled, "hey! Aren't you going to clean me up???" I just chuckled as I dropped off her browns at the Superbowl.

Things I wish I hadn't done...

2009-02-05T09:03:00.003-07:00

So, there's a radio show I listen to on my way home from work. It's really a kind of silly show, and most of the time it's just a bunch of people calling in and telling stories of their lives that will win a prize, according to that day's theme. For example, they have days where you call in and tell them your WORST/BEST shopping splurge that you couldn't afford...or tell them your childhood secret...and the WORST/BEST wins a prize. So, I listen, and usually laugh at the crazy things that people say. I also spend a lot of time wondering why these people would call and let thousands of people hear the horrible things they've done. BUT...then I started thinking...and I thought--even though I won't call the radio show and let thousands of people hear the things I wish I'd never done...I WILL write about it on my "blog". So, here we are.

Things I wish I HADN'T done...

1. Gotten a credit card in college. Although, that credit card funded my move across the country...so I don't know.
2. When I was in college I worked at a hospital as a nurses' aide. I wish I hadn't had to help that man use the bathroom that time. I should have gotten a guy to do it. Nothing bad happened...it's a funny story actually. But each time I tell the story, and everyone around me is laughing...I think about how I should have said no.
3. I wish I hadn't stopped writing in cursive as soon as I was out of 2nd grade. I still cannot write in cursive. When I had a choice, in 3rd grade and beyond...I ALWAYS chose print...and now, that's the only way I can write.
4. I wish I hadn't dated the guy I dated in high school. I mean, there was nothing wrong with him at the time...but it ended badly and I think I'm forever scarred.
5. I wish I hadn't dated the guy I dated in college either. But he was very short-term. I thought I would really like him because he was from a strange, foreign nation and that is very interesting! However, I learned quickly that I should have just done a report on the country, and not dated him. He was very strange. Needless to say that I had to break it off after a couple weeks. Very funny stories though.
6. I wish I hadn't typed number 4 and 5 together. It makes it sound like I have made all these bad choices as far as dating...but those are the only two guys I've ever dated. And you can't count the second one...that was a joke!
7. I wish I hadn't spent so much time, energy, and emotion on trying to maintain a relationship with my dad once my parents split. It was clear from the get-go that the interest was mine alone, and he had another family that was top priority. Had I figured it out sooner, I probably would have had much more fun in college. I would have stopped being an RA my senior year, so that I could just work and go to school...as opposed to working, school, and being a full-time RA. I also would have taken that trip to New York City that year when I turned 21 with my friends. He said no, I couldn't go. And i didn't. Mostly because I didn't want to make him mad. Once I finally realized that I was not running in first place anymore...I was running in 5th, I stopped running--and FINALLY caught my breath.
8. I wish I hadn't had to work at a call center when I first moved out here. I still have nightmares about that place. I have to admit that I used to hope the sprinklers would accidentally go off while I was there so that all the phones and computers would short out and break and I wouldn't have to work there anymore. :) I really was scarred. I cried everyday at work--except the last day I worked there. There were no tears about leaving.
9. I wish I hadn't had a large coffee this morning instead of my normal medium. I'll be feeling that one later. :-{
10. I wish I hadn't been so mean to my brother and sister growing up. I think that we have great relationships now, but it took a LONG time to get there!
11. I wish I hadn't bought this scrub top that I'm wearing today. Although it's a good color, it's too short and very annoying. I have to keep tugging...and if you're tugging on your clothes that means they don't fit.
12. I wish I hadn't believed Malynna Reynolds when she told me in 4th grade that Josh whatever-his-name-was didn't like me. Because he did. And she lied because she liked him. And he could have been my prince charming. hahahaahah!
13. I wish I hadn't seen that shark that time when Heather, Stevie and me were playing very far out in the ocean on a "family vacation". I think this contributes to part of my ocean-panic.
14. I wish I hadn't tried that sip of wine when i worked at Olive Garden for 3 days. It felt like I was drinking nail polish remover! yuck!!! Alcohol is NOT for me!!

OK...i stopped at 14 because that's my favorite number. I hope this was sort of funny! it wasn't supposed to be some heavy list of regrets. It was supposed to be funny and true. :) I hope you enjoyed!

Oh, my! It's been awhile...

2009-02-02T15:01:00.002-07:00

So, I was contemplating not writing here anymore. The truth is, my sister is really the only one who reads this, i think, or at least the only person who has any interest in what I ate for lunch two wednesdays ago, so I could just email her everyday. But, here I am. Because...well, I don't really know why.

So, because I'm a little lazy, and because I spent TWO WHOLE DAYS on this, I'll just list this thing I did for Facebook:

25 Random (and seemingly unimportant) facts about me:

I like to count down instead of up. (I guess that's number 25.)
24. I hate squirrels. The whole country's popluation of squirrels lives on the campus where I work and people (namely those who work with me) feed the squirrels right outside my office and thus they are not afraid of people and LOVE to sit at my window and STARE at me. And did I mention that they're the same size as the miniature dachshund that lives at my house????
23. I miss College Football and being in the south during the football season. People out here only care about Pro Ball (Broncos) and it makes me very sad.
22. Along the same line as squirrels...I hate the meerkat species. Long story. But I will tell you this: if I ever see a meerkat injured on the side of the road...I'll keep walking.
21. I am very weird about stuff touching my ears. I don't like other people to touch my ears and I'll get furiously mad if you give me a wet-willie. If i get water in my ears I sort of freak out.
20. Two things give me panic attacks. The first is something I've known about for years and that's the Ocean. I can be near it...see it...and even stand with my tip-toes in teh water...but if I have to get in the water for any reason I will FREAK. And the second I just recently learned about: driving in the snow. It's much scarier than you think when you live in a climate where everyone driving isn't scared and you ARE!
19. I work in an Eye Clinic for type I diabetics. We dilate peoples eyes and then use several different methods to look at the retina for signs of Diabetic Retinopathy. The best method we use is called Retinal Photography. I am in training to learn Retinal Photography. Most people who go through Optometry school don't learn retinal photograpy. I'm very blessed to be here and to be learning so much!
18. I used to fight so much with my brother and sister. A LOT! But now...I can't imagine my life without them. I also love my nieces and nephew more than I ever though I could love little kids with sometimes-snotty noses.
17. I have been so blessed to find the most wonderful church! It's a "me too" community like I've never experienced! www.flatironschurch.com And because of that church Jules and I have had the change to make such wonderful friends (the commUNITY group)! :)
16. I wear long johns almost every day. (under my clothes, of course)
15. I cry at almost anything to do with the military. At ballgames where they have fly-overs, when I see young soldiers at the airport, when there's a military-related song on the radio...i cry and cry. I'm so thankful for the sacrifice all military personnel make. I have friends in the military and I cannot tell you how proud they make me. It never fails--i cry.
14. I have a very real fear of getting breast cancer.
13. When I read books I actually see the story play out in my head...so vividly sometimes that I cannot remember if a story was a book I read or a movie I saw.
12. I have almost died each time I've tried skiing. Therefore, even though I live in CO, I do not ski.
11. I am thinking about being a flight attendant someday. Not as my forever career, but for a while.
10. I tend to smack my gum. I cannot help it. I try to make a conscious effort not to, but I still do it without realizing. I'm sure it's pretty annoying.
9. I crack my knuckles almost constantly. All day long. I do it without even realizing. I'm sure it's pretty annoying.
8. I make the dumbest jokes. I laugh at my own jokes. I seriously think I'm hilarious! Most of the time Jules is the only one who thinks my jokes are funny too. That's why we're best friends. Sometimes other people laugh. That's okay too.
7. When I shop I look at little decoration things and crafty things, and instead of buying it I think, "I can make that! I'm not buying that when I can make it." And sometimes I do actually make it. For the most part I say, "I'm not buying that because I can make it!!" and then I do one of two things: 1. I make it, but spend double what I could have bought it for. 2. I don't buy it and then never make it. :(
6. I learned how to swim correctly, you know, with all the strokes and all, about a two years ago...and I'm actually pretty good...but I still look like I'm drowning if thrown/pushed into a pool. I'm told it's one of the funniest things you've ever seen.
5. I sneeze about 100 or more times a day. My boss can account for this. He doesn't even say "bless you" anymore.
4. I have only bought one cell phone in my life. All my others have been hand-me-downs (mostly from my sister.)
3. I drive like a maniac (except when it's snowy, of course). Seriously, i get really aggravated at other drivers. I don't ever make hand gestures or yell obscenities, but i do yell...and I've been known to honk on occasion.
2. I am so un-interesting that it has taken me TWO DAYS to think of this many things...
1. I love post-its. I write everything on post-its. I've been known to walk around with post-its stuck to me so i can remember something.
Well, there we go. None of this was all that interesting, but they were at least random. :) I Hope you enjoyed

Okay...well, that's enough for today. I'm going to try to get back in the habit of posting (for you Heather!!) :)

2009-01-06T08:26:00.003-07:00

Well, I'm back to riding the bus again. I forgot to buy my bus pass for Jan before Dec ended so yesterday (my first day back to work in Jan) I had to drive. That was okay with me though, because when I drive I get to sleep an hour later. But today it was up at 5AM again. yay!

My brother has a girlfriend. I'm really glad for him, because I think he just needed to see that someone is attracted to him...I just don't want this girl to get tired of him, or whatever, and break up with him. It makes me nervous. But he's not nervous, he's happy. And that makes me happy. Hey, why not throw caution to the wind...just kidding. I will be holding tightly to my caution...we'll just let him throw caution to the wind. But I'm happy for him. I'll be waiting to meet this girl when I'm in town.

My little baby niece is just growing. I just want to chew her cheeks off! She's sooooo cute! I cannot wait to go back and hold that little baby! I'll never put her down, except when I see that she's about to throw up, then I'll quietly and nonchalantly pass her off to her mother. What?? Heather can handle a little baby vomit. :)

I finally wrote the thank you card to the family that had us over for Christmas Dinner. Let's see...that's about 2 weeks late. Nice. I'll be sure to be on the lookout for the "most courteous" award. geez.

I got my haircut on Friday. Guess what? It's STILL in a ponytail. I just cannot get my sorry butt out of bed on time for all that straightening. But...once I lose 30 lbs I'm getting a short and sassy haircut that I used to have that i LOVED. That's my reward...instead of food. Because normally my reward for losing that kind of weight would be a 30-lb chocolate cake that I get to eat all to myself (thus cancelling out any weight lost, and starting the cycle all over again.)

Yesterday my boss's (do you say boss's or boss' ) anyway. His wife brought their 2 year old chocolate lab doggy by to play for about an hour. It was so fun. We didn't have any patients the whole afternoon so we just shut off the clinic from the rest of the building and played with him for an hour. It was very fun, except when I got home I'm pretty sure Westin thought I was having an affair with another dog. I know he smelled me and thought, "Where have YOU been??" Oh, well. He got over it quickly.

Poor Jules has worked 36 of the last 48 hours. Doesn't that just STINK? I feel so bad for her. She only got like 3.5 hours sleep last night and now it's possible she'll have to work 16 hours today. I really don't know how much longer she'll be able to keep this up. I mean, sure, it's good money, but when it's this extreme it's just not worth it. They are totally taking advantage of the good workers. Who knows how much longer she'll be there.

Lastly, I listened to my ipod on the bus today for the first time, and it really helps lift my mood and start my day in a positive way. I have lots of Christian music on there and all the sermons from church and listening to that this morning was just great! I need to put more music on there!

Ok, well, i forgot my camera cord again, so no pictures yet of my shopping trip, the holes in the ceiling, or the gingerbread people we made over Christmas. Darn! Maybe tomorrow. :)

Any readers I DID have...

2009-01-05T09:14:00.003-07:00

Have probably given up on me now. I know...I've been gone A LONG time.

Life has really been crazy.

So, if you read my last post, there have been "flood" issues. It's not as bad as it sounds...really. It is only bad enough to turn into a huge inconvenience for us. The property above us is know owned by HUD , so who KNOWS when ours will get fixed. For now we just have massive holes in the ceiling. At least I can report that the dripping has stopped. But there is now a nasty residue in our kitchen from the water that will not come off. It's a very thick, sandpapery feeling residue...and we cannot find anything that will clean it up. Oh, and to make it better...it looks like urine. YAY!

The ceiling thing has provided me with more stress than I thought it would. When it first happened I thought...it's okay...we'll get through this...no big deal...and I tried to just laugh about it. But now...I'm not really laughing. Christmas was kind of dreadful. I wished I was home much more than I thought I would.

So, I guess I'm back. I took pictures of the damage but I left my camera cord at home...so maybe tomorrow.

Merry Monsoon Christmas

2008-12-23T12:31:00.002-07:00

So...I don't really feel like telling the whole story right now...I'll post it later...but it turns out that it's raining in our apartment. The rain shower was contained to the kitchen last week...but gravity, doing what it does best, has spread the rain to the living room now. I'm pretty bummed. In the grand scheme of things, it's not that big of a deal...but i feel overwhelmed by all that's up in the air currently. I mean, we don't know if we're going to be able to live there while repairs are taking place...we don't know where we'll live if not...we don't know where we'll store our stuff...and I really don't want to have to be somewhere else for Christmas.

Everything each of us owns TO OUR NAME is in that apartment.

And just answer some questions that I know you're thinking:

1. No. The apartment manager cannot move us to another apartment because they're condos. Each unit is individually owned and there is no "manager".
2. We DO have renter's insurance, and that will cover any belongings that are damaged.
3. The people who own the unit above us ARE responsible for the damage to our unit, but they moved out 6 months ago when they foreclosed on their unit.
4. No. We're not going to move permanently. Our landlord has been GREAT to us, and we don't want to hang him out to dry during this difficult time. He lost his job a few weeks ago and I'm pretty sure our Rent is the only income he has right now.

Oh, and on top of all this, the pilot light for the heat keeps going out, so we don't have heat. YAY.

Merry....
Christmas.

If you pour a pan of boiling water on the sidewalk...

2008-12-15T12:39:00.004-07:00

It'd freeze almost instantly. You don't believe me? Look:

It's hard to see that, but it says that the temperature right now, at 12:45pm in the afternoon...in the midday sun is 1 degree. ONE DEGREE above ZERO.

This morning when I got up and was heading out to drive myself to the bus stop (so that I don't have to drive in the snow) the radio said it was -18. The windchill was -36.

Yesterday our pilot light went out. Which meant no hot water. No hot water means no heat, because our heat runs off the hot water. So...all day in the negative-degree weather we had no heat. Our landlord is usually so good about taking care of things for us, but he didn't ever call me back, and once the sun went down it was clear we wouldn't make it through the night without heat. So, we called Mike...because Mike almost always comes through for us...and he came over and re-lit the pilot light.

This morning while standing out in the negative-degree weather my toes got really cold. So cold, in fact, that I almost started crying. When I got on the bus the windows had ice on them. Not frost. ICE. On the inside.

Someone tell me why I live here again?? Maybe because of this:

Babies don't like me

2008-12-11T13:08:00.002-07:00

Last night we had our commUNITY group over...and one of the "members" (or whatever) had to babysit so she asked if she could bring the baby. I said sure. I figured there's no reason she can't come just because she has this one baby. Now, bring over a toddler and it becomes a dangerous situation. Our house is puppy-proofed but not toddler-proofed. You know...toddlers have thumbs and can open things...whereas dogs just paw or nuzzle things. Anyway. She brings the baby over and as soon as it crossed the threshold of our house it started crying. I said..."Babies generally don't like me." and they just laughed. Y'ALL! That stinkin baby cried the entire time. We tried everything to get it to stop. Nothing worked. They changed her diaper, they fed her milk...everything. She just kept on crying. I felt very glad that I was not caring for this child. I even found myself thinking..."for heaven's sake, kid...will you STOP crying??" and then I thought, my goodness...it's a good thing I'm nowhere near ready to have kids.
Then, because we were talking about babies, M and E, who are engaged to be married in April 09 started discussing babies. E said, "I think we're going to try to have a baby in September 2009." and I thought for a minute...then I said, "Well, you had better get started on that now, because you have about 9 months and a couple weeks to get that going." and everyone laughed a lot. E meant to say 2010, and so she was like ?????? but it was really funny!

Today I called an English Muffin a "McMuffin" about 453 times. Fatty is as fatty does.

And Heather finally posted again! I was so glad to read it, except the parts about how she got pregnant. Thankyouverymuch. But Anyway, it's a sweet post about how much she loves her children. They are sweet children. :)

OK...I'm doing better today. I didn't get any more sleep than I was getting, but today I had some coffee and it's really helping me!

Let's waste time chasing cars...

2008-12-10T08:30:00.002-07:00

Hi.

I have no idea why I always feel compelled to say Hi at the beginning of my blog posts. Jules joked me about it the other day, and until then I hadn't realized I do it. But the proof's in the pudding...or whatever the saying is.

Anyway.

Oh, also random: my title. Just a song playing on the radio right now. Whatever.

I'm having a hard time right now. I've started riding the bus, and although I cannot tell you how thankful I am for not having to drive to work everyday now, and also for the fact that the bus is not like ghetto and scary, I am TIRED. I have to get up much earlier than I would if I were driving, and since I'm new to the bus thing, I'm still having to perfect the amount of time I need to leave my house in, etc. Also, I get home around 7 instead of 6, which means LOTS to do at night and not much time to do it in. Also, I keep getting car sick. The driver is doing a great job, it's really not his driving. It's that I can't see out. The windows are constantly and completely fogged up because it's like 3 degrees outside and if you sit in the back part of the bus you just can't see out. And I like to spend my hours on the bus reading...so that adds to the car-sickness. So, I'm trying different seats, different sections...i don't know.

The point is...I'm really really exhausted. I haven't been getting enough sleep and this morning I got up, looked in the mirror...and I have black bags under my eyes. BLACK. like someone punched me. Hi. I'm 24 and I have the eyes of a 55 year old woman. YAY!! I'm trying to go to bed early but it just hasn't been happening. I actually am starting to feel a cold coming on...I think that's partly to blame on the tiredness and partly to blame on standing in the dad-blasted cold all the stinkin time.

Tonight is our CommUNITY Group...and although I'm really glad to see everyone...I'M SO TIRED. and lots of times people stay over until like 11. That CANNOT happen tonight. I have no idea if it's too rude to tell everyone that I'm super tired and that I'm shutting down at like 9. Is that too rude?? (i have no idea who I'm asking...Heather???)

I feel like crying. I feel like laying in the exam room and crying. Because I'm tired. Because I don't see any light at the end of the tunnel. Because there' s still so much to be done. Because my house is a disaster and people are coming over tonight. Because work is SO busy now. Because I need to do things like eat and shower and I just don't feel like I have enough time. :(

It's too bad I'm not riding to work in an RV. That's SORT OF like a bus...and it has a shower...a kitchen table and fridge...and I could probably even sleep on the way. Anyone want to drive me to work everyday in their RV???

Yo! What's up with all the unity???

2008-12-03T08:42:00.002-07:00

I think I've mentioned a couple (or 456) times that me and my roommate/best friend host what we call a community group on Wednesday nights. It has been going on a little over a year now. It's called a Community Group because our church is fairly large and we don't have Sunday School (thank the good Lord!!) and so it's a way to branch out and meet people and "do life together". It's a fairly new idea (or at least the idea set in motion is fairly new) having started a little over a year ago. The preacher was challenging the "congregation" (i hate that word) to start a small group where people can come over or meet at a central location and just do life together. When all this occurred, me and Jules had only lived here for about 8-9 months and we didn't have a lot of friends. Actually, we had 2 friends. TWO. So, Jules said, "why don't we do it!?" which is totally out of character for her! She's usually a little bit introverted and holds back when it comes to meeting new people. I'm usually the one who's like, "Yeah!! Let's put ourselves out there!!" But the roles were completely reversed at that moment. She said we should do it...I said Heck no!! But, in the end she talked me into it--basically by saying that if we wanted to make friends and have a life here then we needed to do SOMETHING. So, we signed up...took the "class" and started our group.
The first Wednesday we had a couple come. They were super nice. We hung out and had a little finger food tray. I think I remember thinking that they'd never come back. I figured that people have enough "crazy" in their lives without adding us to the mix. The next Wednesday night that first couple did not come. (I knew it!) but a new couple came. They were really nice and seemed pretty normal, too. I figured they wouldn't come back either, but they did. And guess what!? The first couple came back too. I think the next time we met was for a Christmas Party. There were 6 of us there. It was the first time the two couples had ever even been in the same room with one another. Me and Jules were both going out of town for the next week or so for Christmas and then there was New Year's so we didn't meet for 2 Wednesdays. I figured we would never see these people again--that they wouldn't come back after the holidays.
So, January 2008 comes along and the church hosts this thing where all the groups set up a table and a sign and you stand there and you advertise your group and people can sign up to get emails and info about your group. We had people come. About 8 signed up. Maybe not even that many. I can't remember. So I emailed the group list and the next Wednesday we packed like 10 people in our house. I remember thinking...Oh, these people will get a taste of my crazy and they'll never come back. But they did. They kept coming back. And they brought friends. (I have no idea why). At some point we were packing 25 people in our house. TWENTY-FIVE. I still couldn't figure out why 25 people wanted to hang out with us, and I kept saying, "They'll never be back.
In the beginning me and Jules sat down and really discussed in what direction we wanted the group to go. We knew that neither of us felt we wanted a very serious, straight-laced Bible Study of sorts, because neither of us are straight-laced or very serious. We knew we wanted to provide a fun atmosphere, and we knew that we wanted to create a comfortable environment where people could come and make good friends that they could count on and build relationships with. So, that became our main focus. We started out with a schedule of doing Dinner nights, Game nights, Themed-snack night, and Bible study night. That went on for months, and was pretty successful. We had a couple "members" who were coming every week, but sort of putting pressure on us to create a more strict "Bible study" program rather than a "fun" program. We weren't sure what to do, and we really didn't want cause anyone to leave, so we started trying to please everyone. There were some who wanted a little bible study but still fun, some wanted only bible study and some said they got enough bible study elsewhere (i.e. church, other groups, etc). We weren't sure how to please everyone and we started to dread having the group. We tried to assign volunteers to particular weeks to do a Bible study, but then people wouldn't show up and we'd be left scrambling. We refer to that time period as "the wonder years" because it's a WONDER anyone stuck around. It was terrible. The group felt strained because we were strained. It was a very rough patch. Finally we had to sit down with the people who were causing a rift and tell them that we had gone astray from our original focus. It was a very uncomfortable thing for us to tell someone, "hey, if this is not the group you're looking for THAT'S OKAY....but we're not changing. Let me tell you about some other groups you might enjoy." I was constantly worried that we had stepped on some toes and that those people would gossip or whatever about us. But, eventually we felt we had done the right thing. It wasn't immediate, but those people who were unhappy with our group, they left and last I heard they found a group and were very happy. And we were happy too.
So, fast forward a few months. We no longer have 25 people coming...lots of those must have figured out how crazy we really are ;-) . We do have a core group of about 12 that come almost every week. We have new people email me almost every week who want to try the group out. Sometimes they stay and sometimes they don't but either way, it doesn't matter. I really feel like we are doing exactly what we're supposed to be doing.
So, now we don't have a set schedule of what "activities" we do each week. But we are trying really hard to come up with some fun things to do. During the summer we did a great job, with things such as Kickball games and swimming nights. We had Thanksgiving dinner last week, and in December we have all kinds of things planned. Including a Christmas party--where there should be more than 6 people, and almost everyone will know one another.
In the beginning if you would have told me that we'd still be going strong after a year, and that the original 4 "members" are still there, I would have laughed in your face. I would have said that you were insane, because people have enough Crazy in their lives without adding us to the mix. I would have said that we don't have much to offer and that people won't come over just to be bored. And I would have been wrong. As it turns out, we love these people who come over on Wednesday nights. They have supported us in every way possible, showing that they really care about us too. There have been times when Jules was out of work when we weren't sure how the bills were going to get paid. Without anyone else knowing one of the "members" gave us 1,000 dollars. ONE THOUSAND DOLLARS. Another person gave us 300 dollars. THREE HUNDRED DOLLARS!! People sacrificed what they had to help us out. And they haven't just supported us. They've supported each other. They've been there for one another. They've built the relationships that count and that they can count ON. They have friends they can call at 2:00 AM if something goes terribly wrong. And THAT'S what we were aiming for. We love our friends--and can pretty securely say that they love us too.
That's what CommUNITY is all about.

Thank you, God, for Turkey Day!

2008-12-01T15:27:00.003-07:00

So, this Thanksgiving I couldn't afford to fly home, and let's face it...I wasn't making it on Standby, so Jules and I decided that we would just stay here and cook for our other out-of-town friends. Jules had to work most of the day, so we prepared almost everything ahead of time and just popped it in the freezer or fridge. It all went off pretty smoothly--I didn't even burn anything. I did have to peel the skin off the turkey because when I unwrapped the turkey it had this slimy snotty stuff all over it and I couldn't get it to wash off. So, i just pulled all the skin off. GROSS!! nobody wants snotty turkey. Later I got a little panicky because I felt like our turkey wasn't going to cook on time. It only took us a little while to realize the reason it didn't look like it was cooking was because it was naked. I took off it's (snotty) skin and so that made it a little more light pinkish than golden brown. Sounds appetizing, eh?

Well, anyway, we ended up with 6 people at our little intimate Thanksgiving Feast! I tell you, there's STILL some of that food left! Someone PLEASE come eat it!!!

And the best news of all, I didn't over eat. I ate slowly until I was full, and got up from the table. And seriously, I think that's the first thanksgiving in my life that I've done that!

Ok...now I have to go and gouge my eyes out until it's time to leave!!!

Would you mind passing me thazzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz........snore

2008-11-25T08:27:00.002-07:00

Hi.

I come to you from the land of SLEEPY today. I didn't go to sleep very well last night and then I didn't wake up very good today--which means I didn't get any coffee today.

(Late night + Early Morning) / no coffee = dozing all day.

And the reason I didn't fall asleep very well??

A cramp in my lung.

Yes. My Lung. The right one to be exact. And it was in the inferior lobe. I think it might have gotten hooked on a rib or stuck in between two of my ribs while I was curled up on the couch watching one of the final-airing episodes of Pushing Daisies. Then when I stood up to go to bed, OUCH! I think it took a while for my lung to get pushed out from in between my ribs, or to get un-hooked from the bottom of my ribs. Those bones are probably sharp.

So, finally I went to sleep. After the cramp in my Lung.

I'm serious.

And even though I'm sleepy...today is like Thursday, since tomorrow is Wednesday before we're off Thursday and Friday, so it's a Wednesday-Friday. That makes today Thursday. Well, really it's Tuesday-Thursday.

I have no idea what I'm writing about. I'm so tired.

Fatty-Fatty, Two-by-Four...

2008-11-24T15:26:00.004-07:00

I accidentally just ate milano cookies.

Not just one. Not even two.

I won't tell you how many.

I will tell you it was too many.

OOps.

But don't you think the serving size is tricky with Milano cookies? I mean, they put 5 in that little crinkly cup, and it's so convenient to just count the 5 cookies as ONE serving. (ha!!!)

And before I would have said, "oh well, I blew it today, so why not eat all the crap I want and start again tomorrow."

But right now I say, "oh well. I'll finish out the day as though the "Milano Raid 2008" did not happen. "

I'm seriously not going to stress out. So, either I'm making huge strides (mentally) in the realistic approach to losing weight...

...or I'm in COMPLETE denial...

either way...I'm okay with it. ;-)

At First I was Afraid...I was petrified...

2008-11-19T09:08:00.003-07:00

I'm embarking on a journey that is Weight Watchers. YAY! And I don't want to talk about it much yet, because I'm just starting and I'm just getting into the "making smarter choices" mindset...(and I'm not there yet!!!). So, I don't want to talk about it yet...but I do want to say that this morning I had a comment on my previous post about WW and it was from the woman who inspired me to start WW. She helped me believe that I CAN do it and I've felt inspired by her. She left me a comment that said She was proud of me and that she was rooting for me. Now I know that I don't know her personally. But I read about her everyday. I hear about her struggles and her smart kids and her funny life and her dog that barfs and her husband who brushes his beard and her job that doesn't care about her. The thing is, she's such a REAL person. She's friendly and funny and she cares about people. She talks about life and love and God, but not in such a oh-so-holy-you-can't-breathe-in-the-same-room kind of way. She's fun and loyal and I don't even know her personally. I know it sounds weird, but I really look up to her. I think she's great. So when she's shown the world that she can do WW...and succeed, I think I can do it too! And she left me a comment saying she was proud of me and she was rooting for me. It really meant a lot. Because I have been afraid to let go completely. I have been afraid of starting to try to lose weight, because what if I fail?? What if I can't do it?? What if it's too hard?? And so it's been easier to not try than to try and fail. But I feel like me and Jules can do this. I feel like WW is the most realistic way to lose weight. And so...at least for this moment, that comment has empowered me.

Now excuse me while I go eat a small palm-full of nuts. :)

Just kidding. I'll do that after I finish this post.
In other news...

I am going home this weekend. Jules works for Southwest Airlines so I got a free flight to take home. YAY! I'm going on Thursday night so I can see the kids on Friday and then I'm spending the whole weekend with mom and heather! yay!!!! I'm very excited!!!

OK...now I'm going eat some nuts!

Leaving on a Jet Plane???

2008-11-18T08:53:00.002-07:00

So, I think I might try to go home this weekend. I have two free flights that I have to use by the end of December, and so I have been looking at my work schedule and it's virtually impossible for me to miss any weekdays, except MAYBE a Friday. Being out of town on a M-Th is just not going to happen. So, I am thinking if I use one of my free flights in November and another in December then it's a way more plausible approach than using two in December. You see, the way it works is I have to fly standby, so I have to pick flight days and times where there are lots of openings on the flights I want. So, If I try to fly on a holiday weekend, it's not going to happen. I'll end up sitting at the airport all day, wasting my time, because all flights will be full around the holidays. Also, weekends are usually a pretty bad time to fly, but the schedules look okay for this weekend. Next weekend is a bust, because it's the weekend after Thanksgiving and there's no guarantee I'd be back before work on Monday.

But is it too much for me to ask my family to drive all the way to Nashville to pick me up. It's about two hours each way and that's a lot of driving in a weekend. I don't know. I wish I could rent a car, but they're so expensive. I have to talk to my mom and sister about it...see what they say. I know they'd like to see me, but maybe they'd like me to wait until I can take some days off. Maybe leave on a Thursday night and take Friday and Monday off then come back to work on a Tuesday. It might be possible in December, but I'd have to do some maneuvering. Anyway, I know I am so lucky that my dilemma is that I have free flights and don't know when to use them. I am lucky that my dilemma is not that I cannot afford a flight home to see my family, like it has been in the past. But, seriously, I want to use these flights so they're not wasted!!!

What to do?? what to dooo???

Hello!!!

2008-11-17T09:57:00.003-07:00

I wish that I could be at home, in my pajama pants, watching chick-flick after chick-flick all day long, with a large diet coke, taco bell, and chocolate at my disposal.

But today is day one of Weight Watchers. So instead, I am wearing normal clothes, and eating things like carrots, and hummus, and other things things that grow in the wild. Which would be fine if things like carrots and hummus tasted good. But they don't (unless the carrots are smothered with ranch dressing, or cooked and covered in butter.) So, there is my problem. It's a change of mindset. I HAVE to do this. Two pounds a week for a year is over 100 pounds. HELLO!? that's insane. Two pounds. WHO CAN'T DO 2 POUNDS A WEEK?? So, today is day 1.

Please say prayers for me. I'm already hungry. :)

A new level of "dummy"...

2008-11-14T11:10:00.002-07:00

So, my poor little niece broke her arm. See:

At least she gets to rock that pink for 6-8 weeks.

And for those (one) of you who are wondering about the title of this post...it refers to her dad. Catie Grace fell out of a truck, from what I understand, and tried to catch herself, hence the broken arm. Although they didn't know it was broken (mostly because none of them have x-rays built into their brains) and so her dad asked her (the 7-year old who has never broken a bone before) if she needed to go to the ER. He says she said no, she says she said yes. Regardless of what she said, he didn't take her and she had to go two days with a broken arm before my sister got her back and saw in 3 MINUTES that something was wrong with her arm! Oh man! So, he's not on my top 10 list of smart people at the moment....but he DOES make a different list. ;-)

Jet-Lagged

2008-11-12T09:18:00.002-07:00

My boss has been out of town since October 27th. He and his wife went to various areas in Europe, spending most of their time in Germany, with one of their oldest friends. I'm sure they had a great time. I got a text message from my boss yesterday around 4:30 saying something like this:

"were back. n chicago. any patients tomorrow? were very jet lagged." or something close to that.

I wrote back and informed him (for the 45th time) that I had cleared the schedule a long time ago and he was not expected back at work until the 13th. And I might have told him to chill, or something.

So, I'm pretty sure he's still going to be jet-lagged tomorrow...because you just don't recover that quickly from that many days of different time stuff. I tried to talk him into taking the rest of this week off, back when he was planning the trip, but he said his usual, "It'll be fine." And I think that his record of being right once he's uttered those words is pretty pathetic. He really should try to listen to me sometimes. Anyway, of course I stacked the schedule extra full for the rest of the month because he wanted to make up for the days he has been out (half the month.) And the week before he went out of town we saw like 20 patients who couldn't be charted on at all because of technical problems with the charting program here at work. They are leaving the records open until the 15th. That means that not only does he have to see a full day's patients on Th and Fri, but he also has to chart on 20 patients that he saw like 20 days ago. And I get to be the one to tell him all this. YAY!....................boo.

So, anyway, aside from still being sick...and the dread of clinic opening back up...things are going pretty good. We're having a coffee house tonight at CommUNITY group. That should be fun!!

Oh..and I just need to admit that I took my niece to see High School Musical 3 while I was in Alabama, and I JUST LOVED IT. I think I am really a 13 year old girl trapped in a 24 year old's body. :) OH, that troy. It should be illegal for someone so young to look so beautiful.

Seriously??...seriously?

2008-11-11T08:58:00.002-07:00

Well, after 2 separate visits to the doctor, within 3 business days, 60 dollars later, I am STILL not getting any help for my sickness. Whatever sickness that might be. I just think that doctors become so numb to sick people around this time of the year, that they just brush you off as though you are a waste of their time. Maybe they'd like me better if I had the plague or something more interesting than a chest cold. Maybe they'd like to help me control my symptoms (at least) instead of telling me there's nothing they can do if I had nails sticking out of my head or something. I have no idea what I have to do to get some help, but I do know that I'm switching to a new doctors office. I have tried a different doctor at the office that I'm at now, and I LOVED him, but he has proven to me that he's not one of those doctors that TRULY want to help you. Here's my problem:

REASONS I GO TO THE DOCTOR:
1. Over-The-Counter medications/remedies are not working.
2. I am getting worse, even while taking the OTC's.
3. I feel so crappy I can hardly stand it.

NOT REASONS I GO TO THE DOCTOR:
1. I just wanted to see how my doctor is feeling.
2. I want to literally SEE my doctors face (because he's very good-looking).
3. I had 30 extra dollars lying around and had NO IDEA how to spend it.
4. I just wanted my doctor's opinion or thoughts about a particular issue.
5. I had too much free time on my hands and thought that spending hours at a doctors office sounded like TOO MUCH FUN!!

I mean, seriously?? Do doctors think that you come there just to hear them talk??? NO!! I am not saying I am as smart as a doctor, or that I know everything about all illnesses. But I do know my body. I DO know the common illness's that I get, and I know how to treat them. When that doesn't work, or when I get sick with "something new" then I go to the doctor to get HELP...not to hear their opinions. And, even if it's a virus and you cannot "FIX" me, you can give me medicine that will treat my symptoms. And I'm not even talking about medicine that I can sell, or abuse. I'm talking about a stinking antibiotic or a disgusting cough medicine so that I can get some sleep and actually FUNCTION!! Do they really have to treat you like you are going to try to inject your cough syrup in your veins if they give it to you??? I mean, seriously?????

I am just fed up with the medical system. When I lived in the South I could CALL the doctor, tell them my symptoms, and they'd CALL IN A PRESCRIPTION for me. Out here, I have to call the doctor, beg them to even see me, let them take my money and then they say things like, "your body just needs to work through this," or "I really don't give prescriptions to people unless they've been sick for about 12-14 days." SERIOUSLY??? how many of you are going to wait TWO WEEKS before going to the doctor when you're sick!?? hello!????? These hippie doctors are CRAZY! And I just don't think I can take it ANYMORE. I have to find a doctor that will HELP me.

SERIOUSLY!!!!

And to think...I used to be "most dependable"...

2008-11-06T12:06:00.002-07:00

I know.

I did a terrible job of blogging while I was gone.

The truth is, I had the BEST time. I really got to spend a lot of time with my sister this time, and that made it such a special trip. I really wasn't ready to leave, and that is still causing me grief. I love my sister--I haven't kept that a secret. But to get to spend SO much time with her was just heavenly!! I can't wait to go back to do it again!

The bad news is that I am sick. I resisted the illness that my sister, mother, niece and nephew had the WHOLE time I was there. I came home and Jules was sick too. I'm not sure which one I ended up with, but I'm not doing so great.

I stayed out of work on Tuesday and Wednesday and today I'm leaving early to go to the doctor. I'm taking off tomorrow too. The thing is, I don't get sick very often, usually. I have been sick three times in the past 3 months. I just think that's too much. So, today, I'm expecting to get some answers. :) I have a wonderful doctor anyway, after I fired the first one...so I'm really anticipating a pleasant visit.

Anyway, I'm freeeeeeezing right now in my office. The other girls here swear it isn't cold...but i just checked my temperature and it's normal. I think there's a draft over where I sit. Oh well, I'm leaving in a bit anyway.

So, this is why I haven't been blogging. I miss my sister terribly. I wish my family would move here...then we could all be together. Besides, we ALL know that they'd love Colorado more than Alabama. They are just afraid of the snow...but we could work with that, right? :)

Anyway, I'm sure it'll be a few days before I post again. I am going to try to go to fusion this weekend...it's been a LONG long time since I've been. But, anyway...

2008-10-27T19:25:00.002-06:00

OK...who am I kidding...I'm not doing good blogging this week.

Today, after mom left for work, Heather overslept, so Catherine stayed home from school. Then, Steve overslept and he was almost late for work. He woke up at 8:30 and had to be there at 9. oops.

Then, I woke up and went to see Heather. I was sooo tired, I wanted to go back to sleep, but instead I forced myself to get up, get ready and take the kids to Mamals. So, by 10:50 we were off. When we got there she started cooking pork chops, green beans, mustard greens, mashed potatoes, biscuits, and mac and cheese. It was a feast. It took her a long time to cook it all, so by the time we ate we were all about to waste away. The food was excellent tho.

Around 3:30 we headed back to the house, and rested a bit before mom came home. Then we went to eat supper at some place called Lisa's and it was a small little country buffet. it was pretty good.

Now, we're home, the kids have been bathed and hair washed. I used the blow dryer to straighten catie grace's hair and used my straightener to pull all the curls out. She looks so pretty!

Anyway, we're just sitting around now. I don't plan on going to bed anytime soon, but that's what vacations are for!!

Day 1

2008-10-25T19:41:00.003-06:00

Well, this morning Mike and Erin took me to the airport, because it was just too early when Jules left for work. I just couldn't do it. I got there at 7:30 and my flight was at 10:40. It was pretty good though, because security was MAJOR crowded and it took me a while to get through. Then when it was FINALLY time to board my flightl, I was really nervous about flying. I hate flying. I did fine, no panic attacks...and successfully went through a whole flight without grabbing any men's legs (a story for later).

When I came down the escalator at the airport I saw mom and Heather standing there with little Sarah Beth. I was so excited to see them. So we sat in some rocking chairs at the airport and I just held little teeny sarah beth for a few minutes! she's sooooooo small and cute! Heather's such a good mom. She lets me hold her even though I almost let her head fall off!

We stopped at Cracker Barrel on the way home and had a nice meal, then made the long drive home. Heather took a nap and mom fell asleep too, so i just listened to the radio the whole way. We finally got home and did a few little things around the house.

We just went a little bit ago and had some supper and now we're just watching the Alabama game. Bama's winning, but not by as much as I'd like.

Anyway, not much done today. We get catherine and connor back tomorrow and I'm super excited to see them.

A real post below...

2008-10-24T10:17:00.001-06:00

A real post is below...but i just ran across this picture and I had to post it!

Read her little shirt! :)

doodly-doo

2008-10-24T08:38:00.007-06:00

SO, today, I am very very tired. I was up WAY too late last night. Partly because I wanted to eat at a salad bar restaurant last night, and then i proceeded to watch Survivor, Grey's Anatomy, and Pushing Daisies. All of those were Tivo'd. Which means, I didn't stop watching TV until WAY too late last night. If only I weren't so easily entertained. :) So then we realized that Julie's work clothes were in the washer and she needed them dry for tomorrow. So, She went to bed, because she has to get up at 3:30, and I went to fold the clothes in the dryer. They weren't dry. So...I went and packed lunches and returned to the dryer. They still weren't dry. DARN! So, I decided even though it was late that I would shower and just go to bed with wet hair that way it wouldn't take me so long to get ready in the morning (and since it was so late, getting up early wasn't going to happen.) So, I showered...and then just stood under the warm water. It felt so good. Temps have been hovering around the 40's during the day around here lately and even colder at night. We don't turn the heat on much, b/c it's EXPENSIVE but also because it gets too hot at night sometimes. So...I just stood under the warm water, defrosting my frozen toes and fingers. When I finally got out of the shower and dried off and put clothes back on, the dryer was finished. I folded those clothes and then switched the washer to the dryer and went to bed. I slept so good!

One side effect of sleeping with wet hair:

Yeah. Do you see that? That little cock-a-doodly-doo there?? it's not supposed to be there!? My hair is not that short ANYWHERE. There's no reason for any piece of my hair to be 2 inches long. I have no idea how that happened. But anyway, today, it's standing straight up. Nothing I did this morning would make it lay down. So, I'm going with it.

In other news, look at the view out the window at my office. OH, the colors of fall in Colorado are just beautiful! In a bit the sky will turn a brighter blue (after the sun has been up a while longer) and it will be just gorgeous. Look:

OHhh. that's nice. That little golden tree is just fantastic. I bet Bob Ross would want to paint it righttherethissecond. :)

Ok, I'm very excited to be going home tomorrow, but I'll miss this little guy:

And Jules. But she wouldn't want me to put her picture up. But at least in the time I'm away from those two, I'll be with Mom, Heather, Catie Grace, Connor, Sarah Beth, Mamal and Stevie. I can't wait to see them!!

Gourd-jus fun!

2008-10-23T09:20:00.005-06:00

We did pumpkin carving last night at our CommUNITY group. It was pretty stinkin fun...even though very few people showed up. I was suprised by the fact that not many showed, because they show for things like a mediocre dinner served by yours truly, but not pumpkin carving. Oh well, to each his own. Anyway, it was pretty fun. I painted instead of carving, mostly because I wasn't digging the pumpkin guts this year. yuck! And this is how mine turned out:

Ignore the mess surrounding the pumpkin...Everyone was still working. :)

Oooh! Scary!! He's frankenstein. And you know where I got the idea? I went into Microsoft Word and looked at the halloween clip art. They make all kinds of smileys that are halloween-related and since they're round it's easy to paint a pumpkin like one of the smileys. So that's what i did. I like his hair. It sort of looks like Eli Mattson, from America's Got Talent:
Photo taken from Eli Mattson's MySpace Page.

Doesn't the hair of my pumpkin kinda look like that, except Eli's is lighter? And might I add, Eli is just a beautiful man, isn't he? OK...moving on.

In other news...my feet really stink today. I am wearing these

OLD ballet type shoes and they stink to high heaven. If i arch my feet a certain way, or flip my foot out of my shoe even a little...a stench takes over! YUCK!!

Ok...that's all I have. I hope you're still awake after all this mediocre news! :)

Among Other Things...

2008-10-20T10:36:00.002-06:00

Hi!

So, this weekend I got my hair cut. At the Aveda Institute. A girl named Kelsey did it. It turned out really really good...I really like it. It's a tad bit shorter than I would have liked...but it's growing on me. And...you pay 12 dollars...and they give you a scalp massage and use these calming oils in your hair and then they wash your hair and it feels so good! Plus, she spent like 15 minutes talking with me about what i liked and didn't like. She was so patient with me and really wanted to get it right. I loved it! Then, when you finish your haircut they give you lip gloss to wear!! yay!!

It was a great experience. The getting there wasn't tho. the day was supposed to start with a run to Hobby Lobby to return some wooden letters that I ended up not using for Sarah Beth's wall hanging...I was supposed to get something like $21.00 back. I originally paid with my debit card, so I thought that they would just give me cash back. Therefore, I decided to just run by there on my way to my haircut, passing by the ATM on the way to hobby lobby. The Aveda Institute tips can only be paid in cash, so i was just going to pay for the haircut with cash too. I had about 24 dollars in my account and Jules, who was going to lend me the 20 until payday, had about 28. (yes, i know...we are in a new state of poor). So...i passed the ATM and went on to Hobby Lobby, but guess what!? They told me they couldn't give me cash back. When i OH-SO-POLITELY asked why not the lady said "I'm sorry. It's just too much money." Just as I was opening my mouth to say, "too much money? You have got to be kidding." the manager walked by and said, "no, it's not too much money, it's that you paid with a debit card and so you have to have the refund go on your debit card." I was furious. I said..."the money in my "debit card account" is real money...so why can't you give me real money???" Still, they wouldn't budge. So there I was, in the middle of nowhere...no banks nearby, furious as a swarm of hornets, and getting closer and closer to my haircut appointment time. I frantically ran over to the bank, wasting gas to go the opposite direction and took the 20 out of my account. The exact 20 they just credited back to my acct. HOW ANNOYING!! So...i rushed downtown only to realize after my very successful ride to the right place that I didn't have ANY change for the parking meters. The lots are like 20 dollars and there's no hourly rate, so a meter was my only chance. I had to park about 8 blocks away, and I was wearing heels. (stupid!) I ran in a Starbucks that was about 3 blocks from where i was parked, risking a ticket. I bought a coffee and when i asked for some quarters in my change the guy told me he couldn't do it. OH MAN! WHAT A DAY! so i told him that was fine, but I would be exchanging some of my dollars for some quarters out of his tip jar. He gave me the quarters I needed. So i walked back 3 blocks (ouch! my feet!) and paid the meter, and pretty much ran to my appointment. I was hot, sweaty, and blister-footed by the time i got there, so the relaxing experience of Aveda was just what the doctor ordered.

Anyway, that's really the only exciting thing that happened to me this weekend. My haircut looks pretty good...but i forgot my camera so i can't post a picture! soon. :)

OH...and Nicole! I think I remembered who you are!! Are you the girl who does the stool and podium at the stage sometimes and we walked in front of the camera that time and ruined the tape for that service?? Did I meet you at the same time as Jolene? If not, I'm really sorry! If so...yay! I remembered!!!

A Sigh of Relief

2008-10-17T08:59:00.004-06:00

Hi!

So, HeatherRae is going home from the hospital today! YAY!! It's such a relief!

And...only 8 more days until I venture home to meet that sweet little girl Sarah Beth, and actually get to hug my sister!

AND! I'm getting my hair cut tomorrow! At the Aveda Institute. Hopefully they'll do a good job. I know someone who gets her hair cut there and it always looks good, so hopefully I'll come out feeling much better than when I went in. I am in some serious need of a hair transformation. :)

So, I watched my Tivo'd Pushing Daisies episode last night and I found myself just wanting more at the end. Jules watched the first 15 minutes with me before commenting on the "silliness" of the show and going into a different room. It is a silly show, but it's really funny to me. I have that sense of humor that laughs at general funniness. You don't even have to be REALLY that funny for me to laugh, because I find humor in most things. I laugh so loud at that show. Anyway...the episode from Wednesday night was about Chuck trying to find out about her family history, Olive's best friend at the convent was murdered, and Ned was trying to avoid his past while trying to convince Chuck that she didn't need the past in order to enjoy her future. It was all-in-all a pretty funny and sweet (as usual) episode. In short: it made me happy, as usual. And I swear, some day I will find a wonderful who looks at me like Ned looks at Chuck.
OH, i just realized it looks like I'm talking about two boys. Chuck is just the nickname of a girl named "Charlotte Charles". Sorry! :)

And Survivor China (two seasons ago) and Survivor: Fans vs Fave's were such good seasons! I mean, they had lots of the sneaky, blindsiding, back-stabbing, and repercussions for all of those things! I loved it! I loved it when in Survivor:China, James had BOTH immunity idols and didn't play either of them and got voted off! I love the surprise twists and turns of the show. I love to be shocked when i find out who gets voted off. This season, Survivor:Gabon, not so surprising. so far, every person who's been voted off has been exactly who was expected to get voted off. It's BORING! I will stick with it and see if it gets a little more juicy once they merge. Hopefully it will get a little more interesting!

And Grey's! Oh, I feel like it's getting back to the MEDICINE and a lot less soap opera-ish. I'm so glad! I think that the writers of the show are using the Chief to reign the show back in. I'm excited to see what changes will be coming. I like Meridith's vulnerability this year, and how she and Derek might actually work! I'm excited to see what comes!!

Anyway, that's all my TV Talk for now! Have a good weekend (my two readers!)

OH, and if the haircut is good, I'll post pictures!:)

WHEW

2008-10-16T15:09:00.003-06:00

Well, it looks like Heather is going to be okay. Thank you if you prayed for her!

So, I am getting my hair cut this weekend! whooo! I'm excited.

There's really nothing to write here. I'm tired and sort of in a bad mood.

But I at least thought I would let my lone reader know that my sister (the stranger that my lone reader doesn't even know!) is okay! :)

Maybe I'll have more to say tomorrow since it's Survivor and Grey's night. :) And I have one episode of Pushing Daisies to watch too.

See you tomorrow.

Pray for Heather

2008-10-15T12:59:00.003-06:00

Hi Y'all

I don't have much time...but please pray for Heather. She just had little Sarah Beth on Friday and now heather is back in the hospital for some sort of infection. They're not giving much info right now, but i'll post more when i can.

I know there are like 2 of you who read this, but please, if you are praying people please ask God to take care of her. I have no idea how serious it is...and if i had an extra 300 dollars i'd fly there to see her. I am so worried. I am just so far away!

So, please...pray for Heather. I need her to be okay. Please.

Sarah Beth

2008-10-13T08:49:00.003-06:00

OHHHH! Guess who's here!! (in the world, not literally HERE)...

Sarah Beth was born on Friday afternoon, weighing about 7lbs and 2 ounces, i think. She's about 19.5 inches long! oh and she's so cute!!! LOOK:

OH, she's so cute! And she has this dark hair under that little pink hat, and it's so cute! I am so glad to finally have my 2nd niece here with us!! I can't wait to go see her and sqeeze her and love on her and hug her! And I can't wait to hug my sister and tell her i'm glad she's okay! I was really freaked about this birthing process. It was a very hard pregnancy for heather and the other two were very easy and so i just KNEW something was going to go wrong! But it didn't! YAY!

In just about 12 days i'll be going home to see them! Sweet Home Alabama!

Hi Y'all!

2008-10-08T08:38:00.002-06:00

HI!

I originally started this blog so my sister HeatherRae (over to the left) who's about to have a baby ANY SECOND NOW!!! could read and know what I was up to, since we don't live in the same place anymore.

I've noticed you reading tho. Yes, you. You who are not my sister. :) And I must tell you that it makes me a little nervous.

Because I am NOT a writer. I'm not really all that funny (contrary to what the Fusion crowd thinks). And nothing remotely interesting happens to me on a daily basis.

Read: MY LIFE IS BORING!!

I mean, yeah, my sister cares what I had for supper and how many packs of toothpaste I got at sams and how many coupons I found for Grated Cheddar Cheese in the Sunday paper, but people who are not related to me (or who are not my sister, for that matter) DON'T CARE.

So, I'm sorry that you have stumbled upon my mediocre ramblings. If you're looking for any incredibly profound writings about how to raise a toddler, any good recipes for your dinner party, how to set a table for 9, what to wear with trouser jeans, the best fall fashions, a list of the top 100 best Bible Verses about wine, or the best at-home treatments for a rash, THIS IS NOT THE PLACE FOR YOU. I can recommend some other enjoyable bloggers, if you'd like. But if you're looking for lots of mediocre rambling about crafts, my work, my boss, sinus infections, my family, tissues, Clic-Stic BIC pens, hair dye, eyes, what i had for supper last tuesday, board games, movies, music i like, and things that make me laugh, THEN THIS IS THE RIGHT PLACE FOR YOU.

Oh, and I'll try to throw in the occasional rant about things that annoy me.

You gotta have goals.

Anyway, fair warning: the content of this blog will consistenly be sub-par.

Feel free to check out anytime. But if you stay, email me (krustylynn@gmail.com) and tell me hi, so I can say hi back. It's the polite southern thing to do.

* Hi Nicole! * see! Wasn't that fun?

Or not. Whatever. :)

Thanks for reading.

I've Been Framed!!!

2008-10-07T08:56:00.002-06:00

Hahaha! SO CORNY!

Look what I made for my NEW niece. It should go GREAT in her new room. Plus...I'll have Catie Grace a birthday present, Connor a birthday present, and now Sarah Beth will have one as well. I'm thinking I might add a little lavender bow at the top of the frame, but it's mostly done! :)

Also, someone from Boulder is reading. HI! Please leave me a comment or email me at krustylynn@gmail.com. THANKS!! I'd LOVE to know who you are! :)

Ok...I'll steal too. Random Things That Make Me Happy

2008-10-02T15:24:00.001-06:00

In no particular order:

1. Flatirons Community Church
2. Chili or Taco Soup on a Cold Day.
3. My sister and her beautiful kids
4. the way your hair smells after a good shower.
5. a good meal
6. free things
7. Laughing
8. Movies and television
9. Crafts
10. the snow (as long as I don't have to drive in it).
11. the feeling of a full tank of gas
12. getting my hair done (cut or colored)
13. traveling
14. getting in my warm bed at the end of the day
15. our Community Group
16. wedding pictures
17. fall
18. Alabama Football
19. land-line phones
20. Westin Puppy
21. Sunsets
22. swimming
23. Sharpie Markers
24. Coffee with 2 sweet-n-lows and cream over ice
25. the way new white out works so GOOD.
26. flowers
27. learning new things
28. payday
29. a good joke
30. grilled cheese and tomato soup
31. Plays
32. the smell of a new car
33. Gulf Shores/Orange Beach
34. music
35. clic-stic pens, by BIC
36. Pushing Daisies, Grey's Anatomy, Survivor, The Biggest Loser, American Idol, So You Think You Can Dance.
37. ice cream
38. feeling pretty (when it does happen)
39. Cooking
40. Water Slides/water roller coasters

A little of Heather rubbed off on me.

2008-10-01T10:43:00.003-06:00

So. After work Jules and I had to go grocery shopping. MAJOR grocery shopping. We decided since we were OUT of everything we would go to Sam's. We never go there, because we usually never need 37 and 1/2 Tickle-Me-Pink Sharpie markers. Sam's sells everything in bulk, as I'm sure you know, and sometimes you just don't need THAT many tampons. But this time, we were out of toilet paper, to the point where we had to borrow some from friends. We were out of shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste, and all things food-related. So, we decided that we might be able to save some money buying bulk at Sam's since we needed SO much. Well, boy did we do good!

At Sam's we got this:
36 rolls of toilet paper for 17 dollars
12 boxes of mac and cheese for 7 dollars
30 bags of popcorn (we have people over a lot) for 6 dollars
about 1 billion hot pockets for 12 dollars
two big boxes of Special K Red Berries for 7 dollars
10 cans of Chef-boyardee for 5 dollars
2 very large packs of sandwich meat for 6 dollars
1 huge shampoo and 1 huge conditioner for 5 dollars
a huge bag of frozen corn equal to about 12 cans of corn for 4 dollars
a huge bag of frozen green beans equal to about 10 cans green beans for 5 dollars
5 deodorants for 6 dollars
5 Colgate Total Advanced Clean With Whitening Toothpaste large tubes for 10 dollars
150 loads of Gain Fabric Softener (we didn't read it and thought it was detergent. oops!) for 9 dollars.
36 diet pepsi's for 9 dollars
2 loaves of bread for 3 dollars
2 huge bags of chips for 5 dollars

That is a crapload of food!!! I was so proud of how much we got for the money we paid. We would have spent that much or MORE at King Soopers but gotten maybe half the amount of food we did get! We were so stoked.

After Sam's we had to go the worst walmart in the history of America. Don't even get me started on how much I hate that place, but we had to get several things that aren't sold anywhere else. So...i felt so good after all the deals we got! I guess Heather rubbed off on me since she's always getting good deals like this or this or this. :) I guess it's my turn now.

Also...IT'S CATIE GRACE'S BIRTHDAY!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY CATHERINE!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE YOU!!!

My weekend

2008-09-29T13:24:00.003-06:00

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...

2008-09-24T11:12:00.003-06:00

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!

2008-09-22T15:42:00.003-06:00

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!!!

KrustyLynn

Ahoy, Matey!

My last post was brought to you by Depression and Desperation. Today's post is brought to you by hope and happiness. (Thank Goodness!)

Strenght will rise as we wait upon the Lord, Wait upon the Lord...

Take a Bath! Wash ya'self! Take a Bath!

New Computer= posting at home!

It's my Birthday!

Hello Again

okay...I'm back.

We interrupt your regularly scheduled program to bring you this news:

cuts, wedding stuff, and other random adventures**

I have not abandoned you!! (nor made my blog private!)

I was supposed to be born on Labor Day...

Weeeeee have fun.

I'm movin' on up...

Gooooaaaaaaaaal!

Random Ramblings...

un-bee-levable

Please excuse my absence...

Just Plane Scared

Sleepy Sweet Home Alabama, Roll Tide Roll...

Wongs, Pancakes, and (FINALLY) the dancing Grandma!

Marco?

Big News

the 4th of July was FUNNY!

So True...sooo true.

Single at 25?! that's crazy! (not!)

You're everything I'd hoped for....You're everything I neeeeeeeed....

Posting from my phone

Groceries Galore!

Hi. Remember me?

it's raining...it's pouring...

Oh, man! What a lot to report...

WHEW!!

It's not 'Goodbye,' it's 'Talk to you Later'

The Smallest Winner!!

Be thankful I'm not your mom!

Not so exciting events of yesterday...

Update...

Friends

Post number 102!

I SO wasn't trying to be secretive...

Insert cute and catchy title here...

It's Friday, But Sunday's coming!

Random Ramblings...

Changes are going to come...

The Best April Fools Joke EVER!

Snow Day

Google

Mixed Media

**~*Mystic*~**

Over the shoulder boulder holder

Books that rhyme with "Sky-Light*"

Flashbacks!

Lazy-Day Picture Post :)

Google Searches

My Bottom Will Never Be the Same:my first and last cycling adventure!

I hate to be choosy

My Snooze Addiction

whooo hoooo!

Since we've been on this topic...(JELLO LOVERS: DON'T READ!)

It's Friday, Peace Out!

The Blame Game

One of the many resons I live in CO

Bed Pans for Broken Hips are very shallow.

Things I wish I hadn't done...

Oh, my! It's been awhile...

Any readers I DID have...

Merry Monsoon Christmas

If you pour a pan of boiling water on the sidewalk...

Babies don't like me

Let's waste time chasing cars...

Yo! What's up with all the unity???

Thank you, God, for Turkey Day!

Would you mind passing me thazzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz........*snore*

Fatty-Fatty, Two-by-Four...

At First I was Afraid...I was petrified...

Leaving on a Jet Plane???

Hello!!!

A new level of "dummy"...

**~Mystic~**

Would you mind passing me thazzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz........snore