Sleep Is Good! :)

Since everyone else appears to be busy this morning, I figured I might as well kick off the morning with a brief blog about my weekend.

Friday:
Came home from work & went to dinner at Cheddar's. We hadn't been there in awhile, and their mashed potatoes and green beans are quite yummy! Then we came home and played around on Ebay some more in search of the perfect gift for Austin's cousin. We finally decided on nice but sexy autographed picture of Angelina Jolie. I didn't sleep at all Friday night. Well, I guess I shouldn't say at all because I fell asleep around 10:30 or so I think because I was already tired from not sleeping all week and then woke up starting at 1 every hour until around 7:30 when I finally gave up and decided just to stay awake. I was literally waking up and going "oh look it's 2, oh look it's 3, etc." Very annoying! Needless to say I was quite tired on Saturday and grumpy ;)

Saturday:
Austin didn't end up having to work on Saturday morning because it was raining (he was supposed to mow the shop yard) so we laid in bed for a bit. Then got ready and went to lunch with his family for his cousin's birthday. We ate at a good Italian restaurant, and it was fun. We also went to Academy and got Austin a putter to complete his golf club set, and his parents bought him a nice sports coat at the Mens' Wearhouse sale. Hopefully it will be in this week! Then we came home and were supposed to go out with some people on Saturday night, but everyone ended up bailing for various reasons. So we ended up just going to dinner at the On the Border and coming home to watch "Wimbledon." That is a really cute movie and even Austin enjoyed it! :) I had called my dad to ask him what to do about the not sleeping thing (he's a doctor), and he suggested I take a Benadryl before I go to sleep. That actually worked and I slept until 5 am without waking up and then was able to fall back to sleep until about 8. Yay for sleep!

Sunday:
Got up and ate breakfast and went to that Fusions meeting. It was fun, they played the newlywed game, and we were sad we had been to chicken to volunteer because we would have definitely won! We're looking forward to going again next week and seeing what it's all about. Then I went grocery shopping, and we sat around and read and played video games and did laundry. Dinner at BW3 as always and then watched ER on TiVo and read magazines and stuff. Austin & I had a long talk about work and life again - I'm convinced that he's going through his quarter life crisis right now. I jump in and out of mine, but try to stay positive. Now I just have to convince him to do the same. I took another Benadryl and got to sleep again - very exciting! ;)

Other than that, it's pretty slow around here this morning. We got paid today which is fun except for the fact that it all goes to rent & bills. Grrr......I hate the beginning of the month! And our boss is out of the office for the day which always helps. Other than that, not much new to report....I'm looking forward to the possibility of snow for Tuesday night/Wednesday morning. Should be pretty at least! That's all for now - have a good day and I'll write more later if anything comes up.

Nothing in Particular

I don't have anything really specific that I want to talk about today, but since I have 30 minutes still to kill on what is the longest day & week ever, I figured that I might as well write something. So here goes!

-Cold Rain: I hate it when it is cold outside & raining. Especially when there is wind involved so even if you have an umbrella, it does no good because the rain is blown into you anyways. I think that if it is going to be cold, it either needs to be sunny or snow/sleet needs to come out of the sky. And sleet is only allowed if I'm already at home and can't get in to work for a day or two! Not on weekends unless it's Sunday night and not while I'm at work so I have trouble getting home. That would just make me cranky! Snow is fine any time. But not cold rain. Plus you know people can't drive in the rain. Not sure why....I've been driving in rain since I was 15. Hard rain that you can barely see through. But it drizzles outside here and everyone automatically either drives 20 miles per hour or forgets how to drive at all.

- EBay: Austin & I spent over an hour last night searching around on EBay for a unique gift for his cousin's birthday. We were able to find one gift we wanted yesterday and it's on the way, but we wanted something more.....I think the descriptions for some of the things we were looking at were the funniest part. We were laughing so hard that we were crying. Like for example, his counsin likes Angelina Jolie so we were snooping around at autographs and such. And some of the descriptions of the pictures were just too much for us. Two of them were our favorites, and when we got in bed last night, Austin decided to call our pets by those names! The descriptions of the pictures (well two in particular) used the words "nippy" and "leggy" - I guess you might have had to be there but we just thought that was too funny. So Austin called the cat "leggy" because he raises his leg up to clean himself and the dog "nippy" because she's a girl dog and therefore has many nipples. ;) We also saw a ukelele (don't ask) that was played by Tiny Tim, and I was laughing/crying so hard at that point that I couldn't get the words out of what I had seen.

-Gloria's: Mmmm, how you tempt me! After telling Amanda how good it was for their trip to Dallas in a few weeks, I couldn't stop thinking about it. We wanted to go tonight but with traffic it might take a long time to get there and after I have to drive home in rainy traffic, I doubt I will want to get back in the car and go again. So maybe if I'm lucky, we could have dinner there tomorrow night - guess it depends on the rest of the group and how the day ends up tomorrow. Hopefully I will be savoring black bean dip, chocolate flan, and something else yummy tomorrow night.

-Washing jeans: I hate washing jeans. I do it, don't worry, but I hate it because then they get all tight and scrunchy feeling and you feel like you weight five million pounds. I hate having to squeeze the button closed. Even though I know if I would just do it and wear them for a few hours, they would be comfortable again. But it's just the thought of having to do that that makes me feel like a big blob. I had this incident this morning and tried on about three different pairs before claiming these as the loosest fitting and therefore most comfortable.

-Sleep: It's something I have become very unfamiliar with lately. I don't know if it's stress or something I'm eating or drinking or if I'm becoming hormonal at age 25 or what the deal is. I wake up almost every night burning up (I have a speedy metabolism - thank goodness - which makes me really hot at night) and just a general tossing and turning. Therefore, I NEVER feel rested. I had one good night of sleep last Sunday and that is about it for about two+ weeks now.

-February: I can't believe that next week is February - how time flies. Of course each 8 hours of the day during the week go slow as a turtle. But the rest of the time flies by. Before you know it, it will be Austin's birthday, then mine, then our trip to DC, then our one year anniversary, and then Thanksgiving & Christmas again. Craziness!

-Friends: We are so excited because one of Austin's good friends since childhood, a groomsman from the wedding, and one of my new good friends since meeting Austin had moved off to Lubbock in November. We were afraid he might never come back, and we missed hanging out with him because we had all had such a good time over the summer together. Today is his birthday (24), and we found out the other day that he is trying to get back to DFW soon. And he found out today that someone gave notice for a position he was wanting in Ft. Worth so he might be back soon! YAY! :) Also on the friend front, we are going to start a new group at IBC this Sunday called Fusions. It is for engaged or newlyweds in their 20s/early 30s. We can't wait because we are hoping we can meet some really great couples that are in the same situation we are! I'm sure I'll blog more on Monday about how it went.

I guess that is all of my randomness for now. Hope you all have a great weekend - I doubt I'll blog this weekend because tomorrow we have lots going on with Austin's family and then Sunday we'll be doing the church thing and then errands. So goodbye for now! :)

Say Hello to My Little Friend!

With the help of Jessica in finding the site and then my own creative ingenuity, I have figured out how to add my Valentine's Day doll of myself to my site. I will be updating regularly as I have time or am in the mood. I tried to help Sara out with hers but unfortunately her layout is different than mine so it didn't look quite right. So we stuck it in as her profile picture at least for now and we'll have to keep playing! ;) Anyways, hope you enjoy my little doll!

Thank God for Small Favors

For any of you who cared or were wondering, I just got a call from my grandmother, and she was released today from rehab and is now at my parents' home. She was very happy to be there and see my family's cats, and she said she is sitting and reading in the sun. :) So looks like things are doing well - they are sending someone out tomorrow to help her bathe & do some things but hopefully in no time, she'll be independent again! Isn't it great how things work out? ;)

Check This Out!

Okay, so I am lucky that Blogger is so kind to help me convert HTML and all of that because as far as that goes, I am very technically challenged. But I am so proud of my friend, Jes, because with the help of her husband & friend, she has created an AWESOME redesign of her blog. It looks wonderful, and since I don't know what else to blog about today, I thought I would at least have a shout-out to her for a great job and a link to her website for all of you who are interested in checking it out. :) http://jesferris.blogspot.com

Congrats Jes and great work! I'm jealous!

Who Am I?

For awhile now and especially the past few weeks, I've been on a quest to find my purpose in life, trying to figure out what truly makes me who I am and what makes me happy and fulfilled. More in the aspect of a career than on a personal level because I'm pretty happy with my personal life - I love my husband dearly and we have a great relationship, I get along (most of the time at least!) with my family, and have some pretty good friends (although I wish I did get to see them more). And in trying to figure out my purpose, I have been doing A LOT of thinking lately. So I guess that this blog is kind of a culmination of some of that thinking that I will share with the rest of you that want to read!

Who exactly am I and what makes me me? There are certain things I know I am without a doubt. I am a wife, a daughter, a granddaughter, a cousin, a sister-in-law, a niece, etc. but those things do not define me. There are other things I have interest in that help to define me: reading, dancing, writing, etc., but they aren't really who I am either. And there are the things that I dislike too that make up part of who I am: temper, my job title, etc. but they aren't the definition of me either.

For some reason I was thinking about this yesterday while driving home from work and started to realize that no matter what, I am LUCKY. I am healthy, I make a decent income as does my husband so that we can live a good life. I have a family that loves & cares about me. These are all things that many people in this word would just love to have and never will. What if one day I was in some sort of accident. I started thinking of how three different things would affect me.

What if in that accident, my face was marred & scarred and I didn't look the same. I'm not a knockout by any means now but I don't consider myself to be difficult to look at. What if my looks were gone in an instant - how would this affect me? Quite honestly, I would hope this would be the least difficult one to deal with. I am already married & loved so I wouldn't have to worry if someone could ever love me although I would probably be ashamed. It would be difficult when trying to talk to people though because they would either be afraid to look or be super curious and stare or just be mean and make fun of me.

Or what if one day I lost all feeling in my legs and could never walk again. How would that affect me? My job performance shouldn't be affected because I sit at a desk most of the day. But can you imagine how hard it would be to get around in a wheelchair, to do the things we do each day and take for granted? To have people look at you and treat you like you're helpless and feel pity for you or on the other extreme make fun of you and be unkind. It's a hard thing to think about.

Or, and I think that this one could possibly be the worst, what if one day I lost my intelligence, my brain power, my ability to think clearly? I think that is probably one of the biggest assets I have going for myself and what if one day it was all gone. I couldn't do simple math to figure out how much to tip the waitress, I couldn't remember things or couldn't remember how to do things like tie my shoe or eat with a knife & fork. I wouldn't have the skills that I possess that help me in my job or my homelife. That by far is the hardest I think and makes me want to cry just thinking about the possibility.

Okay so now that I've completely depressed you - what I'm trying to get across here is that in this long journey I'm going through trying to achieve personal happiness and find my purpose, I really need to just take a step back and appreciate all the things that I ALREADY HAVE. I need to appreciate the fact that I know the alphabet and can read & write these words to you today. I need to be thankful that I can walk to get into my car and drive home at the end of the day. I need to be thankful that I can put on clothes & makeup and whatever else that makes me feel good about myself and just go about life without being stared at or ignored. I have SO MUCH to be thankful for that at this point, I am going to try to concentrate on just that. And hopefully my direction will come to me - and if not, maybe my purpose is just to be happy with the life I already have. :)

My New Best Friend.....

So, in case you didn't know this already, I'm pretty computer obsessed. I love checking my e-mail. I love instant messaging with friends. I just love it! I usually use AOL IM for my every day conversations. However, I have a new best friend: Trillian. I had heard of it before but never tried to use it, and it's great! I can now talk to people on AIM, ICQ (don't have one of those but I could use it if I did), MSN Messenger, & Yahoo Messenger all from one convenient little program/list. It's great, and it's free! So that was my short little PSA for Trillian - check it out at www.trillian.cc! I'll write more later - maybe something philosophical because I haven't done that in awhile....we'll see what my mood is later! ;)

Monday Already?

So here it is, another Monday morning. Thankfully I'm actually pretty awake and alert this morning because I finally got sleep last night for the first night in I don't know how long! Nothing exciting to report but I'll give you a brief rundown of my weekend!

Friday:
Friday night, we went out to dinner when I got home from work and then headed back home to watch "King Arthur." I really like this period in history - that and Greek mythology are about the only two historical things I can handle. I was not very impressed with this movie, however, because it was SO SLOW. And since I didn't sleep all week last week, I fell asleep on the couch watching it around 9:30! Too bad once I actually got in bed, I didn't sleep yet again the whole night.

Saturday:
Austin had to work a little on Saturday morning so I went and ran some errands. Got my name changed at the bank! Yay! Oh and I got my new driver's license & ID card finally so that's good. After Austin got back, we went to get his truck cleaned (really need to do mine - maybe next weekend) and then went to get his haircut and got some candles from Pier One. We went up to Grapevine Mills because I wanted to stop in Old Navy and the one by our house apparently closed on Saturday (grr!). But we got a nice shirt, sweater, & boxers (including a pair for Valentine's Day!) for Austin and then I got a belt, a Valentine's Day shirt for me to wear to work, Valentine's day socks for my mom, and a Valentine's Day collar for our dog. :) We went out to eat at Joe's Crab Shack (yum) where we had the same waitress Austin had had for his bachelor party so that was cool. And then we headed home because apparently it was historically based movie weekend. So we watched "Troy" which actually was A LOT better than I thought it would be although it's super long so I had to watch it in parts.

Sunday:
After not sleeping again (this time I even had like violent dreams and kicked my cat out of the bed again and was yelling in my sleep and things), we got up Sunday morning, had breakfast, went to church, went to Austin's parents house to pack up my wedding dress to get cleaned & pick up a late wedding gift we received & have lunch with his family, then headed to Dillard's to get our NEW GEORGE FOREMAN GRILL WITH REMOVABLE PLATES FOR THE DISHWASHER!, and each got new Fossil wallets that we really desperately needed. Headed home, I went grocery shopping, he cleaned up around the house. Did lots of laundy (still working on that!). Went to dinner at BW3 so Austin could watch the game....came home and watched some TV and that was about it. And suddenly it was time to get up for work again!

Luckily, as I said earlier, while having trouble falling asleep, once asleep I actually stayed that way except for one brief wakeup in the middle of the night and I feel rested today. So much so that I actually got out of bed when I was supposed to and got to work by 7:45! So I can leave at 5 today plus have an extra 15 minutes of grace period since I have to come in late on Wednesday for an appointment. At least that's 15 minutes less I have to make up this week/weekend!

Guess that's all for now! I haven't tried out the new grill, but believe me, I'm sure we will bust it out this week and let you all know the wonders! ;) I hated cleaning that thing but loved using it! I'll write more later if anything exciting happens or if I get in the mood!

Adventures in Boredom

Today has been the typical boring day here at the office......not really too much going on, the occasional bursts of work, but for the most part just sitting at my desk, staring at my computer, and hoping it said 5:15 on the clock. Grrr.....

Today started off bad. Apparently this morning half of Dallas forgot how to drive. It's not like it changed or like there was construction or anything like that. Oh no, it was just a general mishmosh of driving inability! Therefore, making me cranky and later than I wanted to be for work. Screw the one hour lunch rule today - I took 45 minutes and as such I will still leave by 5:15. So take that!

Then as I'm finally settling into my desk, I realize that the construction (not sure if it was above, next to us, or behind us because it comes from all over now) had begun and we got to listen to lovely drilling & banging noises. Luckily that stopped! But I have a feeling this is going to be a long few weeks/months while they do all this work. Blah!

Enough of my negative attitude! This afternoon I decided to bid on a cheap ring on Ebay and won so that was exciting. No shipping fees and I only paid 14.95 and it's worth 70+. Or so they say....hopefully it won't look tacky when it shows up and if it does I'll wear it a few times for fun and have my money's worth. :) The golf bag is on its way too which is exciting and it should get here on Wednesday according to UPS. So next week I have a few things to look forward to.

No big plans for this weekend. Actually no real plans whatsoever which I guess is good because we REALLY need to finish unpacking the rest of the wedding gifts and what's left of our clothes and such from moving. I know that's pathetic but once you get the necessities unpacked, it's hard to get motivated to work on the rest. I do however need to seriously look this weekend for my dance shoes & knee brace as well as a jacket I want to wear next week so I've got to do some unpacking in order to get all that accomplished before Sunday night is over.

Other than that, not much to report. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Appreciate each day/moment that you have with your loved ones because you never know what might happen. Today's world is scarier than we want it to be.....be careful! See you on Monday! :)

Kim's Quiz

Okay so I took Kim's Quiz. But it told me nothing new!!! I am 25 years old and apparently I act like I am 25 years old. Go figure! I guess that is better than acting like I'm 15 or 45! ;) Oh well!

You Are 25 Years Old

25 Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe. 13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. 20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences. 30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more! 40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?

Update

This will be short & sweet so as not to bore anyone! :) Oh and I want to leave in a few minutes too!!!!

First of all, I at least got my miles from my FTD.com experience. Which makes me a tiny bit happy because now I have enough to get both a ticket for me and for Austin to go to Washington, DC at the end of June and all we have to pay is $10 - TOTAL! So that is cool and at least I got SOMETHING good out of that experience. :)

Secondly, I am happy to report that Sara's e-bay addiction has helped me to find a good deal on a brand new golf bag for Austin. His parents bought him a new set of custom clubs for an early birthday present that will be coming hopefully this week. So he needs a nice golf bag. We had looked online before and they were about $150!!! Because of course, he has to have NIKE. :) Anyways, found a great 2004 new bag perfect for what he wants/needs and it's Nike for $59.99, no tax, and free shipping! YIPPEE! :) One less thing I have to worry about for his Valentine's gift (don't worry, I already told him he was getting that early as a gift to make sure it was one like he wanted and such). So that was fun - of course somehow when I was trying to delete one item off my watching list (jeans, rings, cell phones, etc.) I managed to delete THEM ALL. Oh well, probably should wait until the end of the month when we get paid again!

That's all for now - no dance class tonight for me - I am feeling lazy! I'll wait to start the week off on Monday! Have a good evening! :)

Today Has Been Interesting.....

I'm going to start off first with a very positive and happy note! Austin found out today that he is going to be promoted into the engineering department sooner than we had hoped. He was originally not going to get to move until May or June, but he found out today that he will get to start training next week and move over there full time as soon as they hire & train the replacement for his current job. So I am so proud of him and happy that he is getting to move up in the company. Plus, I really think he will enjoy this position much more than his current one - less math which I know will make him happy! ;) And a new group of people to work directly with and whatnot. So congrats to my hubby!

Let's see - what else to report......well, this morning when we came in, we all had this interesting e-mail from our boss saying that the hours are to be 8:30 to 5:30 and that we all need to be coming in then and staying until then, etc. Which confused me considering I've been working here for two years and worked 8/8:15 to 5/5:15 depending on how long my lunch break was. So I asked him what the deal is and supposedly it's not the actual time he is worried about. It's just that he thinks some people are coming in at 8:10 or 8:15 and only working until 5 and he doesn't like that. Even though previously, we were told that we are only REQUIRED to take a 30 minute lunch so technically you could come in as late as 8:30 and leave by 5 if you only take 30 minutes for lunch....but at this point I'm not going to bother arguing any more. So I will still come in as usual, but I will be forced to take a full hour lunch (and I will take every single minute of it too!) and then leave at exactly 9 hours from whatever time I walked in the door. Just to make him happy!!!! Whatever, I'm sure next week he'll have something else to complain about! I swear, it's something new every day at this place! ;)

Other than that, not too much to report. It's entirely too cold for my liking with the wind blowing but at least it is supposed to warm up a bit by tomorrow. I am supposed to start my dance class tomorrow night but I might just wait until Monday to go depending on if I feel up to it and if I can find my knee brace tonight! We usually don't have class the first week anyways so we'll see if I actually end up going or not.

Guess that's all for now - I'll write again this afternoon if I can come up with anything else interesting! By the way, wedding gifts are great once you finally get them all out of the boxes and start using them - we have such nice things now - it's AWESOME! :)

Something to Ponder.....

Since I'm about to fall out of my chair in complete & utter boredom, I figured I would blog about a subject that my husband and I have been talking about a lot lately. And that question I guess is this: Is anyone ever truly HAPPY about their job/work?

Here's my theory on this one. I think that some jobs fit people better than others. And if they are lucky enough to find the right fit, then there is definite potential to be happy in a way in the job. There are so many factors that deal with job satisfaction that in reality, it would take quite a combination to make someone 100% happy all the time with their job. However, I like to think that over 50% would be nice since my current situation makes me happy WAY less than 50% of the time. Which is why I'm trying to find something that works out better for me. And in evaluating what I DO want in a new job, I have been thinking about what makes me so unhappy in my current situation.

First of all, I have always been and will probably always be very focused, very career-driven, very much wanting to be accomplished and successful. Not success & accomplishment like being famous or super rich (although those things might be nice). Just successful in my own mind - like the things that I do with my life give me some purpose and are reflective of the person that I am and want to be. For that reason, when I feel like I am in a situation where I have hit the ceiling and there is nowhere else to grow and nothing else to learn, I feel trapped. I would want nothing more in the world to find a company that I can grow with, to find a place to establish a career instead of just a job. To know that the more I learn, the more opportunities that lay in front of me instead of thinking that if I keep learning too much and too quickly, I will have nothing else left to do with myself. I like to be challenged, not bored. I like to have things to do, not just sit on my butt and stare at my computer and blog all day (although fun, not really what I want to be 24-7). I want to make enough money to be comfortable but not too much that my life revolves around it. I want to have the ability to go to the doctor and not stress about how to pay for it and to be able to take a vacation and know that the money I'm spending on the trip and while I'm there will be made up still by my paycheck. I enjoy these aspects of working. I look forward to the perks but sometimes they are not enough.

Today's society is so focused on money that it is sometimes hard to break out of that mold. It's all about how much you make and that determines where you live, what kind of car you drive, what kind of clothes you can afford, what kind of trips you can take. Just how your life goes in general. And you have to have the desire to want those things and to be willing to work to get them because as much as money is required, it is not handed out freely. Yeah there are the Paris Hiltons of the world that have their lives handed to them on a silver platter and can just do whatever they want and still have money and a livelihood. But the rest of us get to work to make enough money to get to do the other things we enjoy.

There are many things that can make you happy or unhappy with a job, but it still doesn't have to run your life. It is something that is necessary - each day of the week we get up and go to work and for that we make money and have two days off to enjoy it. And evenings. Or if you have a different schedule, you still have time off to enjoy. The problem is that most of us get so caught up in work (bad days, problems with the boss, problems with co-workers, etc.) that we ruin our downtime which could be so good and which we should be looking forward to by being antsy and upset about what we've already gotten past. It is my resolution to try to let this stuff lie when I leave this place each day and not worry about it again until I walk back through these doors. Some days I may not be able to control, some days I may have to work really hard to control it, but for the most part it is my goal to look forward to my time outside of work and enjoy it to the fullest. Because you never know when it's going to be gone......

Austin sometimes questions his job. We have talked about it a lot trying to figure out what the deal is. But he is young and it's a harsh reality when you've just graduated to think that EVERY WEEKDAY OF YOUR LIFE YOU HAVE TO GET UP AND GO TO WORK AND EAT AND WORK OUT AND DO ALL THESE OTHER THINGS THAT YOU WANT TO DO BUT WORK GETS IN THE WAY. It's depressing frankly. And yet if you really think about it, it's not really just HIS job that is that way, it's any job. He makes good money, decent hours, good benefits, TONS of opportunity for growth and advancement and raises. It's a good situation - it just takes getting used to the fact that work is work and we all have to do it whether we want to or not. So in reality, we should just be grateful for what we have, seek improvement as needed, and cherish the time OUTSIDE of work that we have and make it the best we can. That's just my two cents but I thought I would share it with you all this afternoon because at least it wasted 30 minutes of my long day. :)

Is it Monday already?

I had a really good weekend. I swear though - I am super jealous of my friends that live in Washington, DC. Not only do they have today off for MLK day, but they also get Thursday off for the Inauguration. Why oh why can't we celebrate those days also? A 3 day week is much more tolerable than 5! :)

Friday night we tried out a new restaurant that opened right across the street from our apartment called 7 Salsas! It was super yummy and reasonably priced which is always good! I definitely think we'll be going back there. We came home, watched ER, and watched "Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle" which was somewhat entertaining but you can't expect much from a movie like that!

Saturday, we got up, I went and got my haircut, went to the grocery store, relaxed for a bit, went up to Grapevine Mills, got new glasses & prescription sunglasses, went to dinner with some friends, and went to see "In Good Company" which was GREAT! I definitely recommend seeing it - really good flick!

Sunday, we got up, went to church, went to lunch with Austin's parents and aunt, grabbed the rest of our wedding presents from his parents' house, got a new futon frame from Austin's friend, unloaded everything, went to BW3 to watch the game, and then came home and watched the Golden Globes & "Desperate Housewives." Of course, I woke up at 5 am this morning from an anxiety dream about work. Somehow that just doesn't seem good at all that I am having nightmares like that about work!!!!! Oh well, what can you do?

Anyways, hope you all had a great weekend and for those of you still having a weekend, I am jealous but hope you are having fun! Maybe I'll have something more interesting to write later today - I have a feeling it's going to be a LONG, SLOW day!

Friday Afternoon Blues

So here it is....3:52 on Friday afternoon. We've finally made it through the week and now what. We have a little over an hour to go and yet it feels like each minute that passes is an hour of agony. Why oh why?! ;)

Nothing exciting really to blog about but I felt the need to write SOMETHING today. I'm really excited about tomorrow because I'm going to get my hair trimmed again (the layers have grown out making it difficult to fix cute), going to try to get some new fun glasses (more trendy looking ones than the pair I have now - besides it's always good to have two pairs just in case!), and we're going to go see "In Good Company" tomorrow night which looks really good and has gotten great reviews. So tomorrow should be a good day aside from having to go grocery shopping, which isn't terrible but not my favorite activity. Hopefully it won't be too bad. And Austin isn't coming with me which means I can go to Albertson's and use the guns and it's quick and easy!

Tonight I think we are going to try a new Mexican restaurant that opened across from our apartment and then watch ER that we Tivo'd last night and hopefully a movie that we have from Netflix. And Sunday will be church, going to his parents house to pack up the rest of our wedding presents, pick up futon frame from his friend, and then dinner and watching the Golden Globes which I think are by far the best awards show of them all because they are usually the most laid back and the stars get drunk and silly and have fun. So it's entertaining because you never know what might happen! Plus I'm a TV & movie junkie so I get to see it all!

Ugh, I am suddenly getting an influx of e-mails so I guess I will check those in case it's anything disastrous that I might need to do in the next hour. Hope you all have a wonderful weekend and see you MONDAY (don't even get me started on my bitterness) unless I decide to blog about something this weekend. :)

Sweet, Intelligent Man Back on the Market (for any single ladies out there!)

I just received a phone call from one of my two best guy friends from high school (he's the one on my side of the picture with the red hair). He FINALLY broke up with his girlfriend that he's been dating on and off for six years. Even though she was a nice girl, she was definitely not the right girl for him. Ryan has a super outgoing personally, he is exceptionally intelligent (he already has his Bachelor's & Master's in Aeronautical Engineering from Stanford and is working towards his PhD), and just an all-around nice guy. She is smart and cute, but did not have the personality that Ryan needs to complement him. She was a little uptight and formal about everything and not very sociable, which Ryan is probably one of the friendliest guys I know. To make a long story short, they finally realized that they were holding on to something that in the end probably wouldnt' work out and it was holding both of them back from meeting someone who might be more compatible and they both were feeling like they had to change themselves and the way they acted to be around each other. Which is never good in any relationship.

So for all you single ladies out there, Ryan is back on the market!!!! :) He lives in Palo Alto, California, but grew up with me in Florida and wants to move once he finishes school. He also manages to stop through Texas once a year or so for a visit!!! I'm happy for his new start for 2005!

My Turn! :)

After reading Kim & Amanda's blogs, I figured I should take a shot at this little "quiz" they have come up with. So here goes:

3 names you go by:
1. Melissa
2. Mel
3. Missy (don't really like that one any more but dad's side of family still calls me that)

3 screen names you have:
1. mbertole
2. trlv13
3. that's all folks!

3 things you like about yourself:
1. my metabolism (thanks dad!)
2. my sense of humor
3. my writing abilities (take that FTD!)

3 things you hate/dislike about yourself:
1. how I am a perfectionist
2. how I let work frustrate me and bring those feelings home by accident sometimes
3. that I can't figure out what I want to do with my life as far as a career

3 things that scare you:
1. death - mine or loss of a loved one
2. growing old
3. snakes

3 of your everyday essentials:
1. caffeine (sometimes coffee, sometimes tea, sometimes soda, sometimes a combo!)
2. cuddling with my husband
3. spending time with my pets

3 things you're wearing right now:
1. my wedding bands & engagement ring
2. a new shirt I got at the Banana Republic sale the other day (yay only $13.99 and it's silk!)
3. my glasses (need to get another cute pair if I'm going to have to wear them so much)

3 of your favourite bands/artists:
1. John Mayer
2. Sarah McLachlan
3. "Garden State" soundtrack

3 of your favourite songs at present:
1. "Breakaway" by Kelly Clarkson (a little embarrased to admit this but love the words!)
2. "Through" by Maroon Five
3. "Let Go" by Frou Frou

3 new things you want to try in the next 12 months:
1. cooking class
2. driving range (don't like golf but A does so I figure I could get some aggression from work out whacking the ball and spend time with A!)
3. small group at IBC

3 things you want in a relationship (love is a given):
1. laughter
2. honesty
3. understanding

2 truths and a lie:(no particular order to keep ya guessing)
1. I once hung out with Jack Hanna at a boxing match for P. Diddy's boxer.
2. My uncle drove the batmobile in Batman Forever.
3. I am a certified high school teacher.
(now, can you tell me which one is the lie?)

3 physical things about a love interest that appeal:
1. eyes
2. smile/lips
3. height

3 things you just can't do:
1. eat jalepenos
2. play golf
3. sleep past 3 am this week

3 of your favorite hobbies:
1. dancing
2. reading
3. blogging

3 things you want to do really badly right now:
1. Walk outta this office never to return (had to steal this one from Kim because it's so appropriate for me too!)
2. Go home and put on my pjs and watch movies until I go to sleep
3. Win $1,000,000,000!

3 careers you're considering:
1. event planner
2. legal recuiting
3. lawyer (doubtful but thought about it a couple of times)

3 places you want to go on vacation:
1. Sydney, Australia (been once - want to go back with A)
2. Alaska (during the summer only!)
3. Exotic beach with private villa with private swimming pool, hot tub, personal massage therapist each day

3 kids names (either boy or girl): (don't steal these because these are probably going to be for real in a few years!)
1. Piper
2. Taylor
3. Jacob (this one Austin likes - I haven't settled on a boy's name yet)

3 things you want to do before you die:
1. start a family
2. create great memories with family and friends
3. make sure everyone I am close to knows how much they mean to me

3 people who have to take this quiz now:
1. anyone who reads this post
2. anyone who read it and now is pretending not to see #1
3. ANYONE :) I'm nosy and like reading these about other people!

Fear My Wrath!!! :)

I like to think that I'm a pretty good writer. Especially when it involves trying to convince someone or some place that they have wronged me or that I need to tell them something that they won't like to hear. For myself and for friends, I have written resignation letters, breaking lease letters, letters to explain why someone has hurt me, etc. And today, I had to write one of these letters. I have posted it below. But first let me give some background.

As you know, my grandmother is in the hospital. While she came through the surgery well, my parents are having a hard time getting her motivated to eat and walk and be active again. It is very frustrating for them and sad for me to hear. So after talking to them about it on Sunday night, Austin & I decided to go ahead and send something fun to my grandmother for Monday to brighten her day and get her excited. I normally use ProFlowers and have never had any problems - they actually now do same day delivery which I wish I had known at the time but didn't until today. I highly recommend their products and their customer service - they are always sending me e-mails about discounts or free vases or whatnot. I digress. This time, we decided to try FTD.com. One because I didn't know that ProFlowers could deliver the same day and I knew FTD had a network of florists it used to deliver its products. Two, I am just short about 300 miles to get our two tickets to Washington, DC for Jen's wedding (I could have my mom get one with her miles but they are busy and I feel bad), so I found out FTD.com does a deal with US Airways to earn miles. I picked out a cute balloon bouquet complete with teddy bear and felt that would work nicely to brighten my grandmother's day and would last longer than flowers or something like that. I filled everything out, got confirmation that I would receive 350 miles in a few weeks (bonus!), and was feeling good about the whole thing.

Until my conversation this morning with my dad! They didn't drop off the flowers until yesterday afternoon. And already this morning, not even 12 hours later, the balloons were deflated and on the hospital floor. That is not very encouraging and happy like I had wanted! That is not what I paid $45 for!!!!! I mean I knew it was pricey for what I was getting but they were preparing it and delivering it and I couldn't do it myself so I thought it would work. So I call up the 1-800 customer service line they have on their website and tell the girl my concern. She basically brushed me off, said she would call the florist that was used and ask them what the deal was, try to get them to send an apology bouquet at least, and that she would call me back. I heard nothing. Then I got an e-mail a few hours later saying that the florist said that I had ordered latex balloons and they didn't last very long and so they wouldn't do an apology bouquet and basically too bad, so sad. What?! I didn't specify what kind of balloons I wanted!!!! I didn't pay $45 for a crappy floor-ridden balloon bouquet. So now I was hacked, and I decided to use my words to tell them how I felt. I hope you all don't think I'm evil - but I was feeling feisty and irritated that I had gotten ripped off. So I let them know what I thought. And now I'm letting you all know too - and by the way, don't ever use FTD.com or FTD florists. Boo to them! ;)

"Dear FTD Customer Service:

I am writing to let you know how extremely dissatisfied I am with your service or at least the florist that you have chosen to use. I think that you may want to re-evaluate which connections you are using for people that are trying to get a good service from you all. I paid $45 for what I thought would be a nice balloon bouquet with a teddy bear for my 97 year old grandmother who is the hospital in Florida. I was extremely disappointed to find out that less than 12 hours from when they were delivered, my grandmother's balloons were wilted and lying on the hospital floor. That is definitely not the positive message I was trying to send to my grandmother. I think it is absolutely absurd that you all would offer a product for that price and that holds up for such a little amount of time. I was unaware at the time that by choosing that package (which apparently included latex balloons) that I was sacrificing the quality of my choice. I am embarrassed at the fact that my grandmother could only enjoy her bouquet for such a short period of time before it was ruined, and I do not have the money to pay for another one at the present time nor do I feel that I should have to.

In addition, I am very disappointed in the fact that when I tried to call and find out from you all what I could do about this, I was told that I would receive a return phone call immediately letting me know if this would be possible. Instead, I received an e-mail several hours later saying that you would be unable to fix the situation since latex balloons do not last long. Your website should post that information if that is the case so that the consumer could be warned and would not buy such a worthless product.

Lastly, suffice it to say that I will NEVER use FTD.com or any FTD florists. I was exteremly disappointed not only by the quality of the products but also by the insincerity of the customer service. I usually use another company and decided to give you all a try to receive some mileage credits, but I should have known better because not only did I not receive a good product that I have now wasted my money on, but I also will not receive credit on my mileage for 6-8 weeks which was not told to me until after the fact. I am very frustrated by this situation and felt that I should at least write and tell you so. I will not use your service again; I will not recommend your service to anyone; and I truly think you should re-evaluate how you do business if you want to keep good customers such as myself. Thank you for your time!

Sincerely,
Me (well I actually signed my name here but will keep it off of this blog for privacy!)

The Mystery Phone Call

The weirdest thing happened to Austin & me last night as we were trying to sleep. At 1:30 am, he and I both were wide awake and jumped up in bed. Both of us had heard the phone ring, and it had woken us out of our sleep. However, as we sat there trying to wake up enough to figure out what was going on, we realized that the phone was NOT ringing. Austin got up and went on to the bathroom, and I decided to check the caller ID on the phone next to the bed to see who had called. There was no new calls. So I get up and go into the living room and check that phone - no new calls either. Our phones are usually pretty good about picking up the number even if it only rings once, which it must have considering it woke us both up. Yet, here I was at 1:30 in the morning staring at the phones, trying to figure out what the heck was going on.

And then of course, I couldn't go back to sleep. I started thinking that maybe it was my parents calling to say that something bad had happened to my grandmother in the hospital and then they had decided to wait to tell me in the morning. I almost called them to ask if they had called, but decided against it because I would have felt bad if they were sleeping and had no idea what I was talking about. So then I just had to lie/lay (?I never know which is the right one to use when?) there in bed and stare at the ceiling wondering what was going on. Needless to say, I didn't get much sleep last night, but I called my dad this morning and he said they didn't call and that my grandmother is fine so I have no idea what that was all about.

If it had just been me that had woken up, I would have thought I was dreaming or something because I have been having strange dreams lately. On Thursday or Friday night of last week, I pushed my poor cat out of bed and across the room in my dream because I was freaking out about something in the swampy water I was swimming in (don't ask!). So it wouldn't surprise me if it had been me. But Austin also woke up and not just because I did but because he heard it to. So this blog is to say: mystery caller, please don't call and freak me out again in the middle of the night! ;) I need some sleep to get through these long days of work!

A Fish Tale Update

All is well! Austin was able to exchange his tank with ease - yay for PetsMart & PetsMart.com. :) He has installed his new tank and it works great. The lid is happily on and there is no mechanical noises coming from it. I knew it should be quiet! Thank goodness for small favors! Have a good night!

The Fish Tank Incident

So I believe before Christmas I discussed the plight of my backordered fish tank. Actually it's not MY fish tank; it was a gift I gave to Austin for Christmas. A 12 gallon Eclipse tank - top of the line, supposed to be super quiet, easy to clean, etc. I like his fish tanks, but I hated the cleanup process and how quickly they got dirty, etc. So after moving them into our new apartment, I decided part of his Christmas gifts would be to replace his fish tanks to nice clean new ones that had fancy filters and things to keep them sparkly clean. The little ones we picked up at PetsMart. The big one I had to order. And it was backordered. I ordered it in November. It arrived December 23, the day we LEFT to go to Florida so I had to get Austin's mom to have her next door neighbor take it in (I had shipped it to his parents' house because it's easier for them to get packages than it is for us in an apartment complex).

So this weekend when we were over at his parents' house, we finally got to pick up the big fish tank. And yesterday afternoon Austin cleaned the other two (they lasted almost a month without cleaning - yay!) and moved the fish to the new tank. Sounds good, right? Except when he opened the box, a part of the frame of the fish tank had chipped. It didn't look like a big deal so he decided not to worry about it and go ahead and get it all ready. Well, apparently it was a bigger deal than it looked because it was humming and the lid wouldn't fit on. An Eclipse tank is NOT supposed to hum and the lid IS supposed to fit on. Blah!

So this morning, I call to ask PetsMart.com what to do. They say if we can exchange at the store to go ahead because that way we will have it; otherwise, call back and they will schedule pickup and then eventually delivery. So Austin starts calling around because of course, the PetsMart that is like two feet from our apartment is out of stock. So is the other one in Irving. So he finds one in Southlake which is really not too far from where we live (that's actually the one that the PetHotel is in where we take Maddie when we are out of town). But with traffic it can be a nightmare. So he left an hour ago to go home, put the fish back in their old tank, clean everything up as much as possible and get it back into the box to look presentable, and then he gets to drive to try to get the ONE tank they had (at least they put it on hold for him until tonight). Then he'll have to come back and rescue his fish by putting them BACK into the new tank. Let's just hope this one isn't cracked or funky in any way because the poor fish are probably wondering what they did to deserve the fury!!!! :) Stay tuned tomorrow for more fishy stories! (man I love my cheesy humor - ha!)

A Fun & Busy Weekend

This weekend was actually really good. I got to do a lot of fun things and got a lot done too. :)

Friday night, as I described in my other post, Austin surprised with Benihana's. Yummy! Then Saturday, we slept in a bit, relaxed around the apartment and unpacked a few things and cleaned, and then headed to the mall. I returned the jeans at Nordstrom's that his parents had gotten me because they were the right size but the style wasn't just fitting my body right and found another pair I loved but they didn't have the right size! We also hit up the sales at Banana Republic & Express. Then we headed over to Austin's parents house to pick up our boxes of Christmas presents and to have dinner. We then went to see Meet the Fockers, which was really pretty good. Quite funny - if you liked the first one, you'll like this one because it is very similar except they've added two new faces and actually I was impressed by Dustin Hoffman & Barbara Streisand's performances. As well as the too cute kiddo they have in there as well!

Yesterday, we got up and went to check out a new church. We went to Irving Bible Church and had a good time. We are going to try it again next week and see how it goes. Austin & I both have a lot of stress in our lives and things going on, and we felt like we needed to seek more involvement with God. After that, we went to the Galleria to pick up the jeans that Nordstrom's had put on hold for me, and they fit perfectly! I have never bought a pair of jeans that expensive in my entire life, but they feel wonderful and I only spent $10 more on them than the exchange of the others so it was worth it to me! ;) Then we headed to Walmart to get some things for the apartment and groceries. Went to dinner at BW3 and then home to watch Desperate Housewives. All in all, it was a pretty good weekend. I just wish it could have lasted longer. But they never do!

My grandmother seems to be doing fairly well although she's complaining about not wanting to eat. Luckily, they can give her IVs as needed. I just hope she is strong and works hard for a speedy recovery! That is all for now - I'm sure I'll have some interesting tidbit to share later today but I thought I would update everyone on my weekend (since it was so thrilling - ha!). Hope you all had great weekends too! :)

I am Thankful! :)

I am thankful for two things this morning that I wanted to share before I forgot! First of all, I am thankful because my grandmother came through her surgery and is actually doing even better than expected for her age. Now if she can be strong and work hard, she can get through rehab and continue on with life. Keep thinking & praying about her and her speedy recovery! I am also thankful for my wonderful husband. Last night when I got home from work, he had a great surprise for me: dinner at Benihana's! It is one of my favorite restaurants, and we haven't been in a long time. He knew I had a rough week, and he felt bad because the Knot & Nest had sent us e-mail reminders saying to plan something special for our 3 month anniversary, and we were on an airplane coming back here that day and then I had a terrible sinus headache that night and couldn't go out anywhere. So he was sweet enough to make reservations and plan this special surprise for me! :) And after a great meal, we just came home and relaxed so I could catch up on my sleep. Today I am feeling refreshed and ready to clean/unpack/etc. before heading to watch Meet the Fockers tonight for a good laugh hopefully. Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Make Me a Bird So I can Fly Far, Far Away

So I know I said that my next posting would be more positive. I don't know if I can fulfill that request today. For the most part, it has been a pretty rough day starting with the fact that I got little to no sleep last night. That never begins my day well. Now, it just seems like it's one thing after the other. I'm worried about a friend that seems to be in trouble, but she won't tell me what's wrong. I have been having to cover for a co-worker that is out sick today, which is difficult because I don't know where to find half the stuff they are wanting. And now, at 3 pm on a Friday, our firm administrator has dropped the bomb that they will no longer be covering our insurance. I want to be a bird so I can fly far, far away. It would be so much easier!

So here's the insurance story: When I first started here two years ago, medical insurance was part of the "benefits" that I received in addition to my salary. We also get paid time off, 401k after 1 year, life insurance, optional dental insurance, free parking, etc. The relatively average benefits associated with a law firm, and most jobs these days. The insurance was pretty good, not that I had to use it often, but seemed to work and cover most things. Then December 2002, they told us that the insurance had increased and that they were going to lower the coverage of the basic plan and offer an optional buy-up for I think like 50 bucks a month or something like that. So not only were we going to get less coverage, but we would also have to pay extra to get less coverage. I opted to go with the basic plan because luckily my dad's a doctor so I don't have to actually go see a doctor very often and he can often get me samples and things of prescriptions so that helps.

And now to today, without telling any of us except in a MEASLY e-mail, they inform us that to even have the BASIC plan which is crappy coverage to begin with but at least it was free before, we will have to pay $40 bucks per month. And to get the upgrade we would now have to pay $66 per month. I know that doesn't seem like a huge deal because I know other places make you pay for insurance, but it really irritates me because when I signed on here, I was told that insurance was one of my benefits, and I don't see how they can justify taking that away now after two years. They should have to increase my salary to cover that amount if they are going to require that of all employees or base that off when you became an employee here or whatever. It is especially makes me bitter that they didn't bother to tell us this or have a meeting to let us know the changes, instead just threw it out there on an E-MAIL and said too bad so sad. I would rather they pay for my insurance than have the stupid Christmas party we did that cost five billion dollars......I knew I would have a reason to be bitter about that some day! ;)

I'm going to have Austin check to see how much it would be to add me to his insurance since they get better coverage than us to begin with and if we are going to be paying we might as well get good coverage. I have to decide by next week what I want to do. What a pain! Oh well, guess there is nothing I can do about it now.....except hope and pray for a new job soon! :)

Please Keep My Grandmother In Your Thoughts & Prayers

The good news is the heat was still working last night when I got home. The bad news is that while I was sitting watching tv with my hubby, my dad called to tell me that they had to put my grandmother in the hospital on Wednesday afternoon, and he thought I should know that she was to have surgery Friday afternoon.

Here's the story behind it. About a week before we all headed to Florida to visit (my grandmother lives with my parents because she's 97 years old - although up to this point, she was doing AWESOME for her age), my grandmother got up in the middle of the night and went to get a drink of water and tripped and fell. She had been complaining that her leg was hurting but at first it just seemed like she bruised it and pulled a muscle. When we were all there, she was still complaining about it hurting so my dad decided to take her to the doctor to get checked out. They took x-rays and said that it was mostly just bad arthritis and a possible compression fracture from the bones jarring together but that she should be fine in a few weeks. They got her a cool walker (she called it her Mercedes because it was so fancy!) and we thought everything would be okay. We all went to Orlando and she seemed to do really well being pushed around in the wheelchair and even using her walker. When we got back, she started complaining again that the pain medication wasn't helping and she was getting stiff. So my dad decided to take her back again to get checked out. They took more x-rays and apparently the compression fracture had turned into a hip fracture. Because she is so old and her bones are so delicate, the top of her femur bone (the long bone in your thigh) was started to disintegrate in the socket of her hip. So they decided they needed to book her in the hospital and today she is supposed to have surgery to have a new plastic & metal top of her femur bone and ball to fit into her hip socket (luckily that part is okay). Because of her age, they don't want to give her anesthesia so she will have some sort of spinal thing (I'm guessing like an epidural when you're pregnant where you just lose feeling from your waist down or whatever). After staying in the hospital for the weekend, she will have to do a few weeks of physical therapy to get used to her new contraption and that all depends on how quick she is to work at it - could be anywhere from 1 to 3+ weeks.

I am trying really hard not to worry about it because my dad didn't seem too concerned about it when he was talking to me last night and at least they have a plan. However, I woke up randomly about 3:30 in the morning last night and didn't really sleep much after that because I kept thinking about it and worrying. I hate that!

So all this to say, please if you get a chance, hold my grandmother in your thoughts and prayers today and for the next few weeks as she works to continue her great health. I'm hoping she will make it to at least 100!!! :) Thank you all for your kindness and support! I promise to write something happier later in the day!

I Don't Want to Play Any More Reindeer Games!

So I've told you all before how I've had a growing disdain for my fellow co-workers lately except for Sara of course but I knew her long before I knew any of these people. Anyways, I find it increasingly more difficult to be around them, not because I think they are bad people. It's just that they are very cliquey and unwelcoming and have this knack for trying to make everyone else feel stupid. They are like the stupid jocks in high school that were so insecure in themselves that they made fun of everyone else to feel better and even played stupid mean jokes on each other and thought it was fun. I digress yet again!

Anyways, so today, I called one of my co-workers to ask her what the meaning was of an e-mail that our boss sent out and at the end she told me to come down to her office because the one guy in our section had a new game. And to bring Sara. So I begrudgingly went down there with Sara to see what was going on even though our lunch with them earlier today had made me pretty annoyed to be around them with them constantly telling inside jokes and trying to make either Sara or I look stupid. I should have known better. I even knew somewhat was going on when I walked in but still agreed to play one time.

They have this game that has a base and then four "handles" if you will. Each person takes one handle and the handle has a red button on the top. You grip the handle and watch a stupid light in the middle of the base as it blinks red and plays this creepy song. It is all very disturbing. When the light finally turns green, you are supposed to push the button. Now the green light could come at any length of time. Whoever is last to push the button gets shocked. Yes shocked! They told me it was just a little light buzz. I of course somehow got disturbed by the song and red light blinking that I didn't push fast enough and was the one to be shocked. It coursed through my hand and wrist so hard my gut reaction was to throw it and I did - at the co-worker who called me down there. Apparently you also can get shocked if you press the button too early as the secretary learned previous to our coming down there. Or if no one presses it at all, all four handles will shock.

My arm all the way up to my shoulder is still hurting. I am not happy to that. It makes me want to cry not out of pain just out of annoyance. I don't want to play in any more reindeer games! ;)

Our Adventures Last Night

So last night, I got home a little later than usual because I had to stay a few extra minutes at work since I took 1.5 hour lunch to get my driver's license. So I get home, eat dinner (my hubby cooked - yay!), unpacked my suitcases from our trip, and did some laundry. The whole time I'm thinking, hmm, it's cold in here but I just switched the heat on so maybe it takes a little while. So I'm standing in my kitchen putting stuff in the dryer when I reach my hand up to the vent and it feels like cold air is coming out. I've been hearing the heat pumping since I turned it on even though it's on auto and thought that was strange. So I make Austin come over and see if it really is cold air or if it just feels that way from my height. He says it is.....check the indoor thermometer we have in our bedroom and it's 65 degrees in there. A bit chilly for inside! So I turn off the heat because there is no use wasting money trying to heat something that is going to just keep running because it is blowing out cold air and will never reach 70 degrees as set. And I pick up the phone to dial the office which is of course closed by now because by this time it's about 8:30 pm.

Ring, ring, ring forever and I'm about to give up when someone finally answers (answering service I'm sure). I explain the situation, she asks for our apartment number & phone number, and says she'll have the emergency on-call maintenance guy call. He calls back a few minutes later, I explain the situation, how it's going to be really cold tonight and I would prefer not to be without heat, and he says he lives an hour away so he won't be there until 10. Lovely! I agree because staying up late is better than freezing all night long, and we go about watching our movie, Napoleon Dynamite (SIDE NOTE: As many good things about this movie that I had heard, I was a little disappointed - it wasn't bad, just not as outstanding as I'd hoped. And I usually like indie movies. That one just didn't do it for me!).

The doorbell rings at 9:30 (yay, 30 minutes early) and in comes the guy. He is taking the temperature and then heads out onto our porch. Apparently our heat is run by some cyclical thing off the hot water heater....different but whatever. He's out there for about ten minutes or so and finally I feel the heat coming out. Thank goodness!!!! He comes back in and shows us this cool gadget he has that you aim a beam at the vent or wherever you want to take the temperature and it reads what it is there. So it was finally pumping out in the 80s up there when he left and seemed to function well throughout the night. I hope it's still working today since we haven't gotten above 32 degrees the whole day and I'm sure it will drop back down to the 20s tonight.

So that's my story about the adventures of the heater last night. We decided it was especially good to go purchase a carbon monoxide detector since we now know the gas will have to heat the hot water every time the heat comes on too, and we wouldn't want something to happen in our sleep! I'm sending Austin to purchase one of those on his way home from work today.

Hopefully tonight will be less eventful! ;)

Boo.........

In honor of Ashlee Simpson being booed off the stage at her halftime performance at the Orange Bowl (man is she lucky that Jude Law & Sienna Miller and Seal & Heidi Klum got engaged to block out her disaster), I decided I would write a few boos of my own.

1) The red vines I bought at the little convenience store yesterday and never opened until now are so hard that my jaw is already hurting from trying to chew them and I'm only on my first one. Might have to go downstairs and get some M&Ms to drown my sorrows!

2) I am sooooooo sleepy today - not really sure why. Austin is sick with a sinus infection and even though those aren't contagious and he's taking an antibiotic, I'm convinced he's getting me sick because I woke up with a head full this morning, a headache, and general tiredness. So I'm either getting sick or am just having the post vacation blues or a combination of both.

3) To combat my tiredness, I decided I would go make myself a cup of coffee and add some hot cocoa to it to appease my chocolate cravings. I haven't had any yet today (all caffeine free products so far) and thought maybe this would help alleviate the sleepiness that is forcing me to slump in my chair as I type. No such luck - not only were there no coffee mugs (I would use a different cup but the rest are glass and our fancy coffee machine doesn't like those) but there is also no hot chocolate left. What is this world coming to?! ;)

4) I am 100% bored out of my mind having caught up on all the work I missed last week and anything needed to be done this week. There is one pre-trial that I might have to do, but I am waiting for clearance from someone else so now I just have to sit and wait until he decides it needs to be done and then at the last minute I get to throw it together. Man, I really need a new job!

5) I promised myself to be positive this year so these are not complaints and/or negative comments. Merely statements of fact that would cause me to use the word boo in describing my feelings towards them. Please do not confuse these with negative vibes - I am still happy to be healthy and alive and married to a wonderful man with a great apartment and two cute pets! See now I feel better! :)

Goodbye Florida Driver's License - I'll Miss You!

Well, I guess it is finally official. I'm a Texan. Hmm, don't know how I feel about that one......not really bad, but not super excited or anything. I had to surrender my Florida driver's license today and have my ID card cut at the top. Now I have two pieces of paper to use until whenever it is they decide to send me my new driver's license and ID card. It's a funny thing because in Florida, when you go to the DMV, they print out your license/id immediately. It's all digital photos and information anyways so you sit there for 5 or 10 minutes and out it comes. Not sure why a huge state like Texas can't seem to master that one but I guess so. I think when I got my Texas ID card a few years ago, it took about two weeks to come in the mail - today she said it could take up to 30 days but hopefully it won't take that long. It's taken awhile to make the name change official so I'm ready to move this process along! ;)

Sara & I embarked on our adventure at 10:30 this morning to try to avoid the lunch crowd. It was a good thing that we got there when we did because we were lucky to only have to wait a few minutes to get the paperwork we needed and then got to get back in the front of the long line that formed shortly after we got there. All in all, it took us with drive time about 1 hour and 30 minutes which isn't all that bad considering we had to drive, park, stand in line, I had to take two pictures, and then drive back and pick up a little something for Sara's lunch. There was a poor guy behind us that was in the military and had had his things stolen so he had NO identification - no passport, no military ID, no license, SS card, birth certificate, nothing. He couldn't get on base without ID but he couldn't get a new ID without proof of other identification. He was in a royal mess for sure! Felt bad for him.....

When it was my turn to go up after filling out the form, I thought I would at least attempt the vision test without glasses first (I usually only use them for reading, etc. but I swear my eyesight gets increasingly worse as days go by and I have to sit in front of a computer screen all day long). So I hand over my paperwork, pay the fees, sign off on everything, and then she says let's do the vision test. Read Line 5. Now usually there are letters in this sort of device. I actually passed the vision test 2 years ago in Florida when I went to renew my license. This one was NUMBERS. Okay, numbers are very difficult to distinguish especially when you are trying to fake it. So I had the dreaded item added to my driver's license because I ended up giving up and grabbing my glasses. I then could see perfectly fine. If only it had been letters, I might have had a chance. Oh well! I'm hoping to get Lasik surgery in the next few years so whenever that happens, I'll be able to get that removed from my driver's license.

So as I said earlier, got my license taken away, id cut up, and now have two pieces of paper and hope they come sometime soon. That's annoying but at least it's done now, and luckily it wasn't too painless. Oh and I can prove I'm Mrs. Stevens now too! :)

Time Again for Congratulations!

I can't believe I forgot to blog about this - bad me! Anyways, just wanted to congratulate my friend, Phil, and his new fiancee, Judy. They got engaged on December 28 and couldn't be happier. :) They are probably going to wait to get married until 2007 because of Judy finishing up grad school, but I am very happy for them both and wish them the best of luck! By the way, Phil was one of my attendants in the wedding, a bridesman if you will - he is one of the 2 guys on my side in the picture, the one with the dark brown hair. ;) 3 members of our wedding party were already married at the wedding, 1 was already engaged, and this makes 2 more to get engaged. So that leaves 8 more to go! Ha!

Anyways, lots of love and happiness and excitement for Phil and Judy!

Job Stability

So you'd think that since I work in the field of law, I would never have to worry about job stability. I'm at the top of my group of paralegals, have seniority such that it is, etc. I mean people sue each other every day now, so it should be no question that this field is here to stay. Of course, I made the horrible mistake of getting into the dreaded asbestos law. Not only is this field of law incredibly boring for the most part, it is also now under threat of being abolished through a bill in the Senate.

If I was an average person whose job was not affected by this bill, I would be in complete support of the bill. Especially after what I know about what really goes on and how it's really not about the victims and getting them what they deserve, but really about whose back needs to be scratched to make your "relationship" with that attorney/firm good. It's a messy and filthy business - I was actually rather disgusted when I went to trial in of all places Beaumont last year by the sleaziness with which things were handled. But I digress.

The point of this blog is job stability. I thought I had it. But right now, things aren't looking so good. I'm not in jeopardy of being fired from the firm, and I didn't make anyone mad or anything like that. It's just that there is the potential for this bill to pass creating a trust fund to pay asbestos victims claims instead of this entire litigation which clogs up the court system and has been under fire for reform for years. And that makes me nervous. I am high up in the ranks in my section at least so I'm sure I would be one of the last to go if something were to happen. But at the same time, it scares me what might come next. If it passes, we will have about six months of clean-up and then what? Me and every other paralegal/legal secretary/etc. in the United States that have experience will all be fishing for like the 3 jobs available. The thought of it makes me cringe. Especially when as I've said before, I'm still not convinced this is the field I want to be in for a career.

Now there is always the possibility that it will fail or they'll push it off some more or whatever the case may be. But there is also a strong possibility that it will pass. And maybe we'll get new clients in a different type of toxic tort or maybe we'll pick up claimants for the trust fund or whatever it is that we might do. But what if I like that even less than this? Or what if they go for medical malpractice which I can not ethically do because my father is a doctor and I see what that does to innocent people? It is a quandry that has definitely thrown a wrench and pushed the gas pedal in my search to find myself and career this year. On the fourth day of 2005.....

And I thought 2005 was going to be easy and great! ;) Please, let a shiny new door open for me sometime soon! Or give me some direction! Any advice or thoughts would be appreciated on my quest for my career choices!

I'm Back & Ready to Make 2005 a Great Year! :)

I know you all have missed me! ;) Ha! Actually, the only person I know missed me is Jes because she kept commenting on my old blog trying to figure out how things went and when I was coming back. But I know the rest of you were secretly missing me too! LOL!

My vacation was good - never ever long enough though and there were a few bumps along the road. All in all, it was good to see my parents and spend time with family and all that fun stuff. Here are some highlights (and lowlights!):

1) We got to the airport after nearly roasting in the taxi cab (not sure why the taxi driver felt the need to blast the heat at full blast - it was really cold outside but I thought Austin & I were going to pass out by the time we got to the airport from heat exhaustion!). Got through check-in and security no problem. Got to our gate and it was already noted as delayed. Ugh! Lovely start! Austin's parents who had left earlier that day and his aunt who had traveled the day before had all had problems with delays and postponements, etc. so I had to have guessed our trip would be the same. We were to have like a 50 minute layover in Atlanta so when our plane left Dallas about 40 minutes late waiting for our plane to come in from whereever it was previously, I was sure we were going to miss our flight and face the nightmare that is trying to get your flight changed. However, as we landed the flight attendant said that we still had a little time because they had made up some time in the air, they asked that people stay seated if they had a long connection or if Atlanta was their final destination. So we scooted up to the front of the plane (well actually only about 5 rows of people actually were nice enough to let us by) and headed out the door. We checked the monitor and set off running full speed because while we lucked out that our gate was on the same concourse, it was of course from the far end of the terminal to the directly opposite end. So here we are running (literally) from one end of the concourse to the other fearing that we were going to miss our flight. As we stop breathless in front of our gate, fear strikes further since our flight is not listed up on the board and as I'm about to go crazy because I believe we have missed our flight or the gate changed or whatever, two guys are standing there and ask us if we're looking for Melbourne which we were. They said that was the right gate but that they were waiting to see what was going on because the information wasn't up yet.
So we had just run at top speed like maniacs for nothing as they finally put our flight up on the board for an hour later with delay. So I grab a seat because there were more people in that airport than I have ever seen in my life. I've flown through there a lot and NEVER seen that many people. I swear half of America must have been in there and I was ducking in and out of them as I was running down the concourse earlier. They were everywhere - leaning and sitting up against walls, sleeping in the vending machine areas, sprawled everywhere the eye could see. It was insane! So Austin goes to the bathroom and I sit and wait. Then I go to get food and he sits and waits. And we sit and we sit and it's like 10 minutes before our new posted time and they postpone it another hour. So we sit some more and people are getting annoyed. We find out the delay is not our plane - it is sitting there waiting for us - but FAA rules require 3 flight attendants on a plane of our size. And we only have 2. The Cincinnatti airport (another Delta's hubs) had been closed due to weather, and the flight attendants that were supposed to come in from there for our flight and others had not arrived. So they were short 1 flight attendant for our flight and we were waiting until her plane came in so we could leave. Not a very good excuse in my opinion (they should have some on-call or something for situations like this) but at least we knew what was going on now. So we wait some more. At about 11:30 when the flight attendant was already supposed to have been there and our 3rd flight time had been delayed (the plane was supposed to have left at 9:15), we see something change on the board. The flight that was supposed to go out of that gate after us to St. Louis or Kansas or Kentucky or somewhere like that had been moved to gate XLD. Like I said earlier, I've flown through the Atlanta airport on numerous occasions and there is no such gate that I'm aware of. And it dawns on me. These people who have been sitting there with us for two hours (they were supposed to leave at like 9:30 or 9:45) have now had their flight CANCELLED. As they try to figure out what is going on, the guy gets on the loudspeaker and says, "The flight to ___ has been cancelled. And all the flights to ___ tomorrow are completely full. And they MIGHT try to set up an extra flight for tomorrow but we can't guarantee that because of crews and planes and stuff so you're going to have to try to make other arrangements. But I'm not going to deal with you because it's been a long day and I'm not even going to deal with you. So walk on down to the service agents at gate A15 because they will deal with you, not me. I'm not even going to talk to you about it." People are now either extremely irate at this guy's rudeness or bursting into tears because here it is almost midnight on December 23rd and they have just been told basically that there is nothing they can do but good luck trying to get whereever you are trying to go. So now I'm panicking.....what if they do that to our flight. And we find out that there is some sort of aviation rule (except for international flights) that a flight of shorter length can't fly between the hours of 2 and 5 am. Our flight is about 1 hour and 15 minutes. It's almost midnight - if we don't get out of here 12:45 or so, we will be cancelled too. Great - we are going to be stuck in Atlanta with no way to get there and I'm sure all the rental cars are booked. Blah!
Luckily at about 12:15, the last flight attendant shows up. We all clap - she is angry looking and grumpy on the plane but I don't care - at least we are going to Florida. We finally leave about 12:35 or so and are on our way. By the time our dad's pick us up from the airport in Melbourne and we get back to our house, it's a little after 3 am. Nice starting to Christmas Eve!

2) Christmas Eve & day it rained a lot which sucked. And it was chilly which was weird for Florida. But we had a really good time and I got lots of awesome presents. :)

3) Sunday our fishing trip got cancelled because it was cold & windy. I went shopping at the outlets instead! ;) More clothes for me at good prices!

4) Monday & Tuesday were a little rough - I guess no matter the fact that I'm 25 years old, on my own, married, etc., my parents still think of me as their little girl and want me to do what they say and spend time with just them. But I have a husband now that likes to be included too and that causes adjustment for them. It wasn't horrible, just difficult for a little while. My mother is a difficult person to be around sometimes, and she chose these two days to be miserable to herself, my dad, me, and the rest of us. It was embarrassing to me because my in-laws were there, but I was very happy because it made me realize at least how much they love and care for me. Everything turned out okay - we had an overall good time in Orlando, did the Epcot thing on Tuesday, and went to downtown Disney on Wednesday and by the time we got home on Wednesday afternoon, everything was back to normal. Just took some time........

5) My dad had a great time last week because he got to go golfing more in that week than I think he had all year long. And that's good for him - he's much more relaxed and has fun with Austin & his brother & dad. I'm not much for golf but they enjoy it so that works! ;)

6) The weather was beautiful from Thursday until we left Sunday morning. Got to hang out outside, meet some of my parents neighbors, do some more shopping at the sales! ;) Gotta love going shopping in Florida because they put all the winter clothes on super sale because they can't really wear them that long or often and I love it because we have our hardest part of winter in January and February so I have plenty of time to wear them still. We had a great dinner for New Year's Eve and then came back to watch the ball drop. I got to cook some good desserts and good food and my mom cooked for us and overall it was great! :)

7) I am determined that 2005 will be a GREAT year. Last year was wonderful because Austin & I got married, I got a new car, a new apartment, etc. But this year I want to tackle even more. I want to try to figure out what I want to do with my life from here - whether it be to go back to school, to get a new job, to work harder at my current job, to study for a CLA. I want to be happy and figure out how to do that. I also want to explore some extracurricular options - still going to take my dance class but might also look into the occasional cooking class, set up a more regular time to see my wonderful friends that I don't get to see very often, and look into stopping by a church I've been wanting to visit and check out. I want to have a happy & healthy & even better 2005! And I wish all the same to you! And I'm going to try my hardest to stay POSITIVE this year because I know that the negativity I was feeling was really getting me down before and that was doing no good. Got to try to stay motivated, get things accomplished at work and at home, and just be happy!

That is all for now - gotta get back to some more work. They just decided to try to push 2 of my big cases through to trial for April so that should be interesting if that actually happens! I got through my 100+ e-mails this morning pretty quickly, just working on mail now that came in last week while I was gone! Good Monday times! ;)