Uhoh Roll Down The Window!

Not very much new since the last post. I did my solo shifts at Good Sams and I think did very well. I was really nervous but I guess it went alright. One of the residents there, who is usually quite mean, seems to have taken a liking to me. She said I'm tender looking. She spent all 4 hrs with me on Wed. Training Oz is.. ok. I think partly hes getting better at holding his bladder. The trouble really is getting him to not attack the cat and right now hes into humping my leg. Oh and chewing on hands. It's hard especially with Shane away for the week. He came home Wed night but I guess he must have gotten up late because he neglected to take Oz out before he left. the next morn, So I was out there at 5 am. And a good thing I did too.

I finally used my gift card for the spa yesterday. It was really nice but also exhausting. I was there for 6 hrs. And I was getting really hungry. Those people were such perfectionists. I'm like its fine move on so I can go home!! But it was really relaxing. I got a fullo body massage followed by a facial. It was my first facial.. really awesome. Then I got my hair shampooed and blow dryed. After that was my pedicure and then a paraffin hand treatment and lastly the manicure.

I went to staples after to see about the scheduling. So I talked with my manager and explained my current hours at good sams and what we could do so he reworked it all because they are trying to do plannagrams next week and I am like the planagram queen.. well no. It's that the 2 they are trying to do are the largest and hardest.. the entire ink wall for one. I'm the only one that every does the ink planogram bc its mind boggling. So I'm there 4 days next week. doing that. He wasn't able to tell me about my wages yet but I know I'm getting a pay cut. Which is a little scary but doable. I also had to turn in my key. So I am officially no longer a keyholder.. little weird for me. I've been doing that for 3 years.

Nothing else too interesting. I get to see my lovely friends Brooke and Glenn tomorrow. I can't wait. And then i think I might go visit my sister so she can see the pup. No work for me until monday (of course when shane is back). I think it's lunch time. (my title is the color i chose for my nails..idk if that means puke or fart.. either way its kinda a put off.. ehh not ot me)

ITS STILL FRIDAY

I made it. Phew. I have news.

I have been working at Good Samaritan as well as Staples for a couple weeks now. Good Sams is nice. It's actually a bit boring. I'm so used to go go go in retail and the night shift especially at good sams is very dull. I hope they will give me more clerical work to do. I have my first shifts on my own this week on tues and wed night. I think I'll be alright. I'm sure Anita will want me to call if I need anything at all. But I'm pretty sure Shanes mom is always nights so I could probably send a shout to her if i need help too. So far they all seem to love me and I've picked up the stuff very quickly. Apparently they've had many without brains and they're happy to see how fast I learn.

Staples still annoys me but its damn near going away soon. They didn't even schedule me for next week (last I knew I still worked there though). It's not so much the place. And I do enjoy a lot of the work. It's just certain people. I wanted to strangle Marie several times in the 10hrs I worked with her this week.

Shane is home. Thank god. He came back on Sunday and I had to close at good sams that night. So he actually was visiting Angie and was behind them on the road as I turned onto that road. So he stopped in which I didn't like. I couldn't react to him in the way I wanted to. So he left and made us dinner that night. When I got home I ran into his arms and cried for awhile. It was just such a relief to be in his embrace again. I called staples and requested a personal day on Monday. I didn't think they'd let me but i guess the fact that i didn't lie and fake sick was good too. I just needed to have a day with him at least. I've had to work at one place or the other every day since. And I do tomorrow as well.

In other news... SHANE AND I HAVE A PUPPY!!! We went to the mall on Monday and had to go in the pet store. They had a cavalier king charles spaniel there. He was beautiful. That's always been my dream dog. I batted my eyes and pouted and guilted him all day because I wanted the dog so bad. And finally gave up, for the most part. Dropping a line every now and then. Tonight we met at price chopper after work and he told me he had something to show me. AND THERE HE WAS. We named him Oz (i named my puppies...and children for that matter.. long ago..Eden for a girl Oz for a boy..for the puppies that is). He is extremely hyper and we have a lot of work to do but we love him. Our family is really coming together! Its a happy day. week really. And I was recently thinking.. while its been tough this year its been good too. I moved out of my parents house, I supported myself, I got lasik, I got engaged, I bought a wedding gown, I went on trips alone, I got a new job. A lot of serious growing up changes

you say you dont want to know where this road goes cause you dont want to spoil the suprise

I'm actually posting on a Friday. And what news have I? Well I currently "technically" have 2 jobs now. I am starting at Good Samaritan next week I believe. I have to do a physical on Monday and then Tuesday is paid orientation and then who knows from there. But the chaos of  back to school season has damn near toppled me. And I got a vaccination the other day that hurt way more than it should i was in so much pain after being stuck at register for 5 hours that I cried in my car for 10 minutes. If you have children, please don't ever be mean to an hourly worker in ANY store because the school asks for a red folder, and they are out of red folders. Guess what, everyone was looking for a red folder and you got here the day before school.. you're the idiot, not the worker. UGH

Shane should be home next week. I'm sooo ready for that. This summer has been ridiculously hard for so many reasons. This whole year really, has been rough. I've had some pretty decent traumatic events and needed him. From my lasik, to the dryer electrocution. And then the hurricane. And now this stress from work. oi. I need my co-captain.

Anyway, just thought I'd update on a Friday. Maybe its all downhill from here. Ya know, new job, Shane back. Lets hope.

Its safe to surmise there'll be storms sometimes

I should so be sleeping right now. I am in the midst of the 2 hell weeks of the year in back to school season and I am stressed to the max. And I'm running on a low amount of sleep. It's really not gonna end well. Everyday I expect myself to blow up at a customer. Or if not that.. they hired back my ex, Aaron. He turned me into a mess a couple years ago and left me a sniveling sad pathetic excuse for a human. At the end of it all I was seriously ready to end my life. I know it doesn't matter now and I'm in SUCH an amazing place but just to see him reminds me of how low I fell and what it felt like. Whatever its over soon.

So I went to Virginia and had a blasty blast. We did so much fun geocaching and just spending time with my brookles.. I loved it. I feel that we got to reconnect more than we have in a long time through some of our talks. I miss her so much.

I survived the tunnel several times.. didn't like ti but i did it. And then not long after my return there was the earthquake in VA.. weird. I felt it at work. We all did.. just felt like i was gonna pass out dizzy and then noticed everyone had the same feeling. And then I saw the ink wall.. every box was swaying.. it was kinda cool.

And then of courser... IRENE. bitch. That was.. interesting. Just another reminder about how much I hate living alone. And the generator did not get fixed like it was supposed to before Shane left.. SO I was without power until Tuesday night. All the food in my fridge and freezer was trash. The Jew in me is super pissed about how much money I've thrown in the trash over this year. My parents are still without power, but they have a generator. I just got cable/phone/Internet back today. Finally got to talk with Shane. God I miss him.

Umm.. Oh. So I had gotten a call from BOA just before my VA trip but I was unable to do a second interview then. And I haven't heard anything since. But I decided, even though the pay is good, its still a sales position. There is still pressure to meet certain goals and I hate that. HOWEVER. I finally got in contact with the guy from good sams. And they offered me a job. It's only part time and is actually slightly less than staples (i just got a raise at staples.. now its like.. .30 less.) But its a foot in the door. I have to go on Wed and do a physical and then I can get started. I'm really excited about it. I hate change so I'm nervous.. but I just cant do retail anymore. and the bts is killing me.

I think that's pretty much everything. I really need to get some sleep now though. Early days for awhile.. god i hate that place. BUT GREAT NEWS only about 19 days till I'm back in Shane's arms.. it cant come fast enough!!!!!

Blogspot hates me

Firstly I typed a comment on my dearest Brooke's blog and it kept telling me I had to sign it.. So I did and it brought me to the same page so i hit submit and it told me to sign in again.. and again. So I gave up on that. Then i went to write an entire entry finished it (and it was rather long) and it would not submit. I don't know what the deal is. And hell if I can remember what i wrote in the original entry.

SO here's some news. I bought a wedding dress. It's beautiful. It was one I saw in the magazine and thought hey that looks like the one I was thinking of getting but with some things I really like. So I decide to try it on when I next went. Which was this past Friday. I tried it and the others again. And decided that it had everything the others had combined. What I liked about both into a perfect dress. It has been ordered and I should have it by the end of October. I move pretty fast on wedding stuff I tell you. I've got mixed reviews on my plans. Some people think that I'm moving very fast for having so long to plan and some people say that waiting 2+ years is too long. I think I've got it all pretty perfect. Especially since I have such attention for detail. By the time it gets close the big stuff will be done and I can do all the nitpicking I want.

Aside from that, I went to the interview with boat and rv warehouse. That was a bust. They did offer me the job.. which was $2 less per hour than I'm making now. NO. I will switch jobs if it pays the same.. but less.. no way. I also was contacted by the HR guy for the place I originally applied several months ago. Good Samaritan. Theres an opening for a different position and he wants to meet again for an interview. We just keep missing times. We've been trying to schedule an interview for like a week but it hasn't worked yet. MORE NEWS today I was contacted by Bank of America, finally. I had given up hope thinking my background thing didn't pass or something. But the recruiter should be calling me back tomorrow and I'll most likely have an interview with the branch manager on Friday. Should i get offers from both Good Sams and BOA I don't know which I'll pick. Not putting my eggs in one basket or counting any chickens.. whats with the fowl sayings. Hmmm

That's pretty much all that's going on. My birthday is approaching quickly...about 2 weeks. Not excited. Hopefully going to visit Brooke and Glenn over the following weekend (waiting on my schedule to be sure). So at least I have that. Shane's deployment is really starting to bring me down. It's just.. everyone said it's not as long as you think it will be over in no time. What were you guys, high. It's far longer than I think and its kicking my ass. yes I know its shorter than a lot of deployments. And how other people handle it I don't know but this is the least fun thing EVER. And I'm tired..very tired of it.

Where have I been.. hmm cruise..electrocution..and a new job on the horizon?

Wow and it hasn't even been a month since the last entry. SEE!! I said I'd write. Actually had some interesting occurrences to warrant an entry so there.

Firstly I went on my cruise. It was quite nice indeed. The first day was just chaos. Getting there and all the mess at the port and then the hurry up an wait. Plus the lovely fact that I am extremely scared of tunnels. Big phobia of mine I've had for a long time, the one I'm scared of most is the Lincoln Tunnel...guess what our bus drove through? Yeah it wasn't pretty. I was crying and shaking and hyperventilating. Just thought I'd mention it. Once we were on the boat we wandered around taking pictures before it got crazy. It was so beautiful and there was so much to see. We got our lunch and unfortunately we dressed for morning, jeans and a tshirt were no fun on a hot day in NYC. Our bags weren't delivered to our rooms until that night. So we had lunch and amused ourselves until the boat moved. Then we spent a long time taking pictures as we left NYC. Statue, Ellis Island, bridges. I have a lot of pictures. After a late dinner we watched part of Harry Potter on the big outdoor theater. It was a beautiful night and before long we turned in. The next day it was hazy all day, very foggy, couldn't see much of the ocean. Everyday they delivered a newsletter to us so we could find things to do. There was an endless supply of entertainment and food. Had a good time at the Hairy Chest Contest. It was a decent day. The following day we were in Canada. Saint John, New Brunswick actually. We had ordered a tour and went on it around 1ish. It was alright. It's a bit of a manufacturing town so there really wasn't much touristy. Went to a couple shops and got a couple pictures. It was also raining for the majority of our time off the boat. We did manage to get one geocache as well. I was really glad to drop off a TB and to get my stamp from a whole other country! Then we were back on the boat. The next day we were at see again and it was GORGEOUS! We spent ALL DAY out on the deck in the sun. I got a bit of a burn and Rachel.. well she turned to bacon. It was wonderful. Seriously the most perfect day of the trip. Had a delicious raspberry peach daiquiri while tanning. (i gotta learn to make them..err have Shane learn to make them so he can bring them to me). And while we were eating dinner I saw dolphins.. and got them on video. It was the highlight of the trip for me. Finally we arrived back in NYC. And they started the debarkation. We waited as long as we could to get off the boat. And then we were back in the chaos. And lastly back on the bus and homeward (and the tunnel....again). It was a really good trip. I definitely recommend taking a cruise. It was so nice and everyone was friendly and interesting and from different countries. And everything is taken care of for you. Even the food (we went to a buffet every night) was amazingly good. There was such variety everyone could be happy. Part of me wishes it was longer but I think it was just right for the first one. Next time I'd want to go to a better place and probably for longer.. and with Shane. Rachel was decent company, we fought a couple times. But the whole time I wished Shane was there to experience it all with me.

So now I'm home, not much new here. Although I did just have an incident. On Monday I was running laundry and the dryer seemed to be spilling hot air into the house so I noticed the vent had fallen out of the hole in the wall. So I turned it off and climbed back. When I grabbed the hose I rippling shock ran through my body and I screamed...alot. I finally realized I was being electrocuted but my mind was saying "drop the hose!!!" and I couldn't I had muscle paralysis in my hand. After a good ten seconds I somehow let go and commenced to bawling a lot, wide mouth drool pouring on the washer. It was the scariest thing that has happened to me. I thought I was gonna die it hurt so bad. After regaining myself a minute or two later I called home. My mom came and checked on me and my dad checked the dryer over and fixed it all for me. Everything is fine now but it was terrifying. All I could think was how I could have been really really hurt and no one would have known. No one heard me screaming.. I don't like living alone. We don't really know how it happened because there is apparently no electricity that should flow through that. The only answer I've gotten was static electricity. But when I think static i think that little zap that you get when you rub your feet on the carpet. This was no zap. This was level 3 electrical shock (theres 5 levels.. 5 being death). But maybe because it's a dryer the static electricity builds up a lot more. I don't know. I'm alive and fine so whatever.

Oh yeah my other news. The whole reason I wrote an entry. I am very excited because I have a job opportunity I am really hoping is going to pan out. It's for Bank of America as a Sales and Service Specialist. The one I applied for is in Greenville. I did a little evaluation test that was really interactive and actually quite fun and yesterday got an email to call the woman. She did a little preliminary interview and asked me to fill out a background form before my phone interview which was today. Did all that and had the phone interview. It was really good. I feel my answers were spot on (and actually honest) and I'm really really really hoping I get the job. Actually the Greenville spot had been filled but there was another available in East Greenbush. I wasn't looking forward to traveling even as much as I currently am but now its more. BUT the pay is significantly better. It's 28,500 which averages to around 13.70 an hr. That would make me very very happy. Plus all benefits and 3 weeks vacation time plus bank holidays. I know I could do an excellent job there!! I won't hear anything for about a week so they can do their background check. And then it would be an interview with the bank manager but I'm really really hoping for it. I also got a call this morning about a receptionist spot at Boat and RV Warehouse. I'm not as excited for it but I have an interview there on Sat. Maybe if I hear the pay and such I'll be interested but hey.. two leads is better than Ive been doing for a long time. Anything to get out of back to school madness!! lol

So anyway that's the round up. I am missing Shane a lot. I get really really lonely and miss human contact. I spent this evening at Kane and Randi's and I had a lot of fun playing with the twins (even if I can't remember which is which.)It was just nice to have personal contact. Babies are good for that. And then I dropped in on my parents who took me out for ice cream. It was a good night. Now I should probably do some cleaning because I feel like a sad shmuck letting this place got to ruin. And then work in the morning.. oi.

Take a look its in a book

As some may know I had found a high school summer reading list from when I was in 10th grade long ago. I could have thrown it out but when I found it I thought, there must be a reason they wanted us to read these. And I am not shy with books. So I decided to keep it and read them... all of them. Considering I hardly ever did the summer reading (I was really good at googling info and making it seem like I read them..I might have read 1 of the 8 required in my entire high school span). I had a long way to go. I believe I started by reading the ones that I had written the reading journals about. Turns out the Internet was pretty useful and it was no wonder I was graded well. However it was no match to actually reading the books. I started with I believe The Bell Jar, Angelas Ashes, All The Kinds Men, Inherit The Wind, 1984 and some others. And wouldn't you know it I liked all of them! So I continued.

My goal of reading 12 books a year certainly pushes along the overall goal of reading the entire list.. which consists of 153 books. I do however, stray from the list. This year ... if I can remember I have read...
Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency ~ Adams
The Turn Of The Screw ~ James
A Dolls House ~ Ibsen
The Call of The Wild ~ London
Dubliners ~ Joyce
The Awakening ~ Chopin
The Search

I don't think That was everything... but I don't remember what else there was. Of those I recommend Dirk Gently, The Call of The Wild, The Awakening and The Search. I am currently reading Candide by Voltaire. So far I like it.

Its surprisingly to me how many of the listed books I actually like particularly the ones I neglected to read but did the journal of anyway. OR if i would have liked them at all if I did read them them.. I hate being forced to read something. I was requested to read a few books last year. OF 4 I liked only 2. The 2 I liked were Hitchhikers Guide to the Universe which is now my favorite book and led me to read everything Douglas Adams has written (move over Hemingway!) And I remain extremely grieved that he has passed away and will not be writing more. And the Life and Death of Superman. I don't know how I liked it but I did lol. The other two were both Chronicles Of Narnia books and I think may have been below my level. If I read them when I was much much younger I could have liked them but I made fun of them most of the time.

I have 4 books left that I had purchased before getting my kindle that are all from the list. On my Kindle I have a good 4 or more as well (only 1 from the list). Shane likes to say that I am a bookworm and once that that my dream house would be a big library. Sometimes I agree. I hope I can transfer this passion to my children. And maybe one day the book someone can't put down is one that I wrote.

Errr.. 3 months later

So I have an excuse kinda.. The page wouldn't loud every time I tried to write something. Furthermore I couldn't remember my password for forever. So.. yeah. Still.. there is so much. The quick ugly version to catch up...

Cut my hair.. love it.

Shane and I had our anniversary.. the week before we went to Thatcher park to geocache. After a little caching and a bit of a temper tantrum bc i was hungry we went to the overlook and Shane used the sight seeing goggles. When I looked through I turned them towards him and when I looked at him he was holding a ring in one hand and a note asking me to marry him in the other.. I said yes.

Planning like a fiend since then. Actually have a lot accomplish such as basic song list and songs for special dances, color scheme (maybe), theme, i have a great idea for our save the date. we have a date picked ummm.. might have a place.. well we have one top of the list currently. chose the wedding party (even after some large uproars about it.. its my choice damn it!) AND I went to davids bridal and do believe i found THE dress.

The bad news.. Shane left this past Sunday for Romania. haven't really been able to talk to him since  couple facebook updates told me he was in Spain but that was sometime yesterday so yeah. it was really hard and i have my little drops of sadness which I'm sure will occur all summer but I'm managing.

umm the cat has been fixed and is less annoying already.. what else ummmm. i still work in my hell hole. today our district manager told us all if one of the higher ups so what a shit hole our store was wed all be fired. thus i busted my ass all day (he didn't say it to me.. i missed him.. if he had i woulda told him to do it.. put me out of my misery.) i spent the majority of the day moving desks around.. heavy desk.. glass desks..me.. they had set up a back to school display all wrong (and i don't know why it seemed for the most part pretty simple when i did it). so i rearranged all the furniture to fit it and then had to move the flimsy cardboard displays and only broke them a little.. and only broke one full length mirror (well I'm getting married on Friday the 13th.. must as well have 7 yrs bad luck too) it was ridiculous! i came home and fully relaxed myself then wrote Shane a letter.

that certainly about sums it up. umm next week i will actually going on a cruise from NYC to Canada. short cruise but I'm soo ready for a little escape. i promise ill try to update this again soon and more often. for now i have work at 9am in that hell hole yet again... yay

Zumba and Geocaching and Haircuts OH MY



fuzzy picture of us after zumba!

Well. It's been a little while. Its been a busy week. Worked a lot. Thursday I was very excited to not only have the day off but also be able to see my beloved Brookles and Miss Mim.  It had been a rough week with Shane. We hadn't been able to spend much time together in the past couple weeks and it was straining us. It made us bitter and fight. I was just glad to have a day with some friends. When the only person you get to hang out with you don't really get to hang out with and end up fighting with its no happy time. Anyway, so Thursday the 3 of us spent a few hours just catching up before Amanda got there. We then travelled into Albany (and Brooke did amazing navigating/driving) to a Zumba class. I haven't done any Zumba since that one class months ago. It wasn't pretty. While I loved the company I think the class I went to before was more upbeat and better music. Kinda made me want to get back into it too. We had so much fun together though! After the class (I was nearly died) we drove Mim to her friends salon where she got a facial. We came back to Brookes (got some delicious ice cream first).We rested for a while and chatted with the VanAlstyne parentals. They then very kindly took us to dinner. Mmm pizza and wings. It was a fantastic day. I had missed my girls so very very much and sadly now they are back down south. I miss them.

beautiful waterfall in onesquethaw creek

Friday I was supposed to work (all weekend actually.. and practically completely miss Shane). but I decided to take a mental health day and spend time with Shane before we ended up killing each other. We made up and went geocaching!!! It was so much fun. We couldn't find the first but I did take some fun pictures at that site (we'll have to go back.. the page said it was super tricky). We also revisited one that had alluded us in the past and this time got it. In all for the day we ended up with 9! We also forgot to bring the coordinates I had solved for the two mystery caches on our list. None the less the day was a success. I snagged a Travel Bug too! And on one of our caches for the day we got to sign the log right under our friends Matt and Kate!! We went out to dinner that night to Mercatos. We just wanted to try something different. We ended up none too impressed though. The salad was pathetic, a couple cucumbers and a ton of lettuce that wasn't cut up enough with no croutons. The wings had hardly no sauce and we went for medium instead of mild, no heat to them. The sauce seemed more like the oily butter they put on popcorn at the theaters. And the pizza was decent but pretty damned greasy. We probly won't be back there. We grabbed a redbox and headed home. We ended up getting Inceptions and succeeded in getting our minds blown. WHAT! No really... WHAT?! I'm still confused but I definitely did like it.

Saturday I had to work. Nothing interesting there EXCEPT that the manager that no one likes and we filed complaints against.. yeah he's transferring stores. I can't say that my action to send official complaints against him had anything to do with it but I think it might. And the even better news.. to fill the sales manager position that he will leave we are getting Mark back! My favorite manager of all time!! I'm pretty excited. My job might be getting slightly less terrible!



FOUND IT!
Yeah.. pretty sure that's a bottle of urine
oh the geocaching treasures.

Sunday Shane headed off to a dirt bike race crazy early. I headed to work pretty early too. Victor (aforementioned sales manager) called out sick.. Yeah managers aren't supposed to do that except extreme circumstances.. especially when no full fledged manager will be on, only key holders. But what can I say.. he's a professional..something..ahem. So I spent my day updating price tags. I ended up getting home before Shane. So I spent a couple hours getting really dirty in my garden. SO many roots to pull out. Exhausting! Shane got home utterly exhausted too but he did pretty good and had a lot of fun. I'm glad he got some racing in this year.

TODAY was my day off. And Shane didn't have to go back until this afternoon (he has to stay an extra day at the end of the week). So we spent the morning together. After he left I spent even more time in the garden. I got all of it tilled up. There's still some old plants against the house that I don't know if I can get out. But I can officially start planting new stuff. I still have to move all the bricks around but it's looking really good. So much work though!

How I want my hair to look! I'll bring this photo.


So the rest of my week is work filled except for Thursday. I was able to get ahold of my sister and she gave me the number for the salon she goes to in Coxsackie. So I called them today but they were closed. I left a message saying I'd like to set up an appointment for Thursday. I might get my hair chopped this weekend. I'm really excited! That sums up all the time I've missed I think. Until next time.

These Weekends Aren't Long Enough

Hi there. I is in sad mood. Shane just left to go back to base. I had to work all weekend except for today. So while he was home I was at work. I completely exhausted myself by trying to stay up later so we could have more time to actually be together. In the end it equalled about 15hours of time together for the whole weekend. And I know many people have it worse and that this summer is gonna be sooo much worse because we won't even have the weekends. But this is just draining on me a lot. And I don't really need anyone trying to make me feel better because the only thing that would make me feel better is not having to watch him leave again. *sigh*... I'm sorry.. Pity Party over.


the marinade



My eyes are doing very well. The blood spots are very very much faded. I went to a follow up exam on Wednesday and they were a little blurry then but it was just a dry patch on the eye. I asked the doctor how much my vision had changed since I never really knew what my vision was before other than 1 point away from legally blind but never knew the 20/20 perspective on it. My eyes are now 20/20-20/30 ish depending on certain things (but they'll end up 20/20 once thy level out.) and they used to be....20/400 and 20/800 in either eye... CRAZY. Definitely worth a fix.

I've been working a lot lately. Same old same old. Being worn out by it. Still looking for my escape.



already looks good

I decided to make Shane a fancy dinner for Friday night. I learned about flank steak watching Chopped and wanted to try it because it seemed quick. So i looked up a Marinade recipe and had it out for a day to soak in. Shane did the grilling on it (with my instructions) and it came out perfect. The flavor of the marinade was sooo delicious. It was a little expensive because flank steak was like $8 a lb. But the marinade was really the important part. And all in all it was like a 30minute meal between making the marinade and cooking it. We had a good Friday night. I made jello too YAY!



the finished product





Saturday after work I came home and enjoyed the sun for a little while ate some yogurt (I've decided to start eating it.. just strawberry banana) and read. And then I worked on the garden a little. I have to rearrange all the bricks as the edging. I'm cutting it's size in half so moving the bricks is a ton of work. But they look so nice all straightened up. Shane road up with Kane on their dirt bike/4wheelers. Guess they enjoyed the sunshine too. Shane and I decided to go to the movies that night. We got a late head out so We didn't have much choice. After a delicious dinner at Ruby Tuesday (omg ribs) we went to see Your Highness. It was...okay. Gross humor, stupid jokes. It wasn't all I thought it would but.. but it did have Natalie Portman damn near naked (AWESOME) and Zooey Deschanel.. so that was cool. There wasn't a late showing of Paul which probably woulda been a better pick in my opinion (but we had no clue before anyway). We came home and passed out. Didn't do much this morning. I'm about to head over to my mothers house. They've started work on my old room. So I have to pick up the rest of the mess and maybe I'll help sand or something. (and yet I still see soooo much I don't even remotely have time to do here.) Oh and Shane's sister invited me to combine my garage sale with theirs at their house so I'll be doing that. It makes it harder and easier at the same time. Easier because they have a big even lawn with parking space and harder bc i have to bring all my stuff there early in the morning and that the kids are gonna be trying to help all day.Anyway.. I guess I should get dressed and ready to head out now.

delicious



The Eye's Have It

So everyone knows, I did have some bruising with my surgery that should go away and I also have what appears to be a blood spot I'm assuming from the snipping with scissors. I'm a big fan of grossing people out so fair warning the following pictures are not for the squeamish.



my left eye.. the one she had to snip



and my right eye just has slight bruising.

And now for fun pictures of me in my "protective goggles"ugh.. im having trouble placing these pictures so whatever i dont care. they land where they land 



Terminator..what they sent me home in



Naughty librarian



these are the "regular ones"



normal librarian.. somehow



and the super fun rainbows!!!



So I See

My Lasik is done. That was by far the most horrifying experience of my life. I know everyone says that in a little while when my vision stops being cloudy and I'm all healed I will never regret it etc. Right now I don't say I regret it but I never want to do it again and if I were able to experience how it would feel before hand I never would have done it. But I am alright and I can in fact see right now. There was a slight problem with cutting the flap. The laser wasn't able to cut the flap completely so when they went to do my left eye the Dr. had to manually cut it with surgical scissors. It was the most painful horrifying thing I have ever gone through. I couldn't see but I could feel the scissors snip and I could hear them. I was never more afraid and there was nothing I could do. I moaned in pain a few times and the Dr (who I am not in the least bit fond of) said I was making it more difficult. But they cut through. The laser itself didn't hurt at all. When I sat up I didn't stop crying like a baby until I got home. It was just too much for my nerves. But it's over and I'm okay. My poor mother had to watch it on the screen. Her maternal instincts wanted to save me because she could tell it hurt, but she wanted them to finish and get it right. I'm sure I scared the hell out of all the people in the waiting room. I came out bawling. I didn't want to. I hate crying in public but I couldn't help it. I was so overcome by my fear and pain. I came home to my mothers and took a nap. I'm doing alright really. A little shook up when I think about it. And it really hasn't hit me yet that I can see. I'm still wearing glasses (protective non prescription..they're extreme cat eyes with gems.. ridiculous and hilarious there will be  picture soon.) and everything is still a little foggy. I have the follow up tomorrow morning and then work. So yeah... Things are.. alright. That's all I can really say. I don't think anyone I know had the same flap issue so no one could warn me for that. If it hadn't been for that I'm sure it would have been a better experience. In time I'll forget all about it. Right now, scary as hell.

Fricken Lasers

I went to my Lasik consultation today. After a good 2 hours there with a lady that wouldn't stop talking about her breasts and depression (ok so that was only like a half hour at the very end.. but seriously don't want to know about it) I am ready to get the procedure. With the exception of the boob lady everyone was very helpful and informative and professional. I'm pretty excited about it all really. It was a little more expensive than I had hoped but its going to last where I won't need glasses or contacts for a good 20 years. I think that's a decent investment. it's $2,099 per eye but by insurance does a 15% discount and for this month they had a special extra 5% off. so for both eyes it comes up to $3,389.88. And I have it financed 0 down 0 interest for 6 months I believe it was. So well worth it.
And also as long as I do all of my follow up exams (1 day 1 week 1 month and 3 months) they cover any touch ups that may be done, in case my eyes change in my lifetime!

The next thing on my list is to get my hair did. I'm thinking soon. Very soon. I gotta figure out the number for the place I go to and then probably within April.

Not much else happening in these parts. Heading to my parents in a little bit for spaghetti! YAY. I love home cooked meals that I don't have to worry about.

Sugar Snow

Yeah..I spoke to soon. We had a sugar snow. It may be a sugar snow but it sure aint sweet. For the record, from being such a nerd as a child and LOVING the Little House books I actually do know why it's called a sugar snow. A sugar snow is when the weather gets warm and the trees start circulating sap but then the snow comes back and so the trees produce more sap for longer. So the people that make maple syrup get a better "crop". There's a whole chapter about it. ..Anyway, I wasn't amused. It wasn't a big amount but I was soo ready to not see it for a long long time.

I did not get my lasik done as of yet. When I called the woman asked me how long I'd been wearing my glasses. Apparently this meant like how many days I'd been wearing them instead of contacts. My answer was 0 lol. So to do all the exam stuff they want me to wear glasses for at least 3 days before it. I don't really know why. I'm assuming it has something to do with me sticking my fingers in my eyes. Gives them time to heal. So I have the appointment scheduled for Monday and am wearing my glasses until then. And then it seems the next procedure day is the following Wednesday. So I'll probably be zapped then.

Not much else going on. Doing a lot of working. Yesterday I spent my shift in the Clifton Park store helping them prepare for their inventory. I've never worked in another Staples. It was weird. But I didn't have to help customers so that was good.

Shane and I have gotten to spend a lot of time together this week. He was alternating day and night shifts so he came home a couple nights already and he'll be home in a few hours tonight too! I sadly have no more days off until Monday for my appointment.

RIP Kamakazi

Oh yes. And my fishy died. I don't really know when lol. I guess today. Shane cleaned the tanks of the two fighting fish and something must have shocked the fish. Something with the temp of the water or idk. But I walked by it today and thought "hmm why is the lid gone.. and then noticed the tank was empty.. So I of course assumed Shane forgot to put the top on it and he jumped out and the cat ate him.. Which makes sense. Except I think the cat wouldn't eat him but play with him. Plus his name was Kamikazi.. so it was fitting. But yeah turns out Shane is a murderer.. LOL. It's ok. I never took care of him (or his brother who remains, Yakuza) I need a new one though. But I loved their names so the new one will probably be KamakazII.. oh I am clever... Anywho that is all for tonight. I just felt like updating.

Spring is In The Air!!!!!!

Ah yes, The sun is out and the birds are chirping. Spring has finally reached upstate New York. Just in time to. I was starting to get really...blah. With the arrival of these bright days that last a little longer every day comes fun and adventure. And some how I managed some much needed time off.

I had last Thursday off. It consisted of me running all around first to Glenmont to visit a friend. Then to the bank where I fixed my online viewing and set up a CD for $5000. The great news is that in 2 years I'll have more than doubled that. Take that resolution to have money in the bank. I finished up there and went to my parents. I was in great need of conversation that was outside my job. I had gotten to talk to Shane a total of 4 minutes all week so i was feeling a bit lonely. I got to my parents and no one was home! They had gone to turning stone and my brother went to work. So I spent about 4 hours talking to myself anyway lol. I did my laundry and packed up more mess. The majority of what is left over there is garage sale stuff. That's at the very end of April. So I have tot get a move on sorting and pricing. Oi.

Friday, although Shane was home and I was exhausted by staying up until 5 when he got home, I worked. I was planning to act sick all day in hopes they would send me home early. I didn't have to. They were over in hours on payroll and I volunteered to leave as a joke and they agreed. I was pretty excited. I haven't worked a 4hour shift in forever. When I got home, even though I wanted to be active and enjoy the day, I passed out. After waking up I wandered around the yard with Shane. Soaked in some sun. We decided to go to the movies that night. We've been wanting to see Rango for a bit. We went to outback for dinner before and got to the movie at 10:35. It was pretty good. A good amount of laughter. I recommend it.(Next time we wanna see Paul though).

On Saturday we had to take advantage of the sunshine and go geocaching. We slept in alot and got a bit of a late start but the sun held out. We snagged 7 yesterday. One of which has been a thorn in our sides for awhile, It was a lot of fun and I got to try out my new Garmin ETrex Venture. For some reason the coordinates downloaded wrong for our first cache and I damn near threw the thing. But Shane checked on his phone and got us fixed. It was the only one of the day that was wrong. No clue why. It took me a while to get used to using it. I'm used to the car style gps where you walk the line towards the flag on a map. With this one it's just easier to walk in the direction of the arrow on the compass as the distance goes down. Really easy to use. The one thing I don't like about it is that it doesn't have much room for notes. I assumed I could write the clue for the cache in the note section, which I did manually before we left. I didn't think to check to see if it did. It wrote some of it but it doesn't have a lot of space. It cut off half the clues. So it looks like I still have to have a paper trail to keep my clue information correct. But its really handy other than that. We had a great time with it.

When we decided to quit for the day (there were two that were a bit too swampy) we went over to Lowe's. Shane needed a grill part and I got sucked into thee garden section. Oh Lowe's is a dangerous place for a homeowner that doesn't want to spend money lol. Shane bought me a HOE! I need it to get into my garden. I just giggled about it the whole time. We then went to Walmart. Got some gardening gloves and looked at sooo many things I want to do. We also bought Just Dance for the Wii. We had played it last week at Shane's sisters house for a little bit and it seemed fun. It's also a heck of an exercise so what the hell. After all that we headed to dinner. We decided to go to the Hibachi place. OH MAN did that hit the spot. The miso soup alone brought me back to life. Oooo and I have left overs (not for long). I even tried a bite of Shane's Spicy Tuna Roll. I didn't like it. Hes I need to try the one that doesn't have raw fish because that's my biggest problem with it, But actually i gave up on the bite because of the texture. I hated that mush too it. EW

After our long day we came home and watched Machete from redbox. Ummm that was interesting. It was definitely a testosteriot. I don't want to see young pretty ladies like Jessica Alba make out with Danny Trejo again. That's gross. I saw a lot of boobs, including Lindsay Lohan and Jessica Alba. Steven Segal and Robert Dinero were in it, I didn't see that coming and laughed. And I never ever want to see Lindsay Lohan dressed up like a nun again.. ever. That was just wrong. But it was amusing for the gross violence and how many times I shouted ew.

The movie end at about midnight so we of course played Just Dance until about 3am. We did every song once and wow, sweat city. That was a hell of a workout. We got the first of the edition and now we already want the others. It's so much fun. Shane was kicking my ass until I got into a groove with it. There is one song that is kind of tribal (I think it's by fat boy slim but the avatar that does the moves had a headdress on) and I rocked that song. I had the highest score of the whole game. It was kind of weird. ooo I just stretched and my shoulder area is sooo sore from it. Guess I don't need to go to zumba class with this game (there's a version that's zumba too lol)

AND after all that I still have all of today and tomorrow off. WOOO. It's like a mini vacation for me. And a perfect weekend. Shane goes back to base in about an hour. But we had such a good time together this weekend. We needed it. The rest of my day I plan on gardening and seeing my family.

I've also made some decision, all on my lonesome. As I'm pretty sure everyone saw on facebook I want to cut my hair. Just like in that picture I posted. I may wait until May. I have a wedding to be in at the beginning of May. I know my hair is disagreeable but what the heck. It'll grow back. I mean I cut 16 inches off 2 years ago and ALL of that is back already.



I tried to fit. It was a close one.



I've also decided I want to get Lasik. Oddly enough that idea came from a coupon from best buy. Just seeing the word lasik made me think about it. I have had glasses or contacts since I was 7 years old. I don't remember what it's like to see as soon as I open my eyes in the morning. I used to say the reason I didn't want lasik was because it took my until I was well into high school to even be comfortable with having glasses. I felt like a dork. Finally I liked them and thought they looked good (and they do, don't get me wrong) but I don't wear them, ever. On average I probably wear my glasses for maybe 10minutes a day. Before the contacts go in and after they come out. And I don't know how many days I go to work and my left eye has no make up and my right eye has all. Because the contact was irritating my eye. Plus I have money I should use it and this is a really good investment. I'm hoping to go to my consultation tomorrow and, since I already have made the decision that I want it, I might get the procedure done right then.

So that's the high and low of it. I'm gonna get to hoing in my garden (hehehehe). We actually had some flowers come up that I don't know where came from or what they are. (They're in the pictures.) I am soo soo glad it is spring.

OOOO SHINY!

I work and work and work, and come home and work. And I'm really tired. The good news is Shane got his new truck finally. I find it to be ridiculously unnecessarily large. It's a toyota tacoma. It's so fresh and new and has little details i like I want a new car. But no. Other news... umm.. nope don't think I have any. My life is so interesting.

Got an awesome letter. From an awesome friend. It made my day.

Here's some pictures of Shane's new truck. I wish I were interesting. Or had time to update when i actually have time to do something.

way too big



it also has a backup camera



Hungry?



The table setup at the bridal shower.
Her mother made everything.



Again, not all that much going on. Work. More nasty NY weather. Shane went to a pre-department seminar this weekend. I wasn't able to go even though i really wanted to due to work and a bridal shower. He brought home a lot of information which succeeded in making me cry a lot. I know this is happening and there is nothing I can do about it but it just made it a lot more real. It's just so much and I can't really even describe everything due to both having too much in my head to pinpoint one thing and because I'm not really supposed to say anything detail wise. So needless to say, it's hard.



My juicy meatballs.



Sunday I attended/helped set up a bridal shower for Nichole, a girl I work with. I'm a bridesmaid in her wedding. Her mother is ridiculously crafty so it was pretty cool. (Aside from not knowing pretty much anyone that was there.) It just made my mind wander even more to the future and what my shower will look like. ETC. *sigh* Don't even have the stone yet lol. I got to make my delicious juicy meatballs too. Shane got to have the leftovers. He had like 7. They came out really really good.



The owl for my dad.



I got my box of books in the mail. It was like a nerdy Christmas. I also realized why there were so cheep. More than half were less than 125 pages. But I like short books/novellas. I even managed to finish one already. I read The Call of The Wild first. It was the shortest book (65 pages..that's like an article really lol).It was alright. There was a lot of animal abuse and dog fights, violence, and such. I understand it being necessary to the story but it bothered me. I have more than enough books for my reading resolution, so that's good. Haven't gotten any further with my own books however. I finished the little owl I was building though! I'm going to show my dad when I see him tomorrow, for his bday gift. And then I think I'm just gonna stain the wood.



From the inside.

I tried a new recipe for dinner last night. It was chicken (which made me nervous,) but it came out really good. It was a pepperoni chicken roll up. It took a long time to make though. Had to pound the chicken flat then season it and roll it up. Fry some pepperoni, brown the chicken in the pepperoni oil, then bake it for 40 minutes. Shane seemed to like it. I forgot to put cheese in the middle which I think would have helped but oh well. They came out looking like little cinamon rolls because we rolled the pepperoni into the chicken and attached it with a toothpick while ti cooked.



Pepperoni Chicken Rollup



I am still desperately searching a new job. Retail is turning me into an angry woman. It does that, no lie. It could also be that I work so much. 40 hours is too much. *sigh*

Sometimes you find coal, somtimes you find diamonds

I decided to start a second blog to work on creative writing projects. I'm pretty sure that was the point of starting this original blog but it ended up being just a weekly journal. And very not well written. The new blog will at first consist of old work that I have done (the first post is already up and its a sort of about me written 3-5 years ago). But I hope to put new work in there soon enough. I have been reading this book about how to write a novel and after getting past the first chapter that I completely disagreed with its actually been very helpful and made me want to write. A couple weeks ago I got so interested by it that I stayed up very late one night and wrote the beginning chapter of a novel. I don't really know how to write fiction. I have trouble coming up with a fake idea and running with it. But what I can do is take some pieces from my own life and spritz them in a way that they make a story. I mean I can see the novel of certain things (again why I started THIS blog). So I'm attempting to create Nicholas Sparks -esque works from 3 of my past (and current) relationships. At least the ones that actually counted for anything and seemed serious. I really like the way the one i started a little bit ago came out. I hope to be able to critique it and make it better and then even what I put in the other blog I hope others will critique and let me know what they think. (I do have this silly fear of putting my idea out on the web and some one stealing my story and making millions.. but ehh lol). So please if you're interested go and follow that blog as well. Let me know your thoughts positive or negative. I do think someday I will actually become an author, so hey then you can say you helped me write said novel.  Here is the link http://coalordiamonds.blogspot.com/ or you can just click the link on the right and it'll take you right to it. :)

I Hate When I Can't Think Of A Title

This was the drawing for Brooke's card

Hasn't been that interesting of a week. I don't really remember much happening at all. I do recall working my ass off and staying late most days. I hate my job I hate my job I hate my job. Yeah

Yesterday I forgot to post because Shane and I slept in late and then went out to the mall, even through all the snowy mess. We didn't get to our movie last week so figured we'd catch it this week. However, apparently the movie didn't do well. We know this because it was playing nowhere. Which of course we learned AFTER getting to the mall. So instead we went to see I Am Number Four. Yeah, don't go see that. I knew walking int that I wasn't going to like it and the only hope was when I saw the poster I noticed Timothy Olyphant was in it. He did not make it better. It blew monkey balls. 5 minutes in when it said "My home planet..." I turned to Shane with the most unamused face I could have. It did not get better. and Timothy Olyphant dies. When that happened I damn near got up and left, I had no reason to stick around. I just, no.

We went and checked out Borders to see if there would be any "Hey, our company is going bankrupt." sales. There were not. Didn't matter anyway, I had found the bargain books section of Barnes and Noble.com and books under $5. I raided it and collected 10 books all but 1 under $3. Al;l from my old reading lists that I'm still trying to get through. The other was one I actually wanted and it was still only $7. The 10 books only added up to just over $25, which meant free shipping. So I snagged those up when we got home anyway. Also checked Burlington Coat Factory for season ending deals and they didn't have crap for clearance. I found one coat I loved.. but it was regular price, which was $109. Knowing me I'll end up paying it anyway.

Half done and crosseyed

Had dinner at Houlihans before we left. That's always good. We then went to Walmart to get some regular things I had a list of needing, conditioner, cat food.. the usual. But still left with a good $90 in stuff. There's always something else to pick up. They had all their spring stuff going out and I was getting all excited even though there's a new foot plus of snow outside. I bought new planters for my indoor plants and potting soil and seed for my outdoor plants. (I'm soooo excited to garden. Now if only I had a job where I actually had time to do that!) I can't wait to see morning glories wrapped all around our porch.

Only took us a couple hours

Today was a very busy day. After finishing digging out the cars (OH MY GOD) I did some housework and then we went to my parents house to pick up some more stuff. My dad got really on board and helped us a lot. Aside from all my little messy junk everything is here now. I have my old bed and the tv and the bookcase. Its all set up already. It's kinda creepy how this backroom really looks like my old room. If I get homesick I can just come in here and it's like I never left. It's actually I really nice room. Kinda sad it doesn't really have a purpose or anyone to sleep over in it.



My little owl friend
I broke his head/eyebrows off
Also his eyes were upside down :/



Other than that it's been really quiet. I've been keeping busy doing craft projects. I have a paint by numbers I'm slowly working on. And Brooke and Glenn gave me this 3d puzzle thing to build a wooden owl. I started it today and I'm about halfway done (although I did break a piece.. but that's what wood glue is for.) I plan on giving the finished project to my dad.. painted and all. Shane and I did their regular puzzle too before giving it to my mom who was really intrigued by it. We're a weird couple. Ooo and I got the tv hooked up with cable too so right now, Shane is playing is infernal game (lol) and I can still watch tv. It's super nice. I told him if we get in a fight I got a good set up. All I need is to snag the mini fridge for in here.

Honey Roasted Chipotle Chicken

 I tried a new recipe tonight. I was planning on making it like 2 weeks ago for Brooke and Glenn. I'm really glad I couldn't. Ya see the recipe literally said the chicken only needed to cook for 7 minutes at 350. Now that's the main reason I got the recipe, it was all done in 15. I put it in.. and 15 minutes later (double the time it needed) It was raw inside when I served it. I flipped out (I'm a girl, it's complicated) Shane turned up the stove and put it in for another HOUR!. Finally it was done. I threw a hissy fit but after all that it was actually really good. I think maybe my chicken wasn't defrosted? I had it in the fridge for like 3 days though. I don't really know. I was so excited for it and it was a let down. *sigh*