So Much To Say.....

Wow....I can't believe that it has been about 10 months since I posted on here. So much has happened, but I will give you the brief brief low down....

Let's see. I did get to go home for my birthday in May and got to celebrate my 30th birthday with my friends and family. We also got a TON of stuff done for the wedding.

In June I got laid off. Which sucked....BIG TIME! I ended up going on a temp job for another agent and he hired me after 4 hours of working there. I kinda wish I would have waited and not taken the first opportunity. In July we moved because I was NOT digging the hour+ commuted every day.

Other than the job thing, had a pretty uneventful summer.

Fall.....uneventful as well. Really nothing comes to mind as interesting, so I won't bore you to death with those details.

End of November, my grandmother passed away unexpectedly. She called my dad to tell him she didn't feel well, and by the time he got to her house, she was gone. So we had to take an unexpected trip to NY for the funeral. I got back to work and 4 days later my boss fired me. The reason he gave was pretty lame. He claimed that I wasn't doing something that he told me to do, which is absolute crap because I did it every damn day, but whatevs. In hindsight, I am much better off not working for him. He reminded me a lot of the owner of the resort I used to work at. And for those who knew me then, know what I'm talking about. He said he would help me find a job with another agent, but that if I dared to file unemployment he would never give me a good reference to any prospective employers who contact him. Which kinda leaves me between a rock and a hard place. I can't go for long without employment, but if I file for unemployment he told me he would fight me on it. Is it worth the hassle, just to find out the denied me because of his "proof" (which he wouldn't show or tell me about). I don't know. I have enough money right now to last us about a month (good-bye wedding fund).

He did hold up to his word and recommended me to another agent. Great, right? Wrong. I called her to set up an interview. She said to come in today. This morning I get a call from her saying that she hired someone last night. Not sure what I think of that. I mean, who sets up an interview and then hires someone without meeting all of the prospectives? Seems pretty shady to me. I don't know.

So now, you are caught up with what has been going on in my oh so fabulous life. I'm not really sure where life is going to lead me next. Hopefully to a job with benefits. Oh benefits.....I haven't seen you in so long!!

Until next time....take care!

Back to Black

So I have dyed my hair back to black again. I keep flip-flopping on my hair color, but I always seem to come back to this one. I feel like it suits me. Both physically and my personality. Over the years I have had my hair several different colors from blonde (yes, I tried blonde...I looked like a deranged Barbie Doll), to red, to brown, to black. I've always gotten the most compliments with black. I guess that it helps that my features are naturally dark. My natural hair color is almost black, my eyelashes are black and so are my eyebrows. I guess having my hair black makes me feel like I match in some way. Weird? Maybe, but I like matching. So, now the goal is to get my newly black hair to grow so that I can put it in an awesome 40's style for the wedding. Right now, since I had it cut into a pixie back in June, I've got the beginnings of a mullet. Oh it is SOOOO beautiful lemme tell you!!! I am fighting the urge to hack off the back and let the layers grow down into it, but I think in the end it will be better if I just leave the back alone (with the exception of a trim here and there) and it will evolve into a nice long layered look. Luckily my hair grows pretty quickly. I cut it at the end of July, right before my brothers wedding, and the sides were above my ears. Right now, they are sitting pretty at about an inch and a half past the top of my ears. I think that I will be able to achieve shoulder length 2 July's from now. I hope. I just need to fight my hair ADD and just let it grow!!

I'm patiently (ha!) biding my time for when I can e-mail the lady back about our wedding venue. My dad and grandma went out there to check it out a few weeks ago. He said that it looks really nice from the outside, but he didn't go in because there was a wedding going on and he didn't want to crash it. He also to my grandma to dinner at one of the restaurants that caters there and spoke to the owner. He had nothing but high praises for the woman who runs the place, so that definitely eases any concerns I had about the place. He also stated that they cater around 20 weddings there a year. And probably for the first time in YEARS, my grandmother got a meal and DID NOT complain about it!!! This bodes well for my dad's choice in caterer!! I think that actually clinched the deal for both of us.

We are planning on going out to NY for my (30th!!! eeek) birthday in May, so we can do some checking out ourselves. I've picked a bakery to do our wedding cake, so we are going to price them and do some tastings. They have a cake on their website which is exactly what I am looking for. Plus they make cannoli cakes there (which are my fave) so I want to see if they can make the wedding cake a cannoli cake.

I haven't heard back on the 2nd interview for the job I applied for. I'm not really sure what to think about that. I'm kind of having mixed feelings about working 2 jobs right now. I know that we definitely need the money, but I think that maybe I should just put all my efforts into finding a better paying full-time job and go from there. I really want to go back to school to get a better job, but I just don't think that is something I will be able to afford. I would love to get into something in the medical field. I guess that I just have to look into it more and see if that is an option that I can explore. I know that I can't do what I have been doing for the rest of my life. I think I would kill myself!! Just kidding......maybe......yeah.....maybe. :-P

And the Kitty Drama Continues...

So, after all we went through with Zorro last week, we had another scare with him this week. On Tuesday Pete had noticed that he puked on the living room carpet. We thought nothing of it until Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, he starting puking all over our bedroom. I think it was about 4 times. Then I came home for lunch yesterday and he puked again. So I decided that 6 pukes in less than 24 hours warrants a call to the vet. I bring him in and everything seems normal (except for the whole puking thing) We deduced that he hasn't been eating his prescription food. Since he got home from the vet last week, I haven't seen him eat 1 kibble of it. I would see him go up there, sniff at it, then jump back down. Since his vomit was all bile, we think this is a pretty accurate assumption. She the vet does bloodwork on him and tests his urine just to be on the safe side. Of course they all came back normal, so he gave him some shots and sent us on our way with some pills and instructions to feed him his old food and give him pepcid once a day. Pete and I collectively decided that we were going to trick him into eating his special food, by mixing it in with the old stuff and just gradually put less and less in there. No sooner than I put the old food in the bowl his face was in there chowing down. I didn't even get a chance to mix it up. So the little asshole just decided he didn't like the other stuff, so he just wasn't going to eat!! Oh and cost me another $379 for another vet trip. Jerk wad!!

I had an interview last night for a part-time job. What with all the pet expenses and having a wedding to plan, we need the extra income. I interviewed with the same company I worked for before in MOntrose, so getting in is not a problem. The supervisor who interviewed me wants to hire me, I just need to talk with the Assistant Manager. Pretty sure I have this one in the bag though. Hopefully I can start soon, so I can get some of my outstanding bills paid off.

More Kitty Drama

So after all the drama with Purrsia last week, we had more drama, this time with Zorro. Last summer Zorro had a condition where he was producing "sand" of some sort in his bladder and he got blocked and couldn't pee. So he spent 3 days in the kitty hospital and was sent home good as new. Until last Friday. I got home from work and I am in the kitchen starting dinner and I see him squatting on the kitchen floor looking like he's a bout to pee. So I nudged him with my foot and I hear this god-awful howl. I grabbed him and brought him into the bathroom to put him in his litter box where he stood for a good 5 minutes straining to pee, to no avail. So I call a vet that was close and they say to bring him in. They can't get him unblocked while we were there, so he gets admitted for presumably 2 nights. Fast forward to Saturday night. I get the update from the vet that he has pulled out his urinary catheter and that they were going to see how he does. A few hours later I get another call. He is backed up again, so they need to reinsert the catheter and he will be able to go home on Monday. Yeah....right. So he does fine with the 2nd catheter...I think he learned his lesson the first time. They decide not to take it out until Sunday, so now his stay was extended until Tuesday!! It seemed a bit excessive to me, but whatever. I think they may have needed to pay the gas bill or something, so they were milking it. On Monday, I get a call from the vet that he needs a prescription, but that they don't carry it, so could I go pick it up? I think this is weird, but say ok. I mean, why would you prescribe something that is a common drug for cats and then not have it in stock, but whatever. After over an hour hassle at Wal-Mart getting the damn thing, I then have to BRING IT BACK to the vet. I love wasting my time. So finally Tuesday comes and he gets to come home to the tune of $1400. Goodbye wedding dress, I need to pay for my cats pee pee. And now he is on a prescription diet which is going to cost at least $40 a month because I have to put both cats on it. GAH! It never ends does it?

In other news, after much deliberation, we have decided to not have the wedding in the Thousand Islands. After speaking with reputable sources, we found out that the reception sites there are horrible and one that we were highly considering is actually being sued right now because the wedding was so bad. I decided that I didn't want to have a beautiful ceremony only to have it ruined by a horrible reception. We are now looking at the Greystone castle, which is near where I grew up. www.thegreystonecastle.com if anyone wants to check it out. I will find out in October if it is something we can afford. Keeping my fingers crossed because it is absolutely perfect!!

Getting Closer

Less than a week to go until I get my new place. I am so excited to finally have a place to call my own. Pete and I have been talking about the possibility of him moving in with me when I do get it, but I don't know if that is going to happen or not. While we both want to do it, he had arranged to move in with someone else in June since his current room mate is getting married and he needs to be out of there soon. So he is having issues with whether he can tell the guy he won't move in there. I can understand that, since they had arranged it, but no paperwork or lease has been signed yet, so it's not like he is bound to anything. He's is just such a stand-up guy, he doesn't want to screw the guy, and I can totally understand that. But it's like he said, he will more than likely be spending more time at my place than the place he is actually paying rent for. I would hate for him to have to be paying money at a place he is basically just using to store his stuff at, ya know? So I guess we will just see what happens. It would be so much better financially for both of us if we just did it. Plus he would be stuck in a 1 year lease, so that makes no sense to me, to do that if he wants to live with me anyway...ya know? I guess we will just see what happens. I told him to think about it, so we shall see what he decides on.

I decided to move up the day that I am going back to Montrose to get my stuff out of storage. In the long-run, I am actually saving money by doing it this way. I ended up getting my moving truck for $20 less and I won't end up having to pay anything this month for my storage space. They are just going to pro-rate the number of days I have it for the month of May, and just take it out of my deposit. Things are definitely working out in my favor as far as that goes. Plus, I won't have to spend as much time in my new place with no dishes, furniture, etc. All-in-all it's a win-win situation.

Spring? Maybe?

After a snowstorm last week, I think that spring has finally Sprung in the Denver Metro area. HOORAY!!!! It's a beautiful sunny day out there today, and I'm just sitting here wishing I wasn't stuck at work. I have been doing pretty well lately with getting my butt outside and doing active things. Pete and I went on quite a few walks over the weekend. The best one was when we went up to his parents house. The live up in the mountains in Boulder. The views are amazing up there and it was a really great workout walking up and down the mountain slopes. Of course the best part was soaking in his parents hot tub afterwards. Can't complain about that.

I'm getting really excited about moving into my apartment next week. I went out and bought my airbed yesterday so I won't be sleeping on the floor for 2 weeks. It's supposed to be a really good one, but we shall see. I suppose if it is bad I can always just chant the mantra "it's only 2 weeks, it's only 2 weeks"

I've been getting pretty worried about my finances also. I have so much going on this summer and all of it requires a pretty hefty investment. I have to go back to NY for my brothers wedding which is going to end up costing several hundred dollars. I also have my friend's wedding the week before that which is in Montrose, so that's going to cost me money also. I've got to rent the moving truck mid may, plus gas money, so there is probably about $400 there. Then after the wedding in NY, I am going to be bringing my dog and cats back to CO to live permanently, but I need to come up with a $500 deposit. Oh the joys. I may need to get a second job just to pay for this summer. I'm really hoping that I get that tax rebate check soon, because that is the only thing that will get me through this summer.

Other than all that, things are going well. I really just can't wait until I can get back on my feet and into my own place.

Under Pressure....

The time is clicking by quickly. Less than two weeks and I am moving. The stress has been piling up on me though. I have yet to find a job in Denver and I am getting really worried that I am going to be jobless forever! I must have sent my resume to about 50 or more companies and I got 3 interviews.....3!!!!!! I'm thinking that I am going to have to just go and be a retail bitch for just a little while longer. I'm hoping that I have an opportunity at another store out there. I'm just waiting for the manager to call me back. Here's the crap part about it though, the job he wants me for is commission. I really don't want to do commission. I can't afford to be on commission. I'm gonna try to talk him into a nice office position that I know he has open :-)

The packing of my house has been going very slowly. I have most of my furniture in storage though, so that is good. I just haven't had the time or the energy to sit down and pack up the little things. Plus I haven't had a day off in like 3 weeks, so that is making it tough to get things done also. On top of that, my animals have been lovely to me as well. I think they are upset about the move, cause the dog keeps shitting on the carpet upstairs and the cats keep puking on the carpet downstairs. Hi, assholes, I'd like to get some of my security deposit back. Thanks.

Since my main job has gone to part-time, I have really been hurting on the money front. I literally don't have enough money to even get out of this damn town. I ended up having to call my dad to ask him for money so I can get my bills paid and get the hell outta here!

I'm going to be making a trip to NY also to see my friends and family. I've only been home once in the past two years and that time it was for a funeral, so it will be nice to see everyone in a happier light. I'm bringing Pete with me, so he gets to meet all of my family. I don't think he is too excited about it though....hahaha! I told him he didn't have to go, but he insisted because he didn't want me to drive all that way alone. Isn't he sweet? The reason for the big trip is that I need to bring the poop-machine and the puke mobiles to my dad. They can't go to my friend's house who I am going to be staying with and I have no one else here that can take them for a month. So now they get to go live with my dad. Truthfully, I think they will be happier there. I know the dog will be anyway. She hasn't seen my dad in 2 years, but to this day still gets all excited when you say his name. It's pretty cute actually.

So, other than stressing about no job and no money, things are going well. Even though things look bleak right now, I am looking forward to moving on with my life and getting the HELL outta here!!!

I've been a bad bad girl.....

Sorry sorry sorry!! I know I haven't updated here in a while. Life has been just a bit crazy lately. I have been working a lot at my second job. Now that it's the Christmas season, things have been picking up there, which is good. Things have been pretty crazy at my first job as well. Colorodao legislature decided to be "nice" and change the law regarding auto insurance, so we have been having to call all of our clients and explain the law to them. It's pretty fun considering the majority of our clients are either elderly or Mexican who don't speak English. Like talking to a brick wall sometimes.

Todd came out to visit a few weeks ago. Unfortunately he got into a really bad car accident 2 days before he was to come out. Some lady who was whacked out on meds was driving (when she shouldn't have been) ran a redc light and T-boned his truck. After she hit him he went off the road and hit a phone pole and sheared that completely off at the base. His truck got completely totaled, but luckily he go out of it with only a broken ass. :-) While he was at the hospital he picked up some sort of flu bug or something. He ended up being sick on my couch for a good chunk of his stay.

And luckily for me, he passed it on!! WOO HOO. I spent the entire night after he left on my toilet puking my guts out....amongst other things. Oh the kicker of it all? I was sitting on the couch and I "farted" (read sharted). Yes, folks, this grown woman, pooped her pants!! It was the grossest thing ever. I was just sitting there, then was like ooh.....that one felt wet! That's cause it was!!!! Aren't you all so glad I shared? LOL!!! I thought I had all the bases covered with that too. I know from past experiences that when I am sick and throwing up, that I need a bucket for the puke and the toilet for the poop that inevitably comes out. Never thought I'd be hit with a sneak attack!

So needless to say, I did not go to work on the following Monday. I get a call from work that morning and they say "well we wanted to call and make sure you are really sick, cause since this is the week of a holiday, you aren't going to get paid any holiday pay" Well, I wasn't about to poop my pants on my office chair too, so I decided to stay home. When I got back to work, I asked my boss if there was anyway he could stretch the time I missed over the next 3 pay periods (I am losing 3 1/2 days of pay). He said he would think about it. I find out today that, no, he's not going to do that. So now I can't pay my rent this month. Anyone have a cardboard box I can borrow?? I also need to come up with $200 to pay Inigo's fine this week. When it rains it pours eh? I talked to my brother, more to bitch about it than anything, but I think he is going to try to help me out so I can at least pay rent. We'll see though.

Thanksgiving was great. I went over to my friend Kim's house (since I have no family here and neither does she) We had Drunken Chicken (which for those of you who don't know, is a full roasting chicken, you put a can of beer up it's "butt" and put it on the grill.) It was soo good. Then we has the usual Thanksgiving fixins (mashed potatoes, green been casserole and rolls). All in all it was a fun time.

Let's see.....what else? Talked to Todd last night and he got an e-mail about a new job. I'm not so sure what I think about it all yet though. The few options that he would have would be to go to Iraq for a year and work, or he could be transferred anywhere in the world or the States. If he goes to Iraq, he would be making about 180K, most of which would be tax free. This is the option that he really wants to do, but I just worry about him being there what with everything that is going on. Some of the other places he mentioned that he could get transferred to would be Hawaii (real bummed about that one!) or England. Both places would be awesome to live in. The only thing that concerns me with moving abroad is that he and I would definitely have to get married or I wouldn't be able to work, or possibly even be able to move there. I'm not sure if he realizes that. I went through all of this when my ex was working in Toronto. It was near impossible for me to live there if I wasn't married to him. Hence, why I never moved there.

Anyway, I think that I have written a novel here, so I am off. I promise I will try to update more often.

Randomness

Things are starting to look up. I was really worried when I quit my job at the Hampton that I wouldn't be able to find another part time job soon enough and that all my bills were going to go into collection and I was going to get evicted (right after I lost water and power and gas....LOL) Luckily I got a phone call from one of the places I applied at. I have an "interview" tomorrow. I put interview in " " because I know the hiring manager (she used to work at the Hampton too) and last night on the phone she was like "you know I'm totally hiring you, right?" So it's in the bag. I am hoping that I can start on Monday so I don't have too much of a lapse in between paychecks. The best part is that she can fit in my hours after I get off work at the office, so I will probably only have to work the occasional saturday or Sunday. I told her as long as I got one day to myself we were cool :-). It's still gonna be tough working two jobs, but since the hours are no later than 11pm quitting time I can deal. I dont usually go to bed until midnight anyway. So that is my good news for the week. Still waiting to hear on the other job, but since I applied only yesterday I am sure I won't hear anything from them for a little while. Still keeping my fingers crossed on that one. If I do get it, I think I will keep the part-time job and save the money from there for a new car or downpayment on a house or something. Which I guess is just a repeat of what I said yesterday. Plus it's in a clothing store....can you say DISCOUNTS!!! :-) If I get an interview for the HR job....hellooooooo new suit!!!

I don't know if you all have noticed or not, but I have finally made the decision to quit smoking. See my quit meter at the top of the page. That is going to be my daily motivation to keep it up. I love how it puts up how much money I have saved. I'm almost up to $4.00!! If you remember from a previous post I did, I have set some goals for my self to achieve in the coming year. Slowly but surely I am hacking away at the list. You'll also notice at the top of my page that I have lost almost 4lbs!! It seems insignificant, but I can see a slight difference in my abdominal area. For motivation I have put up a picture of myself in just a sports bra and panties on my computer desktop. I just look at that and say to myself "OK, time to get off your lazy butt and get onto the elliptical, or do some crunches, or just put on my mp3 player and dance like a moron around the living room." I suppose I should edit my goals post as I no longer have to prepare to move to VA.

Speaking of VA. Since I haven't heard a word from Todd (surprise surprise) I have decided to reactivate all of my profiles online. I know I know.....online. But hey, I don't get out much, so it is really hard to meet people. Plus I can't just go up to some guy in the grocery store and say "hey, nice melons" (Does that work for girls? LOL) I also don't really like meeting people in bars. Seems the ones who are there are only there for one reason, and that's not what I'm looking for. Maybe in 6 months time, I may, but not now! So I've been chatting with one guy in particular the past few days. He seems great, but I guess everyone does on paper. His downfall....he lives in the Denver area. I don't know, seems like I may be setting myself up again, but I don't want to pass up meeting the right person because of location. hey, at least it's the same state, right?

And the verdict is.......

Aw hell....she's guilty as sin!!! I went to court today (had to move the date up due to conflicting schedules on my original date) plead no contest to the charges just to get it over and done with. Was fined $50 for having an unrestrained dog and $500!!!!!! for having a dangerous/viscious animal. They reduced the $500 down to $150, but if she gets caught again I have to pay the $350 and could go to jail.....yaddy yaddah. Great. I also have to post Beware of Dog signs on my property and definitely have to get that kennel. found out that a friend of a friend has one that they may be willing to either sell or let me borrow till I move, which would be awesome. Just waiting to hear back on that one. If not one of the stores here has 10x10x6 kennels on sale for $219. Which really isn't a bad price considering the size of it. So anyway, that's the low down of the hoe down.....HAHAHAH!!!!!! I think I may have to take a third job just to get this all taken care of. Grrrrr......

Goals

To better organize my life I have decided that I need to set goals for myself and stick with them. That is my biggest problem. I always say that I am going to do things, and I do pretty good for a little while.....then I stop. I figure if I put everything in writing for all the world to see then I am to be held accountable! So far here is my list of goals:

My goals for this year:
* Lose 25 pounds
* Pay off outstanding bills
* Create a budget and actually stick to it
* Quit smoking!!!!
* Prepare for move to Virginia
* Clean out my "pack ratty" stuff.

My goals for the next 5 years:
* Get married!!
* Start a family!!
* Start a savings plan
* Get completely out of debt
* Be in a stable job that I love

The girls at work and I have been talking and we are all going to join this new fitness club that just opened. It's open 24/7 so we can't use the excuse that it's not open when we are able to go. They also offer personal trainers there which would be great to help me get my butt in gear.

As far as the budgeting goes, my brother is huge into Dave Ramsey (www.daveramsey.com) and he swears by his budgeting and money managing techniques. He bought me a book written by Dave for Christmas a few years back. I am actually going to open it and read it. Baby steps........baby steps....LOL!!!! I am sure that actually seeing techniques and how they work will help me to get back on track as far as money goes. And who knows, maybe I can finally quit my 2nd job. :-)

The Pack ratty thing is a whole other story. I have soooo much stuff that I just don't use, but I can't seem to be able to throw out. Since when I first move out to VA most of my things will need to be put in storage I say the less I have to move the better. I hate moving, and the fact that I will have to move everything twice just motivates me a bit more to get off my butt and either sell or throw away.

OK.....I think I have rambled on about this long enough so I am going to end here. I will keep everyone updated on my progress as it develops. Wish me luck.......I'm gonna need it!

It never ends

So I just found out today that I need to come up with $357 to get the title transferred on my car. The stupid guy that did my financing NEVER told me I was going to have to pay for that. so now I am totally screwed because I dont have that extra money just lying (laying?) around. I'm already working two jobs just so I can pay the bills I have (and trust me, I cut it close every month). And now this? I swear everytime I think that I am getting close to being caught up something else just creeps in and says "Oh no....you can't be comfortable in your finances....I need to squeeze even more life out of you!!! mwahahahaha!" I am so tired of it. I just want to know how people do it. What the fuck am I doing wrong that I can NEVER make ends meet? I am just so frustated!! I have no clue how I am going to afford this. There is NOTHING extra left over once I am done paying the bills. It's like I am killing myself for nothing. It seems like no matter what I do, it's not enough. Grrrrr.........