Vacation! ...tomorrow.

So today is my last day of work for over a week!  Woo!  And I got paid today!  Woo!

Work has been going well.  I'm getting the hang of things and business is very slow but they tell me that when Christmas comes around, there will be lines out the door.  So I'm not looking forward to that.

And tomorrow morning I leave for Mexico.  And I'm scared.  I have an awful phobia of falling to my death so plane rides are pretty horrible to me.  And I have to fly from St. Louis to Dallas and then from Dallas to Cancun.  :(  Ah well.  I have my Bible!!

And when I get back from Mexico I will have 1 day before I start my 7 day liquid diet.  I'm on my way to Band Land!

So to anyone reading out there (I'm sorry!) and have a safe next week!  I'll be back!

It's getting closer!

As the days go on, my surgery date (and liquid diet date D:) approach!

I started my first day of real work yesterday.  It was nuts.  Apparently waterfowl hunting season just started and the store was bananas.  So I was just kind of thrown in the mix... but I did okay.  For the most part I worked at this nut cart in the front foyer.  Basically I made cinnamon and sugar coated pecans, cashews, and almonds.  Relatively easy!

Tomorrow is my first full 8 hour day so ... I'm a bit more nervous.  The biggest difference between this job and my job at Lowe's over the summer is that at Cabela's... there is no one right there if you need help.  At Lowe's I always felt safe because the lead cashier was always right behind me or just a quick phone call away.  Here ... not so much.  They have cash leads but there's like 1 or 2 to cover an entire store, so they're not going to come running when you have a question.  And that makes me a little nervous.

Anyhoo... I leave for Mexico in FIVE days.  :]  And my liquid diet starts two weeks from today and surgery is three weeks from day!  Wow... three weeks.  That's insane.  I can't wait!!

So Ben and I got new phones over the weekend.  We couldn't really afford them but ... we can never afford the stuff we buy.  Gooo debt!  We both got the Samsung Fascinate.  They are AWESOME.  This is my first "smart phone" so I'm just obsessed with the apps!  Thank goodness most of them are free!!  :D

So that's about it.  I'm off today and doing all the laundry and house cleaning before our trip on Saturday.  Nothing exciting, as per usual.  :]

I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

Busy, busy!

So the last couple of days have been a little hectic.  I'm trying to get everything together for next weekend (Mexico!) and it's not working out so smoothly!

And my World of Warcraft account has been hacked.  Again.  This is the second time this month.  I've logged on maybe three times in two months, so I don't know what the deal is but it's very irritating.  So I've downloaded a slew of anti-malware and anti-viruses to try and get the keylogger but I'm not having much luck.  So I'm a bit stalled on that for the moment.

I finally got all the wood work painted in the hallway and two doors... so yay for that.

Today is my first full day at work... although it's still all training... it's still 8 hours!  And I was told I was going to get paid by now... but there's nothing in my account which I'm going to ask about today.  Believe that.  I was my 2.5 hours of training money!

Ruby still hasn't ate.  That's that.

Ben and I are looking into new phones.  I'm thinking the Samsung Fascinate.  Anyone have that?  I really want the Droid but I just don't have the money... and the Fascinates are buy one, get one free.  (Actually, buy one for $200, you get the other one for $200 and you get $200 in mail in rebates.)  I sure do hate mail in rebates.  

Well I guess that's it for now.  Take care blogworld!

Big girl Monday.

So today I feel accomplished.  

I got my hep A shot taken care of for work (after waiting 90 minutes in a scary, bad neighborhood clinic) and got my pre-op day requested off, which is something I was worried about doing.  

And last night I braved my first office meeting/party relatively well.  I showed up and kind of kept to myself then everyone was shuffling here and there and I was left alone and panicky.  So the HR woman told me that "Alan had everyone in the back conference area" (thanks Abby...) so I went to the conference area where I had my orientation.  Not the right place.  Then I saw people heading for the loading area... not the right place.

So I kind of just wandered around the empty store until I saw some people and bit the bullet and asked them where I was supposed to go.  So I went with them to the "softlines" conference area and squeezed my big butt into a spot between two people.  Did I say spot?  I mean CRACK between two people.  Thanks guys.

So after that uncomfortable 15 minutes we were all corralled back outside.  I sat alone at a picnic table (because the next hour was dedicated to everyone eating BBQ and socializing) and just texted people on my phone.  Now remember ... I have YET to work a day at this store... so I literally have never seen any of these people.  Thank God this sweet girl named Sarah came over and introduced herself.  She saved me for the rest of the night.  Turns out she was hired one week before me and she works in the same department as me.  AND she applied to Lowe's hardware the same time I had this passed May... and they called and told her they were "absolutely not interested" in her application.  Harsh.  So I chatted with her until 9pm and everyone was released.  (After the HR manager kissed a piglet.  Yeah, high class people.)

So this weekend was dreaded but it turned out okay.  My first day of work is Wednesday so I just need to get my wrist band (to cover my tattoo) and I'm set!!  

Until next time world!

Busy, busy weekend.

So after the anger subsided on Friday, things got a little better but no less stressful.

Around 2pm, the surgeon's office called and told me I was approved for surgery.  Hot dog!!  So I picked a date of October 11th, which means I start my clear liquid diet on October 4th... which is two days after I get back from a week in Mexico.  That's one hell of a last hoorah!

So instantly after I hung up the phone, my case worker lady from the insurance calls and tells me I was approved.  She was a little ... odd.  I had talked to her that previous Wednesday and she was telling me she had talked to me like two weeks before... which isn't the case.  Anyway, she said I was approved as well and should expect a call from my surgeons office sometime soon.  Right.  So that was awesome.

Here comes the stressful part.  I started a job like a week ago.  I already had to ask off a week for my "unavoidable out-of-town business" and now I had to ask for ANOTHER week off right after I got back.  I don't know if that bugs companies or is a pain in the ass to have to schedule around things like that or if they simply just don't schedule me, I'm not sure. I know they were looking to hire like 150 people for the holidays so I should be fine.  I know I sounded like I had just killed someone on the phone but the HR woman assured me it was gonna be okay, even though she did have a twinge of annoyance in her voice.  Little did I know I would need ANOTHER day off for all day pre-op testing (thanks for not mentioning that, surgeons office!) so tonight when I go to my mandatory meeting, I will try and sneak a peek at the schedule to see if it's up there for that week.  Pray that it isn't so when I go in there tomorrow morning I can request that off as well.  They must love me over there.

Honestly I'm a little torn about the situation.  I wouldn't mind working there at all.  It seems like once I get the hang of it, it would be a nice little job for the holidays.  I know my husband is happy to see me bring in some money... and my parents are happy for me... but I wish I wouldn't have gotten it now.  I just want to focus on getting this surgery and healing at my own pace and all that jazz.  I guess I'm just a little nervous because this is all new territory for me.  New job.  A surgery.  Weight loss.  Haven't had too much experience with any of those things!

 Okay, now I'm just rambling.  I'm going to attempt to feed Ruby again today.  I think this is her 1 month anniversary of purchase and is still refusing food.  

OH.  And I got my ears stretched to where I want them to be (0g/8mm)!  So yay for me and no more painful stretchings!

Just a quick vent...

So I am enraged right now. 

My mother was on her way to my house to help me paint some woodwork.  She's not a big fan of driving on the highway by herself.  (She's 62 with anxiety issues) But she did anyway to come help me because she's awesome.

Some ASSHOLE hits her on the highway.  Completely just merges into her lane while she's there.  So they pull over and he says there's a commuter lot up at the next exit where they can exchange info.  My poor, trusting mother.  She said he got off the highway and just kept making turn after turn after turn finally resulting in him just speeding away.

I am fucking PISSED.  No one screws over my mom.  No one.  Probably some uninsured jackass too scared to be responsible for his own mistake.

I really want to get in my car and pound the shit out of anyone with a maroon truck.

No, of course she didn't get the license plate.  She's a sweet, old lady who didn't think someone would screw her like that.

What a mess.  Gah, my blood pressure is probably through the roof...............

Just some bacon bits.

Just a few updates to keep mah blog current.

Ruby ... still not eating.  I've tried everything I can think of or research about and nothing is working.  It's very sad.

The surgeon's office forgot to call and tell me they finally got all my information from my PCP and had sent it off to the insurance company.  The way I found out was the the case worker Mary T. called me yesterday for some information.  Pretty much just telling me that my insurance offers neat stuff on their website.  Wonderful.  So now we're all waiting on my surgeon to call Mary T. back with the rest of my stuff.  Then they can review the information and come to a consensus.

My vacation is quickly approaching and I'm so not feeling it.  I know, how lame is that?  But I'm back up right near my highest weight ever and I just don't feel like getting crammed into a small airplane seat (four times, mind you.) and then walk for hours and hours every day and put on a swimsuit.  Bah.  Just bah!

I'm sure once I'm down there... everything will be fine.  The food and drinks are all included so I'll just drink my fat sorrows away!  ;]  Which was my original decline back into fatness.  When I went to Mexico in May, I weighed 205ish.  I came back 215ish.  And now I'm 240ish.  Darn those delicious Mexican drinks!

I haven't decided what I'm going to do today.  It's only supposed to be a high of 70F today (wow!!!!) and dreary ... so my kind of day!  Maybe I'll do some laundry... and some painting...

I'm not sure.  But either way, I appreciate I'm around and alive for this day!  Thanks, God!!

Have a great day anyone reading!!

What are these? Gold bars?

No, actually they're Ziploc bags full of quarters.  How could you mistake silver-colored quarters for gold bars?  Someone needs to fire this guy.  He works at a bank for crying out loud!

Anyway, I lugged all 6 bags of "gold bars" *eye roll* to the bank to throw in their little coiny machine.  It all worth it in the end!  Mom and I ended up getting $3100 for all the quarters.  Woo!  Bill money!

AND she finally got her refund check from the nursing home my grandma was staying at before she passed away.  She was only supposed to get $2700 back because she was still alive until the 5th of the month but they sent her the whole $5850 back.  Go figure!  So mom made an extra $6k this week.  How great is that?

Something that isn't so great is my work schedule.  I work 5 days in the next three weeks.  Yeah.  Apparently Cabela's training manager just went on vacation so no one is there to train us newbies.  So I work next Wednesday for four hours, then Sunday for 2 hours, then the following Wednesday for six hours, then finally the next Saturday (18th) for eight hours.  I was hoping to get a paycheck or two before my trip at the end of this month but nope.  I'll get paid next Friday for 3.5 hours of orientation.  Hot dog!

But at least I have a job.  Finally.  And I can really see myself enjoying it.  I haven't worked in my department (obviously) so I can't say for sure how awful or great it would be ... but it seems decent.  The place is pretty big and I have a feeling I can get myself lost in it fairly easy.  On the plus side, it's in the Mills mall which is exactly 1 mile around... so on lunch breaks (60min) I can walk a lap or two around the mall whilst window shopping.  Woo!

Well that's about all the news I've got today.  It's sunny and 77 freaking degrees outside.  BEAUTIFUL. 

Makin' it rain!

So I ventured to my parents' house today to help my mom unbox all her quarters.  Basically, in 1999, when the government was going to start producing all these state quarters, she wanted to start collecting them.  So the years go by and finally this year, all 50 are released.  So now she has 4 whole coin books filled with mint, uncirculated quarters and along with that ... about 150 boxes of unopened bags of quarters.  Yeah.  A lot of freaking coins.  And some bags had been opened previously for one reason or another so we pretty much just opened all the boxes, cut open all the bags, and poured all the quarters into ziplocs.  So now on Friday, we get to go to the bank and use that little coin machine with $3,000 worth of quarters.  Oh joy!

Do you realize how much these bags weight?   I'd say they each weigh 20lbs, give or take.  And we have 12 bags.

Oh well.  It'll be fun to see $3,000 worth of quarters going into this machine, I guess.  

That's about all that's happened on this lazy, gloomy day.  Ruby still hasn't ate and I'm at a loss.  Sigh.

No new news from my doctor or the surgeon's office on my status about the surgery.  The vacation is quickly approaching.  I start work tomorrow night.  Um.. that's it!