eleno5485's Xanga

Daddy

Sun, 16 Nov 2008 06:21:13 GMT

I was reminded this morning of one more fun birthday moment I had last week. My dad was the first person to wish me happy birthday the whole day--at the time I was born--for real. I was born at 5:21am Central Time. Which means he called me at 4:21am that day. That was fun.... Haha. Actually it kind of was nice to hear from him, but seriously, not that early.

Birthday Week

Sun, 09 Nov 2008 16:03:45 GMT

I turned 27 last Thursday. Scary. I had a really good birthday week.

On Thursday I didn't really expect much because Steve had to work that night so I knew I wouldn't get that much special stuff. When I got to work, my boss gave me a small gift--a very nice good-smelling candle. It has three layers of scent: apple crisp, vanilla, and cranberry. It should be lots of fun to use.

Then, around 9 am that day, I got a wonderful surprise:

Steve sent me flowers and a teddy bear at work! They were sooo nice. I got to set them right next to my station, and they smelled wonderful all day long. The teddy bear is really soft and cuddly, and I slept with him that night. Here's a picture of the flowers from the top:

Steve took Friday night off, so all day I was thinking, "I get to go home to a husband for once on a Friday night!" It was very exciting. On my way home, I called him to find out what he was up to, and he said he was at the Soup Place (a local restaurant where his cousin works). I told him I had found some nice shoes to go with my fabulous little black dress that I was planning on wearing to the symphony Saturday night, and he told me I would have to model them. So, when I got home and realized I had arrived before Steve, I changed into the dress and shoes to greet him in style. When he came in, he looked at me and said, "I can't wait", and handed me a box. Inside was this:

Real diamond earrings. I was stunned! I could not believe that he had gone out and spent the money it would take to buy me such an extravagant gift. I had told him that I would be happy with flowers, so I really didn't expect something like this. I put them on and glowed. Then he took my hair and lifted it up off my neck and said, "Here, hold your hair up and close your eyes." Can you guess what I felt him put on me?

A GORGEOUS necklace! I was even more stunned and excited! The snowflake was the perfect thing to choose as a pendant, since our decorations at our wedding had been largely snowflakes. I LOVE it. And see all those little shiny points? More diamonds! I still can't believe he bought this stuff for me! AND...he made sure to get warranties, so that if anything happens to them, they will be repaired for free. Awesome. Here's a closer view of the snowflake:

Needless to say, I ended up feeling very much a princess this week. But that isn't all. Last night Steve took work off too, which was glorious, and we went to dinner with Allen, Jaclyn, and Ashley at the Olive Garden (courtesy of a gift card from Aunt Sally and Uncle Keith...yay!). It was very yummy and wonderful company. Following the meal, Steve, Jaclyn and I went to the symphony to hear Beethoven's 9th. It was lots of fun, but I think my favorite part was dinner. The five of us haven't hung out together for a very long time. Steve realized how much he'd missed it so much so that when we got home he said, "Maybe I should gun for the day shift". Just a thought...

Today we're heading to church TOGETHER again (yay!), and then we'll be going to Steve's Aunt Trina and Uncle Jon's house tonight for a joint birthday party with his cousin Audrey, and her husband CJ. They had birthdays this week too! I'm looking forward to that 'cause I haven't had any cake yet!

Well, gotta run and get ready for church!

Guns, gambling, cats, and ice cream

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 18:27:33 GMT

Steve surprised me this week. He finally spent his money. He had worked several hours of overtime this past summer, and then he took a few more days of overtime last week. He told me he would use the money to buy the last two guns he really wanted. Since he said that in the summer when he was working overtime, I didn't really believe he would spend the money because he still hadn't as of last week. Well, I got home on Friday evening, and when Steve called me to say goodnight from work, he said, "I did a bad thing today". He told me that he had finally bought one of the guns he wanted. And then yesterday, he bought the other one. He's so wonderful though--he told me that he said to the salesman as they were taking the gun out to Steve's car, "Well, thanks...you probably won't see me again for many years." When he got a chance, Steve had to play Show-and-Tell with me and the guns. It was kind of fun. He's so great because he let me ask all kinds of questions, and he even understood that I was a little nervous about touching them. He didn't even ask me to hold them. When I did though, he insisted that it was "very sexy". Heh.

Did you know that there are lots of ways to gamble? I've been learning a new one lately by working at the bank. We have a particular member who comes in every couple of weeks (I think it's right after pay-day), to get a cashier's check. That's not uncommon for many of our members. But this member gets a check to send to a scam. Every time. It's really sad to watch. The man is skinny and scraggly. You can tell he spends a large majority of money on letters he gets in the mail asking him to send them money, and they will send him a check, or a prize (big-screen TV, computer, etc.). Sometimes he gets lucky and is actually purchasing something--lately he's been getting candy for his money--but usually he's just outright losing his money. The number of times that he doesn't get what he's promised doesn't seem to phase him--he still keeps falling for it. At first I just couldn't understand how he couldn't see what was going on. But finally, one day, my coworker pointed out that what he was doing was a form of gambling. He wanted the "prize" to be true so badly that he'd gotten addicted. Except it's worse than if he were to go over to the casino and spend the money because with the scams, that's no chance he'll actually get anything "for playing".

Last night I woke up to a loud "THUMP". Immediately after, I almost burst out in laughter at the irony. Somehow, yesterday, Steve and I had ended up talking about cats making annoyingly weird noises in the middle of the night while performing certain "rituals". I told him the story of how we had heard these noises in El Salvador, and then at one point, heard what sounded like someone throwing a rock at the cats. Well, last night, the loud thump was probably something being thrown (or Steve thinks shot) at cats! Yup, the night after we had talked about it, it happened right outside our own house. I was really glad we didn't have a window on that wall though, because I'm pretty sure the thumping noise was something hitting our outside wall. We have yet to go out and check it out, but Steve's pretty sure it was something like a paintball gun being shot. Go figure.

We bought ice cream on Sunday. It was gone by last night. I got three scoops. Allen got five scoops. You do the math. The stuff should be banned in this house.

Stuck with me

Sat, 01 Nov 2008 16:07:30 GMT

I got the call on Thursday during my lunch break. I have to say it was probably the most encouraging rejection I've ever received. Tana told me that they really enjoyed getting to know me better and wished they could have given me the job, but they needed someone with more experience. That's kind of what I expected to hear. She did encourage me to keep an eye out for if they ever needed to hire again and to re-apply in such a situation. So that was nice to hear. But frankly, the most encouraging moment of the day came much later. First, let me say I'm not totally crushed by the fact that I didn't get offered the new position. The biggest reason, and really only reason I applied in the first place, for why I wanted the job was the pay raise. It was considerable and would have helped Steve and I achieve our goals of putting him through school and having kids that much earlier. The nice thing about the process was that it wasn't like I was applying for a job without already being in a good job. I wasn't experiencing the stress of a jobless person hoping for SOMETHING. By not getting the job, it just means that I stay in a position that I currently enjoy enough to even look forward to most days, and would find hard to leave even if I did get a "better" position.

Anyway, back to my story of encouragement. First of all, when I had told my boss I was applying to the position, she sincerely portrayed disappointment in the fact that she might be losing me. So, as soon as I got off the phone with Tana, I went straight to my boss and said, "Well, you're stuck with me". She responded with a thrilled, "Yay!". That felt good to know that SOMEONE wanted me. But the best moment was as I was getting ready to leave that day. I headed back towards the offices of my boss and the other long-time account rep., and as I did, I made a comment about how the account rep had put her hair up. We joked a little together, and then I said something that made her just laugh out loud. My boss listened to the exchange, and as I walked away, said, "Judy, I'm so glad you're not leaving us!" To me, that was an amazing affirmation that I really did make a positive impact on the people around me and that they really enjoyed me being there.

Aside from all that, I am also really glad that I won't be "deserting" Cynthia. She and I started in this job together, and I've so enjoyed getting to know her and all. I look forward to continuing to work with her and the other girls. I also look forward to continuing to get to know my members as I see them on a regular basis. And it's not like there's not room for advancement where I am. I have all my requirements done for the next level of promotion except for my six months of good stats, and that's something that is kind of objective and up to the manager. So we'll see if I can get that promotion soon--by the end of the year at the latest.

There's one more perk to staying where I am too. As it is, I am able to get Tuesdays off in exchange for working Saturdays. With that schedule, Steve and I get more awake time together than we would if I was working a regular Monday through Friday schedule. If I had gotten the other position, I almost certainly would have lost my ability to have Tuesdays off.

All in all, the experience was good, and even though I didn't get the new position, I'm glad I did what I did.

Teller Musical Chairs Round #2

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 03:40:10 GMT

Well, another teller leaves the Heights branch at the end of this week (last day is Friday), and another one joins it Monday. The difference this time is that I may be joining in the game called "Teller Musical Chairs". Instead of me watching Tamara and Cynthia getting ready to move to another branch, I'm saying goodbye to Tamara as she moves to the call center (at another branch), and waiting to hear if I'll be joining her at that branch in the accounting department. I feel bad for Cynthia as I can imagine how she's feeling: she's watching the possibility of getting "left behind", just like I thought I'd get left behind in July. But let me tell you...until I hear from Tana Re, I'll be constantly jumping at the phone. Too bad it's right next to me too. Although, Cynthia jumped at the phone almost as excitedly as I did yesterday! I am looking forward to being able to help train the new teller on Monday though. She won't be able to help us THAT much at first since she won't have gone through the classroom training that she needs before she can officially have her own station, but at least we can start showing her the ropes, and she can help us greet members and such on Monday. Friday and Monday are certainly going to be very interesting. Friday is the last Friday of the month, and also the last day of the month, period, which puts the first of the month on Saturday which means that most direct deposits will hit Friday, and people will be coming in to get money. Very busy. Monday is the first Monday of the month and also the third of the month, which is when welfare and other government payouts hit, so again, a very busy day. And both days will be short-handed since Cynthia asked Friday off, and Tamara leaves us over the weekend. Fun, fun. That's ok. The past couple days (and probably tomorrow) have been REALLY slow. So it'll be nice to have the busyness going on.

Steve is working a lot of overtime this week and hopes to work at least on election day (well, night), as well as maybe on Veteran's Day (again, night). Those days are designated as federal holidays according to his employers, so if he works them as overtime, he gets major perks. Lots of holiday hours racked up, plus regular overtime pay. He's planning on paying off his car next payday (Nov. 5th--it feels like it's my birthday present!), so he's hoping to replenish our savings quickly. He says he wants to buy guns before Obama comes into power, but he's been talking about buying a new gun or two ever since we got married and he hasn't done it. He even worked overtime earlier this year like this, and the money is still sitting...well, in his sock drawer. Haha.

I'm not sure what we'll be doing for my birthday, but Steve IS taking this Saturday night off, so that's cool because that means that we can go to church together. Plus, he's taking next weekend off as well (Friday and Saturday), so again, church on Sunday together, and hopefully some hang-out time with friends during the weekend too. I can't remember the last time that we (both Steve and me) hung out with friends together, other than with Allen. That's pretty sad.

I sent my absentee ballot in today. I'm REALLY glad I chose to do it that way since I work all day on Election day...oh, wait, do I? actually, I don't think I do! But either way, I'm glad I won't have to spend time waiting in line to vote. I can't say that I'll be staying up all night watching the election results either, considering I'll probably have to open at work the next day. That's ok, I'll listen to NPR on the way to work I remember watching the results late into the night last time, and coming to the realization at about 2 am that I might as well go to bed because they weren't going to give me a sure answer anytime soon. I don't think that was quite a shocker to me as it was for my parents, since they'd been through several more elections than I had that had known the outcome within hours of the polls closing at the latest. I do know that this time I EXPECT it to last probably all night, if not much more into the next day or even days. I don't think either side is going to want to cede easily unless there happens to be a really unforseen landslide.

I'm continuing to thank God that, in these crazy economic times, Ne's providing for us way beyond what we deserve, or imagined. I'm also glad that our debt load is manageable, and that we don't have a mortgage! I'm continually amazed at how good God has been to me my entire life, and it just seems like He keeps being more and more GOOD. Steve and I celebrate one year of marriage in a little over a month, and I can't thank God enough for that.

Bedtime. :)

All Good

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 20:05:18 GMT

I think my body has finally conquered whatever was making me feel ill, and I'm doing much better now. Steve's still a bit sniffly, but he's a lot better than he used to be.

Confused

Thu, 16 Oct 2008 14:25:33 GMT

As far as I can tell, my body seems to have decided that, with the help of some powerful meds, it has conquered the illness that was plaguing my throat area. For a day or two it seemed a little confused once I was done taking the meds. The swelling in my neck was back a little, and my throat was threatening full-blown soreness again. But since yesterday I've felt pretty much normal, so I'm hoping the ailment has been defeated. I had resigned myself to the idea that I would have to have my tonsils out, but I guess that may not be so eminent anymore. Which, in my mind, is good and bad. Good that I won't have to have surgery, but bad that there's a chance that I could get sick again. Ah, well. God knows what's going on, and he's in control, so I don't really need to worry.

Yesterday we finally got our tax return from our amended tax filing, which is awesome. It means that HOPEFULLY, the second half of our tax stimulus will be on its way soon. We splurged a little last night--had dinner out and then hit up Borders. That store is really dangerous. We came home with five new books, and a large chunk of our tax return spent. That's ok. I think it was well spent. I'm itching to read the new books though, which is bad 'cause I still need to finish reading Emma. Emma is a good book, but one of the books I bought--Schulz and Peanuts--looks like a lot of fun, so I have to control myself.

We also got notice of a new position opening at work yesterday. It's for the accounting department, and it looks like the type of job that I could do pretty well. The only problem is that the current job description is not exactly accurate 'cause they're revamping the position, so I have to wait and see what they come up with. But I did email the head of the department to express my interest in the position. My boss says she thinks I'd have a decent shot at the job, although she'd be sad to see me go. The biggest draw to the job is that it pays a good bit more and it's at a branch that is closer to my home (although with construction going on right now, it might take longer than expected to get there). The downside is that it would take me away from the public, which means less contact with the members I've grown to love. So, basically, whatever the outcome of this, I'll be happy.

I guess that's it for now...

Better

Tue, 07 Oct 2008 19:48:13 GMT

Well, I am FINALLY getting better. Hopefully it's not just a forced thing from the drugs, and that I will stay better. My biggest fear is that, once I'm done with the meds, I will get bad again 'cause it only kind of covered up stuff, and then I will indeed have to have my tonsils removed. But at least for the time being I'm not finding myself avoiding swallowing at all costs because of the pain I know it will cause me. My ears feel slightly less clogged as well, which is nice for when I go back to work. And thank goodness I had today scheduled to be a day off because I really don't feel that I can afford to use any more of my sick time. I think it's rediculous that we only get three sick days to use before we have to start using our vacation time. Then again, I really shouldn't complain being that this is pretty much the first job I've had that I can get paid even though I call in sick.

Hopefully sometime soon I'll be able to start blogging about more interesting things than my being sick.

Sick

Sat, 04 Oct 2008 03:42:27 GMT

Being sick with intermittent fever, swollen glands, and clogged ears for going on 2+ weeks really stinks. It stinks even more to have a husband who's just as miserable with clogged and runny sinuses for about the same length of time. Go figure, we haven't swapped illnesses yet. Let me tell you, we are just outright sick and tired of being sick and tired. And the worst part is, it's one of those sicknesses that doesn't keep me from work, but at the same time does make work frustrating. Especially on a late Friday afternoon, that also happens to be the third of the month (read: VERY BUSY DAY), and my brain is literally shutting down and ceasing to function. No, seriously. I'm amazed my drawer wasn't off by some bizarre amount tonight! Silver lining, I guess...

Oddly enough, even though I've entered my home with nothing but a desire to eat and crash on my bed lately, I've still managed to be motivated in some things. I tried my hand in making home-made pumpkin pie last weekend, and it turned out pretty good (I still don't like making my own crusts, but at least I don't despise it anymore). Steve seems to be having the same thing going on with him, because he whipped up a GORGEOUS apple pie two days ago. I made him take a picture, it looked that perfect. It also tasted pretty darn good when I wasn't burning my tongue on it from having nuked it too long (by the time I got a chance to eat it, it'd been in the fridge for a few hours, and you just can't eat apple pie cold!). The only thing missing was a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a tall glass of cold milk.

The lack of desire to do much has also left me with a decent amount of time to do some good reading. I've pretty much devoured Mansfield Park. I like it. Somehow, it's got a bit of a different voice than Austen's other books, so it's been fun. Another silver lining...

And, for the icing on the cake (no, really, I'm really excited about this), Steve just called to say that his "short night" has been moved to Saturdays! Yay! The result is that, every two weeks, he gets to come home at 2am instead of 6am, in which case there's a MUCH stronger chance that he'll be able to drag himself out of bed for church every couple weeks. That is major huge for us right now since we've really been missing the ability to go together. Sadly, I think the last time Steve went to church was in July on our vacation.

So yeah, being sick is a drag, but I guess it's not all cloudy in this house.

Oprah

Tue, 23 Sep 2008 22:49:13 GMT

I have this theory about how to make money. While I worked at Borders, I watched our sales of certain books directly be effected by Oprah's picks. If she put a book on her book list, we knew she was going to, and we'd stock up--several hundred copies, just waiting to be snatched up the day after she talked about it on her show. It was an amazing thing to watch the cause and effect. Steve and I even got caught up in her “pick” once (and yes, I will admit that we watch Oprah on occasion): I bought Ken Follett’s book Pillars of the Earth the day after we saw it on Oprah. And you know what? In general, Steve really liked it, and he’s gone through most of the rest of Follett’s books. So, here’s how my theory goes:

Judy’s get-rich plan:

1.) Write a book

2.) Get Oprah to love it

3.) Watch it fly off the shelves

So that’s it folks. It seems to be that simple. Now, I’m no writer, so I don’t think I could pull it off, but I’m sure there’s somebody out there that could. If any of you do, let me know so I can laugh about it J

One more note about Oprah. I watched Oprah today, and she had Suze Orman (an extremely successful “financial expert” who has written many books and “kits” for people to become financially free) on her show. Suze’s advice to us was this:

1.) Stop spending money you don’t have (i.e. credit cards, taking out loans, etc.)

2.) If you have savings, make sure they’re in INSURED financial institutions. Otherwise, if your money is in un-insured institutions, MOVE IT! TODAY!

Now, remember what I said about the seemingly direct cause and effect we saw at Borders? I think I will be watching the news for the next couple of weeks to see if all those institutions that aren’t insured will crash and burn after everyone goes and takes out all their money. That’s because that’s the easier step of Suze’s advice to follow (I mean, really…who in this country even CAN stop using their credit cards? ). Plus, it’s Suze Orman, and she was on OPRAH.