JTOK Chatter > Page 401

It’s time again.

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So, over the past two years, I’ve been slowly gaining back all the weight I lost. At first it was just a few pounds and it was okay. Then it was 10# and I thought “Yeah, this sucks, but it’s still not too bad.” At this point, I refuse to say how much I’ve gained back, but I will say I haven’t gained back all of it.

So it’s been extremely depressing, but I know it’s my own damn fault because I’m eating too much and not exercising. I just don’t seem to have any self-control lately…over the past year, I’ve probably tried 4-5 times to start being good again, and it lasts anywhere from a day to a week and then it’s back to the bad habits. It doesn’t help that there’s always crap at work and it’s really easy to snack and whatnot. And of course, the upcoming holiday season is not going to make it any easier.

But something has to be done.

I hate (HATE!) going into the closet and it taking forever to find something to wear because nothing fits. All my loose clothes are now tight and I don’t like how anything looks. I liked it SO much better when I could just go in and grab anything and not having to worry if it fits or if it looks good… The sad thing is that I have an entirely new wardrobe waiting for me if I lose 20# (and many pieces I can wear with just a 10# loss, and many more I can wear with a 20+ loss).

Wish me luck.

Talk about a DUH moment!

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So since it’s been getting quite chilly at night, we finally put our heated mattress pad back on the bed. However, instead of putting it on normally—where the plug is at the bottom of the bed—we reversed it so that we could keep all the cords at the head of the bed so they would be hidden from view.

So last night when we went to bed, Tom was cold so he turned his side on. Fast forward to the middle of the night when I woke up feeling a little warm. That sometimes happens to me when I wake up suddenly, so didn’t think much about it. A while later, I was STILL warm and threw the covers partially off. I could not figure out why I was so warm.

Well, it wasn’t until about 5am that I realized—DUH!—we had flipped the cover, so Tom’s controls worked MY side of the bed (and vice versa)! No wonder I was so warm!!!

In the morning, we had a good laugh when I informed him what had happened. His first words? “No wonder I was freezing all night! I could NOT get warm!”

We have stupid, stupid cats.

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So this morning there was a pile of vomit on the table. Gross, yes, but something you get used to with four cats. But what was IN the vomit pile, you ask? A leaf. Now, normally a leaf would be nothing unusual…because cats like to eat grass and plants and whatnot. Except that we have no LIVE plants in our house because I kill them. So we have plastic plants. So the stupid cat ate a leaf off the topiary and then barfed it up. :crazy:

Like I said: stupid.

Fuzzy on the loose!

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So, the cats are always at the sliding doors in the kitchen, meowing like they think they want to go outside. And this morning, Fuzzy was meowing and whining louder than usual, so I told Tom to open the door and see what happened. (We have done this in the past, and no one ever makes a move.) But as soon as he opened the door, Fuzzy darted out—and Bella started to as well!

Well, we didn’t want to have to corral two cats, so he grabbed Bella and handed her to me while he went outside to watch Fuzzy.

Now, it’s chilly out—48° to be exact, so I was guessing Fuzzy wouldn’t stay out too long or stray too far. I did tell Tom, however, to stand at the deck steps because Fuzzy can be quick when he wants to be, and I didn’t want him escaping into the yard (although, even if he did, I can’t imagine him squeezing in between the fence boards OR jumping over the fence).

Well, Fuzzy wandered around just a bit on the deck when the neighbor’s dog saw him and started barking…and Fuzzy pretty much made a beeline back into the house! So, in all, he was outside for less than three minutes!!

Did we create a monster?

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So for almost as long as I’ve had Fuzzy, he has slept with me at night. Most of the time, right next to my head, in fact. Until probably six months ago, when he stopped coming in to sleep with us and Bella took his place. Then Charlie took her place. Then, Bella started coming in again. It was like there was some rotation they were on that only they were privy to!

Well, I had started to miss Fuzzy—he rarely even came upstairs anymore! We thought it was because he was getting old and maybe he had arthritis and didn’t like climbing the stairs….but he would come up every so often when his food bowl was empty! And over the past month or so, he has started coming upstairs more and more often. So last night, I grabbed him and took him to bed with me…and he stayed! (I had tried this in months past, but he left as soon as I sent him down.)

To my surprise, he stayed until the middle of the night and then he hopped down. But then hours later, he was back! (Of course, it was at this point that I remembered why I didn’t like him sleeping next to me—the loud purring and meowing and pawing at my face in the middle of the night keeps me awake and makes it really hard to fall back asleep). But he was LOVING IT! Purring to beat the band. And it was a weekend so I didn’t mind too much!

Amazingly, he stayed until morning. But I may have created a monster….

I hate DST, how about you?

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I really hate Daylight Savings Time. HATE IT. Just now, I was sitting here thinking it must be time to go to bed because it’s dark (and has been dark for some time) and I feel tired (because it’s dark).

So I look at the clock…and it’s 6:57pm. What!?! And if I want to walk after work, I have to rush home, quick change my clothes, and be out the door by 5:30 otherwise I’ll be walking in the dark. 🙁

I think I need to live somewhere that doesn’t follow DST. 🙂

I cannot wait until…

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…I get a job where I am not the “go to” computer person. I AM HATING IT. I am always the one that has to set up people’s computers, install software, run updates, create email signatures, fix any problems, etc. And I’m tired of it. I don’t mind helping out, but when I am tasked to do just about everything, it gets old. Fast. 😐

I HATE STUPID DRIVERS!

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I really hate it when I get pissed off on the way in to work—it’s just not the best way to start the day.

This morning, some idiot pulled out (basically) in front of me. Since I was on a 55mph road, he really should have waited, but god forbid someone wait for a proper break in traffic. So, I pretty much had to slow from 55 to 25 in three seconds. Then, about 1/4 mile up the road, he slams on his brakes—which means I have to slam on my brakes, engaging the ABS and sending all the stuff in my car flying to the floor. Asshat wasn’t paying attention and missed some activity on the side of the road that he had to avoid at the last second.

Oh, and did I mention this idiot was on the phone? GRRRRRRR. >:XX I don’t mind people talking and driving if they can handle it, but some people obviously can’t.

Not as fun as it used to be?

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I think I might be getting over my love of Halloween, or I might be getting crochety in my old age, or something else, but…. I think I could live without the handing out of the candy anymore.

To start with, people started showing up WHEN OUR LIGHTS WERE STILL OFF AND THE PUMPKIN WASN’T LIT. What gives? When we’re ready, we’ll look ready. (It was actually a neighbor and she said “Well I saw lights on inside.” Grrrr.) So as we were turning on the lights and lighting the pumpkin, a whole slew of people showed up so it was pure chaos.

Then, half the kids didn’t even say Trick or Treat, just rang the bell and stood there when I opened the door (all ages, not just young ones who might be clueless). Quite a few didn’t even ring the bell and just stood outside (we heard them approach because we were in the dining room listening with the window open). Then, of course there are the little ones who don’t know the drill and don’t move once you give them the candy—I had like three of these who just stood there looking at me like they wanted more candy and I said “I already gave you your candy, let the other kids get in here.”

And it’s not like we were really bombarded, but it was hard to take the time to look at all the costumes, which is the best part.

Maybe I would be more into the whole thing if Tom was, but he’s usually off doing his own thing. At least this year he sat with me in the dining room working on the laptop while I handed out treats!

Anyway, I was handing out 2-3 small pieces to everyone and only had a handful left when we turned the lights out at 7…we couldn’t have had more than 30 kids.

Long-lost treasure!

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So as I mentioned, mom and David brought down one of my old dressers. Well, of course, all of the drawers were filled to the brim—assorted stuff having accumulated over the multiple years it has sat in the basement waiting for me to have a home of my own to store it in. (It really didn’t matter to mom when I told her that, even though we have a big house, it’s already full to the brim. 🙂 ) So, due to space issues, we ended up giving the dresser away to a coworker—figuring who better than a 4-year-old girl to enjoy a Barbie-pink dresser?

my old pink dresser

But that meant I had to empty out the drawers. And find space to put all that stuff. But oh, did I have a grand time looking at everything, like…

  • A “memory book” detailing “The Blizzard of 1982” — each of us in the class had to write what we did over the three-day surprise snow break and then it was mimeographed (yes, mimeographed—not copied!) for everyone and made into a book. A book with construction paper covers and tied with yarn, but a book nonetheless!
  • An “autograph book” from the last days of school, circa 5th grade (I can tell because my teacher signed it). Heck, I think I had everyone at the school sign it, down to secretaries and janitors, I think! Hilarious. One funny thing? One of the kids in my class signed it…and I swear, his handwriting never changed through our senior year. Two neat things? I obviously carried on getting autographs after school, because both my Grandma Smith and Grandpa Len signed it. :'(
  • A periodic table of the elements from my chemistry class in high school… Why would I keep that? It has a story, of course! Which I remember like it was yesterday. The day our teacher was handing out copies of the periodic table to the class, it was my birthday (technically, it was Friday the 29th, but since we wouldn’t be in school on my birthday, my friends had put in the announcement for Friday). So, because it was my birthday, the teacher gave me his only color copy. I was the envy of the class. (Keep in mind, this was before the prevalence of internet research and color copies. What the teacher gave you is what you had.)
  • A letter from my dad, circa 1994. I haven’t reread this one yet!
  • Two cartons of my pysanky attempts, along with two kistas, an unopened box of dyes from Aunt Marge (I was always waiting until I had my own house/space to make all the dyes…I guess I have that now, don’t I?), and an egg-drying rack.
  • Four photo albums of Tom #1 era pictures. As you can imagine, that had some good and bad memories attached…but they were still fun to look at.
  • Three sticker books! (Don’t tell me you don’t know or remember sticker books…they were ALL the rage.) I still hate to part with these, but why on earth would I keep them?! I should just pass them on to Virginia who would surely love them. After I scan the pages into my computer, of course. 🙂
  • Two books of Sniglets. Yes, you remember Sniglets, too. You can admit it.
  • A brand new soup bowl/plate set that was a gift from my boss back in Traverse City 10 years ago (I’m rounding down).
  • But the best was the photo album Grandma Smith made for me probably 20 years ago…which I thought I had lost. After her funeral this summer, I looked high and low for it and couldn’t find it. I was devastated, because I could remember it clear as day—just not where it was. It was NOWHERE in this house, which meant it hadn’t been at the last house… So when I opened the drawer and found that… Well, it was a good day.

The sad thing? I still don’t know where I’m going to put all this stuff!

I HATE COMPUTERS. OR THE INTERNET. OR MYSELF.

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I just now spent the past hour (HOUR!) composing a post about mom and David’s visit…probably 1000 words or so. But of course there was an error in some of the code when I went to post it so I clicked the link that said “go back and fix your post” (instead of simply the back arrow) and what do you know? The whole damn thing was gone. GONE! What really grinds me is that all along, as the post kept growing, I kept thinking “I should just post what I have then go back and edit it” but of course I didn’t. XX(

GOD I HATE IT WHEN THIS HAPPENS! IT JUST MAKES ME WANT TO CRY. AND SCREAM. AND THROW THE DAMN COMPUTER OUT THE WINDOW. >:(

GRRRRRRRRRRRR.

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So yesterday I bought some clothes from an online store that I love because they had a rare 50% off anything and everything coupon. So what comes out today, the day after the 50% coupon expired?? A 60% off coupon!!! >:(

I do not know how I am going to survive…

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I do not know how I am going to survive back in Michigan winters. This morning in North Carolina it is 35° and I am hating it! HATING IT! We didn’t have the heat on, so the house was 51° this morning, I took a 15-minute HOT shower (I’m usually out in under 10), poor Maggie was bundled up under the blankets in her crate (see below!) and did NOT want to come out, she was shivering after 10 seconds outside (as I was!), and I have no good warm clothes to wear (that fit, but that’s fodder for another post).

Maggie wrapped in a blanket

What is up with this cold weather this early? Last winter must have been unseasonably warm, as I SPECIFICALLY remember not having to wear a coat until mid-December, and even then, it was only sporadically.

Way short version of mom and David’s visit.

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As you will read on the 10/28 entry, I lost my entire well-constructed thread with links and pictures…and there is NO WAY IN HELL I’m in any mood to even try to recreate it, so…without further ado, here’s the short version of their visit.

  1. They brought my old dresser and my old toybox because they were cleaning out the basement and I had to take my old stuff. They filled the toybox with Tom’s beer he requested, which I found funny.
  2. We cooked some great meals, as usual, plus ate at our favorite Thai restaurant. David made some yummy soup from leftovers and mom made Tom his favorite scones.
  3. Maggie LOVED grandma and I think grandma was surprised that she liked Maggie more than she thought she would.
  4. We went to our annual Halloween party/oyster feast at our friend’s house. We wore our new costumes and mom and David wore the scrubs that we had been banned from wearing again. My costume still needs some work, as it’s way too big and not slutty enough for what the costume should be (I couldn’t get enough cleavage).

The end.

P.S. You WON’T believe this, but I lost this post as well…another stupid error in the code. GRRRRR. There has to be something wrong with my cookies because this does NOT happen when I write in my blog at work. >:(

Who comes up with these sizes?

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So our Halloween costumes arrived yesterday (here’s a preview):

Renaissance Nobleman Halloween CostumeMerchant Wife Halloween Costume

Tom’s costume is fine size-wise…but mine? It will work, but I don’t know who comes up with the sizes on these things.

I ordered one size larger than I thought I would need, just in case they ran small. Well, the skirt is probably three times as big as I need, the shirt is probably twice as big as I need…but the last piece, the black corset-type vest (which is definitely a more “fitted” piece)? Almost too small. So tell me why the hell you would have two out of the three outfit pieces be entirely too large and the last piece almost too small? I mean, if someone actually needed the entire skirt or the shirt (i.e. fit into it perfectly), there is NO WAY they would fit into the vest.

So, needless to say my costume is going to require some alterations… Since the skirt is way too big and the black vest is almost too small, the two pieces don’t fit toegether as they should (as seen in the picture) and you can see the white of the shirt between the two pieces, which looks just horrible. I’m thinking maybe I can safety pin the skirt to the vest or something? Mom will be here so maybe she will have a good idea!

I just hope we end up with some good pictures!!

Nope, my boss doesn’t care.

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So, this morning, as I was being blinded by the sun yet again (see October 11 entry), I said “We really need blinds for the front door!” My boss, who was standing behind me at the copier, asked why. I sat right in the line of fire (per se) and said “Because I get blinded every morning for about an hour. I cannot sit in front of my computer!”

She turned to see the sun in my eyes, laughed like “Oh, isn’t that funny” and suggested that I “move my desk so I’m facing the corner.”

Gee, thanks for your concern and your valid suggestion. 🙄

I hate sunshine in the morning.

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At work, that is, when I’m at my desk.

You see, the sun shines DIRECTLY in through the glass front door DIRECTLY into my eyes when I’m sitting where I normally should be. So, to avoid the BLINDING sun, I have to scrunch/lean to the left and throw my back out of whack.

Of course, my bosses don’t care about this at all since they don’t have to sit here and be thoroughly annoyed (or blinded) by it. Similarly, they also don’t seem to care that I have to have the blinds shut otherwise I have a headache after about an hour—I have a huge window right at my desk…which sounds nice, but it’s extremely bright and annoying. I’ve mentioned it time and again and have actually been told yes, something needs to be done (since they don’t like the blinds closed) but has anything happened?

I’m keeping my fingers crossed.

Stupid shoes that need nylons.

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So I bought a new pair of shoes to go with a new pair of pants…and I didn’t think about needing nylons until this morning, after I was already dressed and ready to put my shoes on and walk out the door. I’ve always had a stash of nylons, but do you think I could find a pair this morning? I needed brown/nude, but only had black or a single nude stocking. So I figured I would just go to Target. Simple, right?

WRONG.

They had an entire section of legwarmers (when did legwarmers come back in style?!?) and about three sections of socks, an aisle (two sides) of full-length nylons, but NO knee-highs that I could see. I was sure I had to be missing them, so I started at one end and looked at each pair…and nothing. An entire aisle of nylons and NO knee-highs. I was sure I was going crazy, so I took another pass—and I finally found one peg with knee-highs, and they were for tiny people. I thought about getting them and just wearing them around my ankles (my pants are long enough to cover them) but I just couldn’t bring myself to spend $5 on something that was the wrong size.

They did have a section of footies, which might have worked—except they only had black and white! There were like 15 empty pegs! What the hell? >:(

So on my way to work, still fuming, I decided to stop at Food Lion (grocery store) and take whatever they had, assuming they would have a few pair in their sundries aisle. And of course, they had nothing, either.

So I’m wearing the shoes (heels) without nylons and I know my feet are going to really hurt by the end of the day.

Birthday Coldstone

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So if you sign up at Coldstone Creamery, you can get a free Original Creations Love It ice cream concoction on your birthday. Tom and I went tonight to redeem my coupon.

To start, let me just say that I am not overly thrilled with Coldstone. I’ve been there a handful of times over the years, and no matter what I order, it never knocks my socks off. I know people LOVE it (Tom is one—he will kill for a Founders Favorite) so I keep thinking I must be missing something…so I keep trying it. I mean, what’s not to like? Great toppings mixed in with yummy ice cream…how bad can it be?

Of course, there are so many yummy-looking options on the menu that I always have a hard time deciding. While we were in line, I changed my mind back and forth probably 10 times, trying to decide between four or five different mixes. So I had FINALLY decided on Oreo Overload with one small modification (dark chocolate mint ice cream instead of sweet cream)…and the stupid lady in front of me took the last of the dark chocolate mint ice cream—and the next batch wasn’t ready yet! GRRRR! >:( So I just ordered it as is. And it was…less than thrilling. Again.

Halloween Costumes and Online Coupons

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So we decided to order new Halloween costumes for this year, as we’ve been “doctors” the past three years…and well, okay, so maybe our party hosts have said flat out that we CANNOT show up in the same scrubs again!!

So, I found the perfect costume at the place I wanted (with a 40% off coupon no less!) back in August, but they didn’t have it in my size. Of course, it wasn’t back in stock by the time the coupon expired, so I started looking elsewhere…and today I finally got my butt in gear (since the party is EARLY this year) and ordered our new costumes.

And you know what the best part was? I searched for a coupon code and found one for 10%…but when I entered it, it gave me 30% off!! WOOHOO! BONUS!

I think my heart stopped this morning.

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So Tom and I were getting ready this morning (he doesn’t have to be in until 9am this week) and as usual, Maggie was running loose. Well, I was downstairs getting stuff out of the dryer and I heard racing around upstairs (Maggie and the cats sound like a herd of elephants, I swear!) and as I was walking through the living room, I noticed a blur of movement in my peripheral vision—as Charlie came flying down over the balcony and landed in the foyer with a THUNK!

HOLY SHIT!

I think my heart either skipped a few beats or just stopped completely.

She didn’t seem any worse for the wear and she wasn’t making any noise like she was in pain—but she wasn’t moving, either—she was just sitting there (like normal). I went over to her and she ran away from me (like normal) and when I was finally able to pick her up, she was squirmy (like normal) so I guessed she was just fine.

But it was a good five minutes before my now-racing heart was back to normal.

We’ve decided….

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There were a few days when we weren’t sure and were really discussing it—but in the end, we’ve decided to keep trying and just let nature take its course. As always, whatever is meant to be…will be.

Clinic Update

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So I just called (had to wait for my boss to leave the office) and once the nurse knew who I was, she apologized profusely. I basically asked her “What now? Do I need to worry about anything? Do I need to be more careful? Do I need to take drugs? Do I need medical attention?” And she asked my symptoms again, how long I had bled before, etc., then put me on hold to talk to a doctor.

She came back to say that I should be fine. If anything strange happens, or I get a high fever, or if I have more bleeding, come straight in…otherwise, I should be fine. Also, it is recommended we wait three months before trying… I honestly didn’t think of asking about trying before that limit…my mind was swirling as it was. (But needless to say if we wait three months, it’s not going to happen at all.)

She did say if I need ANYTHING else, do not hesitate to contact her. I said “Okay, I do have another small thing then” and proceeded to tell her I was on antibiotics (for something else entirely) and now had a yeast infection (“On top of everything else?!” she exclaimed. Yes, I told her. What fun, eh?) so she said she would have a scrip ready for me by 5.

Since hindsight is 20/20, I should have asked if she thought it was an actual miscarriage or something else (chemical pregnancy, etc.) but of course I didn’t think of it at the time because I was just so thrilled to be talking to someone and hearing reassuring words.

So, now the question is….do we keep trying because he’s going to be gone…or do we stick with the doctor-recommended wait time (which will evolve into 15 months)?

I am tired of my job.

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I know you all know I don’t like working, period. 😉 But this is different. At this point, almost two years in, I am really just tired of my job.

Just. Plain. Tired.

Tired of the same paperwork, the same forms, the same phone calls, the same questions, the same emails, the same faxes, the same irritations…in short, the same routine hour after hour, day after day, week after week, month after month. Mondays are the worst, of course, when things that shouldn’t bother me bother me MORE than they should and every request from anyone makes me want to scream.

I feel bad because I do like my boss and the work is easy…but I am just tired of it. I would love to do something new, but unless I can make more money, what’s the point? At least here I have a co-worker I can vent to, the office is close to home, and it’s a very casual atmosphere.

@#%$ Clinic

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Okay, I have to tell you I am at my @#%$ limit with the clinic here.

They told me to come in for bloodwork last week so I did. When I was there, they confirmed I would not get the results because I had to come back for the second day of bloodwork to see if my hormone levels were increasing or decreasing. She said I could find out the results, but they really wouldn’t mean anything until we had the second set to compare them with. Okay, fine.

So I go in this morning and they have no idea why I’m there. I refresh their memory. Oh, okay, we have to find the order for the bloodwork. Fine. So they finally call me in and as the one lady is preparing to draw my blood, the other lady sees me and says “Why are you here? Didn’t they call you with the results?”

What?

NO, I told her, YOU told me there was no point in knowing the results because we had to do more bloodwork. AND no one called me regardless. She says “Well your results were negative.” So she brings over the results and my hormone level was <5 which is negative. So, she says, “Since you had a negative urine and a negative blood…” Okay, so I say “Well can I talk to someone? I mean, am I okay? Do I need to do anything?” She says “You can go talk to the nurse.” FINE. I’m a little pissed, but figure it’s not HER fault.

So I go to the front desk and ask to talk to the nurse. The lady is snippy and says “Why do you need to talk to her?” That hit my button so I have to admit I snapped a bit and told her “Because I was pregnant and now I’m not and I’d really like to talk to someone for two minutes about it.” I was told to have a seat.

So I waited for 20 minutes and no one ever called me or came over. I was already late for work so just left.

I got back to the office and I was livid. I called Tom to tell him what had happened and I was just about bawling. Thank god no one was in the office yet. He got the clinic phone number from me and was going to call them.

WHAT THE @#%$? I’m glad having a @#%$ miscarriage (or if it wasn’t a miscarriage, whatever @#%$ issue I have) is so @#%$ inconsequential to them that they can’t even @#%$ get someone to talk to me for two minutes, even just to reassure me everything is fine and I should have no issues in the future.

So as I was just sitting here, @#%$ pissed and writing this post, Tom called back saying he had just gotten off the phone with them and they were EXTREMELY APOLOGETIC. Apparently, no one communicated with each other, and no one told the head nurse that I was there or had been in, because she was EXPECTING ME! She said she was going to have a meeting with the entire staff regarding this situation so it wouldn’t happen again.

After I calm down, I will call her to have the two-minute conversation I should have had at the clinic (unless she calls me first which I’m somehow doubting will happen).