RIP

John's grandpa died today so tomorrow he's taking off to Ohio until Tuesday. His mom called over the weekend and said he had to go to the hospital for his bowels and his dad called Monday to say that things didn't look good so they knew that it was coming. I won't be able to go with John since I have to work so I'll be by myself for the weekend. It will be weird to be alone at home for a few days without him since it's been quite a while since that's happened!! Hopefully I can sleep ok!

Too Smart

Sometimes I think John is just too smart, but too smart in the way of that it interferes with logical things. He was trying to upload Microsoft Office to his computer today and for whatever reason, couldn't do it. Rather than asking him if I could take a stab at it, I kept my mouth shut because I knew he'd tell me that I wouldn't be able to or that he'd just say something to the fact of making me feel like I was stupid. So after he went to bed, click, click, click on his computer I go, and 5 minutes later, Office is installed. I have no idea what he was trying to do when he was trying to install it, but I think he was making it more complicated than it actually was. So I left him a note next to his lunchbox that said, "You can thank me later. I installed Office on your computer for you. Yeah, I know, I'm awesome."

A Reason

I knew there was a reason why I hadn't taken the electric blanket off our bed yet. It's frickin freezing tonight!!! The low is only supposed to be between 30-32 and the mountains are expected to get some snow, heavy depending what part. It's almost May for crying out loud!! On the upside though, we're supposed to be near 80 on Saturday. If that's the case, I will get my coat out, bear these few cold days and patiently wait for the weekend.

Mondays

Ahhh Monday. Back at work. Apparently we as a group of scorers aren't scoring fast enough and therefore, they are allowing us to work until 5 everyday this week if we want and they are also working on Saturday for anyone who wants the overtime. I'm not sure that I am willing to work until 5, or even 4:30 during the week for the sheer fact that traffic after 4 sucks all around. So I can't even imagine how bad it is at 5.

As far as Saturday goes, I am debating on whether or not I want to go in. Yes, the extra money would be nice, but on the other hand, I can't imagine only having one day off and then going right back at it on Monday. I've got until Wednesday to decide.

Fast

I have quickly forgotten how fast a weekend can go when you work! I was a bit frazzled with thoughts of everything I had to do in the 2 days that I generally have 7 to do them in. I am not boasting in any way about how great it is to not work because believe me, it ain't all that, but it just blows my mind how easily I forgot what a real routine is like. On the bright side, I am glad tomorrow is Monday and to go back to work. It's nice to feel like I have a purpose. The days go fast as well as the week, so before I know it, this 3 weeks will be over. Part of me wishes I was working the next 3 week stint, but the other half of me is glad I'm not for two reasons. 1. Traffic blows to and from work. 2. My brain needs a break from monotonous reading. But when it comes again in June, I think I'll do it.

This weekend was nothing exciting. Spent a good portion of my day Saturday at the Y getting some spinning in since I haven't been to class. When I left to go there, John was heading out for a run, so when I got home from the gym an hour and a half later and he wasn't home, I worried. But he ended up calling 10 seconds later saying he took a wrong turn and got turned around taking him an additional 4 miles out of his way. I had to laugh because he has THE worst sense of direction. So I offered to pick him up which I was surprised he accepted. I laughed when I picked him up on the side of the road as a car passed in the opposite direction. I thought, "I bet this looks shady as hell!"

Today was errand day and pick up the house day. It tends to get cluttery during the week, so by today I was going nutty. John was super helpful picking things up for me while I cleaned up in the kitchen and got dinner started. It was the first time in long time that I didn't feel stressed about getting everything done. I accepted his help and trusted he'd do it right, or acceptable enough, and he did. What a great feeling!

Fraud

Well, we officially have had our credit card number stolen. When I got home from work today I went downstairs to work out for a half hour and when I came upstairs, John was home and asked what I bought from FTD. I told him nothing and asked why. He said that there were 3 charges on our credit card statement (which we check daily) that were pending, all for $435.98. I told him to call immediately and report it, shut the card off, and see what else they need us to do or what they are going to do.

Apparently whoever swiped our number also tried to purchase $3600 worth of concrete and steel, both companies in different states, and thankfully were denied. We both were a little pissed though that no one from our bank called to ask or even tell us it had happened, but yet, allowed 3 charges of the same amount. Wouldn't that right there say "red flag?" Especially after the 2 declined attempts for the steel and concrete? But, they said they'd send it to the fraud department and we'd here something within 3-5 days.

After that, I decided I would call FTD to see if they could tell me who placed the order since they used my credit card. Unfortunately, they couldn't find anything but they also reported it to their fraud department and said they would cancel the charges. The woman I spoke to was SO nice and helpful. I was fully expecting to get the, "You need to contact your credit card company," as soon as I told her about the charges, but she didn't (and I ended up telling her anyways).

We also ran a credit report which looked fine, but I'm thinking I'll want to check again in a month or so just to double check. What the hell is wrong with society?

First Day

Today was my first day at my temp job and it surprisingly wasn't too bad. Of course, first days are always tedious and boring, but overall I really can't complain. I'm a little frustrated with the way they are telling us to score because they give you a rubric, but then we you go to assign score to something based on the rubric, they tell you you can't really base it just off of that. Well, then why do you have a rubric? So, it's a little frustrating trying to figure out what they want, but, I'll get it.

Bad Day

I had an awful day today. The weather has been garbage for 3 days now and after having a friend of mine spend the weekend in Vegas with my Vegas friends for his birthday, and just hearing about it and seeing pictures really made me sad. I just felt like my life there was cut short and to see it happening without me is frustrating. I don't have much going on in my life right at the present that makes me feel even remotely good about myself, like I'm not contributing to life, and to see the life I used to have makes me sad.

I don't want to keep rambling because I'm sure some people think that my life is so easy because I don't have kids and blah blah blah, but to give up something you worked so hard for and then do nothing with yourself is hard. Then people say, well get a job doing something, but all I want to do is teach, and substituting IS NOT teaching, and there's not much I can do when I apply and get no responses. Ugh...the more I write the angrier I get, so i just need to stop and end it here.

Breakfast for Dinner

I love breakfast for dinner. We eat so much chicken and turkey that there are only so many ways to fix it and tonight, I had no desire to eat chicken or turkey. John suggested we have breakfast, but then the question became, "What breakfast food should we have?"

He's been saying for days that he wanted some biscuits, so he thew out the idea to have sausage, egg, and cheese biscuits. Done and done. It was so yummy! We got the reduced fat Pilsbury biscuits (which I like so much better than the regular biscuits not only because they are reduced fat but they are way less greasy too), Jimmy Dean turkey sausage, and Weight Watchers sliced American cheese so I didn't feel as bad eating them.

Hot Tub Time Machine

Tonight we went to go see the movie Hot Tub Time Machine and let me just tell you we laughed out loud! It's just stupid humor, raunchy situations, and all around just funny. I wouldn't say to go right out and see it, but I definitely wasn't sad that we payed full price for it. There's nothing worse than paying full price for a movie and upon leaving, saying, "Ugh, I could've waited until that came out on DVD." Even though we could have waited to see it on DVD, seeing it in the theater wasn't a waste. Right up our alley!

Prospect Mountain

Since John is on leave this week, he decided that today we'd go for a hike. Destination: Prospect Mountain up in Lake George. It's one of the closest hikes to our house that is not too difficult and doesn't take all day long.

The day started out kinda yucky which I wasn't excited about, but by the time we got in the car and headed out to the trail, the sun came out and the clouds broke up. It wasn't hot and was more on the chilly side which makes for more ideal hike conditions in my book.

Once we got to the trail head, we had to climb a few flights of stairs and then cross a bridge over the highway to get to where the start of the hike actually was. And then we began...all uphill. I don't know if I'm just in better shape or that it wasn't that hard, but it wasn't as difficult as I had expected. Once we got to the top...what a view!!

Here's some pictures for you to enjoy!

A Decision

I think I have made the decision to walk the Lake Placid half marathon in June. John is running the full marathon so I'll be there regardless, and rather than stand by myself amongst a bunch of people for 4 hours and some odd minutes, I figured I might as well just walk the half. This way, by the time I finish, I'll only have to wait an hour for him and in that hour, I can go take a shower and get cleaned up. I'm hoping that someone will come up and walk it with me, but I'm not sure if that will work out for anyone or not. I'd rather walk it with someone so that way the time will go faster, but if not, I'll just jam to my Ipod.

Spring Cleaning

I spent the mass majority of my day giving my house a much needed spring cleaning, and I am nowhere near finished. However, I am making a dent which is the most important thing.

Good Sign

Today at physical therapy, after my heat and anti-inflammatory patch therapy, I stretched out my hip and barely had any pain. I'm not going to say that it's better, nor am I going to attempt to do anything other than I've been doing on the workout regime, but, I'm hoping that the lack of pain is a good sign, and that within a month or two that I can be back into everything. Even though the doctor told me I could run in May, I'm thinking I may wait longer...just incase.

It's a crappy day here which makes me feel lazy. I did make it to spin, but I am not feeling motivated to do anything else the rest of the day. I still have mountains of laundry from when John was on 3rd shift (our washer and dryer is right outside our bedroom door in the hallway upstairs) and I just don't feel like doing it. Oh well...there's always tomorrow.

Happy Easter

I hope everyone had a great Easter. It was a regular day at my house. John slept all day since he worked last night and I spent my last day sitting on the couch before I hit the workout routine harder starting tomorrow. A week off has been great, but I feel lazy and my hip doesn't feel any different than if I would have been working out all week (which shoots the whole "rest will make it better" idea) so it's time to get back to the grind...tomorrow.

Beautiful Day

What a gorgeous day it was here today!! It was high 70s, sunny, and all around perfect. My neighbor and I donned our sunscreen and sat in our front yard in lawn chairs for a good part of the afternoon. It felt wonderful!

I grilled chicken for dinner with greenbeans and homemade pasta salad. I picked up some char seasoning a few weeks ago at The Meat House and we love putting it on things. It forms a crust on the meat and seals in the juices which makes whatever meat we use that much better. I love grilling because it's makes for easy clean up which is always a plus.

John is still on nights and that leaves me to go to the grocery by myself which doesn't bother me as a whole, but annoys me because I feel like you have to be a defensive driver of the cart and dodge all the people who stand on the middle of the isle as if miffed by what they're seeing on the shelves. So, rather than go tomorrow and deal with people, I went tonight around 9:20. It was pure bliss! The parking lot wad empty along with the store which made for a very pleasant shopping experience for me.

Job!

I have a job!

Granted it's only a temporary one that will last 3 weeks and it's not teaching. However, it is grading writing responses from standardized tests which is related to teaching and is something I'm curious to see. Some people don't realize how heavily a child's future rides on these tests because if you fail them in many states, you don't graduate. And on the other side of that, if the kids don't do well, the teachers get in trouble and it looks bad on the schools as well. I'm curious to see what kind of people are hired to grade these responses and how they "train" people to grade them.

My motivation for taking this job? Ever since I started spin class, I've wanted a spin bike to have so I could do it at home the days I don't go to class. We use John's paycheck to pay the bills, so any job/money I make, we use for splurges. I'm hoping that once it starts, that the 2 or 3 weeks it lasts are ok, and that the job is tolerable because I know it will come back again a few times throughout the year, and if it's one I can tolerate, I'll sign up for it again. Here's hoping!