So...as I'm sitting here watching the All-Star game, I realized I might as well update so I don't go a month without updating again...it's only been, GASP, a week!
What's new in my life? Umm...I house-sat and puppy nephew-sat for Stef and Greg from Thursday to Sunday...that was fun! Jacky and I had a good time snuggling every night! And he had fun waking me at 445 and 630 every morning! Except Sunday...sunday he waited until 830 to wake me up...that was very considerate of him! Apparantly Sunday is a day of rest for dogs too...
Then on Monday, we had Mom's speech. Mom (Belinda to all you folks who are not her children) is going back to school at Northwestern College to get a degree in some counseling/preachy/something I can't remember. That's a horrible description but I honestly can't remember what it's called. All I know is that she wants to help sick people in a Godly way or something. lol...ok stop laughing at the description. Anyways, before she can officially start that degree, she's got to get a few gen ed credits out of the way--so right now, she's taking an independent study speech class...and since it's independent study, she has to find 12 people to listen to each speech (there's 4). This was her last one so we had a bunch of family, and Greg's family, over to Stefs last night to listen to the speech and then have dinner together. That was actually a lot of fun! It's nice every once in awhile to get together with everyone...even though I didn't get to talk to everyone for a long time, it's still nice to see them periodically.
So, after a long few days, I got a surprise today! Christy didn't have to go into work today which means I didn't have to go into work today either! That was nice. Although, it would have been better if I didn't have to go tomorrow for my 11--possibly, 12--hour day! haha Noo...I really don't mind it, I love my job and I actually kinda miss Gracie so it'll be nice to get back tomorrow...and hopefully get Gracie back on her schedule that I'm sure she was off of today. :)
Other than that, not much else is new...OH! I talked to padre about my plan and he said he wants me to stay for a year. Or that he thought I would stay for a year. So my plan is basically to have a goal of moving out in October, just saving up plenty but know that I have the option to stay. It's basically going to come down to how much I make at my next job. If I make enough, I think I'll still stick to my plan of October...if not, I may stay awhile longer and really save everything. So cross your fingers that I can find a family who will pay me enough that I can move out! Not that I don't love living with dad but at almost 23, I'm itching to get out on my own and have my own place!
So that's that...hopefully I'll see you again soon! ;) Peace!
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
In....West Philadelphia born and raised...
*edit*loooooong post....so bypass if you like!
Soo...lack of updates has basically been lack of motivation. And really just not a necessity since there's pretty much only one person that reads this...anywho, I shall oblige her a new post since I bother her when she doesn't update in two days... =D
Nanny job still going good. Check.
Annoyed that I'm working retail again. Check.
Loving padre's place (minus the centipedes). Check.
Still have the most adorable nephew on the face of the earth. Check.
Let's see, let's see...what else is new. Umm I have to start paying student loans soon. That will be fun. If I don't consolidate, I'll be paying $363/month which is RI.DIC.ULOUS. Therefore, I am consolidating...not sure how I want to do it yet...I have a few different option. We'll see where they take me. But I'm really not too concerned about extending the length of paying them off since I can always make extra payments to get them paid off earlier.
I also suppose I should get my medical/dental insurance started up here. Again, lack of motivation. I know, I know..."WHAT IF SOMETHING HAPPENS TO YOU?!" Well, I'm pretty positive that what I did to my foot earlier this year WAS a break so I don't think anything much worse than that can happen...unless of course, I get cancer. Cross your fingers! (Ok stef...that wasn't funny.)
One exciting thing going on is that I'm actually. making. money. GASP! Right, I've had the job for just over a month but I obviously didn't get paid right away since you always have to wait the week or two for payment to get started. Plus my first paycheck was just for one week. So let me tell you how nice it is to get paid for TWO weeks of work! Without getting into specifics, let's just say that I've never had a paycheck be as much as my last one was. It's wonderful being able to actually put money into my savings account and leave it there and to have more than a couple hundred dollars in my checking account! Luckily staying at padre's gives me the opportunity to SAVE SAVE SAVE so I am fully taking advantage of that.
Also...I have a new plan. And padre doesn't know about it yet but I'm pretty sure he'll be cool with it since he said I could stay as long as I wanted...and since he told me that he'd like me to stay so I can save. I don't know what's going on with moving in with Gina right now but regardless of what happens with that, my hope is to be able to stay with padre until my current job is over (October 24th is my last day I believe). Ideally, I'd like to take that last week of October off and then start with a new family (or job) on November 3rd (a monday). Even more ideally, I would like to have enough saved by then and be making enough at my new job that I would be able to be in my own apartment by then. It would work out perfectly if I could take off that last week in October, move into my new place then, have a week to get accustomed and enjoy some time off and then start a new job on Monday. In a perfect world, that's how I envision the future. =)
Hopefully I can make that vision a reality! I've been really good about not spending money (and I feel I can get pretty personal here with details since no one really reads this except for those people that would already know the details). Really the only money I spend now is on gas, groceries, cell phone, and gifts! That sounds funny...I'm racking my brain and I really can't come up with anything else I spend money on...I mean, occasionally I'll go out to dinner with family or friends but typically, we don't go anywhere expensive so it's under $10. And I don't even do that a lot. And occasionally if I find a good deal for something that I do actually need or will need in the near future, then I will get it when I see it--but there really hasn't even been much of that! In the next month-ish, we can add student loans and insurance in there but even that isn't too bad.
Plus, on a positive note, I was talking to Christy (the mom of my nanny family) and she said that she's been lucky with this summer being able to have some half days but once the summer ends, she'll be back to working full days which means I will as well. And as much as I LOVE sleeping in a little on Tuesdays, I find that {in my old age} it's better if I get up earlier anyways...sleeping in just makes me more tired during the rest of the day. (Plus I can sleep when Gracie takes her first nap of the day!) Basically what that means is an increase in hours (yes I know I have a minimum but working even 3 hours over that per week is good extra money!). As of since I started, I've been averaging in between 35 and 40 hours--so when Christy stops half days, I'm anticipating 40-45 but even hoping for a little more. I think my Thursdays will stay half days (7am-130pm) since Jeff is the one that gets home early but Tuesdays and Fridays will be full days. Even going up from 35 to 40 hours a week, that's an extra $55 (about) per week so over the course of the month, that adds up! I mean think about it, that would pay for my student loans and cell phone plus some...not too shabby! Ok so maybe it's not that big of a deal but I'm a dork and I get excited about stuff like that! Anyways, my whole reasoning for explaining that was so I can visualize reaching my goal! Hopefully by working a few more hours a week, I'll be able to save more and my apartment can be in reach!
Explanation: If I HAD to move out on my own right now, I could afford it. I could afford the apartment, the utilities, the cable, the internet, everything. However, I couldn't afford the apartment that I really really really want. Especially if I end up living on my own. The apartment I want is much nicer than your average apartment--they're brand new and super nice plus they're in a great location! Ideally (I like this word tonight apparantly), I'd like to save up so I can get the apartment I want. But it's nice to know that if I absolutely had to, I could afford to live on my own. My goal by the time I move out is to have at least half a years rent saved up--so at least a few thousand. If I can have that in my savings and be able to pay all my current bills without dipping into that, then I think I will be in great shape!
Something i'm excited about is learning lots of cost-saving ideas! Before living on my own in the "real world" (and this includes down at school), I just never really thought about it. I didn't have big kid bills to pay so it just didn't really phase me. I mean yeah, I was your average college student and I had a cell phone bill and car insurance, credit cards and tuition to pay for. But I was at that stage where as long as I worked full-time over the summer and had a part-time job during the school year, I could afford all that. Now that I'm realizing what entails living a big kid life, I'm enjoying finding ways to save! I used to laugh at Stef for cutting coupons--I think my normal quote was "who cares, it's 30 cents!" Ok well multiply that by 20 coupons and you're on your way to saving! I am TOTALLY a coupon cutter now! It's ridiculous. I look for good deals, I try to buy everything on sale, I use as many coupons as I can--if I find something that I need on a regular basis and it's a great deal, I'll stock up on it so I won't need to buy it for awhile. I am officially a geeky penny pincher. And luckily when I did my budget, I estimated OVER what I would actually spend so that I could save the extra.
One place that I overestimated a little too much was in the grocery area. Now, granted, I--again--have coupons so those help too--but I've definitely been spending less on groceries than I thought I would. And I think part of that has to do with the fact that I'm trying to be healthier and eat less anyways--so the less I eat, the less I need to buy which means saving more!
Which brings me to the next cool part of my life (seriously...stop reading if you're bored...I know I'm rambling on but I'll just keep going...). Caela told me about this website, http://www.myfitnesspal.com/, and it is awesome! It's basically like Weight Watchers, only free. You can keep a food and fitness diary and it calculates all your totals for the day. It sets up a plan for you--you say how much you want to lose, when you want to lose it by and they tell you how many calories to eat. Pretty simple. There's also recipes and a 'community' of people that are there to support you and help you every step of the way. You can advice, recipes, questions answered or just have a conversation with someone about something--it's pretty awesome. So Stef and I both signed up for that and we decided we're going to check up on each other and make sure that we're both staying on track. For me it was a combination of lack of motivation and disgust in seeing what I was eating that made me quit every other "diet" before. (Well..I don't consider this a diet...just eating healthy. That's probably a good start.) But Stef and I agreed that we would be honest in our food and fitness diaries and be positive reinforcement for each other. I definitely need someone that can look at what I'm eating and let me know when I probably didn't do the greatest job. And I know Stef will do that..I mean obviously it won't be beneficial to hear "you suck, you're getting fat" but I have every confidence that if I screw up, Stef will say something like "hey look at this day...you kind of strayed on the healthy stuff didn't you?" and that will help so much--because I really don't want to hear that. So if I know Stef is going to look at my food journal, I want to be hearing something like "wow, you're eating great lately!"
And I'm also going to try and get more exercise than I have been...eventually, once I have my health insurance and am pretty set in my income, I'll be getting a membership at a fitness club...my health insurance will give me $20 towards one every month so depending upon where I go, I may end up paying anywhere from only $10 to somewhere around $30 (which still isn't bad). Until then, I'd like to take Gracie on at least one walk a day for at least 30 minutes. Tuesdays might be the day that proves tough--at least while Christy has half days--the mornings are when I like to go because it's not too hot. Afternoons have been pretty hot lately with no breeze so its tough to take Gracie out--since I have to either close up her stroller so the sun doesn't get on her skin or cover her up with a blanket cuz of the sun (Christy doesn't want her wearing sunscreen yet). But even if I can do 4 out of 5 days, that's a good start! Plus I'm thinking about bringing an exercise tape over to the Furmaneks to do while Gracie naps. I'll probably only bring it on days that I don't work at Linens N Things at night so I'm not all gross and sweaty and smelly going to work...so there's my plans! All of them I guess...haha
So now that I've written about 20,000 more sentences than I meant to....have a great night!
P.S. If any of you got to this point...wow! I don't think I could stick it out and I wrote it...
Soo...lack of updates has basically been lack of motivation. And really just not a necessity since there's pretty much only one person that reads this...anywho, I shall oblige her a new post since I bother her when she doesn't update in two days... =D
Nanny job still going good. Check.
Annoyed that I'm working retail again. Check.
Loving padre's place (minus the centipedes). Check.
Still have the most adorable nephew on the face of the earth. Check.
Let's see, let's see...what else is new. Umm I have to start paying student loans soon. That will be fun. If I don't consolidate, I'll be paying $363/month which is RI.DIC.ULOUS. Therefore, I am consolidating...not sure how I want to do it yet...I have a few different option. We'll see where they take me. But I'm really not too concerned about extending the length of paying them off since I can always make extra payments to get them paid off earlier.
I also suppose I should get my medical/dental insurance started up here. Again, lack of motivation. I know, I know..."WHAT IF SOMETHING HAPPENS TO YOU?!" Well, I'm pretty positive that what I did to my foot earlier this year WAS a break so I don't think anything much worse than that can happen...unless of course, I get cancer. Cross your fingers! (Ok stef...that wasn't funny.)
One exciting thing going on is that I'm actually. making. money. GASP! Right, I've had the job for just over a month but I obviously didn't get paid right away since you always have to wait the week or two for payment to get started. Plus my first paycheck was just for one week. So let me tell you how nice it is to get paid for TWO weeks of work! Without getting into specifics, let's just say that I've never had a paycheck be as much as my last one was. It's wonderful being able to actually put money into my savings account and leave it there and to have more than a couple hundred dollars in my checking account! Luckily staying at padre's gives me the opportunity to SAVE SAVE SAVE so I am fully taking advantage of that.
Also...I have a new plan. And padre doesn't know about it yet but I'm pretty sure he'll be cool with it since he said I could stay as long as I wanted...and since he told me that he'd like me to stay so I can save. I don't know what's going on with moving in with Gina right now but regardless of what happens with that, my hope is to be able to stay with padre until my current job is over (October 24th is my last day I believe). Ideally, I'd like to take that last week of October off and then start with a new family (or job) on November 3rd (a monday). Even more ideally, I would like to have enough saved by then and be making enough at my new job that I would be able to be in my own apartment by then. It would work out perfectly if I could take off that last week in October, move into my new place then, have a week to get accustomed and enjoy some time off and then start a new job on Monday. In a perfect world, that's how I envision the future. =)
Hopefully I can make that vision a reality! I've been really good about not spending money (and I feel I can get pretty personal here with details since no one really reads this except for those people that would already know the details). Really the only money I spend now is on gas, groceries, cell phone, and gifts! That sounds funny...I'm racking my brain and I really can't come up with anything else I spend money on...I mean, occasionally I'll go out to dinner with family or friends but typically, we don't go anywhere expensive so it's under $10. And I don't even do that a lot. And occasionally if I find a good deal for something that I do actually need or will need in the near future, then I will get it when I see it--but there really hasn't even been much of that! In the next month-ish, we can add student loans and insurance in there but even that isn't too bad.
Plus, on a positive note, I was talking to Christy (the mom of my nanny family) and she said that she's been lucky with this summer being able to have some half days but once the summer ends, she'll be back to working full days which means I will as well. And as much as I LOVE sleeping in a little on Tuesdays, I find that {in my old age} it's better if I get up earlier anyways...sleeping in just makes me more tired during the rest of the day. (Plus I can sleep when Gracie takes her first nap of the day!) Basically what that means is an increase in hours (yes I know I have a minimum but working even 3 hours over that per week is good extra money!). As of since I started, I've been averaging in between 35 and 40 hours--so when Christy stops half days, I'm anticipating 40-45 but even hoping for a little more. I think my Thursdays will stay half days (7am-130pm) since Jeff is the one that gets home early but Tuesdays and Fridays will be full days. Even going up from 35 to 40 hours a week, that's an extra $55 (about) per week so over the course of the month, that adds up! I mean think about it, that would pay for my student loans and cell phone plus some...not too shabby! Ok so maybe it's not that big of a deal but I'm a dork and I get excited about stuff like that! Anyways, my whole reasoning for explaining that was so I can visualize reaching my goal! Hopefully by working a few more hours a week, I'll be able to save more and my apartment can be in reach!
Explanation: If I HAD to move out on my own right now, I could afford it. I could afford the apartment, the utilities, the cable, the internet, everything. However, I couldn't afford the apartment that I really really really want. Especially if I end up living on my own. The apartment I want is much nicer than your average apartment--they're brand new and super nice plus they're in a great location! Ideally (I like this word tonight apparantly), I'd like to save up so I can get the apartment I want. But it's nice to know that if I absolutely had to, I could afford to live on my own. My goal by the time I move out is to have at least half a years rent saved up--so at least a few thousand. If I can have that in my savings and be able to pay all my current bills without dipping into that, then I think I will be in great shape!
Something i'm excited about is learning lots of cost-saving ideas! Before living on my own in the "real world" (and this includes down at school), I just never really thought about it. I didn't have big kid bills to pay so it just didn't really phase me. I mean yeah, I was your average college student and I had a cell phone bill and car insurance, credit cards and tuition to pay for. But I was at that stage where as long as I worked full-time over the summer and had a part-time job during the school year, I could afford all that. Now that I'm realizing what entails living a big kid life, I'm enjoying finding ways to save! I used to laugh at Stef for cutting coupons--I think my normal quote was "who cares, it's 30 cents!" Ok well multiply that by 20 coupons and you're on your way to saving! I am TOTALLY a coupon cutter now! It's ridiculous. I look for good deals, I try to buy everything on sale, I use as many coupons as I can--if I find something that I need on a regular basis and it's a great deal, I'll stock up on it so I won't need to buy it for awhile. I am officially a geeky penny pincher. And luckily when I did my budget, I estimated OVER what I would actually spend so that I could save the extra.
One place that I overestimated a little too much was in the grocery area. Now, granted, I--again--have coupons so those help too--but I've definitely been spending less on groceries than I thought I would. And I think part of that has to do with the fact that I'm trying to be healthier and eat less anyways--so the less I eat, the less I need to buy which means saving more!
Which brings me to the next cool part of my life (seriously...stop reading if you're bored...I know I'm rambling on but I'll just keep going...). Caela told me about this website, http://www.myfitnesspal.com/, and it is awesome! It's basically like Weight Watchers, only free. You can keep a food and fitness diary and it calculates all your totals for the day. It sets up a plan for you--you say how much you want to lose, when you want to lose it by and they tell you how many calories to eat. Pretty simple. There's also recipes and a 'community' of people that are there to support you and help you every step of the way. You can advice, recipes, questions answered or just have a conversation with someone about something--it's pretty awesome. So Stef and I both signed up for that and we decided we're going to check up on each other and make sure that we're both staying on track. For me it was a combination of lack of motivation and disgust in seeing what I was eating that made me quit every other "diet" before. (Well..I don't consider this a diet...just eating healthy. That's probably a good start.) But Stef and I agreed that we would be honest in our food and fitness diaries and be positive reinforcement for each other. I definitely need someone that can look at what I'm eating and let me know when I probably didn't do the greatest job. And I know Stef will do that..I mean obviously it won't be beneficial to hear "you suck, you're getting fat" but I have every confidence that if I screw up, Stef will say something like "hey look at this day...you kind of strayed on the healthy stuff didn't you?" and that will help so much--because I really don't want to hear that. So if I know Stef is going to look at my food journal, I want to be hearing something like "wow, you're eating great lately!"
And I'm also going to try and get more exercise than I have been...eventually, once I have my health insurance and am pretty set in my income, I'll be getting a membership at a fitness club...my health insurance will give me $20 towards one every month so depending upon where I go, I may end up paying anywhere from only $10 to somewhere around $30 (which still isn't bad). Until then, I'd like to take Gracie on at least one walk a day for at least 30 minutes. Tuesdays might be the day that proves tough--at least while Christy has half days--the mornings are when I like to go because it's not too hot. Afternoons have been pretty hot lately with no breeze so its tough to take Gracie out--since I have to either close up her stroller so the sun doesn't get on her skin or cover her up with a blanket cuz of the sun (Christy doesn't want her wearing sunscreen yet). But even if I can do 4 out of 5 days, that's a good start! Plus I'm thinking about bringing an exercise tape over to the Furmaneks to do while Gracie naps. I'll probably only bring it on days that I don't work at Linens N Things at night so I'm not all gross and sweaty and smelly going to work...so there's my plans! All of them I guess...haha
So now that I've written about 20,000 more sentences than I meant to....have a great night!
P.S. If any of you got to this point...wow! I don't think I could stick it out and I wrote it...
Thursday, June 5, 2008
lots of updates!
No internet=no updates :( Luckily, I got off work early today so I'm at Stefs until I have to go to the OTHER work at 530 so I thought I'd update while I have internet access!
...that's right, you heard me right...a SECOND job! I got the job with the family from Lino Lakes that I didn't tell you I interviewed with! I interviewed with them two weeks ago--exactly, actually. I loved them right off the bat--they were so nice...I usually get really nervous in interviews but I wasn't nervous at all--and when I left I realized that I really really wanted this job! But I didn't want to say anything to anyone because I didn't want to jinx myself. So to keep my mind off whether I got the job or not (yeah right!) I worked at Linens N Things all weekend. Luckily, I didn't have to wait TOO long--Christy called on Monday and offered me the position!! So, I started a week later, this past Monday. Finally, 5 months after looking for a job, I find one! Well, I had LNT but a REAL job!
So, let me tell you a little about the family. Their names are Christy and Jeff Furmanek. (Christy and Jeff...sound familiar to anyone? haha) Christy is finishing up med school and she's going to be a neurologist--Jeff is a bone doctor (I can't remember the real name...oops!) The schedule is pretty great too. Monday-Friday, in between 30 and 50 hours a week. I generally start at 7am (although this week, I've already have a 1230 and 9 o'clock start) and usually Mondays and Thursdays, Jeff gets home early..in between 130 and 330. Tuesdays and Wednesdays will typically be a little longer--one of them will get home anywhere between 5 and 730 so it has the potential to be a 12.5 hour day but it's really not that bad. I work a 10.5 hour day on Wednesday and it flew by! And on Fridays, Christy will generally get home a little earlier...not WAY early but earlier. Tomorrow she'll be home around 230-3 so that's nice. I can also keep my hours at LNT which is REALLY nice because having both incomes is going to be nice so I can save for the next few months! I can work Mon/Thurs/Fri nights (someone will always be home by at least 500 so I can get to work on time) and I asked for Tues/Wed nights off since those are the later nights. But the nice thing about that is that even if they get home later, I still have the rest of the night to just hang out instead of work until 930. And it's nice that the nights are broken up--this week, I worked Tues/Wed/Thurs--since it's 4:00 on Thursday, I haven't even started that shift but I'm already wiped from working 3 14+ hour days! Let me tell you, I've been sleeping great the past few nights! haha I also still have weekends at LNT so hopefully I can average in between 20-25 hours per week there too!
The funny thing (to me at least) about this is that I am so NOT a morning person! And at first I thought being up at 6am to get to work by 7am would be rough but it really hasn't been! I realized that, while it's hard WAKING up, once I am up, it's not that hard to stay awake. Plus I've been forcing myself to go to sleep earlier so that I'm getting enough sleep. I know I know...I'm growing up! haha
The other new news is that I moved into padre's place this past weekend! I am actually really enjoying it and think it's going to be great! I'm not sure how long I'll stay (I still have to talk to Gina about when she wants to move out/contact the apartment and see if there's still one available!) but while I'm there, my plans are to SAVE, SAVE, SAVE!! Padre is so funny though--he basically turned the basement into a "mini apartment" for me...he doesn't really use the basement for much so he put a bed down there and he got a closet on wheels. Plus he's getting a dresser so I could put my clothes in there. There's also an entertainment center and a couch down there..so it's kind of like I have a living room and a bedroom! I also have a bathroom downstairs too. No shower but that's ok--I didn't even realize there was a bathroom down there! It makes it so nice because I can just brush my teeth and go to the bathroom before bed without worrying about going upstairs and waking dad! So, I'm real excited about staying with him and thus far, it's been a blast! I think dad's getting used to it so that's good!
Ok I think that's all the updating I can do for now! I have to shower before work (ugh..I don't want to go! haha)
One last note: CONGRATS GINA! My soon to be roommate got a job!! She starts on Monday so I'm super excited! Now we can finally start making our apartment goal a reality!! YAY!
...that's right, you heard me right...a SECOND job! I got the job with the family from Lino Lakes that I didn't tell you I interviewed with! I interviewed with them two weeks ago--exactly, actually. I loved them right off the bat--they were so nice...I usually get really nervous in interviews but I wasn't nervous at all--and when I left I realized that I really really wanted this job! But I didn't want to say anything to anyone because I didn't want to jinx myself. So to keep my mind off whether I got the job or not (yeah right!) I worked at Linens N Things all weekend. Luckily, I didn't have to wait TOO long--Christy called on Monday and offered me the position!! So, I started a week later, this past Monday. Finally, 5 months after looking for a job, I find one! Well, I had LNT but a REAL job!
So, let me tell you a little about the family. Their names are Christy and Jeff Furmanek. (Christy and Jeff...sound familiar to anyone? haha) Christy is finishing up med school and she's going to be a neurologist--Jeff is a bone doctor (I can't remember the real name...oops!) The schedule is pretty great too. Monday-Friday, in between 30 and 50 hours a week. I generally start at 7am (although this week, I've already have a 1230 and 9 o'clock start) and usually Mondays and Thursdays, Jeff gets home early..in between 130 and 330. Tuesdays and Wednesdays will typically be a little longer--one of them will get home anywhere between 5 and 730 so it has the potential to be a 12.5 hour day but it's really not that bad. I work a 10.5 hour day on Wednesday and it flew by! And on Fridays, Christy will generally get home a little earlier...not WAY early but earlier. Tomorrow she'll be home around 230-3 so that's nice. I can also keep my hours at LNT which is REALLY nice because having both incomes is going to be nice so I can save for the next few months! I can work Mon/Thurs/Fri nights (someone will always be home by at least 500 so I can get to work on time) and I asked for Tues/Wed nights off since those are the later nights. But the nice thing about that is that even if they get home later, I still have the rest of the night to just hang out instead of work until 930. And it's nice that the nights are broken up--this week, I worked Tues/Wed/Thurs--since it's 4:00 on Thursday, I haven't even started that shift but I'm already wiped from working 3 14+ hour days! Let me tell you, I've been sleeping great the past few nights! haha I also still have weekends at LNT so hopefully I can average in between 20-25 hours per week there too!
The funny thing (to me at least) about this is that I am so NOT a morning person! And at first I thought being up at 6am to get to work by 7am would be rough but it really hasn't been! I realized that, while it's hard WAKING up, once I am up, it's not that hard to stay awake. Plus I've been forcing myself to go to sleep earlier so that I'm getting enough sleep. I know I know...I'm growing up! haha
The other new news is that I moved into padre's place this past weekend! I am actually really enjoying it and think it's going to be great! I'm not sure how long I'll stay (I still have to talk to Gina about when she wants to move out/contact the apartment and see if there's still one available!) but while I'm there, my plans are to SAVE, SAVE, SAVE!! Padre is so funny though--he basically turned the basement into a "mini apartment" for me...he doesn't really use the basement for much so he put a bed down there and he got a closet on wheels. Plus he's getting a dresser so I could put my clothes in there. There's also an entertainment center and a couch down there..so it's kind of like I have a living room and a bedroom! I also have a bathroom downstairs too. No shower but that's ok--I didn't even realize there was a bathroom down there! It makes it so nice because I can just brush my teeth and go to the bathroom before bed without worrying about going upstairs and waking dad! So, I'm real excited about staying with him and thus far, it's been a blast! I think dad's getting used to it so that's good!
Ok I think that's all the updating I can do for now! I have to shower before work (ugh..I don't want to go! haha)
One last note: CONGRATS GINA! My soon to be roommate got a job!! She starts on Monday so I'm super excited! Now we can finally start making our apartment goal a reality!! YAY!
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
my new fascination!
Monday, May 26, 2008
i'm not lame enough to...
...title this post the same as my facebook album...so i'll switch it up a bit: Cole and Melanie's days of fun!!! (friends anyone?) So this past weekend, Stef and Greg went up to Duluth for their anniversary/birthdays....and yay for me, I got to stay with Cole!! They left at about 10 on Friday morning and came back at about 4 in the afternoon on Saturday so I got some much needed auntie-nephew time with my godson! P.S. When Stef told me they would be home "between 4 and 7 on Saturday" I made a bet with myself that that meant 4 on the dot. I won.
This is Cole's mega excited face...he was super happy all weekend! (Don't worry Stef, I know he missed you!) But I was happy that he was happy...and plus who isn't more fun when they're happy anyways?!
Okay so during lunch on Friday, Cole thought it was really fun to clap. So I started clapping back at him and when I did that, he thought it was hilarious. Unfortunately clapping with a camera is quite difficult so I managed to get no smile out of Cole...just claps...
This is Cole, waiting extremely patiently for his lunch! Auntie doesn't work fast enough apparently...
During bathtime, I gave Cole a bunch of his toys and (before he found the Cascade bottle full of holes that took up 10 minutes of bath time) he had fun playing with his crayons...look what he wrote on the tub wall! And after he finished his name...check out what he wrote next....he loves his auntie! 
So this is Cole's fro head after his bath....
And this is the Donald Trump sweepover I gave him!
Peek!!
I decided to take Cole to Como Zoo...I wanted to do something fun instead of just be boring and stay around the house so I thought Como could be a quick trip and we wouldn't mess with Cole's schedule. I promise he had fun even though it doesn't look like it in the following picture! He just wasn't quite sure what to think of the gorilla statue and I don't think he was used to the zoo yet...it was beyond crowded!!!
Then I decided to stand up Cole next to the gorilla---he started making this face that, until Stef and I saw this picture, we weren't sure where it came from. Well....pretty sure it came from this gorilla!!
Caela came with too and that was a lot of fun! Cole loves her (of course) and I absolutely love this picture of them!! See, he did smile!
This is Cole's mega excited face...he was super happy all weekend! (Don't worry Stef, I know he missed you!) But I was happy that he was happy...and plus who isn't more fun when they're happy anyways?!
Okay so during lunch on Friday, Cole thought it was really fun to clap. So I started clapping back at him and when I did that, he thought it was hilarious. Unfortunately clapping with a camera is quite difficult so I managed to get no smile out of Cole...just claps...
This is Cole, waiting extremely patiently for his lunch! Auntie doesn't work fast enough apparently...
During bathtime, I gave Cole a bunch of his toys and (before he found the Cascade bottle full of holes that took up 10 minutes of bath time) he had fun playing with his crayons...look what he wrote on the tub wall! And after he finished his name...check out what he wrote next....he loves his auntie! 
I decided to give Cole a mohawk while his hair was wet...unfortunately that kid's hair grows so freakishly fast, it would fall over because it was so long!
So this is Cole's fro head after his bath....And this is the Donald Trump sweepover I gave him!
Peek!!
I decided to take Cole to Como Zoo...I wanted to do something fun instead of just be boring and stay around the house so I thought Como could be a quick trip and we wouldn't mess with Cole's schedule. I promise he had fun even though it doesn't look like it in the following picture! He just wasn't quite sure what to think of the gorilla statue and I don't think he was used to the zoo yet...it was beyond crowded!!!
Then I decided to stand up Cole next to the gorilla---he started making this face that, until Stef and I saw this picture, we weren't sure where it came from. Well....pretty sure it came from this gorilla!!Caela came with too and that was a lot of fun! Cole loves her (of course) and I absolutely love this picture of them!! See, he did smile!I think Cole's favorite part was the lions. I think he liked the monkeys too but there were SOOO many people that we couldnt' really get close enough to see...but with the tiger, we got RIGHT up there! And with the lions, he could see them from across the glass...he MAY have banged on the glass a couple times (oops!) but I don't think the lion minded and it made Cole laugh so hey! whatever works...
And....one of my favorite pictures of Cole from the whole day!! This is while we were looking at the lions...I told you he loved them!
Monday, May 19, 2008
bobby korecky made my night
So...no updates right? Mostly I don't post updates at the moment because it makes me depressed to repeatedly write "No news on the job front yet...." So I just kind of have been avoiding writing it...as soon as I think SOMETHING might work out, it just doesn't so it's easier to not say anything to anyone than to field questions about this and that.
Luckily for me, I'll be living with one of my best friends shortly (come on job!) and we both have such great senses of humor (modest I know) that we can joke about our situations at the moment...this is a convo I had with Gina earlier tonight:
lemonielynn: today, i sat in rugs for 45 minutes and searched the internet on my phone
The0riginal11: hahaha
lemonielynn: seriously
lemonielynn: didn't move a muscle for 45 minutes
lemonielynn: this was right after my half hour break that was really about 45 minutes
The0riginal11: haha...nice work
The0riginal11: i reorganized the cigarettes
lemonielynn: lol
The0riginal11: that's how bored i was
lemonielynn: i reorganized toilet seats the other day....i was THISCLOSE to texting you and saying "look what a (almost) college degree can get you"
The0riginal11: hey, i have my degree...i was playing with cigarettes all day
I hope you're laughing...
And lastly, the tWINs game just got over and they pulled it off! We may have used every single one of our bench players and all but one of our pitchers (who, just so happened, to be in the on deck circle when the game winning hit took place) but we managed a win in the 12th inning! Kudos to Howie Clark (who? you ask....yeah, just called up from the minors for the ridiculously pathetic Punto and also to help out in the ridiculously handsome Tolbert's place while he's out)...anyway, Clark got the game-winning hit so that was awesome. But can you hold it against me if I wish Korecky had scored the game winner? Come on, think about it...an AMERICAN LEAGUE pitcher (who has been in the majors for about a second this season) has to bat in extra innings because we have no other pinch hitters....on the FIRST pitch, he rifles a hit to right field...that screams amazing! Eh, oh well...at least we got the W right?!
Now if we can only get Tolbert back.... ;)
Luckily for me, I'll be living with one of my best friends shortly (come on job!) and we both have such great senses of humor (modest I know) that we can joke about our situations at the moment...this is a convo I had with Gina earlier tonight:
lemonielynn: today, i sat in rugs for 45 minutes and searched the internet on my phone
The0riginal11: hahaha
lemonielynn: seriously
lemonielynn: didn't move a muscle for 45 minutes
lemonielynn: this was right after my half hour break that was really about 45 minutes
The0riginal11: haha...nice work
The0riginal11: i reorganized the cigarettes
lemonielynn: lol
The0riginal11: that's how bored i was
lemonielynn: i reorganized toilet seats the other day....i was THISCLOSE to texting you and saying "look what a (almost) college degree can get you"
The0riginal11: hey, i have my degree...i was playing with cigarettes all day
I hope you're laughing...
And lastly, the tWINs game just got over and they pulled it off! We may have used every single one of our bench players and all but one of our pitchers (who, just so happened, to be in the on deck circle when the game winning hit took place) but we managed a win in the 12th inning! Kudos to Howie Clark (who? you ask....yeah, just called up from the minors for the ridiculously pathetic Punto and also to help out in the ridiculously handsome Tolbert's place while he's out)...anyway, Clark got the game-winning hit so that was awesome. But can you hold it against me if I wish Korecky had scored the game winner? Come on, think about it...an AMERICAN LEAGUE pitcher (who has been in the majors for about a second this season) has to bat in extra innings because we have no other pinch hitters....on the FIRST pitch, he rifles a hit to right field...that screams amazing! Eh, oh well...at least we got the W right?!
Now if we can only get Tolbert back.... ;)
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
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