Six Things

Since this is my last post for a while I decided to post the 6 things that make me happy. Miss Merry tagged me to do this a while ago and I figure now it the perfect time.

1. My dog. He provided me with great comfort after my other dog passed away. Seeing his little face every day makes the whole thing a little less hard.

2. My family. As crazy as they are, I love them! Even though I don’t get along great with my one brother, I know he’s always there for me. My mother, who even though loves to criticize me, I know deep down she’s only doing it because she wants the very best for me.

3. My friends. Especially my best friend. She is the sister I never had and I know I can always count on her.

4. My upcoming vacation. I haven’t had a real break from work since May, so this is long over due.

5. Traveling. I hope to be able to do more of it soon!

6. Taking pictures. I love capturing memories. I love seeing the emotion. That one moment in time will forever be remembered.

I want to wish everyone Happy Holidays! I am looking forward to a new year and new beginnings!

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas

For me today is Thursday!! I’m soo happy I decided to take a little vacation around the holidays It’s like having a winter break from work! After tomorrow I probably won’t be blogging until the New Year!! I will be checking my reader and who knows if I get bored there is a chance that I’ll blog from home. From the looks of it though there won’t be much downtime for me. I was looking forward to a relaxing week, but it seems that almost everyday is filled with activities. Let’s break it down shall we?

Christmas Eve: Spend the day at my aunt’s. We usually do it at my house, but my aunt begged my mom to have it there.

Christmas Day: Drive up north to go to my other aunt’s. She goes all out for Christmas. The house is always so pretty and the food? Oh my, she goes crazy. We have appetizers, then a pasta course, and then dinner that is surf and turf. Lobster tails and/or chateaubriand, finally the dessert are cakes, pies, cookies and ice cream. I’m full just writing this.

Also as a surprise, my brother and his fiancée are driving to my aunts. She hasn’t meet most of my family yet so it will be great. Plus my cousin who is in the Air Force will be there and we haven’t seen him in over a year!

Day after Christmas: Party at my house for my brother. He is home from the states for only 3 weeks so all his friends will be stopping by to say hello.

That weekend: Spend more time with my brother and his fiancée.

Monday: Spend the day with my cousins. I’m thinking about going to the city with them but with my foot still messed up I might not be able to. In which case I’ll take them to the new outlets and go shopping as their Christmas gifts.

Tuesday: The one day I have no set plans!

New Years Eve: I’m not sure what the definite plans are yet but I will be going out with a bunch of friends to celebrate the New Year!

New Years Day: Recovery, plus go to my grandma’s.

Day After: PT in the morning, Doctors in the afternoon, then driving down to Baltimore to see friends.

That weekend: go to Virginia for an engagement party for my brother. There will be a whole lot of driving and I am not looking forward to it. I am excited to meet her family, but the thought of all that driving makes me a little sick!

As you can see my vacation is actually chock full of activities. Even though I was looking forward to a more relaxing week, I am really excited for everything!!

What are you doing for the holidays??

Crazy week

First off I’m doing much better about my dog passing away. However I do still expect to see his face every time I come home. I guess that will take some getting used to.

Otherwise this week has been crazy busy for me. I have a lot of stuff to finish up before my vacation and it doesn’t seem to be slimming down. Every time I blink I feel as though there is more then before. The good news is, after Tuesday I have a nice 10-day vacation to relax. I can’t wait!!

Also it’s snowing like crazy right now!!!! I love snow, but right now I’m really worried about my commute home tonight. I’m sure the trains will be delayed and that will not be fun for me. I just want to get home as quickly as possible. Especially after the morning I had…

This morning on the train I was sleeping, and I woke up to a woman screaming hysterically and calling for a doctor to come. Her husband was having a Seizure. Only I didn’t know it as a seizure until after. For all I knew, it was a heart attack. The train had to be stopped; all these people came running up, it was very scary. And after the week I had, I was especially upset. I just wanted this guy to be Okay. Thankfully he was. The man decided to go to a hospital in the city so we continued our journey onward. It was the tensest commute of my life.

I am so happy this week is almost over.

I will miss you

Today my dog had to be put to sleep. He was very old and it was his time.

I will miss you my puppy!! I love you.

Custom Made

First I just wanted to say that work has been interesting. I’m really busy right now but I don’t mind because the time is flying by and also because in one week I will officially be on vacation! Then my boss got a package from our sister office. There were 2 packages for me!! They were thank you/holiday presents from 2 of my co-workers. I was so surprised and really touched by the thought. It defiantly made my week!

Next Karen from Smiling Through it All had a fellow blogger interview her and she had to answer the questions honestly and post them. Sorta like a customized MEME. I really liked this idea so when Karen offered to do the same I jumped at the chance. Here are her questions and my responses. Enjoy!

1. What is your favorite Christmas movie or cartoon? Why?

That’s easy. It’s National Lampoons Christmas Vacation. It’s hysterical. Every year on Christmas Eve my family and I watch this. It’s one of the few traditions that we keep up with, so on top of it being funny; it also holds a special place in my heart because of that.

2. Are you doing anything to pursue the makeup artist dream job or have you decided to go in a different direction?

Yes actually. I have been applying like crazy for jobs in the cosmetic industry. Unfortunately because I don’t have enough experience yet and/or the economy sucks I haven’t really gotten any responses back. I would like to take another class or become an apprentice to someone but I just don’t have the time with my work hours.

However randomly, if I were to ever to say quit my job or do something drastic it would be to go back to school and study photography. Those are essentially my 2 dream jobs, and I constantly go back and forth between them.

3. Do you have a "type" that you look for in a significant other? What is that type?

I don’t know if I have a type per se. Sometimes I got for the guy that’s more masculine. You know the guy that has a constant 5 o’clock shadow, whose typical uniform is jeans and a t-shirt, loves sports and would rather die then talk about mushy stuff. Then other times I’m into the EMO guy who play guitar or piano and writes poetry. Total opposite. So I guess my dream guy would be a mesh of those two. Which I doubt is possible.

However no matter what type the guy is, they have to have a sense of humor! If a guy can’t make me laugh then forget about it.

4. What is weakness when it comes to shopping for yourself?

When shopping I have a HUGE weakness for bags. I have so many bags, clutches, wristlets, totes; you name it I’ve got it. Every time I go to a store I tend to drift to that section and always find a way to reason with myself as to why I NEED this one. I’ve gotten better at resisting but sometimes there’s one that I just can’t NOT buy.

5. Do have the desire to be a mother someday?

I can’t wait to become a mom one day! Of course I’m scared that I’ll screw the kid up, but I really look forward to becoming a mother. I love children. I used to babysit and even taught swim lessons for a while and even though it wasn’t easy at times, it never made me doubt my ability to become a mother. However I don’t want to have children until I’m in my 30s. I want to take my time. No rushing.

Finally Finished!

This weekend I finally finished my Christmas shopping!! Not only that but I even wrapped all my gifts! I am so happy! On Saturday I went to the mall and it was crowded. I mean I knew that it would be, but I was not expecting what I saw. I must of meet I got a little panicky when I saw the crowds. Especially when I went to buy cards and the line to check out was all the way to the back of the place! Thankfully the lines moved quickly and I finish in a pretty timely manner.

I also got my hair done on Saturday. I was getting crazy roots so I went to fix up my color. I kept the same one I got last time because it is just soo pretty. I also got it cut and she added a lot more layers to give my hair more volume when it’s straight. I promise after the holidays I will have an updated picture and I will post it!

The rest of the weekend was pretty calm. I was very happy about that! I was actually supposed to go out to see this local band near me on Friday but I was exhausted after the week I had. I went to bed by 11 and I didn’t wake up til 10 am!! The first time in a lonnngg time where I slept in!! I felt incredible after that!

All in all it was a really good weekend. Lots of Christmas themed activities, but very relaxing at the same time. Perfect.

What did you do this weekend?

Good Times

The party wasn’t bad. Actually it ended up being a lot of fun. That’s mostly because I drank. A lot. I wasn’t planning on drinking that much but people just kept on getting me drinks. Even while waiting online at the coat check a waitress came over and gave us Champagne with rock candy at the bottom. Can I just say, whoever thought of that is a genius. So delicious. There was a lot of food, which was also really good.

Last year I really didn’t know anyone, but this year was so different. I was all over the place talking with people. I was happy I went. Oh I forgot to mention the best part! My company gave everyone the Friday after Christmas and New Years off!! So I am taking the Monday through Wednesday off before New Years and I am taking a nice little vacation. In total I have a 10-day vacation and I only had to take 4 days off of work. How sweet is that???

The only bad this was that it was pouring rain. I walked back to the train to go home and my shoes and pants were soaking wet. My feet were so wet that they actually got all wrinkled like your hands do after swimming for a long time. I got home around 11, took a shower and went right to bed.

I was exhausted but for some reason I woke up an hour before my alarm clock. I was really hyper. Now? I’m crashing fast and I can’t wait for this day to end. This week has been crazy, all this stuff happened and it seriously feels like it’s been weeks since the last weekend. I can’t wait to go home and cozy up on my couch and watch movies. I was supposed to go out and see this local band but I’m not gonna make it. I’m too tried.

This weekend I am determined to finish my Christmas shopping and wrap all my gifts. I also plan on getting my hair done (touch up my roots).

What are your plans?

Clarification

First I wanted to try and clarify things a little better about the job situation. Right now it is VERY slow here. But even though it is slow I still have triple the amount of work as my fellow co-workers. Basically I’m bored, but for them time is standing still. The reason I have more work is because my boss trusts me the most out of everyone. Which is why I don’t understand how they are getting this amazing praise and I’m getting basically nothing.

Even thought I hate my job I NEVER slack. That’s just not who I am. I do things 100 percent or not at all. Also I’m not complaining about being busy. It at least makes the time go faster. What I am complaining about is the fact that my fellow co-workers are being treated like Gods and yet my boss keeps on giving ME their work. I don’t get it. I feel like I am being walked all over. Which I wouldn’t mind as much if when the time came for a raise, I would get my proper dues. However as of right now it seems I won’t be getting any. I’m just so upset about this I can’t even explain.

Tonight is our Christmas work party. It’s actually held at a ridiculously trendy club here in the city. Seriously, Lindsay Lohan goes to this place. Last year I went and it was fun but I didn’t really know a lot of people yet so I left kinda early. This year I was excited until all this other stuff started happening. Now I don’t even want to go. I will because there will be free booze and also a raffle which I actually won last year. I will be leaving early again, mostly because I want to get home at a semi-decent hour. Unless I have this amazing time, which I doubt, I’ll be home by 10:45.

I’ll let you know how it goes tomorrow!

Blackout

There was a huge blackout across the county that I live in last night. When I got home from work the train station was pitch black! It was so creepy and it took me a good five minutes to find my car. Also driving out of the place I had to be careful to not hit anyone walking to their car. It was that dark.

I had PT that night and somehow they still had power so I tried to make my way to the place. Not that easy. Since all the lights were out I couldn't make any left turns to go up the highway I needed to go. It took me 20 minutes to get there when it should have taken about five.

It was scary driving down certain roads with zero street lamps or even lights from houses to help guide me. Two cars almost hit me because of all the traffic mixed with confusion. This was the one time I looked forward to PT because at least they had power. Otherwise I would be at home sitting in the dark. By the time I was done, the power had been restored and I didn't have to take a shower in the dark.

Bonus! The power came back on RIGHT before House started and my DVR was able to tape the whole thing for me! I was very happy I didn't miss out because that episode rocked!

Annoyed

I know I complain about my job a lot here, but I try to censor myself about what actually happens as much as possible for fear that someone will find out where I work and my employers will find out how much I actually hate this place.

This will sound vague but it’s the best I can do right now. I work on a team with 3 other assistants under one manager. Even though I’ve been here the shortest amount of time, my boss gives me the most work to do. He trusts me to get the job done. However it seems that my fellow co-workers are getting a ton more praise for their work and efficiency then I am. Don’t ask how I know, but trust me it’s a fact.

I am FURIOUS. Seriously my manager gives me so much work that I have no idea how I accomplish it all in such a timely manner. He constantly tells me that I am a great worker and how much he appreciates the fact that I have to pickup everyone’s slack. Why the hell am I suddenly being thrown under a bus? The fact of the matter is that this praise will directly affect how much of a raise I will get in a couple of months. If my performance is seen as mediocre my raise will reflect as such. And they? Will get a much bigger raise.

Nothing is for sure yet. I haven’t received my performance review yet or anything. I won’t for a while. But as of right now it doesn’t look good and of course I can’t say anything about it because I’m not even supposed to know what I know right now. Needless to say this has given me the serious push I need to find a new job immediately.

My question for you is have you ever felt seriously under appreciated at your job? Has something like this ever happened to you? If so, how did you handle it?

Holiday Fun

This weekend was a success for Christmas shopping! I am almost done with my shopping. I just need to get a few more things this weekend and I should be set!

On Saturday I went to these new outlets that just opened up. They were insane!! It’s over 100 stores and I basically wanted to go inside EVERY SINGLE ONE. I got a lot of great deals. My friend and I were there for hours, but the time flew by. I normally hate long shopping excursions but this was actually a lot of fun. We walked around, grabbed lunch, and continued our shopping. They place it set up nicely and since they are new everything is clean and pristine. They even had Christmas Carolers set up at different parts. It defiantly got me even more into the holiday spirit.

Also I am proud of myself. I was able to restrain myself from making any personal purchases. I just bought myself a pair of puma sneaker (40 percent off!!) and a new Clinique face powder because mine was on its last leg! Everything else was for friends and family. I was defiantly proud. However you better believe that I will be back there after the holidays to score some great deals!

Shopping wiped me out so I just hung out with a friend and watch movies that night. Sunday my mom and me decorated the Christmas tree. This weekend was defiantly chockfull of holiday spirit and I loved it!!

What have you been doing to get in the holiday spirit?

Does this hurt?

I mentioned before that I need to go for physical therapy for my foot but I was having difficulty finding a place that was open late, on the weekends and accepted my insurance. After a dozen phone calls I finally found a place. I have gone to 2 sessions so far. I am not really satisfied. It’s nothing in particular but rather a bunch of little things put together which is making me loathe going.

Issue One: All the exercises they have given me, I could do at home. It mostly involves stretching my hamstrings and calf muscles and then heating and icing my foot. All of which could be done in the confines of my home…for free.

Issue Two: All Physical Therapists think they are god’s gift. I mentioned casually that I once considered majoring in PT but then decided that I really had no interest and the thought of cutting open dead people scared the bejesus out of me. He then felt the need to inform me that it is really difficult to become a PT and you need to have really great grades and stuff in order to get into a program. Basically informing me that I probably wasn’t smart enough to become one anyway. WTF. That infuriated me. It also caused me to mention to him that not only was I accepted to every college PT program I applied for, I was also offered scholarship to go to one school specifically for PT. Ass.

Issue Three: Back to my PT guy. He really likes to talk. He doesn’t stop. I get that when you’re working one on one with a person that you feel the need to make small talk. However I really hate small talk. Especially when it’s awkward. And it’s really awkward when I’m lying down on my back and you’re down near my foot, massaging it. I’d rather just silence. He also thinks he’s really funny and tells the worst jokes ever. Causing me to fake laugh and it’s getting really obvious. Which is why I am bringing a book next time I go.

Issue Four: It’s awkward. I mean for like 10 to 15 minutes each session he has to massage my foot to help loosen up my muscles and tendons. It is intimate. Not in a sexual way, but in a, there is a guy massaging my foot with cocoa butter. Which makes me feel really awkward. I forgot to mention that before the massage happens, he does this ultra sound thingy to my foot for 6 minutes. All together almost half my time is spent like this and it’s weird. It’s normal procedure. I’m not worried he is hitting on my or anything. It’s just strange. Same thing happened when I had to go to PT for my knee. Almost the whole session involved a friction massage and it got really weird after a while. Also I say massage but it is in no way pleasant. It is one of the most painful things ever. It has to be in order to really loosen up my muscles. But basically every time he asks if it hurts, I want to ask him if me hitting him in the balls would hurt.

I have 4 weeks left of PT. I’m not sure I’m going to make it!

Can you die from boredom?

Work has been SLOW. I am so bored I am running out of things to do. I had to stop myself from checking my e-mail for the 1,000th time today. It doesn’t change every minute. Facebook is maxed out to. No one is updating their pages every minute (as they should) so my stalking is at a stand still. I cleared out my Google Reader. Even my beloved gossip sites aren’t updating as often as I keep on going back to check.

I need something to do! I’ve already cleared out my filing cabinets and put them away in boxes along with excel sheets in each box that labels what’s inside. I’ve cleared out my work e-mail, and organized my files on the computer. I’ve done so much billing that I can’t bill anymore until I get the folders back from accounting. I’ve even helped out another department do things to help them get caught up. Now they are and I’m back at my desk!

Now I am out of ideas. Which is why I am blogging about being so bored. It is giving me something else to do. However I fear for myself once I post this. It’s only 2:30 and I still have over 4 hours left here! I’m begging you to tell me what you do when you’re bored at work!! I need as many tips as possible.

Which do you prefer?

I know you’ve all heard people say things like, “Yeah I saw that movie but the book was way better.” I usually feel the exact same way. With books you let your imagination run free and when you see the movie a lot of times what you visualized is not what is portrayed in the movie. It is very rare for me to prefer a movie to the book. The only one I can think of right now is Atonement. I loved the book and the movie was almost exactly how I pictured it. The cinematography was so amazing which is why I like the movie slightly more then the book. However I would still recommend you read the book before you watched the movie.

Anyway after I saw Twilight I got to thinking. How many people when after seeing a movie, decide to go and read the book? I can honestly say that I have never done that before. Before seeing Twilight I was determined to read the book before I saw the movie, because I knew if I didn’t I would never read the book. Also in books there are usually a lot of subplots that happen that never make it in the film and I hate being left out of things like that.

Take the Harry Potter books. I saw the movie before ever reading the books. I love the movies but can’t seem to make myself read the books. Even though a lot of people tell me the books are much better and there are also a ton of subplots that never make it in the movie. I just feel like, because of seeing the movie, my imagination will be limited when reading. Everything has already been laid out for me. What the characters look like, their mannerisms, and the locations will already be set. For me that’s half the fun of reading. To dream up your own images.

Have you ever seen a movie and then read the book? Did you like it? Did you end up preferring the movie or the book afterward? I’m very curious.

The season of giving

I mentioned yesterday that I braved the stores on Black Friday. What I failed to mention was the fact that 75 percent of what I bought ended up being for me and not other people. I can’t seem to stop buying crap for myself. Half of it I don’t even need. I actually bought myself a pair of Uggs. I know I know, but they are just so damn comfortable and I had a pair wayyyy before they became popular. I’m taking my freshman year of high school people. ‘Tis the season of giving and the only person I seem to be giving to is myself. Thankfully I got some self-control of myself and returned the Uggs, but only because they didn’t fit well.

The thing is, I LOVE giving gifts to people. I like taking time and searching for the perfect gift. I love to see their faces light up when they open their gifts. It is one of my favorite things about the holidays. So far I’ve only got 2 people gifts for Christmas. I really need to get moving and I’m starting to freak out that I’m not farther along. Last year at this time I was already done shopping and everything was even wrapped.

I pretty much know everything I need to get people; it’s just a matter of getting to the stores. This weekend I am determined to put a huge dent into my shopping list. My friend and I are going to these new outlet stores that just opened up. There are over 100 stores there and I heard they are amazing. I have to admit, I’m a little intimidated. But I’m glad I’m going to a place where I can hopefully get everything done. Also I am determined to NOT buy myself anything there. I doubt that that will happen, but one can try right?

Wish me luck!

Thanksgiving recap

It’s officially December! I can’t believe it. My four-day weekend was much needed but it ended way to soon. I thought it was just going to consist of me laying around and being lazy but I felt like I was barely home. Which is good I guess, except now I’m counting down to the weekend so I can catch up on some sleep.

Anyway let me start from the beginning. Wednesday is a huge night to go out. Everywhere. It is also the night where you literally see every single person that you went to high school with. It was crazy. I like going out, but I hate when I go out and you can barely move because there are so many people. I much rather be at a dive bar then dealing with this. Plus I ended up being DD, so while everyone around me was wasted I was sober counting down the minutes until it was acceptable to leave.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy that I went out and saw all those people but after a while you get tired of people asking you the same questions over and over again. “How are you? What do you do? Do you like it? Where are you living?” and then of course I can’t be rude so I have to ask them back, even if I could care less. Even if I didn’t ask them, the person would just voluntarily tell me her life story. “Well I am working at blah blah blah…”

Thanksgiving was great. My mom controlled her freak-outs about cooking and getting ready pretty well this year. Plus my uncle came early and pretty much set up everything for us! There was so much food it was insane. It was delicious and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. I love seeing all of my family and just hanging out with them. By the end of the day I was exhausted. I was defiantly in bed early.

Friday I woke up with no particular plans that day. Then I decided to test the waters and do a little shopping. I made a deal with myself that I would drive by one shopping center and if I could find a spot I would go inside. Luckily I did find one, it was not close to the door, and braved the stores. Inside them it wasn’t so bad. I got what I needed and barely had to wait in line to pay. Since that was a success I decided to brave Kohls. That was a bad idea. It was pure chaos in the store. I needed to get a watch for my friend and I found a great one that was 60 percent off plus an extra 15 percent if I bought it before noon. It was 11:30. I grabbed a ticket and waited in line. And waited. They called my number at 11:55. I quickly told her which one and paid for it. I didn’t even look at it up close. It was perfect and cheap and now I am done with that person!

Afterward my friend and I went to see Twilight. I was pretty happy with how the movie turned out. It followed the book for the most part, plus Edward was really hot. My friend who hasn’t read the book really liked the movie. I will soon start on the next book. I heard they weren’t as good, but now that I’m sucked in I can’t stop!

That night a bunch of us went out. First we went to a house party. Which I haven’t done since I was a freshman in college. I felt really old. Then the party moved on to a bar down the street and the night got infinitely better. We didn’t get home until really late and that along with the days before I was seriously lacking in sleep. I promised them I would meet them for brunch, cut to me still sleeping, and my friend calling me to see where the hell I was. I threw on my clothes and rushed to meet everyone. It was nice catching up and recapping the night with everyone. Afterwards I went home, put my PJs back on and watched movies all day long. It was great, just what I needed.

I hate to admit this but I watched some Christmas movies. The Santa Clause, Elf, and Love Actually. All favorites of mine.

All in all it was a great mini break. How was your holiday??