Well folks, it's about that time of year again. Gag and Barf day is swiftly approaching. For all you non-mind readers, that would be Valentine's Day. Blech...
I'm not a bitter person. I've had a "Valentine" for the last 6 years, and will for the rest of my life. But I still DESPISE Valentine's Day. Why?!? Because it's a STUPID holiday. Why... why, on only one day a year am I supposed to celebrate love, filled with crappy chocolates, stupid cards, and wilted flowers? Pointless!!! Absolutely pointless.
Everyday should be about love, not just 1 day a year. And WHY is the holiday about love with a significant other?!? I love my family. I love my friends. Why isn't the holiday about them too?
Thank you commercialism for making me loath Valentine's Day. I think for the holiday this year, I'll stay home once again and make dinner for my boys, like I do most days.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
The Engagement
As requested by Not the Queen (aka my sister) she asked me to blog about my engagement. I suppose it’s a natural progression from how we met, to the engagement, to well, the wedding (eventually).
So as promised, here’s the story of the engagement.
I first need to preface this story with everyone and their dog knew Corey was going to propose to me in Disneyworld, except myself and my sister (thank you mom and dad for letting me get to tell her!). I mean everyone, my parents, Corey’s parents, his sister & brother, his step siblings and their spouses, the girls he works with, even our travel agent. I’m still miffed that our travel agent knew… But such is life.
Anyway, back to the story.
About a year and a half ago, Corey and I began planning our latest trip to Disneyworld. We started planning shortly after our first trip since we had an amazing time! This trip, we decided to invite people along thinking it would increase the fun (yes and no). So after all the planning and cajoling, we managed to get my parents and Corey’s parents, sister and brother, to agree to go with us. All the rest of our invitees backed out of the vacation for a variety of reasons.
We planned, schemed, worried, fretted, reserved, argued, revised, and finally made it there all in one piece! Few… So we played in the park the day we arrived having as much fun as you can with pouring Florida rain, dashing from store to store, ride to ride, hoping you don’t drown on the way. And no I’m not talking about the daily summer showers where after 10 minutes of rain it’s dry and warm again, I’m talking about the daily summer showers where it just continues to pour non-stop. Welcome to Disneyworld…
We made the best of what we had. That evening, Corey and I had dinner reservations at Ohana at the Polynesian resort (the resort we had stayed at the first time we went to Disneyworld). The food was tasty. It was almost like a buffet. They start you out with salad, then deliver bowls of sweet “buffalo” wings, pot stickers, veggies of some variety, and noodles. The wait staff then brings around with, what I can only describe as, meat shish kabobs and portions you off some of the pork, beef, chicken and shrimp. It’s all you can eat and the food was terrific. They even brought each table a set of dipping sauces that were scrumptious. After dinner, they served a bread pudding with “burnt” banana caramel sauce. Ohhhhhhhh, so heavenly. I stuffed myself silly, but the food was mmmmmmm, mmmmmmmmm, good.
We finished up dinner with time to spare. Every night the magic kingdom has a fire works show. You can see the show from the 3 lagoon hotels (the Contemporary, the Polynesian, and the Grand Floridian). The beaches in front of the Hotel are the perfect place for viewing the fireworks. They even pump the music through the outdoor speakers in time to the fireworks so you can get the whole effect. So we wondered around the property. I thought it would have been a good idea to view the fireworks from our hotel (the Grand Floridian) thinking we could take my parents, but Corey convinced me that we should stay at the Polynesian with a little trouble (hey, I had no idea what was going on). We started out at the dock, and then decided to wander to the beach since the dock was crowded and it had stopped raining for a few moments. We wandered through the beach area, but there were no seats available, so Corey “suggested” we wonder further along the property. We hadn’t done a whole lot of wandering of the property last time we were there since there were obviously more important things to do like go on all the rides. So we wandered past the beach to a place they have called Sunset Point. Sunset point is this little point on the beach where there’s a circular cut of land that kind of juts out into the water, ringed by palm trees. So we wandered our way out there just in time for the fireworks to start. There’s this great view where the castle is framed by 2 palm trees and you get a fantastic view of all the fireworks.
So we were standing there, watching the fireworks (mind you, we had the point to ourselves) and Corey starts poking me in the back (not unusual) halfway through the show. I turned around to poke him back and he disappeared. As I turned around to find him, there he was, down on one knee, fireworks all around, holding out the ring box (thankfully not upside down. He was a little worried about that) and then he asked me. It was so sweet and uber romantic. Obviously I said yes.
So as promised, here’s the story of the engagement.
I first need to preface this story with everyone and their dog knew Corey was going to propose to me in Disneyworld, except myself and my sister (thank you mom and dad for letting me get to tell her!). I mean everyone, my parents, Corey’s parents, his sister & brother, his step siblings and their spouses, the girls he works with, even our travel agent. I’m still miffed that our travel agent knew… But such is life.
Anyway, back to the story.
About a year and a half ago, Corey and I began planning our latest trip to Disneyworld. We started planning shortly after our first trip since we had an amazing time! This trip, we decided to invite people along thinking it would increase the fun (yes and no). So after all the planning and cajoling, we managed to get my parents and Corey’s parents, sister and brother, to agree to go with us. All the rest of our invitees backed out of the vacation for a variety of reasons.
We planned, schemed, worried, fretted, reserved, argued, revised, and finally made it there all in one piece! Few… So we played in the park the day we arrived having as much fun as you can with pouring Florida rain, dashing from store to store, ride to ride, hoping you don’t drown on the way. And no I’m not talking about the daily summer showers where after 10 minutes of rain it’s dry and warm again, I’m talking about the daily summer showers where it just continues to pour non-stop. Welcome to Disneyworld…
We made the best of what we had. That evening, Corey and I had dinner reservations at Ohana at the Polynesian resort (the resort we had stayed at the first time we went to Disneyworld). The food was tasty. It was almost like a buffet. They start you out with salad, then deliver bowls of sweet “buffalo” wings, pot stickers, veggies of some variety, and noodles. The wait staff then brings around with, what I can only describe as, meat shish kabobs and portions you off some of the pork, beef, chicken and shrimp. It’s all you can eat and the food was terrific. They even brought each table a set of dipping sauces that were scrumptious. After dinner, they served a bread pudding with “burnt” banana caramel sauce. Ohhhhhhhh, so heavenly. I stuffed myself silly, but the food was mmmmmmm, mmmmmmmmm, good.
We finished up dinner with time to spare. Every night the magic kingdom has a fire works show. You can see the show from the 3 lagoon hotels (the Contemporary, the Polynesian, and the Grand Floridian). The beaches in front of the Hotel are the perfect place for viewing the fireworks. They even pump the music through the outdoor speakers in time to the fireworks so you can get the whole effect. So we wondered around the property. I thought it would have been a good idea to view the fireworks from our hotel (the Grand Floridian) thinking we could take my parents, but Corey convinced me that we should stay at the Polynesian with a little trouble (hey, I had no idea what was going on). We started out at the dock, and then decided to wander to the beach since the dock was crowded and it had stopped raining for a few moments. We wandered through the beach area, but there were no seats available, so Corey “suggested” we wonder further along the property. We hadn’t done a whole lot of wandering of the property last time we were there since there were obviously more important things to do like go on all the rides. So we wandered past the beach to a place they have called Sunset Point. Sunset point is this little point on the beach where there’s a circular cut of land that kind of juts out into the water, ringed by palm trees. So we wandered our way out there just in time for the fireworks to start. There’s this great view where the castle is framed by 2 palm trees and you get a fantastic view of all the fireworks.
So we were standing there, watching the fireworks (mind you, we had the point to ourselves) and Corey starts poking me in the back (not unusual) halfway through the show. I turned around to poke him back and he disappeared. As I turned around to find him, there he was, down on one knee, fireworks all around, holding out the ring box (thankfully not upside down. He was a little worried about that) and then he asked me. It was so sweet and uber romantic. Obviously I said yes.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
How I met Corey.
I feel as thought all I do is pour out my sob stories and complain about my life (OMG, I’m starting to sound like my Grandmother, eek!!!). So in effort to put something cheerful down, I thought I’d start today. Granted I’m in a foul-ass-mood today thanks to my wonderful boss and job… So, here’s an attempt at making my day feel a little less crappy and a little more cheerful!
How I met Corey, my fiance (tee hee hee, It's still weird calling him my fiance).
This is a cute story, I think. Most people think it is too. Corey and I met in college. We had a class or 2 together before we really met, so we kind of knew each other through association but neither of us really talked to each other. December 2001, there was a school field trip for credit going to Hawaii (yes, the actual Big Island of Hawaii). We had both signed up to go, along with some other people, some from our major, some not. I didn’t really know anyone on this trip. I had just really started into my major and knew only 1 or 2 people. I figured it’s Hawaii, I’m going to have a great time regardless of who I know.
Well yes indeed, I had a wonderful time. It was my first and only trip (so far) to Hawaii. We traveled to the Big Island to play, hike, swim, and make lava spoons (those were a complete failure. I never would have imagined that lava doesn’t like to stick to your mother’s metal spoons. Who would have guessed?) Partway through the trip, the teachers had planned a few days of pure fun. Where we could go play on the beach, go swimming, sun bathe and all around screw off. The rest of our trip was full of hikes and extremely interesting geological sites, like old lava tubes, the green sand beach, fire hoses, surface lava flows. You name it, we probably saw it. So mid-way through the trip, the teachers took us to Kona and Hapuna Beach for 2 days. We body surfed in Hapuna Beach, and shopped and snorkeled in Kona. It was fantastic.
In Hapuna Beach, we stayed at the Hapuna Beach State park A-Frames (http://www.cabinweb.com/menu/hawaii/hawaiipics/hihapuna1.htm). They were a little special looking, but did the job. There was enough room for about 4 people to share an A-Frame, more if someone wanted to sleep on the floor. So (besides the addition 2 sleepers, we unfortunately inherited) Kim (our mutual friend), Corey, and I shared a cabin. The first night we were there, our entire group went out for margarita’s and Mexican food and then we spent most of the evening wondering the beach by moonlight. It was gorgeous. The 2nd day, we spent body surfing and relaxing. That evening was the evening Corey and I really met. Kim and I had purchased a bottle of rum in the exchange at the Kilauea Military Camp (where we had been staying for the majority of our trip) before we’d left for Hapuna Beach. That 2nd night, Kim, Corey and I mixed some Rum and Cokes to enjoy. We mixed Corey some rum and rum, with a hint of coke. He’s the one who asked for it!!! Needless to say, Kim and I got Corey a little tipsy. When Corey get’s tipsy, he gets chatty. That was the night we both really got to know him.
After Hawaii, began the Thursday night bar nights (with a small portion of our Hawaii group), where we’d go out and bar hop (yes we always had a dd), play some pool, and end up back at Corey’s place to watch moves. And well, the rest is sort of history.
We had our first date on April 14th, 2002. Corey made me chicken parmesan and potatoes au gratin. I got the stomach flu for the rest of the week afterwards (it was just bad timing) but he did bring me orange tulips when I was sick. Automatic keeper!!!
And that’s the story of how Corey and I met!
How I met Corey, my fiance (tee hee hee, It's still weird calling him my fiance).
This is a cute story, I think. Most people think it is too. Corey and I met in college. We had a class or 2 together before we really met, so we kind of knew each other through association but neither of us really talked to each other. December 2001, there was a school field trip for credit going to Hawaii (yes, the actual Big Island of Hawaii). We had both signed up to go, along with some other people, some from our major, some not. I didn’t really know anyone on this trip. I had just really started into my major and knew only 1 or 2 people. I figured it’s Hawaii, I’m going to have a great time regardless of who I know.
Well yes indeed, I had a wonderful time. It was my first and only trip (so far) to Hawaii. We traveled to the Big Island to play, hike, swim, and make lava spoons (those were a complete failure. I never would have imagined that lava doesn’t like to stick to your mother’s metal spoons. Who would have guessed?) Partway through the trip, the teachers had planned a few days of pure fun. Where we could go play on the beach, go swimming, sun bathe and all around screw off. The rest of our trip was full of hikes and extremely interesting geological sites, like old lava tubes, the green sand beach, fire hoses, surface lava flows. You name it, we probably saw it. So mid-way through the trip, the teachers took us to Kona and Hapuna Beach for 2 days. We body surfed in Hapuna Beach, and shopped and snorkeled in Kona. It was fantastic.
In Hapuna Beach, we stayed at the Hapuna Beach State park A-Frames (http://www.cabinweb.com/menu/hawaii/hawaiipics/hihapuna1.htm). They were a little special looking, but did the job. There was enough room for about 4 people to share an A-Frame, more if someone wanted to sleep on the floor. So (besides the addition 2 sleepers, we unfortunately inherited) Kim (our mutual friend), Corey, and I shared a cabin. The first night we were there, our entire group went out for margarita’s and Mexican food and then we spent most of the evening wondering the beach by moonlight. It was gorgeous. The 2nd day, we spent body surfing and relaxing. That evening was the evening Corey and I really met. Kim and I had purchased a bottle of rum in the exchange at the Kilauea Military Camp (where we had been staying for the majority of our trip) before we’d left for Hapuna Beach. That 2nd night, Kim, Corey and I mixed some Rum and Cokes to enjoy. We mixed Corey some rum and rum, with a hint of coke. He’s the one who asked for it!!! Needless to say, Kim and I got Corey a little tipsy. When Corey get’s tipsy, he gets chatty. That was the night we both really got to know him.
After Hawaii, began the Thursday night bar nights (with a small portion of our Hawaii group), where we’d go out and bar hop (yes we always had a dd), play some pool, and end up back at Corey’s place to watch moves. And well, the rest is sort of history.
We had our first date on April 14th, 2002. Corey made me chicken parmesan and potatoes au gratin. I got the stomach flu for the rest of the week afterwards (it was just bad timing) but he did bring me orange tulips when I was sick. Automatic keeper!!!
And that’s the story of how Corey and I met!
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Surgery
Yup, that's right. Surgery. Fuzzy boy Felix will be going under the knife this afternoon. I'm so worried.Last night after leaving Felix at the vet, the put him under anesthesia, emptied his bladder, put in a catheter, and put him on IV fluids. He woke up from anesthesia and peed twice after 6pm last night and we left him about 5:30pm last night. Way to go my little pants boy! He's feeling okay, snuggling up to the hot water bottles in his compartment, and he's getting food today. I hope he eats it, if not, I'm sneaking him some chicken or tuna. He's a sucker for both. He's such a sucker, that yesterday when he was feeling so crappy, I still got him to eat some tuna! He's my little garbage pale!
Last night when they emptied his bladder, there were no signs of urine crystals. Bad news for us, worse news for Felix. We don't know yet what kind of crystals he has. So we have no way to determine the course of treatment. One treatment could make him worse, the other could help. We have no way of knowing. So this morning the vet took x-rays and there's one large crystal stuck in his urinary tract, and one in his kidney. Safest strategy, is to have the vet remove the crystal in his tract through surgery, the one in his kidney will remain. So my little spitty kitten will have surgery =( He's going to get the shaved tummy. We're going to go visit him today, provided the evening shift will let us in. Grandma Carol, is going to go visit her grand-kitty Felix during the morning shift. He'll need comfort from someone he recognizes! If the vet will let me, I'm bringing him a blankie from home so he has something that smells like us and his brother.
Monday, November 10, 2008
My Unique Children
Some people have biological children, some adopt, we have fluffy feline children. I dote on them like any other parent. Our boys are our life.Today is a bad day. Felix, our youngest, is sick. Sick like I could never have imagined my child could be. Sure, he has hairballs, and a few that passed the less direct rout that was cause for some real concern, but never has he been this kind of sick. Just taking one look at his face this morning, you knew something was absolutely terribly wrong.
We took Felix to the kitty doctor tonight, after the episodes of frequent visits to the potty with no success, some vomiting, and being more antisocial than usual, and frequent bouts of cries. Felix is a talker, but he's not a crier. When we'd pick him up, he'd cry. It broke my heart to hear him.
I came home from work early today because Corey and I were so worried about him. He wasn't eating or drinking. Spending the day hiding. Felix had only gotten worse as the day progressed. So I called the vet and we took him in. Poor little man. Any sort of change traumatizes him (I'm surprised the vacuum doesn't give him a coronary). So he cried his on my way to the vet cry, tried to bury himself in the towels in the carrier, and all around felt miserable.
Our little guy has urine crystals. He couldn't pee, not even a drop. So after a trembling chin, we left him at the vet, one of the most heart breaking things I've ever had to do. They put Felix to sleep, emptied his bladder, catheterized him, put him one fluids, and now my poor sweet thing has to wear a cone. The little boy who can't stand to wear a collar, what is he going to do with a cone? So he's feeling better, but isn't better, yet.
His urine was free of crystals which means he's still blocked up, which means after the x-ray the vet will take in the next day or 2, he may have to have surgery. Cosmo is already going to make fun of him for having his leg shaved, can you imagine the ridicule he's going to get if his tummy is shaved too?!? ;o)
It's amazing how much you love some one and how bad it hurts when they're sick. How miserable you feel when he's missing. How you can't wait until you get him back. I miss my Felix, my little fuzzy snuggle bug.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Riddle me this Batman...
Happy first day of school! I hate school buses, in case anyone cares. Especially when the darling little bus riders are late for their bus.
Happy first day of school, unless you live in the Bellevue school district. Your teachers are on strike, your summer vacation has been extended and likely next year's summer will be shorter. Hats off to your teachers. In my opinion, celebrities should be making minimum wage while our teachers make millions a year. But that's not the point.
The point is:
(climbing onto soap box)
Why are the teachers striking today? The Bellevue School district has known since June (mind you) that if a new contract wasn't reached by today, teachers would be striking today. Why did it take all summer for them to begin negotiations when the simple answer was to negotiate a new contract at the end of the last school year? Hmm? Riddle me that Batman...
(tripping off soap box)
I am finished.
That is all.
Happy first day of school, unless you live in the Bellevue school district. Your teachers are on strike, your summer vacation has been extended and likely next year's summer will be shorter. Hats off to your teachers. In my opinion, celebrities should be making minimum wage while our teachers make millions a year. But that's not the point.
The point is:
(climbing onto soap box)
Why are the teachers striking today? The Bellevue School district has known since June (mind you) that if a new contract wasn't reached by today, teachers would be striking today. Why did it take all summer for them to begin negotiations when the simple answer was to negotiate a new contract at the end of the last school year? Hmm? Riddle me that Batman...
(tripping off soap box)
I am finished.
That is all.
Friday, July 18, 2008
Oh to want to be a naughty girl
So I've been itching to blog for a while now. But I have been refraining, with a lot of difficulty.
I'm a currently in the middle of a new job search. I am fed up with my current employment and looking for something more fulfilling. It's been a long, frustrating process. I can't make myself apply for those jobs that will put me right back into a situation like I am in now. I just can't do it! So it's making the search and application a wee bit more difficult.
I have found the job love of my life! I just need the interview. I know in my heart if I can obtain that crucial interview, I'll nail the job. I'm keeping my entire body crossed at the moment and keeping positive about the whole thing. Please help in keeping your fingers crossed for me too!
The only little problem I see in applying for jobs is, I have to keep my nose clean and watch what I say on the internet. Many companies do internet searches to research their potential future employees. The company I have applied at, it really wouldn't surprise me if they took a peak at my bolg (hint hint, they run this blog site. Should I have said that? Ah well, I'm throwing caution to the wind). So far I haven't felt like I've posted anything abnormally outrageous, or contemptuous. All in all, it's nothing I feel I should be worried about. But boy am I'm really having to bite my tongue these past few months.
One of my former colleagues and I had many long talks about work ethics and treatment of employees, at what was once a shared employment. He has fortunately moved on to another job. Needless to say, these conversations we had were not exactly positive conversations. Now, I'm not one to talk bad about people. I like to have a positive attitude it makes life more enjoyable. The negative really does have a way of putting a dark gloom over things. And besides, it makes me feel like a horrible person talking negative about someone. It's just my nature.
So here's my dilemma. I want to share with people my current experiences to make them aware that it's NOT okay to treat your employees in such a manor as I experience every day, but I don't want it to be construed by potential future employers as bad mouthing my current employer. It's not bad mouthing I want to express, it is about basic human treatment that everyone is entitled too regardless. So I'm left in an ethical quandary as to what to do. The right thing would be to keep my fingers quite. But do I have to keep the quite forever? Is there ever a right time to share?
The best solution to my current problem, would to be to resign from my job, but with the cost of living on the rise, it would be a very irresponsible move on my part financially. So responsible I shall continue to be, but ethically torn by my standards of treatment and need to continue to bring home a paycheck. It's remarkably a hard situation to deal with. I'm starting to understand why people continue to work at low end jobs. They have to, just to make ends meet. It's a sad situation.
But, as with all things in my life, I like to try to leave things with a positive note.
There are some things I do appreciate at my job. There are people that I work with (outside my office) who truly make it worth going to work each day. And to those people, thank you for all your support and kindness and those smart ass comments that keep me laughing. I shall miss them all when I leave, they have become part of my family.
I'm a currently in the middle of a new job search. I am fed up with my current employment and looking for something more fulfilling. It's been a long, frustrating process. I can't make myself apply for those jobs that will put me right back into a situation like I am in now. I just can't do it! So it's making the search and application a wee bit more difficult.
I have found the job love of my life! I just need the interview. I know in my heart if I can obtain that crucial interview, I'll nail the job. I'm keeping my entire body crossed at the moment and keeping positive about the whole thing. Please help in keeping your fingers crossed for me too!
The only little problem I see in applying for jobs is, I have to keep my nose clean and watch what I say on the internet. Many companies do internet searches to research their potential future employees. The company I have applied at, it really wouldn't surprise me if they took a peak at my bolg (hint hint, they run this blog site. Should I have said that? Ah well, I'm throwing caution to the wind). So far I haven't felt like I've posted anything abnormally outrageous, or contemptuous. All in all, it's nothing I feel I should be worried about. But boy am I'm really having to bite my tongue these past few months.
One of my former colleagues and I had many long talks about work ethics and treatment of employees, at what was once a shared employment. He has fortunately moved on to another job. Needless to say, these conversations we had were not exactly positive conversations. Now, I'm not one to talk bad about people. I like to have a positive attitude it makes life more enjoyable. The negative really does have a way of putting a dark gloom over things. And besides, it makes me feel like a horrible person talking negative about someone. It's just my nature.
So here's my dilemma. I want to share with people my current experiences to make them aware that it's NOT okay to treat your employees in such a manor as I experience every day, but I don't want it to be construed by potential future employers as bad mouthing my current employer. It's not bad mouthing I want to express, it is about basic human treatment that everyone is entitled too regardless. So I'm left in an ethical quandary as to what to do. The right thing would be to keep my fingers quite. But do I have to keep the quite forever? Is there ever a right time to share?
The best solution to my current problem, would to be to resign from my job, but with the cost of living on the rise, it would be a very irresponsible move on my part financially. So responsible I shall continue to be, but ethically torn by my standards of treatment and need to continue to bring home a paycheck. It's remarkably a hard situation to deal with. I'm starting to understand why people continue to work at low end jobs. They have to, just to make ends meet. It's a sad situation.
But, as with all things in my life, I like to try to leave things with a positive note.
There are some things I do appreciate at my job. There are people that I work with (outside my office) who truly make it worth going to work each day. And to those people, thank you for all your support and kindness and those smart ass comments that keep me laughing. I shall miss them all when I leave, they have become part of my family.
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