Happy Thursday

It's been a long busy week. It started off on Sunday giving Copper her first bath, which she did not like:

She was a little grumpy. :(

Work has been really busy, partly because I missed three hours of work on Monday while I was stuck at the DMV. But it's also been busy because school starts next week, so I've been trying to get everything prepared for the new interns, get everything set up and ready with the new server we're going to be using, transfer all of our files into our new database software, and get some more of our Ebooks on Amazon. It's a little exhausting at times, but it does make the day go by faster which is nice. 

Today I had lunch with my friend Katie (the one kind enough to let me borrow her book for that dumb research class I have to take). It wasn't the healthiest lunch...we had chicken tenders and fries...but it was nice to catch up. And I ate my fruits and veggies before I left to go with her, so I at least ate sort of healthy. 

It took me forever to get home today thanks to all the rain and fog and people driving like idiots. Ugh. On top of that, I've been getting tired of the radio lately--same songs and commercials over and over and over--but unfortunately, as we discovered over the weekend, my cd player no longer works. So that sucks. No cd player, no iPod, no fun.

Random picture of Copper for your enjoyment. 

Chris's mom got me a new Vera Bradley purse and wallet for Christmas, but it wasn't the patter that she told them she wanted. I actually liked the pattern she ended up with though and probably would have kept it, except my phone didn't fit in the part of the wallet that's supposed to hold it. So I figured if I had to exchange the wallet anyway, I might as well get the one she originally wanted to get me. Both styles are new for me. I can't remember what the wallet is called, but the purse is the Little Hipster, which is a bit smaller than the regular Hipster (what I normally get). I really like it so far though, and I love the pattern!

Vera Bradley wallet in the Dogwood pattern

Little Hipster in Dogwood. 

It's almost the weekend....finally. I feel like this has been such a long week. And classes start next week. I don't wanna :( I've enjoyed not having homework and having free time to read or watch tv or movies or whatever. I'm gonna miss all my free time. 

Once my interns sign up for the hours, I plan on using my lunch hour at some point at least a couple times a week to go to the gym or run. I just know I won't do it when I get home (since I don't do it now anyway). 

I have good intentions! 

Book #2

I finished book 2 in my 100 Book Challenge! Catching Fire was pretty good. It wasn't quite what I had expected, but I liked it. I'm excited to see the movie too when it comes out later this year (November I think?). I started book 3, Mockingjay last night and I'm on chapter 6 or so. I like it so far and I can't wait to see how it all ends.

Copper slept through almost the entire night last night in her crate. She's getting so much better about being in there--I think she's starting to like it! She barked for a few minutes about an hour or so before I had to get up for work but she quieted back down pretty quickly. It was so incredibly nice to get to sleep all night without barking and whining and growling and squeaking toys. She did have a few accidents in the house yesterday though :(

I think part of the problem is the animals next door. The neighbor's dog is just a pain in the ass, especially when she isn't on a leash of any sort (which is often). So Copper gets distracted and either won't go potty at all or doesn't get it all out of her system, so she ends up peeing in the house just a couple minutes later. So frustrating.

Classes start next week. I'm so not ready for it. At least there's one class I know I'll enjoy. I'm so excited to be taking poetry again. Hopefully I survive the other class. The only upside to that class is that I won't have to buy the book because one of my friends is going to let me borrow hers. Such a good friend :)

The upside to driving home so late after class is that there's no traffic. Driving home at 5 this week has sucked because everyone's back at work.

Thank goodness it's Wednesday and the weekend will be here soon and I can finish book 3 and relax before classes start next week.

Have a good one everyone!

Monday Sucked

I think we can all agree, Mondays suck. 

This Monday meant a full week back at work. 

Most Mondays mean spilling your coffee; getting a flat tire; running out of gas; forgetting your lunch; dealing with other crabby people; sleep deprivation; anything that can go wrong will go wrong. 

That was pretty much my day yesterday. 

I finally got all the paperwork I needed to go get my plates registered for my car and pay the sales tax. I decided I'd just go on my lunch break. I got there and there were only a couple people in front of me, so I figured I'd be done and back at work with enough time to actually eat my lunch. 

Wrong. So wrong. The worst part is that it wasn't even the DMV's fault. The lady who was working with me was extremely nice and helpful. 

All in all, I spent a total of THREE hours there waiting for all the right paperwork to be faxed over because the St. Francois County Assessor's office is a complete joke. I had to call several times to get them to fax over my personal property tax waiver and then promise the lady I'd mail them a check for the $3.00 it cost them to fax the waiver to the DMV. In my head I was thinking yeah, whatever, screw you lady, just fax over my shit so I can go back to work. I tried to be nice though and promised I'd get her that damned $3.00 because I'm sure that's gonna make or break them. 

So finally they get my stuff faxed over. By this point the lady who had been helping me for the better part of 2 hours had gone on her lunch break so the lady who ended up taking care of the rest of my stuff was not quite as friendly, but she wasn't rude either. 

Unfortunately, they were unable to transfer my plates from my previous car like they were supposed to be able to. I wasn't in the mood to fight with them over it though, so I just took my new plates, payed all my fees and taxes and went on my way. I ended up paying $993 total, which was actually a little less than I expected since I was almost 2 months late in getting everything done. 

I get back to work and I've completely lost my appetite. I eat my applesauce though so I can take some excedrin because by that point I had an awful headache. I get a couple hours of work done and then head home. 

At some point during my drive after the traffic had thinned out and the highway was getting darker, I realized my headlights weren't on. When I checked, yes, actually they were on. Just not working. My passenger light had gone out around New Year's and I was just trying to make it until this weekend when I got my oil changed and I was going to get it all done at once. 

No such luck. BOTH of my headlights had gone out. Seriously, how often does this shit happen to people? Or is it just me?

I called Chris to tell him I was going to try to make it to Jiffy Lube to see if they were still open. By that point I had completely lost it and was crying on the phone with him. (Crying is not recommended while trying to drive with no headlights.) 

Finally I made it to Jiffy Lube and they were going to be closed in another 20 minutes or so and didn't have time to help me out. Figures. So I drive home, change clothes, and Chris and I go to Autozone. We get the lights we need and head back home. 

I put dinner in the oven (leftover stuffed shells from my momma) while Chris worked outside on trying to get my lights changed and my new plates put on. It took a couple hours, with a short break for dinner before he got them. At one point he said he couldn't figure them out and I texted my boss and told her I'd be late because I was just going to go somewhere this morning to get it done. 

Eventually he figured it out and got them replaced for me. He's pretty great :)

So even though I've only got about 40 pages left in Catching Fire I still haven't been able to finish it. Hopefully I'll have time to finish it tonight after work. 

I hope you all had a better Monday than I did! 

Book #1

I finished book 1 for the 100 Book Challenge, The Hunger Games, Friday night. I stayed up a little later than I had planned, but I finished it. And it was really good. I had already seen the movie and I really liked the movie so I figured I'd like the book just as much, if not more.

Surprisingly, there were only slight differences between the book and movie so that was nice. I started book 2, Catching Fire yesterday. I'm only on Chapter 3 so far (I slept pretty late because I wasn't feeling too great). But I plan on getting some reading done today.

Chris and I went out for an early dinner yesterday before heading to St. Louis to see Wicked. It was amazing as usual. And you never see the same show twice, even if the actors are the same. They made a few little changes and added a few things. Personally I don't think they did a whole lot for the show in general but some of them were funny so it was okay.

Overall, it was great and I was so happy I got to go. Chris even said it wasn't as bad as he expected (he hates musicals and whatnot). We didn't get home until after midnight and we still had to fee Copper! Poor thing. I think we finally went to be around 1am. Sheesh. Totally worth it though.

Here's a pic of Copper laying in the new bed Chris bought her :)

Today Copper gets her first bath! And thank goodness because she stinks! Probably won't get any pics of her because I don't want my phone to get ruined! But I'll be sure to let you all know how it goes...I'm sure I'll be soaked too!

I hope you all had a great weekend and enjoy the rest of your Sunday!

100 Book Challenge

So I almost died on my way to work this morning.

Okay,  died is probably a bit of an exaggeration...

But someone did almost hit me because he wasn't paying attention to what the *$#% he was doing. Good thing I was or there would have been some serious damage done, and one or both of us would have ended up under the semi in front of us. Ugh. Idiots.

Along those same lines...

Every day on my way to/from work this week (which has only been three days!) I have gotten stuck behind someone doing at least ten miles under the speed limit. I generally go between five and ten over so to get stuck behind a person driving slower than my grandma makes me want to punch everyone. Wednesday was possibly the worst because I was 8-10 cars behind the car that was driving so slow and no one would go around so I was stuck way in the back doing 40mph when the speed limit was 55. I have zero patience for those people. I can understand driving slow when the weather and/or roads are bad. That's acceptable. But the roads have been clear for days and it hasn't snowed or rained!

Okay, I'm done ranting...for now.

Anyhoo, I joined a friend of mine in her 2013 hundred book challenge. Basically the goal is to read 100 books over the course of the year. I'm already betting I don't even get close to that, mainly because of school and work cutting into my recreational reading time. But it gives me a goal to work toward.

As I told you all yesterday, I started reading The Hunger Games a couple days ago, so that's book #1. I'm over half way finished with it already. I'm guessing I'll have it done sometime before the weekend is over and get started on book #2 (which is also book 2 in the series) Catching Fire.

At some point I think I'm going to sort my books by what I've read and what I still need to read. And that will give me a good starting point for the 100 book challenge. Also, just fyi, I'll be documenting/keeping track of what I'm reading on here because I don't really have anywhere else to do that except for a notebook and that's boring :)

Tomorrow evening Chris and I will be going to the Fox to see Wicked. I'm so excited. This will be my third or fourth time seeing it. It is by far my favorite musical (although to be fair, I'm kind of obsessed with anything to do with The Wizard of Oz and the like). I have no idea where we're sitting, but I don't really care too much. I'm just happy I get to go again. We're also planning on doing dinner before hand, but I don't know where we're going to go. Anyone know of some good restaurants near the Fox?

If you forgot like I did, IT'S FRIDAY!! Yes, having a three-day work week totally threw me off and yesterday felt like Wednesday. But it's Friday! The bad news is that I won't be getting paid until next Friday. Going two weeks without a paycheck kind of sucks. The good news is that I finally got reimbursed for my mileage when my boss and I drove to St. Louis back in November for the launch of Proud to Be. And they did direct deposit rather than mailing me the check so it's already in my account. Yay!

Enjoy the weekend everyone!

PS If any of you book nerds want to join the Challenge, let me know! :)

2013: Goals and Plans

Two days later and I'm still hobbling around. My legs hurt so badly...it hurts to walk, hurts to touch them. I have no idea what I did. Not exactly the best way to start the year, especially when one of your goals is to run a half marathon. Speaking of goals, here are a few:

1. Run a half marathon. This was also my goal last year, but I didn't quite make it. There's one in March that I really want to do though, so hopefully whatever is going on with my legs will quit soon (and the weather will warm up a little) and I can start training.

2. Buy a guitar and learn how to play it. This has also been a goal of mine for quite a while. Thanks to being poor most of last year, I couldn't afford to buy one. Hopefully this year will be better financially and I can afford to buy myself a guitar and teach myself how to play at least one song before the end of the year.

3. Be financially stable. I can't remember the last time I didn't have to worry about money or how I'm going to get my bills paid, etc. It would be really nice to not have to worry about those things and actually be able to start saving a little money this year. Of course, I'm not counting my student loans. I'll be paying those off for the majority of my adult life after I'm done with school, so whatever. But I do plan on paying off my credit cards in the next few months (two will be paid off before the end of February for sure). And I'd really just like to see more than $20 in my savings account.

4. Get my puppy TRAINED. This will happen. One way or another. She's a little terror right now and we're not getting much sleep. When I came home yesterday there was poo on the bathroom walls, the back of the bathroom door, and on the edge of the tub. She didn't do so well being at home all day by herself. Hopefully this gradually gets better and she learns to at least pee and poo on the training pads and not step in it and get it everywhere. Also she's chewing up everything. We've officially lost three phone chargers in less than a week because she's chewed them all in half. :(

5. Eat healthy. I guess I should say continue to eat healthy because I already eat relatively healthy, but it doesn't hurt add more to it.

6. Declutter my life. Currently my house is a mess. We took home some more dishes and whatnot from my parents' house the other day and we have yet to put them away. It's driving me nuts, but I don't have the energy to do anything about it. So I want to keep my house as clutter-free as possible throughout the year. Other things I want to declutter this year: my car, my email, paperwork/bills at home, social networks/media, and whatever else I can come up with.

7. Get A's in my next two semesters of grad school. I probably forgot to mention this, but I officially got As in both of my classes this past semester! And I'd like to continue that next year. Next semester will be difficult, but I think I can do it.

8. Exercise on a regular basis. This will be a lot easier once the weather is nicer and it stays daylight longer and once Copper is big enough to go on extended walks and such. I think starting next week-ish I'm going to try exercising on my lunch break and see how I like it. That way I don't have to worry about trying to work out once I'm home and exhausted after work/class. We'll see how it goes.

9. Read more. I haven't gotten nearly as much reading done over break as I had hoped I would. So I'd like to get some more books read this year. I started The Hunger Games yesterday, so that's the first book of the year!

I think that's enough goals for now. Here's what I have to look forward to in 2013:

1. My lease is up in February at my old apartment. Thus I will only be paying rent at one place (well, splitting it with Chris actually). And hopefully I'll get my deposit back too. It'd be nice to have that money.

2. My one-year anniversary at my job is in February. I can't believe it's almost been a year already. So much has happened, so much has changed.

3. My sister turns 21 in March. Actually, her 21st is the same day of the half marathon I want to run. But the race is early in the morning so I'd have plenty of time for both. And we'll be going to Fast Eddie's and I'm sure you all know by now how much I love that place.

4. In May, I'll be finished with my first year of grad school. I can't wait to be able to say I've finished my first year. And I really just can't wait to get this semester over with. It's gonna be tough.

5. There is a Cardinals game on my birthday this year--and I'm going! My birthday is July 11 and that's usually when the All-Star break falls, so there's rarely a game on my birthday. This year, there is a game, and it's in Chicago against the Cubs! So Chris and I will be going and I'm so excited!!

6. All the trips that may or may not happen with my cousins. When we had our cousin's night a couple weeks ago, we threw around ideas of going on a float trip, and going to Vegas (there was another one I think, but I can't remember it). I have come to learn that my cousins are my some of my best friends. Spending time with them always puts me in a better mood and I'm so thankful for all of them and I really hope we can make at least one of those trips happen this year, because we'd have a blast.

7. My dad turns 50 in August. And it's gonna be one hell of a party. :)

8. My fall semester next year will be awesome. I'll be taking Advanced Publishing. I took it as an undergrad and I loved it, so I'm excited to take it again. And my boss said there's a possibility that we'll be doing a short class with one of her former students on making book covers. I have no idea what the other class is that I'll be taking but it can't be worse than the research class I have to take next semester :(

I think that's about all I've got so far. I don't really have any "plans" or anything for the fall--not yet at least. But spring and summer are going to be pretty fantastic.

What are your goals and plans for 2013?

NYE

Chris's birthday is New Year's Eve so I went shopping on Sunday for his present. And he wanted it when I got home, not wrapped or anything. Fancy. I got him a new sweater, cologne, and underwear because I'm awesome :) 

Looking sharp in his new sweater :)

For the first year that I can remember, I spent NYE with my parents. They had a dinner/dance at the Knights of Columbus. We dropped the puppy off with my sister and her boyfriend and checked into our hotel and then my mom picked us up for dinner. We had toasted ravioli for appetizers, salad, bread, veggies, potatoes, chicken, and prime rib. It was all delicious. 

Grandma brought Chris some candy and a cupcake for his bday and Mom and Dad got him Scrabble (the Cardinals edition of course). 

A blurry picture, but my mom was dancing, and that never happens, so I had to document it lol

After dinner the "dancing" commenced. It was mostly old people, so it was kind of funny watching them dance. A little later Matt and his girlfriend showed up (they couldn't make it for dinner, but I'm glad they were able to stop by!).

Matt and Chris

Matt and Me

Throughout the night, my sister sent me pics of Copper: 

Copper and Ryan (Becky's boyfriend) playing tug of war lol

Chelsey stopped by to see Copper :)

I had a terrible hangover the next day. Eventually we checked out of the hotel and made our way over to Walgreens so I could get some water and Excedrin. Chris's dad picked us up from there to go to Fast Eddie's for lunch and my parents met us there. I got a sprite...probably the first time I've ever had anything that wasn't an alcoholic beverage of some sort there. I had my usual cheeseburger and fries and I felt a lot better after that. I was still super tired and my legs were killing me (they still are...blah). Chris's mom couldn't make it because she was sick--not hungover sick like me, but for real sick. :(

After lunch we headed over to the casino and we actually won! Well, technically Chris won. I didn't play I just watched. It was exciting though. Once we got back to our car we headed over to my parents house to pick up the puppy and then go home. 

My mom gave us soup to make last night, but we ended up getting Jack in the Box instead and watching The Boondock Saints. I'm gonna make the soup tonight after work. Today is the first day Copper will be at home all day by herself. Hopefully she does okay. :( 

I did get some wonderful news today. First, I found out I get paid for the days I was off last week. Woo! Second, that bill for about $400 from my trip to the Urgent Care back in September was finally covered by the insurance so I don't have to worry about paying it! 

The bad news is that I got paid a week earlier while we were on break and now I have no idea when I get paid next. We're not supposed to get paid again until the 11th, and if that's the case, that really sucks because just about all of my bills are due before that, of course. 

Things will be so much better in February. I'll have the reimbursement from my student loan for the semester so I'll be able to pay off two of my credit cards and part of another. And my lease at my old apartment is up in Feb. as well, so I won't be paying rent there anymore (and hopefully I'll get my deposit back too!). 

School starts in two weeks. I'm not looking forward to it. I'm taking poetry, which I know I'll enjoy. The other class is a research class and from what I've heard it's really time-consuming and overall a nightmare. Blahhh. 

I'll save all the "coming in 2013" stuff for another post as this one is fairly long already. I hope you all had a wonderful and safe New Year's--and if you're like me, you've already written 2012 several times instead of 2013. Oops. :)