~up and running~

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~Woohoo - I am back up and running now after my computer died a slow death on Monday. It hadn't been running very well for a while so I'm not surprised it conked out on me. Thankfully I had just put all my pics on my MyBook (external storage) as well as all my iTunes songs.

~Setting up a new computer is a pain though, especially going from XP to Vista. I had to get all my drivers online because the CDs that came w/them were not compatible with Vista. Vista is gonna take some getting used to - it's a bit funky.

~I got a cute little 'slim' HP desktop. I was going to get a laptop but when I saw this cute little thing and that it had A TON more space/speed than the laptop AND was the same price, I had to have it. It also has wireless capabilities so I may change over to wireless here @ home and then O and I can surf @ the same time. I need to call AT&T tomorrow on that.

~I no longer have Word or Excel -ugh. I have a 60 trial but get this...I can't save anything I create...what's the use of the trial?!?! I'll probably contribute to the improvement of the economy and purchase the MS Office Student version when those 60 days come to a close, unless I find I need it sooner. Amazon has a great price on it and no tax and FREE shipping - can't beat that!!

~I didn't have my bookmarks backed up...no big deal I suppose but right now I've only got 14 bookmarks saved and I know I had WAY MORE THAN THAT on my old PC. :-)

~Tomorrow is our 'playdate' - never thought I'd be doing that, but here I am. It's pretty fun too.

~There is a HUGE consignment sale starting tomorrow night too. They only do it for one week in the Fall and I think again in the Spring (not sure though). Anyway, they only take REALLY NICE stuff and I get to go tomorrow night @ 7pm because New Moms get first peek!! Gotta love that!! I hope I find some cute stuff for E.

~I am not scheduled for any hours right now - wish I was though. I signed up for this Sunday, so I hope I get it. Basically that's gonna be the only day I can work now - after what happened last Friday night, I know O won't want to be home alone w/E @ bedtime. My mom is going out of town from Oct 5-15 so I'll have no (free) babysitter and since the pay is soooooooooooooooo low, there's no sense hiring a sitter. *sigh*

~That's all for now.

~50 things~

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Swiped this from another blog...

1) Favorite object in your room?
Bed.

2) Have you ever smoked?
Tried it as a teen...ew!!

3) Do you own guns?
No! Don't plan to either.

4) What flavor do you add to your drink at Sonic?
Cherry

5) Do you get nervous before doctor appointments?
Not usually.

6) What do you think of hot dogs?
They're best @ the ballpark.

7) Favorite song?
"When Tears Fall Down" by Heidi Newfield (former lead singer of Trick Pony)

8) What do you prefer to drink in the morning?
Orange Juice

9) Can you do push ups?
Just a few...I used to be able to do 13 w/o stopping, but not anymore.

10) Can you do a chin up?
Umm, No.

11) What's your favorite piece of jewelry?
All my watches - I collect them.

12) Do you like blue cheese?
Oh yes!

13) Ever been in a car wreck?
Yep!

14) Pudding or Jello?
Pudding.

15) Saving or Spending?
Neither since I have NO freakin' money!

16) Middle name?
Kathleen

17) Name 3 thoughts at this exact moment.
I'm broke. I hate it. I'm bored.

18) Name 3 things you bought yesterday?
Didn't buy 3 things yesterday....remember I have NO money!!

19) Name 3 drinks you regularly drink?
Water, Diet Orange Pop, Iced Chai

20) Current worry?
Finances

21) Current hate right now?
Pleading the 5th.

22) Tape or Glue?
Usually tape.

23) How did you bring in the New Year?
Sleeping.

24) Where would you like to be right now?
A beach or WDW.

25) States Visited?
Quite a few...maybe 18 or so...

26) Do you own slippers?
Yes, they are navy blue w/snowmen on them. So warm!!

27) What shirt are you wearing?
A yellow "Life is Good" t-shirt...I should probably change...LOL!

28) Satin sheets?
Nope. Cotton.

29) Ring Size?
7 I think.

30) Mac or PC?
I really want a Mac, I think.

31) Would you be a pirate?
Definitely...life on the water...no problem!

32) What songs do you sing in the shower?
I don't have time to sing in there.

33) Favorite girls name?
Riley Alexis (if Ethan were a girl, this was the name I had picked out).

34) Favorite boys name?
Ethan....although I really like Jacob except it doesn't translate in Spanish very well...sounds really corny!!

35) What's in your pocket?
Nothing.

36) Last thing that made you laugh?
Wish I could remember that...it's been a while.

37) Best bed sheets as a child?
Flannel with penguins on them. I wonder what happened to them.

38) Worst injury you've ever had?
Cracked my head open and got stitches.

39) Do you love where you live?
Somewhat...I've lived in places I've loved more.

40) How many TVs do you have in your house?
2

41) Who is your loudest friend?
I really don't have any 'loud' friends.

42) How many dogs do you have?
None.

43) Does someone have a crush on you?
Doubtful.

44) Lost and Gone?
huh?

45) What is your favorite book?
I really liked "P.S. I love you" by Cecilia Ahearn...I'm about to start reading "Love Walked In" by Marisa de los Santos and I think I'm really going to like it. :-)

47) Favorite Sports Team?
The ever stinky Detroit Tigers....last place in the American League Central Division - turds!!!

48) Where is the next place you want to travel to?
London would be good...but so would Spain...of course the most likely location will be Gatlinburg...a whole hour away...whoopee!!

49) What were you doing 12 AM last night?
Sleeping I think.

50) What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up?
Which time I woke up?

~separation anxiety~

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~Yep, E definitely has the separation anxiety going on. Combine that with the sleeping dilemmas and O called me @ 9:30pm last night saying I had to come home because E had been crying for more than an hour and he could not get him to calm down (or go to sleep).

~I told them I had a family emergency and left. I also cancelled on working today. I feel bad about bailing on work but in the grand scheme of things, all the stress and heartache isn't worth the uber low wage I was getting anyway....although some money is better than NO money.

~Going forward I guess I will only work short day shifts on Sundays...if they don't get cancelled. Oh well.

~work!~

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~Ugh...so I know I was sort of complaining all week about how my shifts kept getting cancelled, well, tonight I'm @ work and I really don't care to be here. I'm on my 15 minute break right now. It's actually slower than it was last Friday so I'm surprised that my shift wasn't cancelled. I am on the 'to leave early' list so I'm hoping they boot me outta here. I can't stand just sitting there waiting for a call to come in.

~I had to go into the showroom to look at some garments for a caller. I should have taken a drool rag for myself - absolutely gorgeous sweaters in there. I'm a sweater junkie. Love them. Can't get enough of them.

~I even have to work ALL DAY tomorrow. 9am-5:30pm. Now, that shift I REALLY wish would have been cancelled because E will be @ my mom's all day and he's been a bit of a fussy booger the last 2 times she has watched him. I think he's got that 'separation anxiety' going on because he's been a bit of a 'momma's boy' lately. I'll definitely get on the "leave early list" again tomorrow.

~Well, my 15 is up. Ciao!!

~ripped off~

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~I ordered a few sheets of cardstock back on 8/31.

~Found a website called Jackkyll Scraps. They had REALLY good shipping rates so I placed my order and paid via Paypal. It was $10.53 total. Small order.

~A few days later, I am contacted via email to say that she has to order the color of cs I want and my order will be slightly delayed but I should receive it the following week.

~Here we are 3+ wks later and I still have no cardstock. I have sent 3 emails and called the phone number on her website, only to receive a msg that the mailbox is full and cannot take more messages. This infuriates me.

~I have filed a claim on Paypal, but how ridiculous is this....I mean, if you want to rip people off, why not go for more than $10!!!!!!!!! What a dumbass!!!

~stuff~

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~I am absolutely LOVING going for walks outside with Ethan now that it's cooled down out there. It will be part of our daily routine. (yay for more exercise).

~I haven't worked since Friday. I was scheduled to work this Wed night from 6pm-12am. They called today to cancel. I pretty much expect their call now. Let's see, I'm scheduled Friday night 6pm-12am....we'll see what happens. If I don't get scheduled, I won't have any hours this week. Bummer!

~There is not a wide VARIETY of toys for 6-7 month olds if you ask me. They are all pretty much the same...make music, shape sorters and blocks. We wanted to add to Ethan's toy selection, but it seems he's got the basics of what's available. Ugh.

~The SATC Movie came out today. I *SO* wanted to buy it, but I restrained myself. :-( Now I'm sad. If you're gonna buy it, it's 15.99 @ Target 'til Saturday. It's more expensive @ Walmart!

~Actually spoke WITH my lawyer yesterday. He admitted that he had a trial that sucked up a lot of his time. He apologized and said he'd finish my case today and I'd have it to review. I didn't get an email so I guess he didn't finish it...but maybe, just maybe the end is in sight? It would be nice to have some extra Christmas money.

~crazy stuff~

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~O will receive his 3rd NEW debit card next week in less than 1 year...why you ask? The first time because he lost his wallet, the 2nd time because he THOUGHT he lost his wallet and now last night -the 3rd time- because he AGAIN THOUGHT he lost his wallet. Talk about frustrating. I won't even get started.

~While @ work yesterday -which thankfully was busier than Thursday- the staffing agency called to say that the company decreased their numbers and cancelled my shifts for Saturday, Sunday AND Monday!! Geez!!! Just 2 days ago they had about 6 shifts to pick from for Sunday. How crazy!! So next weeks check will have a whopping 9.5 hours on it!! Whoopee!

~I decided to start giving Spanish lessons and sent out email to some local friends to help me spread the word. I already have my 1st client. Yay!!

~Oscar recently decided that he wanted to take on a 2nd job and especially now that my temp job has been so inconsistent with hours. He has an interview to work mall security today at 1pm. He loves all that 'law enforcement' type stuff...plus it pays more than my temp job, so why not. He loves me being home with E and really doesn't want me to have to work - so that's cool. Although, he would not be opposed to me working if I was dying to have a full time job (which I'm not).

~Well, that's it for a Saturday. Not much going on here today. O went to work and E and I are being bums for now.

~random, random, random~

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~Random is the word of the week. LOL!

~Today was my 1st shift. 7am-11am. Picked it up @ the last minute. In the first 40 minutes, I only had 2 calls, so I'm not quite sure why they called for extra people. By the end of the 4 hours, I had taken about 26 calls...still not very many if you ask me. The bummer is that you can't read a book/magazine or do anything while you are waiting for calls to come in...so that gets quite boring. I drank 2 huge bottles of water and ate 2 small boxes of raisins in the 1st two hours because it was so slow. Oh well.

~I work tomorrow too. 1pm-6:30pm. Saturday 8pm-midnight. Sunday 2pm-6pm. Just picked up the Sunday shift. Phew. But since the work is only 'til Oct 3rd, I figure might as well cram in as many shifts as I can. Right?

~Went to Old Navy to return a couple items tonight. I grabbed a pair of the Sweetheart Jeans in a size smaller than what I am currently wearing and was SO EXCITED when I got home and tried them on. They fit!! I am officially down 1 size...1 more to go (more would be better, but I'm taking baby steps here)....odd thing though...the weight is still not coming off. I'm wondering if the nursing is keeping me where I'm at?!?!?! Time will tell.

~I'm trying to run at least every other day but the last couple runs have really hurt my back. It didn't used to hurt while I ran and now it is, so it seems like that is not getting better and probably not good that I continue, but I desperately want to drop the lbs...so I keep running.

~I had picked up two really cute 3/4 length sleeve shirts @ Old Navy and when I tried them on, they were so SUPER DUPER clingy that they looked absolutely disgusting on me, so of course I returned them. They were XL too. I refuse to buy XXL. They would have fit perfectly pre-baby. *sigh*

~There is a book 'club' thing here in Knoxville, partly sponsored by Dolly Parton. I just learned of it and signed E up...he'll get a FREE book every month 'til he's 5 yrs old. Wahoo!!! It's funny cuz I've seen some of these books @ the used book store...they are .75 there and they are good stories. Yay for FREE books!

~Goodnight!

~and yet more randomness~

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~E got up at the crazy hour of 6:40am today. Ok, it may not be crazy early to those of you who work, but it's crazy when you don't have a job to get up and go to.

~Yep, my 10-6 shift got cancelled today. Oh joy! The poorness living continues.

~Next I'm scheduled for 1-5 on Friday. We'll see if that happens.

~It's not even 8am and I'm eating a Hershey's Chocolate Bar...not good....well, it tastes good though.

~I think I'm typing this simply for myself to read because I'm not so sure anyone else is reading.
~Trying to decide if we will remain homebound today. I really need to go to the Post Office and Kroger. I wouldn't mind stopping at Old Navy too - baby clothes 40% off and E needs a winter coat.

~My wireless mouse is dying and in the process it is wearing on my very last nerve. So frustrating.

~Signing up for the Komen race. It's on 10/11/08.

~Not going to Michigan. Totally bummed.

~more randomness~

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~Because randomness is all I have...

~Day 3 of the Homebound project. No work tonight, therefore not going anywhere. My car has sat for 3 days now.

~I am scheduled to work 10-6 tomorrow. It will probably be cancelled as they cancelled the 10-6 shift today and just extended the 9-5...oh great!!

~I was going to take a road trip with Mom up to Michigan. We both want to see friends. My BF had a baby boy last year on 5/5 and a baby girl this year on 4/30 and I haven't seen either of them. Obviously, she hasn't seen Ethan. I also wanted to go to the Cider Mills and take cute pics of Ethan in the pumpkin patches - I guess none of this will happen. Being the boring, responsible person that I am, I feel that I should spend what little money I make on bills and daily living expenses instead of overpriced fuel and hotels. We calculated it would cost at least $80-100 in fuel each way and $100 per hotel night and we were planning to stay 3-4 nights. I probably won't even make that much money anyway....especially if they keep cancelling shifts.

~Even if I don't work tomorrow, we aren't going to playgroup because I (1) had to RSVP already as if I were going to be working and (2) it's a lot farther away than the other homes where playgroup has been held.

~The playgroup is rotating at different homes and honestly, I'm not too excited about having it @ my house. All of these women have BIGWIG husbands with FAT CHECK jobs which equate to BIGA$$ houses. They all have 4 BR, 3 car garages and the lovely "bonus rooms"...so in other words...tons of room for the kiddos to play etc. I only have carpet in E's room and the office, both of which are pretty small to cram in 7 women and 7 kids...if everyone were to come. Clearly, I am the 'low man' on the totem pole - as they say.

~I guess that's all for today.

~randomness~

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~Haven't done a randomness post in a while....

~Having MAJOR issues w/my computer. I really need it to last at least another year, but I also really want a new computer.

~Considering getting a MAC when this PC kicks the bucket. I need something with awesome photo storage and heard that iphoto rocks. Will have to investigate. Also need to find a way to pay for it. If I had my job back, I could go get the darn computer right now. Argh!

~We are on Day 2 of being homebound. Gas is $4.99/gallon here - insane. For some reason though the local broadcast says it's $4.65 in the area - ha, I haven't seen that price for days now. Many stations are OUT of Regular Unleaded and they say it'll be 9 days before they get more.

~I got a little fidgety @ the end of the day yesterday...being 'cooped up' all day doesn't work well for me. So far I'm doing ok today, but yes, I really would like to go SOMEWHERE!!

~O mentioned that they asked him @ work if he would be willing to go out of town. Apparently they do work in 8 other states. Then he said that E and I could go see him there...I told him to try to get a job in Florida!! Yay!! We'll see if that comes through or not.

~I quit ChaCha.

~Hopefully I will work 3-4 days/nights this week @ the call center. It's taking catalog orders for an upscale clothing company, so I shouldn't get too many irate people. Yay!

~I managed to scrape up some motivation to run today. Hadn't ran in 6 days...eeks. Ran 2 miles.

~ I would like to sign up for the Komen Race. It will be on 10/22. I will likely not run the whole thing, but it would be nice to put up a time that's not too embarassing. :-)

~carseats!!!~

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Warning: this post will probably bore you to tears unless you (1) have struggled endlessly with a carseat at some point or another or (2) simply enjoy reading about carseats!!!

Today E and I drove to the Knoxville PD for a FREE Carseat Installation Inspection. We recently purchased a Convertible Carseat as he had outgrown the Infant Carrier. No, the carseat is not for a Convertible car either...LOL!

Anyway, I was not convinced that it was in right to begin with because when he would fall asleep, his poor little head would fall forward and it looked oh so uncomfortable. It really bothered me. O showed me how he installed it and that it was according to the directions, so we assumed that was how it was supossed to be.

This is where it gets crazy....after waiting 1 hour 15 minutes in line, our turn finally arrives. We pull into the HOT garage with big (not so helpful) fans and the lady comes over to help us. Bless this woman, she was patient, kind, fun and amazing yet had to be unbelievably frustrated with my car & carseat.

Turns out that choosing a carseat for YOUR car is sort of like choosing a mate. You must find the correct match or it's a terrible marriage. In my case, or that of my car I should say, it's not a great marriage btw the Ford Escape and an Eddie Bauer Kingston Convertible Carseat. Now, we did not pick out a bottom of the barrel carseat either so for the price we paid, you would certainly think that it was a lot easier to install and would be nothing less than PERFECT. Wrong!!

As I was waiting in line, I wondered what the big box of Pool Noodles was for... I quickly learned that they cut them into pieces and end up using them to get the carseats into their proper position - which is a 45 degree angle in the rear facing position. WOW did this look different when they finally got it in place.

This whole process took 2 hours!!! They worked on MY car WITH me for 2 hours - did I mention this was a FREE service! Wonderful if you ask me. E is much safer now when we are in the car. I am disappointed though that we cannot use the Latch system in the car and instead must use the seatbelts - ugh. If the carseat wasn't going in the middle, then we could use the Latch system, but since we have only 1 child and the middle is the safest spot, then we must use the seatbelts.

Sidenote...did you know that the govt regulates the price of tomatoes?? They don't regulate the price of gas though...which by the way was 3.69 here on Thursday and is now 4.99 with most gas stations already completely OUT of regular unleaded. Thank you Ike! We are not going anywhere Sunday, Monday and if I don't get scheduled to work on Tuesday, we aren't going anywhere then either. My car will sit as long as possible. They say it will be at least 5-6 days 'til they get more gasoline..anyway, I digress...my point is that CARSEATS should be regulated. The box that my carseat came in should have said that it was suitable for XYZ cars and not so well for ABC cars...then I would not have had such a problem. Of course, this will likely never happen, because it would cut into the almighty 'bottom line' I think I'll still send them an email though! :-)

Did I mention we are on diaper bag #2 with this one already falling apart...it is also Eddie Bauer. I called them the other day. I'm getting a new one FREE in the mail. Yay!

a good friend?

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Just curious....what is YOUR definition of a GOOD friend?

~my not so good week~

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~went to 'interview' on Tuesday...it was 20 minutes long...she said she doesn't have anything for me and gave me a list of websites/companies to look @ for jobs....uh, I could have done that (and already have) on my own. thanks anyway!

~went to renew tags on my car. discovered that TX never sent the title to TN and I never should have gotten plates last year but someone messed up. had to call TX bank to request title. ended up with 'temporary' tag 'til title arrives. spent way too much time there.

~called the lawyer. case still not filed. I asked how long it takes to prepare & file a case. can't get an answer but it's been @ least 3-4 wks now. secretary says she's making lots of copies of other cases to back mine up so I guess something is getting done, just at a much slower rate that I would have liked. it would have been nice if they could have given me some sort of timeline for this preparation.

~had a little drama at playgroup yesterday. it's actually funny really. there's a neurotic mom who doesn't want other kids to drool on her kids toys...well, then what the heck is she doing @ playgroup? we are hoping she quits coming! playgroup is for sharing toys! duh!

~just found out that I did not make Top Guide list this week on ChaCha which bumps me DOWN to a whopping .10 per search. I am forced to do 200 (or more) searches @ that rate in order to 'qualify' for TG the following week to go back to .20 There is all kinds of 'drama' on the ChaCha message boards about this as it seems many other people also have UNPROVEN drastic drops in their Quality scores which prevented them from making TG as well...smells like a scam to me...ChaCha doesn't want to pay us. I haven't decided if I'll continue or not. I really wanted to reach $500 by Sep 14, but that will definitely NOT happen now @ a measly .10 - I'm currently @ $206 or so. Ugh! I may have more time for scrapbooking pretty soon...

~I'm really bummed about the ChaCha thing since it was at least giving me a little money (very little) -better than nothing. I guess the only good thing is that I've picked up a 3 wk temp job in a call center starting next week - they have afternoon/evening hours so I won't need daycare...again crappy pay, but better than nothing.

~If I had the body, I'd be tempted to take up table dancing for a week or so...well, maybe not, but it sure would be good money.

~seeking paper~

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Anyone have any sheets of this 7 Gypsies paper laying around that they want to sell to me? It's sold out on 2Peas and can't find it online anywhere! My Paper Adventure book is getting thick and I'm going to have to do Volume 1 and Volume 2 and I want the covers to have the same paper...but I'm all out....help! :-)

~new sleep position~

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~too funny~