Coming Soon...

Don't worry friends.

I'm alive.

And I will have some updates (and pictures) soon.

10 Things I Hate About You, Quasi...

Top Ten Reasons I Hate My Car...

10. I just spent $150 buying a brand new battery for you since yours died.

9. You cost me $400 for new tires last summer.

8. You definitely don't get 30 miles to the gallon.

7. You're getting old...and quirky...

6. You're expensive to maintain.

5. You're expensive to maintain.

4. You're expensive to maintain.

3. Did I mention that you cost me way too much money??!!

2. I probably won't make it to my bestie's wedding this weekend due to no transportation...

1. And the number one reason I hate you? Your fuel pump decided to go bad and I have to come up with $700 to fix you, find a way to work for who knows how long, and inconvenience everyone around me.

Awesome. I just love my life.

Wanted: Friends

OK, this post is just so that I feel better.  I've been feeling a little more than sorry for myself lately, so I think if I write it all down, it may put things into perspective and I'll feel better.  

As of the end of this summer, I will seriously and officially have no single friends (or any at all).  They will all either be married (and in some cases moving away, if they haven' t already) or have babies.  

It's weird to think of things even a couple of years ago.  I had lots of friends, something to do every weekend, or in many cases, something to do every night.  Now, the only people I see on a regular basis are the girls at work, Chris, Leah, and on occasion, my roommates.  The only times I go out now are when Chris and I go on a date, or Leah and I hang out. 

I think the thing that really bothers me the most is feeling so alone.  Don't get me wrong, I'm so happy that I have Chris in my life.  He keeps me sane every day.  He makes me laugh when I can't stop crying and I know that all he wants is for me to be happy.  And I'm happy I have Leah around, or I might really go crazy.  Having family around doesn't make me feel like I'm in the middle of nowhere with no one who really knows me.  

I guess it's just realizing the changes that have occurred over the past couple of years.  My life is nowhere near the same as it was then.  And that's a good thing.  

I think I just don't want to be forgotten.  I realize people's lives change and move on.  And that I need to understand that.  I do, and I will, I just need to focus on what I do have in my life.  

Mission accomplished.  :)

A Quick Catch Up

I know, I know.  It's been far too long.  But I have about 30 good excuses.  

Excuse #1 - The Fall of Tum Tum and the Rise of Captain Jack Sparrow

The last time I had a pet, Kimra and Jake bought me 2 fishes to make up for the fact that her cat, Paris, knocked over the bowl that housed the beta fish that Kathleen bought for me for my birthday.  Sadly, those suckers didn't last very long. 

 

Before that, I was a junior in high school and decided to go to the pet store one day, only to come home in tow with a very adorable dwarf hamster, who I promptly named Louise, (after a good friend who hated that that was her middle name) even though it happened to be a male.  It was adorable and would crawl all over me when I took it out of the cage and would always get loose from her (his) ball and run around my room.  The day it died, I came up to the kitchen, with tears in my eyes and told my mom that my hamster died.  She laughed, and then asked me if I needed to stay home from school that day.  She was laughing so hard, that I started laughing and crying at the same time.  I ended up going to school.  

I came home with my friend Jacklyn after school two days later.  We went down to my room to hang out.  We walk in the door and the first thing she says is, "EW!  What is that smell?!"  I immediately gasped because I realized I had completely forgotten to take care of that animal I had been crying over merely 48 hours before, and the poor thing was starting to stink in the cage.

Maybe that should have been a sign.  But when I came to Chris crying one day about how lonely I was (yeah, I was a little hormonal), he took me to the pet store, where I fell in love with the hamster I insisted on calling Tum Tum (if you don't know the movie reference, then we can't be friends).  I took him home in his fabulous cage we bought and set everything up.

I listened to him run around in his little wheel all night and wanting so bad to pick him up, but they told us to let him adjust to his new environment for a few days first.  I counted down the days.  When I finally felt that we had waited long enough, Chris opened up his cage and handed the cute little thing over to me.  Big mistake.  The following pictures will show what I had to go through for the next 30 minutes.  Mr. Hamster JUMPED out of my hands and took off.  First, he squeezed behind, and then under my bookshelf.  Then, he took off under my bed.  

By the time we finally captured him, we had completely torn my room apart.  That was when we decided Tum Tum just wasn't fitting.  The name had to be much more appropriate, reflect the massive escape attempt.  And that was when it came to me.  It had to be Captain Jack Sparrow.  Isn't he cute??? 

Excuse #2 - My Mouth Issues

I have pretty much put all health care off to the side for years now.  I haven't had any health insurance or dental insurance, so unless I was really sick, I pretty much avoided it.  However, my benefits kicked in as of December 1st, so I started making as many appointments as I could.  I finally found a dentist and had an appointment in March.  I went in and had a checkup.  They took some x-rays and cleaned my teeth.  Just as I expected...cavities!  Yes, that is plural.  6 to be exact.  Two of those were in my wisdom teeth (which should have come out years ago), so those would be taken care of when my wisdom teeth were removed.  The other four however, I had to take care of immediately, since one was just about needing a root canal.  I come to my next appointment in the beginning of April, and the dentist goes to work on my teeth.  The novocaine didn't work.  I could still feel him drilling.  He kept having to inject more, and finally had to apply anesthetic directly into the holes because I could still feel what was going on.  The appointment that was supposed to last an hour and twenty minutes for four teeth, ended up taking 2 hours for only three.  Yes, that's right, I had to schedule another appointment to get that last one taken care of.  I came out feeling like a had a fat lip and couldn't talk or eat for three hours after.  One week from that adventure, I went in to get my wisdom teeth taken out.  Luckily, this procedure went much better.  I wasn't in any pain until a couple of days later and had no swelling.  My biggest complaint was how hungry I was.  I couldn't eat anything and I was sick of Jell-O, pudding and Cream of Wheat.  Then, on Wednesday, I finally went in to get that last cavity filled.   That went much better than the first time around, but it was still very uncomfortable.  I'm happy to not see my dentist for a few months now.

More excuses to come....

March Madness

I'm thinking maybe I should have stuck around Sport Clips a little longer. 

Maybe the constant attention to ESPN would have helped me make better choices for my bracket.  

Or maybe, I should have just let Chris help me pick.

I had to be stubborn and choose Minnesota over Texas, since the one thing Chris wouldn't let me do is pick NDSU over Kansas (even though that's where my heart is).  

I guess the only consolation that half of my picks lost is that I am still ahead of Chris by ten points.

I doubt I'll be that lucky in second round...

Spag Fac = Eh...

So this weekend, Chris and I went up to his parent's house for the weekend just to hang out. We planned to double with his friend Jared and his fiancee, Rachel. We went out to eat at Spaghetti Factory. This was the first time I had ever been there.

For those of you who don't know, I am NOT a big fan of marinara or any red sauces. Claudia (Chris's mom) suggested I get the pasta with mazithra cheese. Chris said he was going to order that, so I stuck "inside the box" (Kimra's nice way of saying, "Monica, you're lame, you always eat the same thing.") and ordered the chicken penne.

Our food comes out and this plate gets put in front of me. It's chicken penne alright, with alfredo, just like it said in the menu. But I got a surprise. Hiding underneath the alfredo was a layer of tomato sauce. Ew. It's bad enough alone, but to ruin my alfredo? Ugh!

Needless to say, my first outing to Spag Fac was less than pleasing. But it made up for it with the REALLY good italian soda with the glass I got to keep, but then left at the restaurant. :(

An Update and Such...

Well since I've been pretty busy and all, my blog has been pretty much nonexistant. But after talking to mi madre, and after a very sweet (ahem) comment from Neen, I decided it was time to update. This one is specifically for Tia Ines, since apparently, she reads my blog religiously and is upset I haven't done anything.

Since the only interesting thing and new thing in my life is my job, I will update.

Right before Christmas, I was promoted to Team Leader of the South team in DLC. Good right? Actually, great. I got completely caught up on all of my reports and didn't have any random files sitting around (which, by the way is a really, really good thing, since the LAST thing you want is an angry disabled person calling you). Then I left for Christmas vacation. I have two somewhat relaxing weeks at home with no responsibilities and then I come back to my wonderful job where (SURPRISE!), one week after being home, and two full weeks of being in my new position...

I am promoted (quite reluctantly, I might add) to case manager. This means I am now in charge of all clients at the initial and reconsideration level of Social Security disability benefits in Utah, Nevada, Colorado, Oregon and Washington. In case you were wondering (I know you were), that is a little over 800 clients I call my own. Not only am I dealing one on one with these clients, but I also deal with and talk to over 100 Social Security offices spread out in these states. If that wasn't enough, I get the "pleasure" of having my clients come into the office to speak to me directly, since I have clients in Utah, and lucky me, that is where our office is. (Side note: I totally get to call the Pendleton and Spokane DO's all the time and every time I do I think, "Hey! My family lives SO CLOSE to your office!" I don't know why, but I totally love my Pendleton and Spokane clients. :) )

Now don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE my job. It is so much better than where I started out. I keep really busy and my daily tasks aren't monotonous. It's just that sometimes, I seriously question the American population. Like when I have to call a client and get their correct social security number, only to find out they don't have one, and use their mother's social most of the time, and their son's social to get welfare...

Or like today, when I had a client come into the office to bring me some paperwork from their doctor. This was the second time I had ever met this lady and she hugged me. I don't really have a personal bubble too much, but I felt so awkward, I didn't know what to do. I mean I'm glad I made her happy and everything, but I was just put in such an awkward situation I didn't know what to do.

Anyway, long story short, I love my job and things are going well. Really well actually. So well, that I actually got offered another promotion last week (which would only make it about a month since becoming case manager). But I turned it down. I'm happy where I am and I'm not ready to move up yet.

This weekend, I am going up to Salt Lake with Chris and we're going to hang out with his family and go on a double with his friend Jared and his fiancee Rachel. I'll try to take pictures and keep busy so I have no excuse to not keep updating. :)