New Town - Nothing New

Its amazing how moving to a new place makes others think that your life must be very new and exciting. When in reality its pretty much the same as before, just new scenery.

I'm sure a move to a big city (you know, like NYC or Chicago, etc.) would yield some new and exciting stories. But my recent moves from small northern town to slightly larger northern town haven't proved much differences. Obviously the people are different and there are different restaurants and bars. But the sad fact is, I'm the new kid here and don't have anyone to make crazy stories happen with. I mean, Paul is here, but our crazy stories aren't that different from the ones we made before.

I'm not upset by this fact. Just musing. I have found it interesting how difficult it is to make friends once out of school and out of your own circle. Because friends have friends that they introduce you to that you introduce to your own friends and so forth. but when you're the new kid you don't have that ingrained circle to start the ball rolling. And without school to force you into teams and relationships it becomes very hard to meet people. Or at least, that has been my experience.

I'll take the blame for not being as pro-active in this town as I have been in past moves. But I will also lay some blame on my job. I love it, but as the manager of a store I am the "top" of my store's food chain. My co-workers are also my employees which in my mind builds a wall between us that is very hard to scale and even harder to walk along without falling. There are many managers within the company that are on the same level as me, but the closest is 5o minutes away and in a different district. Its frustrating to have people you want to be friends with be so far away. Perhaps its a flaw in the company or just a flaw because we are so spread out up here. But none-the-less I think its something that makes the constant moves difficult. I love moving for my job, but I wish the social life didn't die with each move.

This sounds like a very depressed post, but in reality I think I'm just apathetic about the whole thing. And maybe thats the really problem. I just don't care. I would like to make friends, but in the last town I started to do that and then we moved. And the relationships weren't really strong enough yet to cause long lasting friendships. And Facebook can only do so much.

Lots of Love,
~*Ery*~

February

'TIs February now. I love how close we are getting to spring. Don't get me wrong, I love winter but it can be dreary. Especially when it lasts for-ev-er. Luckily people know how to have fun with it and we just roll with the weather. My Dad (who lives south east of me) says 'if you don't like the weather wait five minutes and it will change'. Up here it more like 'if you don't like the weather...move'. People give you a limited amount of moan and groan time before they just start wondering why you stay. And its true. The weather up here never changes. There will always be a cold winter and it will always be long. Why stay if you can't deal with it?

One of my favorite moments over the last few weeks was going to the local Mexican restaurants for dinner with Paul. This place smells like heaven from the parking lot and walking through the door just makes it better. They keep it nice and warm inside in the winter so its like the perfect dichotomy. You see snow and frozen-ness outside but inside its like being in Mexico. Hot and sunny and spicy!

Paul got a job!! He is working at McDonalds and so far so good. I know he is feeling down about it, but I think its a great opportunity. They are such a big company that has the ability to give their workers great careers. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Paul gets that opportunity. I know he could do it and that he would enjoy it. For now though, I'm just looking forward to some free french fries :)

At my job things are going well. I've got a girl though, ooo. I tell you she is itching to go walking out our doors and not come back. All we do is customer service. Above all else it is in our mission statement twice. And she repeatedly gives crappy service. We are having a "tough discussion" this week and as much as I hate confrontation there is a part of me that is looking forward to it. I want her to recognize me as the boss. And I want her to see that I'm not backing down on stuff. I need her to see that and get it. Or else I'm afraid that I'm going to lose my staff and if that happens I'm in hot water. Being a good buddy is great, but when the chips are down you need a manager that is going to stand up with a spine, and I don't think I've had to prove that part yet. THE TIME IS NOW!!! :)

THe wedding plans...not so hot right now. We've had to postpone for a while. Its sad but then at the same time I feel better about it. I just wasn't ready to plan a wedding yet. There is so much to do and I just wasn't ready. Not to mention the big reason we postponed-money. Its frickin' expensive to get married and throw a party. Not to mention that since our friends and family are so spread out that we decided to have to parties. Ick. I mean, I like a good party but tht is a food and decorations and music doubled. AHHH! Lots of stress. Now I have two years to plan. Lots and lots of time.

Well thats the update. I'm trying to get better. We'll see.

Lots of Love,
~*Ery*~

Life Goes On

Ahh, I have a computer again... and internet...yay! I love having a computer! I feel so much more connected. Especially now that I've moved. Again. I just moved about 4 hours further away from my family than I was before. It's crazy!

Well, ok I moved about 4 months ago...but that is besides the point. For the first few months I was here alone, but now Paul moved in and things are going so well. We joined a group for young professionals in our area. It is like my favorite thing ever. I was meeting so many older people on my own. I joined two choirs and the average age was like 60. And Iwas a good 20 years younger than the youngest person in the group. It was fun to sing, but not the most entertaining thing to attend. I mean I'm young, I'm hip (sort of) I need young sort of hip people to chill with. Yeah...I'm not hip because I say chill.

I love my job. I get to see people all the time and people are starting to get to know me and my life. IT was so weird, yesterday someone asked me if I was married yet. THat doesn't soun weird except that it was the guy from the pizza delivery place and I didn't know he knew I was engaged. It was bizarre. On that note, Paul and I picked a date: Oct 16th, 2010. I'm going to go crazy. I have no money and no plans yet. I don' tknow what I'm going to do! There is so much that goes into planning a wedding. I want to pull my hair out just thinking about it. SO I keep pulling a Scarlett O'Hara and saying I'll think about it tomorrow. WHich was fine 3 months ago when I had a year, but now I've "tomorrowed" myself into 9 months away and I've realized nothing is done...AH!

Paul and I are starting to get ready for the church prep part of the wedding though. WHich is exciting. I pray all the time that he'll become more interested in the religious part of my life. I mean, I know that he believes in GOd and Jesus, but its hard to talk to him about it and its weird not to have him at church with me. LIke, I sit there alone. I just want him to be there with me. Not to mention that I think he would get a lot out of it too. I love going to church. It's so calming and centering. I'm thinking about getting him one of those children's guide to mass things so he can learn what the heck we're doing with all the standing sitting talking stuff. But I'm not sure if that would help him or hurt his feelings. I shoudl just ask.

WEll that's me for now. I want to start writing more now that I have a computer again, but I know how that goes. Best intentions and all that.

Lots of Love,
~*Ery*~

First of Many

I was going to say that this is the first of many days of work until I get a real day off, but technically it's not true. Technically, that day was last Monday. So this is actually day 7 of ... a lot? At least 24. I'm pretty sure I have 3/20 off. But then its right back to work on the 21st so not that big a deal. I'm not complaining. In fact, it really good that I'm working. I mean, times suck. I have two jobs when a lot of people can't keep one. And in May I'll be down to one again. So its a good thing to get the hours now while I can. but man, does it suck to be sitting at a desk when you could be sitting in bed or on the couch. Or just doing something productive in general. Here I'm trying to pace out my actual work so that I can have something to do everyday. I have graded tests, taken down attendance records, and copied study guides. Tomorrow I will probably finish attendance and maybe, just maybe I might copy and collate some tests.

Plus aside from the lack of real work I've got cramps to distract me. I'll get into a groove and a really comfy typing or reading position and then the knife comes back and I have to rearrange myself until it goes away. Which it isn't doing. Damn ibuprofen, it is not helping right now.

On the upside...Its time for me to punch out!! Woo hoo!

Lots of Love,
~*Ery*~

P.S. Okay, so maybe I complained a little bit. Overall I really am happy to be getting paid!! :)

Doing So Well

So many posts in a row and then nothing. I'm trying.



Its been 12 days now since I had my ParaGard inserted and its been awesome so far. It caused me a bit of pain for about a week, but nothing that a Pamprin a day didn't take care of. I did have a really sharp pain around the time that I ovulated though which was new and completely caught me off guard. It was like I had been stabbed with a knife, and then it was gone. So weird. One of the strangest things that happened though was I started to smell like a penny! It was so bizarre, it makes sense (since ParaGard has copper on it) but it was still kind of strange. Now i'm just waiting for my first period. We shall see.

I had a great time in St. Louis recently. I had never been so it was interesting to see a city that was such a big part of thing like western expansion and the Lewis and Clark mission. The Arch...so cool...so big. If I ever figure out how to get pictures from my phone onto my computer I'll post the only pictures I have from the trip. The only down side was spending 6 hours in a hospital with Katie and her face infection. Luckily she's ok, and everyone was super nice, but a hospital is a hospital and never any fun. Our underage folks would argue that it was as good as going to Toronto since the bar we went to didn't card and served everyone. Safe environment, less walking. It was pretty cool.

Today was my last class before Spring Break. I wish I could be more excited, but all I'm doing is picking up more hours for work. woohoo. Well, Work = $ and I need $ for upcoming stuff. Therefore, I need to work. Boo.

Long, Long Day

Ugh, what a weekend. Yes...ugh. Tiring, stressful, and not pain-free. My Saturday at work was insanely busy. We had a full house, which was awesome for the hotel in general, but crappy for the single desk worker (me).

Let me lay it down real quick:
1) We are a pet-free hotel, and yet people sneak pets in all the time. Sometimes we catch them, sometimes we just see the evidence. Like Saturday when someone let their dog crap in the middle of the main hallway and then left it there for someone to step into and track down the hall.
2) Groups are great, and fun, and entertaining. High schoolers are loud and push boundaries. Its in the nature of being a high schooler on a trip. It drives me nuts when they can't close doors quietly or get out of my lobby so I can have five minutes of peace. I love 'em for coming and being youthful...I hate them for being loud and not understanding social constraints that surround a hotel yet.
3) Toilets and bodily functions were not my friend. Two toilets backed up and one kid puked on his bed. I am the only hotel employee on at night until 11pm. That sucks big time for helping people. Normally its not a big deal, but with the aforementioned kids in the lobby and a full house...it gets really hard to help people and even care.

Luckily I got a free pizza out of the deal and wine at a friend's house later. Thank God, because with the way I was feeling I needed to sit down. 8 Hours on my feet was not a happy day for my new friend.

My Stems...and Other Happenings

An update on my stem de-hairing. Veet is pretty nifty stuff! As promised on their website my hair didn't feel prickly the next day. In fact, yesterday was the first day I felt really any hair. And its surprisingly already longish. It got past the poke-y part to go straight to the long soft spot, its aMAZing!

I wonder...can I use it in other places (armits, bikini line)? It doesn't say not to...hmmm.

Other Happenings

Today I start my two weeks of Tina free office work. Its both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because I don't have to deal with her mood swings and lack of pregnancy woes. A curse, because I don't have anything to do and can't halep anyone due to the fact that Tina keeps everything of office importance to herself. I get all the gossip and what not that I could hope for, but nothing of office value. No real responsibilities. I'm not sure why, but I think it could be that she doesn't want to let go of the control she has over things. Which is fine...until she isn't here to be the brains of the operation. Ah well, I suppose I might try and tidy her desk a bit. AS a surprise for when she gets back.

I'm flutter-FLYing again. I fell off the band wagon for a little bit. I think the babysteps were just a bit to slow. I mean, I get the point, but sometimes you just gotta jump in there I think. So that's what I did this time. I'm only doing the things I know I can handle, but I'm jumping right in. Skipped the whole post-it note thing this time and went straight for the Control Journal. My post-its just seemed angry at me and made me guilty. The Journal is a better system (I don't know why, it just works that way!) I'm swish and swiping my bathrooms clean and its a great feeling. I get happy everytime I'm in the bathroom!

Ohh! I'm also gearing up for my semi-annual trip to the parent's house on Aug. 1st. Paul is coming with me which is the first time in over a year that he'll be home with me. Everyone is so excited to see/meet him. Its funny, I say I'm coming and everyone goes "Is Paul coming?" I'm clearly loved. Ah well. I've got all kinds of fun stuff in the works. Here is a look at my starter schedule:
7/31: Drive 8 hours to get home at midnight. This would require some schedule changes at work but would result in a whole extra day with the family instead of a day wasted in the car. Granted, we could always leave reeeeeaaaaally early on Friday (Like at 5am and then we'd still make it to my parent's house by...1pm. Hmm if we left at 4am that arrival time could be noon and we'd miss evening traffic on a Friday and have the majority of a day left. Plus I wouldn't be skimping on the job situation. This plan could be a possibility. With 2 drivers it just might work. Plus if one of us is sleeping half the time it wouldn't seem nearly so long of a drive.... I like it.)
8/1: Spend the day seeing people in town and helping mom eliminate stress pre-party.
8/2: Continue to help get everything ready for Devynn's grad party, then whoop it up in her honor with family, old and new friends.
8/3 - 8/6: Assorted fun activities, including...but not limited to --> a double date with Devynn and Charles, a mother-daughter girls night out with Jackie, Nancy, Jen, myself and our mothers, and baby-sightings of the choir girls (aka new mommy Becca and new mommy-to-be Elisabeth).
8/7: Drive back up north for a restful evening at home before work the next day.

I'm really kind of liking that early early start idea. I'll have to discuss it with Paul, but I think it would be awesome. I mean, we'd spend the first few hours on back roads up north so no traffic and probably very few cops. Lets see...at 7pm we be...still pretty far north so no rush hour traffic in the city. Ooo this could be awesome! And if we packed the car before we left, all we'd have to do would be to stumble out to the car at 4am. The driver could grab some caffeine and breakfast while the other person cashed out in the backseat. Switch out 4 hours later and everyone would get plenty of sleep. So excited to tell Paul!!

ALright. WIth that excitement and flurry of planning, I'm gonna sign off. I think I've got some menu planning and shopping lists to make up.

Lots of Love,
~*Ery*~