Things That Annoy Me

There are several things I've come across lately that just annoy me to no end. Sorry if some of these apply to you, or maybe not. Take this as a passive aggressive way of telling you that there's something you need to change.

1. People Who Start ETSY Shops To Sell Something A Kindergartner Could Make. 

Seriously folks. This looks exactly like a painting I made when I was in elementary school. How much is it to buy a plain iPhone case from the craft store and paint it? And you're hocking this crap for $12.99 + S&H? Does anyone actually buy this stuff? I assume the same people that are making and selling these phone cases are the same people making the same cheap beaded necklaces that we made and gave our mom's for mothers day circa pre-school. Again I ask you, who actually buys this crap? And what insane/awful friend of yours gave you the crappy line "OMG Becky! You should totally sell those!" making Etsy the new online craft fair that people dread. Occasionally you come across something beautiful or a genius invention, but those are far and few between. And how people get others to buy these items... Well that brings me to number 2.

2. People That Use Social Media For The Sole Purpose Of Selling Crap.

I'll say the obvious here, I hate ads. But the worst is when you get a message on Facebook from someone you haven't heard from in years, thinking "hey, maybe Jane has forgiven me for accidentally tripping her in the lunch room during senior year." And then your phone services craps out on you (like mine frequently does) so you spend the whole day wondering what Jane could have wanted, and pondering every good or bad thing that she could have needed to speak to you about. So when you finally get home to your Wi-Fi, you can bring up Facebook on your phone and filled with excitement/dread you open the message from Jane and find that she has lost 30 pounds and wants to offer you the weight-loss product that worked for her. The first 10 seconds are spent wondering if Jane has noticed from your pictures that you've gained some weight and she's just being a blunt friend. But then you notice she began the message with Dear Friend, and the cards fall into place. Jane doesn't care about your friendship, she wants your money because she got caught in some pyramid scheme and now she needs to sell enough products or enlist enough people to get out of her debt. Jane is a bitch, and that's all there is. Tell Jane to screw off and then block her. It'll be awkward at the reunion, sure, but no more awkward than graduation was when she had to go across the stage on crutches because she "tripped" (over your foot).

New Start: Day 1

I have started a 90-day weight loss challenge at the gym and I think if I work at it, I can change other aspects of my life in that 90 days as well.

Things I would like to change:

- My weight

- My unemployment status

- My relationship with my parents

- My living situation

I saw an article about a Google employee who challenged himself to do something (or not to do something) for 30 days. It took me to a website www.30daychallenges.net where people post their own challenges and how they are doing with them. One of them was 30 days of blogging. I can do that. Every night I will post an update on what I've done towards completing my goals. I'm going to use this to be accountable to myself and to any readers (but does anyone actually read this?). 

So far I'm about a week into the weight loss challenge (I'd say 10 days?) so I'm going to start today as day 1 and just finish the weight loss challenge before I'm done with my personal goals.

I've lost 0 pounds since last week but I've lost 2.5% body fat. I know I eat crap and I don't do as much cardio as I should. I spent 2 hours at the gym tonight and burned 1,100 calories. I'm starting to develop a love/hate relationship with the stair-stepper. I hate it while I'm on it but when I look at my heart rate monitor I absolutely adore it. I know my legs and butt going to hate it tomorrow, though. 

My unemployment status is a pretty sore subject right now, which is also why I have problems with my parents. I've been living in their house for 2 months now and I absolutely hate it (hence, the living situation goal). I'm tired of being under their thumb all the time and I know they're tired of me living here. I know I need to get a job but I've been trying for 4 months to find a job and I'm getting burnt out and frustrated. I just wish someone would call me back!! I had an interview at a place that does work with autistic kids almost 2 weeks ago but I haven't heard back from them. 

My boyfriend, Shawn, recently got a job at a temp agency. I'm really proud of him for getting a job. It's something so he doesn't have to move back in with his parents but its not enough to support both of us and our furbaby. It's a good set up though; he can just tell the agency that he's done when either he or I get a permanent job.

I'm just tired of feeling likes a useless waste of space. I need something to make me feel worthy again. I need something to my name.

Well, here I go.

Apparently my life needs coaching

My aunt has decided that she is going to become a Life Coach. I'm her guinea pig.

Awesome. So my life needs coaching? That's a fantastic thing to hear. Especially when I feel like my life is already falling apart.

I am so tired of searching and applying for jobs. I feel like I'm practically begging for someone to hire me. I'm just ready for someone to "discover" me. I wonder where I might meet someone that could discover me and just hand me the perfect job. Anyone know of such a magical place? Or if such a thing even happens?

Polite?

I interviewed for my dream job on Tuesday. I absolutely love this job and I want it so bad! It's in my moms hometown where I used to spend my summers and I've always dreamed of living there. 

I'm not sure if people do this anymore, but I sent the lady I interviewed with a thank you email. I'm hoping that will show that I'm persistent and gracious and how much I would love to be apart of the company. 

Has anyone else sent a thank you after an interview?

How to clean to get your deposit back.

I can honestly say in the 22 months I have lived in this apartment I have cleaned the bathroom once. And here I am 5 days away from moving out and I'm freaking out. I could really use that deposit back to pay for my bills. 

So I scoured my kitchen cabinet. And honestly I have bought almost every lazy person's cleaning product. I bought the self cleaning sprays. None of them worked instantly like they show on the commercials. I bought the special wipes for bathtubs but my soap scum is so intense that they ripped the wipe and the scum is still there. 

But have no fear, readers. For I have found a cheap product that worked. Magic Erasers. They certainly are magic. It takes a little elbow grease but a few rough swipes and the dreaded soap scum is gone. 

 I forgot to take a "before" picture and honestly I have no idea how to do a split screen picture (damn technology) but the right side is done and the left side is my nasty uncleaned bathtub. It took me about 5-10 minutes of good scrubbing to do half of the bathtub. And I haven't figured out how to do the other side because I have sliding glass doors and a toilet on the other side. I may just have to take a cold bath with dirty water to get the other side. 

I will have a post later on the shower walls because when I moved in the grout was black (it's supposed to be white, by the way).

Gotta Find a Job!

I drove an hour over to my moms hometown to drop off an application. They have 2 openings. One for a child case manager and one for a family case manager. I drove all that way hoping I could meet with someone and interview then but the HR people were out of the office doing training. So I drove around looking at things from my childhood and looking for houses for rent in hopes that I get the job and get to move to the town where I spent all my summers as a kid. My cousin works at the place too so I would get to spend more time with her. 

And moving to the place that held so much wonder as a kid would be wonderful. It was where grandma and grandpa lived. It was where you could drive through the park and see lions. It was where on hot summer afternoons grandma would take me to the library so I could pick out a book. I would love to move to that wonderful place but I'm hoping that actually living there doesn't ruin my childhood fantasy of magical Independence. 

My mom wants me to get a job there so she can have somewhere to stay during their fall festival. Jeez. Thanks mom. 

Shawn also says he won't want to live there forever. He doesn't understand. 

And I Thought I Was Done Taking Tests...

I had to get up at 4:30 this morning, leave the house by 5:30 so I could get to Tulsa before 8 am so I could take a test to make me eligible for 2 probation/parole positions in Oklahoma. I got 83/100 on the test and I was terrified that that wouldn't qualify me for the jobs but I got an email this afternoon that I'm on the eligible list for both positions!! I'm hoping that they will pull the scores and I will get a call Friday for an interview!! But one of the towns was hit by a tornado today and the other one is under a tornado watch right now. I'm thinking that I'm bad luck...

And the other thing I've been dealing with is my best friend's wedding. One of the bridesmaids has completely taken over. She says that the bride asked her to see what we thought of the "dresses" (which is a white tank top and an orange skirt) but I texted the bride and she said that the rogue bridesmaid is obsessed with the skirt and wants everyone to wear them. They're also $108 and can only be bought online. I am completely against online shopping (I don't buy anything I haven't tried on), and $108 is completely ridiculous for a skirt. Also the wedding colors are blue and silver.

I was on a conference call with 2 of the other bridesmaids (part of the original foursome) and we are in complete agreement that rogue bridesmaid doesn't know that its not her wedding. I'm gone so I can't be part of the planning. They're having a dinner on Thursday and the 2 will be texting me the whole time to let me know what's going on. I can't wait till I move back and I can be involved with the planning. I told bride that I'm willing to work with her and design and make dresses for everyone. I prefer a bridesmaid party picking out dresses though...

Loves, B

Stay at home "mom"

I have spent the last 3 days being a stay at home "mom". And I've been watching The Dick Van Dyke Show lately so I feel like Laura Petrie. I actually put on a dress and I've been wearing an apron to do my work all day. 

What I got done before 10am (and its pretty astounding, people): 

* took the dog out and fed him

* made breakfast for Shawn and myself

* made Shawn a lunch to take to work

* made the bed and picked up the bedroom

* fixed the vacuum, swept the living room, and picked up the living room

* cleaned the kitchen and did the dishes

* walked the dog

* showered and dressed 

Yeah. All of that before 10am. I also did 3 loads of laundry, cleaned the bathroom, made lunch and started getting things together for the garage sale on Saturday. Oh, and made a loaf of Irish soda bread (which I remembered I really dislike after I ate a piece). I will probably be sending it home with my friend that is coming down tomorrow. She's full Irish and loves all that crap. So I'll let her enjoy it. And take home the other box of mix I bought (impulse buy because it was on sale). 

I have a while before I have to start making dinner because Shawn's friend is coming over for dinner and he can't come over till about 7:00. 

I'm really getting tired of this stay at home mom and wife thing. My "child" is a 9 month old puppy and I'm not even married yet. I just have to do this because I don't have a job and I don't want to move away from Shawn just yet. I already have to spend the summer away from him. Is it so bad that I want to spend a couple weeks with him? 

I guess spending each night with him while I can is worth being bored during the day. 

We Need To Talk...

As much as I hate saying that to Shawn, we do need to talk. I don't want to move that far away. Its hard to look for somewhere to live 1,200 miles away. I'd rather find a job somewhere close and that way I could move into a place and he could join me when he's done with school.

I've also discovered that I hate staying home all day by myself. It's so boring! And Page only has one opening. It would probably be a while before I'd find a job there and I don't want to do the stay-at-home mom thing yet. I want to utilize my college degree. If I find a job somewhere near the city, I'm sure he would be able to find a job somewhere up there. So I'm going to keep looking for a job and not just depend on him.

I hope I don't sound bitchy for wanting to have a job. It's not 1960 anymore. I can have a job if I want to. I finished college first so I should be able to find a job and make him follow me where I go.

If anyone's reading this, comments please?

Farewell to College

At times, college was difficult and challenging. I had to figure out new places on my own and adjust to becoming a grown up. College was also a blast! I met lots of people and one of them became the person that I can't see my life without. I met my best friend, Shawn at his fraternity house almost 3 years ago. We have been dating for 2 years and we currently live together. At the end of this month we are becoming a long distance relationship. I'm moving home with my parents while he takes summer school classes to finish college. Last summer tested our relationship when he took an internship in Arizona for the summer while I was at home taking summer classes. We tried to talk every day and I missed him like crazy. This summer we will only be 2 hours apart, but its just beginning to sink in that I won't get to see him everyday and I won't get to sleep next to him every night.

I do not have any job prospects, but Shawn may have gotten a job in Arizona because of his internship. If he gets it, we will move there together. Its half-way across the country and it may be a difficult move. I have started looking at places to live but there aren't many houses for rent where we will be living, Page, Arizona. It's up between the Grand Canyon and Lake Powell, Utah. We also have a dog, so renting a place with a fenced in yard that allows dogs narrows our search quite a bit.

Well the boys are back with pizza and Zoolander so I'm gonna stop writing for now. I hope you're still with me and willing to stick with me as I figure things out.