Dance Like You Don't Have A Nation!

Had to share this. Because these people were awesome.

Closing Time...

...every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end.

So. It's been awhile. Lots of big things have happened. Namely it's been a bit over three weeks since I lost my job. I'm actually relieved. I really hated spending two hours a day in the car commuting - despite listening to some awesome audiobooks - and I hadn't really been given any opportunities at the company to show them my worth. Add on that an announcement back in December that we were being acquired by an ENORMOUS company in California and basically I knew my days were numbered.

I was proud that I lasted to almost August I mean I've known since December that they were going to get rid of me but it took them a lot longer to realize that. I've been applying to everything in the area that has popped up since last year and was hoping I could leave them before they let me go, but that didn't quite pan out.

I'm not upset, I'm trying to look at this as a good thing. A reason to finally get my personal life back on track, finally get my physical life back on track, and actually enjoy life doing things I like to do. I'm eating better, I'm getting into an exercise routine that will have me ready to restart the c25k in September, and I've spent some quality time with my family. It's been good to decompress.

I'm hoping that by October I'll have found a new job at a company that actually finds me valuable and understands my creativity.

In the meantime I'll work on me and I'll work on my writing. I'm two chapters shy of finishing my first novel and I've got a few other stories in various different stages of completion. I've even got a young adult series planned out and hope to really pursue my dream of being published. I even have a great pen-name picked out and I just am ready to do this!

Let's all go!

I'm going to ignore the fact that I haven't posted anything here in AGES and just jump right in.

In most recent news:

• Jason is a cripple. He sprained his ankle playing volleyball.
• I am not allowed to play volleyball because it's a company thing and I do not work for the company. Instead I've become a avid - and sometimes vocal but usually I just gesture a lot - fan of Jason's volleyball and floor hockey teams.
• My job is slowly sucking out my soul.
• I continue to have no social life because I spend 2+ hours in the car commuting to and from work every day.
• There are babies about to pop out EVERYWHERE.
• Lulu is no more.
• My sister and I have adopted Marines and we send letters on a weekly basis and care packages on a monthly/bi-monthly basis to complete strangers.
• We've had what my parents like to call "The mother of all summers and the summer of all mothers" followed by what my brother calls "The winter of our discontent"...

But other than that I'm good. Lots of things to catch up on but let's face it, we'll be lucky if I manage to keep up with the current goings on, let alone backtrack and backpost.

Oh My

I have definitely been the worst blogger ever.

Lots of things have happened.

Maybe someday I'll tell you all about them.

And the award goes to...

ME!

I've said it before, I'll say it again. I'm the worst blogger ever sometimes.

We're still waiting for photos from our photographer, but I'll post some non-pro snips from the wedding.

And I'll do a nice long post, or maybe even a series of posts on our amazing honeymoon.

It's official...

I'm the worst blogger ever!

I had things to update, I really did! But then a certain someone absconded with my camera so I have no pictorial illustrations of anything I wanted to share. And let's face it, I'm a visual person, I like pretty pictures!

Things are slowly...very slowly...taking shape. The wedding is almost here and no, I'm not nervous or anxious or anything about it. The wedding will be fine, I'm certain it will even be more than fine it will be splendiforous!

But no, I'm not worried about the wedding, I'm worried about finishing the move, getting things done, finding a job, and buying a new car.

WHERE THE HELL DID REAL LIFE COME FROM?!

I can has interview?

I totally just realized it was Tuesday. Where the hell did Monday go?!

In other news, yesterday (which apparently was Monday!), I applied for a few more positions in Connecticut. Long story short, someone called me back today and I have an interview on Friday.

Huzzah!

Jason is in awe of how fast the turn around on that one was. When he asked me how I did it, I just told him it's 'cause I'm awesome.

Are you awesome?

We're moving!

...I just wish I knew where!!!

I know, I know, I've been a horrible blogger AGAIN. You think I'd learn my lesson by now, but no.

Anyway. It's been very stressful the past week. Yes, amazing things have happened. Jason got a job offer in CT! He also had three other phone interviews, two of which lead to on-site interviews.

So cue to last week when Jason realized his interview on the 11th in Schenectady might be cutting it close if he had to give his answer to CT by the 15th. Mad dash to see if they could bump up the interview, it was a no go but the guy did say since Jason has such a tight deadline he'd let him know the evening of the 11th if he got the job and he'd pressure HR to get right on sending him the offer.

Meanwhile there was a third possible on-site interview in Baton Rouge. Of course since this is the least ideal place to live it is the job Jason wants most. Of course even though I'm not really interested in living in the south I'm behind my manfriend all the way if it's what he wants to do. Of course since it's the job he really wants, they can't seem to get their act together and don't think they could possibly work with the 15th as a deadline. This is still up in the air.

I did some housing research both in the Schenectady area (which of course I already know a lot about housing in the capital region and Laura has moved so many times she knows the ins and outs of apartment complexes in the area) and I also took a look at the areas between Groton and the other major cities in CT.

It'd be killer easy to find a decent and affordable place to live, apartment-style, in the Capital Region. It's a little harder to find an apartment-style place in CT unless you're looking in the areas immediately surrounding a major city...which of course we're not. I haven't found any positions worth applying to in Groton but I have applied to things in New Haven and Hartford, and even Providence, RI. But all the housing between any of those two points is house rentals. We don't need anything more than two bedrooms, we can't afford anything more than two bedrooms, but that seems to be what's available in CT. Obviously the search will continue.

I told Jason my findings and asked him if NY gives him a comparable offer to CT where he would rather work/live. I wanted to know what he wanted. I already know what I want. The Capital Region is already home, we have friends there, we know the area, we're getting married there, it'd be everso convenient! Color me pleasantly surprised when he said he'd probably prefer the NY job if the offer was similar.

Yesssss.

Laura will be so happy to have me back :P

I'm not getting my hopes up. The CT offer is a solid offer and in my mind CT is WAY better than Louisiana any day of the week. (I don't like humidity, and I don't like bugs...so sue me!) I'd be content with Connecticut, I'd be ecstatic with Schenectady though!

We'll know by the end of next week where we'll be moving, and we'll be going apartment hunting next weekend. All I'm going to say is next week can't come fast enough!

It's almost like dancing...

March Madness

This whole not being home on the weekends...every weekend..?

It's rough.

I'm exhausted. The weekend was wonderful. Although I was too tired to go to dinner Friday night for our anniversary. I felt so horrible, but I couldn't even move. My body felt like lead, it was awful.

The NH Shower was amazing. Like really. My girls are just incredible and Amanda and MamaKoala are party-throwing-machines!

I'm just so tired. I've been too exhausted to do anything. At least I unpacked the car load of presents and organized them and stored them in the basement. At least I wrote out all the thank yous already and all but two are in the mail. At least I unpacked my bag and repacked it for this coming weekend.

Still doesn't mean I don't have three loads of clean laundry to put away when I get home, or a million errands to run this week including getting my taxes done.

Ugh. I want to cry I'm so tired.

Uhhhhhhhhhh FREAKOUT!

First off, I'm not dead yet. We moved Jason. We made and mailed out all the save the dates. And I am in the midst of making all the pocketfolds for the invitations. Things have been extremely busy. Updates on those things soon.


But in other news...

FREAKOUT!!!

The Big Red Freakout is the BIGGEST Men's Hockey Game of the year at RPI. Only one year did I manage to get tickets to the game and I didn't even get to go.

It turned out we had an a cappella competition the same weekend as the big game and I had to give my ticket to a roommate.

It was so upsetting.

And since I've graduated there has always been something going on the weekend of Freakout but this year, everything changes.

This year I'm GOING.

Hooray! Yippie! Go Red!

Laura and I (along with some friends) are getting tickets through the awesome Alumni Association and we're even going to Ice House beforehand which is a happy little dinner.

Things to pack: red scarf, new RPI hockey jersey, red vest, RPI hat, FREAKOUT shirt bought years ago, red hoodie, the Devil's panties.

Sickly

Again I have entered the realm of totally sick.

Part of me kids that I'm allergic to Jason. Whenever I spend more than a long weekend with him I get sick.

In February when we went to Vancouver I came home with the worst case of strep throat I have ever had (and that's saying A LOT).

After Thanksgiving and seeing Jason in Baltimore, I felt like death and wound up with Coxsackie.

I spent a whole week with Jason in NH and now my face is peeling off.

WTF?!

I'm headed to the dermatologist this afternoon and hopefully he can give me some sort of diagnosis that makes sense and some sort of salve to make my skin stop drying up.

In the meantime not too much is happening. I'll be working on the Save the Dates the next two weeks, we're moving Jason from VA to NH this weekend, and I'm on the search for an affordable Hope Diamond.

So yeah, not too much happening.

Manjoyment Monday: Schnoz Special

I have the plague. More on that later.

As I'm basically quarantined off for a few days I spent all day today in bed watching horrible movies on SyFy. What can I say? I got sucked in by Basilisk: The Serpent King and stuck around after that for Attack of the Gryphon.

It was as I watched Tara from Buffy run around as a warrior woman princess trying to find half a sword to kill a sorcerer who was using her kingdom's legendary gryphon against her own people that I realized two things:

One: SyFy makes some QUALITY made for TV movies. (I'm pretty sure it's the super cheesemo CGI animation that is a mockery of itself.)

And Two: I am really attracted to men with big noses.

Case and point:

Jonathan LaPaglia, oh hello.

Don't know what it is, but there's something sexy about a man with a schnoz.

(Image borrowed from imdb.com)

IOU

I owe you:

• Halloween Happenings
• Dress Hunting, not a spectator's sport
• A kid, a kid!
  

Backposting like the Best of them

I'm working on a few back posts. Check 'em out if you want. A lot of hilarious photos in most of the posts!

1. Laura's Bridal Shower
2. Quarter Century Extravaganza
   
3. Party in the USA
4. Date Night with Casey
5. MDW FTW
   

It's really official...

I am in fact the WORST blogger ever.

I promise I'll be better. Starting with a decent Wedding Wednesday post tomorrow and back posts about EVERYTHING.

Note to Self: Quit Being a Bad Blogger

I owe Persnickety Penny these posts:

1. Laura's Bridal Shower
2. Venue Hunting
3. Party in the USA
4. Date Night with Casey
5. MDW Extravaganza

Those if not more will be back-posted soon.

Ketchup

Today I'm doing a lot of back-posting.

If you're interested:

• The most fun I've ever had at a funeral! (Literally.)
  
• Seattle
• Vancouver
• The Olympics!
  
• Belly dancers galore!
• Phun with Photography
  

Slightly Alive

Sorry for the lack of posting. I have lots of really cool images of Seattle and Vancouver to share with everyone and whatnot but I came home with the worst case of strep throat I have ever had.

Strep throat and I go way back. Each of us had what I like to call a "sickness of choice" while we were growing up except Dan. Dan was always really healthy up until college and then he got it all at once but let's get back to my tonsils.

Julibean's sickness of choice was always an ear infection. She had so many that eventually she got tubes put in her ears and it just continued on from there.

Since I was a child my sickness of choice was strep. In fact, I have terrifyingly large tonsils. I wish I were making that up. The first time my pediatrician looked down my throat he jumped back, and that was on a healthy day. So when I get strep or even a little sore throat, I am miserable.

This was the be all end all cases of strep. My father has never seen my tonsils that bad. I went to the doctor and he told me they were hemorrhagic...yeah...how disgusting is that? My tonsils were not only inflamed, they were bleeding.

So basically I've spent all my time since we landed Monday in bed. Lots of antibiotics, lots of ice, lots of gatorade...yeah...this is the life.

Monday and Tuesday I ate nothing but a frosty from Wendy's and then got sick so it didn't really matter that I had eaten it.

Yesterday and today I've managed (so far) to drink water, Gatorade and have eaten some Ritz crackers.

Downside to all of this is I've missed pretty much a full week of work now in addition to the time I took off to go to Seattle/Vancouver. Luckily my manager is awesome and told me to stay home today. I'm thinking I'll be able to get to work tomorrow. I don't want to push myself too hard but I think I'll be well enough to get in.

Up side to all of this is since I've been too sick to eat anything at all I've lost 7lbs. I know once I start actually eating again it'll level out but geeze, if only I could lose 7lbs in a week. It'd be nice, but so, so unhealthy.

Dance Party Friday: Oy

Tuesday night I almost died.

My stomach almost exploded. It was horrible.

I'm pretty sure I had food poisoning, however I'll never really know. My stomach is still out of whack even after spending all of Wednesday in bed watching marathon reruns of ANTM Cycle 6.

I don't think I'll eat ever again.

Humbug

Ugh, I am terribly terribly sick. I came back from my adventures in Troy with a cold and I haven't been able to shake it.

So if anyone knows the cure for a cough and leaking from your nose, eyes and ears, please let me know what it is. I'd like to be rid of this!

I'd also like to be in bed...for the rest of the week...could we do that? Please?