HAPPY HALLOWEEN ALL!!!

We are in the house! Managed to move into it all in one weekend. The following weekend, my parents came up and we did a TON of work. Last weekend the plan was to do NOTHING. In reality, we ended up getting the last really large dead tree taken down. It was a relief to finally get it down. It had been dead for a number of years and was just waiting to fall on my new kitchen roof and damage my new appliances, and then I'd have had to hurt someone :) So that is done. We still haven't finished the bedroom completely, but plan to this weekend. We tried to be lazy last weekend and it didn't work, so I'm planning to be busy and maybe I'll get lucky and have a lazy day! We just need to finish the touch ups on the new trim, where we put the nails in and then I need to switch out all of the plugs and light switches with the new ones that we bought. I'm really happy with the way that it all turned out. There is still a bunch of stuff that I want to do, but I am ready to start taking my time with it all. I'll get it done bits at a time.

I'm getting to the end of training. 3 more weeks to go. It is challenging but I think that I will enjoy it. I have so far gotten a lot of positive feedback from the trainers on the work that I have done so far. I seem to be grasping the concepts pretty well. There is a lot to learn. I've gotten 8 cases so far and there will be another 9 coming in the next 3 weeks, with the case load eventually going to about 160+. It'll take a little while to get there, but at least it will be gradual. I've already come up with a kind of plan for where I'd like to be in the next couple of years. There are some tests that I have to take when I've reach the time frame for certain promotions, but that is a few years down the road.

I've been reading a lot lately. I've been itching to write, but as usual, I've not had the time or the inclination to write when I do have the time. We now have a room dedicated to be the computer room. I'm hoping that when we get it set up the way that we finally want it (without the bed sitting in the middle of it, like it is now), I'm going to make a schedule and try to schedule time to write, until I get back into the story. I've set a goal for doing that by Thanksgiving. I'd like to have it set by no later than then, but I'd like to get it done before then. We'll see how that all goes. At this point, I need to find a proof reader to help me out with some of the areas that I'm not sure of. There are some sections that I think are the reason that I am having trouble moving forward.

Well, I'm off. I've given myself a couple hours to play a new game that I just picked up last week and then I'm planning to finish the book I started last night... can't put it down. Bed of Roses by Nora Roberts is the 2nd book in her bride quartet series. Two thumbs up!

We've done a lot of work on the house! All weekend we were there and there is still a bunch more that we want to do. but we are really ambitious. We plan to be moved in THIS WEEKEND!!!! It will be a real challenge. The basement is completely done and we got a good start on the rest. The brand new roof was finished on Sunday and we had a couple of the trees taken down this afternoon. ne more tree to go and we would be good until spring to rip out the rest. We will not be completely finished with the major projects that we wanted to do until the weekend after we move in because my dad is coming in from PA to help me put the NEW WOOD floor in the master bedroom. And, I plan to replace the water heater that weekend too, since Dad is bringing me a new one. I already cleaned the furnace and am starting to work on some electrical stuff that I wanted to change. We had our new stove and fridge delivered on Sunday. I can't wait to cook on my new stove!! I am so excited. The appliances are black and the stove is one of the ceramic top stoves. I was having too much fun when they delivered them. Cable was installed on Sunday too, but don't get me started on that. Basically, a 2 year old could have done a better job running the wires. He not only did a half-assed job installing the cable, but he only put it in half of the rooms that we wanted it in. That's all I am going to say about that though.

In other news, the former co worker that came out of the woodwork and contacted me after over 5 years of nothing still hasn't sent me this explanation that he just HAD to share. In my opinion, YEAH!!! I long ago got past all that crap and truly don't care. Not 3 days later, I got a text msg late at night from a guy whose nickname fittingly became Douchebag. He sent me a msg to tell me that he just saw the trailer for Saw 6. Umm, why do I care?? What does he want? A cookie? First off, I was all excited because it had been almost a year since he sent me any msgs (it's been OVER a year since I moved out of the freaking state!). Why are these people all of a sudden coming out of the freaking woodwork??? Is it a full moon?

Well, I'm exhausted and am do some more packing before I fall face first into bed.

I managed to post again!!! In less than a week!! The closing is final and we now have the keys!!! We plan to change the locks on Wednesday and make our final color selections. I can't wait to get started!!! The new job is going well. Training continued today... as it will for the next 8 weeks. Today was a pretty easy day, but we should be getting back into the meat of things again tomorrow.

In odd news, I got a strange email today from someone that I used to work with at the Pirates. I haven't heard from this guy in 5 years... and after the last time I talked to him, I was glad that I didn't hear from him anymore. He's now decided that he needs to talk to me, apologize and explain why he acted the way that he did. Something about the email makes me think that maybe he has gone through AA. The way he worded the email to ask me if he could explain put me in mind of the "Make Amends" step in the program. Who knows why this is coming out of the blue now, but I guess I'll find out when I get the email with the explanation.

Well, I'm sleepy and have a headache that is nagging. I'm off to watch what is left of my only reality TV show that I am addicted to.

I guess it has been a while again. I'm not very good at updating this I guess. I started my new job last week. There is lots of training... 10 weeks worth to be exact, but I am really excited. There is also a new posting for the same position that is testing for another class that begins in December. A couple of friends from my old job have been scheduled to take the test! They are as anxious to get out of there as I was!


My boyfriend and I have found our new house and we are supposed to close on the house THIS FRIDAY!!! NEW HOUSE!!! There is some stuff that we want to change on the house so YEAH!!! I get to get out the tool bag and get to work again! We've had a lot of issues getting this house, troubles with the realtor that was representing the house. But, it should all be done soon! I am so excited. This was one of the first houses that we were interested in buying, but it took us a long time just to be able to get in to see it. We first wanted to go and see it in March/April, but didn't actually get to go into the house until August. We loved the location. The house is on a corner lot and has a nice big yard (for my Rottweiler puppy when I get him). We loved the house from the outside as soon as we saw it. With a few tweaks, the inside will be just how we want it too! We'll be doing a couple of rooms at the start and then doing a couple of other rooms down the road. First to be redone will be the master bedroom and we'll paint the walls in the finished basement. The kitchen will eventually be done and there are some things outside that need to be done, but most of those will wait until spring.

Well, I'm off. Hopefully I'll post more often... but I've said that before and it hasn't worked

I wrote a while ago about passing the test to get into a new job. I FINALLY got the call today! I got the job and am starting in just over a month!!! I am so excited! I can finally breathe. It is a large pay raise which will go a long way to helping out here at home (especially if we end up buying one of the houses that we've been looking at). I'm doing a jig right now!!!

Well, off to celebrate! Hope to post again soon!!

I passed my test!!! I have an interview scheduled for next week!! I am bouncing around and ecstatic! If I get the job, there will be a significant pay increase which will help when we buy a house. And, in that area, we have looked at a few (that we aren't buying) and are scheduled to look at a bunch more this Friday. Plus, that is only in one area that we are looking. There are a bunch more in the other area that we are considering, we just haven't scheduled to see any of them yet... that will come in the next few weeks. We are also considering, maybe, building from scratch too. At this point, it is just a wait and see thing. But, I had the exciting news about the possible new job and had to post!!!

Things have been crazy busy around here again. Trips to PA, work and house hunting. But I've been having a blast with it all. Work can be a pain, but what can you do? You need a paycheck, right? And in exciting news on that front, I may have a new job!!! I go in 2 weeks to take the civil service exam for a state job that I applied for. If I pass the test, I'll then go in for an interview. If I get the job, it means a LOT more money than I am making now, which in this economy can't be a bad thing. I am very excited! I just found out this morning about the test!

If we find a house and end up buying it, the extra income from the new job will be a GREAT thing! We've seen a couple that interest us, and hope to maybe tour at least a couple of them in the upcoming weeks to see if the houses are a fit for us. There are a few other places that we are planning to look as well. Right now the area that we are looking in would be a bit further of a drive for me for work.... but if I get this job, I'll be better able to afford to fill up my beast of a gas guzzler.... and maybe get ambitious enough to get it fixed. I've been putting it off because of cost.

Well, I am off to clean... can't wait! Or not. But, I came home from work last night to find that all of the laundry had been done for me, so that I could relax a bit on my days off... since I have to work Saturday.

There is a reason that I do not go to the doctor unless I have blood gushing, a bone protruding or an organ exposed.... the medical bills. Add to that the fact that I have now discovered that the medical insurance that my new employer provides BLOWS and I will be damned if I ever go to the doctor again. A trip to the ER and I had to not only pay the $40 copay when I got there, but also have just gotten $700 worth of bills that they didn't cover... for a couple of shots and a "your pain has gone from a 12 out of 10 to a 6 or 7... you are ready to go home and suffer in your own bed." I still have another Drs appointment to make for this year that I know will require actual extensive testing, if not surgery on top of it. I hate to put it off, but frankly, my credit card can't take much more. Just when I thought that I was going to be able to finally get my head above water with some of my bills and be able to contribute to more than the groceries, I get slammed with this. That $700 doesn't include the fact that I had to use half of my vacation time, in addition to the insurance not paying for crap, because I'm not covered for any kind of short term disability in my job... and had to go back to work earlier than recommended by my doctor because I couldn't afford to use any more vacation time, because I had already scheduled some to use for a couple of other medical things that I needed to have done... which at least that went well yesterday and although it didn't cost me as much as I thought... still hammered me for $200. I already popped a stitch last night, but that hasn't been a problem as of yet, so I shouldn't have to worry about it.

Enough of my droning on. I just needed to whine for a minute. I am going to try to spend the rest of my day enjoying myself.

I didn't realize that it had been so long since I posted here.  Things have been very busy since I came to Ohio.  I guess it takes a trip to the ER and being forced to stay in bed, immobile for at least a week, to give me some time to post.  Thank goodness for my boyfriend.  He's been taking such good care of me, since I can't do anything without a lot of help. 

I haven't really had the time to write either, but if I can stay awake for any length of time during my time off, I may be able to get something done on the WIP..... but I've said that before and never got very far, so we'll see.  It is a bit difficult to type though, in the position that I have to lay in, and I'm not allowed to sit up at all, so it just depends how well it goes.  So far this typing is pretty difficult.

I was promoted to Fraud Investigator just 4 months after starting my new job.  I wasn't supposed to be able to be promoted for at least 6 months!  I am really excited about that.  As with any job, there are moments when it's not the most fun place to be, but overall it is a pretty good job.  Things are going really well here in OH.  I am really happy here. 

I was intending to write a much longer post, but this trying to type thing is getting on my nerves a bit and I also think that I am about to take another nap.  I am tired of sleeping and laying here.  But,  I don't have a ton of choice at the moment.

Things are going well and I am getting settled in Ohio.  The apartment is getting set up nicely.  We went out and bought a couch, washer and dryer (which will be delivered tomorrow), and finally have just about everything that we need.  Now it is just a matter of hanging stuff on the walls to make it actually look like a home.  I don't have much.  Curt has a lot of posters and stuff, but I'd rather not have those in the living room.  I have a hockey plaque that I plan to hang, but it will probably go in the bedroom.  Most of the other stuff that I have is stuff I have had since I was a kid and wouldn't really want to bring here to hang, so I guess there is more shopping in my future, though probably not anytime soon. 

I am enjoying doing the cooking and cleaning now.  I just hope that I can keep it up.  I have a tendency to cook the same things all the time.  I am trying to keep a good variety.  I know how to cook a lot of stuff.  It is just a matter of keeping some variety.  I have gone through a bunch of recipe magazines that I used to get in the mail and am adding them to my cookbook.  I also re-subscribed to one of those magazines so that I can add to my growing list.

I begin work on Monday, but have an orientation to go to tomorrow evening. I am really excited to go in and get started.  I'll have a week and a half of training that will start on Monday. 

I am way behind in my Christmas shopping.  Usually I am all done and wrapped by this point, but with everything that has been going on, I haven't had a chance to do any of the shopping yet, other than what I got done around last Christmas.  There are supposed to be some big malls and outlet places around here.  I'll have to take a trip and check some of them out.  I really hate shopping. 

I hope to get working on my WIP soon.  In a new environment, one that is more conducive to my writing, I think I may be able to get started again.  I have opened the WIP a couple of times, but haven't gotten very far in working on it yet, because I always remember something else that I need to get done before I start dinner or do whatever else.  I have had the urge to write, which is something, right?  Still don't have much as far as ideas and stuff from my characters yet, but I am hoping that more with come to me and I get back into the story. 

Until next time...

Well sort of....  I am in my new apartment.  It is really nice inside.  There are things that I would change, but I didn't build it so of course that is going to be the case.  I have one truck load of stuff in and mostly unpacked already.  A second (big box truck) will be arriving late tonight (courtesy of my dad) and it will be unloaded in here tomorrow.  More unpacking.  Yay.  Didn't I just pack all this $hit up?  Oh yeah, I did. 

Kitty is not so happy with the move.  He hid in his litter box for hours after getting here and continues to hid periodically.  He managed to get himself on top of the fridge and surprised the hell out of Curt when he was putting the groceries in there.  That was kind of amusing.  But, he is beginning to adjust.  He likes to hide in the kitchen cupboards though.  The banging of the doors in the middle of the night are not so much fun.

Otherwise all is well.  I am exhausted and hoping that I last until my dad gets here with the truck. At this rate, I am ready to sleep.... well, I've been ready to sleep for about 3 hours now.  Nut is coming up tomorrow to show me how to use the dishwasher, so I am very excited.  If I wasn't so damn sleepy, I'd be doing a little jig.

That's all for now.  Maybe when I am more awake, I'll write more.

I haven't posted in a long time, because basically things have been pretty much been the same.  So, why am I posting now?  Things have FINALLY changed!!!

I got a new job.  I start there in the middle of August!  I am so excited.  I finally have a job close to my field of study.  No more plumbing, at least not on a regular basis.  I will be doing credit card fraud investigations.  I can't wait!  I am so excited!  But, what is the best part of it all?  I AM MOVING!!!!  Finally, I am getting out of my parents' house (something I have been trying to do for years)!  I am also moving away.  Bye, bye PA!  No longer will I be the only person in PA that hates the Steelers and every other Pittsburgh sports team.  I'm not real fond of the Philly teams either.

So, finally I have something new to report on!  I am taking a break from packing my stuff right now.  Frankly, I am beat.  I also painted my truck's running boards today as well as scraping the plumbing business logo off of the back of my truck.  That was a jolly good time and I am now ready to pass out.  I can hardly keep my eyes open and it is only 6pm.  Too late to take a nap and too early to go to bed.  Joy of joys.  Anyway, the move is very exciting, just a bit tiring at the moment.  I am really looking forward to everything except a 5 hour drive with my cat in the car.  I am hoping that the vet will give him a sedative or something.

Well, I just wanted to post this quick update.  I have so much more to do.  I will be trying to do a bit more before I fall asleep.

OK, so I'll use my given name for this, maybe I'll use my pseudonym later.

Copy and paste to your own journal, erase my answers, and add your own. Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following questions. They have to be real places, names &/or objects, but nothing made up! Try to use different answers if the person you got this from has the same 1st initial. You CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl name question. And Have Fun With It!!!

1) 4 LETTER WORD: Mark
2) BOY NAME: Mike (haha)
3) GIRL NAME: Megan
4) OCCUPATION: Mechanic
5) A COLOR: Mint
6) SOMETHING YOU WEAR: Mittens
7) BEVERAGE: Milk
8) FOOD: Munchies
9) SOMETHING FOUND IN A BATHROOM: Mirror
10) A PLACE: Mississippi
11) REASON FOR BEING LATE: Missing keys
12) SOMETHING YOU SHOUT: Monkey!

I was at  my favorite cabins in the wilds of WV this weekend.  I got some much needed relaxation.  I just wish it wasn't over.  Unfortunately, I have to go to work tomorrow.  And, I came home to find out that not only do I have to work tomorrow, but I am once again "the boss."  Goody.  My stress free existance is about to be a memory.  It lasted all of a couple hours after returning from paradise.  

It was great to see Dr. Lin again and her magic hands!  After digging a 100 foot long ditch that was 24 inches deep, BY HAND, the day before leaving, I needed a good massage.  It was very tempting to kidnap Dr. Lin and bring her home with me.  If I could afford to, I'd drive down there at least every week to see her.  She has ruined me for any other massage therapist.

I was able to work on the WIP a little.  I didn't get as much done as I would like, but what I did get done was really good in my opinion.  I was really happy with the quality of the progress, if not the quantity.

I came home and checked my email, only to find a cool one waiting for me.  It was from someone that I met at Nut's wedding.  I really wasn't expecting to hear from him again, so it was really nice.  

I'm ready for a nap, so I'm gonna sign off!

I've been crazy busy for the last few weeks.  Peanut got married on Saturday.  The wedding was beautiful!  I was so honored to be a part of her day.  Her and Mike have waited so long for this.  I couldn't be happier for the two of them.  They are the perfect match for one another.  I've been running around trying to get everything done for that, and now my cousin (getting married in October) is starting to really get into planning her wedding that I am in.  In fact, Wednesday of last week, I was in a bridal shop getting sized for my dress.  Yay.  Peanut way kind in her choice of dress.  It was gorgeous and it can actually be worn again... not that I ever go to places that I need to be that dressed up for, but I digress.   I'm not so lucky with my cousin.  From what I have seen, this is going to be one of those dresses that you want to set on fire at the end of the wedding.  I will be one of 10, yes, that right, 10 bridesmaids.  It's going to take us all longer to walk down the aisle than it will to get through the whole ceremony!  I am hoping that this will not turn out as bad as I am expecting, but she is already acting like bridezilla.  

A couple of weeks ago, I was the boss.  My dad and his business partner went to Myrtle Beach golfing, which left me in charge of the business for the week.  If it was truly up to me, I would have fired everyone at one point or another that week.  It was INSANE!  I was seriously at the end of my rope.  There was a live waterline cut, with no way to shut it off, so the guy in the apartment below nearly drowned in his sleep.  One guy, LITERALLY, stared at an EMPTY water heater for 2 and a half hours, waiting for someone to come help him.  He didn't call anyone, just sat there staring at it.  And, those are only a few examples of the crap I had to deal with.  To top it off, my ex decided to contact me out of the blue (in the middle of the night, as usual), and drone on and on (over text msg) how his life sucks and I need to feel bad for him.  Sorry, I'm tapped out of feeling bad for him.  He never had the time to listen to me on the rare occasion that I tried to talk to him about a bad day I was having.  And, he had a bad day everyday, that I sat and listened to and tried to help him talk it out. And frankly, I will be more than happy to listen, if I am contacted at some point during the day.  Not in the middle of the freaking night.  I'm lucky I can have a coherent conversation when I'm wide awake, let alone after my sleep has been interrupted.   Anyway, I've finally let go of that relationship.  It wasn't easy, especially with him contacting me out of the blue every few weeks (always around midnight or 1am).  But, a few weeks ago, I finally said, 'I deserve better than this and I'm tired of waiting for him to grow up.'  You would think that with the 10+ year age difference, he would at least be capable of having an adult relationship, but I was wrong. 

I am not done with the WIP, and haven't gotten to work on it much over the past month or so, but it is progressing slowly, but surely.  I get to go to the cabins again this coming weekend, so I am hoping with the whole weekend spent there I can get another jump start after this lull.  It's just been too crazy the past couple of weeks between work and preparing for the wedding, writing a toast and everything else that I really haven't had the time to really invest in the writing.  I open it most everyday, but the page number hasn't jumped very far.  I am thinking that another 75-100 pages is about what I'll need to finish it.  I know what is coming up in the next couple of chapters.  I'll just have to see what the characters have in store for the end of the book.  I've gotten a few ideas, but they are quickly nixed by the heroine, Emily, so I guess I'll just have to wait 'til I get to writing that part and see what she's got to say about it.

My dad bought himself a Harley motorcycle last week.  I'm so excited.  I bought a new helmet last year and haven't gotten to use it yet, so since my dad bought a bike, I'll get to use it!  YAY!!!  I can't wait.  He took it out for a bit this afternoon, but I didn't go with him.  It is a bit chilly.  I'm thinking maybe if he goes out tomorrow or Wednesday, I'll bum a ride. 

It has been a roller coaster of a new year so far.  Some not so good, but I'm dealing as best I can.

In good news though, I was at my favorite cabins in the wilds of West Virginia this past week.  It had it's moments.  There was some really awesome people there, and there were some people that I could've done without, but I knew that going into it.  We had one person taken to the hospital in an ambulance.  But she was fine and came back to the cabins the same night and stayed the rest of the week.  What was really good is that I actually got some work done on my WIP!!!!!!!!!!  YEAH!!!!!  I didn't get to work on it as much as I would have liked, but I got about 10 pages done, with ideas of what is coming up next.  My characters are finally talking to me again.  Not as much as they had been, but at least they are talking again.  I plan to work on it some more tonight and hopefully get back into the habit of writing and FINALLY finish this WIP.

I had a really good day a couple of weeks ago.  I took my journeyman's test and PASSED!  I am now officially a licensed plumber.  I didn't post when it first happened, because immediately after the roller coaster took a nosedive.  But, it was a really awesome thing to pass the test.  

Just wanted to drop a quick note to wish everyone a Happy New Year.  Hope you all have a safe and special one! 

Just wishing everyone a Merry Christmas. Hope you all have a safe and special holiday this year! 

I was searching and searching and I finally found my favorite Christmas song on iTunes today!!!  Yeah!  Yes, it is kind of strange, but I love the song, There's Something Stuck Up in the Chimney and I Don't What It Is.   I'm so excited!  I've only heard the song a couple times this year and I have not had the chance to hear it from beginning to end yet!   I've also been having waaay too much fun with the internet now that I can access it from my laptop.  I was online for hours last night.  That's the first I've done that since the dial-up was cancelled.  I found lots of pages I used to go to all the time.

Well, off to search some more!!!

I am so excited!  I am right now on my laptop and ONLINE again!!!  I used part of my christmas bonus from work to get what I needed to make my laptop wireless.  I was able to bypass my fried modem and here I am!!!  Yeah!  I'm not quite sure how I managed to make it work... but I'm certainly not going to argue the point.  It works and that is all that matters!

I got a really cool game from P-Nut for christmas.  I played it a ton on Sunday and I was able to open a couple more things that had been locked.  I've had a pretty good couple of days, which is a welcome change from the last while.  Nut also got me a gift card for iTunes.  I am in the process of downloading the update so I can download some new music.  I can't wait!  This is the first I've gotten music since Napster was shut down and school outlawed downloading music.  When I first got my iPod, we had dial-up internet and there was no way I was waiting 12hrs for a song to download.  

Christmas on Sunday was fairly painless.  It had its moments.  I wasn't in a happy place and some of the questions that I was getting certainly didn't help any, but overall it wasn't too terrible.