At Least I Tried?

Sooo my paycheck was not as pleasing as I had hoped. Yes, it had all my hours from my last week in Indiana and my first week in Connecticut...but they were all charged at the Indiana pay rate, which is over a dollar less than my current, Connecticut pay rate. I probably wouldn't let it slip anyway, but then they charged me both state's taxes without paying both rates? That ain't coo'.

I called the payroll number, she was very helpful, all that has to happen is my boss has to file some kind of action tomorrow and I should have retroactive pay in my next paycheck this Friday.

(On a side note--getting paid every week as opposed to every other week? I think I can do that!)

Work is still going well in the areas of the actual work and the people I work with. The only problem, currently, is the physical demand. I can't remember if I mentioned it in da blog, but my back was killing me during the week, and I decided it was from barring for hours on end; bending at the waist to lift gallons of milk from knee-or shin-height. There's also the sauce pumps and the spray-washer-thingie in the sink, but those are mostly working on my neck and shoulders. My back is definitely from the gallons of milk.

So on Friday I tried a different method: Instead of bending, I would squat down, grab a gallon, then stand up. It worked beautifully for my back! No problem at all! My thighs, on the other hand, still hurt two days later. I spent yesterday whining walking like I was on stilts, I was wobbly despite all efforts to exert control over my limbs. Fortunately, I didn't bar my entire shift...just part of it!

Of course, then I went to Catsy's house. She has stairs. I whined a lot.

I went to Catsy's to follow through on my promise: there was a bar in Plainville having a Batman-themed Halloween party, and she convinced me to go with her.

I should mention that Catsy and Batman...I don't even know the correct word. Addiction...obsession...fixation...to say she has a thing for Batman (and everything related to him) is just an understatement. There is no apt way of putting it without doing it injustice. She also loves to dress up (although not as much as she loves Batman...she doesn't love anything that much...), so a Halloween party with a Batman theme? MUST GO! MUST DANCE!

We got all gussied in bellydancer and gypsy gear and set out for the bar. It ended up being...pretty lame. Most of the crowd were the regular bar-going type, in jeans and leather and regular clothing. The band wasn't really bad, just LOUD. There were a few other costumes, some of them even Batman-related (Joker, Two-Face, Riddler, etc)...but we still stuck out a bit. So we left.

Then I felt crappy...then I threw up on the side of the road...then we went home.

I AM SO MUCH FUN.

Honestly, even with the failbar and the nausea, we had fun and laughed a lot. And fortunately, I have today and Monday off, so I can recuperate...between the other plans I/we've made. But they're good plans, fun plans, recuperation-of-the-soul kind of plans, so it's all good! :)

BusyBusyBusy (with a dose of ARGH)

WELL.

I double-booked last-big-hang-out plans with both Aurelie and the rest of Apt 131 for tomorrow. I had forgotten that the apartment had planned a Lord of the Rings marathon (BJ has never seen, we finally own all three, we love them, etc etc) and told Aurelie we could go to Lake Michigan. Figured out my big mistake at the beginning of the week and began the mad scramble to fix it.

Tuesday, That One said that even better than trading his Thursday for my Saturday, he would just takemy Saturday, since he needed the hours. He just needed to talk to his friend who he'd made kinda-sorta-plans with, but he'd call the store that night to let me know!

...yeah, he never called back. Texting him on Wednesday got no response. Fortunately, Diana agreed to trade, so I still got Saturday off! Yay! All I had to do was work her 7:30 shift today!

...UGH.

[o] I closed last night. Left about quarter to 11 (not the best close, whole different ball of WTH).
[o] My sleep was craptastic. I don't think I got a whole hour the entire night. Just awful.
[o] Got up at 6:30, worked 7:30 to 1:30, was a moron the entire time due to sleep deprivation and unhappy stomach not allowing me much caffeine intake.
[o] Get home, get in the shower, have just enough time to get lunch at 933...and not really do anything else.
[o] On the way to Goshen to meet Aurelie, get a text from That One's girlfriend (who I'm friends with) relaying a message from him: he can totally take my Saturday shift! ...yeah, about that. Gave up on that after zero response. Go ask Diana if she wants the shift that is now hers, thanks for letting me know I worked today for nothing, JERKFACE. (I was nicer than that to his girlfriend, obviously).
[o] Hang out with Aurelie at the Goshen Starbucks, good times, good times...hey, why are these ladies setting up candles? Oh, they're hosting a Party Lites event, okay...some of their friends are here, okay...some more friends...now kids....now we're surrounded by a large crowd of loud and excited women getting way too happy about candles and completely ruining our attempts to study/write. FUN.
[o] Get home, open the door to get hit in the face with the smell of cat urine. Horace went in today to get fixed, Ryan picked him up, he pissed in the box on the way home. While he's cleaned himself off (mostly) (he's also adorably drugged), both he and the carrier still reek, making the living area completely inhospitable. So much for watching TV.

Honestly, the only person I'm annoyed with is That One, for obvious reasons. My co-workers today were nice, it was awesome to spend some more time with Aurelie, and I'm hella looking forward to tomorrow's Lord of the Rings-a-thon.

...but MAN. TODAY. BE DONE NOW.

The next week (and then some):
[o] Friday: Lord of the Rings-a-thon, hanging out/baking/drinking with Aurelie and friends in Goshen in the evening, sleeping over to make Saturday an easier start
[o] Saturday: Lake Michigan! WOO! Plus packing in the evening.
[o] Sunday: Last day at Ireland, off at 5:30, may try for another night out with co-workers, but definitely lots of packing after work.
[o] Monday: All-day-come-over-any-time-mostly-933-people party as we continue packing & cleaning.
[o] Tuesday: Scramble to finish shoving everything into the trailer and call to have it picked up that night so we don't have to wait around for it on Wednesday. Bed will be completely packed, so we're spending the night at the hotel next to 933.
[o] Wednesday: Grab breakfast at 933, say good-bye, start driving. End night in Pennsylvania.
[o] Thursday: Continue driving, arrive in Connecticut.
[o] Friday-Sunday: Say hi to everyone, visit my new store, figure out flooring and possibly new furniture, get as settled as we can without 99% of our stuff.
[o] Monday: Trailer arrives, start unpacking.

Meanwhile, my Etsy store is on vacation since (a) we're moving, (b) the listings expired yesterday, and (c) I haven't decided what to list (or re-list) and plan on polling my fanbase (ha) for ideas.

Finally, on a ridiculously sappy note, today is what only I am calling our pre-anniversary. One year from today is Ryan's and my wedding date. :)

Now, back to trying to unkink the stress from my back...

This Past Week.

Saturday, I was supposed to work 12 to 6. I got a call at 8 that morning asking if I could come in at 10 and work until 6:30 for a full eight-hour shift, so someone could go home early. I did.

Sunday, I was supposed to work 12 to 6. I got a call, as I was driving to work, asking if I could come in at 2 instead. "Two until when?" "Close." Someone had called out. I covered.

Monday was a normal eight-hour shift.

Tuesday, BJ, Sam and I left the house at 7 in the morning, picked up our friend Raequan at 7:30, grabbed some breakfast, and headed to Chicago.

Oh my goodness, Chicago.

We went to the Brookfield Zoo first, and were there for four or five hours. We saw almost everything, and I took a million pictures of almost everything. The three best things, that had HUGE impacts on me, were the three things we paid extra for: the dolphin show, petting (de-barbed) stingrays, and the butterfly house. I was exhausted and in pain by the time we left, but I was also excited the entire time, like little-kid excited, it was AWESOME. The dolphin show almost made me cry from pure kid joy, the stingrays were so adorable and wonderful and calming, the butterfly house was a photographic dream, MAN...it was fantastic.

Next was The Chicago Diner, a vegan/vegetarian restaurant recommended to Rae by a co-worker. I want to make this co-worker cookies for suggesting it, because OH. MY. GOD. Some of the best food I have ever had. The milkshake was to die for. The atmosphere was fun and cozy. The waitress was amazing--she helped explain the menu without being pretentious or condescending, answered our questions about the food and Chicago, and even drew us a map of cool places to go within walking distance. The whole experience was...awesome.

Next was Navy Pier, which was basically just shops and restaurants that we enjoyed toodling around in. After that was Mitsuwa Marketplace, a Japanese store BJ and Sam are fond of visiting, and Woodfield Mall.

We didn't get home until past one in the morning, although that was mostly the fault of the GPS on my phone, which is, in a word, moronic. Honestly, the best parts of the trip were outside the car, because being in the car meant following directions from a phone who didn't understand the real world we were currently driving in.

But yeah. That was Tuesday, in Chicago.

Wednesday was Aurelie's birthday. The original plan had been to go to Lake Michigan, chill for most of the day, then go back to Goshen for dinner and drinking. I met up with Aurelie and Allie at Quincy's, gave her her presents, had breakfast, hung out for a bit. She changed her mind about the lake--as was her birthday girl prerogative--and decided on a movie instead.

I was fading quickly at this point, having only gotten about five hours of sleep after 14 hours in Chicago after five hours of sleep, and realized that it was either go to the movies and hang out, or go to dinner and the bar later. I chose the latter, Aurelie said it was fine, and I went home and crashed for a few hours. Sadly, crashing didn't mean sleep so much as not-moving-or-thinking, so it was only half as restful as hoped, but still.

I picked Aurelie up and took her to Buffalo Wild Wings, where a bunch of people came out for her birthday dinner. After that was The Constant Spring, which was full of a different birthday party, all of which were drunk and doing karaoke. Beatles's karaoke. While drunk. I was displeased.

Still, it was good people, good time, Aurelie had a blast. Mission accomplished. :)

Still didn't get a whole lot of sleep that night, either.

Yesterday, Thursday, was an eight-hour pre-closing shift. I started out fairly upbeat and able, went downhill to exhausted and hungry, ate, and became just plain exhausted. I was basically pathetic and whiny from four o'clock on to the end of the night.

Today, I don't go in until 4:30, and I close. I got a text from the Morning Shift asking if I could come in at 2. I might fall have if I didn't have a To Do list that literally can't be done the rest of the weekend.

And then it's four more days of my six-day work week after that. Then three days off. Whee!

There, now we're all caught up. Now if I could just get a couple of hours of time where I'm awake and don't have shit to do so I can call all my parents and not be a terrible daughter...

Plans Are Made For Changing.

Yesterday was supposed to go thusly:

[o] Get up "early" and get groceries with Ryan
[o] Settle somewhere and write until 6 or 6:30
[o] Meet up with Aurelie for dinner at Taste of Asia
[o] Go see Crazy, Stupid Love
[o] Go home, eat some ramen, and relax

What happened yesterday:
[o] Got up "early" but Ryan was tired, and Aurelie sent a text saying her plans before our plans got canceled, so could we do an earlier showing after she got off work at 4?
[o] Slept another hour
[o] Get up, called insurance to ensure (hur hur) that the new coverage year for lenses had ticked over. It had indeed, so we decided to hit up Eye Site before groceries and order him some lenses with transition goodness
[o] On the way, get more texts from Aurelie: she's actually going with her roommate (Allie) to get a tattoo, original timeline is back on.
[o] Long story short, Eye Site took quite a long time. But for good reason.
[o] So long that we scrapped grocery shopping and just grabbed lunch and went home.
[o] Met with Aurelie and Allie for Taste of Asia and Starbucks, time to leave for movie came and went.
[o] Hung out at Starbucks for a couple of hours, just shootin' the shit and talkin' nerd, before heading over to a place called Madison's Oyster Bar around 9:30.
[o] After Aurelie helped me park my car (and by help me I mean she parallel parked it for me :D), met Allie inside where she was already sitting with her friend Sarah.
[o] Were soon joined by LeAnna (it was her birfday!) and her boyfriend Brandon, then Sarah's friends Steve and Liza. Drinking and laughter and some fry-eating ensued for the next, oh, four hours.

Long story short, what was supposed to be a short day of errands, writing, and a movie turned into a long day and night ending in awesomefuntimes with people I don't see often enough.

:D

Today is laundry (with shower and photoediting during the wait), then a teensy bit of writing before work at 4:30. It's my Monday. Woo.

Deeeeenial.

I might have posted yesterday (Wednesday), but the day was sleeping in, getting breakfast, annoying eight hour shift, and awesome going-away-party thing for a shift from 933. I got to go drink with my old boss, my roommates, and three former co-workers. Who all have hilariously filthy minds and are huge nerds. WIN.

...although it did make me realize a bit what I'll be leaving behind when we move at the end of September. And it made me sad. I haven't really thought about it much...well, I've thought about the moving back, but more the logistics and money and less the people who aren't moving to Connecticut (i.e. everyone except Ryan and I). And I'll probably continue to not think about it, just more purposeful this time, since...yeah. Sad. :(

ANYWAY, it's my day off and I think it's time to wake the bear and get some good and get the day rollin'. Whee!

Partayyyy?

Last night (that is, Wednesday night) was Emily's birthday thang. Started off in a pub near Notre Dame called O'Rourke's, then moved to Mitch's, the same place the Ben & Ruth Birthday Drinking Spree ended up back in May. I'll admit to enjoying a couple of drinks (including a caramel macchiato martini, how could I not?), but I spent most of the evening dishing with people way drunker than me, and watching a drunken birthday girl try to dance. It was a lot of fun!

Today...not so much. I mentioned in my last entry that I've been feeling cranky lately? Today was a bad day for it...and I'm not sure if it's weird or fitting that today was actually a pretty good day. I was up pretty late, but slept in and got plenty of lovely sleep. I tried my hand at baking snickerdoodles and am very proud of the results. I had some study time at Quincy's with Aurelie where we were actually productive, including re-outlining the first chapter to Found in a way that I feel really good about.

Of course, my mind guilted me for sleeping in so late (noon!), the snickerdoodles were for a house-warming party that I ended up feeling too crappy to go to, and I got incredibly mired in brainmuck trying to work on the second chapter. Hmph.

The day ended with a new episode of Futurama and ice cream, though, and I'm still very happy with my snickerdoodles, so...yay.

Things Are Looking Up!...Mostly!

My apologies for lack of updates. This week has just been workworkwork, hustling to get through to my days off...which start TODAY! Ahhhh blisssss...

...of course, this day off started with waking up at 7, when Ryan did, and not being able to get back asleep for almost an hour. After a short night of really crappy sleep. Fortunately I managed to get a good snooze from 8 to 9:30, and now I'm up!

I'm loading up my thumb drive with some pictures, and heading out to FedEx to get a big ol' print done for my friends Rachel and Alex. They got married the weekend before the Connecticut trip, and our present to them is poster of one of my prints (this one, to be exact), which they picked out. :D Have to get it to them today before they pack up and move on Saturday! Shortly before the wedding, Alex got a really good job, and they've spent the past three weeks preparing to move from his parent's house to their own place in Michigan. I'm so excited for them!!

The rest of the day depends on how much energy I have after visiting to drop it off and say goodbye. As I said, crap sleep, up early, blah blah blah.

I've been mildly slacking on some aspects of what I lovingly refer to as the Ruthenium Empire. I'll admit that this slacking is due to a few personal failings; namely, that I'm exhausted, that I've been in a PMS-induced Crank Mood for the past three days, and that I'm getting all self-pitying over the lack of response. I'm trying to figure out how to get more interest going...I started the 30 Day Challenge, and I got a surprisingly fast and thorough response when I put it to a vote over what to do with the gap in posts...but I'm still having a hard time keeping up with it. I've thought about starting a blog that's solely writing about my photography--talking about where I went, the conditions, learning experiences, etc--but I'm not sure I'd get an audience. I suppose I could attempt it on a mini scale on Twitter, but I'm not sure that's the right platform for it.

In short, I'm lost, I'm wallowing in a bit of self-pity, and I'm not in the best mindset. And I'm probably over-thinking all of it.

I just have so many dreams...;)

Anyway, off I go to print and visit and whee!

Stresssssss.

The new normal, for me, has been 1-9:30 pre-closing shifts. Occasionally, however, I'll get handed a closing shift, 4:30-10:30. I don't mind these, since it means I have almost an entire day free.

But I'm developing a bad pattern.

The night before at later-shift-day, I'll set my alarm for a later wake-up time. I can sleep in!, I'll think. I have the whole day to do stuff before work!

And I will sleep in. And I'll take my sweet time getting up, checking the internets, eating breakfast, getting showered and dressed, I have the whole day for chores and reading, dum dee dum...wait how is it 3 PM I haven't eaten yet I have to leave in an hour and all I've done is computer stuff AAAAAA.

>.<

Today was a bit more productive than that, at least. I got some pictures edited, although I did find that some of what I thought was a great shoot were actually...not so great. Poo. I also didn't feel 100% happy with the results of some of my edits...I'm hoping that I'm just doing that thing I do to myself when I'm stressed where nothing is good enough and why do I think I'm good at this and ugggghh I'm so stoooopid...

I'm...a bit stressed.

There's so much drama going on at work (both my and other stores), and I can't even go into it all it's that dramatic. Plus tomorrow is the "bachelorette" party (really just a mostly-girls-only pre-wedding party for the bride, our friend Kitty, for whom Sameh and I are co-Maids of Honor :D) and Sunday is the wedding itself and I don't know when I'll get a chance to do some pre-trip errands and what am I bringing and which bags am I packing and aaaaaaa.

...I think it's time for dinner and sleep. Lots of sleep. And tomorrow there shall be dinner and funtimes! Yes! THERE WILL BE FUN, DAMMIT! :D

Yatta!

Awesome way to start the day: get up, jump on computer to throw something on my thumb drive and post my daily picture to my Facebook page, drive to 933, get online, find this same picture REBLOGGED TWICE.

LESS THAN AN HOUR. REBLOGGED TWICE.

\^.^/

For those who don't speak Tumblr, that's pretty awesome, especially since I don't have a gajillion followers yet. I have, in fact, FIVE, and one of them is a friend and another is a weird broken Tumblr bot...don't ask. The point is, on Tumblr, reblogging is almost the best form of flattery, and I get more and more every week, and...eee. :)

I love that today, Memorial Day, really feels like the first day of summer. It's not the first day of the year that the temp is over 80, and it's certainly not the first really humid day of the year. It is, however, to me, the first day it hasn't felt unseasonal. And it's Memorial Day. Awesome.

Of course, I'll think it's less awesome whenI go to work and have to make a million frappucinnos for eight hours, but whatever, time and a half DUDE!

The work situation seems to be improving. I don't know if something changed so That One is being less of an ass, or if I've hit the wall of Going To Ignore As Much As Possible, or some combination of both, but he's been liveable. Mostly.

Meanwhile, That One Shift's girlfriend is pregnant, making THREE people at this store having kids. When I transfered, there was someone pregnant at every store; now it's just mine! I think my favorite part is that, last year, almost twenty people I knew got engaged or married. A few of them also got pregnant, and two even managed to do three out of the four, but the focus was definitely on engagement and marriage. This year, everyone's getting knocked up. This year, I got engaged. THERE HAD BETTER NOT BE A PATTERN HERE.

...Then a past co-worker sat down to catch up and I lost my train of thought. I think I'll get down to what I came here for: working on the Ruthenium Photography empire!

...NO I AM NOT GETTING AHEAD OF MYSELF.

Access! Sweet Access!

Finally! I'm in! For the past four days I haven't been able to access the log-in page for Blogspot but today it worked and I'M IN!

...of course I have to start getting ready for work in 10 minutes and am currently still working on my bowl of cereal, but still!

To catch up:
Tuesday night was a mini party! Some people from 933 came over, we all hung out and watched Rocky Horror and talked and laughed and generally had a good time. :)

Wednesday was a fairly boring day, which was actually a nice change from the incredibly stressful and busy past few weeks.

Thursday ended up being Ryan & Ruth day, which was really lovely. We leveled, we did some errands, we watched some stuff...we had normal Us time. He's been working a lot of morning shifts over the past two or three weeks, so we haven't had a whole lot of quality time. Hopefully that will change!

Friday, yesterday, was Aurelie & Ruth day, and was also very nice. I spent the morning and early afternoon getting a LOT of photo editing done, then Aurelie and I met at a local placed called Quincy's Cafe, hung out there and talked and internetted and snacked for a while. Dropped my car off at the apartment, headed over to Target to do some shopping (which ended up being a lot of ogling pretty pretty things and realizing we didn't NEED anything), then attempted to donate blood. Aurelie had asked me the night before if I'd be up for going with her/donating myself, and I'd been iffy on the second part until I got there. Then I was pumped and ready to go and excited and realized that I needed a tissue and oh yeah I've been kinda sick for almost a week now crap. I asked, they said I can't donate until I've been symptom-free for 72 hours. :( Aurelie got rejected because it hasn't been a full year since she got her ears pierced at a tattoo shop. Foiled!

From there we went to the Main St Starbucks, and continued the talking there for a good while before she took me home and called it a night.

All in all, both my days off were pretty fantastic, and very rejuvenating. Hoping it lasts!

Today is back to work, which won't be SO bad since Aurelie is actually subbing today! I'll have three and a half hours with her :)

Meanwhile, I'm up to 23 Facebook fans, and am slowly spreading the word about my shop. No sales yet, but I'm really enjoying getting my head back into thinking creatively around marketing! Whee!

Right, time to get dressed and dive back into the trenches!

Happy Birthday To Me, Happy Birthday To Me...

My day:
[o] wake up very slowly, feeling slightly...off from the birthday dinner turned bar crawl that had me home at 3 AM :D
[o] head to Starbucks with Ryan, to get hugs and birthday wishes from lovely friends :D
[o] Aurelie gave me a mirror from Ten Thousand Villages, a small chain featuring art and jewelry and wonders from all over the world. The mirror is from Bangladesh, made from recycled chip and snack bags. Even better than the mirror (which is really cool and colorful) was the card, telling me that she's glad I moved to Indiana and she met me and we can be awesomely awkward together. :D
[o] Ben stopped by to show off one of his kittens, who looked like a ball of lint with the teeniest eyes and teeniest mouth and even teenier little mew. I got to hold him, he was ADORABLE.
[o] Wanted to go to pet store, Ryan said no. I've no idea why...
[o] Got shoes for Kitty and Alex's wedding (two weeks!!)
[o] Came home, checked mail to find card and present--rainbow piano key socks!!!--from Mom. :D Forgot to call and thank her because I'm a bad kid.
[o] Puttered around online while Ryan made a cake in the kitchen.
[o] While cake cooled, went out to get photo paper and dinner. Came back home with dinner, watched Goldmember while eating (sometimes, you just need a big dose of silly), then I read a bit while Ryan decorated aforementioned cake.
[o] Was presented with cake, complete with 26 lit candles and Ryan singing Happy Birthday. He had even spent a good amount of time trying to tint the cake frosting just the right shade of purple. <3
[o] Ate cake, then went to our computers, where I finally what I've been plotting and working on for three months, speeding up this past week...

I present to you...Ruthenium Photography, on Etsy!

:D

I feel extremely nervous and a little anxious and I can't shake that old feeling from school where I'm SURE that everyone can see all the mistakes I'm making even if I fix them...but THERE! I'm out there! I'm doing it! SCARED BUT DOING IT ANYWAY! WOO!

I also have a Facebook Page and Twitter for it, for the purposes of spreading the word (and business!) as much as possible. Whee!

Tomorrow is back to work, but I'm NOT going to think about that right now. Right now, I'm going to get all comfy and watch some Bones with Ryan and then read some Game of Thrones and then go to bed.

It was a good birthday. I think I'll do it again next year! :)

Ssssstuff.

So. This has been my past couple of days:

[o] Monday, almost got sideswiped by a panel van. Sideswiped isn't quite the right word, since he wasn't looking to swap paint, but be in the space I was currently occupying. Apparently signaling and/or looking when changing lanes is for suckers.

[o] Yesterday, through a conversation with Current Boss Lady that actually came up naturally, I found out that the district's official policy involving roommates and working together is: Nope. There's fear about illness leading to half a store calling out, what if someone gets terminated or promoted, etc etc. I can't transfer to 922 or Ironwood without BJ or Sam having to leave, and Main St would be a worse environment for me. It's Ireland until we move.

[o] I've decided that I can stand A or B alone, but together just...I hate it. Worse, I hate myself when it's just the three of us. I shut down completely. I give up. Coming to Indiana helped me grow out of my shell, I became ME, and I never realized how much I liked to joke and relate and just TALK until I found myself keeping my eyes down and my mouth shut for hours at a time just to avoid the chances of snapping. Short of changing shifts or one of them leaving, there ain't shit I can do about it.

[o] Today I did, sorta-kinda, talk to B about how his and A's hostile complains about customers make me uncomfortable. He didn't really listen and turned it into a story about his brother...but it's actually a good thing. I can honestly say I tried to talk to him about it, if it ever comes to talking to someone else about these things.

[o] Friday begins birthday celebrations for myself and Ben, a shift at 933 who shares my birthday, which falls on Saturday. Why do the celebrations start Friday night? Because this year is his 21st birthday. The plans are for a bunch of people to meet up at an all-ages joint to have dinner and hang out. At midnight, we hit up a real bar (a nice place, I promise, not just a joint) and buy Ben his first legal drink. The whole night promises to be fun!

[o] I have no idea what I'm doing on my actual birthday. I have two actual plans: one is going to 933, partly because I want to and partly because Aurelie made me promise since she works all day and she wants to give me my present. The other plan is remaining under wraps for now. One word: muahaha.

[o] I've started Game of Thrones, the first of the A Song of Ice and Fire series. I'm really enjoying it! It's a good story, told well, and written in a way that's enthralling without being too thick. It's...nice to chew on, I guess is the way to describe it. I think avid readers will understand what I mean.

Speaking of which, I interrupted this entry an hour ago to watch the latest episode of the Game of Thrones HBO series, and it's put me in the mood for reading it. Soooo...kbye.

I Survived Happy Hour 2011.

I made it through the day. And I didn't even punch anyone in the face. Or even really want to!

However, I did learn that I work with That One every single day this week. UGH.

BUT! less than a week until my birthday! Which promises to be fun, especially since Ben, a shift who went from Ireland to 933 a couple months before I got transferred, turns 21 the same day I turn 26! There's not a party planned, per se, more like a meet-up at some place or another that is as yet undecided. The only decision is, it has to happen around midnight, and it has to have booze, so Ben can get his first legal drink.

Also, Kitty and Alex get married in 20 days! And Ryan and I go to visit Connecticut in 26 days! Whee!

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming...

Sometimes, A Girl Just Needs Some Girl Time.

I started off the day getting frustrated with various things, mostly looking into moving my iTunes library from one computer to another and Etsy shop stuff. I was pretty disgusted with life by the time Ryan got home around 1. He calmed me down and made me feel a lot better, then we leveled on WoW for a bit. It was my first time playing since Christmas, and it was good fun :)

The rest of the day was spent in Goshen with Aurelie, venting and eating and shopping and watching Whip It and just having a bit of a girl day. It was great. :)

Tomorrow might be a Ryan day, with small errands like grocery shopping and laundry and getting hair cuts, possibly ending with more friend time in the evening, depending on how stuff goes.

For now, I have a hunger headache, so I'm going to go feed myself. Night!

I Really Am A Hippie, I Swear.

Today...was the girly day.

Ryan and I got up on the "early" side (for us) and went together to get a planning notebook. I was going to get one yesterday, but I got myself all kinked up by details (padfolio? binder? should it match our theme? am I really having these stupid thoughts?). As predicted, Ryan basically pointed and said "That one works," and now we have a notebook to jot down ideas and plans and tape in inspiration pictures for the wedding and blah blah blah.

The other thing I did today was go on a road trip with Aurelie to the Vera Bradley Outlet Sale in Fort Wayne.

:D

I WAS GOOD. I bought a purse I've been wanting forEVER, and an apron which I've needed anyway, and they were both on really good sale and I came in under budget so THERE.

It was nice to just drive and talk and hang out with Aurelie :) I know I've mentioned her a lot, and there's a good reason: we're almost the same person. She's the Indiana me. So we tend to get along really well. :D

Tomorrow is back to work, five more days of eight hour shifts that I really shouldn't whine about because, hey, I have a pretty damned good job that puts a roof over our heads and medicine in our systems with people I actually like, so nyah.

...I'm tired. Night!

Still Here! Still Alive! Promise!

...I'm bad at this lately.

I'm sorry.

Yesterday (Wednesday) was very productive. I did bank stuff, I got shopping done, I got pricing research done (although it brought up more questions), and I worked for six hours (six extremely long hours thanks to a ridiculously slow night).

Today (Thursday) I did more bank stuff, then spent the evening with Aurelie and Katie. There was walking, baking, movie watching (He's Just Not That Into You, a straight chick flick that I enjoyed), and talking.

...I realized, halfway through the evening, that I was hanging out and being myself with two genuine girlfriends, two girls who genuinely like me and enjoy my company, weirdness and awkwardness and nerdiness and all. I needed this, oh, 15 years ago?

Anyway.

Tomorrow is laundry, possibly some photography, late-anniversary-present-exchanging with Ryan, errand shopping, and a closing shift at Ironwood with Shift D (yay!).

For now: BED.

I Think I Left My Brain In The Shower.

I had a long day. Not a bad day, just a long one. It had all the potential of being bad--I started it off being very pissed at someone and stuck in a cycle of all the reasons why; the shift that came on is stupid at running breaks and decided not to send me on my ten 2 hours in, when it was slow and there were four other people on the floor, but 3 1/2 hours in, during a rush and just after someone left; my schedule may change next week so I work several eight hour shifts in a row and there's a chance my manager will ask if I can cover a 6AM shift on Friday (HAHAHAHAFUNNY)--but it still wasn't bad.

I'm home, I just got out of a hot shower, waiting for everyone else to get home, waiting for dinner. I could very easily begin waxing philosophical on things like the discussion on abortion I got into with a coworker on Facebook, or honesty and friendship, or even morality in general...I'm in that kind of mindset, and it might even make sense.

But as it is...I just got home, and I'm waiting for dinner, and I just got out of a hot shower. I think I'll listen to some music and continue waiting, stop waiting, and then go to bed.

Tomorrow is another eight hour shift, but I'm going to try my damndest to get up early and meet Aurelie at 933 so we can study together, since I flaked out on our weekly get-together last night and barely see her since transferring.

Whee. Thump. Zzzz.

Days Off Aren't Always Exciting.

Yesterday:
[o] Got up
[o] Drove Sameh to work since she lost her car keys
[o] Spent 3 1/2 hours at 933, me writing and Ryan playing Pokemon
[o] Got dinner
[o] Watched The Rainmaker (my first viewing, really enjoyed it!)
[o] Watched random TV with roommates
[o] Bed

Today:
[o] Got up
[o] Still eating breakfast and getting ready
[o] Doing the paycheck dance: Pick it up at Target, go deposit it at bank, go back to Target to buy groceries
[o] Do some cleaning at home
[o] Go to Aurelie's house to hang out

This weekend is two eight hour shifts, one pre-closing and one closing. Gonna be a long one.

Still feeling a little out of it due to some very weird and creepy dreams last night. Also have the (hopefully) last tendrils of yesterday's bad headache holding on. Meh.

Hopefully going out in the sunshine will help :)

Bwah?

WOW it's been a bad week for posting! First I don't update for Sunday until 2:30 Monday morning, and now it's 2:30 on THURSDAY morning. I kinda suck at this lately.

Anyway. Nothing new. Just work and writing, as usual. I am definitely getting used to my new co-workers, and my new schedule.

It's funny. At 933, I hated closings and pre-closings, working Front, brewing coffee, and loved working mids and being in Drive-Thru. At Ireland, I don't like mids, prefer Front, am ambivalent about DT, am happy brewing coffee all day, and prefer pre-closing over just about every shift.

I think part of is the physical store, and part of it is how duties are spread out. At 933, everything got cleaned at the end of the day. The big break-downs--front bar, DT bar, cold bar--happened on the pre-closing and closing shifts. At Ireland, it's spread out through the day, so there's an even chance that I'll come in at 3:30 with only brew station and floors and basic stocking left to do.

The way 933 is designed, most of the light from the front windows hits the merchandise area and the wall on the other side of the DT bar. Very little of it makes it to the floor where we are. At Ireland, there's only a small bit of wall between a tiny piece of window and DT, and the rest floods into the cafe and behind the counter. 933 from sunset to full dark made me feel like I was in a coffin...at Ireland, it feels so much bigger and brighter and more open!

Don't get me wrong. I miss 933 so freaking much, mostly for the people. I still go to write several days a week, and it's always an occasion involving squeals and hugs and "I miss your face!" Part of me still feels like I don't belong to Ireland yet, I'm only being borrowed from 933. It's hard to describe.

Long story short: I'm doing just about everything the opposite of what I liked at 933, and loving it, without there being any guilt over 933. Yay!

Tomorrow (er, today) and Friday are days off. Woohoo! Tomorrow is writing and photo editing! Friday is probably more of the same, plus added hang outs with Aurelie and her borrowed puppy! Woo!

Days Off, With Myself and With Others.

Yesterday's day off consisted of sitting at 933 for several hours trying desperately to piece my story together after getting advice from Ryan on character psychology. However, I couldn't remember most of said advice, so basically it was several hours of socializing and beating my head against the keyboard.

Then I went home, Ryan and I had dinner, he and I watched Get Shorty, and the household watched Megamind when everyone was home. Both were good, the second was definitely the most entertaining.

Today's day off was grocery shopping with Ryan, watching Project Runawy re-runs with Ryan and BJ, then BJ and Aurelie and I going to 933 and hanging out with LeAnna, her boyfriend Brandon, with occasional socializing from E, J, and BS, who were all working at the time, and a quick surprise stop-in from Kitty and Alex. Lots of laughing, lots of fun.

E may come over later to hang out, but we'll see. Until then, I'm not sure what I'm doing besides eating dinner and maybe poking at the book some more, now that I've re-questioned Ryan on the psych advice and have more of a game plan.

Tomorrow I work two more hours to help New Boss Lady cover our currently manager-less store, meaning I lost some writing time but gained some money. Yay!

Sunday, though...Sunday is writing time!

Then next week it all begins again and I lose my mind. Whee!