hello???

Well even though I heard from NO ONE after the last update, I'm going to update. So there!

This past week seemed to fly by, but drag at the same time. Ha, "drag" just made me think of a funny story. Remember in the very beginning, when I first got to my apartment, I saw a cross-dresser on my bus in the morning? I saw him/her again on Thursday morning. Complete with high heels, make-up and bright red lipstick. The poor guy sitting next to him looked STUNNED when he actually opened his mouth to talk/laugh on the phone. Oh I wish I had a hidden video camera for moments like that! ;)

Anyway! Yeah the week went pretty quickly, and I got a fair amount of overtime in. Sunday and Monday were okay, but I think Tuesday-Thursday alone I accumulated over 5 hours of overtime. Hopefully this is a nice check then! And I got my tax thingie from Bush in the ol' bank account today. Always a helpful chunk to receive. But instead of shopping, it's going towards bills. So sad, I know.

After the volleyball game Tuesday night (which we were late to, due to the overtime of course!), Irene and Jayme took me out to dinner and then to the grocery store to get ingredients for Puppy Chow!!! We had a potluck for the occupational therapists/secretaries Wednesday and I had no idea what to bring, and for some reason that was the first thing that popped into my head. So needless to say, NO ONE had heard of Puppy Chow before - and it was a smash hit!! That bowl was empty within 15 minutes of taking off the lid. The next day, I think I handed out probably 30 copies of that recipe...so I told Mom, I single-handedly introduced Puppy Chow to Oahu. :) Go me. (And yes, Jenn because she emailed me the recipe) Our next potluck is May 22, for Better Hearing and Vision month, and I think I'm going to take dirt cake to that. Irene told me already she's never heard of it...so maybe I'll introduce them to something else new! They already expect Puppy Chow every week for snacks, how can I just give them something they expect? :)

Last night, as a celebration to my week being over (and Irene's half over), Irene and her boyfriend took me out to a sports bar with a couple of his work buddies again and we played darts and had dinner. It was a good time, and since Irene had to work today, we didn't stay out too late - phew!! And as usual, I woke up by 7 am this morning on my day off - but worry not, I took a two hour nap right around noon. ROUGH life, I know it. I would've gone out to the pool or something today but the rain was off and on, and knowing my luck, if I went out, the rain would be "on". So...maybe tomorrow. Tonight I rented "27 Dresses" - very cute movie, I even got a little choked up a couple times!! ;) It's a good rental...so I suggest it if you're considering it. Tomorrow, I already have "I am Legend" ready. I don't think I'll be going out tomorrow night since I have to wake up for work on Sunday so I'm sure it'll be a day full of cleaning and laundry, as usual. Yay!!

That's about all the exciting news I have. I've been working so much, and sleeping the rest of the time - I don't have time to do much that would create a good, entertaining story for you!! :) I hope all is well - Zachary, quit getting ill and making people worry! (That's my way of saying 'get better soon' and take care of yourself, boy!) Everyone else I haven't spoken with lately - I hope everything is going smoothly and you're all enjoying the nice weather when it comes around here and there. Love and miss you all.

me.

ps:
Here's something from the potluck, it's a manapua. Usually it's baked (like here) and looks like it's a big puffy roll, but inside is sweet pork (most often). Sometimes it's steamed, and when it is, I'm not a big fan ;) Also at the potluck: Korean sushi, chips and salsa (from a guy from PA - otherwise people were confused about this!!), chicken katsu, chicken wings (sort of), tofu katsu, soy bean rice, chocolate pie, some strawberry thing (i forget the name), my puppy chow, chocolate cake, chocolate turnovers.... I think that's it? I ate everything but the chocolate cake and tofu. :) And actually, probably two servings of each or so....I was hurting later...my belly was so full!!

Hello, hello!! I've been instructed to update my blog :) I'm so bad - it takes a reminder to get my butt on here to update.

Today's been a busy day, though. I slept in (I deserve it, darnit!) and made myself the last of my blueberry pancake mix, made some coffee - but forgot I don't have sugar, and started to clean. Then! Realized the sun was out so I laid out for about 45 minutes - and my face burnt! That's so pathetic. I started to get my laundry together and put my first load in with the only quarters I had. For my second load, I took a dollar and five dimes down to the vending machine, because if you put them in, then "return coins", it gives you quarters! (I know, I'm so smart) Only...this time it gave me NOTHING and ate my money :( So I stood there, laundry in hand, with no quarters to finish my laundry. I threw a temper tantrum then came back upstairs to go to the Village Market. I walked there, got some groceries to hold me over for a few days, got some quarters and walked back. In the freaking rain. Ugh...so I finished my laundry. And cleaned up the "kitchen" and bathroom...and it's a whole new apartment! Yay :) Talked to Dad today, Jenn, Zach and Mom...so I wasn't completely lonely :)
Tonight I'll be watching mindless TV and relaxing with some Oreos (surprise!) I can see a long week ahead of me so i'm resting up while I can!! Irene called off one day last week and I thought I was going to bed at work all night ;) Luckily I wasn't...but I'm still pooped from a long week. Hope all is well back home - I hear the weather is gorgeous!! It's about time :)

love you!
me.

i was going to update sooner i swear

So for those of you that haven't heard, I'm stuck in bed again!! Only this time mostly for back pains and whatnot. This wont be a long post because it hurts to sit up and type :)

The good news is that I have not had a cigarette since Wednesday night!! Hopefully I can stick with that once I get up and moving again - which will probably be for work tomorrow.

I hear the weather back home has been awesome - it's about time! We had some pretty rainy days for awhile there but I think we're back to normal. Crazy to hear that you guys got 75 degree temps and that's about what we're at! (Sometimes...)

I'm going to go make some food - time for more pills and probably a nap!! Love and miss you...

me.

i'm trying to be more consistent!!

I didn't realize it was already a week since I've updated!! I just got back from the volleyball game about an hour ago - it was a good time tonight. We got out of work on time so Irene took me to Aloha Tower - a place with shops and restaurants, very touristy but right on the water. We hit up happy hour at Don Ho's and had pupus and Coke, then got an iced coffee before we walked back along the pier to the car. I saw a trumpetfish - Irene thought it was a baracuda.... And angel fish...and broomfish...and crabs! It was pretty cool - I've never seen saltwater fish in person like that. Then the game went well - the guys won 2/3 games of the night so everyone was in a good mood -and Irene and I were elected to be score-keepers so that kept us busy while they played. Then of course we hung out outside the school, the guys drank beer while the girls chatted and we got out at a pretty decent time. A good day all-around - or at least a good ending to a hectic day.
Here's some fish, the first is the trumpetfish, then the angel fish, then the tang!




Obviously I didn't take those..

So anyway....for those of you that havent heard, I went back to the doctor and got results back and basically I still have an infection or something so I'm back on antibiotics - I'll let you know how those work out for me. Good news is, before right now, I hadn't had back pain in a couple days!!

Besides that, things have been the same, work, sleep, work sleep. I actually went walking last Saturday to get out for a bit - tried to run then realized I jostle things around doing that, so I won't be doing that until I'm sure I'm better :) But it was nice to get out - I even laid by the pool for 30 minutes before the rain hit....

I hope all is well with you - keep me updated, let me know how you all are
love and miss you

me.

rainy days and mondays always get me down :)

Whew. I just walked to WalMart down in Waikiki. It's probably only a mile walk but it's a pain when that walk back is in the rain, in the dark!! I got some drops for my ears - I feel like there's something in there - whether it's water or baby roaches :) Regardless, I got this swimmer's ear stuff to try to see if it dries it up. I also got toilet paper (but since I was walking I only got a 4 pack!!) and I completely forgot to get the bug bomb I wanted for the roaches. I've seen the babies lately - obviously the eggs hatched - but not very many and not often. Maybe they're eating that stuff and dying, too.

Besides that, I had a pretty tame day. Irene came in to help me, like I did for her on Friday. We were over on hours so it was an easy day for the most part. We'll see how tomorrow goes. Then tomorrow after work, Irene's boyfriend and his coworkers have a volleyball game (these are the same people that were out when Irene took me out the first time) so she wants me to go and sit with her, so I'll be doing that after work. I'm somewhat excited to get out, but I know after a long day, I'll just want to come home and relax! Oh well, hopefully it doesn't last too long.

I know that's a pretty boring update but that's about all I have for today. I'm tired - going to hop in the shower and lay down for the night. I hope everyone had a decent Monday!

Love you. Miss you!

xoxo
me

.....

Today is my day off, and let me tell you - I've done NOTHING!! And it's great. I'm learning days off are made for doing nothing! I got up at 8 (thank you, Mom!) and made myself three blueberry pancakes, toast and an egg - oh and Caramel Macadamian Nut Coffee! Yum.... then I proceeded to ... sit around and watch TV! Actually, I now have an addiction to this Webkinz stuff. My newest little buddy, Oscar the elephant, keeps me occupied for hours at a time. I never understood exactly what it was - but basically, you get a little stuffed animal that comes with a code, then you go on the website, put in the code and start taking care of your animal! Oscar is living better off than I am right now ;) You earn money by playing games and whatnot - which is now what I'm addicted to - then buy things with the money. And I even have Pam's kitty as my friend!! Anyway - that has taken up a lot of my day - those games are quite addicting.

Besides that, I watched Dirty Dancing Havana Nights - it even has Patrick Swayze in it! Good movie. And besides that, I've chatted today with Mom, Pam, Grandma and Zachary. That's about it!

So I've been doing some thinking about what to do with myself. And we all know, I apparently can't stay in one place too long and I like to move around but I have to get myself through school, that's the bottom line, no matter where I am. So of course, with that, I have to be sure of what I want to do with myself. If I continue with graphic design, I have to end up somewhere that actually would be...appropriate? for a graphic design career. People have even said that Hawaii just doesn't have a need. So there's that. But then I try to think, do I really want to do that? What about psychology? I really enjoyed psychology - but I don't think that, in all honesty, I can be a psychologist (because that's where I'd head with that) for the rest of my life and NOT end up depressed listening to peoples' troubles everyday. Okay so then I remember that I used to be very interested in Art Therapy. In fact, I still am. But at the time I was looking, there weren't many schools that offered this as a major. In fact, now there's one in Ohio, but only one - and that's Ursuline that offers it as a Masters Program. Capital has an undergrad program. Otherwise, most schools are in New York, Florida, Illinois, etc. The only place I would consider is Florida....besides Ohio obviously. Though, we all know how miserable Ohio's weather is - one of the reasons I moved in the first place. Unfortunately, I had considered Georgia, and Tiffany had made mention of the HOPE program - where your college tuition is paid by the state if you meet certain criteria (certain GPA, residency, etc). So that would be ideal, but I found no Art Therapy programs in Georgia. OH THE DECISIONS!!!! I have to pick my major and go from there, I suppose. Sorry to babble but I really need to get it all out and figure out what to do with myself!! Any input is always great appreciated ;)

I hope everyone had a good start to your weekends - I'm back to work tomorrow for another busy week - woohoo! :) Miss you as always.

me.

a new form of Chinese torture!!!

My fridge won't stop buzzing!!!!!! I'm going to go insane. I can't get away from it!!

Anyway. Today went well. Work flew by, and without too many annoying interruptions. I will be going in tomorrow for a half day, all of which will be overtime, mind you! ;) I will probably end up exhausted but that paycheck should make me feel better.

I got home from work to find I got the test results back from the lab - and Pam, I tried to call you to get the low-down on the medical lingo - but basically it comes down to me having to go back, hopefully tomorrow, to "take the test" again. I don't know how else to word that?? Pee in a cup! There.

This weekend I have to get to the grocery store. I'm out of toothpaste and toilet paper - essentials! Oh, and food.

I'm going to throw this fridge out the window. I can't make it stop!

So I was thinking - since I havent been real great at updating - that it might be possible to 'subscribe' to my blog. I'll look into it more, but I know on most sites, you can sign up with your email, and it will alert you when I've updated so you don't have to waste your time checking, and you'll know when a new post is up! Something to look into anyhow.

Alright I know it's only 10 but I should've been in bed hours ago it feels like, so I'm keeping this one short tonight. I have some stuff to do after work tomorrow, before coming home to VEG for the rest of my "weekend".

Love you all - thanks for the comments and checking in! :) It's so good to hear from all of you!!!

me.

Back into the swing of things....

Let me start off with telling you how bad my feet hurt!! I just walked all over Honolulu I think! After a long day at work, I decided to walk to the furniture store, still set on finding a chair or a sleeper to fill my apartment (as I'm slowly finding out, this inflatable mattress is killing my back!). I have no idea how long of a walk that was, but I'd guess a little over a mile, especially with me taking a couple wrong turns (surprised?!). I got to the store only to find the furniture is really expensive...for one, single chick in a tiny apartment anyway. I was going to walk to the nearest bus stop but took a detour, stopped in Goodwill (to kill time) and then to ... TACO BELL! I haven't had that since I've been here I think. That was a nice dinner! :) Then I walked the rest of the way home, again, over a mile I believe. All of this done in the shoes I wore to work. Owie! But I made it. And I came home to my new fridge! This thing is huge compared to my other tiny fridge, though it's still not full-size. Kevin (the landlord) even put my food in there, all arranged and everything, and hung my pictures back up. What a guy! He also left a smoke detector, saying he forgot his tools and he'll install it this weekend or something. We'll see. I can just do it myself if I had a screwdriver!


Anyway that was today. In a nutshell anyway. Work was busy as usual. The bosses are going to Washington to try to recruit new people (By the way!! Any nurses, ward clerks, PTs, OTs, PTAs, etc....we now get $3500 for recruiting someone instead of the $1000 offered prior - can you tell we're desperate?!) and we were told while they're gone, we're welcome to all the overtime we want - YAY!! Though that sounds great, and like something to really take advantage of, I know I'll be beat from just working 40 hours, let alone any more than that. I actually already have 4 hours of OT this week so far I think, so if I worked a half day Friday, I'd be rolling in the OT. Which brings me to this: my last paycheck was SMALL. That's my rent check, and needless to say I was pretty upset when I saw it. This was due to my illness and the time I took off. When I returned to work, I spent the following week working my TAIL off trying to make up hours, working 10.5 hr days, and then the following week I worked 5 hours OT to try to make up for the time they were going to 'front' me to make up for the 9 hours I couldn't make up. Does that all make sense? When my last paycheck was for 71 hours, plus my 5 hrs overtime (which doesnt make up for the 9 hours I didn't get paid for!). So today I decided to finally ask why I was paid for OT, when I wasn't even at my 80 hrs - and why wasn't I?? Turns out, HR made a mistake, they thought I was on extended leave the entire time, and they wrote me a check on the spot to make up for the difference. PHEW! Only now, I think I'll send that home to get deposited into my Ohio account (No, I have not yet switched everything over to my Hawaii account....I know, I know). So then there's that....

What else have I failed to fill you in on?! :)

Thursday night, Shelby and Susan took Irene and I out to dinner at this place called 3660 On the Rise - a really nice restaurant. There's a picture here of Irene's dinner first, then mine (beef tenderloin with crab legs on top and asparagus). We also went crazy with desserts and sampled a couple martinis - one of their specialties. A nice dinner all-around - and it helped that it was free for Irene and me! ;)





So I've been pretty busy and VERY tired. Last night, I got home from work a little after 5, ate dinner, and fell asleep by 6. I woke up a little after 8 and eventually went back to bed but I had no idea I was so beat!! All this work is wearing me out :)

How is everything back home?? I'm kind of disappointed - at first when I made the comments private, a lot more of you were commenting and saying 'hello' - but now you've all disappeared! I'm bummed. Maybe if I were more consistent? :) My fault. Mom - I hope you're feeling better!! Sad to hear you're under the weather! :(

I'm off to sit in front of my sky-high TV now and rest for the evening. Say 'hello' and let me know how things are. I should be a bit more consistent now that I'm not sick and I have no more company coming for awhile.

Miss and Love you!!

me.

OVERDUE! I know...

I think it's about time for an update, don't you think??

I'm winding down for the night after a long couple weeks. As you know, I got pretty sick, which took all my energy away. But I had to return to work, possibly a day or two earlier than I should have, because I found out I was not getting paid for my time off after so many days. Not because of company policy (which actually states I should be fronted up to 40 hrs in advance my first year) but rather because Sheena, who went on her maternity leave early due to complications, abused the system and left owing hours...and not to return until September. Basically, consider it "one bad apple ruined the bunch". But I talked to the bosses and HR and insisted I am NOT leaving and I need that money for my rent. Still, I lost out on a day's pay from the week prior, which hurt me more than I thought it would. So last week I returned to work on Tuesday, and my friend David came in to visit Thursday night. Unfortunately that was not enough recovery time for me, and I wound up in pain his entire trip here. Not only was I back to work, but I was working 10 hour days to try to make up for the PTO (paid time off) I was going to need to use. I also spend this entire week working overtime, which only contributed to that PTO as well, so I will not see any more money, but I will be hopefully paying off that time that I borrowed. I'd rather see the money, but who wouldn't ;)

David's visit came at a great time. After being off work and stuck in bed for a week, I was starting to resent Hawaii and wanting to go back to Ohio as soon as I could get my sorry butt on a plane!! I was hoping, with having David here, that I could get out and see why I love it here so much - and I did just that. Going around to my favorite spots on the island, showing him the ins and outs that I've learned, and really feeling like I know my surroundings - it all helped me feel a little bit better about it all. Obviously I miss home and the people there - that will never go away. But I didn't want to resent Hawaii.

While he was here, I showed David the Spitters Caves down in Hawaii Kai, took him to Kona Brewing Company (the restaurant that has the MOST delicious kettle chip crusted mahi mahi), gave him a tour of North Shore (where there's a small stand that serves FRESH ahi and swordfish on delicious sweetbread), visited the Arizona Memorial, directed him to Ala Moana beach for his afternoons and the Punchbowl cemetery, showed him Waikiki Beach at night, and finally took him to the Moana Falls this morning before he left. I also made him go to Pier1 to find some furniture (No, I didn't get any) but that obviously wasn't a fun, touristy thing for him to do! I even found out how to get home from the airport - see! I do learn new things every day!

Needless to say, I'm exhausted. I felt bad; every day I'd come home from work, eat dinner, go running and do what I could with him but then it'd be a Vicodin for the pain when I got home, and a heating pad until I zonked out. Hopefully this all passes soon...

Not much else is really new. I have tomorrow off, then of course I work Sunday. My new schedule, since Sheena is gone, is Sunday through Thursday. So while you're all enjoying a yummy Easter dinner, think of me out here working my butt off at the hospital! ;) And enjoy some mashed potatoes for me- and ham. I'm craving it!!

I hope all is well back home. I apologize for being out of touch lately. Honestly, being in pain and stuck in my apartment - well I didn't really feel up to chatting. And with David here, it seemed rude to call and text and email people so I realize I have been slacking and I apologize. I do love and miss you guys, though!! I haven't forgotten about ya or the blog ....

And! Grandmother - I do hope you're feeling much better. I heard you were a bit under the weather and I've been thinking about you and Granddad - you take care of yourselves. I love you much.

And Pam!! You should just move out here and be my personal physician. Free room and board? :)

Thanks again for those who were concerned and checked up on me when I was down and out - it's nice to know I'm still in your thoughts all the way out here - and no, Mom, it's not annoying to get check-up calls from you while I'm sick :) It was awesome to hear your voice and have you motivate me to take care of myself (yes, it's sad I didn't do it myself, I know - I learned my lesson!). See! You teach me lessons even when I'm out here ;)

Okay I'm rambling! I've made some coffee and I'm settling in for a movie. Please keep the comments coming! I love hearing from you all.

me.

Oh! And I updated some pictures on the slideshow - and did you know - if you click on it, it will take you to the website with those pictures? enjoy! ( I have a ton more but I'd hate to bore you guys with pictures of a bazillion trees! )

Yucky day AGAIN

I just got in from the ER again....this time they did a cat scan on my abdomen - NO stones, just an infection. They did the norm - pumped me up on IVs and drugs and stuff, and got me a taxi home. I was instructed this time to return tomorrow if I cannot stand the pain again and get admitted for pain management... :( He said people react differently, some can take the pain, others can't even move. So we'll see. I'm on the Vicodin and was told to add Tylenol because I still had a fever of 101.8 or something like that....it kept going up and down at the hospital?! Anyway. Hopefully, since they just dosed me up with that pain drug, I can pass out here in a bit...

Thanks for your concern, everyone :)

Love you....

Off to bed.

YUCKY Day for Me

What a day.

So as to try to save myself from telling the same story 1000 times, I think I'll just give a brief synopsis here for you. Today I went to work in extreme pain from what my new doctor told me was kidney stones and a kidney infection. He gave me an antibiotic and tylenol with codeine. I went to go back to work but Shelby insisted I go home (though Sheena called off sick already) and Susan actually drove me herself. (She even stopped and got sandwiches and smoothies to make me feel better!)

I got home, took the tylenol which I thought for SURE would knock me out, and instead all I did was wiggle around trying to ignore the maintenance men starting a new freaking project on EACH FLOOR drilling huge holes...for HOURS. Oh Lord. So I took another tylenol (don't worry - the bottle said I could). I managed to get some sleep but was still waking up hot and in extreme pain. Eventually I gave up, got up and went downstairs to get a Pepsi because I was in desperate need of caffeine for my headache, and about passed out. I made it back upstairs in time to lose most of my sight and my right ear went silent...I had heard somewhere before to cough if you think you're about to pass out so I started coughing (is that even true?!), splashed water on myself and chugged water. I sat down and felt a bit better but then I was getting goosebumps and my face was on fire. I was actually warming up the washcloth I had soaked in cold water...

Thank GOD for Pam :) I called her and we decided it was time to go to the ER - kidneys are not a thing to mess around with. And she was so right. I had a temp of 103.7, which still hasn't completely fallen back to normal but I'm happy sitting at 99.8 for now. I had fluids pumped in me via IV, had some narcotic put in the IV, and a new antibiotic. He said obviously I still have a pretty gnarly (yes, I just said gnarly) kidney infection, but he wasn't sold on the kidney stones. He said he'd have to do a CAT scan and there's no reason to put me through that much radiation - UNLESS the pain doesn't subside and nothing gets better. So there. FIVE HOURS LATER - I'm home, on vicodin, and waiting to get up in the a.m. to get my NEW prescriptions filled (because paying $40 today just wasn't enough...what a waste). I just ate some cereal, I'm battling a headache but I don't have the guts to take anything so I think I'm going to try to just pass out for the night. The doctor said no work for me for two more days, so I'll be trying to keep myself occupied in my little apartment this week.

Besides that, I unfortunately have NOTHING else to report. Sadly, I will have to make up some crazy hours at work I'm afraid - I'll have to see what happens with my pay when I don't have enough in the bank and I gotta call off?? Hopefully it's paid? Oh well. That's all I have for now - just thought I'd share. Thanks for the texts and I'm sorry I made you guys worry - all is well. LOVE YOU!

me.

Not-so-sunny Sunday

Hello Hello!

So it's Sunday, a little after 3, and I'm sprawled out on my mattress watching Project Runway and downing Pepsi and kettle chips. Rough life today, huh?? I do not feel motivated to do a single thing today. I havent even been on the phone today, just not even in the mood for much. The sun's not out either so that doesn't really help.

Since my last update, my week has been pretty busy with work as usual. The bosses talked to Sheena about her work ethics....and of course she didn't TELL us that's what the meeting was about, but it was. She's sort of straightened up since then. Sort of. She still is screwing up a lot and leaving us to pick up the slack. I'm not really sure what's going to happen with all of that. I can't see her being there much longer. But regardless, I did turn in my request for vacation for Christmas. We'll see how that turns out - I asked Shelby, and she confirmed that Sheena did not turn in her request - but I don't want to look like that sneaky girl going behind Sheena's back. Yes, that's exactly what I did but still.

Last night, Irene took me out again. We went to Dave & Busters but all the games were down so we went to the roof to drink at the bar, where a bazillion people met us out. Her boyfriend's coworkers, their girlfriends, her best friends from high school - wow just a LOT of people. I'm not sure why, but we all left there and went to the W, which is a classy dance club basically. Girls in dresses, guys have a dress-code....and we were CERTAINLY under-dressed, but we were okay enough to get in. This place was only open for an hour after we got there, and waiting to get a drink and walk through the crowd ate up about 45 minutes of that hour. So we went to ANOTHER bar, which is at the Fisherman's Wharf....which I think is a restaurant during the day?? That was open til 4 am....HOLY COW. People started filtering out a little after 3, then there was just a few of us (trust me, I was asleep on my feet but Irene was my ride, and everyone else's Designated Driver). So I think eventually everyone got rounded up, dropped off, and I got to bed by 4:30am...zzzzzzzzzzzzz!!! I got my 7 hours of sleep though and was a happy girl so it wasn't that bad. Thank goodness for lazy Sundays! And yes - I'm sure by now someone's thinking "wow, 4 a.m., you must've been TRASHED - tsk tsk" but I promise, I was not. Nor was anyone I was with. I was pleased to realize these people aren't the typical 20-something alcoholics that race to see who can down more beer and get trashed fastest. Everyone was out for a good time, good food, good drinks and good conversation. I had a VERY nice night out because of that. Awesome to know people CAN be mature when they go out - so rest easy, I surround myself with good people.

I think for the MOST part, I'm feeling better since being sick with this cold thing. I'm still dealing with congestion in my chest, but I can breathe most of the time now without medication. Unfortunately, I'm thinking I have OTHER ailments bothering me (what's up, Hawaii??? Can't I just stay healthy for more than a week at a time?!) but I have a doctor's appointment Monday so HOPEFULLY I can get a handle on everything once and for all. And - I have Monday off because Irene is taking vacation days at the end of the week for a wedding, so I am working her Saturday for her, which gives me tomorrow off. Yay! But somehow, in the month of March, I think I'm always working a weekend day, and one work week I am working 6 days...not sure how I did that. Ooops.

Alright - ran out of kettle chips... ;) Time to go find something else to snack on, and I think I'll work on reading my book for a bit. That slideshow that always goes on the left? I've added more pictures so take a second and look if you want - or if it's too many pictures, don't worry about it ;) I know I tend to write long blogs, let alone making you sit through over 100 pictures. Actually it's only about 25! :) And yes, they're real, and I took those myself. Give it time - it won't be working immediately but look for it!

Hope your weekend went well!! Love and miss you

me.

Boring Monday Post

Good news is I'm feeling better for the most part - apparently pineapple and the beach make a great cure for the cold - thanks, Pam! ;) I've been taking Dayquil religiously and sleeping when I can and then throwing in some Mucinex for good measure and as long as I'm medicated, I'm happy. So we'll see.

Not a whole lot to report on my end. Should have some updates here on work shortly about some certain situations - that are hopefully getting cleared up. I should know more tomorrow hopefully...

Got to the beach this weekend - got to sleep in some this weekend - I'm sorry I was MIA if you were calling or emailing, I know I owe a couple of you phone calls and I promise I'll do it ASAP. Just not much fun being sick right now....duh.

Hope the weather's getting warmer at home!! Spring can't be too far away - right? I've gotten some more phone calls about people who want to come visit - I'm waiting on the rest of you to hop on the bandwagon!! I promise I'm trying to find an inexpensive couch right now, or sleeper sofa but at this rate I don't care. I just need furniture so when you all come to visit, we're not sitting on the floor eating and watching TV and gabbing - gets old, I tell ya!

I plan on getting on my landlord this week by the way about not having a smoke detector in my unit. Also, I have to ask him about...I don't remember. But!! REMIND me I have two questions for him...oh oh my sink is leaking in the "kitchen" so I'm going to make him check that out. OH! And I never got my new fridge and this one doesn't keep stuff real cold. I have to get stamps, too.... My work here is never done!!

Okay off for a shower and bed. I should be asleep already but I was cleaning and re-arranging and trying to kill roaches (I found a new trap that has water in it - since that's what they are attracted to afterall) and I can't decide if I should kill 'em or let 'em find the traps and take it back to their nests...tough call.

Love you all!!
Miss you

xoxo
me.

A cold can't be so bad in Hawaii.... HA

So this time I've been slacking for other reasons than 'it's just too nice outside' - Sheena's been calling off work all week, leaving Irene and I to pick up her load. So needless to say, we've put in some serious OT, and I even went in early yesterday (Thursday) at 730 and stayed til after 500. All while feeling a little ill. Well today it hit me a lot harder and I'm definitely under the influence of SOME bug - and hopefully it's just a cold. It's already in my chest, clogging half my nose, and I can't breathe!! Figures.... And don't tell me "well having a cold in Hawaii can't be THAT bad" - that line doesn't work in this instance. :)

Besides that, and working my butt OFF, I managed to squeeze in a shopping session and bought a pair of Crocs - the new "Alice" ones, they look like Mary Janes. Crocs, if you don't know, are a super lightweight shoe that breathes well and is supposed to be super comfortable - and for $30, they were a heck of a lot cheaper than investing in Birkenstocks for work!! :) So we'll see how they feel. So far, so good but I haven't tried them out at work yet.

So even though I'll be under the weather this weekend, I see NO reason to stay away from the beach. Doesn't the sun give us vitamins or something? I've stocked up on drugs, water and will get some juice...so try and give me a reason not to go! (No, really, don't...)

I hope all is well on the homefront.
WHICH reminds me - Sheena had mentioned, if you remember, after I started - that she was going to go back to Ohio (her husband is from Zanesville) to visit his family with the kids (they'll have a newborn - yeah yeah "awww" I know) but! if she hasn't turned in her request yet, I might just beat her to it. She's taking 4 months off for maternity, she's been calling off a TON since I've started, who knows how long she'll even stick around. SO - I was thinking I'll come home for Christmas. Or if she's requested it, my birthday/Thanksgiving? Anyway - since Mom and Jennifer sent me a box of goodies (THANK YOU SO MUCH!) I now have DVDs to watch and a DVD player to watch 'em on! AND! I also have Reese's cups (THANK YOU PAM AND DAN) to eat while I do so ;) I'm going to pump up this medicine head and call it a night.

Love you all!!!! Miss you tons.

me.

WOW

Hello, hello!!! I know, what a slacker!! I can't help it - the weather's been AWESOME lately. Very little rain so I've been trying to be outside a LOT.



I got some insider tips from the girls at work on where to go and places to see that aren't real touristy and kind of get a look around, and boy did I! This place is so hidden - tricky people! It's in a neighborhood, but in between two houses, there's a trail. And do you know what this trail leads to???



Have a look:





Un-freaking-believable. Can you believe that? NEVER would've known that was on the other side of those houses...I think I sat in one spot for almost an hour?? I even saw two whales going across the horizon... WOW! Now I know where to take visitors when they come to see me. Only thing is, you're walking on that rock so it's kind of scary. I won't go by myself for sure...at least I had my tennis shoes on!

Saturday was nice, but cloudy off and on - so I went to Waikiki beach for about an hour and laid out. Got more sun sitting on that rock yesterday than being at the beach! :) Water was cold, though...lots of people...oh well.

And today the world seems so empty!! There's no one in the hospital, no one on the bus this morning, am I the only person who works holidays around here or what?! Very weird. But it's another beautiful day outside :) Better that I'm here anyway probably - everybody and their brother will be out today enjoying the nice weather for the holiday so I'll make my time-and-a-half and stay here...

Don't have much else to report. Things are same ol', same ol' - minus that incredible view yesterday. That got me pretty excited :) I promise to find more things to show you guys when you book trips out here...I'm a regular tour guide!!

Love & miss you!!

me.

Bring it on, Tuesday!

Oh my GOSH Monday could not have ended soon enough - and I still have 4 hrs to go!!

What a bad day. Probably a bad day for me to choose to update, really but here I go :) I had a killer headache today - tension all the way. Eventually a PT tech rubbed out the knots in my neck, which made the headache vanish - for about 2 hrs ... it's back. I'm going to bed very shortly. This will not be a long post :)

Quick overview of the weekend:
Friday night, geez what'd I do? I think I rented another movie. Wow I can't even remember. Saturday morning I woke up and walked to the bank to deposit a check from my 401k, then walked to Ala Moana shopping center - by the beach - through the mall - back to my apartment - PAST it because I took a wrong turn - and to the apartment - a total of at least 8 miles according to Google. Phew was I pooped. But it wasn't nap time! I laid out by the pool and got some sun and laid there just minutes away from a nap so I got up - came in, showered - and went out with Irene and her boyfriend, Jayme and his coworkers and their girlfriends! It was a fun night - though I was THE white girl in the bar. Irene said there's always a "token Japanese" and a "token white" just like we always had the "token black guy" back home. I'm the minority, folks!! :) I was in bed by 12....then up at 6 to go to work Sunday which was so slow and quiet...I got home yesterday afternoon, laid by the pool some more, chatted with Dad and Patty and Zach and went to SLEEP!!

Looks like we've got some nice clear days ahead of us :) Can't wait to enjoy them....
I heard about all the snow - I'm sorrY!!

Love and miss you
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Kung Hee Fat Choy!

Happy Chinese New Year! Obviously - that's something that they pay attention to out here. Today they even served a dim sum plate for lunch in the cafeteria - so of course I had to try it!! The only thing I didn't like was something that resembled a perogie - only it was in a clear dough?! It resembled an alien womb or something so I think I ruled it out before I even tasted it. Very weird. But then this desert they serve is rice cake - it's a sweet gelatin made of rice?! It's pretty good - but again, a weird texture.

Nothing really new has been going on here, and I've been tired lately so I haven't really been updating, my apologies. My week has gone by pretty quickly - we have had some pretty busy days at work, today probably being the worst. I got there and as usual, Irene was already dealing with some serious issues, only to be followed by ANOTHER issue caused by yours truly. I had filled a therapist's schedule full of start evaluations and caregiver education trainings (with families) - which only licensed practitioners can do, not the assistants. Only issue? The practitioner had a vacation day today and I was completely unaware. So at 8:00 we were struggling to fit those patients onto other practitioners' schedules, which did not work out and some people weren't seen. Oh well. When you have 80 patients and maybe 15 practitioners, that's going to happen. We moved past it and I learned my lesson.

Unfortunately, since I've started, Sheena has been slacking off and it's beginning to get to Irene. She sees me as her gopher almost - and an excuse to not help out so much. Irene finally got up the nerve to say something to Shelby (our supervisor) today about it so hopefully that stops soon. We also got our new desktops delivered today, meaning some time either tomorrow or over the weekend, they will be installing those on each treatment floor, and instead of being stuck in our little closet, we will each split up and schedule separately on our respective floors, mine being A3 (The "A" stands for Alexander Wing of the hospital, obviously the 3rd floor). At that point, I'll be bringing my iPod up to the floor and hiding behind a desk to schedule for most of the day. Should be interesting. It's kind of nice to hide away from the therapists because if you're there - they can ask you to do things and rearrange their schedules. Jerks. ;) Anyway I switched days for this upcoming week, so I will be working Sunday with Sheena and will have Friday off. Then I switched two weeks after that to work a Saturday and have a Monday off, and then Sheena asked me to switch Easter with her so she could spend it with her family, so I'll be working Easter, and Irene has a wedding in early March so I'll work her Saturday and have a Monday off again. Nice that we can do that, be so flexible and switch around like that....we'll see how I like working the weekends!! I have to get used to it eventually anyway.

What else...no new encounters on the bus. I've been spending my mornings/afternoons reading my book on the bus so that's kind of relaxing. I was recently introduced to Skype online (look it up!) which allows you to "call" one computer from another (for free), and if you have a web camera, you can see the other person. Dad and Patty tried it and got it to work, makes conversations completely different. I bet you're sorry you returned your web cam NOW, huh, Jenn? :) Even if you don't have one though, you can still talk through your computer's mic and see me on my video, even if I can't see you. So if anyone wants to download it, let me know your username and I'll be sure to look for you!! Pretty slick program. I guess Yahoo! messenger does the same, though - as does AIM. So apparently any of those will work...so there's an idea for you guys!!! :) Better than the phone sometimes and free! You're stuck in front of the computer, though, if you decide to use it...

I did have one neat highlight to my week...lame maybe but it made me happy. "Across the Universe" came out on DVD Tuesday of this week. That's the movie made completely of Beatles songs - I couldn't wait to see it in theaters but never got to. Well I went to the video store Monday night and they already had it out!! So I snatched that up and watched it Monday - glad it was out early :) I enjoyed it...

Besides that, not a lot has gone on. I have laundry to do and cleaning to do. I need to buy some more foods. My veggies don't really make a dinner so I need to find meats or something...

Thanks for leaving more comments :) If you didn't say it was okay to publish yours, I didn't. I just read them and discarded them. I don't want to assume!! But it's nice hearing from all of you. Again - I know there's more of you out there reading who don't say 'hi' but that's fine.... I'll just cut you off eventually ;) J/k. Maybe.

I hope everyone had a great week and has an even better weekend. I'm hoping the rain passes long enough for me to hit the beach on my one day off (Saturday) but I'm not holding my breath. Happy Aloha Friday! :) Miss and love you all....


me.

Sorry for the lack of blogs!

I'll catch up soon = and I'm getting your wonderful comments, thank you :)

Superbowl Sunday

Superbowl Snack:

My breakfast/lunch today:
My dinner Friday night:

My dinner Saturday night (yes, that's my floor):


Yesterday, I received Dad and Patty's care package -which included Asian sesame noodles, which is what I had for dinner yesterday - I also threw in the sweet and spicy tuna they included. It made for a good meal!! :) I also got some more noodle meals, silverware, a towel and potholder, twizzlers (yum) and....SPAM!!! Ewww!! :) Actually I still haven't tried it yet - good thing it's a small package so you don't end up wasting a whole can ;) I'll let you know how it is. Thank you SOOOO much for the package!!! Oh, and the floss and toothpaste and toothbrush - trying to tell me something??

Today I got up and went to the grocery store - and came back covered in sweat. There is no bug that goes by that grocery store :) It's only .4 mi though. I got pancake mix (hence my lunch) but realized that I do not have measuring cups or oil OR a spatula to flip them, but I managed!! :) I also got apples, celery, carrots, and seedless grapes. I got individual servings of coffee (the kind that are made like tea bags), and a mug since I don't have one....water, Vitamin Water, cookies (duh), more pancake mix, bandaids...I think that's about it?

And now the Superbowl's on and I'm feeling a nap coming on :) I have a headache (lack of caffeine I think...) and a good book and the Superbowl....still think I'll take a nap!!

Enjoy the game! Love you
me.

Happy February

You'll notice that you can leave comments, but they won't show up initially. These are sent directly to my account, where I can read them myself. Hopefully, this will encourage more people to leave comments and say 'hello', without worrying who in the world might be reading them. I understand :) Hope you do, too. ((Also - if you want them published, I can "approve" them and have them listed on the page like before, but if you don't want your comments published, let me know and I will just read them myself from here on out (just tell me once and I'll remember) and I will not "approve" them to be listed, okay?))

Today was a long day. Work was quite an adventure but because we were so swamped, it went quickly. I got out of work a little bit late, and realized I forgot to fill out my timesheet. Oops. I'll have to be SURE to do that Monday. After work I waited an HOUR in the rain for the bus - as did about 10 other people. Once we were on the bus, which was pretty empty because we are the beginning of the line basically, it filled up QUICKLY - we were flying past normal stops that had anywhere from 10-30 people waiting to get on...and mad when they saw the bus go by. I think the hold-up was because of some festivities going on downtown, but I don't see how that would make a bus over an hour late...ridiculous. I got off a couple stops early to go to the ATM (in case I went to the Punahou Carnival with Shelby and her friends) and get dinner, and I also found a video store!! So I rented "Good Luck Chuck" and signed up for an account there. Yay!!! :) That made me feel a little better. I have a nail place, a hair place, a Subway, Korean food, a market, an ATM (not my bank though) and a video rental place. How cool is that?! You can also play online games and listen to music in the video place. And right next door is a wine cellar store. Pretty neat little area...

I got back to the apartment and scarfed my dinner, a BBQ chicken meal from Makiki Inn (the Korean/American place). Then I talked to Zach for a second, and mom for a good while on the phone before it was everyone's bedtime and I watched my movie....and now it's time to hit the sack.

Tomorrow, I am supposed to meet up with Jesse and go to the swap meet, he leaves Monday for Ohio. Then Irene was saying her boyfriend thinks the Chinese New Year festival is going on downtown tomorrow night downtown, complete with a lion parade thing. So she wants me to tag along if they go out. Sounds like fun to me! We'll see how the weather is tomorrow - this rain crap sucks...yes, I know, I have little room to complain :) But YOU aren't dealing with these damn creepy crawlies on your ceiling!!!! And - a light went out in my 'hallway' and I can't reach it to change it. And seeing as how I have NO FURNITURE, I can't climb on anything either. Crap. I paid my rent today so furniture is a LONG way off from the looks of it ;)

Hope everyone had a happy Friday and you're all staying in for a warm weekend. Love you!

me.

Friday = One Month

Not a lot to report today. I went to work early - or so I tried, anyway. Bus was running way late, then the freaking bus driver tried to give me crap about having a February bus pass - when that's all the lady gave me! Whatever jerk. At least tomorrow is February so no one will pick on me...

Went to the doctor's this afternoon, which turned into a 3 hour trip (again - it's the bus...) So needless to say, I have some time to make up at work.

After work, I stopped at Fantastic Sam's, which now has a nail place attached to it, which is maybe four blocks up the street - right by the coffee shop and village market. So I got my nails done - and for cheaper than at home!! I also stopped into Subway to grab some food for dinner before coming back here for the night. And here I am!! I'm exhausted and am going to try to get into work early tomorrow so - this is all for now, I'm sorry :)

Love you guys...

Oh - and I owe a special thank you to Mike who sent me a card and a gift card for McDonalds for some more hotcakes ;) And Sherri, Sharon, Jeannine, Val, Kami and Jenn who sent me a card with some adorable pictures and candy!!!!! You ladies are too good to me, that's for sure. I miss you guys so much!!

Okay I see this strange bug haunting my ceilings so I need to go Windex it (it works - I promise!).

xoxo
me!

I ate all my oreos already!!

We're coasting towards the weekend! :)

Today was such a long day... not really time-wise, because it flew by, but stuff kept piling on top of our department, making for a long day of problem-solving and people-pleasing.

At least when I woke up - the weather was much calmer and there was no rain. Mom surprised me with a phone call while I was on the bus (nothing like a pleasant interruption to that morning commute!!) and I got to work semi-early. But already, by 7:45, Irene was swamped with complaints and issues and changes and ready to scream, so I got there just in time. We fixed what we could, and spent the rest of the day scheduling of course, but with a MAJOR shortage of staff. My floor alone was short almost 30 hours, so I had to creatively move the patients around, and let's just say some might be getting more occupational therapy tomorrow than physical therapy! :) It's supposed to be even but what can ya do...??

I spent a lot of my afternoon battling medical/insurance issues again. Even though I got a prescription last week, I still didn't feel right today so I thought since my insurance runs up tomorrow, it'd be nice to just get peace of mind and see a doctor. There's the Kapi'olani Women and Childrens Center about...300 feet from my apartment - can't beat that! :) (You should see the website - they offer cooking classes, cosmetic surgery, pilates, ob/gyn services, doctors offices, cancer centers, and alllllll the other girly stuff you could want - yes, even massages!) So I called there this afternoon thinking, there's ONE doctor's office I can find so luckily they had an appointment open tomorrow afternoon so I gave her my insurance information. After calling me about 5 times going over my ID number, then my group number, then my ID number again (ugh!) - she called to tell me she checked my eligibility and I was not eligible. Oooooh realllllly??? So I called Kami at work (the ONLY time I was happy to know she's working late!) and had her look up my insurance information and sure enough, I'm eligible - so she was NICE ENOUGH to fax that over to the Women's Center. (Thank you, Kami!) :) But after I thought about it - I was pretty excited, seeing as how it's so close to my apartment - but then I realized after I made the appt - my appt is at 1:30 in the afternoon. Well, now that's not so convenient is it! So I have to take the bus back (at least I know which bus it is) and then back again to work (aren't you glad I bought a bus pass?!).

Besides that, tomorrow should be calm enough. I hope anyhow. Sheena won't be at work so it will just be Irene... which is fine, but I'm hoping we don't get slammed again.

Did I ever mention how cheap the cafeteria is?? I think I did. But this morning I was starving (time to grocery shop again...) so I went to get a blueberry bagel and cream cheese, and to save time, I bought my egg salad sandwich, chips and a pop for lunch - all for something like $4.80 I think? Something close to $5. For lunch and breakfast - I'd say that's a decent deal. Maybe cheaper than grocery shopping for that food?! Geez.

I am DETERMINED to get to the beach this weekend!! I shouldn't be so pale for living here, and I have no fun beach pictures to send anyone. How sad am I?! :) Just hope the rain holds off....

I don't have anything else really to report. I hope everyone's mid-week was decent - and everyone is looking forward to the weekend.

Jenn - I tried to call you back, sorry - you must've already fallen asleep by the time I called (that was quick!!). Write me tomorrow at work or something - and remind me I have a list of things I want from home...(or at least I will by then!! haha)

Okay - have to get to work early so I'm off to sleep semi-early tonight.
Of course you know, but I'll tell you anyway - Love and Miss you :) :)


me.

Its a Monsoooon!!!!

Thought I'd start with some fun pictures :) A mini-tour, if you will...

The elevators by the entrance...(The gate is our "front door" and that's the call box)These are the "lockers" where they put larger packages - I told a couple of you I'd let you know how big they are but I still can't tell. They're deep, though - even if not more than 12 inches tall.

This is the little hallway of mailboxes (this is directly across from the elevators). Notice that "wall" is open - those are just bricks - and there's another gate on the right that goes out to our laundry area.

This is at the other end of the hall - directly across from (and down a ways) from the front door. This is also just a gate - can we say huge wind tunnel?? I go smoke out here.
And this is my apartment door from the outside!! Those are those 'slats' I keep trying to explain to people that you can open/close for airflow. That fire exit is always open - and since the other end of the hallway is another gate - it's also just a big wind tunnel! :) I love it. And that fire hose thing is directly outside of my door - yay. (Sarcasm!)Okay.

I've finished my oreos so it's safe to blog now!

Today I woke up to what I thought was a monsoon!! The palm trees were all swaying and bending and the wind was insanely strong. Even though I forgot to pack an umbrella (duh) I did remember my rain jacket thingie - so I threw that on over my hoodie and I was pretty safe with that. The ride to work was rather uneventful on the bus. Work started pretty busily - (spell check didn't flag that so now I KNOW that's a word!) but I did schedule a floor on my own. I think that's old news now, huh?? I did take my time, because today it was pretty frustrating.

Yesterday - Sheena and I were the only two scheduling and the way the numbers fell, we had 50 more hours NEEDED in therapy than we had being worked by schedulers, does that make sense? We were negative 50.5 hrs. Yet, through doubling and on-calls, we fit it ALL on there. Today, with three schedulers, we were -25.5 hours, and we were struggling hardcore at the end to find hours to fit the patients in....not sure how that happens but...that made it a stressful afternoon. Then when we were all finished - we were out of things to do! We tried to look busy for 2.5 hrs...I can't see doing that every day. That will get old quick.

The sun finally came out for GOOD this afternoon - or so I thought. It was out all morning but it kept raining, then a cloud would sneak in, then rain, then sun - back and forth At the end of the day - the sun was so bright I thought for sure it was done raining. I was fine at the bus stop, but when I got on the bus and we were going downtown, it was raining on the right side of the bus, but not the left. That's so fun :) Unfortunately, right after I got on the bus and looked towards Punchbowl (the direction of my apartment from work) I saw some serious clouds sneaking over the mountains....and I knew my place would be wet. Sure enough, get close to my place and it's raining hard. HARD!!!! I walk, maybe 200 feet? to my apartment from the bus stop - and I was soaked through. Darnit!!! Remind me to get an umbrella. A SERIOUS umbrella!!!Can you actually see that i'm soaking wet or no? This is like, a 30 second walk for me...

And since I've been home, it's been the usual call-center :) I talked to Craig for a bit, then Dad, then Zachary. And now everyone's gone to bed and I'm watching American Idol. Figures, by the time my nighttime minutes start, everyone's asleep!!! (12 am your time back home) Oh well :) It's good talking to everyone...

I wanted to say hi to Grandmother & Granddad - I saw your comment the other day and I'm sorry I haven't emailed or anything lately. It was so good talking to the two of you before I left - and I hope you're still doing well and keeping warm. Love you :)

I hope everyone had a decent Tuesday (minus Zachary - who had a pretty poopy Tuesday). And hopefully HumpDay's that much better!! Happy Wednesday (it is where you are!)

I'm going to take my shower early, curl up on the ... inflatable mattress, watch American Idol and House and hope to be asleep by the end of that. I was beat today.
Say hello sometime tomorrow if you'd like! It's always nice getting a text (I have unlimited!) or a phone call or an email

LOVE and MISS you!!

me.


PS - I Just remembered something - Jenn this might be up to you to find - or Zach I'm not sure. But I have a little yearbook thing from fourth grade...it was in addition to our normal yearbook (both softcover) for Raccoon Elementary. If someone knows where this is - or can find it - turn to my page and tell me what it says under my picture...I've been thinking about that for some time and I want to see if I remember correctly ;)
Let me know what you find!

Rainy Day

Monday's over - phew!! I've always hated Mondays but I guess this one wasn't so bad...

Yesterday started out pretty lazy for me - I woke up REALLY late (on purpose of course) and laid in front of the TV for awhile - a sure perk when your couch and your bed are one in the same. Eventually I decided to get down the block to that Village Market, well four blocks, and I got a Bertolli's dinner, oreos and milk (shhh!), bananas (yay!), and water. I got back and washed some clothes in the sink again (ewww) and took them down to the dryers - only to rip my laundry bag in the process. Ooops :( That made the trip fun...anyway I threw them in the dryer then Jesse called to see if I wanted to go grab some food in Waikiki so I got the laundry out when it was done - only it wasn't dry. In a rush, I just threw it all out all over the room to let it dry out while I was gone. So we went to Outback and I was craving a burger for DAYS so I got a Hickory Burger...but it took over an hour to get it. And it was well-done, when I ordered it medium. Needless to say, Jesse spoke up about the long wait and my burnt burger and I got a free cup of soup while I waited for my sandwich and they threw in cheesecake with chocolate sauce (shhh!) as well as comp'ing my meal. I felt bad though that Jesse still had a bill of $40 (he ordered all sorts of crap for himself) but mine was free because he spoke up so I split the bill with him. Two hours later!!! We finally got out of there...by the time I got back, most of my clothes were dry - and I spent the rest of the night relaxing and trying to sleep but because I slept in SO much, I had a hard time doing that!! After I finally did, 6 am crept up FAST on me.

Today was a rainy day - all day for the most part. But remember, with rain, we still get sunshine, so I can't complain too much. After work, I went to the 7-Eleven and got a bus pass - WOOHOO!! Now I have a pass and I won't have to go on mile walks to get cash to get on the stupid bus. I feel better about that...

And here I am. I haven't done much since I got off work - but now I have to decide whether to attack the oreos or the cheesecake - touch call. Maybe I'll combine them! ;)

Sorry so short - been boring the past couple days!

Love and Miss you.


THANK YOU FOR THE CARD, MOM!!! :) It did make me laugh - I had to read it twice to make sure I got it...too funny.
Love you!

Lazy Saturday!

First off - I feel about 90% better - thanks for those who helped and checked up on me :) I didn't feel better this morning so I walked (well, almost crawled) to the pharmacy (a mile away) and got some stuff then stopped at McDonald's to get food on the way back. I was talking to Jenn at the time so I recited some of the menu to her - Spam and eggs and rice :) I wasn't lying!! And portugese sausage and rice. I'm not brave enough to try either, really. So I got hotcakes - yum!! That's right folks, I was up in time to walk a mile to a pharmacy and STILL get to McD's for breakfast.

I got back here and continued to talk to Jenn and, like I usually do while on the phone, I cleaned the apartment. And since I forgot to buy a Swiffer at Walmart last weekend (by forgot, I mean purposely avoided those aisles due to the enormous amount of idiotic tourists clogging them and getting in my way) so I used my Clorox Bleach wipes :) That took awhile...and was hard with an aching belly...but man I could eat off that floor now! I also washed the mirror doors, did dishes, emptied the trash (did I tell you I found a trash chute??) and cleaned the bathroom. Then I bugged Pam for her medical knowledge before I took anything that I bought to be sure I wasn't going to mess myself up more - and she convinced me to go find coffee and food after we got off the phone - what a good idea! :) So I took my shower and walked down about three or four blocks and found a few Asian places and a Subway (remind me the one Asian place doesn't accept credit!!) So I bought some katsu chicken again, and found a little supermarket thing (real small) and bought People and the canned coffee I like, and found a little coffee shop and bought a huge mocha. They have food there, too - including lox on a bagel which makes me VERY happy and I'll be sure to find that another day when I'm in the mood for it (or haven't already bought katsu chicken). So Suzette was on the phone with me through that adventure :) Sorry for all the background noise and my distractions, Suzette!!

When I got back, I turned on the TV and read my People after I ate my dinner, and there's a ton left over so I threw that in the fridge. I watched a little TV and remembered my coffee so I warmed that up on the stove and now I'm enjoying that! :)

I realized one thing I really like about not knowing anyone - and living in Hawaii - I can get out of the shower and let my hair air-dry!!! :) No one I know will see it if it's a mess, and it dries so fast!!

So I didnt really elaborate on my day yesterday - I forgot. But obviously it started out rough being doubled over in pain - but I got used to that as the day went on. I got to work knowing I was the only scheduler there (because it's Sheena's day off and Irene has been sick) so Shelby came to help me a bit after I had to fix problems from the day before that the other schedulers caused...ugh. After a nine hour day and no lunch, I booked two floors on my own and solved so many issues :) I'm so proud of MYSELF!! And Susan was too apparently so she gave me 2 movie passes and Shelby took me home so I could avoid the bus. :) She even asked me to go out for drinks with some of the therapists - but I passed, due to the bellyache. And Jesse was feeling sick, too so we didn't go out like we were supposed to. Today he said he'd call if he felt better 'cause he wanted to go to the swap meet - but I haven't heard from him so maybe tomorrow? Though that's probably the last thing I need to do - go spend more money. BUT! That's where the good purses are... ;)

Well. That's it for now. Off to drink some coffee and find a movie to watch...
Talk to you soon! Miss you...
xoxo

OH! And another good bus story - I saw a cross-dresser on the bus Friday morning. Long, curly hair, mini-skirt, purse, heels, nicer legs than me... and a mustache! WOW!! Everyone was a bit shocked. ;)

Owie

If anyone knows why my lower abdomen, on the left side, a little lower than my belly button - would be sore to the touch, and when i sit it makes me feel like i have a stomach-ache, let me know!! :)

1/24 Not long I promise :)

I got SO many complaints that the last entry was really long - (ahem - from people who don't even leave me COMMENTS) - so this won't be long.

Irene called off work for today and tomorrow - meaning it is JUST ME tomorrow scheduling! Yikes. Shelby will be helping I'm sure, and some therapists said they'd help (the ones that used to schedule) so it shouldn't be too bad. But I imagine I'll be a bit stressed :)

Tomorrow night, Jesse wants to go into town and hit up a couple bars, or maybe this bar that has a patio RIGHT on the beach, like, literally - there's a mini-wall keeping you from the sand and water. So we'll see...I might need a drink after my day tomorrow.

Tonight I started doing some laundry - this may sound gross but to save money I washed some of my clothes up here in the apt and just took them down to the dryer. Only - I used my dollar to use the dryer and forgot I need singles for the bus - I only had a $5 :) Oops. I made a mile walk to the 7/11 for singles. Ugh....

So that's it in a nutshell. I figure you all need a break after that last novel. Zach told me he was reading it to his dad and eventually even his dad said 'ookay that's enough' :) I get the hint, guys!!

HAPPY FRIDAY
xoxo

1/22 Oops - Longer than I expected sorry!

I promised I'd update tonight, but I'm not sure I have much to update with...

A little birdy left me notes to find as I went through my wardrobe and I thought for sure I'd seen them all but this morning I found another :) My favorite so far:

"Away to the island went Kristen
to her heart she began to listen...
It took her awhile
But now she can smile
The buckeye flew away from the snow a'driftin'"

This morning started out crappy. I woke up pretty late. Late being 6:45 when I try to catch the bus at 7 or 7:30. Luckily, I still take my showers before going to bed so I did not have to scramble too much, but I still managed to miss the 7:15. It came early. Figures. The past couples days here have been really windy and we've seen rain at least once during the day, usually in the mornings. Last night and tonight are so windy that when I go outside to smoke, I almost get pushed over. Needless to say, I stay in when it's super windy!

So I got to work a little bit late, but it was no big deal. After a meeting with Shelby and Susan, and seeing how much they put on us, they decided to take us out to P.F. Chang's for lunch. Apparently some people don't know what that is, so I think saying it's a really expensive Chinese restaurant sums it up alright. I think our meals were probably at least $30/person, and there were five of us. Phew! Glad I wasn't picking up the tab! :) It was nice to get out with Shelby and Susan and feel like they're getting to know me a little more. They're both pretty young and have a great sense of humor, so we all had a good time. They think I'm sassy. And Susan told me she thinks I look like I belong here. Not "native" obviously, but I could be mistaken for someone who's lived here all my life. Considering the green eyes and freckles and white skin, I was a bit surprised to hear that! :)

The rest of the afternoon went pretty quickly. I had to deal with my Ohio doctor and the local pharmacies, well actually Jenn and Mom had to deal with Dr. Shemory's office. And I was going to have our hospital's pharmacy fill the Rx for me, but it turned out since we only do therapy there, the prescription I needed was not readily available. I had to call the hospital's pharmacy across the street and arrange to have it sent there, and give them my Ohio insurance - which apparently tripped them up a bit. Then I had to call Shemory's office and leave a msg for a nurse to call me because apparently the girl answering the phone couldn't just write down a freaking phone number. I was almost in tears - mostly because I'm PMSing - TMI, sorry. After work, I walked to the pharmacy and only ended up having to pay $2.87 for it so it turned out alright. I am still BEYOND GRATEFUL to Mom and Jenn for helping me out with that situation. Hopefully the meds kick in ASAP and I can live in comfort once again :) Glad I still had my insurance...

Anyway it is now official that I schedule a floor everyday. Looks like I'll be doing the third floor consistently, so that I can get used to the patients and the practitioners and their schedules. Since we took a long lunch, and because I had a complicated schedule today, it took me a bit longer to do the schedule and I got pretty frustrated as it grew closer to quitting time. It was my own fault. We are supposed to schedule new patients first, to be sure they are paired up with their primary PTs and OTs, but I forgot one, so when I got down to the last couple patients I tried to squeeze this guy in and ended up short on hours from PTs and OTs and scrambled to fit them in. Since it's all a big puzzle, I eventually worked it out - but I saw my first hint of stress from scheduling. Right now, they still have us squeezed into this small room, and two of us are working off of laptops....apparently once we are officially doing our own floors, we will go to our respective floor for the afternoon to schedule on desktops. I won't get to talk to the girls, then. But I can take my iPod and hope no one bothers me.

Tonight I came home kind of grumpy. Just the day - and stressing over the usual bills and rent and car payment - and worrying about finding things like the post office and a place to buy a bus pass. It's frustrating right now and tonight it definitely got to me. Zach had the pleasure of hearing it all on the phone tonight - but of course, knowing Zachary, he told me to breathe and told me it'd all be okay. Thanks for that. But we all know I'll continue to freak out - it's my nature.

I obviously have the internet at the apartment now - which is great. I spent some time downloading songs and singing louder than I should in an apartment building. My poor neighbors. (I think I have neighbors?! I never see 'em).

Dad: Boston Legal comes on at 9 pm here. Zach: American Idol comes on at 7 pm here. So when I said nothing's on at 7, I totally lied. I missed American Idol. Rob and Big comes on at 10:30 tonight.

Stupid TV time zone crap.

Hopefully tomorrow starts off a little smoother.

No exciting bus stories. No one farted on me today. I know I didn't put that story on here, but long story short, this creature of a woman who looks like she's straight from the trailer parks in Ohio sat basically ON me at the bus stop - I moved over and she raised a leg and ripped one LONG AND HARD for a good 2 seconds, shaking the bench. This was Friday. I'm still having nightmares about it... YUCK.

The pool is done in the backyard. I saw them start to fill it, so this time tomorrow that pool should be full. It's pretty cold, though. I'm outside in a sweatshirt and jeans after work.

Okay I guess that's it. I rambled more than I thought I would! I feel like I had more to say but (lucky for you) I can't remember...my brain's worn out by this time at night.

I know lots of people are reading this - you've all told me so - wish you'd leave me comments. Makes me happy to read them...

Jenn - I hope things are working out for you at work - your Myspace makes it look like something got worked out. Can't wait to hear what you've arranged.
Dad & Patty - Hope you guys are staying warm. Dad you said you have a long day (not sure why) so I hope it goes smoothly for you...
Suzette - I miss you a TON and think about you a lot. During the day mostly - so I wish I had more time at work to write you. I haven't forgotten about you and I hope things are looking up for you - keep me updated.
Kami - It was SO nice talking to you for the first time since I've been here - I can't believe it'd been that long. But it was good to have our little chats again...I miss those.
Pam & Dan - I hope you're still reading!! It was so nice to talk to you on the phone the other day - I hope my craziness and multitasking wasn't annoying and I get to talk to you again soon. I guess weekends are good for that!!
Sharon & Sherri - Haha I KNOW you're reading!! I'm sorry I didn't respond to your emails today - but it was SO good to hear from you guys. I miss being in the office with you ladies...I hope I didn't leave you with more stress...hopefully NDS is behaving themselves :)
Zachary - I appreciate your calm and collected attitude sometimes. I tend to ignore things a lot and they build up at once and you know that so it's nice for you to offer to help and be there to at least listen to me whine - I wish I didn't ruin our conversations with that - cause it's nice just chatting with you and gossiping. I can't wait to get your package - even if it is just bills from Akron :)
Mom - I'm glad things worked out for you in the mornings - I hope that's still going alright for you - I haven't heard an update lately. Also - I miss you more than you know as well...I think about you all the time and wish we were communicating more. You are truly my best friend and I'm so grateful to have you and I need you in my life. I miss you so much. Not near as much as I love you, though.

OKAY! Not trying to get sappy or make it harder than it has to be, just some things need to be said when it crosses my mind.
Okay that's it for now. Shower time before some junk TV to fall asleep to...hopefully I wake up on time tomorrow morning! Anyone who may think about it at 6 am my time - a wake-up call never hurt ;)

Have a GREAT hump day...oh, and tonight they had a big gathering for the two women that were murdered on the island...and they all joined together to sing and light candles. Just makes you think how lucky we are to be loved by one another and have supportive people in our lives - not horrible souls that only bring us down and intend to hurt us. So maybe just kind of look around tomorrow (today when you read this) and try to appreciate what's around you...I know that sounds silly and cliche but...there's a lot out there that we take for granted.

Love you guys

me.

1/21 - A Weekend Full of Rainbows!

I have a bit of downtime until I am expected to really do anything. I already scheduled a floor (woohoo) so I thought I'd give you something a little more interesting to read this time. Who cares if they realize I'm not working because I'm typing so much, right? :)



Friday I got home from work and decided I was not going to sleep another night in my bed shivering so I walked into Ala Moana/Waikiki area which I figured out was about .9 mi one way. So I got a nice walk in that night!! Got back and passed out on the bed, though - I was supposed to go over to Niki & Matt's. Oops.



Luckily I got a LOT of sleep in (I took another "dizzy" pill before I fell asleep). I woke up Saturday and Aunt Pam called so I talked to her for a bit and she talked me into walking to the bank to open an account (she's so smart!). So I walked about .5 mi where I knew there was a bank from the night before. Not open Saturdays. Son of a !!!!! Ugh. So I walked over to Beretania (a street) where I knew there were more banks. Not open. Not open. Not open. I'm striking out! I finally go down a side street and turn back towards my place. I see ONE more bank near a grocery store - "okay, last one" I tell myself. Because four closed banks just wasn't good enough for me!! Luckily :) this one was open. I now have an account at American Savings Bank in Honolulu. So I deposited some $$ into that, kept some of it, waiting for the debit card to arrive in the mail. It'd help if I had the right freaking zip code, huh?? Ugh. That makes me so mad :) Anyway - I can't imagine how many miles that walk was. 3?



So I walked back to my place and relaxed a bit, and then Dad called so I returned his call and while I was on the phone with him and Patty, I walked what seemed like another 5 miles probably. I walked one way on Wilder to find take-out, and NOTHING. It seems those places are everywhere, unless you want one. So I walked the OTHER direction, back-tracking, and past my place, back over to Beretania where I was the day prior, and eventually found something called "Grace's Inn", which is like a fast-food place where you can order American, Korean, and Chinese foods. So I got Chicken Katsu (pictured below!) which is basically breaded dark meat with a Katsu sauce (comparable to BBQ) and noodles and rice.






Then....the long walk BACK! :) When I got back, Dad and Patty were playing on Google Earth (if you haven't already, you should try it - you can see satellite pictures of ANYTHING- so far I got Zach to do it, too) so they were looking at my building, my work, Diamond Head, and everything else around here. While they oooh'd and ahhh'd I cleaned my floor with Windex (it's all I had!). Then after they got tired of talking to me (what was that - 5 hrs later?) :) I finally unpacked everything. I rearranged everything - you'd be so proud :) It's pretty tidy and everything has its place now. And it smells fresh and Windex-y!!



So of course - telling you I cleaned it up and whatnot wouldn't mean as much without PICTURES!!! As you might be able to tell - I moved my TV on top of the fridge, which I moved from the other side of the room. I put my laptop on the counter so I can play music from there (it has a remote) and my books as well. Did I tell you about the stupid Clock Radio I bought? It's supposed to automatically set the time - so you just have to select your time zone. Guess what? Mine is not a choice. It goes as far as California. So I keep it set on Ohio time...
The Pictures:







So anyway. Before all that cleaning - I watched a cloud of rain come over the hills, which of course made a rainbow so I took a picture of it which I TRIED to send to everyone but no one's said they got it so here is the first one I saw out of my window. Then there were two, then it moved forward and then crept back into the mountains....(I think you can kind of see two here...)



Anyway - Saturday night I met Matt (from Minerva....remember him?), his girlfriend Niki, and her brother, Carl. We went to the Hibiscus Club first, which was a small place. I took a cab there!! That was different - never done that alone before. It was a $10 ride - is that good?? Anyway then we went to Varsity, a bar near the University, and had some Ahi and more beer, then they took me home. They talked about surfing Sunday morning but it never happened. Which I'm okay with 'cause I got to sleep in again! :) I woke up and texted Jesse saying I'd buy him dinner if he'd take me to get groceries. Bribery is a beautiful thing. We went to Wal Mart, the crazy, insane, tourist-infested WalMart that about throws me into convulsions....and I blew $140 on groceries, which also included some pots/pans and cleaning stuff. I also now I have a $2 shower liner up. Which you can see in the pics above by the way I think. Oh we went to a Taco/Burrito place (similar to Chipotle, but with fish, too) which was pretty good. Not quite Chipotle, though. When we were leaving, it started sprinkling, and we saw this rainbow, which seemed to end right in the building lit up by the sun...kind of neat:




It seemed it was the weekend to talk to everyone, though. Got phone time in with a few different people which was nice, kept me occupied. Last night I ended up relaxing in front of the TV for a couple hours - which I actually haven't yet done. That was kind of nice :)

Update on the psycho who threw his kid over the bridge (has everyone heard this story? If not, I will tell it) - the paper says he may have been on Meth, and he was in a mental clinic as recently as December '07 - explains a lot, huh? Turns out I ride by that bridge on the way to work - I saw the balloons and stuffed animals this morning... What a messed up family that was.

Anyway - I'll close with a picture of me eating my LAST peanut butter sandwich!! (Okay, not ever - but at least I have more foods to choose from now!)

Yes, I'm a raging dork. But you love me. And miss me.

It's okay I love and miss you, too! :)