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.