Last Second Shopping

Pieter and I decided that our presents to one another this Christmas would be the new bed that we’re getting. (Once I remember which mattress we wanted at Ikea, which may or may not involve me taking a stealthy trip to Ikea next week to remind myself.) But now he’s possibly planning on getting me something, and based on the last couple of gifts, iPad, Chompers, it’s probably not going to be small. He started bringing it up a week or two ago, and I’m really clueless for once, he has left no real trail and that’s amazing because I LOVE surprises!

But I haven’t gotten him anything. Nada. Zilch. So tomorrow once im done working at the hell-hole that the mall currently is, I’m going to brave the (stupid, pointless, pushy, self-centered) crowds as a shopper. I don’t think ill tell him that I’m going to get him anything, I’m just going to wrap it before he gets home from work. This is our first married Christmas, and I really hope that it’s special. Not like with material stuff, but I want us to be able to really appreciate where we are in our lives. I think it’s important to realize how far we’ve come and all of the obstacles that we have overcome as both a couple and as individuals. That and I’m a huge cheese ball. 

Fall Semester Wrap Up

Friday wrapped up my first semester at SJSU, with a final at the ridiculous hour of 7:15 am. I got B range grades on all my papers, which leads me to believe that I could possibly get A’s next semester if I start early. So I’m planning on starting stuff earlier next term. We’ll see how that actually plays out though. I also hope that I feel this good about this past semester once grades are posted, hopefully I did well like I think I did, but you never know!

Our apartment is decorated for Christmas, and I caught my semi-annual holiday sickness. That’s right folks; I’m sick, just in time for Christmas! Pieter got told to stay home since I had a fever over the weekend, and we went to the doctor today which was a complete fiasco. My doctor, who I don’t really care for, was out today and the other doctor at her practice refused to see me. Ooooook. So after talking to the insurance company I called about six or seven other doctors who all wanted me to come in next week. I felt like I had strep throat, and I really wanted to get my throat looked at so we decided to go the acute care. Well my insurance won’t cover us unless it’s after 5pm, so Pieter’s mom suggested we go to her doctor, and he squeezed me in. And by God, that man gave me the roughest throat culture I’ve ever had in my life. A throat culture is not ever pleasant at best, but this was by far the most painful. I don’t know if it was because he’s a doctor and I’ve usually only had it done by nurses, but my throat actually hurt worse after and my eyes watered like crazy. I actually gagged after he walked out of the room, to give the thing to the nurse. It was the worst. But at least we found out that I have a crummy virus and not strep throat. Almost all of the spousal pity has dissipated once we were told that it’s a virus and not highly contagious and I just need to wait it out. The best part is that I don’t need to worry about getting the other people at work sick, since it’s a virus and I don’t go around coughing on people’s faces.

Keep your fingers crossed that I’m better by Christmas Eve!

My High Hopes And Cool Shade

So I have high hopes for the new flea stuff were doing with Chompers. After a really good tip from Sarah from Pencil To Paper we gave her a couple of baths with Dawn, and that seemed to really help. I also did a ton of Goggling, and I found that if you give your dog a little bit of apple cider vinegar (apple cider only though, not white wine or sushi vinegar) it can actually change the ph of her body, making the fleas not like the way she tastes. Also after her bath with Dawn, I rinsed her with a mixture of warm water and apple cider vinegar. It all seems to be helping so were really happy about that.

Also at the advice of one of the girls at work, I got her a flea comb and have been coming her with that nightly. Which she is beginning to hate and bark at the comb when I come at her with it. Which is frustrating since she’s a long haired dog, and she needs to be brushed at least every other day. So it’s not like she can just pass on it.

In other news I spent yesterday afternoon at Ikea with my mom and I’m really excited about the lamp that I bought. Or I’m more like excited about the lamp shade that I bought. I’ve never had a lamp that you could put a shade on, and it turns out that I really like that as an option. It has really vintage-y flowers embroidered on it, and it reminds me of some of the needle-point artwork that my great grandmother did that I’ve always thought were super cool.

The apartment is actually starting to feel more like an actual home now, so that’s good. I think we’re going to apply for an Ikea credit card, and then we will probably get a new bed (the double that we have now is just not cutting it) and a new frame, and hopefully some book shelves. My poor books are living mostly in boxes now, and that really bums me out. I can’t find my favorites, and most of my books are actually still at my parents. I’m really excited to get the bookshelves, I think they will looks really good by this half wall that we have separating the kitchen from the dining area. It’s pretty blank right now and I’m excited to liven it up. And I’m excited to get some other stuff to start livening up our apartment. Its making me feel like such a grown up!

Surprise surprise!

Fabulous hubby surprised me about a month ago with something adorable. A puppy of our very own.

She weighs about 2 pounds now, and will be a grand total of 3 of 4 pounds when she’s all grown up. She’s a Pomeranian micro-pup, and we named her Chompers.

I love her, but I’m not a wait, let me take my dog out of my pocket kinda gal. Don’t get me wrong, I’m so much happier since we got a dog (I was happy before, but I missed my parents Boston terrier astro. I still do, he’s my baby.) I forgot how much I missed puppy kisses in the morning.

But I feel like I’m having the hardest time potty training her. We originally were just going to take her outside and…have her go outside. But we have to take her all the way over to the lawn, make sure it’s not wet, make sure no other big dogs (most people leave their dogs off the leash here it drives me crazy! Dogs on leashes please people!) Are also outside, make sure no rogue cats are waiting in the bushes to make a nice snack out of Chompers. (I’m not really kidding; she’s the size of a big guinea pig.) It was turning into a fiasco.

So I got her a litter box. And special litter. And special spray to let her know that this is where she should be going potty. And put it in an area that she liked to poop in anyways. …and all she does is take the litter out, and gnaw on it. Or lay in the litter box which causes me to internally vomit. Because sometimes she will go in it. And then she wants to take a nap. In the same space. Gah.

It’s been more than challenging, but the vet did say that with toy breeds the learning curve is a little off, so they tend to be a little behind on picking stuff up. So I’m trying not to get so frustrated with her. Because she apparently can’t help it. Occasionally she will use it on her own, which earns her tons of praise and treats. And makes me happier than I ever thought possible. I can only imagine when I have to potty train a human child.

ALSO she has been getting fleas something fierce. She spends a few afternoons a week at my mother in laws and her (technically hubbys, who couldn’t come with us because I’m allergic) cat gets fleas because he loves to make a bid for freedom and then comes home covered in fleas. So my baby gets fleas. Aside from the bad press that they have gotten of late I haven’t ever felt good about putting flea poison on animals. And with Chompers being so small, lots of things don’t come in an appropriate dosage for her.

So I did some research online and found some flea spray that is primarily oils that seems to be working pretty well. But I think I need to use it more like 2 times a week instead of every 2 weeks. Poor baby had a bunch of fleas on her face after her bath yesterday. I had to pick most of them off and she was not having it and trying to make a bid for freedom out of the sink. It was a nightmare. Hubbys hand is all bandaged still, so he can’t really help me to wrangle a wet dog. So I was standing in the kitchen for about half an hour saying things like ‘mommy is trying to help you Chompers!’ ‘mommy doesn’t want you too have fleas on you!’

I have become that woman who refers to herself in the third person whilst talking to her child. Or in this case, to her puppy.

Candy, My First Love

I’m going to start this off by saying that Easter is my favorite season for candy.

Peeps, Jellybeans, chocolate. It’s all good.

At our local (in what would be our backyard if we were in a house instead of an apartment) grocery store, they had a big bin of discount Easter candy the week after Easter. I snagged a bag of 73 cent Jellybeans and promptly forgot about them in the cupboard.

The other day (whilst snacking on the couch) I cracked that sucker open.

And I’m now at that revolting part of the bag (that has been stored on the coffee table (re. trunk stuffed with beanie babies) for the last 4 days) where all the Jellybeans are just the orange or yellow ones. And I’m sad.

I HATE orange candy with a buning passion. It comes from needing to take copius amounts of Dramamine as a child to not end us vomiting all over the car on road trips. My mom thought that the orange chewable ones would be easier to take and they weren’t, they just put me off of orange candy for life.

I might eat some of the yellow ones, but I won’t enjoy it.

All of the orange ones are going to hubby, since he doesn’t associate orange with long trips in the car, and the faint smell of vomit.

Update!

So a lot has changed since my last posting. Mostly good things…I can’t actually think of anything bad.

So here’s a rundown:

-I got MARRIED. Madness.

-We moved out. Into an apartment that we both LOVE.

-I got into SJSU! I’m so excited that I won’t have to drive out to eastbay in the fall!

-I’m finally taking a whole semester off. I was only going to take one class, but I decided not to, since things are pretty crazy right now and I didn’t feel like I could focus on learning.

-Were waist deep in the greencard process right now.

-I got my new Clinique today, and I’m hoping that it will finally finally clear up my skin.

-We moved up our trip to Disneyland to may instead of june since I’m not in school.

-I found a pair of $200 jeans for $60.

So things have been pretty crazy. Were really happy now, and it feels good to finally be married and living together at this point in our relationship. So my life may have gone from zero to crazy in a few days, but I’ve never been happier!

I'm Looking For Something

and i dont know when ill find it. i want a job that will help supplement my low-retail working paychecks. something that is self paced-so i want to do it. i want something that will help me to pay off my sky-high credit card debts. i want something that will make me feel like im gaining experience with my english degree that im working towards.

im thinking about joining a website that will let me write for them, and pay me for it. i would consider getting ads and stuff for this page, but i dont think id get many hits. so im looking in other directions. if i want to move in late august then i need some more dinero to help pay for things like rent. i feel like i have a lot on my mind about the future and money and stuff.

i mean i dont really have a plan for the future, its all pretty blank right now. i dont know if ill have to move when i graduate in 2 years, i dont know where P will be, i dont know if well be married by then, if i will have actually moved out, if ill be doing a job i love. if we will be in the bay area still. its all so up in the air. this is the place of most twentysomethings, but im starting to feel the heat. im going to be 23 next month, and thats close to the midpoint of 25. im not being vain, i thought i would be more accomplished by now. i havent traveled, im still in school, im not married.

im trying not to worry, since worrying never gets you anywhere.

the universe will take care of me, it always does.

Stupid Chegg. We Are No Longer Friends!!

i was wrong about Chegg. they weren't different or special. i was under the impression that i would be able to mail my book back on the day of finals. i was   too lazy.

i was under the impression that i my due date for my book was the 14th. it turns out that i was wrong, and my book was due today. 

i thought that i would be able to sell them my old books, not for much, some of them are old, but i would like the shelf space.

i was wrong on all counts.

my friend C was right about Chegg. Amazon would of been a better bet. then i would of already sold my book back, and have gotten the money for it.

on top of everything else, i spent the last half an hour unearthing books from the bottom shelf of my closet, scraping off bookstore labels, and typing in long codes.

the amount ill get back?

that i was thinking to myself 'hey, i can use this money to buy some shoes! i haven't bought shoes in a while!' about?

the grand total?

$6.17

yeah thats all. i get like $7.13 if i use it as Chegg credit, so i might do that since i apparently have late fees now.

so even though its more(ish) next semester im using either the bookstore at school (eek!) or amazon.com.

lesson learned!

Earthquake!

so in the last few days we have had a couple of earthquakes. i have mixed feelings about things like this, because ive never experienced a big, destructive earthquake, well i was 2 when the big 1989 one happened, so i was alive...but 2.

it makes me kinda worry, but worrying wont actually get me anywhere so im trying not to care. its not like that will actually change anything anyways.

i do, however, worry that it will happen while im at work while im responsible for 2-3 other girls, and a, yenno, store. i know some girls wont run from the store screaming, but i think some other ones might. and then i worry that ill have to drive home and it will take me 6 hours instead of the 15 to 20 min it usually takes me.

but whateves, worry will get one nowhere, so im using this as motivation to not let my gas tank get to the point it usually does, running on fumes alone.

My Body And I Dont Get Along

let me start by saying i have insanely sensitive skin. it burns in the sun, is annoyed by cheap metals, is generally unhappy.

that said, one of my piercings is infected. not like 'ohhh, this could use some hydrogen peroxide,' no the 'omg, this is inflamed and oozing and bright red and NOT OK' type of infected. this does not bode well seeing as i want a tattoo. i know, it makes me a cliché, but is that bad? (according to my lovely fiance P it really is.)

will this cause my skin to totally erupt in oozing grossness? erugh, looks like eventually we will find out. just not anytime soon. tattoos are expensive and i make almost minimum wage. =/

in other news lovely trainer B no longer works at the gym, and has been replaced with sadist trainer M. we do not like M. on day 2 of this weeks gym time, he made me do lunges. i can still barely walk. seeing as i spend 8 hours a day on my feet working retail, this is not good. on the plus side, this discouraged me completely from wanting to go to san francisco and brave the possibility of getting rained on whilst at the zoo. i dont want to have to hobble all around the zoo going 'hey...this terrain is uneven...I CANT WALK OVER IT' in the rain.

Hello 2010! Let's Be Friends Okay?

I have decided to make 2010 my year. Not in a New Year’s resolution way (I don't like the idea on New Year’s resolutions, everyone always breaks them anyways) but in a I'm turning my life around, today is the first day of the rest of my life kind of way. So I’m figuring the best place to make a note of this is here in my blog. I mean at this point I am at zero hits so why not?

So I deleted all my other posts, and am starting fresh.

At this point I have no other intentions for this, mostly I want to be writing two or three times a week. Since this is something that I actually want to be doing as yenno, a grown up.

But here is a list of some of the things that I want to do this year.

-Keep paying off my credit cards. And then not max them back out.

-Lose enough weight to feel healthy and not self conscious in a bikini while on the big trip I'm taking with the fiancé in June.

-Actually learn more crochet than just like the 2 stitches that I know how to do.

-Stop spending money on things I don’t need. Especially when they aren’t on sale.

-Figure out something that I can actually do with my hair. Other than down and straight or ponytail.

-Take the year of French that I'm going to be take seriously. I think it would be good to learn a second language, even if I am being forced to do it.

-Appreciate the fiancé. He loves me.

-Worry less, smile more.

-Not letting the little things in, and being less tense, not always feeling like I need to be defensive all the time.

-Accessorize.

So overall I can feel that 2010 will be a good year for me. Because I’m not going to let everything bring me down and I’m not going to let the bad things in. I’m pretty excited, and you should be too.