lostmonsters.net

I’ve finally got some time to myself — albeit, not very much, as I’m planning to wake up at 4 AM to go shopping, but it’s time — to write a post.
I’ve been working a lot lately.  I worked a few hours of overtime this week, and have been running around like crazy.  We finally got some extra help, so hopefully soon, we can de-stress, at least a little.  I’m crossing my fingers.   I’m taking my <a href=”http://www.ptcb.org” target=”_blank” name=”Pharmacy Technician Certification Board”>national certification board</a> on December 8th.  I’m really hoping to pass it this first time, so I can get a raise.  I’ll be starting to buckle down on study time after Tuesday.

Italian class is going pretty good.  I’ve missed quite a few, which is fine by me.  I’m in Advanced this time, since I couldn’t get Intermediate to squeeze into my schedule on its’ new day, so I was a bit over my head this time.  I’m going to take a semester off before I go into it again, at the very least, and I’ll be returning to Intermediate.  Tuesday is my last class, so I’m kind of relieved that I’ll have one less thing stressing me out.

Saturday is my birthday!  I’m turning 21, so I’m really psyched. Nick and I will be going to the Penguins game, then, we’ll be heading out to the South Side for a little celebration, regardless of the outcome.  Hopefully, we’ll get to see our friend Chris from the Atlanta Thrashers for a little birthday lunch, but I won’t be too terribly upset if he can’t fit us in.  I know he’s busy.

We had Thanksgiving here today, as we always do.  It was pretty nice.  Justin and Liz came, and they brought their friend, Ron, who was also pretty nice.  We did the cake and the turkey and everything, and it was great.  Liz came downstairs when I came down to my room to get a break from everyone, and we had a good chat.  I’m starting to get closer to her, which is definitely nice.  I never felt like she liked me when Justin first started dating her, but now, she feels like she’s been a part of our family forever, and it’s so great.  We definitely bonded when we all went to the beach this summer, and it’s great that the bond didn’t fall away.

Also - my Penguins won tonight!  Jarkko Ruutu scored a shootout goal at the very end, to put us up 2-0 in the shootout for the win.  Dany Sabourin did a solid, solid job in goal.  He will definitely be our #1 by the end of the year.  It was a much-needed win, especially after last night’s loss.  The Pens definitely are one of the things keeping me going lately.  They’re the one thing that I can count on having something to do, and it’s always really great to be in the Igloo, no matter where I’m at, enjoying the game.

As for life, it’s going.  I’m feeling pretty good lately, and ever since I quit taking a medicine that made me sicker, I’ve been feeling really well.  Other than a lingering bronchitis cough, everything’s pretty great.

I’m very thankful for everything this year — from Kristen’s health scares to the Penguins stuff to everything else — and I’m glad to be back blogging, too.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

When I was reviewing my bills and such, I realized how much money I’m wasting by letting this site sit here and not do much.  That really bums me out, so I’m really going to make a concerted efford to start posting again.  Like I said on my hockey blog, I don’t know how often my posts will come, since I do have a lot of things going on in my life, but I really do want to start writing again.

Here’s the thing — I’ve been so busy … but at the same time, not.  But, I’m back.

So, I found out one of my best friends from middle school/beginning of high school is getting married September 1st.  I’m really happy for her!  I want to send her a card, and get back in touch (we had a falling out a long time ago, and made up, but never really got our friendship back like it used to be), but I don’t really know how, since she said on her Facebook that she isn’t very good at the site.   So, I guess I just have to save her number in my phone, or wait for her to get on AIM.  We’ll see which I have the balls to do first.

I’ve been really stressed out lately about work.  Things are going awful at work, with people quitting and school starting, and me being the one doing most of the writing the schedule and stuff, so I feel all sick over it, and I hate it.  It sucks having to call people every week begging and pleading that they come help fill the shifts.  Blah!

I’m having major ADD tonight, so I guess I’ll just summarize the rest of my points!

- Nick and I are doing pretty good.  I hate seeing him only two days a week, but I guess I’ve got to do what I’ve got to do.

- I  leave for the beach next Friday!  Trust me, I realllllly need this trip.  I haven’t gotten a vacation all summer, so it’ll be nice to veg out with a few of the family members, and hopefully get closer to Liz and stuff.

- The weekend after I get home, my parents are going to the beach, so Nick and I can basically play house.  It will be really awesome.  I miss him being allowed to stay over, but at the same time, he doesn’t get home ’til around 4 AM now, and I know my parents would not be very happy about that.

- I’ve been working on the novel and short stories again.  I’m glad.

- I’ve been re-reading the Harry Potter books so I could give them to Marilyn to read — I’ve done the first two, and I’m halfway through PoA.  I want to get back to Deathly Hallows, quickly.  I’d like to see it a third time.  Really, if you read the books, you should re-read them after DH.  I’m shocked at some of the hinting references, and I can’t believe I didn’t see how they mattered ’til the end.
I think that’s it!

I’ll be posting shortly.  I’ve just gotta get my thoughts together, and make sure my computer has a decent charge.  I’ll just delete this post whenever I’m ready to write. Oh yeah, I’m FINALLY writing this from Safari for Windows XP.  I love it! 

I’ve been meaning to update — really. I have a post saved on my phone from sitting on the floor in a corner at Borders’ on the 20th that, upon re-reading, I realized was way too lame to post. Then, I got wrapped up in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and then, I got wrapped up in hanging out with Nick, then, I really don’t know, but I’m finally writing.

Work has been so slow lately. Ever since I discovered that my Sidekick will no longer let me update to Wordpress, I’ve been sitting down, doing almost nothing. Sarah is finally a pharmacist, and she had to work open to close today, so I’m really excited to have someone fun be in charge of me.

I read Deathly Hallows twice. I’ve got to say, I’m really sad for the characters that die, for the most part with the exception of maybe 2, but I did love the book. It was quite sad to get the closure the epilogue provides, though.

Nick and I have bought a few necessities for the room. Our last clothing rack gave up its’ futile attempts to live, and collapsed. This is our third, I believe, that has collapsed. This time, we went in on a really nice commercial-grade dual-level rack from Bed, Bath, and Beyond. It’s very, very nice. It’s made of steel, so it won’t be collapsing anytime soon, with any luck. We went to Walmart, where I bought more hangers (I didn’t realize how many things I had that required hanging!), and a clothes basket to go underneath the rack, to hold all of our pants. We also have a TON of movies just laying around, so we figured we’d buy a wooden tower rack, also at Walmart, and my mom and I put it together tonight. It’s a lot bigger than I expected, but it’s really nice. I’d like to stain it lighter, though. Its’ stain is very dark, nearly black, so that will have to be fixed sometime.

I haven’t decided if I’ll be going to Warped Tour this year. There are only about three bands (Bad Religion, Hawthorne Heights, and New Found Glory) that I’d like to see, so I’m not sure if I’ll be going. I guess it also depends on family situations, with Kristen and Greer’s health.

I think I’m going to try to go out to my grandma’s, maybe this week. I haven’t had a proper visit since Justin and Liz’s wedding, probably, so it’d be nice to get to go swim and hang out. Otherwise, I’m not sure. I do still owe Missy a trip to the movies for her birthday. I’d like to take her to see License to Wed. I’m not sure.

I’m trying to install a plugin called Postie right now, so I can just post to this from my Sidekick. We’ll see if I can get that working.

Anyway, I guess I’m going to go read, or watch a movie. I’m hoping Lisa might come over at 9, since she’s leaving work early, and George is working at least an hour away (and won’t be done until 10 at the earliest anyway). I hope I can get Postie to work!

Morgan, one of my co-workers, went into the back store room today, and came in laughing.

Apparently, my store got a shipment of Harry Potter books. It’s sealed, and of course, we can’t open them, so what do Morgan and I do?

What any normal girl does. We take pictures.

Read on …

We visited Greer in the hospital yesterday. She was feeling good; she wanted out so badly! Her legs were also acting up, so they gave her a Mirapex pill, which she said was not helping all that much. I personally feel that Requip is a superior drug.

On our way home, we stopped at Whole Foods. Love that place!

I ended up driving Lisa home from work, where we made plans to go shopping later. After I ate some dinner, and topped it off with some acqua con gas d’Italia from Whole Foods (let’s not get into how it’s mislabeled from Whole Foods, and how I just saw a blog page about it when I googled it?), I picked her back up, and we headed out. Lisa’s bank account is below zero, until her check clears, so I did way too much shopping. I bought 3 shirts at Burlington Coat Factory, an Amy Winehouse cd and a Cherry Coke (oh. my. god. I missed that stuff!!) at Best Buy, a pair of shorts at Macy’s (courtesy of my mom’s Macy’s card), a piece for my phone at Radio Shack, which doesn’t actually work, and at our new Sephora store, my Clinique powder, and my favorite part, stila lipstick! I’ve been dying for Sephora to open, and finally, a season after it was supposed to, it did! Sephora is the only place nearby that carries stila, which made me so happy, since I absolutely love the stila line.

After that, Lisa and I came back to the house for a glass of Lemonade from Whole Foods, and I took her home. I was exhausted yesterday, so I just ended up going to sleep early.

Today, I finally get to see Nick! My mom won’t let him stay overnight at our house anymore, so it’s becoming harder and harder to see him. I work Monday through Friday, 9 AM-5 PM, and he works Tuesday through Saturday, 7 PM-3:30 AM. Our time together is limited to Sunday afternoons, and Monday evenings now. I am just so thankful to get to see him at all, though.

We are going to Sandcastle tonight; they have a “Dive-In Movie” every Sunday this summer at the Mon-Tsunami Wave Pool, and tonight’s movie is “Happy Feet”, which we saw on our first REAL date. The movie will probably end around 10:30-ish, so we’ll come back to the house and enjoy each other for awhile. I’ll have to bring down my shampoo and conditioner to our laundry room, so I can wash my hair when we get home. All the color-treatment chemicals in my hair act funny if I don’t wash the chlorine out, and I’d prefer not to have green hair tomorrow for work! I may just attempt to not wet my hair down. We’ll see.

Anyway, I’m going to go get ready for the day.

My dad’s mother has been in the hospital so many times this year that I talk about us renting out a room, and her having a frequent visitor card.   She doesn’t listen to what they tell her to do, so I never feel too bad about her being there.

My aunt Greer is in the hospital now.  Something is wrong with her heart — her blood pressure and heart beat are way too high, and way too fast.  They weren’t able to stabilize it when they took her to the hospital downtown.  I’m worried for her; she has Hashimoto’s Disease (thyroiditis), and she is  overweight, so I am very worried.

Send good thoughts her way, please.  Her kids should be here any time, now.

A few quick things!

- I just got home from Order of the Phoenix — it wasn’t as good as the first four movies , but it was still okay.  I absolutely adored the part with Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes when the Weasleys skip out of school, and props to how Neville’s parents were handled, but there just wasn’t the right flow for it to be a true Harry Potter movie.  It kind of made me sad.

- Nick got forced to change his schedule.  He wanted to work 2:30 PM - 11 PM.  Now, he’s stuck working 7 PM - 3:30 AM.  Talk about a super bummer.  I’m never going to see him.  I can’t wait until we move.

- I TALKED NICK INTO TAKING ME ON VACATION FOR MY BIRTHDAY!  And where to?  Toronto!  Mis, you better come visit us!!

That’s all for now!  I’m going to do more tomorrow.  It’s about time for me to sleep, so I can go to work, and continue to be grossly underpaid.