life

Finally, A Weekend! (Pictures, Long)

/ life, marriage, pictures, survey, Uncategorized, work, writing

This will be my first full weekend in over a month. I’m so glad I like the work and the people I work with, because otherwise, working six days a week would be awful. As it is, I feel weird not going in tomorrow. If I hadn’t already turned in my time sheet for the week, I probably would reconsider and pop in for a few hours! I care that much about the work and I like the job that much. But I am tired and was encouraged by team members to take a break because I really shouldn’t work six days a week for ten weeks in a row. Plus, I got sick twice the past couple of weeks, and even though the colds were fairly minor, last Saturday, I was miserable! I came home, took medicine, fell into bed and stayed there until Sunday evening! Still, I remember last year this time, I was starting that horrific three-month sore throat. I am SO GLAD I’m not dealing with that this year!

I started to get melancholy this week, because my assignment is slated to end on November 26th. I’ve never been SAD about leaving a job before, but with this one, I really will grieve! I love the work, the culture, the commute, everything, even the six day weeks and sometimes ten hour work days. Today, some people dressed up for the holiday, and people were passing out candy, and the company bought pizza and salad and beverages for all of us to enjoy for lunch.

I leave work at the end of the day with a spring in my step, because I just spent all day working my butt off and loving every minute of it. And the thought of going back to combing the job boards, sending out a billion resumes to get maybe one or two bites, then going on interviews and doing hours of interview homework frankly depresses me. It seriously makes me want to cry.

I believe that if you put the energy out there, then something can happen with it. So this is what I’m going to put out there. I want to work full time at Schawk. I want to be a permanent employee. Everyday I go in and hope that they see something in me that makes them say “You know, this girl is good. Her attitude is awesome, and we can really tell that she cares about and likes the work. We’re going to offer her a position here because we know she’ll bring value to our team and our company.”

We’ll see what happens. I know the economy, and the reality though, and I’m going to try not to cry too much that day. In the meantime, I’m trying to enjoy the time I do have there for sure. It’s the best job I’ve ever had in my life. And I mean that 100%.

Today is Halloween, and I didn’t dress up. I did wear a tee-shirt to commemorate the occasion, though.

Me on Halloween

I got a lot of compliments on my headband. :)

Adam did dress up, though. Here he is with Hector before their crazy night of Weird Chicago tours.

Halloween 2008

Helena has been a very good girl and hasn’t peed on the bed in a long time. I’m proud of her. She’s gotten used to me being gone, and I give her a little extra attention in the mornings before I leave for work which she seems to like. Some of my best evenings are when she and Crookshanks curl up beside me while I play on Flickr or something.

Honestly, though, I’m only missing one thing from my life and that’s Aidan’s hugs and kisses. It’s so hard not hearing his little voice every day and having him clinging to me and touching my cheek. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about him and wonder how he’s doing. The other day I was talking to him, and he said “Mommy, I was looking at the picture of you and me and Daddy and I started cwying.” I asked him why, and he said because he missed me. That’s a big void, and even though I don’t regret moving to Chicago and being with Adam, I miss my son terribly and I want need to see him soon.

Other than that, I’m really happy. And I’ve been happy for a long time now. I like working. I like coming home to Adam at the end of the day. Some nights he makes the most delicious dinners. Wednesday night, I told him I wanted something light, and he made tomato basil soup with chicken. It was perfect and amazing. Tonight, he made beef and noodles. The beef had been simmering all day in the Crock-Pot. And one day last week, he made the most delicious homemade beef stew. I have to watch so I won’t gain a ton of weight–my pants are all fitting snugly! It’s time for me to really put the Wii Fit to use.

Yes, that was a major splurge I made a couple of weeks ago! I went to Best Buy in search of a new external hard drive because my original one is almost full. Well, I found a 1T hard drive for a good price, and ventured over to the video game section. I was shaking me head at the Wii Fit towel. I mean, really? $8 for a towel because it says Wii Fit on it? And I was thinking “well, that’s probably the closest I’ll ever get to a Wii Fit….” then I walked out of that aisle and over to a center pallet that was stacked with Wiis and Wii Fits! I debated for about 30 seconds on getting it, then decided to go for it, and I am so glad. Working out with that thing is SO fun. I love the step aerobics and the yoga. Before I know it, I’ve clocked 35 minutes of exercise and for something like me who does NOT care for exercise, that is a big deal. Wii Fit = PURE WIN.

I’m trying to think of what else I’ve been up to besides working, resting, reading, and playing Wii Fit, and I can’t come up with a whole lot. I did finally get to read the latest Leven Thumps novel. I devoured the thing in a day and a half and was very sad when it was over. I have to wait probably at least a year for the next one!

Another writer friend of mine finally got a book contract, and I’m very happy for her. Out of that little group, I’m the only one who still hasn’t been published, and right now, I’m OK with that. I’m not even sure I want to pursue a writing career so much anymore. I’m getting so much joy out of the agency proofreading work, I wonder if I shouldn’t focus on that career path? We’ll see where my heart takes me. I still have the soul of a writer, and I’m always thinking of characters and making up people and scenarios in my head, so maybe it’ll come back one day. At this point, I’m at peace with where I am now, career-wise. Who knows what will happen?

A few days ago. Rosa asked me to post 7 things about myself that most people don’t know. This is going to be a challenge, as I am pretty open on my blog. But let’s see.

1. I have a terrible singing voice. I mean, it’s awful. But that doesn’t stop me from singing along with the stereo when I am home alone.

2. About twelve years ago, the house I lived in for most of my growing years was foreclosed on. I didn’t get a lot of stuff out of it, and some of that stuff includes rare 12-in. album singles with remixes of songs like Killing Me Softly by Al B. Sure and Lucky Charm by The Boys. I really, really wish I had a way to get digital copies of those songs–but the 12-in. singles were rare enough when I bought them. I’m sure it’s impossible to get them now.

3. Even though I do not like winter or the cold, I love cold-weather accessories. I have tons of scarves and hats and gloves and mittens. I like to change them up depending on my mood, and I just love the new cute ones that come out every year. Monday, when I was at Aeropostale to get a few sweaters for the upcoming winter, I started considering a new winter coat. Adam, with an exasperated look, told me that I have QUITE enough coats, thank you very much. OK, he didn’t say all that, but he did point out that I have four winter coats and I probably really don’t need a new one. But we’ll see how my coats hold up against Chicago winters. I might need to take a trip to Eddie Bauer soon. Macy’s has beautiful wool pea coats, but I really don’t want to spend $500 on a coat that may or may not keep me warm when the single digit temperatures hit.

4. I wish I had a best girlfriend. But then I wonder if I really want the time and commitment that comes with having a best girlfriend. Jen and I are pretty close–we’ve known each other since the early 1990s–but I don’t have that *best friend* who is local and who I see all the time, who I can yap on the phone with for hours and then turn around and email/IM her as soon as I hang up. It’s been so long that I’m not even sure I KNOW how to have a best friend anymore, not like I did when I was in grade school. I remember Charla and I used to get on the phone and yak yak yak for hours (13 of them once). Now, it just seems strange to call someone other than my mommy just to talk, even though when someone does catch me at a good time, it’s always great to hear from that person, and I enjoy catching up and chatting. I think every girl needs a best friend, but I guess I’m scared and not so sure how to go about it.

5. I’m generally not a phone person. I will email you long, long letters, I’ll write you letters, I’ll text you, but I’m not huge on the phone. Again, I like when people call me, but it’s hard for me to take the initiative to make the call to anyone unless I really feel driven to action. I even had a hard time calling Adam, the man I was dating, then engaged to, because I always worried about bugging him. But if someone calls me, I’m terrible about letting him or her off the phone, and we can talk for hours and hours easily. Ask anyone about my marathon phone calls with my mom. Last time it was five hours.

6. I enjoy good, long, late night conversations. I love talking to friends about anything and everything in the middle of the night, when the inhibitions are down just a bit, and we’re comfortable sharing everything.

7. I really really want to take Aidan to Disney World within the next year. Just a mommy-son trip. I know it’s probably crazy and ambitious to do a single-parent trip of that magnitude, but we both LOVE Disney World and I think the time together would be amazing. I just wish something would happen to make that a possibility very soon, before he outgrows Disney World… and hanging out with his parents. For the record, I also want to take a huge trip to Disney World with Adam, Aidan, Chris, Matt, my mom, and Adam’s mom.

Because traveling for Thanksgiving will be a logistical nightmare for me this year, Adam and I are staying in town and having Thanksgiving here. We’re going to make a turkey and stuffing, and I’ll make a bit of dressing (hopefully not as dry as I made it for Christmas–eep). I’m also making my famous macaroni & cheese and we’re having gobs and gobs and gobs of mashed potatoes. Probably some corn and/or green beans too. And a Jell-O cake for dessert! Local friends who have no other plans are DEFINITELY welcome to join us. Just RSVP to me or Adam and let us know so we can have enough food to go around.

Tomorrow is November, which means I need to start thinking about Christmas. Once Halloween is over, I feel OK thinking about it, making plans, etc. So far, I plan to fly to Columbus on Christmas to surprise my little Aidan. How much fun will that be? :) That’s all I have so far. Has anyone else started thinking about the December holidays?

I think I got everything out that’s been building up in me the past few days and/or weeks. If you read all this, thank you. ♥ I leave you with a picture of my street in Chicago. I took it as I was walking home from work one evening.

Down the Block

‘Til next time!

(Originally published at Anywhere Is…)

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Brain Fried Bullet Points

/ life, ronni, Uncategorized, work

This entry is likely to make very little sense. Just sayin’.

  • It’s been a long time since I’ve worked more than 40 hours in a week.  Last week, I put in almost 51 hours.  I was having dreams about Sears ads until last night when I talked myself into dreaming about something different.  I brought home some ads on Friday for genuine shopping planning (I want a new electric blanket and maybe some pillows) and immediately caught a mistake and started proofing.  I threw the papers at Adam (not meanly) and told him not to let me look at them anymore.
  • We’re getting a TON of work over the next few weeks, so I’m looking at probably 10-15 hours of overtime until the end of November. I am SO getting a massage sometime in December.
  • I still like the job, but it really gets into my head and my brain, so I am mentally exhausted by midday Wednesday. That’s not good, because I don’t want to get burned out. I still have about six weeks of this to go. After all these weeks of intense work, it’s going to be weird to going back to job hunting. But I hope I can save enough that I’ll be OK for a couple of months.
  • Sarah came to visit for a bit last week. She went home yesterday. I didn’t see much of her because I was working so much. Fortunately, she’s very independent and found ways to keep herself entertained in the city while Adam and I made that money.
  • I ate a LOT of spaghetti today. I actually went all day without eating meat–I can’t remember the last time I did that.
  • Tomorrow, Sleeping Beauty comes out on DVD. I have never seen it. Can you believe that? So, I’ve decided to go ahead and buy it. There is also really cute Disney jewelry on Jewelryland.com and I’d like to get a few pieces. Other than that, I want to stay very frugal with my money because if I get in the right wrong frame of mind, I know I can spend way too easily. I don’t want to be that person again.
  • I can’t believe it’s already October. I am usually such a stickler for changing calendars, and my Nene Thomas calendar is still on September. I guess I’d better go change it sometime.
  • The weather is nice in the mornings. People are wearing coats. Cute coats. Leaves aren’t changing colors on the trees much yet. Actually, they seem to skip that part and just fall. I’ll have to take a look, when I’m not at work. Ha.
  • I really want to go back to a Disney park soon. However, I’m trying to be wise with my money, and airfare is RIDICULOUS. Any allotted travel money for the rest of 2008 needs to go to seeing Aidan first and foremost. But wow, I’d LOVE to go in December and see the place all decorated for Christmas. One of these days.
  • Helena’s been peeing on the bed. She tends to do it just before bedtime, so we’ve had to keep our bedroom door closed when we’re not in there. One night, I’d laid out my nightclothes and went to take a bath or a shower. I got out and went to change, and she’d peed on my nightclothes. And on my side of the bed. Apparently, I somehow piss my girl cats off because Lucy used to do the same type of thing. :( We’re working on trying to break her of it, but once SHE stops peeing, Crookshanks starts. It’s very frustrating.
  • Aidan’s adorable. Just in case you forgot. I need to call him tomorrow. I saw a missed call on my phone that came at 5:34pm, when I was on the train and underground. No reception there. Aidan’s in bed now, so I’ll have to talk to him tomorrow
  • Today, UPS randomly brought us a blender. I found the packing slip and figured out why. Months ago, we’d gotten a wedding gift from Adam’s godparents: a pizza stone. The slip said “Shipment 1 of 2.” Shipment 2 never came and we forgot about it. Turns out that this is the 2nd half of the shipment. The blender had been back ordered like WHOA, and it finally came today. Adam is so excited and eager to blend something in it. :)
  • I’m thirsty. I want pop, but I think it’ll be a better idea for me to drink Tang. Yummy, Tang.
  • I’ve been sneezing a lot. At work, whenever someone sneezes more than once, I hear: Achoo! “Bless you.” ACHOO! “Bless you!” ACCCHOOOO! “Come on, one more!” I also hear weird pirate noises way more often than I probably should. It’s neat there. Lots of work, but neat. I will miss it.

I think that’s all for now. I’m tired and want to take a bath before bed. I got these bath bombs from a place in the Grand Floridian called Basin White, and one of them is Satsuma. I can’t wait to use that one, and I think I’ll use it tonight. Their bombs are cheaper than the ones at Lush, but just as nice and fun. I bought one with Mickeys in it–I don’t think I’ll use that one ever. I can’t exactly order one of those online; I have a feeling they make those special for the park.

OK, then. Enough randomness. Good night.

(Originally published at Anywhere Is…)

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Happy

/ happy, life, positivity, work

So far, my assignment at Schawk! is going really well. I like my work space, I like the work (and I know some of the Thanksgiving Sale Doorbusters, mwah!), and I LOVE feeling like a contributing member of society. Yesterday, I fired up iTunes and lo and behold–SHARED iTunes libraries! Oh, how I’ve missed thee. I used to share at McGraw-Hill and I got exposed to so much great music. I’m looking forward to listening to new stuff.

Based on how things are now, I’d REALLY love it if they asked me to stay longer, and if they asked me to come on as a permanent employee. Although educational publishing is my first love, I’m digging this ad agency stuff. There is a LOT to learn, but the days go quickly and I’m doing what I love most, which is proofreading. The atmosphere reminds me of McGraw-Hill in the good ole days (except for the pulling lunch tables together part), the building is STEPS away from my train stop, my commute is 15-20 minutes tops, and I enjoy the work. Every Tuesday and Thursday, a guy from the mail room makes popcorn in an old fashioned pop corn popper machine thingy. Yesterday, there were free donuts to eat. It’s like the best of MGH and ZB. I can wear jeans here. The temperature in the office is WARM, sometimes a bit too warm, but that’s OK. I can listen to my headphones and lose myself in my work.

And then there is the feeling of contributing, of earning money. Of doing something that matters. Millions of people will see the ads I proofread. That means a lot to me, you know?

It is good. I wonder if I’ll be saying that a month from now, when we’re working on our Christmas books.

Today, Adam took me out to dinner at Arturo’s Tacos. It’s a 24 hour Mexican joint a bit north of us. Yum. I ordered three carne asada tostadas, but I wasn’t as hungry as I’d thought. So…I have one left for lunch tomorrow. Woohoo!

Made my hair appointment for September 20th. I go to Eshe Day Spa and Salon. I love that place because I sit there, listening to the conversations, the cadence of the voices of successful and beautiful Black women. The laughter, the talking, the sweet smell of chemicals, nail polish, and shampoo. The laughter and antics of the staff. I’m looking forward to going again.

Other good things:

-It’s my favorite season. The sky is that pretty blue, it’s not too hot when walking to the train station in the morning.
-Waking up to the Tom Joyner morning show. I can’t believe I never listened to it before.
-I’m going to Disney World in less than two weeks! I’m starting to get REALLY excited!
-This will be the my first October that I get to spend with Adam. Granted, he and I are going to be working so much that we probably won’t see much of each other, but at least I’ll be home with him at the end of the day.
-Sarah Dessen will have a new book out next summer! YAY!
-Adam’s book is in all the local Barnes & Noble stores around here, and in books across the country. This is so AWESOME for him.

That’s all for now. I’m very tired, so I’m gonna read a bit then go to sleep. Wait, I must eat a Pop-Tart first. Yum, Pop-Tarts.

Good night! :)

(Originally published at Anywhere Is…)

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In Sickness and In Health

/ adam, life, marriage, sick

Throughout our relationship, Adam and I have dealt with things here and there. Colds, migraines, me and my explosive digestive tract, plus my terrible four month long sore throat… but nothing was like yesterday, when poor Adam’s top left wisdom tooth decided that the frequent “get me out” requests weren’t enough and that he needed to be taught a MAJOR lesson.

I felt so helpless yesterday. I hated watching him suffer and being powerless to stop the pain for him. He was in so much pain and no matter WHAT drugs (or how many) I pumped into him, the pain wouldn’t go away. Or it would go away for about five minutes–just enough time for him to drift off to a fitful sleep, before he was jerked awake by another spasm of pain. He munched on lots of bread and buns because chewing helped alleviate the pain a little bit, and I made him soup. We were frustrated because he was obviously in horrible pain and we couldn’t do a thing about it. The dentists were closed or booked, and no one would call in some good drugs for him so he could get through the night. Finally, about 10:30 or so, he managed to fall off to an exhausted sleep. I think enough of the sleeping meds had gotten into him that his body couldn’t fight it anymore, pain or not. Plus, he’d been NOT sleeping for two nights because of the pain. He was worn out. I was happy that he finally passed out.

Now I know how he felt last Christmas, when I was in so much pain because of that horrible sore throat.

This morning, I drove him to the dentist and packed a bag full of activities to keep myself busy while he went “under the knife.” The extraction didn’t take very long, and he came out proudly holding his tooth wrapped in gauze. It was FREAKY looking! Now, he’s sleeping, but also cracking me up because he wants everything to eat that he can’t have. Beef, especially. The poor guy…. I remember getting my wisdom teeth out four years ago (I got all four out; and they were impacted, so there was NO solid food for me for about a week!) and craving chicken wings and fries, Cream of Wheat and bacon, and everything I could not eat. One can only take so much soup, yogurt, ice cream, and Spaghetti-Os.

He’s not done yet… lots of dental work in his future, but the most painful and important thing has been taken care of. And that’s a good thing.

(Originally published at Anywhere Is…)

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Keep Holding On (Pictures)

/ life, pictures, ronni, sad

I’m a little bit bummed this morning. I got two job rejections within minutes of each other. Tell me that’s not a blow to the ole ego. I’m trying to do all the positive self talk, you know:

Something better will come along.
Those jobs weren’t right for you.
The perfect job is waiting for you.

But instead, these questions/statements keep coming up:

What am I doing wrong?
What do employers see in me that make them not want to hire me?
How dare I think that I will actually be worth $XXk a year?
I’m worthless. That’s all there is to it. I’ve been out of work for six months now, and there are no prospects on the horizon for permanent work.
My friends are all moving forward, and I’m stuck/moving backward.

I’m going to have to really give in to the disappointment eventually, and it won’t be cute when I do. :( I’m already stressing, even though Adam told me not to worry. I have a car payment and insurance. Thank God I don’t have credit cards or loans to pay, or else I’d’ve been in HUGE trouble. As it stands now, I’m still freaking out a bit, even though Adam said we’re fine.

And my temp assignment has been postponed again. Now the start date is September 8th. I’m really hoping they don’t put it off anymore, and I’m desperately hoping they don’t decide to scrap the whole thing. I’m counting on that income to get me through the end of the year!

One exciting thing is that last Friday, Adam hooked up my stereo to the Mac Book and showed me how to record cassettes and make mp3s out of the songs on them. So many songs that I thought would never be in digital form because they’re either B-sides or out of print, I have now digitized and I can listen to them on my iPod. I was in my nerdilicious element, recording songs, editing them, processing them, and editing the ID3 tags on them. I still have a handful of songs that I’d like to encode. I’ll do those sometime soon. My favorites are already done, and that’s the important thing.

Also, last Friday, Adam and I went to a Little Mermaid Sing Along at the Music Box theatre.

The Music Box

I’ve never been to Rocky Horror, but I’m guessing this was like a squeaky clean version of it. We had little props to use (bubbles for when Ariel was taking a bath, clickers for when Sebastian was walking, a “dinglehopper” with which to comb our hair), things to yell at the screen, and of course, the words to all the songs were also on the screen. There were little girls dressed in Disney princess outfits, a guy playing Disney songs on the organ, and candy. It was a lot of fun.

Saturday, Adam and I met up with Becky and went to Nookies, Too for brunch. I had strawberry crepes.

Crepes from Nookies, Too

Then we hung out, spending a bit of time in Oz Park.

The Scarecrow and Me

The Cowardly Lion The Tin Man Flowers Dorothy The Scarecrow Toto Rose

After the park and hanging out with Becky, I was struck with a migraine that had me out for about 40 hours. It was horrible. I feel so helpless when I get those things… all I can do is lie there, my heart and mind racing with all the stuff I need to do. But I know that if I even sit up, my head will explode and my eyes will slam shut and I’ll want to cry out in pain. I do not like getting migraines. Thank God they usually happen over the weekend.

I miss Aidan. He’s going to Phoenix tomorrow, which will be a lot of fun for him. He is one well-traveled little boy. :)

Less than a month until Disney World! I’m really trying to stay positive, you know. So, I’m going to try to concentrate on that.

That’s all for now. I’m going to hit the shower. A couple weeks ago, I splurged and bought some Caress Daily Silk body wash and I LOVE the way it smells. I used the bar a lot when I was growing up, and the scent reminds me of summer, and of my mom.

(Originally published at Anywhere Is…)

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