Tuesday, August 08, 2006

Closing time

We are currently closing the door on the experience at 6247. Our new experience at 1013 will begin shortly. Shifting spaces. That's a good term I think for what we are doing. Our roommates just signed a lease for a house that is on the other side of Roosevelt, we will still be neighbors! I can't tell you how happy that makes me. We are already making plans for meeting nightly at the local bar (not The Jones) The Resivore. It's a dive bar that has pool, shuffleboard, and darts, plus cocktails! I'm not so much a beer drinker but I like mixed drinks. The roomies got back from signing the lease tonight and we celebrated by drinking some beers (for the men and I had rum and coke) and watching the baseball game.
SPEAKING OF BASEBALL!!! what a game tonight! The Seattle Mariners are playing the Devil Rays of Tampa Bay and we were tied 1-1 going into the bottom of the 10th inning. Ichiro got a double leading off the inning, Jose Lopez bunted him over to third on a sacrafice. Then the DR's intentionally walked Adrian Beltre AND Raul Ibanez to get to Richie Sexson! What a mistake that was. Richie Sexson looks at a ball down low for the first pitch. The second pitch was a meatball for him and my goodness, he was HUNGRY! He hit that ball just off the hands for a Grand SLAM homerun over the centerfield fence into the beer garden where it was caught by a young man in a red sweatshirt without a glove! It was a great ending to a great pitchers duel. A game that saw two runs scored through the first nine innings by both teams combined. The Devil Rays were hoping that Sexson would ground into a double play or making a out at any base by having the bases loaded with Mariners, but young teams make young mistakes like that. I think that if I was managing a ML baseball team that I would not have made that same move for the situation. I am just a fan though and maybe nine times out of ten the play would have worked in the Rays favor, but tonight I am so happy that it went Seattle's way. Seattle was swept by the division leading A's over the weekend and made the Mariners fall 6 1/2 games back for the lead in the AL West Division. I know that we are NOT out of the race by any means, but it is so frustrating losing the last 12 games to the damn A's of Oakland. They aren't even that good this year, granted they have a better record than we do, but they are so weak in so many ways. Like I have said from the begining of the season, I really like the chemistry of the team that we have this year. So many players are having good seasons, like Lopez, he was an All Star! A super surpise at second base this year. And Bentencort at short is so amazing, and he is also heating up at the plate recently. He went from hitting about .270 to over .300 in the past three weeks. Ichiro is having a typical Ichiro year hitting well over .300 and steller defensively of course. I could go on and on about each and every player on the roster, but if you don't know about these guys already please, I beg you, tune into the games and watch the product they are putting out there. It's fun to watch. Young phenom Felix Hernandez pitching is fun with his fastballs, Jamie with his changeups, Meche having a wonderful Ace season, and Putz closing the games is a perfect sweet surprise at the bull-pen end of things. Also in the pen, keep an eye on the young guy we brought up a few weeks ago by the name of Mark Lowe. Went from AA to the Majors in the matter days. He has been lights out and has the eye of a bulldog, never scared and wanting the ball every game.

That's all for now. Must close shop and get rest before we open for business again.

Anne

Monday, June 26, 2006

June 26th, 2006

It's a warm one today! (this is the same post I put on Bebo.com..... I know) WHATEVER!)

It's Monday afternoon and it's a warm day for the Seattle area today. I don't know what the actual temp is, but maybe in the high 80's ? It feels so muggy in the house, maybe I shouldn't have watered all of the plants this morning... Oh well, they need it. I thought that taking a cool shower would help this morning, but ever since I have just been "glistening". Jason is very sympathetic and wanted to buy me a air conditioner before he had to go to work, but I'm doing ok. I found that I can sit out on the porch and have my little lap top out here with me and type to my little hearts content with the lovely breeze that we have. Plus, I get to see all of the people going home from work and laugh at them because I have the day off today. HAHAHA. I guess they laugh at me when i have to work on the weekends... We are all even I suppose. Jason usually has Monday and Tuesday off with me, but this week he has changed the schedule so that he is off when his brother comes to visit this weekend. He is keeping his mustache as a surprise for Sandy and MJ even though it is irritating him. He shaved this morning and almost shaved it off, but I helped him through and reminded him how funny it will be when Sandy sees him and how silly he looks with it. Only a few more days of the hairy upper lip for my honey. I need to get a few more pictures, I only have two and one of them is him asleep and i know I will get in trouble if i post that one on any public family picture place. My silly husband, I'm glad that he is a slave to "fashion" sometimes, he makes me laugh. Laughing is good medicine.

Speaking of medicine!! I finally got my Humira! It seems like it has been such an ordeal to get the prescription again. First I had to have the doctor call it in, then it didn't come, so i called the pharm. and they said the insurance needed a pre-auth. because the one I had on file was expired... So then I had to call the doctor again and have them fax the insurance co. Then I had to call the pharm. again and have them try to run the prescription again. They then told me that regence hadn't received the letter from the doctor... so i call the office again and tell the doc's assistant Kerry to try again... I then call back the pharmacy and ask them to try to run it again and this time it works! Yeah baby yeah! I get my drugs!!! right...? well....The shipping department calls to make sure that I'll be home to receive the shipment and be able to get it in the fridge since they overnight it, I called back and didn't get a hold of the person who called me, but I had a message delivered to her that i would be able to receive it as soon as they could send it. Somehow the address got mixed up in the transfer of the message and was sent to the wrong house. When i noticed that my card had been charged and I still hadn't received my medicine (which is weird, it usually is at my house, in my fridge by the time i notice that my card has been charged) I call the pharmacy back and ask what the deal is and they confirm the address with me (the one that is on file in the computer, not the incorrect address) and tell me that it is most likely on it's way and will be there tomorrow. Well, tomorrow comes and goes and I still have no medicine, so I call back and be annoying asking where are my drugs dude?! They say they will leave Shirley in shipping another message and make sure it's been shipped. I say ok. The next morning at about 9:30 AM I get a call from Shirley in shipping and she apologizes that it had come back to the Portland office and they are sending me out a new bunch of medicine because it had been delivered to the wrong address.... She asked if they had called and let me know and was surprised that I didn't know. Anyways, Shirley confirmed MY address and sent a new bunch of drugs out to me that I got on Friday morning. Jason put all of my little shots in the fridge before he went to pick up Jody from his surgery and all is well with Humira after quite a ordeal to actually get the drug to me. I took my first shot in some months on Saturday morning and it wiped me out. I ended up sleeping most of the day Saturday (which I have off now!) and slept until 6 AM Sunday morning when i had to get up for work. Then after plans for Paul's birthday dinner ended up falling through, I slept from about 5:45-6 to about 9 am this morning with a few hours of awake time with Jason when he got home from work at about 11:30. I haven't taken a nap YET today, but I think that's just because I can't find a cool enough spot. If i had a breezy chair out on this deck of ours, I just might take a snooze. I am trying my best to keep hydrated during the warm weather, and for all of you that know me, it's a big challenge. So I better go refill my glass with some water and drink it down, I think that I'll get a straw and make it fun! Yes, I am a big dork, and I don't care, at least I'm something!

Tell someone you care about them,

Anne

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Fun Weekend

My weekends start Sunday afternoon, when most peoples start Friday afternoon. This Sunday was Father's Day. I met my Dad, Mom, and oldest brother Thomas at the Seattle Center for our annual trip to the Washington State Micro Brewery Festival. In past years it has been at the Herbfarm and then for a stretch at St. Edwards Park near Kenmore. The festival has live music, a few food stands and of course lots of local beer makers offering their creations in small little souvineer cups. I offered to be the designated driver this year since I couldn't make it to Seattle until after I got off of work. I got there around 4 o'clock and all three of them had been drinking since about 2:00 and were well on their way to beer happiness. I was hungry and bought a HUGE burrito that I couldn't finish. Thomas had purchased extra taste tickets once I got there and had the last of the breweries that they wanted to try. It was so funny how drunk my mom got, she was a little louder than she normally is :) And she kept rubbing my back, it was endearing knowing that I'm not the only one that gets talkitive when she drinks.... Or maybe that's where I got it from??!! Paul couldn't make it to the festival (WEIRD, since he is a BEERMASTER himself) because he was finishing up his dive training for when he and Tara go on their trip to the Solomon Islands in a few weeks. He finished up with his class at about the same time that Dad and crew were done drinking the beers at the Center. We made a plan to go back to Tara and Paul's house for some pizza. We ordered from Pagliagi's (? or how ever they spell it, it's the place on 80th and LCW) It was very tastey, although I wasn't very hungry at all from that huge giant burrito that i had about 2 hours prior. Paul was so thoughtful on his way home and picked up some beers, just in case they hadn't gotten their fill at the beer festival. I think everyone that went to the festival took a beer, but I know Daddy didn't finish his, my mom did and I think Thomas not only finished his beer, but he also POLISHED off 5 pieces of pizza and a breadstick in pizza dipping sauce topped off with crushed red peppers that I added and Mom dared him to eat it all for ten bucks. He ate it and said it was pretty warm, I'm not sure if Mom made good on the bet or not... Funny what boys will do when you dare them.... Eat weird stuff, grow mustaches, get married! Oh wait, the getting married was me....
But Jason grew a mustache and kept it for over 2 weeks with 4 contestents at 40 dollars each. Jason won when 2 of the men dropped out after 4 days, and the other gave in this past Saturday. The story with the 3rd guy that dropped out for Jason to win was that he went out on Friday and was trying to pick up chicks and when they couldn't stop looking at the stache and apparently lost out on "some good tail" he shaved it the next day and my honey is the winner! Jason is now doing his "victory lap". I got a picture of the mustache when he was sleeping but I know he won't let me post that one so I have to get a awake photo before he shaves it. Although i mentioned that today and he said that I would have a lot of opportunities when his brother is in town in about 10 days... HE'S KEEPING IT THAT LONG!!! My goodness it looks silly. We were out shopping today and I couldn't stop myself from giggling at him for how silly it looks. But it looks better than Adam Morrison's from Gonzaga, i think that's his name. All he needs is a trucker hat and some cop glasses and he could be dressed up for Halloween.
We were at GameStop seeing if Jason wanted a new game with his winnings. He found a game for the little gameboy but also discovered the games on the Nintendo DS are very cool and now wants one of the those. I wish that he could wait until his birthday to get it, but I know he can't. I would love to surprise him with that and this new puzzle game that he was drooling over, it looks very fun. It even has Sudoku! The DS has cool puzzle games. I guess J bought the first Nintendo for tetris (I knew there was a reason I married him) and another platform for other puzzle games. So I know he can't wait for his birthday.
Anyways I'll try to write more.

Anne

Wednesday, May 10, 2006

Weekend is over


It's Wednesday morning, 1:50 am and I should be heading up to bed, I am even a little tired. But I don't want to let go of my weekend yet. My back is still bothering me quite a bit and it feels ok if I just sit and play with my puzzle books. It was SO nice to have Jason for two whole days! We went to the Seattle Coin Shop and bought some silver today. It has doubled in price since last September! I bought Jason a 10 ounce silver bar for our anniversary last year and today he bought 15 ounces, so he is starting to build his “retirement fund” as he calls it. He said it is the funnest way to save ever! And although i wish that he could save in an old fashioned way sometimes, I will take what i can get!! He is spending money, but someday I suppose we can cash it in if we need to or if the price keeps on the rise than we can trade it in for larger bars?... I dunno, he is happy with his new toys and i guess that is what matters. I like him to be happy and to have him clinking his silver for a few days is ok with me! He keeps on talking about wanting gold, but gold is getting soooooo expensive. I was watching my jewelry shows today and they announced that gold has gone over 700.00 an ounce! It was at 680.00 last week. Crazy stuff in the precious metals these days. I should have pushed Jason to buy me a big old white gold ring last year when the prices were a little better! Maybe that should be my angle now, buy before it gets any higher!! Yeah, I like that idea!!! Anyways, after we bought the silver at Jason favorite store, we headed to the University Village and went to Barnes and Noble. We spent quite a bit of time there just browsing. I got two new puzzle books, one sudoku and one acrostic puzzle book. Both are very addictive and help keep my mind fresh and thinking. I also picked up the new Anita Shrive book that finally came out on paperback, A Wedding in December. I also found a book on flower arranging and general info about florals that i wanted, but didn't buy there, i went onto amazon and found it used for I think 2.39, a bargain! After the bookstore we needed to go home because walking was very painful for me and i needed to get some heat and rest to my back. AND it was nearing baseball time so we needed to head for the barn anyways. It was just before six o'clock and the parking on the northbound lane was almost allowed, but not quite, so we decided to go to the store and pick up some things that we needed for the house. We went to Rite Aid and i tend to find way too many items to buy there..... I was browsing and finding things that i could use, but defiantly don't need, so I insisted that we leave promptly. We arrived home at half past six and Jody was playing the 360, of course Jason joined him and i grabbed my new puzzle book and headed for the other game room to watch the ball game.


Good baseball game! The Mariners beat the Devil Rays 8-1 with a great pitching performance by Felix Hernandez and Rafael Sorriano. I have to admit that i did fall asleep during the sixth inning right after Carl Everett hit a home run. I have been so sleepy the last few weeks. I just can't stay awake. This week is going to be hard hard hard. Not only are we serving on Thursday this week and starting all summer long, we are serving lunch on Sunday and we have a small private party on Monday. So there are 5 SERVICE days plus a prep-day. I need to talk to Carrie and tell her that I just can't do it. Last week just about did me in and that was a short week. And I had a helper everyday that i worked! I think i do need to retire. Jason is right. I at least need to take some time off. And NOT work while on vacation like i did during the break. Whatever, it will all work itself out in time, i just have to make it through, and i always do. Just one day or week at a time. It will be easier now that J has a true weekend every week now. I won't feel so bad for him working his tail off all of the time. He already seems so much more relaxed and happier. I think that also has something to do with the premium gaming/entertainment center that we have. It was so funny, i was watching the game on the TV in the play station room and the Mariners scored, so Jason came in to watch the replay and he laughed at the TV. It is a 27” and it does seem small compared to what we have now, but a month ago we were watching a TV that was only a few inches larger than that 27” and it seemed large. Now we just laugh, we love the new plasma so much. It already fits in to our house so well. And the x-box games are so impressive on it. The cable upgrade that we got is amazing as well. I didn't think it could make that much of a difference for the regular channels, but it is so much better. It almost looks HD, not quite as nice, but so much better than what the old cable box gave us. We have a good entertainment center going on. We are very very lucky.


I've gotten back on my baking thing again. I made another angel food cake and bought more strawberries to go with it this weekend. I also made banana bread last week that was so tasty. I brought some into work for Ashley and Joe and the same day Sara had baked muffins and given them to Steve to bring in for us, so i had a little contest, mine was SO much better! Not to brag, but it was just better flavor and hers had walnuts and chocolate chips. In my personal opinion, banana bread or banana muffins shouldn't have either chocolate chips or nuts of any kind. So that's why mine were better. But it also had a better texture and over all flavor, so never mind, i will be cocky and say that mine beat hers fair and square! I have been wanting to make cookies ever since we got the kitchen aid back from The Jones a few months ago, but I just haven't done it yet. I would also like to try to make a cake from scratch, which I can't imagine is too difficult, I just have not ever done it before. I made waffles this morning to use some of the massive amount of strawberries that we have. Those were good, I added cinnamon to the batter. I have had a craving for cinnamon lately. They were good, i put so many strawberries on there it was like the waffle was buried, as it should be! I also want to try my hand again at baking bread, yeasted bread. I have had bad luck with recipes containing yeast in the past. So i would like to conquer that one and make some yummy warm fresh bread. There is nothing better than warm bread from the oven with some butter..... yummy!


I guess I had better be a good adult and try to go to sleep now, at least go up to bed and pretend that I'm going to try to sleep. It would be good for the people around me tomorrow. So thanks for reading and goodnight, or good day if that is the case.


Lots of love, Anne

Friday, May 05, 2006

Review

I had my review on Thursday afternoon. It was a good review, as everyone told me it would be. However, I came away with a sad feeling. I have asked to have them hire someone to help me on a daily/weekly basis. So i will be working 3 days, 4 days TOPS most weeks. Carrie understood that my body is breaking down and I just don't have much of a life the way things are going now, so they needed to change. She has already put together a job description for the job, but apparently we have had very few applicants coming by. I'm hoping that since school is almost out that a high school student that will want some work this summer will wander on by. I think once we find the right person I will begin to feel much better. I think once it sinks in that i will be part time, i will also be a much happier person. Like another weight lifted off my shoulders. We'll see. I will write more later, I have to finish breakfast and get to work. I have a helper today to get me through this latest bout with back pain. Tysan is coming in for about an hour or two to help walk the stemware to the dining room and set out the flatware for me to place at each setting. SO I'd better get a move on!

Much Love,

Anne

Wednesday, May 03, 2006

May 2nd, 2006

Today was a good day. Jason had the day off and next week he will actually have two days off in a row! That is the rumor at least, who knows what will actually happen since every time he is supposed to have a “weekend” something happens such as someone quits, goes on vacation, or they get an awesome review which requires him to work more to keep the quality of his menu to his standards. They have finally got enough staff and they are stable enough for him to be comfortable with leaving for two whole days! That makes for a happy wife in me at home. We spent the first part of our day sleeping in, as usual. I got up a while before Jason and watched episode 19 and 20 of Carnivale on HBO on Demand. (Carnivale is a very good series on HBO if anyone is interested in 24 episodes of good television) Jason got me hooked on that series and watched those two episodes after he got home from work last night and I was asleep upstairs. When he came to bed, he told me about how he watched number 19 and the HAD to watch episode 20 because to was so good! So of course I had to watch it this morning while HE was sleeping. He was right, they were good ones. I'm sad though because there are only 4 more episodes total before the series ends. I thought there was another season, but i went online today and found out different. Anywhoo, HBO releases only a bunch of episodes at a time each month, so now we have to wait until May 21 or 22 for the series finale episodes. I saw a few pictures of them online today and i think it will be RIVITING! HBO has made some damn good made for TV series. We got into ROME, Entourage, Six Feet Under, and of course, Carnivale. It's almost a tease though when they only release half a dozen episodes a month. But I love the on demand feature that cable provides, it has been really cool for us. Once the new season of Lost comes out (it's on ABC and NOT on demand) I think we might invest in the DVR that comcast offers. All in due time though, we will be living in a new place by that time, and who knows what the finaces will be at that time with my health the way it has been the past two years. The DVR just may have to wait.


Speaking of new places to live! I went onto craigslist tonight and started to look at a few North Seattle neighborhoods to see what the prices are. I searched in Maple Leaf since that is close to The Jones and there were only 2 offical listings for Maple Leaf. I also searched for Roosevelt and only found a bunch of apartments. I think that we would like to have some sort of yard for when we get my little dog. I think that it is a must actually since i know i won't be getting up and walking behind my little pooch with plastic baggies every morning. It's just not in me. It's still pretty early to be looking for housing since we won't be out of this house for a few more months, but i suppose it doesn't hurt to get an idea of what we will be paying and looking for areas we are interested in.


I am so excited to get my puppy. I think J is too. He tries to play it off like he isn't, and that he's put off by the fact of getting a weiner dog, but everytime moving comes up that is the thing he brings up, getting a little dog. He kinda says it like “Yeah, we gotta get her the little dog cause we got the plasma...” then he askes if we should just get the mastif first. He is so cute. I just have to remind him that we are getting MY doggie first, then his dog and he says “i know, i know, the weiner dog first, cause we got the plasma...”

We were at Scott's Birthday BBQ tonight and we were talking to Wayne about pets and them farting. It was so funny because he was talking about how the smaller the animal the worse the farts, or as he put it, their “poofs” Apparently Wayne and Stacey's cat “poofs” and it isn't so bad, but Wayne's mother's cat has a little tiny dog that lets the WORST poofs ever. He told us a story of the first time Stacey met the little doggie and she was petting it and having a good time, then all of the sudden she got a goofy look on her face and set the dog down. Of course I had to counter with the story of when we were on our way from Reno to Lake Tahoe and we were in the backseat with Crusie. Brunie and Jim had been feeding the poor dog hot dogs for some reason and she had these farts that would put your gag reflex in full effect! We had to pull the car over once because we thought that Crusie might need to do some business out in the wilderness, but it turned out that she was constipated from the hot dogs and we just had to deal until she relaxed and worked through it. I have never in my life smelled something so bad from something so nice as a dog. And of course her butt was in MY direction because she was so excited to see Jason again she had her head in his lap to get lovin from him..... THOSE were more than “poofs”


That's all I'm gonna write for now, but i took some pictures at the BBQ, so i will download them to the computer and post some soon! Goodnight.

Monday, May 01, 2006

I like flowers

I like this picture too. I have the day off! HA! Posted by Picasa

Saturday, April 29, 2006

Just too tired to post tonight.

I worked and got off at 3 again today. I made it home in time for the baseball game and folded the entire game, which is fantastic because i can go home early again tomorrow! But it has worn me out for the second day in a row. I took extra prednisone tonight to try to curb the inflamation tomorrow. I took quite a lot of pain meds when i got home because of all the folding my hand was getting swollen. I've been drinking more water than usual, but if anyone that knows my water intake, it's probably still not enough. With the prednisone I know i need to keep the water intake high. On this note I think i will drink a glass of water and go to sleep. Gotta rise early and get to work so that i can get home and rest :)

Love anne

Friday, April 28, 2006


Waiting for the pills to kick in so that I can sleep before work tomorrow. I did so much folding at home this week that i think that I want to get back in the habit so that i can skip out of work in the afternoon instead of early evening. I left today at just about 3:00 PM and it felt so good to be driving home and get home with a reasonable time to nap and relax. I hardly knew what to do with myself! I had all of the menu napkins done for the weekend as of yesterday and i had also gotten the replacement napkins for Thursdays dinner done ahead of time, so as soon as i got the dining room set all i had to as far as folding was the wash cloths for the guest restrooms. It was like the good ol days when i had nearly all of the folding done and all i had to do was the actual setting of the dinning room. I didn't get to work until 9:30 this morning and i still felt like i got a LOT done. I had the extra time that i would have spent on folding on organizing and helping out the messy pantry area. Our pantry steward that we recently hired pretty much walked out last Saturday night. She said that she felt "ill" and called the next day and said that she wasn't coming back. I don't think that she was a good fit, personally. She wasn't organized and wasn't very detail oriented, two things that are nearly a must for that position. We are busy this weekend as well, so i don't know who is going to fill in, but i suppose that i can do recieving and try to keep the glass room tidy for a while until we find a new person. Jihoon has been coming in a few times a week, and Carolyn has made a few appearances since she gave notice. It's so hard to keep good pantry people, well at least the backup pantry position. In the time that I've been working in the D.R. we have had two stable pantry people, Jess and Carolyn. Everyone else just seems to fade away or takes the position to try to get their foot in the door either for server or kitchen. I suppose that it would work in some cases, but not in the ones so far. I want my brother Thomas to start serving, i think he would be a great asset to the team, plus i could boss him around once a week on prep days! But seriously, the herbfarm needs a few good servers, seems like we have had a MAJOR dry spell in hiring the past year!! I wish that they could offer Thomas what he needed to come and be happy. Maybe Tom should just go back to school and work nights at the herbfarm?

My review has been set for Thursday at 1 PM. I don't really know what to expect from it. It seems like from June to November i was a rock star employee, then i got another infection and got really tired. I got grumpy, and i think that i got really frustrated at life and every day things. Since December i have been struggling and i don't know how that will effect my review. I should mention that, i suppose. We'll see.

I'm not sleepy, I'm not sleepy. I'm not sleepy. I want to be sleeping again! I picked up Jason from work, we drove Joe home to Northgate and came home so that Jason could play with our roommates on the 360 and the new HDTV. It's so funny how this fighting/boxing game is such a boy game. They are saying that it is the best game ever made and especially with the HD. They are all so into it. I laugh, i don't fully understand it, it looks like a regular game to me, but there is something special about Fight Night Round 3!!

I was watching QVC today and they had a 4 hour Gem Fest show on this afternoon. Most of the jewelry was ok, nothing i felt like i had to have until the last hour! There was a diamond circle pendent with a button white pearl set in the bottom of the circle. It was so pretty! It was also set in white gold, which is my favorite metal. It was a little pricey at about 175 bones, but it was soooo pretty. When i was jewelry shows i don't usually see pieces that i feel that i need to have, but i felt that i wanted that one. I know i can't give in to any of it because it will be all over when i start ordering jewelry from the shows. I'll turn into one of the ladies that call in and say that they have already ordered too much that day... I can't be affording to get myself into that!! And the last time i thought that i HAD to have it, i told Jason, he ordered it for me and when the fed ex package came the jewelry had been stolen out of the box and the empty little boxes left on our porch.... That made me very sad and i haven't been able to even think about getting another order. All i have actually ordered off the TVshows are parcels of loose gems, which are so much fun because you don't really know what you are going to get. The last parcel that i got it was guarenteed that you got a aquamarine, a sapphire, and a ruby. They were small, but i was happy, and I have another 100 carats to add to my collection. It was my Valentines Day present from my honey. I just need to get the case to store them in. I got some really nice stones that i want to make into pieces. Some big ones that would make beautiful pendents. Some matched stones that would be wonderful for ear rings, and some others that would be lovely as rings, i also have lots of little stones that i can use as accent stones. If i only knew where to go to get the castings and things for making it. It will be my newest hobby once my hands get stronger.

My poor little right hand is a little swollen from all of the folding that i have done the past few days. I also did some ironing on Monday for work. I'm nearly caught up with the ironing, but we are busy this weekend, which means i better do some ironing during the game on friday so that i don't get too backed up again. On that note i think i will stop writing about work because it means that i'm thinking too much about work and i don't wanna right now. So good night, gonna go play some sudoku!

Goodnight,

Anne

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

My Bridal Bouquet

I'm very proud of the bouquet that I made for our wedding reception. The flowers consisted of white and dark red roses, pink tulips, burgundy gerbera daisies, white freesia, wax flower, and babies breath. I put it together myself and wrapped the stems in tulle and ribbon. It was very beautiful and it made me feel beautiful holding it that night. The day of the wedding reception was one of the most fun days i have ever had. I love flowers :) Posted by Picasa

Bigger version of the picture below

Here we go, this shows it better in our living room than the last picture Posted by Picasa

Photo of the new toy

This is our new tv. If you know of anyone that wants a 32 inch sony, give us a call! We have upgraded to a 50" PLASMA HDTV baby!!
Arthritis sucks.

I have been struggling mightily the past few months with this damn disease. I have been trying and trying but i get so frustrated sometimes. I really do try to keep a positive attitude, but some days i don't want to be positive, i don't want to be weak and i certinly don't want the stresses that come with the stupid disease. I keep thinking about what all of the pain meds are doing to my liver, what they are doing to my stomach, what it is doing to my brain. The last two years have been near torture on my body. It has had too many surgeries, too much pain medication and so much weight put on I just don't know how the damn thing keeps adapting. I hate complaining, yet i keep feeling the need to pour my heart out onto the blog or something like that so that i don't drag actual people into my minds own battle with it's self. Wait, what am i saying, i love complaining, i do it all the time. And it's absolutly wonderful to write it all. It's lovely having an outlet to write at. In fact i love that i can write about how much something sucks and knowing that it's out there in the world somewhere, and someone can read it and take what they want from it and i don't have to respond to it. I think that helps a lot. I like talking to my honey about things that bother me, but i don't always want to bring him down or know how much little things bother me sometimes. I think that is natural. It's almost like having a therapist without actually having the person writing in their notebook about how messed up my mind is. I know that I'm struggling, but I have family there to tell me all of that i don't need to pay for someone to tell me what i already know. And i have my doctor there to prescribe me the crazy pills to help me numb to it all.

I was talking to my cousin last week about depression and it really was comforting knowing that there is someone else out there that has had the same thoughts about "going crazy" as i have had. I think it made her feel better too. Maybe it is something in our family that chemically wrong. We both had nutty thoughts about silly things and knew that we shouldn't be feeling that way and yet couldn't help it. I knew that i had to get on medication for that reason and so did she. It helps to have a support system there, even if you don't talk to them constantly, just knowing that they are there if you need em is comforting.

At the shower someone asked me, i can't remember who, what my feelings and thoughts were about depression. I don't know how many people knew that i was on meds for it, but i told them that i had been on zoloft for about two years and i thought that it worked really well for about a year, and now i don't think it is working as well. I feel like i'm slipping back to where i was before. I think i should contact my doctor or at least the Kerry and see what i should do about the dose, either go higher or switch to another medicine all together. I should also ask what the side effects are long term of this stuff. Some of the depression medication commercials say something about sexual side effects, is that long term or immediate? I really need to ask more questions when i go to the doctor. I always feel rushed to get out of there though... Maybe i need to switch doctors too. Fuck, maybe i should just move out to another state and start all over. I know J is ready to go. I just don't want to go away from my family. I almost can't stand to think of moving too far away and not seeing my family but once or twice a year. It would like be leaving my entire support system. I think Jason realizes this and that's why we havn't gone anywhere and he has lessened talks of going to Las Vegas. Although i think it would be cool to go down to southern california and work with Brunie. But i don't think Jason would be happy down there. He hates how hot it gets down there and there aren't any places that he really Wants to cook at. ANyways i just don't think i want to deal with finding all of the new life things that come with moving to a new city. I wouldn't be happy at all for a while.

So dis-organized. This post has to be one of the worst rants that i have had for a long time. I "almost" feel bad actually posting it, but oh well, sometimes i have to do it. I wanted to punch something so bad tonight but what is the point when it is just pain instead of getting the aggression out. I thought about it and is it really worth damaging my hand for a bad day and knowing how my hand loves getting infected, it would just be begging for it. I don't want another surgery. It's been nearly 5 months since the last procedure and that's been the longest in a while. I just can't seem to get down on the prednisone. I took 17 mg yesterday at work and i could feel the effects that it had and i don't know why it makes me so mad that it actually does what it is suppose to do. I got all the way down to 12 mg and i was very achy with some of the storms that have come through and i just can't seem to stay awake. So of course i think that i should take more pain meds, and that makes me feel guilty and know that my poor liver is going through hell. And i forget that prednisone is there to help too, but it's also so bad for me. And when i start taking more prednisone i get bigger and bigger. So what is better? being fat and very unhappy, but less achy, or the alternative or being achy and taking the pain medication and sleeping all of the time and trying my best not to get too much more overweight? And when i take more prednisone i can't sleep at night and my insurance just doesn't cover enough ambien to make it work so that i can actually make it to my job the next day. They tell me to get out in the sun during the "good" part of the sunny day and the natural daylight will adjust my clock, but hell no, it doesn't work that way with me. When i work i am done when i get home. What am i supposed to do? I have to work to have the insurance, and we need the money, i have to work. I have to have the medications to make it so that i can work, but what are they doing to me? Can i live with the consiquenses in the future? What are they going to be? In ten years what is Jason going to have to take care of? Do i really want to do that to him? Or do i want to drug myself so much that i am like a normal human being and just shorten my lifespan so that i can actually have a wonderful time? These are decisions that i struggle with on an everyday basis. Some days it's worse that others. Tonight is pretty bad, i don't usually think too far into the future and what will happen to my body, but i have been so frustrated with no being able to lose the weight that i am at a loss to what i can ever do. I hate coming to the conclusion that i will gain more weight just to feel like i can put in 35 hours at work. And i feel like i should be working more and helping out my co-workers more, but my body is just about done and it makes me so fucking grumpy. I think i actually made one person quit last week because i just got annoyed and didn't want to be nice anymore. The person was new and was asking dumb questions and i was sick of it so i was giving short answers. Then she got this puppy dog look and started slinking around, the next day i find out that she went home "ill" and called in sick on sunday. Jess talked to her and i guess she asked her to find someone to fill her shift and have Carrie call her, so basically it sounds like she is quitting. Too much for that one i guess. She seemed ok, but didn't like the thought of working too hard or jumping right into a job with both feet. She had a chance to put herself in there and be a rockstar, but she bailed and that's no good in my book. Whatever. Maybe I'll go in tomorrow and do some recieving and take in the ironing and folding that i did today. I'll see what's goin on in the am, i'll call the office and see.

I have been so grumpy and sad lately. I guess i don't like all of the deadlines that were upon me this past few months with the reception and stuff. I feel like i'm letting down all of my friends and family by sleeping all of the time. I still havn't gotten my brother a birthday present. I hardly spend time with Nickki and she lives so much closer than she did a few years ago. She is my best friend and one of the most thoughtful people i know and i just sleep away the time. I want to be awake, i want energy, i want to be thin again. I have Jason and i am so lucky for that but i still sleep away that time that i should be savoring with him. He loves me, he supports me and gives me more than i deserve. He offered to get me a dog so that the doggie could get me better and i could quit my job and get healthy. When we move he said that we are going to get a dog and i could stay home and take care of the puppy and the house and have muffins ready for him everyday when he gets home from work. I could do all the things i love like cleaning and baking and taking care of our pets. I can watch baseball and jewelry televison all day if i want to. But i still need health insurance so I came up with the idea of talking to Carrie and quitting my everyday job there and just continue doing the folding and ironing for the Herbfarm, but at home. It would be about 15 hours a week i would guess. Maybe i could go in two days a week when i drop off the folding and do some office work, like logging and bagging the reservations, or maybe do the prep-days and the folding and ironing? I think i would just have to cut my work load in half. I just don't know what the future holds for this body of mine. I can't get healthy and i don't know what it's going to take to get there. I need to keep moving and that is one thing that i love about my job now, I am walking around the restaurant for about 3 of the hours that i am there. I don't want a desk job because i know that i would just sit there and snack all day long. I know me and that is not something that i can do right now. With all the prednisone a desk job is not something that i should do. I was thinking today about when we get a dog, and i would have a little partner if i wanted to start walking, even though i have always been wary of walking dogs and having other dogs come up and fighting. Must have been the childhood trauma of being attacked by a dog that has led me to be so wary of that.
But i am so excited to have a dog and a pal. I am so happy with being married to Jason and what our relationship is. He is such a good man, he has some learning to do, but of course so do i. I think I am a good wife so far. I sleep too much, i feel bad when i can't pick Jason up from work because i'm sleeping. He says he doesn't care and it doesn't matter, but when his feet have been hurting i want to be able to pick him up and save him from the pain. The new shoes have helped, but the pain is still there.

We have to move in August. I don't think that we have decided if we are going to continue living with our roommates or not. It sounded like Jason thought we were going to find a place on our own, but i don't know if we can afford it, especially if i cut back on my working. I have already told Carrie that I need to cut back to 4 days permanently. Maybe i should cut it back to 3 and have my 4th day at home. I could work prep day, and the first two days of service, then they can find a high school student to work the weekends and i will do the folding for them and it would be grand. That would be absolutly ideal. But who knows what cvd will say. I never know with her, sometimes you think you have her pegged and then she surprises you with something out of left field. I often wonder what Ron thinks of me and the job that i do. He isn't ever at my review, but he has input on the paperwork that is filled out for the actual review... I dunno, it is so strange how the herbfarm is run. I think they hire some great people and they have some great things going on there, it is a good place to work for the family style enviroment, but on the opposite side people that are actually family are treated as employees at times when it seems odd.... I guess that could just be the people or person i'm thinking of.

So this post is completly about all the things that are bugging me and it's all so messy and unorganized. The way my mind has been feeling as of late. I'm glad that the reception is over, it was one of the funnest days of my life, i truely enjoyed the party 110%. I loved that my parents finally met Jason's parents and everyone made it. There were so many people it was a little overwhelming, and they all brought gifts! So many wonderful gifts, now i need to get the Thank You's out. I can hardly wait to get the pictures back from the disposible cameras. I transfered the pictures of the cake that i had on my camera and ordered prints from shutterfly. The party was so much fun, and the food was so yummy from what i heard. The cake was fantastic! I had some of that and when we cut it and ate the first bite, Jason didn't even shove it in my face like i thought that he would! When we talked about that a few days later and i told him that i was surprised that he didn't smear it all over my face and he told me "of course I wouldn't do that, you are my honey, I love you" It was such a sweet response and something that he would say, it makes me feel so good inside that i know that we are good together. He makes me smile.
Speaking of the party last week when we were at Costco for the first time together with our new membership, we pasted the meat section and the beef tenderloin was a pretty good price, so i told him that i only got one slice of the tenderloin from the party, so we bought the smallest package of tenderloin that they had, which was still 5 steaks and over 20.00. Anyway we bought it so that i could have some. It is things that Jason does like that, that make me feel special. I don't know what i would do without him, he really holds me together. I don't think that i could have made it through the past two years without him holding my hand. I am so thankful for him. I can't really even put it into words. Even when i get so frustrated at my life and what's going on, he brings me back to a better level. Now I'm getting all mushy, it always happens when i start to think of what Jason does for me and how he helps me. Now I guess I better stop since i have gone from being so frustrated to just wanting to go give my honey a big hug. He's watching a movie on our new television and i think i will join him. goodnight or goodday, whatever the case may be for you. Sorry about the ranting, sometimes i just gotta have it out there in the world.

Geez, i go back and read what i just typed and i won't realize what i have put down tomorrow. Thoughts run through my mind when i'm grumpy and it fades when i actually record it, like it has to be typed to be erased.

Sunday, April 23, 2006

Our new toy!

This past week Jason and I went to Costco and bought something that we have been drooling over for a long time, a HDTV Plasma TV. It is 50 inches of plasma goodness! We both couldn't be happier with it! We don't have the HD tv programing yet, but soon enough. Jason is thrilled with the biggness and beautiful picture that the X-Box 360 has now, so do the roommates. They have been playing Fight Night 3 a lot lately, which those of you who aren't into the gaming world is a boxing game. The graphics are pretty cool and it amazes me how good and real they are all getting. Anyways as I sit and watch it feels like it belongs in our living room and doesn't look out of place at all, in fact I forget that it is so large until I leave the house and come back hours later. You all should come and experience the HDTV sometime! Come meet our newest baby :) Pictures to follow.


(April 25th, 06-- Look up above for the pictures!)Posted by Picasa

Saturday, April 22, 2006

Second post of the new year, I'm on a ROLL, BABY!

Two posts in a matter of a few days must be some sort of record for me on this blog this year! okok so i just feel like playing with my computer and this is just as good as playing a game of spider solitaire. I was thinking on my way to work today that i don't think that i wrote at all about the trip that Jason and I took to Las Vegas this past February. We saw the Blue Man Group, which i must go into detail another time since it was such an amazing show, i recommend it to anyone who goes to Vegas and has a couple hours to spare. They do some very cool visual things and just plain ol silly things, but anyways, i will stir up my memories and jot them down soon.

I felt pretty good in the latter half of the day today. After i got off work i stopped by Rite Aid and got two presciptions filled. I hadn't ever gotten anything filled there before, but it's more convinient than the bartells up on Roosevelt, the Rite Aid is on 35th on my way home from work on 80th or 85th, so not too far no matter if i have to get a refill when i'm not on my way home from work. I like that store, it's nice and bright and they seem to have a lot of gardening stuff, i picked up a bigger watering can that i currently have so that when we have our container garden this summer it will be easier to get them their food. I'm a dork. Such a dork.

I've been enjoying the new HDTV plasma that we bought a lot. I came home from work and instead of going upstairs and falling asleep while laying in bed watching the game, i brought folding from the herbfarm home with the hope that i would stay awake and actually get some work done from home while watching the baseball game. It worked today! I got 3 full bundles of linens folded for the weekend and i think i will save the menu napkins for sunday and do some extra replacements tomorrow so that all of the linens are folded and i can get out of work early! I think i also could use it for tomorrow and bring home more for sunday and that way i am getting paid to watch baseball while folding, i could also do some ironing and try to get caught up with that too.

pills just kicked in, goodnight

love anne

Wednesday, April 19, 2006

First post of 2006



My bridal shower

(thanks for a great time girls!!)



It is April 18th and Nickki threw a bridal shower for me today. She invited about 25 people including all the girls in our family, which of course is half the group, but Jessica Ritchie is the ONLY person that wasn't family that came. And only two people called and said that they couldn't make it. HOW EMBARASSING!!! It would have been almost better if Jess hadn't been able to make it so that i wouldn't have to feel so bad that I have no friends. It was a great little party and i had a good time but it was really really embarrassing that no one showed up. Nickki is such a good friend and i love her to death for doing something so special for me. And Jessica is a sweetheart too because she wanted to throw me a party as well and Nickki just started planning before she did. Anyways, Angel, Debra, Emily, Kaylie, Kim, my Mom, Nickki and I were the attendees. Austin came in half way through the party and joined us, as did Cohen when he woke up from his nap. He is such a happy baby, it's so cute to smile at him and have him smile so big that his eyes nearly close.

Nickki had the theme of the party as “Las Vegas” with colors of black and red for the suits of playing cards, and asked the guests to wear something either shinny, sparkley, or simply red or black. I chose to wear black pants with my brown rhinestone v-neck shirt with my sparkley heels that i got for my reception. My mom looked beautiful with her new flowing red shirt and black skirt. It was so much fun helping her shop a few weeks back. She stole the best outfit award looking so nice tonight. Nickki also had a few games prepared for us to play, the first game was a Las Vegas word scramble. She picked out about 10 or 12 words that people would associate with Vegas and had us all try to unscramble them, with the goal of course being the first one to complete wins a prize. Since I have been doing so many word puzzles in the past two years I blasted that game by solving all of the words first! I have to say that she did a very good job at scrambling the words and being inventive with the ones she chose. The next game we all played was “How well do you know Anne?” There were questions the girls had to answer about my favorite food, drink, animal, sport, color, season. Then a few questions that were more factual such as my first car, where i was born and how many times i have moved. Debra won that game with only missing two questions, which we all agreed could have been the correct answers. She guessed that my favorite food was BBQ sauce (i had written down chocolate pudding) and she said that I had moved 4 times and i think that we all decided that i had only moved three times. It's sort of funny how some people don't really know the little things and some people really pick up on that sort of stuff and remember. Actually I don't recall what we decided on with how many times I had moved.... But the important thing is that Debra got the prize for that game!

Nickki had also prepared little gift bags with little bottles of champagne and a few “Vegas” style things like a poker chip key chain, a money cover note pad, and a few loose poker chips. She also put numbers on the bottoms of each bag for a game to be played later, which was sorta fun as well. Nickki had made up additional prize bags and blew up some balloons with numbers on a little sheet of paper inside of each balloon. Then i got to pop a balloon and who ever had the matching number of the popped balloon to the number on the bottom of their gift bag got to pick another bag of goodies! I don't know where she gets all of these ideas for these parties, she is so creative.

OH! Didn't even mention the FOOD yet... or the decorations! She had prepared a seven layer dip with both tortilla chips and nacho cheese flavored chips to go with. There were little beef tortilla wrapped things that were baked, and for the life of me I can't think of what they are called but they were tasty. Jessica brought a fruit kabob plate with creme fresh e, these delightful little dutch cookies that had a gingery taste and they were sandwiched with a yummy filling, i think it was a cream cheese frosting. She also prepared a veggie plate of carrots, cucumber, pita wedges and hummus for dipping. Nickki baked chocolate cupcakes and had Shirley Temples out with little cherries. Later we broke out the champagne and orange juice. Some of us had mimosas and some just had champagne. It was a wonderful spread of food and i didn't eat that much but i was so full! I brought home a cupcake for Jason and i just might have to steal it from him!

The decorations that Nickki had around the house were so cute too. There were these streamers that she hung in various corners that consisted of the four suits of a deck of cards with money signs mixed in. She had little votive candles around set up in little groups. The dining room table was black and red with napkins, forks and spoons to match all set up in a lovely manner. She also found some balloons that were covered in cards and also had a few black ones in the mix as well. There was a vase of red tulips in the kitchen that were a nice touch too. She did such a nice job on everything, especially the invitations! My goodness, she hadn't sent me one because she had originally wanted it to be a surprise party and just figured that since i was the guest of honor that i would be there. Anyways I had talked to her yesterday and we decided that i would like to have one for my scrapbook or wedding album when i put something together. The invitations were hand made with heavy textured card stock of red and black. Red bigger than the black in blocks with a spade, heart, diamond, and club on the outside. They look very professional and nice. And on the inside it is ivory colored paper with all of the info inviting the person to my bridal shower. It had Nickki's address and contact info for additional questions if needed. I was very impressed by her today and her talents. She had become quite the party planner. She even gave me some scrapbook paper to use if I wanted for thank you notes for the reception. What a gal! Sometimes i get overwhelmed by how much Nickki does for everyone, it's like there is nothing that i could do to repay her or even come close to showing my appreciation for all that she does. She had become an amazing person, I'm very lucky to have her in my life and even luckier to have her as my best friend and have her call me the same.

On top of all the games, food, decorations and family that were there, Nickki, Jessica, Kimberly and my mom all got me gifts! Nickki gave me a visa gift card . Jessica gave me a gift card to Cost Plus World Market. Kim said that she didn't have time to go shopping so she gave me cash. My mom said that she is going to take me shopping for dishes! It's so amazing that i have these people in my life. I guess i don't need friends when i have a family like i have. As long as I have Jason and my family and my heart keeps beating, i will be okay.


Love, Anne