...So where is my figgy pudding?

I just re-read my last post. I meant college and not high school, in case you all didn't guess. My brain hasn't been working for several years now. Anyway, I'm just getting ready to take off and go to the Watchnight service at church and thought I would say Happy New Year!!!! to all and sundry. This last year has been much more eventful than I ever would have wanted to anticipated and in directions I never dreamed. I mean, first there was the mono, then the bookkeeping job, the apartment with Moo, the bucket garden (oh hey!! I just got my first seed catalog of the year!!)... the list goes on and on. And I know there have been plenty of things going on in your lives as well, but so far we have survived. Hugs to all and hopefully I'll see everyone at some point in 2007! (*swallows loudly* I cannot believe it's already 2007. I mean, I was supposed to be queen of the Universe by now... or at least have traveled a few more places... Ack! I will not get all pessimistic!!) Good night, guys! Take care and have fun!!

It's clear in the mountains...

...but down here in the valley, it didn't get above freezing today and the fog froze and pretended to be snow. Dad said it was gorgeous and clear up at the old homestead today. I do have to admit, the fogsnow was pretty. Thank you, Ms. Poppins, for the understanding. *laughs* I'm going to not whine this post, which is why I just deleted a sentence.

Christmas just snuck up on me out of nowhere this year and I barely got my Christmas cards out in anything resembling a timely manner. *looks ashamed* I'm afraid that I'm also doing some last-minute, not-quite-thoughtless shopping, but now I'm remembering all these other people I should be buying for. *rolls eyes* Can any of the adults out there tell me how you do it?? I can't even imagine trying to do this and have kids at the same time... which is probably why every time I even contemplate the possibility of children I see myself as a content housewife. *pauses* Okay, mostly content with a dash of insane.

Anyway, since I will not see the majority of you all,Merry Christmas!!!! Thank you for sticking with me, even though I haven't been around as much as I was in high school. I'll try to become entertaining and sarcastic again in the near future, so you won't get too bored. *grins* God bless all of you if I don't post again before New Year's!!!

No, I'm not a ghost

I'm sure some of you will be thrilled to discover that, yes, I'm still alive. I didn't want to bore you guys with the highs and (more often) lows of my post-Joel life and be one of those blogs of misery and woe. I will definitely never underestimate how much a person may be hurting ever again, that's for sure. None of you warned me this was going to hurt so bad!! *flings hands into the air* Oh well, I'm kidding, I hope you all know. Thank you for the love and prayers. I'm doing okay, although I'm certainly not over him by any stretch of the imagination. *sighs* At least I've lost a few pounds through this whole thing. *grins* It's really ironic, the women in my family have always eaten their way through trouble and worry, and here I am with my broken heart, unable to eat chocolate.... It's so unfair!!! Otherwise, life has been busy. I'm still working for the temp agency (did I blog about that?? I'll have to check.) and things are going well. I'm so busy that I feel like I don't have time for anything else except church. I'm hoping to start playing music with my friend Karen here soon, since I'm sadly out of practice and need something to do besides sleep. Ah well, I'm sure you're not all that interested in my life. Oh, oh, oh!!! The weather is clear and frigid. Just thought you would want to know. And we got the deposit back on the apartment.

Quick note...

I just want to let you guys know that Joel and I are no longer together. We're still friends and I don't hate him (I don't want anyone else to hate him either), we're just not together. At this point, I'm not looking for anyone to "take his place," "fill the gap in my life," or be my "other fish in the sea," so please don't try to set me up with anyone. I also don't really want to talk about the reasons at this point (sorry, guys!), it was just.... something that happened I guess, albeit very unexpectedly. Anyway, we would both appreciate your prayers during what is obviously a very difficult time. Thanks for you love and support, and I'll try to make my next post more cheerful.

It's orange! It's yellow!!

It's not a forest fire!! Well, I mean, there is one out there somewhere, but I am referring to the trees. Yes, gentle readers, fall is here and that means I am beginning to enjoy the weather again. The clouds are moving in and Joel reports rain in the Central Valley area, so I won't be surprised to see it here as well soon. Some of the trees are starting to turn gorgeous shades of red and yellow, especially in this mobile home park down the highway from my old place. They have these amazing trees that all turn fiery at the exact same time and it's really spectacular.

I have the day off today and have been running errands and hauling some stuff to the new house. One of my errands was to turn in my practice room key at the university and get back my $10 deposit, but it seems some malodorous, moronic miscreant decided to abscond with the deposity money last year, leaving the department unable to give me back my deposit. People like that tick me off, by the way. Ripping off your fellow students just to... buy booze? pay rent (right)? impress somebody?

Oh, hey, opinion check. Does getting the master bedroom, complete with attached bathroom, mean that you should have to shoulder some additional responsibilities, like more rent?

Winds of Change

Things are just crazy around here, let me tell you. I got a phone call last week inviting me to interview for a Human Services position with the State in Ashland and spent all weekend freaking out about whether I should stay in my current job, which I really enjoy, even when it's insanely busy. I spoke to my boss about possibly going to the interview (yes, I thought it was better to be honest, thank you) and wound up talking for two hours about not just the jobs, but my negative self-image and all sorts of fun stuff. So, I've decided to stay with my current job, as I think I'm not very likely to find abother work environment quite as nice (we have good people and no internal politics that I've noticed... possibly because everyone is too busy *grin*)and because I think having the opportunity to learn the ins and outs of HR with be good for me.

ALSO, we are moving. Over the weekend we found a three bedroom, two bathroom HOUSE with sewer, water, and garbage PAID for $925, and we jumped on it. I'm reflecting on this with especial sweetness right now because my neighbors have their music so loud that I can hear the words and feel the wall shaking. Anyway, the only complication is that we can't get out of the 30-day-notice clause at the apartment and the new landlord needs us to move in by October 1st, which means we're going to be paying rent on both places, plus all the move-in fees on the other place. Things are going to be tight. But this is life, I guess. Alright, I'm going to leave you guys alone and go draft my 30-day notice letter. Tomorrow I get to call and ask that they pro-rate our rent and save us maybe $60... that would be nice...

Back to you, Stan!

Well, I am back to having a job now! I went in to my temp agencies last week to reactivate my account and on Wednesday I got a call from one of them asking me to come in for an interview for an internal position, and that afternoon, I was employed!! I'm the new staffing coordinator, which means I have to start dressing like a professional, makeup, suits (when I can't avoid it), and all. It's really scary because I've never been in anything like this before, having always been the office girl, but there is literally never any down time minus my lunch hour and breaks, so I don't get bored and into mischief. I'm making $5 an hour less, but I'm getting training and experience that is going to make me much more employable in the future... if I want to be. I think what I really need to do is go and make a small fortune and be independently wealthy. What do you guys think? At least I'm working with an office-full of people this time and I don't have to worry as much about what happened before. Anyway, I hope you guys are all doing well and enjoying the advent of autumn, one of my favorite times of year. Break out the scarves and hats!!

PS Melina, I tried to post to your blog, but I couldn't for some reason. I'm sorry!! I'll see if I can't figure it out.