It's a good thing I'm tired

I'm so excited for tomorrow, that if I weren't exhausted, I think I'd have trouble sleeping!

Tomorrow, after 2 years, 1 month and 5 days,

I CAN SMILE AGAIN.

pictures to follow....

I am GRADUATING in two weeks

Flat, don't have a cow, (teehee) I am NOT quitting school, I am getting out the right way, by graduating... with honors, I might add!

Thought I'd post this here instead of replying to your comment, better chance you'd see it!

As of May 8th, I am DONE with classes, and on May 16th at 7 pm, I am a college graduate!


Appreciate the concern, but chill!
LOL

flip! changed my mind

Yesterday at work, I got called in to Barb's office. (She's my boss) She said that she did not want to interview anyone. She has a huge stack of applications and resumes, and she had to talk to the regional HR person to get "permission" to NOT talk to any of them.

She offered me the job. I accepted.

I am a full time CSA effective June 1, and that's when I will start working Saturdays on a ROTATING schedule, instead of EVERY Saturday, and I can work other shifts besides closing every night. Not that I mind closing, but in the summer, it might be nice to get out of there earlier.

I will have a meeting within a month to discuss my benefits, what I can get, and if I want it, that sort of thing. Between now and then, JP and I need to look over the health insurance that we currently get from his employer, so I KNOW when I see my employer's plan, if it's better or not.

I guess I just decided that I am sick of hopping around, job-wise... I DO have a good job now, and I'm so used to having shitty jobs, that I think I'm almost LOOKING for something in this one that isn't perfect.
No job is perfect, if it was, they wouldn't call it "work"
But this job is a good one, it does not require safety glasses, or steel toed shoes, something I have done before, and swore once that I would NEVER go back to. The pay is, after 6 months, almost as high as what I was making the last time I had to wear safety glasses and steel toed shoes, and crushed my finger in a press brake.
The worst thing I have to worry about for injuries here: a paper cut.

I can do this, and I will do this.
Maybe within a few years, I will do a night thing and go get my Bachelor's Degree, try moving to the other side of the bank, be a personal banker or a loan officer, but for now, I'm thinking this is good.
And, according to Steff's definitions, my ducks are finally in a row.
big sigh of relief.

On the job

Rather, on the subject of jobs...

I DID apply for the full time position, interviewing will begin next week. I figured that as long as I'll be there all summer full time hours anyway, I might as well get paid full time teller pay. That is, assuming I get the job.

Two days after I put in my resume for that, JP showed me an ad in the classifieds. My husband works for the city we live in, as a power lineman... the city is looking for a person to work in the main office, working with accounting type stuff. The ad gave the minimum starting pay, and it is over 4K MORE than I make now (per year) and that's STARTING...

When he first showed me the ad, I thought, "Yeah, but I can't work for the City, YOU work for the city... " Then I remembered that two of the guys in JP's department are brothers... in the same department... if I went for and got this job, I would almost never see JP, the boys don't come down to the city office very often... and if they let Dan and Steve work together, it shouldn't be a problem for JP and I to both be employed by them, I doubt I'd be able to work in the payroll area, but this job is NOT that.
Can you imagine that? Being in charge of the payroll checks, and issuing a check to the hubby for... just a bit more.... That's an area where I can see a definite reason for not hiring family members.

So tomorrow I am going to print out a resume, and run over to the city office and apply for that. Much as I have always wanted to work at a bank, I realize now that I was really going in to it blind, and now that I've been there and know what it's like, I realize that I would go elsewhere for 1. more money or 2. same money, less 'nice'.

In this instance, 'nice' is defined as many things: conversations about hydrangeas, pants that need ironing, things that could be considered 'risque' being taboo and backstabbing catty women.

Besides, I think working in the City Office, I could wear jeans. Probably still have to stick with nice shirts, but that's never a problem, it's just the damn dress pants.

I will keep the blogosphere posted on this, I know the anticipation must be just killing you!
I hate having things up in the air, and my life is STILL up in the air, and it's starting to get annoying!
Just settle down dammit!

I was on hiatus

wow, long time no blog!

My week just sort of got away from me, I guess.

Did you see the news? We got snow... on April 26. Yes, that makes it 3 big snows in April for us... The weather bastard said last night that our total accumulation was 17 INCHES!! I am so sick of this, we had a couple of weeks of "spring like" weather, lulling us into a false sense of security, I now see. I'm so sick of it, really.

And now it's Sunday, my only day off, and I have a huge task ahead of me. Painting. I have decided, after yesterday afternoon of putting on the KILZ, that I am NOT doing this alone. I WILL have help. My arms are killing me today. I did three coats of KILZ on the dining room wall, and I did two coats of the darker color on 3 of the 5 hallway doors & door frames. I couldn't do the other two (Em and Eric's doors) because I haven't gotten the sticker residue off of them yet.
But so far, I really like the colors together, and I think it will be great when I (we!) are done. JP was supposed to go to Camp Ripley for Guards this weekend, but the snowstorm did have one benefit, they stayed in town. So instead of him being gone when I got home from work Friday night, and not seeing him until some time this evening, he's been home for "overnights" nudge nudge wink wink, and when he gets home this afternoon, I am going to guilt trip him into helping me get some painting done.
Don't get me wrong, I am going to work on it as soon as I am done blogging, but there's always more to be done, it's turned in to a HUGE project. I think if I can finish KILZing, and get the 3rd coat on those doors before he gets home, he can do a coat of paint in the dining room while I work on getting the living room ready, taking things off walls, wiping down the walls, moving furniture into the middle of the room, stuff like that, that is NOT painting for awhile.

I also have a pretty decent schedule for the next 2 weeks, not too many classes, and yet, not working until 3 each day (except Fridays, they're always an all day thing) so I am thinking that could be the perfect time to rip up the carpet and make a few trips to the dump.

OK, enough procrastination, time to paint... well, think I'll have a smoke first, no need to rush in to these things, ya know!
Shit, if I don't get this done today, I will be pissy all week, having to look at it NOT DONE... no smoke until paint is on a wall... THAT'S IT!

Lesson for the week: Don't rock the boat

Well, it's only Wednesday but I have already had a bugger of a week.

I found out that having an opinion, especially an unpopular one that does not cause warm fuzzy feelings is NOT appreciated in my class.

I'm sorry (no, I'm not) but I AM a boat rocker, I am an envelope pusher, I DO run with scissors, and I DON'T play well with others... I'm considering having a T shirt made...

So the deal is this: I have a problem with a choice made by my school concerning my graduation. I feel that the Provost should not be the one choosing the student giving the commencement address. But he did. And he made a bad choice. It's not entirely his fault, it was a lack of options.

Silly me, I voiced my opinion to a few classmates, one of them refused to speak to me afterwards, until I forced her to talk it out. This conversation is where I discovered that I am a heinous bitch because I have an opinion that is not "nice". I think we all remember here, gang, I have a problem with NICE.

Another friend, while she agreed with me, suggested that I just sit down and shut up and don't rock the boat, after all, we only have something like 2 and a half weeks until graduation, then we are done and after that, who the hell cares, right?

The speaker? Yeah, I don't really want to get in to it, but the thing is, there are SO MANY better candidates to give that speech. Even the friend who refused to speak to me, in fact, she's the one I thought it was when I heard that someone from our class had been chosen!

But I have decided to do exactly as I was advised, I'm going to sit down and shut up, and come May 16th, I am going to sit back and enjoy the show while she embarrasses herself and the school. And I won't say a thing, but you KNOW I'll be thinking it...


told ya so.
when will they learn? I'm always right (insert evil laugh here...)

Got the paint, and a plan

JP and I went out and got the paint for the trim... and some extra...
He's letting me paint more!
The dining room wall that connects to the hall that I already painted, AND the living room that is around the corner/ at the "photo taking" end of the hall. Go scroll back and see the 'before's again, and the dining room is to the right, and the living room is behind me... I'll post pictures when I can. After I do the painting, the next step (which I hope to have done before my graduation) will be to rip up the carpet that covers the hallway and runs into the living room and replace it with a pretty wood laminate flooring.

That means I don't have to be too careful with the paint, if I get a little on the carpet, it just means that we HAVE to replace it, it won't be an optional "someday" thing!

Coolest part is that it's not costing us a ton, even the flooring isn't too bad. We aren't planning on using the rebate check on it AT ALL.

With our window shopping at home improvement stores, we have found a good price on the fencing for the backyard. The rebate won't cover it all of it, but we should be able to save up the rest before the end of the summer and have it done by my birthday. I'm happy with the plans but I know it will take alot of work, and will be an exhausting few weeks, but I am really looking forward to the end result.

Even ear plugs can't muffle him

Holy shit, I think I may have to do something drastic. My ears hurt from wearing ear plugs all night, and even with them in, I can STILL HEAR him snoring.

He won't wear the Breathe-Right strips...
Last night was really bad. Ear plugs, a pillow held over my head and STILL heard him. It was damn near 2 am before I could get to sleep, and I had to work this morning. I'm very tired, and JP is watching a movie downstairs, so maybe I will go to bed now, and HOPEFULLY fall asleep before he comes up to bed. Then, HOPEFULLY I can also NOT wake up in the middle of the night to the sound of him snorting.

Tomorrow is a busy day, so I need to sleep well.

Liquids by the gallon

Gas is not the only liquid gold out there, ladies and gentlemen!

Milk. Bovine lactation fluid. Moo- Juice.

Whatever you call it, I need it often in this house and I have been struggling to find it at a price that does not require a home equity line of credit!

I found it last night at a most unexpected place. First off, I will not buy milk at my local grocery store, it's not a chain store, it a locally owned place. It's big and they have a pretty good selection of stuff. But they ARE the only grocery store in town. Then there's Walmart, a supercenter with groceries and everything. I will not buy milk at the grocery store because they charge over $4 a gallon for it! I had been going to Walmart, where it's "only" $3.72 per gallon.

Last night JP and went out to Menard's for a little scouting expedition. FYI, Menard's is a Home Depot/Lowe's kind of place, we have them up north, but I don't think they exist in the southern parts of the US. It is a gigantic warehouse of home improvement... and it is a wonderful place to dream and "what if"

So JP and I were "what if"ing with our kitchen and our fence and our bathrooms... and we found milk.
For $3.46 a gallon!!
They have a small section of grocery items, Hamburger Helper, Pringles, jars of spaghetti sauce, and a small refrigerator section full of milk! I was so happy that I bought 2 gallons of white, and a half gallon of chocolate to celebrate.

We also got a new doorbell dinger and a new light fixture for the hallway and new beige (the old ones are dark brown) light switches and plug-ins for the hall way... so it will all be nice with the new paint job. So JP has plenty of projects to keep him busy this weekend! We also got an estimate on doing the fence around the backyard. With the new white (no maintenance) PVC fencing, it's going to run us roughly $3000. We are getting about 2/3 of that from that rebate check that's supposed to arrive this summer. So I think we are going to do that.

Time to shower for school, another start to another busy day!

grumpy old men are cool

Yesterday I met Dan, the guy I'm tutoring. I love him! He is great, and he knows more than he thinks he does. I think he's intimidated by Marcus, and THAT is affecting his homework and test scores.

I think we can work around it, I think he will be fine. I have to go now, I have to meet him in 5 minutes. Yesterday after we worked together for 3 hours, he went and took a make-up exam in Word, and today we are going to go through Excel and he will take an exam on that this afternoon. I'm eager to hear what he got on that Word test from yesterday...

Homework, bowling and helping a Vet

Just a quick update on several topics...

When we got home from our weekend, I ran over to Cheri's house and got caught up on our homework for a class that SUCKS, it's called "Fund/Non Profit Accounting" and if anyone reading this blog EVER suffers from insomnia, let me know and I will send you the text. Knock you out in minutes, I guarantee it. Our instructor gave us the rundown on what we have to have done in that class by the end of the year, and now we are all busting ass to get it done and get it over with! I feel pretty good about where we are at on it, too. It's a major computer program, doing the accounting for a city... Smithville. It is SO AWFUL and dull. But very time consuming.

Tonight was our last night of "real" bowling. Next week is our "fun night" where we get to play differently, like one game will be 8 pin No Tap, and one game will be scotch doubles... just having fun. The following Monday night is our banquet. No bowling, just dinner and drinks, handing out prizes and plaques (none for our team, we suck, but some teams will get them! LOL)
But anyway, tonight, was so bizarre. We all bowled AMAZING in the first game, I had a 147, and that wasn't even the high for our team. The second game was also good for everyone, I had a darn-near high score for me, a 165!!

And then it all went to shit. Fast. For every one of us! I had a miserable 97. And it wasn't even the low score for us.
But, the cool thing was that we still beat the other team in all 3 games!

Also today, I got a visit from Marcus. If you don't know who he is, then you're not paying attention. He's an instructor. He is THE instructor that gave me a B. I would have a perfect 4.0 if not for Marcus. But I'm not bitter... yes, dammit, I am. Funny thing is, I DO like him, he's a pretty decent guy. He came to me today to ask me to tutor one of his students. I have free time every day, from 11 to 1. He said that this guy could work with that. He said that because this guy is a Vet, the VA would pay me $10 an hour to tutor him. That beats the work study pay of $8, and it's only one guy, not like the babysitting he wanted me to do earlier this year. OK, fine. Marcus says this guy is a bit of a grump, he's roughly 50 years old, and computer things do not seem to come naturally to him. Marcus said "I figured he could be rather intimidating and cranky... so I thought you two would be a perfect fit... you cannot be intimidated, and you're cranky, too, so I figure that if anyone could handle him, you could"

Gee, thanks, I think!

That will only last through the end of the year, and that's not too long. The VA has agreed to pay up to 5 hours a week. Dan (cranky old guy) is only on campus 2 days a week, Tuesdays and Thursdays. I figure we can do about 2 and a half hours each of those days. It's $50 a week for about 3 or 4 weeks.
But here's the kicker... the class that I am tutoring this guy through, the class that I am supposed to know well enough to help out a guy... is the same class that Marcus gave me a B in!
Sometimes I think he's a jackass.

That's all, the Minnesota Wild just went up 2 to 1 in the 3rd period, and I want to watch the last of the game.

Boxing weekend

We had an interesting weekend.
JP and 'his boys' wanted to go to a casino about 2 hours away. There was a boxing match (is that what it's called? There were actually 5 or 6 different fights...? I don't know) on Saturday night, all locals, from the Minnesota/North Dakota area, and a couple of Canucks, too.

So all these guys wanted to go, and betting that SOMEONE'S wife would put up a stink, they decided to make a weekend of it, and invite the wives. I had told JP when he mentioned it a month ago, that I was not interested in the boxing. Leave me in the casino bar or parked in front of a penny slot machine, and go watch silly men pummel each other, I don't care.

Well, the one guy in charge of getting the hotel rooms and boxing tickets just went ahead and got tickets for everyone, so I "had" to go. The first match really proved my point, very dumb.
But it got better... against my better judgement, I had a really good time. It was obvious to me, that the matches got better as the night wore on. The second to the last one was actually my favorite, some guy named Chris Holt, a local guy, a guy that my husband actually knows and has spent some time chatting with, was fighting. It was really exciting, I actually found myself screaming things like "Hit him! Kick his ass!"
Yes, there was SOME alcohol involved. Not a ton, but enough.
We had a good time, I was surprised.
We also spent a bit of time in the casino. Thanks to JP winning a bit, we didn't come out too bad. I really love slot machines, but those dirty bastards do not like me. I know there is no skill involved AT ALL, and it's all luck, but holy shit, if it weren't for bad luck, I wouldn't have any luck at all. Like I said, thank goodness for JP doing not too bad, we almost broke even.
We don't do it often, in fact, I do believe that's the first time we have EVER stayed overnight at a casino, and the first time in years we've even been to one together.

Good thing, too...

picture of my NHS thingy

it's actually PTK, greek letters... Phi Theta Kappa, yeah, that's it. So, there we are... big brainy dorks!

Staying but maybe looking

Well, I did some thinking on it, and I think I have figured it out.
I AM going to apply for Kim's job. Whether I stay at the bank or not, whether I work through the summer as a temp or a full time employee, I WILL be working full time hours. The difference? The pay. Full time employees make more than "seasonal". I am going to apply, and (assuming a bit here) once I get it, I will continue to work there and 'just see'. Who knows, maybe working full time will be better... I doubt it, but hell, I've been wrong before. I figure that by the end of the summer I will know. I think 3 to 4 months is a good test period. If, at the end of the summer, I am ready to scream, kill a nice lady or pull my hair out, then I will suck it up, keep working there while looking for other employment. But, if I decide I LOVE it, then it's all settled, I'm in!

Then there's the third scenario: Getting Kim's job gets my foot in the door permanently, and if/when a job opens up on the 'other side' of the bank, personal bankers area, trusts, insurance, whatever, I can bid on something over there. They do have a 6 month requirement on that... meaning that you must work in your current position for a minimum of 6 months before you can apply for a different position. Well, if I start full time in Mid May, that keeps me there until November at a minimum. That's assuming that my 6 month counter starts over when I move from temp/seasonal to full time. If it doesn't start over ( and really, it shouldn't, they're the same JOB) then I've already got over 6 months in as a teller.

So there, as y'all know, I hate it when things are up in the air, and here I've made a decision to PUT things up in the air for a minimum of 4 months. You realize this is already driving me batshit, right?

another debate, a big one

I'm debating again today, but this one is more important than getting out of bed (which, BTW, I did not on Tuesday...hehe)

I made mention of the nicey-nice bank conversations when I was talking about Kim leaving. Well, my boss talked to me Wednesday about Kim's leaving creating a position opening. A full time position. She said that if I wanted it, I would have to apply, and let me know how to do that. Then she said some things that made me think that SHE THINKS that I shouldn't. She made it sound like I should stay in my position, which goes to full time hours over the summer, but it is still a temporary position through August. She said things about making sure I could work with these people on a full time basis, that working with them for just a couple of hours per day is way different than all day, every day. I agree with that. But it almost sounded like she was saying that I don't fit in, and I should stick with my temp position until I realize that.

I've realized it for awhile now, but I (thought) I was faking my way along pretty well.
Here's the deal: these women are nice. I am not. I mean, I'm a fairly nice person and all, but holy shit, these women wouldn't say SHIT if they had a mouthful, and I, on the other hand, say it frequently. It's not just that, if it were a matter of me watching my mouth, um, DUH, I could do that, HELL, I DO DO THAT!
They have conversations that I simply cannot fathom. Full conversations about whether they would add onions or scallions to a recipe that they found in a Rachel Ray magazine. They're all excited about planting their gardens and their flower beds. They say things like "My goodness" where I say "holy crap" or "No shit?!" They forward email jokes that are non-offensive to ANYONE and that are non-funny to ANYONE, and they do their little laugh, that polite lady laugh.
I'm not like them. I don't think I will EVER be like them. I don't think I want to be like them.
I don't fit in.
I want to do the books for a company where I can go to work and wear jeans, and be comfortable being me!
Here I thought I had finally landed a dream job. It really was always my dream to work in a bank. I guess you just don't know what you're getting in to until you're there.

I am doing some serious thinking about what I want to do... I have until April 17th to bid on Kim's job, if I so choose. Otherwise I can just hang on with the temp position through the summer and see how it goes. If Barb is right, and it is very different working full time with them, different in a bad way, I will have a year of experience to take with me looking for something else. If it's different in a good way, then I will apply for full time at my bank in August.

ugh. i hate this.

debating

I don't wanna

but I should

but I don't wanna

but I should

I don't feel good

tough shit, get up

no, I don't wanna

Inner conversation with myself... I am coming down with the icky flu like stuff that's had my husband whining for the past 2 weeks, and I feel awful. I KNOW I have to go in for my 1 o'clock class, I have a test in there. The debate is over my morning classes. It's either get up, shower and get dressed and GO to the damn classes... OR... (and doesn't this sound wonderful?) crawl back into my warm bed for a few more hours...

Ah, the debate rages on...

A snow day

Yes, that's right, we had a SNOW DAY today. As in, no school for the kids, no classes for me, BECAUSE OF SNOW!

Well, somehow my boss got wind of it, and she called me at 9:30 to see if I wanted to come in to work early. Well, I'm just a girl who can't say NO... so I went in at 11 instead of 3.

And I got some bad news at work. My co-worker Kim, who I really love working with, put in her 2 weeks' notice today. She's the only one I can really talk to, like, normal Nik talking. None of that nicey-nice bank conversation shit. She and were closing together darn near every night for awhile there. I'm really going to miss her.

I bowled fairly decent tonight, next week is our last night, then we have a banquet night, and that's it. A long season finally coming to a close.

April showers, MY ASS

THIS is what happens on April 6th in Minnesota... sonovabitch... yesterday I was wearing capris and flip-flops!

This is my big pine tree in the back yard... snow so heavy that it has weighed down the boughs.

And here is just an example of how much Hailey approved of the weather. She LOVES to play in the snow. It took me forever to get all the snow chunks out of her fur...

Sweeny Todd, a review

We went out and got this movie tonight.
Back when it was in theaters, it was not in ours.
Dammit.
I love a good Tim Burton movie, and just about anything with Johnny Depp will have my attention.
This was a GREAT movie. It's a musical, full blown, arms out, head thrown back singing kind of musical. I think that might have thrown my kids for a loop, but Alex stuck it out and watched the whole thing. It was really good, and the ending was a real... killer.

I am getting sick. The kind of sick that JP has been for the past 2 weeks. Long gasping coughs, throbbing headaches, the works. Dammit.

I am going in to the bank tomorrow... yeah, that's right, on a SUNDAY. Our computer system is getting an upgrade, and my supervisor and I have to be there to push buttons on each of the 10 terminals for about 3 to 4 hours. Barb asked me if I would help her with this, since we can do it twice as fast together as she could alone. Well, I need the hours, and I am not completely computer illiterate. So technically I did agree to do it, but reality: didn't have much choice when I was asked by my supervisor...

Oh, and an update on the hallway, I haven't gotten the paint yet for the doors and frames, lack of time and money right now... but I have the color picked out... that'll have to do for now.

News from Tuesday

I was too tired Wednesday, and for that matter, it lasted through today!
But Tuesday was the Induction Ceremony for Phi Theta Kappa, the national honor society for 2 year colleges. Since ours was a new charter, we had to have a pre-induction ceremony to basically START the chapter. So we 16 who were there to be the first inductees got to sign the charter. It looked a bit like the Declaration of Independence, and immediately after we each signed it, it was framed. Nobody else will ever sign it. I thought that was pretty cool. The Charter will hang in the school now, and MY name is on it.

The best part of the night, the one thing that made me do that little hitch of breath was when JP got there. Remember me saying that Alex's high school orientation was the same night? Alex's thing started at 6:30, mine began at 7. JP took Alex while Mom brought Emma and Eric to my thing. Once all the speakers started babbling (including the provost of the college, who, BTW, is a horrible public speaker!) I kept looking over my shoulder at the door, watching for JP and Alex to arrive. I hoped and hoped that they would make it in time.

And they did. Just after the boring speeches, they came sneaking in. I turned and looked just in time to see my husband sitting down next to my daughter. That made my day!

Afterwards, mom took the kids home and JP and I went out with a bunch of other 'inductees' to a bar in town that has 2-for-1's after 9 pm... They also had karaoke and a dance floor. JP even had a good time. He was talking with some guys (hubbies of classmates, and one male classmate) that he met THAT NIGHT, and was not silent and shy... of course, he DID have a few beers...It was a really good night, got home just before 2 am though! Needless to say, not many of us made it to our 8 am class on Wednesday!

More later, but that was my Tuesday, it was a good one!

Long week, lots to tell

But not now.
went out drinking last night and I have a very busy day today, won't get home until after 7pm, meeting after work, so any updating posts will have to wait til Thursday...

I had a great night last night, 'nuff said for now!
More on our top stories in tomorrow night's evening news...

I'm so tired.