...we have a Christmas tree!

Tonight was a nice little adventure.
I've been working my ass off lately, and there's really no end in sight.
I don't have tomorrow off like I thought I did, and in stead of getting Monday off for my endo appointment, I have to be in 5-cl...luckily I have Wednesday off!

So tonight we went to get our Christmas tree...
we wandered around Big Lots and Walmart for the perfect assortment of ornaments and such...our tree will look awesome!
Then we hit Home Depot for the actual tree...between teeth chattering and hands numbing (winter has arrived, folks!) we found a great tree for < $20!

since I have to be in so damned early tomorrow we didn't get to decorate it yet...but definitely tomorrow after my shoot with Lauren! Yay!

It smells like yule!

now..sleep.

Comment! (1) | Recommend! | Categories: christmas tree [t], work [t]

man, ive been terrible about this...ive just been so goddamned busy!
been workin a lot...not a lot to tell..
early mornings, and no end until wednesday...ugh!
6 day work week comin up...lookin at about 46 hours...


tonight we're goin to get a tree (as chris etheracide mentioned) and decorate some! holidayish shoot tomorrow! thats it! pictures to come!

Comment! (1) | Recommend! | Categories: work [t]

Monday night was pretty fun aside from being so late and making Chris upset at me. :( It was good to see Tara and the kids, and the shoot itself was nothing but adventure...seriously. Hah!

Last night's show was aMAZing. The boys looked really good up ont he main stage, and I took a LOT of pictures. Heh. Some of those will be posted later! It was a late night, but I made it through the entire show. The lead singer of the last band looked REALLY familiar...but I couldn't place him, so maybe I was just half asleep.

So today I got up nice and early to head out to the airport. I got there in awesome time. I THOUGHT I was early because Eli told me 1130.....ya, it started at 11, so I was late. OOPS! Not exactly the starting impression I hoped for, but tant pis. Halfway through the information session my head started to hurt so bad I couldn't see straight. It was then that I remembered I hadn't eaten breakfast, and I thought to myself "I really hope my blood sugar doesn't crash until I'm out of here." Halfway towards the group interview part where I had to get up and answer a couple questions in front of everyone I crashed and almost fainted mid-sentence. Luckily, there was a nice bowl of Jolly Ranchers on the water table and no one faulted me for grabbing 4 of them. Now, I'd been a little worried about the one-on-one interview because I wasn't sure I could pull another day off anytime soon. Last year I got called back the next day, and I knew there was no WAY I'd make it tomorrow. Well, karma was on my side today, because they decided to do the one-on-one portions this afternoon! It meant I had to hang out in the lobby trying to simultaneously NOT die and remember all the information I needed for the novel of an application I had to fill out. Luckily, my phone has internet access, because I didn't remember half the phone numbers I needed. I really think that part went well, not JUST because I knew one of the interviewers. I'm good at interviews, so I'm not worried. Now I just have to wait. If the timing goes about the same way it did last year it should be perfect...after Christmas, but more than 30-days before my COBRA lapses.

After the interview I FINALLY got to eat. Yay! Tomorrow's a late day so I can relax for a little bit. I might try to see if I can find the outlet for the lights while the suns out. The next few days at work are going to run together, but we're getting our tree after work Saturday! Exciting things amok!

For now, I'm gonna put my jammies on and relax!
Gnight all!

Comment! (4) | Recommend! | Categories: etheracide [t], photography [t], SWA [t]

Where to start!
Ok, Thursday we woke up and started preparations for Thanksgiving, watched the Macy's parade, and waited for Chris' mom to come over. Several hours, lots of dirty pots and pans, a little improvisation, and an oven fire later we finally got to eat! It was a really good dinner, albeit a little late, which means we have quite a bit of dessert sitting around. Our apartment looked splendid, and nothing says "happy holidays!" like a John Waters film. However, because we were so late eating, by the time dinner was finished and Chris' mom opened her birthday presents it was getting after 11pm, so I tried to go to bed. I ended up not being able to sleep until Chris was in bed, which wasn't until 1am or so. Now, this wouldn't have been a problem had we not planned on getting up at 2:45am to head out for some Black Friday craziness.

2:45 the alarm went off. 3am we headed to Best Buy with the intention of getting a camcorder for $132. 3:45am I lost feeling in my hands. 4am they started handing out vouchers to get the deeply discounted items. 4:45am we left because we didn't get a voucher. 5am we headed back home because I realized I'd left my wallet at home. 5:45 am we got in line at Target. 6am we finally got to enter a retail business establishment! We got our camcorder for a little more than it was at Best Buy, but still nicely discounted. I also got my stained glass snowman light! I say one of my managers in line at Target, which was pretty neat. From Target we headed to the mall where we got McBreakfast, and I got at least 80% of my list taken care of, and I even got my jewelry box! (Maybe Chris will get me something nice and shiny to put in it? hah) When the box started to cut off circulation to my fingers we lugged it out to the car, and Chris came home to sleep because the lucky bastard had yesterday off.

Then it was time for work. Running on an hour or so of sleep, at 9am I walked into the studio for what would be a long day. It was chaotic, it was long, and the mall must have been 90degrees because everyone was overheated and sweating (even customers), but it still wasn't too bad. I was surprisingly alert and awake for having been up and running for so long. In fact, I was too awake to crash and sleep as I'd planned when I got home, so we headed BACK to Best Buy to get another item I wanted but hadn't felt like fighting the 5am crowd for. Chris looked at MP3 players, but he didn't get one, so we headed over to Walmart to see if they had any on sale. They didn't, but we did end up getting some nice Christmas stuff to decorate with! We also found the ornaments and lights we want for our tree and balcony, but we'll have to get those next week. As it stands, I've got about $4 in my account. yesterday was payday, so I've got another 2 weeks to be close to penniless. It was probably not the best idea to spend my ENTIRE paycheck on presents and a much needed new cd/dvd drive for my computer, but if I hadn't done it yesterday I would've never been able to afford a gift for everyone on my list. As it is, I've only got four people left! But I digress...We left Walmart, headed to Best Buy for the third time that day, and finally got Chris his MP3 player!

About that time we were both cold and broke. Chris had slept all day so he was about as tired as he would've normally been, but I was seriously starting to crash. I had reached delerious about the time we got to Best Buy, so it was time to come home...and I slept until I had to get up for work this morning.

Today didn't have to be stressful or frustrating. Were we busy? Yes. Were we running all day? Yes, but I can handle all that. I thrive on that. I focus better when there's chaos. It brings my head together. What I didn't need was to be lectured by my manager when there was absolutely nothing else I could've done to make the sitting better. I did my best, I worked my ass off, and the parents were not only realistic about what they would get but also highly impressed that I DID managed to get what I did. I don't even mind criticism, but calling me sloppy, interrupting me when I tried to explain, and talking to me like I either did it on purpose with lots of other options or like I don't know how to do my job was infuriating. I was really close to just walking out. Luckily, I like what I do for the most part, and I need a job. So I had my mini breakdown in the bathroom, sucked it up, and went on with my day. That particular family complimented me to the girl who showed the pictures, so that made me feel a little better, too. The rest of the day went pretty well, so I was able to refocus and eventually I was in a pretty good mood.

Tomorrows my day off. We talked about going to visit Chris' grandparents, who I have yet to meet, but I'm not sure what we're doing. Tonight we're putting up the Christmas stuff we have. I think we're going to try the butter toffee hot chocolate we bought the other night, too!

So, anyone who's still reading this gets a blue star for the evening...sorry for the novel. Heh. Have a good Saturday night all!

Comment! (1) | Recommend! | Categories: thanksgiving [t], work [t]

Today the circus came to town...and they all wanted pictures taken.
Yes, ladies and gents, the circus has returned, scheduled to run through our store like a bunch of wild turkeys until Christmas. Of course...today marked the beginning of the first DIGITAL circus i've had the pleasure to take part in, which has it's own, unique set of issues to handle. What to do when the trapezes freeze. What to do when the lion's roar wont upload. What to do when there just arn't enough damned rings on the floor or clowns in the car. Alas, we survived...for now. It was a long day, dear readers, but we survived.

When I finally managed to escape the circus, I found Chris and the car waiting for me in the parking lot. Huzzah! We got home, finally got our turkey (which may or may not develop some sort of poisoning agent because it won't fit in the fridge, so it HAS to defrost at room temperature), ordered some chinese (because we haven't spent enough money on food for JUST tomorrow), watched some Growing Pains, and buckled down to work like pilgrim shoes! We chopped, we sliced, we boiled, and we decorated. I must say, this place looks pretty festive. This is probably the most I've ever looked forward to Thanksgiving. Of course, our 6 has turned to 4...and we have enough to feed 10...but that means I get to be creating about how many different ways we can eat leftovers before we OD on triptophan.

Well, my eyelids are getting heavier and heavier...and tomorrow is gonna be a big day. I'm trying to not even think about Friday or Saturday....or the rest of next week. I didn't get my day off for Wednesday, which is something I'll go into further later. For now, goodnight, and Happy Thanksgiving! Count your blessings twice today!

Comment! (2) | Recommend! | Categories: thanksgiving [t], work [t]

today was pretty boring...
but chris and i got lots of goodies for thursday...
my wallet is missing....hopefully i find it soon....i really have no clue where it is...
i almost cried at the store because they wouldnt take a check without id and my id is in my wallet with my check cards...luckily chris is he-man and he fixed it hah...so that was our adventure...
tomorrow were supposed to be getting a few things at the mall...which will be impossible without my wallet...
feck!

tomorrow i should know if i got the say off for my group interview next week. otherwise i have to find out who to contact about the next one. bah!

gah! work tomorrow....long day wednesday...then prep for thursday so i can RELAX!

Comment! (3) | Recommend! | Categories: trhanksgiving [t], wallet is missing [t]