Week From Hell

Ok, so I think I can finally talk about it. I think I am now calm enough to talk about the worst or what felt like the worst week of my life. First, Sunday, after having an absolutely fabulous weekend with my mom at the Mall of America, I was driving to work. I was stopped by a police for not stopping at a stop sign. I will admit that I did kind of roll on through but no one was coming and the mall wasn't even over. The Cop though said I just kept on going as if I didn't even see the sign, not true! Anyway, I was couldn't find my car's registration. I know I had it but I just couldn't find it. Well, it turns out that I did have it but it was a lot bigger then the older ones so I did see it I just didn't think it was it, if that makes sense. Good news, I did find it before I went to the Jo. Co. Treasurer's office to get a new one. Well, that just put me in a really bad mood all day. I tried to cheer myself on Monday by wearing my new dress I bought but it really didn't work and then Tuesday was about the same but then the shit really hit the fan. I mean that literally. I was really tired on Tuesday. I guess, my bad mood really wore me down, so Tuesday I went to bed early. Good thing. Around 11:15 I heard a thud. I got up to check things out. It looked like a pillow exploded all over the place. I turned on the light to find out that part of my ceiling had fallen. It knocked over a fan and a lamp. I didn't know what to do so I called dad, I left a voice mail for my apartment owner and then met a few friends from work for a beer. I needed to calm nerves. Around 7am my phone rings and the caller id says that it's the owner calling, I answer but no one is there. I leave another message thinking it was just a glitch. I try to sleep for another hour because I know that his office isn't open for another hour. I call the office at 8am. I talk to him. He says he will send someone this afternoon. Well, I really think someone is going to get to me before then right, I mean my ceiling has caved in! Around 2, I call back to see what's going on. I get the owner's son, he didn't seem to know what was going on and he would call me back with more details on the maitenance man. Ok, great. 3pm rolls around and I'm thinking it shouldn't take an hour to find out what the maitenance man. So, I call back. I get a girl this time, I explain what's going on, she puts me on hold, asks around, then gets back to me and says, the maitenance man is in a meeting until 7, he'll call after that. What! Well, 10 minutes later the son calls back to tell me that the "mm" is on his way. He comes and is like wow, that's bad. You think? He doesn't know what to do. He thinks maybe there is a leak on the roof that soaked down into the insulation to make it wet and heavy to make the roof fall but we couldn't see any wet spot but the ceiling is definitely damp but here's the thing. He didn't bring a ladder. If your told to looke at someone's ceiling, you would bring a roof. He calls the son, the son brings the ladder, they go on the roof and I go have a beer with my neighbor Helen. Well, there was a leak on the roof and they get that fixed but the bad news is that there is nothing they can do about my ceiling that night so I still had ceiling shit all over my apartment. Great. I had to be at work at 7 the next morning, so I was told that someone was going to be in my apartment to work on it but I wasn't really all that confident that would happen after Wednesday's fiasco. I fully expected to come back from work to find nothing had been done. Well, good news, there was someone working on my ceiling and he was almost done. He finishes and then tells me, he would call the owner to get someone to clean it up. What! He's not going to do it! He leaves and I'm shell shocked. I no longer have a whole in my ceiling but my apartment is worse then before. There is more insulation on my floor and it was all over the place. At least before it was some what confined to half of my living room. I was really confused. I just assumed that the contractor would clean things up after he was done dry walling, so I called the office again and got the son again. He didn't know for sure when the person was going to come, he was going to call his dad and call back. He did, this time it only took him about 10 minutes to get back to me. I wish he had waited. Basically I got scolded by his dad. The cliff notes version is that I should stop calling because it's not going to make anything go faster, he's stress enough as it is but is trying the best he can and that he is sorry this happened. What! Excuse Me! Can you believe it? Fuck Him! He's stressed out! He doesn't have to leave with. I only wanted to know what was going on. I think I have the right to know what was going on since it was my belongings that were covered in shit from his leaky roof!! Is that so wrong? How dare he yell at me! I called my mom, in tears, I was really upset. I couldn't believe it. After the week I have had, I really didn't need that. Mom, was finishing up her laundry and then take me out to dinner to calm me down. She got there the same time, the clean up man came. The first thing he says when he sees the mess is "Holy Shit!" I'm like, yeah! No kidding! What do these people think I have been complaining about? Dinner was great and by the time we got back my apartment was clean and back to normal. So, that's it. That is my week. Today, fortunately, it got better. Mom and I saw Ratotouille! It was wonderful go see it! Then we grilled brats and I played with mittens. Definitely a better day!

1st(?) Annual Easter Dinner

I'm sure you are all wondering how my dinner went. Well, I am happy to report it was a success. I had a couple of speed bumps but all in all I made a yummy dinner and all of my guests went home full and happy. Let me tell you about my day.

I woke up around 10am. I went to Hy-vee to get all the food. Mom had suggested that I get a Hormel roast because they were a) on special and b) have directions on how to cook it. Well, our Hy-Vee only had pork roasts and I really wanted beef. It turns out that the great people of Hy-Vee's meat department put directions on the back of their meat as well so that was perfect. I got a 2.09 lbs. round roast. I walked my food back to my apartment and put everything away and then headed out to Target. I needed to by more chairs. I downgraded on the chair department when I moved to my new apartment. I only had 2 chairs, 3 if you count the recliner. You all know I prefer to sit on the floor when I'm home. Anyway, so I drive over to Target but I forgot they were closed! Target Was Closed on EASTER but B&N was open. I drove over to the store to tell this mom and pick up the book I ordered. It was a good thing I did because I got to talk to Amy and Melissa and confirm our plans for tonight. Ok, so now that Target was closed, I had to do something I really didn't want to do. I went to Wal-Mart. sigh. I bought my chairs and left got out of there.

After all of this it was almost 1pm. I did a quick check of the emails and had lunch before I started the clean up of the apartment. I started with the bathroom because it was the smallest room in my place. I wiped down all the counters, scrubbed, swept and then mopped. It now sparkles! I then moved to the kitchen and did the same thing but before I could mop the floor I had to pick up the floor. I had a few things still in boxes that I haven't unpacked yet. I decided that maybe this was a good time to do that. It turns out there was a lot of things I could have thrown out months ago. So I did but it begs the question, why did I move all this stuff with me? I then went ahead and picked up my living room. Throwing away random things, junk mail and all receipts and what not. (Kat I did find Rebekah's present after all. It was in a bag and in a bag in a bag.) By this time, I had 3 bags of trash and a couple of empty boxes to throw away so 2 trips to the trash thing later I was finally starting to see some progress. Next, I swifter mopped around my kitchen and vacuumed my living room and I couldn't believe that my apartment was so clean! And it only took about 2 and half hours, too. I was sure it would take me longer. This would be a theme for the the night. It was too early to start cooking so I sat down and watched the Masters. Local boy, Zach Johnson won by the way. Here are some pictures of my new clean apartment.


The directions told me that it would take about an hour and half to 2 and half hours to cook my roast so around 4 I decided to preheat my oven and prepare my roast. I didn't know what kind of seasoning to put on it. I should have asked dad if I could borrow one of his rubs but I didn't. I wasn't confident with playing around with the different spices and herbs I had, so I decided to leave if Au natural! After, what I thought was an appropriate time, I started the potatoes. After like 20 minutes because that's what mom said it should take I dumped out the water and started to mash, which was hard because I couldn't find our masher. I'm sure we had one. Anyway, some of the potatoes were soft and easy to mash but others were still a little hard. They ended up being a little more lumpy then I would have liked but other then that they were good. Last but not least put on the veggies on the stove and they were done early too. I was done 30 minutes before I expected Katie, she was the only, besides me, who didn't work on Sunday so I knew she would be there first. I was a little panicked. I kept the roast in the oven on warm and the potatoes and veggies on low on the stove and hoped that would keep them warm. To calm my nerves, I opened my bottle of Cava that I bought for New Year's that I haven't opened yet. I had about an glass and a half before Katie got there after 6:30. I would end up finishing that bottle, by myself, by the end of the evening. When Katie got to my apartment, I thought it would be safe for cut the roast and serve everything because I was hungry and the rest of the girls should be here any minute. I told them, they didn't need to bring anything but I really should have known better because they stopped at Hy-vee to get some beer. Amy, Jackie and Melissa didn't get there until around 7, so I had to quickly reheat things in the microwave but luckily the roast was still warm. So, the lesson I learn, always plan to have the meal ready a half an hour later then you expect your guests, just in case they are late. After all of that, We finally sat down to eat and I think we were all hungry because the food went fast. We spent the rest of the evening talking, gossiping more like it, and drinking. Between the 5 of us, I have 18 bottles to return. I was probably the most drunk because not only did I finish my bottle of Cava myself but had to beers as well. It was a good thing I live here. *lol* When Katie and Melissa left at 11:30, I was so tired that I just went straight to bed and left the dishes for Monday. I had to get up early to open. At work, we are now having zone time in the morning. Which is nice because, it's 2 hours without customers but it's also 7 in the morning! That's harsh. Anyway, that's life. So, yes it was very successful! I will do it again but probably not for a while because it is a lot of work.

Melissa, Katie, Amy and Jackie before we ate my Delicious Easter dinner!

Yesterday after I work I washed my dishes, I moved my table next to my fridge and moved the shelves in the corner next to my windows. It gives me so much room, which is what I will need when I get my futon on Friday. The futon I'm thinking of getting is pretty sweet! The arms have adjustable tables on them, so you can either have a table or not but most importantly, when people come and stay with me they have a place to sleep! So that is what went down on Sunday. I'm definitely proud of myself. I'm not as inept in cooking as I thought. Now, I have to get myself ready to go to work. Ick.

Spring Cleaning

Happy Easter everyone. Today is the day of rebirth. To start anew and in that spirit I did a little cleaning today. I did it mostly because I am having friends over for dinner and I didn't want to see how my apartment usually is but as I got going I really got into it. I went through boxes and threw away things I didn't need anymore. Like, old receipts and magazines that I have no idea why I kept in the first place, let alone why I brought them with me when I moved last year. I found things that I thought I lost or forgotten I had. I guess you could say that it's been a very productive day and the cleaning part didn't take me as long as I thought because I still have another half an hour before I should start cooking. Yes, I am cooking. I know for those who know me this is shocking because I never cook. I've never been really all that interested in and I'm also not very good. I'm sure one thing had to do with the other but I digress. I'm going to cook a roast, mashed potatoes and veggies and for dessert Carrot Cake. (It is Easter after all and it was on sale at Hy-Vee) I'm really excited about the whole thing. I'm pretty sure I will do fine but I am a bit worried about the roast though. I've never tried anything like this but really how hard could it be? I just put it in a little roasting pan and let it cook and a couple of hours later, it's done. Speaking of which, I better get myself going. Happy Easter and Spring Cleaning everyone!

Since the last time we talked.

Since my last post, I have been to the UK and back. I visited my sister, Kat, who lives in Cardiff, Wales. I wish I was still there because I really miss my sister. I guess I got spoiled living with her because I got to see her every day. Now it's more like twice a year. Not enough. We didn't do all that much. We spent a few days in London, a day in Bath and then an afternoon at the Museum of Welsh Life. Mostly we just hung out and spent time together. That's what I really wanted. I've been the island enough that most of the "touritsy" things I have already done and what I haven't done yet, that's Ok. I have my reason. Mostly I'm not interested or not going to pay that much to see it. I just wanted to hang out with my sister. Watch movies, go shopping, hang out a pubs. You know things we used to do at home. It was so wonderful. I can't wait for her to come home in April!

Now that I am back, I have to get serious about my diet again. The week before my vacation, I kind of took a vacation from my vacation. I basically went out every night, ate whatever I wanted and didn't even bother to exercise. I gained back 5 lbs! I was really disappointed with myself because after all that work to get to the 30 lb benchmark, I ruined it. While I was on holiday, I did lose 2 lbs but it wasn't because I was watching what I was eating but all the walking we did around London and Cardiff. I do this. I lose interest. I find that I can put in less effort and still get away with a little bit and I become content with that. Before all of this, I would have a nutrisystem breakfast and then a dinner but have a lunch out or have breakfast and then have lunch or dinner out. And I was still losing weight but not as fast as I was before. I know that early in your diet you lose weight faster but I'm not helping my cause by sabotaging myself here. My goal was to be at my goal weight loss of 60 lbs by June. That's not going to happen. I will be happy to reach the 45 lbs mark by then. I wanted to not look like a blimp when I went to the pool this summer and be able to wear a cute little tankini. At least I will look less a blimp this year. Anyway, Well I'm starting over. From today, I'm going to back to how I was on the beginning. I'm only eating my meals unless I am meeting friends. (Tomorrow, I'm meeting Anna and Stephanie for dinner!) I bought yogurt and bananas to have with breakfast and a bag of lettuce for lunch and dinner and new bag of frozen veggies for dinner. I'm going to exercise 4 times a week and I'm going go outside and walk. I'm going to do this because I am tired of being fat! I'm halfway to my goal now and I'm not going to stop now!

HAPPY

I am happy to announce that as of today, I have lost 30 POUNDS! I am halfway to my goal! I'm super excited because I've been lacking in motivation recently. I think it's been the weather. I hate winter. It just puts me in a bad mood BUT despite this I have lost 30 lbs! This was exactly what I needed. I'm back. I've already did my exercises for today and I'm going to make my healthy lunch now! THIRTY POUNDS!!! WOOHOO!!!

P.S. I'm having a very Sex in the City moment. I'm wearing my Skinny Jeans! From the Express!