fun-filled non-holiday weekend

this past weekend.. friends were coming over.. bbq was planned.. food was bought..
Friday came around.. no one showed.. hmm.. oh well
nice quiet Fridays are still nice.. no chaos, no d.d
           NiCe!!

so Saturday, we planned the bbq-ing.. big, BiG, BIG beef brisket (14 lbs +) 
Ronnie started cutting logs for bbq, with his "new" miter saw (yeah.. ya see where this is headed?) 
while I'm inside working on 'stuffs'.. I hear a 'ka-thud' (uh oh).. then he continues cutting (phew..)
                   then another 'ka-thud'.. saw turns off.. he comes inside.. 
ow.. ow.. I know I hurt myself.. ow.. ow.. 
                   we look.. his finger is red.. like, real red

yeah.. something's not right..
do not cut a log on a miter saw..
not if you're holding it down by yourself..

stick a pin under your nail..
stick another pin under your nail..
then squeeze, squeeze, squeeze..

continuing on with the day (yeah. really)
dumb stupid log on the fire.. 
meat on the grill.. 

okay, stick a pin in your nail
stick another pin in your nail.
then squeeze, squeeze, squeeze..

measure.. compare..
& squeeze some more..

it's turning purple.. 
it's consistently leaking..

the peoples are over now.. 
are we crazy? 
no trip to urgent care? 
what will that cost? 

no proof of insurance 
          (crazy Kaiser..)
need to check paperwork for policy #

a 14-lb brisket is good eatins'!!

steak rolls.. 

bbq sauce.. 

ketchup.. 

tomatoes & lettuce

yumm-yumm-yummerz!!

does Kaiser have urgent care around here? 
what time do they open on Sundays?
are they open on Sundays? 

hydrogen peroxide..
foamy finger..
paper towel with duct-tape..
tie it all together..
go to bed and try to forget about it..

Sunday
finger is more purple.. 
leaked all through the night..

Kaiser does not have urgent care around here..
the closest one is 20 miles away..
the paperwork has no policy#..
replacement medical card not received yet..
copay alone would be $20.. 
x-rays alone would be $50..

more squeezing..
more leaking..
blue nail..
purple finger..

feels like a squashed grape..
rattles inside..
pretty sure it might be broken..

jeepers.. 

head to toe hives..
swollen lip..
swollen tongue..

drill through the thumb..
grazed the bone..

smashed finger..
possibly broken..

need to keep that boy insured..

again.. been a long time..

I don't know why it takes me so long in between posts.. no excuse.. no reason..
               it's not like I'm busy.. cuz I'm not.. not really..

I haven't worked since June 20th. it has been an awesome summer!!
I interviewed June 23rd, but the job didn't pay enough (I have living expenses).
I had an interview July 23rd (month apart!!) that was awesome, but the position doesn't even really exist. it is a start-up mortgage company, of all Bank of America ex-employees. they may need a finance research assistant -- that would be me. but, the position doesn't really exist yet.
I've sent my resume on multiple jobs-every-single-day. gotten 2 rejection emails and 1 rejection letter.
but nothing otherwise. sent my resume-AGAIN-to Neil at PennyMac.
I applied for unemployment on July 23rd, have received 2 payments so far (1 half, 1 full) 

I signed up with Select Staffing on August 14.. what an experience that was.
she emailed me, for me to come in and fill out a profile.. 10:00 appointment with "Jannet".
got there AT 10:00.. lo-and-behold, I'm EARLY, 30 minutes early!  Jannet isn't even there yet..
10:30.. watched safety video (this is about the time Jannet arrived)
then..  filled out my profile
then..  waited in the lobby for Jannet to be ready.
then..  met with Jannet for about 3 or 4 minutes for her to look over my paperwork.
she was to call me Friday once all my information is submitted and confirmed (approximately 24 hours)
I haven't heard from her since.
I am to contact Simi (and T.O. and Canoga offices) to look what jobs they have.
the whole appointment that was to take 1 hour, took 2 hours.
then, they don't call me.. I call them.. what?? 
I signed up with them, for THEM to find me the openings


first week of summer: I did nothing.. wore my jammies all day.. sat at my desk with Facebook & AOL watching tv.
second week of summer: 
Monday I ran 1/2hr @ 7am.. 
Tuesday I ran 1/2hr @ 7am & swam 1hr @ 10am.. 
Wednesday I ran 1/2hr @ 7am & biked 1hr @ 10:30am & swam 2hrs @ 3pm, 
Thursday I ran 1/2hr @ 7am & swam 1hr @ 10am.. 
Friday - I ran a 5K !!

I ran a 10K on Aug 10th.. I have a 10K on September 28th in Moorpark.. a 10K on October 18th in Simi.. a 10K on November 21st in TO & (hopefully) a 5K on Thanksgiving morning in Simi

the weeks have dwindled down.. I don't run every day.. haven't swam in awhile.. on the days I don't run, I try to walk.. but even that isn't consistent.  haven't ridden my bike since that one day.. 


it will be SO much harder to go back to work.. if anyone calls me, I'll dread getting up for work in the morning. I get up now, normal time (okay.. 20 minutes later probably, but I'm awake - I'm just not "up"/out of bed) and go to bed normal time.. trying to keep a consistent schedule, so going back to work won't be so hard.. it's been almost 2 months since I left.. and I don't want to go back.. honestly, I'm enjoying my free time.
life is what it is..


found 2 acres of land in Somis that I LOVE !! $102,000.. 
want to get it, but there's no house.. I have no money for a house..
after going to Kennedy Meadows in June, I have ideas.. but no money..

then Ron saw "something" on Santa Susana Pass Road.. I looked it up, found a 1bd/1ba house for $345,000, it has a guest house on the property PLUS a workshop (set up for a music studio)..
I emailed the realtor Saturday for a viewing.. he called back Sunday that he is trying to get ahold of someone to see it (there are tenants living there..)
he also emailed me the name of a financer that I can get pre-approved with (I'm not working.. I was pre-approved awhile ago for $200K but I'm not working.. Ron was pre-approved for $200K as well, that was awhile ago as well).
realtor called again today if I spoke with the financer.. I just wanna see the house.. now he won't leave me alone  :P


a friend (former co-worker) still orders Avon from me.. my first week off, I got NO orders.. it freaked me out!!  then slowly people are ordering again.. I have to bug them. in the past, seeing my face would remind them of my wrath (just kidding!) but now email is all I have.. that is my only way to bug them for orders.  at least my mom and 1 sister have ordered.  I'm not completely abandoned.   my plan was to build my Avon business in all my free time.. but I'm not enough of a sales person to do all that I could.  I have ordered more books, which is just more papers to throw away after a month.. new people moved in behind us - can't bring myself to put a stack of books on their doorstep.. someone will see me walk up there.. I made the baggy of books weeks ago, I already took out an expired one and put in a new one.. in 2 days, I'll have to remove another expired book.. went to our old apartments and dropped off books in the laundry rooms.. no response.. I think I will pick a neighborhood each day to drop off books.. maybe 1 neighborhood in morning, 1 neighborhood in afternoon. today I delivered 3 orders, and gave them books, hopefully they share (1 lady is going on a cruise this week.. she may not have time to "share").  

I need to come up with more ideas to get myself out there.  
one lady suggested Instagram - I started doing that.. nobody seemed to care.. 
I already have a Facebook.. which seems to be going nowhere.. several friends from my primary profile have "liked" my Avon profile - but NO BODY orders..
the same lady also suggested Twitter.. that's not as easy.. not saying it's not possible, just not as easy.. 
maybe, possibly, perhaps by Pinterest?  
what other social-media outlets are there??
hmm.. thoughts to ponder..

where to begin..

its been SO long since I last posted. Life has been busy.  I work 40 hour weeks, clean house Monday, Avon Tuesday (plus dog park), pet-rescue Wednesday, more of everything Thursday, and lazy Friday (yesterday was swimming Friday!)

Ronnie's job got bought out effective April 1st but he still keeps his job. he will also now have benefits, and paid sick, and paid vacation time. I, on the other hand, have lost my job.

the building closes this year and we have to be out by the end of August. all year now, there have been various lay-offs in different departments. all around us the room was getting emptier and emptier.. then March 12th, they laid-off 6 people in my group (including 1 of the team leaders). 2 weeks later, the assistant VP was laid off, along with the VP's boss.. okay, now life started getting serious. 2 weeks later they laid off from another group near us, but no one in our group. then.. 2 weeks later.. I got my notice :( I am 1 of 12 who are being let go (including another team leader) 60 days left of work, then I can file unemployment & collect my severance.  severance will include my medical & dental benefits.. and since I've been there many, many years -- my severance will last me a good amount of time.

it will be weird not being there.. it's all I've ever known. my 1 and only job in Corporate America. I've been thinking of going back to school to learn medical billing and coding-- now's my chance. we have 2 camping trips planned so far, and many more to come. a friend told me of a medical billing job here in town.. a few other friends have let me know of openings in collections, but that's not for me. for now I'll enjoy my time while I can :)

so..

..last Sunday, I wrote an update.. hadn't saved and my computer crashed - all was lost! =(

Ronnie's rash had gotten nice and crazy by last Friday (August 20-something-eth). I was at work. He was at work. Then I got a phone call from my "mom-in-law". Since I didn't answer my cell-phone while at work, I got a text message from my "sis-in-law". I received the call & text around 11:45 - both messages said he had checked into "ER a couple hours ago". I told my teamleader and signed out for the day. I called Gale as soon as I got outside the building. He had left before 10am and no one had heard from him since. He hadn't come back, and his cell phone was turned off (normal protocol for a doctor's office or hospital).

By the time I got to Northridge ER he had already checked out - they weren't very nice about it either (I would expect people to be stressed when their loved ones are in ER - a little sympathy would be nice..) I drove to Ronnie's work - Gale had called me while I was on my way there. He didn't do a whole lot of working (Fridays are slow days for him anyway) and stayed in A/C'd offices as much as possible. Then we came home and spent the whole weekend inside the cool dark house (of course, it had to be the hottest weekend yet of summer).

Monday morning came way too fast.. back to work.. the grind stone.. slave labor.. I had a babyshower to go to. I had found out on Friday (before leaving work) that I had been UNinvited to the baby shower. I told 2 friends, who told my boss, who talked to her boss (the hostess'.. not the guest of honor) I received a text message later Friday that everything had been worked out and I was still able to go to the shower. It still wasn't the happiest of times. the hostess was still giving me the cold shoulder and giving me dirty looks - but I wasn't there for her, I was there for Brittanny. I didn't take every gift that I'd planned to give.. just didn't have enough hands.. and it was a surprise shower so I couldn't be so "big" and cumbersome.. I kept part of the gift here, it will have to go to another person that has a girl.. probably my other friend who's wife is due in January. The only other girl I know that's pregnant is due in November but they don't want to find out what it is. I can't give a bunch of girl clothes, then she'll end up having a boy.. just because of me. =)

Brittanny's last day was Wednesday - that is the first day I started helping out there - to help take over where she left off, so I could keep track of her progress. It was fantastic to finally have work to do again. Every day is a busy day. Every day is no question of my schedule... don't have to keep track of every second of my day, every moment of my time.

Ronnie and I just worked our way through the week.. looking forward to our 3-day weekend. well, things weren't as nice as we had hoped. Thursday, Ronnie hurt his shoulder helping his mom with a new tv (both shopping, and installing). took a pain-pill before bed. 1 a.m., he woke up with another rash.. again.. ((not that the pain pills were to blame)). Today he went to the doctor (finally, a real General Practitioner). They determined that he didn't give enough time for the medication to clear his system. They are claiming that the antibiotics - Cephalexin - that is what he is allergic to. He had gotten prescription Benadryl (dephinhydramine) and a steroid (prednisone) after the ER last Friday. Today the doctor extended his prescription for the steroid, and we will get the benadryl from Walgreens. We will just have to double up on the benadryl - the over-the-counter will be half-strength.. and the new diphenhydramine is half-strength too.. so it will be 4-times-a-day, instead of 2-times-a-day. that way it can be consistent in his system - not 2 big doses, but 4 smaller easy-peasey doses. So this is our life until the doctor gives him the all-clear. I'm hoping to still go camping in a month and a half - it will be nice to get away from it. It is for Ronnie's birthday and I know he needs a break from it all - if even for just a weekend.

the weekend part 2

so, things got worse.. spreading down his legs, and his upper lip swelled up over night.. on a comical note, he looks like a Simpson character.. but the internet says that it is an anaphylactic reaction.. urgent care it will be (once they open..).. the big mystery is what the allergy is. Nothing out of the ordinary - normal food, no new soaps, no new laundry detergent or fabric softener.. we thought it was a plant, but nurse-friends are saying 'food, not plant'. there is some strange item growing in our garden & Ronnie was pulling veggies on Friday.. will still need to determine what that strange plant is. we feared it is/was poison oak, but too young to tell.. all the pictures we found are mature plants..

update: doc's diagnosis is allergy.. either an allergy to the cephalexin.. or the eggs in the mayo from our tuna fish sandwiches.. he got a shot of steroid, a shot of adrenaline, a shot of benadryl.. benadryl and staying cool (avoid sweating) - those are the "prescriptions". I'm thinking perhaps, the cephalexin lowered his immunity making him more sensitive to the eggs in the mayo..

oh.. what a weekend..

I know it's been a while since I've been on last.. the night before last Tuesday (over a week ago) Ronnie was incredibly nervous.. so we didn't get much sleep. Then that night, we didn't get much sleep because he was in such pain and discomfort.. I can't believe the doctor didn't give him any pain medicine! He ended up getting some from his friend that afternoon, but by 2am that had all worn off.. so for a whole week he was "getting-by".. oh, and he was still working every day (no chance for recovery time)

in the middle of that week.. last Saturday to be exact.. we had a problem with our fence.. the neighbor's dog split a piece of wood on the fence between us. I had to go to meet my parents for my mom's birthday.. so Ronnie was stuck fixing the fence by himself. He had actually tried calling Mike (busy with family stuff) and Daniel (working) and Doug (no answer) but he was stuck. He left 30 minutes before I did - or so I thought. I went outside and discovered his van was still here.. and, he was sitting behind it, with the crow-bar removing the lugnuts off his flat tire. The man who can barely get onto the ground on a "good day"..  I helped him lower the spare tire from underneath the back of his van. Then he sent me on my way to meet up with my mom who would be irritated with my tardi-ness.

5 hours later, my friend told me that Doug was meeting up with him to fix the fence. 2 hours later I came home because the guilt was getting to me. the fact he was working alone was more of an issue to me than it was to them. He and Doug were just working on the fence. I found out that the "flat tire" incident was worse than I thought. Not only was the tire flat, but the spare tire was flat.. and he had to pump it up with a bike pump.

This week, he was finally feeling better, no more antibiotics, no more pain and sensitivity. Life was finally getting back to normal. Then this morning, all changed again. He woke in the middle of the night, itchy.. in the morning, major rash! lots of research but no self-diagnosis. was going to go to urgent care but decided against it.. put calamine lotion on, and took some Benadryl.. left to help a friend as planned. 8 hours later, comes home and it had spread!

well, 2 seperate diagnoses from friends said it's food allergy reaction.. more calamine and cortisone-10-plus.. it seems to have gotten better.. oh, and an epson-salt bath..

let's see how tomorrow ends up..

"terrible two's-day"

so Tuesday - not much out of the ordinary.. I did actually have work (which was awesome! - the having of work, not the work itself) I kept getting interrupted by the lady I used to train.. she's allowed to ask me question still, whenever she wants.. but yesterday's questions were of a different nature.. 2 were on errors she'd made that she wanted me to help fix.. 3 were on computer-troubles that she wanted me to help fix.. I'm quite sure my boss is going to start rethinking this ask-questions-whenever-you-want "dealio"..

today however, I'm already out of work - so I got a new project, that I'm all confused about.. and lady is still asking me strange questions.. someone asked her a question yesterday and she wanted me to answer for her - excuse me? I have my own research questions to answer.. she's gonna have to learn to handle her own 'stuff'.

former co-worker starts Monday but he'll be in a different area than I thought. he's not in my old job, or my new job.. so I have no clue what he'll be doing..

yesterday, also.. a girl ordered Avon from my 2 weeks ago.. I received it that weekend and brought it to work last Monday - she was out on vacation all last week.. so I emailed her this past Monday to let her know I still have it at my desk. I emailed her around 2:30.. but she responded at 7pm (I leave work at 4) if I could please bring it by Tuesday when I'm leaving work.. I went to her building and called from lobby up to her - she wasn't at her desk.. I waited and called 2 more times - still wasn't there. So I took her stuff home with me, and brought it back to work today.. I emailed her at 3:30 I still have her stuff - tried to bring it by but she wasn't at her desk when I called. I also said that I would bring it by again around 4, but would call first to be sure.. called at 4:03 - she wasn't there again..

and again.. yesterday, got the mail from mailbox - found a whole stack of mail from previous tenants (in front unit) who moved out almost 3 months ago.. some was new mail, some was stuff I'd already returned.. how is the post office not understanding "not at this address".. this time I wrote "DOES NOT LIVE HERE" and put back in mailbox.. I'm about to trash the stuff - is that a Federal offense?? I've tried to return it, but the USPS isn't listening..