Let's Talk About April

April was pretty quiet (as most months tend to be lately).

Jerbs had a couple weekends off, so we got to hang out.  It was nice but a little weird, I love Jerbs and all but I guess I like my weekend alone time a little more than I realized.

The weather was pretty nice, minus a few random cold snaps.  We actually took the dogs to the pond one day, only to find a huge sign informing the public that the pond is now considered private property and only to be used by members of the country club, complete with a little "be prepared to show your membership card if asked" warning.  It was disappointing and absolutely infuriating.  I don't want to write too much about it because I've actually finally gotten over it.  But I will say that A) It's total BS because I'm pretty sure it was tax money, NOT private money, that built that pond, and B) the way this city caters and only cares about the wealthy and the college kids makes me sick, and is one of the many reasons Jerbs and I want to leave.

Also in April, Jerbs found out that the company she started working for in March (a locally owned urgent care) is not going to be locally owned for much longer, because the (apparently much greedier than originally thought) owners decided to sell the business to a national urgent care chain company.  They're still kind of in transition, and will be until mid-summerish.  No one over there is happy about it, and Jerbs is, of course, disappointed.  She worked for so long to get out of Staples and finally did and finally had a job she liked, and it's more or less been yanked out from under her.  So far, the new company says they won't make any major changes, but I don't really trust that.  They've also essentially made everyone go through the hiring process again.  Jerbs had to cut a trip to Phoenix short to go in and meet with the new HR people, and the deal was pretty much get your ass here or you're fired.  That was really, really frustrating (and probably illegal, since it was a scheduled day off, and the HR meeting was NOT scheduled).  At this point, I think her plan is to see through the transition, see what working for the new company is like, and then go from there as far as whether or not she stays.  I'm hoping it works out for the best because I just want her to be happy; I'm still super angry on her behalf though.  I'm also angry at yet ANOTHER locally owned place selling out to a chain.  Again, this seems to be part of the trend to just make Flagstaff another Phoenix, and I'm very not OK with that.

But enough of that.

One happy thing from this month has been that they finally hired someone to take on DME full time at MHC, which is a huge huge huge weight off my shoulders.  The new girl (who's actually a re-hire and not totally new to the company) started on the 20th.  I seriously counted down the days between when I found out and when she started.  I was just THAT excited.  So for the past week, I've been doing a lot of training at work, which I both like and dislike.  I won't lie, it's been kind of a painful process, and there have definitely been some moments where I've found myself thinking that it's not going to work out.  I just keep telling myself not to be too irritated, that she's only been learning it for a few days whereas I did it for a year so . . . of course it all looks super easy to me.  Hopefully it works out.  I just don't want to have to take DME back in 6 months.

I also found out this month that my dad's going to be moving (fairly soon?  not totally sure).  I guess his landlady (who's a long time family friend and also kind of his girlfriend, I don't really know what goes on there) is selling her house/property, which includes the little house my dad rents from her.  I won't lie, hearing that kind of freaked me out.  Some if is just worrying about my dad (although he did, very reassuringly, say to me, "Don fucking worry, Jessica, I have a plan.").  Some of it is just being sad at losing a place from my childhood.  This house is probably where I spent the most time as a kid, aside from the house I grew up in and my grandparents' house, and I think it's really the last significant place left, at least in my old neighborhood.  I kind of feel like my childhood is slowly being chipped away, and I hate that.  I want those memories and that time in my life to be a foundation for who I am as an adult, and losing that kind of sucks.  

So that was April.  Tomorrow I'm leaving for a weekend in Las Vegas with Theresa, her fiance, and her fiance's family.  We're going shopping for bridesmaid's dresses plus just, y'know, hanging out in Vegas.  I'm so excited I can hardly stand it!

March Pictures

We made S'il Vous try on a tiny sweater,
he's officially our pet now.

He loves us anyway.

I don't completely remember what, but my
dad called this something really funny when he was in
town.  (Him and my sister stayed overnight at a hotel).

The bed I bought for S'il Vous does get used,
just not by him.

Just pretty clouds over the Peaks.

Let's Talk About March

So March.

Jerbs started her new job right at the beginning of the month, and it was awesome.  I drive her to work at the crack of dawn (because the buses don't run as early as she has to be there).  That's been an interesting experience, but I really don't mind.  I've worked at they gym, I've gone into work at MHC early and gotten some extra hours, I've eaten breakfast at Dunkin' Donuts (love it, btw), I've studied for my coding class, stuff like that.  One morning I even went to the gym and worked out before work, which was not as earth shatteringly awful as I'd been expecting.  But full disclosure, I haven't done it a second time.  It's really just not for me, and I prefer working out after work.

Jerbs loves her new job, though.  It's definitely a huge improvement from Staples.  Pretty much right away Jerbs seemed happier, and less stressed than she had been for a long time, and seeing her happy makes me happy.  She's got a really nice schedule there plus more hours than she was getting at Staples.  Plus guaranteed overtime, which is awesome.

In the middle of the month I got a storage unit and my dad brought up all my stuff.  As in, all of the things I had to leave in Kingman when I moved back to Flagstaff almost 3 years ago, which is most of what I own.  For 6 months or so after I left, all of it was in the garage at my old place (where Ex-Fiance was still living); at some point my dad went and got all of it, and it had been in his garage ever since.  We had talked about him bringing it up before but never got anywhere, but my dad apparently might be moving, so it was a necessity.  It was weird to see all my stuff, because I honestly hadn't looked at it since the move.  It was both comforting and somehow not comforting at the same time.  Everything was just as I'd packed it, but there is an extra box, labeled in Ex-Fiance's handwriting.  I couldn't bring myself to open it and see what was inside, because, even nearly 3 years after the fact, the mental image of him walking through our house and packing up the things that reminded him of me just hurts.  That's not something I'm quite ready to face.  (More on that whole issue later, probably).

Also in March, things got BAD at MHC.  I don't even really know exactly what happened, but it was basically just one disaster after another, pretty much all related to one area of my job (DME).  I was angry, frustrated, discouraged, and beyond stressed.  For the first time since I started there more than 2 years ago, I hated my job.  I dreaded going to work and was literally having anxiety attacks about it.  It was terrible.  I told my boss that it was time for DME to go to someone else, but that wasn't an option, so instead I got approved overtime.  Which did help.  But still, I was at a point where I probably would have quit had it not been for the coding class thing (ie if I leave now I owe the company the whole cost of that class).  Things are better now, but I was suffering for a couple weeks there.

Jerbs and I really started to focus on moving in March as well--or at least, getting ready to move.  There are these 2 bed 1.5 bath 2 story townhomes across the street from us, managed by the same company as our current complex.  They looked reasonably priced online, so we decided to check them out.  (In the 2 days between when we looked at the website and when we toured the place, though, the base rent went up by $80, just putting that out there).  I honestly wasn't impressed with the place.  It wasn't terrible, but it felt TINY, I think because of the layout.  And both the bedrooms were super, super small, like small enough that I wouldn't actually have been able to fit all my stuff in mine.

But we forged ahead, did the application online, paid the app fee and reservation fee, got approved, the whole nine.  Then we saw the actual rent breakdown and it was just too expensive.  I mean, we probably could have swung the rent, but that would have made it really tight, and I don't want to live like that.  So between the stupidly high rent, the not too impressive apartment, the fact that we're only planning to be in Flagstaff another year, and the less than awesome thought of actually moving all our shit, we decided to just stay.  Ultimately we decided it would be better to suck it up, stay where we are, and save for the big out of state move we'd like to make happen next year.

And that's the story of how we really and truly almost moved and then decided not to.  I know, it's a little anti climactic.

So Jerbs signed the lease for another year here.  And while she was in the office doing it, the property manager asked if we'd had any more issues with our neighbor.  Jerbs said that things had been quiet on that front.  The manager proceeded to tell Jerbs that she'd had a long talk with the neighbor and she'd been warned about her behavior (ie she was told to stop being an overdramatic bitch), and that we needed to let her know if absolutely ANYTHING else happened.  Again, we get the vibe that they want her gone as much as we do.  The property manager also told Jerbs that she's been an excellent tenant in the whole time she's/we've lived here.  It's good to know the complex is on our side and knows the neighbor is the one with issues.  Right now we're just hoping she gets kicked out sooner rather than later.

And that's about it for March.  Definitely not a great month, but  free of any major disasters, and sometimes that's the best you can hope for, right?

February Pictures

The dogs, for no apparent reason, ripped up my sheet
and mattress topper.  I used it as an excuse to get a feather
topper and new, softer sheets!

I got S'il Vous his own bed, and this picture is of one
of the like 3 times he's used it, jerk cat.

One night Jerbs left to check the mail, and Max, Irene, and Ilya
kept a close eye on the door until she came back.

Hollie's head was cold but her ass was not.

Birthday gift from Jerbs, it's magical.

The Ninja bread men from Katie!  And chocolate, too!

From my co-workers in the billing dept.!

The only highlighters I'll use at work, no one else believed they existed
so I had to buy my own finally.  It was so stupid.

What I put up with when I'm trying
to do my coding course.

Irene being pretty.

All the books for CPC course . . . intimidating, right?

Let's Talk About February

My blogging skills are horrible these days!  I feel bad neglecting this little space, but . . . well, I honestly just haven't really felt like blogging.  That's said, it's the end of April, so let's talk about February!  (Fair warning, it's a LONG entry).

February was a total roller coaster of a month--some really good things happened, and so did some really crappy things.

At the beginning of the month (the 6th, I think), I had my review at work (MHC), and absolutely killed it.  My boss pretty much told me I'm awesome, she's always impressed with me, and that she looks forward to seeing what I accomplish in my next year with the company.  Pretty high praise from my boss, because she doesn't say things like that lightly.  I was incredibly flattered/proud/happy.  Of course I got a raise (a good one).  Plus I got to enroll in the online CPC class just after my review, which is awesome!  I won't lie, the class is a little harder than I was expecting, but I'm glad I'm doing it.  I just keep thinking of being able to almost double my salary once I have my certification, which is a pretty decent incentive.

Not long after I had my review and all that, Jerbs got a new job!!  She's working at an urgent care now, doing front desk stuff, and she loves it.  She interviewed/got the job on the 13th, and gave Staples her two week notice on Valentine's Day, and her last day there was the 28th.  I'm so unbelievably happy for her!  She wanted to leave Staples for SO LONG and she finally got to!  It's been a really good change for her.  It was a little weird to pick her up at Staples for the last time, though.  I mean . . . she worked there for 7 years, and that time frame covers all kinds of major life events: us dating, our breakup, our first move to the east side, the entire whirlwind of me and Ex-Fiance, me coming back to Flagstaff . . . that's a lot!  I got a little weepy, but she was mostly like, "Fuck it!  I'm done!  Woohoo!!"  It's been good to see her so happy.

At the end of February (like the 22nd, I think), I went to an Eric Paslay concert.  He's kind of an up and coming country singer, and I really, really like him, and the tickets were only $25, so I figured why the hell not?  He performed at the Museum Club, which is this honky tonk bar in town (it's actually pretty well known throughout AZ, but I'd never been there).  I took my friend from work, Katie, and bought her ticket as a graduation gift, since she's in her last semester at NAU.  It was so much fun!!  And I was really proud of myself for, y'know, having a little bit of a social life and going out with someone who isn't Jerbs.

As for the bad . . .

Not surprisingly, it has to do with Stompy McFatAss, the wretch next door.

So February 9th (day before my effing birthday, mind you), I treated myself to Pita Jungle for dinner, and picked it up on my way home from work.  Also keep in mind that at this point, we hadn't heard anything from Stompy since that night in January when her apartment flooded and she had Jerbs call 911.  Also keep in mind that she hadn't complained about the dogs since June of 2014--so 9 months of relative peace had passed.  When I got home on the 9th, the dogs weren't barking, but when I got upstairs, there was a fucking noise warning on the door from the cops, AND a handwritten "anonymous" note from Stompy herself, saying that our dogs have been an issue for 2 years and that we had 48 hours to bark collar them or she was going to play the recordings she (supposedly) has of them "excessively barking."

Couple of things.  First of all, Stompy hasn't even lived here for 2 years, she moved in over 4th of July weekend in 2013, so she's about 5 months off on her time frame there.  Two, our dogs ARE collared whenever we're not at home, and if the batter in Max's died, I'm sorry.  But shit happens, and to go 9 months without a word and then have it escalate like that . . . fuck.  Three, I do not believe for even one nano second that this bitch has a recording of our dogs barking, and definitely not of them barking excessively.  Even if she DOES have a recording of our dogs, it's a moot point, because, fucking newsflash, if you stand on my porch by my living room window for 20 minutes to record shit, my dogs are going to bark at you!  They're dogs, you're trespassing, you're a threat, and that's just the way the damn world works.  I was more livid than you can imagine, and it wasn't long before that lividness gave way to a total breakdown.  I got anxious, convinced myself I was a worthless piece of shit, and bawled.  I called Jerbs at work and told her what happened.  At that point she called our complex and left a message asking about transferring our lease to somewhere else in the complex, because we were tired of our neighbor's shit.  After Jerbs got home, we talked it over and decided we needed to move--right away if they'd let us, at the end of our lease if they wouldn't.

That all went down on a Monday.  For the rest of the week, I refused to leave the dogs home alone, even with their collars.  I took early lunches, drove home to pick Jerbs and the dogs up, took Jerbs to work, and let the  dogs hang out in the car for the rest of the day.  On Tuesday (again, my freaking birthday), I got off work, promptly had an anxiety attack, and realized that I didn't want to be home alone either.  So I wandered around Bookman's, JoAnn, and Michael's, then sat in their shared parking lot until Jerbs was off at 8.  Definitely not the best birthday I've ever had, and I'm still pretty pissed that the bitch ruined my 18th birthday.

It was a shitty week.  I hated it, the dogs hated it, Jerbs hated it, everyone was miserable.  On Thursday, Jerbs finally heard back from the complex.  She said that at first, the manager was very customer service-y and chipper, told her that they don't usually do transfers without the lease being up, and asked which neighbor the issue was with to see if we could work something out.  Apparently, when Jerbs gave the apartment #, the manager's tone completely changed, and she was pretty much like OH, that bitch.  Apparently, we are far from the only ones who have complained about her, and she's an ongoing issue for the office.  The manager was actually pretty incredulous that she complained about the dogs, and flat out told Jerbs that no other neighbors have ever said a bad thing about us.  (Because, AGAIN, it's not a fucking issue)!  She also said that she came up here once to talk to the neighbor about something else, and she heard our dog bark like twice ("to let me know he was there," as she put it), then stop.  So she was basically like, yeah, sorry your neighbor's so nuts.

She said she'd see what she could do, and ultimately the answer was that we couldn't move right away, but they'd talk to the neighbor.  So while the no transfer was irritating, it was a tremendous relief to know that the office/complex management is on our side and aware that this bitch is totally insane.  In the meantime, Jerbs and I decided we'd just move when our lease was up and try to get a 2 bedroom (more on that later).

Since all this happened, Jerbs and I have stayed super diligent about setting the dogs up right when we leave the house.  We put up a black out curtain so they can't see the porch, leave the TV on low for a little noise, put out special bones they only get when we aren't home, and, of course, put their bark collars on them.  I also got 2 Skype accounts, one of which is logged in on Jerbs' computer at home, one of which is logged into on my phone.  I log in and call from work, so I can watch and listen to what's going on at home from my office, PLUS if one of them does bark, I can tell them to stop via Skype.  In the whole time I've been doing it, Max has barked once, and it was because a package got delivered on the porch.  The Skype thing has helped me to relax a LOT at work.  I'm hopeful that with all the issues our neighbor causes, she'll eventually get evicted.

And on the Friday after my birthday, my department co-workers brought cupcakes for a belated birthday gift, and that made me happy.  A few co-workers remembered on my actual birthday: Katie got me a huge jar of chocolate candy and these hilarious Ninja bread men cookie cutters, and the sleep girls got me candy and lip gloss and nail polish.  I love them, and was so glad a few people remembered.

So that was February.  I imagine that someday I'll get around to writing about March . . . maybe in June?