SNOW DAY!!!!!

We got a whoooole bunch of snow overnight, and it's still snowing right now.

So MHC is CLOSED today!

Which means I'm sitting at home in my PJ's hanging out with my dogs and watching TV so life is pretty much perfect.

And I got lucky in that I didn't even make it to work before we closed.  I got up early AF this morning to take Jerbs to work, and the snow was terrible.  It took forever to get the car uncovered and dug out (there was a guy plowing the parking lot and he came by and cleared behind the car for us, so that was nice).  Then the roads weren't clear by any stretch of the imagination, not even the highway, and it was still snowing.  So by the time I got her to work and got home to take a shower and get ready for work myself, I was running way behind time wise and knew I was going to be late.  I texted my boss to let her know and then showered/moisturized/blow dried/perfumed and all that stuff.  I was just starting to get dressed when my phone rang.  It was one of my co-workers; she asked if I was on my way in, and when I said I was just about to leave my house, she told me not to bother because they had decided to close the clinic.

So I put my pajamas back on and did a little happy dance (I mean that totally literally).

Best Monday ever.

Oh This Flagstaff Weather

We got snow yesterday and overnight.  I legit had to scrape snow off of my car this morning.  (My car is the one on the far left of the picture, slightly out of frame).  And those are the trees right in front of my balcony.

As Theresa pointed out on Facebook, it is NAU graduation weekend, so of course it snowed.  It's like a tradition for it to snow at summer commencement.  

Wait What?

Y'know how I said I was looking forward to summer?  Yeah, it snowed today.  All day long.  It didn't really stick so there wasn't much accumulation but still.  So I spent the day pretty much doing nothing.  The snow made me want to hibernate.  But hey, that's what Saturdays are for, right?

Yesterday, though, Jerbs and I went shopping and had sushi for dinner at Karma, and that was nice.

Mentally and emotionally I'm still feeling a little off.

I'm also in the mood to purge and organize and redecorate the apartment.  Last weekend I shampooed the carpet in the bedroom and living room (just the spots that needed it, not the whole room) so that was good.  I'd planned to work on more stuff like that this weekend but . . . yeah, snow and stuff.

I also still have a lot of stuff in mind to write here, but I don't feel up to it.

Today

We woke up to snow!  Well, I woke up to snow, Jerbs got to sleep in, but still!  It started snowing just before I went to bed last night and it apparently lasted because there were a couple inches on the ground in the morning.  It was so pretty.  I'm glad that even if my holiday spirit is still basically gone I can still get little kid level excited about snow.  It snowed for a couple hours and then poured down rain all day after that.  It's still raining.  Just as lovely as the snow, I think.

After work I took my car to Discount Tire to get one of my tires fixed, and they were packed.  Lots of people getting snow tires put on and stuff.  So they told me it would be a 2.5 hour wait just for my little repair, which sucked, but I didn't have a choice.  I wandered over to the Bookman's plaza and went to Michaels, JoAnn, and Bookmans.  Bookmans has a cool little cafe, so I got a Mexican mocha latte (so good!) and sat by the window and just watched the rain come down.  It was lovely.  There was a very interesting guy performing there today . . . I didn't find out his name, but he's a singer/guitarist/Native American flute player.  I think my favorite song was "Don't Worry, Be Hopi," which was sung to the beat of "Don't Worry, Be Happy."  It was all about the trials, triumphs, and spirit of the Hopi tribe.  It was pretty amazing, in a Flagstaff kinda way.  

They had these little signs up around the cafe, and it made me happy:

Love it.  If I were doing NaNo this year I'd totally write there.

I finally headed back to the tire place and on the way I passed this . . . um, interesting? . . . bit of Christmas window art.  I can't remember which business had it on their window but I find it odd:

I texted it to B, and this conversation happened.

Me: I do not understand what's happening in this picture.

B: He's . . . inflating his sack?

Me: He's inflating someone's sack.

B: It's so swollen.

B: He's blushing too, little scamp.

Me: Viiiiirgin.

Yeah.  We're interesting together.

I got back to the tire place right about 2.5 hours after I dropped my car off and sat there for another 45 minutes.  It sucked.  And my tire was fixable but when they took it off they found it was totally bald on the inside.  I told them to just put the spare on if they could get to it (getting to my spare is complicated . . . my dad wasn't able to when I was in Ktown).  I thought for sure I was going to end up having to buy a new tire but the spare thing worked out and I had my car like 5 minutes after my conversation with the tech.

Then I picked up my Lithium, which is awesome.  I was dreading doing it because I thought for sure my doctor's office would have fucked up again, but thankfully that wasn't the case.  Woohoo medication.

So that was my day.  I think this was the first Friday since I started at MHC that I didn't come straight home and take a nap after work . . . maybe I'm growing up!

Probably not, though.  Probably not.

Feeling Better And Getting Sick(?)

Mentally I'm feeling much better.  A weekend back on my medication and with some decent sleep has done me a world of good.  I'm still not 100% (still a little anxious at times) but still, much, much better.  Friday night in particular was amazing, because I took two a/d's and a Benadryl and just crashed.  It was blissful to actually be able to sleep.

And Jerbs being gone wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  Although I did feel bad for Max who was stuck at home with a mom who didn't particularly feel like doing anything all weekend; I pretty much just wanted to stay inside and rest.  I swear Max nearly had a heart attack when we picked Jerbs up from the bus station on Sunday evening, he was just so HAPPY.

So mentally things are improving and that's awesome.  I'm still pretty livid that I had to deal with this ridiculous setback at all but at the same time, I'm not going to let it define me.  I won't lie, I had a few moments where the "what ifs" spiraled out of control and I worried that I'd never get my medicine and then lose my job and then my car and never get well again and that this snafu would be the unraveling of everything I'd accomplished.  But that's completely not the case.  And I know that, so I'm working very hard to not let it get me down.  At least this time around I can say that it was absolutely not my fault at all; this had nothing to do with me being non-compliant or rebellious or in denial like I used to be, and everything to do with some stupid miscommunication between other people.  At this point I don't give a shit what happened as long as it gets fixed and doesn't happen again.

As great as mental health is, I think I'm getting physically sick.  I mentioned that there's some nastiness going around work right now--bronchitis or something similar.  Basically a week ago today the one co-worker I absolutely despise because he is literally the most wretchedly annoying person I've ever met came to work sick.  He proceeded to walk around the business office hacking like mad and never covering his mouth or using hand sanitizer (seriously, he's disgusting, and we watched).  But his boss (the CEO) wouldn't send him home, and when he told him to wear a mask, the gross co-worker insisted he wasn't sick.  And sure enough by Tuesday one co-worker was coughing, and by Wednesday two more were.  My office mate and I shut our door, disinfected our entire office space, and crossed our fingers.

Well, today, one sick co-worker was fine, one is better, and one has a doctor's appointment tomorrow because she thinks she has pneumonia.  PNEUMONIA.

So far I've managed to not get it but then this evening . . . I don't know.  I'm starting to feel under the weather.  I was OK until I got off work, but once I got home, all I wanted to do was go to bed.  I slept through DWTS, and you know it's serious if I miss that.

All I can say is that if I'm getting sick it best be out of my system by Halloween because on November 1st I'm going to Kingman for a certain darling nephew's 5th birthday party, which I really, really don't want to miss.  At the same time, I'm not going to be a dick and infect my family and a bunch of 5 year old kids with potential pneumonia.  So my fingers are crossed.

And btw, it's windy as all hell and freezing and doing something like raining outside right now . . . I love this weather, sick or not!

It Snowed Yesterday

It's true.  Yesterday Flag got its first snowfall of the season.  It really wasn't anything to get excited about, just off and on flurries that didn't stick at all (by the time I left work it just looked like it had rained), but it was still pretty and nice to watch from my desk at work.  And even though nothing stuck here in town, the Peaks are covered in white and look absolutely beautiful.

The snow made me think of a lot of things I need to buy.  Like a scraper/brush for the car, which I completely spaced since I didn't have a car this time last year.  And snow boots, since the ones I currently have decided to stop being water proof last winter.  And a new coat, because the one I've worn the past 3 years is randomly too tight in the shoulders.  It fits everywhere else, though.

I should probably get some actual snow tires put on the car, too, but the thought of spending that much money makes me cringe.

Today was clear and sunny, just cold, and we're not supposed to get more snow for awhile.  I love the cooler temperatures and having to turn the heater on at home.  This is easily my favorite time of year.

Farewell Summer, Hello Fall

It's felt very fall outside lately, and it's pretty glorious.  This whole past week actually reminded me a lot of Thanksgiving Day in Kingman--fairly warm but with a chilly breeze and a definite cold bite later in the day/at night.  There are a lot of golden leaved trees right now, and dead pine needles all over the streets.  I absolutely love it.

I've gotten to wear my cute heeled boots to work a few times, my evenings consist of thermals and fuzzy socks, there's an extra blanket on my bed, and I bought an amazing fall candle for my office.  (Pumpkin Carving from Bath and Body Works=highly, highly recommend).  I also got the Autumn Day BBW scent for my car.  Sheer awesomeness.

The craft stores have all kinds of fun fall and Halloween stuff out, and it all just makes me wish I had my own place that I could decorate the crap out of.  Not that Jerbs wouldn't let me decorate as much as I wanted to, but something just doesn't feel right about decorating someone else's house.  (One of the many things I miss about living with my ex).

It's just so beautiful right now.  I love this time of year.  Something about it just makes me happy.

Just To Document It

I am not working out tonight because it's storming like crazy.  I don't mind running in the rain but the lightning is freaking SCARY, and I would rather not get electrocuted.  Not tonight.  Not ever, actually.  No thanks.

I think it's time to just suck it up and go back to the gym.  I prefer running outside but at the same time, it's just too easy to not do it, whether it's for a legit reason (like avoiding death by lightning) or for whatever random excuse I make up to avoid it.  So tomorrow I'm going to make a concerted effort to put in some treadmill or elliptical time on my lunch hour and maybe after work as well.

Today Was A Good Day

Today:

--Told the PR/marketing director at work about my English degree and offered my help with any writing/editing type tasks she might have going on.  So now I get to write the official press release for our new nutritionist, and if that goes well, I'll potentially get to do more writing projects in the future!  I'm so freaking stoked!!!  I know it's not much, but still, I'm really excited.

--My boss asked me if everything was OK since I've been late almost every day since I got my car.  I was honest with her and told her that I just don't do well with mornings and I have a hard time getting the timing right and all that.  So now my work hours are 8:30 AM to 5:30 PM.  Hell.fucking.yes.  I love having a boss that's awesome and understanding!  And I really don't mind staying later, since I usually do anyway, because I hit my stride in the afternoon.  Seriously, I love my boss.  I don't want her to leave.

--It poured down rain on both sides of town for a good hour, and it's still cloudy out.  Which meant an amazing, cool, beautiful afternoon and early evening.  Such a great break from the ridiculous heat we've had the past week or so.

--The rain left some perfect running weather when it stopped, so I headed for the lakes by our house and ran 1.42 km (I've decided to measure in kilometers, since it's more impressive, and that's all my stupid pedometer apparently measures in).  I suppose I can't really say I ran, because I more jogged with some walking bits thrown in, but still.  The point is I WORKED OUT!!  So good for me.  And at the end of the jog when I was thinking that I really hadn't done much and feeling a little disappointed with myself, I asked myself if I'd have been able to go that distance, at that speed, at this altitude, a year ago.  And the answer is definitely not.

Speaking of a year ago, yesterday marked one year that I've been back in Flagstaff, and I'm sure there'll be a long drippy entry about that soon.  Because I need to talk about it.  I also have to do my weigh in entry but for now, I just wanted to record some happiness.

Work, Money, Snow, & Vietnamese Food

It's been more than a week since I updated!!  That's a little ridiculous considering I've posted multiple times a day for weeks at a time . . .

I just don't feel like I have too much to talk about right now.  My life is all boring and grown up and I don't want to come here just to whine about my love life and all that crap or spew my opinions about politics and other stuff like that.  Sigh.

Anyhow.  Work is still going well.  This past week my boss told me several times that I was picking things up really well.  She gave me a stack of things to work on one day (mostly claims that needed to be researched, plus some medical records stuff), and a couple days later I let her know what I'd done with each one of them.  She said I'd done everything perfectly.  This coming Monday there's a billing dept. meeting in which we'll discuss the sort of rearrangement of the dept., which basically means that I'm going to get my official responsibilities.  Right now each of the girls in the dept. (4 of them including our boss) have several insurance companies that they deal with, and on Monday, those will be redistributed, so I'll have my own insurance companies that'll be mine.  I'm excited about that.

I'm so incredibly happy with my job.  I really am.  Today at the mall a lady at the Avon kiosk who was giving me a sample asked what I did, and when I said I was a medical  biller she made a noise like she was impressed.  Pretty much made my day!  It feels so good to have an answer to that what do you do? question.  Telling people you're unemployed is not pleasant.

I got paid yesterday--my first full paycheck from MHC.  Glorious.

It's been snowing like crazy today.  There's probably about 6 inches on the ground and I think we're supposed to get even more so . . . yeah.  That's fun.  I fell twice today, once climbing up a hill and once going down one (both while attempting to get to bus stops . . . excellent).  It wasn't too bad being out today during the afternoon but once it got dark . . . wow.  So cold.  I'm not looking forward to Monday morning!

I treated Jerbs to Vietnamese food tonight, at a restaurant called Pho CRQ.  Jerbs looooooves pho (which is like a kind of Vietanmese soup, I guess you could call it).  I just got noodles with vegetables, and it was actually pretty good.  I'm not very adventurous food wise, and I'm the pickiest eater you could imagine, so I was fairly certain I wouldn't like it.  But I did!  Hello, adulthood!

The best part about today was trying on jeans at the mall and discovering that I've gone down a pants size!  I really wanted new jeans and they didn't have my size.  So just for the hell of it I tried on the size below it and they fit perfectly.  I seriously teared up in the dressing room.  I'm still a long way from my weight loss goal but that was an amazing confidence boost and just makes me want to work even harder!

Fuh.Ree.Zing. & Other Stuff From Today

First and foremost, it's cold.  Really freaking cold.  Jerbs and I were walking home from the bus stop at about 7:30 PM and it was 17 degrees out.  I actually wore my thermal pants under my jeans today.

Besides the cold . . . let's see.

I had intended to go get my lab work done yesterday, after we picked up my application from MHC (my new place of employment) and had lunch.  Halfway through lunch, though, I asked Jerbs if she had my lab order with her, since it had been in her bag last I'd known.  She said she'd set it on the coffee table so I could hold on to it, which I didn't know.  And there wasn't time to go all the way home, get the lab order, and make it to the lab before 4 (which is when they close).

So today I got up and left with Jerbs at a little after 7 AM, figuring I'd just get it out of the way.  I had to stop at the ATM and take cash out of Jerbs' account, so my plan was to do that, have breakfast to break a couple twenties (if you pay cash you have to pay with exact change, and since medical prices reset at the first of the year, I didn't know exactly what I'd need).  Well,  not long after we got on the bus, I realized I'd forgotten the lab order.  Again.

I went to the ATM and took out a little money (it was the ATM in Biff's so you can't do much with it), had breakfast, went home and got the lab order, stopped at the BoA ATM near the bus stop and took out the rest of the money, went to Safeway and broke another twenty, and then, finally, I got on the bus to the lab.  Once I actually made it to the lab with my lab order, it was a super fast process.  I think I was there for 7 minutes.

I came home and took a nap, during which I had a really, really, really bad dream that is still making me anxious even right now, which sucks.

I met Jerbs at the bus transfer station so we could go to the new WalMart* and do some grocery shopping.  Because grocery shopping is good and having plenty of food to eat at home definitely keeps me from eating out as much.

The ride home sucked because a very drunk guy sat one seat away from Jerbs and me and continued to try to talk to us . . . even though we both completely ignored him.  I eventually put in my earbuds and listened to music and Jerbs started reading on her Kindle . . . and in response, this guy started tapping me on the arm.  At this point I was pissed, so we decided to move at the next stop . . . and wouldn't you know, that was the stop this douche got off at.  Whatever, I was just relieved.  I hate drunk people, because I absolutely see no point in getting that trashed and then bothering people on public transportation.  And this guy smelled awful.  He smelled like green bean casserole . . . if one of the key ingredients in green bean casserole was a quart of vodka.  Sick.

So that was today.  I'm relieved to have my lab work done.  Now the next hurdle is postponing my appointment with my doctor, which I'm sure will make him just super happy.  But the appointment is this coming Wednesday and there's a good chance that'll be my first or second day of work at MHC, and I want to make a good first impression.
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*Flagstaff has two WalMarts.  The old one is not a super center so it only has a few groceries.  The new one is a super center so it has a full grocery section.

A Snowy Day

It snowed through last night so we woke up to solid white.  I had to leave the house at one point and there were spots where the snow was up to my knees.  (Granted I have like a 26 inch inseam so up to my knees isn't a huge deal).  Even with all the snow, the roads were clear--just a little icy.

Our porch this afternoon, the ground near our apartment, and the two big pine trees in front of our porch.
Living on the third floor=living at tree top level!

Aside from my outing to Safeway, we all stayed inside and kept warm today.  Both cats were snuggly, and Benji stayed on his heating pad.

And I got some work done on a few embroidery projects I'm working on.

Each of these is part of a Christmas ornament for someone . . . or someone's pet.
I'm not going to say what's for who, since I don't really know who all reads this!

Since I'm not going to have enough money for actual gifts this year, I figured I'd do homemade gifts for everyone.  I'll definitely post pics of the finished projects.  I love embroidering so much, and I'm really enjoying doing it.  I like the way everything's turning out so far (I'm especially proud of the snowman!).

Anyway, that was our snow day.  It's so pretty out right now.  I'm determined to make a snow angel tomorrow.  And a snowman, if I can convince Jerbs to help me.  (She's not as big a fan of snow as I am).

Finally Some Winter Weather

It started snowing at about one this morning, and we woke up to . . .

Those pictures are all from when I was out and about (downtown near the bus transfer center and over by Staples).  I wanted to get a shot of the view from our porch but I didn't have time because, as usual, we were leaving in a hurry.

Isn't it beautiful?  As much as I really didn't want snow this year (because apparently a break up can even ruin little things like weather) I do love how it looks.  Especially the pine trees.  Flagstaff sits in a pine forest so when it's snowing, everywhere in town looks like a Christmas card.

We're supposed to get more tonight and the sky looks like a snow sky so we'll see.

You Call This December?

It's officially December.  And you would not really think that looking out the window here.

Normally by now we have snow.  And a decent amount of it.  And even if we don't have much snow it's freezing cold.

But we haven't had snow since that one random day in November.  And it hasn't been too cold except at night.  Looking at the ten day forecast there's nothing but sunny or partly cloudy days, and highs in the 60's.

It's SO weird.  I've been thinking a lot of summer lately and I think this is why--because it really doesn't feel like winter here.

Normally I'd find this lack of winteriness super depressing, but this year, I'm actually kind of glad, because I think the not so wintery weather is keeping me sane.

To me, winter means Christmas.  And Christmas, at the moment, is basically ruined for me, because of Corey.  And ever since we broke up I have dreaded winter and snow and Christmas and all of that.  And yes, Christmas is pretty much everywhere but at least I can ignore it.

First Snow

It's snowing out.  Coming down pretty hard.

It is beautiful.  I look forward to snow every single year.

But I've been dreading the first snow this year, I really have.

I don't even think I have to explain why.

It's COLD!!!

The Peaks got snow last night/this morning.  I don't know how much, I just know they got snow.  We didn't get any here in town (just lots and lots of rain)  but I doubt it'll be much longer!

The apartment is freezing.  How cold?  Well, since I was in high school--so for more than ten years--I have slept topless in a pair of shorts year round.  It's what's most comfortable to me and I actually have not been able to sleep in pants for a long time.

Until this morning.

I woke up around ten AM freezing my ass off, so I got up and changed into a pair of sweats and one of my thermals and crawled back under the covers.  And I actually slept like that!!

This is a big deal.

Fuzzy Sock Weather

Yep.

It's officially fuzzy sock weather!!

Those are my newest fuzzy socks, which Jerbs bought me at Family Dollar a few nights ago.  All the rest of my fuzzy socks are back in Kingman.

Rain and . . . Snow?

Today was a rainy rainy rainy day.  We got woken up this morning by really bad thunder (like the walls were shaking kinda thunder . . . that's what happens when you're on the third floor).  The thunder was followed by torrential rain, and a power outage.  The power only stayed out for about an hour.  But the storm was intense!  And while our side of town only got heavy rain and a little hail, other parts of town got snow.

Snow.

In August.

Yikes.

We went out after it had let up a bit, and it was freezing cold.  I definitely had a moment of bitterness because all of my winter clothes are back in Kingman, and I really don't have a way of getting them at the moment.  Jerbs was kind enough to buy me a windbreaker for when I leave the house, because she's awesome.

I do love this weather though.  It's so pretty.  It's the kind of weather I want to live in all the time.  The downside is that it makes me think of Ex-Fiance and miss him.  It makes me want to cuddle.

Speaking of Ex-Fiance.  I feel . . . like that should be another entry, because I just don't have the energy right now.