I went to yoga tonight...

And I'm riddiculsously sore (already...I shudder to think how sore I will be tomorrow). I have been incredibly stressed these last couple days, with being frustrated at work becuase I feel stupid and want to just know how to do the job already and learn the process instead of having to continuously ask questions) to feeling fat and ugly to worrying about the new house and renting out our current townhouse, to my lack of money this week. I'm just...stressed. And I can't seem to sleep...except on weekends and then I can sleep until 11 am in the morning.

When I get stressed my body gets really tense and my neck starts to hurt and my back gets all stiff and it's just no good. So I thought going to a yoga class would be good idea, good stretching, relaxing etc. I have been to a few classes last year on saturday mornings at the Rec Center and they were very low key, and focussed more on relaxation and stretching which was wonderful. The class tonight...was NOT that. AT ALL. It was almost power yoga. My god. First of all, fat people not so good at yoga. And I'm not exactly flexible as it is. I felt like a huge big fat whale. I do feel less back tension, but my neck still is having issues.

At least I made it out to the rec center. I've read a lot about how excecise can help you cope with stress, so I am determined to continue to make working out a habit so I don't have my semi-annual freak out anytime soon.

Arrrgh!

Spagetti and Meatballs

I'm a good wife....or at least I am sometimes! Austin called around 10:15 pm, he's finally done with work and is waiting for the bus (one of the drawbacks of taking the bus is if he comes home late the bus only goes every 1/2 hour). He's starving, he didn't have time to eat lunch today, or dinner. So I got my butt out of bed, and am in the process of cooking him spagetti and meatballs so my dear husband will have something good in his belly. I'm a good wife :)

I'm browning homemade meatballs I had frozen and am cooking sauce I had in the freezer and some noodles are boiling in water. Easy peasy. It frustrates me that he has to work late, and sometimes that frustration comes out on him but I understand it's his job and the nature of his job. But lately he's just beeen home late EVERY night (although not THIS late) and I just miss spending time with my husband! Our house closing is scheduled for March 12th, which also happens to be the exact date of our 3 year anniversary :) It'd be a neat thing to close on our house on the same date we were married! I can't believe it's been 3 years either, time flies. I'm so thankful that we found each other, he's my rock and I love sharing our life together.

Ok enough mushiness, time to check my meatballs! Ta Ta!

Desperate Housewives

I am addicted to Desperate Housewives. I never got into the show until this last season, Season 3. And since then I've been addicted. All conversation stops and I become fixated on it sunday night when a new episode comes on. I feel complete disapoitment when an episode is a repeat (like last night). I borrowed Season 1 from a friend of mine on DVD, and have been watching 4 hours a day of desperate housewives. Granted, each episode is 45 minutes becuase there are no commercials but I can't STOP. I can't help myself. Saturday night I was up until 2 am finishing Season 1.

Austin is working late tonight, so i thought hey, I'll watch an episode of season 2 (which I rented from netflix) and I'm now on episode 4. There are only 4 episodes on each dvd, and with netflix they only sent one DVD so I'll have to send the DVD back tomorrow and hopefully I'll get another DVD in a day or two. That saddens me, I want to watch it tomorrow. lol. I'm addicted. It's like crack. Once you start it's hard to stop.

House Progress

We have been seeing a significant amount of progress on the house these past 2 weeks (which is a relief!). They have put up drywall and installed cabinets. Right now we have a tentative completion date of March 12th, baring any more delays due to snow or any other natural disasters. March is Denver's snowiest month after all!

Take a look at the pictures when you get a chance…The next few weeks should be very exciting (for us at least!)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/58938245@N00/sets/72057594140111457/

Click on the photo to view the description, or view the slideshow! Newest photos are listed first...

TGI's almost Friday!

Whew! Thank goodness it's almost Friday :) This week hsa been good, but very tiring with all of the new job training. It's been good, I already really like one aspect of my job. I'm starting to learn the computer program that I will be administering and that is less fun just becuase I have no idea what I'm doing it yet but I'm sure I will get there.

The gal who is training me is very "on"...she is nonstop super energetic and running all around. Just watching her exhausts me! But she's very nice. The other people in my department are also really nice so far so that's really cool too. I have a cube and have set up with all of my personal stuff so it's starting to feel like home. I'm not able to access the internet much, becuase the IT department really tracks usage so that is a bit of an adjustment for me and has made me realize how much I used to take a quick break and surf.

Not sure what our weekend plans are, Austin's best friend is out of town and we usually do things with him and his girlfriend so it might be a quiet weekend. But quiet is never a bad thing! I went to the house earlier this week during lunch and the cabinets were installed in the kitchen, and bathrooms which is exciting. They also put down some of the flooring and some of the baseboards. So finally, some progress!

That's all. Have a great weekend! Be safe and have fun!

My first day!

My first day was...good...but exhausting. How on earth one can get so tired from just sitting there absorbing the info that they throw at you is beyond me, but I came home exhausted. I spent most of the day with other newbies (who, were mostly all police recruits) and then went and spent 2 hours with my new department. So far so good, I'm the youngest but everyone seems really nice and funny and were all happy to see me and were very welcoming (which is much different than the reception I received at the job I was let go from).

Tomorrow I'll be back at it, and getting more hands on and more in depth. I'm really looking forward to it. I really think this could be a great experience for me!

Snow...again....really?

So, woke up this morning to....MORE SNOW! It has continued to snow all day. Austin went out this morning to a movie and said the roads were getting slick. Wonderful. At least my drive to my first day of work tomorrow won't be too far away which is nice.

Austin got a call yesterday afternoon from one of his friends who had been searching for a Nintendo Wii for several weeks (actually months) and he finally found one at a Kmart way down in south Denver. They had several so he called Austin and asked if he wanted one. We said yes, and we drove to go meet him. It's actually quite a lot of fun, it's motion activated so we bowled and played tennis.

We went to the house yesterday and were happy to see some progress. This next week should be an exciting week, as they plan to put in cabinets and flooring and possibly even paint. I like seeing progress. It gives me hope that we might move in soon.

Other than that, not much new. Looking forward to starting my new job tomorrow (although sad that my days off will end!).

I almost forgot...my new color!

Me and Jones
Originally uploaded by grumpysnickles.

I almost forgot! I went to get my haircut and highlighted today. I decided to go a little different than what I normally do (blonde) and went with a reddish brown. I think it looks really cute, much darker than what i have done lately but I like it!

I'm also (for now) growing my hair out. I like being able to pull my hair back and when it's short I lack that ability...

What do ya think?

Thursday Update

Wow, it's already thursday. My week has flown by, and my days of being unemployed are quickly coming to an end! Wow. I've managed to take good advantage of this last week off, relaxing and taking care of errands (and a bit of shopping too!) I went shopping yesterday and discovered I'm down a size so that was nice, although it appears that I am "in between" two sizes for a lot of pants so that makes it difficult to buy clothes. The smaller size is just a bit too tight, and the larger size is just WAY too big and it looks sloppy (even if I do manage to shrink it, which I always do becuase our dryer only has two settings, fire hot and will take 2 years t0 dry).

I called the Consulate on thursday and cancelled on the interview. I decided, after several sleepless nights mind you, that I would prefer to work for the city at this point. I knew the Consulate job paid less, and would entail a commute, and the City job also will give me excellent health benefits and 6 weeks of vacation a year. So it was almost a no brainer. Plus, the Consulate job was an assistant job and the city job is one that I think will enable me to use much more of the skills I have developed.

The house is...well very slowly progressing. I'm trying REALLY hard to be patient, but it's so dang frustrating. All of the snow has caused it to be delayed AGAIN...we are now looking at the beginning of March (but they might be able to get it back into February). They hung the drywall last week so I would expect that this week they will be mudding and sanding etc. So we'll see. I'm just ready to move in. We packed up a large portion of our townhouse last April to get it ready to put on the market so I have been living with less of my "things" for awhile now and I'm ready to start having my pictures and trinkets around again and having my house look like my house again.

I have to wait around the house tomorrow for a delivery from office depot. We ordered some office furniture for the new house with some gift certificates I had that were about to expire at the end of January. I hope they come sooner rather than later so I don't have to wait around! :)

Wow, big news!

So...I had a good day today. I slept until 10 am (becuase I could NOT fall asleep last night until around 3 am) and then ran some errands like getting my allergy shot, the post office, etc. I went to Costco and the mall but didn't find anything I wanted to buy. I came home, and just as I got home the Canadian Consulate called. They have a position open and want to talk to me about it. I'm going in on wednesday to talk to them, although I have some hesitations since I have already commited to another job that is closer to home (this would mean commuting downtown which I'd rather not do, the city job I start on monday is a mere 7 minutes away from the house!) and is also less money also. It's more of an assistant position too so I'd most likely be very over qualified.

Anyways, that was exciting! Tonight is the Golden Globes. Nizar is coming over for dinner and I am making Chicken Milano with tomato mozzarella basil salad. Yum.

I can't sleep :(

It's 1 am and I can't sleep. SO frustrating when this happens. At least I don't have to go to work, I'm off this whole week before I start my new job next monday! It probably doesn't help that I had a big long nap on the couch today, must stop napping for so long. When I nap, I nap, like I nap for a good 3 hours. I LOOOOOOOOOOVE long naps. But this tends to happen.

So I'm just cruising around on the internet. The cats are both irritated with me, they wish that I would just sleep. Instead of just going upstairs and sleeping with Austin, they sit with me downstairs and make it known that they are VERY unhappy I am not sleeping and they are unable to sleep on top of me.

Crock potting, baking, cooking, and more baking

It's sunday, it's cold, and I'm cooking and baking up a storm. I can't wait for my new larger kitchen in the new house...I love to cook and bake, and my current kitchen really is way to small and just doesn't work for me. I also can't wait for my new appliances either, rather than the pieces of crap we have now.

Anyways...what's on the menu you ask...well, I started a Beer Brisket in the slow cooker this morning at 10 am. I took a brisket and seared it, and then caramalized some onions and some parsnips and put them in the bottom of the crock pot and then put the roast on top, a bottle of light beer, and some balsamic vinaeger and garlic. 8 hours later on low, and we should have a very tender brisket (I hope!).

Austin requested a pac man cake (he has been playing pac man on the X Box for awhile now and loves it) so I baked a lemon cake and plan to frost it with lemon icing and fill the cake with rasberry filling.

I then decided to make french toast for Austin for breakfast to use up leftover bread. And now I'm cooking him some corn potato chowder to eat for lunch. :) This afternoon I plan to bake some peanut butter cookies for Sola, who is coming over for dinner (as well as Nizar of course) becuase Sola LOVES them. And I'm feeling like baking.

Gots to go stir the soup!

My last day!

So, it's my last day at the clinic. I have all next week off which I am looking forward to. The new temp they brought in to replace me did not show up to work today, apparently she is home sick. I really question if she changed her mind and won't shop up ever. But anyways, not my problem. The one thing I really WONT miss is the stinky bathroom. The ladies bathroom just stinks NON STOP. Sometimes it smells like shit, but sometimes it just smells...putrid. ALL the time. It's just gross. And it's an old building so the toilets clog and overflow all the time. Won't miss that at all.

I'm just checking websites and trying to determine when will be a good time for me to go home. I'm ready now...so I might head out at 2.

It's riddiculously cold in Colorado, we have this big arctic cold front that has settled in the air and it's just cold.

Pot holes suck

So the entire metro area is filling up with potholes. EVERYWHERE! I hit a huge one yesterday on my way home from work and I spend a lot of my drive to work and back now carefully watching out for huge missing chunks in the road (Boulder is particularily awful). Austin hit the same one I hit yesterday, and his tire went immediately flat. They are pretty new expensive tires too, and the mini doesn't have a spare (no room) so it makes for an interesting situation. He plans to go with his dad to the store tomorrow (first they will have to take the tire off and actually bring it to the store---sounds like a pain). Anyways, it just sucks all around.

My new replacement arrived at work today, and I started training her. She seems very capable, but was quite overwhelmed. I felt the same way when I started 2 months ago at the clinic so I'm trying to re-assure her. My last day will be friday, so the countdown has begun!

A huge arctic coldfront is on it's way that is slated to arrive tomorrow in the afternoon bringing very fridid temperatures (but hopefully little snow!). If it does snow a huge amount, this will be round 4. Eek.!

Holey wind!

Holey wind! My drive into Boulder today was horrible due to 100 mph winds that are blowing. Roads are shut down to do the wind and snow and blowing snow and it's craziness. And not only that, but we are forecast to get a 4th round of Snow on thursday and friday and super cold temperatures. What is WITH the snow! lol Last year we had hardly any, but this year has been crazy...or rather this last 3 weeks has been crazy weather wise!

My last day at the clinic will be on friday, my temporary replacement will be coming on wednesday so I can train her. So I will have all next week off of work, which is fun :)

More snow?

Yep...more snow! I'm home from work today becuase we can't get out of our parking lot due to the foot of snow that we have already received from last night (and is still falling). Incredible! Austin is home too, but he can work from home so that makes it not so bad. They expect the snow to taper out this afternoon and we have already called the plow to plow out our lot.

Photos are now online

Photos from Puerto Vallarta are now online. Click in the link below to view. I haven't put any titles on any of the pictures, but I will tomorrow.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/58938245@N00/sets/72157594458174426/

Enjoy!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! A few days belated, but better late than never! We came back from Mexico on monday night. The flight went well, I even napped so that makes a 3 hour flight a lot less! We had a great time in Mexico, the weather was perfect and my parent's place is spectacular. Really nice. We did a bunch of sightseeing and I will get my pictures posted to my flickr account soon.

New Years Eve was also fun, we went out to dinner with my parents to this beachfront restaurant and I had wonderful coconut shrimp! We rang in the New Year watching many fireworks over the Bay in Puerto Vallarta. Really quite spectacular!

Last night we went over to Austin's parents house to celebrate his dad's birthday. Dinner and cake, and of course presents! I also finished up all of our laundry.

I got the official offer letter today from the City. I start my new job on the 22nd of January. I have already given notice here. They were sad, but I said I really needed something more permanent (the clinic is merging and job security, particularily as a temp is slim to none even though they love having me here and I do a good job). I gave them 2 weeks notice, which as a temp I don't have to do but I felt it was the right thing to do.

Anyways, that's all that is new on my end!