Survived the flight(s)

Well, I boarded the plane last night at 10:45, slept about 2 hours (and not good sleep, I'll explain in a bit). Landed in Cleveland, and boarded a "puddle hopper" plane that seats about 25 people...That was a bit scary. I've never been in a plane so small. It was a bit intimidating, but I made it through. It's 8pm Central time, and I'm still awake. I think we're even going to make it to a movie.

So, on the first flight, I was sitting next to this annowing Tawaiinese (sp?) lady. She spoke very broken english, and didn't sleep at all. She mosturized her face, put on makeup, ruffled with a plastic bag (for what seemed like 30 minutes), she kept hitting my foot. It was a bit unnerving. She didn't even seem to care that I was sleeping.

But so far, this place is gorgeous. Experienced some pretty bad humidity today. When we landed, it was all overcast, and so I thought that meant it was cold too. Nope! It was humid, and gross. We ate at Cracker Barrel and that was a cute place. Delicious bacon. I don't know how they cooked it, but it was awesome! We walked around her college (literally a half a block away) and they have a castle there! It's incredible. It's covered in ivy and there's even little white christmas lights that they turn on during the winter. It's very nostalgic. All of the places I've ever gone to school don't have this sort of charisma. Can't wait to see some of the downtown area tomorrow and then Indianapolis!

The final countdown....

I leave for my flight to Illinois in about 8 hours. I haven't been on a flight longer than 1-2 hours in over 7 years. Scary. And I picked a seat right by an emergency exit. There was this whole thing I was supposed to read about my "responsibilities" should we need to use me. Um, ya, I just clicked "next" real fast. I hope the flight attendants know what to do!

I'm flying out of LAX tonight. It's probably one of the worst airports in America. I usually try to avoid this at all costs. But the air fares are usally cheaper if you're travelling long distances. But, I'll get there about 2 1/2 hours early. Should be plenty of time to get myself through security and situated somewhere. I hopefully can find the gate pretty easily!

But, before I fly out, I have to make a call. It's my second call like this of the week. The dreaded "your job is over" call. The one earlier this week went ok. But the guy's a pretty nice guy, and he's getting some notice and we're helping him find a local job. But this girl, she was the one who didn't show up to work for a few days, is being let go. It's hard because I spoke with her in depth back then about what was going on. And I feel for her. I mean, my mom went through much a similar life. But, sometimes you have to work hard to keep both your work life and your family life going smooth, and not let one affect the other so much.

On a much happier note, yesterday I went on a search for one of those "traveler" pillows - the U shaped ones that you wear so you can fall asleep on planes. E$ recommended it. I didn't find that, but I did find some Reef flip flops. I bought these, but all white. Very comfy. I enjoyed my purchase. And, my mom found the pillow for me, so I'll be sleeping like a baby (hopefully!). Have a great weekend!

Trying not to jinx it....

Well, I woke up this morning to a bit of a scratchy throat. My co-worker suggested it could be due to the odd weather we had yesterday - it was cold & cloudy. The day before it was sunny & warm, as it is today. I'm hoping it is that. But just in case, I took a benedryl on my lunch break....and now I'm starting to feel the effects! Eeeks. Quite a weird feeling. I hope I'm not actually sick, because I fly out tomorrow night to visit E$. I heard being sick on a plane (congested) isn't fun. I can attest that flying while hungover is an EXTREMELY bad idea. Yes, I learned the hard way...

Just one more night....

Finally after tonight I'll be able to not sleep or be alone again! It seriously sucks. J is having the same sort of luck. He said he doesn't like sitting by himself in the room, with no one to talk to, no guitar to play, no music to listen to. He's decided he can never be a travelling salesman. lol. That is so beyond his normal nature anyways - but it's cute that he came to that conclusion.

Today he was up at the Capitol Clear Speak 2007 - Each year Sacramento welcomes up all the radio stations from across the state to meet with assemblymen, media, even the Governator himself. J was able to get a minute with him this afternoon - which he's extremely excited about. I was too. It's cool he got to meet with the guy who signed our diplomas from college, and who was in one of our fave movies - Kindergarten Cop. That movie cracks me up.

Last night I avoided going to sleep until after 11. I got stuck watching Sex and the City. I never watch that with J around. Before we started dating, I had just gone through a break-up and was watching the whole series on dvd. I think that this is a regular thing women go through. Break up, watch Carrie and the girls. It's therapy - and much easier on the wallet than Retail Therapy. Anyways, he swore (before we even thought about dating) that he'd never watch that with me. I laughed, because I had no clue that the scenario could even possibly ever arise. Anyways, so last night, I put it on. I tried resorting back to the college days when I fell asleep with the tv on (Shortie taught me this bad habit). But I couldn't do it. It was distracting me. Part of the problem was that when I would hear something funny (Friends was on after), I would look at the screen and start watching. See, before I had Lasik, I would go to sleep with the tv on, and I couldn't watch it because that would involve reaching over, getting my glasses, putting them on, and watching. By that time, the joke was over and the scene also. So now that there are no more glasses, it's easier to get hooked into watching it for 2 minutes, or 5 or 10 or 30. So, I had to turn it off.

It's so funny how habits that we thought we'd always have just end up disappearing, or you "get over it." Like, before I'd always leave the laundry for the last possible chance. I could have gone for 3 weeks without it. Usually I had to end up doing it because I had no more room for my dirty clothes. Never thought I'd be turned on to doing the ritual weekly. Also, I'd always eat ice cream. I always had some in the freezer. Now, we barely eat it. I'll have a container in the freezer forever, and by time I remember about it, it's all freezer burned. What else. Oh, I used to always be online - AIM. Now, it's only when I'm at work. Why? Because when I'm at home, I'm with J. I don't chat online. I used to, and it would piss him off. He'd wonder why I'd sit online when we could be hanging out. I get the point now. I'd sneak off into the cyber world instead of just laying around, flipping channels. Now we do that all the time. One channel we love - the travel channel. And learning about cruises. Seems like now that we've gone on one, we want to know all the inner-workings. It's pretty cool actually. How many tons of trash they have, and recycling, and how they have constant power for all the rooms. I am a geek for that kind of stuff.

Kinda Lonely....

I took J to the airport this morning. He is up in Sacramento for a few days. He'll be home Tuesday, but it's kinda lonely around here. Most of the afternoon/night was kinda normal. I mean, he does sometimes keep busy and I'm alone. But he always comes home. But not tonight. Or tomorrow night. We were thinking back on the last time I was the one left here alone. I've left him a few times. I know he missed me. But I think there's just something different with me being home. I know I'll be safe. But it's just different. It'll be a lonely two nights. Can't wait for him to come home! But then, 2 nights later, it's my turn to leave - going to visit E$. So then I guess he'd be the one sitting here, in our place, alone.

Torn

My cousin sent me an email today. It's a job posting for our city for a position in HR. I doubt I'm even qualified for it. I read over the description, the job duties, and I know I could learn and do a great job, but I also don't think I know enough to even be considered.

I'm torn because I have so much going on with my work, so many contacts, relationships, obligations. I like my work environment, like my boss & co-workers. But I also never want to be stuck. I've had 2 major jobs in my life that lasted a number of years. In hs, I worked at a toy store for about 2 years. I loved being there. When I graduated and moved away, I was able to come home and work on breaks. When their management structure changed, I left.

After that, I got a job in retail. I worked when I was in college up north, and then relocated when I got back here. I was promoted, and stayed there for the rest of college. Well, most of it. In my last semester, I got a great opportunity for a new position at a different retail chain, much better pay, and so I did it. When I got there, I realized I hated it. My work ethic was much differently than theirs. I worked hard, they liked to hardly work. That frustration led to me quitting to get my current job.

This summer, it'll be 3 years that I've worked there. My job duties seem to grow all the time. I like that. I like the challenges and the different things I do. But right now with our main customer, we're at a changing point. The next few months will tell a lot.

I'm only 25, and I know that there's a huge world out there for me. I get scared thinking that I'll eventually have to grow up and move out into a different type of work environment. I can't always have a job where I can work in jeans and flip flops. I'll have to be one day in a more corporate environment. But it's so scary. I want to get myself into the HR field. I believe that's what I want to do. When I got into this job, I told my boss about that. He's been supportive with that goal. Unfortunately, work's so busy that I often don't have the time to enroll in a class or a weekend training to learn more and apply accordingly. But I know I can't stay in the same spot forever. And that's kind of unnerving.

Please Wait While Page Loads

Today's been quite a busy Friday. I've had barely any time to chat on ims or look at TMZ.com. That's sad. You should always have a free minute or two each hour to inspect these. And keep a conversation going on AIM.

I've been waiting on a website to start working again for the past 2 hours. Yesterday, I needed to use the website, but it wasn't working. I figured, oh well I'll do it tomorrow.... It's tomorrow, and now that I have time, it's not working! I've done what I can without it, but it's slowly approaching 5 o'clock, and I have a whole evening of busy things to do.

Tomorrow is (finally) my sister's graduation party from college. She decided last month that she'd like to have a party. She asked my dad and step-mom if we can have it at their house. They said yes. She told my mom, and that started the huge fight of the month.

You see, it's not that my mom hates them (dad & step-mom), or that we didn't ask to have it at her house (well, her's and my sister's - they live together). It was that my sister didn't ask. At all. Last year, when my grandma died, my mom went to the funeral (it was my dad's mother), and then to my dad and step-mom's house after the service. She was extremely nervous/hesistant to go. She hadn't really been around them for that long in many years, and never before to their house.

She was able to brave it that day (mainly due to moral support from her best friend, plus her sister was there too - and wine). She knew it was something she had to do - as most of the people there she hadn't seen in years because of the divorce.

So, with this party, it was now another territory problem. I know my sister should have tried to figure out a more neutral location, but my dad's house was utilized well for my grandma's thing, and so this would be better since it's spring. (although note to self - it sure looks really ugly outside. Weird haziness, but hot).

So, I told her that J and I will drive down with her, stay with her, and then she can leave and we'll stay behind to clean so she doesn't have to go through any not-needed awkwardness. I can understand why she doesn't want to go. I wouldn't want to go to my ex's. I wouldn't want to see the nice house he has, the pool, the things inside....Ever since the divorce (and the legal separation that happened about 6 years prior to the actual divorce) her life has been so hard. Never caught a break. Always in debt up to her eyeballs. Finally, she got out of it, then, she hurt her back, was unemployed for about 9 months, and she's back where she was before. She doesn't own a home, and she just doesn't want to see how successful his life has been...I don't blame her.

Anyways, so my dad was in charge of getting the tables to rent, the main dish (tri-tip) and all the booze (beer/wine). My mom was in charge of the side dishes, appetizers, and dessert. She loves to cook. So tonight is going to be a night filled with chopping, mixing, cooking, cutting, dipping, heating, and storing. I'd tell you what we're making, but it's too many things to list. I honestly don't even know if I'll make it through the night. I feel like I'd be that mom from that Rice Krispie's commercial so many years ago. Although she faked the flour on her face. Mine might be real.

So, it should be an exciting day, hopefully little drama. But with my family, and their friends, and their family - you really can't expect anything NOT to happen.