Happy Birthday

Happy birthday to the best dad in the world! I love you!! 

Christmas and stuff

Christmas has come and gone. Whew. For a minute I thought I wasn't going to make it this year. I was able to spend Christmas Eve with my family at my grandparents house; it was nice and relaxing. I was going to sleep at my parents house with Joey and Enna but decided to sleep in my own bed at my house. I woke up at 5:30 Christmas morning and went up to my parents house. I woke everyone up and we opened (watched Joey) presents. It was a lot of fun and I got spoiled. So did Joey.

After we were done opening gifts and hanging out, Buddy and Andi came up- and all the kids took moms car for a cruise to listen to Joey's new CD- "Now 44". ha ha.

Then we all went to grandma's for breakfast and pictures. Good thing I haven't showered or brushed my hair in like 4 days. I'm sure I'll love having these pictures.

I went home and slept most of the day and in the afternoon we went to Les Miserables (everyone minus Buddy, Dad and Joey). It was such a good movie and I'm glad I went- although it was nearly 3 hours long....which, in my book, is too long.

Now I'm at work. I'm tired, I'm sick and I wanna be in bed. 4 more hours. :)

Christmas Eve

Today is Christmas Eve- the morning of Christmas Eve, actually. As I'm sitting here at work thinking of all the shopping I still need to do tomorrow, I'm kicking myself for putting it off so long. On the other hand, I kind of like waiting until Christmas Eve to shop. It seems thrilling and exciting. ha ha...okay, not really.

The past few days have been so crazy. Between work and Sub4Santa I haven't gotten much sleep and I was starting to get a little crazy...or more crazy than normal. I have been stressed about Sub4Santa for a few weeks because last year we had much more done a lot sooner. This year we didn't know if we were going to be able to pull it off (time and money). Of course it all worked out and it was the best year we've had yet!

We weren't able to schedule a time to do the bake sale until Dec. 22- which is rather late, but we made more money than we've ever made doing a bake sale, plus we had more donations of money and gifts than ever before. Not only were we able to provide Christmas for over 20 kids- we gave Christmas dinner to 7 families. The best part was that the day before we were to deliver gifts, we took on a new family. The mom has something wrong with her heart (I don't know the medical terms) and the daughter is losing her ability to communicate. We had enough extra money that we were able to buy her an iPad!

All in all, life is good. People are good and I have cried (happy and crazy emo) more than I want to admit. Merry Christmas, everyone! :)

I thought once school ended I would mellow out and be less stressed, non-hormonal, and carefree. Turns out, it's quite the opposite; one might even say I'm more stressed, more hormonal and worried about everything.

I'm stressed that the Sub4Santa project isn't done yet and Christmas is coming so quickly.
I'm stressed that I haven't gotten any Christmas presents done yet. Some are started and some are almost done. But not one is completely ready to go.
I am on my period (3 weeks late) and more hormonal than I should be at any given time.
And mostly, I'm worrying about my grades. I won't find out until Wednesday and I think I'm giving myself an ulcer thinking about it.
On top of it, I babysat Joey last week while he was sick and now I'm sick.

So, today when I get off of work I'm going to go home and clean the shit (literally, cat shit) out of my house. Then maybe I'll get some Christmas shopping done and put together a couple presents. And I should probably shower and shave. My arm hair is long enough to be braided right now and I hate that; my legs are the same. Woof.

I know this blog doesn't make any sense and probably never does...but whatever. I get to see Sof tomorrow and I can't wait!

Hope everyone else is done Christmas shopping, not worried about grades and isn't on their period. Today is gonna be a good day. Meow

Kitties are like kids: part 2

I like giving people gifts. I also like buying my cats toys. Not really because they love them, but because it makes me feel good. 

You know when you give a baby a present and you think they will love it? And then they end up playing with the box that the toy came in and not the gift itself? Damn, right? 

Well today when I got home from work I was getting ready for bed and noticed a tampon wrapper on the bathroom floor. I kicked it and Calv came running and then played with it for a good 10 minutes before I threw it away. Weird, but okay.

Then when I woke up from my nap, I noticed he has found it and was playing with it again. Who knew I didn't need to spend 3 dollars on Christmas presents for Calv- all he needs is a tampon wrapper. Sweet! I will be returning his gift tomorrow. Tampon wrappers will be saved from now on and my kitty will be happy. 

Kids and kitties are so cool, right?

Kitty children

I love my cat(s). Yes, I do love them both. I love Calv more than anything, though. And here's how I know how:

Exhibit A: Calv walks into the bedroom, shits next to the litter box and then hops on my bed. I cuddle with him for ten minutes and then clean up his shit. And then cuddle some more.


I can imagine that being a parent to a real, human kid would be similar to how I love Calv. Yes... I am angry he shit on my floor, but I still love him. Yes, it's disgusting and I don't want to clean up shit...but sometimes you just do what you gotta do.

Don't judge me.

I told Joey I was going to bring Calv up to my parents house for Christmas Eve. His response? "You will stress mom out!!"

I guess no cats on Christmas Eve for me! :)

I woke up this morning at about 4am, dying of heat. I live in an old house that is converted into 3 small apartments; my neighbors downstairs have control of the furnace (well, we all do  because it's in the laundry room...but they take control). It was 85 degrees in my house and that was with my windows open. If it was my choice, I would leave the heat below 70 degrees and wear warmer clothes if I was cold. Turns out, I don't get to decide on this one so I woke up and started studying. As I was taking a break on good ol' Facebook, my little bro posted a picture of himself and said that he was staying home sick. I called and arranged to spend the day with him.

This is a win-win situation. I got to leave my hot-as-hell-house to come to my parents cold house (my mom likes it cold) and hang out with a cool dude while I study. Today is a good day.

I have one more paper to write, 4 exams and then I'm done for the semester. I can't wait would be an understatement.

Today I'm grateful for:

• my fam
• Sof
• M&M's (Joey and I are currently eating all of the Christmas supply of them)
• Netflix (for entertaining Joey while I "study")
• my baby sis 
• Ape
• Ice water
• Cuties
• Showers and warm water
• basketball clothes

I asked Joey if he wanted a drink and then told him he could have water, milk, or orange juice. He graciously informed me that juice makes him poop. Great, we'll go with the milk. ha 

I decorated for Christmas with Joey at my house today- and by that i mean we taped one strand of lights in my front window and taped a "Happy Holiday's" sign to my front door. ha But at least now my neighbors think I'm festive.

I also have a "photo shoot" for Calv and Gretch. I'm sending out Christmas cards. Watch out.

Today sucked overall, but I'm hoping that between school and work things will be better by next Friday.

I'm ready for a break and hopefully a trip to SLC to see friends. I need a break!

good intentions

Today when I got to work I was feeling refreshed and ready to get shit done. I normally get to work, do the shit I absolutely have to do and then do homework. Tonight I decided I would go above and beyond and work as hard as I could.

Well, I did. And I got lots of shit done. As I was in the cooler trying to put away the Pepsi order (because the Pepsi drivers suck and don't put it away)- I dropped a liter of Pepsi in the cooler and it exploded. So then I had to mop the cooler and move everything I had just put away. I guess sometimes it's better just to sit back and do my homework.

On a positive note, I was talking to a staff member at Horizon House (who I also have a class with) and telling him how frustrated I am with not being able to do an MSW. He told me that he thinks I should try and do it anyway. Sometimes it's nice to have someone who thinks I can do what I want to do; I still don't know what I will do or if I can even get into an MSW program...but I guess it won't hurt to try. :)

Today I'm grateful for mops, Monsters, Cuties (Mandarin oranges), and Calv. Meow.

Attitude Adjustment or something.

Obviously from the last couple of posts, I have been a little upset. And to say a little upset would be a lie- I've been so angry for the last couple of days that it was starting to really bring me down. I'm still upset. I still wish that my DUI wasn't affecting my life the way it is right now. I still want to get my MSW.

But...

Today I met with my academic adviser (who also happens to be awesome!) and talked about all my options. She advised that I stay at SUU and do my masters in Public Administration. I had already thought about this option and think that it could be great- but it's not exactly what I wanted. I guess that's the great part about life...you never know what will happen.

I would loveeee to do my MSW at UNLV. I have been wanting to do this for years now and I didn't think that having a DUI would play any major role in my decision making process. Turns out, after talking to many people, it does. Sure, I can get into an MSW program without any major consequences of having a DUI but to get licensed after the program is another story. People have done it and maybe it would work out for me, too. But it's not a risk that I am able to financially make at this point. I can't afford to pay upwards of $40,000 to possibly get licensed. I need something that I will be able to rely on and survive on- and that seems to be a different route than what I intended.

In 2020 I will be eligible to get my DUI expunged from my record. At that point, if I feel like I need to get my MSW, I will. For now, I think I'll just roll with the punches and take a slightly different, not better or worse, path. And I'm okay with that.

I still wouldn't trade getting a DUI for anything. I don't think I would even be in school to care about getting an MSW if I didn't experience everything I have up to this point. So, although it's not ideal, I'll take the DUI and work with it. I am a firm believer that everything will work out; it might not be how I think it should be, but it will be good and I can be successful.

One weeks left of school! Wahooo!

Rant.

Did you know that it takes longer for a misdemeanor DUI to be expunged than it does a felony? 7 years for a felony and 10 years for a DUI. 

Did you know that in some states you can have a felony and still be a licensed social worker but you can't have a DUI? 

Looks like I should I have done coke. Or meth. Or heroin. My bad...

Weird

Sometimes life is weird as shit. Today was one of those days.

I found out that I can indeed graduate early, but only if I take 3 classes in the summer. Not bad, except I don't have money to pay for them. So I guess we'll have to see about that.

Just in case I DO get to graduate in the summer, I started applying for grad schools today. I hadn't really thought much about it (I have thought a lot about it, but nothing specific)...and then the question that got me was "do you have an charges aside from minor traffic tickets?" came up. I do, indeed, have a DUI and other alcohol related charges and for some reason I had just assumed it wouldn't even matter at this point. Turns out, it does and I will have to ask the Board of Social Work in whatever state I go to school/plan to work, if I can get my license. The only problem is that they won't tell me until AFTER I finish my MSW program.

So now I'm left wondering if it's worth 2 years- time and money, to MAYBE get my license. I really hope that someone will have more clear answers for me or some advice. I am meeting with my adviser at SUU on Thursday and I have been emailing some professors at potential schools but I just feel so defeated.

I know it'll all work out but it's frustrating right now because I have no idea what I should be doing. Wish me luck! :)

Lucky Charms and Monster

My diet the past 3 days has consisted of ice water, Lucky Charms, and blue Monster energy drinks. It's not all it's cracked up to be and I'm feeling a little bit cracked. The good news, however, is that finals happen in one week! I don't know how to describe how happy I am or the amount of relief I will feel when it's over. My first semester back has been a good one...but one that won't be missed.

Good thing Lucky Charms were invented, though. Seriously, I can't think of a more unhealthy food to eat, especially for breakfast- and then add it in for lunch, dinner and snacks, too. Maybe when I graduate college I'll prepare real human food, but for now, I kinda like it.