Haircuts

Did you know we spend more on Gizmo's grooming than we spend on our own combined?  Other than the shampoo and conditioner, I really don't spend money on my hair.  And Jared has a do it yourself approach when it comes to cutting his hair.  I thought about getting a haircut today, and decided I didn't want to go anywhere...  So, only Gizmo got a haircut today.  And he was super happy afterwards.  He can now see.  He's a lot cuter when you can see his eyes.  But he loves going to the dog groomer.  He shows off his new do afterwards, and thinks he's king of the world.

Why yes, Gizmo frequently mistakes his canine species for a feline one.  Sunbathing on the couch. 

Before the haircut.  We couldn't resist it.  After realizing Gizmo would fit into a stocking, that's where he went.  He wasn't too happy with us.  Oh well, it was completely worth it.

The infamous tongue sticking out.  Almost all pictures we have of him, he's got his tongue sticking out.

So far, I have very little Christmas shopping done.  Probably about fifty bucks worth which equates to some-odd 8 people.  And if I can help it, I'm solely shopping online for Christmas presents.  And I wait until I have a coupon before I shop (yes, still a major bargain hunter).  I will probably get a lot more done next week once Jared gets his discount.  And then I have to ship all of the gifts off.  Better hurry up with this non-shopping...

Money

Looking back on things, I always thought life would be easier once I got my degree.  And I would be super rich which was a definite bonus.

Well, life certainly isn't easier nor am I super rich.  Granted, I can go buy more milk and cereal without wondering how on earth I'm going to pay for it.  I can also go to the doctor's and be treated for a bladder infection without deciding which credit card I have to max out before getting treated.  With the whole money situation, Jared and I barely break even each month.  But I guess that's okay for now.

We've set aside a small portion each month to donate to whatever we want to.  And it makes me happy that we're able to do that.  Granted it's not much and most people would laugh at us for donating so little, but we're donating consistently.  And the fall-back donation so far has become something related to USU.  And maybe with time, that monthly donation will become a bigger portion.  But for now, it'll do.  I'm happy we're doing it even if it may cause a little stress to us at the end of the month (I get paid at the beginning of each month).

And the best financial part?  Our credit card balances are not going up.  They're going down.  Granted, it's a super slow process, and I spend some moments wondering why I'm making a big payment on it when I could be using the money on something else.  Or how I'm tied to my student loans for the next ten years.  And if I pay double the amount due, I'm still strapped for a few more years.  There's no immediate gratification to paying debt off.  But I'm sure the day I pay off these credit cards and student loans, there will be a lot of gratification and lots of rejoicing...

What I did the last four years was worth it all.  I'm happy with where I'm at.  And while I'm not that super rich person that I envisioned being, I can live without worrying about money.  And it's nice.

Happy Birthday Jared!!

To my dear husband

Happy  birthday!!!!!

23

You're old.  Well, older than me anyways...

And since my Happy Birthday song by the Birthday Massacre (my new favorite band) is already on my blog, I'll post a song from their newest album....

Books

Here's an update on the books I'm reading...

I read this in October.  It was super sad.  Predictable, but sad.  I need to see the movie now.  This book also helped me appreciate my childhood moments in the hospital.  They weren't life-threatening visits.

I have seen the movie for this one.  And now I'm reading the book.  It's okay as far as nonfiction goes.  Definitely not the normal reading for me.  But I'm enjoying the funny moments.  But this book is also making me a little baby crazy (the mood will pass, I'm sure).

I haven't had a whole lot of time to read lately.  So, I've been slacking.  I have a ton of books to read.  And for the two books that came out that I need to read and will read eventually?

I started this series in May.  It is definitely young adult fiction, but I enjoy the books.  This book's from the Morganville Vampires series.  Another twist to vampires that I really enjoy reading.  I will probably read this after Marley and Me.

The Blue Bloods is another young adult vampire series.  This one isn't as great as the other ones I read, but I still enjoy the story.  The last book I read in this series, I was so lost until right at the very end.  It left me confused and bored.  So I have a feeling I'll be rereading the whole series before I start this book to make sure I'm up to speed with everything.  This series definitely has a twist to vampires.  They're the fallen angels that must spend eternity on Earth separated from God because of Lucifer's deed.

Weekend

I have survived my twelve day work-week (done in two weeks, haha).  And my reward?  I got Friday off.  So, I've enjoyed the day being lazy and sleeping in for an hour and a half.  Gizmo had some major issues this morning and peed all over the floor.  I swear in some ways, Gizmo is slowly preparing me for kids.  He gets himself into trouble and then tries to hide from me once I've seen the mess.  And then he spends the next hour trying to please me to get back on my good side...

Anyways, Jared had the day off today also.  We went to Borders and the mall.  i realized two new books from a couple of series I've been reading came out.  I bought one of the two and will wait to buy the next book once I've caught up in reading.  We went to the mall to get our free truffles from Godiva (free with the rewards program which also free -recommend it if you want a free truffle every month).  We went to Kohl's and did a little Christmas shopping also.  I applied for my Wisconsin driver's license today.

At the DMV, one of the workers was missing hands.  I thought about asking him if it was ABS, but chances are it wasn't since he had nubs (ABS people tend to not have nubs).  And besides that, he was working and it's not like I need to be rude and point out the fact that he's different from other people.  I still haven't come up with a nice way of saying, "Look, we're the same...  Weird, abnormal hands!!"  Awkward silence and then transition into the childhood horror stories we've experienced.  I don't know.  It's just too hard to group yourself and someone else based on some abnormality because then it just constantly points to your abnormality.  Maybe I'll make a group called Abnormal Hands United and make it exclusive.  Only cool people with abnormal hands can join.  Somehow, I don't see many members joining that anytime soon...

On a more depressing note, the USU Bowling coach died last week.  It's super sad.  It's hard to believe he's gone.  He helped me improve my bowling skills (well, he helped me actually keep the ball from guttering constantly).  It's just sad.  My heart and prayers go out to his family and the USU bowling team.

Well, now that I have some free time on my hands, maybe I'll be able to clean the house...  It's a disaster zone right now.

Home

I am home for a couple of days...

Working 12-hour night shifts is hard.  It's also super easy to get lost in a hospital.  Trying to sleep in the day doesn't work.  I slept three hours and my mind told me the sun was up and it was time I got out of bed. I got about six hours of sleep that first morning.  Then my second night shift came.  Then I headed to the airport.  And I passed out in a very uncomfortable chair.  My phone woke me up, and I thought I had missed my flight because there were different people sitting by me.  Fortunately, it was just the flight before mine.  But needless to say, I didn't sleep well at all since I was en route to Madison.  And then I went into work for 1.5 hours and then home.  Even though my brain had shut down early on, I was surprised to see how well I was functioning yesterday.  I basically went without my bedtime, so I could readjust back to normalcy.  I went to sleep at my normal sleep schedule (I'm positive that I was out thirty seconds after putting my head on my pillow), and then my alarm woke me up for work.  It didn't feel like enough sleep though...

Overall, I very much enjoyed work in Georgia.  It was a lot of fun to work with medical professionals.  And it was informative to see how they do things.

I leave for Ohio on Friday.  Fortunately, these shifts will be during the day.  Although I'm coming to the conclusion that night shifts make it easier to check out the city and be a tourist (even though you get very little sleep).

The outside of my hotel.  It's a fountain.  And yes, it's outside even though there's a roof (hotel's above you).

An old, awesome looking Catholic church.  The front above and the side below. 

This was a either a Methodist or Lutheran church right across the street from the Catholic one.  I love old buildings.

I stink at taking pictures.  So, that's all I got.  But I'll end with one of my moments on the plane...

Having nightmares stinks.  But what's worse than that is realizing the nightmare you're having isn't a nightmare but actual reality.  Dreaming about the plane crashing only to awake to really rough turbulence scared the crap out of me (so the nightmare wasn't reality because the plane didn't actually crash)...