Did I mention that I am thankful for those negative emails? This email in particular helped me to laugh about my pain and tight shoulders. Now I can look at that email and have a positive outlook about myself.

Stress

All of my tension and pain in my back, neck and head is caused from stress (according to my doc). So I guess I have to have a new outlook on life and work.

It was hilarious that after I returned to work from the doctor's office, I had a very unpleasant email waiting for me. No wonder my shoulders and back are so tight, my job is a major stressor in my life.

It is not only my job that causes me stress. There are many things going on that are both good and bad that cause stress. It the change that causes the stress not just something bad happening. John and I have a lot going on in our lives and that is something that I need to reflect on and watch how I react to certain things.

Hopefully the blood tests and x-rays will come back as good news. We'll see.

Simple gifts

I am so thankful that I have the benefit of using a washer and dryer to do my clothes even though I have to pay $2.25 per load.

Yesterday I had to wash some clothes by hand because I haven't done laundry in forever and it wasn't dry this morning. Oh well, that is what happens when life gets busy and you get lazy. Maybe I should be doing my laundry instead of just talking about it.

Blah

It has been a long couple of days and I am very tired. I am sick of working and I just want to sleep well for a few hours at night. I have no desire nor the energy to work today.

Here's an update on my second job search. I applied for a position at Banana Republic and I have not heard back from them. I figure this is God telling me that I just need to take some time for myself and enjoy the holidays and not to worry about the finances. So, that is what I am doing. And according to my tiredness, I don't think I could handle working two jobs three days a week.

I need some energy to keep up with the season of Advent and all the church activities.

What is it about?

I know the holidays are fast approaching and everyone is talking about what the holidays really mean. I am looking forward to being with my family again and having some time with them, but I haven't bought our plane tickets yet. Airline prices are through the roof and John and I really don't have the money. I do get one ticket for $50 because of my Alaska membership, but one ticket is over $400. Yikes!! Not only do we have to fly, but we also have to buy gifts and such for people. We are not planning to spend a lot on gifts, but that is still some kind of funds that have to come out of our account. I just don't want to be broke after the holidays.

So John and I have been thinking. This past weekend we spent a few hours at the Northridge Mall and I noticed that most stores are hiring just for the holidays. I jokingly commented that I should get a second job for the season so we could have some extra cash. Now, I am starting to really consider it. The mall is going to be open later and I get off work at the church at 5....I could work from 5:30-10 a few days a week while John is at class. It's not a ton of hours and I am never in bed before then anyways, so why not?

I really don't know if I should do it or not. I don't want to be doing it just for the money, but I do have to live and I do have to buy groceries. Hmmmm.

Say Goodbye

Our TV has died. I was watching it while I ate lunch and all of a sudden it just turned off. I haven't been able to turn it on since.

Looks like John is going to get his LCD or Plasma he's wanted and we are going to spend MORE money.

WE DID IT!

Thank you to everyone for the warm anniversary wishes. John and I had a great time this weekend.

As most of you know, we were originally supposed to take John's brother Evan and Andrew Seely to Vegas for the weekend. Evan turned 21 on Saturday and Andrew has never been to Vegas. We had it all planned and the room situation fell through. Not a big deal, but I really wanted to go, so I was bummed. And I think Andrew was too. John and Evan didn't want to spend the money in the first place, so they were ok with it. Then I had the grand idea of going to Napa Valley for the weekend. I started researching some B&Bs and found that that was almost more expensive than going to Vegas for the same amount of time. Man oh man. I was pretty pissed. I really wanted to get away for the weekend and John was absolutely no help in the planning. So I was pretty bummed when we decided to stay here, but I figured it would be alright and we could save all that money.

Our weekend turned out to be fun. Friday night consisted of going to Barney's Beanery in Pasadena for John's aunt, Stephanie's birthday. That place was cool. Then Saturday night we went out to Fatty's in Eagle Rock (a great vegetarian/vegan restaurant) for Evan's 21st. And then for our actual anniversary on Sunday, John made me a wonderful candle lit breakfast of waffles and bacon and then we went shopping at the mall to use up our Macy's gift cards from the wedding ($200). I bought a dress and John bought shoes. In my card John gave me tickets to Wicked for the night, so we headed off to the Pantages.

This deserves a side note! As we were walking in to the theater, John hits my arm and says "LOOK!" I had no idea what was going on and there were so many people that I was confused and just turned in a circle. John then informed me that Barry Bonds was there. OOOOHHH, who cares about Bonds. Anyhow, it's always exciting to see a "celebrity." Then as we were walking toward the door to go to our seats, we ran into Bob Koster. He and Sheila were there for her birthday. "It's a Small World" comes to mind. Wicked is a freaking awesome play. If you haven't seen it, you better. Very good songs and acting.

So after dinner, John and I headed to a really cool restaurant called The Stinking Rose. This place is probably the cutest restaurant I have seen in my life. It is sorta like Buca but better decorations. So that was our anniversary. It was nice to just be together for the entire day and do whatever.

Disease

I feel like crap today. I have been so healthy, but I always seem to catch something during the fall/winter. You know I am really not feeling well when I go home early from work. Well here I am, sitting at the Dial's house doing absolutely nothing except lying around. This sucks!!