Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Everybody Has a Boss, Elsa.

I'm done with work!! Yesterday was officially my last day!! I am now, officially, self-employed!! I have my own business and I am my own boss!! Hooray!! Look at all the double exclamation marks I'm using!!

Dear Boss,

I am an excellent, very hard-working employee. As a human being, I look out for what's best for me, but as an employee I am always wanting to do what is best for the business, sometimes at my own cost. I am always trying to improve the workplace and make the business run smoother, better, more efficiently and more productively. I want to make my boss happy! I thrive on compliments and responsibility. I promise to always give my best for you and to always give my best to the business. Together, we will make this business thrive!

Dear Employee,

I am a great boss. As the CEO of a business, I look out for what's best for the business, but as a boss I also want what is best for my employee. I know that without the employee, the business will go nowhere. I will work hard for your loyalty and support, because if you want the business to be successful, it will be! I promise to listen to your ideas and suggestions. I promise to never take out money from your paycheck without telling you. I promise to pay you what I promised to pay you. I promise to not look for every little way to make you make less money. I promise to not scam good people and then blame you for it. I promise not to lie to you. I promise not to try and scam you. I understand that if I hurt you, I am only hurting the business and myself. Together, we will make this company thrive!

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

But Like He Did So Long Ago In Jericho God Just Made A Wall Fall Down

Acouchi's thyroid levels right before she got her first treatment was 38. That is high. So high, no one seemed to have experience dealing with a level that high. One month after her treatment, it came down to 26. 26 is a level they had seen before. They seemed much more comfortable with that level. The number it needs to be is 1.

Yesterday morning I took Acouchi to the animal hospital to get her blood drawn so her thyroid levels could be tested. They needed the exact number so they could give her another treatment of Radioactive Iodine today. She cried the whole way there.

I was supposed to take her in at 10am this morning and leave her there for round two. Once again she would have to stay for two weeks and then I couldn't touch her for 28 days.

I was woken up by a phone call. Acouchi's "surgeon" was on the phone. She said she had the results from the day before; Acouchi's thyroid levels are at 13.

13!!!!!

She said the RIT can keep working up to three months after the original injection. She's never seen it bring it down this far, usually the level at the one month mark is the level it stays. But Acouchi seems to be doing to well that now we're going to wait the full three months. Maybe it will get itself back to 1!

Acouchi is happy. I gave her tuna this morning to celebrate. I think I'll make Drek catch a grasshopper for her to chase. She thinks today is the best day ever. It is.

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Carrots! Medicinal Use Carrots That Were Here When I Moved In And I'm Holding Them For A Friend.

This morning I wanted to make egg omelets, so I went into my backyard and picked some tomatoes and a green pepper from our garden.
I love our garden! It's so nice to have delicious food growing right in our backyard!

Thursday, July 23, 2009

It's Every Man For Himself. And Every Woman For Himself Too.

Today I went to the bank to drop off my paycheck in my account and Drek's paycheck in his account. I went through the drive-through (drive-thru?) and sent off the checks through the little container thing. The teller asked me via intercom what I needed done, I explained that the account numbers were on back an just needed them deposited (Easy. I do this every two weeks).

She did stuff on her computer and sent me two receipts via the little container thing. I took out the receipts, looked at them, and became confused. Drek's seemed right. But unless my check had a few invisible digits on it, this was not my account. I then looked at the name; George E. Baily*. I paused and then pushed the "call" button. The teller came over the intercom. I explained that I was not George E. Baily and I may have given her the wrong account number. I then verbally told her the correct number. She said that is what I had written down, she must have punched it in wrong. She apologized and said she would fix it. So I sent that receipt back through the container and waited while she did stuff on her computer. She then sent me a receipt. I looked at it. It still said George E. Baily. I pressed the "call" button again. I asked for a receipt to my account. She was confused, thinking that was what she had sent me. She then realized she had gotten the two account mixed up and had taken the amount for the check out of my account and added it to George E. Baily's account. I now had negative the check amount, and George E. Baily had double the check amount. At this point I suspected the teller of being Mrs. George E. Baily, but I didn't say that. I just sent the receipt back and waited. Another receipt came back, this time reflecting the correct account and the correct amount.

So, I apologize, George E. Baily. You could have just gotten free money, but I wanted my paycheck. Besides, according to your bank balance, you seem to be doing pretty well on your own.


*Name has been changed.

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Fine. Give Me Your "Even Better Than Coffee" Substitute.

Today was supposed to be Starbucks day. I got all excited when I got a coupon for a free pastry with the purchase of a drink at Starbucks. I got two coupons, one for Drek and one for me, looked up the closest Starbucks to our house and was all excited for the yummy breakfast. I've only had Starbucks hot chocolate once, but I remember it being AMAZING! And, Starbucks now serves smoothies so I knew there was something for Drek.

Drek said no. "Avoid the appearance of evil". On the list of Topics We Argue About, that is number two (The Word of Wisdom being number one). When I say "argue", I mean Drek presents his side, I present mine. He counters, I counter. He finds flaws in my counter, I find flaws in his. He cites scripture, I cite scripture. He quotes a prophet, I ask him where that quote is written. We both stick to our side and no opinions are changed.

We argued about this last night. I was going to go by myself, but it's no fun to spend money alone. So this morning I got up, looked up a recipe for Apple Strudel, baked one from scratch and mixed myself a delicious cup of Ghirdeli's Double Chocolate Hot Chocolate. It was an amazing breakfast and I didn't have to pay someone else to make it.

But I will say for the record my making breakfast rather than going to Starbucks is a sign of me hating to spend money on stuff I can make and NOT me admitting defeat to Drek and/or saying Drek is right.

Monday, July 20, 2009

We'll Make the Air With Music Ring

Drek is in the ward choir. He is so faithful about going to practices and doing his best; I really admire this about him. Yesterday the choir performed in church and did such an amazing job. I thought it was their best performance yet and was really moved by the song; Come Come Ye Saints. Later that day while I was making dinner I turned my iTunes to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir Performance of the same song. I have always liked this song, but after hearing these two renditions I've decided it's now in my top 10 favorite hymns. I just love it.

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Sing Me To Sleep

I had a night terror last night (I figure if I document them I might be able to figure out why I have them? I'm working on a new theory...) Drek was off on a canyoneering trip--I was alone. It was not fun.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Timing is Everything

My dad passed his first test! If he continues to pass his tests, he is officially done with Chemo!

Acouchi failed her test. She is supposed to go back in for another treatment of radioactive iodine. She needs to wait a month, so her thyroid levels even out, but she needs to be not-radioactive when the baby comes, or...well, that would be bad. So I need to work out that timing. Hey, baby, when are you coming? I need to schedule you in.

Monday, July 13, 2009

We're Going To The Zoo, Zoo, Zoo. How About You? You? You?

My sisters, my niece, and I all went to the zoo. We had a wonderful time. It was perfect weather for a zoo trip and we went early in the morning so it wasn't too hot. Here are some of the animals we saw.









Aw, aren't they cute?

Wednesday, July 08, 2009

We'll Shine Together, Told You I'd be Here Forever

Drek and I have been married for two years!! It's gone by so fast!

We had a wonderful anniversary! It seemed to have a lot of really fancy food, so that is the part I will focus on. That morning I made fruit and cream for breakfast.
We ate just after out landlord showed up to start installing our garage door opener (very excited to have this installed!).

Drek has to work for a little bit but finally it was time for his lunch break so we dressed up in fancy clothes and went to a very fancy restaurant. I had made reservations the day before and I was glad I did! They seated us right next to the window to we had a beautiful view while we ate. Drek ordered the Prosciutto Stuffed Chicken: Chicken Breast, Shaved Prosciutto Ham, Swiss Cheese, Basmati Rice, and Vegetables of Season, and I ordered Cheese Tortellini: Three-Cheese Tortellini Pasta Served with Mushrooms in a Light Cream Sauce with Asaigo cheese topping. It was so good! We ordered the German Chocolate Cake for dessert and that was the most yummiest of all. The fun part was really the experience. It was fun to have three different waiters, two different forks and three different spoons.

After lunch we went to a place where you can rent board games. We rented two games; Ninja Versus Ninja and Zerts. The first game is really fun and quick, while the other game is easy to learn but is a very complicated strategy game. Acouchi especially liked the Ninja Versus Ninja game; the ninjas are little 3D action figures and she liked to knock them off the board while we were playing.

After Drek got off work for the day we went to go see Up in the theatre. I had free passes so we didn't mind not waiting for it to get to the dollar theatre. It was a cute movie. I really liked Doug.

For dinner I took Drek on a picnic. My attempt for dinner was to make a super fancy meal, so I made the fanciest thing I could think of: Lobster Tails. As side dishes we had vegetable pasta in lemon and rosemary sauce and a light carrot salad. The picnic was wonderful. It was here that I gave Drek his presents (a DVD and tickets to go see The Scarlet Pimpernel). When we got home Drek game me my presents (Pyrex dishes and Ghirardelli double chocolate hot chocolate!!) We watched the DVD while we curled up together with the hot chocolate.
Happy anniversary, Babe. I love you with my whole heart!

Saturday, July 04, 2009

This Feeling Is Not Unlike Pride

Happy Independence Day!
Today was a wonderful day! Drek and I slept in and spent the day doing whatever we wanted. It was very laid back and very fun. In the afternoon my family had planned a get-together and I was in charge of dessert. I made trifle. It turned out so well:

It was also delicious.

We packed it very carefully into a cooler to transport it down to the party. On the way down I used Drek's speakers to play a patriotic playlist on my laptop. I had downloaded some patriotic songs from Amazon. The description was "Military Songs" so I assumed the songs were the different themes of the different branches (The Army Goes Rolling Along, The Marines' Hymn) but they were not. They were running songs. As in, the songs the soldiers sing as they do their drills. They are hilarious. Drek and I had a great time listening to them.

The party was a lot of fun! It was at my sister's apartment. I love hanging out with my niece; She is so cute! My parents were there (which was wonderful; My dad's WBC levels were really low so we weren't sure if he could come) and my little sister was there too. When everyone first arrived we sat around talking until Megan came out to tell us was what written on her shirt. It said "I'm going to be a big sister." SQUEE! Oh! I am so so so excited! Lani is pregnant! She's three months along and due in January! Our babies will only be four months apart! And we are both pregnant at the same time! Oh! I am so excited!

We had pizza and potato salad (it wouldn't be summer without it!) and of course the trifle. We did some fireworks (poppers and sparklers) just to make the celebration official. And then talked for a while. Drek and I stayed after the party was over to play some board games and we had a wonderful time. We had to take slight time-out when Drek got a phone call from his sister; She is pregnant too! I can hardly contain my excitement! She just barely found and it due either in February or March. Hooray! My baby will have cousins it's own age on both sides! Again: SQUEE!! Congratulations to you both!!

It was a wonderful day. It was not how I'm used to spending Independence day, there was no parade, no camping out to see the firework show, no firework show, but I still had a wonderful time.

I took a lot of pictures, but this is the one I think I will post:
This is my dad. He has to wear the mask as an extra immune defense. It cracks me up when he also wears a hat and sunglasses.

Friday, July 03, 2009

Let Us Live To Make Man Free

Hey, Here's a trivia question for you:

Has the Mormon Tabernacle Choir ever one a grammy?

Surprisingly, yes. In 1960 for their rendition of Battle Hymn of the Republic.

I wonder if the whole choir was at the Grammy awards.

Wednesday, July 01, 2009

This Is Like One Of Those Buddy-Cop Movies Where You're The Hard-Nosed FBI Agent And I'm The Guy Who Hates Buddy-Cop Movies

Today has been a lot of fun. I started out the day by having what I think is a brilliant marketing idea for my work. I talked it over with Drek and then emailed the idea to my manager. I hope she thinks it's a good idea. If not, meh. I don't get paid for ideas or off of commission. I just want the store to do well.

Krisling and I went on a picnic to the park. This was a huge success. Not only did we have a good time, but Krising is amazing at making new mommy-friends. She talked to this women who has a baby and is pregnant with her second, due in August. After talking they exchanged phone numbers so they could get together again. I am still in shock (can you really make friends just by having kids?). Afterwards we went to the library and to Petsmart. It was a lot of fun.

When I got home Drek and I finally moved out furniture back into place (after moving it out of the way for the carpet cleaners last week). I'm trying to make the house look AMAZING because our landlord is coming next week to install a garage door opener (yeah!).

I also made dinner. I had found this recipe for lobster sandwiches that sounded ok but looked amazing. I tweaked it and made crab sandwiches and I loved it, and Drek thought it was decent for crab. It looked fantastic, anyway.

I then got on my computer and had an hour long conversation via skype with Rissy. I love the internets so hard. I had a wonderful time catching up with her and we talked a lot about plans for the new Saboteur game we are doing in August. It will be amazing! We came up with some really good ideas. Really good.

Drek and I snuggled while we watched the "Briar Rose" episode of Dollhouse. I think it so funny! I'm glad Drek thought so too.

Acouchi goes in for tests tomorrow. I think this means I can touch her tomorrow. That just makes this day all the better.