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Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Just Another Mundane Midweek (With A Little Crying Involved)


I will start my Mundane Midweek (props to Charlotte for her little creation) on Tuesday. I went to work with Boyfriend - we carpooled since we had the same hours and we work at the same place - for chair washing. It's about exciting as it sounds, believe me.

After work we had to head back the house because I had a training phone call with my new part-time job - the Pet Nutritional Consultant, where I will be wandering around the large retail pet stores trying to inform people about a specific brand of dog/cat food and try to get them to buy it. So yes, I will be annoying people in the store. But hey, it's a part-time job that provides me something to do and pays me to do it. 

Unfortunately, before the phone call, I saw my mail on the counter - a simple envelope. Quick background here: last Thursday I had a job interview for a secretarial position at my old high school. I was stoked they asked me to interview and everyone was pulling for me. I even personally dropped off a thank you card the next day, hoping that would give me a slight edge. Yesterday (Tuesday), I received "the letter" . . . you know, of rejection. It hit me kinda hard, I'll admit. Boyfriend offered to go kick their asses for me, calling it all a bunch of bullshit and that they obviously had someone else in mind but had to go through the process. I mean, I interviewed last Thursday and on Tuesday I received the letter. That pretty much means those letters were ready to mail Thursday night/Friday morning.

I went in my room and lost it for a minute. Or five. Possibly ten. I got myself to stop shortly before my training phone call. Shortly after it, though, I lost it again. I curled up in bed and cried. Later that night, I curled up with Boyfriend, and just let him hold me. I don't know if I'm just tired of the rejection whether it's by silence or letter (which, by the way, I am, just so we're clear), or if I just really wanted the job so bad and got my hopes up. I'm going to go with all of the above.

Wednesday (today), I was in a better mood. Still bummed about the job, don't get me wrong, but in a better mood. Boyfriend and I carpooled again to work as we were both scheduled the same hours again (which is nice as it saves on gas since it is $4/gallon). I worked in the dish room (yet again), folded cleaning rags, wrote up a few new reservations, and put together a few things for this weekend's reservations. I scarfed down two tacos for lunch. After work, Boyfriend and I went to Target (oh, wonderful Target) to grab a couple items. Such items included some candy as we decided to go see Wolverine. Which we both enjoyed, by the way. I know I've said it before, but I'm going to say it again: Hugh Jackman is hot.


Wednesday, July 24, 2013

My Not-So-Mundane Midweek Day Trip With Boyfriend



Boyfriend and I wound up with Wednesday off this week, so I don't have boring work details from the mid-week. Instead, we went on a little day trip to see some sights that Boyfriend has never seen. When he lived in the area previously, he was only here for about a year or so which didn't really give him much opportunity to go to the outlying areas to see some of our beautiful natural wonders. So I decided that today we would take a "Sunday Drive" on our day off and I would treat him to the sights.

Our first stop was Burney, which is where my parents grew up. We stopped at The Alpine, which is a little burger joint on Main Street. If you're ever in town, it's the only pink building on Main Street, seriously. And if you're in town, you really should stop there instead of the McD's down the way. The burgers are effing awesome and you get a pile of food that will fill you up. And if you're in the mood of some ice cream or a milk shake, they make good ones, too. Trust me on this. Every time I drive through Burney, I really try to be hungry so I have a reason to stop in and treat myself to a burger and fries (which isn't all that often, sadly).

After lunch we headed to Burney Falls, which I know I've written about before in previous posts (although I'm too lazy at this point to link back to those posts). The cool thing about the falls is that it is fed by a natural spring that surfaces about a half mile from the falls, pushing about 100 million gallons of water over the falls every single day.






We opted for the shorter trail to the falls, which is all fine while you're going downhill but that walk back up is a complete bitch. Just sayin'. The cool mist off the falls at the bottom felt fabulous on a hot day. No matter how many times I visit Burney Falls, I find it peaceful and amazing and am always in awe of its beauty. And just for bragging rights, Teddy Roosevelt called it the "Eighth Wonder of the World".

After breaking a sweat walking back up the trail, we hopped back in the car with the a/c on full blast to head to my old hometown, Old Station, to see the Subway Cave. Another little thing to stop and see if you're ever in the area - especially in summer as the cave is always nice and cool. It's an old lava tube, so the ground is very uneven, but it's just plain cool. 

The entrance to the cave.

After the cave I showed Boyfriend where I grew up - the restaurant my parents owned, the house we lived in, where we camped all the time . . . that sort of stuff. Then it was off to home where we picked my Granny and G for dinner in town. All in all, it was a good day and Boyfriend enjoyed seeing the sights. 

 

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Our Lazy and Fun July 4th


Since the 4th of July fell on a Thursday this year, no one had any real plans to do much of anything. It was going to be hot (shocker, I know) and seeing fireworks meant having to put up with massive crowds at the Civic Center.

Boyfriend and I invited my parents to go out on the lake instead, where we could jump in to avoid the heat. Also, play on the tube that Boyfriend bought to tow behind the boat. He and I discovered, that while it's tons of fun once you're on it, getting on it is mostly a lot of aggravation. Which only made Boyfriend want the more expensive two-seater tube even more.

So, Mom and I made sandwiches and loaded up the ice chest with sodas, water, and food. Boyfriend got the boat hitched to the truck and ready to go. We loaded everything up, and headed for a gas station. We decided on Safeway as they sell both gas and diesel (and Boyfriend needed both, diesel for his truck and gas for the boat) and Mom and I wanted to get more sunscreen and bought a few candy bars on a whim. She and I decided to try the spray on Banana Boat. Don't waste your $8. Seriously. Don't. Do. It. The spray was $8, which was the same price as the cream/lotion. Turns out, she and I were the only ones who used the nasty stuff and we used up most of it in one sitting. It didn't smell all that great, it made us feel all nasty sticky, and it got all over the windshield of the boat, which didn't make Boyfriend overly happy. The only good thing about it was that it was cool on your skin when you sprayed it on, considering it was 100* (F) by noon. Just stick with the lotion version, because you're $8 will last you so much longer.

Boyfriend decided we'd launch at Whiskeytown Lake instead of Lake Shasta, where we normally go because he bought a season pass for an arm and a leg. Lake Shasta is way bigger then Whiskeytown so the water is typically more calm even if the lake is busy. Whiskeytown is mostly a resevoir for drinking water and some local ag water. Shasta Lake is water that will be used to fill the Sacramento River and also to send water to So Cal (you guys are welcome, by the way). Shasta Lake can get scary low for the latter reason, which it already is. Even a month ago boat launches were closing because there was no water in that arm. Each time we go out (which is pretty much every week) there are new islands popping up.

We decided that the launch at Whiskeytown was absolutely awesome because the boat ramp was not steep (nor a 20 mile hike on a 20% grade), you had three "lanes" in which to launch your boat (meaning it's not as crowded), and the day use fee was only $5 (versus $10/day at Lake Shasta). However, Whiskeytown Lake is much smaller and water quite choppy and much cooler, and it's also quite windy. Six of one, half dozen of the other, really.

My Dad hurt his ribs trying to get on the tube. He has very bad ribs and the slightest pressure or oddest movement seems to "pop" them out of place, which of course, is very painful. So he never got to ride the tube, and even if he had gotten on it without hurting himself, he would have been hurt just from getting bumped around on the tube. Mom got on it however, and enjoyed herself on it. We found the easiest way to get on the damn thing was to find a bit of shore (not easy) and the tube rider would swim to shore with the tube and the boat would tow you off the shoreline. Much easier and less aggravating.

We found a little cove to swim in to be relatively undisturbed by other boaters. We enjoyed our lazy afternoon cruising around the lake, snacking away on the food, and taking turns on the tube.

We ended our lazy 4th of July by grabbing Burger King on the way home and spending the evening at home.

Just Another Mundane Midweek

I'm linking up with Charlotte again for her Mundane Midweek Linkup.

Not too much to report for this midweek. There were really no dish orders to fill for this coming weekend, so I didn't have to spend most of my week filling crates upon crates with plates and flatware. I did however have to spend my Wednesday putting dished back after they'd been washed. Once they've been washed we wrap them in groups of 12 or 6 (depending on the kind of plate) in Saran Wrap and they get stacked on shelves, waiting to be rented out for some sort of event. The flatware gets packaged into Ziploc bags in groups of 25, each separately. So 25 knives in a bag, 25 spoons, etc. And then get placed into their proper storage tub.

And while I am packaging all these dishes up, including wine, water, and champagne glasses, I'm counting to make sure we received everything back from each person who rented them from us. We put the person's name on each crate that goes out for that order, so everything is labeled as to who it went to. So yesterday I was two dinner plates, one water goblet, one knife and two dinner forks short on one order yesterday. It really is amazing what can come back missing. It seems rather random.

Boyfriend got up at 4:30 this morning (Thursday) to go fishing with a friend on the lake. I'm not sure about anyone else, but I'm pretty sure that is too damn early to get to go fishing. However, I have no room to talk as I've mostly been up since 2:30 this morning because the smoke alarm did a weird chirpy thing which scared the crap out of me and him. Didn't appear that anyone else in the house heard it. I got up and walked around the house, sniffing and looking, making sure nothing was going on. I crawled back into bed, realized I had a slight headache and somehow I was hungry. *sigh* I think I fell asleep about five minutes before boyfriend's alarm went off. I tried going back to bed after he got up, but then I had to pee. *bigger sigh* What a way to start my day off. I could have slept in, dammit.

The only thing I had planned for today was to finish filling out paperwork for my new potential weekend job and fax it all back in and maybe go into town with with Boyfriend or my parents to look at tablets as I will need to purchase one for the new job (I will get reimbursed up to $100). I have a strict budget, so I won't be going overboard. Boyfriend says I should just get an iPad but I just don't have $500 to lay down on one. I'm thinking $150 sounds much more reasonable that $500. Just sayin'.

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Wednesday Hodgepodge





1. Picture postcards were first printed back in the mid-1800's and deltiology is the official name for postcard collecting. When did you last send a postcard?  Receive one? Do you save postcards sent to you? Do you collect and/or send postcards when you travel?

It's been awhile since I sent a postcard and received one. I like to send a postcard if I'm traveling, though. Sometimes they have decent pictures that you can use if you know yours won't turn out well. I had put together a "postcard campaign" a couple years ago, but I had several people sign up and then never respond when it was their turn to send one. Then I moved and things got a bit chaotic and I put it on hold for a bit. I'd love to start it up again, but I don't have a ton of money to go spending on stamps, so until I can afford a bit of fun, I'm hoping to get it going again. :)
 
2. What treat do you most like to indulge in while on vacation?

Things that are really bad. Like fair food. Oh dear Lord it tastes so dang good!! I haven't been to a fair in close to ten years and this year I went to two. One of them twice. The first one, Boyfriend and I went and made a beeline for the corn dog stand. A small slice of heaven. At the other fair, my BFF and I indulged in cheese fries, nachos and fudge. In all honesty, the cheese fries were the best of them all. I hadn't had a batch of cheese fries in a very long time. Hey, it's okay to indulge once in awhile.
 
3. Are you good at hiding your feelings?

Nope, not very good at it all. Sometimes I can, but not too often.
 
4. Does your town/city/county still deliver telephone books to your home? Do you check the yellow pages when searching for a local business number or has the internet replaced the phone book in your home?

Technically, yes. We live in a rural area, so the drop a bag of them off at the top of the street at the mail box and the residents take one.
 
5. Would you rather be first or last?

Well, first, honestly. I've been last, and while it can teach you sportsmanship and manners, it still just plain sucks.

6. July is National Park and Recreation Month (in America, but everyone can still play along)...where and when were you last in a park?  Did you participate in any recreational activities while you were there?

Hmm, probably Lassen National Park, delivering my grandparents magazine. Although Whiskeytown Lake is a National Recreation area, does that count, too?
 
7.  What was one of your worst ideas?

Where do I start? lol (j/k)
 
8.  Insert your own random thought here. 

Well, with any luck, I may have a second part-time job in about two weeks! It's the Pet Nutritional Consultant I wrote about before, where I had the interview but they had technically already hired someone for my area. Well, my "let's go ahead and interview anyway attitude" totally paid off, as the gal called me on Monday and said that the person they had hired claimed to have sort of emergency and had to leave town. The gal remembered me and called me and asked if I was still interested, which I said yes. So now I have tons of paperwork to fill out and send back in. But my start date would be August 2 if all goes well. If all goes well, it may only be a few hours each weekend, but it's a few extra dollars and the pay is $13/hr. I haven't made more then $10/hr since my lab job in Sacramento. But I'm cool with an extra couple hundred bucks a month to put towards bills, or put in my savings for emergencies. I'll keep y'all posted on how it works out. :)

Still Here

Well I sorta took a little mini-vacation, didn't I? Whoopsie. Didn't really mean to do that. The days just sort of got away from me and before I knew it, about 3 weeks had slipped away.

Don't worry, you really haven't missed much of anything. I've been working at my part-time job, looking for work (which really is a full-time job in itself), and trying to go out on the lake at least once a week with Boyfriend.

Seriously, it's awesome that he had the mad money to buy the boat, because it has been nothing but triple digit weather around here. Today was actually rather cool, but our next heat wave of major triple digit heat is coming this week. And in case your curious, no I'm not looking forward to it. The lake is a nice reprieve from the heat.

I did take a weekend to go visit BFF down in the bay area a couple weeks ago. I still have to get the pics off my phone, but I'll post a couple for you guys. It was nice to get away and have a girls weekend. Lots of laughs and girl talk. The first night we stayed up until 3 a.m. Which just about did us in, but seeing as we didn't have to be anywhere early the next day, we said, "what the hell?"

Mom just asked me, "whatchya typing so fast for? Are you writing a blog? You haven't posted one in awhile."

*sigh* So much pressure to blog. (just kidding, Mom)

Well, I guess I'll wrap this up - at least now y'all know I'm still alive (and kicking and screaming) and attempt to pay attention to the All Star Game. I'm confused because all the ball players wear their own team uniforms and I don't know many ball players except my Giants and I can't hardly keep the American League and National League straight with all the different uniforms running around. Oh well. At least my Giants won a couple games (finally!)

I'll get a couple of posts written about a couple of the exciting things that happened including my girls weekend with my BFF, the new two seater tube Boyfriend bought for the boat, and the first time my Mom drove the boat (and may also be the last time).