Easy as 123...

It's been 123 days since I was laid off from the OS. During this time I've briefly worked for the US Census Bureau but other than that I've been pretty much without any source of income. I've applied for more jobs than I can count in more industries that I ever thought existed. Nothing took. Out of the many many interviews I've had 90% left me hanging with no follow up, 3% decided that they actually aren't going to hire anyone at this time, and the other 7% said that I suck... well, they said thanks but they are choosing a different candidate... same thing. Quite discouraging if you think about it. So I realized I needed to do something different. Something was telling me that I needed to approach this differently.

So I'm going back to school.

I've enrolled and been accepted at Heritage College as an X-Ray Technician and Medical Assistant student. I'll have my Associate's Degree in 15 months and be certified in both disciplines. I'm VERY excited!! Everyone has been very supportive and happy with my decision. I start in a week from tomorrow!! It happened really fast but I'm really confidant in my choice and there are certainly jobs out there in this field unlike most others.

This is going to completely change my life. It's a weird thought actually, and very grounding in a good way. For the past 123 days I haven't known where I would be next week let alone next year. Now, I KNOW for the next 15 months I will be going to school and studying and learning and getting ready for my career! I KNOW that M-F I will have class from 8:30am-12:30pm. It's nice to KNOW something for once...

So right now, the title of my blog... not so accurate... in a good way!

Come with me!

Here is a photo journey of my parents' visit to lovely Colorado...

Day One- Friday

Parents arrived to this awesome sign that yours truely made :)
I put a little welcome package in their hotel room.
Beers at Wyncoop Brewery
Dinner at Blues on Blake


Day Two- Saturday

Quick visit to the Stanley Hotel

Rocky Mountain National Park

First Lookout stopMom with the Elks

Bear Lake


Breaking the law by feeding the wildlife

Day Three- Sunday

Stop at the Capitol Building to prove that they were "officially" one mile high!
Off to Red Rocks

Time for free beer at Coor's in Golden


Fresh Brew tasting
Fresh Coor's Light coming off the line... mmmmm....
Tasting Room... even Mom drank some beer!
Downtown for lunch!
Biggest Onion Rings EVER!Dinner at Sushi Den

Day Four- Monday

Bolder Boulder!!
Me and Dad in our custom shirts
Our Pace group



This is the stadium that we ran into for the finish...
Can you see us running in?
Recovery!
After a nap, shower and lunch, we went to the Butterfly Pavillion

Day Five- Tuesday

No pictures yet, waiting for Dad to send them to me... But we went to Celestrial Seasonings (tea factory) and Hammond's Candy factory. It was a good time. After lunch I dropped them off at the airport and went home to take a nap :) So that's what I've been up to! Not dead! Promise!

It's the end of the world as we know it...

It's TV blog time! Here's what we'll be discussing for this installment...

The Amazing Race
ANTM
Grey's Anatomy
LOST
Hell's Kitchen

The Amazing Race
My heart certainly went out to Margie and Luke who had an amazing head start on the last leg of the race. Luke got so frustrated and that slowed him down to the point that they came in third! :( Oh well, I was glad Cara and Jamie didn't win because of how arrogant and condescending they could be while in cabs, in airports, or just in the streets. I didn't mind that Tammy and Victor won, they were a good team from the beginning.

ANTM
Every season I always know who's going to win based on who is Tyra's favorite... it doesn't matter who's most improved or who worked it out. Tyra had a problem with Allison from the start and cut her down for always looking the same, then because she wasn't a good walker, then because she was shy... it just went on and on. Maybe it's better though because now Allison can go out and do her thang without being represented by Trya's company.

Grey's Anatomy
SIGH ... Well I didn't see THAT one coming! For those of you who haven't seen it and have avoided news articles and people talking about it, read no further and go watch!!

... everyone still with me? Good. I, personally, think that Izzy and George are both going to make it. There have been RUMORS of both actors leaving the show but there isn't really any evidence that they will for sure. Katherine is much happier with her story line this season and has said she wants to stay. We shall see!

LOST
OMG... that's all I have to say.

Hell's Kitchen
I was routing for Paula in the end but you know what... it was down to 2 really great chefs and I'm glad that for once I liked both of the finalists. I kinda want to go to the Borgada now... anyone want to come with??

Anyone going to watch the Bachlorette? I'm still deciding.

Alright, my next post will be a real post... promise!

A picture says a thousand...

Ohhhhh Mama Kat, you sneaky lady! Define emotions through pictures?! Well, that sounds like a challenge I am up to!

This week's prompt that I choose is ...
1.) Define goodness...joy...sorrow...and anger using pictures you've taken.

Here goes!!


Goodness
1 : the quality or state of being good

I think children are inherently good. I love the innocence and love of children so I picked this picture I took of my neice. I think you can see the innocence and goodness right in her eyes.


Joy
1 : the emotion evoked by well-being, success, or good fortune or by the prospect of possessing what one desires

Nothing says "JOY" like a wedding :) I present to you: Mr. and Mrs. Giggles


Sorrow
1 : deep distress, sadness, or regret especially for the loss of someone or something loved

I usually don't take pictures that evoke this particular emotion but this one really is sorrow. I took this at Ground Zero in New York City... the epitome of sorrow.


Anger
1 : to make angry

This is a past co-worker/boss who I did NOT get along with from day 1. I never figured out why he hated me so much, but let it be known that I hated him just as much back. Every time I hear someone say his name or look at this one picture I have of him it makes me steam!! (While my friend is in the background giving me a "playful" finger, I'm sure that Mr. Douche sure as hell means it)

Thanks for going on this journey with me!

My GOD I hate him!!
sorry..... I apparently have some suppressed anger against him... still...

Writers Workshop Sappy Style

For Mama Kat's Writers Workshop I chose to write a poem for my mom. I just talked to my mom today and that always makes me miss her... so here's to you mom...


Every time I cried you dried my tears and told me it was okay.
All the times I thought I failed you showed me what I learned.
When my head was held low you let me know how proud you are.
I may have moved away.
And I may not always call.
But you are always in my thoughts.
In the best of times, and the worst of times.
Who else can I call when I just need to talk
Or need to cry
Or need to ask a cooking question
Or need to celebrate
Or all of the above?
My mom taught me that love WILL conquer all
Love will make you whole and make you strong
Love can never die.
The love a mother has for her daughter.
The love a daughter has for her mother.




Shouldn't you call your mom and tell her you love her???

Wyoming... Pt. 4- Get me the eff out of here!

(sorry for the delay in the finale of the series... I've been busy... or lazy...)

Day 4

The best part of Thursday was I didn't have to drive in the morning! I was so excited that I demanded that CoPilot sit up front so I could sleep in the back while Sandwich drove. Anyone who's ever done a road trip with me knows that unless I'm driving, I'm pretty much useless because there is a 99% chance I will fall asleep. This particular day I was exhausted and needed that extra hour+ of nappy time! I woke up as we were pulling into our normal meeting spot in Pinedale. This was, by far, the coolest 5 minutes of the trip. Walking across the lawn of the courthouse and library was a MOOSE!! It was a huge girl moose just walking through town!! It's not every day you get to see something cool like that!

The work day started with me and McD going to the sherrif's office to file a report about the shooting the day before. I thought this was a bit of overkill but apparently it's policy. The sherrif I spoke with was very nice and said he would go out to the house but he was pretty sure that the kid would deny it and the paretns would back him up. I told him that I figured as much and was just, at that point, following percedure.

I was then sent out to finish up my areas. As I was finishing a nearby block McD called and told me that Game Master was finished with all of his areas so he was going to go with me to help do my last area. I went to the meeting spot to meet up and picked up GM. We headed to a quick lunch and then proceeded to the area we were to do. As we pulled up to the first block we saw CP driving up. We stopped and talked to him and asked what area he was doing and wouldn't you know, he as assigened the same area that we were AND already had half of it done!! the tree of us finished the rest of the ara in under 30 minutes and went back to the meeting spot.

After a while of confusion (there were several of us finished and awaiting new areas) we split up the new are that McD had just assigned us. I headed off in search of my new blocks and realized that they were way the hell out of town. I drove and drove for about 40 minutes (I did have to turn around at one point and retrace my steps becuase... you guessed it... the road didn't exsist that I was going towards). I ended up heading into the mountains when +1 called and told me to head to the meeting place because this area was just rediculous... To give you an idea of where I was let me show you some landscape where I was supposed to be "finding houses"


Yeah....

Once we all met back up we caravaned to take our cars back to the airport and then went out for dinner as a group. Dinner was alright, I don't know if it was worth what I paid, but whatever.

Day 5

FINALLY!!! I was on my way back to civilization!! Thank GOD!! I rode in the guys car and OG took one for the team and rode with McD and +1. I totally owe him some beer! It was a fun ride home and I was trilled to finally get back to my own bed and bathroom!


*thanks to all who read my story... it was long and terrible and all I have to say now is.... FUCK WYOMING!*

THE END

Wyoming... Pt. 3- How Could it Get any Worse??

I woke up at 5am to elephants stomping around in the room above me... wait, I guess they weren’t elephants, so I suppose it had to be 3-5 sumo wrestlers in the room walking around oh so gingerly. After fighting the urge to get a stick and bang on my ceiling (where was I going to get a stick?) I put a pillow over my head and got another 20 minutes of sleep before my alarm went off and I had to get up and ready for a 7am departure to Pinedale... oh what fun. The drive, like before, was boring and long and I ate sunflower seeds the whole time just to keep me occupied and give me something to keep me awake.

Upon arrival McD told me that she would be sending CoPilot with me to do a large area assigned to me in case I needed help. Awesome! I wouldn’t have to go it alone... little did I know that had I been alone, I probably would never had made it back alive!

CoPilot and me set off in my car (with me driving and him earning his name CoPilot). The area we were doing was about 10-15 minutes back the direction that we just came from, so we set off, enjoying the fact that we had someone to talk to besides our imaginary friends. CP told me when to turn off the main road and this is when we got our first look at our new area... it was huge... and as soon as you got off the main road ALL the roads were unkempt dirt roads. Remember what car I got from the rental place?



We threw ourselves into work and found that this wasn’t going to cut us any breaks at all. CP did the first block while I drove, stopping in front of each house, which went well. I did the next block (so that we got even numbers between us) and as I was driving down the road I asked “Is that a fence in the middle of the road?” Yes, indeed it was. Someone had decided, HEY a fence would go great here! and built said fence right through the road. Turning around was the big problem and we ended up going through the weeds and dirt to get to a driveway that would take up back to the road... Don’t mind us folks! We’re from the government!

Fast forward to after lunch. We are hot and dirty and have come across more roads that don’t exist or don’t connect than we can count. We are constantly editing the maps and roads. CP was doing a block and we came to a particularly bad spot in the road where the bottom of the car kept making these fun crunchy noises as it scraped on the dirt from the ruts. I turned the car so that we could finish the block and shortly after I brought the car to a hault... this is what I saw...



That’s right. There in front of us about 3 feet was the road we were trying to get to and between it and us was a ditch about 3 feet deep. CP and I sat there just saying over and over, “ARE YOU KIDDING ME??” “REALLY?” There was no way to get to the road by this way and the road was so narrow that CP had to get out and help me turn the car around without falling off the road.

Once we were out of that...

In one certain area there were no numbers on the houses except for the first one on the road so we had to guess what the other ones were... #50... the next one should be 52, the next should be 54... oh there’s a house down here with a number... #66?? Well that is the opposite of helpful... CP and I looked at each other... fuck it... go with it.

One thing that kind freaked us out all day was all the white pickup trucks that we saw. I mean they are EVERYWHERE! If you live in Wyoming for so long do they give you a white truck as a prize for surviving hell? That would be the only explaination why people stuck around...

They liked to look meanly at us as they drove by in their huge trucks, spewing dust and exhaust into the air. Don’t mind us, this is just your tax dollars hard at work....

As the day progressed we swore a LOT more often and a LOT louder. Especially when we came upon roads like this that were completely unpassable.


How do people even live here???

At one point we ran into our ACL Sandwich... wha? We pulled along side each other and asked “What are you doing here?” The first thing out of his mouth was “This fucking sucks!”. Our sentiments exactly. Turns out that he had the outside of this hell hole while we had the inside area. Something that really was upsetting though was that we overlapped and that shouldn’t happen EVER. We went our separtate ways and CP and I felt bad for Sandwich because he had to go it alone... and then we realized that he had an SUV and we had and Aveo... the sympathy stopped right there.

We were to meet the rest of our crew at 5:30 and around ten till 5 we were getting close to finishing our last block. It was a biggie and giving us all the same problems that we were having with previous blocks (roads to nowhere or that don’t exist). We were coming up to a road and turning right when I looked to the left and said to CP “That kid is pointing a gun at us... ... That kid is really pointing a gun at us!!” Next thing we knew there was a loud PING on my side of the car. I immediately stopped and CP and I got out to look at the car. There wasn’t any damage but when we turned to look for the kid he was headed off on his bike. Since we were running so close to the deadline we decided to continue on since there was no damage to the car(at least not from the BB gun.)

We pulled in front of a large house and as we were trying to figure out what the address was a man came out and we explained who we were and why we were sitting in front of his house. He was really nice (which is kinda a shocker when that happens) and we got the info we needed from him. He told us that if we go up this little dive next to his house it would be easier to turn around up there than in his driveway. Wow... thank you! so up the little drive sure enough was a large flat area for us to turn around which I did and then headed back down the drive... for a second anyway... until the passanger front wheel slipped off the road and we were successfully in a ditch not going anywhere! SHIT!! Luckily, like I said before, this guy was super nice and when he heard the commotion he came out and got his truck and a chain and pulled us out. I sat in the car and manned the controls...



As you can see, I’m working hard.

After this fiasco we said fuck it all and went to the meeting place... but not before stopping to get beer to take back to the hotel so that we wouldn’t have to run out later.

At the meeting place we found out that we were going to leave some of the cars there and carpool back to Rock Springs!! Yay! Me and CP went with Sandwich and was that a fun ride! We swore and told horror stories about our areas all the way back. By the end of the trip I had successfully lost my voice and was hacking up a storm. Very lady like.

As soon as I got back to the hotel I took a shower and changed into some nice clean clothes! Plans were that everyone was coming back to my room to watch the Nuggets game and drink beer. My mini fridge was stocked and we ordered pizza. The end of the day was fun, chilling with all my co-workers, drinking beer and eating pizza. There was plenty of swearing and telling of stories. I was just happy to not be driving on dirt roads any more.

The Nuggets won and the night ended. Could tomorrow possibly be any worse???