Hmmm...

Well, what's new with me you might ask? Weeeellll, aren't you in for a treat! Yeah. Nothing at all. I recently registered for summer classes (10 credits, yuck) and fall also. Work is good. Everything is pretty well on par...

Aren't you glad we took this time to catch up?

cjk

It's official, I'm in love.

Seattle was amazing. Simply amazing.

I think I'm going to move there after I graduate in 2011.

Our trip went off without a hitch, and other than me leaving my glasses case at the hotel, and forgetting my camera on the plane (which got FedEx'd to me and I got it today), everything was smooth sailing.

The sights, the sounds, the weather - all was perfect. There's a couple pictures below, but most of them can be found on my Facebook page.

cjk

Us on the Monorail

The Space Needle

It sounds so close, but it feels like it's so far.

Tomorrow at 10:51am, I will officially be on Spring Break! But... then I work at 3, and all weekend. Boo.

BUT THEN!! I leave for Seattle (with my 18-year old baby sister) on Monday at 12:30p! I am so excited. It's been a lifelong dream to see Seattle, and I'm finally getting my chance, thanks to a larger than expected student loan refund, cheap airfare out of DSM, and a steal on a classy hotel in the heart of downtown Seattle. The stars were aligned in my favor :)

Hmmm... things are pretty good on my end... Nothing really changes here, if its MWF, I'm in class and then probably working, and if it's a T or Th, I'm probably just working. Weekends rotate.

Last weekend I spent in Cedar Rapids/Iowa City with my girls Amber and Jen (or Jenny from the Block as she is affectionately known as). Photos are attached below for your viewing pleasure. It was a good time and sooooo long overdue. It's fun to go out in IC and more importantly, it's fun to go out with them no matter what. They also persuaded me to try sushi for the first time! The jury's still out on that one... the particular roll I tried made me want to vomit up everything I've eaten since 2001, but I'm told that the restaurant we went to was a poor one for a first-timer. To be fair, it took like 2 hours to get our food and our waitress had the IQ of a dead armadillo I saw once in Oklahoma. I think I'll give it a second chance. Maybe ;)

I got some new glasses (which were LONG overdue) and I'm totally loving on them. I bought them because they really fit my face nicely and frame it well, oh, and they happen to be Armani, but I think of that more as a special perk. I probably would have bought them regardless of the name on them... probably.

I was getting ready for work on Monday and a straightener exploded on my bathroom counter. Cool, right? It was pretty intense, not gonna lie... It made this horrible popping sound and then I look over to see a shower of sparks flying out from it and wisps of black smoke (from the melting cord) coming off of it... then one final POP and a big shot of sparks and that was all she wrote - tripped the breaker for both bathrooms, and I had to go to work with unstraightened hair. Not to mention the hideous black and copper burn mark on my counter that won't come off the counter, but WILL come out of my deposit. And then... just to add insult to injury, my f*cking shower curtain rod decides to go atumblin down while I'm in the shower... neat, I know. The bathroom rebelled against me that day, and it won.

That's all I really have for now... I will of course be updating when I get back from Seattle.

Enjoy the weekend :)

cjk

Me and my muffin... aka Clarice... aka Amber :)

A nice one of the three of us :)

The first sushi... I'm just hoping for better luck next time!

In dire need of a vacation.

I can't believe tomorrow is March already! I mean, I realize that February is short and all, but I feel like New Year's was only a few weeks ago. The older I get, the faster time is going.

That being said, I need to get out of here! Only fifteen days until Seattle and THANK GOD! I've been saving like a champ and have been researching stuff to do... this far, I've come up with the Space Needle (duh), Pike Place Market, Nordstrom store #1 (duh again), the Point Defiance Zoo, and this really cool place called Experience Music Project. There's exhibits about musicians, music styles, and all kinds of stuff. In a nutshell, I'm pretty pumped.

Other than that, there's really not a whole lot else going on in my life... School is still happening, and I'm a workaholic.

cjk

A Fresh Change!

Well, when we last spoke, I was super pissed at my advisor for NOT advising and essentially forcing me into a stupid minor that I had no interest in.

Well F that! I changed my major!

As of Thursday, I am now a Family Finance, Housing, and Policy major. YAY!

What that means for me: a competent, caring advisor, a major that has more career opportunities, less research, more dealing one-on-one with people, and a better, more positive outlook on life for me. I felt a huge weight lifted from my shoulders when I switched to this new major, and I am super excited to get the ball rolling! I'll finish out this semester in the boring a$$ classes I'm in now, and starting with this summer, I'll be taking some really good classes!

Wish me luck!

cjk

What am I paying for?!

Today just pissed me off.

Up until about 2:45pm today, I had a declared minor in Marketing to complament my Psychology major. Through no help of my advisors, however, I found out that nonbusiness majors can only declare an Entreprenurial Studies or General Business minor. Sweet. The people who's job it is to make sure that I am taking the correct classes and to ensure that I am on track to graduate neglected to inform me that my minor choice wasn't an option, despite the fact that they were fully aware of it and we discussed it on multiple occasions. So, now I've been forced to become a Criminal Justice Studies minor, because it was essentially my best option (and one of only a few). Now, because of their stupid mistake and oversight, I am in classes this semester that I don't need and will only work as elective credit (which I don't need), and my graduation date has been pushed back to Spring of 2011 - which puts me a whole f*cking year behind instead of the 1 semester that I was originally delayed. This takes into account me taking 6 and 5 credits for this and next summer, respectively.

My only question here is: what exactly are these people paid to do?!

Super Bowl XLIII - Tucson Style

Since none of my loyal blog viewers are from the greater Tucson, AZ area, I have taken the liberty of bringing you this glorious bit of television history.



http://i.gizmodo.com/5144199/tucson-comcast-splices-graphic-porn-into-super-bowl-nsfw



Please know that this is so incredibly NSFW that you'll probably be fired on the spot if you watch it at work.



Janet Jackson, eat your heart out.



cjk

An update on me.

After tomorrow, I will have survived my first twenty-one days as an Iowa State student... I gotta hand it to myself, I'm pretty proud. I am taking some big steps towards becoming a big boy here, and I am loving every second. This past week was a little (a lot, really) rough as I got to battle a particularly nasty strain of strep throat combined with bronchitis. Yuck. I'm pretty much over it now, just have some congestion and am still coughing up nothing good. I'm working quite a bit still at the bank and I'm the happiest I've been with my job since I started last March. I'm coming up on the one year mark there, which is a pretty big deal because I haven't had one single job that long since I graduated high school... I guess you could say I'm pretty finicky. I managed to get a raise this month (small, but hey, a raise is a raise) and my boss has been noticing the extra effort I've been putting in and the extra tasks I've been taking on without being prompted. I've been spending more time with my friends and have a couple of trips lined up for this year. In March, Lindsey and I are going to go to Seattle, which has been a dream of mine pretty much since I was a fetus. I turn 21 in June and could not be more excited, since all of my friends are already at least 21 and I can't wait to be able to go out with them! My love life is still non-existent, but I have decided that 2009 is my year - I am in the process of changing my attitudes and trying to become more outgoing and social. I think I might join Psych Club at ISU - which if you weren't able to pick up, is a club for psychology majors. Clever, right?

All in all, my life is going pretty well right now :) I'm excited to see what the rest of this year has in store for me.

cjk

It's so good, it must be fattening.

So whilst I was browsing around on Facebook today, being bored and having no clear goal in mind, I managed to stumble across this GEM. It is a list of twelve reasons that gay marriage should not be made legal in America, followed by a hilarious afterthought, effectively punching holes in its validity. Enjoy, and if you feel so inclined, re-post it, or better yet, send it to a Republican friend you might have :)

1. Homosexuality is not natural, much like eyeglasses, polyester, and birth control are not natural.

2. Heterosexual marriages are valid because they produce children. Infertile couples and old people cannot get legally married because the world needs more children.

3. Obviously gay parents will raise gay children because straight parents only raise straight children.

4. Straight marriage will be less meaningful, since Britney Spears's 55-hour just-for-fun marriage was meaningful.

5. Heterosexual marriage has been around for a long time, and it hasn't changed at all: women are property, Blacks can't marry Whites, and divorce is illegal.

6. Gay marriage should be decided by the people, not the courts, because the majority-elected legislatures, not courts, have historically protected the rights of minorities.

7. Gay marriage is not supported by religion. In a theocracy like ours, the values of one religion are always imposed on the entire country. That's why we only have one religion in America.

8. Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people makes you tall.

9. Legalizing gay marriage will open the door to all kinds of crazy behavior. People may even wish to marry their pets because a dog has legal standing and can sign a marriage license.

10. Children can never succeed without both male and female role models at home. That's why single parents are forbidden to raise children.

11. Gay marriage will change the foundation of society. Heterosexual marriage has been around for a long time, and we could never adapt to new social norms because we haven't adapted to cars or longer lifespans.

12. Civil unions, providing most of the same benefits as marriage with a different name are better, because a "separate but equal" institution is always constitutional. Separate schools for African-Americans worked just as well as separate marriages will for gays & lesbians.

So I lied...

You may have noticed that I did not have a post yesterday like I alluded to on Sunday. Oops - my bad. Well, it may be a day late but it's here, so get off my back.

I had my first day of big boy college yesterday when I officially started at Iowa State University of Science and Technology (the full name makes it sound so classy and FANCY). I had to be up at 7:15 (sick, I know) to primp and look hot because, hey, this could be the day I meet Mr. Right, right? (Editor's note - it wasn't. I did get hit on by a girl on the bus though. Damn.) I scraped off my car (for the third day in a row, might I add) and drove to the commuter parking lot at Iowa State Center and caught the #23 Orange bus to take me on to campus. After a couple stops, I exited at Beardshear Hall and from there was only a stone's throw from Carver Hall - home of my MATH 105 class. This class had me mildly stressed out as math=nothing good. However, there is no midterm, no comprehensive final exam, and the teacher is awesome. Good news here is that he says most people who are really good at number crunching and things of the like have trouble in the class, while people with a basic working knowledge or less (i.e., ME) seem to do better. Thank GOD.

After math, I make the trek across campus to Hoover Hall, braving snow, wind, and cold, to get to my ECON 101 class. This bitch was awestruck. 480+ people packed into an auditorium that reminded me of the freaking Civic Center! I mean H-U-G-E! This class has me pretty well worried - I don't know how I'm feeling about all this nonsense. Seems like a challenge that I may or may not be up to. The jury's still out so I'll keep you posted.

Finally, we hit the snag in the day. Now, this was a snag that I was prepared for fully from the get-go. My third class is ENGL 225, which is located in Food Sciences 2311 (because, let's face it, if you had to pick an ideal location for an English course, you'd pick the f*cking Food Sciences Building). Anyhow, this is clear on the opposite side of campus. Even with getting out of ECON 7 minutes early, I was still 5 minutes late to class. Great. And this class only had 30 students in it, so everyone got to see the NOOB (moi) walk in late. To top it off, there weren't anymore seats. The teacher had to give me her chair. Nice, Christopher. Way to not draw attention to yourself.

After that class I beelined for the #23 Orange Circulator again to get back to my car. This time, the bus was filled and it was standing room only. Wouldn't have been the worse thing, except I was between two people that I am convinced have never heard of deodorant. Once they started speaking I understood why. One word for you - FRENCH. You can imagine. I got back to my car and got home in time to boil some lima beans for lunch, throw them in a Gladware with a pound of Country Crock and a dash of salt and pepper, and take them to-go to work. Worked till close, came home, and BOOM! Hit my wall. I was down for the count.

Now we come to the present. Slow ass day in the banking world, so I left work at 2:30 (supposed to get off at 4:00). Making a super pot of chili for supper (YUM) and working on homework! CHYEAH!

The joys of being a student. An employed student.

cjk

It's just another Monday, except...

Tomorrow happens to be my first day at Iowa State. I'm so f*cking excited - for a multitude of reasons. First, it means that I never have to go to DMACC again, which in turn means no more driving to stupid Boone (which in itself is cause for celebration). Second, it means that I am halfway done with my college education! I could/should be farther ahead, but we all know how that goes... I'm nervous to actually start at a real university though. Just the size of the campus overwhelms me, but knowing that I am going to be receiving my education at the same place as so many famous people in history have learned is pretty cool. I went on Saturday morning and got my textbooks ($350 - which is actually quite low so YAY) and stopped by Target tonight to use a giftcard I got for xmas for some supplies. I have my backpack all loaded up and have the coffee pot set to start percolating first thing in the morning. Since my apartment complex is kind of off the beaten path, I have to drive to Hilton to park and take the commuter bus onto campus. Holly and I rode the bus around town the other night so that I could get a feel for the whole situation, so I'm aptly prepared for it. I don't know... I guess what stresses me out is that I'm going to just be another body in a class of 200-400 people. At the same time though, I can actually find some comfort in knowing that because I'm just an average Joe in the classroom, I won't feel so much like I'm in high school again - like I did at DMACC. Seriously. That place was just like being in 13th and 14th grade. It sucked.

Sorry that the posts have been so few and far between. It's just been a little semi-hectic around me lately, so the blogging was put on the back burner. Never fear, I shall start making more regular posts. I have a feeling that there might be one coming tomorrow night (just sayin').

Hopefully everyone had a nice weekend! Back to reality tomorrow.

cjk

When words can't even come close.

It's hard to find words to console someone when you have absolutely no idea what they're going through. At best, I'm sorry comes to mind, and that keeping them in your prayers is obvious. But how do you truly express how much pain you feel for them; how much sadness you wish you could somehow take away with just some kind words?

I don't think I can come close to trying to putting it into words, but here it goes. To all of the Jeff Young family, I send you my deepest condolonces and sympathies. My heart aches for each and every one of you, and I wish that there was something I could do to make it better. It makes me feel truly broken to be unable to mend the wounds that have been placed upon all of you - but know that if there is anything that I can do, I'm here, and I'm ready to do whatever I can.

A lot can happen in 15 days. A lot more can happen in 365.

I'm laying here typing this, even though I should be sleeping. The next week is going to be brutal - work open till 4 tomorrow, open till close Tuesday, and open till 3 on Christmas Eve (we're closing early, thank GOD), and then from there we have 6 Christmases in 5 days. OMG. I swear, it seems like we end up adding one every year. It's a lot of family time, a lot of stress, and a lot of work, but in the end, it's always worth it :)

Every year around this time, I like to take some personal time and just reflect about what I've accomplished in a years time, and where I was 365 days ago. It makes me take into account what I've done (or have put off), what I want to do (or put off again), and what I think I'll be doing when I do this again next year. Usually I feel like there's been some kind of personal growth, or at the very least, an attempt at it.

This year, as I sit and think back on 2008, I'm left wondering where all the time has gone. I just don't even recall all of the days - it's as if I blinked and it was over. I'm noticing that the older I get, the less time I spend just enjoying life, or appreciating the simple things. Instead, I'm constantly worried about how much my next paycheck is going to be, or what I'm going to have for dinner. Stupid things that don't matter have now become the staples of my day, highlighting every single portion of it. I tell myself that it's all just a part of growing up, and that after I finish college things can only get better. I've gotten to the point where I just don't believe myself anymore. Will they get better? I, along with everyone else, can be so quick to say 'things will get so much better once you graduate and get a good job,' but in all reality, nobody can forsee the future. Nobody can tell what will be.

I'm getting to the point in my life where I'm starting to think about my future. A lot. I can't tell you how hard my birthday was for me this year. 20. It was such a turning point for me. I'm not a teenager anymore. I'm two decades old. I decided that my 20's were going to be the best part of my life. I was going to make some big life changes and turn my life in a different direction. Who knew that every direction was exactly the same as the one before it. I'm now less than six months away from 21, one of, if not the most, exciting birthdays in a person's life. And you know what? I'm not any more excited for it than I was for 20. It's another year. Another year that I get to worry about how many days late the gas bill will be, or how I don't have enough hours at work. I'm over it.

I want to have fun. I want to meet someone. I can't take one more night of falling asleep with nobody to say goodnight to, one more afternoon of loneliness, one more Friday at home watching TV. I'm constantly obsessing with the way I look, convinced that if I looked like they do, I wouldn't be in this predicament. I'm constantly seeing everyone around me go through the ups and downs of committed relationships, and I can't stand it anymore. When is it my turn to have ups and downs? When will I get my chance to tell everyone about the sweet text message I got out of nowhere, or the night I spent cuddled up watching TV?

When do I get my turn?

Where the F have I been?!

Hi gang! Sorry for the blog hiatus. What a week.

When we last met up, I still had two Thanksgiving dinners to attend. Last Saturday Lindsey and I ventured out in the snow to Granger to Aunt Sheila's. After eating my weight (and then some) in turkey & such the day before, the spread of homemade chili, potato soup, and little smokies was a very welcome change. We got a chance to see some of our extended family from Chicago and St. Louis that we just don't get to see enough of, so it was fun. We stayed till about 9:30, and noticed that the snow was still coming down. Since we had the furthest drive back home, we took off. The county highway we took between Granger and Minburn wasn't in the best shape, but by the time we hit 169 & 44, things were just fine. I should mention at this point that in order for us to get to Granger, there was a bit of a power struggle between my sister and I. I thought it would be best if I drove for three reasons. 1. I had a full tank of gas in my car, whilst Lindsey was on empty. 2. I am older (if only by 3 years) and have had a little more experience in snowy driving conditions. 3. I am a control freak and a backseat driver anyway, so why not let me just win? Of course, Lindsey ended up driving us. I met her after she got off work, left my car in town, and we left. Anyhow, on our way home, she dropped me off at my car, I got in and was driving behind her home. We get to the lake where the road conditions soured once again, and not 60 seconds later, I'm watching in horror as my poor baby sister veers off the road (at NO fault of her own, might I add) and her little blue Cavalier is careening into the trees. Her finally comes to a rest (after what seems like an eternity) and I could not get mine stopped fast enough, or so it seemed. I race over to find her in hysterics and shaken up, but otherwise uninjured. Her car, however is another story. The front passenger side is mangled with the side mirror about 5 yards behind the car, her front passenger door is unopenable (word?), and the front passenger window (sensing a pattern of impact yet) is broken out. Everywhere. Glass. Inside her purse (which we didn't find until two days later.) I get her into my car and we make it home. Jerry and I ventured back out to cover the window with a slab of cardboard since the snow was still coming down. So much for a quiet night. (Like there's ever one of those around my parents house anyway)

Sunday was a much better day. We headed over to Grandma's for TG #4 (the last supper, so to speak, and THANK GOD!) We mingle with the family and have a great time playing Catch Phrase (as evidenced by pictures on Mom's blog). We get home at about 10, when I realize that I don't have any desire to drive back to Ames tonight, so I'm postponing it until tomorrow. Which is exactly what I did. I left town at about 1 on Monday, and worked at 3.

The rest of the week was pretty fair to partly cloudy. Tuesday night Roomie's mom and stepdad came to town and took us out to eat at Applebee's (our fave) and came back to our house to help us put up our Christmas tree. Now, this is where I tell you about my tree. I bought it last year for $11 at the D.A.V. Thrift Store in East Des Moines. It is an adorable six foot tree, and it is my pride and joy. I don't know why, but it is my favorite piece of furniture. This year we decorated in purples and golds, along with mauve and copper as our "counterbalances." We used purple lights. I'll have to post pictures soon.

Now it's Saturday night and I am starting to feel better, thanks for asking. Oh, did I not mention I was sick? Yeah. Sick, starting at about 8 Friday night and not really letting up until now. I had to miss Roomie's Christmas party (sad face) so instead I came home to Panora to get babied. Tomorrow we'll decorate the tree here, and I'll head up to Ames afterwards. It's finals week, so we'll see if I get a chance to update you before I go on Christmas break.

Have a happy weekend, everyone!

cjk

The Day After Yesterday.

So, I've recently decided that all I could ever need in this world is the game "Catch Phrase." For those of you that have not been blessed with this game before, I can't begin to tell you how much fun it is in words. Essentially, you are on a team and it is your job to get your teammate(s) to guess a word by giving them clues. Sorta like the $10,000 Pyramid. After your teammate(s) guess the word, you push a button for a new clue and pass it to the other team. The catch is that you're timed, and the team holding the game-thing when the timer goes off is declared the loser of that round, and the other team gets the point. First one to however many points you decide beforehand wins. It puts the F U in fun :)

Well today, mom and I made a trip up to Carroll to hit up the new (to us) Wal-Mart Supercenter. We had to get some food stuffs for G'ma's on Sunday, and the grocery store in Panora isn't exactly "value priced." We were ADAMANT about not going to Wal-Mart in DSM, because, being that it was the day after Thanksgiving, we just could not handle that many people breathing our air. Anyhow, we get to the Mart, and lo and behold they don't have it. WTH?! WM is supposed to be a one-stop shop and BAM! They don't have the one item I need. F'ery. Luckily, the K-Mart in Carroll does have Catch Phrase, so I scoop it up and we're on our way home. Jerry calls right around the time we hit Bayard to make some dinner plans, so we get home and head out for some dinner. Lindsey's dear friend Brandi happened to be our server, and, needless to say, she recieved a large tip (100% of the bill to be exact). Thanks Bran!

We get home after dinner, and find that Lindsey will be abandoning the family (as she does only on days that end in "-day") so my night is officially shattered. You see, Catch Phrase requires two teams of at least two players each. Seeing as Cade can't read, I'm flying solo. F. New plan. Let's bake sugar cookies and decorate them! YES. If there's anything as good as my original Plan A, it's baked items. We get to gettin' and within only a half hour, we have a couple dozen cookies baked in assorted Christmas-y shapes. Cade and I spearhead the decorating team (duh) and Mom and Jerry join in soon after. We had a blast :)

cjk





So no rolling pin? No problem! A tube of frozen
93/7 works just fine :)











Our finished products! So they aren't all Christmas colors... so what?

My Best Friend :)

So, since it's 12:39a, my roommate/best friend has officially been 21 for 39 minutes! Her and by very good friend Angela are out on Welch Ave. at the bars having some fun. I, being a little over six months shy of the big 2-1 (thanks, mom...) am sitting at home blogging about it. Neat.

Anyway, I hope that she has an amazing time. We've been friends for about six years now (the time has flown) and even though we've had our share of disagreements and tiffs thrown in there, we're closer than ever. I'm so lucky to have someone as kind, compassionate, honest (sometimes it's good ;) ), and wonderful as she.

Love you roomie!!!!!

Banker's hours my ass...

So because the bank I work at is located inside of a grocery store, there is a certain level of convenience that is to be expected. As such, we do not operate on the tradtional 9-5 weekday and 9-12 Saturday that your average bank sees. Instead, we're open until 7 on weekdays, 5 on Saturdays, and even 10-3 Sundays. Needless to say, I am always at work. Anyhow, the weekends tend to drag on since people don't tend do their banking on Saturdays and Sundays, regardless of us being open or not. Today was no exception.

To start my day off on the right track, I overslept. Neat. Why you ask? Well, some lovely friends of mine decided that several drunk dials/texts were in order last night, therefore, I was awake about twice an hour. Again, neat. I wake up at 8:12, shout and swear quite loudly, and go into superfastmoveyourassandgetready mode. I toss a lump of clothes into the dryer to de-wrinkle, stick my head under the bathtub faucet to wash, dry my hair, brush my teeth, a quick swipe of deodorant and I'm done getting ready. I race past the dryer and pull out my fresh-smelling, warm lump of clothes and as I'm hopping down the hallway with one leg in my pants, I trip. Hard. Of course. I get up and race out the door at 8:29. I have 1 minute to get to work. Obviously not going to happen. So, at 8:38, I stroll into the bank and get everything ready for the day ahead. The day is back on track.

Fast forward about 8.5 hours, and I'm off! Yay! I walk outside toward my car and OH! What's this? Two inches of snow?! Terrific! I love snow as much as the next guy, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that my scraper was actually in my car! YES! I dust the ol' girl off and head for home. Deciding that cooking was not in the cards for me tonight, plus the roomie is gone, so a pizza it is! For those who don't live in Ames and have never experienced Jeff's Pizza Shop, I'm sorry. It's amazing.

Now, we're at a quarter till 8:00 and all is amazing. I'm parked on the couch, I have the fireplace on, and I'm thoroughly enjoying my chicken alfredo pizza with mushrooms and onions, and I can't think of a better way to spend the night.

cjk

Putting my best foot forward...

So, as many of you may be fully aware... I kind of have this habit of looking for a new job when things get unpleasant at my current one. For example: Before I started at MH, I was working for the Evil Empire in collections. Now, I know what you're thinking - Collections? In this economy? What's not to love? Well, it may surprise you, but apparently people are prioritizing making a house payment or buying groceries or even paying medical bills before they make even an attempt at a credit card payment. Fascinating! The things some people will do...

Anyhow, that job sucked it HARD. As if it wasn't bad enough driving my happy ass to and WDM five days a week and burning through more gas than the city of San Diego uses in a month, I got to sit on a computer in a desk that I shared with a woman that had some kind of sick obsession with frogs. I mean this bitch was weird - frog figurines, a frog calendar, and a small crucifix sitting right under the computer screen. I felt like everytime I called someone to try to get their money, Jesus was passing judgment on me. Great. Just what I needed on my conscience. Well, push finally came to shove and one night, after I had had 2 very successful interviews at MH, I went on my 15 minute break and never came back.

In recent weeks, things at MH had gotten a little dicey. I have had a few issues with... how did they put it... oh yes, "maintaining and accurately balanced teller drawer and adhering to official company policies and procedures," like it was something drastic. Well, I went back to an old habit and immediately started looking for something else. I mean come on! I don't think that a few small (and one not so small) mis-balances should be the only thing they focus on. Alas, there isn't a lot of hiring going on in Ames right now, the exceptions being of course seasonal positions. So, my thought was - OK, I can make this work for a little longer.

Well, now I'm about a month past that epiphany, and actually, really starting to enjoy my job again. I had an employee review recently and it went OK, but honestly, I really felt like they weren't noticing any of the good I had done, only the bad. We had a small meeting last week and the bank manager gave out some "self-evaluation" sheets to us. I decided to use it as an outlet to express how I felt. I gave myself what I believe to be fair marks, which I supported with great detail! I really want to make it work here - not only do I loathe starting a new job (you know, going in blind and not knowing anyone), but I have really grown accustomed to it, I love my co-workers, and frankly, it's not a tough job but it still pays pretty well. According to the bossman, I should be having my six-month (even though I've now been there for eight) review any day now. I'll let you know how it goes!

cjk

Getting a jump on things...

I talked to my mom earlier in the week and we decided that Saturday we would spend the day together. We hadn't had just a "two of us" day for quite some time, so we agreed that it was long overdue. The original plan was for mom and Grandma to head over to GC to the fitness center and for mom to be home by 11:30, with us leaving for DSM shortly after. Now, anyone that knows my family is fully aware that our plans are anything but set in stone until we start them. On that note, at about 1:00, Mom and I left the house on our way to get some of my Christmas shopping done. I decided that this year would be different from all of the others. I have made it a habit to wait until the last minute, and usually end up having to re-gift something to some unsuspecting family member to ensure that they have something to unwrap. Not this year!

After a F-A-B lunch of Bleu Ribbon Burgers, onion rings, and garlic parmesan fries at Red Robin (yummm), we decided to head over to Jordan Creek and scope out the sales. Mom knew that Whitehall Jewellers was having a huge liquidation sale and so we decided to check it out. We had been browsing for her sake for awhile when it hit me: gift idea!!!! Holly (hereafter referred to as roomie) turns 21 on the 25th of this month, so I figured that I would get her somethin' purdy. After much deliberation, I decided on a lovely amethyst necklace set in 10k white gold. Loves it! A little more browsing and Mom stumbles across a necklace she loves. After her debating it in her head (and me being the little devil guy hovering over her shoulder saying 'do it... do it...') we head to the register and both walk out of the store as happy campers with our purchases.

After walking around the mall (which, p.s., was filled with a sh*tload of people who were IN OUR WAY and nothing else) and each getting a Starbucks (loves it) we decided it was time to get the F out of dodge and head over to Wal-Mart. At this point, I only had Holly's birthday present bought and NOTHING for anyone for Christmas. Great.

When we get to the Mart, I figured that this would be as good a place as any to scoop up something for Cade. After some more browsing, I settled on a pair of Tom and Jerry DVDs for him, as the little man has apparently grown obsessed with them. Who would have thought... a classic like T&J taking his interest more than some cartoon on Nickelodeon. Go figure. Mom and I then go on the hunt for a nice pair of gubs (gloves, to those of you who aren't fluent in Cade) and end up finding her a cute gub/scarf matching set. Precious! Head to the checkout and we're out of the Mart by about 6:45. Not doing too shabby thus far - one bday and one Christmas present down, many to go. Next is a quick stop at Costco for some discount gas ($1.69!!) and we're on our way to Valley West, the redheaded stepchild of the Greater Des Moines mall system.

We park outside of Von Maur, which is quite possibly one of my favorite stores, especially at Christmas time. Mom decides she would really like to find a cute wallet to go with her recently acquired Fossil purse, so we head upstairs to take a look, but not before we stumble across the softest leather jacket you've ever felt... $630 worth of soft leather to be exact... F! Anyway, we get upstairs and I'm like a kid in a candy store, except replace kid with "label whore" and candy store with "men's accessories." I make a beeline for the most AMAZINGLY AMAZING cashmere Burberry scarf, and it's even in the wonderful sage color palette that I wanted. A quick look at the pricetag ($265) and my dream of fancy scarf ownership was beaten, molested, and left for dead. So after a peek in the clearance shoe room for mom (which was a hot mess), we're off to handbags. We're doing some browsing when Mom happens across a cute with a capital Q red Fossil bag, similar to the one she bought. She assures me it wasn't there when she bought her purse or she would have come home with it instead. After I talk her into it, we attempt to exchange her used, three-week old purse without tags or receipt for the new-found red one. The counter lady could not have been more helpful, and since the red purse was actually cheaper, I got a credit of $30 to my Von Maur card - even though I didn't actually buy the purse to begin with! Yay! New purse in hand, we head out of VM into the mall.

I knew exactly what I would get Lindsey when we got here (which will not be posted because then she'd know, silly) (oh, and Holly doesn't read this to answer your next question) and within 5 minutes I had gotten it. But then I was thinking, this (item) really is kinda small... lets get one or two more little things to top it off. After a quick stop at (store) I got her a couple more cute, practical items. All is well. Then a quick run upstairs to Vicki's and Holly's Christmas present is now also purchased! Next is a quick stop at another store and BAM! Jerry's present is done! I'm starting to get the hang of this... At this point, we're getting pretty shopped out, so we stop for a quick cheese rite each and share a jumbo Pepsi. We browse thru Younkers quick to scope out the wallet situation, and we're out the door.

Now it's about 8 and we're headed to SuperTarget for some needs. I get razor blades (which, incidentally, cost more than the GOD DAMN RAZOR!) and Ma grabs some stuff for herself too. We look at the wallets here too (which were all yuck) and call it a day.

All in all, I have to say, I had a pretty great time :) Mom and I don't get to spend as much one-on-one time as we would like, so on this rare occasion where we both ended up with a day off at the same time, I'm glad we got to hang out together :) Love ya mommy!!

Hope everyone else had a great Saturday!!!

cjk

The Big Opener

Hello :)

I decided to start this blog as my own personal way to vent and tell about my day... I'm excited to play around with this whole thing and ready to go! Wish me luck!

cjk