So, it's been a year . . .

Therefore I'm not going to attempt to re-cap. Just gonna jump right back in to where we are now.

I've been in my little 1 bedroom apartment for a year now. Living roommate-less has been enjoyable for me. It appeals to my selfish nature, I guess :-) Just me and my 'keets, Jack and Fred. I've been thinking about getting a cat for a while now. I used to be able to drive up to Mom & Dad's for my feline fix, but our 'kittens' hadn't been kittens for over a decade, and they both passed away at a ripe old age. Bailey, our not too bright but unfailingly sweet dog had gone not too long before. I admit I've been totally missing having something warm and furry around.

So after a few months of talking about it and buying supplies here and there, I decided Thursday night I'd go up to the Utah Animal Adoption Center before work on Friday and take a look around. They're a non-profit, no-kill shelter that rescue adoptable cats, dogs, and even horses who had been in other shelters and were scheduled for euthanization. They have listings online and there were a few descriptions that sounded like good candidates. I had certain cat in mind, but found out when I got there he was 12 or 13 years old. He was so eager for affection I seriously considered taking him and giving him a nice home for his few remaining years. Still feel kinda guilty that I didn't. But seeing what Harvie and Beef went through in their old age, just not ready for that. There was also a cute little black cat who loved to be held and cuddled, but the worker said he'd probably need another cat buddy or he'd be too lonely, so had to pass him up, too.

I was starting to think I'd have to wait a couple weeks and try again,when we came to Tala. Biggest, bluest eyes I've ever seen on a cat. She reminded me of a mix between Beef and our old cat, Rainy. She loved to be petted and purred so loud while she was in her small kennel, but didn't want to be taken out. The woman in charge said she's very nervous around other cats because she's been declawed on her front feet, and so almost never left her cage. She'd been adopted out, but recently brought back because the family had dogs and Tala just never adjusted to them, which the lady said is common for declawed cats. (Message of the day: don't declaw cats. It's mean.) I had a good feeling about this one, so I signed the papers and took her home with me.

Trying to show the blue eyes. In true cat style, not cooperating.

Considering what I knew of her history and how she was at the shelter, I was figured it would be a day or two until she adjusted to her new home. I've heard that cats will often hide for a few days when taken somewhere new. Not this cat. As soon as I opened the door to her carrier, she was out and exploring, purring like crazy. After she finished her tour, she followed me around, wanting attention until I had to leave for work. She doesn't really like to be picked up or held in my lap, but she sticks close by and curls up next to me when I hold still long enough. Turns out she's actually incredibly mellow and very sweet and affectionate. She doesn't follow me around like she did the first day or two, but if I'm out of sight too long, she'll come find me. I gotta say, I love having her around. She makes me smile :-)

Gonna need another pillow, this one is hers now.

Tala is a 5 year old Siamese/Manx mix. Because of the Manx genes, she has a '3/4' tail, meaning her tail is about 3/4ths the length of normal. The shelter made sure she was, fixed, and up to date on shots, so I don't have to worry about that right now. She also has a microchip. I don't plan on letting her defenseless self outside at all, so I'm hoping it's never really needed, but it's nice to know it's there just in case.

Let the 'crazy cat lady' jokes commence.

My New Place At My Old Place

I have seen many apartments these last couple of months. I have discovered that the stereotypes about West Valley are really kinda true. I have learned that leasing agents can be a lot like used car salesmen. There have been ghetto apartments I could easily afford, but would fear for my property (and life). There have been some in-between ones I could have lived with, but were pretty far from work, or didn't have hookups for my washer and dryer. There was one truly beautiful complex in a perfect location, with correct hookups, that had advertised reasonable rent. Unfortunately, after they tack on another $200 in monthly fees (that's $200, every month, no exaggeration.), it's not exactly 'reasonable' anymore.

Yesterday on a whim, or out of desperation, I thought I'd try calling the apartments Amanda and I lived in a couple years ago. Good location, nice complex, probably too expensive, but doesn't hurt to try, right? Turned out to be a good decision. They did have one unit that met my requirements, that happened to be on special and therefore in my price range. First thing this morning I went in and filled out the application, and waited all day to be approved. I was mostly sure I would be, but still I didn't want to get too excited until I heard for absolutely sure. Finally got the voicemail at work, and did my happy dance right there in front of everyone. I'm so sick of apartment searching, if I had to start again I probably would have cried. A lot.

I'm still in shock, I'm not often this lucky. One bedroom apartments with full sized hookups are hard to find. I also get a patio, fireplace, and an accent wall painted for free! It's 2nd (top) storey, close to the pool area and fitness center. That fitness center will save me $25/month in gym membership. My commute has been cut in half. It's a good neighborhood, so I can go for runs or ride my bike without being too nervous. Basically, I'm really stinkin' excited!

Too bad before I get to live there, I have to pack, clean my current place, transport all my stuff over there, and unpack it all again. Ugh.

Quick update and some pics

It was requested quite some time ago that I post pictures of Josh. Sorry it took so long. These are from his friend Reyes's birthday party on Saturday night.

Disclaimer - I was not warned that we were going anywhere, so showed up to Josh's sans makeup and dressed in comfy t-shirt and jeans. We almost didn't go, but kept getting guilt trip texts so we finally gave in and showed up around midnight. So he looks all dapper while I sport the grungy look.

Almost an 'aww' picture, but he blinked.

It was a Mardi Gras theme, and don't worry, they gave those beads out for free at the door. We didn't 'earn' them ;-)

Even though I reeeaaaallly didn't want to go, I did have a good time once we got there. They're a goofy bunch, as all guys tend to be when with their buds, but good guys and always go out of their way to make my goody-goody self feel welcome.

We didn't do anything very Valentine-y, since I'm not a fan and Josh is, well, a guy and therefore was glad to not have crazy expectations to live up to. But he did have roses for me and got a heart-shaped pizza for dinner. He'd probably be mad at me for telling this story, but the reason we were late for the party was Josh insisted we watch Bridges of Madison County, which came on TV that night. He even got sniffly during the sappy parts, which he admitted freely at the party later and of course got some good ribbing over. At least one of us is a romantic.

In other news, I'm still at Massage Envy. We've been pretty busy lately, I hope that lasts a while. It's nice to get paychecks that don't make me feel like crying. Still keeping an eye out for a spa job, but I am more or less content for now.

I'll be moving again in about a month. Downtown is an expensive locale, and I can't afford it any more. My roommate has found herself another apartment and we've put in our notice to vacate. I don't know yet where I'm moving to, still working on that part. There will be plenty of calling around and looking at apartments this week. Quite a few places have lower than usual prices right now, which is good since I'm going to try not having roommates this go-round. Finding a place that's close to work, not too ghetto AND that has washer/dryer hookups is where it gets challenging. I'll be happy when I've saved enough to buy a house or condo and will be able to stay put for a few years. Moving sucks and I'm tired of it.

Un-unemployed

Good news! I'm no longer unemployed! Luckily it didn't take too long, less than 2 weeks since Breathe closed. I'm grateful for this, I was already getting a bit stir-crazy. Days and weeks last a lot longer when there's nowhere to go and nothing to do all day.

After losing a week due to software frustrations, sickness, half-marathon, and printer issues, I finally was able to put my resume into circulation. On Wednesday I drove to the Union Heights Massage Envy, and also dropped one off at the Sugarhouse location. Sugarhouse would have been more convenient, but Union Heights was way faster on the draw. I hadn't even made it home before they called me back. I had gotten through both interviews and been offered a job before Sugarhouse called me in for an interview. I'm not entirely sure I did the right thing in not slowing things down a bit and interviewing with Sugarhouse as well. I was afraid of losing this shot, then where would I be if Sugarhouse didn't want me? Back to square one is where. So, I made the decision. I hope it was the right one, but I'll never know for sure.

Today was orientation, tomorrow I work my first real shift. My schedule is still being hammered out. I'll be working mostly nights, 3-10 P.M., and my days off are not for certain yet. There is a chance I will have Saturdays and Sundays off. I'm hoping this is the option that works out. I would love to have 'normal' weekends for a while! As anyone who works weekends, especially Saturdays, knows you have to miss out on a lot of family gatherings, impromtu trips, etc. If not, my days off will be Fridays and Sundays. Do-able, but not as fun as having 2 days in a row. I guess I'll wait and see and be happy with what they give me. Beggars can't be choosers, right?

So that's where my employment stands for now. There's a 90 day probationary period before I become a full-fledged employee. Hopefully it all works out so I don't have to do the resume/interview thing for a while. It SUCKS! I am going to kind of keep my feelers out for a job in an actual spa, I was very content in my cushy little spa-world and hope to find that again someday. But for now, I'm just happy to have a job! So I'll leave this blog on a positive note, or else I'll start worrying about the fact that my lease is up in December. Isn't being a grown-up fun? :-)

Unemployed. No likey.

Just when you think you're safe, unemployment strikes.
Friday started out like any normal Friday. I got up, went to work, did a couple massages. Everything was fine.
Went to a bookstore with Amanda and Matt, then went to meet Chrystie and Preston for dinner. While heading for the restaurant, Matt ran into a buddy of his. While he chatted, I called in to work to see when I should be at work the next morning. My first appointment started at 9 A.M., with another around 11. Not a bad start to the day, and would probably get a walk-in or two.
Still no warning.
After dinner we went to a Halloween play at the Off-Broadway Theater. Amusing, but not as funny as last year. After Amanda and Matt dropped me off I logged on my 'puter and started chatting with a buddy. Realised it was getting late and I hadn't bothered to take my phone off silent mode or check for messages. By this time it was around 1:30 A.M. I saw my manager had sent some texts just minutes before. Odd for that time of night, but I figured someone was either sick or had a child come down with something and Ben was trying to get their shift covered for the day.
Nope.
He was texting those of us who were supposed to work Saturday morning to let us know not to drive to work, for he had just found out from the owners that Breathe Day Spa was no longer operating. That's right, I was given 7 whole hours notice that I was out of a job. Over TEXT MESSAGE. No blaming Ben at all, he's a good manager and trying to do the best thing. But the owners, for all their money and fancy-schmancy cars, seem to be lacking in the class department. No one had any idea at all this was coming. NONE.
So there I was, middle of the night, just found out that my job of almost 4 years that I totally loved was *poof* Gone. At this point I set feminism back a few years by calling Josh and crying at him 'til he invited me over out of pity, then cried at him in person for the rest of the night. He put up with my weepiness very well. Listened to my whiny venting, saying nice supportive things. Even earned himself some brownie points by telling me I looked pretty (with a straight face) even though I had been crying for hours, with all the accompanying facial swellings, discolorations, and discharges. Must have been the alluring Charlie Brown Halloween flannel pants and ratty, stained t-shirt. Think I might keep him around a while.
Saturday from about 2:30 A.M. on involved watching lots of '30 Rock' DVDs and Transformers 2 (which was really, really, bad. And not in the amusingly bad way. Just. Plain. BAD.) through leaky eyes and occasional bouts of sobs. I did drift off for a while, woke up around lunchtime. More brownie points for going out and picking us up some lunch before I thought it was time to go home and try to face the real world.
The e-mail from the owners of the spa didn't answer many questions, either. Basically, they are declaring bankruptcy and were advised by their legal whatevers to shut down the spa to stop incurring expenses. Last Friday was supposed to be payday as well, yet no one got paid. Now we all have to file for back pay and hope to get some of the money we earned the last 1.5 pay periods. I understand running a business is difficult. But something tells me it takes a little something special to take a popular and well-established spa and run it into the ground after it's been around for 10 years (we just celebrated the anniversary earlier this month). What really gets me is that they didn't bother to warn us lowly employees, not even the managers knew anything was wrong.
So there's my sob story. I'm filing for unemployment, and with the number of spas in this area I'm not too worried about finding a new job. Hopefully soon, so I can find a nearby apartment. I was struggling to afford this one even when I had a job and was looking to move pretty soon. But at the moment not sure where I'll end up so put that on hold. I'm sad to see Breathe end, and I already miss all my co-workers. I'll keep this updated and hopefully soon will be reporting I found a new job.

It was (is) a dark and stormy night

One of these days I'm going to stop doing things I know I'll regret later on. Staying up late. Eating large amounts of food containing large amounts of sugar. Not cleaning my room (don't tell Dad.) Finding creepy stuff on the Internet that will have me jumping at every sound the rest of the night. One of these days, but today is not that day.
I have mixed feeling on the whole supernatural/ghost/haunting thing. I'm sure most of what's out there is over-exaggerated if not downright fake. But what fun is not believing any of it? So I've been having a grand old time this evening, freaking myself right out reading 'real' ghost stories people have submitted on websites,listening to EVP's, looking at spooky pictures, etc. It is almost Halloween, might as well indulge my curiousity. All the time knowing full well what a wussy I am and that I'd regret this fun later.
While I was thus distracting myself, I would occasionally look outside to see the wind blowing the trees around. Then the dark clouds rolled in. Then night came. Welcome to later. So now I've gone and gotten myself in full-on creeped-out mode, I'm alone in my apartment, and every once in a while the wind gets a good gust up and literally howls around the corners of the building. Even when the wind itself isn't making ghoulish noises, it's scraping the tree branches against the apartment wall and rustling the leaves to make soft, chattering sounds.
Here in my room with my light on and TV keeping me company it's not so bad. But the walk to the kitchen for dinner felt long tonight. Through the dark living room, wind and trees causing moving shadows across the walls, hearing eerie stormy sounds. Even with distracting myself and thinking about other things, my heart was beating harder than necessary for such a short trip. Who needs to pay good money for scary movies and haunted houses? All I need is the idea that maybe, possibly, something could be out there (or in here!) and my own apartment seems foreboding. Add a little inclement weather and I can get a heart-pumping, what-the-heck-was-that-noise?!? rush going to rival anything I get at a spook alley. My logical mind tells me I'm safe and secure and tonight is just another night and you're a grown woman, for heaven's sake! The part of my brain where my inner child lives tells me the scary things are just waiting for my light to go out to slip from their hiding places. So we compromise, I'll be sleeping with my T.V. on tonight. . .
. . . . and feeling silly and regretting this blog in the morning, I'm sure.

It's fall, but I'm not complaining. Much.

I'm never sure what to put in my blogs. I assume most of my readers are my lovely family who I talk to on a regular basis anyway so mostly I don't want to be redundant. I'm not making any promises that I'll start writing on a regular basis, cuz I've promised that before and it has yet to actually happen. So I'll just do this one blog and see what happens after that.

Summer was fun and went by way too fast, as it does every year. I turned 28 during my very first trip to Lake Powell. I can definitely see how people get addicted to going down there, it's beautiful! I didn't get to try wake boarding like I had planned, but discovered I do have a natural talent at boat lounging.

I ran another half-marathon at Disneyland over Labor Day, and training took up a big chunk of my summer as well. It's a good thing I enjoy it :-) This year my Dad, Amanda, and Matt participated too. It makes it more fun when other people are sharing the same experience. I think I'm making this an annual tradition, anyone who wants to join me is more than welcome! I promise it's much more fun than it sounds.

I'm still working at the spa, and it's still slow. Not sure when this recession thing is supposed to end, but I'll be very glad when it does. Until then I'll try to just be happy that I have a job that pays enough to keep the bills paid and buy me my food I love so much. And occasional clothes and shoes. I seem to be developing a shoe fetish that is kept in check by the fact I can't afford to indulge it very often.

So now it's fall, and I'm trying to not be so whiny about the changing weather. I caught myself complaining and noticed how very ANNOYING I sounded! My whining isn't going to make it any warmer, and I'm not willing to move to a different climate. Therefore, I'm trying this year to take it all in stride and enjoy the changes for once. The key word here is try.

I'm looking forward to Halloween and just finished a playlist for my iPod. Turned out to be 8.1 hours long and 129 songs. Who knew I had such a dark side? Haha. I signed up for a half-marathon in Provo on Halloween morning, and am trying desperately to get my shift covered so I don't have to work afterwards. My costume this year is Lois Lane. I almost feel like it's cheating to have such an easy costume. My date for the evening will be dressed as Clark Kent/Superman (basically business clothes with a superman t-shirt showing through).

And that segues nicely into a whole new subject. It seems I have myself a boyfriend. Still feels weird to use that particular term, though. I usually refer to him by his name, Josh, or as 'the guy I'm seeing', or simply 'my guy', it sounds more natural that way. Boyfriend. Boyyyfriiieeennd. Totally weird.

Yes, this is the same Josh from previous posts. We've been dating for 9-ish months now, which more than doubles my previous record of 4 months for longest-running relationship. He's a cutie, very outgoing and social, and likes me despite my tendency to be shy and socially awkward. Best of all, in the last 9 months he has managed to not tick me off, make me cry, or mess with my head and cause paralyzing insecurity. Something no guy yet has been able to accomplish. I'll tell ya, it's a nice change from previous experience!

So that's it for this blog. Catch y'all later.