SHOPPING! SHOPPING! SHOPPING!
What have I been up to the last month? SHOPPING! I have become obsessed with shopping for the best deals and poor (LOL I'm kidding) Kristin has become my victim.
Since I don't have a boyfriend, or human children of my own ( my cats have more toys than they can play with anyway at this point) but I love to buy presents, and spend money I don't have, or sort of have... I have been obsessively discount shopping.
Now I won't tell you how much I spent, but I will tell you how much I saved!
I bought clothes at Mervyn's right when they were closing their store and everything was just a couple of bucks apiece! I bought clothes for all of the kids, some sheets for myself and a USC blanket for my Dad for Christmas, and my recipet said I SAVED almost $300.00!!! It was crazy! And I spent like nothing!
My friend Natalie was telling me about how to get nice clothes, like from Janie and Jack new with tags on eBay, so I bid on some things and got them for 65% off!
Then I was on Old Navy's website, and THEY were having a clearance too! Everything was 75% off, and THEN they discounted it 50% off that... so you were only paying 12.5% the original price!!! I saved around.. I would guess... $500? at least. I have been trying to figure out the math over here and I can't do it. LOL
THEN Kristin suggested I start looking at the Children's Place, so I went on their website and they were having a clearance sale too! First everything was 30% off, and THEN, I got a coupon on a website for an additional 15% off, so everything I got was 45% off! YAY!!!
I think I did really good. I tried hard to get good deals and it was so much fun to do all of the shopping and I hoped it was fun for the Peterson's to get some good stuff in the mail. I know I love getting surprises, and it was just as fun to send them off as it is to receive them.
Another place I shopped at was WalMart. They were clearancing all of their Christmas stuff, and they had all of these stickings full of cat toys for $2 each- and it was for like 10-12 toys! What a good deal! So I bought 4 stockings full of toys and then I went to the baby department and got 4 fleece blankets on sale for $3 each! So I took all of these things, wrapped them up and sent them to the Animal Lovers Assistance League in North Carolina where I adopted my cat Amelia from. I found my cat on Petfinder.com and the shelter said they would send her on the plane for me! So they got all of her health certificates and everything and a volunteer took her to the airport, checked her in and called me to let me know she was on her way! They went to alot of trouble to get her to me, and I always wanted to give back so i was glad to write this letter thanking them and saying how much I love my kitty cat and so I donated the toys and blankets to the shelter to the other kitties still "looking for mommies and daddies" lol. I thought it was cute. And it was fun. I put a snoopy sticker on the address label too.
So that is what I have been up to on the shopping front. I think I am all done with shopping. I keep looking at stuff, but I think I hit all of the great sales there were, and I think I got a little something for just about everyone I know. LOL
So now my goals are to 1.) stop shopping, 2.) start going to the gym again and lose those last 24 pounds until I hit my goal (I gained 12 over Christmas, so now I have twice as far to go!!!) 3.) stay strong in continuing to look for a job. 4.) start studying for the baby bar again, which I have decided I am going to take. (by they way I did not pass in october, I found out around christmas)
I think that is about it. So wish me some encouragement and dedication and hard working vibes and stuff!
Monday, January 19, 2009
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
HUCKLEBERRY HOUND!
First off, my mom is doing ok, and is staying at a hotel for now. The insurance agent came by today and said they they are going to replace the fireplace, walls (it's burned in between the walls), carpet, all of the hardwood floors, and some other things. Also the house has to be treated for smoke damage. The fire investigator hasn't been out yet, so they can't close up the hole yet.
Here are some pictures of the damage she sent me:
OK, next up, I made Parisian Macaroons for the first time! Everybody says how difficult they are to make but I did not think they were that bad and they were by far the most tasty, delicious, delightful, wonderful cookie I have ever had in my life. They are so light and fluffy... oooh!
I just followed the recipe on Martha Stewart's website, and then I added purple dye to the batter, and then I put huckleberry preserves in between each sandwich instead of her filling. But I plan to make a variety for christmas in different colors. I am not sure how well the cookies will hold up with the preserves in them, so I am putting them on a few tonight, and will see if they survive until morning.
Here are some pictures of the damage she sent me:
OK, next up, I made Parisian Macaroons for the first time! Everybody says how difficult they are to make but I did not think they were that bad and they were by far the most tasty, delicious, delightful, wonderful cookie I have ever had in my life. They are so light and fluffy... oooh!
I just followed the recipe on Martha Stewart's website, and then I added purple dye to the batter, and then I put huckleberry preserves in between each sandwich instead of her filling. But I plan to make a variety for christmas in different colors. I am not sure how well the cookies will hold up with the preserves in them, so I am putting them on a few tonight, and will see if they survive until morning.
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
MY MOM
Just got a call about 15 minutes ago (It's 130am) that my mom's house is on fire. She got the cat and dog and Tony and herself out, but she forgot even her wallet and financial records- i just sent her 3 huge packages of christmas presents that arrived today, they all got left in the house. At least they are all safe.
When she called she said the fire department was cutting a hole in the roof/wall to get to the fire, I guess it is burning between the walls.
She said she kept smelling smoke but couldn't find anything, and then before she went to sleep, she looked one more time and saw smoke in the family room and the fireplace was on but the switch was off (not totally sure what that means, I can guess, I am just quoting) and so she woke up TOny, they called 911, got the animals and got out. I think a neighbor was out there with her watching the firetrucks, there are FOUR there right now.
Prayers, please. This was her retirement house, her first new house ever to live in for the rest of her life, until she died, all of her hopes and dreams were in that house, I hope they are ok.
Just got a call about 15 minutes ago (It's 130am) that my mom's house is on fire. She got the cat and dog and Tony and herself out, but she forgot even her wallet and financial records- i just sent her 3 huge packages of christmas presents that arrived today, they all got left in the house. At least they are all safe.
When she called she said the fire department was cutting a hole in the roof/wall to get to the fire, I guess it is burning between the walls.
She said she kept smelling smoke but couldn't find anything, and then before she went to sleep, she looked one more time and saw smoke in the family room and the fireplace was on but the switch was off (not totally sure what that means, I can guess, I am just quoting) and so she woke up TOny, they called 911, got the animals and got out. I think a neighbor was out there with her watching the firetrucks, there are FOUR there right now.
Prayers, please. This was her retirement house, her first new house ever to live in for the rest of her life, until she died, all of her hopes and dreams were in that house, I hope they are ok.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
Saturday, November 15, 2008
My Dad
So here's the story on my dad. He had an emergency appen..omy on Monday evening. He called all of the kids from the gurney (sp?) right before going into surgery. While he was unconscious post-op my sister learned from the surgeon that when he came in to the doctor's office earlier in the day for abdominal pain, they had done a CAT scan, which is how they found the appendicitis... and gallstones... and a blood clot. Way to go Dad for "forgetting" to mention those!
So my sister called my other sister, who called me and let me know what was going .. talking to both of them, I decided to fly down the next morning. So I bought my ticket around midnight, got to the airport around 430am to park in the economy lot and wait in the long security line in order to fly out on the first flight at 6am.
I went straight to the hospital and stayed with my Dad for the next 8-9 hours each day, primarily by myself, although his fiancé and my sister were there some of the time too. My Family had a list of questions for me to lay on the emergency surgeon (a hot Greek doctor, sadly, married) and the vascular surgeon.
On the second day of supervising my Pop I got through all the questions with the surgeons:
The gallstones are not immediately causing him any issues; therefore we can leave them alone for now.
The appendicitis was very serious, and was gangrene (dead tissue, it looks green and white and black in the pics- the hot Greek doctor thought his appendix so freakishly disgusting that he took pictures and marveled over it with colleagues). They said it was less than 24 hours from bursting, and was in very bad shape. They also said that my Dad must have an incredibly high pain tolerance in order to have survived that long at home with an appendicitis so advanced. Surgery was successful, but the tissue around the area wasn't the greatest and the doctor wasn't able to close the site, and a drain was left in.
Finally, the blood clot, which was thought very serious and scary at first has turned out to be in his artery, not his vein. This means that it is basically trapped in his leg indefinitely and is at no risk to go to his heart or brain or anything like that because arteries carry blood away from the heart, veins carry it to the heart... So, if something bad was happening with the clot there would be a physical manifestation of symptoms, primarily discoloration in his feet (whiteness, blue-ing, etc) and then the matter would be much more urgent. In the meantime, the clot will be monitored as an outpatient.
Post-op my dad had a really hard time and they were pumping him up with ALOT of antibiotics, plus IV fluids and misc painkillers- adavan, vicodin, valium... they tried all kinds of stuff. He also had the joy of a catheter, leg massager things to prevent blood clots and hourly visits from the respitory therapist to make him huff and puff into a tube to prevent pneumonia.
He was in the hospital almost 5 days ( standard appen..omies are supposed to be in and out within 24 hours to give you perspective, according to my Dad's docs.) and I was with him basically all day each day until dinner, helping him to the bathroom, or to walk around the nurse's station, per the doctor's orders, asking the nurse's for help, or asking questions or notifying them of this machine or that machine that was going off and hadn't been taken care of (my dad was seriously neglected when I wasn't there to help... he paged the nurse in the night 4 times to help him with the leg wraps, and they never came, they refused him pain medication, and his roommate Sudafed, we praised the good nurses but the rest got ratted out to the nurse supervisor. I was PISSED about the pain med thing. HE JUST HAD SURGERY!)
Here is me getting my dad his pain medication at the nurse's station:
So my sister called my other sister, who called me and let me know what was going .. talking to both of them, I decided to fly down the next morning. So I bought my ticket around midnight, got to the airport around 430am to park in the economy lot and wait in the long security line in order to fly out on the first flight at 6am.
I went straight to the hospital and stayed with my Dad for the next 8-9 hours each day, primarily by myself, although his fiancé and my sister were there some of the time too. My Family had a list of questions for me to lay on the emergency surgeon (a hot Greek doctor, sadly, married) and the vascular surgeon.
On the second day of supervising my Pop I got through all the questions with the surgeons:
The gallstones are not immediately causing him any issues; therefore we can leave them alone for now.
The appendicitis was very serious, and was gangrene (dead tissue, it looks green and white and black in the pics- the hot Greek doctor thought his appendix so freakishly disgusting that he took pictures and marveled over it with colleagues). They said it was less than 24 hours from bursting, and was in very bad shape. They also said that my Dad must have an incredibly high pain tolerance in order to have survived that long at home with an appendicitis so advanced. Surgery was successful, but the tissue around the area wasn't the greatest and the doctor wasn't able to close the site, and a drain was left in.
Finally, the blood clot, which was thought very serious and scary at first has turned out to be in his artery, not his vein. This means that it is basically trapped in his leg indefinitely and is at no risk to go to his heart or brain or anything like that because arteries carry blood away from the heart, veins carry it to the heart... So, if something bad was happening with the clot there would be a physical manifestation of symptoms, primarily discoloration in his feet (whiteness, blue-ing, etc) and then the matter would be much more urgent. In the meantime, the clot will be monitored as an outpatient.
Post-op my dad had a really hard time and they were pumping him up with ALOT of antibiotics, plus IV fluids and misc painkillers- adavan, vicodin, valium... they tried all kinds of stuff. He also had the joy of a catheter, leg massager things to prevent blood clots and hourly visits from the respitory therapist to make him huff and puff into a tube to prevent pneumonia.
He was in the hospital almost 5 days ( standard appen..omies are supposed to be in and out within 24 hours to give you perspective, according to my Dad's docs.) and I was with him basically all day each day until dinner, helping him to the bathroom, or to walk around the nurse's station, per the doctor's orders, asking the nurse's for help, or asking questions or notifying them of this machine or that machine that was going off and hadn't been taken care of (my dad was seriously neglected when I wasn't there to help... he paged the nurse in the night 4 times to help him with the leg wraps, and they never came, they refused him pain medication, and his roommate Sudafed, we praised the good nurses but the rest got ratted out to the nurse supervisor. I was PISSED about the pain med thing. HE JUST HAD SURGERY!)
Here is me getting my dad his pain medication at the nurse's station:
http://www.youtube.com/wat
Also, my dad was much relieved to find that his surgeon was a 3rd generation USC grad, so he knew he was definitely safe in their hands. LOL
I surprisingly got to check him out after lunch at the end of the week and babysit him from home, which allowed me to be able to trot out the Canyon High School V. Villa Park football game,
where we whuped 'em good, and dinner with my favorite ladies at Tia Juana's in Irvine the next day.
My Dad is at home, doing better, and hopefully will not be having issues with the fires burning 3 blocks from his house, although he and my sister did start packing some items just in case. (Deep Sigh) So not the good time for fire season...
Monday, November 10, 2008
My Dad had emergency surgery today- an appendectomy, which shouldn't have been a big deal (beyond my dad being older and having health issues) but it was infected so bad with gangreen that they could not close the surgical side and had to leave it open with a drain. His appendix was so bad the doctor hadn't seen anything like it before and took pictures and said my dad must have a really high pain threashold to have tolerated the pain to that much of an advancement in the infection.
He had had a stomach ache over the weekend, vomited some on Sunday, and on Monday went in to his doctor's and they did a CAT scan and saw how bad it was, and then also discovered a blood clot in his leg which is the most serious part of this whole thing, but he didn't tell anyone and the doctor told my sister while my dad was unconcious by accident. My dad didnt want us to worry so he hadn't told us.
They havent decided on a course of action on the blood clot yet. He is going to be in the hospital at least 3-4 days, and I have decided to fly down there. I leave at 6am and will be back on Friday or Saturday. Hopefully riding with Clarisa, otherwise I will fly back, I have a wedding on Sunday.
He had had a stomach ache over the weekend, vomited some on Sunday, and on Monday went in to his doctor's and they did a CAT scan and saw how bad it was, and then also discovered a blood clot in his leg which is the most serious part of this whole thing, but he didn't tell anyone and the doctor told my sister while my dad was unconcious by accident. My dad didnt want us to worry so he hadn't told us.
They havent decided on a course of action on the blood clot yet. He is going to be in the hospital at least 3-4 days, and I have decided to fly down there. I leave at 6am and will be back on Friday or Saturday. Hopefully riding with Clarisa, otherwise I will fly back, I have a wedding on Sunday.
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