Last Blog for 2003

Wow – what a year it has been! I never thought that so much would change.

At work, I got a new manager. I also went from supporting one department to supporting six departments. We moved into the new engineering building, which was an adventure in itself. I took on the responsibility of setting up training for the administrative staff, unaware that it would expand to training for the entire Rosharon site.

I watched the Aeros win the Calder Cup…and then watched them trade my favorite player.

I moved from an upstairs apartment to a downstairs apartment, which has a cute little yard. Ariel loves the yard.

I sold my motorcycle. I got my own web site (thanks to Greg) and even started blogging. It’s been a crazy year, but it’s been another year that I have survived.

So to everyone, I wish you a very happy and prosperous new year!

I am sooooo happy that I only have to work Monday and Tuesday this week. Of course, when I go back to work next week, everyone will be back from vacation and it will once again be as hectic as it was before. But, at least it was nice to have a small break.

I took my best friend, Christine, and her family to the Aeros game yesterday. They seemed to have a good time. See for yourself:

I did it!

Well, it took some time, but I finally got my new presents assembled!

Gifts, gifts, and more gifts!

My family exchanged gifts tonight. We have never waited until Christmas day, we always did it on Christmas Eve, but I’m complaining. They spoiled me this year. Check out these two items they got me:

Of course, I have to assemble them. Hopefully, they will look like they do in the picture.

I also got an Aeros hockey jersey! I love it! I also got an Aeros long-sleeve shirt. Is it obvious that I like the Aeros?

A time to visit...Alvin Urgent Care Center?

Ariel was so sweet this morning…she woke me up at 4:00am! I got up, gave her some treats, and let her go outside for a little while. As soon as she got back in, I went back to bed.

I then woke up around 8:00 this morning expecting to have a pretty relaxing day. I was so wrong. I noticed the bite from Smokey was really starting to swell up. I called my doctor’s office to find out if I needed to come in. They were done taking in walk-in patients and wouldn’t have an appointment available until Friday. So, I went ahead and took that appointment. My new TV is scheduled to be delivered on Friday, so I would need someone to be at my house while I was at the doctor’s office. I called Lori to see if she was off that day, but she’s not. She said mom and grandma were in the store and she would check with them. Thirty minutes later, I get a call from my mom asking me what’s going on…and if I had rabies! I told her that it was nothing; I just needed to get on some antibiotics. She said that would be able to come over and wait for the TV. delivery. I went over to Christine’s house at 1:00pm to exchange Christmas gifts with her and her family.

She noticed that my arm was starting to swell up where Smokey had bit me. I told her that I already had a doctor’s appointment on Friday. After the gift exchange, I had to head by two more stores to buy yet more Christmas gifts. I got home and felt the swelling on my arm, and it was pretty warm. So, I figured it would be in my best interest just to go to Alvin Urgent Care Center and get a doctor to look at it.

I arrived there at 3:00pm and was out by 4:00pm…which was really cool. Of course, they put me on antibiotics so I had to go to Walgreens to get the prescription filled. Smokey’s bite cost me $70! The visit to Alvin UCC was a $50 deductible that I had to pay and the medications were $20. Damn cat!

So, I finally got home around 4:30pm. I wanted to get a nap in before I went over to the parents’ house, but that didn’t happen. Instead, I’m typing

Tuesday felt more like a Monday!

Yesterday, I went to work for a few hours. I left around 10:00am and headed out to buy the rest of the Christmas gifts I needed. Oh, and I also bought myself a new television set…a gift to myself for passing the CPS. Then, I had to swing by a liquor store to pick up some plastic cups so my friend, Christine, could make Jell-O shots for her party tonight. The thought of her in a liquor store was just too funny.

I started heading back to Alvin when I got a phone call from Lori. She informed me that one of her cats had been injured and mom had told her to call me to take a look at him. So, I went to her house to check Smokey out, and the &*%^ bit me! I took him to the vet so Lori and Grandma could go get some lunch and then they would meet me at the vet’s office. While at the vet, I got to visit with Kim for a little while. She’s a volunteer with Alvin EMS and works there as a vet tech. The good news was that Smokey’s wound was superficial. So, he got a shot and has to take some antibiotics for the next few days.

As we were leaving the vet’s office, Lori gave me a huge box of Grandma’s pecans to drop off at Froberg’s to get them cracked. So, I went by there, dropped off the pecans, and then went to Wal-Mart to get another Christmas gift and some groceries.

I finally made it home around 2:00pm. As I’m walking in the door I get a call from our Aeros ticket rep. letting me know that the tickets I ordered where finally ready. It was too late to get them delivered, since I needed to give them the next day as a Christmas gift, so I had to drive to downtown Houston to pick them up.

I get back home around 4:00pm and starting making some Divinity for Christine. I also did some cleaning and laundry. I went to Christine’s to drop of the Jell-O shot cups and came back home. I finished up the Divinity and went to bed. I was wore-out!

I passed!

Another wonderful Christmas gift to me!

I got the results from my CPS exam in the mail today and I passed all three modules!!!!

You are now reading a blog from Julie Victory, CPS!!!

I'm sooooo happy!!!!!!!!!

The Baking is Done!

Well, I finally finished making all my Christmas goodies (thanks to my new awesome mixer)! I only screwed up a few times…like using condensed milk instead of evaporated milk. Fortunately, I caught the mistake at the beginning of preparing the recipe. I only wasted three cups of sugar and a can of condensed milk, which I bought on accident instead of evaporated milk. Unfortunately, that was the very last of my sugar, so I had to go to WalMart and buy more. I really am trying to avoid that place right now, since all the crazy holiday shoppers have taken it over. Ariel woke me up at 5:00 this morning to go outside, so I figured it would be a good time to go to WalMart before the crowds showed up. It actually worked out pretty good…I was in and out of there in less than 15 minutes. Now I just have to worry about hauling all the goodies to work tomorrow.

I almost have all my Christmas shopping done. The only person I have left is Dad. I just saw him yesterday to find out what he wanted. He told me that he and his girlfriend separated for a few weeks, but they are back together now. She had made a list of my dad’s pros and cons…and the cons list was twice as long as the pros list. That really irked me. She also complains that he plays golf too much. That irked me even more. My dad has played golf for as long as I can remember. He enjoys it. It’s not like he just took it up recently. She knew he played golf before she started dating him, so she just needs to deal with it. I asked my dad if he wanted me to take her out. He looked at me, and I told him that I didn’t want to take her out on a date, but take her out. He just smile and shook his head. I should warn people not to mess with my dad!

My new stand mixer is freakin’ awesome! Merry Christmas to me!

Eureka!

Back in the summer of 1997, I stopped at the Flying J truck stop outside San Antonio. It was there that I found the coolest door mat. I fell in love with it. I should have bought it then, but didn’t have the cash to do so. Well, I have been looking for that door mat ever since then. I finally found it yesterday! I was so excited, and I wasn’t going to pass it up again.

I present to you the coolest door mat ever!

What is it with me and burns?

Well, I attempted to bake all my Christmas goodies tonight. I didn’t get too far. While I was mixing my second batch of chocolate chip cookies, my stand mixer started smoking. I’m not just giving off a burn smell, but actually smoking. So, I figured I would finish baking what mix I already had and then run up to WalMart and buy a new stand mixer. While I was waiting for one sheet of cookies to bake, I started cleaning up the kitchen. Without even thinking, I picked up the cookie sheet that I had just got out of the oven…and I did not have an oven mitt on. So, I now have three burned fingers. This should explain why I’m not going to type much tonight. They really, really hurt.

I gave up on the baking thing for tonight. I’ll do it over the weekend.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Well, I finally got my Christmas tree up this past weekend. It was somewhat of a struggle. My grandma gave me the tree after she bought a new one. Each branch was supposed to have a colored tip to make an area of holes on the pole, but the paint had rubbed off much of it. So, most of Saturday, I spent measuring each branch and repainting them. I had to wait for the paint to dry, so I finally got it put together and decorated on Sunday.

What a Great Game!

The Aeros game was AWESOME last night! Johan got his first shutout of the season. Way to go, Johan!

It was also great to be back at an Aeros games. I really don?t think people notice when I?m not there. It was amazing how many people asked me where I had been and that they were glad to see me again. Even the doorman into our section! I guess people really do like me

Friday

The weather tonight just sucks!

And to top that off, I’m on EMS duty tonight. It’s bad enough driving in the rain with all the idiots on the road, but it’s even worse doing it in an ambulance.

But, the good news tonight is that the Aeros won! Way to go, guys! I finally get to go to a game tomorrow night. I think the last time I went to one of their games was before Thanksgiving! That’s way too long to go between games. I’m so excited!

Lesson Learned

I learned a very important lesson over the weekend.

While visiting my grandma during Thanksgiving, she gave me a big box of pecans. She has two pecan trees in her backyard and has more pecans than she knows what to do with. This is the time of year that I love to bake, so having pecans would be wonderful.

I found out that a small farm on the outskirts of Alvin offered the service of cracking pecans. I thought it would be perfect. I would have my pecans ready to use for baking. Boy was I wrong. I dropped off the box of pecans on Friday afternoon and told the guy I would be back the next day to pick them up.

Saturday, I went back to Froberg’s to get my pecans. The guy handed me two brown grocery bags taped closed with my claim number on them. I was so psyche! I had so many pecans I was going to be able to use for baking. I ran a few my errands and headed home.

Once I got home, I opened one of the grocery bags with great anticipation. Much to my surprise, all that was in there were cracked nuts. Most of them still had shells had them, they had just been cracked. Then, it hit me…they offered to crack nuts, not shell them. So, I’m slowing making my way throw the two bags of nuts and shelling them. Hopefully, I’ll be done by this weekend and will be able to start baking 

She's Alive!

Contrary to what it seems like…I have not fallen off the face of the earth. It’s been a while since I’ve blog, and I apologize for that.

One of the IT guys I work was doing some work on my computer and I didn’t get it back until this past Friday. After that, I’ve just been too busy to really sit down and type. I really need to look at investing in some type of voice-recognition software. That would be sweet.

Work has been crazy. It’s starting to get to the point were it’s not fun anymore. I still like my job, but with the large amount of people I support…it’s getting difficult. I just want to make sure everyone gets taken care of and nothing falls through the cracks. Rumor has it that Personnel is going to reorganize the admin. Staff to help even out the work load, but I have no idea when that’s going to happen. So, until it does, I’m just trying to hang in there.

I'm seriously considering taking some sort of mini-vacation between Christmas and New Year...I think I deserve it!