Offtopic Sofa Time

[Akarana]

Nah, getting the replacement wasn't a big deal at all. I have to say i'm now a huge fan of amazon,com's customer's support. Called them and had the money half an hour later on my credit card, the new kindle was on it's way and they even payed for shipping and the package. German customer supports could really use some of that, let me tell you.

Said kindle kind of saved my grandma*s butt today. She accepted the package this morning and I get a text from UPS telling me that it had arrived. First I wanted to get it after work, but then decided to check on my grandma while I was there.
She opened, fully dressed and just looked at me. I asked her about the package and she didn't react. I asked her if she was alright and she went to the bathroom and combed her hair, then came to the kitchen with me, but didn't talk, just looked at me. I asked her if she was ok, because she was really pale and she opened her mouth but only mumbled. I asked again, she spoke up but talked complete nonsense.
I knew already what was going on, so I drove her to the doctor (not to the hospital just in case I was wrong) and he sent her to the hospital. Long story short: She had an apoplectic stroke this morning that only seems to affact the language area of her left brain half. She's doing so much better already, but has to stay in ICU for three days, then hosital, then rehab.
I drove back home, packed her bags, because I'm the only one who knows her way around her apartment, then gave them to my brother so my aunt could pick them up on her way to the ER. I went to work, came home, called my aunt to ask what's going on and now finally find the time to sit down and breathe. What a day.

And you know what i'll keep thinking? I was so upset about the broken kindle. And I always try to find the sense in bad things that are happening, no matter what. In a way I understand why the old kindle broke: because without the new one I wouldn't have found me grandma in time.

[cutenebula]

Ok, time for me to sit and relax a little on the sofa before I go back to my work

I just want to say that, if you still don't know, I have the greatest kids ever, and not only because I am their mom
No, really, let me tell you:
Right now, I have no more money at the bank or in my pockets, and when I say I have no money, it REALLY means NO MONEY AT ALL. Then, I can't buy food or anything else, of course, including fuel for my car. Which also means : no fuel = no possibility to go to work... And no work = no money. Yeah, logical, cruel, but logical.
So, I was a little bit down yesterday because I didn't know what to do as the bank have blocked my account (I have to say that besides the usual expenses such as my loan, the bailiffs and the fuel and food, I'm not spending money in anything else, don't go figure I'm buying hundreds of clothes and having fun in pubs and so on )
And then, yesterday, my 2 sons, aged 18 and 15, spontaneously offered me a part of the money they get from their dad for their Xmas to help me buy some fuel...
Yes, I'm the luckiest mom ever They are generous and so helpful, I really admire them, they are amazing
Of course I will give them back their money as far as I receive my salary
I have the best kids ever I knew it allready, but this... They brought me to tears
I would love to give them a better life and I can't right now... I'm working on it and hoping to have this regular job that will allow us to breath again and forget all of these problems
They make me feel like I really have to work harder and help them more and more, give them more attention, spend more time with them

So, this sofa time is, of course, dedicated to my sons Nicolas (18) and Alexandre (15) who are the greatest thing in my life. I couldn't have better sons

Ok, back to my work!

Hi to all of you here Hope your lifes are great and hope to chat soon with you all I miss it so much!

Véro

[~*Ali*~]

Ok, time for me to sit and relax a little on the sofa before I go back to my work

I just want to say that, if you still don't know, I have the greatest kids ever, and not only because I am their mom
No, really, let me tell you:
Right now, I have no more money at the bank or in my pockets, and when I say I have no money, it REALLY means NO MONEY AT ALL. Then, I can't buy food or anything else, of course, including fuel for my car. Which also means : no fuel = no possibility to go to work... And no work = no money. Yeah, logical, cruel, but logical.
So, I was a little bit down yesterday because I didn't know what to do as the bank have blocked my account (I have to say that besides the usual expenses such as my loan, the bailiffs and the fuel and food, I'm not spending money in anything else, don't go figure I'm buying hundreds of clothes and having fun in pubs and so on )
And then, yesterday, my 2 sons, aged 18 and 15, spontaneously offered me a part of the money they get from their dad for their Xmas to help me buy some fuel...
Yes, I'm the luckiest mom ever They are generous and so helpful, I really admire them, they are amazing
Of course I will give them back their money as far as I receive my salary
I have the best kids ever I knew it allready, but this... They brought me to tears
I would love to give them a better life and I can't right now... I'm working on it and hoping to have this regular job that will allow us to breath again and forget all of these problems
They make me feel like I really have to work harder and help them more and more, give them more attention, spend more time with them

So, this sofa time is, of course, dedicated to my sons Nicolas (18) and Alexandre (15) who are the greatest thing in my life. I couldn't have better sons

Ok, back to my work!

Hi to all of you here Hope your lifes are great and hope to chat soon with you all I miss it so much!

Véro

Your sons are like that cause of there amazing mother, YOU. Now I know it’s not money but I hope this puts a smile on your face
——> I wish we had a waffle smilie

I hope you really do get that new job. You made a great impression so I have my fingers and toes crossed for you.

You know we are always here and your always in our thoughts.

♥ Ali

[cutenebula]

Your sons are like that cause of there amazing mother, YOU. Now I know it’s not money but I hope this puts a smile on your face
——> I wish we had a waffle smilie

Hahahah The dancing banana is cute! Makes me laugh all the time (^_^) Thanks a lot Ali

Money is important, but not as much as love and friendship, so don't worry about this, I'm very happy to be with you here and I know I can come when I want I'll always find friends here

MWAH!

Véro

PS: we need a waffle smiley... Indeed!

[SmackyKennedy]

Oh and Ang, thanks for obeying my command to post the last time. HAHAHAHA (by the way, you don't like being called Angie, but is ANG okay? You used to use that in the chatbox and I got used to it but I can change to Angela if you prefer! LOL)
Sharon

Sharon: Lol, Ang is totally okay. That's what most people call me. I may change the name of my blog one day, but I really couldn't think of anything else at the time.

Vero: You have some great kids, wonder who they got it from? I hope it turns around soon for you!

Jessi: I'm so happy to hear your grandma is doing better. I get cases like hers a lot at the hospital and it's just heartbreaking sometimes.

[cutenebula]

Who said 2011 was great??? Me??? LOOOOL Sorry about that!!!
My computer at home is ... dead...

Ok, so no more computer untill... Waaaaaay too long in the future!!! Or maybe sooner... Seems that a friend of mine can have one pretty cheap (just have to see what she means by "cheap") and maybe my kids dad can have one for free from a friend. So let's hope 2011 is really a good year...

Right now, even if noone could guess, I just want to

... LOOOL
So tonight, I will bake some waffles, I need some sweetness tonight ... Ok who said it wasn't a real reason to bake waffles??? Do you mean I would only have waffles because I love waffles??? ... Come on...


Véro

I don't mind, I will have waffles tonight, whatever you think about this...

[~*Ali*~]

* Put my new copy of “Easy A” in the DVD and Kicks back on this oh so comfy sofa… where have you been all my life.*


So, my world so far this year is pretty much the SHIT <—— and due the nature of this forum, which I completely understand that word will look like **** <— this. LOL it showed up. I’m shocked and very amused




So to start...the sad news………. My Grandparents died 2 weeks of each other.


Moving on…



I don’t think I got into the first semester of Uni. Look out world I’m going to get into the second semester. And may I add I’m so over being invisible!!<— that deserved 2 exclamation marks, wait, maybe one more for fun !

For those of you not in the know, I work in retail. I really hate working in retail.(Which is why I’m trying to get into Uni. Zero qualifications really gets you a big fat nothing in life.) Do you know, when I say the word “retail” I think of school holidays and teenagers pumped up on slurpies running around a furniture dept. sitting on all the sofas thinking its “cool and original and no ones ever thought of doing it before” OR “ a loved up teen couple fresh from seeing the latest twilight movie and they forgot to “make-out in the cinema so they do it in furniture dept of a retail store that shell remain nameless.” Oh I forgot to tell you all, I have a new hobby. I like sitting on the sofa next to them and ask if they need any help. “ Would you like to see some leather samples” With a smile of course. After all I am the consummate professional.

This next section is call “THINGS I’D LIKE TO ACHIEVE IN 2011” *gets off of soap box and puts it back into the cupboard*

1. Friends.* And no I’m still watching ‘Easy A’ *

It’s been way to long and this all happened due to my ex best friend as usual deciding that its better to voice her opinion in a letter and think I’ll agree with what it says. NO, that didn’t happen. Then I pack my bag and went to England for 2 years. And I must say that was the best 2 years of my life. I ♥ you England Would you like to know why…..ok I’ll tell you why. Because cause I took a risk and applied myself and showed determination and surprise surprise I succeeded.

Well this little delight was for Steph. And my I say this was very cathartic.

>ppsst..Sharon PM me about the email lol But only if you can and want too.

So long Chat box I bid you farewell. It was fun while it lasted. Until the next chapter.



I’ve always wanted to use this But now feel compelled to post a pic……. My scanner will not work. My pic is blurry.




♥ Ali

[~*Ali*~]

[ThyneAlone]

Well this little delight was for Steph.

Thank you so much Ali! It's great that you feel good being here despite your frankly horrible last few months.

As usual I need to apologise for not being on here when I am simultaneously pleading with people to keep posting. The fact is that work is a bit of a pig and health has not been over great either. My poor little screen has not seen much of me lately (especially that day when I had school, a parents' evening and then a singing commitment and didn't see home for 14 hours). However, in a week I have half term holiday and am hoping to be able to be online a bit more. With forums post frequency varies, as do the reasons for posts becoming fewer, but if there are too few the stagnation becomes self-perpetuating because communication isn’t happening as it should.
Sharon and I are both a bit worried that people have stopped discussing Bones eps, so I will try to start up a couple of threads there. Needless to say I haven't even seen the latest one yet. Normally I would have done by now but husband has been concerned that I haven't been indulging in my favourite relaxation (apart from this), teddy making; and he took me along to buy some materials. There's a certain delight in buying such beautiful furs and delicate tools with which to handle them, and in seeing the friends who share your hobby. After a week or two of septic boils and reaction to the antibiotics, plus a hard time at work, that actually feels very good.
Hopefully see you all round more in the next fortnight.

[TJ4ever]

I miss Sherry and her long but interesting reviews of the Bones-episodes!

[~*Ali*~]

what are you trying to say.

[SmackyKennedy]

Finding myself extremely confused after reading Ali's post.

So what's happening everyone? It's about 2 am here and I'm wide awake, so thought I'd check in and say hello.

I finally made good on last year's New Year's resolution and starting drawing and painting again which has done wonders for me. It may sound strange, but I feel like myself again. Everybody has a talent and art was the only thing I had that made me stand out a little, you know? For the longest time I've just been bored with everything and now I have something to look forward to. And thanks to those who commented on Facebook/Twitter, I appreciate it.

Now the only problem is I'm realizing how dull my job (medical transcription) is. I'm pretty sure I won't ever make money off art, much less support myself but I seriously can't see being an MT forever. I want to feel like I've done something at the end of the day. *sigh* Eventually I'd like to go back to school again, but need to pay of this career first, lol.

And I miss the Bones reviews too!! Of course, I haven't posted one in a while either but mine were never that great anyway so didn't think anybody would miss it.

Going to try to shut my brain down now... Insomnia sucks.

[~*Ali*~]

Finding myself extremely confused after reading Ali's post.

What are you confused about?

[SmackyKennedy]

Never mind... It was late and I was apparently more tired than I thought. It was the last paragraph, but it makes sense now. Forgive me.

[Sinkwriter72]

*pokes head in*



HELLO, strangers! Long time, no chat!

I am so sorry I've been absent! Things have been CRAZY in my life.

To borrow from The Princess Bride: Let me explain. *ponders* No, there is too much. Let me sum up.

1. The entire month of December I was sick. My mom was sick. My nephew was sick. My sister-in-law was sick. We were all miserable during the holidays. Ugh.

2. My sister got admitted to the hospital with pneumonia, and after they released her, she had a reaction to the pain meds they'd prescribed, so she ended up back in the hospital, days before Christmas. It was a rough holiday for us all this year. But thankfully, she's much better now. (As are the rest of us.)

3. My mom had a checkup a few weeks ago and the doctor found a shadow on her pancreas, on one of her scans... so she had to have surgery to make sure it wasn't cancer. Thankfully, it was just a cyst, not even pre-cancerous. What a RELIEF.

4. My sister and I drove to Wisconsin to spend the weekend with my mom after she came home from the hospital and we babied her until she got annoyed with us. LOL.

5. After a year-long stint on a waiting list, I've been accepted to receive funding for my schooling. They're going to pay for my classes and books, up to a specific amount. It should be enough to pay for my associates degree in web design. (You know, unless I end up selling my great American novel to a publisher. But I have to write it first! LOL.)

6. I'm back in school, taking two classes this semester.

7. One class I'm taking is a web design course. The other is an elective that's actually, surprisingly part of the web design curriculum. It's -- wait for it -- a screenwriting class! Yes, I'm actually taking a writing class. Thus far I find it fantastic. The teacher is awesome and SO encouraging and nice and helpful, and the class really invigorates my creative energy. I love it so far. It's scary to try this kind of writing, I've never done it before, but it's also really interesting. So far I've written a screenplay adaptation for a short short story, and this week I had to write a proposal for an original story idea. Next week we're going to read each other's proposals and critique them. *gulp* Scary! But the feedback will be helpful to my learning process, I'm sure.

And the biggest news ...

*drum roll please*

8.

I GOT A JOB!

Can you believe it?

It's been ... well, I hesitate to even say how long it's been because it's so embarrassing. But it's been 3 years since I lost my job. I can't think about that, or I feel disgusted with myself and frustrated and disappointed in myself and my life, so instead... I want to focus on the positive.

I GOT A JOB!

After all this time, after months and months of no interviews or responses, it's amazing to me how quickly this happened.

I talked to my career counselor about how my savings was almost gone and that I needed to find SOMETHING soon or my financial situation was going to hit dire levels. She and I went through some college web sites and found a bunch of part time job listings. She printed them out for me, and I applied to a bunch of them.

One of them was a web design company. Out of all the jobs I applied to from my career counselor, I was hoping to hear from this particular company. Most of the time, when I see web designer job listings, it sounds like they're looking for people with way more skills and experience than I have to offer right now, but with this particular company, what they were looking for sounded like something I could do and the programs they listed were ones that I'd been learning in my summer and fall courses. So I thought it might be do-able, if they would just give me a chance.

They did.

The day after I applied, I got an email asking me to let them know when I might be available for a phone interview. I ended up talking with them on the phone for about fifteen minutes that very day. Then they asked me to come in the next day for a face-to-face interview. They said they're a small company and everyone gets a say in who they hire because they all work together and want to make sure they'll all get along with each other... so it wasn't just an interview with the guy who'd be my boss. It ended up being an interview with about 6 or 7 people! Talk about intimidating, trying to answer all their questions and hope they'd all like me enough.

In fact, the boss joked with me as he walked me out the door, "You realize now that as soon as you leave, we're all going to start talking about you." LOL.

But by that evening he had emailed me with a job offer.

I may have cried a little.

(Okay, yes, I did. But it was overwhelming.)

Anyway, I just started this past week, so I've only worked with them for five days, but already it's been really nice. They seem to be a good group of people, really fun, really laid-back, and welcoming. And they're willing to work with my school schedule, which is amazing, and give me full time hours when I'm done.

Of course, I still have to make it through a 90-day trial period, but they've already said they're going to "keep" me, so I'm hopeful that I'll make it through and be able to handle the job well enough to stay on once that trial period is over. I hope so, anyway! *bites nails nervously*

But for now it's been an amazing thing, to have this happen right when I was starting to sweat what was to become of me. *relieved sigh*

Anyway, I'm exhausted right now because I'm trying to find a new balance with this new job and schedule, plus school and homework and everything else. But I'm so grateful that I don't care how tired I am right now. I'll take it! Anything to finally start to gain momentum and move FORWARD with my life in positive ways. I really want that, and it seems to be happening at long last.

I want to thank you all because you've been SO supportive and encouraging to me throughout these past few years as I struggled with all of this. I appreciate it more than words can ever express.

And thanks for listening to my rambling. You'd expect nothing less from me, right?


xo
Sherry

[Sinkwriter72]

I miss Sherry and her long but interesting reviews of the Bones-episodes!

P.S. to Simone... that was the sweetest thing to read after being away from Tj's site for so long. Thanks for that, my friend. *HUGS*

I'm behind on my Bones watching, but I'll try to catch up as soon as possible! Can't promise any extremely lengthy reviews right now, given my new and crazy overwhelming schedule, but you know me... I can't write anything without getting wordy. So even if it's not epic level lengthiness, I'm sure I'll manage to ramble on about it at least a little bit. LOL.

[ThyneAlone]

I GOT A JOB!

SHERRY THAT'S FANTASTIC!

I'm tearful myself so I can't say much right now. But OHHHH, SOOOOOO WELL DONE!!

[SmackyKennedy]

Congratulations Sherry!!!! And love that you're taking a screenwriting class--I think you'll do great at that.

What a crazy few months, good to know everyone is feeling better!!

[TJ4ever]

How great, Sherry, that you got this job! I'm really happy for you! *hugs* When I read your post I needed to cry a bit, too. I still have tears in my eyes! Really, so happy for you!
And it's so great to have you back here! I really missed you! Thanks for the comment on my post! Made me smile!
I myself can't write long episode reviews. I have one or two short comments sometimes, but cannot express it like you! I envy you for that! I'm just not a writer. And I'm a bit behind watching Bones. Need to catch up, too.
Looking forward to your reviews! Again, great to hear from you!
Simone.

[kayleigh_marie]

WOOO congrats, Sherry!! (:

God, I haven't been on in so long.. I'm sorry everyone, I guess looking for a job and being depressed takes up a lot of time.
I've been trying to keep up with Bones, and I think I'm doing pretty well considering I don't have local channels and I've been watching it on hulu.

Lets see.
Over the past couple of weeks, I've been needing to tell you all what's going on in my life.!
I broke up with my no good boyfriend finally.
I Was sick of being in the back seat of his life.
I ended up meeting someone really nice shortly after, well.. Actually we'd been talking for awhile, but not romantically until the past couple of weeks.
The only problem is that I'm over here in NY, and he's all the way in Kelowna, BC... So I'm working on getting a passport so I can go see him, because, well to be honest, I'm kind of falling for him.. Haha.
STILL no luck on the job front. I refuse to work in a McDonalds, so I still don't have a job...
It's wearing me out, I guess.
Anyway. I'm going to go through and read up on you all because I've been gone for so long!!

I won't disappear again, I promise.