Irritated Easily

Many people don't know this about me but I get irritated by things really really easily. I'm an easy going person but because of this irritation, I am labeled an intravert on those personality test things. Take today for instance. I go to tell my boss that I'm going out to lunch and asked her if she wanted anything. Without any hesitation a girl just outside the office says, "OOH OOH where are you going I want something!" Um....did I ask you? This is what irritates me. I probably would have asked and I don't usually mind going the extra step for people but when someone jumps in front of you and makes you do it...thats when my flares go off and I give attitude. So, of course, I had to walk around the office asking if anyone else wanted stuff and then it gets to be a chore just to go get something to eat.

You know..I did this all my life. If someone tells me I have to do something, I'll fight it to the death. But if I chose to do it with no one telling me to, thats different. I have this rebeliousness about me and I don't know why! Man, I got into many fights with mom and dad telling me I HAD to clean my room or I HAD to do my homework right then and there. I would literally sit there and think of anything but what I had to do. This gets on Greg's nerves. I think it's hilarious. But I also can't help it.

Also, I'm not a morning person at all!! I come in at 7:30, sit down and take about an hour and a half to get ready to talk to people. This new girl (yes the same one) always walks in at 8:00, throws my door aside and proceeds to tell me all about her problems. I like her and all but honey, I need to wake up first or I'll end up growling at you like a wild bear.

I know..I need to calm down. I feel bad for others who cross my path when I'm in this irritated mood. I usually try to supress it and get over it. Like right now I'm reading this and thinking..."You know it wasn't that bad...get over it and stop being so mean!"

Just a Karri trait. I'm sure Dan knows it well since I took a lot out on him when we were growing up. Sorry Dan.

Relaxing weekend

I had so much fun Thursday and Friday. Bowling was a blast with some beer, a cake, another birthday in a lane near ours, Jim being there, and Rita scoring a whopping 15 points for her entire first game.

Friday consisted of a 4 hour hair appt where they told me my ends were fried and it was going to be difficult trying to match my roots to the rest of the blonde in my hair. The girl proceeded to bad mouth the previous Junior stylist I had by saying she was better than her, then she practically had to have another stylist hold her hand while she did my hair. Dinner was a blast and I was very proud of the mothers for getting along well. The evening ended with Dan, Matt, Jim, Greg and I talking about death but whats a birthday without a death day right?

Saturday was Nano's going away party or as Greg would like to call it, his "Get the Hell Outta Maryland" party. We're not too thrilled with his mother and there was some tension there but all in all it was a great party for him and we got to hang out with him and Moe on into the night but that was after Greg came home to a flat tire then after he got it plugged, he came out of the Firehouse Cue to a low battery. Not a good day for Greg's car.

Sunday (and this is the best part), Greg and I decided we needed a TV for the computer room so we bought a 23" flat TV for the bedroom so we could put the old one in the computer room. We spent more money on a new DVD player (3 disc changer) and a few dvds so we could hit the $1k mark and have 3 years no interest to pay it off. That would bring it to $25 each a month. Not bad at all.

With my overtime and tax money, I plan to pay off my student loan as fast as possible. When I get that down I will have money freedom once again to not worry about buying new things. But I'm not worry about this new splurge since its not that much a month.

Now onto enjoying my new makeup and getting back to work. Its 8am and I feel like doing nothing!

Today is my birthday and I get one every year...

I probably won't come on tomorrow since I'm off so this is my birthday post. I'm so excited to go bowling and I'm so excited that I was down 5lbs this morning! I was also told today that the job came through and I officially start as a permanent Purchasing Agent on Feb. 5th. January 27th was actually my first day of working for the government 3 years ago so its also my anniversary which means I get a bit of a pay raise and more Annual and Sick leave.

I'm also very excited that at some point between today and tomorrow I get to see all three of my brothers! (Yes Matt is my brother too!) And I'm getting my hair done tomorrow and my nails done tomorrow too!

Dad sent some much needed cash and a very sweet birthday card and I hope he enjoys his day too.

Why is it that my birthday is so fun and important to me? Maybe it's because I've always made it a big deal and mom always made it a big deal too! I love it! I don't care about the age (I'm sure I will later) but I do care about that one special day that turns into a weekend and sometimes even a week of fun!

:)

Not alone in the Journey

As Jim has already stated, I'm not alone in my quest to lose weight. Well, Greg is with me too! He wants to do low carb and he is willing to go full force into it with me once our dinner friend Nano leaves for Georgia (which is about 2 weeks away). I told him he should still try to eat better when we go out of course but after that time, he won't have the desire to go out to eat all the time to hang out with Nano.

We talked about what foods we can eat and he said we need to make a weeks food plan on the weekend and prepare to eat good all week. Of course there will be birthday cake tomorrow but how often do I get birthday cake, and from my boss no less?!

I ordered chicken with two sides, brocolli and string beans which came with two breasts so I ate one and a side for lunch and the other and a side for dinner (haven't had that yet).

I can do this. I'm only at 50 carbs for the day and I'm sure I'll snack later but as long as its not carb filled, I'll be well within my range for today.

On with the plans

Not much happened yesterday other than two jobs and the struggle to eat better. I had a salad for lunch and shared a sprite with Greg. I ate a low carb bar, diet soda and a low carb Lean Cuisine for dinner. I think I had about 80 grams of carbs for the day all-in-all. Much better than the day before.

This morning I did have a Nutri-Grain bar which is loaded with carbs but I needed to eat breakfast and thats just what I had near me. I need to make a grocery store trip and fill my office and house with good food.

I almost need to lose half of my current weight. I don't think I'll post the total here but I'll definately jump for joy and post how much I lose a week or so. I really just want to be healthy and be able to tie my shoes without my belly getting in the way. That isn't too much to ask is it?

Busy day again today but on with the carb counting!

Love to wash in your own bath water

Yes, I'm listening to Return of Saturn and I just love this CD! I always go back to it from time to time and get obsessed with it for a while before it retires back into my CD collection once again.

Speaking of obsessions, you are going to hear quite a bit about my eating lately because its an obsession. I always make it one.

I had a coffee with 2 hard boiled eggs this morning and a banana. Last night I stuck with what I said and had a good chicken salad with diet coke. But, I did go home and find 3 mini hershey's lying around from christmas. I probably had about 150 carbs yesterday. I'm trying to slowly get down to about 50 carbs a day but for now getting down just a little more than yesterday would be a plus.

Now, on my birthday, I'm drinking all I want but I'll drink light beer. Lets just say I have 4 beers, I just looked it up and that would only be about 20 carbs as long as I plan for that throughout the day I'm good!

Basically, mom said I should stick with my routine of eating out (for now) and choose wisely because lets face it, I ain't eating at home no matter what I tell myself. I just never do. So I might as well choose good while I'm out and try to get more veggies and water in there for now.

So...on with my day, wish me luck!

Low Carb here I come....again

Seeing these christmas photos on my brother's sites make me realize two things: One, I will never wear that red shirt again, and two, I need to lose a lot of weight.

Its not like I didn't already know the second one but its come to my attention a lot lately so I'm doing the low carb consious thing. Today, I ate a sandwhich wrap from subway with no chips. Tonight, I'll eat a salad with chicken or something. Tomorrow I'll eat oatmeal for breakfast and go from there.

I need to kick this before it gets the best of me (which it already has but I'm in denial of that).

But....this isn't a New Year's resolution because if I call it that, I'm destined to fail. This is just a thing I want to do and thats it!

What a weekend!

I had so much fun this weekend even though it was major busy. Rode with mom to Deleware on Friday and stayed with her. It was mother daughter bonding time I hadn't had in awhile which was so nice. Went to Grandma's (now Aunt Patty's) house and painted Grandma's nails for her birthday. Went to dinner with Grandma who somehow choked on her hot tea and scared the living daylights out of me. Then rode with Jim to Dad's where we spent about an hour visiting with him. That gave me a little bit of bonding time with Jim. Not as much as I'd hope for but more than we've had in forever.

Woke up Saturday morning and went to Grandma's birthday bash! 80 years! I just can't believe it! She looked absolutely adorable and I had tears in my eyes when mom gave her speech. Mom adores her so much and it showed. I loved hanging low with Donny (is it Don now I always forget), Holly, John, Jacob, Dan, Matt, Dad, Aunt Judy, Uncle Dave, Mom, Aunt Patty, Jim....and so on. I loved seeing everyone!

Went home Saturday with more mom time then hit the road to go home in my own car only to realize that Dad's pictures were probably packed up with Grandma's things. I'm still hoping those show up.

All in all it was a tremendous weekand. And I couldn't believe the things Grandma remembered. She remembered Dad's birthday was not far from hers which was amazing to me. But, when Aunt Judy asked her if anyone from the Telephone company came, Grandma wanted to look in the kitchen and in the other dining areas for them. She was upset they weren't there. Turns out it was actually the Nursing home people she was looking for that didn't show up. I'm sure she gave them a mouthful about that when she went back "home." She's so adorable.

Happy Birthday Grandma! I hope you enjoyed it!

The big 2-8!

I'm excited as ever to go drunk bowling. I get better as each beer goes by. But I'm more excited that Jim's excited to go! And I can bowl until my birthday hits which is way cool, then take it off work and sleep in!

What a plan!

Something in the Crawl Space

We had an inspection on the house we are investing in yesterday and I must say, it was an interesting one. The house was built in 1900 (approx.) and since it is a duplex it is shaped like a townhouse inside. The inspector did his checks on the roof and the outside of the house before we moved indoors. He was about Jim's age so he was young enough to hop onto the roof to look at it and to crawl in areas we didn't know existed.

We proceeded to the dingy basement which is built around rocks from the looks of it. The walls are bulging out like rock (not cement) and its barely high enough for even 5'4 little me to stand up in it. The rest of them, Greg, Inspector guy, and realtor, were trying to dodge wooden beams, pipes, and cob webs.

Greg and the inspector were joking around a bit. Greg and I both agreed it would be cool to find a dead body down there (it seemed a fitting place for one) and the inspector guy said "Well..I may be different here but I would love to find treasure in a place like this...I don't know whats on your minds." As we were heading to the stairs to go up to the first floor, Greg noticed theres a door going up the stairs. Its a crawl space where you can get to the plumbing and flooring just under the kitchen. Inspector guy seemed to be avoiding it at first then ran to his truck to get prepared. He came back with heavy duty gloves, knee pads, and (hopefully but I can't remember) a mask. He hopped right in and crawled to the edges of it to look at the flooring and on his way back out he stumbled on something, picked it up and yelled, "Hey Greg...I think you got your wish!" He brought it out to show me, "That's a bone isn't it?!" I said, "Yep!"

The bone was about 6-7" long from what I could remember and was easily from no small animal. My first thought was a large dog or something that size but the human thought of it wasn't far behind. He also found a newspaper in there that said 1950 on it. We can't wait to get in there and clean it out (which is what he suggested doing) and anything we find we'll put in baggys and take to the police department to make sure its not human. Old houses like that can carry all kinds of stories.

I would love to read up on our house and see if there's any history to it. I doubt its anything cool but its neat to think it might be. It even has an attic and god only knows what we might find if we lift up any wood that seems to be broken enough for a cubby hole of treasures (or more bones).

We sent a list of things we want repared and are waiting on a response. If they dont do any of the repares and won't budge on the price, we won't take it but if they do some we'll go from there. We would eventually like to purchase the other half someday but who knows if and when it will go up for sale.

Pretty cool huh?

My wonderful puppy yet again!

Again....I am in awe of this little guy. Maverick had another training appointment on Saturday and we took him to the class (it was one on one training) without a muzzle this time. We took him off his leash and he ran over to the "treat lady" and sniffed her. She talked to him and gave him a treat. Then we proceeded to show her how well he's been doing by watching him sit and lay down on command. She started right away to teach him the hand motions without saying the commands. Low and behold...he did them right away!! He picked them up immediately! I had tears in my eyes. She told us his eyes have changed. He no longer has that "scary" look in them. He looks extremely happy and calm now. He's been with us for 4 months now and has become very comfortable with us.

Greg looked up Jindos on a website and it specifically says that they are very loyal to thier owners but DO NOT like other people in thier territory.

Maverick learned some more commands, "Off," "Stay," and "Sit," while having him walk by our sides off of the leash. We are working on these things daily along with "Look," "Sit," and "Lay Down."

I realize now how terrible Emmi is with these things. ;) I wasn't very good at training her so now I have to "teach an old dog new tricks," so to speak and get her going on these things. It gives her attention too and she needs to mental exercise as well.

My pups amaze me. I truly adore having them. They can be a pain in the butt sometimes but they are always just so happy to see me that its hard to stay mad at them when they tear up toys and leave them for me and Greg to clean up all over the house. Hey..at least its not furniture or shoes!

I love you my little darlings!

Two things

Ok..I was just thinking about the title of my blog in relation to my blog entries. I'm not all that hyperactive in writing; but my mind can be very hyperactive in the thinking process. Wow I confuse myself with how quickly my mind bounces from one thing to the next...it can really be pretty amazing sometimes...and irritating.

Now onto other things...

I had a job interview yesterday but to understand it we have to go back in time a bit.

Out of college (an AAS degree) I got a job as a Graphic Designer for about two years and was laid off due to cut backs. By then I had a mortgage and needed to find the first job that would take me so I worked as an Administrative Assistant for a division of NIH Human Resources-as a contractor (not at all the Graphic Design I wanted to do). By then I got to know people and applied for a job as an Administrative Technician (bascially a mulitasking type position) to get into the government permanently. Never liked it but thought I would grow. By this time, the Graphic Design was a thing of the past. I had trouble getting things down and being able to multitask and because of this, I went home crying every night from my boss getting frustrated at me and yelling. I wasn't doing a bad job, I just wasn't picking things up quickly. Greg found me a job to lateral over into with another institute (same position, different office) so I took that and moved on. I still hated the job but loved anything that had to do with Procurement and Purchasing. After working in another office I didn't like, I decided to ask my boss for a detail to a Procurement office where I would work on one area instead of 5. I love it here now but am not permanent.

Here's my delimma. They want me in this office so they opened up a position to bring me in. When I applied for it I saw another position with more potential for a little bit of growth and applied to that as well (same position different office). The paperwork is almost done in my current office but the promotion potential isn't as great as the other office and that is the interview I had yesterday.

So...do I take a job with a slower paced office that I am extremely happy with and love the boss but does not have a whole lot of growth potential? Or do I take a job with a high paced office with sort of strict and mean people that has tons of room to grow in?

*sigh*

This is a tough one. I want to stay where I am so bad. They are moving me into my very own office here if I stay (no cubes anymore). They're even making sure my position can move up at least one more step but they can't make it any higher than that and I don't know what the future holds. I've never been this happy in a job before here in this office. I smile everyday and instead of going home and crying, I go home and tell Greg about how much I love it here.

There would be no question about it but I could use the money right now. We'll see what happens. Maybe I won't even get the other job. I only went on a interview yesterday and they still have tons of people to interview.

I Run for Life

This is a beautiful song!

It's been years since they told her about it
The darkness her body possessed
And the scars are still there in the mirror
Everyday that she gets herself dressed
Though the pain is miles and miles behind her
And the fear is now a docile beast
If you ask her why she is still running
She'll tell you it makes her complete

[Chorus:]
I run for hope
I run to feel
I run for the truth
For all that is real
I run for your mother your sister your wife
I run for you and me my friend I run for life
Taken from OldieLyrics.com
It's a blur since they told me about it
How the darkness had taken its toll
And they cut into my skin and they cut into my body
But they will never get a piece of my soul
And now I'm still learning the lesson
To waken when I hear the call
And if you ask me why I am still running
I'll tell you I run for us all

[Chorus]

And someday if they tell you about it
If the darkness knocks on your door
Remember her remember me
We will be running as we have before
Running for answers
Running for more

The News

Hmm...interesting news stories today:

A Mares is in the news for burining down his house in New Mexico...doubt he's related.

Schwarzenegger has tons of stiches for a Harley Accident.

Jolie is pregnant (for real - this came from CNN which got it from People)



And...I have a job interview working as a Purchasing Agent for another institute. This is difficult for me because I absolutely love it here but there's no growth potential. I love my boss, she's so laid back and thinks the world of me. Its hard to find that. But this new job could be more money right away and the potention to move up another notch in the future.

Decisions..decisions. I hate job interviews but we'll see how this goes!

Back to work

Yep, today is my first day back. I found it extremely hard getting up this morning because I hate mornings and (since this is my Monday) I hate Monday's.

Greg and I put a contract on a Duplex in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. It was going for $49k and we asked $43k and got what we asked for. The area is not doing great right now but its up and coming. The city area is old but they have projects going to rebuild and renovate the entire area. Just imagine if we held onto this for a few years while shopping centers and new communities are being built. Nice investment. We are going to paint and patch holes and get it ready to rent. We were just very fortunate to have money from our current house to use towards this one.

Anytime you do something like this its a risk and we talked at length about whether or not we both wanted to invest into this and in the end we both agreed on this house. Eh...I'm excited about it.

Since my car insurance went from $520 every six months to $1300 every six months, I needed a 2nd job so I went back to work at Whitehall for a bit. Well...now my boss said I can work as much overtime as I want for awhile. I would much rather stay here making overtime (time and a half) than work at Whitehall where they have no hours for me and very little pay.

Hmm...not much else going on at the Mares household. I just have to say that I saw The Color Purple for the first time last night and loved it! Its sad and happy all at once. That movie goes through every emotion, crying, laughing, happy, sad....man...I love those kinds of movies. I'm a sucker for dramas.

Blogging from Rehoboth

What a week this has been. I'm so glad to be able to take a week off to take care of my dad. His 5 way bipass surgery went very well and he was able to go home with me on Monday. It's been tough for him not getting up to get things himself and cleaning for guests (and he's had many of those) but I am constantly saying "No dad..don't get up I'll get it," or "Dad...I said sit down..you can't keep getting up to clean, thats what I'm here for." He can't lift more than 5lbs and he can't lift his arms above shoulder length right now which is tough to do.

I had to take him to see the surgeon today since his cut is infected but other than the pain from that, he was in really good spirits today.

This whole experience is an eye opener and should be for Dan and Jim too. I know Jim has a different dad but I would bet some heart trouble runs in that family too. We need to be carefull about what we eat and get extra weight off of us so we don't carry it around and put strain on our hearts. I keep thinking wow, mom could have heart trouble or dad could have more heart trouble. Life is too precious to cut it short because of bad food and no exercise. Granted..its in our blood but that just means we need to watch it more.

Here's to dad's heath and his eating clean and getting healthy again. *cheers*

I've been learning a lot but cooking for him. Food can still taste really good without butter and salt and there are lots of ways to prepare grilled chicken and fish or rice and veggies. Its really helping me to prepare for cooking good at home. Dad's been preaching the good eating which gets old but he means really well. He worries about the way Greg and I eat and he has a right too as I already have high cholesterol.

I've had a good time with him meeting all the wonderful people who really love and care about him. I know I will go home not worrying about him at all since he'll be in such good hands once the 24 hr care is done with.

The year 2005 in Karri terms

Hmmm This was a very big year for me. I got married, I bought a house, we got a puppy, I lost an uncle, and my dad had a life threatening scare and surgery.

The year turned out to be a huge one and one I will never forget.

I'm looking forward to the good and bad times the year 2006 may bring but its a year in my life at a time when I'm changing and growing as an adult.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE!