A not so gifty "gift package"

Keep in mind this is a rant post (ie - don't judge me as I judge others)

gah

"we" received a "gift" package from SOMEONE's mother. I shall not name names....
Contained in this flat rate crushed on every side box were the following items
*1 mag for a rifle
*1 gift bag with a sweater for A
*2 cans of menudo
*1 Mincemeat See's candy for me
*1 Nut Log See's treat for A
*stack of random mail
*2 newsletter for A's parents town
*1 Hallmark ornament


NOW let's discuss, or rant rather/complain about receiving these gifts (which is not like me, give me a bag of crap I'll probably treasure it forever, it's the motives behind it that I'm complaining about. If you're going to be a twat be a twat and don't send anything, I'd be happy, but now... I'm peeved)

Mag for the rifle. Normal I would be giddy over this type of "gift" however, one it's broke (spring is GONE), and two it doesn't fit -any- of our rifles (yes that's plural)

The sweater, yeah that's two sizes too big. In a phone call later the comment was made to A of "not sure if she knows how to do laundry so I thought it gave her room to shrink it" ... are you KIDDING me!?! Even if I shrunk it three times it would still be too big... when he replied with "She wouldn't and I don't even think it's possible to shrink it that much" the response I overheard was "WELL, maybe you'll fit into after she fattens you up with her cooking"... good Lord....

Menudo... It's an acquired taste, something you really need to grow up with or have no taste buds to enjoy. If you burn you're tongue give it a try and dont pay attention to the texture. If you grew up with it, you probably love it. I kinda wish I did cause everyone makes a big deal about how amazing it is. A loves it so there were two small cans of it and he's happy. So all is well there. yay, finally I think...

Mincemeat... I LOVE See's candy. LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE LOVE IT (my fat thighs are proof of this)... everything that I can eat without dying (nut allergy). I made ONE comment at Easter about the only thing that I don't like from See's is the Mincemeat, not sure why I just don't like it. So the ONE thing in the box with my name on it... the mincemeat. I give up and try to give the benefit of the doubt thinking that maybe she just heard my one statement but then I remember the DEBATE about bad chocolate at Easter and how she didn't like it either and we were arguing with A about what was wrong with it.... SO no... no benefit of a doubt for her, that was a twat move.

Nut Log for A... good job something he'll eat. OMG NO there's an expiration date on it... Please people. Help me understand this insane woman!!! Chocolate takes FOREVER to hit it's expiration date, it's almost impossible. The date you ask??? Oh that would be March of 2011.... I almost died laughing when A tried eating it and gagged. I think he's realizing how messed up this woman is... and I (for one) find that to be hilarious.

Random Mail... I'm talking RANDOM mail, with NOTHING important, oh except that FAT envelope from his college transcript office that is fricking MARKED -subpoena- on the front of the envelope.... Turns out, those are part of a lawsuit against his former company, nothing we're worried about but seriously, that was a month ago. The corporation is asking for them for God only knows what reason. And they were in a batch with the most random "want to subscribe to this" kind of mail....

The newsletters, these are monthly little publications that are put out about community events, you know the ones you can pick up at your city hall. Full of fun information for the whole family, politics even.... on a monthly basis. On the front of one is a handwritten note that reads: "Thought you would enjoy keeping up on your home, at least now when you come back you won't be confused on any of the changes"... This is a MONTHLY newsletter that talks about walks in the park and booths/games for kids.... are you KIDDING me... so when you come back??? Is she expecting him to go "home" next month??? He read through them and I ask, "anything change?" response "NO, no clue why she wrote that, nothing changed it's all little kids sports stuff...." .... dear sweet sweet baby Jesus.

The hallmark ornament. from 2011!!!! I have re-gifted in my life, usually gift cards that I know someone else would like more than me... but I have never re-gifted something USED. This is a white ornament with the year 2011... even though its 2012 with the sticker that says FREE with purchase of 5 holiday cards... I'm all for being frugal, you get something free and give it to me that's -awesome-, but don't leave the damn sticker on there.
oh it gets better. A opens it and laughs, it's not just broken, it's been broken and REPAIRED... if that's what you want to call it. Super glue champions. There's even a piece of last years tree stuck to the back of it.

I was dying with laughter

Here's how I look at it.

She's a twat. I could say end of story but I can't really cause the person I love, loves her. I can either say "well she's a flipping bitch" throw a fit and rant to him about all of this (which he's already upset about cause HE'S seeing what she's doing)... OR I can vent online where it's not hurting anyone's feelings and I feel like it's off my chest so I don't verbally assault her the next time I see her (which will be at our wedding!)... or worse, do this kind of shit back to her....

I choose to vent. So I realize this is off subject from my normal North Dakota experience posts but I needed to vent it out.

And I thought MY mother was a twat....

Dear God, Please don't ever allow me to act the way those women do. Let me forever be honest, rude, loud and outspoken.

It's a sweater, not a statement, though it should be

I got looks at a Walmart the other day over a sweater I was wearing. Not like a whore lack of sweater type of sweater, but a fricking tourist sweater. You know those sweaters, sold at mammoth lakes, tahoe, venie, etc. Places you are visiting when you realize you didn't pack a sweater but should have and now you're stuck paying way too much for a sweater.
I got mine while visiting a friend in Lancaster a few years back. I stayed longer than I planned and needed a sweater thanks to my cars heater not functioning all the way. Thankfully, it didn't say "Lancaster, pride of the valley" or something like that. It just has the bear logo and says California in bold letters. It's a hoodie. It's blue and most importantly its warm and comfy.
So for a whole week the weather was decent, I felt overdressed in my Rocky boots and parka. I think, hey I can be like these people and wear a shirt, jeans, sweater, and sneaker... I'll just tell myself that it's 60 not 6. It worked! Until I pulled out of the garage and it started snowing.
You all know my lack of effort in getting dressed/ready for the day combined with my laziness is nothing sort of tragic.
I say "eff it I'm going out I can do this".
I get to Wally World to get some "supplies" for the gift baskets I made this year to sell my Mary Kay stuff. (sold three already!!!) As I'm walking up a guy on a bike screams "yeaaaaaaaaaa cali-for-nia!!! LOVE IT CUTIE".... Shows how quick I am... I had no clue he was talking to me. I was already smiling so I'll just hope he saw me smiling and took that as acknowledgement. I keep walking (just keep swimming just keep swimming just keep swimming swimming swimming). As I'm walking across the front of the store (I went in the side without a redbox so I was walking towards the other side to do that first) I hear a woman say "well! if you love California THAT much why are you here?!?" and I look around, thinking SOMEONE ELSE from California. must. find. new. friend.
no one just dirty, angry looks. I'm confused but that's normal.
So I return my movie, start walking to the gift wrap area and I hear more -little comments- about California.
Maybe it's all the crazy's in California, but unless you're willing to say something to my face, you generally don't make comments about someone when they within hearing range. Because when I turn around or look around, they turn their heads or walk away....
I'm standing in the aisle thinking REALLY!??!! It's a sweater! Not a statement. The only word is California. Not like it said
California, the center of energy
California, we get shit right the first time and when we don't we'll blame YOU
California, paradise cause where you live, SUCKS
and yet, the comments I heard were echo's of those statements.
so I check out and the cashier says, "Not from around here are you?" and I said "nope, what could've possibly given that away" and she just shakes her head. I check out and for the first time in years, I leave without saying thank you or have a good day. Of course, neither does she.
I get to the kennel where the cats are and as I walk in the girls working there say "way to advertise for your home state"
Get this, I'm so lame it wasn't until THAT moment that I realized they were talking about my sweater, and immediately told a friend on IM what was going on.
I ask and these girls are so sweet that they are totally honest with me and give me heads up on a lot of the stuff that goes on in North Dakota, what to expect, what not to do, what not to say. (like interstate, instead of the interstate, or the 94, just say interstate).
And they inform me that if you're wearing a logo that says anything other than something north dakota related you are saying you would rather be there. Apparently the guy on the bike was the only one who agreed with me that day.
They suggested I buy the same sweater only with the UND logo on it IF I wanted to stop hearing the comments. I asked if they ever bought sweaters while on vacation and one agreed full heartily. She has once from Venice (you know those ones that say lifeguard with the big white cross on them) but that she only  wears it at home, or while on vacation elsewhere.
I ask why she doesn't wear it around town and her response "people here like to talk crap about other states" apparently it's some sort of disrespect issue. Like every other state should be bowing down to the people of ND, for what??? They don't even know. But when other people come in from other states and do exactly what they do and live here in the cold, they are still not "real ND people"... its crazy.
I don't get it. I would like to think it's because I was born and raised in California where even with racial issues people are accepting of others. If you can hack it, you're one of us. I've met people here that have lived, worked, volunteered, and done charities in ND for over 20 years and still say they aren't considered North Dakotans....
So what do I do...
I make that sweater my general rotation sweater.
suck it up princesses.
It's cold here, but guess what, I can hack it just as much as you can...

Thanksgiving & Black Friday (it's a long one)

Thanks to being dragged out to the middle of America, I have A LOT more to be Thankful for that I miss…. This year has been crazy. With lawsuits, trials, moving, jobs, pressure, bad news that is never far being the good news, and all that’s come with it. Being far away from everyone you know makes it that much more clear who is really important to you and REALLY points out who you can count on. While there are going to be people I don’t put on this list, doesn’t mean that I forgot them or that I’m not incredibly thankful for them. So for brevity's sake, here’s the gist of what I’m thankful for.

Being saved. :-) Yay for knowing where you're going... Wow I'm a poet and didn't know it.

Food that I’m going to cook and enjoy eating.

The roof over my head that I don’t pay squat for! Lol… Seriously, the fact that A doesn’t mind me taking my sweet time to find a position that I can be at for the long haul out here is really awesome. Granted the non-existent savings is suffering but it’s nice knowing that he’s not resenting the hell out of me while doing so. He’s pretty great. :-) Did I mention that I love him? Cause I do.

My Dad is amazing. Keeps me on track in what I need to be doing while helping me see what I should be doing. Definitely helps when needed (which is A LOT these days) and never complains about it (which in and of itself is enough to be thankful for). He makes sure I’m safe, happy, healthy, and get where I’m going in one piece (even when it requires him to follow along for 1700 miles). I love my Dad, don’t know where I would be without him.

My sister, Laura, for all her support throughout the last few years in her stellar strides to be an awesome big (little) sister. She keeps me grounded and is always willing to show me how to do something amazing without spending more than I could ever afford. She listens when I complain and then immediately makes me see what I do have that gives me no right to complain. And then throwing the kids in front of me to make me smile. Damn I love those kids.

Speaking of, those kids… Those three can make me smile and laugh so hard I can’t breath! They are the greatest kids I know and I miss them so damn much.
 

My whole family (minus Robert who is a douche) that seems to come out of the blue and help, inspire, listen, and calm me when I need it the most.

My friends and BEST FRIENDS for reminding me to get things done, and get it done NOW. They make me laugh and keep me positive while completely letting me being a total twat around them. They let me vent about my frustrations with where I am at almost 30! And complaining about where I’m not. They make me smile when I think the only thing I can do is cry. They watch my alcohol intake and make sure it’s sufficient for a damn good time. They are always down to go out for dinner and debate about what tastes better. Hhahahahahaha They are there to help me and make sure I don’t feel so stressed, especially about this whole wedding thing. :-) And all my wonderful friends that are going to be there. So thankful for them!

Oh and I said I was going to add it to the list… getting the recipe for making home made TWINKIES

 

So I made a Thanksgiving meal yeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa booooiii....

It's been awhile since I've been able to actually cook! Especially a full meal. So yeah. I made: Coke Ham (a layla special), Corn, Stuffing sans Turkey, Mashed Taters, rolls, cookie pie, pumpkin pie and jello shots. Jello shots were mostly for me though hehehehehe

 

We ate, we skyped (with Laura & Kids), we were on the phone most of the day... well A was, me not so much (sore throat).

 

And yet, we still went out.

 

Trying to get as much money as I can with the whole Mary Kay thing so I spent a great deal of time yesterday looking at ways to "promote my business" this holiday seasons. One great idea that stood out to me was giving away $10 of shopping via my website. www.marykay.com/lalkire. you put "$10 sign up reward" in the comment box and when I process your order I take $10 off. (If you're reading this feel free to take me up on this offer). That way I have your contact information in a secure location without being creepy about asking for it. Cause we just met less than ten minutes ago, I'm giving you a sample and then you're going to give up your address and phone number??? How about this, I give you a sample, my card, and this certificate and then it's on you. NO pressure. I love it.  Handed out 6 last night at Target during their early door busters, mostly in the kids section. One to an employee who was running frantic trying to help people find what they need. So we shall see.

 

Goal is to sell $300 by the end of the month to keep me on track for my car (which I desperately need out here, one car between us is not enough when you have to spend 15 minutes warming it up every time you want to turn it on, never mind the reliability of it).

 

Anyways, so I was "warm chatting" with people and got to talking to a woman who came down from Canada. She drives down from Saskatoon every year for shopping and to see a cousin. Apparently when you're from Canada and you shop in America, if you spend more than $25 you "apply for a refund" with the Canadian government and they get it back from the US. So she was doing her strategic shopping and making sure to spend at least $25 everywhere she went and keeping all receipts aligned. Telling us that every year she gets enough in her rebate to cover the gas for the trip down to see her cousin and do "all this crazy shopping".

 

Another woman I was talking to (can you tell this is why I decided to go with Mary Kay before coming out here, gives me a purpose and a reason to talk to people I'm normally too shy to talk to) was saying that last winter was a breeze this winter is already showing signs of being "real nasty like". At least she was nice, though we need to learn to stop saying that we're from Los Angeles, people get a little hesitant to keep talking once that cat comes out of the bag. THAT was real clear with this woman.

 

We got home around midnight and knocked out. I just barely woke up. Didn't know cooking and shopping could take that much out of you. OYE...

 

It was snow flurries last night, still is right now in fact. Sun is shining and it looks like glitter drifting through the air, pretty cool on that aspect if you're inside. If you're outside, holy hell is it cold!

 

Anyways, Happy Thanksgiving and happy shopping

<3

L

Cultural Exchange

and spelling errors.
In seeking out the best way to start my empire via Mary Kay out here in ND I am constantly reading and trying to get a grasp of LIFE out here. It has not been an easy task. So, while at the grocery store I pick up all the free literary offerings. One, entitled BE Magazine, that has just started publication last month had 9 BLATANT spelling errors. I read, and then I recycled. Cause ain't nothing good going on there, at least not for me. Maybe once I have a few kids or am over the age of 60 then there might be something that interests me... until then... nah... I have enough spelling and grammatical type errors on my own...don't need to dumb myself down anymore than that.
However, there was one called City Magazine, that gave me one of the best laughs of the week. (see it at: http://thecitymag.com/image/cache/441648_Nov_CM.pdf page 28) Titled How to Address the Challenges of North Dakota's New Community Culture. I was rolling, since this is exactly what I was talking about doing before I left to drive out here. Create a space for people from out of state to identify, study, understand... okay so not really what I was looking to do but it was close enough to make me literally laugh out loud. "form a community culture team" I'll show you a community culture team, how about we start learning recipes from each other instead of just what we know and learn how to properly say Sacajowea er whatever ... ok I'm being snarky but you know what I mean... Sounded pretty cult-ish but yeah. Nice thought North Dakota, bravo. Moving on.

So congrats City Magazine you got my attention. Made me laugh and said EXACTLY what I was thinking... and then I flip to a story on some guy that had step-dad issues and made a lot of money blah blah blah... what the hell is a day-maker??? In his hobbies the man listed "day-making"... what in the world is THAT!?!?!?!? Google'd it and deciphered that it's about making life easier?? Your hobby is to make the day easier?!?!?! I'm so confused, and here I was thinking that I was starting to understand this area.

So here's what I was working on for you guys. I might have figured it out, cause I know I can't figure out "day-making"... but I've heard this, I've asked about it, (which is a lot like asking people in Cali why they call Coke a "soda" and not "pop"... that look on your face, THAT'S the look I got when asking about this)... the phrase is "ohhhh for funny!"

WHAT
does
THAT
mean?!?!!??!!
I've heard it a few times over the course of the last week. And frankly it's been driving me bonkers....
After careful research, and making myself look like a total ass to complete strangers, I have come to a conclusion... it's the North Dakota way of saying "ohh that's just too funny!" apparently, it's easier to confuse the living crap out of me and say Oh for funny!

Seriously....

You HAVE to hear someone say it... it's not something you can simple read about. Call me sometime and I'll impersonate it for you.

The girls at Club Fido have said it a few times and, frankly, they are totally the ones who let me bug the crap out of them asking questions like I'm a fucking martian trying to figure out their strange race of peoples. Love them.

That's all for now.
<3 L

Spinouts and new tires

SOOOOO
we got dumped on last weekend. In a non dirty sense... 16 inches of snow in less than 36 hours. Friday night it started and then all through Saturday. We stayed inside... obviously... laughing at the people outside trying to drive thinking 'why in the world are they leaving their home'... Everything was cancelled or closed. When it started to ease up Saturday evening we called out for pizza only to be told that the three drivers had all gotten in accidents and they weren't doing delivery for the rest of the weekend. Crazy.
Bismarck even cancelled their veterans day celebrations. THAT'S how bad it was.
So we went out Sunday, just to get out of the apartment, mostly from me going stir-crazy.
Went to eat at a place called Krolls, since we left the house at 9:30 and nothing retail can be sold or open before noon on a Sunday (yeah, tell me there are no Mormons making the rules in this state). So we ate there, pretty decent food. I took a picture but don't know why it;s not uploading. A bird (dove I think) flew into the window RIGHT by where we were eating... and BAM cracked the glass, the bird bounced on the ground and flew away. Not totally sure how far he got before the brain injury registered... but he made it out of sight. Pretty sure A pissed his pants a little bit. And now the crack looks like a gun shot... pretty cool if you ask me.
Then we went to Walmart (aren't my posts ever so exciting...) where a damn good looking "native" told A "nice job scoring a white one, you must not be from around here...".... I laughed, A did not.
Went to visit the cats at Club Fido (the kennel they are staying at while the house is being built). Great place. Rebekah and Sarah were there and totally taking care of business. Cats seem to like them, my cats are friendly (except George) but they seem to really like the girls. So we played with them brought in refills of wet food for them.
Keep in mind, I'm driving all day. A is happily riding shotgun since he's never driven in the snow. I keep telling him we need new tires that are REAL all-weather, not California not-so-all-weather. I get dismissed and he promises not to scream and throw a fit every time we slide a little. Which we did... a lot.
Monday fun day... er, not
I drop him off at work, all is well, I drive to go to Hobby Lobby to get stuff to make care packages for the lovely people I miss back home (if you're reading this don't get your hopes up, my projects have been delayed due to the next part, just warning you). As I go to press the breaks the lovely ABS kicks in and I SLIDE every so gracefully... into the intersection.
FML
I manage to make it THROUGH the intersection and people just look at me as though I was just THAT much of an a-hole to blow the stop sign. Sorry folks....
I call A...
He is reassuring and says "just be more careful and stop sooner"
Fine
I decide Hobby Lobby isn't the place for me and head to WalMart (or Wally World as I like to call it) to park in the sun and let the tires dry up a bit.
Mother Nature had other plans for me.
I am no longer a fan of Mother Nature, as she is a vengeful bitch.
Background - Saturday in my delirium while it was snowing, opened the balcony door to get some "fresh air" and proceeded to let in some snow... I swept it up and triumphantly exclaimed, "take THAT mother nature"....
and so her vengeance began
As I was starting my turn in the intersection of a "major highway" and main street... I lost control and spun out ... in the middle of the intersection....
oh happy day
So when the car finally decides to stop I'm facing the wrong way against a curb on the WRONG side of the intersection. A nice young man jumped out and helped me get the car back to where it needed to be while informing me that "everyone has done it at least once... you're not from around here, chances are you'll probably do it again, get some tires, and why isn't your truck a 4 wheel drive"
I call A...
He is reassuring and says I need to buy sand bags to weigh down the back of the truck....
SO
projects are at a halt
I head to a place called Menards, awesome store, like home depot for high end contractors and women with OCD in home decor and repair. I LOVED IT. Got some rugs, a couple of shovels, and some sand and headed out. They even had "courtesy helpers" (ie-high school kids) to load stuff into the car for you. So whipper snapper loaded in the sand bags and put them "evenly over the axle to help with stabilization, you're not from around here..."
AHHHHHHHHH
I go home. I am defeated enough for the day.
I see a nice open parking spot with NO SNOW in front of the apartment, I figure, hey I've got to leave in a couple of hours to pick up A why not just park here.... the sun is out...
Just as I'm pulling into the spot... the truck decides that it is done, that the snow that is compacted underneath it is too much and its just going to spin the tires....
Long story short, I'm stuck.
I call A
He is reassuring and tells me to just shovel the area around the tires and all will be fine.
It's twenty minutes before I need to go get him. I start shoveling. I add cat litter (it was in the back of the truck from when we dropped the cats off)... I add sand, cause hey, it's there. I shovel some more.... Everyone at my complex seems to work til at least 6 cause NO ONE is around.
I call A
I tell him "I quit! I hate North Dakota! Why did you bring me to this Godforsaken iceland....get a ride home, the truck isn't cooperating, I hate it here, I want to go home. I dont have these problems at home. I'll take smog if it means not getting stuck on frozen water!!!!"
He is reassuring, laughs and says ok.
Twenty minutes later him and his co-worker are shoveling around the tires and his co worker leaves. (sidebar - I like his new co-worker, enough that I didn't kill A when he told me that he invited him over for Thanksgiving... since now I actually have to do something for Thanksgiving). A comes upstairs and says "Hi babe, can you come down and drive the car for me please". I love him. He's so patient with me and all my drama queen-ness. So, I drive, he gives it a nudge, and BOOM back on the road. I pull it around to the garage and all is well.
We get inside and he says, tomorrow you don't have to go anywhere, I'm driving work truck, I just need you to take the truck in for tires to be put on the back, here's my card.
Needless to say, now I have ACTUAL all-weather tires on the rear so even though I skid a little I don't sit there and spin out. Discussion the other night was that I'll need to get the next new car and it will be something that is All Wheel Drive and "northland edition" (automatic start and kickass tires)... and so the search for Layla's car begins.... Dad is back home in CA and totally helping with the search. As much as I would love a subaru, they cost too much for upkeep so it'll probably be a Durango or a Jeep Grand Cherokee (WHAT??!!??!?! I love my Jeeps).
That is all for now... Got something I'm working on for you guys next, but still need to do some research on it to make sure I bring you the facts!
<3 L

I'll show you crazy

well, not really. But I can act like it that is for sure.
Long stories short over the last week-ish.
Took all pets to vet, 4 cats, 1 giant dog. Obviously, this did not work, but like I've said I will always try. Half way into the drive to the vet the dog managed to bite her way out of the METAL crate to get out and was flipping Georges (skiddish cat) crate around trying to get to him, what he did to piss her off I do not know. But I almost crashed trying to stop her. Barely made it to vets before losing my mind or one of the cats. Ended up having to call a friend to come pick up Pebbles (giant dog) and drive her home for me.
Needless to say, she did not make the trip up to ND.
She's currently with another foster in Los Angeles and I'm trying to work with Ace of Hearts to try and figure out a way to get her up here to be with me ASAP... based on rate of returned phone calls, I'm not holding my breath.
Got some cats beds and am going back today to visit the cats again. I miss them bunches
A hired "movers" to help lug stuff around to apartment and to storage unit. Based on my previous experience with movers I was apprehensive to say the least. However, to my shock and great delight, they rocked! They stuck to their original quote and were totally cool... must be due to the fact that they are from Long Beach CA!!! Nicest guys and since they didn't try to add on a bunch of extra charges they were paid for 4 hours instead of the 3:15 they were charging for, seriously they rocked!
Dad was here with us for the first few days. Total blessing. We had to drive to Fargo to drop off the moving truck so we figured we'd find somewhere to shop there as well... Went to a place called farm and fleet... And I moo-ed walking through the place. Cause I'm okay with being fat, I know I am, you know I am... why not have some fun with it?!? Not like I plan on being fat forever. Anyways. We're shopping for BASE LAYER clothing, something I've never even had to think of and yet now I need. Let me tell you since I bought them, haven't been outside without them on! It's cold! Borders on freezing most days up here. However, my hair looks FANTASTIC! ;-)
Dad even helped me find some boots and when we got the register. HE PAID! Totally bought me all me need to have stuff. I love my dad. I don't count on it but I know in the back of my head, when its something I need, he's got my back (and apparently now my butt) covered.
Dad left the other day, I totally cried. It sucked, so I went to visit the cats to cheer myself up. Nice peeps working at the kennel place too.
Further proving my theory that the nicest people I've met, all Non-ND born. Not a single person I've met from "out of state" has been mean, rude, snotty, or otherwise terrible. They've all been awesome.
Can't really say that about the ND natives, they've been pretty crabby. Dude at Men's Warehouse was pretty nice, but made it clear that he didn't "appreciate" all "these people" coming in and "changing" the landscape. I get it, no one likes the frakking. But according to your commercials, your economy DOES. "Oil Can" is the big slogan here that I've noticed so far
A came home early yesterday, he was going to be out on the boarder of Montana until Saturday. But thanks to some giant storm coming in he came home late last night. And everyone at Walmart keeps talking about prepping for the storm.... and I'm over here like "where's the pancake mix?" Will let you all know what's going on with that. It's cold and a little cloudy but thats about it. OH did I mention? NO MOUNTAINS!!! FLAT LAND AS FAR AS YOU CAN SEE... and with no smog, it's pretty far... but NOTHING for landscape. I've lost my sense of direction and am constantly turned around. The only good part so far on that note is that gas is so cheap and this "city" is so small that I can let myself get lost to try to find my way back and all the little shortcuts and what not.... and it doesn't kill my bank account. Drove around for almost 2 hours yesterday just trying to get a feel for the layout here.... cost me less than $6...
More to come later. Will try to update with pics on "STORM"... oh look... it's snowing...

Not the North Dakota Way

According to A there was a campaign ad against someone named Heidi...
See it here: Ron Berg Ad
It made A laugh, it made me giggle but while I might even agree that they might have valid reasons not to like her, there are A LOT of things that happen in the rest of the country that those women would say is "not the North Dakota way".
I'm current at point of supreme frustration with my life.
Trying to get things together for wedding with Mares being totally preoccupied with her own wedding, that thus far hasn't even been approved by her church yet, and not being sure if I can even MAKE it to her wedding. Nevermind trying to force her via phone to get into a DB to get the size right on the dress so I can order it. That just Mares! His mother is being totally unreasonable (considering she's not having to do anything FOR this wedding) on a lot of issues about the wedding, especially the ones she is creating. It's hard for me to tell someone to back off when they are under the guise of "good intentions" and what they think their son "deserves" regardless of whether or not he even WANTS it.
Oh did I mentioned I picked probably the most chaotic time in my life to start my Mary Kay business, cause I did. Terrified and excited, all at the same time...
Don't read this as complaining, because I'm not. I am actually really excited about all the change that is happening in my life during in the next four months. Quick recap
Starting Mary Kay
Moving to North Dakota
Buying a brand spanking new house
Officially adopting Pebbles
Going to Las Vegas for New Years
Getting Married
Going to Hawaii to see a great friend get married and take slightly belated Honeymoon.

These are all huge! And will all happen in the next, well technically 5 months, but within the near future.
It's madness.
So yeah, not sure how to feel about North Dakota. I feel like a lot of my views line up with those of the natives, but based on the communications I've had with a few of them... they're not exactly happy to have intruders, needed  or otherwise. Just hope I don't have a bunch of women telling me my life isn't the North Dakota way... cause I come from California... I'll tell you to take your way and shove it.

Appendicitis in a far away place...

When someone you love is far away anything that happens to them can freak you out in an instant. That is the shit that happened to me last weekend.

I was at my sisters house for my nieces birthday party. I had just gotten there and my niece was sitting on my lap asking about the dress she’s going to wear when A called to say that he was back at his apartment already (he had gone out for drinks with co-workers) and not really feeling well. So this is around 7 pm my time (so 9pm for him). We chat about what’s going on and what it might be, what might help, what could fix, etc etc etc. It’s when I suggest a colon infection (my friend just had that, sounded similar) and his response was “my anus is fine” that I said ‘ok, well talk to you later, will call when I leave’. Well, I hear nothing further from him, the party is fine minus all the normal family drama and what not. I call him while I’m driving home since I realize it is now 11pm for him. He answers frantically yelling my name, short of breath, crying, and blatantly in pain. While saying that he’s driving to the emergency room and feels like his stomach is exploding. Keep in mind, this grown ass man has a license/cert thingy for EMT and is ALWAYS talking in clinical terms (much to his own detriment) no matter what is going on to/around him. So INSTANTLY a million things run through my head, at first I thought car accident but the stomach thing threw me. Soooo fast forward. He gets to the emergency room hands them the phone and screams “I’m having a medical emergency, my stomach is exploding, talk to her” … they called someone to take him away while asking me his date of birth, address, and all the other info that I MIGHT know… while I’m driving home…

It was an effed night to say the least. Every twenty minutes or so I would get a call. At 2am my time (4 am for him) they finally had a diagnosis of appendicitis and he was scheduled for emergency surgery a few hours later.

I get to work at 7 am. I did no work. I was on the phone with his brother and the brothers gf. Texting with his mother (which THAT conversation would make a blog site in itself) and trying to plan a course of action with my dad. What ended up happening. I booked a last second flight at 9:30 in the morning. I left work at 10 to go home throw clothes in a bag, take the dog out, make a call to my friend up the street for him to take care of the animals for me (which side note, ladies, good looking Christian ladies especially, if you are looking for a manly, hot, honestly, smart, and all around wonderful man. Send me a message, because he is single at the moment and deserves a wonderful woman!) , dad came over to take me to rental car place and I was in a brand new red mustang driving to Las Vegas at 11am. Got to Vegas just in time to return car and get on plane. Arriving to ND somewhere around 11pm. The “friend” I made on the flight there offered me and our fellow new friend a ride to our stops. After dropping off Amanda (new native American friend) I was told to stay away from native Americans…. Needless to say I was in total shock. Apparently, according to a ND native, all American Indians are drunken thieves, despite that fact that Amanda was totally nice, friendly, and I got NO vibe of her being anything other than normal middle aged woman… whatever, welcome to racism… So I got to the hospital and yeah… they made a bed for me in his room. He had surgery that morning before I got there so he was being released the morning after I arrived. It was only because he was going to be completely by himself with no help that I went. Cause I knew that with that kind of surgery he wasn’t going to be able to go out for groceries, shower, take care of himself, etc.  so yeah, I spent the weekend taking care of him. His appendix burst AS they were removing it so it was not as bad as it could have been but bad enough... that was one of those, if we were not already working on him it would've been pretty bad situations. I was told that night that 40 cc's of toxic fluid was drained from the part of the appendix that had NOT exploded yet. Fun times right??? gah

Flew back to Vegas Monday night, flight was delayed so I ended up staying the night. A booked me a room through Expedia at the Luxor . Well, due to some issue with their “system” they hadn’t received it but since my phone was still charged I was able to show them the reservation… long story short, for the price of a kind size bed normal room… I was put one of their 8 honeymoon suites…. And I gotta say it was pretty bomb diggity… not the best suite I’ve been in but hells bells it was nice. Free Champaign for my “troubles” … so I drank and sat in the hot tub to relax before knocking out.

Since I stayed the night I went into the place we’re getting married at this year and made some basic decisions on flowers, arrangements, aisle décor, and other girly shit that I’m not good at doing.

Gotta say they make it pretty simple. I think if I had known what I wanted it would’ve been much quicker but since they were essentially walking me through ALL the options it took a couple of hours. Checked out the hair styles, asked some questions, reserved my rehearsal time, and yeah, was on the road by noon.

A’s mom told him that since she knew I had spent a lot of money to go out there and take care of him that she wanted to pay for half since she wasn’t able to go to help. Her being old, slow, and blind prevented her from being there for him. Not that she was actually going to be able to help and had she gone, it would’ve been harder on him… let’s not bother to look at that… Anyways, since it’s not MY job to take care of him… it’s still apparently her place; whatever… she offered to pay. So as poor can’t have principles… I accepted. She wrote me a check for half of what I paid to get out there and back. It’s whatever. I’ll take the help if it’s offered, no matter how effed it is of her to say something like that.

Anyways, it has been a week since all of that and he’s doing much better. His cuts are healed up and he is able to move around pain free. He was still on pain meds up until yesterday, as of today he says he doesn’t need them. So that’s good. It was nice to see him since before this little trip the last time I saw him was labor day weekend. His boss was cool about the time off and even moved his truck from the illegal parking job he did getting to the emergency room. He’s got a cool boss at this place… actually helpful and considerate. I like that.

So that was my terrifying weekend. It doesn’t look so bad when I type it all out and that is precisely why I do this blog. To vent and take a step back to say, that wasn’t all that scary…

Moving on.

Going to miss...

Certain realties have begun sneaking into my brain, especially when I try to sleep. With everything going on and costs skyrocketing I’m not sure how I’ll sleep over the course of the next few weeks. I understand that it is all completely “do-able” but at what cost? At wrecking my credit? At getting myself into a landslide of debt? Having to make difficult choices is not one of my strengths; I’m more likely to opt for making life/situations harder on myself before asking anyone else to help. Take the upcoming moving situation for example. I’ll be renting a vehicle that is large enough for one giant dog, 4 crated cats, an overnight bag, and myself. How this will work I have NO CLUE, but I know one thing, I’ll MAKE it work. Figure out some sort of barrier for the back seat or something and probably sneeze/cry/scream-a-long to songs while driving. I will plan to do all this (as-per-use “worst case scenario” plan) before I ask that anyone else come along, especially for free. I’ll always offer to pay (secretly hoping they wont accept) since time is money and giving your time and tolerance to me is worth more than I can ever give back. I don’t know that anyone is available to take their car/truck/suv along and take a species with them so I’m pretty much planning to take them all myself. I see three sleepless days of driving ahead of me…

It hit me today, hard. Last night I hung out with my buddy Alex (he’s my older brothers bestie, but he’s here and my brother never was…so HE is my brother, a damn good one at that!) last night. Been able to hang out a few times in the last month. He’s awesome. And it totally sucks that right as we’re getting close, I’m leaving. FAR FAR FAR away. L and what hit me this morning was that he was my first goodbye of this month. I don’t know that I’ll get the chance to see him before I leave, so we said goodbye last night. And it sucked! Made me painfully aware of all the remaining moments at “home”.

I can see the positive side in everything, it’s a curse, not a gift… but there has been a heightened awareness of my surroundings, about who I love, what I love, who I’m with and what we’re doing together. Making sure not to lose sight of any of it and making doubly sure not to take any moment for granted. It leads to constant heart ache (and stomach issues – guess this might help losing weight) as well as a whole lot of moments of having my breath taken away. Sarah called it physical symptoms of sadness, anxiety, and fear. Nice Sarah, nice….

I hate saying goodbye. While I know I have some of the greatest friends in the world… correction, I have all of the greatest friends in the world. You think you do, I KNOW I do… your friends suck, and mine could kick their ass. Ha! My friends find ways to reconnect and travel all over to see each other, especially for events (like my wedding boo-yah bitches my friends ROCK). I love hard and my friends equally so if not more. I care so deeply about the people in my life knowing full well that I wouldn’t be the person I am today if it weren’t for the people in my life. However small of an impact it was an impact nonetheless. Btw- loving people as much as I do… is exhausting… I get so wrapped up in someone else that I tend to let others fall by the wayside, only to go and reconnect to care about them more than anyone else…. It’s a cycle and I hate to think anyone in my life doesn’t feel loved or appreciated by me.

So all last night I kept making mental notes of all the stuff I’m going to miss about living in Southern California surrounded by familiarity, family, friends, love, and life. Ideally, I’ll be able to look back at this and think, “wow, I may have left that behind but look what I have now!”… I doubt it… but I can hope. If you know me in real life (rather than cyber stalkers) you know that if nothing else, I hope.

Keep in mind this a personal list for me (which of course you are welcome to read, otherwise why put it out here…) but if something doesn’t make sense ask, I love to elaborate. Plus it’ll keep my memories fresh!


*the screen doors at Hellman, slamming behind me…

*green grass on well manicured lawns

*wrapping the kids in my sweaters and them popping out like little birds

*getting to see my dad at least once a week

*dirty rain in Los Angeles while walking through China town

*the peacocks at the Arboretum

*the gourmet coffee machine that makes Milky Way Hot Chocolate with an espresso shot of French Vanilla coffee…

*getting out of various tickets.

*smoggy sunsets (its beautiful – all the oranges and reds)

*hills at Mt. SAC

*Gus’s BBQ… awesome food, awesome people

*the “unofficial book club” at work, 50 shades of cheese, dragons, game of thrones, and many more

*fireworks, illegally obtained from Native Americans outside of Las Vegas…

*scaring the Asians in my neighborhood while walking Pebbles in the morning.

*videotaping the kids singing along in the back seat.

*summers at the beach, winters are better….

*Starbucks runs with the best co-workers ever

*Restaurant Row in Monrovia, driving while “take a pic”

*inside movie picnics with the kids

*the kids baseball and soccer games

*Solvang (and all the various drives up there)

*Mt. Shasta

*being able to see mountains every day, especially when walking out the front door…

*Big Bear

*being so close to friends that swinging by to pick them up isn’t even a thought.

*my vet, he rocks! No one can deal with the amount of kittens I’ve brought him over the years nearly as well as he has.

*San Diego Zoo memberships… I’ve seen the zoo in Bismarck and one in Montana… Not. Even. Close.

*San Diego

*bi-weekly check-in dinners

*task rabbit jobs

*Fresh And Easy

*drive in movies

*conversations on “missed windows” while starring at an open window

*the view of the city from THAT apartment

*farmers markets

*hugs from the kids

*running into kids from student teaching who are HUGE now (and further proof of how long it’s been)

*trying to record Karine to figure out what language she is speaking while yelling… I think it’s a drug ring… just saying…

*doughnuts in DCHS parking lot

*driving past shitty places I’ve lived knowing I never have to go back

*quick trips to Lancaster (needed to do more of those in the last ten years, and I have sadly haven’t)

*walking rescued pit bulls and the ability to keep up with them on hikes

*people/weirdo watching at Runyon Canyon

*microbrew hoping

*crazy cat lady conversations in front of unsuspecting victims of craziness…

*that mysterious stain in the living room

*mani/pedi’s with Laura and the girls (being there for both of their “firsts”)

*people that I love the most being less than a day’s drive away….

Yep... I'm going to miss being here.

OF COURSE… Train’s “This Ain’t Goodbye” off their album Save Me, San Francisco is what comes up on Pandora right now… well played…