Don't worry, I haven't died..... yet

I haven't posted anything lately because I've just been busy with crap nobody cares about but me. Picking vows, learning how to decorate cupcakes in semi-professional way, spending $80 on color coordinated m&m's and jelly bellys. That's right, I said $80. But seriously people, that's nothing in the grand scheme of things. And no they're not my favors. They're just for decoration on the dessert table. I'm hard core when it comes to sweets ok? We can skip the chicken for all I care. Just cut the cake! I'm having cake AND cupcakes at my wedding. I wasn't kidding about the sugar facination. And I decided like a fool to make my own cupcakes because it would be sooo much cheaper. Which it totally is. But now I'm trying to round up volunteers to help me decorated all 60 cupcakes. Any takers?

Work still sucks. We're still short staffed and I'm hating it. HATING IT. Like in my body feels like I got ran over by a bus from all the tension and all the bending over the counter. Like in chocking back tears over the stupidest things. Like in getting a mysterious stomach ache on the drive to work that miraculously disappears at 5 pm. My reformed pessimist co worker keeps telling me to be happy. She says "at least you have job security." I liked her better before her seminar. She's asked me if I want to borrow her motivation tapes. I wanted to tell her where to stick her motivational tapes. I only have to make it through 12 more days in hell and then I'm on VACATION!!!!

And not just any vacations, my HONEYMOON!!!! Woohoo. And hell no we're not going anywhere special. We just spent an atrocious amount of money on our "budget" wedding. If we get a tent we'll probably go camping. For one day. 'Cause that's all I can handle. Seriously. But don't worry, we'll take a big trip for our anniversary next year. I'm thinking Hawaii. He's thinking Alaska. Maybe we'll go to Mexico. We'll see :)

Let the festivities begin!

I officially have less than one month until my wedding which means that I'm a busy, busy girl! Friday night my friends from work took me out to the Thunder from Down Under. Oh boy... what a night! First we started with a pre party at Morrison's where they gave me a blow up penis necklace, a pink boa, a veil with devil horns, and a bachelorette sash to wear for the night. The we hit up the show. Ladies, if you ever get a chance you must see Thunder from Down Under!! They are sooo hot! And it's entertaining because they do group dances and stuff while stripping so it's not like one guy dancing around a pole. And of course with all my garb I was the first one called on stage to get a private session with a stripper. I almost died. Literally. I think I died. And not because the guy was so dreamy I couldn't stand it - because I was embarrassed beyond belief! After he made me grab his butt, rub him down, strip his pants off, and dance with him he finally let me go. Oh wait, he ripped by penis necklace off too. Bastard. Anyway... after that was over we moved the party to another bar and did a little karaoke. I finally got home around 1:45 and I think it was probably 2:30 - 3 by the time I fell asleep.

Then I was back up at 8 for the bridal shower! Which was also super fun. We played wedding bingo and then we had everyone tell a story about me which ended up with my mom finding out about a bleached out spot on the carpet of my old bedroom that she never knew anything about. Damn Michelle. I got all kinds of nice gifts and it was a really nice turnout. I was really surprised and happy that everyone could make it.

Now I've got bachelorette party #2 coming up and I'm hearing rumors that I might be in for some more embarassing fun. Keep your fingers crossed that it doesn't involve any more strippers.....

Then it's the big day! Yeah!!! It's finally here! All that work and it's finally coming into reality. Everyone always asks me if I'm nervous but I'm surprisingly not nervous. At least not yet... As for the relationship we've been living like we're married for over a year now (sharing money and everything) so I won't have much adjusting to do after the marriage. Just gotta get used to signing my new last name is all. The only things I sometimes worry about is that everyone will have a good time at the wedding.

Here's some pics for your viewing enjoyment :-)

Where I come from

The boy and I decided to take a drive today seeings how it's like 90 degrees here in the Sacramento Valley and everything is in bloom. We loaded up the bastards in the back of the truck and headed North West into the coastal range towards East Park Resevoir and Indian Valley (Carina, that's the lake you and I went boating at with my aunt and uncle). Andrew wanted to show me some roads that he used hunt off of instead of taking our normal route through Maxwell so I said sure. At first it was just another bumpy country road and then when he pointed out a particular ranch I realized we'd taken this road before and I hated it because it was in horrible condition and it was extremely narrow along a canyon (as most roads are around here) and he drives entirely too fast for my taste. But it was far too late to turn around so we plugged along. The good news is that the last time we took this route it was summer time and it wasn't nearly as green and pretty as it was this time of year. I have to admit it was gorgeous!

One of the things I love most about where I live is that even though the city of Woodland is getting far too out of control population wise the country is right in our backyard. And save for the scary wild animals that live in the country it's where I much prefer to spend my time during day light hours. I have an unnatural fear of the country at night time because I think a bear/mountain lion/coyote/rattlesnake is going to eat either myself or my dogs. The town where I grew up is at the base of the hills that are at the base of the coastal range. And by the base I mean that the town of Esparto is all mostly flat land but if you drive 1/4 -1/2 mile west you started gaining elevation. Most of my best friends growing up lived in the hills known as the Capay Valley and that's where I spent alot of my time until just recently.

I always love a drive into the hills because it reminds me that the country still exists in this nation. It seems to me that cities are growing at unnatural rates anymore and I fear that my children or grandchilden won't be able to see the beauty of nature the way that I did. I know that even since my parents grew up that sooo much as changed. My dad remembers when there wasn't a freeway that ran through Woodland at all and if you wanted to go to Sacramento (a short 20 min drive these days) you had to drive your car onto a ferry that would transport you across the river. My mom remembers when the highway that is the heart of Yolo County used to be on the other side of the cache creek canyon and when deer outnumbered residents. Even Andrew remembers when he first came to California at age 10 (he's Canadian) that the deer and pigs and ducks where plentiful and now they've been hunted so much that you're hard pressed to find one at all. All we saw today is 5 hours is 1 deer, 3 turkeys, a handful of quail, and a million squirrels. And we went so far up into the mountains that we literally had to turn around because there was so much snow on the mountain still that we couldn't pass through. Crazy!

So here are some pictures of the America that is in my backyard. The sun was high and bright when I took them so it washed the color out and the pictures do not do the landscape justice AT ALL. Notice how the California flower, the poppy, grows like crazy up there! For those of you who have never seen a California poppy they are the prettiest, most vibrant orange you'll ever see. And here's a fact for the day: It's illegal to pick a poppy in California. Looks like these folks better invest in a goat!

It's that time of year again....

For me to post pictures of my dogs and plants because I have nothing better to write about!!!!

I <3 Jasmine

This is the first year my barrel has looked this good!

The coneheads

We'll just stay here while you go to work......

You know you're on meth when.....

You engage the cops in a high speed chase through town and then start shooting at them with a BB gun. Hey smart guy - first of all, a BB gun??? Seriously, why even bother? Second of all, you just opened fire on the police. They are going to shoot back. They have real guns and seeings how they are NOT on meth and are highly trained individuals it's probably not going to work out in your favor.

I regret that I don't have any information on how that one turned out. I would have really liked to know!

So I'm home from work this morning with a backache from hell. I told my boss that I'd try to go in this afternoon and now I'm trying to decide whether or not to actually go. On one hand, if I don't go my work will pile up like crazy and I'll feel bad because Karina is doing the counter by herself and it's her last week. On the other hand, going will probably only make my back hurt worse tomorrow and I keep trying to tell myself that I have to stop being so loyal to those assholes because they don't give a shit about me!

I know y'all are wondering how in the hell a desk job can hurt you back so much. It does. Whoever designed our new counter was on crack I think. First of all our desks are at an angle which kind of makes sense because you don't really want your computer blocking the window. But it's one of those desks that has a space cut out for your legs and the rest is drawers and stuff so there's not a whole lot of leg room if you turn to face the window the right way which means you're always kind of helping people with your back twisted. Plus the counter is like 3 ft away from your desk so everytime someone tries to hand you something they just lay it on the counter and I you have to bend over your desk to get it. So lots of bending forward and turning your torso away from your legs. Multiply that by 100 customers a day, 5 days a week and eventually your back needs a rest. I think I'm going to stay home.

My job sucks right now

Let's see... I hate my job right now. Nothing new there. I just found out that they are putting the NEW girl who starts Monday at the counter with me. New = knows nothing = me doing all the work. How and why they came to this decision I'll never understand. I guess I should be flattered that my boss trusts me to do EVERYTHING but sometimes I can't help but wonder if they're trying to run me out of there. If this wasn't the pattern to my life I would 100% think that.

But here's how things roll in my life: I do what's asked of me (I'd like to say I do it without complaint but I'm not much of a liar). I do it right for the most part. I mean everyone makes mistakes. Everyone else is a slacker so like a freaking idiot I offer to help. Suddenly I start finding myself with more and more responsibility but no extra compensation. Before long I'm busting my ass trying to do my 10 things while my coworkers/classmates/friends/whatever take their sweet time with their 1 thing. I get bitter and pissed off but refuse to ask for help or admit that I can't handle it because I'm afraid of the answers I might get. Then I get completely overwhelmed and start making mistakes. Suddenly my ass is being ridden over stupid little stuff that I know my coworkers do all the time but they don't hear about it because it's "expected" of them. It's not expected of me. I'm expected to be perfect. Always. Just like when I was a kid and my little brother got away with crap that I didn't because I was older and should have known better. Or in school when teachers let slackers fail classes without so much a hiccup but if I don't do my homework or if I get a detention it's a BIG freaking deal. Or when teachers/professors make you work in groups and I'm the only one that does my part and then I end up doing everyone else's part last minute because I don't want to fail on their account. I could name a 100 other examples.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to pat myself on the back or say that I'm super woman or anything else. And I'm not saying that everyone in my life is totally ungrateful either. I'm just saying I'm fried. I'm done. I need a break. I can't handle going to work and doing the job of 3 clerks while waiting on the counter (where 2/3 the customers are assholes) and then coming home and having to be a wife and doggie caretaker. Work is sucking the life out of me. I think I need a career change.

So I know nobody likes these "I hate work" blogs but it feels good to put it in words sometimes. It makes me feel a tiny bit better.