Current mood:	tired
Current music:	X-files (the marathon continues)

The long overdue update...

It's been a minute since I last updated.  Shame on me.  In my defense, it has been a very busy few weeks.

First, the tooth.  I did make it to see the dentist on 8/23.  He told me that I had an infection in the tooth and he gave me some antibiotic and pain medicine.  It took over a week, but the tooth finally started to feel better.  Today it has decided to start hurting again.  Joy.  Dentist-man said if it started to hurt again I'd have to go see an endodontic (aka Mr. Root Canal Man) to have some more work done the tooth.  I've already had a root canal on the tooth so who knows what else can be done.  We'll see.  I'll have to call tomorrow and try to get an appointment.

Work is okay.  It's been crazy busy.  First they took Christine off of the intake schedule so that she could cover a case load for a worker going out on extended medical leave.  This impacts me by greatly increasing the number of applications I get and the number of days I have to be on intake.  Even worse then that, the number of days that I have to be the on-duty worker has increased.  That sucks.  I hate being the on-duty worker...for several reasons.  I hate that you have to see anyone that walks in...whether they're ongoing or intake.  Why the ongoing workers get to skip being an on-duty worker is beyond me...and they bitch all the time that they're so over worked.  At least they don't have to deal with walk-ins and deal with their every whim. /rant.  The other thing I hate about being the on-duty worker is that you have to stay in the office until 5:00PM.  No exceptions.  That means a later train home which makes us get home later.  It's just crazy.  Work is also being impacted by Hurricane Katrina.  There are several hundred of Katrina evacuees in the area and we've seen a massive increase in Food Stamp, TANF, and Medicaid applications.  We have 24 hours to complete the cases.  That can be tough when you get several at one time.  At least, the state (or commonwealth...whichever) has pretty much waived everything for these applications.  We can take the client's word for everything.  That's so good.  E's also been slammed at work.  They've set a special hotline for kids that are missing due to the hurricane and she's getting hundreds of cases each day and she had to work on Labor Day.  Poor thing.  I'm trying to spoil her more at home to give her a break from all of the stress at work.

On the 'I spent too much money on you and you're only two years old, so what the HELL are you doing broken (or breaking)' front there are several things going on.  First, Sally Sue (my car for those of you who don't know *g*) has decided that she doesn't like her tires and feels that she would look better in a brand new set.  Second, my poor computer.  My best uneducated guess is that the hard drive is going.  E was a great help and we rapidly moved pictures and files to be housed on her computer until I'm back in business.  Good news is that I've only had the computer for two years and I upgraded to a three year warranty when I purchased the computer.  The bad news is that Sony has no record of this.  Thank goodness I keep all of my paperwork I have the original print outs from when it was built and I have the original warranty card.  So I've got to fax that to Sony to see if they'll honor it, but it's possible that the warranty was voided when the bankruptcy was discharged.  If so, then the decision becomes one of do I fix it or do I just get a new one.  While I'd love a new one I don't want to spend a huge sum of money again.  But new ones are so preeeeety.  See the dilemma?  So far, nothing else is breaking (crossing my fingers and knocking on wood).  Thank goodness for E.  She's sharing her computer with me until mine is back to normal again.

I need to remind everyone that this is birthday month.  An official announcement was made on September 1st.  E embraced this idea (as she should, duh!) and has been spoiling me like crazy.  The massive spoilage began with the most beautiful leather binder/journal that was handmade in London.  I'll have to take a picture of it and post it later so everyone can see it.  It's just awesome.  Then I got a nice package from Amazon with DVD's!!  She gave me "Hercules", "Bambi", "Monster's Inc", and "The Aristocats".  She had spoiled me enough for 5 birthdays but we came home on Thursday to a rather large box sitting in the foyer.  I opened this to find 3 cases of my favorite cookies.  She had managed to find a place online that sold the Snackwell Chocolate Sandwich cookies.  5 CASES!!!!!!  I have 180 four packs of cookies!!!!!!!!  Elizabeth is AWESOME!!!  She's the greatest girlfriend ever.  I just love these cookies.  I could die happy and there are still 18 days to the big day.  Did I mention how awesome E is?!?!?!?!?

I think that catches up on everything major that has been happening, now comes the fun stuff.  I've started reading the "Outlander" series again.  I so love these books.  I'm on the third of five right now.  The greatest news is that Diana Gabaldon is releasing book 6 on 9/27/05.  Happy birthday to me!!  I also have season 10 of "Friends" coming.  I can't wait for that...then I'll have the whole series on DVD.  E also ordered me "T.J. Hooker" on DVD.  So far, just seasons 1 & 2 are out and they're mine.  Woohoo!!  Hooker is the greatest comedy that really is a drama ever.  So, so funny.

I got up early this morning and went to Walmart this morning for a stocking up grocery shopping trip.  We literally had an empty freezer, an almost bare refrigerator, and a pretty bare pantry.  I arrived at Wallyworld around 9:30am and checked out at 11:21:28 (at least that's what the receipt says and it must be right).  Every spare spot in the buggy was taken...even the bottom.  It was only because of my massive commissary grocery shopping experiences with Mom and Dad that I was able to make it to the checkout with just one buggy.  It did take two, however, to get the stuff to the car.  97 items and $280.22 later we now have enough food for a small nation.  :)  Big thanks to E and Jenn for helping me get all the stuff in and out of the bags.  I finally finished separating the meat and getting it into the freezer and cutting up the cantaloupe and watermelon around 1:30.  I'm so tired now I could sleep for a week.  Mmm, sleep.  Comfy bed, comfy bed.  We now have the greatest bed in the world.  I should spend more time in it.

I'm going to stop rambling now.  I wonder if there is a size limit to a journal entry, either way this one is a record for me.