I just need to complain for a minute

Where do I start...TJ is cutting more teeth, which means he wants to nurse all night, which means I get little or no sleep. I threw my back out a week ago and it is still pretty sore, so having to sleep in one position all night long isn't helping.

I'm exhausted and just don't feel like doing anything. I also didn't workout for about 4 days since I hurt my back. We have a wedding to go to at the end of the month and I don't think I'm going to lose enough weight to look decent in a dress. Tom's exwife made a comment to him last week that really ticked me off...she said "Oh it looks like Rachael weighs more than I do now...." And while I really don't care WHAT she thinks, it still upset me.

I'm still waiting to hear from unemployment on my appeal to their denial. It's been a month now.

I just found out from my aunt that one of the photo techs in her store got promoted to assistant manager...but wait...I thought there were no openings until June or July??? I think I need to call the Regional Vice President.

And on top of it all, living with my parents SUCKS. My dad is an ass. He's constantly on my case about EVERYTHING and I'm tired of being treated like I'm a maid. Yes, I am home all day. But that doesn't mean that I don't do anything! I take care of my son, who is VERY active now. I clean up the best that I can. I was hurt for 4 days, to the point where it took me 45 minutes just to get off of the couch to go to the bathroom! He always has something to say about my cat. Yes, she's a pain in the butt, but I don't know what you want me to do about it. No, I didn't see the freakin litter on the kitchen floor, it was not there when I was JUST up there washing dishes.

We can't get ahead on our bills. My student loans are late, we have a $600 gas bill that is in MY NAME...all because Tom was making payments to the wrong account when we moved.

And, to top it all off, the class I am taking now is ALOT more work than any others that I have taken before.

*sigh* What ELSE is going to go wrong??

/rant

Pictures :)

Fun in the snow :)

Momma it's COLD out here!

Wait. What did you just say?

Riding on his car/push toy thing

Sleepin in his swing...gotta love the hands behind his head

Bath time fun in the sink

I am such a slacker

One would think that I would be updating this thing more often, beings I'm not working. But, I'm a slacker and my life is pretty boring anyway. Since TJ is 8 months old today (holy crap WHERE did my little baby go???) I figured I should do a quick update :)

TJ is getting more teeth. His top 2 have broken through, and I *think* 2 more are coming in on the bottom. Teething = Cranky Baby who just wants to nurse ALL DAY (and all night) LONG. These teeth need to hurry up.

He still isn't crawling. I'm sure he could if he TRIED but he's lazy. He CAN get himself into a sitting position, though, and has started scooting on his butt. He'll lean forward onto his belly, and put his knees up under him like he's GOING to crawl...but no dice. He just kicks one leg back and rolls onto his side.

Last week he started giving "kisses" when we asked for them. I guess the novelty has worn off, though, becausse this week he's being very stingy with the kisses. Mr. Personality I tell ya.

I also can't stand how smart he is. He is already answering to his name, which if I remember correctly most babies don't do until at least 9 months. He has been doing this for about 2 months now. He also says mama, dada. baba, mom-mom, pop-pop, and nana. Nana has meant night-night a few times, and banana...he was eating little pieces of cut up banana a few nights ago and saying "nana."

Speaking of eating, this kid will eat ANYTHING. We started him on stage 2 babyfood last week. And zweiback toast. He LOVES zweiback toast. With as much as he eats, I can't figure out why he hasn't gained any weight in a month and a half. I had to take him to the pediatrician last Thursday for a nasty diaper rash. At his 6 month appointment he was 16lbs 2oz. On Thursday he was down to 15lbs 8oz. So in a month and a half he lost almost a pound. Dr. Mike wasn't worried about it, but I was. He said that TJ's growth spurt is over and he will get taller more than he will get heavier. But, still, it bothered me that he lost weight. So Dr. Mike told me to give him more cereal, which we are doing twice a day now instead of once...and I'm mixing it with 2oz of formula instead of just water. We go back on the 29th for a weight check, and then on Feb. 23rd for his 9 month well-visit. He is a happy baby (minus the teething crankiness), he's meeting his milestones and then some, he's not lethargic...I just don't like that he lost so much weight. I think Dr. Mike suggested giving him more cereal just to make ME feel better, as he really wasn't concerned at all.

I think that's all on the baby-update front. I have pictures and video to upload, I will work on that today so stay tuned :)

In other news....Walgreens SUCKS. I had to call in to claim my unemployment yesterday for the last 2 weeks. I get all the way through and the stupid automated system tells me that I need to speak with a person. Ok. Fine. Whatever. I call the other number, and it takes me about an hour to finally get to a live person. Apparently when the people at unemployment called Walgreens, they were told that I voluntarily quit. WHAT???? Excuse me????? I TRIED to transfer but there were NO AVAILABLE POSITIONS FOR ME. WTF???? So now I have to wait until a claims adjuster calls me on Feb. 3rd. I'd LOVE to know who they spoke to. Probably some twit at corporate who gets paid big bucks to ruin people's lives. I WILL get unemployment, whether they like it or not.

That's all for now....remember...stay tuned for pictures and videos of TJ!!!

Tagged

Cousin Katie decided that it would be a good idea to tag me...which means that I have to share 7 interesting (or not-so-interesting, depending on how you look at it) facts about myself. Then, I'm supposed to tag other people. But...since only 8 people are currently following my blog, one being Cousin Katie, and the other being Cousin Teri (who was already tagged by Katie)...if you are reading this and you wanna share some fun stuff about yourself, please feel free to do so. If not, well you're just a party pooper ;) Now. Where was I? Oh, yes. 7 "interesting facts" about myself......

1. I can open a Starburst candy in my mouth without using my teeth and without ripping the wrapper.

2. I hate tomatoes. However, I will eat ketchup, tomato sauce, and sundried tomatoes.

3. I completed my BA in Psychology this past September. I am going to begin classes for my MA in Teaching on January 6.

4. I have no idea what I am going to do with either of the aforementioned degrees.

5. I check my facebook 60000000000 times a day, including when I am at work or anywhere else for that matter. Yay for the facebook application on Blackberry.

6. Speaking of Blackberrys, I can't wait to own a Blackberry Bold. Someday. Soon. I hope.

7. Friday is my last day of work. I am happy and sad all at the same time. It's ok, though. Cousin Katie and I have big BIG plans...that's if she ever comes home from Ohio :)

This is SO Important. PLEASE Help!

Ok. Let me take a break from my normal whining and crying about my job for a minute here. My friend Christine brought something to my attention via her blog. Did you know that there are still 21 states that allow paddling of children in schools?!?!? This is SO complely unacceptable. However, with just a few clicks of your mouse you can help save an abused child. Here's the deal. Click the box to the right of this blog and go to the change.org website. Sign up, it only takes a minute. And then click the box to vote. It's that easy, and seriously will take you 2 minutes TOPS. If enough votes are received, a proposal to ban paddling in schools will be presented to President Obama on Inauguration Day.

Please, please, please help ban this leagalized form of child abuse! And, since I don't have that many readers yet, PLEASE pass this on to everyone that you know.

Thanks guys :)

Updates and Such

Things on the work front are still slightly dismal. My boss offered to let me stay until the end of February since we have to pay rent here until then anyway. After some discussion with Tom, though, I have decided to pass on the offer and take a month or so off from work to get settled into my parents' house and spend some time with Tom and TJ. Tom also made the suggestion today that I work part-time until I finish my Masters and get a teaching job. I'm a little leary of that because of how long it will take us to pay off bills and save for a house, but I'm all for less work and more time with the family.
So, in light of this new part-time suggestion, I was thinking. I am going to talk to my boss about whether or not it would be a good idea for me to step down from assistant manager and go into District 240 as a part-time photo person or something...ANYTHING but Pharmacy lol...and then see if I can be "repromoted" into assistant when something opens up. Or even just stay part time until I finish my Masters and then quit completely. I mean, I have almost 4 years in with the company. I don't want to lose my vacation time, sick time, profit sharing, etc. Before I do that, though, I am going to look into the "bridge in service" rules. If I can just bridge my dates and not lose anything, I may go that route instead.
In other news...TJ is getting bigger every day. I will have to post some new pictures in a few days. He now says dada, mama, baba, nana, and hida. He shakes his head "no," and I've started saying "noooo" when he does it so he will understand what it means. He sits up by himself for good stretches of time. He can transfer toys from hand to hand and reach for things. He is slowly learning how to blow raspberries. His main way of transportation is rolling around the living room floor, he wants NO parts of trying to crawl...but he does balance himself on his belly with his arms stretched out and kicks his feet like he's swimming....cracks me up. Today I gave him a sippy cup with a little bit of water in it, just to see what he would do. He chewed on it at first, but then I showed him how to tip it back and he drank a little. Then he was just happy to bang it on the table and throw it around. I can't believe that he will be 7 months old on Monday!
I think that's it for now :) More updates as they come...

Well, That Solved That Now, Didn't It.

Once again I find myself in the "What the hell am I gonna do about a job" boat I was in a few weeks ago. Last week I was presented with an option to go to another store in my district. I finally told my boss that as long as I could still have Christmas Day off and as long as I could still work 4pm-12am I would go. Those are my deal breakers. Period. As I've said before, it is TJ's first Christmas and I'm NOT missing it for ANYTHING. And, since childcare is a bit of an issue (even though there are 9000 people who would gladly watch him for me, and I may take some of you up on that once we move and I find a job....) I need to work 4-12. Well. The stupid store manager in the Hamilton store decided that those hours don't work for him. WHAT??? WHY would you decline to have an assistant manager work until midnight? ESPECIALLY during the Holidays?????? Ugh. Whatever.

So, here I am, jobless after January 2. Of course bossman said I can stay in his store as long as I need to, but we are probably going to shut off all of the utilities that we can as of January 1 or 2. Oh, yeah that's the other thing. We can't get out of our lease until February 28, and then we still have to pay 1 more month after that for the early termination fee. Blah. At least the leasing manager is going to let us make payments on the "extra" month and my parents aren't going to charge us until we are done paying here. Thank goodness. That will give me time to find a job, and we will only be 2 weeks without me getting paid since I will have 2 weeks of vacation come January 1 that I will get paid for.

Hopefully the opportunity at Rite Aid will pan out or something better will come along. Don't worry, I'll keep you all updated :)