Tuesday, December 31, 2013

IT'S NEW YEAR'S EVE - BFD

I find the new year holiday a complete waste of time 99% of the time. I'm only going to give it a 1% thumbs up because a couple of years ago Kev and I were in Ludington, Michigan at his mom's, and we went downtown to their ball drop. Now, this may seem like a no biggie kind of thing since Ludington is a very small town, but the Mitten Bar actually made the top 8 in the country for places to go for a ball drop. Kinda' cool.

Today I headed up to the ortho doc to have my shoulder checked. That went very well. He was shocked at how much movement I have, and I don't even have to go to physical therapy. All he said is to keep doing whatever the hell I've been doing and no lifting for awhile. Let my pain be my guide. I wish I would have had that damn surgery 2 years ago....would have saved myself a whole lot of pain. So that's a wrap on the shoulder issue. I don't have to see him any further unless I run into a problem which is highly unlikely at this point unless I lift something and re-tear it. SO not gonna' happen.

I did take some (a/k/a a LOT) of time last night to do a sparkly mani since I'm going to dinner with my mom, bro, sis and her hubster tonight. If things go as they usually do, I'll be home by 8:30 at the latest.  Tomorrow Kev gets home, and we'll eat turkey dinner at my sister's. Be still my heart.
China Glaze Medallion, striping tape mani
For this one I did two coats of  China Glaze Medallion. Then I used striping tape and went over it with black. I liked it at first, but I liked my black/silver herringbone one a whole lot better.

I probs should have done something with one of my holiday stamps but nothing really got me excited. I wish something had because it would have been a whole lot faster than this thing was.

Not that it really matters that it took some time. It was Tyler's last night here so we sat up and watched movies until way too late anyway.

Now I'm off to get ready for dinner.  After that, I'll wait for the new year to start, and while I don't do resolutions, I will be wishing on a star for a better year than 2013 has been.

Happy New Year to all of you!!!











Sunday, December 29, 2013

MADE FOR A "QUEEN", a/k/a ME!!!

I officially feel special! Over the past year, 20 of us in my nail group decided to send birthday giftage to each other. My birthday was December 26th, so it was a long-ass wait for my surprises. It was well worth the wait, and this is just one of the reasons why.

Too Cute-icle makes some fab polishes, as you already know from when I did a review of three of them awhile back.  One of the sneaks in the group had her make a polish just for me!! The name of this purple gorgeousness is "Queenly".  For whatever silly reason, somehow I've acquired the nickname Queen in a couple of nail places on Facebook. Queen Bee, Queen Bitch...take your pick. It works for either depending on my mood, I suppose. Either way I don't mind. It's not like I can deny the bitch part of it. LOL
Too Cute-icle Queenly
I probs should have waited to post this one until I could photograph it in the sunshine since it's a holo, but I couldn't wait to show off a polish made just for me. It's such a gorgeous "royal" shade! It's packed full of glittery flecks that I'm still waiting to see the full effect of since it's just been cloudy, cold and gloomy here.

When you have a birthday on December 26th, it can tend to be a bit of a letdown. Growing up I didn't get shortchanged on giftage, but I never got a birthday cake or a party. Seriously, with a house full of of holiday baked goods, the last thing my mom wanted to do was bake a damn cake. And it certainly wasn't a great time to throw a party.

As a "grownup", after all the busy-busy of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, when I wake up on the 26th, I kind of just lay around and try to recover from everything. It was fun this year having a bunch of little surprises to open.  

Like I said, I officially feel special. :)

Monday, December 23, 2013

O' CHRISTMAS TREE

This will be a short post in the few seconds I have before I trot my happy ass back out to the kitchen.  I've been a baking fool the past couple of days, and I'm in the home stretch. My dinner rolls are shaped, and I'm just waiting for them to finish rising so I can bake them. And then eat them. Because they are a delight. 

Before I get to bake those, I have to finish dipping marshmallows in white chocolate for my brother. I think it was 5 years ago when he was saying how much he loves chocolate covered marshmallows and can never find any. Because I'm a genius, I decided I would attempt to make those for him. I think that year I just did milk chocolate. He went batshit for them so it makes me feel obligated to do that for him every year. At some point he decided he likes the white chocolate ones I did the best so I get to skip the brown ones. I already did one dipping on two bags of marshmallows, and now I have to go get the double dipping done.

Since he is even more obsessed with white chocolate covered Oreos which are only sold at Christmas, I decided I'll try a package of those this year, too. Hopefully I do not regret this decision. lol

In the meantime, here's a mani I did with striping tape for CNS back in October. I almost forgot to post it.  I guess it's now or never because I won't have any time tomorrow for a post.
Christmas tree mani striping tape
Painted them red, slapped on some striping tape, painted them green and called it a Christmas tree.  I used a yellow rhinestone for the top and called it a day. It turned out the way they wanted it, so that's good. I think if I were to do it on my own, I'd jazz it up a little, but whatevs.

So now I'm off to finish the baking. I really want to wrap it up so I can at least make an attempt at a Christmas mani for tomorrow. Late last night I just slapped on a coat of red, but I want something a little more interesting than that for Christmas. Sheesh. A plain color for a holiday? 

I think not!

Friday, December 20, 2013

SOOO TIRED OF WRAPPING

OMG, we (in other words, I) buy waaayyyy too many presents at Christmas time. We buy for everybody in the family, and I have a tendency to get just a smidge carried away. Growing up I probs didn't realize it so much, but my siblings and I were pretty damn spoiled. My Christmas morning always had wrapped packages from the tree all the way to the middle of the living room for the three of us kids. To me that was just normal.  Even though I knew it was more than my friends got from Santa, when you're 7 or 8 you don't make the "spoiled" connection.

Once I got older, got married and had the girls, the going overboard with gifts just continued on. Hell, it still goes on. I cook Christmas Eve dinner, and everybody comes. It's wonderful even though my house isn't really big enough for 10 adults and 3 grandkids. When we're finished eating, my mom and siblings give the grandkids their presents to open, and then they head off to church while my daughters and their families head out to their dad's.  A bit later the girls and hubbies come back and we exchange gifts, and then we all go to my mom's usually around 10 p.m., we eat some snacks and then we open our gifts. The packages still go to the middle of the living room. 

We always take turns opening, and there are 10 of us adults doing it, and there were many years when it took until 3 a.m. to finish up. We try to do it a bit quicker now because my girls have the other sides of their respective families to be with the next day. Lack of sleep is always an issue. For myself, I don't care. It's once a year, and I'm going to enjoy it as much as I can. My mom is 85, and I don't want to take a minute of our traditions for granted. That being said, she's a very young 85, and it wouldn't surprise me one bit if she outlived most of us. lol

It's excessive and ridiculous and I love it. I love, love, love buying for everybody.  Ever year I say I should cut back, but it never happens. This year I spent more than ever before. I just can't seem to help myself. It's just so much fun watching them open! Griffin is 3 now so he should really be fun to watch, and Peyton is 8 so she'll be a joy, too. Treyson is 14, so that childlike attitude is switching to a bit more grown up. He is a freshman in high school; I guess he wasn't going to stay little forever no matter how much I willed it.

Now that I'm probs going to be jobless, we'll see what happens next year since I won't have the money I usually set aside every week specifically targeted for Christmas shopping. I'll try my damndest, tho.

Now, as much as I like the gift giving, I do not particularly care for the wrapping. It takes hours and hours, and I always end up with a very sore back from sitting on the floor doing it.  

CNS requested this mani, and doing this wrapping was a lot less work.

Christmas mani, Christmas present mani, bows
This was another one of those "quickie" mani's before my surgery so I didn't even bother taking note of what I used. They asked for red, green and purple. So that's what I did. Pretty basic. I had to do the bows freehand, and as you probs know, I am not a fan of my freehand work. So for me it's just kind of "meh".

For some reason last week my right index nail came loose. Apparently all this sitting around took its toll. Weird. I pulled it off and set it on my end table so I could reapply it. A few minutes later Baylee wanders over to the table and for some reason decided she should steal it. WTF? I look over and she's chomping, and it took me a minute to realize what she probably had. Luckily she decided it didn't taste so delish and dropped it on the rug. Thank God they are guaranteed to not break because even though I saw her chewing, there wasn't a mark on it. I'm glad she didn't swallow the damn thing. I have an extra one, but still....

And I don't think Kev would have appreciated me having him "search for it" in the snow, if ya' know what I mean.

Hey! Don't forget to please go vote for my snowflake mani over at the China Glaze contest if you haven't already! :)

Thursday, December 19, 2013

HOLLY AND BERRIES - A WINNING COMBO

Let the actual Christmas festivities begin!!! Yesterday we hopped in the car for our annual trek to lower Michigan to do the holidays with Kev's side of the fam. We left home around 9:30 a.m. and got to his sister's at 4:30 p.m. Lordie, I really hate long car rides. At least the roads were good.

Once we arrived we hung out for a bit and then headed out for dinner at a sushi place. Sushi = YUMMERS. I really wanted a steak to go with it, but per my usual luck lately, they were out of filet. Seriously. The restaurant was out of steak. On a Wednesday. Good Lord. So I doubled up on my sushi, which also took a hit because "white tuna" was crossed off the menu. Naturally it was; it's my fave. The regular tuna and the yellowtail were delightful, though, so I didn't complain. 

Today we are going to head out to do some Christmas shopping for his family. The gift sitch with this side of the family is much more laid-back, and we always seem to do it last minute, which I hate. No matter how many times I ask what we're doing starting right around Thanksgiving, I never get any ideas from anybody and nobody tells me what the plans are, so we end up shopping the day before. Drives me a wee bit crazy. But we'll get 'er done tomorrow.

We're staying here in Kalamazoo for another night, and then on Friday we'll head up to Grand Rapids to my other sis-in-law's house. There will be a completely ridic amount of food throughout the day; we'll all gain 7 pounds or more; and then we'll exchange gifts. I'm looking forward to seeing everybody. We'll spend the night there and then head back home on Saturday.

I finally did my nails on Sunday night, and for once I'm actually pleased with the freehand work I did. So much so that I left the mani on for the whole week. I thought this was cute enough to wear for the trip and didn't bring a single item with me to change them out. I like them that much.
Loreal Because You're Worth It, holly leaves, berries, Christmas mani
I started this look with two coats of Loreal Because You're Worth It, which is a really nice shimmery gold. It tends to be one of those polishes that show the brush strokes, but I took care of that issue with a coat of Seche Vite.  

Recently I've been doing some shopping over at Nomorerack, and I've really been getting some great deals. I bought a set of 6 flameless votive candles for $9, and what's really cool is they aren't just plastic. They are actually wax and vanilla scented. I also found some toys and a few clothing items that were seriously a steal.  I love the site; shit-tons of stuff and $2 shipping. They also do 3 hour segments almost daily where shipping is free, and they send you an email to let you know when. Awesome-sauce.

I digress. While I was perusing Nomorerack, I came across a few different sets of nail art pens. I decided to get the set that had 5 pens, red, green, blue, white and silver.  I was pretty excited to try them out. You can either open them to use an actual brush or just pull off the top to get a super fine, almost needle like applicator. I tested out making holly leaves on a paper plate. Once I decided I could actually do it, I freehanded leaves on all of my nails. 

Originally I had planned to do the berries with the red pen, but then I remembered I had small red rhinestones. I'm glad I used the stones because it added a little something more than just polish would have.

I was happy when I finished, and I'm still happy with it four days later. I've gotten quite a few compliments on them, too. I also should point out that I have absolutely no tip wear. That Loreal polish is really holding up great.

So yeah....love them. But as much as I do, you just know I'll be very happy to take them off when I get home.

It's 1:15 a.m., and I suppose I should head off to bed. I'm hoping I'll be able to sleep since there's no recliner here, and I haven't slept in a bed for quite some time. If Kev snores, I'm screwed for sure. I was tired quite awhile ago, but I wanted to get a post in here once everybody else was off to dreamland so I could concentrate on the business at hand. I also highly doubt I'll get a chance to post again this week amidst all the hustle and bustle of our early Christmas.

You know I'll try, though. I do already have manicures lying in wait. I just need 15 minutes of quiet time to write something to go along with them.

Quiet time + family + Christmas = not likely.

Monday, December 16, 2013

SHAMELESS

I figure the year is ending so craptastically that I thought I'd enter, of all things, a voting contest. Just because I'm a glutton for punishment. Voting contests are notorious for people figuring out ways to cheat, blah, blah, blah, and of course bloggers with thousands of followers are shoe-ins usually. But what the hell, right?

I went through my last year's holiday attempts and decided upon this snowflake one. I liked it last year, and I still do. I know....shocking. I like something. lol

If you like it, I'd appreciate if you'd take a minute to vote for it. You actually have to vote for 3 mani's, and then you'll need to click the link in the email they send you. But it's a one-time only thing so it's pretty quick and painless.

Ninja Polish Alexandrite over Black, holiday snowflake Christmas mani
It's purdy, right?  This is Ninja Polish Alexandrite over black, and I stamped the snowflakes with silver.  You can see how Alexandrite has a great color shift, and it was awesome in person.

Here's the link to vote if you've a mind to:   China Glaze contest 

Even if you aren't voting, there are a ton of cute mani's to look at!

Saturday, December 14, 2013

QUICKIE CHRISTMAS LIGHTS

Well, the end of my year is ending on an interesting note. 

On Wednesday I finally went back for my follow-up EGD on my ulcer. I was supposed to do that in September, but life got in the way.  It hasn't healed. Super. Another round of some new meds, and I get to have that redone again in February. *sigh*

Another "awesome" thing happened on Monday. I got a call from the bossman who started off the convo by asking how long I can get unemployment. Okay....weird question. I told him I have 16 more weeks of full benefits. He then proceeds to tell me that he has decided to retire at the end of 2014. I was shocked, but I didn't think it was so major that he'd have to tell me 2 weeks before Christmas. And then he says he won't have a full-time employee anymore. He's just going to do court appointments which don't really require very much work so he's just going to get someone 20-25 hours a week. I am still in shock. For lack of a better answer at the moment, I told him I'd finish out my full benefits on unemployment but would probs want to work the 25 hours a week and finish out with him. I mean, it's been 24 years. I can't imagine  not being there at the end.  Of course, I don't know  moneywise what will be best, if I should try to find another job which is damn near impossible here or just what I should do. I'm like a lost puppy right now.  Merry Effing Christmas.

On a better note, my shoulder seems to be doing pretty well. I haven't been wearing my sling at all for the past few days. It moves pretty well, but I still have to be careful.

Back in October I let CNS know that I'd be out of nail commission and that if they wanted any Christmas mani's they'd have to let me know so I could get them done before surgery. They asked for several, so I knocked them out over a couple of evenings.
Sally Hansen Cherry Red, Kleancolor Metallic Green, Metallic Yellow, OPI Blue My Mind, 10 Professional Put a Ring on It Christmas lights
For this I started off with Sally Hansen Cherry Red and then used Kleancolor Metallic Green and Metallic Yellow, OPI Blue My Mind and 10 Professional Put a Ring on It for the Christmas lights.

It was a bit of a rush job, and I could have done it better if I wasn't trying to get things done quickly. But it is what it is, which lately is turning into my attitude about everything.

Now I'm sitting here with naked nails since Monday when I put them on. I couldn't wear polish for the EGD, and I'm finding myself so totally uninspired that I haven't done anything. I've looked at hundreds of holiday themed nails over the past week, but I'm just not feelin' it. I think I'm just overwhelmed with everything right now; the arm, the ulcer, the dentist, the job, the holidays....just too much all at once.

End of today's whine session.

Friday, December 13, 2013

MY FAVE CHRISTMAS MANI FROM LAST YEAR

I'm going to completely not mention several not-so-awesome things that have occurred during the past few days. Suffice it to say some shiz has gone on that I could do without, especially two weeks before Christmas. I much prefer at least attempting to enjoy this time of year.

Last year I saw this manicure done by the folks over at Messy Mansion and abso-frickin-lutely fell in love with it. I immediately ordered the plate in order to do it and was lucky enough to get it in time to copy it as closely as I could. Someone else recreated it beautifully in one of my nail groups which reminded of it.

I'm considering doing it again this year to wear it downstate to the Graham family Christmas since last year I wore it for my side of the fam.
Christmas manicure, Julep Michelle, Orly Luxe, Orly Shine On, Messy Mansion stamp plate MM01
For my copy I used Julep Michelle for the dark sky. I sponged Orly Luxe for the gold and used a bit of Orly Shine On Crazy Diamond to simulate some stars in the sky. I did the stamp with Konad black stamping polish.

Stamping this one was interesting to do. I wanted the smallest camel to be on my pinkie finger, but the stamp was set up just the opposite. So I picked up the figure on my stamper and immediately pulled the stamp from that stamper with another stamper which switched the direction. Hopefully that sentence made sense. It took  a few tries to do it fast enough, but it worked out really well in the end.

I loved it last year; still do. I do have a couple lamer mani's in the wings to post, but I doubt I'll do anything that I think tops this for a Christmas mani.

And since I've done this post at 3:38 a.m., I'm keeping this one pretty short. 

Interesting how the posts end up short when I leave out all my bitching and moaning, hey? Don't get too used to that.

Monday, December 9, 2013

I'D LIKE MY NORMAL LIFE BACK NOW, PLEASE

First post in a week?? I hate that!! I really thought I'd feel more like my regular self by now. I'm sleeping a little bit better but still not enough, and with the holiday stuff needing to be done, I'm just tired. Just plain tired.

We did manage to do all the decorating last Thursday, and I have to say that hubby of mine really did amazingly. Since doing the tree requires a lot of arm lifting, he did the lion's share. All I did was sit back, critique and then I managed to put on some ornaments. Poor guy even had to finish attaching the mini lights to the front living room window. That job takes awhile and is a real PITA, and I did start it, but once I got to the side and was moving upward, my arm gave out so I had to have him finish. He has never done those before, and I don't know if he'd ever want to do it again. Not that I plan on making him. This year def had extenuating circumstances.

Wrapping presents is not fun for me normally because there are SO damn many!! I have a photo grouping of 20 pictures on one wall in my living room, and a few years ago I started gift wrapping those. I love how it looks and was determined to do it. It took me twice as long as normal and caused my arm to ache for the rest of the day.

Yesterday I wrapped actual presents, at least the ones I had to wrap. I still have a ton of stuff coming that will need wrapping so I'm still nowhere near done. The holiday is taking shape.  Here's a pic of the tree. I heart my tree. :)
I did this manicure before I even had surgery just so I'd have something to post. I sort of thought I'd get to posting it before now. Of course I also sort of thought I'd be posting more than I have been. I just did not anticipate being this out of sorts this far after surgery. Seriously pisses me off that my powers of recuperation are failing me this time around. I'm usually a bounce back fast kind of person.
OPI Lift the Veil, Mash stamping black, Ninja Polish DRK-A stamp
The pink is OPI Lift the Veil, the stamping was done with Mash stamping black and the herringbone is off of my Ninja Polish DRK-A plate. Unexciting, but nobody saw it anyway.

Right now I'm sitting here with only 9 nails on, fingers stained blue from taking off the snowflake mani. I'm trying to work up the ambition to soak them off and reapply because they've been on for 4 weeks tomorrow. If I redo them now, they'll get me through the holidays so the timing is perfect.  It's my lofty goal for today.

Sigh.  Or maybe tomorrow.





Wednesday, December 4, 2013

FINALLY CAVED - WINTER MANI

It was bound to happen, the moment when it became clear that winter was really here. It blows.

Yesterday was finally my post-op appointment up in Marquette, which is just over an hour away. I decided that I would leave my sling off for the ride. Trust me when I tell you it is not fun trapping one arm inside a winter coat even for a short ride. It's not like I'd be using it in the car, right? When we got there, I put it back on so I wouldn't get scolded by the doctor. As it turns out, it was fine. 

My arm is progressing nicely. Stitches off, he moved it around a little, had me move it around a little, and then told me he'll see me in four weeks which is when we'll talk about physical therapy. That bummed me out cuz' I was hoping I could skip out on that little bit of nonsense and just do it all on my own. I asked about the sling wearing, and he told me I don't have to wear it 24/7 anymore, just be careful with whatever I'm doing.

With that bit of happy news, I threw it in the car and off we went to Christmas shop since we always hit up a few stores that my stupid town doesn't have.  After shopping for a few hours and driving home, I was hurting. I knew I would continue to sling it up for bed, but I woke up pretty sore this morning and didn't sleep worth a crap because it kept waking me up. I was a smidge pissed about it and commented to the hubster that I didn't think I had done anything to use it all that much, but he seemed to feel like I had done a lot with it.

I hate when he's right. Lesson learned. I'll behave. Today I've only had it off long enough to do my exercises. I'm saving up to leave it off while we decorate either tonight or tomorrow. Still, all in all I'm pretty happy. Normally that sling would be a constant for at least 6 weeks so I feel ahead of the game. Go, me!

On Monday night I glanced down at my hands and thought I'd better do something. No way you are actually leaving the house for only the second time since surgery and having boring ass nails. If I'd known my nails would foretell the weather, I would have painted sunshine.

Instead I went with my first snowflake mani of the year, and we woke up to a minor snowstorm, the first of the year. Perfect. Snowy roads when we had to travel. So typical. But the nurse really loved them so it was worth it.  That weather was actually better than what it has been today. We got enough snow for Kevin to actually use the snowblower on the driveway, and now it's been raining like a mo-fo most of the day. Snow, then rain and then cold coming in. What a great combo!!! We'd be much better off with just snow at this time of year, and I hope everybody is careful out there on the roads once they turn into an ice rink. People have a way of forgetting how to drive during the snow season around here, especially the first couple of times the roads get bad....like they've never driven in it before. Idiots. 

So here's what I did. It's not my best work, but it's still difficult to play with my nails. I'm trying, though!!
OPI I Saw U Saw We Saw Warsaw, Orly Shine on Crazy Diamond, Messy Mansion HD05 stamp plate, unknown HB23 stamp snowflake
I started with a nice navy, OPI I Saw U Saw We Saw Warsaw. I don't know who names OPI polishes, but they crack me up. For a smidge of sparkle I add Orly Shine on Crazy Diamond. Then I  used my white MASH stamping polish and my HD05 Messy Mansion plate and some other unknown brand HB23 plate to do the snowflakes. It needed something so I put a little rhinestone in the middle of each snowflake, and I'm pleased to say I haven't lost a single one.

Like I said, it's not the most spectacular thing I've ever done, but it has a bit of holo shine from the Orly so it's nice when the light hits it. I'm tired of looking at it now, but I have to save my arm for tree and house decorating so I'll probs leave it on until at least Friday.  

I'm excited to get the house decorated. Usually we wouldn't do it until probably next week, but I want it up a week early this year. Normally we head out of town to Kev's family for our holiday get together after Christmas, but this year we are going the 18th-21st. I told Kev if I'm losing out on a few days of looking at the tree before Christmas, it has to go up early to make up for it.

I always love my tree and decorations. It makes the house feel warm and cozy. It's a pita to do, but it's the only time I ever think my house is pretty. If I can manage to get a decent pic or two, I'll post some here eventually.

I heart Christmas. Gives me the warm fuzzies.

Monday, December 2, 2013

MY THANKSGIVING MANI

Ah, it's Monday. It's hard to believe I've been off work for almost 3 weeks already. It's still weird to be sitting home on a weekday, and I'm having a hard time remembering what day it is most of the time. It's a strange feeling, and I'm undecided as to whether I love it or hate it.

The Michigan unemployment system is trying to make me crazier than I already am. After I filed, I immediately received a letter telling me that I was waived from having to register for work until March since I have a return to work date. Last Wednesday was my assigned day to do my first check-in which has to be done every two weeks in order to get my moolah. I went online to do that, and the system walks you through several questions in order to certify each week. 

Part of those questions involve whether or not you worked, looked for work, etc.  Obvi I have not looked for work so I chose "no" for that question. Then there are additional questions when you choose no for that question. Now, wouldn't you think that one of the choices would be because I'm waived from doing so?  Nope!! That would be way too easy. 

Since I was stumped on how to proceed, I decided I'd better call in to the customer service people to assist me in how I should do this every two weeks. I can't even begin to guess how many times I called. Every time I got the same thing; all reps are on other calls, try your call again later. Okay. I'll do that. Non-stop from 9:00 a.m. right through to 4:35 p.m. when I got the message that they're closed. Fan-frickin-tastic. 

I decided to go ahead and fill out that stupid incomplete question section and not answer that question about why I didn't look for work because it gives the option of answering those additional questions right away or do it later. I thought maybe that "later" part might give me the spot where I could mention that waiver letter. Nope!  I used their system to send a question about this, hoping they'd respond via email.

So even though they're closed, they still managed to send me an email telling me I have a new message in my account, and I fully expected to go to my account and find the answer to my question.  Nope!!

Instead I got two letters telling me there's a problem with my claim because I didn't answer about the looking for work stuff, saying I may lose my eligibility. Seriously, this is a royal pain.

I tried calling on Friday, but of course they were still closed for the Thanksgiving holiday.  Cut to today, where I started calling at 8:30 and still can't get through.  Hell, I can't even get far enough to be put on hold.  Another option is to go to the problem resolution office. Too bad the nearest one is an hour away. 

It's a damn good thing I don't count on that money to pay for minor things like rent or food, and I feel badly for someone that is dealing with this shitty system for their real bread and butter. Turrible; just turrible.

On Wednesday night I decided I just couldn't have plain nails for Thanksgiving even though my family couldn't care less about what I have on my nails. I still care. It was difficult and a little painful to do, but I managed to at least stamp them. It did take me a little longer than usual, though.
Enchanted I Am the Walrus over black, Llarowe LeaLac A stamp
I didn't bother trying to figure out anything theme oriented. I decided to just go with a fall-ish color.  Enchanted I Am the Walrus over black is just pretty on its own and is honestly one of my favorite polishes of all time. I like it so much I've used half the bottle and already know I want to get another. Hopefully they won't discontinue it. It's really hard to find it in stock most of the time.  I then used one of my all-time fave designs off of my Llarowe LeaLac A stamping plate. Done and done.

Tomorrow is my after surgery followup appointment. I'll be glad to get these stitches out. I think that might sting a little since I've had them in almost a week longer than I should have. I'm healing pretty well; hopefully the 4 spots won't scar too badly. 

I've been doing my exercises a couple of times a day which causes me to be pretty sore, but I think I'm moving pretty well. Of course, I really don't have any idea of how I'm supposed to feel. 

Griffin and I were playing on my bed on Saturday and he slammed my shoulder pretty hard with both feet. It was my own damn fault because of what we were doing, but holy hell did it hurt!! I actually had tears in my eyes from it. The way he hit me didn't concern me as far as doing any damage, but I made damn sure we started playing a different game.  There were quite a few times he wanted me to pick him up, but in general having him here wasn't too difficult with my gimpy arm.

He's such a fun kid, and everytime he was at my house he didn't want to leave. We have a definite system of what we do together, and I "may" be spoiling him a little. He's obsessed with Hot Wheels in almost a fanatical way.  Awhile back I decided to keep new ones set aside in the closet so I could give him a new car as a surprise every now and then. You know, "pick a hand" game.  Now he expects that every time he walks in the door. And now he gets that at least a couple of times when he's here. I think I gave him 4 this trip. He makes sure he has his new cars when he leaves here, and I steal 4 or 5 of his to keep here. He has something like 140+ cars already.  Once he gets his new car, he grabs my hand to help him, and we bring his race track into my bathroom which is where he wants me to go with him to play cars. My bathtub has a great ledge around it which works perfectly for racing.

Every since he was old enough to stand, he spends a lot of time lining them up. Perfectly. In a row, two by two, three by three....it's weird. Tyler said the first thing he did yesterday when they got home was grab some cars and line them up.
Those are just the cars he had in the little case he came here with!! Anytime they come, he chooses which cars will make the trip and puts them in a small zippered case so they can go everywhere with him. Crazy. For Christmas I bought him a case that holds 100 cars that looks like a little suitcase, complete with wheels and a pull out handle.  I'm thinking I should have bought two since he collects cars like a crazy person.

Kind of the way I collect nail polish. Uh-oh......