Last week I finished my training at Bath & Body Works. I think I'm going to like working there, I'm just worried about all the knowledge I seem to need yet about all the products. I definitely want to buy a few things there - I used to shop there religiously for shower gel and body spray but they have a few new lines I want to try out, especially their skin care lines Wexler and C.O. Bigelow. I was given a few products to sample when I started and fell in LOVE with a foot lotion called Heel of Approval - my feet feel like I just had a pedicure, and at $15 for the little tub of lotion it seems like a good thing to use to stretch my time between pedicures. I have awful feet and have found I require a good pedicure about once a month, but obviously that hasn't been working out so well lately.
On Thursday night Matt and I packed up a weekend bag and a bag for the pups, loaded up a rental Chevy Traverse, and drove to Minnesota for my dear friend Bean's wedding. When I lost my job I was terribly worried I wouldn't be able to go to her wedding (she'd asked me to be a bridesmaid and I just couldn't say no) but in typical fashion Angela offered to help out since she was going as well... one of these days I'll win the lottery and will be able to pay her back for all the help she's given us in the last two months. We left Denver at about 12:30 Friday morning: Angela took the early shift and the rest of us tried to sleep. Mirabelle is always so good on car rides, she just laid down and fell asleep. Ozzie on the other hand whined and cried for quite a bit. I don't know if he just doesn't like car rides or what... I even tried coddling him in my lap and he didn't seem happy there either. Finally, though, the Kids Benadryl we gave all the dogs kicked in and he fell asleep too.
Angela drove us all the way to Nebraska, till about 7:30 am, when we stopped at McDonald's for breakfast and took the dogs out. Matt and I have cut out McD's from our diet but can't resist a good McD's breakfast on a long road trip. After we ate I took over the driving and made it to the Twin Cities suburbs in just about 7 hours. Instead of going straight home we detoured to Apple Valley so Matt and Antonio could get White Castle... to each his own, I guess! I was exhausted by the time we made it, but Mom picked us up and we went to my parents' house.
That night I crashed at about 9 pm, but I got some decent sleep while we were there. I have been fighting some awful back pain for the last month, which I think may be caused by a pinched nerve in my lower back, but I just don't know. I've been doing the 2-Aleve-and-a-heat-pad thing every morning but it doesn't seem to be going away... I may have to take a trip to the doctor's. Anyway, we ran some errands on Saturday before my parents had one of their parties. Our friends Mike and Laura came by on their way to Rochester, so we sat and drank and visited with them. It was also Matt's birthday on Saturday. I felt bad because I wasn't able to do much for him to make the day special... I'm hoping to make it up to him when things get better.
Sunday was Bean's wedding day. After an amazing lunch at Fiesta Mexicana (the best Mexican restaurant ever!) we drove about 2 hours south to the venue. The wedding was INCREDIBLE. I've never in my life been to a wedding that was more perfect in every possible way. I don't usually cry at weddings, but this one had me fighting! It made me reflect back on mine and Matt's wedding... which, in retrospect, I realize I was not terribly happy with how our wedding came around. I was really happy with our wedding venue, our reception at Old Chicago (yes, we had a pizza and beer reception!), and our wedding ceremony music. And truly that's about it. I look back and wish I would have done a lot of things differently, but at the end of the day Matt and I were married and I suppose that's what matters. But anyway, Bean's wedding was truly magical and I couldn't be happier for her.After the wedding and reception/dance, we left at about 10 pm, putting us back home around midnight. Matt and I had packed most everything up earlier that day, so we went straight to bed and slept for about 5 1/2 hours. At 6:00 am we got up and my dad drove us to Angela's hometown, about 20 minutes away, and we re-loaded the Traverse and headed back to Denver... we got a pretty late start on the drive, as we drove back north to White Castle again (apparently White Castle is good as breakfast, too!) and we got coffee at Caribou before heading south toward Iowa. When we stopped in Des Moines for ice cream I took over driving and drove from there all the way back to Denver... such a long drive!! It seemed to take twice as long going back as it did driving out, I suppose because we drove through the night the first time. We had to stop quite a bit more, but we made it back to Denver around 10 pm on Monday night.
Poor Ozzie didn't handle the trip very well the second time... he got sick once in the car and when he got back he was pretty dehydrated and hungry (neither dog really ate at all in Minnesota, I assume because of the stress and new environment). He's doing better now, thank goodness! We'll have to be a bit better with him on our next trip, which will probably be in March to Kirksville to see Matt's folks. Trips to Kirksville are always a bit interesting... but the drive will be a bit shorter, and hopefully by then we'll have boosters for both dogs so we won't have to wrangle both of them on laps.
On Tuesday I had to work in the evening, but as I was getting ready for work I got a call from Old Navy asking me to come in for an interview the following day. I'd made plans to contact the Container Store, but Old Navy seemed like a much better option as far as holiday retail (more options for gifts and, hopefully, new clothes as Matt and I desperately try to get back on our diets). On Wednesday we got in the newly-fixed Subaru and started driving to Park Meadows... and the Subaru started die on us again. So, we turned around and took it back home. I called Old Navy and told them I'd be late for my interview (a good first impression, huh?) and called our mechanic to tell them it was still acting up. Our mechanic was just as pissed and frustrated as we were, which I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. At any rate, we took it back to them yesterday and we're still waiting to hear a diagnosis. We went to Duffeyroll's yesterday for comfort food after dropping it off, and just started talking about "Screw it all, let's pitch both cars and buy a brand-spanking-new car with a freaking warranty," but I know we couldn't afford that either. We bought the Subaru on a loan, and the Beetle's still on a loan for now, so we'd be stacking two loans which is never a good idea. I'd still like to sell the Beetle, but I can't until I know 100% that the Subaru is fixed.
So, after Matt had been dropped at work I went to my interview, which was your typical retail interview, and talked to the store's manager before I left who said "Well, I'm definitely interested in hiring you, if you are interested in working here." To no surprise, I got a call from them yesterday offering me a job making $9 an hour - whoo hoo, I'm back to making the exact same as I was three years ago when we moved here! Hot damn. They are supposed to call me today to set up orientation and all that jazz, but I'm happy to be employed (again) and will hopefully now be making enough money between the two jobs to be financially okay.
I registered to take my GMAT exam for grad school... and I'm taking it in about two weeks. I've got to hit up the library tomorrow for some study books and finish my application... hopefully I can find my motivation to just sit down and do it. Then I've got to deal with financial aid... ugh. I remember what a nightmare the FinAid office at Truman was, and I'm scared to deal with it again. I worry that, since I'm starting in the spring, my only payment option for my first semester will be loans... but I guess I'm not surprised by that either. I guess we'll see... apparently there are Pell Grants available for the unemployed, but I'm not anymore, so I just don't know how this is all going to work. I'll have to go meet an advisor and just talk it out. The plus side is that I'll have free public transit once I'm a student and I'll be able to defer my current student loans. It just seems like there is so much to worry about.
Anyway, I've got to cut it short - I've got more to write about, but it'll have to wait. I have to get ready for work and take two excited puppies out...
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