Back to the Grind Stone

Tomorrow is my first day back to work since January 15th (when I was laid off from the steel mill). I am both happy and sad about that. It will be nice to have something to do during the day and keep my mind off of Mark being away. But at the same time, I am going to have to fight traffic and I will not be able to run errands when ever I want. Everything will have to be done after work or on the weekends - like everyone else. :o(

It will be nice to see Mark for Christmas and New Year. Luckily, Health Net is closed between Christmas and New Year and they observe Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve as holidays as well. 10 days in Sydney with Mark (who is on vacation from the studio at the same time) will be awesome. I can't wait. We have even talked about flying over to Wellington, NZ for a couple of days as well. :o)

Well, today I will be just prepping for work - run to the store for supplies to take for lunch, make sure all the paperwork I am to bring with me is done, etc. And tonight I definitely have to make sure I am in bed by 10:30pm. I am getting up at 5:45am so I can shower, get dress, and talk to Mark on Skype all before I leave for work by 6:45am the latest. I don't have to be at work until 8am, but I have no idea what the traffic will be like on the 101 at that time of day. I don't want to be late on my first day.

Last week of "vacation"...

This is my last week of "vacation". Boy, do I have mix feelings. On one hand, it will be nice to be getting a regular paycheck. I will also have something to do during the day and be distracted from the fact that Mark is in Australia until the 4th of March. But at the same time, I will now have to do my errands like everyone else - on the weekends or at night after work. Plus I get to sit in traffic on the 101 to and from Woodland Hills. Thank God for the iPod.

I sent out a care package to Mark this morning. Damn thing cost me $42 to ship. And that was their least expensive. Oh well. He is worth it and I know he will like the things I sent him. :o)

Rejoining the ranks of the gainfully employed...

I am so relieved to finally have found work again. Though I do have to wait until August 17th to start - that is 3.5 weeks from now. Wow! Unfortunately, my initial unemployment claim runs out of money after next week. I will still need 2 weeks of pay. I have tried calling them for the extension, but get a busy signal on both toll free number and the direct number. How in the age of voice mail and multiple lines can you get a busy signal??? But from the website's FAQ page, I am supposedly to get a letter if I qualify for the extension after my last payment and that is when I call to extend it. I think things are going to be tight around here. But soon, I will have a bigger paycheck coming in regularly and I (as well as Mark) can breathe easier.

Mark has been without internet since checking out of the hotel last Friday. So we have only been talking thru email and Facebook. It sucks. I miss seeing him and talking to him "live". Hell, I miss him terribly. Being unemployed, I have a LOT of free time to think about him not being here and to make myself very lonely. I even miss the arm tugging that he does! Who would have thought?!?

In the mean time, I do have the cat for company. That is when I can pull Zoey away from her new crush, The Fan. She even falls asleep leaning on it. It is too funny when she goes into a deep sleep and loses her balance. Crazy cat!

It is Monday, right?

Being unemployed, the days just blend together. I really have to look at a calendar to know what day of the week it is. I did not realized that this Saturday is 4th of July. I saw a post of a friend of mine on Facebook saying how happy he was that it was a 3-day work week. I was about to ask him why until I looked at the calendar and saw Saturday is a holiday. Most offices will be closed on Friday. I really need to find a job. I am starting to think working part-time might not be so bad.

The first weekend without Mark was not bad. I saw "The Hangover" on Saturday (by myself - I like doing that at times). I laughed through the whole thing. I would recommend this one to everyone. Saturday night I finally watched Mark and my Netflix movie of "Into the Wild". We have had this movie since December. It was good movie. Though definitely not a happy movie. Sunday, I met up with our friends Jeff and Matt and saw "Transformers 2", or as I say, the new Michael Bay comedy. It lived up to my expectations - lots of things blowing up and no plot. But the special effects where cool. And seeing Shia LaBeouf scream like a girl was worth it.


It really hit home that Mark is in Australia this morning when I saw a few pictures he had posted online. It really made me miss and wish I was there sharing the experience with him. Above is one of the pictures. I will get to see him and these sites soon enough. I will just have to figure out how long I can get away to see him in December. It will be 2 weeks minimum, but I hope I can stretch it longer. Even if I have to walk around Sydney on my own because he has to work, it still be worth it. But I know he will take some time off and show me around. I can't wait.

Bake or not to bake...

I feel like baking today, but I am not sure what to make. I could make cupcakes. I could make bread. I could make cookies. But then again, it is suppose to be warm today and I am not sure I want the oven on. Maybe I will just go see a movie. I do want to see "The Hangover". I could do that. Or maybe I will see the movie and make cookies this evening (they don't take as long as bread and I don't have to buy a pan to make them like I do for cupcakes).

Only talked to Mark once yesterday and that was a short conversation. We really need to figure out a good time to talk and make that our scheduled talk time each day. It will be better once he finds a place of his own and has Internet 24/7. Right now he can pay AU$30/day or AU$5 for 1/2 hour. Since he is not in the room much, the latter one is better. But he also has to take care of personal business as well during that 1/2 hour so we don't always get much time to talk. I just miss him terribly.

Gecko!!

The gecko has made it to Australia!! he he



Mark asked if I knew what Brian (his brother) was talking about when he asked Mark how the Gecko was doing. I told him to look in his duffel bag and take out the afghan I made him. The Gecko was wrapped there. (For those who don't know, the Gecko is a stuffed animal that Brian won in one of those claw machines that you try to lift a toy out of. He won it when he and his girlfriends Jeannie visited us while we were living in Portland. Ever since, the Gecko has been passed back and forth between in secret. We never know when it will show up in a drawer or bag or gift whenever we get together.) This time around, we all thought Mark could use the company and the Gecko would love to see Australia.

24 hours later...

Mark has now been in Australia for over 24 hours. I am very glad he is having this opportunity. Maybe next time he gets work overseas, I can go with him. I would have this time, but I did not have my passport up to date and I have a 14 year old cat that I don't think would survive the trip and quarantine (it is 30 - 60 days - the stress would kill her I think). But I will be going to visit him this December for Christmas and New Year's. We are even planning a side trip (about 3 days) to Wellington, New Zealand as well.

Took care of a few errands here. I took the car in for an oil change since we were not able to deal with it before Mark left. That only took 45 minutes to do. But I did get a free car wash out of it. Yeah me!

Looks like I will be meeting up with some friends this Sunday to see the new Michael Bay comedy at the Arclight. It will be nice to see something funny. I was also thinking of going to see "The Hangover" tomorrow afternoon. It is all about the funny distractions this weekend. ;o)

Right now, I think I will make some hummus. I have been using this recipe the past few times and everyone seems to love it.

Love Skype...

I just got off the "phone" with Mark and all is well. He breezed thru customs and is at his hotel room. It is now 10 am for him. He is going to lay down for a nap and then run a few errands. Skype video call feature worked out great. Though I think I will go get a headset to use a mic. The one on my laptop sometimes does not pick up my voice that well.

To add to the surrealism of today, both Farrah Fawcett and Michael Jackson passed away. I guess with Ed McMahon, that makes 3. So rest of Hollywood can breathe a little easier for now. Sad thing is, I am sad at the loss of Farrah and Ed. Not so much with Jacko. I know some people like his music, but he had always creeped me out. Even before the whole "Jesus Juice" incident.

Now the waiting begins...

According the website I was tracking Mark's flight thru, his plane landed about 20 minutes ago. It was an hour late arriving (30 minutes late taking off). I am sure Mark is not happy to be stuck on the plane for an extra hour. But I will be hearing from him once he gets to his hotel room and before he goes out to run a few errands. (It is only 7:45am tomorrow there now.) Then we can test out the Skype on our computers and see how well it works.

I can say though, that I think I got about as much sleep as he did. I slept like crap last night. I am just going to have to get used to sleeping by myself in a bed again. We have a king size bed and don't bump into each other at night. It is just his presence that I miss. Oh well. The cat will have to do for now. ha ha

Off to do a few errands of my own...

One more hour...

We are leaving for the airport in one hour. This is very surreal! It is hard to believe I won't see him in person until December. But I am looking forward to seeing Sydney for the first time. We are also planning on going to Wellington, New Zealand for a couple of days as well.

Now if only I could find work and be distracted by it...

Zoey is going to miss Mark as well. Who else will do this to, I mean, for her.

8 Hours and counting....

In about 7 hours, I will be dropping Mark off at the airport so he can go work in Australia for 8 months. We have done the long distance before (the first 5 years of our relationship), but this will be different. Before now, the furthest we had been apart was a 5 hour flight. He will now be a 16 hour flight with a HUGE time difference (17 hours ahead). I won't see him in person until mid-December when I fly out to see him for Christmas and New Year. At least we have Skype and can "see" each other every day. I hope that helps. He will be missed by Zoey and me.