fashion deals

Sitting here in my living room, windows open to feel the cool colorado night breeze, I am forced to listen to the constant bang of fireworks.

Awesome.

Why oh why do people feel it necessary to light them off days before the 4th of july? Even if I didn't have kids sleeping, I'm still irritated having to listen to it. And of course, they wait until it's completely dark, which is around 9pm, to set them off. Don't people understand that nighttime is when a lot of people are trying to relax and go to sleep??

Even when I'm not cranky from losing my job and being stressed out beyond belief - I still hate having to listen to it. Every year, each and every pop grates my nerves. Hey, I like fireworks too, I even bought a big bag of them today. Call me crazy, but I wait until the 4th to light them off.


And yes, I'll be the first to admit when I'm a humongous hypocrite. I'm complaining about this when at our last party, I was the one pushing my husband to light m-80s inside the crushed soda can to re-inflate it. But I will protest a little bit. The random firecracker is one thing. Everyone and their mom lighting off on after another on july 2nd is another.

I hide it quite well, don't I? (especially with some fantastic cheekbones, eh?)

Thank you for all your well wishes and "fuck them!" comments. I totally appreciate it. To answer the questions ...

~ Will you and your family be okay?
-- I'm sure we will be. We have great support from our families, both mine and hubby's, so no matter what, we'll be okay.

~ Is it temporary?
-- I'm not too sure what this means. Is my layoff temporary? Yeah, they aren't bringing me back after some amount of time. Is my joblessness temporary? I certainly hope so.

~ What's wrong with companies? (yes, I understand this question, and many others I'm still going to answer, was rhetorical.)
-- They suck. It's all about the bottom line now. No heart.

~ Why do they have to do that shit on a Friday and ruin your weekend?
-- From the great movie, Office Space, "We find it's always better to fire people on a Friday. Studies have statistically shown that there's less chance of an incident if you do it at the end of the week."

~ What are your next steps? What are you going to do?
-- Panic. Cry. Find another job.

~ You had no idea?
-- Nope. 100% blindsided.

~ Did you at least get 12 weeks of severance?
-- 30 days notice. 25 weeks of full pay severance. All benefits paid throughout the 25 weeks. Prorated bonus of 10% of my salary.

~ What the hell is going on?
-- I wish I knew. If anyone figures out why 2009 (after jan 10th, of course) is/was one of my worst years on records, physically and mentally, please let me know.

~ Hey nancy remember me? (from miss t)
-- Why yes, yes I do. I actually think of you often.


Ugh. So after my severance pay runs out (25 weeks), if I don't have a job yet, I'll collect unemployment. Severance will be given to me in a lump sum payment about 4 weeks after my last day. It isn't really that good considering a few things...

-- During maternity leave, I used up all my vacation, so I'll have to pay back 2 weeks.
-- I have HCRA (health care reimbursement account) taken out of my paychecks, but you can use it before you pay into it. I had $3,000 taken out and have only paid in maybe $1,500 so far. Since I used up all $3 grand paying my medical bills, I'll have to payback the other $1,500.
-- I have an outstanding 401k loan, about $6 grand, which will have to be paid back.

So all of that will be taken out of my lump sum payment. Since I won't be able to collect unemployment until the end of my severance period, I'll have to divide the amount by 25 weeks and pay myself weekly to stay ahead. But due to being reduced by something like $10 grand, it will be such a lower amount than I'm used to, right off the bat. Oy vey. I guess it'll be better than what my unemployment checks will be, a hefty $487/week, before taxed. UGH. Just seeing that tiny number makes me want to throw up.

Okay, I can't think about this anymore tonight or I'll start crying again.

I am, however, worried about my choice of colors for my hankerchief. Would picking red mean I was associated with that gang?

Awesome.

12 years with a company and they just let you go like you are nothing.

(I do have an important legal question at the end, so if anyone has experience in this area, I would be so appreciative if you read my question. Thanks!)

It was decided I should not get botox while still nursing. The doc read up and came prepared with a bunch of data, but he said it wasn't completely well tested yet and he suggested I wait. He did say if I ~really~ wanted it, he could see doing some, but I interrupted him to say no. I have no problem at all waiting. And there is no way in the world I would risk Karl's health for a wrinkle free forehead!

I ~did~ get the radiesse though. It was a super freaky experience. Three people (1 doc, 1 NP and the radiesse rep) all gathered around me as they drew a map no my face. Then after applying an ice pack, the NP put the first needle into my face up on my right cheekbone. One word. Ouch. No, more than one word. Ouch. Creepy. Fantastic.

First, the ouch factor. I won't lie - it hurt. A lot. It took maybe 5-8 minutes on each cheekbone, to get it just right. Having a needle stuck underneath the muscle and gel squirted out slowly along an inch and a half area simply isn't a pleasant experience. Second, the creepy factor. The gel stuff, when it gets between the muscle and bone, makes a crunch sound. Oh. My. God. It was terrible.

And now for the fantastic factor... It's awesome. I didn't take any damned before pictures. I spaced it because I was freaked out about the pain I was about to feel. Here are a few pictures I took afterwards. I haven't put on makeup and done myself up yet, so excuse the ickiness of my appearance. Just focus on 1) the fabulousness of my cheekbones and 2) the decreased 'smile lines' (the creases going from nose to mouth).

This one was taken immediately upon returning home. You can really see how my cheeks "hollow" out because they are so plumped above. The plumping was done from mid eye and outwards, which really tightened up the sides of my cheeks.




This one was taken this morning when taking the kids to school before my post surgical appointment. I look uneven because it's a weird angle, but you can really see how well my right cheekbone (left side of picture) is now defined. I had just pulled my hair back so again, I'm looking fucking awesome , so please don't judge me other than my cheekbones!




This one shows how cool my foot looks underneath the bandages. Another week and I'll get the stitches removed and can start to wear shoes again! Yay! Oh, and my right toe is totally wobbly like there is no bone in there. Doc said by shaving it down, it will feel like that, but it will end up tightening up eventually.




~~ legal question ~~

I have a friend (Bob) who is getting screwed over from a personal loan and wanted to know what he could do about it. Let me give basics ...

~ About 18 months ago, Bob's then-girlfriend's mom (lets call the girlfriend Kelly) got arrested for embezzling money, along with a few other people, from some business. (I don't know the details)

~ Kelly wanted to post bond for her mom, which she needed $10,000. Bob withdrew the $10 grand he had in savings and gave it to Kelly. Kelly then turned around and bailed her mom out.

~ Nothing was written down (yeah, yeah, stupid) and they were supposed to pay Bob back. I don't think any special plans for payback were made.

~ Kelly's mom eventually was found guilty and is now in prison. The courts took the $10k and put it towards restitution.

~ Bob and Kelly are broken up. Kelly doesn't have the money and the family is obviously broke from the court case and owing restitution.

~ Kelly says she'll still pay him back, but has no way to do it. Bob wants to get something legally in place to demand payment.

~ His only "evidence" is the $10,000 withdrawal from his account. He's going to try to get her to admit it, via email or letter, without demanding payment, just to establish the fact she owes it. He then wants her to sign an IOU. If she doesn't sign or admit, it'll be a her word against his thing.

~ What is the statute of limitations on suing for a personal loan? What court will he have to go to because of the amount? Should he do anything else besides getting an official IOU signed? If she doesn't start paying him, what can he do (if fact is established she owes him the money) can he take her to court to demand her to start paying? If yes and court rules in his favor, can part of her wages be taken to pay it?

I appreciate any info you have on this!

I'm vain. And I'm getting older.

It's been a known fact I ~will~ be getting a facelift when I'm in my 40s. My mother is a very wrinkly woman and I can already see too many on my own face. I already am obsessed with lifting up the sides of my cheeks to see what it would look like when I'm looking in a mirror (and my husband laughs at me each time).

I know of a cosmetic doctor whom I discussed my vanity with. We talked a few times and she has me interested in Radiesse, which is a filler like restylane, but I think it's better. I want it to go under my cheek bones, lifting up my cheek to chin area, just a teeny bit. It's a little pricey, about $700/syringe (I'd need 1 - 1 1/2 syringes for the job) so it's been something I've put on my to-do list.

Well, recently I was told there was an upcoming special on the pricing, an actual 'buy one get one 'sale' on the filler themselves. I would be saving $700! Yay! And what's cool is what isn't used can be saved for the next session (this lasts about 12-18 months) so I'm pretty excited. Today is the day of the appointment and it's now or never. (okay, maybe not that dramatic) The added bonus is the clinic is running a "12 month same as cash" financing, so I won't have to pay much out of pocket at all. And I'm really good at taking a larger debt and paying monthly payments, avoiding finance fees.

Oh yeah, while I'm at it and financing this (which isn't really that expensive, so I can always just pay the whole thing at anytime) I'm going to go ahead and get botox too. I've always wanted to see what that was like, so why the hell not. I'm getting botox on my forehead and the sides of my eyes and I'm getting the filler in my cheeks and between my eyes.

I'm pretty nervous about the pain. The doc said it hurts. Ugh. I'm really not wanting anymore pain right now, but what the hell. I'm sure I'm tougher than many of the rich chicks who get shit like this done all the time, right?

My appointment is in 3 hours. I'll post before and after pictures. Unless, of course, something goes horribly wrong and I end up looking like a train wreck.