Dead Fishy

My new fishy died. While he was still new. He only lasted 5 days, which has to be the shortest time frame anyone over the age of 12 has kept a fish alive. So I has a new fishy. Meet Ryuk Ni (ni means 2 in Japanese... I took a lesson from the Simpsons and their cat and then made it Japanese)

As you can see, the cat likes him, too.



Ryuk Ni is far more active than Ryuk (Ichi, I guess). He has also learned things, for instance, he knows where the hole he gets fed through is and if he swims up to it and stares at it, I will feel bad and feed him.

Also, he makes cute fishy faces at me.

So far, he's lived longer than the other one. We'll see how this goes.

I has a fish.

His name is Ryuk (named for a character from the anime series Death Note. Ryuk is a Shinigami, or Angel of Death, who likes apples).

He came right up to me. I was searching through all the little Betta Bowls looking for a blue Crown Tail Betta and all the others would (try to) swim away (not very far.. these were 1 liter bowls) except this little guy (a red Crown Tail Betta). So I picked him up and told him his name. He swished his tail and swam in a happy little circle. I had already picked out the tank, but was unsure of the gravel. I set white gravel on one side of his bowl and black gravel on the other side. He chose black.



He's very happy and really likes freeze dried blood worms. Disgusting! But it is fun to watch him attack them (even though they are dead, he still attacks them.) And it's interesting to see him swim to the top and breathe air. Yes, Bettas breathe air--with their mouth. They can't live off of it, but they like to do it.


(He had just taken a breath. I missed the actual taking of said breath.)

Here fishy fishy fishy...

I have an urge to get another pet. Not the first time I've had the urge, but I really REALLY want another pet.

After a bit of thought, and goofing off on the internet, I decided I want this little guy...



I want to put him on my desk at work and call him Ryuk.

He's a betta fish. They're small, easy to take care of, and you can put a plant (with white roots) on top of the bowl/tank and make it even prettier. But I found the tank I want, too, and it doesn't have a spot for the plant on top. (view this site to find out more about making your own betta fish vase.)

But I can't have this little guy at work. So I want him at home. Or something equally cute. Or fun. Or something.

In God's Timing...

3 1/2 weeks ago, we told our houseguest that she needed to find somewhere else to go within the next 2 weeks since nothing was happening.

The Monday after the weekend she was supposed to be out, she told us she had found a place that was willing to work with her on rent, but she couldn't move in until the following weekend. We extended our deadline.

Since that time she has:

Gotten a full-time stable job

Finished a program to have her drivers license reinstated

Received her son's birth certificate (she has been waiting for this for 8 weeks)

Rented a storage unit for her stuff

Is trying to set herself up to be able to get her own place soon.

Thank you, God, for not being limited by my own selfishness and timeline. And for having everything fall into place when I didn't think I could handle any more.

She has most of her stuff out of the house, and will be staying the night tonight, and leaving keys when she heads out to work tomorrow morning.

The world is run by the cute.

So says Happy Bunny.

I'm behind. I don't even remember everything I have to post, and I wouldn't have time to post it all even if I did remember.

Just wanted to say hi.

Our roommate is NOT gone yet. When she called the other night to say she wouldn't be home she said she couldn't get ahold of the guy who was going to rent her the room so "it will probably be next weekend, if that's ok" to which we replied "We can talk about it."

We told her she has to be out Wednesday. I have no real hope for that as it seems as though Heath doesn't mind giving her more time if she needs it. I, on the other hand, am not. It's only natural that she develop a crush on the guy who is being nice to her and helping her through a tough time, and I'm fine with it, for a little while, but we're going on 10 weeks here and that is just too long to live so close with someone who has a crush on your husband.

Work is still good. Busy.

That's all for now.

TTFN

September?

When did that happen? Where did my summer go?

We still have our house guests, with no sign of them ever leaving. Still not on the waiting list for the apartment with Shelter Care Ministries and now her wages have gone DOWN.
Apparently, the company is being bought and the new owners have decided they don't need to pay hourly wages, people can work for tips only... in a place where they don't get alot of business, so there's not alot of tips, either. When you employ illegal immigrants, you can get away with this because nobody will turn you in. These people are working hard and whether they are illegal or not, everyone there is treated like slave labor. Sad.

On the upside, I got her an interview and a restaraunt on Monday. This one is closer to our house and definitely not the type to TOTALLY screw an employee over. The hiring manager seemed pretty excited to have a prospect. Keep her in your prayers.

I have purchased the domain tailoredtohire.com and planned on having it up and running by now. It's not up and running. But with good reason. I am working on a website for my boss, who is running for Illinois State Representative. Pretty exciting since I know absolutely nothing about politics. Since Heath is now out of the hospital and healing nicely, I have devoted all my spare time to this website. I have learned all sorts of new things and am excited to be able to use a lot of it for my tailoredtohire page. I am currently working on getting his announcement speech on his site (electjimthompson.com) but am having some difficulty. Ok, a lot of difficulty. 7 hours last night (I kept falling asleep for a few minutes, then waking up and trying something new that wouldn't work and then starting over again) I finally gave up and shut it down ... well... I don't know. The last time I really looked at the clock was 1:30. I have been working on it about 3 hours today. I have checked the coding and am positive it is done correctly. Heath finally mentioned that maybe our Host Server doesn't have the option to play video turned on. Wish he would have brought that to my attention oh, say 24 hours ago. I am trying to go through photobucket until we get that resolved. I'm not using my Picassa account because that puts the account information on the video and that's not very professional. Hopefully photobucket doesn't do the same. We'll find out shortly.

So, there you have it. That is where I have disappeared to this week. And probably most of next. I was honored to have him ask me to write it and to be able to support him as I agree with the views I have heard him express in my almost year of employment with him. Also excited to attend all the political shindigs that I never thought I would ever be interested in. Amazing what being involved will do for a person.

Sleeping at work.

ER at 2:15 am Tuesday morning. All day and night in hospital. Was home for 4 minutes to change and forget to brush my teeth and now I'm at work. Yeah. I'm ready for a vacation.

Dena... I have a phone. It works, most of the time. Nifty for ordering Mary Kay. =D

Did that really happen?

Week 1) We got guests.
I received a call at work a couple of weeks ago from a young woman I know through the church. I wasn't able to answer right away, so she left a voice mail that went something like this:
"I don't remember your brothers number and I was wondering if you could help me. My boyfriend and I got into a fight last night. He's in jail and now I'm homeless."
I immediately made some phone calls and later that day, she moved in, along with her just-turned-3-year-old son.
Turns out, they live with her boyfriends mother. When he went to jail, she realized she lost her drinking buddy and decided to kick out this young woman and her 3 year old son. She was a bit bruised and scratched up when she came to us, but she seems to be doing well.
If you wish to help, my amazing husband called up my amazing pastor-brother and you can send any amount (every dollar helps) to Souls Harbor Church c/o Rocio 2802 11th Street, Rockford IL 61109. She is looking for a full time job as her current job leaves her with less than $60.00 a month for housing and utilities, and Rockford Housing and Shelter Care Ministries both have a very large waiting list. We also accept prayers.

Week 2) We got sick.
A summer cold that knocked us on our... bottoms. I actually ended up taking a little bit of time off of work (I went in for 2 hours, then got sent home).

Week 3) Heath got surgery.
That's right. His first ever. Woke up around 2:00 am in excruciating pain. After researching on the good ole internet I found that it was most likely his gallbladder. I urged him to go to the ER, but of course, he didn't. He actually went in to work the next day (neither of us got any sleep after that) and they sent him to the doctor. Who sent him to the clinic, who sent him to the hospital, who sent him to the clinic, who had him admitted to the hospital right away.
Apparently, he had a 15/16" diameter gallstone and a severe gallbladder infection.
Surgery was tentatively scheduled for 8:00 p.m. Tuesday, and they got him in at 10:00 p.m. Tuesday.
All is well now. He's home and resting. Funny how God works. He needed some quiet time to relax and heal and our houseguests went out of town this weekend.

Dear God,
I'm tired.
Love, Wanda.

Also, TailoredToHire.com - coming soon!

I jumped out of a plane...

I did it. I want to do it again. Tomorrow sound good to anyone?

I went skydiving. I decided to go about 2 months ago, and have talked myself out of it several times since. I'm glad I kept talking myself back into it. It was not at all like I expected. It was cold, uncomfortable, and I had a blast!

Forget everything you think it would be like (except the windy bit). There's no "I'm afraid of heights; it's too high!" there's no "I'm falling!" No ground rush. The biggest issue I faced was remembering that I could, in fact, breathe despite the bitter cold, 122 mph wind in my face. I could have jumped out the plane myself without being pushed. Heath agreed, and he's afraid of heights. I recommend this past-time. I especially recommend Midwest Sky Dive.



You guys were great!

Here I am with my instructor/parachuteman while he makes final adjustments on his equipment; and being led by him to the plane.





Here is the first plane I've ever been on taking off (with Heath and I in it).

and I didn't even get to land in it.


Here are people falling.



Here is Heath falling.


Really... that's Heath!!!


Here is me falling!

Really... that's Me!!!


So... seriously, when can I go again?

Rockin' the Skies

Skydiving was incredible! Amazing! I would do it again in a heartbeat. Pictures to come!!!

Birthdays and Stuff

Thanks, mom, for the happy birthday magnetic fun. I know you don't live in Janesville, the fridge can be tricky like that.

It was a... nice day... but I'm glad it's over.

I've been busy with work and enjoying the sunny-ness (as my eccentric "farmers tan" shows)... not so much with the posting.

But don't fret you none; I have notes! All those posts I was planning on writing but haven't will probably show in list form in the near future. Please, try to contain your excitement.

Chey's big day.

Last weekend we decided to let the cat venture off the deck. We have been keeping him out of the grass as he likes to eat it then throw up all over our house. However, after reading up on why cats eat something poisonous to them, I discovered they actually do it for health reasons (furballs, upset stomachs, eating disor... no that's models). Anyway, after throwing up a few times, I took him exploring around the yard.


He likes trees
 


and stalking Heath 


and rocks.
 


he really likes rocks.


Really likes rocks.

Hooray Kitty!

Skydiving

Yes. It's true. I'm going skydiving!

Something I have always thought about doing, but never really thought I would do. Now I have the opportunity.

For those of you who are worried, perhaps a little reading to ease your fears. We are going through Midwest Skydive. Their website is skydivemidest.com. I wasn't sure if I really "wanted" to do this, or just wanted to do it until I read up on it more. Now I can't wait!

Sorry, mom and dad.

From my Superhero Sister:

A Message From My Superhero Sister: (Read the comments section)

This week...

I am being groomed for management; and I like it. This week: Corporation, LLC, and Not-for Profit Annual Reports. Simple forms to fill out and a good start to learning business law.

This last week went by quickly; though my latest project is going well.
This week I saw:


Note the red light... I was stopped when I took this picture.

A jeep that made me smile. I felt appreciation?... admiration?... for this expression of joy. I don't know their reasoning for this. Maybe they bought it that way and never changed it. Maybe they are really happy and wanted to let people know. Whatever the reason, I have to believe they have made more than just me smile at that. I may be sarcastic and annoyed, but I am happy; and happy to see other people happy.


I also saw this:

Cute little chipmunk when I pulled into my driveway. Staring at me like he was completely innocent before running down a hole where my sidewalk meets my driveway. He's not as innocent as he (she? I didn't look; couldn't figure out how to explain to a chipmunk and my neighbors that I was just curious) looks. Be careful if you ever visit me... the sidewalk might cave in on you from the holes this (adorable) little rodent is digging under it.

I don't have pictures, but has anybody else ever notice just how pretty and peaceful the cemetery on Auburn and Main Street is? I've paid a lot of attention to the trees and grass blooming in this cemetery for the last few months; and have come to appreciate the beauty and tranquility that appears to be out of place at this busy, loud intersection.

Staring out the window at work this week, I watched two little boys who live in a nearby house playing basketball. It was a child sized, plastic basketball hoop and the oldest boy (maybe 7 years) could reach the top of the rim. The youngest boy (maybe 3 or 4 years) was about the height of the bottom of the netting. I watched the older brother help the younger brother hold and throw smaller sized basketball. Kids are cute when they're not screaming and yelling.


I still watch the fireman come and go and do various things outside during the day. I plan on stopping by sometime this summer with some treats. Of course, I have been saying that for a couple of months now, but I would like to show support somehow. And say thanks for entertaining me during the weekdays.

Ma, Ma, Mom, Mommy, Mommy, Mommy

Happy Mothers Day!

Did I just see that?

I recently became inspired to be better at... well, everything. Looking for ways to improve my smart-ness (I'm guessing using the word smart-ness is not a very smart thing to do), as well as skills, I began watching other people more; and what I found was humorous, gross, and sad. One of my goals is to improve my grammar and writing skills, which means I need to write more, which means I need things to write about. (I'm off to a great start [sigh])
So today, I bring you "Did I just see that?":

Things I saw:
4/28/09 - Tuesday
A gentleman in a very professional gray suit clipping his nails while walking across a parking lot. A large stack of papers filled his left arm, while he focused intently on those nails. He suddenly stopped in the middle of the parking lot, to focus more, I suppose; as though there is nothing strange about a well-dressed man clipping his nails in public. - When did this particular act of grooming become acceptable to do in public? I have had (and do have) bosses who do this in their offices during the work day, and I would just like to say to my husband's current and any future assistant that if he ever become the type of man to clip his nails while sitting in his office, you have my permission to throw the clippers away.

An attorney return from court wearing an "I do it for the cookies" sticker. He gave blood. - Thank you for giving blood. You're keen.

4/29/09 - Wednesday
3 cute old men play cards at the U-Club. - My bosses took us to lunch there, a week late due to vacations and court and such, for Administrative Assistants Day. It was enjoyable. The old men were cute and fun to listen to.

4/30/09 - Thursday
A 4'something girl jump onto a bicycle being pedaled by a 6'something guy, who swerves to throw her off, only to be beaten by the girl. - Yeah! "The bigger they come, the harder they fall!"

5/1/09 - Friday
Fireman sweeping out their garage. - Did you know that they have "chores" that have to be done on certain days. On Friday's, the firestation down the street from my work has to sweep out their garage. They did a good job. Firemen are keen.

Our neighbors selling 8 adult bikes at a garage sale.

5/2/09 - Saturday
What would have been the perfect commercial for Subaru.
On our way to Madison we passed a light green and beige Outback. Inside was a 30-something brunette.
Approximately 10 minutes later we came upon another light green and beige Outback. Assuming the 30-something had somehow passed us again, I was only glancing in her direction when I did a double take: same car, but the brunette inside was perhaps 10 to 15 years older than the lady we had previously passed.

5/3/09 - Sunday
Cow in a wedding dress. Or was it a spotted dog? It was hard to tell; it was in a wedding dress. - A stuffed animal purchased at a garage sale for my neice, and she loved it.

5/4/09 - Monday
Today I saw a man shaving, while driving, and smoking a cigarette.

Since nothing last week topped the multi-tasking man I saw on Monday, and since I was super busy at work, I have nothing more to post on this topic.
Have a great and eventful week!

More May-ziness

Happy Birthday, Super-hero Sister Dena!

May-ziness

Happy Birthday, Grandma!

NinjaCat Sparta

Spring has Sprung!

Last weekend, Cheyenne enjoyed his first day outside this year and I was able to remove enough fur with my defurring tool to create another cat.




Considering his newfound spot-of-choice this winter, I'm glad its Spring.

Cat in the dryer.


Despite my run-in with the soap, the job is going well.
Firemen honk at me all day...

Fire Station one block away from the window I look out.


Well, I like to pretend they are honking at me. It makes me feel pretty. The mail lady told one of the shifts this, and I believe I can tell when that shift is working based on how much they honk when they are at the corner outside this window.




I work a few minutes from the river and love to head there for lunch.




The job is going well. I just had my review and was very happy with everything that was said. Plus, I got a raise, so bonus! I really enjoy the down-to-earthedness of my bosses, and their sense-of-humor(s).

I think the real surprise was the phone call I received yesterday (Saturday) at home. My husband answered the phone and quietly told me "I'm not sure if it's Big Don or Little Don (i.e. Senior Partner or his son), but he sounds grumpy." Without hesitation I informed him that would be Big Don (he always sounds grumpy. I took the phone while my heart played out its own version of Flight of the Bumblebee. Why was El Senior Jefe (as another partner refers to him) calling me at home on a Saturday?!?
I managed to calm my voice as I said hello. Big Don wasted no time in getting to the point....
"Wanda! We have two tickets to the symphony tonight that we can't use. Would you like to go?"
I politely refused the tickets (it was too last minute for us) and thanked him. How cool is that.

Happy Spring!

I had a run-in with the soap...

Despite the "yearly bath" jokes I am bound to elicit, this story needs to be shared.

A while ago, we ran out of liquid soap in the liquid soap dispenser in the girls bathroom at work. Our supplier was bought out and the new owners are unwilling to cross-reference numbers to search for our refill. We girls have been bringing in our bath and body works specials for a couple of weeks now, and I finally decided that there is no reason that we couldn't buy some at the local soap-ateria and refill it ourselves.

After a quick trip to pick up the soap, I marched into the bathroom and prepared to refill. I started slow, as any fairly intelligent person would, making sure everything looked ok. I poured the soap directly into the hole in the first compartment (the "refill" part that we would purchase full of soap) and watched the soap slide down to the second compartment where it could be dispensed by pushing in the lever located toward the bottom of the dispenser. All worked well, but it was a slow process.

After I decided that this was definitely working, and since the top compartment used to arrive full of soap, I decided to go ahead and fill the top compartment with the store bought soap and leave it to funnel down on its own.

And it did. It began filling the second compartment nicely, just I had planned.

What I had not planned, was the fountain of soap now spilling down the mirror. About an inch thick and as wide as the soap dispenser. I thought that perhaps the top portion had an overflow and I had overfilled it and it would stop once it got past that point. It didn't. As I tried catching as much of the soap in the soap bottle as I could, I realized this was not going to stop. The flowing fountain of soap was clearly out of control and we were low on paper towels in the bathroom.

I ran to the office in search of more paper towels laughing so hard I drew the attention of the receptionist and one of the partners. When questions, all I could respond was "It won't stop!" Since the receptionist new of my endeavors, she quickly figured out I was referring to the soap.

I managed to clean up the initial mess, and with the bathroom (and my hands) smelling strongly of SoftSoap(r) I returned to the office and informed the staff that there was still a small drip, but it should subside shortly.

3 1/2 hours later, I think it is done.

The partner announced that he would be sure I never had to be backup maintenance person; the ladies thanked me for making the bathroom smell pretty; and the antibacterial soap on my hands should last for about a week.

Evil Kitty

Who knew playing Zuma could be so scary.

"Now I know what you would be like as a meth addict"

"Now I know what you would be like as a meth addict." -Heath 2009, said to his wife after she had to cut her medication dosage in half.

I have newfound understanding and sympathy for people with addictions.

About two weeks ago I started having reactions to my medication. An indescribable sensation closely akin to having my brain electrocuted at the slightest movement. At every slightest movement. The closest I have been able to describe this as is the feeling of touching a live wire, with your brain. It was accompanied by a "shink" sound in my head. While the sensation was very quick, it sometimes came in twos or threes, depending on the intensity of movement. After much research on the internet, I found that it was a common "withdrawal" symptom of my medication, even though I was still taking my medication. (I also found that under no circumstance am I to suddenly stop taking this medication. A gradual decrease in dosage must be followed to alleviate the risk of seizure and in some rare instances, sudden death. Peachy!).

After contacting my doctor, I was actually relieved to hear he had heard of this before (as most of the medical blogs were full of self-help forums for people whose doctor's had not heard of this and after several MRI's and other brain scans/tests could find no cause or reason to believe this was real). Not only had he heard of it, but he had heard of it as a side-effect as well as a withdrawal symptom. He immediately called in a new, lower-dose prescriptions to my local pharma-teria.

Mere hours after my taking my first pill from the new prescription (half the dosage I was used to) withdrawal set in. From uncontrollable shaking, to the meth-addict squirrel-iness. Episodes of muscle spasms and an uncontrollable urge to... well, just move... and hold no clear or logical conversation were probably the most noticeable of these aforemention withdrawal effects.

Now, nearly two weeks after it all started, I am finally able to work an entire day and remember it. I no longer have the urge to return to the higher dosage, either.

However, with my mood being what it was, I did get some pretty great shots with the camera. Like this tree, located on Roscoe Road. I have loved this tree since the first time I saw it without its leaves. The branches are thick and trail off into an unusual pattern that catches my attention every time I see a tree like this.


Every morning I go to work, this van is parked on one of the side streets. It is occupied by a homeless person. I have never had the opportunity to speak to him. I feel this shot, taken one foggy, rainy morning when I was still going through withdrawal, was symbolic for both of our current situations. So I took it in black and white.

And this one...


Cheyenne, watching a piece of paper blow by our window.


This picture was pretty much just me, messing around with my camera. I really like it.



For now, I am still taking it easy and will hopefully be getting over this cold my co-workers shared with me. Hope all is well with the rest of you.

More Birthdays!

Happy Birthday Kathy!!!

Happy Chinese New Year Everyone! Year of the Earth Ox. Ok.

I was looking more closely at my blog tonight (someone found my blog by googling happy hippo ice scraper) and found that I dropped from 62 posts in 2007 to 38 posts in 2008. That's just sad. So. I've decided to try and do better this year. Which reminded me of something else:

My first real job was in a small office and, having worked there for 7 years, the owners friends became my friends. After I got married, one of their friends gave me some marital advice. He said "The way to make sure you're marriage doesn't degrade over the years is to put a jar under the bed. Every time you (and here I turned bright red and everyone had a good laugh) have marital relations with your husband, put a jelly bean in the jar. The next year, put another jar under the bed and every time you have marital relations, move a jelly bean from the first jar to the second jar. At the end of the year all the jelly beans should be moved to the second jar. And do that every year, making sure all the jelly beans move to the next jar." Of course, this became a big joke. He moved to Florida and every time he called he would ask how the jars were doing and I would tell him that the city of Rockford was out of jelly beans and could he please send more.

Yeah. Good times.
(sorry mom; dad; grandma)

Dear Jerry,
SEND MORE JELLY BEANS!

Since my last post:

It was colder here than at the North Pole;


Yes, that does read Outside Temp -19

My brother called me a yuppie (again) (apparently, Two Subarus, two Columbian coats, and a Laptop Desk = Yuppie);



I found my mailbox;



It is still light out when I leave work;



Mom and Dad celebrated their 38th anniversary;

I turned my keys in to Mary. (Thanks, Little Don!) That feels good. It's like a cloud of oppression has been lifted. Two bad things in my life have been let go and replaced with a good job with people who are good influences. More like the kind of people I want to be;

and Alyssa had a birthday. (actually, that's today. Happy Birthday, Alyssa!)

I'm happier than I have been in a few years, and to express the happy/adorable-things-make-me-smileness of it all, here's a picture of Cheyenne, curled up all cute in my lap:

Up and Running

My Mary Kay page is finally up and running. It is not very pretty, but I'll keep working on that. It lists current in stock items, and will list any sales or coupons I have. Just go to heathnwanda.com and click on my page. The link my Mary Kay page is there.

Dena, Dena, Bo Bena

So much to write, so little time to write it in.
First off, a Wanda sells Mary Kay update... check back this weekend for a link to my Mary Kay site. This will be attached the the heathnwanda.com webpage. I will list my sales there, along with products in stock and other potentially useful information. I plan on having a lot of sales. I have a lot of great ideas!! Some could be beneficial in ways other than discounts, too, so be sure to check back.

Second, the reason for making myself sit down for a few seconds and blog (not that I don't want to write something for ya'll to read, but I have so many ideas I need to start on them now!!):

I NEED YOUR CANS!

Well, I don't need your cans, but my brilliant sister does. She has been collecting cans and using the money for college!!!! BRILLIANT! What a great way to use resources, not make Alaska cry, AND further your education. And to do it while raising a family!?!?! My sister is a SUPERHERO! I think this is such a great idea that I am asking all of you to help! Anybody who is interested in donating to this great cause, please email me at HDTenshi2@aol.com, or reply to this post!
Thanks!
Now, back to work!!!