Well I can understand you being tired...you're still fighting off that nasty flu. :( Really hope you start feeling better soon.

I'm also hoping it doesn't spread to any of us here...We'll get through it, but really don't have any paid sick time either one of us. Fingers crossed...I'm going to be taking an exam on Monday for search engine optimization. Someone told me on Mene a long time ago that they did it...It doesn't require any set hours, just when you feel like doing it. I heard it's very tedious, though, and probably would drive me crazy if I did it full time. I'll keep the day job, but do this when things are slow and hours are hard to come by. A safety blanket per say. That is if I pass it.

Yeah, the flu really is a dirty stinking beyotch. Texas has the highest flu rate it's had in years right now and H1N1 is "winning" for strands. I hope you guys don't get it either. You guys way don't need this stuff.

Good luck on the search engine optimization thing. Definitely not something I could do. I don't do tedious very well.

Thanks for the good luck. :) I'm not really looking forward to the tedious, but I figure it will give me another egg in my basket and I could make the two work for me to make decent money working from home. I'm really liking the job I do now on the phones, but it tends to have dry periods, plus I don't know if I ever will be considered for full time. I know we're going to ramp up to another busy period, but if I can get this other job under my belt and do well at it I can mix it up a bit...it wouldn't be that bad i think.

Plus I could sit and jam out to music while I do my tedious, like I did back at the chat job. I miss doing chat support... that was a job I was super good at.

Yeah, subbing and tutoring have almost built in dry periods and it's SO HARD not having anything to fill in those spots. And I'm just basically paying student loans. Having something else you can work with, another skill, is really helpful.

Aaaagh, student loans. Mine come into repayment in February. ;D Not looking forward to it.

It sucks SO HARD. I'm paying a good $1500 a month in student loan payments. But I do have a couple almost payed off.

Mine will likely be around there, too. I figure I'll just start with the small ones and work my way up. x_x Not much else to do, hey?

Not really. I pay what I can when I can. If I can pay a little extra, I will.

I'm thankful I have a job lined up after I get my second license. The employment I have now is stable... just no benefits.

Dear god...I'm glad I don't have any student loan debt underneath me...Steel, that would seriously cripple me. T_T

Aaron has some debt that he's been sitting on and not paying, and I'm sure he's racked up interest...We really need to get paying on that but at this current stage it would mean canceling a few things, including cable, and as sad as it sounds -- A.)He doesn't care and B.)doesn't want to lose cable. It's in his name, just like all the kids' medical bills are in his name partially...I've just got to not let it get to me as there is nothing I can do. If he ends up getting sued over it then it will become my problem...and trust me I will be bootstrapping everyone to make up for it. In the meantime, I'm not going to worry...as they cannot garnish wages at this point.

Also, I got my info for the exam this morning, just as the emails have been promised. I'm hoping I have enough steam after work to read through the guides. Tomorrow is out of the question...I have an 8 hour day, and then right after that I have a New Year's party that I'm not really looking forward to going. I may offer to babysit Tristan and my other friend's kid so that they can go and enjoy themselves. We'll see...Also I'm not too thrilled as Pam will probably go with dad to the party either way...lets say they get super drunk and other things are known to occur. Not a good place for a 14 year old, but what do I know, right?

*sighs* Sorry, in another bad mood.

Oof, yeah, I wish I was eligible for a deferment of some kind, but since I'm technically employed "full time" and I don't make enough money.

But yeah, that's dangerous just not paying them at all. Oof.

But yeah, it is insanely hard trying to pay them off.

I don't think that sounds like the kind of party I'd take a kid to either, much less go to myself. I have little to no patience for drunken idiocy, though.

I'm telling myself the earliest we're paying off our loans is ten years. Right now I'm just crossing fingers that they haven't completely screwed up our chances of getting a house (a loan, I mean). If they have, then we'll just make minimums on the student loans and save cash for a home purchase. It'll work out either way.

Good luck with that. Oh man, I went to the pet store to get dog food. I am so worn out now. It was a super easy trip, too. I can't breathe or stop coughing.

Sounds like more rest is needed. :(

I managed to get most of the apartment picked up today. It needs a dusting, but everything is picked up, vacuumed, swept, and all laundry is done. That's enough for now. With another storm coming, there will likely be plenty of time to clean-clean this weekend. Gah.

Good lordy you've had SO MANY storms!
I did the world's smallest load of laundry today, haha. Just nightgowns and panties because that's the only thing I've been wearing.
But yeah, I think more resting is required. But I don't want to get so far down from not moving that it's impossible to go back to being a functioning human being. If that makes any sense.

You're telling me! It's not even January yet. I think we're in for a terrible winter.

That makes sense. It does. Gotta do just enough activity to move your body around, but rest when you're wiped. I'm hoping you're on the end of it. :<

I hope that everything stays okay and that the storms let up soon for you guys.

Yeah, little bits of activity to try to make my recovery go smoothly. I think I'm on the tail end of it for sure. I'm tired and miserable still, but definitely LESS tired and miserable than I had been.

Me too. I hope I get paid this week. O_o;

Keep resting... it's a pain when only time really makes it better. Grr.

True facts. I just had some warm beverage and I have to wait another twenty minutes until I can take my meds. But then I'm going to BED.

Blah. Just got through reading the 130+ PDF they sent for the 'guidelines' in pretty much a 4 hour crunch with one small break. I took the first part of the exam of 3, and now just waiting to hear back how I did.

Let's just say that was absolutely brutal. The guide seemed to make sense, but I can definitely see where different interpretation could happen. Who ever wrote the exam is seriously sadistic...I mean really the way it was written. All true/false, but it was SO evil.

Holy shit...Just saw an email stating I passed...do I dare continue on?

Woohoo! You passed, Izumi! You can do eet! *huggles*

Yay! Keep on chuggin'. (:

I passed the 2nd part at 11:30pm, but at that point (knowing I had 8 and a half hours of work today) I had to put it down and pick it back up again. I think I'm going to figure out what T is doing tonight with his friend, get a shower and something to eat and then hammer out the 3rd part. Wish me luck!

Also, I'm technically off tomorrow but fully expecting to be called in for it being insanely busy. I'm not required, but time and a half sounds super sweet.

Also Aaron is out with Pam tonight at a friend's house. He tried to talk me into going but I have yet to get a shower and was working till 6:30pm. Also I had a very negative experience last time I went...I don't know if I dare repeat it. I never did tell you about that one. Lets just say I had a little at the party...was too much, and then blew into a serious paranoia/panic attack as Pam was there. It didn't end real well. I had to then have a sit down with Pam about the whole thing and just explain what happened, and why I acted the way I did...

Sounds like you made a good decision to wait. No sense doing it when you're too busy to apply yourself to it.
Time and a half would be hard for me to turn down too.

Yeah, parties are difficult with social anxiety. And it would be way less than fun to have to explain that to a kiddo. I'm not going anywhere tonight. I just don't have enough stamina to really get into celebrating.

Yeah...She took it rather well. We sat down and had a long talk about stuff, and she brought it up. I asked her how much she knew and she said someone had told her. I could continue to try to lie to cover tracks, stating they're full of shit...but what good would that do? I was honest. She knows I hardly ever drink, and that I don't do anything else even remotely questionable. I said I did not do anything like that until I was out of school. I was real honest. I told her until she's 18 I would not condone her doing it, but at that time you know hey that's fine. We also had honest talk about boys, love and sex. She knows I'm real up front about that stuff. I went through times with my parents where I could not talk about that at all with them, and it just was that topic we danced around. I didn't like it, don't appreciate it...so yeah she gets the honest truths from me.

I have a few anxiety issues it seems. Me behind the wheel in a car sets me off. I also have panic attacks at huge group functions, weddings in particular. I'm just...strange. This one was set off as I knew I had too much, couldn't hide it and Aaron was upset with me as I had been overheard talking about it in another room and apparently I was told to keep my mouth shut. At that point it just spiraled from there until I was literally sitting in a corner, crying and tensed up in a ball. People would walk in, look at me, and then just walk right out. After that...I told Aaron I really don't feel comfortable there anymore, especially with kids around. Parties never get out of hand, but there's a lot of crude talk that goes on, alcohol and then that stuff...it's not something you want to bring kids into, honestly.