I'm with you, Allison...
This update is simply because I haven't updated. Woot. Nothing really has changed. I am still working...at least 40 hours a week. I'm still enjoying what I do. I'm still NOT so much enjoying all of my coworkers; that's life.

OOH-here's something kind of fun. Bogart is going to Jim's this weekend. If it works out, he'll stay there. He gets along SO well with Jim's two dogs. Well, if you can call Shiloh, the male, ignoring him and Sammi, the female, attempting be be his dominatrix, "getting along". At any rate, they do love each other, and I'm really looking forward to them being together. Bo needs dogs his size to play with. Besides, I am at Jim's a LOT and always miss my puppy. This way, we can all be together at the same time. One big, happy, slobbery family. Oh yeah...

I'll let you all know how it goes :) Cause you care SO much...

One other thing...Aimee, I can count on you to pool-whore with me this summer, right?

I'm getting discouraged.
OK. I got my first peel Thursday. As of yesterday [Saturday] morning, I looked like a leather face and hadn't peeled at all yet. Then I started noticing some peeling around my mouth. It peeled more and more as the day went on, so by the time I went to the Dream Theatre show, I looked like my face was falling off in places, but that was OK. (Although it did shoot my self-confidence for the evening. Even if you "look hot", it kind of defeats the purpose if you look like your face has come in contact with leprosy.) Heather (the lady who is doing my facial stuff) said that on day three and four I could start using a wet wash cloth and gently start working the dry skin areas. So I did that this morning. But now I have two red spots (new skin that was under the dry skin) that kind of hurt. I was gentle! I haven't picked at anything. I have only used moisturizer with nothing in it (except SPF which is recommended). And now I have leathery spots AND red spots. I started doing this to eliminate scars. Needless to say, this morning when I was driving myself and Jim to Panera, I ended up in tears and refused to go inside or even to church. I'm honestly freaked out right now.

Amy, please tell me this is all normal...

p.s. I really don't know if I can handle the peel-induced emotional trauma again. Microderm was great. This may send me into therapy.

Progress with the acne scars.
So a week ago, I had my first microderm. I was a little pink for a day, but essentially, I noticed immediate results with overall smoothness and a few fine lines being gone. My face also "shed" a bit on my cheeks where she really worked the machine. Yesterday I had my first chemical peel. Holy CRAP it burned. I expected burning. I didn't expect her to layer it three times. The first time it hurt. The second time it was almost seizure-inducing. The third time it didn't hurt as much, but then again, I didn't feel much of anything after that. Either I went into shock or the chemicals burned my nerve endings off. Either way, I was glad. If it weren't for the fan she held on my face, I might have cried. At any rate, I was really red yesterday. Today, I'm still red in spots, but the main thing is how tight my face is. It's actually kind of comical. I can't smile. Not completely. But I found out that I can wear makeup-thank GOD. I just wear powder and eye makeup anyways...the only thing that concerns me is that I'm going to a rock show [Dream Theatre in Chicago] with Jim tomorrow and am supposed to be peeling pretty badly both tomorrow and Sunday...and I can't touch it. Talk about torture...

Oh yeah.
And Jim and I randomly went to Florida to surprise everyone down there last weekend. Sorry I didn't blog about it sooner, but people from down there read this...

And this thank you goes out to...
Allison!!! Thank you for recommending PEFCU. They approved my loan!!! I now officially have three monthly bills: car payment, insurance, and this loan, which I plan on paying off a LOT faster than they gave me. Like in 1/4 the time or less. WOO HOO!!!

I'm feeling the pressure...
Should I get a Myspace or not? The thing is, I'd have to have either this blog or that. I don't have time for both. I need your opinions, friends.

Confession time
OK. I'm actually getting some stuff done to my face. I struggled with the thought that this might seem vain, but came to the conclusion that it is actually just correcting my own mistakes. You see, in COLLEGE (of all places) I was viciously attaked by acne. Everything else developed late with me (a.k.a. boobs), so of course acne followed that pattern. The problem is, I never really behaved with my zits. I popped them. I scratched them. I rubbed them. Needless to say, I have quite a bit of scarring. I also have great makeup (thanks to Allison) which mostly hides said scars. But I'm tired of being too ashamed of my face to go out without makeup. So as of today, I start a series of four appointments to [hopefully] correct my mistakes. Once a week, for the next four weeks, I am going in for professional microderm abrasion and chemical peels. To be totally honest, I'm really excited. I'm looking forward to a summer without a lot of foundation on my face. Lots of swimming...yeah.

I'll let you all know how it goes. I might even post pics...

Dear Lafayette Bank and Trust higher-ups (a.k.a. "They"),

This letter is to inform you of my disappointment at being, yet again, declined for a personal loan to consolidate debt. I had originally applied for a loan several months ago when I was at my last place of employment. I was only working part time at that time, and therefore had an insufficient debt-to-income ratio to support a monthly loan payment. Since then I have paid off two of the five items I was seeking to consolidate, leaving only three. Having fully understood the method by which you decide my monetary competency, I was thrilled to reapply today, knowing that I, with my new and better-paying job, could completely afford my two monthly bills and whatever payment you would compute, while staying WELL under half of my take-home income every month. So, needless to say, it was very disheartening to hear that "THEY declined you because of lack of credit." Let's take a minute to think about this. Why, do you think, is my credit not high enough? Might it possibly be because of a few high-interest high-balance credit cards I'm trying to consolidate? Don't you find it a tiny bit ironic that the very things I'm trying to consolidate are what is keeping me from getting the loan? Let me get this straight. If I was able to get a loan to pay off those three items, my credit score would improve enough for me to get a loan to pay off those three items. GOT IT. I'm certainly glad I'm trusting my money to such a logical institution. Heaven forbid people who actually NEED money get it. That would just be crazy. People might actually be able to take control of their lives, financially speaking, and we all know that banks don't want that. If anything has come from this, it is that I now know that my hometown bank is the last place I can go for help.

Sincerely,
Erin McMurry

Casual exchange a few minutes minutes ago:

Mom: "I need a maid."
Nolynn: "You are the maid."