I'll be home for Christmas...

• you can count on me! man, i need to download that song. That and Feliz Navidad are among my favorite Christmas songs. anyway, come Friday morning, I'm headed to Tulsa for Christmas and I can't wait! I was just there last week for my friend's dad's funeral, so I'm looking forward to being in town for a happy occasion. speaking of the service, it was beautiful. it fit her father perfectly, and I was so glad I was able to be there for my friend. 
• a little known fact about me is that growing up, I was a member of 4-H. Dr. Melichar was our group leader and she eventually became a friend of the family. Thanks to her, I had the opportunity to experience so many things I doubt I'd have been able to do otherwise. Well, a fellow 4-H'er called me tonight and told me she'd passed away. There were so many people growing up that helped shaped me, and it's hard to see them go. but, I know she's in a better (and pain free) place. So, rest in peace, Dr. Lucinda "Cindy" Melichar... 
• side note: the guy who called me to tell me about her passing is someone i know (obviously), we're FB friends, but I hadn't given him my number. a few months ago, i found out that he and my uncle know one another (they're both chefs in Tulsa).  so, i (correctly) assumed my uncle gave him my number, which was fine. it's just weird to get a call from someone and you didn't give them your number.
• Life is just full of bitter and sweet moments. While I was in Tulsa, another friend told me she's engaged. apparently it happened right after Thanksgiving and before she could tell us, our friend called with the news about her dad. So, I'll be back in Tulsa at the end of March (yes, they're moving fast on that wedding!) to be a bridesmaid. it's kinda funny because she never really asked me if I wanted to be one. she basically assumed that i would. lol... i'm so happy for her. her life just seems to be falling right into place.
• so, tomorrow, I'm supposed to talk with someone else about possible job opportunities in Tulsa. I spoke with someone in TFA two weeks ago and she forwarded my resume to a charter school set to open in Fall 2012. the director of recruitment e-mailed me and we set up a call for tomorrow. she sent a description of the job they're recruiting for now, and while it seems like something i can do, I'm not sure if I'm really qualified given the requirements. so, I was a little taken aback that she wanted to talk with me about that position and other opportunities. it's a leadership position and for some reason, I can't see myself as a leader... YET. I am tired of being in these behind the scenes roles, though. even if it doesn't work out, I'm excited to talk with her.
• that being said, it's looking like Tulsa will be my next move, if I move at all. i've only told my friend who's getting married that I'm thinking about it, but no one else. i've broached the subject of moving back with JE, and he wants no parts of moving back to Tulsa. i mean, i knew that already, so his saying that was just a confirmation. and while it would be hard to be apart, I keep reminding myself that we're not married. yes, we've talked about it, but it's not going to happen anytime soon (for various reasons). so, i need to move into the next best move for me since I'm still single. 

I'm trying to step up my evening style game and decided to splurge on this dress from Kiyonna. It came yesterday and... I love it! Of course, this means I'm now obsessed with cocktail dresses. nevermind the fact that I don't really go to cocktail parties. *shrug*


i've pretty much given up on forming a  meaningful relationship with my father. when i was home, i went by where he and his woman stay. no one was home, so i called his cell phone. to begin, he didn't know who i was at first. uhm... what the hell? And then said, well, come by tomorrow around 11:30. uhm, excuse me?! This your daughter that you haven't seen since August and you want to schedule me in like you're the President? i told him ok, even though i had no intention of doing that. i'm just tired of making an effort.




have ya'll seen this? Man, I cracked up! Niggas in Paris is clearly his jam! (wait... do people still say a song is their jam?)

i decided to go ahead and have the surgery i talked about last blog post. the hospital called the other day and told me how much their fee would be (the surgeon, anesthesiologist, and hospital all charge separate fees.) and, it looks like this little 45 minute procedure will cost me over $1000. :-( I know that's a drop in the bucket compared to how much people pay for other medical issues and I'm thankful I have insurance. but, still, that's a lot of money. and all i can do is pay it, have the procedure done, and call it a day.

well, this post is casuing my browser to act up, so until next time...

I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas, from the bottom of my heart!

back down memory lane

• Even though I don't think I want kids right now, I still feel some type of way when I see all these people my age announcing births and pregnancies. i suppose that's only natural. 
• i got a voicemail from someone i've been friends with since high school while i was at work this afternoon. she never calls me in the middle of the day, so I knew something was wrong. it turns out our other friend lost her father yesterday. he wasn't sick or anything like that, so the death was completely unexpected. it's unreal because her father was one of those parents i knew well. i ate at their house, spent the night, he took us to games, i used to tease him about his lobe for pop (soda) and all of that. so, i'm just waiting to hear when the service will be so i can make that trip to Tulsa. there are four of us from high school who are still close, and three of us have lost parents since we graduated from college. this is the part of growing up that sucks. 
• i might have alreadt blogged about this, but i can't remember. oh, well. so, last month i went to see a doctor about having a minor out-patient surgery done. (it's nothing serious, just a chronic issue i deal with.) I've become a lot more discerning about my doctors, so if i don't like the person, i don't return. or if their staff isn't good, i don't come back. admittedly, that's a luxury i have as someone with medical insurance and living in a city like Austin. anyway, after i talked with the surgeon, i felt comfortable with him and went ahead and scheduled the surgery. his medical assistant then gave me the paperwork detailling how much it would all cost. what they use is a worksheet that details exactly how to compute everything, given your deductible amount and co-pays. the amount she calculated seemed wrong to me, but i wasn't sure. it was more than my deductible, and since i hadn't met my deductible, it didn't make sense. as a matter of fact, the amount she "calculated" was more than the amount the insurance company allows for the procedure. but, i thought, maybe there's something I'm missing. so, i decided to look over everything again when i was alone. i looked over it and lo and behold, she'd made a grave error. one of the lines clearly stated that if the procedure cost is less than the deductible, write that price on the final line. of course, my procedure was less than the deductible. so, i called her back and was trying to explain her error. do you know she cut me off?! talking about, let me explain. I promise it will all make sense. so, i let her finish. then i read the line in question to her and... the silence was deafening! lol! smh... she apologized, but the whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth. we all mistakes, but, uhm... the directions were right there. even if it wasn't, wouldn't common sense tell you something was wrong when the cost is more than what the insurance allows? also, on the paperwork, they added a l to the beginning of my last name. now, i know most of you don't know my last name, but just suffice that there's NO reason to add an l. it makes no sense. now, maybe i'm just looking for a reason not to have the procedure. (The problem is more of an annoyance than a medical necessity.) but, i also feel like those small errors speak to larger issues. 
• so... guess who has two papers due by Wednesday, one of which she hasn't even started and the other that she hasn't touched in over a month. *raises hand* ya'll, I'm STRUGGLING to remain invested in school. next semester is my last of classes and I'm starting to panic that I won't actually move on to working on my dissertation. i haven't' even asked someone to be my chair even though i have someone in mind. smh... the goal is to start working on my dissertation by next fall, so i have time. i just feel like i've wasted time. the major problem is I'm also working full time. sigh... i just want to be able to work one job and FOCUS on getting out of school. but, truth be told, i'm not even sure i'd be focused if i just had one job. i'm just that sick of writing papers and reading articles and having in class discussions and... all of that. and the kicker is, i have a little while to go before i have those three letters behind my name.
• oh, on Friday, i'm supposed to talk with someone about job opps in Tulsa on Friday. i sent her my resume and she said that it was impressive and that based on the opps she knew about, i would be "super competitive" for any of them. :-D i'm not sure anything will pan out, but it's kinda exciting thinking about change, even if it's moving back home.

until next time...