I said I was back, didn't I? Oops.

Well, I thought I'd be able to post more now that I have a computer, but this was NOT my week. OY. Which was a shame, because I had a really great end of the week last week, which is when I last posted. But the next day happened, and MAN, life just went to Hades, y'know?

Nothing super-major-bad, just... a bunch of little things adding up to one big emotional state. My classes are having their first tests, my temp job is exhausting and causing frustrations for me and my supervisor (who is also The Hubs' besty - it's nothing huge, just my stress was making me snippy and he was frustrated because, well, what dude likes dealing with a snippy girl that he's NOT sleeping with?), I've recently had some medical diagnoses that are requiring lifestyle changes that I'm still dealing with and trying to find my footing, and Valentine's Day had some drama (it's resolved, but still... no one wants to cry on Valentine's Day). Plus all these changes and demands have simply been overwhelming and our apartment is in desperate need of a deep cleaning... but we're so tired when we have time off that, well, we'd rather chill out and enjoy each others company. Not an excuse, just being honest. We still need to be grownups and clean after ourselves.

Things are looking up for this week, though. I took one of the two tests and got a 100%, which is awesome, but this is the class I'm having an easier time with. (Granted, I'm having an easier time with it because the professor is excellent at making her expectations clear and her instructions understandable... my other class is pretty much the textbook example of how college professors don't know how to freakin' teach.) The medical stuff is private (sorry), but be assured I'm not dying or anything anytime soon; however, if I don't make lifestyle changes then my death would speed up, for sure. Not like next year or anything... you get my drift, right? I need to be better about how I live my life. I was doing well, then the stress made me fall back. I did notice how different I feel when I'm not being careful with how I treat my body.

I still have my test in my other class that's stressing me out, but a nice 3-day weekend has been a palate cleanser. Tomorrow is a day for just studying, chores, and errand-running; my tutoring session has been cancelled for the day so my student could have a school-free weekend as well. (His mom requested it, and I wasn't about to fight it, haha!) Which is great, because now I don't have to work towards a deadline that ultimately eats about 2 hours out of my day (1 hour round-trip travel + 1 hour tutoring) which is technically my "day off". So tomorrow The Hubs and I are tackling laundry and dishes, I'm going to the grocery store for the week (I'm still doing the freezer cooking, but this week is NOT the week for the next round of cooking), and I'm going to do some prep work for the stupid written exam Wednesday night (ugh). I'm oddly looking forward to it!

Something of relevance soon, I swear. Sorry, it's just been cray-cray. 

I'M BACK(ish) and why Best Buy Geek Squad, ASUS, and FedEx can go suck an egg.

Good news: My computer is finally back! Yes, FINALLY. We dropped it off at Best Buy on Jan. 4th. We got it back Feb. 11th! Why so long? Well, here's the story as succinctly as possible:

• Computer randomly freaks out when I try to update my anti-virus software, as I'd just gotten ANOTHER stupid fake anti-virus program bug that took me 2+ hours to fix, ugh. 
• We have the fancy protection program from Best Buy, where we bought our computer, so we take it there. It's written up, and we're told it could take 3 weeks. =(
• We get an email a week later telling us it's ready - turns out the original clerk wrote up our order wrong and the computer is still out for repairs somewhere in the Midwest. 
• We get a call from the Midwest repair center because they have a question about our order - it takes 3 days to get the ball rolling again because we keep having to play phone tag. Turns out our order was written wrong (AGAIN) and the Midwest repairs thought we hadn't paid for services that were covered by our protection plan. *sigh* 
• The computer makes it back to the main store, and we need a recovery disk. Well, stupid me didn't realize that computers don't come with recovery disks anymore and now I have to get one from the maker; the Best Buy clerk tells me that it should be free of charge to get a new one (minus shipping costs), but turns out the recovery disk is 50 FREAKING DOLLARS! 
• At this point, this is the 3rd stupid mistake Best Buy's Geek Squad has made, so I ask to talk the manager (which takes multiple phone calls and phone tag). The manager is understanding and apologetic, swears as soon as we bring in the recovery disk we'll be moved to the front as a priority, maybe some compensation in the form of a gift card (which didn't happen). When we brought in the disk this past Wednesday, it still took until this SATURDAY to get our computer - despite being told it'd take 3 days max. It took going in again on Saturday morning to get it finished Saturday night. *sigh*
• Oh, but to make it worse: ASUS, the laptop maker, is just as stupid customer-service-wise. I couldn't find the disk I needed on the website, so I called in and got help (then found out it wasn't "free" like I'd been told). So when we ordered the disk, we paid extra for faster shipping because we just want our computer back. Before our order could ship, they needed our serial #; I got an email Monday A.M. asking for it, and the email said to simply reply or call it in. I replied within 30 minutes via email with the info. FRIDAY I got another email saying they still needed my serial #! I called it in and chewed out the customer service guy, and they assured me the order would go in that evening; it did, but FedEx doesn't ship on weekend so we had to wait for it to go out Monday. 
• Here's the weird/annoying thing about FedEx: We paid for 3-day shipping. The disk had to ship from Fremont, CA (about a 2 hour drive away from us MAX). The exact course our disk took was this: Leave Fremont, ship to MEMPHIS, Ship BACK to Sacramento (where we live), but is then taken to Rocklin (a town about 30 min from Sacramento) to be delivered. So it would take exactly 3 days rather than, oh I don't know, actually come to us early. Or hell, they could've called us when it was in Sacramento for 24 hours and said, "Hey, wanna come pick up your package and save a day's wait?" It probably cost 3 times more in gas than we paid for the "expedited" shipping!

So yeah, the Ballad of My Laptop is a long, complicated, utterly cluster-eff'd story filled with UTTER RIDICULOUSNESS. Not only do I not want to buy anything from Best Buy ever again, but I also don't want to use services that use FedEx ever again ('cuz they've never worked well for me, tbh, shipping always seems to take FOREVER). Add in the fact that my life has just been crazy lately, and the whole situation has just been an unpleasant, inopportune thorn in my side. *sigh*

Of course, it's been so long since I've really blogged anything of worth on this here blog that I'm wondering what I'm going to write about now that I have my laptop back! Sheesh.

Anyway, more to come. I'm aiming for at least twice a week postings, pending schedule and inspiration.

Update: I STILL can't update!

Oh. My. GOD. Don't even get me started on my laptop issues. If you really want to know, go check out my twitter account - I went on a rant yesterday. (@HotMessHousWife - same as blog name, minus the "e" on House) So I still don't have my computer.

So I'm posting on a computer during a down moment at my temp job. So much to discuss, so little time. So what's the time? BULLET LIST TIME!

• Unemployment: Still unemployed. Two more job interviews that didn't go anywhere. Plus side: I'm getting interviews, and they seem to go well. Minus side: I don't get the job! GAH. SO FRUSTRATING. I've expanded search beyond educational jobs... which saddens me, but at the same time we need money. (We're not on food stamps or anything, but it'd be nice to be stable.) I'm doing some tutoring and temp work, but the temp work is sparse (but when it's happening, OMG I'm so freakin' busy, GAH). Also, the 1 small plus side of being computerless is when I'm not working, I'm forced to go to my local library for my computer time. This is good because it gets me out of the house, so I run any other errands I need to, and I'm not just lollygagging on the computer because I'm only allotted an hour a day, so I get stuff DONE, son. It seems to have taken affect on my productivity, because even now that we're borrowing a friend's (slow-running) Netbook, I'm still productive during the day, only using the Netbook for what I absolutely NEED... then goofing off on the internet all night. Man, I love the internet. I need an Internet Addicts Anonymous group BAD.
• Domestic Arts: Freezer cooking! I'm into it. I will post a big ol' entry on it when I have my computer back, with pictures and What Works For Me tips. It's not for everyone, but when it works, it works REALLY well, and The Hubs is a fan. 
• Health: Finally insured again, finally saw a doctor, finally diagnosed as PCOS. (DUH DOY, KNOWN IT FOR YEARS.) So now we're trying to regulate my progesterone and trick my body into producing it on its own, and (obviously) my doctor wants me to lose weight. Which is reasonable, but so hard. My goal right now is to be down 6 pounds by my next appointment (next Friday), and I'm attempting to do this by cutting down my portions, eating healthIER stuff (I still eat fast food, but I'm trying to cut back), adding in exercise by walking the dog longer and parking farther away so I have to walk, and getting rid of the artificial sweetners/soda habit. I kicked soda once, I can do it again! When I focus intensely on dieting by counting calories, I over-stress about it and end up rebelling - HARD. My brain just can't take it, for whatever reason. So I'm going back to previous strategies of just making little changes and taking my time. Not so much "dieting" as "mindful eating". The success is slow, but it WORKS... so why do I stop doing it? I'll never understand myself. 
• Misc.: I'm back in school - as a student! I'm taking two History classes to add a supplemental authorization to my English credential, which will hopefully make me more employable. One's at night on Wednesdays, and the other one is solely online. There's a lot of freaking homework for both, which sucks, and I initially balked; I was like, "I don't remember having this much homework in my undergrad program!" Then I remembered that I spent most of my undergrad program screwing around and doing the bare minimum of homework (and I was an English major, for Pete's sake - I barely read a darn thing). *sheepish grin* The Hubs has thrown down the gauntlet that I should aim to maintain my post-B.A. GPA of 4.0 - CHALLENGE ACCEPTED. Seriously, though, it's actually pretty fun. I'm a nerd, I like making my brain work. 

That's all I can think of. Multiple posts planned for when I have a computer that works worth a darn, ugh. I miss blogging! =(

Update: I can't update!

My computer done gone and broked on me! It's going to take 2 weeks to fix! Blogger doesn't have an app to make updating easier! Let's be honest, I am WAY too verbose to sit here and type with my thumbs all the stuff I'd want to post.

So I will be in and out until we get my boyfriend the laptop back. Mostly out. Which SUCKS, I had a big ol' "What Works For Me" entry planned with what I learned from my first time cooking for the next 2 weeks. Guess it'll have to be a combo post with when I do it a second time. Along with my new front door wreath I'll be working on. OH, and getting my sewing machine back from the shop and sewing for the first time in YEARS. (Well, seriously sewing, more than just a couple quick hems.) UGH.

Well, on the plus side, I'll actually get that stuff DONE since I won't have my seductive computer distracting me. ;) Please keep your fingers crossed that we get all our data transferred safely - I'm totally Carrie in that episode where her computer dies and she never backed up (Yes, I'm guilty of never backing up *sigh*). UGH.

See ya on the flip side! I'll miss you, non-existent readers! :(

Welcome, 2012!

New Year, new look! This wasn't planned, although I've been wanting to do this for awhile, esp. when I started using Google calendar for my menu planning... I needed to change the layout to accommodate the calendar the way I saw it in my head. So I started playing with the template designer thingie, then decided I'd change my header, too. (I used the My Memories program!) I like it! It's bright, cheery, and organized nicely.

So I posted about the areas in my life I'm planning to work on, but I had the issue of not having measurments of those goals, as in I had no way to prove to myself I was successful. But I think I've figured it out! Including some goals that aren't covered by the previous entry.