You don't have to go it alone

allistra @ 2008-10-02T19:41:00

2008-10-03T00:50:15Z

My 2 1/2 year old niece, Sheridan, with her favorite bulldoggie!

allistra @ 2008-09-23T22:39:00

2008-09-24T03:42:49Z

Well... birthday plans didn't work out, but that's ok. I guess it's a school night and a responsible 29-year-old wouldn't go out anyway. But who wants to be responsible? ;)

Had a pretty good day. Typical work day, but I brought donuts to my class. And after 2 hours, no one had moved to eat one, so I started sending emails to all of my phone bank "loved" ones to come up and share a birthday donut with me.

Almost every single one of them was working today and stopped up to my training room, so that was fun. Brightened my day a little bit.

Other than that, it was more or less a normal day.

I suppose after a certain age birthdays tend to lose their excitement. They don't for me, though. I still view them as a big deal and I want to celebrate them.

allistra @ 2008-09-19T21:04:00

2008-09-20T02:09:37Z

My sister took me out to Lonestar Steakhouse to celebrate my promotion to consultant. It was a lovely gesture from her, I thought.

But now, I'm about to have a food baby!!!

Not that we ate it all, by any means, but this what we ordered:

Me: 9 oz sirloin, medium rare, steamed broccoli, skin-on red mashed potatos
Beth: 9 oz sirloin, medium, salad and baked potato
To share: Texas Rose (like a bloomin' onion) and fresh buns w/honey butter

Not to mention that Sheridan also had food.

We have SO SO SO much food left over in our fridge, it's awesome. I have to babysit Sheridan alone tomorrow while Beth and Mike work, so it's great that I don't have to cook. :D

Also stopped by Barnes and Noble and purchased Twilight by Stephanie Meyer and The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski, which is Oprah's new bookclub book that she announced today.

Say what you will or might about Oprah and her show, but her book selections tend to be exceedingly good.

allistra @ 2008-09-19T18:09:00

2008-09-19T23:10:06Z

I'm going to go buy the first book in the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer. I want to see what all the fuss is about.

I feel like I'm a sucker.

Anyone read it?

allistra @ 2008-09-17T10:48:00

2008-09-17T16:09:37Z

I just found out I got a promotion at work. It's not the Minneapolis job that I applied for, haven't heard anything on that. I've written it off that nothing is going to come of it at this time.

I'm essentially doing the same job that I am now, but I have a title change and a pay change.

I am now a Learning and Development Consultant and it came with a 10% pay raise, so that's nice, especially right now when the financial sector is taking it up the butt.

Great thing is, in 6 more months comes our annual raises (though I probably won't get much because this one was so big).

YAY!!!

allistra @ 2008-09-12T11:05:00

2008-09-12T16:08:51Z

I've been feeling really crappy for the past few days, cough that keeps getting worse, fever of up to 102, and almost constantly over 100.

I've also been incredibly tired, sleeping about 10 hours at night and needing a nap immediately after work and wanting to sleep all day while at work.

Finally went to the doctor last night and they think I have viral bronchitus, for which there is no real treatment. They gave me some pills to help with the cough, but otherwise just Tylenol for the fever, fluids and rest. JOY.

I hate getting viral sick because it's just a waiting game.

So it's hard to breath, i start coughing contantly. The cough is one of those burning, body wracking coughs that last 15 seconds at a time.

AND, to top it off, I'm leaving town in about 5 minutes for another wedding out of town. Will be back Sunday.

allistra @ 2008-09-08T22:29:00

2008-09-09T03:29:53Z

Will talk more about this weekend's wedding festivities later, but wanted to post a few quick photos from the night:

Carey and I just before the actual ceremony.

Me and the bride's brother's girlfriend, fellow bridesmaid Sarah.

Me, Josh, and Carey. We all went to middle and high school together. This is post everything. Reception ended at midnight, so we loaded up the 15-passenger van and headed to the bars til they kicked us out too!

Me and Matt. Also post everything. Matt and I have known each other since we were 5 years old, but hadn't seen each other since high school. It was a nice surprise for both of us to run into each other at the wedding.

Me just before leaving the reception. Very drunk, fairly exhausted from the dancing, but not ready to give up yet!

allistra @ 2008-09-01T09:13:00

2008-09-01T14:15:03Z

The Minneapolis job posting was supposed to close today. I went out there to make sure it was still listed before I started me resume.

It's still there, and has been extended through Wednesday. I wonder if they didn't get the response they wanted!?!

Maybe that will bode well for me.

There's a similar position also available in Oregon, but I'm not sure I'm ready to move that far away. If it's only Minneapolis, I can still come back once a month or more to visit.

Late night recommendation...

2008-09-01T04:47:01Z

Don't know how adventurous any of you are with music, but if you are, you should check out Sigur Ros, specifically their albums Agaetis Byrjun and ( ) (yes, it's parenthesis).

They're from Iceland, and sing in either Icelandic or Hopelandic, which is a language that they made up. Essentially, they're using their voices as instruments, not always to portray lyrics. They also play their electric guitars with cello and violin bows: how cool is that?!?

I made a copy of Agaetis Byrjun for a friend recently after not listening to it for a while, and I forgot just how gorgeous it is. Their music frequently moves me, sometimes to overwhelming joy, othertimes to tears.

I can't say that everyone will love it; some of it is a bit out there. But if you can just open your mind, chill out and really listen, it's pretty kick ass.

Feel free to check out my MySpace page for a video/audio of one of my personal favorites.

allistra @ 2008-08-31T20:02:00

2008-09-01T01:10:15Z

Just went to Boston's for dinner. Will not be returning.

The person who sat us wasn't very friendly, but we got our drinks and ordered our food.

It took about 10 minutes to get our salads. No biggie. Mike got a bowl of soup instead of a cup, but at least it was too much soup, not too little. I got the wrong salad dressing, but it was on the side, so also not a big deal.

We wait w/o drinks for 10 minutes, then a different waiter got us refills, then we waited another 20 minutes w/o drinks.

After waiting an HOUR with no food and no one stopping by, we finally got the manager. Turns out the waiter was on his first night; he entered our order, but the printer didn't work in the kitchen (so they say), so they had only just realized our food wasn't coming.

The manager said our food would be out shortly and would be free.

30 minutes later, still no food, and no manager in sight. 5 more minutes and the food got there. Sheridan's pizza was burnt, my sister's pasta had been sitting for so long the sauce was all absorbed into the noodles and it was cold and dry.

We got the manager again. He approached us saying, "Wow, you must really hate me right now." Pretty much. Then he puts his hands in the air, shrugged his shoulders and said, "I got nothing."

So we had them make most of the food again, in to go boxes, we got the appetizer we had ordered but didn't receive with the other food, and ordered a dessert to go as well.

We estimate our free order cost the restaurant about $75.

I'm never happy when I go there, but it's one of Mike's favorite places, so occasionally I'll cave in and go. It won't be happening again.

So, for those of you living in SooFoo, if you're going to drink and sit in the bar, it's really pretty good. Their bartender is really good. However, do not sit in the restaurant side and expect service of any mentionable sort.

Oh, and because our dinner took so long, I didn't get a chance to go tan. AND, I was going to go pick up my refill of birth control pills. However, I'm not going to be able to do that. If I get pregnant because I couldn't start them today as planned, I'm suing Boston's for child support!

allistra @ 2008-08-31T16:23:00

2008-08-31T21:39:20Z

I'm trying to think about Halloween costumes and what I want to be this year.

Last year I was the can of Rockstar, and I LOVED it. I was looking at the pictures from last year, and it was SO fun having hot pink hair.

I'm thinking about somehow going as Hunter S Thompson. I think it'd be a hoot.

However, he was a tall, skinny, balding man. I am short, still pretty curvy, and have lots of hair.

How would I make that work?

Also, how work appropriate would that be?

allistra @ 2008-08-28T11:06:00

2008-08-28T16:09:51Z

So I was out looking for jobs within my company and within my field and found a perfect, and I mean PERFECT job for me out of Minneapolis!

I've always said if I was going to leave Sioux Falls, it would be for Minneapolis.

It's a communications consultant, and looking at the job duties, I either can or have done almost all of them. I meet the minimum qualifications as well as most of the preferred experience and skills. Those that I don't seem fairly minor.

Plus, it's within my field and realm of actual education.

I'm so nervous, but I think I'm going to apply. I don't know what would happen if I actually get it, but it pays MOUNDS more than I'm making now, so even if I moved there alone for a while, that's ok.

I can definitely do the long-distance marriage thing. No problem-o!

What do y'all think?

allistra @ 2008-08-27T19:39:00

2008-08-28T00:40:38Z

Got a little pinky in the tanning bed last night.

Actually, more than a little pinky.

Taking a night off to curl up in my bathrobe, with my iPod and a great book.

Sometimes life isn't so bad. ;)

allistra @ 2008-08-26T19:26:00

2008-08-27T00:28:56Z

My supervisor, who drives me crazy almost every day of my life, gave me a very nice sympathy card today. She is a fellow pet lover, and last year had to put down her 22-year-old cat. So she really identifies with the whole Keifer situation.

It was a very nice surprise.

I also got a card in the mail from our vet's office that was hand written and signed by all of the office staff. I'm sure it's something they do all the time, but it meant a lot to get it.

I also got the bill for the cremation, which I thought was sort of funny.

I'm just happy I can laugh about it.

allistra @ 2008-08-26T08:30:00

2008-08-26T13:56:12Z

So I'm posting from work, and probably shouldn't be, but I have absolutely nothing to do, and it's been that way for the past several days of work. I was sick last week Monday-Wednesday with a sinus infection, and now there's a general plague going around my class.

Two weeks ago I had 8 people in my class. On Thursday of that week, 4 were gone; on Friday, 3 were gone.

Two people had to drop out and move into different classes, so now I have 6 people. Monday, 2 were gone. Today, 2 different ones are gone. Everyone is sick. Mostly it's the same stuff.

So I'm trying to make up stuff to do for those that are here, but I can't work too far ahead, or those who are out will be too far behind. I feel like I'm never going to get through my material, seeing as how class is done on Tuesday, and we're closed Monday for the holiday.

Such is the life of an instructor, I guess.

So in honor of being bored, here are some things I'm really enjoying right now:

The Silk Road by Jane Summer (thanks Joshua)

"Forever" by Chris Brown

"In Love With a Friend" by Deep Dish

Big Brother, Project Runway, Sheer Genius, yes, I know. Guilty pleasures.

Urban Decay Primer Potion. Ladies, put it on before your eyeshadow and it is more intense, doesn't fade and doesn't crease all day!!

Watching movies. Having a movie buddy does wonders for the entertainment soul.

China Glaze nailpolish, specifically Ruby Pumps and OMG!

Ok, I'll probably add to this throughout the day. Sorry to flood your friends page today. ^-^

allistra @ 2008-08-25T20:48:00

2008-08-26T01:52:10Z

I'm doing much better.

Thank you for all the support messages from everyone. It was awful and almost traumatic, but I now have reached a place of peace with Keifer's passing.

And thank you, especially, to those who spent time with me this weekend to help me through it. It's more appreciated than you'll ever know.

allistra @ 2008-08-23T10:46:00

2008-08-23T15:46:20Z

it is done.

he is gone.

allistra @ 2008-08-21T22:04:00

2008-08-22T03:07:15Z

I have to put Keifer down.

I can't stand to write much about it now, but he really went down hill this week and I don't think he can recover.

He's not eating, barely drinking, has either no strength or no balance to really move around.

It's time. It's the right thing to do, for his sake. I love him too much to let him be like this.

I'm absolutely devastated.

allistra @ 2008-08-20T14:05:00

2008-08-20T19:10:33Z

Friday night hung out with work friends and had a good ole time.

Saturday night, spent a brief time with Shannon at the Duck for her bday, then hooked up with Josh for a drink or two at McNally's. Been a while since I've been there; forgot how much I like that place.

Got home awfully late after an awfully good time and slept for a mere 3 hours. Le sigh.

Unfortunately picked up a bug somewhere along the line and have been home sick for a few days. Probably could have gone back today, but decided to take one more day to myself for rest and recuperation. First time that I've logged into anything, so I'm all behind and will probably remain behind for a few days.

Keifer seems to be doing better, though he knocked over his glass dish of wet food today and it shattered. When I went to pick it up, I must have touched a piece just right and sliced my finger open. Lovely.

Probably going to lay back down for yet another nappy nap. Text me.

I fell in love today...

2008-08-13T02:48:28Z

My car got an oil change and some computer work done yesterday. Was all covered by warranty, thought all was fine. However, service light came on while on my way to work. I called the dealership and said I would be bringing it in, in 2 hours, and that they should have a loaner vehicle ready for me.

I figured I'd be driving something off their used lot or something.

This is a Pontiac, Saturn, Cadillac, Hummer dealership.

I stopped by, they had ready for me to drive, free of charge a

The one I drove was silver, black leather interior. 3,200 miles, so brand spanking new. Still smelled like there was 15 miles on it. I'm not necessarily a "car" girl. I like to look at them, I like to drive them, but I've never really seen the sense in spending $45,000 on a machine... I get it now! Wow, it was just gorgeous. Sitting in the parking lot at work, boy did I get some looks. People must think I make a mint now. Haha, if they only knew.

It was god-awful hard to return to work after I picked up this baby. I just wanted to drive and drive. I got up to 85 on the interstate where the speed limit is 65 and I figured I better slow down. The dealership may have given me the car to drive for free, but pretty sure they wouldn't be willing to pay for my speeding ticket! I can't believe this is what they gave me to drive! Talk about service!

I'm pretty sure I fell in love today!!!

Keifer update...

2008-08-13T02:19:15Z

Ok, so finally heard from the vet at almost 6pm, Keifer's test results came in as the following:

Bladder/urinary tract infection (thank goodness), which is probably the culprit behind all his symptoms. He's now on antibiotics for 10 days and we'll retest him. If he's better, great. If not, then on to kidney scans.

Glucose, low, but not diabetic low. Said may be attributed to stress.

Thyroid, perfect

Kidneys, some flags here, possible beginning of kidney disease, but not TOO bad yet. Will retest in approximately 90 days

Red blood cell count, perfect

White blood cell count, elevated due to UTI

Overall, the vet said the results were actually better than she hoped for. The results would be alarming for a young cat, but for one that's 19 years old, he's in remarkable condition, she said.

He needs to gain weight, so in a day or two, we'll change him over to wet food, which will hopefully fatten him up a bit and get more fluids in him. He was always a 10-11 pound kitty, who is now 6.2 pounds: Skinny Minny!

So thank you to all for your well wishes. It seems, at least for now, they have helped and paid off.

Thank you again!!

allistra @ 2008-08-11T21:25:00

2008-08-12T02:51:10Z

So my 19 year old cat Keifer isn't doing really well.

About 10 days ago he peed behind the TV for no apparent reason, and when I got back there, there was blood mixed with his urine. I didn't have time to take him to the vet before we left town, but I did keep an eye on his litter box and he's been fine since.

Saturday I noticed that he's started urinating everywhere. Not spraying, but little tiny pees. If you've ever had a urinary tract infection, it's like you have to pee all the time but when you go, nothing really comes out. It's been like that.

So he doesn't always make it to the box either, sometimes yes, sometimes no. he's been a wonderful cat and never misbehaves or does that type of thing to get back at me.

So we put him in the basement bathroom with food, water, and a box, along with something soft to lay on. He's comfortable.

Took him to the vet late this afternoon and they're running blood and urine tests and we should get them back sometime tomorrow around noon. They'll call me at work. But they said with his exam, the only thing that seemed wrong with him is that he's too skinny.

I'm trying to remain optimistic since the vet didn't really seem overly alarmed towards anything; she just wants to wait to see what the test show and go from there.

I haven't been this worried in a long time.

Happy Birthday Lucy!!

2008-08-10T05:13:08Z

Borrowed from trancedreamer

2008-08-10T05:05:45Z

You know how sometimes people on your friends list post about stuff going on in their life, and all of a sudden you think "Wait a minute? Since when are they working THERE? Since when are they dating HIM/HER? Since when?" And then you wonder how you could have missed all that seemingly pretty standard information, but somehow you feel too ashamed to ask for clarification because it seems like info you should already know? It happens to all of us sometimes.

Please copy mine below, erase my answers putting yours in their place then post it in your journal! Please elaborate on the questions that would benefit from elaboration! One-Word-Answers seldom help anyone out.

1. Name: Hayley Elizabeth. Hayley comes from Hayley Mills, the actress who played in the original Pollyanna and Parent Trap, also played Miss Bliss on the original Saved by the Bell. Middle name comes from my dad's favorite aunt.

2. Age: 28. Birthday is coming up in September, so I'm coming round the corner to 30 and really, doing pretty well with it.

3. Location: Sioux Falls, SD. Love it here. Absolutely love it. Came here from Iowa 10 years ago to go to college and never left. The only place I can imagine leaving to go to is Minneapolis.

4. Occupation: Learning and Development Specialist with Wells Fargo. I train the new people who are hired into the phone bank, working with customer service and sales. Classes run for 6 weeks and I train back to back to back year round. I also write for a company newsletter that goes out to several thousand people each quarter, and write, edit, and layout (basically do the entire thing) another newsletter that goes out monthly to several hundred people.

5. Partner: Mike. 34. Sergeant of security at the college I attended. We've been married a little more than 9 years and together almost 11.

6. Kids: No human children yet, but within the next few months, I hope to have some good news for everyone.

7. Brothers/Sisters: I'm the oldest of two blood sisters. I have several step brothers and sisters, as well as a half-brother who my mom gave up for adoption when she was in high school. I have not met him.

8. Pets: 3 cats, 2 dogs.

Keifer: my 19 year old cat, black and white. Had him since eighth grade, and it looks like his time is coming. I'm devastated, but hoping he's just going through a tough time right now.

Nomar: 5 year old cat. All white, one blue eye, one yellow eye. 24 pounds. One HEFT of a cat. Not overly social, but getting better the older and fatter he gets.

Bijou: the newest addition to the house. 3-4 month old kitten. Also black and white. My 2 1/2 year old niece often calls her "Baby Keifer".

Oscar: my 2 year old dachshund. He's 13 pounds, which puts him between the weight range for a mini and a standard. So we call him a tweenie. The older he gets, the more I like him. Though we'll probably never have another dachsie ever. Too needy and too bark-y. The definition of an ankle-biter dog, at least until recently.

Lucy: my pride and joy. My 1-year-old (TODAY!) English bulldog. She's now almost to 60 pounds, and I'm hoping she's about done growing!

9. List the 3-5 biggest things going on in your life:

Baby planning: after all this time, there's finally some serious discussions going on regarding little Hayley's and little Mike's. Since we have the chance to actually choose instead of having it be an OOPS, we're really debating. Talks have been rocky, as they always have been, but we're nearing the light at the end of the tunnel.

Traveling this summer: Minneapolis twice in May, Wisconsin in July, Iowa in July, Iowa in August, northern Iowa in September, southern Iowa the next weekend in September. Three weddings, two of which we are actually in the wedding party. What a time for gas to hit $4/gallon!!! :(

Make-up: sounds silly, as I've been wearing it since I was 11, but I'm trying new colors, new brands, new techniques. It's become a bit of a hobby. Since I've lost my weight, my face is quite different and I feel more confident to try more bold looks.

10. What did you go to school for? I have two Bachelor's degrees: one in English and one in journalism. At least I'm finally using them with my newsletter work.

11. Parents: Dad is on 3rd wife, 4th marriage. Runs his own trucking/hauling business, so he's away from home most of the time. Mom has had 2 husbands, 2 divorces. Incredibly intelligent and creatively talented; however, cannot maximize on these talents due to chronic alcoholism and frequently unbridled bipolar disorder. Have had to act as HER parent for much of my life.

12. Close Friends: Mike (spouse), Bethany (sister), Jeremy (best friend), Carey (friends since 7th grade), Pam & Aaron & Shannon (co-workers in my department), others much more casually.

allistra @ 2008-08-09T13:22:00

2008-08-09T18:25:42Z

Been doing some "me" spending lately.

Got a WONDERFULLY priced make-up haul from pumpkin_pie_m last week and have been delighting in playing around with new eyeshadows.

I also picked up a few eyeshadows here and there from other LJ users and Target-boutique.

In about 15 minutes I'm off for a haircut and some waxing. I have Carey's wedding on Sept 6, so I want to make sure I'm ready for that, but I don't want to do the cut/wax right before the wedding, as if anything gets messed up, I want to have time either to fix it, or learn to make it work. haha.

I have my regular girl working on the haircut today, so hopefully it comes out well. I've decided I'm going to grow my hair out long-ish again, as it's been short (or shorter) for the last 2 years. Though I'll change the style, I think I'm going to stay with the very dark, dark brown. I look good as an intense brunette.

Anywho, maybe I'll post some pictures of my new make-up and new hair later. Just depends on what I feel like.

Cheerio, lovelies!