In California for a bit

I am in California for my grandpa's funeral.  He passed away on October 1st.  I am staying at a hotel while I am here.  I was supposed to stay two nights at my Uncle's house but I could barely make it one night.  They have 4 cats and I am allergic.  I can handle living with one cat with the help of homeopathic medicine but 4 was too much for me.  About 30-40 minutes after I entered the house, my allergies started flaring up.  My eyes got puffy, my nose got stuffy, and to top it off, my asthma flared up!  I got about 2 or 3 hours of sleep that night.  I am now staying at the hotel and feeling much better.  I slept like a baby at the hotel.  I can tell I am still on East Coast time because I woke up at around 4:30am PST, which is 7:30am EST.  The hotel has continental breakfast from 6am til 10am so I filled up on food from there.  I will have a nice healthy breakfast every morning I am there!

The hotel is located near shopping so I just walked next door to Old Navy!  I spent about 45 minutes there, but didn't buy anything.  My mom and I went shopping at Walmart and Kohl's.  We ended up getting a zip-up cardigan/sweater with a hood for myself and 5 toys for Kyle!  Two of them are remote control cars and the other three are Toy Story 3 toys.  The Toy Story 3 toys were on clearance.  They are so cute, they are a flashlight and they talk!  Then we headed over to Kohl's.  My mom bought a black tie for my Dad, shoes for herself, and shoes for me.  I found a pair of toning shoes that were on sale by Avia.  I've been wanting a pair of toning shoes for awhile now and so glad I have a pair. 

Carpet Cleaning Friday

While Kyle was at school today, I shampoo'd the carpets -- the carpets we walk on everyday! They really needed to be cleaned, there were various stains and it started to smell. I haven't had any carpet cleaning solution since I bought my carpet cleaning vacuum (it came with a sample size), so instead, I use some Shaklee product that is super concentrated all purpose cleaner. The carpets look so much better and our rooms smell better!

I happened to find a "rug & carpet shampoo" product that is earth friendly and safe to use around pets and children. I am excited to try it, as the reviews are very positive. There are still some stains and hope to get them out with this product. I miss using my carpet cleaning vacuum, it was fun shampooing the carpets! I plan on shampooing the carpets on a regular basis now. I like having clean carpets to walk on.



I also needed more homeopathic medicine for my allergy to cats! I am running low and don't want to risk running out.

I am job searching daily for Shannon. I am only focusing on finding State, City, and County jobs. I have applied for several so far. I check several times a day and search at least 4 or 5 surrounding cities and counties in addition to the State website. Every once in awhile, I will apply for other positions that are not State, City, or County jobs. Hopefully we'll get a call back soon.

I am looking forward to Kyle's doctor appointment next Thursday! Hopefully the doctor can direct us on what we should do and give us a few referrals to other specialists.

I have a Pea Coat

A few hours after we dropped Kyle off at school, my MIL and I went shopping. We stopped at JC Penney's because she had to return a pajama top that she bought yesterday. They had several racks of 75% off in all departments. I ended up getting myself a Pea Coat that was on sale/clearance! It is so cute and it's a petite, size small. It was the last coat on the rack! I don't know how it hadn't been snatched up yet! I have wanted a coat and now I finally have one to keep me warm. The only thing that I don't like about it is that it's "dry clean only." I guess if I need to, I could use the at-home dry cleaning method.

I also bought Shannon two more pajama pants. He loves the ones he got for Christmas from his parents. These were also on sale/clearance.







After doing some damage at JC Penney's, we went to Bi-Lo to buy groceries. We ended up getting some frozen dinners from Healthy Choice! Most of them were vegetarian, so I bought one of each. I had one today and it was really good. It was "sweet and sour" which I normally don't eat and it made my mouth numb and it was spicy, it had a nice kick to it. I also had to pick up some over-the-counter allergy medicine! My allergies have been bothering me since the wind and rain were here a few days ago. The outdoor allergies are bothering me and the indoor allergies (cat dander) are pretty bad. This morning I had to take a Zyrtec, thankfully I had a sample and it helped me go back to sleep.

We're not sure about school on Friday. The weather forecast is calling for snow and ice! School could be canceled or on a 2-3 hour delay. There were a few school districts that were closed and one that was on a 2 hour delay today but they were in the higher elevations.

Long Odd Day

Shannon was up early this morning by 9 AM or so! He's been waking up pretty early lately, it's so weird having him up with us in the morning.


My in-laws had doctor appointments this morning. My in-laws were also having DirectTV installed, and they were expected between 12 PM and 4 PM. They were also putting a cable cord through the room we stay in, so now we'll have a TV to watch.

I told Shannon that I need to order more homeopathic medicine for my allergy to the cat. I think my allergies are slowly coming back. I ran out of my medicine a few weeks ago and have gone this long without it! It's pretty surprising. I ordered more medicine, as well as another item.

Shannon received some good news this afternoon, he will be receiving unemployment! The court ruled in his favor! His former employer have until April 15th to dispute the ruling. Once we get our first check, we definitely need to get the car fixed! We also want to get Kyle a power wheels toy.

He always wants us to push him up and down the yard in his tricycle! He loves being on the move! So he would love this toy!

Now that Shannon will be receiving unemployment, he can be picky with which jobs to accept! It's nice knowing we'll have some income coming in, some is better than none. We will be applying for WIC and Medicaid soon as well! I am also thinking about taking the CNA course for sure! Although, the school is 45 minutes away! I have looked at the CNA jobs in this area and they are all for private homes. I have seen a few job ads to work at a facility/hospital/rehab center type of place. I am not really wanting to work at someone's private home.

The DirectTV guys were for over 4 hours! It was such an inconveniece because we had to keep Kyle away from the guys while they were working because he would just run up to them and stand next to them to look at what they were doing! LOL So we stayed outside most of the time they were here. My in-laws also got a DVR recorder and Shannon showed them how to use it, they are going to see how much easier it is! We were so spoiled with our DVR! I would record all of my favorite shows!

My mother-in-law made chocolate covered strawberries! YUM! The last time I had those was back when I was working at the hotel where I met Shannon (my first hotel job). They were leftovers from conventions, meetings, or room service. I do miss that job because we did get a few plates of free food from the conventions!

Another Nice Day

Kyle wanted to go outside early today, so I took him out at 10 AM. He and I stayed out there for about an hour. I made lunch for him and then it was back outside.

The weather was nice today, it was a little warm but overcast. It started to cool down after about 2 PM. Kyle played outside for most of the day. He ran around the yard and rode his tricycle up and down the yard. We think he would have so much fun in a power wheels toy! That would be cute.


Shannon spent most of the afternoon digging. He started digging earlier this week. My in-laws are starting a garden and Shannon's doing the digging for them. The soil arrived today. They unloaded it in the middle of the driveway. It's supposed to be a rich mix of soil, so they are going to use that in the gardening bed. Shannon has one hole completely dug out and he started the second one today. His parents want to get everything ready this weekend, so Shannon's been working hard to get it done in time.

I made it a point to go outside as much as I could throughout the day. My asthma has been bothering me so I think the fresh air helps. I know it's the cat and the spring weather. I hate having allergies! LOL I never had allergy problems in Nevada.

I am still job hunting like crazy, applying here and there for Shannon. I also found 2 local jobs as a General Manager and Assistant General Manager for a new hotel being built, so hopefully Shannon will apply for those. He has to fax in his resume.

My plants should be here tomorrow! I can't wait to get them!

We also received a 2 week sample of coffee to try. After the 2 weeks are up, we have to take a survey. The can of coffee is unmarked so we don't even know what company/brand it's from. Shannon will be the tester for this survey.

Friday Fun

Shannon and his mom went grocery shopping for organic fruits, vegetables, and other things. They bought more bananas for Kyle. Kyle had some grapes and a few bites of peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a few bites of my boca burger for dinner. I am just glad he ate the grapes! He needs more fruits in his diet.

My order for homeopathic medicine and other items arrived in the mail today. I am already tired of the medicine I am taking. It's making my nose feel REALLY dry to where it's starting to irritate me.

We took Kyle outside several times today. The weather was really nice (between 62 to 67 degrees). He loved to run around and the fresh air was good for all of us. Plus my in-laws dog loves to go outside and run around like crazy.

I am still applying like crazy to any and every job listing I see that Shannon may like. I check the job sites throughout the day. I probably applied for at least 15 jobs just today. Next week I am hoping Shannon will go to a temp agency. We talked about him doing that, just to have some money coming in. I asked him what he has planned for next week and he said he's thinking about it. Hopefully he'll have a plan of attack for next week.

Meanwhile, I am trying to put more time into working. Especially since Shannon is taking the initiative to watch Kyle more for me during the day. This gives me time to apply for jobs and do a little work here and there.

For some reason, there seems to be less work coming in and more people logged in to work. So it feels like we're all clamoring for work. I really hope this changes, it sounds like it's not usually like this, where there isn't much work to do.

Allergies and Asthma

I am still taking my medication for asthma as well as my over the counter medicine for my allergies to the cat. I am almost out of both medicines. I have decided to start using the homeopathic remedies again. They seemed to work last time. Plus, we don't have health insurance and I don't want to end up with a $300 doctor bill just to get a prescription for a medication that I need, which would cost another $50 to $100.

So I found a homeopathic remedy to purchase online. I also bought a few other items that I need, and I know Shannon won't want to go shopping or he'll buy the wrong item. About a week ago, I asked him to get me some conditioner for my hair and he picked up shampoo on accident. I also bought conditioner and toothpaste and few other items.

Shannon's going grocery shopping tomorrow with his mom. They (prefer to) only eat organic so I am not sure where she's taking him.

Adjusting

We arrived around 7:30 PM, about 2 hours after leaving our place. We tried dropping off the cable box and modem and they were closed, even though customer service told me they were open til 11pm!!! We stopped at Dairy Queen and got a vanilla shake and we all shared that. We hit the evening traffic and that took up most of our time. When we reached our destination city, we stopped at CVS to buy diapers. I ended up buying the CVS brand of diapers. We've bought the generic brand in the past and they always failed. So I am watching his diaper really closely to make sure he doesn't leak. So far, so good!

Last night was very difficult because Kyle didn't understand that we are now staying/living with my in-laws again. He kept pulling us out of bed, as if to say, "Let's go back home in our own bed." Eventually he wore himself out and fell asleep. Now we need to get him back on to a routine.

My asthma was bothering me last night to where I had to use my inhayler twice! Luckily I have some medicine from last time we were here so I started taking them today. I also have some over the counter medicine for my allergy to the cat.