this morning i realized how dependent i am on my flat iron.  i do my usual morning routine as i wait for my flat iron to heat up.  i noticed that it did not turn on yet and thought i forgot to turn it on.  so i turn it on and do other things as i wait.  a few minutes later i see that it would not turn on.  i was extremely horrified since my hair is super crazy in the mornings since i typically go to bed with pretty damp hair.  i had crazy bumps and cow licks all over the place.  i couldn't just put it in a pony tail because you could still see my hair flipping everywhere.  i fished out my old curling iron, turned it on, and tried desperately to try to straighten my hair.  it got some of the minor bumps out but it was still very unkempt looking.  i threw my hair in a pony tail and tried to make it look as decent as possible.

i guess this is what i get for getting a cheap flat iron at walmart for $16.  guess what i bought right after work?  the same cheap flat iron for $16.  i just can't make myself buy a flat iron that is more than $30 because i don't see what the more expensive ones doing anything more than my $16.  if it lasts me 2 years, then i'm good considering i use it every single day.

so today was the day i went to work with crazy hair and i felt so self conscious.

have faith.

i walk in to work and check my mailbox.  in it was the dreaded note with my quality assurance rating.  yesterday an email was sent to therapists and case managers from the quality assurance director stating those needing to set up meetings with their supervisors and the quality assurance team will be notified shortly.  that email made me sick to my stomach. 

needless to say, i was anxious reading that note.  i saw that my peer review rating was still 100% but my quality assurance score dropped to 91.7%.  i was shocked that it dropped that much for two unchecked boxes.  i knew it would drop but figured it would be 4% points at the most.  at the bottom was circled the message stating i needed to meet with my supervisor and the quality assurance team to come up with an informal plan to prevent this from happening.

that note seriously ruined my entire day at work.  this is probably my 10th review and every single review was 100%.  i just can't believe my rating dropped that much for two stupid boxes.  it's not like i left a whole page of the assessment incomplete.  it just kills me that i got dinged for something so stupid.  i strive to provide meticulous work and this has really bummed me out.

i know i'm not solely defined by my work.  i know that i won't die from this meeting.  i just need to stop being such a perfectionist.  i have to remember i'm human and will make mistakes.  i have to remember it's ok if i make mistakes as long as i learn from them.

have faith.

i get a high stacking numerous coupons on laundry detergent.  i officially will hand over my young, cool card over shortly and accept my old fart card.  like i blogged before, i get such a high getting clothes dirt cheap using coupons and stacking them on sale prices.  i know i walked away from stores with shirts costing me $4 (no the store was not forever 21).  now i know my high translates to anything i can buy evident by my high buying tide at a crazy price. 

i am pumped to go buy toilet paper that is on sale armed with several coupons.  i can't stand the one ply stuff, it has to be charmin in the blue bag.  jessica knows what i am talking about.

someone called me a frugalista this weekend.  i like it because it fits me.  i love nice things but can't afford it on my salary so i have to be super smart with my spending.  i scour the internet for good deals and take advantage of coupons my fashion industry friends send me.  i try to buy things that are super affordable but well made. the purse that i recently bought was super cheap but is definitely on point with the current trends.  i receive a lot of compliments on it whenever i use it because it looks way more expensive than what it really is.  i don't try to compete with others because there's just no way i could without putting myself in debt.  plus that would be stupid to do to my credit score that i worked hard to earn so far.  it's just one big game to me on how to score fashionable (well, anything really) items at a price that won't make me sick.  i suppose if i had more money, i would not be so frugal.  i guess i'll let you know whenever that happens!

have faith.

other than august, october is the other month i hate the most.  this is the time of year when i see those halloween costume stores pop up all over the place.  this is the time of year when i see those dreadful costumes at stores.   this is the time of year when all those creepy scary movie previews are all over the air.  i am so sick and tired of hearing about paranormal activity.  i would be cool with never having to see the start of the preview or hearing about it again.  i'm sure i provide good comedic relief for vic every time i cover my face with my arms or blankets the second i hear scary music.  24 more days until this month is over.

i am kind of impressed and nauseous at the amount of my credit card bill.  normally i don't talk about my finances to anyone but jessica and family members, but since i am dork with numbers i wanted to post this statement's amount.  it came out to be 1,199.99 which i think is cool.  for whatever reason, seeing a bunch of 9s interests me.  it would have been cooler if it was an even 1,200.  i don't like to see my credit card bill to be that much but due to car insurance, wedding stuff, and a trip to visit the cousins, i knew this bill would make me feel queasy.

have faith.

it is pretty nice to have a three day weekend.  it's even nicer to have one pretty much the rest of the year due to all the vacation days i have to use before i lose them and believe me, i will not be losing them.  i don't know why i don't take more vacation days in the beginning of the year so i'm not left scrambling towards the end to use them up.  i know last year, i had a day off each week in november and december along with my week off at the end.  oh well, i shouldn't complain too much since i would sound like a jerk for whining about having to use vacation days.

i had a great time this weekend.  saw some old friends, ate a lot of good food, met some new people, walked around campus and reminisce about my college days, and had a blast at ryan and kathleen's wedding.  it was really great to see some of the old flipinos since i haven't seen most of them since i left campus.  i had kept in touch with some of them but it's always nicer to see them in person.  the favors were photos taken in the photo booth.  one was to be pasted in wedding guest book and the other was for the guest to keep.  it was a really cool idea and i'm thinking of copying it.  ryan is one of my oldest friends at osu and we reminisce about how during our many walks around campus at night, he thought about asking kathleen out.  now look at them, they're married several years later.  and only ryan would play weezer songs during the reception.  the moment only in dreams came on during the dollar dance, i grabbed five dollars and waited in line.  when it was my turn, we talked about how we bonded over weezer.  overall, it was a great wedding and i'm honored they included me in their big day.

campus is awesome.  i can't believe how awesome the union will be when it's done.  walking around it made me miss being in college.  it was so carefree compared to my  life now.  i made it a mission to find an osu alumni car decal to put on my car and to eat some mark pi's hot pepper chicken.  jessica and i talked about how good it was and how much we ate during out osu days.  i made sure to take a pic for her so she can be reminded visually of the food.  i also checked out dirty franks downtown and it was pretty good.  i have to do a review for vinh's food blog soon.

on a weird side note, i kept getting calls and texts from this guy who supposedly got my number from this girl on some chat line.  i was livid that someone would give my number out on some adult site because i kept getting messages about hooking up.  i ignored all texts and calls and hopefully the idiot will get a clue that he has the wrong number.  the dumb ass even realized the name on my voicemail did not match the name of the person he was chatting with but he proceeded to call and text me.  idiot.

other than that hiccup, i had a fantastic weekend!

i figured out how to add pics again!  enjoy!




have faith.

as i blogged earlier this week, i had an awful start towards productivity this week.  i was hopeful that i could pick up the pace towards the end of the week.  i was very wrong.  i had more cancellations and no shows (only two no shows) than actual sessions this week- a work first for me.  i think the break down was roughly 17 cancellations/no shows and 14 sessions.  pepper in several work meetings and supervision meetings, this was an awful, awful week productivity wise.  i'm a bit antsy since i haven't met my numbers the last three weeks.

i don't think i'll get the ax though since one of my co-workers who i get along with extremely well is leaving.  she started 2 months before me and has been a really good source of support.  since we live close to each other, we would text each other in the morning to see if the other one was going into work.  she was also one that worked late monday nights with me.  i'm really going to miss her.  one of my other co-workers said i looked really tense when they announced she was leaving and weren't sure if they were going to replace her.  i could feel myself tense up when they said they were most likely going to redistribute her work load.  that's bad news for me since she and i did the bulk of the drug and alcohol counseling.  i'll just have to wait and see what happens as it gets closer to her last day.  i'm just afraid i'll get more work dumped on me.

thankfully, i have a fun, fun three day weekend to look forward to.  can't wait to see old college friends, eat hot pepper chicken at mark pi's, and visit with people.

have faith.

some may think goofing off at work by playing computer games would be awesome but for me, it's awesome for 30 minutes before i get bored.  at work today the internet was down.  that meant obviously no internet and no logging into my work site.  that meant that during 2 back to back cancellations, i was left playing solitare, mindsweeper, and hearts.  i was bored to tears after 30 minutes but i couldn't do anything work related because the internet was down.  i couldn't do other work that needed to be done because i was at the site office and didn't have everything.

the internet didn't start working until 4pm just as i was about to leave.

on top of that, productivity is looking pretty bad this week.

i so can't wait for the weekend to be here so i can have fun, relax, and enjoy my 3 day weekend.

have faith.

that was the question that was posed to me today by vic as i called him asking for advice.  i was driving to the mall to kill some time before my eye doctor appointment when i saw an old homeless guy asking for work so he could buy food.  nothing broke my heart more than to see an elderly person hungry.  i was thinking about buying him at the mall and giving it to him on my way out.  i also knew the dangers that may happen if i were to do that like the homeless guy attacking me.  not quite sure what to do, i called vic since i knew he was at home studying.  yes, i bother my brother while he's studying for a huge test for random things like this because that's how nutty i am.

first thing he asked me if i was manic.  it's kind of a running joke between us since at times i may appear to display manic symptoms such as increased spending.  i guess this was a little out of character for me want to do, buying a book yesterday because i wanted to spend a little money (i don't remember the last time i bought a book let alone read a book), and the crazy amount of money i dropped yesterday, it would make sense if he thought i was being "manic".  he advised me not to do it due to the risks involved.  i proceeded to call 2 more people because i was not quite convinced but couldn't get through to them.  since vic is pretty rational, i heeded his advice and did not get the homeless elderly guy a meal.  maybe i'll just donate more to soup kitchens or something to feel a little better.

eye doctor is so not cute to me anymore.  my jaw wanted to drop when i saw how long his hair had become.  it's really curly and past his chin.  normally i love curly hair but on grown men, it is not a good look and it definitely did not look good on him.  anyway, i guess my eye doctor crush is now gone.  i'll still keep going to him because he's really nice and he hooked me up with two travel size contact solution bottles.  oh why did my eye doctor have to grow his hair out?

have faith.

i am still in a state of shock that i got "dinged" today for one of my charts being out of compliance.  at my work, there's this quality assurance committee that checks over charts randomly to make sure things are up to par.  therapist charts get reviewed once every quarter and for me, it's a really stressful time.  i remember talking to the girl who reviews the charts and she told me to not worry since my charts are always really good.  since i've been at work, i've always had a 100% rating on my charts.  i strive to be as perfect as i can and plus i love seeing that 100% on my chart review. 

needless to say when i checked my mailbox towards the end of the day, i found a strange form that i had to fill out.  my head started reeling as i read the form stating i did not complete two questions on the assessment.  the anal person i am, i ran to the records room and pulled my chart.  there i found i got dinged for not checking two freaking boxes.  i was so upset with myself because that is such a stupid thing to get dinged on and now my 100% rating is gone.

i hope that because it's something minor in my eyes, i won't lose that many percentage points.  i am dying to go back to work and find the girl who does the quality assurance to see exactly how many percentage points i lost.  yes, i am that compulsive and anal about my work.

have faith.

who knew that finding a coupon organizer would bring me much joy?  i feel like i hit the lottery when i found it.  now i can look somewhat together as i go grocery shopping without grabbing a handful of coupons and sifting through each one until i find what i am looking for.  now i have 13 compartments to put my coupons in.  i feel some anxiety as i sit and think of what 13 categories i want because i don't want to mess up my coupon organizer with a lame category or one i don't use often.  for now, i will put my coupons in their compartments without labeling them until i am sure of what i want. told you i'm neurotic.

i am sure i lost some cool points for this post.

have faith.