The latest in Richelle Mead's Bloodlines series, Silver Shafows, came out today. I got my copy via iBooks around 9pm last night and devoured it. Needless to say, I have thoughts.

( spoilers for Silver Shadows )

If you haven't read these books, you seriously need to pick them up. They are absolutely fantastic.

Dear asthma/sinuses,

It's be super great if I could BREATHE rn.

Love, me.

I need 5 more responses to this poll for a class assignment that is due tonight. Help me out, please?

In other news, I'm enjoying my job at the law office, school is going well, but I'm glad the semester will be over soon and that I'll have a little over a week off before fall semester starts. With the end of summer classes, I will officially have my Office Technology Specialist Certificate. I will also only have two semesters to go before I have my associates degree as an Administrative Office Specialist. Which means I will be all done with school, unless I decide I want a second associates degree in Information Technology (which is actually kind of tempting, tbh).

The down side is that a lot of the good jobs are in other cities/states. I have had lots of recruitment emails from companies outside of where I live looking for someone with my ~skills, but moving isn't a real option right now, soooo... NOT HELPFUL!

On the plus side, I love my job and I'm really hoping it will become full time by the time I am done with school. I'm happy to be working part time and I'd be perfectly happy with what I'm making, even, if I had more hours, but once I'm done with school, I'm definitely going to need a full time position. Or, you know, more money.

This is a problem I'll worry about next spring, though, I think.

I just finished working a 7 day stretch.

I also just finished binning 11 pallets of toys.

Needless to say, I am DEFINITELY ready for my days off, even if the bulk of the time will be taken up by homework.

My paycheck is going to be really fucking nice, but holy hell I am EXHAUSTED.

Not only am I working A 12 HOUR SHIFT on Thanksgiving, but I am also SCHEDULED 50+ hours that week.

The paycheck is gonna be sweet, but kill me now, please.

Today, we took a little road trip to Sioux Falls so I could see a pulmonologist. It actually went pretty well. They did a pulmonary function test which made my chest hurt a lot and make my cough a little worse for a bit, but the doctor was pretty awesome. He was good at asking a lot of questions and explaining everything. The diagnosis so far is what they call a post infection cough, which is really common in people with allergies/breathing problems after they've had any kind if respiratory infection and can last up to 3 months, especially in people with asthma.

So we're trying a steroid inhaler (Pulmicort) to try and get of the insane coughing and breathing problems and I'm going back in two weeks for a follow up. I'm also home on rest until after my appointment on the 21st, so that's two more weeks off work. Yay?

The other awesome thing about today is that my pulmonologist is also a sleep specialist, so I was able to talk to him about my sleep disorders. My primary care doctor doesn't like prescribing anything that can be abused (ie sleeping pills, stimulants, etc), so every time I try to talk to her about my problems sleeping/staying alert at appropriate times, she recommends melatonin or Benadryl at night. Which haven't really worked for me. But today I was able to talk to a specialist about my insomnia and daytime sleepiness. I explained that I stopped taking Nuvagil when the original prescription ran out and that I hadn't been able to find a doctor who would prescribe Ambien since my sleep study back in 2008/09. He gave me a refill for Ambien AND a low dose script for Provogil to try out. So hopefully those will work out well for me. But it was nice to meet with a doctor who is so helpful and informative and who is giving me some hope of feeling better.

And he had me give some blood for a thyroid test to make sure my thyroid isn't screwing up my sleep patterns, because apparently that is a common contributor to sleep disorders.

I know from experience that steroid inhalers take 1-2 weeks to really help, but I'm hopeful that I'll finally be on the road to getting over this cough (which is so bad, you don't even know).

And I have a job interview Thursday. Lol. How awkward will it be if I have a new job by the time I'm cleared to go back to work?

Seeing a pulmonologist tomorrow for a breathing test and assorted other fun.

I say "fun" very sarcastically, because breathing ranges from uncomfortable to painful at the moment, so doing an actual breathing test should be oh so comfortable.

Here's hoping he's able to offer me some relief from this crap, because I have officially been sick for over a month now, and it's not getting any better.

Since I am STILL coughing and generally feeling like crap, my doctor is referring me to a pulmonologist, who was supposed to call me to set up an appointment. I didn't get a call today, which means I am waiting until Monday now and am out of work at least until the middle of next week.

Today marks 4 weeks since the last time I actually went to work. As much as I appreciate a break from the hell that is working for Walmart, I really miss having a paycheck and I'd really rather be well. Because I hate coughing and I miss being able to breathe. And I don't like thinking it could be something more serious than an extremely persistent case of bronchitis.

I have been sick for about two weeks now, longer if you count the sinus infection I had before I got hit with the real sickness. Today marks exactly 2 weeks since the last day I was able to go to work, though.

At first, we (me and my doctor) were pretty sure I had caught my mom's bronchitis. They called in some antibiotics and when I wasn't well by mid-week, I filed for short term leave. I was feeling better enough that it was assumed I would only be out the week. But then my cough got worse over that weekend and with my youngest sister (who was here for the summer and had been sick with similar symptoms) was given a diagnosis of possible whooping cough, my doctor decided to test me for that. Because whooping cough is highly contagious, I was told I couldn't go back to work at least until the test results come back. That was Monday and we're still waiting, but they said the results could take up to 8 days.

I'm trying not to think about all the lost time, because freaking out about it won't do any good. My sleeping schedule is completely screwed up by this and the sinus-y symptoms that had faded have decided to come back. I'm still coughing a lot and generally feeling like crap most of the time. And because my leave is still "pending" I'm still having to call work every day to officially call out from each shift. PITA.

Also, the nebulizer treatments I was prescribed for the cough only seem to make my cough worse. Which is fun when I want to sleep.

I just want to be well again. :/

I am legit sitting here annoyed with myself over ONE question on my first accounting quiz. Because I ONLY got a 96%. And I ONLY scored 99.7% on the homework. WOE IS ME.

What? My perfect 100% streak has been ruined by slightly less perfect quiz scores. This is a valid thing to be unhappy about, right?

Okay, guys, opinions - Would Ksenia Solo be a passable sibling for Colin Morgan and Bradley James?

( pictures! )

Expression-wise, she's perfect for their sister, but I'm on the fence about whether she looks like she could be related to them.

I'm watching the WWDC Keynote (finally) and hrejhkjshdkhfksd I do not have very many coherent thoughts, because there is just a lot of flailing and keysmashing, but

- Mavericks is kind of a stupid name, but I want it
- The new Mac Pro is sexy as fuck
- iWork for iCloud! YES! Now I can iWork on my PC
- Maps integration with iCal. I have been wanting this for YEARS
- I CANNOT WITH ALL THIS STUFF, APPLE

I doubt it will be out before I buy my Mac Mini, which is a thing that is happening as soon as I get my financial aid monies from school, but I will GLADLY pay for the upgrade. GLADLY. And I really want to buy a Macbook Air or Pro, too, just saying.

I meant to go to bed early last night, but I finally acquired a copy of the last Sookie Stackhouse book and I legit could not put it down.

Fair warning, if you're in that majority that hated the book, you're probably not going to like my reaction to the book, because I loved it.

( spoilers for Dead Ever After )

At some point, I'm probably going to back back and reread the whole series in order.

I also recently read The Night Circus at hope_guides_me's suggestion and it was AMAZING. At times, I found it a little hard to follow with the jumping around, but overall I really, really enjoyed it.

I'm starting to lose track of what I have and haven't posted about lately. >.> So, have some recent highlights.

School officially starts Monday. I have a couple of quickie assignments done already and I'm planning to get as much of my week one stuff done this weekend so I don't have to worry about them during the week after working. I know I should also drastically cut back on RP, but I can't seem to bring myself to make those cuts. :/ Really, I just need a job that pays me to play on the Internet, AMIRITE? ;)

I have a very small payment next month and then my car is officially paid off. It's hard to believe it's actually been 6 years. In celebration of this, I took my mom out car shopping and we got her a new car. We meaning me, since she could never handle the car payment on her own. It's a much smaller payment than I had on mine and the car is pretty sweet. It's a 2011 Focus and it's much nicer than my 2007. Fully automatic, including locks and windows and a lot of other nice features. I love driving it and my mom seems pretty happy to have such a nice car.

My other recent "major" purchase was an iPad Mini. A lot of my courses for school are using eBooks and I've been wanting an iPad desperately since the very first one came out, so I broke down and bought one and it is beautiful.

And I can't remember if I've mentioned it, but my mom and I have been fostering kittens this summer through the local animal rescue (giving them temp homes until they're adopted so they don't have to be put down). We fell in love with our very first foster kitten, who my sister and I insisted on naming Padfoot.

( pictures! )

And now we're off to wash our Focuses!

So, apparently anyone who hates Windows 8 just hasn't spent enough time on it, because if you try it long enough to get used to it, you are guaranteed to love it. GUARANTEED.

I mean, it's not like people have different wants or anything.

Oh, Facebook. Never stop being stupid.

(tbf, this is one person on my feed, but whatever, it's still the stupidest conversation I have ever been a part of)

Kicked the ACT's ass.

30 Grammar
23 Maths
29 Reading
26 Science

27 composite score, which means I get the scholarship :D

I'm going to go find something mindless to do now.

(Funnily enough, that's the same composite score I made back in 1991 when I originally took it.)

If you like OUAT and writing/RP, you should check out welcomemod. It's a panfandom game set in Storybrooke and I am having so much fun there. They cast is diverse and the players are friendly and enthusiastic. I'm having a freak time playing my kids!

THIS IS PADFOOT, THE KITTEN.



We have been fostering him and another kitten for a few weeks now. My Mom just put in an application for us to adopt him!


OMGFLAPPYHANDS THERE IS NOT GIF SUFFICIENT TO EXPRESS MY GLEE!

I met with the admissions rep this morning and have pretty much settled on this program. I can do the whole thing online and a lot of my old design and techie classes plus gen ed stuff should transfer, so I think it's a really good option! Now I just need to wait for them to receive my transcripts, figure out my transfer credits and send me my award letter.

I'm also going to have to re-take the ACT, because they only accept test scores that are from 5 years ago or less for the Star Scholarship (which I totally qualify for if I can manage a good score again). So I will definitely be looking into prep books and things to help me study, because that's $1000 a year in free money to put towards books, living expenses, etc. maybe even a new Mac :o

It's going to be a lot of work balancing school with my full time job, but a lot of these classes are just going to be review for me - getting credit for relearning things I already know, so I'm hopeful I can handle it. Even if it means cutting back on RP once classes start up. :/ Not ideal, but I have two months to play before then!

I'm going back to school.

Well, 90% sure of this. I've been looking into it and it looks like I can swing being 100% covered by grants and scholarships. So, I'll be meeting with an admissions rep tomorrow morning and I'm pretty darn excited!

I'm looking at online classes, at least for my first semester, because it's not feasible for me to go back to working part time at the moment. I can actually do the whole degree online if I want, but we'll see if I can handle the course load + full time hours.

Excitement. I has it. This is something I've been wanting for a long time and it's finally doable.