Work tests, ballet silliness, and apple dumplings!

This week has been:
♥ Making apple dumplings for the office.
♥ Trying mochi ice cream for the first time. Yum!
♥ Seeing my very first ballet.
♥ Realizing I'm too immature for the ballet.
♥ Getting my masquerade mask and shoes and new running shoes in the mail.
♥ Lots of fun thrifting finds.
♥ Passing my tech test with a 98! WOOO!

I'm so excited about passing that test! I was so terrified. I chatted with my old lead, Chris, to let him know that I passed, because he knew how nervous I was. And he let me know that I had a really good score. Yes! So I feel so much better about jumping into it next week. I get to take a little bit of time away from answering calls for the next 6 weeks to tackle tech tickets so I can get some practice and get more comfy. And I definitely need it!

I've been getting lots of help from some wonderful people at work. Anytime I get stumped, I just ask, and everyone's been so stinkin' helpful. I'm learning the signs of specific issues, how to find information about them, and what steps to take to troubleshoot. I feel like I have so much friendly support, so it makes me a little less nervous about going back to tickets for a bit. I'm not technical at all, so it just takes me quite a bit of time to figure out issues. So I'm hoping I can just speed it up a bit. Fingers crossed!

In not work-related news, I went to my first ballet! Katy, Autumn, Lauren, and I went out for yummy sushi beforehand, where I tried mango mochi ice cream. And I loved it!


Then we headed to the ballet. It was really pretty, but I just kept giggling at certain parts (see picture below), and then I fell asleep at one point. I wanted to appreciate it and love it so badly! But sadly, it does not seem to be for me. :( I just need constant action to keep my attention. So next time, we're doing the roller derby! I am so very refined, obviously.

When the curtain raised, this was waiting for us. This is just a picture from the pamphlet, and it seems innocent enough. But from far away and with the angle of his stance, how the item was placed was really, really silly. And he stood like that. Forever. Hence the giggling.



I got my new running shoes in the mail, and I'm so excited!


I've been trying to go walking at least 3 times a week for about 30 minutes or so. The biggest, most amazing cemetery is at the dead end by my house, and it's awesome for walking after work. It's seriously huge! And it's so lush and green and pretty. It's such a gorgeous atmosphere to just get lost in. Not to mention my obsession with graveyards and history, so it's perfect. And I joined the work gym, too, and I plan on going at least once or twice a week. So I'm super excited that these little babies were delivered!

Oh, and I also wanted to share my apple dumpling recipe! I know Rachel had asked, so here you go! :D


♥ Country Apple Dumplings ♥

2 large Granny Smith apples
2 cans Pillsbury crescent rolls
1 cup butter or margarine
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle Mountain Dew
I try to use lighter options, so I use the following as substitutes:

Reduced fat Pillsbury crescent rolls
Land O Lakes light butter with canola oil (50% less fat and calories!)
Diet Mountain Dew

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
3. Cut each apple into 8 wedges and set aside.
4. Separate the crescent roll dough into triangles. Roll each apple wedge in crescent roll dough starting at the smallest end. Pinch to seal and place in the baking dish.
5. Melt butter in a small saucepan and stir in the sugar and cinnamon.
6. Pour over the apple dumplings.
7. Pour Mountain Dew over the dumplings. (I only use about a cup. It can get really liquidy if the whole bottle is used.)
8. Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until golden brown.

They're so yummy! Let me know if you try making these and how much you love 'em!

Sick, AGAIN! D:

Welp, I'm home sick, yet again! I'll get to the sick stuff here in a second. But first, take a gander at this wonderful care package that I just received from my good friend, Ashlee, back home in Tennessee! I'm so excited!


It included some of the cutest stuff:
♥ a get well card
♥ a super sweet note
♥ hydrocortisone cream
♥ a bottle of aloe lotion
♥ a cupcake notebook
♥ two cupcake pens
♥ a "keep calm and have a cupcake" bookmark
♥ the Kawaii Not book she's been telling me about from her work
♥ an ice cream sandwich keychain that matches hers!

Ashlee's really been keeping me positive through all of my crappy health luck here lately. What an amazing friend to have!

So here's what's been going on. I stayed home Monday because my leg hurt so bad, but my throat and head starting hurting earlier that day, too. I tried to go into work on Tuesday, and I even wore pj pants to keep my leg from getting all irritated. (I'm so classy!) But by about 10am, I was coughing like crazy, my throat was super itchy, my head was all spinny, and my ears were so clogged up that I could barely hear! I was so out of it that I couldn't focus or grasp anything my callers were saying.

And to make it worse, I was squirming in my chair every time my pj pants even grazed my leg. At the risk of sounding like a puny little baby, I also got upset and got all teary eyed and sniffly two different times when people came to my desk and asked me how I was. How embarrassing, I know. :( But I just couldn't handle it. There was so much going on, and I was so miserable! So I came on home and made an appointment with my doctor.

Just like I was afraid of, the doctor told me that I have the exact same thing I had 3 weeks ago! She said it probably never fully went away, and she thinks it was stirred back up from all the airplane travel and all of the allergens and everything blooming while I was in Nashville. And apparently my poor chest has gotten worse. She said she could barely hear any air flow in my lungs, so she gave me a huge inhaler and the same antibiotic. And if I don't get any better, she wants to do a chest x-ray. My luck, I swear!

At least there was this cute old school scale at the doctor's office for me to snap a picture of!


Once I got home and got some medicine in me, I decided to draw a few little sketchy brits.

Me on Tuesday when I tried to go to work (I didn't feel like brushing my hair, and I really did wear this to work):


And me every other day:


I've been trying my best not let all of this sicky sick and hurty hurt get to me. I'm usually so stinkin' positive, but I guess everyone gets down sometimes. I just try so hard to stay super happy through things, but it can all build up and start a big ol' snowball of stuff. I just got a little sad and felt an accumulative effect of a few not-so-positive things all at once, and I'm sure that's what brought on the tears at my desk:

• a ridiculously painful leg and not being able to walk or let anything touch it (impossible!)
• a constant super hurty sinus-pressure headache, coughing all night, a runny nose, clogged ears, etc.
• the frustration of being sick after dealing with the exact same sickness a few weeks ago (are you srs?!)
• the worry of people being upset with me for missing so much work lately
• having to leave Mom and Cupcake after getting used to the comfort of seeing them every day for a week (it makes my heart hurt a little bit, honestly)
• feeling guilty for not being able to see everyone on my trip

I mean, that's a lot to try to deal with all at once for even the most positive person! Thankfully, my leg has eased up a bit, and I'm not limping anymore and can put weight on it. So yay for that! And my doctor's note says I can go back to work tomorrow, and even though I'm not quite feeling 100%, I'm so ready to get back to normal, silly life!

Oh, and all of these little Miffy papers were covering my desk when I got back on Tuesday! And I'm pretty sure I know who it was. Ahem, Gretchen, ahem!



In the meantime, I'm trying to rest a bunch so I feel up to working tomorrow. Here's what my day looks like so far:



The past two days, I've just been taking Benadryl-induced midday naps, watching Ugly Americans on Hulu, snacking on way too much cheese, and loving on Peaches a bunch.

And of course since I've been home and bored, I had to make a bunch of these!







She's been taking care of me all day with a mighty big dose of puppy lovins!

I hope everyone else is having a normal, not-so-sick Thursday! :D