Holy storm!

Have I mentioned that I just love a good storm?! I know I have but it bears repeating because we had a doozy today and I loved it! I saw the alerts across the bottom of the television and they said that the Niagara Falls area would be hit at such & such time and they were dead on. All of a sudden it got really dark (it was only like 4:45pm), then the rain started pouring down, winds were crazy and then boom!! Thunder & lightning. My poor kitties ran underneath the bed but I sat & watched it. I tried going out on the front porch to sit but the wind was so strong that the rain was coming at me and I didn't want to get soaked. It only lasted about 20 minutes but it sure was fun!

I'm still reeling from the news about Celia. It's a little ironic because I was thinking about her about a week or so ago and how I should send her a card, tell her about my move & my new job and give her my new address & phone number. I feel so awful for her husband and children. :(

My aunt Barb & I went out this morning and bought 2 red geraniums, 1 white geranium and some other plant that will bloom little white flowers...I'm so bad at knowing names of flowers & plants, I really only know daisies, roses & tulips. ha ha. Anyway, we took the flowers to the cemetery and planted them in front of my Grandma & Grandpa's headstone, it looks so pretty. I only hope that all this rain we had didn't wash them away, I'll have to go check on them tomorrow. It may sound weird but I was so happy to be able to do that for them. Like I said, I know that everyone believes in different things but I know they appreciate it.

I got the cutest letter in the mail today from Amy, it's on a plain white sheet of paper and she took stickers & glitter and wrote up "Michelle, How are u? Way to go on the job! Good luck at Geico." She's so creative and it made me laugh, I hung it up on my refrigerator for all to see her beautiful artwork. Amy & her family will be coming into town over the summer and I can't wait. I bought a little gift today to give Isabelle when she gets here and I also bought a birthday present for Amy today...and no, I'm not giving any hints!!

My checking account is looking very sad right now & I can't wait to get some real paychecks under my belt. I'm so excited that this coming Sunday will be the last time I have to file for unemployment...I'm so glad it was there for me but I'll be so happy to not have to file anymore. I had to write a check for $350 to my dentist in WA for what insurance didn't cover when I had all that work done before I left. Thank goodness for insurance though.

Speaking of insurance, I've decided to go with Independent Health through Geico. I had Independent Health when I worked for Ticor over 10 years ago and I really liked it, the plan is very similar to Premera Blue Cross (which I now have through Medtronic/COBRA) but I noticed that the prescription co-pays are lower....like for one prescription I had to pay $35 with Premera and with Independent Health I'll only have to pay $20. Every little bit helps.

Yesterday at Geico they gave me a whole bunch of paperwork which included their dress code, it's "business casual" and they were very clear as to what can & can't be worn. I had fun reading it because some of it is just common sense but apparently there are people out there that lack in that department. They are also very specific about things like skirt lengths and how you can wear "crop" pants but they cannot be more than 3" above your ankle. I was happy that they don't require pantyhose (which I hate wearing!) and that they allow women to wear sandals (dressy ones) because I just bought those two pair of Clarks a couple weeks ago and I love them. Now I definitely have to keep up with my pedicures! ha ha

I do need to do a little more clothes shopping before I start, maybe 2 more pairs of slacks and a few tops. I love to mix & match so I try to buy multiple tops that will go with a pair of pants. Saves money too. They were also very specific as to how many earrings you can wear in each ear..."not to exceed 3 per ear". Whew! I'm safe, I wear 2 in one and 3 in the other. And thank goodness I didn't get my lip or brow pierced because that is not allowed...or that I didn't get the big skull & crossbones tattoo on my face as that is not allowed either. ha ha...don't worry I wasn't thinking of either! :)

Speaking of tattoos, I really do want one. I've wanted one for quite some time and now I'm starting to think about it again. It'd be something small on my back, a fairy of some sort. Speaking of fairies...here's a funny story. A few months back Jenna was telling Randy about how I wanted to get a fairy tattoo and he said "why would Michelle want a tattoo of a ferry?". Long story short, he thought I meant a ferry boat, not a fairy! I found a picture of an actual ferry boat and e-mailed it to him and said "this is what I want". It was too funny.

As you can see I'm very talkative today.

Exactly one year ago today I had my back surgery. I can't believe that a year has already gone by! I never thought that the problems I had would end in surgery, I was so adament in the beginning about not having back surgery but it became my only option. It was a huge success, my surgeon Dr. Price was amazing and Evergreen Hospital was great too...most people already know this but I had two of my vertebrae fused together, L5 & S1, due to scoliosis and degenerating discs. They took a bone graft from my left hip and used that along with rods & screws to fuse it together. Along with the fusion I had decompression surgery for spinal stenosis, before the surgery my left leg would go numb after walking or standing for more than 5 minutes because the nerves were compressed from bone spurs on the vertebrae. I'm happy to say that I can walk for hours with no numbness! Having that surgery played a big part in my weight loss, I had to exercise for recovery purposes and that lead to losing weight. I still have pain but that's normal, it takes a long time for the bones & whatnot inside to heal but I sure have come a long way since. I remember the first few weeks after the surgery, oh it was awful! I couldn't even shower by myself or dress myself, I hated being so helpless. One thing I will always praise Matt for is how wonderful of a job he did taking care of me, I honestly could never have asked for better care. So, happy 1 year back surgery anniversary to me! :)

Oh! I know what I wanted to mention...so yesterday I was enjoying channel surfing on my new digital cable and happened to see that TNT was having a marathon of "The Closer" with Kyra Sedgwick. I had never seen it but had heard good things about it and I really like her as an actress...even if she is married to Kevin Bacon, whom I don't care for. So I sat down and watched it for oh about 5 hours! I did other things while I was watching, like organize my closet & whatnot but yes, I was a major couch potato...or should I say chair potato as I don't have a couch yet. The marathon lead up to a commercial free season premiere and now I am officially hooked on this show.

Okay, I think I'm done rambling now...hope everyone had a good day!