Le stelle... le luci da Dios

So I'm flying to LA for work. Going to training about wind, water, hail and fire fraud. Among other fun actities, I'm going to watch the LAFD brurn a house down on purpose. Should be exciting.

My Aunt Sally & Uncle Dan agreed to pick me up from the airport in LA. Unfortunately, my first flight from GR to Chicago was delated about 2.5 hrs, which made me miss my flight from Chicago to Los Angeles which was leaving at 3. So I rebooked for the flight that was to leave at 5 pm, that flight has now been delayed to 7:29 pm. This will put me in LA at approx 9:30 pm pdt or 12:30 am edt. Thus this will be about a 12 hour ordeal just to GET to LA. Lovely, eh?

I'm very excited about getting to see my cousins, though. Lindsay, Kelly, Drew & Alec will all be home. Hopefully Stephanie will still be at UCLA and I'll be able to visit with her as well.

Other than these lovely travel delays, life is going very well. Bradley is absolutely wonderful. We get along perfectly and he really understands my quirks (and I think I understand his). We are constantly laughing together. I think we'll be moving toward the permanent commitment stage of our relationship within the next year or so. But that's just my prediction. :-)

Happy Mother's Day all!

Where to start?

I'm out on FLEX for work in Mississippi. Today I'm going to get to hang out with my cousin Chris and his family (wife and three kids!) I'm super excited to see them all because Chris doesn't get to come back to MI very often.

Though I'm glad that I'm not in the middle of the crazy snow storms up in the mid-west, Mississippi's got it's own issues. This time of year they have nuts-o rain/thunder/wind stroms every other day. In between these storms they have bright sunny days. This reaks havoc on my head - migrane anyone?

Brad and I are still doing very well. Our 1 year is coming up on 2/23/08. I can't believe it b/c time has gone so fast. I am so in love with the guy (and his 3.5 and 5 pound dogs) that it's crazy. When I'm around him, my stress melts away and I feel at peace again.

I have gotten some bad news this week. My childhood neighbor Sue has been diagnosed w/ cancer and it's terminal. She's been given 6-12 months. She's only 52. I can't imagine what her kids must be going through. I always just figured she'd be around and would come to my wedding some day. Guess that's not going to happen. :-(

If you're the praying type, please keep Sue and her family in your prayers.

Hmm... where to start?

My b-day was fun. Brad's dog ran away on Thursday 8/23/07 and he didn't get her back until monday 8/27/07 (note my b-day right in the middle on 8/25/07), so that was a bit of a downer. There was a fair turn out - probably about a dozen people.

I've been crazy busy w/ work. Many people have vacations during the summer, training, etc. so we're pretty much consistantly short staffed.

Work sent me to a PLRB conference last week (monday 9/17-9/19) and it was actually pretty interesting. The opening session was for everyone and they had some president of some Fraud Investigators program (don't remember the name) speak. Did you know that fraud claims paid per year are at $31 billion?? That's nuts. And you know who pays that - it's not the insurance company - it all comes back to the rest of the policy holders in the form of ever increasing premiums. So the next time you complain about your homeowners/renters/auto insurance premiums being so high - blame your neighbor who inflated his claim just to get his deductible or year's premium back - or who just straight up lied. Tell him thanks for taking the money out of your pocket you could have used for the movies, dinner, diapers, sytlist, vacation, retirement, etc.


Now it looks like I might be going to Los Vegas for work. From 10/08-10/26. Unfortunately that will be right over Brad's 26th b-day, but he assures me it will be ok. I'll just have to get him something special from Vegas - or whereever I end up.

Speaking of, things w/ "the Brad" as my co-worker has nick-named him are going very well. He's such a nice person who amazing puts up with my frequent head aches (resulting in the inability to follow through with any plans we have made), likes to cuddle and is just all around sweet to me. I like him. I think I'll try to keep him around for awhile.

I started teaching Sunday school again. I'm still doing kindergarden - there's already one little girl who has to be touching me at all times. This is slightly cumbersome, but it's probably just a stage. Two weeks ago she was holding my hand, decided she needed to rub/wipe/scratch her nose and proceeded to do so with the back of my hand. That's just gross. Not my kid - I don't want your boogers all over my hand. Seriously though - gross.

That's all for now. I'm going shopping to try to find some new work pants (need something heavy duty w/ pockets that is professional looking).

Please come to my birthday party!

August 25, 2007 at 4 PM.

My house. Call if you need directions 517-282-9331!

No presents allowed. Just bring yourself. I'm making food so let me know if you're coming. BYOB.

You Are the Thumb

You're unique and flexible. And you defy any category. Mentally strong and agile, you do things your own way. And you do them well. You are a natural leader... but also truly a loner. You inspire many but connect with few. You get along well with: The Middle Finger Stay away from: The Pinky

I feel like this is relatively accurate, though normally I think these things are a crock.

Also, I just realized this thing has spell check and underlines my misspelled words for me. How handy is that?

First, I was going to try to upload some pix from my work computer... but in looking at the new laptop they gave me, I can't seem to locate a USB port. Seems odd, don't you think? Maybe they're being covered up by the docking station. But if I disconnect, there goes my internet. Bah.

The trip was a lot of fun. We got in Saturday and putsed around for a bit. I fell asleep at like 9 pm PDT and felt like a dork, until I remember that this was the equilivant of midnight eastern time and I'd been up since 6:30 EDT that morning.

Sunday Aunt Susie and Uncle Tom had a BBQ. They tried to play like it was in our honor... but I think it had more to do with the holiday weekend. We also woke up at 6 am PDT to go wake boarding and tubing. The lake we drove to only allows 100 boats at a time, so if you miss it, you've got to wait until someone leaves before you can get in the water. It was fun, but I was super sore. We got back to the house around 2 pm. It was about a 25-30 minute drive each way. Crazy.
Later that evening we all went Salsa dancing - I think that's when the uckyness set in.

Monday I didn't feel so good - I think it was an allergic reaction to the down comforter I was curled up under. Dang feathers. Once we pinpointed this issue, I was feeling much better - though every part of my body ached from the sports before.

Tuesday Erika and I went to Balboa park. This place just kinda sprawls. It contains rose gardens, succulant gardens and dozens of museams. Apparently there is almost always something free on Tuesdays - but never on the 5th Tuesday of the month as we were informed because it doesn't happen much. The lady was really quite cranky at the photographic arts museams. She seemed to resent that I was asking if today was a free day and as soon as she said no, I pulled out my wallet to pay. Maybe she was having a bad morning.

Tuesday night we went to Jake's in Del Mar for dinner. This place was amazing and super tastey. It's right on the beach and after the sun sets over the Ocean, the resturant turns on the huge flood lights so that the surfers will come and surf for the diners to watch. It was pretty cool. Food = amazing.

We had originally planned to go to LA Tuesday night and spend all day Wednesday w/ Steph getting a tour. However, her chaotic schedule did not allow her more than 2-3 hour blocks, so we scrapped the idea. Oh well.

Wednesday, since our plans were busted, we just took a relaxing day. Got pedicures, went shopping, Mystie died my hair (it's a deep mahogony color with some highlights). This color really seems to make my blue eyes pop. I like it.

Thursday Erika and I went to the San Diego Wild Animal Park. If you ever go to SD - you should go to the Wild Animal Park. It's set up like they are acutally in their natual habitats. Minimal fences, chains and glass to look through. All the animals have room to actually run - we're talking get to a dead sprint and go for some time. They let many of the species roam aournd together (the non-carnivarous ones). So cool. I took lots of pix. Again - no USB port on the compy.

After leaving the park, Katie picked us up and we went to the beach as Erika really wanted to go swimming in the ocean. Guess who got there, put her toes in the water and decided it was too cold? Now guess who stood there and let the salt water wash over her legs up to her knees? Erika and Erin - respectively. LOL. She's funny.

Then, still on Thursday I tried to play Underwater Hockey. It's pretty sweet. I only got kicked in the head twice - both times by Mystie's boyfriend Anatoly. I would like to play again if I could find somewhere local that plays for fun.

After an hour of underwater hockey, we went swing dancing. That was pretty fun too. I LOVE swing dancing. You should take me out some time. (That's a YOU to whomever knows how to swing dance).

Friday Erika, Mystie and I went on a wine tasting tour from 10:30-4:30pm. Lesson learned: it is ok to dump out wine at these things. I've never been so drunk in my life.

Saturday - flew home.

All-in-all. Great trip. Must do it again some time.

Ok, this is probably going to be a mushy type of post, so if you don't wanna read all that gooey-junk, skip on down.

I fell. I fell hard. It feels like I've known Brad for so much longer than 6 months and a few days (we met at a New Year's eve party). Our first date wasn't until the end of Feburary, so in reality we've only been dating like 3.5 months.

My heart was totally sealed up prior to our meeting. I took the stance and prayed frequently that if God wanted someone in my life, he'd had to hit me over the head with it, because I wasn't going to open my heart back up. Last night I was driving over to his house after the White Caps game we atteneded with my mom and brother Dan and I realized that not only had my fortress wall come down, but they had been smoothly reconstructed into a winding pathway perfumed with rose gardens. I litterally feel like this beautiful place was crafted specifically for me and He's been trying to lead me here for years, with perfect timing.

My coworkers told me I was in love after about 3 weeks of dating him. I didn't want to admit it out loud, but I was thinking the same thing. It seems like every day since then, this warmth inside me has grown and billowed.

One day I was feeling particularly grumpy and moody. In reality I was PMS-ing and just having a rough day. I was feeling out of place and out of "the group" but didn't know what to do about it. He could hear it in voice when we spoke that night. I knew I was being irrational and that it would all blow over, but he stayed on the phone with me for 4 hours trying to get me to smile. This from a guy who claims he doesn't like to talk on the phone.

I love that we are goofy together. Those of you who know me, know I am a combination dork and goof. I have a very dry/dirty sense of humor and regularly crack myself up (even if I'm the only one laughing). I'm that kid that was actually laughing at the geology teacher's rock jokes - and thinking it was pretty funny. Yah - that's me. For some odd reason Brad seems to adore this about me. Not sure why, but that's what he tells me.

I've been in love before, but I never knew it could feel like this.

My Itinerary:
• Yahoo! Travel Trip ID: 6687 8088 7080
All times are local to each city

Arrival:
Detroit, MI (DTW) to San Diego, CA (SAN) Total Travel Time: 4hrs 49min
Please check in at Northwest Airlines ticket counter. For your boarding pass, use reference code 2NU62G for online or airport check-in. Change or cancel this reservation
Sat, May 26 08:50 AM to
10:39 AM Detroit, MI (DTW) to
San Diego, CA (SAN)
4hrs 49min - nonstop Northwest Airlines Flight 273
Airbus Industrie Jet- Economy


Departure:
San Diego, CA (SAN) to Detroit, MI (DTW) Total Travel Time: 4hrs 25min
Please check in at Northwest Airlines ticket counter. For your boarding pass, use reference code 2NU62G for online or airport check-in. Change or cancel this reservation
Sat, Jun 02 12:45 PM to
08:10 PM San Diego, CA (SAN) to
Detroit, MI (DTW)
4hrs 25min - nonstop Northwest Airlines Flight 278
Airbus Industrie Jet- Economy

The water's warming up. I'm jumping in. Hello vulnerability.

I was just reading through my "Friends" page and noticed that quite a few people have been blogging about what could be referred to as "Mid-20's Crisis". Turning over life to this point, examining it and pondering "am I satisfied"? For most the answer appears to be no. Be it school, work or relationships... everyone's picking out thier life's flaws.

All this self-negativity started me thinking (and no, it's not THAT much of a rarity). Why do we focus so much on that which is missing, rather than cherish that which is there? Maybe the secret to happiness is not so much finding happiness, but in learning to be content with the joys you have. Life is incredibly short in the scheme of things. I'm not saying that you shouldn't get irritated or even pissed off when something shitty happens. I'm just thinking that maybe spending so much energy on it only makes it seem worse than it should be - the whole mountian out of a mole hill cliché.

I feel like I SHOULD dislike my job - heavens knows it seems to be the popular thing these days. Insurance Adjusting is not what I spent 4 years in undergraduate school pursuing, yet I generally have been enjoying it. I am given ample oppurtunity to be autonomous, make decisions and stick to them.

OK, I had more, but I'm going home.

Just got my first suicide claim. The loss occured today, in the house.

I can't even imagine.

So today, this guy I was talking to told me that I had caught him with his pants down when I asked him if he had anything to write with so we could go over how much money I would be paying him. Now, I get stuff like this from time to time, but this instance was especially bad for the following reason:

Last week I called to let him know that I had not received the police report or pictures he was supposed to send me (mainly I needed the pol. rept.). He then proceded to state that his wife was good for nothing, all she does is sit on her ass at the house and that she has no excuse for not sending me the stuff when he told her to. He further stated that women just can't do anything right. I know I shouldn't have even dignified that with a response, but it slipped out of my lips before I could even think about it. Granted all I said was a stern "hey now, that's unnecessary.". THEN he said something about how he was getting me all hot... and I immediately wanted to vomit violently. After this, he becomes all nicey-nicey and asks if I can do him a big favor and call his wife, which I was going to do anyway. I say "of course, not a problem" figuring the bashing is over. Wrong. He then states that if she hasn't sent the info by the time he gets home he's going to teach her a lesson so that next time she listens to him. I told him that it really wasn't necessary to do so, if he would only ask her to resend them, I'm sure they just got lost in our system (which actually does happen a lot and is probably what happened here).

Thus when the guy tells me he has no pants on, I figure "OK, he was in the bathroom, gross, but whatever." When he later tells me that the paper he was previously writing down my info is back in the car... well, then I just want to hurl all over again.

This was my probably my most disgusting call ever in terms of creep factor and general concern for Mrs. Insured's well being. Problem is, I can't do anything about it.


Ok, I'm heading home to eat dinner now before Bowling. Brad will be there this week. :-)

I've been staring at my computer for 45 minutes now with nothing to do. I've worked on every claim that I can, as the rest of them just require people to submit their lists of personal property or repairer's estimate to provide a description of the damages so that I can write up an estimate. My two things left for today require my supervisor to approve a payment, and a policy holder to call me back to tell me what happened.


I've been thinking about significant others, romance, friendship and all that jazz a lot lately. I wonder if I sometimes get confused when it comes to close friendship and something more. Then I go acting like a school girl with a crush and well... that's just embarrasing. Time to grow up. Woman-up.

I left my cell in Lansing at Erika's on Sunday. Figured it out when i got to church Sunday morning to teach sunday school. Looked in the purse to put the phone on vibrate and realized - oops - no phone. Luckily Erika rocks and she drove my phone all the way up to me yesterday. Not having my phone anywhere near me, and not having a house phone or internet made me eerily aware of how disconnected I was from the rest of humanity. If there was an emergency, I'd have no way to contact the proper authorities. It was like not having the phone in the house made me feel lonely all by itself. Strange.

ok, seabass is here for lunch. peace.

(me calling... ring... ring... ring...)
"um hello?" says unknown person.
"Hello, this is Erin from... is So&So available?" I ask.
"Uh, just a minute." says same unknown person.
(I hold for 2 minutes, then someone hangs up the other line)

(I call back - line rings 10 times and no one answers)


I can't tell you how many times this happens per day.

Let's all take a moment to mourn the passing of Fish 1, a.k.a: "Killer I-Hate-My-Only-Friend Adamski".

He found belly up this morning in his long time home situated on a shelf above his owner's computer monitor. A fighter, he enjoyed picking on his tank companion, Fish 2, until the passing of his dear friend a little over a week ago. The lonesomeness finally got to him, and he moved on to a better place sometime between 5PM last night and 8:15am this morning. He has been flushed down the thrid toilet from the left in the Third Floor West Ladies' bathroom.

So, I've confirmed w/ the fam that I'm going to CA this spring. Likely around the 3rd or 4th week of May. Erika will hopefully be coming with me. It should be oodles of fun.


Fish 2 died yesterday. For those of you who don't know, Fish 2 is actually a frog that I purchased at Meijer last May. He had a good life for a frog, but his companion (Fish 1) liked to pick on him. There were issues with Fish 1 not letting Fish 2 get enough to eat. I swear he was alive yesterday morning when I fed them, but when I went to put the lid back on before leaving the office (that's right - they are positioned directly above my computer monitor), I realized he was belly up on the rocks. Thus, he's been flushed and Fish 1 is not getting any more new friends until he learns the error of his ways.

My hands are cold and I need to go work out.


What is everyone doing for superbowl? Are there any parties I should be aware of?

Washington, DC was great. It only took us 9.5 hours to drive down (only took two short stops - for breakfast and to get more gas). We got most of Ange's stuff unpacked on the first afternoon so we were able to go out to a nice Thia food resturant w/ Justin that evening.

Saturday Justin gave us a brief tour of the nation's capitol including the Library of Congress, for which he works. The main building is breathtakingly beautiful. If you've never been, I highly recommend it. Ange remarked that I looked like a little kid in a candy store - my eyes got that big.

We also hit the outdoor farmer's market which was fun and looked very tastey. Too bad meat doesn't transport well without a cooler.

Then we met up with Ange's friend and some people she knew from work and had a lovely dinner in a resturant built in the 1700's... George Washington even ate there. It was expensive but well worth it as the food was delicious and the entertainmet hilarious.

Then we went out with the same friends and some people they called to go dancing at some clubs near Georgetown. The boys were actually really good dancers and both Angela and myself had a lot of fun.

Sunday we slept in (didn't go to bed until 4:30am that morning) and then went to Ikea w/ Justin. Then we came back, got a brief tour of down town Arlington, and headed back to Angela's (in Alexandria). We made sushi and had a few of our new found friends over. Had a couple of glasses of wine and went down stairs to watch Ali G. episodes in her complex's theater room.

All-in-all, it was a great trip and I hope do it again soon.

So I'm going home from work now to pack my soft squishible bag and head to Paw Paw, MI. Then I'm heading with my cousin Angela to Washington, DC. We'll be moving some of her stuff in and then also visiting my dear friend Justin Thorp. I'm pretty stoked about it. PLUS, I get two days off of work - good stuff.

Life is still going well and I'm getting more motivated to start preparing to go back to grad school. I haven't decided on a school yet, but know I want to work with kids and families. Where I go from there - not quite sure. $$$. It'll be worth it, I think.

Had lunch with the Director of Claims today. He's a nice guy, very down to earth and really wants to be in touch with his employees (which is why he's setting up lunches w/ all the claim reps - in groups of 10-12). We got to know him, and he us. And in doing so, took notes about what we thought could help improve our effectiveness and successfulness as a company. It'll be interesting to see what gets done.


Ok, that's it for now. You people wanna know more - call me.

Woot!

Christmas vacation was excellent. I saw many cherished friends and family members. Also, I have tenatively planned 3 trips for the upcoming year (hopefully).

1) Washington, DC with my cousin Anglea to help her move and visit Justin.
2) San Diego, CA possibly with my friend Erika to visit family and: surf, ski, parasail, tan on the beach, visit UCLA (I know -it's not in San Diego, but it would be a good side trip), and just generally relax. Tenatively for May or June, 2007.
3) Costa Rica!! My Aunt and Uncle in CA own a home in Costa Rica, therefore thier lovely daughters, two of my other cousins and myself are hoping we can rent it for at cost and go for a week or two. This would be pretty much amazing and I really hope we can swing it.
4) Visit the Klans as much as they'll have me. They are some pretty sweet people with a pretty cute baby (I'm hoping she's going longer between feedings for thier sake).

I also hope to have some nice weekends with friends and family that live closer. Live flys by pretty quickly these days... gotta make the best of it.


Anyone else have any exciting trips coming up?

Life is still going well. I'm generally happy with this stage of my life. I feel more confident and have starting working out regularly w/ one of my coworkers on our lunch break. I have found this to be both good for my body and good for my nerves. There is much to be said for getting out your frustrations by running for a mile and general exercise for 45 minutes each day. After we finish I always feel pumped up and ready for the next challenge.
Anyone who is feeling angry, frustrated, or just generally grumpy should try it.

Work is going well and I got a promotion that was confirmed on this past week's pay check. Woot for more money - get that student loan paid off faster & go back to grad school.

I think what I would like to do with my life centers around children in the inner city. In particular, I would like to create or be part of a something like Project C.L.A.Y. in Lansing, MI before it got shut down for being too expensive. Basically it's a group type setting that picks up kids whose parents really can't afford to have them in extracurruclear activites and gives them something to do 1 night per week. The goal is to teach both social skills and social awareness. It was inspiring to watch these rough and tumble kids start to get it and grow to be very cool young people. I know that the pay would be poor, but it would be worth it. My grandpa suggested - in his ever so helpful way - that I should just find myself a sugar daddy and I'd be set, just like grandma did. Ha. You'd have to know him.

Speaking of the grandparents, they came up on Sunday and we had a lovely early dinner together. They are both so fun and I feel proud that I can show them the home I've made for myself and that I'm contributing to society.

I've been on vacation from work since Friday (half a day). For not having had more than 1 or 2 days of plans for the 11 days I have off, I have certianly remained busy. I'm glad of it, too. Movie marathons w/ cousins from out of state/ city, Griffins hockey games with dad, taking care of Mom after surgery, doing her billing (now), movie or board game plans for Friday (in Lansing - call me up if you're interested!), Jazz bar with cousins cocktail dress style on Saturday, Christmas eve w/ Dad's side all day Sunday (begining at 8am and ending around 7 pm), Christmas day with Mom's side on Monday. Then it's back to work for this little chickie-dee.

Notice:

I'm planning a cocktail / home warming party at my apartment for sometime in January. It will be on a Saturday. Those of you who read this are all cordially invited. Dress up and bring your favorite beverage (I'll provide some basics). I'll post more when I figure out the date.

That's all for now.

Always,

Erin