Last Christmas

Oh hello people.

Guess what?

I am blogging again. WHAT THE CRAZINESS.

So I could just give the the normal crap that I usually do when I don't post (IE, I am busy, I am lazy, my cat pooped in my bed, etc.) but I am deciding to buck up and take on ownership for my lack of updating.

Way to be an adult, Chelsea.

So life has been pretty busy. I have been working nonstop for the past month and it has been fantastic. I am *hopefully* going to be FULL TIME at UNI and I will be working Saturday-Wednesday swings. I am loving it here and it is just a great opportunity. I will also be working at least once a week with Valley and lemme tell you about how much my clients love me.

So my sister bestie (IE Chanel) started working at the storefront a month ago. I told her about how much she is going to love the clients and blah blah blah. Well, I went to visit her while she was at work and I went crazy seeing my clients. Seriously, it was like Christmas. I was visiting with all of them, dancing and talking, and I loved it. Well, apparently they have been asking Chanel on her shifts when my next shift will be there.

They love me.

I also went up to do a check to a room. After we had a little dance party, I noticed that he had an open can of beer. After telling him that he is not supposed to have that, we brought out a bottle of wine and told me to have some.

I was flattered, but I declined.

Good job with morals, Chelsea.

Also, I have found Mystery Science Theater 3000 for the first time. Cue me watching it at work with the mates, crying  because it is so damn funny. I watch it before bed. Then I cuddle with Lucille. Then I go to bed.

Uh, after just work, I have been sleeping a lot. All I do is work or sleep. Really am loving the social life right now....

Another story for you kiddies. I was talking to my mom today about how I know what I am getting her for Christmas. Seriously, it is going to be the best Christmas ever. After I teased her about it, she then asked what I want for Christmas. I *jokingly* told her I want a boyfriend.

Cue the seven minute conversation about how she wants me to seriously consider an account on lds singles.

What. The. Hell.

I told her I don't really want one of those guys and that they wouldn't be attracted to me because I am not blonde or a bimbo. She then gave me the lecture of "Oh hey, guys like curves and there are people on there that aren't active too and all this great stuff."

Looks like I know what I am getting for Christmas.

Cheers,
Ch.Wa

What Sarah Said

It's my birthday is T-minus 3.5 hours. I will be twenty-three. I finally feel old. I think the reasons why I have always thought 23 is old because my mom was married and had a kid with her at that age. Plus, it is just old. It has been fun telling all the clients that today is the last day I will EVER be 22. Now that is a weird thought. My coworker bought me a diet coke while on his break. Best work birthday gift ever. I feel strange right now thinking about the past year. Usually I am really good at writing some upbeat things for my yearly birthday post, but today I am just not feeling it. Life has been...interesting lately and it is hard to just focus on really anything. My birthday month has not been what I have excpected it to be. In fact, everything in general has been just a ride. It has helped me remember that life is always full of surprises. I guess what I am just trying to get to is a point. Something that is definite, sure, and reliable. Something that is exactly what it says it is. I feel that I am floating about, not really ever touching ground. Life feels like a movie, that I am sitting in the balcony of my eyes, watching my life play back to me. I almost can hear the reels going while I am typing this out. It is a dark comedy without the laughs. I know I shouldn't talk like this. And I know that many people will be surprised with how I am writing. I mean, usually my posts are all happy-go-lucky tales of me driving on golf courses at night, or talking my way out of a cop. But I am tired and I am here. What more is there to write than that? But as I just stated before, I am here, so it is the quest of making the present as comfortable as it can be. It has been difficult, but it has been possible. Of course, it has only been possible because of the people that are around me and care for me. I am way too blessed with angels around me. It is awfully humbling to see friends and family stop what they are doing and come to my aide. I have never had a hard time accepting aide than right now. It is something I don't want. I don't want to see that people care, that people love. But I also do not have the choice to deny a person's chance to serve, and serve they have done. It is just incredible to see the love that is in the world. I don't know. I just wish I could have everyone know everything, but that just can't happen. All I know, though, is that I am going to be a year older tomorrow and that opens the doors of change. It is a new year to reinvent myself, to give and take what I want. At midnight, I will become invincible--the world will be in my grasp. It's a new slate, a new beginning; it is a new me.

GANGNAM STYLE

Oh hey, let's all notice that the little Asian mom in this video looks just like Nancy. Never knew my mom was THAT good of a dancer Cheers Ch.Wa

Midnight City

So.


My birthday is coming up. SO FREAKING EXCITED FOR THIS.

I love birthdays. I love half birthdays more, but really I just love any kind of birthday (especially birthdays in the future?)

Since my birthday is in 21 days *who is even counting* I was thinking of all the wise things I have learned this year. Now this is not my regular boo-hoo I love my life post that I usually do for my birthday (that one will come up, promise) but I was just thinking about all the weird stuff that I have come to realize.

For example, I am not a coordinated person at all. I think my equilibrium or something is off in my head (plus other things. So funny am I). I am always covered in bruises. So either I am just out of control clumsy or I am in an abusive relationship with some spirit.

Better not be the Holy Ghost.

Mmk, peoples. I have been sitting here not focusing on the task at hand and I really can't think of anything I have learned this year. I am life's greatest student for sure. So how about we just change it to fun tidbit things about me. We all know that I love to talk about me.

1: I love hairspray. I think that I will be one of the main causes for the ozone growth and global warming that will bring the world into a new ice age or something. Seriously though, I love that stuff so much. It is like crack. It is really the only thing I want for my birthday too. That, and possibly Apple Jacks.

2: I don't eat. I just forget to eat. Oh, and I also don't ever buy groceries. Recently I have been eating normally though and it is some intense stuff. I mean, I can't complain but it is sometimes hard work to eat. Now that just sounds like I am trying to rub it in that I don't eat.

3: I have become a cat lady. I love Lucille 2. In fact, I love all cats in the world. God made them all extra special and I want them all to be around me. I am not supposed to disclose this information to the public (for my hope in relationship sake) but I cannot hide it any long. Cats are great. I want everything to be decorated in cats. That and birds. And Lord of the Rings.

4: Since I have moved to Salt Lake, I have only watched the Lord of the Rings twice. That's right, folks. Only twice. What is this world coming to? That doesn't me that I have stopped quoting it constantly and that I don't think of it daily in my life. No, it is still very much in me. It's a special relationship. It is precious to me.

KEEP IT SECRET. KEEP IT SAFE.
5: I have a hard time reading uplifting books. I like really dark or "normal life" books. Who wants to think of happy things, right? Nay, I do read good stuff, but most of my stuff is just....well, kind of awful. Like A Clockwork Orange awful. I kind of stopped though because the words were weird. That right there just showed my intelligence.

6: I now read The New York Times. Why do I read it now? Pretty much just for the crossword. You see, this is what I want to do: I want to dress up really sharp, go to a local coffee shop, and get my Times out while drinking a nice cup of tea. That just screams intelligence and attractiveness. I will become a local to this place and have everyone know who I am. Then, one day, some smart, attractive, liberal doctor who saves African children or something like that will notice that I am there everyday. Upon closer look, he will notice that I am working on Thursdays crossword puzzle. "What a genius!" he will think, and he will note everything I have, including drink. The next day I will go with my Times, wearing my "casual Friday" outfit and my hair ever so wavy, to my little coffee shop. Before I can even order, Shantel, the barista will say, "Chelsea, someone has already ordered your chai for you and he is sitting over there." I will turn to where she points and I will see that gorgeous man with his copy of the Times too! I will try to coolly make my way over there and when I am in front of him, he will ever so casually look up from the paper and say, "Help me figure out what 32 across is."

And that is how I will meet my husband.

7: What a great story you wrote, Chelsea. Maybe you should be a writer. I say to that, well, I have been starting a book! That is only partially true, but in reality (which all of this is....except my doctor lover, of course) I am writing more and I am working on an outline for a book. It is going to be a memoir of sorts, possibly a fiction book based on reality *Think Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar* and it will be on my diagnosis and my recovery. My life has been interesting to say the least and I feel that I have been able to connect with a lot of people from it. So there you go.

8: I love vinyls. I found a cheap cheap CHEAP record player (with an eight track in it!) and became my own because it was just too good to pass up. Since I have had this new love in my life, I took it upon myself to inherit my parents' record. Lemme just state that my parents have the BEST taste in music and I was hooked up with some amazing stuff, ie Led Zeppelin, Billy Joel, Elton John, The Beatles, Donna Summer, America, Simon and Garfunkel, Peter Paul and Mary, Don Henley, Toto, Christopher Cross, FREAKING THE CARPENTERS CHRISTMAS ALBUM, The Police, Michael Jackson, and sooo much more. Pretty much I just lay on my bed and soak up the awesomeness of the tunes.

9: Homeless people make me feel pretty. I love my job because I am always getting compliments that I am gorgeous. Now, I sound like I am reeeeally into myself, but hey, a compliment is always good to hear. My favorite moment though happened when one of my clients came up asking me a question.

Client: "Chelsea, are you married?"
Chelsea aka me: " Nope, not at all."
Client: "Well that is just great because now I can flirt with someone as gorgeous as you!"

Best. Thing. I. Have. Ever. Heard. I laughed; I blushed; I was flattered. Whenever he sees me he is always like, "Oh great, the pretty girl is working today." I just love it.

10: Really though, I love both of my jobs so much. I love going to work. The people are great and my co-workers are awesome. Yes, there are some dull moments, but it never is when I am talking or helping the clients. They are some of the greatest people ever. We just have way too much fun.

11: I can't buy lipstick. Apparently what I think will be a nude color is a neon pink. That was a good laugh.

12: I think that I am one of the funniest people EVER. I am always cracking jokes to myself and laughing. Sometimes this is in front of strangers. Not the best for me to do, but hey, if I think I'm funny, then I am funny.

13: My hair has natural wave in it. I found this out when I was attempting to not get ready. Best find ever! The problem with it though is that I use a million sprays of hairspray (sorry, ozone) and this leads to me having knots upon knots in my hair. I probably only brush my hair once or twice a week. Great but not so great at the same time.

14: I rarely wear "real" clothes anymore. The only time I dress nicely is when I work at UNI. Other days, I just sport the scraggly tee and leggings combo. Oh, and it is always paired with my trusty cardigan. That way, I feel like I am hiding the fact that I am just wearing pajamas in public eye.

15: I am becoming a master at Rummy. I play it probably an hour of my shift at Valley with my clients. I love that game and I can kick some serious butt.

16: I cannot WAIT to be an aunt. I will be the best auntie ever and it will all be so soon. HUZZAH!

17: Sometimes I turn on really cool music in my car and pretend that I am a super spy while running errands.

18: I found out that I am the youngest person at both of my jobs. It was kind of a terrifying realization when I made it, but also an extremely flattering one.

19: I chew my nails way more than I should. For example, I am chewing my nails right now while I am trying to think of three more things that I can come up with so I can end this post.

20: I barely found out that the manager at Wendy's likes my voice so much that he will up size any of my frosties.

21: I started using washcloths?

22: In twenty and a half days, I will be 23.

There is the list. Thank heavens it is over. Let's pretend that this was really entertaining to read. Life is super good right now though; I honestly cannot complain about it at all. Now it is time to pretend that I am working again. Woooooooooohoooooooo.

Cheers
Ch.Wa

Lights

Hello all!

I finally figured out why I haven't been able to sign in to blog. It's because I changed my password. I just thought it was because gmail is not allowed on this computer at work.

As you can tell, I am ALWAYS productive at work.

So today is Pioneer Day. Apparently there was a marathon today too. So I left for work, knowing I would be on time (which is a huge feat for me at seven in the morn') and there were detours EVERYWHERE. I really mean everywhere. I had no clue how to get to work and since I was so late already, I decided to grab some diet coke because I am exhausted...like always.

I also bought one for my co-worker for putting up with my tardiness. She was grateful for it.

I just also asked her if she was ok with me posting her in my blog with HIPAA and whatnot. She said that if I didn't say anything like she has a horse face or something. My reply? "Well you aren't Sara Jessica Parker." Below the belt, but hilarious non the less.

I have been reading a lot, which is great. Of course, all my books are about mentally-ill people and just weird stuff like that. Like, I have read The Bell Jar, Shutter Island, The Psychopath Test, and....something else. So I was thinking, "Hey Chelsea, maybe it's time to read something happy or something." That leads me to reading Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Not my idea of happy, but it is still really good? There also are no crazies, so that is a plus. Just some kid's dad dying in 9/11. Super happy.

While reading it, I came across a really great quote in it. In it, Oskar is visiting an old man and seeing if he knows anything about his dad and this mysterious key...or something like that. So the old guy (who is lonely, I am sure of it. I want to find all the lonely people in the world and give them a cat) was talking and he said this:

"So many people enter and leave your life! Hundreds and thousands of people! You have to keep the door open so they can come in! But it also means you have to let them go!"

Yeah, that made me go into a cry fest. Like, ugly cry fest, and I am not an ugly crier. I mean, I was making faces and wailing a bit, snot was everywhere. It was bad.

So work just got in the way. I am tired (three hours of restless sleep will do that to you), but all is well. Remember your pioneer heritage, folks, and have a great holiday!

Cheers.

Ch.Wa



On Your Way

Oooook, people. I just recently read my last post and oh. my. hell. Spelling errors galore. It looked awful. I couldn't even write "please" correctly at the end. So now I will always blog while at work.




Classy and productive, I know.



So this week, I am working seven days in a row. You read that right; I am working every day this week. I might even work more in a row because I don't have my schedule for UNI next week. It is day three right now and I am already exhausted. I mean, don't get me wrong it is all going well. I am still loving Valley Mental (the things that go on...the names I get called. It is AWESOME) and I like working the warm lines here at UNI, but it is all just a lot of work. Plus, I get off of work at eleven tonight and I have to be at work tomorrow at seven.



I am SO excited.



Life is going great, though. I am loving my place, I finally got a bed, and I guess it is all pretty chill. Orientation and all the training for UNI has been a blast, especially the CPI training. In it, I learned how to restrain people and get out of situations that include being bit, punched, choke, and hair pulling. Intense stuff I learned. I turned to the girl that has been through all the training with me and I said "What the hell are we getting ourselves into?!" It was a good laugh, but a nervous one at that. The nice thing is that I will most likely never be in a situation where I will have to deal with those things. No one can really punch through a fun, except in really funny cartoons. Plus, words really don't hurt anymore. I can thank my last job for that. Funny story though. I asked one of my clients to do something and I called him bud. He turned to me and said "Chelsea, I would really appreciate it if you didn't call me bud. I'm not your buddy and you aren't my buddy." Honestly, I am totally ok with that because I really don't want him as my buddy.



So cruel I am.



I love my clients at Valley though. It is great being in a job where the clients are steady and I can build relationships with them. I always tell them that they are all going to give me lung cancer because I go and talk to them while they smoke. They are just cool people.



Uh, other news in my life.......my posture is really great right now. I am ninety-five percent perfect posture right now. It isn't one hundred because my feet are crossed. Woe is me. Lucille is great. Her cold is better and we have cuddle time ALL THE TIME. My roommates made fun of me one night because they heard me say, "Come on, Lucille, it's cuddle time." Yeah, they told their friends that I did that. I wasn't even mad.



I dress like an adult now. Like, I own a million pairs of slacks now. I have to dress up at UNI and I feel like a professional person with an adult job. It is great. Plus, my butt hasn't looked this good before. I've got swag.

I spend my weekends lying in bed watchin Les Miserables. I need friends. Or more cats.

Eddie went missing. He ran away during a thunderstorm. We are all pretty much messes (my mom especially) and I really miss him too. I hope that people are taking care of him and that he will come home. I know this is lame, but pray that he will make it back. He is the best dog and I need my cuddle buddy back.



Uh, I think that is it. I am always forgetting to eat but I drink a lot of water. I wear make up a lot too? This may be the most boring post ever, but at least I am updating.



Right?



Right.



Cheers.

Ch.Wa

Bring Him Home

Oh hey everybody. Look who is updating their blog. I will give you a hint: it's me. A lot has happened since I last blogged about my good tidings. You see, I am finally moved into my new place. I have some great roommates. I mean, they are all normal. I lucked out to the extreme. The place is beautiful, the neighborhood is awesome. And he layout of my room is kick ass. So that is going on. I also have not one but TWO jobs. You see, I have some weird issues of just having one job. It's too...normal for me. And lemme tell you something; my jobs rock me like a hurricane. I am working for Valley Mental Health and the University of Utah's Neuropsychiatric Institute (aka UNI). With VMH, I am working at a home that is just for the homeless population. This has been a great job. Right from the interview, I felt that this is an amazing place. The employees actually care about the clients and want them to be able to live productive lives and help them reach their goals. I absolutely love it there. I love the people I work with, I love the clients already, and I love just having a job. With UNI; it is a dream come true. To me, it is the Mecca of jobs. The establishment is AMAZING and the care the people give is out of this world. You see, it is extremely patient oriented so much that the patiet satisfaction is 96 percent (remember that forty percent of these people have come involuntary.). Incredible. I already love it and feel part of the community that is there. There is a hell of a lot of training and it has all Ben entertaining and a little intimidating, especially the self defense we learned that delt with: hair pulling, choking, biting, punching, kicking, and all other types of behavior. It was...intense and that is an understatement. Why I am so excited about this job though is my job title. I am a peer specialist. Pretty much I get paid to have a me two illness and I am appreciated with what I have. I am the first person the people meet and my job is helping them relax and feel ok with being there. I get to share my recovery story with these folks all day and show them that it will be ok. I get to help break the stigma of mental illness and I get to help these people on their way to recovery and back to life. This has been a huge blessing for me. What I thought was a hinderence in my life is actually a gift that I get to share with others. I am tested with upmost respect and am seen as a crucial person for the center. It has helped me so much in my daily recovery and is a daily reminder that I am ok with what I have. Greatest thing ever. With training and work though I am one. Isy girl. This last week I have worked over fifth hours. Going from not working for the past two month to this has been a it overwhelming. I have. Den sick from the stress and have a nice cry every night. I know it will get better once I get the routine. Oh! I also got a cat! She is the most precious thing on earth. She is an old maid and I love her. She looks just like Liza and do her name is Lucille 2 from Arrested Development. She has helped me with the loneliness I am feeling and we have cuddle time all the time. Either is pretty much it. I am loong life like always and I am so grateful for all the good that is happening to me. God boss you all and I will *try* to update more. Cheers Ch. Wa. Pathos has been written on the phone. Ignore all spelling errors pleas.