life and times of a geekishgirl

All I can say is WOW!

2010-01-20T04:31:00.000-08:00

WOW! This little girl is AMAZING! Her name is Connie Talbot and she is 8 years old! She was on Britain's Got Talent in 2007. She lost in the final round but come on, do you know any 6 year olds that can sing like this?

You don't actually see her singing in this next one but it's one of my favorite songs so I had to post it!

A Swagdate

2010-01-15T17:37:00.000-08:00

Okay so about a month ago I mentioned that I ran across a website called swagbucks and that I was going to check it out.

Well its been just over a month now and I am hooked! I was suspicious at first that it was a scam but I'm happy to say it's not! And it is 100% free to be a part of!

In just over 30 days I have already accumulated enough swagbucks to buy 5 $5.00 Amazon e-gift cards! Its really easy and pretty fast too!

The way it works is instead of using google, yahoo, msn, aol, etc... search engine you use swagbucks. The swagbuck search engine is powered by google and ask.com so you get mostly the same results, but you can win swagbucks while doing it. On average you earn about 3-5 a day just from searching. The amazon gift cards I purchased are 45 swagbucks each so if you search everyday in about 15 days or less you would have enough for a gift card! In my opinion this is the best value as you can stack up an unlimited amount of gift cards and then purchase anything on amazon with them. There are also hundreds of other prizes available as well if an amazon card doesn't float your boat and you don't even pay shipping for them to come to your house!

There are other ways to help you accumulate swagbucks faster than just 3 a day (which I obviously used since I have 5 gift cards in a month) but those are just as easy. There are codes that come out almost every day for an extra swagbuck or two and if you find them its yours! Alos there are some special offers you can complete and get anywhere from 1 extra buck to 200! You even can earn swagbucks while shopping at some online stores.

Lots of people have started using this site in part because of how rough the economy is. And between the economy and my on going fight with work comp to get my shoulder fixed I am definitely one of them. The amazon gift cards are a huge help when it comes to those things you want or need but just have trouble affording or even for gifts for people! If you can find it on amazon you can use the gift card to buy it!

If anyone is interested in trying it out click on the banner below and it will take you to the sign up page. They give you 3 swagbucks just for signing up which is like a day of searching. I'm happy to pass on all the tricks I've learned, help you find swagcodes, or answer any questions anyone has about it.

~Melissa

P.S. I'll update on my shoulder soon. My poor arm has had enough typing for today.

A Little Economy Humor

2009-12-14T16:37:00.000-08:00

So times are tough right now for us all and laughter always seems to be the best medicine so here's a little medicine to cure us all from the economy blues!

The economy is so bad... that I got a pre-declined credit card in the mail.
The economy is so bad... that I ordered a burger at McDonalds and the kid behind the counter asked, "Can you afford fries with that?"
The economy is so bad... that CEO's are now playing miniature golf
The economy is so bad... that if the bank returns your check marked "Insufficient Funds," you call them and ask if they meant you or them.
The economy is so bad... that Hot Wheels and Matchbox stocks are trading higher than GM.
The economy is so bad... that McDonald's is selling the ¼ ouncer.
The economy is so bad... that parents in Beverly Hills had to fire their nannies and learn their children's names.
The economy is so bad... that a truckload of Americans was caught sneaking into Mexico .
The economy is so bad... that Dick Cheney took his stockbroker hunting.
The economy is so bad... that Motel Six won't leave the light on anymore.
The economy is so bad... that the Mafia is laying off judges.
The economy is so bad... that Exxon-Mobil laid off 25 Congressmen.
And finally... Congress says they are looking into this Bernard Madoff scandal. Oh Great!! The guy who made $50 Billion disappear is being investigated by the people who made $1.5 Trillion disappear!

*My personal favorites are 2, 7 and 8!

Swag Bucks

2009-12-11T02:33:00.000-08:00

Okay so I saw this on someone else's blog and figured it was worth a shot. Swag Bucks are basically bucks you earn while doing you're every day searching on the web. Its easy and free and the best part is you can redeem your bucks for prizes like gift cards, electronics, music from itunes, heck even a portable keyboard.

Anyways, if anyone is interested in trying it out like me, just click on the link below.

Hey, I gotta do something to try to earn a little extra while I fight with work comp!

Much needed update

2009-11-21T15:11:00.000-08:00

Ok so I really am trying to update this more but unfortunately life keeps getting in the way. Since my last actual update a lot has happened.

I finally had surgery on my shoulder on Oct 9th. The surgery went really well according to the doc. My labrum was torn but thankfully the rotater cuff was not. There was a lot of inflammation and scar tissue that needed to be cleaned out along with the labrum repair. A few hours in recovery and then home I went.

A week after surgery I started physical therapy which really is more like physical terrorism. Luck for me I know both of my pt's outside of therapy. One in fact is my neighbor (which is why I'm going there).
Even though I'm close to the end with all of this, the nightmare is not over and I've become even more grateful for my health insurance. Kaiser is so amazing. There is no waiting months for referrals to specialists, surgeries or pt.

Anyways the one good thing that has come out of this has been my new toy. It's also known as cyrotherapy unit. Basically its a square cooler with a pump in the top and a set of tubes. The tubes connect to a pad that velcros onto my shoulder. The effect is ice cold water constantly pumps into the pad. Its amazing and I get to keep the thing!

I was informed by the surgeon at my last visit on Tuesday that he is releasing me to go back to work effective immediately. Iit upsets me but also makes me laugh because I'm still taking pains killers, still using my cyro unit and have a left hand only work restriction. I had no idea that this was going to happen so I had already made plans to go to Santa Rosa with my family for Thanksgiving. So going back to work is going to have to wait until I get back.

In the meantime I'm down at my brother's place in Visalia until we leave for Santa Rosa on Wednesday. Wish me luck with surviving all of the craziness that will be the next week or two of my life. And now because the girls woke me up way early today, its nap time. Now if only my sister-in-law would turn down the tv...

It's a Great Pumpkin Blogspot!

2009-10-31T03:41:00.001-07:00

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

So I know I know, I really need to update but its way too late and I'm way too tired to do it right now. I'll try to do it tomorrow.

In the meantime, check out my pumpkin! I was helping my nieces carve pumpkins today and when they asked if Aunt Melissa was going to do one too I figured why not! Its been years but it was a lot of fun! To be honest I was more into it then them. If its been a while for you to, and you get a chance, I highly suggest you carve yourself a pumpkin!

Mobile Blogging?

2009-09-21T02:15:00.001-07:00

Testing mobile blogging so here's Juliana!

Killers and Scalpels

2009-09-21T00:36:00.000-07:00

So I'm heading to Sacramento on Tuesday to go see the Killers in concert at Arco (the Killers are a band, in case you're out of the loop) with my friend Tammi. We've been friends since 7th grade. She won free tickets and guess who she's taking!

So ya, headed up there and then since I got stiffed on hours at work this week, I'm going to hang out with the lovely Melissa Noelle (Elmer) Kaupanger, who I love so much, until Friday! then back to Fresburg for work on Saturday.

As far as work goes, I did interview for that promotion but didn't get it. Which honestly did not surprise me. It was a full time electronics sales position and there were some people from the electronics department that applied. No hard feelings though. I was told by the manager that there is a part time position available if I wanted to apply for that and I really thought about it but decided not to for now due to the fact that I should be having surgery in about a month.

The surgeon said I have a torn labrum and a potential rotater cuff tear. He won't know for sure on that one until he actually goes in and does the surgery. So I'm currently waiting on the workers comp people to approve the surgery so that it can be scheduled. Depending on what is wrong will depend on how long it takes for my shoulder to heal. In the meantime they moved me out of receiving for the time being since I have a 5 pound weight limit now and was constantly fudging my restrictions before. They have me out cashiering, which is actually what I was hired to do in the first place. And since I'm not actually working in my department right now I get really crummy hours because they have to give me something, but they don't have to give me much. This week is 14 hours, but I had to call in today because I was in too much pain. I hope this surgery gets approved and happens much sooner than later so I can get my life back!

In the meantime, at least I can have some fun with friends and get out of Fresno this week!

Soooooooo Long!

2009-09-01T23:44:00.000-07:00

It's been sooooo long since I've been on here! Like almost a year. That's pretty horrible. I blame working retail. I know that only makes sense for like October 08 - January 09, but still, its too blame.

So much stuff is changing right now and I came on here tonight to look at someone else's blog and decided, hmmmmmm maybe it time for an update!

So here we go...

I'm still working part time at Sears in the receiving department. I love my job but I am applying for a position that would get me more hours and better pay. I've been at Sears a year now exactly. It's a really good place to work and I'm very grateful to have a job in this economy!

I'm currently living down in Clovis, CA with my parents soon but I will be moving back to Sacramento as soon as my right shoulder will allow me to. I got hurt 4 and a half months ago at work and I'm waiting to find out if I'm going to have surgery. Just another week or so and I should know something (finally!). The whole workman's comp thing has been a nightmare but my store has been really good about the whole thing.

I'm also changing my major in school. I am looking into going into the Police Academy next July so teaching is kind of out the window. I went on my first ride along last week and it was a great experience. I really can see myself as a police officer and loving it. A family friend is an officer down in Visalia and he's offered to take me again and also set me up with a female officer for a ride along so I can get her perspective on things. I'm really excited about this decision and am doing what I can at this point to get myself ready for it.

Speaking of getting myself ready, I started back at the gym today. Wow, that was an experience. I spent my time on an elliptical because with my shoulder, weights are not really an option last night. I was only on it for a half an hour, but my legs still feel like they're doing that motion! LOL.

Time for bed for me, but I'll leave you with a few pics...

This pic is from last summer, but its my brothers and I being our true selves and I love it!

My adorable twin nieces with no front teeth! They're getting so big!

The little one (as I refer to her) on her first day of Kindergarten 2 weeks ago! That is one kid happy to FINALLY be in school!

Oh and that Santa Cruz trip I was waiting to go on, well I finally went a few weeks after my last post and had an amazing time with one of my best friends.

I LOVE the beach!

Ty and I

The boardwalk

Ty relaxing on the "jacks" by the lighthouse as I took pictures.

Under the pier there were tons and tons of sea lions. We watched them for quite a while and even picked ourselves out...

Mo (left) and Ty (right) sleeping under the pier, sea lion style.

Nothing is more beautiful than a sunset on the beach!

No Santa Cruz for me today :(

2008-09-29T00:37:00.000-07:00

Well I'm quite sad to update that I won't be in the most wonderful place aka Santa Cruz today. We had to put the trip off because between the 7 cars that Tyler and I either own or have access to in our families, none are able to make the trip right now. So we're waiting until after the Big Fresno Fair since he'll be working then and should have enough money to replace his extremely bald and scary tire. We set a date for October 15th because I was really worried we wouldn't end up going. We've been trying to go since like April so obviously I have reason to think this.

Anyways, I'm looking forward to the trip and I may just get lucky enough to have enough money to buy the really cool digital I want before our trip. That is if things get better at work and I have more than 17 hours next week. With such a dip in the economy its really rough to be working retail right now! Even with the Christmas season coming. And yes, even though we haven't even hit October yet, it is coming. We've been unloading Christmas Trees and other decorative junk off of our trucks at work for the past two weeks already! YIKES!!! Soooooooo not ready for that!

The one good thing that comes out of so few hours is that I have enough time to make a quick trip down to Visalia this week to visit my brother, my sister-in-law and the girls! I'm so excited even though they'll be coming up on Saturday for General Conference. Its nice to get to see the kids by myself and not hav to compete with Grandma, Papa and Uncle Kevin. The kids are so great and I love spending time with them. No matter what's bothering me they can always turn things around and make my day great. I'll be taking pictures for sure while I'm down there because the one I have of the 3 of them (its somewhere to the right of this post) is at least 6 months old. And maybe I'll even figure out how to upload a video on here.

Wow!

2008-09-22T00:53:00.000-07:00

Life has been getting crazy again! And for that I'm pretty grateful. It's nice to be so busy that I don't have time for much else.

Work has been keeping me the busiest. I finished all of my cashier training, which at the moment was a big fat waste of time because I got moved back into receiving. I guess the two years I worked at Target does come in handy from time to time. Anyways, I love my new position. I'm getting more hours, which is really nice but exhausting as well. Basically my typical work day consists of unloading the truck, if we have one that day, and then opening up the cases of clothes, putting the security ink tags on them, hanging them and getting them ready to go to the sales floor. So next time you're shopping and see one of those annoying ink tags, think of me. I know it sounds kind of boring, but it really can be a lot of fun and I have a lot of freedom to do things in whatever order or however I want to do them. Also its a lot of fun to talk to my coworker Daina and try to guess what different things are priced at. We love to make fun of how expensive stuff is, especially the little kids clothes. I mean seriously, who is going to spend $55 on a sleeper for an infant?!? I don't care how cute it is.

My most exciting news is that I'm planning a trip to Santa Cruz next Monday with one of my best friends. He promised me that we would go when I got better. It'll be too cold to go swimming in the ocean like we usually do, but that's okay. I'm just hoping the boardwalk is still open. The last time he and I went was May of last year when he got home from London, so it should be a lot of fun. I'll definitely be snagging my dad's digital camera and actually using it this time!

Well I work in the morning, and even though I've basically been asleep since I got home from work on Saturday (I'm sick :( ) I do have to get up for work tomorrow so its off to bed for me.

The Letter M!

2008-09-13T19:42:00.000-07:00

Okay so I was really bored today and I enjoyed laughing at my mom trying to do this earlier so I thought I'd give it a shot. Its not as easy as it looks, if you can't tell from some of my answers. Seriously... mint collecting??? LOL!

Use the 1st letter of your name to answer each of the following. They have to be real places, names, things..nothing made up! Try to use different answers if the person in front of you had the same 1st initial. You CAN'T use your name for the boy/girl name question.

WHAT IS YOUR NAME: Melissa
4 LETTER word: More
BOY NAME: Mark
GIRL NAME: Mary
OCCUPATION: Microdermabrationist
SOMETHING YOU WEAR: Medal
BEVERAGE: Milkshake
A COLOR: Mustard
SOMETHING FOUND IN A BATHROOM : Mirror
PLACE: McDonalds
FOOD: Muffins
ANIMAL: Mountain Beaver
CAR: Minivan
COUNTRY: Malaysia
HOBBY: Mint Collecting
STATE: Michigan
DRUG STORE ITEM: Maalox

Work

2008-09-04T00:10:00.000-07:00

So I started work on Tuesday afternoon! It was just orientation but hey, I got paid for it so that's all that matters. It feels really good to have a job again. Its a huge step towards getting my independence back and feeling like a real person again. Its so nice not to be sick anymore!

I have training for work all the rest of this week. Today's got canceled because the computers were down and we need them. Hopefully they're back up tomorrow so I can go make some money. And as soon as training is done I can actually o out to the floor and work.

It was kind of nice not to have to work today though. My 4 1/2 year old niece Sarah is staying here for a few days. She'll be going home with her daddy tomorrow. I love getting to spend time with her. She's so cute and says the funniest things. She's also a huge sweetheart. Its nice to get her away from her sisters. They try to talk and do things for her that she can do just fine by herself. I keep telling her she's not allowed to get any bigger but she just won't listen to me!

I was going through my phone just now to find a picture of her to post and I sadly realized that the most recent picture I have of her is at least 6 months old. Looks like Aunt Melissa needs to get it together and take some new pictures tomorrow!

Well, bed for me. The little one wakes up much earlier than I generally do. And since we're sleeping in the same room, any guess on who gets to get up with her?

Welcome To My World

2008-09-01T23:33:00.000-07:00

So in light of recently deleting my myspace and really missing my old xanga, which NO ONE uses anymore, I figured I'd come give this a shot.

So hello! Here I am!

I'm Melissa Martin aka Mo. I'm 22 years old. Sacramento born and raised but currently residing in Fresno Cali.

I'm a pretty big geek, fiercely loyal to my friends and family and a lover of music.

I'm majoring in math and computer sciences at Fresno City College. I plan to get a teaching credential. At the rate I'm going I'll finally be finished when I'm 47. Maybe I ought to step it up a bit.

I was just hired by Sears and I start work tomorrow!

For now, that's all. But beware... I will return.