The Stages of Furniture

Just like stages in life, most furniture goes through a relatively defined path.

When we are born, we're put into cribs that our parents have purchased. In my case, being the youngest, it was a hand me down crib that had scratches on the wood, and the rattle spinners were missing in a couple places and one of them had rusted stuck. it had survived all my siblings, and many moves throughout the states. It was ugly but it worked.

Later, i shared a room with my brother and we slept in bunk beds that my father had built. To this day, i'm not sure how we never managed to knock the bunk bed over given all the flips and jumps we made out of the top bunk.

For me? ICK! 

When we got too old to share a room together, Dad took a saw and cut the bunk bed in two. Shortly thereafter, my brother and I got a little lucky. My older siblings were moving out. My brother got the older brother's thick and clunky wood bed and dresser that had under the bed storage. I got the white and gold french provincial bedroom set that my sister loved. I hated it on sight. But i had to live with that until i graduated.

(The point of that was that when we are young, we get whatever someone else buys, rarely getting a say in the matter or using hand me down pieces.)

Since i went to community college and not a university to live in the dorms, i'm going to skip over the part where you have the exact same storage as everyone else or make do with the plastic bins and drawers which are the cheapest form of storage.

Then you move out on your own. This is the point where you finally get to start making decisions for yourself. It's also the point where you realize just how expensive it really is. So you begin to build your collection from family or friend donations, sidewalk rescues, garage sales and craigslist. Sometimes you get lucky and find a nice piece. But more often than not...you get the mismatched, scratched, or painted a million times collection that just gets the job done. Sometimes it even manages to give an eclectic artistic feel. More often than not....it looks, feels and smells scavenged.

Then as your life moves on, and you get that job that pays just enough that you have some extra to play around with. It's at that point that you get the Grown-Up Furniture Set.

It's not the best materials, but it all goes together or at least looks like it does. And best of all: you got to pick it yourself! It works exactly as you need it to, it fits into your space and it looks good in your eyes.

As of today, i sold the mismatched dressers and chest of drawers that had been housing my assorted belongings. Even got more than i paid for them, thank you very much craigslist buyer. They hauled them out at lunchtime, and tonight my dad will be bringing in my new side by side 8 drawer dresser with a mirror to go with my matching night stands which i installed over the weekend.

Wanna talk lucky? Remember a ways back, i refurbished an Ikea bed frame and put it up on specially built stilts? Then those stilts were too long and i had to cut them off with a sawsall? Yeah, the nightstands are EXACTLY level with the top of the mattress. I was so shocked, i got the level out just to make sure. How unbelievable is that?

Originally, the set would have run me almost $180 but i talked them down to just over $150. Awesome sauce! Pics to follow.

Best part of all, not even a hint of white french provincial. Thank god!

Discovering Hawaiian Music

With the exception of the most famous modern Hawaiian song "What a wonderful world" (which really isn't a Hawaiian song) by Hawaii's greatest musician (Israel IZ Kamakawiwo'ole) I had never given Hawaiian music a second thought.  I heard it at the end of 50 First Dates and really loved the new take on the Judy Garland Somewhere Over the Rainbow. I couldn't even pronounce the artist's name. But i knew it when i heard it and stopped to listen. But that was the grand extent of my knowledge of music from the islands.


Enter Boyfriend Jon, who has Hawaiian heritage, to introduce me to the big man from the big island, and a handful of other Ukulele players and very talented guitarists. We made a trip to EMP and he taught me how the instruments developed in Hawaii. Next thing i know i'm a sucker for most Hawaiian music. 


Now normally at work, i'm not supposed to wear headphones because apparently i'm not supposed to tune the world out when i'm there for the sole purpose to assist people. But i got put on to a project which required me to concentrate and i got my boss's blessing to put ear-buds in to drown out nearby conversations.

Quickly i found that my normal stations on Pandora; rock, country were not good choices because i couldn't concentrate through the lyrics. It's a problem when you're supposed to be re-typing a technical document and a sentence comes out: "this part list will be superceeded by document she's a bad mamma jamma from down in Alabama"
Needless to say, i had to find something new.

I'm not sure how i remembered, but I started a station with Israel's What a wonderful world/Somewhere over the rainbow and the song after that was a beautiful Ukulele solo with a peppy beat. My Hawaiian station was born. I could concentrate and still listen to beautiful music.

In a few hours i started to notice a change in my mood about having to re-type a 35 page document because some genius had lost the digital copy and of course no one thought i had anything better to do. Instead, my brain started thinking about how this really was great practice to get my fingers in shape for writing for Nano. I started doing my own word sprints just to see if i could get my typing skills back up to my Nano levels.

I finished the document two days ahead of schedule feeling not only relieved that it was over, but triumphant.

I even found a song that never fails to make me smile though i normally would think it to be silly and childish. "Don't Worry, Be Happy" by Bobbie McFerrin gets me laughing no matter how bad my day is or how much my co-workers are being pills.

Now i'm sneaking one bud in my ear so i can still hear people calling for my help and enjoy the music.

The mountain of clothes

Somehow, i forgot that i absolutely HATE folding clothes. In my haste to get my apartment looking awesome again, i decided that the shelves in my closet needed to be cleared out and everything re-done. I just happened to forget that this meant a lot of folding.

Now there is a HUGE pile of clean clothes strewn over about 1/4 of my living room. I can feel it watching me when i call friends after work to see if they want to hang out. Its "eyes" bore into my back when i decide to eat out instead of in. It calls to me as i put my hand on the doorknob to flee. "Annnneee...you forgot something..."

And i'm even dreaming about LAUNDRY. Nay, having nightmares about it.

Maybe i shouldn't play anymore and do battle with the PILE!

ON GUARD!

May the 4th be with you!

To all my fellow geeks, nerds, brown coats, wanna-be Jedi's, and people who would be first in line if there ever is a Starfleet Academy.....

May the Force be with you.

ANNNNNDDDD

Shiny :)

Sunshine at long last!

We had an absolutely gorgeous sunny day yesterday. Spring finally came to the Pacific Northwest.

We never made the bike ride. It turns out that our bikes were in sore need of repair, but we had no way of transporting them to my parents house where there were tools like an air compressor.

Early in the day, Boyfriend Jon proved (again) how sweet he is, and helped me wash my car, clean out the trunk and vacuum the whole thing. It was so nice to get that done, and I instantly felt better. We then went for a picnic to the nearby Kirkland waterfront....which was jam packed with families, couples, dogs, ducks and seagulls. We turned our be-sunglass-ed faces up to the welcome warm rays, and shivered at the breeze coming off the water. Just a few more degrees, and everything would have been perfect.

We threw Ritz crackers to duck pairs, who got a little amorous nearby. They weren't shy of us at all, even waddled right under the nose of a spaniel who was sitting up on the bench with his owners as they tried to keep the squirming and woofing dog from pouncing.

Eventually, Jon and I had separate tasks to do so we each went home. But the sunshine still called to me. Even when i should have been folding laundry, or cleaning my kitchen, i found every excuse possible to walk outside. I even made three trips to the mailboxes and back...on a Sunday.

I hemmed the translucent curtains i put up and finally got around to cutting the board to stop my sliding glass door from opening. I refilled my bird feeder even though i know the chickadees and juncos will make a mess all over my patio again. I was able to sit there still enough while i was sewing the curtains with just the screen between me and the birds. They were so close i could have reached out and pet them. And they sang for all they were worth as happy as i was with the sunshine.

A pair of brown wild rabbits jumped and hopped all through the swamp, back and forth as i watched them...a foolish grin on my face.

Saturday, I spent with my dad, finally overcoming the problem that had been plaguing us for days. The drawers. I hadn't counted on the fact that the shortest full extension sliders that were available were 14 inches. I thought i might have been able to get away with a 12 inch set. This didn't work because the drawer was meant to be 13.5 inches deep.
After trying to figure out a way to make it work with the existing side pieces for two hours, I finally resigned and cut new ones with the additional half inch. In the end i'll loose a half inch on the front and back of the lip...but that's hardly noticeable.

The full set so far. Not finished yet.

When Facebook was for college students

When Facebook was for college students:

Friending wasn't a guilt trip.

• Yes, obscure relative, we are related by blood, but that doesn't mean i want to know what you did in FARM-VILLE every day (even if it's not the AP that's loading the status). Nor do i want you to hear about the dirty joke that was between my friends that you're going to write me an email about how crude you find it. 
• Your parent's had no idea what it was and were content to leave you alone about it. Now they want to be your friend and if you don't accept, it's grounds for them being mad at you. No mom, just because i write that i'm out with friends doesn't mean i'm an alcoholic. 

No friend requests from 10 year olds

• You are not 19. No way no how. I went to your birthday party and it was a Zero, not a Nine next to that one. Also, you're in elementary school. I don't care when the next Justin Beiber concert is. STOP POKING ME! No, i will NOT friend you. Because i don't want you subjected to the topics you're too young for, and i don't want to have to censor myself on the off chance that you might see it. 

Lots of games that were visible, distracting, and fun for hours on end. 

• Now they're hard to navigate to so it's not as enticing to play.

It wasn't blocked by company filters

• Facebook whenever you want!

People you want to talk with.

• The only people on there were other college students. Talking about things college students find interesting or humorous. People who respond to a political joke with an appropriate Lol, instead of taking it personally and then berating you about your all of your political views are wrong. Yes, i'm thinking of you Uncle R!

You are not reported by your friends to your parents for using the F word. 

• Yes, this happened to me. And led to a several month long grudge from my parents because I embarrassed them. 

I know it won't happen, but i wish Facebook would go back to the way it was(especially because i already graduated). I guess it's time to beef up my privacy settings again. 

Frolicking and Fake Flowers

I know that if i really wanted sunshine, i could move a few states south. But i'm a Pacific Northwest girl through and through. Right now, however, i miss sunshine more than ever. My brain tells me "It's spring! Go out frolic in the sunshine!" Except this is a record sunshine-less year. As of today, we tie the latest day of the year that we haven't reached 60 by. And the forecast is projecting more 40's and 50's degree weather for the next week at least. There's even snow again today...in April.

I'm should be watching crocuses pop up and opening up my apartment for some serious sunshine therapy and a stiff breeze to carry out the dank of winter. There is so little light that enters my apartment. I barely managed to salvage some of the Wandering Jew plant. It was so desperate for light that I ended up putting it between the vertical blinds for my sliding glass door...and the door itself. This way, it can glean what sunlight is available throughout the day without jeopardizing my security.

I've never lived without plants before. I stole a section of our back yard as a kid to build my own garden. My first roommate Katherine had COVERED the entire deck with pots, most of which had dead plants in them (to the point of not being able to walk anywhere on the deck without moving pots). I took the time she wouldn't and cleaned away the dead sections, and even planted a few bulbs with her permission. With roommate Kelsie, we had a few plants also; leafy green ferns. I never realized how cold a room looks without some plants about. It's not a feng shui thing...just missing some signs of spring i guess.

Never the less, i resorted to fake flowers. With a pair of wire snippers in hand, i corralled some fake dogwood some kind of long green branch and apple blossoms paired up with fake potted grass-like plants. I've begun strewing them around my apartment and so far, the effect on my mood is noticeable.

Other news from today

This is definitely one of the worse Mondays in a while.

I woke up this morning after slapping my alarm more than usual. I immediately noticed a "roaring" in my ears as i rose from bed and lack of noise on my right side. When yawned, i was greeted with a sharp stab of pain through both ears. I tried taking a hot shower and putting some hydrogen peroxide in my ear but nothing seems to be working. I made it into work but i'm quickly fading. And i bet my co-workers are getting tired of me asking them to speak up.

I really hope i don't have an ear infection coming on. No fever yet at least.

Oh no, it's plot bunny time

Ah summer. How I adore you. Warm days, swimming at the lake, the sunshine, the plot bunnies....
Wait a second. No! Summer just got here...how can I be longing for November and Nano?!!

Yup. It's the inevitable time of year when my mind starts to wander and seize hold of some obscure piece of information and holds onto it with a vengeance. I start to weave and whittle a elaborate plot around it, pulling and distorting the characters to better suit the essence of the plot, discovering how to bend the laws of physics to make it possible and to create, and rewarding and torturing my characters.

The first year of Nano was built around a story (which could be true or not since my family is known for tall tales) that my uncle told me. It was about a time that he got mugged in a New York subway and they looked at his ID before backeding away apologizing profusely thinking he was related to a different person with the same last name who was a prominent gangster. Around this story, I built a new one, of a young woman taking control of a scattering mafia and crumbling political system in future New York City. Through her father's training, her uncle's support and guidence, and even love, she exposes corruption at the highest level, and gets her beloved city back on its feet.

Last year, for Nano I read an article about the likely hood of aliens by the esteemed Steven Hawking. What spawned from that article was 50,219 words of a crazy idea about enormous birdlike aliens, learning how to interact and understand another culture, and the problems caused by intolerance. Not hard to see the moral of that story.

This year, my inspiration is a notorious local criminal. Colton Harris-Moore, aka "The Barefoot Bandit". To be clear. I do not condone lawless actions, defiance of police officers, or endangerment of innocent bystanders. He is my inspiration this year for his ghost like ability to disappear when the heat is on and the (in my opinion) unfathomable following of supporters he gained on a two year, multi-county/state/country crime spree.

But November is still a long way off. So I found myself building an entire justice system that would fail to hold this uncatchable thief. And when I looked at it complete, then I began to think about how such a system would come into power. What would cause humans to allow themselves to be controlled with an iron fist. And with those thoughts in mind, yet another story emerged.

It looks like I have a solid foundation for a trilogy. The set up of a system, exposing the flaws of that system, and the fall of that system.

Currently in the first book, titled for now as "The Larkspur", I'm about 14,250 words in. And I have until October to reach 50k.

Now if only i could see my laptop screen while sitting in glorious direct sunlight.

Crows, and The Blob

I don't know what evolutionary reason that crows are up before dawn, but I sure as hell don't like it.

I've said it before, and I'll remind you. Rude awakenings make for a VERY crabby Anne.

My bedroom window faces the trash area of my little apartment cul-de-sac. It's far enough away that i never smell it, but it's within earshot. And every morning, i hear the indignant caws of the crows fighting over the trash. The loud, grating, inconsiderate argument over a bananna peel or a burger wrapper. Were i still at home, i could easily pull out my blow gun (yes, i own a blow gun) and stalk the stupid birds until i was close enough to shoot them with a paintball pellet. No, i'm not completely heartless; I use non lethal force to get them to go somewhere else. But here in the apartment complex, the last thing i would want would be someone to call the cops cause there's a crazy lady with some kind of weapon shooting crows.

So i am left, every morning, starting at about 4am, tossing and turning to their debate over garbage. Anyone have any ideas of what else i can do?

In other news, i tried a new recipe for my bread machine. This one was offline since following the recipe in the booklet for this specific model yields dense salty bread. Standard recipes are so bland, it's like eating flour paste. But I must say this new recipe was delicious! It's called Springtime loaf and i simply left out the raisins and optional extras. It has a nice sweet taste and it's light and fluffy. Maybe a little too fluffy. I went to bed before it finished, and I awoke to find the dough had seeped out from under the lid and crept all the way down to the counter. I had "The Blob" in my kitchen. Obviously, this recipe was meant for a double or full sized bread maker and not my small version. Not to worry, halving this recipe should be reasonably easy. And as luck would have it, the part of the over zealous loaf which was in the tin....was PERFECT and i was able to cut off the extra non cooked dough.

Oh yeah, and today is 8 months with the sweetheart. I don't typically celibate monthly, but I felt like he deserved an acknowledgment for putting up with me recently. I love you!

Food, fireworks, and sun....or not.

I haven't posted in a while for a variety of reasons. Most of them are personal and have taken a toll on my stress level. I'm worried about certain family members and trying to bite my tongue on the "I told you so" that threatens to pop out at any second.

The fact of the matter is I haven't felt like writing anything. I'm just trying to get through work and weekends one day at a time. One foot in front of the other, trudging along.

The closest I felt to normal in the last two weeks was Fourth of July weekend. I invited friends and the sweetheart down to the cabin on the 3rd, and we launched off nearly $200 worth of fireworks. But even then, it was a little off. The weather in the northwest has been unseasonably cold since April with weather patterns more akin to fall and late winter (minus snow). However, on the 3rd, the sun peaked through the clouds for a few hours and we were able to do some sun bathing and some very cold swimming. Normally, for 4th of July, it's warm enough to swim even at night.

So with the weather barely cooperating, we celebrated a day early, and I was very thankful for that. 4th of July this year, had a heavy drizzle and bleak gray skies. Hardly any fireworks could be heard after sunset on that day.

However, finally the weather decided to break it's gloomy mood. Today we should be clearing the 75 degree mark, and the rest of the week will be even better.

It's been making me think about my apartment. It's the first time i've ever been on the bottom floor and friends are telling me that in their experience...bottom floors are a lot cooler in the summer. If the weather this year is going to hit into the 100 degrees, I'm looking forward to that added bonus. The only downside is that i won't be able to open my windows and doors at night to let the cool air in, unless I'm staying up late and have my bat handy.

Commute

Ah, the dreary, mind numbing, aggravating, dismal, stressful drive to work. Gridlocked roads, uncooperative lights, drivers eating breakfast or doing their makeup as they swerve into the next lane. Aggressive distracted, oblivious, dangerous, and slow drivers.

The above was no small reason why i decided to move extremely close to my work. Things to avoid turning my car into a ramming vehicle and why my steering wheel doesn't have dents in it from banging my head or gripping too tightly.

I DESPISE a long commute. So much so that I'm willing to pay more to live int he city where my work is. And indeed with this most recent move, i have found the following.

It takes me less time to ride a bike leisurely to work than it takes most of my co-workers to drive when they're in a hurry.

Don't hate me, we all make choices and this is one that was important to me. In fact it takes me only three turns to arrive safely at work. My only frustration along the one long road when people ignore the posted speed limit and drive ten miles under just to be sure they don't get pulled over or miss their turn.

There are buses nearby if i so choose to take that route. And in the event of a major catastrophe, as our annual evacuation drill notes....i can walk home. This truly is a great idea.

Other news:
The best wake up call ever is trying on a pair of old jeans you stopped wearing, and finding that they fit! without a muffin top!

The adventures of dating Jon

I've said it from the beginning. Jon and I have the weirdest dates ever. Things start out traditional then gradually morph into something totally unromantic, which usually ends up with some kind of inside joke.

Examples:
Date 1:
Jon and I both showed up the the pre-arranged restaurant not far from either of our houses on time and proceed to avoid working on our Nano's (it was November) by talking. For three hours. In that time...there were cop sirens going up and down the street behind me every few minutes. I don't know if the local police department had some kind of speed trap set up, but by like the tenth siren and lights to go by, i pulled up the collar of my sweater-coat and tried to hide myself from view, and hoarsly whispered, "They're looking for me." Of course it was all a joke but this led to a conversation about the tactics the swat team would use in order to corner me in the restaurant and even alluding to what i had done to cause such a reaction. Now whenever Jon and I notice a siren go by, I get a shifty look and occasionally duck behind Jon for cover.

Date 2 or 3?:
I went and visited Jon's place the first night where he introduced me to Firefly and we demurely sat on completely opposite ends of the couch, not even touching. By the third "date" we were facing each other on the couch and touching feet. We were in the middle of a conversation about one of our stories when i looked at his shoulder where his shirt neck pulled away from his skin. There was a fairly small spider the size of a dime in the process of crawling out of his shirt. Normal girl: Freak out and alert him to the spider with a scream and a pointed finger. Me: "Don't move" then lean in really close and gently brush the spider up onto my hand and flick it onto the coffee table where it died a quick death from a notepad. I imagine he had been hoping for a kiss, but instead, I asked him what else he kept down there. You can imagine what weird suggestions we both came up with.

Ok, Fast-forwarding now to our most recent "date". Don't worry, there was plenty of other weird dates in-between. Like how he got to meet my dad without warning at the grocery store deli, or getting roped into helping me pack for my move.

Growing up, my grandma lived about a half hour away. Mom would frequently make the trip to go take my grandma who didn't drive to the store or out to dinner or anywhere just to get her out of the house. I was usually taken along for this trip so i have fond memories of certain restaurants, stores, playgrounds, and nearby beaches. Since i never drove to her house before she died when i was 14, I have to rely on memories and landmarks to get to those places again. After picking up Jon from the airport, i told him we were really close to all those places i remembered. I ended up taking him by my grandmother's old house, and the beach at the bottom of that hill.

We got out and started wandering around, picking up the best preserved shell and just talking about nothing. Romantic walk on the beach holding hands when all of a sudden not five feet from us, a huge fountain shoots out of the ground. And sticking out just an inch or two is the siphon for a Geoduck ("Gooey ducks"- check them out for a laugh) The rest of the afternoon was spent trying to make geoducksto squirt on camera. We came away laughing and rather wet.

After over six months with this great guy, I have to say, the weird dates almost always turn out to be the best ones.

Gradual diminishing

I woke up early yesterday morning, looking around for who was nudging my bed. By the time i realized that we were having a minor earthquake, it was already over. I stayed awake for several more minutes to see if it would start up again, but within ten minutes, i estimate that i was passed out again.
Later, I started out yesterday in SUCH a good mood. I woke up on time without any residual tiredness at all, enjoyed a leisurely breakfast, I even got to work early and the sun was shining. At work, everyone was all abuzz about the earthquake. And despite my distaste for hypochondriacs, i found myself feeling exuberant. I texted my boyfriend. Originally from California...i figured he had slept straight through the earthquake.

"Top news story of the day! There was an earthquake...and we actually FELT it! OMG!"
"Lol"
"Yeah, we are such lightweights when it comes to earthquakes"
"Lol"

The day went along like normal. Broken copy machines (also known as 'Load Paper'), phone calls, power point presentations, metrics, and trying to stay out of trouble.

I'm not really sure what started to happen. But i found that as the day progressed, with every new person that i talked to, my mood was diminishing. But 4:00pm, i was hiding in my cubicle working on some tedious "extra" metrics so that i wouldn't have to talk to anyone. By the time 5:00 rolled around, all i wanted to do the rest of the night was something that didn't involve technology, media, or people.
I went home, turned off my laptop, put my phone on silent and started reading a book I had borrowed, but had been too busy in the last couple of weeks to start.
I'll save the review for later. But i got through about 220 out of 286 pages in about 3 hours. I fell asleep with my finger between the pages sitting in my oversize chair and didn't move again until almost 1am where i transferred myself to my bed and slept again.
It felt good after such a long absence to go back to just the simple things that i spent most of my youth living for. I would read sometimes in upwards of forty books a summer.

All i know is that the last thing i wanted was to talk to anyone. I started the day in such a good mood, with a smile on my face and a bounce in my step. And i ended it hiding under a warm blanket with a book and more pumpkin seeds.

Plague Recovery

I am hopefully well on the way to recovering from a very uncomfortable bout of what I think was food poisoning followed by a nasty cold. Sufficient to say, it was a very unpleasant two days spending quality time with the porcelain god. Following that was four days worth of lung hacking coughs, loosing my voice, and the last three days included a stuffy nose and sinus pressure headaches.

I'm not really the kind of person who does nothing when sick but watch tv and be a pitiful lump on the couch. Don't get me wrong, i did a lot of that. Slipping in and out of consciousness while random daytime tv shows played. But for the most part, i found myself going stir crazy and looking for something to do. I have found over the years that when sinuses are blocked...standing up helps them drain for a while. My mother was always yelling at me to rest up and let my body fight whatever bug i had contracted.
This was a rare thing. I was a lucky child in that i hardly ever got sick. But i'm well known in my family as they affectionatly refer to me as a magnifying glass. I get sick for two days, the rest of the family is out for a week. The inverse is true also. Someone catches a full blown flu, I might get the sniffles for a day or two.

Thankfully, those short bursts of energy helped me get through most of the remaining boxes which mostly contained things i wasn't sure if i really wanted to keep. I made a run to donations and even alphabetized all my dvds. What should have taken me twenty minutes took hours. Which is exceedingly frustrating for me.

In some good news, I did manage to complete my DVD cabinet. I put three coats of a nifty varnish on it. It went on milky blue but dried completely clear. I was needless to say, extremely happy with the results. the cabinet will be a fine addition to my apartment. And i promise, just as soon as i can figure out where the gremlins hid my camera, i will post pictures.

As soon as that project is out of my dad's shop and no longer in fear of sawdust...i can get started with my next objective. A TV stand complete with drawers.

Now if only my nose would stop dripping.

Puppies

Ok, one of the few things that actually makes me go and squee like a little girl .....are puppies. I adore dogs, and puppies, well they're just 100x more squee-able.
At my job, pretty much everyone has found a lifestyle that they can live in, and have settled down to owning pets. Most often, plural. Something of which I'm totally jealous.
Today, one of my co-workers brought in an adorable baby Rottweiler puppy named Kona. And i promptly turned into a puddle of goo under the puppy dog eyes.

I would love to have a dog. Right now. raised from a puppy under my lessons, commands, and training techniques. My dog.
Unfortunately, that dream is a long way off. Staying out till 2am on weekends, and not coming straight home after work....kind of dont' work so well with a puppy bladder.

In other news:
I now have an Xbox360 and have joined the modern era of gaming. I'm extremely happy with my purchase as now i can play my netflix and video games.

Also, I have a trip planned. One that actually entails me LEAVING the state. Amazing boyfriend and I are going to California!!!!
No this doesn't mean anything serious, other than a seriously fun trip planned. Can't wait. Countdown to March begins.

Updates

A little while back, i posted about getting a ticket for my tabs, and the resulting mitigation hearing.

Well, i was probably about the dozenth person the judge called forward. The people before me had delt with issues like failure to yield, speeding and a single other tabs problem. And immediatly following a gentleman who was there to Contest, not Mitigate his ticket which nearly caused a shouting match, he called my name. He was in a fairly incredulous mood. I believed this would only prove bad for me. The previous person with a ticket for their tab only got 50$ knocked off their sentence. And they had taken care of it within three days.

Turns out the Judge liked that i took care of the issue the very same day. My 216$ fine, was dropped to just 50$. :)

Other news. I have taken back up one of my hobbies; Knitting. Being mostly self taught, i had gone as far as i could go mostly in the form of scarves. So i enlisted the help of Nano Annie and her mom. The project?.....a beanie hat. But not just a simple basic hat. I wanted something with a little more dimension to it. To learn some more stitches and to for the first time, follow a pattern.
So far.... this is nuts. I still can't see a pattern so far, but i'm hoping another set of 10 rows, and i'll have something mostly resembling the pattern and eventually...a hat.

I'll keep you posted for the outcome.

Attacking Overwhelmment

Overwhelming circumstances have a tendency to make me feel like throwing in the towel before i even get started.
Like the current state of my room. While the main living area was kept fairly neat for the roommate situation, my room on the other hand, was left to go to seed. It's quite possible that gremlins have been able to make off with a few things.
During Nano, a lot of my normal tasks get pushed aside for the writing. Letters and emails go unopened, bags get thrown, receipts litter my floor, coins are scattered, and don't even get me started with the laundry waiting patiently to be folded and put away.
Usually, I'm so tired by the time i stop writing, that i manage to stagger into my room, take a hold of my bedspread, jerk it back so that anything on top of it goes flying to the floor, any remaining energy is expended trying to get into bed and pull it back over me.
Now that Nano is over, my energy is going into playing catchup. I spent a whole day just doing laundry. And i ended up having to run out of the house for something and not comming back. Then i tried to clean my bathroom, and ended up getting a call from the family to help out with something. Never ended up finishing that.
A ton of half started projects makes for one big mess. And i know you're probably all sitting over there going "just pick one and finish it!". And as i look around my room, i laugh at how easy it must seem when you're not in a constant state of Overwhelmment.
I'm currently formulating a plan which starts at the biggest thing in the way and works outward from there. Only time will tell if i have enough energy to finish it.

Candy Coating

As Halloween creeps up, so comes the masses of candy. It's everywhere and retailers are all but throwing it at you. So comes the visits to the costume shops and decoration stores.

I love Halloween, I really do. Dressing up as soemthing else, mystery and for a change, being allowed to scare the bejeebies out of your friends.

What i don't love...is the price tags. 59.99 for a draped sheet turned into a toga. 39.99 for a zombie outfit of ripped clothes. I mean really? And seeing the same boring costumes every single year. People need to get creative!

My sister and i were discussing cheap and easy costumes. mullet wig+leather jacket+boots = 80's biker chick. Green visor, fuzzy car dice, deck of cards = poker dealer. All black outfit, white gloves hat and facepaint=mime!
I won't tell mine, but I hope to at least be comfortable. not wearing skirts that barely cover the essentails during october weather.

And on a side note:
Why is it, that when you disagree with someone, no matter how nice you are about it...they still get ticked off at you and punish you for not agreeing with them?

I'm blunt. I don't do sugar coating, and I don't beat around the bush about things. Yet what really gets me, is the hypocrisy involved with an argument. So long as you agree with them, even if an opinion is unsolicited....it's OK. As a matter of fact, it's appreciated.
Yet, if you have the audacity to contradict or voice a negative point, even prefacing them with "no offense" or "I'm not trying to hurt your feelings with this...but i dissagree" suddenly you're the bad guy. In a conversation...there is no such thing as constructive criticism. It's just plain criticism.
It can be as simple as a disagreement on necessity, or food, or quality or any number of trivial things and suddenly it's this huge issue. And all it started as was an opinion. A different opinion.

The October Turnover

October. The turning point of the year.

September still remembers the heat and sunshine, and everyone is so busy rushing around trying to get ready for the start of school that they even notice a fallen leaf.
But it's not until October that the world slows down; darkness comes noticeably earlier, the trees turn to the colors of flames; and we start to notice for the first time, the ice formed on our windshields when we go to work in the morning.
Early October is when all the summer clothes go into hiding, and warm coats are retrieved from vacuum bags, closets, and under the bed storage. Sweaters and heaters are needed all of a sudden as the cold penetrates no matter how tightly shut up your home is. Down comforters become a warm sanctuary emphasized by electric blankets and soft fuzzy socks.

Speaking of which. I'm not sure how i ever survived without the items in the last sentence. I have discovered that it is truly foolish to change out your blankets for a down comforter and an electric blanket on a Sunday in time for going to work on Monday. The foolishness lies in this because come morning...you are NOT going to want to leave. I sat there thinking to myself this morning..." Do I really need a shower? will anyone notice if I don't wear clothes in today?"
Of course the answer to these is why I did manage to pry myself from the folds of my comforter and proceed to do so. My workaholic nature aside, i seriously considered calling in sick.

NaNo 2009 is slowly but surely gearing up. Now is the time when I start working out tiny details which could have a big influence on my story. And with my role this year, I'm planning, and weighing odds for meetings. How many people can show up every thursday?, but then we run into thanksgiving. Would it be better to do it on wednesday, or the weekend. So many things to think about. And even though on the 6th, it seems like there is plenty of time; I'm certain there isn't.

In other news: My OCD took over one day and i spent 4 hours refinishing a headboard my dad got for really cheap. I sanded out all the scuff marks, and re-stained part of it, painted the other and now it looks like it came straight from a showroom. I also changed over the colors in my room from the blues and whites to the reds and browns for winter. Soon i hope to have my room actually...clean and organized. I hate living like this, but I haven't had a solution before.

And the greatest news of all, i have purchased a new laptop. It is georgeous, powerful, and will do everything i want Laglessly. I'm already drooling.