Some more cute animal pix

I just got these in an email this morning. I love cute animal pictures!! I can't get enough of them. The Springers are my favorite, they remind of a special Springer I know named Tina. I dog sat for her and her big lab buddy, Ike, a lot last year. I miss them...I need to find time to go visit them and their humans.

I love the puffer fish picture, too. I had one named Fred in my saltwater tank a few years back. Their little 'faces' are so CUTE! And they're always right up at the front of the tank scopin' ya with those huge, googly eyes like, "Well hello there. How are you today? Are you going to feed me?? Well, hello there..." Don't fish have, like a three second memory span? I've heard that about goldfish a lot, but I'm not sure if it's true with all other fish. I had some tiger oscars that seemed more intelligent than that. Not to mention the saltwater fish, some of them really look like they're...I don't know...more aware? Especially triggerfish.

*sigh* It's a slow day at work again. I wish I could go home and be with Ron. Once again, I tried to stay up for him last night and I failed. I thought I'd "nap" for an hour before he got home. Next thing I knew he was helping me stumble my sleepy ass to bed. Got a quick look at the clock and it was 1:30 am! I fell asleep on the couch at about 10:30... I guess I'll try again tonight. This sucks.

A survey...taken from Southern Fried Girl

-What time did you get up this morning? Well, my alarm goes off at 6:15 every morning... This morning I managed to drag myself outta bed by 6:47.

-Diamonds or pearls? Hmmm, I'd have to say BOTH. But I'm not a glam girl, I like tasteful jewerly that's not all huge and encrusted.

-What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Oh man, that's a toughie. I don't like movie theaters anymore. They rip you off and then make you sit through 20 minutes of commercials! I'd rather snuggle on the couch and watch a DVD. The last movie I saw, away from my own couch, was probably 'Charlie and the Chocoate factory' over the summer!

-What is your favorite TV show? Forensic files, Law and Order at the moment.

-What do you usually have for breakfast? Cinnamon toast crunch or actual cinnamon toast and coffee.

-What is your middle name? Anne, a very common middle name I've come to find. My mom always wanted me to go by Julieanne, but I chose to stick with plain 'ol Julie.

-Favorite food? Hmm, favorite sweet would have to be chocolate. Favorite others include mashed potatoes, spinach and RED MEAT. I love animals in more ways than one...hehehe...

-What foods do you dislike? Grainy red apples and iceburg lettuce.

-What is your favorite chip flavor? Flamin' hot Cheetos.

-What is your favorite CD at the moment? I recently got the 'ol 'Arrested Development'. I love old skool hip hop. Another fave is 'Alice n' Chains' SAP.

-What is your favorite sandwich? More food? Um, that's have to be the 'Chicago South sider' from Vons.

-What characteristic do you despise? Arrogance.

-Favorite item or outfit? I'm not into clothes at all so it'd have to be an item... Hmmmm, I guess my new rollerblades at the moment.

-If you could go anywhere in the world for a vacation, where would you go? Italy.

-What color is your bathroom? Mostly white. I've got the fishy theme going on in there...so there's some blue, green and various other colors.

-Favorite brand of clothing? I don't care. I have favorite shoes though...Chucks.

-Where would you retire to? Retire? Hell, I have no idea right now. All I know is that I want to get the HELL outta socal.

-Favorite sport to watch? Ron's really gotten me into watch BMX racing. Love it!

-Furthest place you are sending this? It stops at this blog, as far as I know...

-Goal you have for yourself? Oh shit, where do I start?? Probably draw more often and be happy with what I have in life.

-Long term? Own a cute little home somewhere more rural than this LA shithole where I can raise a nice little family. One or two kids...maybe.

-Person you expect to do this first? No one.

-When is your birthday? May 19th.

-Favorite flower? Sunflower.

-Are you a morning person or a night person? NIGHT.

-What did you want to be when you were little? A marine biologist or an animator.

-How are you today? Fine, it's Thursday...very close to Friday.

-What is the date on your calendar that you are looking forward to? In the near future, going up Norht with Ron for a mini vacation weekend. Far off? My wedding, of course.

Cool, that was the first survey I've done in a long time. Fascinating...

Pets past

Awww! It's a picture of Caramel rat and her new buddies! This was sent to me by her new owner in an email update on the little bugger. Turns out she's got a new roommate that looks just like her. Caramel's in the middle, there's Shrew to the left and she's not sure what the new one's name is going to be just yet. There's also one other rat in there with them (she's obviously not in the pic) and I forget what her name is. The cage is gigantic and fits all four of them great. I just couldn't imagine how hard it would be to keep that cage clean and smelly free. That's the main thing I really don't like about rats, they stink. I only had two and I got tired of cage cleaning. It's great to see them all together and happy though.

I wonder how Apples and Bananas the parakeets are doing in their new home in San Diego. I had given them to the lady at work to give to her grand daughter. Last time I asked about them, which was probably about two months ago, she said that the little girl was really enjoying them. I'm so glad... I hope they live a long time for her.

I'd really like to see my conure, Leonard, that I had to give up three years ago. She was only a year and a half old. I gave her to an aquaintance at the bird store that I used to go to. Last time I stopped by there I found he wasn't working there anymore. I hope she's doing okay. I sometimes miss her obnoxious, messy, noisy ass. Sometimes. But I'm glad I gave her to someone who could provide better for her. I can only handle the small birds for now... And definately NO more pets! For now... Yes, my famous last words...

Finding them one at a time

Well, I received my "Cotton Candy" my little pony last week. She was one of the first ever produced. Thanks ebay! I've decided to start looking for some of the 'old skool' ponies on ebay. I have enough of the newer ones for now. I need to find some more of the oldies. I've got a Pegasus, "Medley" on the way and I'm bidding on a fuzzy pony, "Buttons"... I had Buttons for a little while when I was little, 'til my dog ate it. Poor girl ended up a pile of fuzzy scraps all over the lawn. So my herd is growing and I should have a rediculously HUGE collection of them if and when I ever have a daughter. She's gonna be like, "Mommy, 275 My Little Ponies? What the hell is wrong with you??" Of course she won't be able to touch them or, heaven forbid, PLAY with them!!

My attempts at drawing more regularly have been few and far between lately. I've done it a little more, however motivation still evades me. I have to be in the 'mood'. I don't know where that 'mood' to draw has gone, but I wish it would come back. I can't force myself or all I'll do is scribble crap. I haven't even been working on my 'self portrait'. Ugh...I have to do something artistic soon or I'm gonna explode. I don't know what is wrong with my creative juices.

Hanging out with Paul the little autistic boy last week was great. I love him... However, he's started calling me almost every single night since. Cutie pie... I'm gonna have to break it to him that I just can't talk on the phone every night. I don't even like talking on the phone that much with girlfriends much less trying to make conversation with a 12 year old boy. He likes to talk about his bird, A LOT. Hehehehe, it's so cute. But I find myself spacing out and repeating myself a lot. Last night I screened my calls. I can't keep doing that, it's not fair to him. I just hope he understands...

That's about it for this boring entry. I need to get some work done, got another boss coming in from Poland tomorrow and I just KNOW he's gonna have plenty for me to do.

I wuz gunna BUT

I was going to post some new pictures taken over the past few weeks, however, my camera battery konked out in the middle of a photo session the other night. I was taking some very cute pictures of, yes, the boids. I had Pickles and Punkin' on my shoulder and Pickles was giving Punkin' some lovin's for a change...little nibbles on the head. I think that's it for my batteries as of late. I have to go out and get some more and WHO KNOWS when the hell I'm gonna get around to that. I'm too busy, you know, staring at the sky.

The past couple of days have been good. I went out to dinner with Lisa and Paulet the other night. We had Mexican...and the BEST margaritas I've ever had! I wouldn't really call them margaritas, actually, as they were much more like smoothies. Lisa said I just HAD to try the mango, so I did and I wasn't dissappointed. If I had wanted to get any sort of buzz though, I would have been. A very weak and foo-foo drink, minus the umbrella. But it was quite tasty and that's all I needed. It was nice seeing Lisa again and I enjoyed her company. She gave me my belated Christmas gift, a shower curtain. Yes, a shower curtain. She couldn't think of what to get me, and I couldn't think of what I needed that wasn't too expensive. I suggested a fishy shower curtain and that's what I got. I'm very happy with it despite the fact that it's made my whole house REEEEK of plastic. Much to Ron's dismay. He came home the other night demanding to know what the hell smelled like, "Someone fucked themselves with a can a WD40." All I could do was laugh and point in the direction of the bathroom, of course. I need to take that thing down this weekend and wash it with some flowery soap or something. For now, the bathroom door stays closed and the window in there wide open. PEEeeeewyy!!!

I made some delicious stuffed bell peppers last night. Oh man, they turned out fantastic! Just stuffed them with rice and seasoned ground beef. I put some cream of mushroom soup on top and baked them for 45 minutes. *DA-rooooool* So good so good, but they gave me the farts like they usually do. I greeted Ron from bed with a tooter when I heard him get home from work. We often speak to each other in gas...

Tonight I'm going to visit my friend Marguerite's little brother, Paul. He's kind of like a little brother to me, too, since I've known him all his life. He's such a sweet child...slightly Autistic. It's been so nice watching him improve over the years. He really loves animals and his parents agreed to let him have pets a while ago. It started out with a hamster, then a kitty and now he's had a bird for a few years. Turns out he likes the bird best. He still has the kitty but has gone through about three hamsters. Typical... He loves it when I come over with one of my little guys. Last time I visited I brought my rats. Tonight he's going to meet the Tobster bird. I don't think he's ever seen a parrotlet before so it should be interesting for him...not to mention for Toby. I haven't travelled much with him so I'm planning on keeping the visit short so that I don't stress him out too terribly.

I miss Ron so much. It's good for us to be apart, but it still sucks. I'll think of this time in ten years when he's snoring next to me in bed and I have to get up to sleep on the couch. Ah, marriage. It's going to be a blast! No really, I'm looking forward to it. I can't wait to move into a bigger place with him. It'll be OUR place... One day... For now it's time to finish my lunch and get working.

Later!

Hehehe, I love this picture. I had seen it before, but someone sent it to me again today and I had to save it this time...

Well HURRAY for me! I finally took the time to fix my links. Now they actually work! Amazing, I tell you... Took me long enough. I still have to figure out how to link the diary I started out at. I screwed up so much that my damn diary doesn't even show up anymore. I'm sure it's simple, I just have to take my time and figure it out.

Shit, I have some work to do. Maybe I'll be back later on with some photos.

Mmm-hmm

Yes, happy Monday. I had to work today, bleh. Shit, I can't believe I wrote all that crap on Friday night! I just read it over... I think I'M the only one who reads this. I don't really understand how to get more readers here. It seems like every other web diary, journal, blog or whatever that I read has a million fucking readers. I complain about this from time to time, I can't help but let it get to me sometimes. Especially when I post something I'm proud of and NOT A SOUL comments. What the fuck?? How do I get out there? There's so much fucking competition. HELL-OH-OH-oh-oh-oh... Anybuddy out THERE-ERE-ERE-ere-ere-ere... ?? I like writing in this, I'm just tired of no one reading me. Am I THAT lame? I guess so. I suck at links and shit...computers in general. I feel like such a dumb ass.

Anyway...

I had a nice weekend. Friday night I went to Melanie's for while. Tyra was there, too, and we had fun discussing wedding stuff. Then I went home and wrote in here 'til Ron got home from work at 11:30 p.m. I missed him so much this week. It was his first week working nights again. I'll get used to it again, I really will. It SUCKS though. Saturday night Ron and I went out for a lovely italian dinner. We hadn't been out to dinner in a long time. It was nice, except for the crowds. We headed toward the restaurant at about 8:00 p.m....on a Saturday night. Shitty time to go 'cause that's when the whole city decides to go out to eat. Between 8 and 10 p.m. you're gonna have to wait for a table. We were really starving by the time we got a table, but it was worth it. Yesterday I got my new rollerblades. I love them! I found a very cool looking pair at huge Sports Ch@let that Ron knew about. It was a bit far from home, but I'm glad we checked it out because they had a much better selection. Of course I had to try them out the minute I got home! I was all uncoordinated at first because it had been two years since I'd skated, but it didn't take me long to get the hang of it. I brought them to work today so I can go for a spin right after work, before it gets dark.

Okay, it's time to finish up for the day. Later...

Presenting some more of the artist in me

OFFICIALLY DONE!

This is a work in progress. I need a project to keep me focused

and more motivated to draw and create. It's very good for my

brain because I sorta feel like it's melting. I've got my regular physical

acitivity down, now it's time to work on the brain activity.

She needs a good and STEADY workout.

Hahahaha! I found these in my work junk file as I was cleaning it out. Behold...some images from my past temp jobs... I call them boredom drawings. I drew those boxers about five years ago from a photograph given to me by a co-worker. She had seen my drawing of Pickles on my computer desktop and wanted a portrait of her own pets on her desktop. I was up for the challenge! Came out pretty damn good if I do say so myself. Especially due to the fact that it was done on good 'ol Microsoft ah-pixelated painter. The other one is a self portrait I did when I first started at my current job. I had that on my desktop for a little while. It's not really done, there's tons of shading to do but I got bored with it. As noted above, I'm going do some major fixing and shading of that thing. I have a couple other images from my bored temp days on disks at home... I usually drew my pets. I'll have to check those out.

I don't usually draw on computers, I just don't like it. If I can do this great on a shitty old program, imagine what I could do in photoshop and painter! I took some computer art classes in college and made some awesome stuff... But it just doesn't thrill me. Actually, I think it's just that I'm a really simple-minded person when it comes to some things, and my art is one of them. I prefer traditional art. My art is cartoony and looks like it should be animated. I wanted to be an animator when I was a child. When Dizney made those beautiful works of art called full length animated features. Animation is HUGE today, compared to what it was, but it's CHANGED so fucking much. Everything looks all cool and real and there are buttloads of effects but, but it's all too much for me right now. I suppose one day I'll move to computer art because it would be so much fun to create something beautiful with all those effects and shit. It could help me move on in any field. I'm going to stand by my pencil for now. Is that what those things are called? I should find mine. Right... I HATE computers...only because I am AFRAID of them. My habit of procrastination causes me to avoid things like computers. (excuse) That's why I don't think I'm cut out to be a professional artist right now. (excuse)

Part of me wants to be an artist, but I don't like a lot of today's money makers in the art field that rely heavily on computer animation. I don't know... I just don't want to be forced to mass produce or draw characters that look like everything else out there. I'm most interested in the field of illustration, I am very good at capturing the moment. The original snapshot. UGH... But, if I had a dollar for the number of people who have told me that I should be an artist/animator for Dizney, I wouldn't have to work. I used to want that, I reasearched it, looked into schools... People referred me to programs. It didn't take me long to realize that Dizney is the fucking antichrist. I wouldn't give them a dot on a page. They're NOT for me. I know that there are plenty of studios and shit that produce animation, not just the big ones and I know that there are lots of jobs for someone with my talent. Maybe I'm just being a little overprotective and selfish with my art. I don't want to give it to just anybody. I don't want to be part of just another one of those stupid cartoon shows. Although there is a whole new world of sick shit out there, starting with that Sick and Twisted animation show that comes out every year. Good 'ol Spyke and Myke. I like that, but... I don't want that either.I think I've pretty much decided that if I were to do any art professionally, it could be freelance illustration. I've already done a few projects for people over the past couple of years. Illustrating children's books and the like seems to be the best for me because I really enjoy it. There are endless possiblities when it comes to storybooks. Now if only I could get myself organized and put some of my stuff out there. Really try! ...or I can just sit on it and procrastinate like I always do...

Childish

I'm not afraid to admit it...I am 28 years old and I STILL collect My Little Ponies. I just love the lil' buggers. I don't COLLECT collect them, as in keep them untouched in the box or have them all perfectly clean and catagorized in a display case somewhere. I simply enjoy their cuteness. My old ones are a bit dirty 'cause I really played with them...outside and inside. They remind me of good times during childhood, they were my absolute favorite toys. I would take them everywhere, to grandma's, to school, to friend's houses... I didn't just sit and comb their hair or dress them up. No no no! They all had individual personalities and genders and were involved in many dramas, played out by me in my bedroom.

I'd get a new one and get a 'feeling' about it. Bowtie here was definately a girl. The look on her face, to me, is that of a sort of bored arrogance. Like, "Pfft, what-ev-errr, just get on with it would you??!" She was the prissy bitch of the herd. You didn't fuck with her though, or she'd make damn sure you were miserable. She did that to all the new little fillies who had the nerve to flirt with her stallion, Moondancer, the second pony I ever owned. I never liked dolls as a child really, I had a whole lot of stuffed animals. The was Pinkie the Pink Panther, Mikie mouse , Marie mouse (Mickey and Minnie mouse dolls), Bubba Bear, Ellie elephant, Goodbye kitty (Hello Kitty doll with a drug problem), Tady and Sally parrot and the pound puppy family. They all lived and played and carried on with the ponies. The ponies were always in the center. Any dolls were usually evil, except for the Cabbage Patch Kid. She was cool. She sat on my bed most of the time and just looked pretty. The ponies main enemy was the fake barbie family. I never had a real barbie, just a barbie-knock -off little family. Mom, dad, a baby boy and a baby girl. They were always trying to invade the ponyland paradise so that they could build their dream home. Uh-huh, it went on like that in my little imagination.

This particular one is not mine, but it is the very first pony that I had gotten for my birthday when I was six. She's called Bowtie for obvious reasons. I think she was one of the first in the series, not sure...I just know she's really old. I don't have a huge collection, only about 30. I just started adding to it again in the past few years. My originals were at my parent's house for a few years after I'd moved out. The day I brought them home I had to take them out, line them up and reminisce on all the good times we had. Their hair was all fucked up from being in a bag for so long, so I dumped them all in the bathtub and washed them. Then I sat down to comb their hair and line them up to dry. Soon after that I happened to be at a toy store and saw the newer ones. I had to buy a couple... So I've been picking a few up here and there over the past few years. Last night I got a wonderful surprise while grocery shopping. They had My Little Ponies in the toy section! AAAAA!!!! So I picked up a few more and went home to pull out the herd again...

Step number ONE

I did it! I diiiid iiiit!!! Last night I asked Melanie to be my maid of honor and she happily accepted! She was so cute and excited! She is the official BFOTB...can anyone guess what those letters stand for? Hehehehehe! She's going to be a great help, I'm sure. Next I'm going to ask Lisa and then my sister-in-law, Kristine and her daughter, Lauren...who will be a junior bridesmaid. The next most important step is to make an appointment at the church and find out all of what needs to be done. I really have to find out what dates they have available next January/February. I have to get off my ass and do that by next week. I am a terrible procrastinator when it comes to these things.

Stupid quizzes...hurrah! Taken from Lealoo...

Congratulations! You are a traditional bride!

What Kind of Bride Will You Be?
brought to you by

I got this from someone I used to read and just found again. She had dropped out of sight for a while to plan her wedding. It's nice to catch up on reading, especially someone with a wedding agenda... I need all the ideas I can get at this point.

Style

Yesterday I did something that I haven't done in ages. I went to Soooopercuts for a hair trim... Yes, I'd been going to my regular guy for about five years and lately it's been hit or miss. The last two haircuts I've had to go back to him the next week and ask him to fix it. I hated the way his last haircut was growing out. I want my hair to be about medium length to long (a little past the tops of my shoulders) for my wedding and that means I'm going to wait about six months before my next trim. I couldn't stand the way it was growing, it looked like a football helmet...the layers were retarded. Too long on the bottom, too short on the sides...yuck! So instead of calling my regular guy and having to wait two weeks for an appointment, I just walked right into the local Soopercuts and got a simple cut. I saved money, too, and that's ALWAYS a good thing! The girl who did it was very sweet and gentle. I noticed how she was slow and calculated and didn't yank the hell outta my head like my regular guy sometimes does. Now I'm very happy with the results. I can wake up in the morning and just shake my head and have a lovely 'do without hassle. Yay! I'll try to get a pic of it soon...

After my haircut I met up with my friend Janine at my house and we went for a nice, long walk. We both like to exercise and want to try to walk or bike ride together at least once a week. I've been hanging out with her a lot lately and it's been great. We've known each other for such a long time, since we were about 10 years old... She was closer to my friend Lisa, they had met in summer school. The three of us would play together as kids. I'd see her at Lisa's parties every now and again. We hooked up about five years ago at one of Lisa's gigs and hung out a lot for about a year and then lost touch again. Lisa mentioned her about six months ago and I asked for her email address. She was happy to hear from me...she had been through a lot and needed someone to talk to. So we've sorta been there for each other lately and it's nice. I enjoy her company and I like having another girlfriend to confide in. Especially one that shares some of my interests...we've also introduced new things to each other.

Man...it's slow at work again. Oh well, more time to start researching wedding plans. Yea...I'm gonna start soon. I swear! Yea, mom! I'm on it!

I'm okay

I'm feeling better this week. I exercised yesterday for the first time in a little over a month. I always forget what a difference a little raising of the heart rate makes. It's back to the routine, gotta get out and be active at least three times a week for a minimum of 30 minutes. I figure I'll fall into my usual pattern of two to three times a week for a while, slack off for a week or two, go back to it for a month and so on... That seems to be my pattern when it comes to regular exercise. I have to get out and look for a new pair of rollerblades so I can add some more variety. I looked this past weekend and was not at ALL thrilled with the selection. Seems styles have changed a bit since my last pair. That pair was stolen over two years ago. They were a boot style, got them about 8 years ago. The rollerblades of today look like ugly biker shoes with wheels attached. Ugh... Gotta keep looking, I'm sure I'll find something I like. I can't wait to skate again!

There isn't much going on. I guess that's good because I really have to start thinking about and planning my wedding! My mom has started getting antsy now that the holidays...she wants to get together and start working on the guest list. First thing's first! I'm a little nervous about the whole planning thing, as I always get about big projects. But this is supposed to be fun, I'm sure it will be once I get started. I'm not at all sure where I want it. I know I want a Catholic ceremony in a Catholic church. That's about as far as I've gotten. I need to start perusing magazines and the internet for ideas. I don't want anything huge...

So is anyone from Blogspot reading this yet? I've tried linking this to my old diary and so far no luck. Meaning, I haven't figured it out yet. I guess I can start fresh here, as I haven't really been doing this whole publishing myself on the internet for too long yet. It's almost been a year. Woopie. I'm being so boring today. Someone tag me with questions or whatever... Hell, I don't know... Bye for now.

Morose

It's the new year...why do I feel so down? I don't know. Everything is fine, really. I managed to make it through another holiday season without going insane. I got to ring in the new year with those I love. I have plenty to look forward to. What's wrong with me? Why do I feel like shit? It's time to just suck it up and move on, like I've had to do so many times before. This year is going to be great...or at least just as good as the last year was. Right. Life is good. I'm going to live it one day at a time. Don't worry about a thing...

2006

I haven't really been in the mood to update lately...not to mention I've been busy. Spent the past week closing up 2005 at the office among other things. My home computer has been broken again, although Melanie and I finally found time this past long weekend to get together and reformat it. I still have a few more things to do to it before I risk getting on the internet. Anyway, Happy New Year. It's 2006! I'll be back later.

Wow!

OH MAN!! This site is SO much easier to work with. I'm very glad I switched. It's so pertiful!!! I get to post pictures RIGHT onto my blog, instead of uploading my ass off. YAYAYAYAYAY!!!

Now I have to work on moving all of old entries from the past year over to here. I will essentially be posting backwards, a few entries a day until it's all done. I love the way it automatically archives my entries! Okay, I'm acting like I just got a new toy... Well, I guess I did! Back to archiving I go!

Moving on

Ah, moving on to a blog... I started an online diary last year and found it very addicting. It's so much fun to see myself actually published on the internet!! I had been in complete darkness when it came to such a thing, only to discover and love the idea. I know, it took me long enough. So here I am, starting fresh. I'm going to post select diary entries just as soon as I figure out all the in and outs of this place. So far so good, it's much easier to navigate and post nice looking entries on this site. Okay, here I go!

HOHOHO Hahaha Heeheehee

This is a little cartoon I drew in someones Christmas card. It came out so well I just had to scan it and post it...

Silly silly...

Drunken Fire

An email to my friend about a random (this past) Tuesday night...

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Holy SHIT I haven't gotten that WASTED in a long time. Especially on a Tuesday night! Seriously, dude...WAY-YAY-STEEEDDD! I was slurring and falling all over myself by the end of the night. I RARELY do that, I don't like to be so...so wishy-washy outta control. It was fun though! I remember at one point we had turned on the broiler to make barbequed chicken... Well I'd forgotten about a piece of garlic bread that I'd put back in the oven the other night, to keep it warm so I could eat it later...you know...yea. I have not one, not two but THREE fucking loud ass smoke alarms, only one of which I've disabled. So those two muthers started going off like crazy. I smelled the smoke and figured (in my slurrybrainblurred state) that it was just some crumbs left over from something in the oven. Yea, they'll burn off. This is how stupid drunks start fires, I know. It's a new low for me! We managed to get the alarm in the kitchen to stop, but the one in the bedroom would not give up! Ron got up on the cat stool and held a blanket over the screaming thing to dull some of the piercingness (yes, that's a word!) and by this time I couldn't stop laughing. He's like, "Go get rid of it, whatever it is, PLEASE!" Then I fall down on the bed laughing and he's all, "NOOOoooo!!! Go get it!!! Gooooooo!!!!" So I flail into the kitchen to see smoke POURING out of the oven. What the hELL??? I open the oven and there's the garlic bread in the oven bag ON FIRE! AAAAAAAAAAAA!!!! I pat it out with my oven mitten and take the black mass to the front door, open it and toss the fucker out! Then I open all the windows, most of which remained open all night because we just passed out in bed after having mad monkey sex...hehehehehehe!!!!! Um, yea...so I guess you hadda be there...we were retards last night. High class, man. Crazy drunken idiots, who throught the Grace of God, did not burn the house down. We even lived to play dominos later on, too. There's nothing like throwing dominos at a sleeping cat and watching him jump ten feet! Whoooheee!!! Party!

****************************************

Okay, I'd better watch it with the yager. After reading that again I'm almost embarrassed to post it! Almost...

Hustle and Bustle...BITCH!

All I had to do was put up the Christmas tree in order to get into the spirit. I feel much better after looking at a sparkling tree. I'm ready to head out tonight and do what's become a tradition for me, last minute shopping. ALRIIIGHT!!! Let's get it on!

We didn't get the tree up until last night because Ron didn't get a stand on Monday night. He got home and was like, "I can't believe how much they want for a two foot tree!!! And THEN they wanted $7.99 for a stand!!! I can build one for less!!!" Ah, yes...those ever-efficient men with building skills. "Eye kin build ya one outta an ol' plastic bowl an' some wood planks!" Of course you can!!! And that will last us forever, right? I told him I'd go out and get a stand, no problem.

OH BOY was I wrong to think I could go out twelve days before Christmas (the infamous 12 days) and get a tree stand on my first try. There must have been record sales in tree stands this year because EVERYONE was OUT OF THEM. I tried two Save-Ons, a Wallgreens, a Longs Drugs, OSH and Home Depot. I finally got smart and tried calling the places before I wasted my time going there to look only to be told mockingly that, "We're ALL sold out!" When I called Home Depot on Tuesday night, I was told that they had a shipment come in earlier in the evening and that it just had to be received, they'd have them out on Wednesday. This was after I'd visted three other stores so I went home defeated. Last night I thought I'd try the Longs and the other Save-On that's near my work. NOPE, NUTHIN'. So on my way to the car from store number FIVE I called Ron and said, "Honey, next time just SPEND THE FUCKING $7.99!" How mean-spirited of me to do that to him after he's done so much for me. "Hi, you've reached 1-800-BITCH. For a list of little insignificant things to bitch about, press one..." I happened to pick a terrible day to slather the shit on Ron, as he'd had an awful day at work. His drill broke, then his wrench broke, then his truck started making noises and THEN his LOVELY and thoughtful fiancee calls him to yell in his ear about a stupid tree stand! He's all, "Just come home, I'll take care of it!" And I'm like, "NNOooooo, I don't want you to have to do it, I'LL DO IT! WAHH WAHHH!!!" and so on and so forth. So I head over to Home Depot with it in my head that they have done all their receiving and that I can get the fucking stand and go home. But I have to call first JUST TO MAKE SURE. The first dildo to answer the phone says that they're out. I tell him about they little receiving thing and he says he'll transfer me over to gardening, where they should know. After two minutes of annoying holiday music, I get transferred to electrical, where dildo number two says, and I quote, because these are the WORST words to say to a CUSTOMER, "I have NO idea", to which I promptly answer, "Well could you transfer me to someone WHO DOES??!" in my most irritated voice. Three more minutes of holly jolly finally gets me to gardening where I am told that yes, they do in fact have stands. SCORE!!!!! So I go and get the sonovvabitch and go home to an upset Ron...

We were supposed to go to Sears so that he could get a new drill, we had talked about it earlier in the day and I completely forgot with all of my grumpiness over the assholes who bought MY TREE STAND!!! DAMMIT!! I felt so guilty. Ron was tired and sullen all night, but he set up the tree on the stand and even vacuumed up the needles on the carpet when he was done. OH YEA, and he'd even done the dishes 'cause he got home before me! Ughghghg... He pepped up a bit when he saw the pretty tree though. I also put out some other cute little decorations. In between my decorating, I gave him many a guilt-ridden-I'm-SO-SORRY-stare. BAH! Oh well, I just know that I have to try to control these moody outbursts because Ron is right, life is too short for them. I don't need the stress. Now it's time to convince myself. Working on it.

That's it for now. I think I'm going to post the email I sent to a friend about Tuesday night...once I got home the party started. That's later...gotta do some work. Bye bye!

Relaxation on a Saturday night

Saturday night! I'm just doooin' the do for a Saturday... Last night Melanie came over and stayed 'til about two, then I stayed up 'til four. I woke up this afternoon at 12:45 p.m. I then proceded to turn on t.v. and watch movies all afternoon. I now have HBO and Cinemax thanks to calling my cable company to go over my bill. I received my bill after I'd had my box turned back on after they'd blocked it about a month ago (when I had a shit cow, I wrote about it a few entries ago) and they'd billed me wrong. You know, 'cause people can never ever get anything right the first time. It all turned out for the best...turns out they have a special going on (they ALWAYS do) in which I can get my regular and expanded cable PLUS HBO and Cinemax for the same price I'd normally pay for just the regular/expanded cable. Hurrah!!!! I have MOVIES!! So I sat on my ass all day 'til Ron got home from the side electrical job he's doing for Melanie's dad. Then my friend Janine came over and we chatted for a bit. A great, relaxing Saturday. I also uploaded more pics...of THE BIRRRDSSS!!!

Here are Punkin' and Pickles. Pickles is the one taking a bath in the glass of water. They look EXACTLY alike! HOWFUCKINGEVERRRRR Pickles is going through yet another "mood" and is starting to pluck a bit...AFUCKINGGAIN. HOWFUCKINGEVERRRRR I've completely given up on trying to doctor Pickles. I'm NOT going to worry about his obnoxious nuerotic behavior anymore (for the next few weeks at least until this phase is over) because I've officially done ALL that I can. Really though, I think I've done all I can I now I must accept that I made a HUGE mistake getting him so attached to me. I can only hope that he'll possibly tire of it and stop as he gets older. I'm happy to have two lovebirds! They're beautiful birds with tons of personality. And Punkin' has turned out to be such a sweetie. I'm not too sure about the sex, "she" could still be a "he" because behavior hasn't told me anything yet and it's hard to tell from appearance alone. Punkin' is afraid of me, but that's just fine because I expect it from a new bird. She's not too much of a biter, she hasn't even bitten me as much as Toby has. She's doing very well. I've learned to be very patient with birds in general. If I'm lucky, she'll come around.

And now some pictures of cuteness...

The lil' 'ol LOVERRRrrrssss!!!

And the very image of relaxation. This should be in the dictionary.

*MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM* *smack* *smack* *AAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh*

Cats are so good at this, aren't they? I should look at this picture whenever I'm feeling anxious.

I've been writing in this diary for almost a year. My anniversary is in February. That's pretty cool. I really enjoy writing in this thing. Now it's time to look at this entry.

THE GREAT WAAAaaallll

I finally uploaded all the pictures I needed for this entry. So here is our backpacking trip on the Great Wall of China, October 5 - October 6, 2005, in all its glory...

We woke up Wednesday morning and got everything together in our backpacks including warm clothing, tent, sleeping bags, snack foods, water, BEER...you know, all the essentials. We headed out around 11:30 a.m.

Yes, behold the streets of China!

We had a very important errand to run before we could actually start our trip, however. Taking little miss horny dawg Soooobway to the vet for bording and a possible (hopeful) spaying. So we walked...

What an amazing city!

Then we arrived at NPH animal hospital and Devin and Harry brought Subway in.

The NPH stands for "Naughty Pets Hospital". I should have gotten a picture of the other side of the sign, which had these very words in English. I don't know WHY I didn't. Instead, I took a picture of the victims sitting outside in the sun.

Devin and Harry took a while inside the vet, trying to find out if they would be able to spay Subway during her stay or not. One thing I noticed during our trip, the Chinese were easily confused by the White Boy and the Chinese Boy. Yea. It took them forever in there. And after forever and some maybes we found for absolute SURE that NO, THEY COULD NOT spay the doggie while she was in HEAT.

From the vet we walked to the bus stop, which took only about ten minutes.

After a two and a half hour bus ride we arrived at the bottom of the mountain where there were a whole lotta little dudes (one of which GRABBED MELANIE'S ASS) waiting at the bus stop to wheel n' deal witcha for a van ride up to the bottom of the Wall.

After another 45 minutes in a tiny van we arrived at Jinshan.

Ooooh, the sign at that starts our journey up to the first tower...

We finally got UP and UP and UP to the actual Wall around dusk. And then it was GROUP SHOT!!

After that we climbed and climbed and climbed... UP and DOWN and UP and DOWN these GIANT sets of STEEP stairs that extended over the mountain for THREE HOURS. As we got further away from the entry tower in Jinshan, the terrian got tough...and crumbly. OH SHIT! The stairs are now a crumbled lump, lets hope it doesn't break away under my foot! We'd stop every few towers to rest. It's a very good thing that we hiked at night. We would have sweat to death during the day. We had plenty of illumination from our headlamps and the beautiful full moon that rose as we trekked away. I didn't get a damn picture of THAT either! I was too exhausted from the climbing to think about being a photographer. After about 15 towers or so, we decided to stop and camp. That's when the fun began! Woo WOOOooooo!!! Party on The Great Wall!!!

Harry was kinda in a bad mood by the time we got up there, so he wasn't too willing to be in any of our silly shots. But he did volunteer some useful information once we got ALL THE WAY to that spot... He said that sometimes there are beggars who hassel tourists for cash. Great timing Harry! Needless to say, we didn't sleep very well that night. But we all piled into the tent when it got unbearably cold outside...

We were awake when dawn started crackin', so we got to the snappin'... O' pics, that is...

YES...

We climbed ALL THAT MOE-FUKKIN' WAY! Now it's time to start back...

Oh dear...

It was when we started on our trip back that we realized that there was NO WAY in HELL we could have stayed more than one night on the wall given the fact that we had packed more BEER than WATER. We had to conserve water on our hike back and we felt like IDIOTS. Oh well, ya live (yes, we were a bit dehydrated but lived) and learn.

And here we are, at the end of our morning hike down the Wall, proud of our accomplishment...

*Whew* I climbed the Great Wall of China. And I have a sweatshirt that says so. Good for me!

Storm a comin'

Just in case anyone was wondering, I am working on getting the rest of the China pictures posted. I'm putting together the Great Wall entry and there are a lot of pictures to sort through. So far I've just uploaded a few. I didn't forget, I'm just putting it off again. But it'll eventually get done.

In the meantime, the week is going okay. Although, I'm upset about something right now and I don't feel like writing about it. I'm doing this entry to take my mind off of it. It's given me an anxiety attack and I have to chill. Yes, I'm chillin'...everything is FINE. JUST FINE. CHILL, JULIE, CHILL FOR CHRIST'S SAKE.

Let's see, what else to take my mind off things... My car was broken and is now fixed, thanks to the lovely Ron. He found me a great Honda mechanic that's very close to home. Yay. Uhhh...I've decided that I'm not going to jog anymore, but power walk instead. I just had the 87th person tell me that jogging is horrible for my knees. Okay fine. There are plenty of other exercises I can do. I'm going to do the stair-climb at work today before I go home. I've also asked for another pair of rollerblades for Christmas. I miss my rollerblades, they got stolen out of an ex-boyfriend's van a few years ago. That was just the beginning of the many bad little things that happened over the five months I was with him. That's a whole 'nuther entry, as we say...

Okay, I'm off to calm down some more. Yessireee...I'm a well adjusted, emotionally sound person, I am. YUP!

Blubbering freak

After a shitty week of being sick and stressed, the weekend shaped up pretty well. Friday was a rainy, dreary day on top of my raw emotions. By the time I got home I was completely worn out. Ron had been working days (starting at 5:30 a.m.) all week instead of his usual nights, so he was sacked out on the couch when I walked through the door at 4:30 Friday afternoon. I took his silent advice, grabbed a blanket and went to sleep on my cozy bed...kitty all snuggled up to my butt. We slept until 12:30 a.m.! Since we'd each gotten a solid eight hours, we decided to pop in a movie and have a few beers. We went back to bed at about 5 a.m. Not before we had a nice talk about everything that was on our minds. Made me feel a whole helluva lot better. It's great to be able to argue and work things out like adults. Tell each other how it is and not let things fester. That's how a healthy relationship works. And in all that complaining about the passive aggressive nature of my ex, I never stopped to notice that I'M ALSO somewhat passive aggressive. Interesting. Who'da thunk?! Ron has shown me that it's such a waste of time to keep things inside, drop hints or joke instead of addressing the damn issue. Yes, my fear of confrontation is lame. It just creates more stress that I don't need.

Saturday morning I had to get up at 8:00 a.m. to go to a funeral for my friend Lisa's grandma. Since our families have been so close for such a long time (about 35 years) it was a little like losing my own grandma. But it was one of those, "She lived a good, long life" funerals so it wasn't so bad. The ceremony was held at my elementary school church. I hated going there again. It's one of those places that digs up shitty memories. Eight years at that Catholic elementary school. Terrible teachers and terrible classmates that I was stuck with the entire time and me being an emotional/anxious little kid made for a fucked up time in my life. I STILL have dreams about that place. It definately made a huge contribution to my current emotional status. I was itching for the ceremony to end so I could get the fuck outta there.

I enjoyed the rest of the day. The wake was held at at little Italian deli. Lisa and Paulette were cool to hang out with, they didn't irritate me at all. Lisa was very glad that I'd shown up. I almost thought I wouldn't make it since I'd been so sick, but all that sleep finally paid off and I felt fine.

Saturday evening Ron and I met up with my two friends Cathy for dinner and drinks to celebrate our engagement. I had a very good time with them as well. After dinner we played pool for a few hours, which was tons of fun. I hadn't played pool in years. I had some I-don't-really-know-what-I'm-doing-so-I'll-just-do-the-best-or-whatever-I-can luck and played pretty well. I actually impressed Ron, who is a damn good pool player. And once again, Ron impressed me with his fabulous social skills. It felt like we'd all hung out a thousand times before.

Yesterday I got a little stressed over housework again, as I hadn't really done anything all week. I had been trying not to worry about it so much, but I just couldn't help it. It started with the bird cages...Pickles and Punkin's cage was full of Pickles' birdy barf. He had been going at it again on one of his favorite toys all week, and it was spread all over the place. From there everything spiralled...one thing led to another. Crusty birdy barf, I gotta bring the cage outside and spray it down. OH, since I'm doing their cage, I may as well do Toby's cage. Then there were feathers and food all over the floor and carpet so I started sweeping that, OH the couch is dirty I should spray the apholstry cleaner on it, OH the floor needs to be wiped up, OH I need to vacuum but Ron is taking a nap, OH I gotta dust too, the bathroom is gross, OH I gotta sweep up the kitty litter in the back room OH I GOTTA VACUUM!!!!!!!!!! Why is RON STILL SLEEPING?????? OH I GOTTA DO LAUNDRY!!!!!

I tried not to wake Ron as I was sorting laundry, but I can't do anything quietly when I'm stressing out. He woke up all pissy because I was cleaning like a maniac again and why can't I just RELAX because it's SUNDAY... Then he gets up to find that I've started a billion things so now he's feeling bad because he's not helping... Finally I start crying while I'm standing in the middle of my piles of clothes. I start blubbering again about how I don't want to make him mad but this is how I AM, I've been this way my whole life...and in the middle of my blubbering he says what my elementary school principal said many times, "You put SO much undue pressure on yourelf..." That just makes me cry harder. So he gives me a hug and I stand there crying and slobbering all over his shoulder. Then he says, once again, that he is there for me and that I should bring these things up and not let them grow so out of proportion. "We can work through this together, we are a team." Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh... I LOVE HIM SO MUCH.

OH YEA, and my car broke down this morning. I didn't panic this time. I hadn't gone far from home so I called Ron and he rescued me again. He gave me a ride to work and got the car towed to a Honda specialist. He knows all about Hondas since he worked for them for 10 years, so he was able to pre-diagnose the problem before he got it to the shop. And now I KNOW I'm not gonna get screwed by the mechanic, either! I feel so taken care of. Now I have to take care of work.

Bye bye...

Dirty Harry

It's been a tough week for Ron and I. Sickness, work stress, changing work schedules, a messy house and stress about the future have put us both in a very bad place these past few days.

All we really need to do is sort through things one day at a time. He's trying to do that, I guess, as all men have their own "system". Most of the time women just don't get that "system". He says that I have to respect his stuff and I say that he has to respect the way I like my living space...which is neat and orderly. I have to realize that it can't always be that way. I really have to work on letting things go because I'm going to drive him (and myself) crazy if I don't. It's all about compromise. Not flying off the handle and having an anxiety attack (he calls it "theatrics"...cute) over the state of my house. I'm making it much bigger than it really is. A very common reaction among those plagued by anxiety. I have to try harder to understand that he is at a crossroads in life, that he is not where he wants to be and that he has been essentially living out of a bag for six months. He's stressed to the max, but doesn't show it. Just the same, he has to try harder to understand my anxiety.

A lot of it has to do with the fact that he has never just lived alone. He's always had to put up with other people's standards, whether it be his asshole dad or his stupid roommates. I, on the other hand, have had the wonderful freedom of living alone and having my own rules. Compro-fucking-mise. Being an adult sucks. Yes, there is more to life. Enjoy it. Don't be afraid!

Fuck this.