It's okay to be a lil' different...

I just had to save the pictures because I've never seen this before! These are blue and gold macaws, one of the most popular large parrots in the pet trade. I guess you could call them the "typical parrot", as these are what most non-bird people think of when it comes to parrots. They're used in movies and t.v. all the time and their very loud voices are usually dubbed over with some stupid "polly want a cracker" generic parrot voice. Anyway, I've never seen them in white and gold or "lutino" (the common name for the yellow mutation in birds) before now. Interesting... Maybe one day I will own a macaw. Only when I live in a nice house with lots of room out back to build my dream aviary...one with real trees and plants. One day...

Ah...good 'ol moody me. I'm in a great mood for a Monday... Feel much better than I did last week. I'm not feeling bratty or irritated at all, a very rare thing, especially on a Monday. I don't feel like beating the shit out of someone (that stupid bitch yelling into her cell phone, that fuckhead who doesn't use his blinker, that screaming child at the grocery store) quite as much anymore. I guess the main thing that I'm happy about is the fact that I got most of my Christmas shopping done this weekend. HURRAY! I always feel so relieved when I finally get started. Every year I tell myself that next year I'll do it earlier and every year I wait until almost the last minute. Not quite the very last minute (ever) because I know I'll have a nervous breakdown if I do. However, I still don't have much holiday spirit. I wasn't even feeling it at the annual family Christmas party yesterday. It was a lovely day but...I just don't feel it. Oh well, it'll be over before I know it. At least I'm somewhat prepared now. And I'm looking very forward to giving Ron his gifts. SSSSSSSsssssssssssshhhh...it's a soooprise!

Well, I'm off to go work. Got tons to do as usual. I just had to take a break, I've been wrapping gifts we need to get out to our best customers. Now I need to wrap more backorders. JOY! Later...

Why suffer?

"OH whyy do I give val-ua-ble tiiiiiiiiiiime...to people who don't caaaaaaare if IIII...lih-hivv or diiiiiiiie?"

Ahh, again the resolve. My priorities are screwed. Case in point, I STILL give a shit what a whole lotta strangers think of me. As always, the answer is right in front of me. I'll never find what I'm looking for on the internet. The eeeevil eeeeeeeeeeeevil internet. There's plenty more to life.

"Why do III SMILE...at people who I'd MUCH rah-ther...KICK IN THE EYE?"

Moving on...

Happy Birthday, Edvard

Edvard Munch, one of my favorite artists.

Cocky now, aren't we

Heh. I watched this Patton interview again the other day. And while I tootled around YouTube for some more Patton interviews and crud (damn that site is addicting, there's everything from classic Sesame Street clips to drunk Russians...just look that one up, I dare ya)I came across this surprisingly recent interview. Wow. Cocky now, aren't we? Interesting how he's so much different from that 1991 interview. The faint innocence in that first interview has completely vanished from the second. He ain't naive no moh! Well naturally, right? He's done and experienced so much in that large span of SIXTEEN years. I wonder where I'll be in sixteen years. I can only hope I'm happy.

In other news, I am completely lame today. This week has been hell because I'm so distracted. I've been putting off...well...everything. Stupid things like washing the car and grocery shopping. It's the same thing. I'm overwhelmed and want to escape. I don't feel like doing all this shit I have to do. I'm still thinking too much. I'm bored, lonely, unmotivated, worried and depressed. I'm bored. I'm bored. I'm bored. I don't have to be...there's PLENTY to do. And I miss Ron, he's on that shitty damn schedule again. I'm not letting him know it's bothering me though. No crying! *sigh*

Another thing that's got me down is that I wrote to my cousin on Myspace last week and have heard nothing from her. Same with a couple of the other people. That site makes me feel like I'm in highschool. It makes me feel so insignificant. So stupid. Why should I care? I feel so worthless again today. I'm just dwelling on these feelings, that's why they won't go away. I'm letting fear get in the way. I can't continue to be afraid of life. I don't know. I'm not getting anywhere. Same old crap. I think I'll go get a sandwich.

It's true, I tell you...

Hey, remember bowling night? Well I just received a lovely Christmas card from Cathie with pictures from that night included. Pictures that were taken on an actual FILM camera! They turned out wonderfully, I think.

First off, we have a fairly nice picture of Ron and I. TOGETHER. Without him making a stupid face. I just might FRAME this one! Finally...



We look cheery on this night of bowling and beer. And if you look over there in the left hand corner, you will see the former teen heartthrob in all his bandanna'd glory. Well, not all of it 'cause it's the back of his head.

This adorable picture of Cathy with a "Y" and I gives a frontal view of the Garrett.



Mmmhmm. Woo. OH how I wish it were...



...HE that I would see at some random bowling alley in my hometown. *sigh* I can always hope. I'll get him to do my wedding.

HAH! Later...

No...I'm not, actually.

I was avoiding work again and looked back to see when I'd first posted about Mike Patton. I noticed I called myself a dork there, too. No, I'm not a dork. I just have a crush on Mike Patton. So what. *giggle* *giggle* *swoon* Haha! No really, I'm working I'M WORKING. Blat.

Going my way?

I'd just about shit my pants if I saw Mike hitch hiking. Just about. But I'm sure I'd manage to hold back the shits and tears of joy to pick his fine ass up. I'm not sure, however, if I'd be able to hold back to pukes of nervousness once he got in the car... Heh. Nope, the obsession hasn't faded and Ron keeps feeding it. The internet keeps feeding it, too. Ron and I are such dorks...the other day we were talking about how awesome it would be if Mike could play at our wedding! HAHAHAHAHAA!! AAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAAHAAAAA!!!! Yea. *sniff* We are dweebs. Well, I am anyway. I'm totally in love with this guy! I do believe I WILL meet him some day. I've never wanted to meet anyone so badly in my life. Not even Eddie Vedder. I know Eddie, I know...don't be jealous. I was watching the movie "Singles" the other day and that scene with Eddie Vedder...the one where they're watching that nature show about bees on t.v. GAWD. I just wanna...yea...squish 'im, of course! But I wanna squish Mike more! Give him a big hug and say, "Thanks for the genuine entertainment..." Then we shall all go and have a martini...

Ahem...

So this weekend. And the rest of last week. Blur. ALL OF IT. What the fuck is with time FLYING?! It sucks!! Christmas is coming!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!! The wedding is coming!!! HOLY FUCK!!! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!! Put on the brakes! Put on the fucking BRAKES!!! I have too much to doooo and I...I...I... Need to breathe. I've started thinking of ideas for Christmas. Last year I had no idea what to get Ron and this year I have tons of ideas. I just have to get it all done. Soon. And be all spirited about it and shit.

I'm moving right along on the wedding plans. Got a photographer picked out. I'm pretty sure who I'm gonna go with. I've also found a hairdresser and someone to possibly print my invites. Gonna meet with the invite girl on Friday. Now what I'm really worried about is finding a DJ. Ron keeps saying he knows someone for this and that, but he is lagging. We need to get these things booked! That's the fly in my ointment right now. Making me too nervous. Nuff wedding talk for now...

Then there's work. I'm getting a little burnt out. Lots to do. Bored. I'm worried about my professional future. I know I can't stay here forever. I know that within the next year or two I'm gonna have to move on. *gulp* And of course there's plenty of work to do for the here and now. I gotta get back at it because it's waiting for me. Later...

This entry brought to you by

Heh...got an idea from Onewetleg a little while ago. And she's right. No one cares what you had for lunch. But what the hell. Yesterday I had one of my favorites and I've decided to share because I can't think of anything original to write about on this stupid blog. And I'm bored. And I had to scan something again. AND I should be working. What else is new?



I had cut up hotdogs in it, too. Shut up. I know I'm still seven years old at heart. I used to line these up on my spoon, biggest to smallest. I'd make little pillars out of them. I'd try to put the biggest one around the tip of my tongue. I still do those things sometimes. When the mood strikes! Mmmmm, sodium rich canned food. So very satisfying!

Erg. I have so much to do, not only at work but for the wedding, the holidays, etc... I'm trying not to get overwhelmed. I certainly don't want a repeat of a few weeks ago. This time of year is always stressful for everyone, isn't it? Ugh. Eeeg. Arrghghh. That's why I'm taking this time out to share my love of Spag-O's. Awright, time to finish my froot loops and get to work.

Bye bye.

There's only one word to describe it

GLUTTON. I was a complete and total GLUTTON over the long weekend. Had aaaalll sorts of plans but didn't get off my ass to do much of anything...but eat, of course. That's all fine and dandy while I'm on my little mini vacay, but it's a huge a slap in the face come mOnDaY morning. Ugh. Now it's back to the grind. Not much to say this morning, other than I wish I were still in bed.

Oh wait...

There IS something else!

IT RAINED this morning! AND we had to turn on the HEATER last night! For the first time this season!! Is winter coming? FINALLY?!?! I'm gonna have a bowl of hot soup for lunch to celebrate.

'Kay...that's all for now.

Thanksgivin'

Well happy Thanksgiving to ya'll! I love Thanksgiving, it's one of my favorite holidays. Now if the weather would just cool down. It's still in the low 80s. Though it's supposed to cool down more by tomorrow and the next day. There was some telltale fog this morning, too. The fog that always comes the morning of a big tempurature change... I really want some weather now. It's hard to get into the spirit of the holidays when it's still so fucking hot out.

'Kay...'nuff about the weather...

Thanks for all the compliments on my artwork guys! Keeps me inspired. Drawing has become fun again. I was feeling a bit of an artist's block over the past few years due to the usual pressure that I put on myself. "I should be doing something with this! I should be making tons of money! Why aren't I doing anything with this?!?!" That's finally starting to ease up. I'll always be an artist no matter what I do with it. I enjoy sharing my art with others. It may turn into something, it may not. Heh...I guess in the spirit of Thanksgiving week, I should give thanks for my talent!

Speaking of inspiration, I met up with an old aquaintence/contact I'd done some illustrations for about three years ago. He's another artist, a writer and musician. He's done four short children's books and has asked me to work on another one with him. This time he's got a publisher. A small publisher, but it's a start. He'd submitted his other children's book that we'd worked on three years ago to about 50 publishers, larger companies, that probably didn't even look at it before they slipped the rejection letter in and sent it right back. Typical for this sort of thing. Didn't bother me none. I know these things are all about timing... He was very disappointed and put the project aside. But we've kept in touch through emails. I also had my other project to work on (speaking of which, I haven't heard from that lady in a couple of months so that one is sittin' pretty) so I didn't care. I have a good attitude about these things. They will happen when they happen. I can keep working on projects to build up a portfolio of sorts. Most importantly, I can't let career pressure ruin the joy of it.

Yeap... SOooo...

Mark, the artist dude, contacted me a few weeks ago and we got together over this past weekend to go over his new children's book. It's all written and all he needs are the illustrations. The publisher he wants to use has already published a book his short stories. First thing's first, I asked him to mail me a copy so I can get started on character development. Another fun little side project for me. Another thing that keeps me inspired. I'm also finally going to meet up with a group of artists that he's been telling me about. They get together for potlucks and such, just a bunch of other artists doing their own thing. I'd get periodic emails from Mark about their events and would brush them off. Now I'm ready to socialize with them...there are plenty of opportunities in doing so and what can it hurt? I'd love to meet more crazy artists!

On that note, I'm gonna leave you with some more drawings. I did these for work a few months ago. Needed for a new design idea...


Oooooh! It's Jesus! In't he sweet?

And we can't have Jesus without the beautiful Mary...



Later!

All done!

Ooooh-kayy! Here it is! I'm so very happy with how this drawing turned out. Like I said before, I'm gonna leave it black and white for the invitations. I'm also going to have them shrink it some. I want it to be above or below the wording on the front. Now I just have to take it in somewhere to get it done! Woopie! I finished another drawing! Finally...

Our Anniversary...and why it's good to think ahead

Yesterday was the anniversary of Ron and my engagement. Wow. That sure flew, didn't it? We had a lovely evening. But not before I had an anxiety attack. I am SUCH a baby. It was the usual stressing over things that needn't be stressed about. In this case, it was getting Ron a little something special. Sometimes I really SUCK at being thoughtful. I'd already gotten him a nice card, but wanted to add a little something else. At the last minute. I'd thought about it all week, decided just a card was fine, that we should just celebrate each other on the day. And then I had to go and change my mind At the last minute. I'll ask myself again. Why OH WHY do I do this to myself?

This is what happened... The day started out fine. I was content with the nice card I'd gotten Ron over the weekend. It had beautiful words and I'd done a very nice drawing in it and that was that. Right? WRONG. At about 2 p.m. on the day of our anniversary, I'd decided that I needed to do a little something else for him. Get a little somethin' special for us as a couple. But for the life of me, I could not figure out what to do. By the time I got off of work I was so desperate and anxious that I called Melanie AND Lisa for suggestions. They suggested great things. Great things that I couldn't possibly get done in the half an hour I had before I needed to be home so we could go to dinner.

I decided there was time to do a little shopping near work. I parked my car near the bank because I that was an errand I needed to run before going home as well. I'd known of this cute gift shop not too far from the bank, full of perfect little lovey-dovey things. I thought of getting us something we could use together on the day, you know, and all that worthless lame crap. I saw another shop I thought might have something I needed (Lisa had suggested getting a nice frame for a formal pic of us, to be taken at a later date) but nothing came close. After wasting time in that shop, I went on to look for the one I'd originally thought of. I couldn't find it. I swear, the sidewalk had opened up and sucked it down. By this time I was starting to panic. And panic over the fact that I was panicking over NOTHING and that I shouldn't pressure myself so damn much. I decided forego the shop for now and head to the bank because I had some checks I needed to get in my account so that I could pay some big bills the next day. The shop would surely be in the direction of the bank, right? Wrong again.

I'm walking to the bank trying to get the rolodex in my mind to STOP so I can concentrate. Ron calls my cell. So I'm talking to Ron when I arrive at the ATM. At this point, there is too much running through my mind. This last minute shopping set me up to have a breakdown while I was at the ATM. I was talking to Ron on the phone and trying to make a deposit. He had called wondering where I was and I told him about the picture idea and how I'd gotten anxious over getting him something special blah, blah...

He's like, "It's okay honey, don't stress. I don't care, just getcher ass home."
I'm like, "I WILL...just as soon as I make this deposit, dammit."

Well, some dude had come up behind me in the meantime and made an irritated noise. I guess was taking longer than my alotted 15 seconds. This was the trigger. Without even turning around or getting off the phone, I told the guy to quit being such an impatient asshole and he, in turn, called me the asshole and blah, blah so on and so forth... Commence complete and total freak out. Suddenly, I couldn't add up what I was depositing (because I can't seem to do things ahead of time and because I am an idiot who has to yell rude things at strangers) so I started asking (screeching pleading) poor Ron to add up my deposit. Of course he could't understand what the fuck I was saying because I was hysterically YELLING and the phone volume was apparently up too loud. He'd kept informing me of this earlier in the coversation and I'd kept fiddling with the buttons on the side of the phone, all while trying to find the shop, the bank, my sanity, etc... It was a beautiful moment in life. But it gets even better... The ATM wanted to get in on the fun. It froze up on me. So I'm standing there yelling and crying and pounding the fucking ATM buttons. I must've looked like such an ASS to the guy behind me and God knows who else on the street. I didn't even turn around to look at the guy behind me because by this time my face was flaming from embarrassment and frustration. I've got tears streaming and snot flying...I literally lauched a snot ball onto the ATM screen. NO joke!

After all this, I got the damn machine to spit out my card and didn't even get to make the deposit. OR get anything for Ron. Fabulous. I had to go home before I had a heart attack. I'd managed to irritate the holy fuck out of Ron because of my sniveling, outlandish, totally INSANE behavior. Lovely. He'd tried as much as he could to calm me down, then ran out of patience and told me to get the hell home. It's so great to piss off your loved one ON YOUR ANNIVERSARY. THAT was my gift to Ron. An anxiety attack.

By the time I got home I'd mostly calmed down. Ron gave me a big hug. He also gave me a beautiful bouqet of flowers and an awesome sketchbook. It's really fancy with gold-edged pages and gold filigree on the cover. And he loved my card. I then took HIM out to a cozy Mexican dinner. We had some margaritas, fajitas and a tostada and traded our plates back and forth. Mmmmm-mmm!

Yes, another incident. I haven't had one in a while. Ron is handling them better, though they frustrate him a lot. As is very understandable. I am not as crazy, anxious and stupid as I think I am. I am fine. Everything is fine. There is no reason to get so worked up over these things! And the battle continues...

Wedding invitation...AAAaalmost!

Okay, so finally...THIS is how far I've gotten on my invitation drawing...



This weekend, so help me God, I am going to finish the damn vine! I've actually gotten further than this on the vine part, but I still have to add leaves and ink to it. That's tedious. And I'm lazy. I love how this has turned out so much...that I'm probably going to get it as my fourth tattoo. Definately have to think about it longer, not to mention decide just where on my body it's gonna go. So after the wedding. AFTER the wedding for sure.

Data entry makes me do crazy things...

Like take a much-needed monotony break to do something "artistic". Yup, I'm at it with the scanner again. Heh. Say hello to Gladys.

Weather Gods

Oh yea...and could someone please tell the weather gods that it is supposed to be FALL now! It's fucking 90 degrees in Southern California today! This is BULLSHIT! I WANT TO WEAR A SWEATER, DAMMIT!

News

I'm finally starting to get on the wedding planning ball. I purchased my wedding dress on Sunday! No pics yet, I can't even find it on the website...but it's hanging in my closet in a garment bag. I LOVE IT!!! I'd had a favorite from last time and they still had it in stock so I tried it on again. Then I asked if they could find an alternative one that was similiar to it so that I could compare one more time. I ended up picking the alternative! It's lovely...just a little unique, but nothing too spectacular. I'm very happy with my decision. I made sure to put it far in the back of my closet, away from Ron's prying eyes. I also warned him about seeing it before the day and he, being a guy and all, only needs one warning when it comes to this kind of stuff. Then it's just, "Alright honey, whatever you say." Give or take an eyeroll... Heh!

Melanie, Lisa and I dove headfirst into planning on Sunday. Not only did we get my dress, we also picked out the bridesmaid dresses! AND we got together for coffee before we went dress shopping so that we could go over dates and guest lists for bridal showers and the bachelorette party. AAaaand we had a ton of fun doing everything! It was so much fun trying on dresses with them. I love how the bridesmaid dresses we picked coordinate with my dress. Lovely, lovely... So as of today, we have coordinated a great list of contacts. We've also started looking into the photographer and DJ, because those are the FIRST things that need to be booked...like...yesterday. As I get things done and get more information I feel less stressed. I just keep telling myself, after all it's only a wedding. It doesn't have to be the end all, be all of everything. I'm a very simple girl when it comes to these things. All I want is a nice celebration, not an extravaganza! It's the marriage that's much more important.

On the mom front, she's feeling better. She's had a therapist come and walk her around a lot since the accident, only two weeks ago. So she's back on her feet and will be her fiesty old self within a month or so. I'm gonna go visit her and spend the night this Saturday. Ron will follow me there and hang out with us for dinner, then I'm gonna spend the night by myself. I'll probably have a nice Sunday breakfast with my parents and even *gasp* go to church with them! I don't think the place will burn down when I walk through the doors 'cause it's only been about four months since I last went to church. I'ma great Catholic. Ah...but that'sa WHOLE 'nuther story. Before I write a book, I gotta get back to work.

And this one is about nothing

I'm so blah today. I feel poopie. I'm not motivated an' they be lots 'o work to do. As usual, when the boss is gone the phone goes crazy. People calling who want this and that and that and this and I have no idea what they're talking about because my boss has all that with him. Just gotta write it all down and report it like a good little girl. Yes, that's me. I'm SOOOoooo mutherfuckin' GOOD.

So good that I'm taking a break to write some bullshit. This week has been okay. I'm stressing over things so that's making it a little tough. I've been trying to get the exercise in to take my mind off things and help with the stress levels. Went for a great walk with my brother last night. Did a buttload of leg crunches on Monday. Tomorrow after work I'm gonna take the stair climbing to a new level. It helps a lot when I'm feeling bad. It's like, at least I'm trying to keep in shape! And we've been keeping up with the less drinking and smoking thing. 'Cept for Tuesday...we were kinda bad. Went to Melanie's house to do the Halloween candy give-out thing. It was fun, Tyra and her adorable little one were there. We didn't dress up, just wore black outfits...simple black top with simple black pants. I'd dressed in my favorite repeat Halloween costume for Lisa's party on Saturay night...a sexy skunk. I found it about five years ago at some costume emporium joint. I love it! I won a lil' 'ol prize for it at the party, too. Heh.

So...Halloween night we drank wine, ate Melanie's wonderful chili, drank wine, gave out candy, drank wine, ATE candy of course (Melanie just HAD to have peanut butter cups and I cannot leave those alone), drank wine, watched silly Halloween movies and drank wine. I was slumped and drooling all over Ron by 9:30. It was cozy. He's trying to watch a movie, I'm all wishy-washy wine drunk. There's nothing like the wine drunk...it's just different. So cloudy and slurry. And thirsty. I went to bed that night and had a thousand thirsty dreams until I finally got my ass up and slurped a gallon of water from the kitchen faucet. You know the thirsty dreams...searching for water fountains, sinks, fridges with milk or coke...you find them and drink and drink and drink...just like the toilet dreams when ya gotta pee. I hate those. Searching for toilets and peeing and peeing and PEEING. Haven't actually peed the bed though, thank the Lord. Last time I did that I was like, six. Anyway, what the hell am I talking about pee for? That was my Halloween.

Tonight we're going bowling with the two girls Cathy. At least I think we are. Haven't heard from them yet. Come to think of it, I'm gonna go email them now. End of boring entry. Back to work. After the emails, of course. Later!

Anxious

I'm feeling very anxious and depressed this morning. It's been a good while since I've felt this way. I'm worrying and worrying about everything from the wedding, my job, my living situation, my health to the state of the world today, the future...AAAAAAAAAAA!!!! The 'what if's' are gangin' up on me, maaan!

I'll write it down. Read it over. And think. R-E-L-A-X. Does this help? Somewhat. I'm going to go have some caffine now. That should help me relax. HAH!

Hello?

Anyone out there? HELL-OH-OH-oh-oh-ohh... Happy Halloween. I like this day. It's cool. Yea. Gonna go give out candy at Melanie's tonight. Gonna give out candy from an actual house. Haven't done that in ages. Should be fun. I haven't got anything else to say at the moment...other than I am bored and I hate the job I have to do today. Fuckity fuckholes. Back to it. Later...internet.

Refresher

Lookit what I did... I decided to get my "No, it's not Nemo, Dammit" tattoo re-colored last night. Ron was in class and I didn't feel like going home to worry about my mom alone with no distractions. My dad called yesterday morning to tell me that my mom had fallen the night before and broken her hip. She had to have hip replacement surgery last night. They decided that this was the best thing for her, since she has Type 1 diabetes which complicates her healing process. This is a routine surgery (usually done on older folks) from which people usually heal and recover their mobility more quickly, as opposed to letting the bone heal on its own. I hope this is the case with my mom. She's only 62. Nothing better to remind me of her growing frailty. My reality check with mortality. *sigh* She's had diabetes since she was 25. It's really starting to take a toll on her. She's got it under pretty good control now that she has a great doctor, but there were times when her blood sugar would be so out of control. But her doctor is at the hospital taking good care of her, according to my dad. I'm probably going to drive out there to visit either today or tomorrow. Poor mommy.

I had to get my mind off of worrying and I've been thinking about getting my tats re-colored a lot lately. I really wanted to get away from the strict orange and white colors of this particular tat. Especially after the 12th person asked if it was Nemo. It still looks Nemo-like, of course. I don't care, it's very cute. I used to do a lot of Disney-esque type animal drawings. I still do, but I'm trying to get my own style. Like any other artist! Heh...

This is actually just the first step. I'm going to do more to this one. As I sat and looked at it last night, I decided that the stripes need some yellow shading. This particular fish has the common name of Percula Clownfish. A common saltwater damselfish. Damsels are the saltwater equivalent to a freshwater goldfish. But a whole helluva lot cuter! They can survive in some pretty harsh conditions and are usually one of the first fish that can be put in newly set-up saltwater tanks to get the whole bacteria/nitrogen cycle started. Anyway, I've seen them in not only orange and white, but also black and white and maroon with sort of yellowish-cream colored stripes. So I'm going toward the maroon colored specimen. I will wait for it to heal some to see how the colors turn out, then I'll probably add some yellow shading in the stripes. Yup...that's what I'm gon' do. And now that I'm all in the tattoo mood...I have the idea for my next one. I really want to get the lovebirds I've drawn for the wedding invite (no, not done yet...procrastination hits again) done somewhere on my person. Haven't quite decided where yet. I can imagine my drawing all colored in. It's gonna look GORGEOUS! But not 'til after the wedding. It'll be my wedding present to myself.

Okay, once again it is time to work. I don't feel like it. Later.

Trippy

Went to Vegas again over the weekend. GAWD I hate Vegas. As much as I hate it, I find myself going there at least once a year or so. Melanie's bowling tournaments have taken me there the last few times before this trip. I've been there seven or eight times now. There are so many other places that are the same distance away that I'd much rather visit... San Francisco, Monterey, Lake Tahoe, The Redwoods, Big Bear... But I always end up wasting a vacation day in that shithole Vegas. Going for someone else. This time it was for Ron's mom and uncle. Ron's uncle is visiting from Alaska for a few months and has never been to Vegas. Ron hadn't been there in about fifteen years and his birthday just passed. His mom has a nice time share not too far from the strip, so she decided it would be fun to take the three of us for a weekend trip. Sorta combine Ron's birthday gift and get his uncle out and about. Too bad Ron hates Vegas has much as I do. It was a very nice gesture on his mom's part and it was nice spending time with family. We made the best of it and it was fairly nice. I appreciate what his mom did, she is a very sweet lady. I don't think I've done too bad in the in-law department, I must say.

The time share thing was MUCH better than staying in some hotel casino. The room was home-y, like staying in an apartment. A nice facility with all the amenities...a dining table, couch and chairs, silverware, a dishwasher, full sized fridge, large balcony... It also had a huge pool, a bar, pool tables, a couple cozy restaurants, game room, gym... No casino, though. A nice touch to Ron and I. There's always plenty of those fucking stinkholes all over Vegas. I wouldn't have minded spending the whole time at the time share, however we had to see the sights for his mom and uncle. We just let his mom take the lead. Visited some of the great big, wastes of money that were the hotels and other attractions. Walked around A LOT. Ate A LOT. But didn't gamble at all. We're all kinda thrifty and that made the trip cool. None of us liked the idea of wasting money at the slots or game tables with all the other idiots. Ron had wanted to possibly play a little Black Jack, but we didn't get to it. I'm glad. BOR-ING.

I'd taken yesterday off because we'd decided to go Saturday through Monday in order to avoid the awful Sunday gambling addicts traffic. What a horrid and boring drive that is. I detest it. At least it's not that long, only about 4 to 5 hours depending on traffic. His mom made pretty damn good time both on the way there and back. We were doing great on the drive back until the inevitable speeding dipshit caused an accident and made us sit in traffic during the last leg of the trip. Delayed us an hour. ARGH! Let's see...what else do I HATE about Vegas besides the drive? Hmmm...

~The people

~The desert scenery/weather

~The people

~The REDICULOUS extravagance EVERYWHERE you look

~The rip-offs (TEN fucking dollars to ride a stupid elevator to the top of the Stratosphere!)

~The filth

~The waste

~The whores

~The ignorant, fat, lazy, rude, psycho, just plain FUCKED up PEOPLE waiting around every corner to take your money.

~The absence of the natural. Everything is so fake and gross. All the waterfalls smell like gutters

We should just bomb the place. The world is in need of a serious clean-up. Gotta clean up the gene pool. Vegas is a great place to start.

I couldn't wait to come home. I missed my pets terribly. That reminds me, I did waste too much money on ONE souvenir...a parrot puppet. I saw it at the Rainforest Cafe and had to get it. The first stuffed parrot modeled after a real parrot instead of some colorful whatever that is supposed to be a parrot because, well, you know...it's colorful and has a hooked beak. This is a puppet of an actual scarlet macaw. The colors are all right, even the toes face in the right direction! Parrots have two forward-facing toes and two backward-facing toes. Dammit. It's gotta be anatomically correct! Heh... Yup, this one is. The face, the eyes...it almost looks real! Hehe...so far Pickles loves it! Ron was putting it in his face last night and he was giving it lil' birdie nibbles all over. So cute!

Yea.

Alright, gotta go for now. Later!

On to other things

Heh...tigers in a 'hot tub'. Gotta love digi cams and the internet. No boundries...

So. It's Thursday. What have I been up to all week? The usual. Nothing too exciting to report. Went for a walk/hike with my brother Steve the other day. That was fun and different...having another person there pushing you add a whole new element. For me it was the element of, "Oh my shits I better quit smoking 'cause he's kicking my ass." I kept up pretty well through most of it, but there were some real HELLISH hills he showed me that I hadn't a clue about. I usually don't explore that hilly area over by his house when I'm jogging up there 'cause I tend to get lost. It worked my ass in areas it really needs to be worked. I mean, there are muscles all up in there? All up in that middle part? How do I work those muscles consistently? I'm obviously not getting to them on a regular basis. I guess that's all part of the whole staying in shape thing...finding different ways to work different muscle groups. Right. Gonna go attack the hills around my work and try to get to that same group 'o butt muscles today. Uh-huh.

Steve and I also did some file sharing on his new computer. He's been loading his music collection on there like mad. Then I come over with my MP3 player and it's all over.

"OOoh, gotta have that one."

"Can I get this?"

"Cool, put that on there, too..."

I got some great stuff on my player now. It's almost full. I've got the Beatles 'White' album on it! Which is great because I have lots of mundane shit to do here at work today and music helps a shitload. Gotta get a lot of back orders out. Damn stuff just keeps trickling in from the vendors. Music also helps with other boring things like grocery shopping. I may never have to listen to the real world again! My own personal music video...ALL the time!

Okay, that's enough here. I am off to do some working.

DAY-YAM! Talk about INTricate!

What amazing artistry. Using what artists call 'negative space'. I love staring at this kind of stuff. Wow...mind blowing.

Cuteness

Aren't those just the CUTEST damn things you ever SAW?! My dad emailed me this picture and it reminded me of when I actually did this myself. I was 8 or 9 years old and spending the day with my family at my grandparents house out in Sun City aka old people's retirement town. There was NOTHING to do, I was bored outta my mind. As I was watching the hummingbirds visit the feeder, I got an idea. I stood on a chair and put my fingers on either end of the feeder, right next to the "red flower" spouts where they stick their lil' bills. It took awhile, but eventually the buggers started landing on my fingers to drink from the spouts! The first time one of them actually landed on my finger I almost cried I was so excited. Eventually my parents and cousins came out to watch. And the birdies just kept coming! I'll never forget how awesome it was to see these beautiful little jewels up close... I guess I've always had a thing for birdies. I love their song, their beauty and how smart they are for supposedly having such "tiny" brains. The difference is that they use their ENTIRE brain, unlike us 10 percenters...

Anyway, I'm feeling like shit this morning. It's another Monday after a wonderful weekend. We straightened up the house, watched movies and went for sushie. We also just really enjoyed each other's company. It was great. I overdid it on the sushie and beer last night so I'm still feeling full and sluggish. I need to exercise today, but I doubt I'll make it. I'll try...we'll see how I feel at the end of the day. It's 11:00 a.m. though, and I still feel awful. Just sluggish and not in the mood to do a thing. Although I have gotten a few things done...I just have to get motivated to go pack stuff now. Yuck! Good news is that Ron FINALLY started the day shift. He should be on it for the next month or so. WOO! And I'm repeating to myself..."NOT GONNA GET UPSET AT HIM WHEN HE HAS TO GO BACK TO SHITTY SHITTY HORRIBLE SCHEDULE. I WILL CRY BY MYSELF. REALLY.

Speaking of cuteness, I meant to post this Patton interview, too. Yes, I also watched more videos this weekend. Man, I'm in DEEP now. Okay, back to work for me. Later!

Grand 'ol time

Blogger has been freaking out again. I tried to post several times yesterday and it just wouldn't LET ME! So YAY, I'm posting today. Another happy Friday after a nice week.

Went bowling with the Cathies last night and it was lots of fun. Ron came, too, which made it even better. 'Course he kicked all our asses. I bowled a fucking 25 on my first game. That's right folks, a 25. If the goal of the game were similiar to golf, I'd be a CHAMP! But I did better on the second game. Got 56. Mmmm-hmmm. And guess who happened to be bowling in the lane next to us?

The ONE...




The ONLY...





LEIF GARRETT!!!

HAHAHAHAAHAHAAAA!!! Cathie's all, "Do you know who Leif Garrett is? He's right behind us...." WHOA! VH1 flashback!!! Cathie even got a pic (the Cathies are SO good at bring cameras everywhere) of Ron and I with him in the backround! Heh! I tell ya, the guy looks SO haggard. Sometimes stardom does that to ya. Well, most of the time.

Oh, speaking of the two Cathies...they have their own blogs now. I actually have people I KNOW who read me and vice versa. Cathy just started hers about a month ago and Cathie has been at it since April. Yay! Notice that I differenciate the by the spelling of their names. There's Cathy with a "Y" and Cathie with an "IE". Heeeeee... Yea. I just had to point that out.

So...last night when I got home from bowling I had to check out some links I'd found earlier in the day on Caca Volante, a Patton blog I found a little while back. You know how links go, right. Link after link after link leads you to more and more awesome shit. I got to the good 'ol YouTube site and found nothing less than a SHITLOAD of Patton related videos. Holy shit I was in HEAVEN. I opened a can of worms. I watched as much as I could before I had to go to bed. After watching a few live performances and interviews, especially this one and this one (OH MY GAWD he's SO CUTE in that interview I just wanna SQUISH 'IM) I fell in love all over again. Oooh man. He seems like a nice guy. Creative, down to earth and weird as hell. He even started poop talking in one interview! I was sitting there squealing with delight. Ron would come in the bedroom and enjoy clips every now and then. He was like, "Oh shit...HERE we go!" Yea, it was complete Patton overload last night. Guess who dreamt about hanging out at the beach with Ron, my cousin Mark and Mike Patton? It was a lovely dream for a change...

Just look at this cute lil' dork...



Yes, that's him in his Faith No More days. Oh yea...and he also seems to have a thing for fish. Another thing I love!

Okay, happy Friday! I'm off to get this day done. Later!

Happy Birthday, Ronnie poop!

First off, today is my darling's birthday. Happy Birthday poopsies!!! I wuvs yooooo!!!! I was going to bring him home his favorite cake, a card and a little gift (his big one hasn't arrived yet, I know I SUCK at planning) and possibly take him out to dinner. Scratch that 'cause he's gotta work. *sigh* He was supposed to start days at that damn Federal building this week, however, they keep pushing the job back for one reason or another. Fucking disorganized, lame ass, overly micromanaged mess. *SIGH* I wanted to celebrate on the day! But have I complained to him? NO. Not yet. And I'm not gonna. It's his day for shit's sake! Of course we're going to celebrate this weekend. Maybe go to Oktoberfest! Woowoooooo!!!

Even though I'm in a bad mood this morning, I'm controlling it. No reason to take it out on anyone. It's all my fault, anyway. I feel terrible because I ate terrible last night. Too many sweets last night and the day before after not having any for quite a while. I'm gonna go get me a greasy meal for lunch. I always want something like bacon or hash browns when my stomach is feeling all squeamy like this. I feel like a salt-lick right about now...

The weekend was great. We had a bbq with Mark and Mason on Saturday. A nice, laid back and fun day. Sunday we went for our bike ride at the park. It was lovely. We're starting at the park because neither of us are ready for the mountain yet. Well, I might be more than I think 'cause I HAVE been working out pretty regularly. But only PRETTY regularly. It's Ron who needs to get back into shape. It won't be hard for him though. He's athletic, used to ride his bike for miles and miles. The cool thing is that once you've been very good shape, it's not too difficult to get back into it. Muscles remember!

I also almost finished my invitation design this weekend. I've got most of it inked. Now I just have to do the boring part of it. Ink it, I mean. I worked on it for about an hour and a half on Saturday night and it's coming along beautifully. Yes, I'm gonna scan it in when I'm done!

My GAWD...some bitch just walked by the building talking on her cell phone. Now, this building is pretty spacious and echo-y anyway... It magnified her obnixious voice. "Sweet! We'll get on it!" Good for you. Shut the fuck up.

My friend Lisa emailed me the greatest picture yesterday! I love it when she or Melanie come across old pictures of us. This is from around 1985 or so...



Yea, the classic 'buried in the sand' pic. Love it! Our families used to go to the beach together all the time. Lisa and I would spend hours playing in the waves or searching the shore for sand crabs. This naturally resulted in being baked by the sun. We'd end up purple the next day. Our moms were not good at the re-apply at all! Great times... It's fun to have old friends!

Fuck, I gotta go pack some more. It's been busy at work again. This tea isn't working! I need french fries!

Diarreah

It's Fry fry FRYDAY and I'm still at work at six and the thirty PEE-EM. WHY is that? Because my damn car had to go to the shop AGAIN. I've been driving her for eight years and she's been oh so good to me. I guess it's about time for all the little things to start breaking. This time it was the temp gauge something or other sensor. The engine light went on Monday morning and I nearly shit my pants. NOT AGAIN. NoOoOoOoO!!! I called Ron, first and foremost. He asked a few questions, told me nott-uh to worry and he'd make an appointment at our car place for Thursday. We took her in yesterday and it was supposed to be a one day thing. Turns out they needed to order a frick-a-frackin' part so she wasn't ready this morning when we were plannin' to pick her up. No. It was ready this AFTERNOoooon. When I did not have a ride to get it. But the problem was easily solved. I'm here alone again so I did most of my work and then forwarded the phones to my cell so I could take the company car to the shop. I dun paid for the work and they let me park her in a public lot so that Ron and I can drive down there tomorra morn' and bring her home. We would have just done it Monday, but Ron is supposed to start working days (YAY) next week...for the next six weeks! Then he goes on that horrid five to one a.m. schedule again... But I'm gonna be a good, non-codependent girl and NOT cry and carry on when that happens. Yea. Anyway, I so love all the freedom I have at this job. All I had to do was call my boss and explain the sitch and he was all fine with it. Awesome. Then I came back to work and finished up like a good girl. I am trustworthy. YES I AM. I am also lame.

sO...

I'm sitting here at work waiting for good 'ol Melanie poop to pick me up. It's been a good week. I went jogging three times this week! Monday, Wednesday AND today! I wish I could be as consistent every week. Last week I barely exercised...but the week before that I jogged three of the days AND the week before that. I'm somewhat consistent. Sorta kinda.

Speaking of exercise, the plans for this weekend include a hellish mountain bike ride. Ron got his bike all fixed up, finally, and it's time to get out there! The weather has cooled down enough, it's perfect fall conditions now. So on Sunday we're gonna take to the fire roads! Ron used to mountain bike like a madman and has been wanting to get back into it. Yay! It's gonna be fun. A new thing to add to my activities.

I'm feeling a little lonely in this blog world again. *sigh* I know. Like I said, I'm lame. Where is everyone? Zoot poopsie just got married, so she's been very busy. Zen darling has had lots going on with a new job and things. Onewetleg has lot's going on, too... I want them to come back! I feel like people get bored with me. I'm so insecure here! GAWD, I feel like I'm in junior high... YEA. I KNOW. Quit whinin'. I got all emotional on another blogger's page the other day. She was mentioning how people will leave long and involved comments on her page (I think it was a certain guy she was referring to, but I do that a lot, too) thinking they're all funny and shit, but she thought it was stupid or some shit like that. Fuck, I don't even know. I just got all hot and bothered and left her a very stupid, irritated comment. And then she came over here and asked me why I bother to read her if I get so irritated by it. She's right. So I deleted her ass from my list. It's so stupid. I just feel like I'm reaching for straws over here. People suck.

I'M COOL. READ ME. TELL ME YOU FUCKING LOVE ME!!!! OOOOHHhhh...gush gush. Hahahaha! Oh well. I'll just write and read myself. I love reading my own blog each month. Like, hmmm...what did I babble about this month? Or...Jesus Christ, I'm SUCH a fucking WEIRDO. Yea, I like to record myself peeing...

Oooh, THAT was random!

Awright, Melanie should be here any minute. ANEEE FUCKING MINUUUTE. Where ARE you Melanie?! Oye. I'm gonna go have a nice weekend now, all you folks out there on the internet. Now read me. And my archives. 'Cause I'm a fucking AWESOME chick. HHAHAHAHAHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!

Bye.

Nastalgia

Hooo... Taking a break for now. I'm almost all caught up. The boss is gone again, won't be back 'til next Tuesday. I'm still sipping my coffee. Getting ready to get some orders together and shipped out. Feeling just fine and dandy today. And life goes on...

I hung out with my brother Steve last night. It had been awhile, we usually try to go to dinner and/or hang out about once a month. It's been like that since he's been back in L.A. He lived in the Bay area for ten years and moved back here about three years ago. I was glad when he moved back 'cause I really enjoy hanging out with him. He's a crazy, silly weirdo just like I am. Well, it looks as though he might be moving away again. He applied for a sound engineer job in Washington, DC...just as a "What the hell, I may as well give it a shot" type of thing. It looked like a great opportunity but he wasn't too sure it would go anywhere. It's always good to try that next rung on the ladder. His first interview was over the phone two weeks ago. He told me it went very well, that he felt like he hit it off with the interviewer. Apparently so 'cause today is his second interview. The company is actually sending someone out here to interview him. He's all nervous and excited about this prospect, and at the same time feeling a little overwhelmed and unsure. He'll be moving across the country. But he'd be crazy not to...this is a great opportunity. Doing what he loves at a huge company. Earning great money, great benefits...all the things people strive for in the career world. All the things that he has worked so hard for. Not two years ago he was really struggling. This is a blessing... Of course I'm very happy for him, but it'll be like losing a friend.

Last night reminded me of how much fun he is. We went out for chinese at one of those great little hole in the wall places. I didn't even know it existed and it's been in the area for years and years. The food was fantastic! The hot and sour soup...oooohhh so wonderful. It puts the stuff I get from the chinese place next to work to SHAME! We had a yummy dinner and then chilled and digested at his place for a while. So, my new phone has this feature where you can record and playback...it's got a speakerphone and a mic. I was showing this to Steve, how you can record and playback normal, slower and faster. I got to one recording that I didn't remember...a phone conversation I'd had with my mom a few weeks ago. But you couldn't hear me talking, only my mom. I had no idea I'd recorded it. Turns out you hit a button on the side of the phone in order to record the person you're talking to. HAH! Could be very incriminating...

In any case, my mom's recorded voice is fucking hilarious! Last night brought back memories... Steve has always been into music and sounds...he's done foley (backround sounds) for a couple of independent productions. When we were little he had a reel to reel recorder that he'd play around with all the time. Recorded all sorts of things, airplanes going by, the washing machine...my parents arguing or just talking in general. Then he'd be able to slow down or speed up the recordings. I remember being little and playing around with the recorder with Steve. We'd have my mom's voice on there...our favorite would be her signature calling of my dad from across the house..."FRRRrraaannnk!" Then we'd speed it up, slow it down and die laughing. Well we did that again last night with my phone. You had to have been there, but it was so funny my stomach hurts today. I was laughing so hard I couldn't breathe! I know the conversation my mom and I were having was about wedding plans. And it was only about 15 seconds of it...

"...we can tell them, and things like that."

"But take your time, it's no sweat..."

"OKAAY" (echo)

"I'm sorry fer..."

"But you called me."

"No, I called you...I called you..." (laugh)

"Have a...have a...." (beepbeep signals end of recording)

I know, typical conversation. Not too funny when it's played back normal speed. But slow it down two times and it totally sounds like she's drunk!!! And the, "No, I called yewww..." and the laugh she does afterwards...all digitally slow and shit! We played it over and over! It was great! I can't wait to play it for Ron. Over and over and over. HAHAHA! OH and I just gotta embarrass the shit outta my mom and play it for her!

Man, break's over... End of nastalgia...

Have a nice day!

Shit, have I mentioned how much I LOVE this scanner? I need one for home, man. Now I can be RUDE to the whole world! Yep, you betcher ass this is on my stupid myspace page! Don't ask why... Just the mood I'm in today.

Mmm-hmm, sometimes I feel like I'm lying in the street bleeding and everyone is standing around staring and not helping.

Uh-oh...someone needs an attitude adjustment. Again. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!!!!! I'm not taking my meds. Heeeeeeeeeeeee...

I'm goin' koo koo! WOO WOO!

Just kidding. I'm fine. Actually, I am getting off the meds. I'm trying again and it's working this time. I'm not going out of my mind...the withdrawal isn't bad at all. Hmm, I guess I could say this picture is for the all pharmaceutical companies who are putting everyone on medication. FUCK YOU! I don't need medication to be happy! I need to get back to work. Almost all caught up, just had to take a break to write something pointless.

Flippin'

Eeeeeeeeeeeeek!! Lotsa crap going on right now. Busy busy. Still haven't caught up at work. At least I'm not feeling sick anymore. I felt so much better last Thursday that I over-extended myself after work that evening. Thought I'd get all the things done that I hadn' earlier in the week. Then I was busy as hell at work on Friday and by THAT evening I had completely exhausted myself. I was supposed to go out with the two girls Cathy and I just couldn't. Had to rest and get ready to go on a little get away weekend with Ron.

Uh-huh...

We made it out of town at last! Went to old town San Diego for a little romantic getaway. It was just what we needed and we enjoyed it thoroughly. We ate lotsa Mexican food and drank lotsa margaritas! Had dinner at a cute little place called "La Pinata" on Saturday night and had ourselves some of the best tostadas carnitas ever! And the peach margaritas were soooo very delicious! We got to indulge (but not toooooo much, we've been being VERY good...BOTH of us*pat onna back*) 'cause we were spending the night at a little cozy place that was right across the street from the restaurant and shopping area in old town. It was what I'd been wanting to do with Ron all damn summer... Have a nice, relaxing getaway. Now that it's done, we have to concentrate on wedding planning 'cause it's gonna be here before we know it. It's almost the anniversary of our engagement!

Speaking of anniversaries, at this time last year I was in CHINA! It's been a year already... What a trip that was... In more ways than one! If you wanna see all the awesome pics, go check out my posts from the end of last October/beginning of November. It's still so weird to see the Great Wall on t.v. or in pictures and be like, "I've been there!" But I still haven't made it to Hawii. Shit, go figure!

That's all I have time for right now. Gotta do some more work. Must catch up before my boss leaves again! AAACCKCKCKCKCKKK!!!!

Oh yes...one more thing...go check out J a ck @ss 2. Well, if you like completely disgusting, boyish, rediculous toilet humor that is. We loved it. I know...tells ya what kinda people WE are. HAH! Later...