Turned in my last paper today. This is the class where the professor hates us all for some reason. As we left I asked if she was going to email comments on our papers since we won't get them back for two weeks. She said, "No, I don't want to do that because you'll just get upset."

Wow. She didn't even LOOK at my paper yet, but she already knows we're getting bad grades. Which... is what we expected from her.

Today she told us that for our final we'll be writing a criticism essay on either this novel or that novel... which means... we have to read BOTH novels before our final????

I hate that class. I'm so glad I'm at least PASSING it.

So that's it, all I have are two more days of classes and then a messed up 2-week long final schedule with some finals at 7:15am and some days I have finals all day long. I just need to re-read a few Canterbury Tales, look over The English Patient, The Waste Land and Great Gatsby, try to review The Faerie Queen, read two novels ...and try not to fail the Spanish final.

I have a solid A in Spanish right now, all I need is a B in the class and I'll be done with Spanish forever. I never thought I'd see this day, that's for sure.

And now I shut down and head out to Aptos.

Life should NOT be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in an attractive and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways, champagne in one hand, chocolate covered strawberries in the other, body thoroughly used up, totally worn out and screaming "WOOHOO"!
~~unknown

The best part about going to Scott's house on Super Bowl Sunday is that neither of us care either about the game or who is playing. I have no idea who's playing. All I know is that when we go to lunch on Sunday at the Red Apple Cafe there will be no line to sit down. The restaurant will be empty.

Tonight we are going to dinner at some Scottish restaurant in Felton where a band that Scott likes will be playing. Food and music - combined with sitting! WOOOO! And then the weekend will be spent reading for school.

Everyone have a good one!

In other good news: I lost 5 pounds somehow. I don't remember the last time I weighed myself, but I lost 5 pounds since the last time I checked.

I think it's the Bloody Marys I have been drinking. I think I'll go get another one.

I fly to San Diego tomorrow morning and cruise to Mexico! YAYYYYY!

I had my last finals today ---- HURRAY, semester is over!!!
I didn't do really fantastic on my Spanish or Shakespeare finals, but I wrote a great 12 page essay in mythology. I had pretty firm A's before the finals, so I'm going to assume my grades will be okay - and I'll be all right if I get a B, honestly.

Biggest Loser finale was on tonight - I love that show so much and LOVE LOVE LOVE Jillian Michaels. I want her to come yell at me until I lose 50 pounds. I am so glad another season is starting already on January 1. I already cannot wait.

And finally I would like to give Thanks to the Spears family for providing me with so much entertainment in 2007 and for making sure that entertainment will continue on through 2008. Poor Momma Spears... She thought she had finally gotten it done right with her youngest... how embarrassing to be in the middle of writing a parenting book when all this mess happens.

Do I feel bad for them? Not really. Yeah, it could happen to any family... but you have to admit there's an awful lot of stupid in that one. I guess money can buy an education but it sure can't buy brains.

I'm at Starbucks in Aptos finally waiting for my Honey Scott to come visit. I'm soooooo glad it's Friday!!! A whole weekend of Scott, studying, maybe some movies, more studying... and Scott. And no kids. HA.

Pischina-ku is back open!

That old site used to be where I would write one haiku a day, every day before 7am. After awhile I got out of doing it, then I forgot all my Blogger passwords. I always loved my Pischina-ku site though, that's why I kept the link over there on the right.

But today for some reason I tried one more time, and WaLAA! Not only did I get right into Blogger, but it had ALLLLLLLLLLLL my old blogs, like blogs that no one ever knew about, even a blog that I had created to be super de DUPER top secret but that Blogger promptly made a "Blog of the Day" or whatever, haha. Anyway there are all there, and I've been sitting here reading through them, and I am really glad I have them again. I don't need to write there in most of them, it's mostly all pre-Scott, which means Bad News, but some are from the beginning of Scott, and it was really sweet to read. I may have to print all of those out, even the scandalous entries, just so I have a permanent record of them. Thank you Blogger and Internet Gods for keeping all those olllllld entries.

I'm not giving you the links to those old blogs though. Just the haiku one.

Anyway, my school schedule does not allow me to do a daily haiku before 7am, so I'm just going to try to do one every day. Like my original intent - these are not going to be award winning haiku, just something to get my brain started.

But if you wish, go back through the archives, because now that I'm reading my old haiku again, they really bring back a lot of pleasant memories.

Link on the right.

OH! Also, I wrote a new diary entry too.

Spent a lovely weekend in Aptos!! It was especially nice because it's generally 10 degrees cooler - no heatwave there!

Friday evening we ate dinner at Aqui's before driving over to Aptos. Saturday we went to the coffee shop, then Scott went to visit his daughter and I stayed home reading and reading and reading, for Shakespeare and Mythology.

Sunday Scott had kung fu classes all day so I took my books to the BEACH! WHOOOOOO, I need to study that way more often! And guess what, I saw DOLPHINS!!! And SEALS!

I have seen dolphins swim by at the beach before, but much further away. If anyone reading this knows where the "cement ship" is, that's where I was, and the dolphins were swimming by just at the end of the cement ship. But I have NEVER seen seals swimming all around where people are. I have seen them all over the rocks in Monterey, but never in Santa Cruz. But Sunday one came up about five feet from the sand, stuck his head out of the water and just looked at us all for a while! Then I saw a different one swimming down the beach, stopping every so often to look at the swimmers, and then later there was a group of FIVE seals that all popped their heads up to watch us! It was amazing - and something so few people get to see, I felt really lucky to be able to see such a sight.

That evening we went to El Palomar for scallop and prawn tacos, and margaritas, and SO YUMMY MOJITOS!!! Omigosh, believe it or not I have only had a mojito made once from a mix - this one was very hand made from scratch, and it was possibly the most delicious thing I have ever drank. YUMMMMMM.

Then we went to the theater to see "War", and let me save you $10 - This movie was crap. I love Jason Statham, and Scott loves Jet Li... but the movie was crap.

This morning we watched "The Painted Veil" on DVD - now THAT was a good movie. I never would have picked it myself, but I really loved it.
Then we had a great breakfast at the Red Apple Cafe... and then I had to come home. However, the heat wave seems to be over (WOOOOO)! It is still very warm, but just regular hot, not stupid hot.

Okay, that's enough for now. Tomorrow - School and work, yay. Heh.

I didn't really talk about the zoo before, but seeing an elephant on TV just now reminded me.

I saw elephants! Blowing water on themselves!!!

Hee. Yes, I loved the zoo.

We saw beautiful kangaroos, the hugest turtles, giraffes, POLAR BEARS, monkeys...

The hugest bat I've ever imagined, its wingspan was easily 18-24 inches. I never saw a bat that big in a movie. I'd freak out if that thing was flying around my hair.

There were two kinds of monkeys in a huge netted area. They were chasing each other all around. "Oh how Cute!!!" Then one of the monkeys caught another monkey and tried to mount her - against her will - and the uh, penis came out... and the female escaped and RAN. And he chased her! And we realized all the male black monkeys were the ones chasing the females and all the other grey monkeys. The little grey monkeys didn't look that happy - especially when they had their tails grabbed by the black ones. As we left one of the monkeys carefully studied another's behind... we thought we knew what was coming... but no, he just picked a bug out of the butt and ate it.

Ew.

We saw beautiful geckos and other lizards, beautiful birds... we missed the pandas, lions and tigers. But we saw hippos, a rhino, llamas, lots of pigs, hogs and warthogs, some okapi.

I loved it. SO much. We turned a corner and I yelled "GIRAFFES!!!" like a little kid. "POLAR BEARS!!!" "ELEPHANTS!!!"

And the elephant put his nose in the water and gave himself a shower.

It was a good weekend. The wedding was super fun! Although the bride and groom are BOTH super-duper-rich, the wedding was not over the top, it was a very nice wedding that could have been anyone's. I like that, weddings like that focus more on the couple getting married than the display of wealth and excess. It was beautiful. The bride was beautiful, but she's always beautiful. The groom looks more like his dad every day, and his dad is super handsome and was very proud and emotional. They are a good family. I was right at the edge of too-much-wine at the reception, but I did not cross the line, so there was much fun. Spent time with Scott's family and some old co-workers that I see every year at the Christmas party. There were three old female co-workers I was unpleasantly surprised to see, but I was able to get through all three encounters well (by completely ignoring one, having a nice conversation with another, and restraining myself from calling the third a "dumb ignorant bitch" [yes, I was proud of myself]). But I had a good time with the other co-workers and family, and of course with Scott. Pictures on Flickr, though not many and not clear - I promise to get a good camera for Mexico!

By the way - 28 more days!!!!

Okay, I am off to Aptos, see ya'll on Sunday!

Cool morning so far

Today is going to be better because:

1. The house happens to be somewhat cool at 7:30am so I am quickly doing some wash and enjoying myself.
2. As soon as all the wash is done I'm getting the hell out of Dodge and going to nice, cool Aptos.

The only down point of this weekend will be tomorrow. We have another wedding to go to, Scott's nephew, and it's at 2pm in Morgan Hill (or maybe Gilroy, I forget) at the Catholic Church. Morgan Hill and Gilroy are both usually ten degrees hotter than San Jose. So that is not going to be pleasant. But then the reception is at some fou-fou richy-rich country club. So I assume that's going to be air conditioned.

It seems like recently the kids and I have been around a lot of rich people, whether it's parties or weddings or whatever. We have fun and the houses are beautiful, but I think we have just as much if not more fun at pot luck barbecues. I mean, there's something to be said for getting a little dirty and eating homemade mexican food and listening to loud music and also not worrying about accidently breaking a Ming vase that's in the middle of a hallway.

We saw Live Free or Die Hard last night. It was AWESOME. Bruce Willis kicks ass - and so do a couple other characters in the movie, including females.
Buffy: But WHY are the bad guys doing this again?
Me: I have no idea. Just go with it.
Buffy: Okay.
I mean - you don't really need to understand the reason why all the awesome car chases and explosions are happening. You just need to enjoy them.
Buffy: Um, I don't think that's really very realistic, hanging from the plane... and the freeway crashing down...
Me: I know. Just go with it.
Buffy: Okay.
I mean, it was a fun enough movie that you don't care if it crosses the line of believability. It definitely crosses it. You're just having way too much fun to care.
Buffy had not wanted to see it, her friend told her the Die Hard movies were "boring". I told her her friend was full of crap. But Buffy had a fantastic time at the movie. Plus, air conditioned theater, so no one was really going to complain.
So ya'll should go see it too.

Time to go change the wash.

Okay, the swelling is coming down now, my limbs are feeling much better. It looks like I really will get to go to the gym! Yayyy! Remember kids, use sunscreen!

We had an absolutely Wonderful time at the beach today. However.

You would think a 40 year old sun worshipper would finally realize that when you go to the beach for the first time of the year, on a gorgeous sunny day, that you should put sunscreen on. Sunscreen which I had, and which everyone else put on.

Now you may call me Mrs. Reddy McLobster.

(It was still the best day ever, and a wonderfully fun day with the kids)

Also, San Diego was beautiful, from the moment the plane started flying in to it. Beautiful ocean, beautiful boats, trees, parks, birds, delicious food, museums... There are many snippets and details that I will probably think of here and there, but one thing is for sure, I really loved the city. I could easily live there.

I'll have to think of an excuse to bring the kids there soon, heh.

Home again!

I'm home safe and sound!
We had a great time, the wedding was really nice, held at two, get that? TWO Mansions. It was crazy. I wanted to wander the house taking pictures but didn't think it would be polite. So I only took one of each house, hee. Anyway, bride and groom were beautiful and very nice and happy, and we had a good time. Then today I talked Scott into taking me to the San Diego Zoo. We had a great time! Pictures on Flickr. And then we drove to Old Town for lunch where I had the very best tacos I have ever ever EVER tasted. And then we took the plane home.
Also, the flights there and back were the easiest and nicest of the six flights I have taken this year. They were really really great.

Anyway, we're home! Safe but sunburned, but happy with my kids again. Yayy!

Omigosh, in exactly 24 hours my plane with be taking off down the runway!!! Unless there's a delay... I don't want any delays!!

90 minutes later we'll be touching down in San Diego, pick up our rental car, and drive to the Doubletree Hotel Del Mar.

We go to a wedding dinner that evening. Saturday at 2pm is the wedding and Partay!!! And Sunday we have all day to ourselves to explore San Diego in our rental car. Back to the airport at 4pm, and we'll be back home at 7pm.

I think it will be a very nice weekend. And no, you won't be getting any new posts after tomorrow morning!

After writing the post below I looked around for some wood and saw my wooden ruler. I gave it a good pounding with both my fists, heh. But it worked!

Work went well! Got lots of work done!
Body felt great all day after my swimming!
Took Spike to the Dentist - and took a nap in the waiting room! (sitting up, haha)
Drove home - and Phoebe ran in front of the car to greet us! Just like old times!
Brought the Taco Bell in... And Phoebe kept jumping on the table to steal Spike's taco!
WOOOO! The kitty is improving again!
Took Buffy home from swim practice - and she's still behaving!
Realized I'm leaving for San Diego on Friday! Good Times!

Also... watched Paris Hilton on Larry King... I actually was pretty impressed. I really was. Am I crazy? This is the first time I've ever seen her act like a grown up. She stumbled on a few answers, but mostly due to Larry King's idiotic questions. (Seriously? GAWD he was stupid. And looking stupid next to Paris Hilton? Maybe it's time to retire, Larry.) 30 minutes into the interview I realized I was looking at a gorgeous 26 year old woman. Who is not perfect, but certainly seems to see things in a different way now. I'm going to go out on a very precarious limb here and say - I think she will change. The dumb act certainly was dropped this evening. We shall see. But if she does change, if she starts doing charitable work - and I don't even care if she parties, that was never an issue, the stupidity and bringing no value into the world and being a bad example was the issue - well, I may just learn to love her a tiny little bit.

I hope she doesn't screw this up, because if she does I'm going to have to sort through a lot of posts to find this one and delete it so there's no incriminating evidence against me. Ya'll will still love me, right?

A better day so far...

Went to the gym, swam 52 laps, and feel pretty wiped out right now (but also goooood)...
Came to work... donde estan los beach balls? It is very quiet this morning at work! (hee)...
The stock market is doing okay at 10am, so I'm crossing my fingers that downward spiral is over for the week...
The maids come today...

Yes. Yes, so far things are going well. KNOCK ON BIG BLOCK OF WOOD.

I actually got to go to Aptos this weekend, sans kitty cat, and had a very nice time.
We saw "1408" which scared the shit out of me.
Went to Cafe Rio on the beach. After what, four years? they finally changed their menu, and I had the most delicious scallops (wrapped in prosciutto) EVER. Yay for the new menu.
And came home to two very fat, happy, content and not-missing-me kitty cats. Which made me happy, because that is how it should be.

Next Friday Scott and I take a flight to San Diego for a wedding. I am happy happy happy to go traveling again, even if it is just to San Diego. Airports mean traveling far away, rental cars mean freedom, nice rooms in hotels mean good times. Yay for weddings in San Diego.

The following Saturday we go to another wedding for his nephew, the son of my old boss. But it's only an hour away.

As of today, there are only 42 days until the kids and I head to Mexico on a big giant cruise ship - WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

Went to the gym this morning, worked out for 1 hour 45 minutes. Yayyyy!
Came to work and finished up a huge project. Yayyyy!

Everyone seems really happy about my cute bathing suit, but not as happy as I am!! I went to just buy something so I could swim, I look like a big fat cow at the moment - and that is not an exageration, so shut up - so I just wanted something that fit. I wasn't sure I would wear have the guts to wear it in public on the cruise, but I wanted something to swim in at the gym.

So I picked out four different ones. The first one fit. So it was a keeper. I looked like crap, but it fit, and when you're big like a cow and round like a ball then you take the one that fits.
The second one looked like... more crap, only worse. So I put that one in the "no" pile.
The other two had skirts. When I first saw the suits I thought "Oh HELL no, I will NOT wear a 'swimdress' ". But I took two and tried them on just in case.

I put the first one on and looked in the mirror and what I saw was cute little me wearing a little sun dress. With almost... wait for it.... a WAIST. It was totally amazing how I looked so cute and adorable in the "swimdress". Buffy was waiting outside so I actually opened the dressing room door (yes, people might even have SEEN) and showed her. She stood leaning against the wall, bored as a 15 year old could be, but took a look at me and said "Wow. That is CUTE." Me: "I know, right?"

So I tried the last one on, and it looked just as adorable. So I dumped the first crappy suit and bought the two swimdresses. I have one pretty blue one and one black & white one. I would definitely wear these to the cruise. I would maybe even wear them to the neighborhood pool. Yes, in public.

They were $78 each, but 30% off, so the came out to $53. But money worth spent as far as I'm concerned. It's not often a fat woman feels cute in a swim suit. It's not often a THIN woman feels cute in a swim suit. So get yourself down to Penneys and check out the swim dresses if you're curious.

I looked online and can't find the exact ones but they look a little like this and this and this. And the best part is, I actually look like the models in the suits - Crazy but true!

In response to Catie's so so SO nice and concerned comment (HEEE) I have to say I have not been bored for one second since Phoebe got sick. I'm sure it probably came across in my minute by minute story telling of her progress, but I have played 24 hour nursemaid to her for about 10 days now. All my days and nights were spent caring for and worrying about her.

To the point that now she acts like a little baby. Like I said before, Phoebe was never a loving cat, she never wanted to sit on your lap or anything. But she was a very social cat, she loved to come and say hi to everyone but then be on her way. Not anymore!!! Now she doesn't want me out of her sight, if I take her outside she just wants to sit on my lap, she meows and meows for us to pick her up. It's quite hilarious really.

Me getting so sick at least stopped me in my tracks and helped me remember what it is to just sit and relax. I've finished two books in the last three days and am getting ready to start another one. Also, Lanie sent me three books from her collection that look really interesting. Now I am really looking forward to just sitting around this summer and reading!!!

This morning Phoebe jumped the baby gate I had put across the front door, and was already getting ready to cross the street when I caught her. Silly kitty!!! The doctor said her walking problems were probably due to a bladder infection caused by the stones. The antibiotics are taking care of that and she is getting better and better, but she still stumbles occasionally. If she can manage to jump the fence in the back yard then I'll believe she's ready to cross the street. For now she remains under house arrest.

Back I go to read some more. I feel so much better today but still am pretty weak. Could be because I have only had that one half sandwich in the last 36 hours. Also, my ribs are terribly sore from throwing up for 5 hours straight. Ugh. Glad that's over!!!

Everyone have a good weekend, I'm out for now!

HOME!

That's right, I'm typing this up on the internet from HOME.
That doesn't mean it will work tomorrow, or even an hour from now, but at the moment... we have contact!!!

I finally managed to look up the repair number for my internet when I was at work today, but could not call until I got home, and I actually had 45 minutes to sit on hold to speak to them when I got home today.

Of course in the middle of that phone call it started working.

So I'm not sure they did anything, but it has been working for five hours now, so I'm going to turn this off and go to bed and hope it will turn on in the morning. Things will go much better if it does.

You see, working from Starbucks forces me to lose over two hours a day because I have to shift my work schedule. And it prevents me from being able to do anything from home, like wait for the glass company to come repair the window. But if it works now, then I get home tomorrow at 3pm and can finish studying. And I can work from home while the glass man comes and not have to miss a day of work.

So that alleviates stress. And so now I REALLY feel better.

Except I do miss my mom. But that's never going to change.

*****

Go see Grindhouse ya'll. You'll have a blast.

It's official. I will spend the weekend after my birthday with Scott in Volcano, CA again, back at the St. George Hotel. That's been our favorite spot so far, and the place that seems to make us happiest, so there we go. I turn 40 on November 8, a Wednesday so Scott will *probably* come up and have dinner with us, then on Friday we will leave on Vacation. Sans kids. WEEEEEEEE!!!!

SOLD the car!
Sister approved the price of the car AND the house, so this week that's sold too!

So I have a bunch of books packed up, and I'm off to Aptos this evening.

I'll be coming back early Sunday to show my mom's car to someone.
My real estate agent is sending buyers back to come up with a higher price, should have an answer on Monday.

This means I may have a buyer for the car and the house by Monday. That would be so great.
It'll really be great to sell that car. If not to this guy, then Charleen may get it. Someone needs to get it, haha - Why no takers for a car that gets around 50 mpg??

I'm going to bed early tonight. Haven't been getting a lot of sleep lately and can't figure out why. Not worried about anything, just keep waking up and tossing and turning.... Wait, I seem to remember some stray cat outside last night that was howling away, I bet that was the problem. Anyway, I sleep really well at Scott's, so I'm hoping to catch up.

Maybe I'll stop by a sewing store and pick up some embroidery kit. That will keep me busy.

The boredom is getting to me, Catie's right, I need a hobby - like finishing one of my quilts or something. So much to do, too tired to to anything when I get off work. Circle of life.

Can't wait until Spike gets home tomorrow, even though I won't see him until Sunday. I miss him.

Okay back to work.

Hey, I finally took a good picture of me. I think it's a good pic anyway.

Right on time, just as promised, Scott is taking me to a bed & breakfast next month in Monterey.

The Pacific Grove Inn
If you scroll down on this page, we're in the Floyd L. Tuttle Room.

We'll be gone August 20-22, and then I start school the next day. It's right near Cannery Row and Fisherman's Wharf and all that fun stuff. Yayyyy, I like these vacations!

Today the maids come again.
:-D

Look, I made a new banner for the journal: Click Here

Exciting Day

Bad News:
I can't find my glasses and I am down to only one contact in my left eye.

Good News:
I have an eye appointment Friday.

Best News:
I only have to work 20 hours to keep my benefits. I can do a good school schedule around that. Only 14 units, but I made a new plan with 14 units this year, and then 16 and 17 units my last year - I can quit work then if I need to. Or work something else out. But working 20 hours is really really great. Like, the best news I've had in a very long time!!

My house is CLEAN, and it smells like cinnamon (??) and the floors are clean and mopped and vacuumed, and the bathrooms are scrubbed and the kitchen is scrubbed and my bedroom is beautiful and the very long hallway that had not been vacuumed since October is now fun to run up and down. Or to skip down it.

I am glad I stood firm and made them stay. I do feel that I was in the right, since I had a signed quote from someone who had walked into every single room. There are a few things not done real well, and I am 99% sure they are little digs from the maids who were pissed that they had to clean such a horrible place, but I accept that. I would have dropped a toothbrush into a toilet (oops!) myself. Overall though they did a fantastic job and they must have worked very hard.

In two weeks when they come back I expect to have the house even more re-arranged, and they won't be so pissed at all the dirt to be cleaned (because there won't be any dirt to clean) and the house should be spic and span by then. Right now though the house is the cleanest it's been since I started school.

So the maid supervisor came yesterday, which was kind of hilarious because she obviously didn't clean houses, and I really feel sorry for the real maids that are going to come and do the cleaning.

$287 for the first all-over cleaning (this is half the price I was willing to pay, the house is THAT BAD.)
$97 per time for every other week. If I go weekly it will be $88 per time, but I think every other week is fine.

Since we still have a few boxes and piles to get rid of they aren't going to come until next Tuesday. And then every other Tuesday after that. And Tuesday just happens to be the day Scott comes for dinner. :-D
"Why yes Scott, we DID clean the house nicely, didn't we?"

Just kidding, he knows we're getting a maid. Hee. I was telling him this morning that this seemed like a pretty good deal because I have the money. A year ago I never would have considered it. But for now, I have the money, and I don't have the time due to work and school. So the maid has a job for the next four years.

Next item: A personal chef.

Just kidding.

I am so freaking happy that a MAID is coming to my house today I cannot stand it. I feel like I'm waiting to leave for Disneyland right now.

So MerryMaids called me just now and we set up an appointment for June 5 to come give me an estimate. From her range of prices it looks like I'll take an every other week service, and if I completely fall in love with it I'll go for a weekly.

She gave me a tentative price of $180 for the initial cleaning - without actually seeing the house.

I say, "HAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, Silly Maids." I'm ready for an actual estimate of $500 when they see the place, it has not been vacuumed since OCTOBER, and the only thing we've done since October is clean the kitchen and bathrooms and squeezed around extra furniture and stacks of boxes, which means there's a lot of little piles of stuff and dirt. It is way beyond anything I could ever catch up on.

But that's what extra money is for, eh? Making your life easier. I don't need STUFF, that's for sure, but I could sure use an easier life. It's finally here.

I got to swim this morning! 60 laps today, until I was about to throw up.

Drove to Aptos and it's a BEAUTIFUL day today.

Received another email from my aunt, my sister has gotten herself written out of the will - the will she was just recently written IN to when my mother died. Stupid, evil, selfish, crazy girl. And my grandparents are still mad at her.

But my grandparents are having a surprise 65th Wedding Anniversary Party next weekend, and the kids and I and maybe Scott are all going to go.

Now I have to read Vindication of the Rights of Women and Aurora Lee for school and rest. Life is good right now.

Essay written, check.
Sister LEAVING, check.
DVR busily recording non-quality programming, check.

Tomorrow is Swimming, and then it's off to Aptos for a REST.
Hallelujah!!!

The Direct TV man is here right now, and he is the CUTEST, most ADORABLE man I have ever seen. He looks JUST like Orlando Bloom but BETTER, and he's nice and sweet and I made him coffee and he was so happy and appreciative.

And because this house is all screwy (only one phone jack, in the kitchen) he has to spend a lot of time here this morning drilling holes and such. Coooool.

I think I'm going to keep him.

"Eighteen years, Eighteen years,
She got one of your kids
Got you for eighteen years...!"

*waves hands in air, dances all around her cube*

So last night I wasn't feeling that hot, emotionally, and not really that great today either, and I wrote a not very happy entry in the Diary, but I also asked for some cookie and peanut brittle recipes, and today I turn on my computer and my guestbook is FULL of recipes for holiday treats!

And how can you not be a little bit cheerier when your guestbook is full of holiday treats?

Thanks Guys. I'm still not feeling great, but you guys definitely help.

I did it yesterday!
Ran 2 miles!
WHOOOOOOOOO

And in 90 minutes I'm off to Aptos!

Also, Charleen's dad is having his second surgery, so keep them in your thoughts. Thanks...

A) The LOUD INSANE CHRISTMAS MUSIC is back, and I would like to know why, when they have reasonably nice Christmas music playing the volume is down low, but when it is a horrid wretching wail of Christmas songs then they turn it up.

B) I watched the end of The Amazing Race (yes, Season 1) last night, and when Kevin & Drew got eliminated I shut the TV off, threw the remote control, and went to make dinner. I was so pissed off! But then Rob & Brennan won, and even better, the Guidos came in third, and even better, the Guidos came in so far back in third they were told to just forget it.

C) Yes Emily, my Amazon list is up-to-date, but remember, I don't need any gifts. You guys just wish me happy holidays and I will be happy. Also, yes my picture link does not seem to be working, but I don't have time to worry about it yet. I'll fix that later.

D) Indian-Guy next to me just turned his radio on loudly to a baseball game, or something like that, and while now I have Celine Dion screetching in front of me and Howard Cosell yelling next to me, still, it's funny.

E) I AM going to start running.

I'm going to go home, stop at StarBucks and get a coffee, sit on the couch and watch Mr. & Mrs. Smith and Disc 3 of The Amazing Race, and watch Nancy and Emily, and the Evil Guidos, and the Fantastic Bald Guys all night long. Then I'm going to sleep in, make a huge pot of coffee, and clean the house up. And watch my DVDs again.

And that is it. It has been a long week and I'm soooooo happy it's over.

Also... Shut Up. I know I'm the last person on earth to ever see The Amazing Race, but I finally am and now I know why you all loved it. And don't you DARE tell me who won the first season!!!!!

Okay, off I go....

So I finally got my blood donor card in the mail! That means my blood is all safe and sound, and being used to help people, and now I can schedule my next donation. There's a red cross right on the corner by work. Also, the card says I have O+ blood - I never knew my type before. Now I know. And now I can donate more.

But aside from that, I am cuddled up on Scott's couch here in Aptos, with the wireless laptop in my lap, and a blanket over my legs. Sci-Fi Friday is on, and Scott is in the shower. And I am loving that I have three days off.

Happy Labor Day Everyone!

Well, we didn't go see Donny Osmond because I just really didn't want to use the gas to get there. But if he ever came a little closer I will.

I'm just swamped at work. So much so that I cannot quite imagine taking the 16 units I'm signed up for in the Fall semester. I'm hoping things will calm down, but for the moment my mind is working so hard at work that all I want to do when get home is plop myself on the couch and watch DVDs all evening.

I still have not cooked more than three dinners since starting this job. This is a combination of being so tired from work, and the heat from the summer - it really takes its toll in the kitchen.

Spike has been away at camp all week, and as soon as he comes back he is going on a Mexican cruise with Buffy and their dad. So I'm missing Spike a lot. Buffy and I have tolerated each other for the week, until this morning, but I will miss her next week too. It may be a lonely week, or it may just go by really quickly.

This month is not going to get any easier. I have doctor appointments with Scott, his surgery is the 17th, we inter my father's ashes on the 18th, we *think* Scott gets out of the hospital on the 19th, Spike's birthday is the 17th, the kids start school on the 22nd and 24th, I haven't really even gone grocery shopping since the end of May, there's school shopping, I will probably try to buy a new car before the month is out - and somehow I need to fit in a visit with Megs for her birthday, and I have this horrible feeling that I'm not going to possibly fit that in. This actually upsets me quite a bit, but I'm still trying to figure it out.

Today at 5pm I'll be on my way to Scott's, to prepare his house for post-surgery. The living quarters are on the 2nd floor, his kitchen and bath are on first floor, his bed is about four feet high, his dresser drawers are all low against the floor (under his bed) - so his place really is not suited for someone recovering from a hip replacement. We have a lot of hard work ahead of us, but after he's done healing things should be so much better.

Regardless, I'm looking forward to this weekend. I need to get away from work and all these projects for awhile.

Today we're leaving to pick up Buffy from camp and head on out to the beach!

See ya!

It's so nice spending an entire weekend here in Aptos, especially when I hear it's back into the 90's in San Jose. Ahhhhhh.... Actually, it was even hot here yesterday, up in the mountains and next to the beach it was mid 80's at least - so you know it's hot in San Jose.

Buffy goes to camp today, about 2 miles from Scott's house. This was her dad's weekend though, so I thought I was going to have to drive 50 miles back to San Jose to pick her up this morning, 50 miles back to Aptos to bring her to camp, and 50 miles back home again. Not looking forward to that. But Buffy asked her dad if he could drive her, for once in their lives, and he actually said yes. We are all shocked. So I only have to drive 2 miles up the road to meet her with her sign-in papers and say goodbye to her.

And hello to a lovely quiet week without a 13 year old girl and her drama - Oh no! I must be a horrible mother, eh? Not. Whatever. Anyway, Spike and I are looking forward to a week of quiet, but we'll be very happy to see her again next Friday.

And guess what I'm gong to do now? RUN. I know, can you believe it?? But yes, as soon as this coffee finishes running through me (great visual there, eh?) I'll be off and running down Freedom Boulevard. 1.5 miles to Hiway one, 1.5 miles back. I gotta start somewhere, and it's going to be today.

Besides, did you see all the fantastically cute clothes out now? I want some.

So I'll see ya'll in a bit.

I would like to stop and take a moment to personally thank God for only letting it be 81 degrees today.

Thank You God. I surely appreciate it.

Oooh, "Goin to California" by Pink is playing on the radio. This brings back memories of going to my old YMCA gym - I loved that gym, and this song was ALWAYS playing there.

I miss my gym.

BUT - good news! I got my new insurance card (and two for the kids! they have medical insurance now!) so I can get my doctor's note to work out in this gym! Hurray! I'm making an appointment right away!

I just ordered these curtains for my living room! I have seen them in the store, and I really like them. I really really HATE the 1970s gold drapes that came with the house. I am really really happy right now, I can't wait to hang them up!

See Megs? I bought something for myself!

Hah! There's $60 available in my credit union account! Saved once again by that silly forgotten little account! And now we can eat for the week. Spike will be thrilled!

We'll have to work a little harder keeping track of all our dough from now on, haha!

True to my life as a boring getting-fatter blogger...

I just got taken out to Starbucks for a Caramel Macchiatto by my supervisor. And tomorrow morning is free bagels and pastries again. And yesterday was Carne Asada in the cafeteria.

And I FINALLY got all the documents together to get my insurance card, so I can finally go get my doctor note saying that I can finally go to the gym at my work that is right on the other side of my wall right here!

So soon I will NOT be a getting-fatter blogger! I'll just be a boring blogger! hahahah...

Barbecue = Success.

PMS = Gone.

Everyone is happy again.

Today may or may not be a happy day. The plan is for the kids to leave with their dad and go to Great America, and also spend the night with him, and that means I get to go back to Aptos and spend the night with Scott.

Except that yesterday, when we were driving home, the jeep was doing some wierd things with the steering, to be exact, it didn't want to turn.
It always has a hard time with sharp left turns, I can even do U-turns unless there's six lanes of traffic, but yesterday it suddenly stopped wanting to make any turn of 90 degrees going either direction.

Which isn't good.

And probably isn't good for driving back over Highway 17.

On the other hand, my rent is due, and I have to pay it at a place halfway to Scott's anyway. And the car drove over Highway 17 just fine yesterday, it wasn't until it got off the freeway that it started acting wonky. So maybe it was just tired.

Anyway, that's the plan for the day, to get over the hill to Scott's and pay the rent too. If I can get over the hill and the car is obviously acting up, I can take Scott's spare car back, so that would be okay. But first I need to get that far.

Okay ya'll, Over and out for now.

Vacation - Day 1

Drove to Aptos at 7:30am with the kids and a friend. Met Scott at the coffee shop and hung out for quite awhile because there was absolutely no sun. Not that that ever stops us from going to the beach, but we were having fun with Scott.
Drove to Play It Again Sports to get Buffy a new boogie board.
Went to the beach where it wasn't cold at all, it was pretty nice, but it wasn't WARM. So we dug holes in the sand, and read, and Spike did a sand dragon and a sand mermaid. Then around noon it started to get colder so we decided to go to the movies.

Scott met us there and we saw War of the Worlds.

That movie was well and truly terrifying. At one point I jumped so high in my seat that popcorn flew everywhere. And by halfway through I just wanted the movie to be over because I was just DONE being so scared.

So yeah, I give it five stars (except for a dumb beginning, and a too abrupt ending). Everything but that first and last five minutes was just too too fabulously terrifying.

Okay, nothing much going on here. Nice quiet weekend with Scott. Last week I watched a lot of DVDs (no school is nice, haha).

Lost in Yonkers - I loved it
Shall We Dance - Loved it way more than I expected to
Intacto - Really liked it
Barfly - I actually hated it at first - Scott had recommended it and I was getting ready to smack upside the head for wasting my time but then it turned out to be a really great movie. I give it 5 stars.

In addition, I read and loved Secret Life of Bees,
I'm finishing the last 20 pages of Time Traveler's Wife
and LOVE it,
and I really did NOT like Sixpence House.
Next I'm going to read Grapes of Wrath - which I read in high school, but I want to read it again.

And the only TV we could use to watch our two little channels of TV has broken (it's over 15 years old). We have a TV that works for DVDs, but won't get any channels. I'm torn between buying a new TV and getting cable, or just cutting TV out altogether. We probably won't miss it - all we watched was Desperate Housewives and The Apprentice, and we can certainly live without them. The only problem is the kids are often asked to watch some show for their chool work. But I can send them to their dad's house for that, right? I think we're just going to go without TV. I kind of like life without it.

We're going to the beach Saturday.

And I'm a happy girl.

Oh yeah.

All you can eat Cold Stone Ice Cream.

Vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, coffee and cake batter ice cream.

Chocolate and caramel topping.

Cherries.

Whipped cream.

Chocolate chips, walnuts, M&Ms, sprinkles.

Oh lordy, I need a doctor's note for the gym.

Also, Corina got married Saturday and she was beautiful and you can see some pictures over at the Flickr account, but taken with my little camera-phone they aren't that great. Just know, she was Beautiful with a capital B.

Swim Meet this morning!
Then Corina's wedding!
Then it's off to Aptos!

See ya Sunday evening!

My old officemate/boss Corina gets married tomorrow! Hurray!

In response to the lovely Angel:
Don't get me wrong, I love Hot Topic, and yes the Napolean Dynamite T's are great (Love LOVE that movie!) but I wouldn't wear them to work. I would totally wear a little black skirt with cherries hanging from it and a black and red corset to match (No, REALLY!)(but not to work, heh) but I'm afraid my size large butt will not fit into those clothes at the moment.

Actually Buffy and I also had a wonderful time in the store Anchor Blue, they had the cutest clothes at not bad prices and everything was on clearance. I told her I was going to work out as hard as I could at my new job's gym so I could get back into shape quickly and wear those cute clothes.

Also? We went to Old Navy to try on some Super Skirts! Super Skirts! but my ass? does not look good in a Super Skirt! Super Skirt!

Actually, it wasn't even my ass, it was the big ole stomach in front, haha. But I was not depressed, I know I can get it back down again.

And speaking of big, I picked out this really cute little red summer sweater to wear for my first day today (It feels like the first day of school, haha!) and today I put it on for the first time...

And I have some huge boobies peaking out of the neckline, which is quite a scoop neck. I mean, WOW. BOOBIES. They're hard to miss today, believe me.

No, you don't get any pictures.
;-)

I am off to get ready for my New and Improved Big-Girl Big-Salary Job.

Buffy just pulled out a bunch of free tickets to the Greek Festival from her school books, so guess where we're going today after church? WHEEEEEEEEEE!!!!! Festivals are so much fun when you have money!! It's greek food for us today!!!

We're having a pretty lovely weekend.

Okay, we won the swim meet, or should I say we pulverized them. Wow. Something like 90 - 295. It was close, HAH!

Spike got first in backstroke, second in butterfly and freestyle, and they won both relays.

Buffy got fifth in backstroke and butterfly and fourth in free. But she's swimming against kids a year older than her too, so actually she's doing pretty fantastic.

I got a little sunburn, in very odd patches since I sat in one place and read my book the whole morning. Heh.

And then we went shopping and bought a barbeque and some clothes for the kids for their swim dance last night, and for me for Corina's wedding next week, and also a little froggy welcome mat.

AND we went to Fresh Choice for lunch and we had a really really great day.

And Spike wants to dress me in clothes from Hot Topic.

Okay Spike? Not.

Swim meet today! First official one of the year! So here I am, Saturday morning, been up since 5:30 and it's about time to get down to the pool. Happy Weekend!

Ya know, one thing that makes me REALLY happy about the money I'll be making is knowing that now I can get some little things for some computer people who have been very nice and helpful to me over the years. And birthdays! Presents! And thank yous!

It's just nice. It's nice knowing I can be a giver again, instead of just a taker.

:-D

WOOOOOO, Go me!!!

Finished 98% of my science presentation, due Thursday.

Checked out the last four tapes I need to view before Wednesday's History Quiz.

Re-worked resume and emailed to Friend.

AND... Cleaned out garage to make way for new washing machine.

Have I mentioned this? A friend at work heard that I did not have a washing machine (it's been broke for a year and a half, repair man says no can fix, too old), and she just happens to have a spare machine in her garage. That she's giving to me for free! FREE!!! Her drier had broken so then went to get a new one and there was a great deal on washer/dryer sets so they just got a whole set even though the washer worked fine. And I know that girl, she keeps spic and span house, I know that washer will be in great shape.

So we're leaving to go get it in 20 minutes. And then it will be wash wash wash and absolutely no complaining about it! WHEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!

My essay is 1042 words so far and I still need a conclusion - due tomorrow evening, I'm doing great!
History exam this evening, I've got the chapters down, studying for the essay question today at work.
Science exam tomorrow evening - I'll be cramming the entire chapter in tomorrow at work.
One more 1500 word essay due next Thursday, I'll do that this weekend.

I'm on a roll! And then it's easy from there - only about 4-5 weeks of school left!

Repairman says "Washing machine is ancient JC Penny's brand, cannot get parts any more, all rusted, get rid of it."

But he fixed the oven and we made bisquits last night, yummmm!!!

Scott is in the shower. I need to go study for History.

See ya Guys Later!

Yesterday we took my paycheck and bought groceries. Yay for groceries!!! also, I wrote over 600 words for my essay. Yay for over halfway there! I can write the rest at work... Sssshhhhhh don't tell. I'm writing about a poem called "Movie" by Muriel Rukeyser. I like it.

Scott comes over tonight. Yay for Scott! We will have a good stir-fry dinner. Possibly the oven will be fixed by the repairman today, and maybe even more possibly the washing machine too.

Kids start swim practice this week. BOOO swim practice and having to pick them up every evening. Gas is $2.69 here, I think the kids can ride their bikes the 1.5 miles home, don't you?

I'm going to make a bagel. And eat it.

Science was canceled today due to a sick teacher - WHOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
My first canceled class! I was pretty thrilled because I had a really interesting project in World Lit that I wanted to work on. I decided I could go to the gym on the way home, but then I remembered the front lawn that could be mowed. I figured mowing with the push mower would be a good workout.

Wow! Was it! It took me a good half hour to mow the front lawn and I was totally huffing and puffing and sweating. With a big ole smile on my face as I watched the lawn get mowed. WHHHHRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR.... I loved that sound. I came inside, could barely walk or move my arms, and fell into my computer chair, completely out of breath.

LOVED it!!!

Worked on my project, loved that too - computer crashed right in the middle of it but I calmly shut it down, rebooted and spent an hour clearing the crap off it, and now it works fine again.

All in all, things are just going well. Except for the power still being out in half the house and now the oven is broken too... Overall, the important things are getting taken care of.

Things are pretty good right now, poorness and all.

Please, House, don't burn down. Just let me be happy and calm and peaceful for a few months, okay?

Tadaaahhhh!!!!

My new mower!!!!

On sale for $99, and it turns out I had $167 in my credit union account. Spike already happily mowed the back yard, running all over the place, and this weekend we'll get the rest of the yard done. The neighbors won't hate us anymore!!!

Scott didn't understand why we didn't just get the gas mower fixed - but the damn thing is broken ALL THE TIME, I don't know how to fix any machine, and it was costing money always getting it fixed. Now we have a back to basics, sturdy, environmentally friendly, quiet mower that I can use at 6am, 9pm, and isn't likely to break or run out of gas.

Our lawn is safe again. Bring on the sprinklers.

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO My new phone! FREE for renewing my contract with Cingular!
And... It's a camera phone!!! And I think I get free text messaging too, but I've just barely unpacked it and plugged it in, so I'll let you all know later.

For now I am getting ready for a short day at work and then drive Buffy to her church retreat in, (SO convenient!), Aptos! So I'll see ya all later!

So with some of my last little extra change left from my student loan (it all went to bills) I bought a new bra from Target, a black Gilligan & O'Malley bra for $10.00 and I LOVED it. I loved it SO much I went back and bought two more... a white one and a RED one.

Do you know that after 26 years of wearing a bra I don't believe I've ever had a red one? Even when I worked at Victoria's Secret?

Well, I have one now.

I realized this week that I haven't cut my hair since school started last August, as a result it's halfway down my back and I have to wear barrettes just to keep it out of my face. Somehow I get away with this even though I'm 38 years old. But I wanted a change.

So this morning I took off 6 to 8 inches, it's right to my shoulders now, and I trimmed my bangs and dyed it a dark Chestnutt brown.

I LOVE it.

No, no pictures, I'm too lazy right now. Or really just too busy with school. Anyway, gotta go study.

And I finally have my permanent bridge! My little fake teeth, all shiny and white and beautiful looking are now permanently cemented to my other teeth, and I didn't have to have any shots and she only hurt me a little (well, a lot but only for a few seconds) and it will never come out and I can chew better and brush my teeth harder and I am just really really really happy it's all over and I never have to go back.

Because I will never ever EVER go back to that particular dentist office again.

Hamilton Beach coffee maker!
Ghiradelli chocolate!
Mocha candle!
Melon candle!
Peet's Coffee!
Ghiradelli coffee!
Pink Sweater!
Artwork!
Olive oil dipping set!
Oil and Vinegar bottles!
Incense!
Wind chimes!
Hyacinth bulbs!
Pop Corn popper with pop corn!
Mean Girls!
Season 6 Buffy!
And lots more!

I don't think I mentioned that the starter went out in the jeep Saturday evening, and the kids and I got a ride home with the tow truck at midnight, but it's not even a crisis because I have my student loan in the bank and can afford to spend a couple hundred dollars to get it fixed.
Not a problem.
We be just like regular people now.

Plus, I get to go to work in a taxi tomorrow. I hope they're on time. Then tow the jeep to the mechanic by my work, have him fix it, and go home in it that night.

Also, I love Scott. Still. Lots.

This lady is my new Idol

I just bought an Anne Taintor calendar, and went to her website which sells the Best. Items. EVER.

I will be back someday to write about my birthday and all other good stuff, but for now I have a history mid term to study for and many many other essays and assignments to complete. So no typing here for a while.

I'll see you after the grading period.

And thanks SO much for all the birthday greetings!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAAAAAY
TOOOOO MEEEEEE!!!!

YAYYYYY!!!!!

*Applause*

"Thank you! Thank you!"

So tomorrow I turn 38 years old and I've decided to get up at 5am and do a run. I think that's a great way to start the day...

Plus I may get to end the day watching Supervisor clean out her desk - now that would be the BEST present!!!

I am happy and proud to say that I pounded a few nails into Supervisor's coffin today myself. Had to. Can't let the opportunity pass, eh?

So Supervisor? You're screwed. Hope I get to be there when you clean out your desk.

See ya Monday!

Oh, one more thing... "Sucks to be YOU!"

Who cares about getting old? Not me!

Four more days until Birthday Time! WHOOOOO!!!!

One week until my birthday!

I love kids who bring home giant bags of candy on Halloween and then give them to ME.

Love them Love them LOVE Them!!!

My extra credit quiz points were just added in for Oceanography and now I have an A-!!! WHOOOOO

I know, I'm boring.

Scott and I are going to a party tonight at a friend's house. Lots of good food and fun.

I have essays to write, of course. Including one on gay marriage - I'll try to keep my rants to a minimum, heh.

Already turned in my absentee voter ballot. Used the company postage meter to pay the postage - I'm sure my Republican boss will understand, heee.

And finally, how must it feel for a certain someone to return to work on Monday and find out she is the laughingstock of the company? I mean, even more than she was before.

Sorry Supervisor, but you nailed your own coffin with this one.

OOH, also I went in to sign the almost-final papers for my student loan. $3500!!! I can get the poor little convertible fixed (it's been sitting in the driveway since February!) and get a washing machine and buy a couple new bras and pay off a couple bills. WHEEEEEEEE!!!!!!

And only 2.77% interest which the government will pay for as long as I am in school. OH yah, Baybee.

Okay, got my B in Oceanography (*relief*!) and just turned in my 750 word essay on the Presidential Debate (as usual I ran over and turned in over 1000 words), I think I left my American Lit book at work, I only have one discussion posting left for Critical Thinking, but now I think I deserve a nap and a viewing of Dangerous Beauty.

Also, my hair did turn out somewhat red, but I am happy. Mostly a dark brown with burgundy hints. It's fine. I like it.
:-)

After how long? Almost a year? I finally have a new vacuum and don't have to vacuum my entire 1500 sq foot house that's filled with long black cat hair with the VACUUM HOSE. Yes, our roller brush broke so so so long ago, and I've had to vacuum with just the HOSE since then. Needless to say, our house hasn't been getting vacuumed that often - it's a pain in the ass.
But today Target had a sale on the Dirt Devil Jaguar for $45!!! My old vacuum was a Hoover bagless, and while I liked the bagless part, I had lots of problems with the roller brush, and all the Hoover owners I know also have roller brush problems. A new roller brush costs almost $30. Dirt Devil had a bagless for only $10 more, but it required a filter that cost $25 to replace. Uh Uh. So the Dirt Devil WITH bag is what I got, and my house is finally cat hair free again.

I know you all were just dieing to know this.

*****

Also, I did well on my Oceanography exam. I don't think I got an A, but probably a B or C, which makes me happy. I should know by tonight.

I finally got my pictures back at Three65Pics. I had to re-sign up for a gold membership that had lapsed long ago, but I finally had some spare cash, enough to buy enough time to get them switched over to this server. So if you want to see a lot of pictures from July 2002 to... whenever I stopped, heh, go click the link and enjoy. The first two are just blank, my test entries to keep Andrew from deleting the whole thing. There is a little "archive" link on the bottom right of the picture square that you can use to navigate if you wish, or just keep hitting "previous". Pictures of the kids, the pets and the burned up house.

Now I have 30 days to transfer. I wanna thank Megs one more time for giving me this domain so that I can keep those pictures! LOVE you Meg, thank you SO much!

Ah Sleep, Blessed Sleep.

I was able to sleep the whole night through and my tooth didn't even hurt when I woke up (it started again about an hour later though). We went to church and there was some sort of festival there, so we stayed until about 2:30, eating candy (yes, candy), free barbeque burgers and chips, and collected several stickers and bookmarks and bracelets, etc.

Came home and finished my next paper for Critical Thinking (At 7 pages I'm not sure if I wrote too much, I don't seem to have a problem with quantity, that's for sure - hopefully my quality is just as good, heh). Tried to read more in my Survey of Am Lit book and the next chapter of Critical Thinking, but got sleepy and took a half hour nap on the couch.

Went outside to do laundry. Last month when we didn't have any money for the laundromat I took a big ole Rubbermaid bucket and washed the clothes in that. It's so hot in the summer it was a pretty refreshing activity, actually.
(Spike, on seeing me in the back yard: "MOM! Have you lost your MIND???" heee)
It's actually so refreshing that Buffy has been helping me, and even washed her brother's clothes all by herself when he forgot to get them out for me. So now we're saving $40 a month in quarters, and hopefully we'll get a washing machine in the next couple months. And don't worry, we'll have enough quarters by the time it gets cold here.

And now I'm just reading my school books some more. The online classes are pretty damn great, I have to say. I would recommend them to anyone - well, anyone who knows how to use a computer and is willing to do their work. If you're thinking about going back to school but aren't sure if you have the time, I say sign up for one online course and go from there.

And that's it. Back to my reading. It's been a very happy day so far.

I'M BACK AND I'M TYPING FROM HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I LOVE YOU PATRICK-THE-COMPUTER-GOD!!!!

Alanis was BeeeeYOOtiful. I LOVED her. I LOVE her. Buffy LOVED her. She was SO AWESOME. I want to see her tomorrow night too!!!! And the next, and the next, and the next... Buffy bought a poster of the Bare Naked Ladies with a naked Alanis in front (at $10 it was the only thing we could afford) and we both had the BEST time. We had lawn seats but got there really early so we were right in front, and with Buffy's smiling happy face and my tear smeared face (it was very emotional for me to see her in person, long story, heh) the usher/gateguard took pity on us and let us sit in the regular seats for a little while!

Oh, and Katherine was closest in her guess about you know what (that I didn't know was going to cause such an uproar, hah), but I cannot talk about it here. I'll tell you when/if it happens, kay?

Well, Spike "forgot" to tell me that our internet has been working since last night, but now FINALLY, I get to tell you...

Buffy and I are on our way to see Alanis Morissette and the Barenaked Ladies RIGHT NOW!!!! At 7pm PST we will be happily singing and dancing away.

See you all tomorrow!

Tomorrow I get off an hour early and travel to Aptos to spend the evening with Scott. Friday mornng we'll get up and go to the coffee shop, then Scott will go to work and I go pick up the kids from camp.
Then we go to the Beach!!!
We'll spend the day there, then Saturday is Swim Finals, then Sunday is Awards.
Then, life gets back to normal.

For now I'm looking forward to one hour less with Supervisor, and a nice quiet weekend in Aptos.

I won tickets to see Alanis Morissette with The Barenaked Ladies at the Shoreline on July 28!!!!!!!!!!
I'm taking Buffy with me and she is SOOOOOO excited, but not as excited as I am!!!!!!

Happy Fourth of July Weekend!
We are off to the beach - long story behind this but I'll write about it later.
However, the kids and I are off to have lots of fun, then we'll spend the night at Scott's house (he's in Oregon visiting friends) then off to the beach again.
Ciao!

We won the swim meet, by 40 points!

Buffy got 4th in Breast stroke and 2 First Places in relays,

Spike also got a 4th in (something, heh) and a First in his relay.

Me, I got a sunburn.

Last week

I'm going to write an entry later about this week, but in a nutshell this is where I've been:

I can't see out my contacts anymore so I went to eye doctor and got a new perscription, AND new glasses! My old ones are from the 1980's, big bug-eyed blue plastic frames. I love love love my new ones. I'll take a picture after they come in.

Pischina-Kitty escaped through a window and ran away with a very dorky siamese cat. After 24 hours I managed to catch her, throw her back into the house, and annul that feline marriage right out the window. I'm sure she's now about to become a single unwed mother. Slut. I'm going to be SO pissed if she is.

I woke up with a bad neck the other day, unable to turn my head in any direction at all and it really really really sucked and HURT. Today, after 3 days, I can finally turn it, it only hurts a little.

I am enrolling back into Evergreen College, with possibly some classes at Cabrillo next semester. I am very very happy, the only thing tearing me up right now is deciding where I want to transfer to, San Jose State University or UC Santa Cruz. I would rather go to UCSC but I don't think I'll be living over there at that time. The problem is that entirely different courses are required for each transfer, I just don't want to waste time taking the wrong ones. But I'll probably focus on SJSU since it's most likely I'll still be here. I can always transfer over my senior year I guess (?). But I cannot wait for classes to start. If I concentrate on SJSU then I'll be taking Oceanography and Nutrition at Evergreen, and possibly Mass Media at Cabrillo. Eventually I would love to take all the italian courses at Cabrillo!!!!

Today is the first swim meet. It's 6:20am on a Saturday and I've been up for an hour. It's time to wake the kids.

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!!!

So far it's been a good one for me...

I've lost 4 pounds!!!!

I can't believe it's here already, I am SO freakin happy that it's Friday. Hurray! And Mother's Day too! WHEEEEEEEEE!!!!

So it finally cooled off here, and tomorrow I am off to Aptos. I can't wait.

Also, I finally did my New York City Ballet workout tape, I liked it. Just like ballet class old times, heh. It's not going to help a whole lot, but it is good for a start. This weekend I'm planning to run, and I'm taking my Tae Bo tapes too.

I've lost two pounds.

33 more to go!

I'm going to bed now but remember...

Happy Earth Day!!!
(Tomorrow - April 22)

See how pretty Google is today?

A. Buffy's concert went well and was mercifully only an hour.

B. I may be getting a bonus on Friday, all signs point to $200.

Hurray!!!!!

Of course, it's not for sure, but signs point that way.

WOOOOO My Blog Stock is finally available for trading! Now you should all go to BlogShares and buy my stock (go to my right hand column, all the way at the bottom). At the moment it's at a very very low 79cents/share but you know my value is waaaaay more than that. You know it, Baybee. And go sign up if you aren't already, cuz I want to own a piece of all of you!

Except for Kim, whom I will own all of very very soon..

And for those of you who don't know what BlogShares is, it's FAKE money, fake stocks, etc. It's all a game. No one really makes money. Just didn't want anyone thinking I'm actually asking you to spend money, haha, it's just in fun.

WHEEEEEE

Happy Sunday!!

We are going to church, then we'll do some chores, watch more movies (Rushmore and Orange County) and also go to the library so Buffy and friend can work on their reports. I think it will be a good day.

WOOOOO I just saw the $250 check to PGE was cleared this morning, so cross that problem off the list!

Happy Friday everyone!!!!

Not only can I win tickets to this little concert (they have these little concerts with like 15 people in a very small place and you get to talk to the singer afterward!) but then I get a chance to win tickets to her concert in...

CANADA

Get this, she's opening for the DALAI LAMA in Canada, and the grand prize is a trip there to see her!

SO awesome...

Today we saw "Secret Window" and I thought it was GREAT. Johnny Depp was fantastic too. Scott didn't love it so much, but also figured out the whole ending pretty early. I didn't figure it out until it was done, heh, so I enjoyed it more.

This morning I saw "The Opposite of Sex" which totally different than I expected - for some reason I thought it was a serious movie, not a funny one - but I really loved that one too.

Next we're going out to dinner with Scott's housemates. So far a really nice weekend.

I am home, I got paid, and now we're off to buy Buffy her birthday desk. I found a really really nice one at Target for only $50 - it was better than the more expensive ones! And she really loves it.

Then off to the laundromat...

Then to the grocery store for food - I'm getting lots of yogurt and cranberry juice and fruits and veggies. It's time to start the diet phase of Operation 20 Year Reunion, and not only do I love yogurt and cranberry juice but they make my tummy feel good too.

And we're off...

Happy Sunday!
Spike spent the night at a friend's house and is going to church with him today, so Buffy and I are going to try a different church. Still a Methodist church, but it's down the street from us. We normally drive 20 miles away for the church they've grown up in, that will always be my favorite church where my "family" is. But sometimes closer is better. So today, we try something new.

We are babysitting Charlene's little boy right now, he's 14 months old. and really, he's keeping Buffy busy, she just jabbers away to him and he jabbers back.

Oh yeah, also this weekend I'm hooking up the new VCR that I bought off eBay for $9!!!! I have so many videos that I bought off eBay THREE YEARS AGO that I've never seen because our VCR broke. WHOOEEEEE!!!! We'll be watching all KINDS of movies now!!!

Marci

This is my best friend forever Marci now. We were inseperable from age 9 to 11, and then she moved. We were the "popular" kids back then, and most kids couldn't tell us apart. I always had long long hair, and I cut mine just like hers, in a little pageboy with bangs.

She had the best, nicest family EVER. And it looks like she has one of her own now.

We've only exchanged short emails since last night, "Is this YOU?" "YES!!!" but we'll get in touch tonight or this weekend. It just makes my heart so warm seeing her again, and seeing her so Happy!

I LOVE the internet.

Marci

I just found my best friend from 4th - 6th grade, over the internet.

We are both VERY happy and excited!!!!!

Scott's coming to pick me up and take me to Aptos! He's going to bring me back Sunday and stay with me that night too.
YIPPEEEEEEEE
See ya later!!!

Here comes the Brides... and the Grooms...

Look at all these happy pictures! It makes ME so happy seeing this. It may not last but it's a Step. And even if this huge step gets taken away by President Bush, I have no doubt it will only be a COUPLE years, at most, before it's legal. I felt so helpless not being able to do anything to further this cause, but finally the ball is rolling.

There was a comedian on the radio yesterday, I (unfortunately) didn't catch his name, but he was commenting on gay marriages too. Something like "After 9-11, does anyone even CARE? I mean, isn't banning gay marriage right under 'Are we eating too much garlic as a people' on a list of important topics in our lives? And the president wants to make a CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT?" He went on and on and it really was funny in one of those if-only-it-weren't-so-serious kinds of ways.

Anyway, I am all sorts of Happy for the people in those pictures.

Okay, PlayStation now works on the other TV. Of course, the first game I got for it is The Angel of Darkness with my beloved Lara.

And in the very beginning of the game, these big black slobbering dogs steal her backpack!!!! Horrors!!!

My Lara has no guns now!

:-)
Yes, I am happily playing away.

I just checked the bank account and the second tax refund is now there! That means with our eBay money and the refund, we get a PlayStation 2 tonight!

Which I realize now is a really good idea because the kids have the week off and this will buy me some time before they kill each other. Or worse, call me at work 27 times a day.

heee

Today Scott and I are going back to Play It Again Sports and buying an elliptical machine for me!!!! It costs $499.00, which means it's probably about a $1000 machine, it has the arm poles (which I don't like anyway, heh) and a digital readout of everything, a heart rate monitor, and about 15 different programs. It comes brand new in a box even!
He and I are going in together on it (he finally talked me into letting him pay) with both our tax refunds. I didn't want him to buy it for me but he convinced me to think about it as "an investment" for him. Meaning that one day soon he'll have a strong buff girlfriend.
"What's really sad," he told me yesterday, "is that if I just say I want to buy it for you you won't let me and get all offended. But if I say 'Hey, you need it!' then you agree with me. But if that's what it takes to make your little brain accept it, I'll do it!" he said laughing.

It was pretty funny. I don't think Scott cares if I'm fat or thin, but he knows I'm unhappy and want that machine. But I hate accepting anything from him, heh, especially now that we're about on our feet again and won't need to borrow money from him anymore. But he convinced me finally that I can't tell him how to spend his money.

Anyway, I get it on the way home today.

Then I go home, take the clothes to the laundromat (new washing machine comes with next week's tax refund), take all the eBay stuff to the post office, and go home to put my machine together. Hurrayyyyy!!!!!!

Oh yeah, and we made $176 on our eBay stuff in two weeks! That means next week we get our PlayStation 2 also!!!

I have decided I'm going to buy this wind chime when I get my refund because when I first saw it I just fell in love with it. This windchime would make me very very happy. And I can hang it on the back patio where we can see it from the kitchen window, the big dining room window AND the family room.

Which reminds me, I have some crystals to hang up too!

Also some more panties. I need more panties and goshdarnit I'm going to get some new ones.

And socks. Big fluffy white socks for the whole family!!!!

Tax Refund!

Oh yeah, and a new washing machine too!

hahaha...

No, there will be no money left for a wedding or saving, we are behind in too many things. But I can repay my mom $500, repay Scott, get the washing machine, my PG&E bill was $230 this month, we're behind on most of our bills, I need to buy the kids' yearbooks, I have a broken Jeep in the driveway... Believe me, that money will be gone in a week.

BUT, it will get us back on track, possibly fix the Jeep so we can eventually trade in both cars for one really great one, repay my mom (important to me), and possibly get a treat for the kids.

Knowing me I'll probably buy some windchimes and a pair of pants, haha, but I will be very very happy just paying off the bills.

$2,250.00 refund, Baybeee!!!!
Plus, she did e-filing and since she'll send it before noon tomorrow my state check will be direct deposited on February 6! And Federal will be deposited February 13!
Just in time for Buffy's birthday!
And bill paying!
And loan paying!

Hurray!!!!

Sometimes after Scott leaves here I feel like I get withdrawal symptoms from the computer.
Come on now, I know I'm not the only one...
But I'm always really happy when I get to sit and post all night.

Also, I told Spike I was going to make fried chicken for dinner (something I do about every 2 years) and he wants to make it himself! WHOOOO!
I get to go running while he makes dinner!

Hurray for sons who can cook!!

I took money from the grocery fund today and bought three plants at $5.99 each. I think it's worth it because I love houseplants. I used to work in a plant nursery and would rescue the poor dieing plants that didn't get bought. I had over 85 houseplants when we got Pischina-Kitty. She ate them all.
Ate them ALL.
Every time I've gotten plants since she's eaten them, right now I have one african violet and a Christmas cactus, that's the only thing she hasn't eaten.

So I bought three more plants today, I'm HOPING they won't be tasty ones. I can't even tell you what they were called, I don't have any more plant knowledge in my brain, haha. But one is a hanging one, so no kitties can reach it!

Any kitties eat these plants and they will get a spanking!!!